Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Li Bingbing was taken aback at first, then laughed and said, "Thank you for your concern. It's an action scene, after all. Hey, don't talk about my little thing. You've become quite famous lately. I feel so proud when I hear people talking about you, haha."

Looking at her sincere expression, Yang Che felt truly touched.

Although they each have their own thoughts and unspeakable difficulties, she and Xiao Pang are really good friends now, otherwise she wouldn't be so affectionate towards Yang Che.

Actually, Li Bingbing was stunned because her first reaction was, "What else have I heard?" rather than, "I'm moved."

Yang Che chuckled and said, "It's nothing, besides, it's not like I earned it myself."

Li Bingbing shook his head: "That's not being honest. I'm not borrowing money from you. Yang Che, I heard from Xiao Fan that the TV series you invested in is having its pilot run. How are the ratings?"

At this moment, Ren Quan and Shi Xiaolong walked over.

"26%."

Yang Che casually agreed, ignoring Li Bingbing's wide eyes, and reached out his hand to Ren Quan, who quickly shook it with both hands.

"Brother Che".

"Mr. Ren, you flatter me."

Yang Che casually withdrew his hand and looked at Shi Xiaolong: "Wow, Brother Xiaolong has grown so much?"

"Hello there."

Shi Xiaolong, with his round face, seemed a little reserved.

Eleven or twelve-year-old boys are always shy in front of strangers.

Yang Che wasn't interested in developing a relationship with a child. He came mainly to keep his girlfriend company, and secondly, to check off the show, since he really liked it, even though it was plagiarized. Wait, why did I have to say "plagiarized"?

Yes, "Young Justice Bao 1" is plagiarized. It plagiarized the Japanese manga "Kindaichi Case Files" and "Detective Conan". Every episode was copied, including clues and plots.

I estimate that some Japanese people's view of Chinese entertainment now is similar to how China's view of Vietnam will be in 20 years...

Not to mention that Miyuki Nakajima alone supported most of the Hong Kong and Taiwan music scene.

That's impressive; he's composed over 500 songs, more than 70 of which have been covered by over 130 Chinese-language singers, resulting in over 300 versions...

Li Bingbing then exaggeratedly exclaimed, "26%? My goodness, your show is going to be a huge hit!"

Yang Che smiled and said, "I've read the script for your play, and it's not bad. Trust my judgment."

At this moment, a middle-aged man in his forties wearing round-framed glasses walked over.

Ren Quan quickly introduced, "Director, Hu Mingkai, from Hong Kong."

"Director Hu, hello, I'm sorry to bother you."

"Mr. Yang, you are too kind. I have been negligent. I only just learned from others that you came to Nanhai. Please forgive me, Mr. Yang. I will make it up to you with a late-night snack after the show. Please do me the honor of joining me."

Yang Che was somewhat baffled. He had a certain reputation in the industry, but that didn't warrant such an attitude from the director, especially on the director's turf and in front of the actors.

At this point, all we could do was politely agree.

Yang Che said a few more polite words of thanks for taking care of Fan Bingbing's schedule, and Fan Bingbing finished her makeup, so the crew started filming.

Hu Mingkai's expression changed, and he entered work mode.

As a Hong Kong director who had just started making a living in mainland China, Hu Mingkai was polite to everyone, especially film company owners. Therefore, even though he wasn't signed with any film company, he would be the Hong Kong director with the most work in mainland China for a long time to come.

Yang Che stood on the outside watching the filming; there was a big difference between TV series and movies.

There are almost no long shots, only medium and close-up shots, and the camera switches extremely quickly. This is to show the actors' expressions, since their performances are very wide-ranging.

As for the visuals, what kind of visuals? A period drama will suffice; who cares which dynasty it's set in? What kind of cinematography? The dialogue is enough.

To be honest, Yang Che found it quite boring, even less so than watching "Saw." Shi Xiaolong kept messing up his dialogue scenes, but Zhou Jie was very patient in explaining the scenes to him, much more patient than the assistant director and the director.

Correspondingly, Shi Xiaolong was the most relaxed when facing Brother Bao.

When the Eighth Prince, played by Wang Huichun, appeared, Yang Che felt it was getting interesting, mainly because he was accompanied by a chubby little boy who was not serious at all and was very flamboyant.

"Father, you've come at the right time. Look, they've caught the murderer."

"Wait a minute."

Not angry.

He was much more imposing than Aqina; he truly deserved to be called the Grand Tutor, second only to the emperor.

In my opinion, this actor is the best actor in the show. As for the Eighth Prince, well... isn't that Aqina?

Okay, it's Chen Daoming, just an old-school idol drama actor. Not to mention Jiao Huang, even Xu Zheng could easily outshine him.

Just as they were enjoying the spectacle, a handsome guy came up from the side and nodded to Yang Che.

"Hello there."

Yang Che smiled in response. "Isn't this Hongli? Oh, he plays Emperor Renzong of Song in this drama. He certainly has a noble appearance; no wonder he's a specialist in playing emperors. Later, he joined a cult and disappeared; his fate is unknown."

Then, as I watched, I started to feel quite uncomfortable.

"Beggar's Chicken" certainly didn't exist in the Northern Song Dynasty; it existed in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties.

However, Yang Che didn't intend to say anything, since Gongsun Ce had initially been dressed in a Ming-style robe and quoted the couplet at the entrance of Donglin Academy: "Family affairs, national affairs, world affairs—all are matters of concern..."

On some level, childhood memories, like artists, cannot be deconstructed...

The night shoot continued until 10:30 p.m. When director Hu Mingkai invited him to have a late-night snack, Yang Che, who was still full of energy, said that he was too sleepy.

Hearing Yang Che's words, many people in the crew secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as they really didn't want to socialize.

While Xiao Pang and the other actors were removing their makeup and changing clothes, Yang Che and Hu Mingkai had a private chat.

Hu Mingkai poured out his grievances, saying that finding Bao Zheng and Gongsun Ce was full of twists and turns, and he encountered setbacks everywhere.

"Who did you contact?"

"Bao Zheng first approached Lu Yi, then Wu Qilun, and also Ren Quan. But when they heard that their faces had to be blackened, they refused to act. In the end, Wang Jinhua persuaded Ren Quan to play Gongsun Ce. She even brought me three good actors all at once, haha."

Yang Che understands this way of complaining and pretending to be weak in front of others. It is a wise way to survive, but of course, it cannot be taken too far, or one will become like Xianglin's wife.

Clearly, Hu Mingkai handled the situation very well.

"It's still because of your high standards for the work, Director Hu."

"After all, I've only just come to the mainland, and Boss Chen trusts me. Just like when Xiao Fan was going to play Pang Feiyan, I wasn't too keen at first, but after seeing her scenes in your movie, I felt quite ashamed."

"She used to act in cheesy dramas..."

Hu Mingkai shook his head: "It's because you enlightened her. After watching that movie clip, I told Wang Jinhua that this is not something that mainland academics could make. Then Wang Jinhua and I talked about you, and later we saw the news that it sold for $265 million. I'm not as surprised as everyone else; I just think it's only natural."