Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 140 Zhu Lin stars in "Romance on Lushan Mountain"

After a night of deliberation, Zhu Lin finally decided to audition at the Shanghai Film Studio. Carrying a suitcase full of clothes, she boarded the train to Shanghai with Zhang Mengzhao.

On the train platform, Zhang Mengzhao helped Zhu Lin carry his things and said to Liu Yimin, "Comrade Liu Yimin, I hope you can come and give me some guidance when you have time during filming! It would be even better if you could be on set in person."

“Editor Zhang, the script is already very mature, and I can’t do much more. You can make minor corrections yourselves during filming. You can be the on-set screenwriter; we’ve revised the script for so long, you know it better than I do.”

Liu Yimin didn't plan to film with the crew, as he didn't understand acting and wanted to leave professional tasks to professionals. Furthermore, the script was a mature one, not one of those half-baked ones, requiring revisions as filming progressed.

Zhu Lin and Zhang Mengzhao boarded the train under the urging of the staff. Their seats were by the window, so they could chat before leaving.

"Rehearse properly!"

Zhu Lin joked, "Maybe I'll be back in a few days!"

"I believe you!"

Liu Yimin waved to the two of them from the platform, and the green train slowly pulled away from the station. In the distance, Liu Yimin gestured a "write" sign to Zhang Mengzhao, reminding her to remember her script fee.

He then made a gesture of raising the standard slightly, implying that she should raise it.

Zhu Lin didn't understand what he meant. Zhang Mengzhao saw Liu Yimin make a "writing" gesture with his hand and said, "He said he would write you a letter."

Zhu Lin stuck his head out of the window and waved his hand vigorously: "I'll write to you too!"

"His final meaning was that he would write to you more often!"

"Comrade Liu Yimin, I will write to you more often."

Zhang Mengzhao handed Zhu Lin a piece of fruit: "Don't be nervous, it's just an audition, it's very simple. The main thing is to see if the person is suitable, you can't necessarily tell their acting skills at the beginning."

The train from Yanjing headed south. As Zhu Lin sat on the wooden chair, he recalled the days when he left Yanjing Railway Station a few years ago and took the train to Shanxi Province to work in the countryside.

At five in the morning, the train station was bustling with people. Some were waving red flags, others were shouting slogans. Everyone wore a big red flower on their chest, and Zhu's father and mother were wiping away tears.

At this moment, Zhu's father and mother felt extremely uncomfortable at home. Their daughter was going to Shanghai, but she wouldn't let them see her off.

When Mr. Zhu got home from get off work, he felt uneasy for a long time, but finally said to Mrs. Zhu, "The child has grown up!"

At night, the two lay in bed with two blankets, each sleeping in a single room.

Mr. Zhu said, "Tell me, who is the young man who often brings Linlin home?"

"How would I know? You can hide behind the tree by the door next time and take a look!" Zhu's mother turned over and looked at Zhu's father.

Mr. Zhu said helplessly, "How would I know when to send it? You know, our daughter likes to read Liu Yimin's novels, and she came to the Beijing People's Art Theatre because of Liu Yimin's stage plays. Now she's acting in his movie scripts. Aren't the two of them quite destined for each other?"

"Perhaps it was Liu Yimin who brought her back!"

Mr. Zhu chuckled, his laughter particularly clear in the quiet room: "That's possible. The two of them are bound to run into each other all the time at the Beijing People's Art Theatre."

Mother Zhu, now engrossed, snuggled into Father Zhu's bed and began talking in hushed tones, occasionally breaking into knowing smiles. When they had finished talking, Father Zhu gently pushed Mother Zhu back into her own bed. Even in the darkness, he could feel her intense gaze, so he turned away, pretending not to see her.

Zhu's mother tried to lift Zhu's father's blanket, but this time he held her down tightly and she couldn't lift it at all.

After doing something useless for a while, I got so angry that I turned around and leaned against the wall to go to sleep.

At the end of September, Zhu Lin sent a letter to Liu Yimin informing him that she had passed the audition and also sent him some small trinkets from Shanghai. Meanwhile, the Beijing People's Art Theatre, after signing the secondment contract, sent it to the Shanghai Film Studio.

The National Day is just around the corner, and this year marks its 30th anniversary. The streets are filled with a joyous atmosphere, and everyone is looking forward to the arrival of National Day.

The play "Wang Zhaojun" was undergoing its final rehearsals, and many important figures were scheduled to attend that evening. Liu Yimin managed to get a ticket through connections, but the Beijing People's Art Theatre was so annoyed by the constant calls asking for tickets that they simply disconnected the phone.

People without tickets can't even get a ticket if they try to go through the back door, let alone the front door or the back door.

On the evening of October 1st, the Beijing People's Art Theatre was brightly lit, with red flags flying on the roof and along the streets on both sides, and the second national anthem, "The Five-Starred Red Flag Fluttering in the Wind," playing from loudspeakers.

The sun is rising in the East; the people's republic is growing.

Liu Yimin was sitting in the fifth row. Good heavens, looking in the front row, he saw Zhou Yang, Xia Yan, and Mao Dun all there. Cao Yu was sitting next to him, talking in a low voice.

"We have lived up to the Premier's expectations. This play has finally come out. What a pity!" Cao Yu shook his head and said regretfully.

As the bell rang, the performance of "Wang Zhaojun" officially began. The audience below the stage was completely silent, everyone staring intently at the actors. As the music played and the actors appeared on stage, the atmosphere gradually relaxed.

On stage, every actor did their best to showcase their talent. Yang Lixin, as the golden-armored warrior on guard duty, also performed with utmost seriousness.

During the ten-minute break, Cao Yu turned to Liu Yimin and said, "If it weren't for the movie 'Romance on Lushan Mountain,' I would have wanted Zhu Lin to play today."

Out of curiosity, Zhou Yang and Xia Yan asked about "Romance on Lushan Mountain," and Cao Yu earnestly told them the story.

"We should be bold in making movies. We need some good films. We can't let Japanese movies always dominate our cinemas," Xia Yan said. "I've read this novel. I'll ask the Shanghai Film Studio for the script to take a look at sometime."

“Yes, a new era needs a new look!” Zhou Yang nodded in agreement.

Liu Yimin then realized that his teacher was paving the way for the film; the connections at higher levels had already been made even before the film was made.

When "Romance on Lushan Mountain" was filmed, it was highly controversial and was initially unable to be released. It was only after the approval of two heads of the Ministry of Culture, Zhou Yang and Xia Yan, that it was finally approved.

Even so, when "Romance on Lushan Mountain" won an award, some colleagues in Shanghai told the film crew not to go to accept the award, saying that accepting the award was not an honor.

Like "Mr. Donkey," "Wang Zhaojun" was a bestseller after its premiere, with every performance sold out and major drama theaters vying to rehearse it.

Hong Kong also extended an invitation, intending to invite the cast and crew of "Wang Zhaojun" and "Mr. Donkey" to perform in Hong Kong. However, after learning of the situation, the authorities did not approve it immediately, but instead believed that it was not appropriate for them to perform in Hong Kong at the moment.

After "The Green Book" was finished, it was already mid-October. Liu Yimin took the manuscript and walked into Cao Yu's office.

"Come on, let me take a look!" Cao Yu, with a hint of excitement in his eyes, quickly put on his glasses and took the manuscript.

(End of this chapter)