Huayu: Serious director, who's eavesdropping on your thoughts?

The first snow of the year came a little later than usual.

But it finally came.

Overnight, a heavy snowfall blanketed the city of Yanjing, turning everything inside and out into a white expanse. The north wind howled, stinging the face.

In the World Park,

The usually dazzling international landscape has been completely wiped away by the swirling snow, leaving only a blanket of white.

The wind swirled the withered leaves, skimming the ground, and crashed into a prop vehicle parked in the leeward side of the road.

At the back of the car, Zhao Liying huddled up, breathing on her small, red hands to warm them.

In these twenty-odd days.

She's like a brick; she can be moved wherever she's needed.

Every day at four o'clock in the morning, before dawn, I have to get out of bed and go to the water room to fetch water while still half asleep.

During the day, we constantly moved with the main group, moving east when they told us to, and west when they told us to.

She didn't know what the crew was busy with, but she just kept her head down and worked hard without saying much.

"call.."

Zhao Liying squatted on the ground, neatly stacked the last case of mineral water, straightened up, and rubbed her slightly sore back.

This job is finally over.

My roommate, Sister Xia, told me that her group of temporary workers could settle their accounts and leave today.

As for whether the filming had wrapped up, Sister Xia only had a vague idea, saying that it looked like they were about to leave.

However, Zhao Liying felt something was off.

In these twenty-odd days.

On set, it was always the male lead, who wasn't exactly good-looking, who was making a fuss.

I've never seen a single female lead.

Is this a play about monks? What's so interesting about a play about monks?

She doesn't understand.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

"Liying, what are you daydreaming about?"

Sister Xia, carrying a bulging duffel bag, peeked out from behind the prefab house and casually handed her a handful of sunflower seeds.

"Try it, it's spiced." Sister Xia cracked sunflower seeds and said with a smile, "To be honest, at first I really thought you were related to the director."

Zhao Liying was taken aback, then smiled sheepishly: "Sister, do I look like it?"

"It definitely doesn't look like it now."

Sister Xia spat out the sunflower seed shells from her mouth, somewhat moved.

"I've seen it all these days. Even if you were a relative of the director, you wouldn't be working so hard from dawn till dusk. You'd be enjoying yourself in your nanny van over there in the morning."

Zhao Liying smiled foolishly.

"What are your plans after the New Year? Do you want to come to Yanjing again?" Sister Xia then asked.

"I'm not coming. I have to go back to school for classes when the semester starts," Zhao Liying shook her head.

"Going to school is good. Study hard so you can have a bright future."

A hint of envy flashed in Xia Jie's eyes, then she sighed.

"I'm not so lucky. I'll have to come back after the New Year and keep drifting. I'm just hoping that one day I'll get lucky and land a small role with lines. That would mean I've finally made it," Sister Xia said with a sigh.

"Hey, look at me, do you think I'll ever have that day?" Sister Xia stopped eating sunflower seeds and blinked at her.

Zhao Liying was taken aback.

She looked at the crow's feet at the corners of Xia Jie's eyes, and her eyes, which looked somewhat cloudy from years of staying up late.

The cold wind howled, and Zhao Liying smiled, revealing two adorable little tiger teeth.

"Yes! It definitely can!"

"Why?" Sister Xia was taken aback.

"Because Sister Xia has a loud voice! If you're reciting lines in the future, you'll definitely be louder than anyone else, and the director will be able to hear you from far away," Zhao Liying said earnestly.

Sister Xia paused for half a second, then burst out laughing, reaching out to tap Zhao Liying's forehead.

"Are you praising me or insulting me, kid?"

Although she said that, Xia Jie was clearly much happier and more sincere.

"Thanks for your kind words. Let's go. The production manager is handing out money over there. If we're late, we'll have to wait in line."

"kindness!"

Upon hearing about receiving money, Zhao Liying's steps noticeably quickened.

The two of them trudged through the deep snow, making their way towards the living quarters of the film crew.

Under the windbreak.

Several long tables were pushed together, and a fat man with a face full of scars was holding a roster. Next to him was an open black leather bag containing stacks of cash.

Dozens of temporary workers like her were gathered there in a chaotic manner.

I waited for about half an hour.

"Logistics team, Zhao Liying."

"exist."

Zhao Liying quickly squeezed to the front.

"Twenty-three days, thirty-five per day, plus bonus, totaling eight hundred and fifty."

The fat man dipped his finger in saliva, counted out a wad of cash with a clattering sound, then pulled out fifty yuan and slammed it on the table.

"Sign and leave your fingerprint."

Zhao Liying signed her name, then extended her finger and pressed it onto the red inkpad.

After receiving the money, she felt relieved.

You can go home.

She hid behind a wall where no one was, with her back to the wind, and unfolded the money bills one by one.

Her fingers were frozen like carrots and somewhat unresponsive, so she carefully unfolded each sheet one by one.

One, two, three... eight old men's bills, plus one green fifty.

Very nice.

Brand new, and bright red.

In addition to the money I saved from working as a waiter in a small restaurant, I have quite a bit of money!

She was making plans in her mind: five hundred yuan would be reserved without fail for living expenses next semester, and two hundred yuan would be used to buy a Peking duck from Yanjing for her younger brother who was still growing. He had been talking about it for a long time, so she would buy it for him this time.

There's still one hundred yuan left...

Buy your dad a good bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) if he likes to drink. Get the blue bottle kind, high alcohol content, strong.

Just imagining her father drinking and her younger brother gnawing on duck made Zhao Liying feel less pain from the chilblains on her hands and made her feel much lighter.

"hey-hey.."

She couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Then, she carefully took out a small handkerchief, wrapped the money into a small square, and stuffed it into the innermost pocket of her undershirt.

She patted the area to make sure it was safe before letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Let's go, Sister Xia, let's go home for the New Year!"

Before leaving, Zhao Liying turned back for one last look at the film crew still busy in the distance.

The workers were dismantling something, and the yellow warning tape was flapping loudly in the cold wind.

These past twenty-odd days have felt like a lively dream.

Now that she's woken up from her dream and made the money, it's time for her to return to her own world.

Goodbye.

She muttered something under her breath and walked towards the bus at the park entrance, braving the wind and snow.

..

At this moment, they were less than 100 meters away from Zhao Liying.

Inside the temporary prefabricated houses where the directing team was located.

Zhao Huaiyuan sat behind his desk, his brows furrowed with exhaustion.

After more than twenty days of intense filming, he lost a lot of weight.

The production representative, Director Zhang, who was sitting opposite him, was pacing anxiously back and forth in the room, so anxious that he had blisters on his lips.

"Huaiyuan, say something!"

Director Zhang threw a stack of brightly colored newspapers onto the table.

"Look, look at what's been spread outside. If this continues, our show won't even be released yet, and our reputation will be ruined."

Zhao Huaiyuan glanced at it indifferently.

At the top were several unknown tabloids, but their headlines were increasingly exaggerated.

Breaking News! A Dream of Red Mansions in a World Park? Hundreds of teenage girls lined up to enter rooms; a real-life scene of a concubine selection unfolds on Zhao Huaiyuan's film set!

Casting by day, beauty pageants by night? A glimpse into director Zhao Huaiyuan's audition room where the lights are never off!

"A beast! A teenage girl, disheveled, bursts out of her room. What did Zhao Huaiyuan do to her inside?"

From acting instruction to hypnosis: Unveiling Zhao Huaiyuan's devilish methods – how did he gradually turn innocent young girls into obedient puppets?

..

"Who the hell is behind this?"

Assistant director Ning Hao was squatting on the ground, smoking silently.

To be honest, when he first came to this film crew, he actually had a lot on his mind.

Back then at the ISFVF Film Festival, he lost to Zhao Huaiyuan, and he was actually a hundred percent dissatisfied.

Later, when he heard that Zhao Huaiyuan was going to make a movie for theatrical release and was recruiting an assistant director, he applied.

He wanted to see for himself what kind of extraordinary abilities the person who had defeated him possessed.

But after following him for more than twenty days, Ning Hao was completely convinced.

He was completely impressed by both their professional skills and their ability to manage the film set.

He knew that Zhao Huaiyuan was the kind of person who didn't even have time to sleep while making movies, so how could he possibly have the mind to do those messy things?

Besides, he was involved in the entire process, from the audition to bringing people to the film set for auditions, so how could he not know?

Watching these buckets of dirty water being poured out, Ning Hao felt even worse than if he were cursing himself.

"This is clearly an attempt to ruin someone's life. Shouldn't we issue a statement to clarify?"

Producer Zhang, with a dark expression, said, "I asked around, and the other party only revealed that someone paid a lot of money to buy a custom-made black-market project. It's obvious that we've offended someone."

At this point, Director Zhang gritted his teeth, his face full of gloom:

"These tabloid bastards will do anything for sales, they have no shame, but they're really tight-lipped. They can't find out who the real benefactor is."

Zhao Huaiyuan picked up the newspaper again and looked at it. He laughed out loud and mocked,

"It's quite interesting to write, but when someone wants to find fault, they can always find a reason. We don't need to pay attention to such underhanded tactics, and we don't need to care about them."

He casually crumpled it up and threw it into the trash can.

"We can't just ignore it."

Director Zhang was anxious and magically produced another newspaper.

The Yanjing Entertainment News is different from the tabloids mentioned above. It is the mainstream entertainment newspaper with the largest circulation and the highest credibility in Yanjing, and it carries a lot of weight.

"Those tabloid stories are one thing, but the questioning from legitimate media is the most dangerous thing. Just look at that."

Zhao Huaiyuan accepted it.

Next to the masthead of the entertainment headline in section B, the date was printed: November 28, 2002.

There is a large title at the very bottom.

Both films are supported by China Film Group, but while "Hero" is about to be released, emerging director Zhao Huaiyuan's new film is embroiled in a casting controversy?

Moving the gaze downwards, there's another subtitle.

The grand audition turns into a farce; a five million yuan investment may become the biggest joke of the Lunar New Year film season!

Keep reading.