Huayu Entertainment: The Birth of a Succubus Top Star

The film crew returned to Chaoshan, and after half a month, they once again settled in the old arcade area of ​​Shantou.

The air in the old town of Chaoshan is humid after the rain, with shallow water marks still remaining on the bluestone pavement. Water droplets hang from the eaves of the old houses, and the atmosphere of fireworks and old times is overwhelming.

After a day of rest, the crew immediately began filming the crucial homecoming scene where Zheng Musheng, after decades of wandering in Southeast Asia, finally sets foot on his homeland.

This is the most emotionally charged scene in the entire film, "Love Letters to Grandma".

Zheng Musheng left his hometown as a young man, struggled in Southeast Asia, endured countless hardships, wrote numerous letters to overseas Chinese across the vast ocean, and after most of his life, he was finally able to return to his beloved hometown.

Before filming began, Gu Zhiyan stayed alone in a corner of the old house, not chatting with anyone, and closed her eyes to go over the character's emotions again and again.

The wind and sand of Southeast Asia are etched on my body, and my heart is filled with decades of longing, guilt, anxiety, and trepidation as I approach home. It's not about wailing and crying, but about the bitterness that has been pressed into my bones after all the hardships I've endured.

Li Sitong plays Xie Nanzhi, who has been waiting at home for many years. This scene is the reunion of the two after a long separation.

Filming officially begins, and the camera slowly moves forward.

Zheng Musheng, dressed in a faded old cloth shirt, hesitated as he stepped onto the bluestone slabs of his hometown.

The familiar local accent reached his ears, and as he gazed at the streets and alleys that were both familiar and unfamiliar, he stood at the entrance of the old house, his shoulders trembling slightly.

The homeland I've longed for day and night, thousands of miles away, is right before my eyes. For a moment, a thousand words are stuck in my throat, and I can't utter a single one.

His eyes slowly reddened, tears welled up in his eyes but did not fall. Decades of wandering, all the suffering and longing, were contained in his restrained expression.

Xie Nanzhi stood inside the threshold, watching the weary travelers return, her eyes also red-rimmed.

There was no passionate embrace; they simply gazed at each other from a distance of a few steps.

The entire filming location was quiet, and all the staff held their breath, not daring to make a sound, for fear of breaking the heavy atmosphere.

It wasn't until the director yelled "Cut!" that a long time passed before soft applause slowly rose from the set.

The director stepped forward, nodding repeatedly, his tone full of emotion: "That's the feeling! When a wanderer returns home after crossing the ocean, it's not to cry and vent, but a homesickness that has been worn down by the years and settled deep in his heart."

Li Sitong hadn't fully detached herself from the role yet; her nose was red. Afterwards, she privately sought advice from Gu Zhiyan: "Brother Yan, I was completely drawn into the scene just now. That delicate balance of feeling hesitant to leave one's hometown was so difficult to capture. How did you manage to restrain yourself so perfectly?"

Gu Zhiyan slowly said, "Zheng Musheng has been working hard to make a living outside, and he has long been used to enduring hardship in order to survive. Suffering will not make him break down in public."

The tears of returning home are hidden in his heart. He fears that things will have changed, that people will no longer be there. This unease outweighs the joy. The performance doesn't need to lay bare all emotions; leave some restraint for the audience to experience.

The cast and crew gathered around, expressing their emotions; this scene of returning home was heartbreaking to watch.

Behind-the-scenes footage was quietly leaked, and the clips immediately went viral.

How did it leak out?

Of course, it was released by the production team. With Gu Zhiyan, a hot topic generator, it would be a waste not to use her.

Any drama featuring Gu Zhiyan always attracts widespread attention online, so there's no need to worry about it lacking popularity.

The hashtags 【The Atmosphere of Gu Zhiyan's Homecoming Scene】 and 【The Important Scene of the Wanderer's Love Letter to Grandma】 trended on social media, sparking heated discussions among netizens.

"Without wailing or loud crying, yet bringing tears to the eyes, that is the highest level of acting."

"You can feel the homesickness of those who have been away from home for decades, even through the screen."

"Gu Zhiyan's acting is amazing! You can't even tell he's the same person at all."

"Many of the ancestors of the Chaoshan overseas Chinese were like this, so I can really relate to it and I'm already looking forward to it."

.........

A few days later, the local cultural and tourism department in Shantou contacted the film crew and invited several elderly relatives of overseas Chinese in their seventies to visit the film set. Many of the elderly people's relatives had gone to Southeast Asia to make a living back then, and they maintained their connection between the two places through letters from overseas Chinese, which was almost exactly the same as the story of "Love Letters to Grandma".

During a break in filming, the crew paused the camera work to receive this group of special guests.

Most of the elderly people have gray hair, and some still cherish yellowed letters from their ancestors, with wrinkled paper and faded handwriting, which are physical objects spanning more than half a century.

Gu Zhiyan had just removed Zheng Musheng's costume and was still wearing his worn-out coarse cloth clothes when he heard the news, so he quickly came to greet him.

An 87-year-old grandmother, whose ancestors had moved to Thailand as children and who had spent most of her life separated from her family, held the old letters in her hands, gently stroking the edges of the paper with her fingers. Looking at Gu Zhiyan, her eyes instantly welled up with tears: "The Zheng Musheng you portray is just like my grandfather. He was the same way back then, crossing oceans and sending letters back year after year, returning home only a handful of times in his entire life."

Gu Zhiyan slowed her speech, leaned down and listened quietly to the old man recount his past, her demeanor humble and without a trace of celebrity airs.

He carefully examined the letters the old man had brought. They contained words of advice to his elders to take care of their health and to send money back to help with household expenses. Every word was filled with the longing of a traveler far from home.

Several elderly people nearby also chimed in, recounting the hardships of their time in Southeast Asia, the storms at sea, the difficulties of making a living in a foreign land, and the days and nights they spent longing for their loved ones to return home.

Li Sitong stood quietly to the side, listening intently. She couldn't help but tear up, and carefully took out her phone to photograph the letter in order to understand Xie Nanzhi's state of mind.

An old man looked at the reconstructed old house set on the film set and sighed, "So many scenes are exactly the same as when I was a child. Back then, I would wait at the door of my house, hoping that someone from the other side of the sea would bring me a message."

Gu Zhiyan spoke softly: "We made this film because we don't want to forget this past. Countless ordinary people like your ancestors left their homes and were separated from their families. Overseas remittances were not just letters, but a longing of an entire era."

The elderly people were in high spirits and even offered the production team some small suggestions on their performances, talking about the demeanor, accent, and manner of people of those who had returned home after years of wandering.

Gu Zhiyan took out her notebook and carefully wrote down every word, adding the details from the old man's oral account to her own biography and adjusting Zheng Musheng's subsequent behavior and demeanor.

Local media were also present to record the scene. There was no deliberate hype; they simply recorded the scene of the elderly overseas Chinese relatives visiting the film crew.

Before parting, the elderly people took a group photo with Gu Zhiyan and Li Sitong.

The old lady held Gu Zhiyan's hand and repeatedly instructed him: "Perform this story well, so that young people today know what people in the past went through."

After seeing the elderly off, the film set was ready to resume filming.

Having spoken with those who actually experienced it firsthand, Gu Zhiyan now possesses an even deeper sense of empathy.

When he stood in front of the old house again and performed the scene where Zheng Musheng was looking at the remittances from overseas Chinese and longing for his relatives far away, his emotions were even more profound and genuine.

After the news report of this visit was released, it quickly became a trending topic on local social media and spread across the entire internet.

Netizens left numerous comments.

"What touches people the most is always the true history. I am grateful to these elderly people for telling their stories."

"Gu Zhiyan is willing to listen attentively to those who have experienced it firsthand; this is the attitude an actor should have."

"A letter from a foreign land, a letter from home, separated by a vast ocean, weighs heavily on the heart."

"Even before the movie was released, I could already feel the weight of this story."

The news was also shared on Southeast Asian social media platforms, with many Chinese netizens in Malaysia and Thailand leaving comments, saying that they also have similar letters in their homes and are eagerly anticipating the film's release.

Night fell over the old arcade street, the lights on set came on, and filming continued. The story of Zheng Musheng, and of countless Nanyang wanderers, was still being told slowly through the lens.