Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 65: You Can’t Meet Someone Too Amazing When You’re Young (First Order Request)
On the Beijing Film Academy campus, as night deepens, the withered branches of locust trees sway under the streetlights, a dim halo of light casts on the bluestone road, the student dormitories are brightly lit, and the sounds of laughter and keyboard tapping can be faintly heard.

Halfway through the journey, Hu Jing got off the car near Dongmianhua Hutong, waved and said with a smile, "Director Wu, see you later! Just give me a shout for any movie promotions!"

Wu Chen chuckled and said calmly, "Don't worry, you're indispensable!"

At the Xitucheng intersection, Wu Chen dragged his suitcase and got out of the car side by side with Zu Feng and Dong Xuan. The coolness of the autumn night penetrated his collar, and the air was filled with the aroma of charcoal fire from the street barbecue stalls.

The three of them walked slowly towards the gate of Beijing Film Academy. Looking up, they saw a bright red banner hanging high, fluttering in the wind, with golden characters written on it:
Warm congratulations to our photography student Wu Chen for winning both the Best Film and Best Cinematography awards at the 36th Sitges Fantastic Film Festival!

Under the banner, several logistics uncles were busy adjusting the lights, making the words sparkle.

Zu Feng and Dong Xuan were no longer surprised by this. They had hung many banners in recent years, but this time it was related to them as well, so it looked particularly pleasing to the eye.

Wu Chen stared at the banner, his eyes moving slightly.

He still remembered the following words from both his previous and current life when the university started:

“Today you are proud of your alma mater, and tomorrow your alma mater will be proud of you.”

What he didn't do in his previous life is beginning to come true in this life.

The three of them stopped for a moment, then stepped forward. Students on the roadside recognized them, looked at them curiously, and whispered to each other:

"That's Wu Chen, the one with the double award!"

"He's so handsome in real life, damn, he's killing me. Why did he apply to the photography department? Wouldn't it be better to go to the acting department?"

Envy and curiosity intertwined, and the air became a little warmer.

At the fork in the road, Zu Feng asked curiously, "What did Director Mu say?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Chen's phone vibrated. He took it out and saw that it was a text message from Mu Deyuan:

"Just take a good rest tonight and come back tomorrow!"

Wu Chen replied "OK" with a slight smile on his face, and waved to Zu Feng and Dong Xuan: "The teacher is not in a hurry, I'll go back to the dormitory first."

"Director Mu and the others are quite patient." Zu Feng nodded and walked towards the teachers' dormitory.

Seeing Wu Chen's gaze sweeping over, Dong Xuan hesitated for a moment, her small hand gently brushing her hair from her forehead to hide her slightly red cheeks: "I'll go find Guan Yue."

"Senior Sister Guan Yue stayed in school?"

"Well, she said it would be nice to be a teacher first." Dong Xuan responded with a chuckle.

"Okay, I'll contact you later." Wu Chen waved his hand and stepped forward.

Dong Xuan's beautiful eyes froze, she seemed to be hesitant to speak, looking at the familiar and receding figure, a trace of melancholy flashed in her eyes.

On the third floor of the dormitory, Wu Chen opened the door, the hinges creaked slightly, and colorful crepe paper fell like snowflakes, entangled with the suitcase handle.

Inside the house, Park Song-il, Xiang Zhuo, Chu Tianshu and several people from the neighboring dormitory crowded into one room. Except for two girls, all the students from the 03 photography class were gathered there.

"Brother Chen, welcome back with a great victory! Where is the trophy? Come and show us what Sitges has!" Everyone laughed, their eyes like wolves, and immediately searched for the trophy.

"In the suitcase." Wu Chen smiled, opened the suitcase, and took out two crystal trophies.

"Are we faster than Lao Mu and the others?"

Xiang Zhuo's eyes lit up as he touched the Best Photography trophy.

Wu Chen nodded, and the others became even more excited when they saw this. They were the first group besides Wu Chen and his friends to touch the trophy, so it had a different meaning.

"Let me touch it, and get some of your talent!"

"Come on, you barely passed the final exam last year. I can only give you an 80 at best!"

"piss off!"

"."

Everyone was laughing and joking, it was very lively.

"Let's go outside and have some fun later. It's my treat." Wu Chen said with a smile, "Call the two beautiful girls in the class too."

"Got it."

Everyone dispersed and rushed back to the dormitory to change clothes.

Wu Chen packed his luggage and casually asked, "How did you know I'd arrive at this time?"

Xiang Zhuo put on his shoes and said cheerfully, "As soon as you came back, someone posted something on the BBS."

"Damn, it turns out they are all spies." "Who made you famous?" The four of them went out laughing.

At the same time, in Guan Yue's dormitory, the lights were soft and warm. Dong Xuan was lying on the bed with a melancholy look on her face, her hair disheveled like ink.

Guan Yue frowned and sat down with a cup of hot water: "Xuan'er, now that you put it that way, I feel like you have no chance."

As an analyst, Guan Yue is making a rational analysis based on her experience of watching countless films:

"You've actually been showing it quite clearly, but Wu Chen hasn't made any move, which only means he really has no interest in you.

I gave you the chance, but you didn’t take it. If it were me, I could have knocked down the door of his room in Sitges.”

After hearing what Guan Yue said, Dong Xuan could no longer hide the sadness in her eyes.

"Hey, there's always grass everywhere, what's the big deal?"

Guan Yue didn't know how to comfort her for a moment. Seeing a flash of sadness in Dong Xuan's eyes, she bit her lips lightly and finally sighed:

"They say you shouldn't meet someone too amazing when you're young, but you just happened to meet one."

In the early morning of October 17, in the office of the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy, sunlight shone through the leaves, casting shadows on the green plants on the windowsill, making them glow faintly.

Wu Chen pushed the door open and walked in, picking up the trophy box. Several teachers in the room looked up and stood up at the same time.

"Wu Chen is back."

"Don't tell me, this is our school's first Sitges trophy."

Xu Bin pushed up his glasses and happily touched the trophy, praising it in amazement: "The texture is quite good."

Li Wei walked out the door and called Mu Deyuan who was in the office next door.

A moment later, Mu Deyuan walked in with a smile, reached out to take the Best Picture trophy handed to him by Xu Bin, and rubbed his fingers on the base of the trophy. A smile wrinkled his eyes, and he turned to Xu Bin and said:

"Is that shop that reproduced the trophies from last time still around? I'll take them there to have two reproduced at noon."

"Okay, leave it to me."

Mu Deyuan glanced at the time and said to Wu Chen, "Let's go, Dean Zhang is waiting."

At nine o'clock in the morning, in Zhang Huijun's office, the air was filled with the aroma of tea, the autumn wind was blowing the fallen leaves outside the window, and the medals on the bookcase were shining with a low-key golden light in the morning light.

"Hey, what did you say? The copyright fee was $372 million?"

Zhang Huijun shook the teacup in his hand lightly, and the tea rippled on the edge of the cup. He couldn't help but glance at Mu Deyuan.

What are you looking at me doing?

I don’t know either. Who would ask so clearly?

Mudeyuan pouted when he saw this. This bastard just liked to shift the blame onto him.

"Well, I calculated it in detail last night and added the increase for Best Picture." Wu Chen smiled.

"Very good!" Zhang Huijun didn't know what to say for a moment. It seemed that this was the first time that a project invested by Beijing Film Academy had such a high return rate.

Seeing this, Mu Deyuan interjected, "What are your plans after you come back?"

"Dean Zhang, Teacher, I'm planning to turn my studio into a company."

"This is easy. We can use school-enterprise cooperation and ask Lao Mu to hand you a document. The process will be faster." Zhang Huijun nodded. With Wu Chen's current style of play, it would be a real loss for him to still use a studio.

Mu Deyuan struck while the iron was hot: "If you have any other requests, please submit them to Dean Zhang!"

Zhang Huijun took a glance and was speechless.

He is such a stingy person.

Isn't it too late?
"It's a small matter." Wu Chen paused, "I want to get a bank loan. I've been spending a lot of money lately, and the copyright fees won't come down for a while."

"The school has a partnership with China Construction Bank. They handle tuition deductions and scholarships. I'll call their branch manager later and have him send a credit manager to the school to talk to you tomorrow. How's that?"

Wu Chen's eyes lit up: "Thank you, Dean Zhang!"

It turns out that it’s easier to get things done if you have someone in the court.

"It's nothing. You've brought honor to the school, so the school certainly won't treat you unfairly." Zhang Huijun waved his hand, then said seriously:

"Yesterday, Mr. Han from China Film Group contacted me and said he was interested in distributing The Dark Side."

(End of this chapter)