Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 13 China-Pakistan Rain Talk
Zhang Yiyi smiled, "You guys are just making fun of me. Yang Zi, you are the art director, what did you direct?"

"Hey, Director Zhang, what you said is unfair. Didn't I pick out the hoe used by the mute? Did you all say it was a good choice and had a unique appearance? And the little baby that Nini held at the beginning, was it pretty? Did I borrow it from the little wife? If I hadn't given her some advice, would she have agreed?"

"Xiao Yangzi, if you say so, then I, Ah Mei, will be the stage supervisor, costume designer, and also the tea maker."

"Then I am the producer, production manager, assistant director, executive director and lighting director too." Li Xiaotian also joined in the fun with a smile.

The mountain was blocked by heavy rain, and the dozen or so people trapped in the minibus had nowhere to go, so everyone started chatting animatedly about it.

"Director Zhang, I heard that you and Brother Li invested yourselves in this movie, is that true?" Someone suddenly asked a sensitive question. The originally bustling car suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at Zhang Yiyi and Li Xiaotian.

Zhang Yiyi glanced at Li Xiaotian, who had no expression on his face, and smiled, saying, "Really."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. No one responded. Only the photographer Xu Jun managed to utter two words: "Awesome."

Zhang Yiyi laughed and said, "What a bullshit."

Chen Nuo wanted to laugh after hearing this. He was the one who taught Zhang Yiyi the Xichuan dialect, but it exuded the unique flavor of Beijingers.

"We are all in the film industry. Only a fool would bet his entire fortune on a single film. Films are inherently risky. You may think it's good, but I may think it's not. A hundred people have a hundred ears and a hundred mouths, but how many people watch a film? A hundred thousand or a million? Who dares to say that my film will be a hit and sell like hot cakes? And who dares to bet their fortune and life on it?"

Zhang Yiyi started with a long speech: "But you don't know how hard it is for us to study directing. Just take our film academy as an example. There are more than 20 students studying directing in a grade. How many of them can actually direct successfully?"

"It is said that Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and their group are the fifth generation of directors and the backbone of Chinese films, but they have been carrying on for many years. Where is the sixth generation? What about Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye and Lu? Can any of their films be seen in the cinema?"

"After them, it will be our turn, and it will be even worse. Let's talk about my classmates in undergraduate school. Some of them shoot MVs, some shoot commercials. If they want to be assistant directors, they will be picked and chosen. It's hard to shoot a short film independently. Many of them have changed their careers. I know one who is now selling insurance."

"And what about me? My ambitions are high, but my life is fragile. I begged and pleaded for some money before, and made two films, but one of them didn't even make a splash at the film festival, and the other one wasn't even finished before the boss said he wouldn't invest in it."

"In fact, we were also wrong in the second film," Li Xiaotian interrupted and said.

Zhang Yiyi said, "Tian'er, it's not us, it's actually me. But it's not all my fault. I had hundreds of thousands of dollars but couldn't hire a good actor, so I had to find one myself. At that time, my luck was a bit bad. I found an unreliable one, and nothing went right no matter how I filmed. In the end, the investor had objections, and I couldn't continue filming."

As he spoke, he glanced at Chen Nuo and suddenly smiled, "You guys say that our film is blessed by God. To be honest, I think so too. It was planned to shoot for 2 months, but it's only been a little over a month and we've already finished. The shooting schedule has been constantly moved forward, which has exhausted Tian Er and the others. But I can say with confidence that the final film will definitely be good."

Xu Jun said: "It's mainly Xiao Chen. I've been in the industry for quite some time, and I've really only seen a few actors like Xiao Chen. He acted really well."

"Hey, Xiao Chen, you must be quite young, right? When did you start acting?" asked He Yang, the lighting and art director.

Chen Nuo opened his mouth, but felt like there was a stone stuck in his throat and no sound came out.

Zhang Yiyi said, "He's still in the play, don't worry about him. I know his story, this is his first play, he came to Beijing to attend a fake training class, and wanted to apply for the film academy, but I tricked him into coming here."

At this point, Zhang Yiyi chuckled, "I said I invited some veteran actors to this movie and could teach him how to act, so he came. Haha." Everyone laughed when they heard this.

"Xiao Chen, listen to me, you don't need to learn at your level, who can teach you?" someone said.

"That can't be said." Zhang Yiyi shook his head and said, "He is a complete amateur now. He still needs to study systematically, or even delve into it. Throughout history, which acting master doesn't understand theory? Not even one. Pure amateurs or talented actors can't reach the top. But then again, if you don't have talent, no matter how hard you try, you can't succeed. Even if you have a good appearance and decent looks, you can only be a tool at best."

"...Director, do you think Chen Nuo's looks are just passable?" someone asked quietly.

"Hahahahaha..."

This sentence suddenly caused everyone to burst into laughter.

"Xiao Li, are you jealous?" someone shouted.

"Brother Li, I think you're not bad, except that your face has too many wrinkles, your eyes are a little small, and your nose is a little flat. If you go to Korea for a facelift and plastic surgery, you can compete with Chen Nuo when you come back, really."

After hearing the makeup artist's joke, everyone laughed even louder.

Zhang Yiyi also laughed for a while and said, "This is why I said Chen Nuo has a bright future. When you see him acting, you think he will definitely become an excellent and powerful actor, but when you look at his face, you will think he is wasting talent by not filming Meteor Garden. There are really no other actors like him in the world. So I say, if the film academy doesn't accept him, it would be really unfair. But you guys shouldn't praise him too much, in our circle, whether you become popular or not depends on your luck."

"It's just like this movie. When we were filming it, everyone said it was good, but... who knows what the final result will be? Maybe in the end it won't even be sold and will just be burned."

Zhang Yiyi forced a smile.

Everyone in the car was silent. Yes, it was a movie with an investment of only a few hundred thousand dollars, and everyone was talking about it so excitedly, as if there was really something to look forward to. But what was the reality? In the end, it would probably just be gathering dust in a film company's warehouse, never to see the light of day.

This is reality.

The dream ended, and the rain gradually subsided. The originally heavy raindrops turned into light and fine threads, gently caressing the texture of the world.

The car can finally hit the road.

The group first returned to the county town to check out of the hotel, and then returned to the capital.

After entering the city, people kept getting off the bus. Everyone walked away in a very casual manner, waving and saying goodbye.

They all look very casual, because this is the norm in this circle. Everyone is constantly rushing from one journey to another, from one end to another.

Chen Nuo did not accompany Zhang Yiyi to the end and got off at a subway station halfway.

(End of this chapter)