Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

He wept for the vanished future as if he were weeping for a dead friend.

—William Golding, *Darkness Shines* (1979)

……

We auditioned all morning, but we haven't confirmed many actors yet.

However, the intensity was extremely high, and the members of the directing team were all somewhat exhausted.

"Alright, let's adjourn the meeting first, have lunch, and take a short break at noon."

Chen Huaikai was also a bit troubled. He said to assistant director Zhou Qiyue, "Go and inform the actors waiting outside that the audition will continue at 2:30 pm."

"Okay!" Zhou Qiyue nodded and then went out.

"How are you feeling?" Chen Huaikai turned to look at him, sincerely asking for his opinion.

Huang Wenbin said with a smile, "It may seem like there are twists and turns, but it is actually progressing in an orderly manner."

Chen Huaikai appreciated this composure and said with a smile, "Then you should have a good rest at noon; there's still a long battle ahead!"

"I'd like to go back to school," Huang Wenbin said somewhat shyly. "Uncle Chen, you know I'm from the Beijing Film Academy. I'd like to recommend a few classmates for an internship so they can broaden their horizons by working on film sets. Is that alright?"

"Of course you can." Chen Huaikai chuckled and pointed at Huang Wenbin, saying, "Don't tell me you brought Kaige here for an internship."

"Like me, I come from the countryside and lack opportunities."

Huang Wenbin shook his head; his relationship with Chen Kaige wasn't actually that good.

"Okay, call him over. The crew is short of a cameraman." Chen Huaikai was very generous with such small favors and nodded with a smile in agreement.

"Thank you, Uncle Chen!" Huang Wenbin said repeatedly.

Chen Huaikai smiled and turned to leave.

Huang Wenbin also left the meeting room and went to the cafeteria for a meal.

Then I borrowed a bicycle from Liang Xiaosheng and rode it directly to the Yenching Film Academy.

Yenching Film Academy is actually very close to Beijing Film Studio; it's a twelve-minute walk or about a five-minute bike ride away.

Exit from the south gate of Beijing Film Studio, turn right, make a sharp turn, and continue riding forward until you see the west gate of Yenching Film Academy.

Huang Wenbin was admitted to the Directing Department of Yenching Film Academy in 1978. Although it was called a department, it was actually just a class, also known as the Directing Class of '78.

There was also a photography class and an art class. For example, Zhang Yimou and Gu Changwei were in the 78 photography class.

Because there are many people from Beijing at the school, it is common for students from several classes to share a dormitory room when arranging dormitories.

Huang Wenbin, Zhang Yimou, and Gu Changwei were in the same dormitory. Since they all came from small towns and were ostracized by the Beijing locals, they became quite close.

Zhang Yimou also had a tough time. Before he was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy, he was just a worker at the No. 8 Cotton Mill in XY City.

In 1978, Zhang Yimou's wife, Xiao Hua, boiled a lot of eggs overnight and rushed to the examination hall of Beijing Film Academy in Xi'an along with 60 selected photographs.

In the end, he was admitted to Yenching Film Academy as he had wished.

Before reporting to Yenching Film Academy, he hurriedly held a simple wedding with Xiao Hua, and then headed to Yenching to begin his university life.

However, he suffered a significant setback as soon as he arrived in Yanjing. He felt very strongly that he was quite old-fashioned compared to his classmates.

Among his classmates, the youngest, Huang Wenbin, was only 18 years old, while the slightly older one, Chen Kaige, was 26, and he was 28 at the time.

He looked older than his age, and at first, he was mistaken for a student's parent.

He felt unsophisticated because he realized he had read too few books and watched too few movies; compared to his classmates who had been immersed in art since childhood, he was a complete country bumpkin.

Even compared to 18-year-old Huang Wenbin, he felt that he was far inferior.

After realizing the gap between himself and his classmates, Zhang Yimou began to read books and watch movies like crazy. During this time, Huang Wenbin gave him a lot of help, providing him with many movie lists and professional books.

This time, Huang Wenbin didn't come to Zhang Yimou to build a good relationship so that he could curry favor with him later.

Instead, he wanted to build his own team, or rather, a network, to make it easier for him to manage his work in the future.

This circle may seem insignificant now, but it will surely shock the world in the future.

Zhang Yimou was the first person he had in mind for this circle.

To put it simply, he wanted to become Zhang Yimou's right-hand man.

……

At this moment, Zhang Yimou was eating in the cafeteria.

While eating his rice with chopsticks, he was flipping through a book on foreign films.

This book was recommended to him by Huang Wenbin, and he had searched all the libraries in Yenching but could not borrow it.

Finally, having no other choice, he borrowed it from Chen Kaige.

Chen Kaige found it rather strange and asked him why he suddenly wanted to read the professional books that directors must read.

Zhang Yimou was too embarrassed to say that he wanted to switch careers and become a director, so he made up an excuse, saying that he wanted to broaden his knowledge and experience.

Although Chen Kaige was arrogant, he was still very willing to help his classmates with anything.

The real reason is that Zhang Yimou was discouraged by his photography class teacher some time ago.

The teacher told them directly that after graduating from the photography department, students would start by pushing a track cart, then become a second assistant, a senior assistant, then a deputy photographer, a camera operator, and only then could they become a photographer. It would take at least ten years to complete this path.

At that time, Zhang Yimou was shocked. He was already 29 years old. If he spent another ten years honing his skills, he would only be a photographer when he was over forty. What was the point of learning then?

So, on Huang Wenbin's advice, he decided to switch careers and become a director. He first borrowed Huang Wenbin's professional books to read, and later he asked Huang Wenbin to give him a reading list.

It was Huang Wenbin's suggestion that they borrow books from Chen Kaige and Tian Erzhuang if they could find them anywhere else.

Chen Kaige comes from a family of directors, and he has no books on film.

Tian Erzhuang's family certainly doesn't lack this.

"Old Zhang, what are you doing eating here!"

He was halfway through the book when suddenly a figure slowly walked up behind him and patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Yimou turned around and saw it was his classmate Zhang Lai. He swallowed his food and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The Beijing Film Studio has started filming, and they're casting actors today," Zhang Lai said with a smile and a wink at Zhang Yimou.

Zhang Yimou still looked bewildered: "What does it matter to us if the Beijing Film Academy doesn't have a show? Do you think I can act with my looks?"

"You really are stupid," Zhang Lai said mysteriously. "The director for this production is Chen Huaikai."

"Chen Huai... Kai Ge's dad?" Zhang Yimou's eyes widened, then narrowed again: "It still has nothing to do with me."

Zhang Lai was speechless for a moment, then patted Zhang Yimou on the shoulder: "Your dullness is almost on par with Gu Changwei's."

"Is Chang Wei involved in this?" Zhang Yimou asked, taken aback.

Zhang Lai was speechless again. After a while, he realized that Zhang Yimou wasn't joking, so he stopped being mysterious and said directly, "I heard that Kaige will be joining the crew. We're his classmates. If we ask him for help, could we also get involved in the crew? Even if it's just pushing the track cart or carrying equipment, it would still give us some experience."

That's right.

"Old Zhang, are you really content to spend your whole life as a photographer?" Zhang Lai glanced at Zhang Yimou and said softly, "So what if your photos were shortlisted for the April Film Festival? At most, people will praise them a bit. Directing is the right path!"

Zhang Yimou hadn't expected Zhang Lai to also want to switch careers and become a director. After hesitating for a few seconds, he asked, "The question is, is Kaige willing to mentor us?"

"We're classmates, it's normal for us to help each other out, right?" Zhang Lai didn't think it was difficult at all. "You know Kai Ge, as long as you're gentle and say some nice things, he's an extremely sentimental person."

That's an accurate point.

When he was running for class monitor in his freshman year, everyone else prepared various speeches and promised all sorts of benefits, but he went up and recited a poem with great passion and enthusiasm.

The teacher praised his recitation as exceptionally good, and then eliminated him from the competition.

This is exactly the same behavior he exhibited years later when he ran for the position of chief director of the Olympic Games.

"Okay, let's go find Brother Kai then." Zhang Yimou thought for a moment, then abandoned his pitiful pride and still had to consider his future job.

Just as Zhang Yimou finished his meal in a hurry and was about to go find Chen Kaige with Zhang Lai, the person in question led a few people toward them.

"Zhang Yimou, Zhang Lai, you're here."

When Chen Kaige was young, he was indeed a handsome man with a remarkable presence. Surrounded by several people, he had the air of a big brother: "Let's go have a drink."

Zhang Yimou: "Huh?"

Zhang Lai, always straightforward, asked, "Didn't you say you were going to the Beijing Film Studio to find your dad? You said you'd take us to the film set to broaden our horizons."

Chen Kaige's face paled slightly, and he looked a little embarrassed.

"Let's not talk about this anymore," Tian Erzhuang said dejectedly. "Uncle Chen rejected it outright, and we got criticized as a result."

His family background is actually better than Chen Kaige's, but he is more easygoing and doesn't like to bring his family into the public eye.

Wu Ziniu, who was standing nearby, sighed and said, "Grandpa Chen said we are too restless and impatient, wanting to fly before we can even walk."

"No way, Kaige is his own son!" Zhang Lai was a little confused.

The group was feeling down, so they wanted to find a place to drink.

"I still need to study, so I won't go." Zhang Yimou saw that his good plan had fallen through and naturally didn't want to delay his studies.

Wu Ziniu complained, "There's nowhere to showcase my talents. What's the point of studying?!"

"Oh, you're all here."

Just then, a loud voice came from afar.

"The great writer has arrived!"

"Hey, what masterpiece have you published this time?"

"Didn't you go to the Beijing Film Studio to write scripts? Were you kicked out?"

The group turned around and saw that it was Huang Wenbin, the youngest college student in the class of '78, known as the "Great Writer".

The nickname "Great Writer" came from a manuscript written by Huang Wenbin last year, when Chen Kaige casually teased him, saying, "You think you're a great writer if you think you can write a masterpiece when you're only a teenager?" Since then, "Great Writer" has become Huang Wenbin's nickname at Yenching Film Academy, and sometimes even his teachers call him that.

"No, the draft I wrote has already been approved."

Huang Wenbin got out of the car, held onto the handlebars, and said to the others, "Aren't we about to start filming? I'll ask Brother Yi Mou when I get back if he's interested in interning on the set."

"You can decide something this big?" Tian Erzhuang was somewhat skeptical.

Huang Wenbin explained with a smile, "I specifically asked the director, and he has already nodded in agreement."

"Then why did you bring Zhang Yimou along? What about us?" Wu Ziniu teased with a smile, "We're classmates, Zhang Yimou is in the photography department."

"You guys are close to Kai Ge, aren't you?" Huang Wenbin said, somewhat puzzled. "The director is his father. If Kai Ge goes home and begs him, you can all join the crew. I can only take one, so of course I'll take Yi Mou."

The group was immediately startled and turned to look at Chen Kaige.

Upon hearing this, Chen Kaige's face instantly turned deathly pale; he was so embarrassed he wanted to disappear into the ground.