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

Chapter 255 Saihanba

In Liu Peiran's office at the August First Film Studio, Liu Yimin handed the revised script to Liu Peiran and asked him if there were any parts that needed to be changed.

"You write quickly and well. Come join the army and make your mark at the August First Film Studio. I believe that with your talent, you'll be more than capable of becoming a deputy director, if not the factory director."

After reading it, Liu Peiran started making empty promises to Liu Yimin.

Unfortunately, Liu Yimin didn't eat the pancake; instead, he smiled and made him look at the notebook.

Liu Peiran pulled Liu Yimin into the film studio's conference room. Compared to the Beijing Film Studio, the conference room at the August First Film Studio had a more solemn, military feel.

In the conference room, the director from the August First Film Studio and the screenwriter from the Literature Department discussed the script.

The TV station staff only provided the funding; the actual operation and filming were entirely controlled by the August First Film Studio.

Several people looked at it, but none of them could see anything wrong.

Here, Liu Yimin met several young directors, who were brought by Liu Peiran to go through the process and learn from his experience.

Nowadays, veteran directors can get films to shoot, while most of the younger generation of directors can only manage to become assistant directors or associate directors.

Even with a representative work like "Romance on Lushan Mountain," Huang Zumo could only work as an assistant director behind Xie Jin.

Wei Lian joined the August First Film Studio's feature film department in 73. He later won numerous awards and was known for directing patriotic films. His works, such as "The Acacia Tree in the Minefield" and "Marching into the Dabie Mountains," were excellent.

He's won so many Huabiao Awards and Golden Rooster Awards that he's practically overflowing with them.

Now I can only sit in the corner, occasionally tentatively raising my hand to make a statement.

“This is Li Danning, Danning, please tell us about yourself!” Liu Peiran said.

"Director Liu, Comrade Liu Yimin, I raised my hand to say that the script is well-written, and the plot and pacing are very tight. Everyone says that Comrade Liu Yimin is a good screenwriter and novelist, and seeing him today, it is indeed true!"

Liu Peiran waved for Li Danning to sit down, thinking to himself that this young man was too eager to improve, and mentally marked him with an X.

Liu Yimin glanced at her a few times. Li Danning, this comrade's daughter is very famous, the renowned Comrade Li Xiaolu.

Many celebrities in the film and television industry, if you look closely, have ancestors who were in the same profession. It's just that their ancestors were called artists, while they themselves are called celebrities.

The Beijing Film Studio has a large number of second-generation employees, and the August First Film Studio certainly has them as well.

Wei Lian offered several suggestions regarding the approach and techniques of filming: "I went to the Beijing People's Art Theatre to see the play and read the script. I think the most important point is that we cannot turn 'The Flames of War in Beiping' into a melodrama."

Were rickshaw pullers like Wen San'er suffering? Certainly, but that's our perspective. They also suffered, but busy making a living, they forgot their suffering. They only cared about survival, constantly pulling their rickshaws; they had no time to stop and complain!

Liu Peiran nodded in agreement and looked at Liu Yimin, who smiled and said, "I have the same thought as you. If it turns out to be a melodramatic film, it's better not to make it at all!"

With Liu Yimin's approval, Wei Lian's smile deepened. Understanding the screenwriter's intentions is very important for a director.

Wei Lian wanted to get the directing rights. In three years, he would be forty and would never have directed a film.

However, I know in my heart that I will not be able to get the director's position, but if I can move even a little bit closer to the director's position, I will be satisfied, for example, as the assistant director.

He worked as an assistant director on "Xu Mao and His Daughter," but before the film was even finished, the director stopped using his assistant and sent him back to the factory.

Seeing that everyone had no objections to the script, Liu Peiran adjourned the meeting.

Because it was a TV drama script, which was much longer than a movie script, the August First Film Studio did not pay Liu Yimin the highest fee standard for feature film scripts, but instead gave him a script fee of three thousand yuan.

As he was going downstairs, a figure walked past him. Liu Yimin took one look at the figure and then looked him over carefully.

As if sensing something, the other person said to Liu Yimin, "What are you looking at?"

Liu Peiran looked down from the stair railing and said to the man, "This is Comrade Liu Yimin. What are you looking at?"

"Comrade Liu Yimin?" The man turned around and looked at Liu Yimin, saying with a smile, "Oh, feel free to look around, and tell me who I'd be suitable to play?"

Liu Yimin thought to himself, "He's perfect for the role of the station chief!"
The actor is none other than Mr. Feng Enhe, the famous founder of the "Jade Throne Golden Buddha Theory" and the owner of the "Stipunk" brand car.

Feng Enhe was in his prime, in his thirties, with a sharp, angular face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he spoke with a strong and forceful voice.

"Yimin, who do you think Xiao Feng would be most suitable to play?"

Feng Enhe, a native of Northeast China, was very friendly and said with a smile, "I think I'm perfect for playing an underground party member. Look at my face, if I were to play a reactionary, wouldn't that be a waste?"

"That's right, that Mr. Sun, the owner of the car dealership, is quite good!"

Feng Enhe wasn't picky at all, and assured Liu Yimin that if he were to act, he would definitely give a brilliant performance.

The three chatted in the stairwell for a while before Liu Yimin left. As for the specific casting, the factory could handle it themselves.

Feng Enhe's face does look quite righteous, but when he plays a villain, he does it even better, conveying a sense of evil and cunning beneath his righteousness—it's truly amazing!
At the end of July, Pierre and Yang Zhicai from the Information Department returned from the south. Yang Zhicai told Liu Yimin that Pierre had lingered in Shenzhen, taking photos everywhere and gaining a very deep understanding of the city.

Pierre can already speak some simple Chinese words such as "reform" and "development".

"Old Pi, I thought you weren't planning on coming back. In just over a month, it'll snow in Saihanba, and then it won't be a good time for interviews!" Liu Yimin joked.

"Your South is so different from the North. It feels like I'm traveling between two worlds."

"Of course the North and the South are different, and your Lyon and Paris are also different, but your France is too small, so the differences are also small."

"No, no, no, I'm talking about people's thoughts."

"Old Pi, people's thoughts are inseparable from their geographical environment and history. The southern coastal areas and Jiangsu and Zhejiang have a long tradition of doing business. In the Song Dynasty, our southern coastal people already had a mature overseas trade system."

Now that there are favorable policies, commerce in the south is naturally developing rapidly. Old Pi, if only you were a businessman! If you invested and built a factory in the south, I believe you would definitely make money in China in a few years!

Currently, most of the foreign investment attracted to coastal areas consists of "processing with supplied materials, assembling with supplied parts, processing with supplied samples, and compensation trade" factories, which have low technological levels.

There's nothing we can do about it; we have to take things one step at a time.

“But undeniably, your policies still have many shortcomings!” Pierre said.

"As long as the determination to reform and open up remains, these policies will change. The Chinese people believe that when things are impoverished, they must change; change leads to progress; and progress leads to longevity!"

"I'll put that sentence in my report!" "Hahaha."

August 1st, a special day. Liu Yimin, along with Yang Zhi, Pierre, and Yu Jiajia from the Information Department, and a colleague from the Forestry Department, a group of five, headed towards Saihanba, where they planned to stay for a week.

Marseille Dani, the French publisher, has left China and signed a publishing contract with Yao Xueyin for "Li Zicheng" in France.

Drawing on the fighting experience he learned from Liu Yimin in France, Xu Chi joined forces with Yao Xueyin to raise the royalties to twelve percent.

Yao Xueyin wrote a letter thanking Liu Yimin for the introduction, which allowed the book to reach French readers.

As for making money, Comrade Yao would definitely be too embarrassed to talk about it!

"Comrade Yimin, how's my interview with Zhang Huamei going? How's the novel idea coming along?" Yu Jiajia asked with a smile on the train.

"I'm writing it now, a short story, and I estimate I'll finish it soon."

"Really? I'll definitely check it out! Don't you usually write novellas? Why are you thinking of writing a short story?" Yu Jiajia asked.

"We can't just follow conventions; we have to follow the plot. A single character's life, with its limited changes in character and environment over a short period, becomes too long and ends up like mending an old lady's socks!" Liu Yimin said, watching the scenery change outside the train window.

Pierre, who was standing next to Yang Zhi, heard Yang Zhi's translation and asked Yu Jiajia curiously what kind of interview it was. The two then began to discuss the content of the interview.

The comrade from the Forestry Department seemed rather taciturn, with dark, wrinkled skin, and only spoke a few words when discussing matters of his own expertise.

After looking at Liu Yimin for a long time, the comrade from the Forestry Department finally spoke up: "Writer Liu, when the tree planting in Saihanba is successful, we hope you will write about Saihanba and the struggles of our forestry workers."

"You also came back from Saihanba?" Liu Yimin asked.

"Back then, I participated in the inspection work in Saihanba with the leaders and often traveled between the two places, so I have a deep affection for Saihanba."

"How is Saihanba doing now?" Liu Yimin asked.

"Mechanical and manual afforestation are carried out simultaneously. As long as the seedlings are good, the planting can be done quickly. It took us several years to figure out the temperament of Saihanba!"
When you were in France, and you talked to the French about our situation, what was their attitude?

"They must be shocked and incredulous, otherwise this reporter wouldn't have made a special trip to Saihanba to see for himself!"

"Let this foreign devil have a look!" the comrade from the Forestry Department said with a smug smile.

Pierre protested, "I understand what those foreigners mean!"

"Hahaha!"

That evening, the group of people finally arrived at Saihanba Forest Farm. They stayed overnight at the forest farm at the foot of the mountain, preparing to head up the next day.

The next morning, when they pushed open the wooden door of the forest farm dormitory, a lot of sand that had accumulated overnight fell off the door. Many people were sitting in the courtyard of the forest farm dormitory, all looking at them curiously.

As they walked out the door, a group of people stood up as well.

Pierre exclaimed in surprise, "The Chinese are so hospitable! Are they all here to welcome me?"

"Is it possible that this is to welcome Comrade Liu Yimin?" Yu Jiajia looked towards Liu Yimin behind her.

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Comrade Liu Yimin is out!"

"Where is it? Where is it?!"

"Look at the one at the very back, it's smiling right at us!"

"Where's the banner? Let's break it up! Let's fight!"

The crowd immediately became lively, and someone behind them unfurled a banner that read, "Comrade Liu Yimin, welcome to Saihanba!"

Secretary Wang and Director Liu of the forest farm walked out from the crowd, clapping their hands, and said with a smile, "Writer Liu, this was something the comrades did spontaneously!"

The people in front made way for Liu Yimin, who stepped forward, shook hands with Secretary Wang and Factory Director Liu, and said, "I really don't deserve this honor, I'm ashamed to accept it!"

"Haha, comrades love your work, they love the Saihanba you depicted. You've made more people aware of our Saihanba, and you've also let many comrades know the significance of planting trees in this godforsaken place—it boosted morale!"

Liu Yimin raised his hand and waved to the forestry workers to express his gratitude, saying with a smile, "Hello, comrades!"

"Hello, Comrade Liu Yimin! You look so young, much younger than you appear in the newspapers, hahaha!"

"You are younger than me, revolutionaries are forever young!"

Some people greeted Yu Jiajia and asked her many personal questions. Finally, someone teased her, "Reporter Yu, you still haven't found a boyfriend? If all else fails, come to our forest farm. We have plenty of good young men here."

During the meal, Pierre asked Yang Zhi from the press office why everyone liked Liu Yimin so much.

Yang Zhi told him it was because of that novel.

“Oh, ‘The Brave Old Man and His Dog’!” Pierre exclaimed in realization.

During the meal, Pierre asked many questions, all about the history of the factory. When he learned that everyone had endured hardship and poverty, his eyes practically popped out of their sockets.

Secretary Wang casually pointed to the couplet at the entrance, which read, "Whether the three meals a day are flavorful or not doesn't matter; whether climbing ice and lying in snow is cold or not doesn't matter," and explained its meaning to him.

After the meal, they visited the dugout and said to Pierre, "Compared to our climbing snow-capped mountains and crossing grasslands, this is nothing!"

Pierre kept wondering what kind of people they were, who were willing to leave the city and come here.

Led by Secretary Wang, a group of people rode horses up the mountain. Along the way, Secretary Wang pointed to various places with his whip and told them about the details.

Pierre kept asking questions, marveling at the sights and taking notes.

When they arrived at the branch forest farm, Pierre suddenly remarked to Liu Yimin, "The movie 'The PLA Occupies Paris' doesn't seem so nonsensical after all. You Chinese are really different. If the French came, they would leave after a week because they couldn't get any red wine."

Upon arriving at the branch farm, Liu Yimin and his group received a warm welcome. They worked alongside the forestry workers. Since the main planting season had passed, they checked the "leaf release rate" of the trees with the workers.

That evening, the branch venue was unusually lively. Everyone gathered around the bonfire, singing songs, and some even came up to invite Liu Yimin to recite poems together.

In just a few days, Pierre's notebook was filled with words!

(End of this chapter)