Abstract Art Award Winner

Three major illusions in life:

He likes me, I can turn the tables and finish this job before stopping.

"In fact, once you get into the game, it's very difficult to get out. Sometimes you want to leave, but the people behind you and around you will keep pushing you forward."

To some extent, the higher your status, the more wealth you accumulate; but the more wealth you accumulate, the less money you can actually control.

Zhou Le's mind was very quick: "Doesn't that mean the more you earn, the less you control?"

"Haha, you could understand it that way."

Just as the two were chatting, Zhou Ye, wearing a thick hat, walked towards them while rubbing his hands together.

"It's really cold here, much colder than where we are. And it's been snowing every day since we arrived. The main thing is that the snow here is different from that in Northeast China."

"What's the difference?"

"I can't really explain it, it just feels different. The wind blowing here feels different from the wind blowing there, but both are very uncomfortable."

Zhang Yi laughed: "It's normal. After all, you're from the South. It's tough for us to film in the South in the summer, but even though it's cold when we come back in the winter, we can still manage by wearing thick clothes and making sure our resting place is warm."

"Haha, that's true, but apart from the cold, I think this place is quite nice, and most importantly, it's very well built."

"Absolutely. The mayor of Datong before was very capable. Later, he went to Taiyuan."

"Oh, is it still like this?"

"Yes, so there's no way around it, you always have to make choices. For example, although it's cold here, the food is still pretty good. At least based on my understanding of Shanxi, Datong has quite a few delicious things to eat."

"That's true. Ever since I came here, I've been eating potatoes every week, as well as their yellow millet jelly with sea buckthorn jam on top. It's so delicious! If I didn't have to control my figure, I would eat it for a whole week straight."

"Then you can stay here for a while after you finish filming."

"Well, we'll see how things go then. I'll see if there's anything going on at home. If not, I'll stay here for a few more days and visit some of the nearby attractions. Anyway, I've already made my travel plans."

"Go ahead and have fun. Putting everything else aside, you'll be fine as long as you take a taxi here. After all, 'Taiyuan, Shanxi, is Datong, China.'"

"Haha, won't the people of Taiyuan get angry if they say that?"

"What's there to be angry about? Everyone's used to it. People usually say that Jiangsu is fragmented, but isn't Shanxi just as fragmented? Those who are at the top usually go to Beijing, those who are at the bottom usually go to Henan, and those on the left and right sides go to Shaanxi and Shijiazhuang."

Only people from a few cities in the middle go to Taiyuan more often, but nobody really respects the provincial capital, so nobody really cares.

The final scene of the movie takes place back in Northeast China, specifically at Hengdaohezi Railway Station in Heilongjiang Province.

Although the story is set in Harbin, due to pandemic restrictions, Zhang Yimou's production team directly replicated a 30,000-square-meter replica of Harbin's Central Street at the Beicun Film and Television Base, which includes many iconic landmark buildings.

Moreover, I had considered it while filming.

In fact, Wang Sicong has been working on urban management projects, but could he also create one in Datong?
It just so happens that Zhang Yimou has already built a foundation for Harbin's Central Street here. If it can be expanded and improved, it's not impossible to create something interesting.

For example, we could organize an immersive tour.

Alternatively, you could create a large tourist attraction with many NPCs, allowing visitors to experience the feeling of playing a game.

Upon closer examination, this project is indeed feasible, but how to implement it and put it into practice remains to be discussed.

In fact, Shanxi was also considered in Wang Sicong's planning, but for some reason, he still went to connect with other places.

Moreover, Zhou Ye knew that many ancient cities had been newly built in Shanxi, but the ancient cities of Datong, Xinzhou, Pingyao, and Taiyuan were more famous.

However, among these, Taiyuan Ancient City is the worst.

"Sigh, it's still quite difficult. We'll see when the time comes."

After thinking about it, Zhou Le was still undecided. He felt that the matter itself was very promising, but it would be very difficult to put into practice.

And so, they continued filming here until early December.

Finally, only the last part remained.

"Alright, for those of you who don't have any more scenes, we're done filming. Tonight we're going to Fengling Pavilion for dinner, which will be our wrap party. Make sure you're all ready to go. If you can't make it, just ask for leave in advance. Our crew won't force you."

Zhang Yi said this, but in reality, no one was willing to ask for leave, since this was the only opportunity outside of regular work to privately interact with the director and the lead actors.

Even if it's just going up to offer a drink and chatting for a bit, if it leaves an impression on the other person, it's a win.

But it was during the party that Zhou Le suddenly received a call from Reba.

"Where are you, big star? I sent you messages when you won the Golden Eagle Award and you didn't reply. Are you that busy?"

"Oh, it's Sister Di. You've been really busy lately. Last time you went to the Golden Eagle Awards, you had to ask the director for two days off. You participated in the event for two days straight and were exhausted. After that, you've been filming in seclusion ever since."

I haven't been checking my phone much lately. Didn't you see I'm not trending online? Otherwise, knowing my personality, if I were online, I'd definitely make headlines.

Zhou Le spoke with utmost sincerity, but that was all he could say.

I didn't see Dilraba's message because so many people messaged me after she won the award that I couldn't read them all. I could only select "read" with one click.

And you can't exactly say that you and Xiaotian worked together all night after attending the Golden Eagle Awards, can you?

"Alright, I guess you have a reason. So, where have you been lately? Still in Shanxi? I'm in Beijing right now, just finished attending some fashion events. I'm coming back here to stay for a while, but I'll be leaving in a few days. But I'll be free around Christmas, how about we spend Christmas together?"

"Let's spend Christmas together, okay?"

Zhou Le thought about it and figured that since no one was inviting him to Christmas anyway, he might as well have some fun with Dilraba.

Anyway, it's better than being alone.

Even Zhou Le felt that if he were really alone, Guo Qiling would come over to play with him.

The thought of two grown men spending Christmas together is just too boring.

"Where will you be spending your time then?"

"How about Beijing? I'm more familiar with this area. Otherwise, how about Shanghai?"

"Let's go to Beijing. There are plenty of places to go around here. You don't need to worry about it. I'll do the planning and cover all the expenses."

“Okay, I really appreciate that.” Zhou Le doesn’t like to plan his trips because he finds it troublesome, so he always finds someone willing to do it.

After agreeing and hanging up the phone, Zhou Le began to think about what kind of gift to give the other person for Christmas.

If you're giving a gift to Dilraba, it definitely shouldn't be too shabby or too expensive; the most important thing is that it's full of heartfelt sentiment.

After much thought, I decided to give a gift with sentimental value, with an overall budget of a few hundred thousand.

But if your budget is several hundred thousand, it's best to give a small piece of jewelry.

When it comes to jewelry, it all comes down to having a godfather's extensive connections.

So in the end, Zhou Le made a phone call to his godfather, Yu Qian.

Soon, Yu Qian recommended a master in China. The master was not only a collector who liked to collect jade, crystal and antiques, but also a master carver with several apprentices who were well-known figures in the industry.

Then Zhou Le contacted the sculptor again, briefly explained his needs, and the sculptor said no problem, and could provide Zhou Le with the design drawings within three days.

If it can be confirmed, it can be done within a week.

Then they quoted Zhou Le a price of 350,000.

After considering the other party's skill level and the materials they had mentioned, Zhou Le felt that 350,000 was already quite reasonable.

So he readily agreed.

After finishing filming here, they immediately set off for Heilongjiang to prepare for the final few scenes.

Meanwhile, the latter part of "The Age of Awakening" will also be filmed in Harbin, which is expected to take about ten days. This means that Zhou Le will have to lose weight quickly again after filming there.

"Sigh, time is so tight."

Zhou Le kept sighing, feeling like he was a brick, moved wherever needed. If one side needed a whole brick, he had to go there whole; if another side needed half a brick, he had to cut it in half before going there to "build a wall".

So after Zhou Le finished filming Zhang Yimou's scenes, he went to the final wrap party that night, and then took a car to Harbin early the next morning.

Knowing that Zhou Le would be very busy during this period, Zhou Ye did not go home immediately, but instead stayed with Zhou Le and took on the work of her assistant.

"Ono, please help me take my luggage back to the hotel. I need to go to the gym now."

Zhou Le also has his own methods for losing weight quickly.

So for the next few days, Zhou Ye would bring Zhou Le a bite to eat at mealtimes every day, and spend the rest of the time lying in the hotel. But Zhou Le was different; he had to keep practicing as long as he could stand.

The director's requirement for a sickly appearance wasn't just about weight; although the body was "unwell," the spirit had to be full of energy, and the eyes had to always be sharp.

Three days later, Zhou Le trained and starved himself, and in the end he still lost a lot of weight, which was the limit of what he could do.

With makeup and such, I think I can meet the director's requirements.

When Zhou Le rejoined the cast of "The Age of Awakening," the director saw his appearance and didn't say anything negative about him.

Because Zhou Le also made appearances on screen during the filming of "Cliff Walkers," at two film festivals and one variety show.

However, he also noticed Zhou Le's condition.

According to Zhou Le, it had only been three days since they met today until the previous film crew finished filming. If they could achieve this level in just three days, what else is there to criticize?
For Zhou Le, three days is a limited time, but filming takes ten days. During these ten days, he still needs to practice, go hungry, and film at the same time.

He maintained this high-intensity training, which made everyone in the gym give Zhou Le a thumbs up every time they saw him.

They come here for their daily workouts, and the most enthusiastic fitness fanatics among them only train for five or six hours a day.

But Zhou Le works eight hours a day.

"Damn, he's a god. I only knew Eddie Peng in this area before, but now I haven't heard from him much, and Zhou Le has taken his place."

Working at least eight hours a day, it's inhuman! Who says our generation of viewers can't find good actors? Zhou Le is a perfect example! And even if we disregard today's standards, if Zhou Le were in that era, he'd be a notorious workaholic, right?

"Who can argue with that? Sometimes they say they'd be willing to train like this for so much money, but if I could really earn that much money, only a fool would suffer like this."

Everyone in the gym, from top to bottom, was full of admiration.

Some people asked Zhou Le why he suddenly started training like this, and Zhou Le naturally told half the truth: he was training for a movie, but he couldn't say what movie it was.

"I can only suggest that you pay more attention to newly released movies and TV series next year."

Although the remaining parts of "The Age of Awakening" were filmed several months later, the actors were very professional, and Zhou Le and Yu Hewei had been working together for almost half a year, so their chemistry on set was excellent.

The director set a ten-day schedule, during which he also specifically allocated time for the actors to get used to each other and for himself to revise the script.

As a result, Zhou Le practiced for three days before filming started, and even so, he didn't miss any of the later scenes.

The filming was completed within the scheduled time.

Zhou Le has finally finished all his work for the year.

"Sigh, I'll just enjoy myself and rest for the next two weeks or so. I really can't keep going."

Zhou Le kept sighing.

Throughout December, aside from spending Christmas with Dilraba, I had no other plans.

But it's fine if there are no plans. Zhou Le is happy to be free. As long as he finds someone to spend the holidays with, he doesn't have any other obsessions.

"Director, I'll be going now. You're busy. Please call me anytime if there's anything I can do for you later."

Zhou Le took a plane back to his home in Beijing.

Lying in his old apartment in the neighborhood, Zhou Le felt a long-lost sense of comfort. He was glad he had listened to his godfather Yu Qian and hadn't rushed into buying a house. Now, house prices were dropping day by day, and he estimated they would continue to fall for the next few years.

Rather than buying now and leaving it there for half a year, it's better to wait until the price really bottoms out before buying.

"But speaking of which, Dilraba is quite carefree. She has earned so much money over the years since her debut, yet she is reluctant to buy a house and stays in hotels wherever she goes... Her spirit is truly worth learning from."

Zhou Le sighed, thinking to himself. (End of Chapter)