Global Film Emperor

Chapter 276 "Finding You" - The Beginning of the Seminar

"What do you care where I am? Is this your house? Why are you asking so many questions? Come here, here's an apple."

Lu Ze didn't reach out to take the apple that Song Guiyuan offered. Instead, he greeted the other actors present. Regardless of how big their roles were, they had all debuted at least ten years earlier than Lu Ze and were his seniors, which made Lu Ze feel obliged to do so first.

There were nine actors present, including Lu Ze and Song Guiyuan. It was unclear whether Lu Ze was absent, but these nine people were enough to make the audience look forward to the show.

Aside from the scoundrels Lu Ze and Song Guiyuan, the other actors—Ge Yunzheng, Zheng Yubing, Du Suiping, Zhong Bin, Ren Dingran, Zhang Qiuyue, and Yu Xingquan—are all familiar faces to the audience. Several of them have performed skits on CCTV's Spring Festival Gala.

After greeting them, Lu Ze pulled out a chair and sat down next to Song Guiyuan. He looked around and then whispered something in Song Guiyuan's ear.

"You got in through connections too?"

"What backdoor stuff! Bah! Can't you say anything nice? I was selected legitimately, okay? It's just that the process was a bit bumpy, but the result is good in the end!"

"What? Director He won't accept the gift?"

Actually, it was just Lu Ze joking around. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked Song Guiyuan about this topic in front of so many people. Besides, with this kind of movie carrying political connotations, would He Ruikuan dare to use connections? If no one says anything, it's fine, but if someone exposes it, although it won't kill He Ruikuan, it will be enough to make him suffer.

So everyone understood it was a joke, and they started teasing Song Guiyuan. Making small jokes about the director isn't a bad thing in this kind of situation. They were just wondering how Song Guiyuan, who was rejected during Wang Jian's interview, had reappeared here.

"Shut your mouth, that's really mean. It's just that... Lao Gao fell and hit the back of his head when he got into the bathtub about two weeks ago. It was pretty serious, so he couldn't film anymore. The director then asked for someone else to be cast, and... that's how I got on the team."

Song Guiyuan was quite embarrassed when he said this. After all, the other person was selected in the first round, while he was selected in the second round, which was considered a lucky break. In front of so many colleagues and even seniors, even if he had a thick skin, he was a little embarrassed and stammered out these words.

Lu Ze chuckled upon hearing this. He had no recollection of who Lao Gao was. What amused him was that he had never seen Song Guiyuan so embarrassed before. He took a bite of his apple and made a joke.

"Oh, so you're saying you have a protagonist's halo? Which novel's protagonist are you?"

"Old Song's Happy Life, is that alright? Why are you so annoying? I'm going to give you a good thrashing!"

A punch landed squarely on Lu Ze's back, making a loud thud. Lu Ze's expression contorted in pain. He glared at Song Guiyuan but didn't intend to continue the commotion. After all, the occasion wasn't right; the two brothers shouldn't wrestle in front of so many seniors, right? He simply took a sip of water, pretending nothing was wrong, and rubbed his back against the chair back. It really hurt.

Suddenly the door opened, and Lu Ze glanced at the person who came in. He found that a woman was leading a child in. Lu Ze did not recognize the woman, but he knew who the child was after a moment's thought.

"Xuanxuan, quickly greet the uncles and aunts, hurry up."

The woman was neither fat nor thin, and had a good appearance. She was wearing an office lady uniform and was holding the child's hand as they entered the room. The child seemed a little shy, with the woman holding his right hand while he clutched his clothes with his left hand and kept rubbing his left foot on the ground.

To be honest, Lu Ze took a liking to the child the moment he walked in. He had a round, fair face with a bowl cut and very soft hair that looked like a wig because it reflected the sunlight. He also had big, intelligent eyes.

"Hello, uncles and aunts, my name is Tang Renxuan, and I am five and a half years old."

"You're playing Xiao Shuangxi, right? Come sit down, sit over here with your uncle, you're so cute." The others seemed to like the child too, nodding with smiles, but Lu Ze took the initiative to get up, pick up the child, and pull out the chair next to him for him to sit down.

The child was very obedient and did not reject Lu Ze's embrace. He sat on the chair with his little feet dangling in the air but not moving around. He pressed his hands on the seat and quietly watched the woman.

"Hello, Teacher Lu. Please take good care of Xuanxuan during this time. Thank you for your help."

"You're too kind. Xuanxuan is very cute and lovable. I personally love children. I just don't know if he's afraid of me. Are you afraid of me? Hmm?"

Lu Ze politely responded to Tang Renxuan's mother's words, then bent down to face the child, patted the child's head, and joked with him. However, it didn't seem to work very well. Instead, the child was frightened and shook his head vigorously, but he didn't cry.

It could be because his mother was around, or the child might just be shy around strangers and not actually that introverted. It makes sense, though; an introverted child couldn't be a child star. If he's terrified when everyone is watching him on set, then this child is simply not suited for this path.

Lu Ze knew that he seemed to lack affability, so he stopped joking with the child and turned his attention back to Song Guiyuan, eating the apple that Old Song had given him and chatting with him.

Less than five minutes later, the meeting room door was pushed open again. This time, the people who came in were the main characters. The three directors walked in with serious expressions, carrying the script. They threw the script on the table, pulled out chairs, and sat in the main seats.

"It's great to see you all again. Although there were some minor setbacks along the way, everyone here is the person I'm most satisfied with. I'm happy to work with you all to make a very meaningful film."

"As planned, the seminar will officially begin tomorrow. Time is tight, so I hope everyone can understand. There are only ten days in total. If you feel constrained, please bear with us. You are all very professional actors, so your goal is definitely the same as mine: to perform well. Let's work together and strive for excellent results."

"I've sent you the hotel's location. It's about a five or six-minute drive from here, assuming there's no traffic. So I suggest you all get around by bicycle—it's convenient and fast. If you can't stand cycling, you can take a bus. I only have one requirement: don't be late."

"I don't like seeing anyone late, because I don't like people who have no sense of time, and nobody likes them either. Similarly, no one is allowed to leave early. Everyone must be in bed by midnight to get a good rest and prepare for the next day. I don't object to you having a few drinks. If you don't find me annoying, you can invite me too. I would also like to discuss the script with you over drinks. I might talk more then."

"However! You are absolutely not allowed to drink too much. You are all over thirty years old. You all know that drinking can make you happy, but you also know that drinking can lead to trouble. And you are not allowed to stay out all night. I know you are not students, and some of you are even teaching at universities. You should know the importance of rules even more. Without rules, there can be no order. I don't need to emphasize this again, right?"

"Also, I don't accept taking leave midway. You say you have to rush to a schedule, or your child misses their parents, I don't care. Work, of course, requires a work attitude. Of course, if there really is an emergency, I certainly won't stop you, but I hope there won't be, and you certainly hope there won't be, right?"

"Finally, I'd like to talk about the holiday. Since it's almost the end of the year, there are only seventeen days left until Chinese New Year. We should have just started filming for five days by then, but we will indeed have a holiday from New Year's Eve to the second day of the Lunar New Year. We'll return to the set on the third day of the Lunar New Year. I will arrange the rest of the holiday on the spot, depending entirely on your condition."

"I've said everything I needed to say. I hope we can get along well over the next few months and work out quickly. You're all experienced, so the filming pace won't be slow. But I'm a perfectionist, and I don't have a very good temper. So if I lose my temper with any of you in the future, I apologize in advance. I hope you won't take my momentary impulse to heart. Okay, meeting adjourned. After you get your room keys, how about we have a get-together tonight? We can connect via WeChat group later."

He Ruikuan's concise and to-the-point remarks were exactly what Lu Ze expected of him. He was a director who didn't waste time on anything, from casting and script selection to assembling the crew, filming, and editing. He gave Lu Ze a very good impression. The entire meeting was brief but his points were complete, without any long and tedious speeches. In Lu Ze's mind, this was exactly what a director should be like.

By the way, He Ruikuan is Guo Mingde's mentor. Guo Mingde learned most of his skills from He Ruikuan. Although he is already a big-name director, there is still a considerable gap between Guo Mingde and He Ruikuan.

And so, everyone picked up their things, got up, went downstairs, and headed to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow's script exam.

"."

(End of this chapter)