In the summer of 2023, I returned to Chengdu from New York. What began as a surprise visit quickly turned into a period of mourning as my grandmother passed away, leaving my grandfather to live with us. Amidst the rituals of our family's seven-week mourning gathering, where we honored her memory by burning paper money together once a week until the 49th day, I found myself oscillating between home and elsewhere. My grandfather now resides across from my room, while a newly hired nanny cares for him in a neighboring room.

                Amidst this backdrop, I was invited by a friend to collaborate on an experimental theater play. Here, I encountered fellow youngsters, each grappling with their own uncertainties about the future. Balancing my roles in both familial mourning and creative exploration, I found myself blurring the lines between observer and participant, ultimately becoming a character within the narrative I was constructing.

                Immersed in both the theatrical aspect of the fictional reality we portrayed on stage and the non-fictional reality of the present outside the show, the film evolved into a third version of reality — one constructed by the character "I."