Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1178 Choosing Stones for Seal Engraving: An Unexpected windfall (Bonus chapter for monthly votes)

"It seems the attention has really picked up; even CCTV went to interview them..." Fang Yan muttered.

Old Hu continued, saying:
"Absolutely! These days, every kid on the street who's seen the movie is dressed up like this..."

He said in dialect:

"As long as they haven't left, everything's fine. Let's contact the director in Hong Kong. We should use our own people this time and try to learn as much as possible from the director."

At this moment, Director Chen said:
"Brother Fang, I can be an assistant director!"

Lao Hu said:

"Aren't you supposed to be going to school?"

Director Chen said:
"It won't affect anything. School doesn't start for another month, and the results haven't come out yet, so I don't know if I'll pass the exam!"

He said in dialect:

"Anyway, I'm going to learn how to make movies! I'll start learning now, and I'll even learn from a Hong Kong director!"

"Yes, I agree!"

The local dialect was the first to make the decision, and Director Chen happily agreed after hearing it. Isn't this a case of being in a good position to benefit from the local dialect?
“But we can’t just let you learn alone; we need to get more people to learn together,” Fang Yan continued.

It's definitely a good thing if a movie can train more people. Fang Yan thought of Tian Zhuangzhuang and Xu Lin, so we can also bring those two over.

Old Hu nodded in agreement when he heard the dialect spoken.

The next step was to have his assistant, Kobayashi, send a telegram to contact Hong Kong.

They say the script for the second season is already written, and they're just waiting for the cast to be in place so they can start filming immediately.

……

After lunch, Fang Yan contacted Lao Ji at the Palace Museum again. Last time he wrote calligraphy as a gift, he didn't have a seal. He planned to get a seal for himself to keep in mind, just in case he needed it sometime in the future.

Lao Ji happened to be on vacation today, so he drove over directly.

They also brought several seal-carving materials for Fangyan.

"You choose first, and then I'll find someone to carve it for you," Old Ji said to Fang Yan.

Fang Yan looked at the several items in front of him and said:

"What kind of materials are these? I'm a layman and don't recognize them."

Old Ji squatted down and laid out the items from the canvas bag one by one on the octagonal table. The room light shone on it, giving it a warm glow.

“Look at this piece of Qingtian stone,” he said, picking up a palm-sized piece of light blue stone and handing it to Fang Yan. Fang Yan touched it and felt a cool sensation on the smooth stone surface.

Old Ji said, "This material is soft, making it easier to carve, and it's perfect for beginners to practice. Look at the pattern; it has a hint of pale yellow, which is a variant of 'Fengmenqing' jade, and it's not commonly seen on the market."

Then he picked up a dark brown stone, its edges gleaming with an oily sheen, and introduced it:
"This is Changhua stone. Look at these red patches, like chicken blood. They are byproducts of 'chicken blood stone.' Although they are not as precious as genuine chicken blood stone, the seals carved from them, when stamped on paper, are reddish-brown and exude an antique feel."

“And this Shoushan hibiscus stone,” Old Ji picked up a pinkish-white stone, as if holding a solidified cloud, “feel it, it’s as smooth as a baby’s face. This is old mine material, with high density. After carving it, apply some wax, and it will be as smooth as jade. In ancient times, some officials loved to use this material to carve their personal seals.”

Fang Yan picked it up and weighed it; it felt quite comfortable in his hand, but he couldn't quite figure out the intricacies, relying solely on intuition. Finally, Old Ji pulled a dark, heavy object from his bag and placed it on the table with a "thud."
"And now for the grand finale: Zhejiang's black crystal. Look at this black, so pure it's almost indistinct, it's so dark that even when you shine light on it, it doesn't shine through. It's perfect for carving white characters on seals, and when stamped on red paper, the black and white are clearly defined, like a small ink painting."

After placing everything on the table, Fang Yan reached out and touched each item one by one. The Qingtian stone felt cool, the red spots on the Changhua stone resembled congealed blood, the hibiscus stone was as smooth as frozen fat, and the black crystal stone was heavy, exuding a sense of composure.

"Laymen look at the color, experts look at the properties of the stone," Lao Ji said with a smile. "If you want to use it often, choose Qingtian stone, it's durable; if you want to keep it for playing with, Furong stone is the best for nourishing the body."

Fang Yan's fingertips lingered on several stones for a moment before finally stopping on the Shoushan Hibiscus Stone.

He held the stone in his palm; its pinkish-white surface shimmered faintly in the sunlight, like flower petals touched by morning dew. "This will do," he said.

Fang Yan held the stone, feeling its smooth, warm edges.

Old Ji nodded and said:

"Indeed, Qingtian stone is too hard, making it less free and unrestrained to carve; Changhua stone, though its red veins are charming, lacks a sense of tranquility; Mojing stone is too heavy, feeling like a piece of iron in your pocket. But this hibiscus stone, which looks soft and feels smooth to the touch, will probably give the carved characters a gentle and warm feel."

The dialect is both funny and exasperating:

"I didn't think that much about it, I just felt that it was the most pleasing to the eye."

Of course, he had heard of Shoushan stone in his previous life, so he figured it must be a good thing, which is why he randomly picked it this time.

Since he had already taken the Shoushan stone from Lao Ji, and he hadn't given Lao Ji any benefits for his help before, Fang Yan picked out a gift for him from the study since he was coming to her house today.

He wouldn't care about domestic antiques, so he picked out several kinds of foreign ancient coins, one of each, and gave them to Lao Ji. Friendships last only when they give and take. In addition to the ancient coins, Fang Yan also gave him some health products that are currently on the production line.

It was the same three-piece set prepared for Mr. Huo to fleece the wealthy.

After the promotional video was filmed, Lao Hu asked Zeng Luquan to handle the packaging. Fang Yan really didn't have time. Later, Zeng Luquan made several sets and sent them to Hong Kong to test the waters with limited editions. Fang Yan's original packaging was left at home.

This time, it was given directly to Lao Ji.

Old Ji was quite satisfied with the ancient coins and the gifts from the dialect. He happily went home after dinner that day.

They said they would send the carved seal to Fang Yan in early August.

Then the date arrived at July 31st.

On the last day of July, Fang Yan finally decided to go out with her family to see a movie, to support Leonardo DiCaprio and see how the director did.

After finishing her rounds in the morning, Fang Yan went home to change her clothes and then called her family to go out together.

Apart from Huang Huijie and Zhu Lin, who are both pregnant and don't plan to go out, He Huiru and Fu Zhaojun will stay at home, while everyone else will go out with Fang Yan and the others.

Instead of driving, I walked to the nearest movie theater.

Tickets cost only one cent each, and the cinema was booming. The screenings of "Once Upon a Time in China" were fully booked from morning until late at night, and the audience was basically there to watch the movie. Some people had even seen it several times.

It's simply a phenomenal film. Seeing so many people buying tickets, Fang Yan thinks that when the box office is settled at the end of the weekend, it will be another large sum of money coming in.

The movie in which he plays the lead role hasn't even been released yet, but this unexpected success has made him a fortune.

P.S.: That's all for today. Please come early tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)