I'm not a drama freak, I can really see through the script

Chapter 324, Mo Yan: It hurts, it hurts so much, I'm in so much pain.

The emotions Jiang Wen expressed in public that day gradually shifted from resentment to humiliation.
Especially after achieving what I have today, that feeling has become even stronger.

Now, at this point, perhaps I have surpassed my master, and I am about to surpass my master.

For Lu Chuan, his initial demotion would have transformed into a feeling of anger.

Master, look, isn't the more outstanding person right here?
Isn’t it me!
That peasant, what makes him so special?
"If I were to encounter this situation again, I would make him try it, and fail utterly."

Is it petty for the seventh generation leader to bully Li Xuan? Lu Chuan asked himself this question.

But whenever he thought of Jiang Wen's evaluation, and how some people paid attention to Li Xuan, this peasant, while ignoring him, the 'leader,' this nobleman whose family had been working in this industry for three generations, he felt resentful.

I believe that in the future, I might be able to stand on the same level as Zhang Yimou and Ma Xiaogang as a seventh-generation director.

Let everyone know who the main character is and who the supporting character is.
The vast land of rural Northwest China.

Ma Laosi claimed to be living with his third brother, but he had always been a free laborer, diligently being used by others for most of his life.
Modern makeup techniques are amazing. Li Xuan's face was covered with long wrinkles, the marks left by the wind and sand of the Northwest were fully displayed on his face.

But there are some things that makeup can't capture. That's his expression, that expression hidden like dust and smoke, as the wind and sand blew across Li Xuan's face.

Aside from the main characters, everyone else in this film is an amateur.
At this moment, Ma Laosi was kicked out of the dining table, so he squatted next to the donkey and ate coarse flour buns.

Seeing that their nephew was about to get married, the older brother and sister-in-law thought he was a burden, so they arranged a match for him, so that they could get rid of him in a reasonable way.

The woman's name was Guiying.

Like the fourth brother, he was a pitiful person.
Makeup made Liu Yifei look 'ordinary', but it couldn't hide her beauty. Even though her skin was rough, her appearance was still stunning.

When filming began, Liu Yifei stopped trying to portray a "common" image.
Yu Hua, who originally thought Liu Yifei couldn't portray an ordinary feeling, saw a kind of feeling.
Yes—numbness.

Because of her disability, she was disliked by her brother and sister-in-law. Her disability, urinary incontinence—most importantly, the loss of her fertility—made her an absolute marginal figure in this remote rural area, a person of absolute worthlessness.
The families of these two individuals wanted to get rid of the burden and openly separate from the family, kicking them out of the house. So, they arranged a wedding for these two marginalized "plague gods".

There wasn't a hint of a smile on their faces when they took their wedding photos.

There is only one.

awkward.

cramped.

disturbed.

Li Xuan is alright.

How can Liu Yifei's acting skills be so good?

At least, Yu Hua sensed it.

Liu Yifei is also starting to get into her stride.

It's different from the beginning.

at this time.

It was only then that I noticed Liu Yifei's eyes had become cloudy and had yellow spots. This was not due to makeup or acting.

Yu Hua was somewhat shocked to see Liu Yifei staring at the sun.

"That's going way too far."

It is widely believed that Liu Yifei comes from an extremely powerful family and enjoys a very privileged position in the entertainment industry. She is someone who entered the industry with a silver spoon in her mouth and was able to access resources that others could never have from the moment she debuted.

My understanding of her is more like that of an idol.

But now, look at Liu Yifei's performance here.

She doesn't seem like a young lady from a wealthy family.

She's incredibly hardworking.

for what?
At this moment, Liu Yifei sat on the loess soil, looking at the distant earthen slopes.
Just look at the sun high in the sky.

Staring at the blazing sun, I saw yellow spots appear on the whites of my eyes.

Very dazzling.

But in order to play this role well, at the very least, one's 'appearance' must be taken seriously.

If my immersion and acting skills aren't enough to achieve the desired effect, then I'll use external means to make myself more convincing.

At this moment, Guiying looked at Ma Laosi.

Looking at Li Xuan.

I used to envy Gao Yuanyuan for always knowing what she wanted. Sometimes I would loathe and hate my own confusion. Compared to her, I was just prettier, more famous, from a better family, and had more resources—in other things, I was indeed much inferior to her.

A person who only goes with the flow is nothing more than an empty puppet.

I like Gao Yuanyuan.

I like it very much
At this moment, Liu Yifei looked at Li Xuan, who had already 'disappeared into the dust'.

I want to chase after him, to catch up with his footsteps.
I am a 'chaser'.

"You'll help me, won't you, Guiying?"

Ma Laosi, who left with nothing but his donkey, settled down with Guiying in an abandoned house in the village.

This marriage was nothing more than a move by two families to throw out two unwanted things.

While on the kang (heated brick bed).

Wedding night.

The fourth brother fell asleep, but Guiying kept her head down.

She wet her pants again. Afraid of being disliked, she could only sit on the bed, embarrassed and motionless. Seeing this, the fourth brother went out silently and brought back some charcoal. He lit the stove, and Guiying slept by the stove all night.

the next day.

The fourth brother brought Guiying to their parents' graves and told them the story.

I've started my own family.
The two sat on the loess slope.

Another problem troubled them: penniless, they even had trouble getting food. The fourth brother silently handed the offerings to Guiying.

Guiying hesitated and didn't answer.

The fourth brother said.

"If future generations don't eat it, our ancestors won't get it either."

The accent of an old farmer from Gansu.

Under the sun, as she gnawed on the hard, unyielding offerings, Guiying's heart softened.

This composition.

Under the scorching sun, on the loess soil, a newlywed couple, 'forgotten ones', nibble on offerings, bewildered yet warm.

A composition that is bittersweet yet warm.

"Yu Hua, is he the apprentice you secretly took in?"

At this moment, Mo Yan, who was standing next to Yu Hua, whispered something to her.

Mo Yan also came. This time, he came to Gansu purely for research. He originally came to express his humanistic feelings, but ended up visiting the set.

It was just a side trip.

When he arrived on set, he could tell that the script was definitely adapted from "To Live".

That feeling.

That's about right. If you told me the original work was written by Yu Hua, he would believe you.

"Don't even mention how you look like it, it looks just like me. It's like another version of me in this world, writing this script."

Yu Hua felt a complex joy.

This feeling.

It's as if there's someone to carry on the legacy.

That kind of happiness.

It's not as simple as leaving offspring, nor is it the transmission of bloodlines based on primal instincts; it's the passing down of knowledge and spirit.

Yu Hua was happy.

But for the rest of the crew, it wasn't so easy.

The richest man in the village.

Even in impoverished mountain villages, there are class distinctions.

The richest man is sick and needs a blood transfusion.

The village chief's son called on everyone in the village to donate blood. Everyone lowered their heads, but dared not speak out. After all, the richest man still owed the village workers money, so who would dare to mess with him?
When everyone learned that the only person in the village whose blood type matched was Ma Laosi, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Great, it's Ma Laosi, not me.

If we consider the villagers to be at the bottom of society...

Then Ma Laosi is at the very bottom of the bottom.

He had no right to refuse, and after remaining silent, he said something.

"Can we skip going to the hospital? I need to bring my wife with me."

sure!

Although it's unclear why Ma Laosi made this nonsensical request, the son of the richest man is capable of doing so.

For the poor, hospitals are places where health is a 'luxury' to be sold. Ma Laosi's natural fear and apprehension of hospitals made him reject the hospital environment.
Humble as dust
When Guiying first took a car to the city, she got carsick and even urinated in the car. The richest man's son was very unhappy. "You should have said you were going to urinate earlier. Why did you urinate in the car?"

But since he needed to suck Ma Laosi's blood, he couldn't say anything more.

Upon arriving at their destination, looking at the magnificent mansion and the table laden with delicacies, Lao Si and Gui Ying were somewhat at a loss—they weren't really craving the illusory delicacies; they just wanted to finish the blood draw quickly and go back to their farm work.

I didn't expect that I would have to undergo tests before arriving.

At this moment, the doctor in the white coat spoke softly to the woman of the house.

"If you're not sick, you can pick it."

Blood gushed out of Ma Laosi's veins, tube after tube of blood was drawn out.
Guiying looked at the fourth brother.

Everyone was looking at the blood.

Only Guiying was watching over the fourth son.

Is it "Chronicle of a Blood Merchant"?

no.

Selling blood at least brings in money, but after "donating blood" to the richest man, you have to buy seeds and fertilizer for the spring on credit, which cost 160 yuan each.

The son of the richest man thought that a delicious meal that rural people couldn't afford would be enough to satisfy them.

Hearing the villagers mocking Guiying for wetting her pants, the fourth brother silently covered her with his only coat.

They carefully covered Guiying's buttocks.

Ma Laosan suddenly showed up at the door, asking Lao Si to hitch up the donkey cart at five o'clock the next morning and go to the city to haul furniture for his son's wedding. The reason for kicking Ma Laosan out of the house was that he was taking up space, not that he was useless as a free laborer!
The dull and honest Ma Laosi was already used to being bossed around, so he silently agreed.

The next morning, a large pot of steamed buns was prepared and left for Guiying.

noon.

Eat it tonight.

They were afraid she would go hungry, so there was still food in the pot.

Guiying simply lowered her head and whispered her instructions.

"It's dark on the road, so please drive slowly."

"Ah."

He clearly has very few lines.

It's clearly tough for them too.

But Yu Hua and Mo Yan could sense a sweetness within the bitterness.

While here.

Li Xuan did not switch into the identities of 'director' and 'Ma Laosi'.

He has always been 'Old Ma Si'.

Liu Yifei has always been 'Guiying'.

Because this is a play between two people, for others, they can simply speak naturally.
The richest man's son bought a coat for Ma Laosi.

One hundred yuan.

Although the intention was simply to continue getting him to donate blood, it also preserved a sliver of Ma Laosi's dignity.

After Ma Laosi returned to the village.

I saw a dark figure shivering in the cold wind; it was Guiying.
The fourth brother lost his temper with Guiying for the first time.

"Why aren't you staying indoors in the middle of the night? What are you doing out here? It's freezing!"

Guiying silently took out a water bottle from her bosom.

The water inside was still warm.

She has changed the water many times and is waiting here for her husband to come home.

The fourth brother paused for a moment, then drank the hot water.

"Here, have a sip too. I'm all sweaty, but I'm not cold."

Authentic Gansu dialect.

After saying that, the fourth brother draped the new overcoat over Guiying's shoulders.

A place that can cover her from wetting her pants.

It can give her dignity.

A warm coat.

So warm.

Two forgotten marginalized people.

Colorful hues enveloped these two forgotten people.
The couple worked on the farm, and their combined efforts made the work less tiring.

The two shamelessly borrowed more than a dozen eggs from their neighbor, hoping that the chicks would hatch the following year.

Then the family had chicks that could lay eggs.

Inside the mud-brick house.

The box was punched with a hole.

Then a small lamp was placed inside, making it look as if starlight had been added to this shabby room that had no furniture at all.
Guiying couldn't help but reach out and hold the 'Starlight' in her hands, while Lao Si shook the light with a smile on his face, so that the starlight could be seen throughout the entire room.

An ultimate sense of romance unfolded on the film set in the darkness of night—

Everyone watched this 'impoverished' love story, afraid that even a slightly louder breath might disturb the tranquility and happiness of this moment.
I disturbed them.

The old house was slated for demolition, with compensation amounting to tens of thousands of yuan. The former homeowner rushed back from out of town and evicted Guiying and her husband from the house.
The fourth brother could only leave this "home" that originally belonged to someone else, a "home" that had been abandoned but had returned to because it was now profitable, along with Guiying and their donkey and meager belongings.

Having lost their 'home', they decided to build their own house and create a small home for themselves.

Unable to afford workers, they, like their ancestors, used their own hands and feet, like a true old farmer, to build brick houses step by step.

But the heavy rain once again destroyed their 'home'.

In the pouring rain, the two cried and laughed—but eventually returned to calm.

The house was eventually built, and after collapsing time and time again, it was rebuilt once more.

During this time, the rich man once again asked Ma Laosi to "donate blood." This time, Ma Laosi made a request.

Could you please settle the wages of everyone in the village? We're all farmers.

The richest man's son smiled.

"You can't even take care of yourself, yet you have the mind to worry about others."

A cheap piece of clothing was enough to get rid of Ma Youtie once again.

I don't even mind that your blood is dirty, and you're still making demands of me.
Before they knew it, it was time to harvest the wheat. No matter how hard life was, as long as they returned to that dilapidated mud house, as long as Guiying was still there beside them.

Ma Laosi took out some wheat and pressed it into Guiying's hand, leaving an imprint.

“I planted a flower for you and made a mark, so you can never lose it no matter where you go.”

This is a close-up shot of Ma Youtie and Guiying.

At this moment, Ma Youtie and Guiying looked at each other.

silence.

The camera zooms in on their faces, showing their eyes, the texture of their skin, the marks left by the wind and sand, and how their makeup and characters blend together seamlessly.

Liu Yifei looked into Li Xuan's eyes, her gaze revealing a surge of emotion.

Feel the imprint of wheat on your hands.

Roses cannot grow in the deserts of the Northwest, but wheat prints express my most surging love.

at this time.

The filming process is more than halfway complete and is going very smoothly. There are basically no retakes, and everything is done in one take.

For Yu Hua, a literary consultant who had previously worked on top-tier film crews, this pace was even faster than that of "To Live".

Mo Yan, who was standing next to me, said the same thing—the same goes for "Red Sorghum".

“He’s really reached your level; he’s truly your spiritual successor,” Mo Yan said to Yu Hua. “I’m starting to regret it.”

"What do you regret?"

"I regret coming to visit you on set."

It's a very 'painful' feeling to see this artwork before it's even finished.

Before he could finish eating, he had already tasted a portion of it.

Mo Yan has now left. Firstly, he didn't want to continue reading, and secondly, he couldn't bear to continue reading.

After the overwhelming love comes pain.

That is.

bitter.

(End of this chapter)