1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 240 Liu Xiaoli to Play Jia Yuanchun (Please Subscribe!)
CCTV, the crew of the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber".

The news of the open casting call has been released through the media for quite some time, and we have received many letters from all over the country.

Another batch accumulated in the last two days and was then delivered to director Wang Fulin's desk by the staff.

He didn't delay; the first thing he did at work was to open each of the letters to see if any were suitable.

Soon, Wang Fulin's attention was drawn to a photograph in a letter sent from Anshan.

"Hmm, this girl's features and temperament do resemble Lin Daiyu somewhat."

Wang Fulin looked at it carefully for a few moments before becoming interested in learning about the other person's name and information.

"Chen Xiaoxu, born in 1965, is 18 years old this year and is an actress with the Anshan Drama Troupe..."

As Wang Fulin was learning about Chen Xiaoxu, Zhou Lei, one of the three screenwriters of "Dream of the Red Chamber," walked in, picked up Chen Xiaoxu's photo from the table, glanced at it, and said with a tone of surprise:

"Old Wang, we've discovered another promising talent who's perfect for playing Lin Daiyu."

"Yes, this girl's name is Chen Xiaoxu."

Wang Fulin looked up to answer, but suddenly his gaze sharpened as he noticed words on the back of the photo.

He quickly reached out and snatched the photo from Zhou Lei's hand. Under the other man's questioning gaze, he flipped it over and revealed a poem on the back.

"Is this... a poem?"

Zhou Lei leaned closer.

Wang Fulin did not answer, but instead began to read.

I am a willow catkin.

"Growing up in the beautiful spring"

"Because my parents abandoned me too early."

"And so I became confidants with the spring breeze."

I am a willow catkin.

Don't ask me where my home is.

May the spring breeze carry me to the ends of the earth.

"I want to bring the news of spring to every corner of the earth."

I am a willow catkin.

Born carefree and without worries

"My father is the vast sky."

"My mother is the boundless earth."

After reading the entire poem, Wang Fulin and Zhou Lei exchanged a glance and both smiled awkwardly.

Then each of them made a comment:
"not bad."

"Yeah, not bad."

Then I stopped paying attention to the poem and turned the photo over to the correct position.

It was 8:30, the time when their directing team held a meeting every day.

Today was no exception, except that when Wang Fulin got up and walked to the next meeting room, he also took Chen Xiaoxu's photo and information with him.

"The casting for 'Dream of the Red Chamber' has been going on for almost two months. Which roles have been confirmed so far?"

Today, factory director Wang Feng also attended their "Dream of the Red Chamber" morning meeting and asked this question during the meeting.

"We have already confirmed the actors for the roles of Jia Baoyu, Xue Baochai, Wang Xifeng, Yuanyang, Jia Lian... Xiangling, and the roles of Lin Daiyu, Tanchun, Yuanchun, Qin Keqing, Aunt Xue, Lady Wang... Xue Pan's role has not yet been decided."

"Is Lin Daiyu still undecided?" Wang Feng asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The character of Lin Daiyu is the core of 'Dream of the Red Chamber,' so we are quite cautious in casting. The candidates we have shortlisted are Zhang Jinlin, whose mother is Ma Yinzhu, who once played Lin Daiyu in Pingju opera; Zhang Lei, Hu Zehong, Dong Zhizhi, and someone we just received this morning, named Chen Xiaoxu."

Wang Feng nodded, then asked the other characters a few questions as a formality, and before leaving, gave Wang Fulin and the others a suggestion to guess for themselves.

The original quote was: "With so many female characters in 'Dream of the Red Chamber,' didn't you ever consider using your own people?"

"Our own people? Do we even have any suitable actresses at CCTV?" Wang Fulin didn't immediately grasp the factory director's meaning, so he simply looked at everyone.

"Yes, there are, but..." Screenwriter Zhou Ling hesitated.

“But what is it, Comrade Zhou Ling? Speak quickly, don’t beat around the bush.” Zhou Ling said, “Isn’t there a lot of beautiful women in Director Yang Jie’s ‘Journey to the West’? I guess the factory director is hinting that we can go find them.”

As soon as she finished speaking, another screenwriter surnamed Liu said, "Isn't Zhu Lin very popular lately? I feel that her image and temperament are quite suitable for playing either Yuan Chun or Qin Keqing."

"I think Liu Xiaoli is more suitable to play Yuan Chun."

……

CCTV, the crew of "Journey to the West" directed by Yang Jie.

"Xiao Li, I heard you went to Hong Kong for fun recently?"

"Hmm~" Liu Xiaoli nodded, then asked with some surprise, "Director Yang Jie, how did you know that?"

“Zhulin told me that she went to your house to wish you a Happy New Year a few days ago, but she didn’t see you. Then your parents-in-law said that your whole family had gone to Hong Kong.”

Liu Xiaoli glanced at Zhu Lin beside her and explained with some surprise, "I came back quite late yesterday and haven't heard them mention it yet, but thank you so much for wishing me a Happy New Year. You're too kind."

Before Zhu Lin could speak, Director Yang Jie said with a smile, "It's only right that Xiao Zhu wishes you a Happy New Year. She's become incredibly famous now because of her starring role in your husband's movie 'Die Hard.' Many directors have contacted me hoping to cast her in their films."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaoli turned to Zhu Lin and congratulated her, "Really? Zhu Lin, congratulations!"

"It wasn't as exaggerated as Director Yang Jie said, but I'm very grateful to Director Chen for letting me star in 'Die Hard'..."

As Zhu Lin was speaking, Wang Fulin suddenly walked in with Zhou Lei, the screenwriter from his production team.

"What brings Director Wang and Screenwriter Zhou here?" Director Yang Jie was the first to spot the two and stood up to greet them.

"Sigh~" Wang Fulin didn't answer, he just kept sighing.

"What's wrong?" Director Yang Jie knew why Wang Fulin sighed. Their two projects were launched around the same time, but she had already filmed several episodes while the other project was still in the preparation stage. If it were her, she would also sigh.

She was just curious about what the other person was doing on her set.

Surely it's not just a complaint?

Just as he was having doubts, Director Yang Jie keenly noticed that Wang Fulin's gaze was fixed on Zhu Lin and Liu Xiaoli, and alarm bells immediately went off in his mind.

……

Oriental Company.

Chen Fusheng had just finished handing over his work to his secretary when Zhang Yimou knocked on the door and came in.

Before the other person could speak, he said first, "I heard you made a news story about holding auditions for actors nationwide?"

Zhang Yimou came to report on this matter. In a moment of impulsiveness, he directly imitated the recent "Dream of the Red Chamber" and published a casting call for his "Under the Hawthorn Tree." Only after doing so did he realize that this had a significant impact, especially since some media outlets labeled his film as "bourgeois liberalization," which terrified him. So, as soon as Chen Fusheng came to work today, he came to "apologize."

"I'm sorry, Director Chen, it was my oversight..."

Seeing that Zhang Yimou looked like he had done something wrong, Chen Fusheng stopped trying to scare him.

He waved his hand and said, "The idea is good, but remember to report in advance next time, instead of acting first and informing later."

what?
Zhang Yimou was taken aback.

He thought he was going to be punished, or at the very least, scolded.

And so it just passed by so easily?
"Director Chen, you..."

Before Zhang Yimou could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a phone ringing.

Before picking up the phone, Chen Fusheng asked, "Is there anything else?"

"No...it's alright, thank you...Director Chen."

"Okay, if there's nothing else, you can go ahead and get busy."

"Okay, you're busy too."

Even after leaving the office, Zhang Yimou still felt somewhat surprised.

"Does Director Chen not realize the magnitude of the trouble I've caused?"

Perspective determines perception. What Zhang Yimou might consider a major problem is actually nothing to Chen Fusheng.

What Chen Fusheng really cared about was that Zhang Yimou hadn't reported it beforehand, nothing more.

But as soon as he returned, Zhang Yimou apologized, and the matter was naturally over.

(End of this chapter)