Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 803, "Huang Feihong's Lofty Ambitions," Director Qi Apologizes with Thorns on His Back (Two Chapters Combined)
After dialect fully enhanced "A Brief Discussion on Bi Syndrome".

Time flies, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Since what happened at Director Liao's house, Hu Daohu has gradually taken the prepared 5% share agreement to the senior experts for them to sign.

During this time, Fang Yan also confirmed his relationship with Li Zhengji as fellow apprentices.

Now, Li Zhengji should call Fang Yan "senior brother," but Li Zhengji seems a little uncomfortable calling him "junior brother." Unless Fang Yan deliberately points it out, he will still call Fang Yan "Brother Fang."

It's like I'm calling you "brother" and you're calling me "older brother".

Just like in the university in my previous life, everyone doesn't care about anything else, just call each other "brother". "Brother" doesn't mean that someone is older than you, it's just a respectful title.

Now, the positions of class monitor and vice-monitor have been taken by two fellow students.

Whenever Fang Yan wasn't around, Li Zhengji was the oldest in the class.

The two also exchanged some medical cases about Jiao Shude. To Fang Yan's surprise, Li Zhengji did not study "A Brief Discussion on Paralysis," saying that the book was written later.

Fang Yan even explained it to him in his own words, leaving Li Zhengji dumbfounded. He could hardly believe that Fang Yan understood it so deeply, and his understanding of some of the details was so profound that it sounded as if Jiao Shude had given Fang Yan special tutoring.

After listening to Fang Yan's explanation, Li Zhengji felt that his understanding of "A Brief Discussion on Paralysis" had instantly improved by several levels. He had not studied this disease in depth before, but now he had more or less some of his own opinions.

Fang Yan was genuinely impressed when he heard him say that. He was indeed a genius; he understood things so quickly.

Of course, the dialect also knows that this has a lot to do with them.

If he hadn't understood it and then taught its contents to Li Zhengji, the latter would never have had the understanding he has now.

After all, even with the strongest comprehension skills, one still needs guidance from a renowned teacher.

It's impossible to achieve a situation where reading a dialect instantly grants you 10 years of understanding.

Then the new class schedule came out, and there were basically no more basic courses. The real courses were all academic medical case sharing courses, and then we went to other hospitals to learn clinical skills.

They were basically using the full fifth-year course schedule before the graduate courses were even available.

This situation also caused a sensation at the school.

The students, including sophomores, juniors, seniors, and even fifth-year students, never imagined that the freshman class could be so "unbelievable," and they were somewhat unconvinced.

However, after learning about these people's situation, they immediately quieted down. These people had been learning clinical skills from their families since they were young, and by calculation, the total consultation time of all the students in their class was longer than the combined consultation time of all the other classes.

From then on, their class became a true elite class.

Just like the gifted youth program at Renmin University, it has sparked a discussion outside of school.

Fang Yan had originally planned to go and learn clinical skills these past few days, but unfortunately, she has been quite busy, mainly at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. In the mornings these past few days, a number of patients have been coming in one after another.

Fang Yan went to Peking Union Medical College Hospital for a checkup in the morning, and went to school in the afternoon. Other students had already finished their clinical studies and returned.

I could only listen to their clinical sharing sessions in class in the morning.

The point is, if you're going to share, then share. Some students' ability to express themselves is really terrible. They're the kind of people who write medical records, but after a while, even they can't understand them anymore.

Finally, everyone discovered that Fang Yan was also seeing a doctor in the morning, and that he was quite good at giving lectures. So, on the afternoon of the next day, everyone invited Fang Yan to give a lecture.

The lectures on difficult and complicated cases were very engaging, and the dialects featured seven different styles, each used in turn, making it almost like a teacher giving a detailed explanation.

Some teachers even came to sit in and recorded the classic cases, so they could share them with other classes later, speaking in their local dialect.

I'm really speechless about the dialect, but thankfully, it's finally the weekend and I don't have to go to school anymore.

Fang Yan finally had a break. She didn't have any work at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. After making rounds in the morning, she went home to relax.

I'm staying home today and not going anywhere. I'm having a family gathering and eating with my family.

But the more I think about it, the busier I get.

Fang Yan's house gets lively every weekend.

Chen Kaige and his wife came over for the weekend, Lao Hu and his wife also came, then Xiao Li, who has been watching Wong Fei-hung recently, also came, and even Lao Fan, who had nowhere to go, came.

There's also my younger brother who comes back for the weekend, my older sister, and my sister-in-law.

Thankfully, my brother-in-law's family didn't come; otherwise, with their two precious daughters, the courtyard would have been in complete chaos.

With so many people, Fangyan can't just sit idle. Not only does she have to chat with them, but she also has to cook for them. It's not that everyone comes to the weekend gatherings solely for Fangyan's cooking skills, but at least 70% of the people do come for that.

They didn't eat for free; they brought their own ingredients and also gave quite a few gifts.

Moreover, there's no reason to turn away guests who come to the door, so of course we have no choice but to entertain them.

However, Fang Yan didn't let them sit idle; he was in charge of cooking, but definitely not preparing the ingredients.

Everyone can prepare whatever they want to eat themselves in the kitchen.

For dialects, just provide guidance from the sidelines.

Besides Mr. and Mrs. Hu, only Chen Kaige and Xiao Li are left who don't go to university.

Chen Kaige was in a very boring state. He thought he was just unlucky, missing the cutoff score for Peking University by one point. Now he was a hot topic at the Beijing Film Studio, and everyone knew about him who barely made it into Peking University.

So when his peers had weekends off, he would choose to go to Fang Yan's house.

His wife was also coming here to see her goddaughter Zhao Mingzhu, so it suited his needs perfectly.

Chen Kaige was in charge of peeling the potatoes. These days, potatoes aren't very big; they're all small. Chen Kaige's peeling skills weren't great, and the skins were quite thick. Seeing this, Sun Jialin snatched the peel from his hands. Chen Kaige chuckled, not angry at all, and simply stood up to chat with Fang Yan and the others. As they chatted, the conversation turned to their recent promotional arrangements. He asked Fang Yan:

"I heard you're making a movie? And you've even hired a director and filming crew from Hong Kong?"

Fang Yancai responded:
"That's the international version for external publicity, so we need to invite the Hong Kong team."

Chen Kaige said to Fang Yan:

"Could you help me get an assistant director position? I want to learn too!"

Sun Jialin, who was standing to the side, said:
"Can you speak Cantonese? Are you going to learn it?"

"..." Chen Kaige opened his mouth, but he really didn't know how.

Sun Jialin is becoming increasingly disrespectful to him, and Chen Kaige is getting a headache. However, Fang Yan's words at this moment eased his embarrassment:
"The domestic version will also be filmed at the same time. I think it won't be a problem to get you an assistant director."

Fang Yan wasn't making empty promises. Even if he didn't ask, Chen Kaige would probably agree to be an assistant director. The main reason was that if he became an assistant director, his father, Chen Huaikai, could legitimately provide guidance and support.

Old Chen is still a director who is generally recognized as having some skills. Although he is not good at this type of film, he can still offer a lot of advice based on his knowledge of different genres.

Hearing Fang Yan say this, Lao Hu, who was standing to the side, also said:
"No problem, I'll make the arrangements in a bit. The requirement this time is to start filming as soon as the script is approved, and to do it as quickly as possible. If you'd like to help, that would be great."

Old Hu is quite good at talking. Originally, Chen Kaige was just bored and wanted to learn how to make movies, but when it came to Old Hu, it turned into him helping out.

Even Chen Kaige was pleased to hear this. He was looking down on by his wife for doing nothing at home. If he could help put together a movie during this time, it would at least prove that he hadn't been wasting his time!

Although he originally wanted to join the Hong Kong version of the team, the fact is that he doesn't speak Cantonese.

He does know the Minnan dialect, but unfortunately, he doesn't speak it.

After finishing up with Chen Kaige's matter, Xiao Li inquired about the filming of another Wong Fei-hung TV series in Hong Kong. Fang Yan and his team were filming Fang Yan's autobiographical film first, and Xiao Li was afraid that his own matter would be forgotten.

Old Hu said to Little Li:

"Don't worry, the work is also being arranged. The only problem is that the script hasn't been finalized yet, so the start of filming might be a little delayed by half a month."

Now that Lao Hu is Xiao Li's junior uncle, he still cares a lot about his junior nephew's affairs.

Upon hearing this, Fang Yan realized that the script for Wong Fei-hung had not yet been finalized.

So he simply said to them:

"I do have some ideas, would you like to hear them?"

Everyone looked at Fang Yan, and Lao Hu nodded:
"Sure! Tell me about it."

Then the dialect began to be spoken:
"In the late Qing Dynasty, Foshan, Guangdong, was in complete chaos. Foreign devils stormed into Guangzhou Port in their iron-hulled ships, and Qing soldiers were like mice before cats at the sight of them. Our Master Wong Fei-hung was quite busy at this time—by day, he treated patients and taught martial arts at his family's clinic, 'Po Chi Lam,' and by night, he had to lead his disciples on patrols to guard against pirates. This big brother was seething with anger: 'Using martial arts to save the country? Save my ass! Officials kneel before foreigners, and ordinary people are sold into slavery in Jinshan. This world is truly rotten to the core!'"

"One day, Master Huang took his apprentice Liang Kuan to the docks to buy goods and they ran into foreigners whipping laborers. These foreigners were stuffing Chinese people into the ship's hold like livestock, saying they were going to transport them to San Francisco to build the railroad. Huang Feihong glared at them and was about to fight, but was stopped by the yamen commander and his soldiers, who said to him: 'Master Huang, we can't interfere in the affairs of these foreigners...'"

Hearing this, everyone in the kitchen immediately became interested; this was a promising start.

Fang Yan then proceeded to give a vivid and engaging recitation of the movie script for "Once Upon a Time in China".

"...Yan Zhendong was beaten so badly by Huang Feihong that his Iron Shirt was completely torn apart. Before dying, he coughed up blood and said, 'In this world, no matter how high your martial arts are, you can't beat foreign guns.' Huang Feihong grabbed the anchor chain from the ship and used it as nunchucks, whipping the foreign captain until he cried for his parents. The most satisfying moment was when Aunt Thirteen set fire to the large ship transporting opium. In the towering flames, Master Huang, holding her, stepped onto the mast and leaped into the sea. The explosion behind them illuminated the entire Pearl River..."

At the end, Aunt Thirteen snapped a photo from the second floor. In the picture, Wong Fei-hung smiled for the first time at the camera. Fang Yan clapped his hands and said:

"The End"

Only then did everyone come to their senses. Little Li was the first to react, giving a thumbs up:

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

He almost completely immersed himself in the story, feeling as if he had acted it out himself.

The younger brother also spoke in dialect:

"Bro, that's an amazing story!"

"It feels better than what I wrote!"

Old Fan said in dialect:

"I didn't know you were such a good storyteller! This is practically a veritable storybook!"

Old Hu nodded as well:

"awesome!"

"Although I haven't seen the footage, just from what you've said, I already feel that this must be a very exciting story."

The other women praised her even more for her dialect, saying that it was already quite good that she could tell the whole story fluently and vividly.

The key point is that the story told in dialect is quite captivating.

This makes it even more rare.

After listening, Chen Kaige immediately stood up and said:

"No, I have to write this script down so I don't forget it later."

Sun Jialin reminded him: "This isn't necessary, right? It was Brother Fang who decided on the script!"

"People with good memories can memorize the whole book, so don't worry about them."

"Oh, that's right!" Chen Kaige immediately sat down again after hearing this. He was so excited when he heard it earlier that he didn't expect Fang Yan to have such a good memory.

However, Lao Hu had some different opinions.

He said:
"We should write it down and take it to Hong Kong to polish it. If it's suitable, we can start filming right away. We have the funding and personnel now, all we need is the script. Now that we have the script, it's time to get started!"

Upon hearing this, the younger brother immediately stood up and said:

"I'll write it, and you can take a look and see if there are any places that need to be changed."

Hearing this, Xiao Li nodded and said repeatedly:
"It makes sense! It makes sense!"

He can't wait any longer.

As soon as the younger brother got up, Xiao Li followed, and then Chen Kaige followed as well. The three of them hurriedly and slowly went to the younger brother's room in the front yard, where they began to recount the story in dialect.

After about an hour, they finally managed to reconstruct the story.

Then take it to the dialect expert to see if there's anything that needs to be modified.

After the dialect pointed out a few places to them, the story was considered complete.

Then the story ended up in Lao Hu's hands. Lao Hu found his assistant and asked him to send the story directly to Hong Kong, not by telegram, but by taking it directly to the airport on today's plane.

There are people at the airport who will pick you up and take you to Hong Kong.

Everyone was surprised by Lao Hu's wealth, but compared to the cost of making the movie, it didn't seem like much.

At this moment, Chen Kaige asked curiously:
"So, does that mean Xiao Li is going to Hong Kong to film?"

He originally wanted to ask if Xiao Li could speak Cantonese.

At this point, Lao Hu said:

"No, no, we can't film in Hong Kong. The filming will definitely be done on the mainland."

"The set design can even create a movie street, which can be reused repeatedly. Building it in Hong Kong would be too cheap for Hong Kong. It would be best to build it in Beijing, which would be the best place. Their Hong Kong teams can come directly here, and they are more obedient in the mainland and won't cause any accidents."

Lao Hu is quite familiar with the nature of Hong Kong film teams.

So if we can film in mainland China, we'll definitely film in mainland China. Mainly because we can enjoy a lot of special treatment there. If we go to Hong Kong, who knows what we'll encounter?

It is precisely because he is very clear about the environment there that Lao Hu said that.

Chen Kaige said:
"So that means you're going to bring over two filming crews from Hong Kong?"

Old Hu nodded and said:
"That's normal. They'll agree as long as you pay them."

Chen Kaige then asked:

"Does Xiao Li speak Cantonese?"

Old Hu didn't expect Chen Kaige to be worried about this issue, and said:

"He doesn't need to know Cantonese. Just find a Cantonese translator, and then add some voice-over based on the market demand. That'll take care of everything."

At this moment, Chen Kaige felt regretful. It was a pity that the filming time was almost simultaneous. If he could also be an assistant director, he would have gained a lot of face.

What a pity, time is tight and the task is heavy!

They didn't give him any opportunities to gain exposure on multiple film sets.

However, regardless of the circumstances, today is still a very important matter that has been settled.

Next, Fang Yan told Lao Hu about something: after the movie is filmed, it needs to be reviewed, and it would be best to find Director Liu of the emergency department. His son works in the propaganda department, and if they put in a good word for him, things should go much easier.

Old Hu immediately understood and said he knew what to do.

……

At lunchtime, all the family members in Beijing were home, except for my brother-in-law who had to stay at the police station over the weekend.

At the dinner table, my mother suddenly asked Fang Yan with some curiosity:

"By the way, how are your grandfather's apprentices, Lin Shengyong and Qi Yong, doing now?"

Fang Yan recalled for a moment and said:

“I handed the matter over to Lin Shengyong, and he said he would definitely give me a satisfactory answer, but I haven’t heard from him yet.”

After saying that, Fang Yan asked his mother curiously:

"What rumors have you heard?"

My mother paused for a moment and then said:

“Someone came to see me yesterday, saying they were from Qi Yong’s family. I was very busy at the time and didn’t have time to send them away. I only remembered them now and wanted to ask you what happened.”

"Qi Yong's family?" Fang Yan frowned.

Then he said to his mother:

"I'll call Yang Jingxiang later and ask him. His house isn't far from Lin Shengyong's."

"Mm." The old lady nodded.

At this moment, the father-in-law suddenly spoke up, asking:

"By the way... um... Yan Jin, also known as Da Jin, how's he doing at your school library?"

Fang Yan responded with a smile:
"He is skilled in his work, has a good attitude, is proactive and responsible. Now, with his glasses on, you can't tell what he used to do at all. His students all call him Teacher Yan."

The father-in-law said in surprise:

"Has his temperament really been worn down?"

Fang Yan said to his father-in-law:
"It's still a long time. Time will tell. It's only been less than half a month, so we need to continue to observe."

"But I think he should be fine. The longer he does this job, the less likely he is to go back to his old one."

The father-in-law nodded.

At this point, Fang Yan shifted the topic to other people's university life.

There are three people in my family who graduated from Peking University: my eldest sister, my younger brother, and my sister-in-law.

One is a law department, one is a Chinese literature department, and one is a journalism department.

However, the three of them had completely different experiences and attitudes towards going to school.

My eldest sister's legal knowledge structure consists of legal codes and judicial practice, so she must be under the most pressure, often experiencing the clash between ideals and reality.

The youngest of the three has a knowledge structure that combines literary theory and creative practice. This is the territory of idealism. The only concern is the financial aspect, because it's very frustrating to write without money. However, the youngest obviously doesn't need to worry about that. He is now a bestselling novelist and has already crossed that stage.

My sister-in-law studied journalism. Her knowledge base includes communication studies and photography. Journalism is a demanding field that requires practical experience. Overall, this department is a trendsetter in the tide of the times.

However, in the end, the journalism department was assigned to Renmin University.

She just doesn't know that yet.

……

After finishing their meal, Fang Yan called Yang Jingxiang and asked him to inquire about Lin Shengyong's situation.

Yang Jingxiang agreed, saying he would call Fang Yan back later.

So, the dialect was put aside for the time being.

Finally, the afternoon was over, and the weather has been gradually warming up these past few days.

Everyone took off their sweaters and coats and changed into thinner clothes. Lao Fan was embarrassed because he didn't bring any spring clothes. Fang Yan had some fabric that had been given to him by his family, so he simply took him to a tailor shop to take his measurements and then had two sets of spring clothes made for him. Fang Yan paid for the clothes and provided the fabric. Although it wasn't much, it still moved Lao Fan deeply.

Once they arrived in the capital, only the local dialect treated him like family.

In this local dialect, home is the only place where there is warmth and human touch.

That guy Xiao Peng, he spends all his free time hanging out with that widow Liu now. Old Fan thinks Xiao Peng won't be able to finish his studies.

Fang Yan realized that Lao Fan was probably jealous. After all, Lao Fan had previously thought that Xiao Peng wouldn't make it, but now the two were getting closer and closer. Who knows, Xiao Peng might go back to Southeast Asia with Widow Liu and become someone's daughter's stepfather someday.

It would save me more than a decade of struggle compared to working here.

After all, Xiao Peng knows his weaknesses and that he is not good at studying, so it is understandable that he makes use of his other strengths.

They've managed to become self-reliant.

Dialects support every hardworking man.

Just when Fang Yan thought nothing would happen in the afternoon, an unexpected person came to knock on the door.

It was Qi Yong, who had previously tried to seize his grandfather's inheritance, but after being exposed, he still acted arrogantly in front of him. This time, he looked rather haggard.

He was also carrying a bundle of firewood on his back.

As soon as the courtyard gate opened, he immediately knelt down at the door of Fang Yan's house with a 'thud'.

Seeing this, Chen Kaige was stunned and asked:

"Wait, what's going on? Are they forcibly coming to our door to sell firewood?"

Qi Yong said:

"I've come to apologize! Please, Director Fang, show mercy! Don't let Lin Shengyong torment us!"

PS: 6000 words updated.

I've gained 100 more monthly votes, and now I owe everyone 2000 words, bringing my total to 52000 words.

There will be an extra chapter later.

(End of this chapter)