Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Back then, sacrificing oneself was easier than taking leave.

Yang Yushan said he was ready to sacrifice himself at any time.

—Wang Zengqi, *Biographies of Cavalrymen*, 1979

……

That afternoon, after several rehearsals in the studio, all the actors were confirmed.

The Beijing Film Studio still held considerable prestige in Yanjing, so other studios and theater troupes readily released the people.

Li Xuejian, too, received permission from the Air Force Political Department Song and Dance Troupe and was not expelled.

The main character Zhang Mazi is played by Yang Zaibao, Master Tang (Ma Bangde) is played by Ge Cunzhuang, and Huang Silang is played by Jiao Huang.

The second-in-command of the bandit gang, Lian Kuai, is played by actor Daqi.

Daqi, an actor from Changchun Film Studio, is best known for his role as King Zhou in the 1990 TV series "Investiture of the Gods".

His starring film "Ji Hongchang" was just released in early August this year, and he is also a very popular actor.

Although he is a year older than Yang Jae-bo, who plays the lead role, he is very well-maintained and looks quite young.

Moreover, he has the physique of a bodybuilder, with full muscles all over his body, which is amazing.

The third member of the team is played by Liao Fan's father, Liao Bingyan.

The fourth brother wasn't very noticeable, so Chen Huaikai took a liking to Zhang Yimou and asked him to make a cameo appearance.

Zhang Yimou was naturally more than happy to do so. Having a role meant more money and exposure, so why not?

Since the fifth brother was the oldest, Chen Huaikai directly assigned the role to assistant director Yu Yang. Yu Yang was originally an actor at the Beijing Film Studio, only transitioning to directing two years prior with a film called "The Long March." Due to his lack of experience and low output, he was frequently pulled in as an assistant director by other directors.

Xiao Liuzi was naturally played by Zhang Mo's father, Zhang Guoli, a perfect casting choice.

The seventh brother was the youngest, and none of the young actors who auditioned satisfied Chen Huaikai. Even the top students from the Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama didn't want to play such a minor role.

Therefore, Chen Huaikai ultimately decided that Huang Wenbin would make a cameo appearance.

Huang Wenbin didn't care about it. It was just a small role with only a few scenes, so it was a good opportunity to experience acting.

On the other hand, the other characters in the villainous camp have also been finalized.

For the role of Hu Bai, they directly cast Wang Gang. Ma Bangde didn't get the part, but since he was free anyway, they decided to give him the role. Wang Gang didn't mind the small size of the role; for him, it was good to try new things.

The role of Hu Qian was originally intended for Xu Min, but after learning that Yang Zaibao had been cast as Zhang Mazi, Xu Min declined the offer.

Because director Shen Yaoting is casting for the lead role in "405 Murder Case", and he successfully auditioned, who else would play a supporting role if there is a lead role?

So Chen Huaikai brought in Shao Wanlin from the Beijing Film Studio. His more well-known roles in later generations include Yin Tianzheng in Jet Li's version of *The Kung Fu Cult Master* and Yuan Tiangang in *Detective Dee 2*.

Hu Wan is Li Xuejian.

The martial arts champion is played by Liu Dagang, the same Peking Opera actor who was introduced by Yu Rongguang at the banquet yesterday, and who played Sha Wujing in the sequel to Journey to the West.

He aspires to work in the film and television industry, but he has never had the opportunity or been invited by anyone.

After Yu Rongguang introduced Huang Wenbin to the script, he secretly looked into the script of "Let the Bullets Fly" and was immediately interested.

With the backing of the Beijing Film Studio and Chen Huaikai, the Peking Opera Company released the people.

As for the female roles, the county magistrate's wife will be played by Chen Zurong, who is the mother of Yao Lu, the original actor who played Hu Qian.

The role of Ninth Concubine Hua Jie will be played by Zhang Jinling, while Li Xiuming has been eliminated.

However, Li Xiuming didn't lose out either, as Director Chen recommended her to the August First Film Studio's production team for the movie "Tonight the Stars Are Bright," where the male lead was none other than the handsome Tang Guoqiang.

The role of Daiyu and Qingwenzi, who only appeared once, was given to a relatively unknown actress from the Beijing Film Studio. Huang Wenbin had no recollection of her either, and she probably didn't act much after that.

As for the cameo role that Liu Xiaoqing agreed to play, it would naturally be Ma Bangde's wife from Shanxi; it couldn't possibly be a commoner girl with exposed breasts, could it?

For the next period of time, the entire crew worked at high speed.

Whether it's costume design, location scouting, or other preparations, everything is progressing simultaneously.

For the location shooting, Huang Wenbin recommended the Kaiping Diaolou and Mei Family Courtyard from the original version to save time, as most of the film's scenes were shot there.

Chen Huaikai immediately sent people to survey the site, and it turned out to be very suitable.

After several more meetings, it was finally decided that we would set off for JM City in Guangdong Province two days later.

Huang Wenbin finally had a two-day break. He needed to use this time to revise the script for "The Coffin," otherwise he didn't know if he would have time to write it when he went to Jiangmen to film.

Furthermore, Guangdong Province is very close to Hong Kong, and Huang Wenbin has some other plans in mind, so this is a good opportunity to make preparations in advance.

The domestic environment dictates that writing won't make you rich for the time being, and it's also prone to various restrictions.

Therefore, Huang Wenbin wanted to secretly expand into the Hong Kong market, and even use Hong Kong Island to extend his reach overseas.

If this behavior is discovered, he has already prepared his explanation: he is earning foreign exchange for the country.

In those days, the country was so short of foreign exchange that it was constantly being held hostage.

If someone can help the country obtain foreign exchange, they are practically a hero.

Huang Wenbin has successfully developed the market. He can then get major film studios to produce high-quality films and sell them abroad, ensuring he earns a fortune in US dollars.

Moreover, Hong Kong is at the forefront of the arts and culture battle with Taiwan, and it absolutely cannot be lost.

Huang Wenbin knows what kind of genre is popular in Hong Kong right now: martial arts novels.

He already had three or four martial arts novels in his possession, but he couldn't publish them in mainland China.

The earliest magazine in mainland China to serialize martial arts novels was probably "Nanfeng," which began serializing Liang Yusheng's "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch" in its first issue in February 1981.

It was published several months earlier than the serialized version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" in the magazine "Wulin".

Of course, the magazine *Wulin* was banned shortly after its publication, because at that time Jin Yong was still the owner of Ming Pao and was considered a right-wing intellectual, so his books could not be allowed to circulate freely. It wasn't until Jin Yong stepped down as editor-in-chief of Ming Pao and stopped publishing false statements in the newspaper that the ban on his books was lifted in mainland China.

The next two days turned into a banquet.

Because Zhang Yimou and Zhang Lai insisted on treating Huang Wenbin to a big meal.

Right after finishing his meal, Li Xuejian went to find Huang Wenbin to thank him properly.

Then, Liu Dagang also came over to express his gratitude.

Zhang Guoli didn't have much money and couldn't afford to treat Huang Wenbin to a meal, so he went to the book market and bought a book for Huang Wenbin.

As for Liao Bingyan and Ge Cunzhuang, although they were also recommended by Huang Wenbin, they were already famous and were elders, so naturally they couldn't come over to invite Huang Wenbin to dinner, but they did remember this small favor.

Huang Wenbin felt like he had gained weight after eating so many meals.

After returning to his room, he began to revise the manuscript seriously.

The original version of "The Coffin in the Mountain" was indeed good enough, but due to budget constraints, many parts were handled somewhat roughly. Huang Wenbin's task was to fill in these gaps and make the work more appealing.

This does not mean that Huang Wenbin is better than the original director Xin. He just stands on the shoulders of giants and makes subtle improvements, adding the finishing touches.

Directors like Xin, who are groundbreaking in their field, are truly great.

By the time he finished revising the book to "The Coffin in the Mountain" and released the first version, a day and a half had already passed.

When Huang Wenbin handed the first draft of the script to Liang Xiaosheng, he was stunned. He had only been working on the script for a few days! He was truly a genius!

Liang Xiaosheng quickly submitted the manuscript, which had to go through three rounds of review before it reached director Xie Tieli.

"Let the Bullets Fly" was a special case. Director Chen took a liking to it first and approached Director Wang himself, bypassing the review process.

Next, Huang Wenbin went to the school and asked for a month's leave.

It's relatively difficult to get leave from the Central Academy of Drama, while the Beijing Film Academy is eager for its students to get work and approves leave quite readily.

On the afternoon of the departure day, Huang Wenbin, carrying his pre-prepared luggage, followed the production team and took the train south to Guangdong Province.