Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Chapter 89 Why are you asking this? (Please subscribe)

In 1980, the fastest train journey from Zhengzhou to Xi'an took twelve hours.

Huang Wenbin and his group set off around 8:20 in the morning and arrived in Xi'an in the evening.

Fortunately, Wu Tianming had made arrangements in advance, and they quickly checked into the Xi'an Film Studio's guesthouse.

The Xi'an Film Studio is located near the east side of the dilapidated Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and can be seen from the corridor of the guesthouse.

There is a main street in front of the factory that was named "Xiying Road" in the 1950s.

The others had been on the train for more than ten hours and were exhausted.

Huang Wenbin, however, was still full of energy, so he strolled around, taking in the film studio that would soon shine brightly in the 1980s and 90s.

The main building of Xi'an Film Studio is a three-story Soviet-style red brick building that looks very solemn.

He wandered aimlessly, and then in a small alley near a film set, he spotted a figure that looked rather familiar.

You can tell from the back view that this person has an excellent figure and is very recognizable.

A name flashed through Huang Wenbin's mind, and he slowly walked over.

Zhu Lin sat on a stone step, looking up at the sky, lost in thought.

About a month ago, she finally made up her mind and accepted an offer to star in a movie.

It's "The Traitor," directed by Zhang Qichang of Xi'an Film Studio. It tells the story of a snake infestation that occurred around 1975 in the southwestern border region. Snake experts Shi Guohua and Niu Yusheng are ordered to lead a team to investigate the disaster, while team member Li Jun is tasked with secretly monitoring him. This leads to a series of events within the team, involving family, love, friendship, and a unique examination of that era.

This is a typical film bearing the mark of its era, and each of its characters can be found in other films.

Zhu Lin plays the second female lead, Shen Hong, who is also a member of the scientific expedition team. However, in terms of screen time, she is actually the third female lead because she almost disappears in the second half of the movie and does not appear again.

Even with just this one role, Zhu Lin found it very difficult to play, realizing that making movies was not as simple as she had imagined.

The biggest problem is that she can't understand some of the character's motivations or figure out the logic behind them, so she doesn't know how to act.

She was born into an intellectual family; her father was a university professor, and her mother worked in the medical field. She was pampered by her family from a young age, and being beautiful and sensible, she never encountered any major setbacks.

She loved art from a young age, especially dancing. Her parents were very understanding and did not stop her from pursuing her passion. On the contrary, they were very supportive and even arranged for her to attend an amateur sports school in Shichahai for five years to train in gymnastics and two years to play basketball.

At the age of 17, she was admitted to the Beijing Communications Corps Art Troupe as a dancer, which fulfilled her dream.

However, since there was no one in her family involved in the arts, her parents, thinking about her livelihood, suggested that she study medicine so that she could have a stable job even if she couldn't dance.

Zhu Lin was indeed very talented in medicine. After further studies at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, she was assigned to work at the Institute of Hygiene of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, a job that many people envied.

However, her outstanding appearance and elegant and composed demeanor attracted the attention of many directors.

As early as 1974, a director invited her to star in a film about a female militia member on an island outsmarting a fishing tyrant. Zhu Lin was somewhat interested, but the research institute did not approve of her taking on the role. Not wanting to lose the job she had just secured, Zhu Lin ultimately declined.

Zhu Lin originally thought she might spend her whole life working at the research institute, but unexpectedly, a director approached her last year to make a movie, which is this time, "The Traitor".

As usual, the research institute did not approve her leave request, and the leaders even criticized her severely in private.

Just when Zhu Lin was about to give up, she unexpectedly ran into Huang Wenbin.

After applying the medicine to Huang Wenbin that day, she went back and looked at the poem he had written: "Facing the sea, with spring flowers in bloom."

Zhu Lin suddenly felt enlightened. Why couldn't she face her own sea and actively look at the scene of spring warmth and blooming flowers?

She inquired a little about Huang Wenbin and found that he already had a lot of works to his name at a young age, and had even participated in the filming of one or two movies.

Young people so much younger than her dare to try, so why should she be timid and hesitant?

Zhu Lin took a strong stance and approached her supervisor, threatening to resign if her leave wasn't approved. After consideration, her supervisor granted her three months' leave.

After arriving in Xi'an, she met the director and other actors, and their initial interactions were quite polite and harmonious.

However, once the actual filming began, she felt somewhat at a loss.

She has neither studied acting nor had any filming experience, so she makes some basic mistakes, such as unconsciously glancing at the camera.

Director Zhang Qichang is a very strict director, and he doesn't seem to be very good at training new actors, so even though the scene was only ten minutes long, it took several days to film and still didn't achieve the desired effect.

At this moment, Zhu Lin, who was quite competitive, was confused. Had she overestimated herself and actually not had any talent in this area?

Actually, apart from the lead actor Ma Jinwu, the acting of everyone else in this movie was somewhat problematic. However, in this era, audiences don't really care about acting skills; as long as the plot is good, that's enough.

Zhu Lin sighed softly. She realized her shortcomings, but she still hadn't come up with a solution yet.

"Hey, Dr. Zhu, what are you doing here?"

Just then, a surprised voice rang out behind Zhu Lin.

Hearing the call, Zhu Lin turned around and was surprised to see a figure that surprised her: "You, you are that—Comrade Huang Wenbin?"

"Yes, it's me." Huang Wenbin smiled and walked naturally to her side. "You don't mind if I sit next to you, do you?"

Zhu Lin shook her head slightly: "How could that be? Oh, how are your injuries?"

"I'm fine now." Huang Wenbin bent down and sat down next to Zhu Lin, keeping a slight distance between them. "Weren't you in the hospital? What are you doing here?"

Zhu Lin didn't offer a lengthy explanation, but simply asked softly, "Can't a doctor come and make movies?"

Huang Wenbin said, "I didn't say that."

"Then how come you're here?" Zhu Lin asked back.

"I'm here to film a movie too," Huang Wenbin explained softly. "I wrote a script that was bought by Xi'an Film Studio, and they hired me as the production planner. We just happened to be filming some scenes in Xi'an. What a coincidence, I actually ran into the King."

"What king?" Zhu Lin's eyes widened as if they could speak.

Huang Wenbin chuckled and casually said, "You're praising me for having a face that could topple kingdoms."

"So young, and already so glib?" Zhu Lin looked slightly displeased, but wasn't really angry.

Huang Wenbin said, "I'm not young at all, on the contrary, I'm quite old. I'm twenty years old this year."

Zhu Lin chuckled softly, "Compared to me, you're still young."

As a woman, she clearly didn't like talking about age, and immediately changed the subject: "So what kind of movie are you filming here?"

"The Cotton Robe," a martial arts film, Huang Wenbin said with a smile.

Zhu Lin seemed quite interested in the subject matter, her bright eyes sparkling: "Martial arts films? Those are so exciting! I really enjoy watching them. I spent a few years at a sports school when I was little, and I've seen other people practice martial arts."

Now it was Huang Wenbin's turn to have his eyes light up: "Then your physical fitness and limbs must be very good!"

"Of course, I've practiced gymnastics and played basketball," Zhu Lin said with a touch of pride.

After saying that, she realized something seemed off and asked, "Why are you asking this?"