Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

He has no ability at all, and strongly recommended Cheng Er.

Zhuo Wu said, "Cheng Er asked me to find you."

Yang Che declined again, saying that he really couldn't write a custom script.

In the end, Zhuo Wu didn't press the issue any further. He simply said that he would go back and find a screenwriter to write it, hoping that Yang Che could participate and fill in any gaps.

Zhuo Wu's high regard for Yang Che wasn't just based on watching "My Sassy Girl," but also on the opinions of Secretary Zhang and Cheng Er. These two spoke highly of Yang Che, praising his unique insights into everything from story structure and art design to costumes and props, and highlighting his top-notch business negotiation skills.

All of this made it natural for Zhuo Wu to come over early in the morning to discuss cooperation.

After that, no other production companies came up with concrete ideas to collaborate like Zhuo Wu, but there were many that expressed their willingness to cooperate. For example, Xiaoxiang Film Studio was very enthusiastic and kept telling Yang Che that they needed investment or wanted to film in Hunan Province, and insisted on cooperating.

After all, they were also one of the producers of "Postmen in the Mountains" and one of the production companies that knew Yang Che's background best.

Li Shuihe from Shanxi Province, who knew his background, sighed. He was actually quite conflicted. He had always thought "My Sassy Girl" was good, and after watching the finished film, he felt it was even better. But deep down, he didn't want to participate in such a film. However, the pressure from reality after the marketization forced him to rethink. Besides, one "My Sassy Girl" was enough to make many "Warm Spring" films.

Moreover, "My Sassy Girl" is about to be released, but "Warm Spring" hasn't even finished filming yet.

So he pulled Yang Che aside and talked at length about his hometown...

Returning to the timeline.

As Yang Che smiled and nodded to his classmates and teachers, Li Chen squeezed through the crowd coming downstairs to Yang Che's side and asked anxiously, "Where did you go? I can't get through to you on the phone."

"Calm down, what's going on? Don't pull me, my clothes are still in the classroom."

"Come back and get it. Teacher Hou is waiting for you in his office, as is Dean Liu."

Upon hearing this, Yang Che, though quite puzzled, nodded and strode towards the graduate student building.

When Yang Che arrived at Hou Keming's office, he was taken aback. In addition to Hou Keming and the dean of the college, Liu Guodian, there were three other people. One of them was about forty years old, wearing glasses, with dark skin and a kind expression like an old farmer. The other two were about thirty years old and did not look like kind people.

"Professor Hou, Dean Liu."

Hou Keming smiled and said, "This is Director Su from the Guangdong Provincial Transportation Science Research Institute. He wants to talk to you about the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in your short film."

Yang Che was completely dumbfounded. What the hell...

"this..."

"Excuse me, Mr. Yang. I've taken up half an hour of your time."

"Director Su, you're too kind. It's alright. Just call me Xiao Yang. I wouldn't dare call myself 'Mr.'"

"well."

At this moment, Hou Keming and Liu Guodian both stood up: "You two talk."

There were four people left in the room. Director Su was still kind, while the other two remained as wooden stakes as ever.

"Xiao Yang, to make a long story short, where did you get that picture?"

Yang Che's heart sank. Could it be a car accident? That shouldn't be the case, there's no plan for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge yet.

He still looked bewildered: "I drew it."

"How did you get this inspiration? Your bridge design is very professional, and you even drew artificial islands. Is this a tunnel...?"

As Director Su spoke, he took out some printed papers with somewhat blurry images, clearly taken from a short film.

Yang Che raised an eyebrow: "Director Su, uh... I think I know what you're asking me. It's like this, in early October, I wanted to attend the directing course at the Film Academy, and Professor Jiang Wei gave me an assignment: to write a script for a promotional video for Macao's return to China."

I hadn't had any good inspiration until Wang Fei invited me to her Zhuhai concert. While I was in Zhuhai and playing by the sea, looking at Macau faintly across the water, I got the idea for this short film. I also had the idea for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and even the idea for the Taiwan Strait Bridge.

As for the bridge "design" you mentioned, it's just detail added to give the film a more textured look, serving the same purpose as the black and gray accents on the actors' collars.

Director Su pondered for a few seconds, then looked at his two colleagues, exchanged glances, and nodded to Yang Che, saying, "Our country had a plan for the Lingdingyang Bridge before, but it was hindered by various forces and reasons. Considering the actual situation, we had to cancel the plan. The picture in your film caused quite a stir in Hong Kong. Some people even asked CCTV not to broadcast this kind of film, haha."

"I thought it was Taiwan."

Yang Che smiled. Only then did he realize that this matter was not simple, and he seemed to have stirred up quite a mess.

Because he recalled the forces and reasons that had blocked the construction of the Lingdingyang Bridge a few years ago. One of them was Macau, who felt that the country had abandoned them, since the Lingdingyang Bridge only connected the port city, so they felt wronged.

Secondly, the port city government presented reports from the UK and the US that strongly opposed the bridge construction, saying it was a waste of manpower and resources.

Thirdly, Li Ka-shing and Fok, the two leaders, explicitly opposed the bridge construction because they believed it would affect their freight business.

Yes, it includes Elder Huo, that Elder Huo.

The saying goes, "One should not let a single fault overshadow one's great virtues (1), nor should one forget one's good deeds because of a single evil (2)."

This means that we should not elevate a person to the status of a perfect and eternally correct person just because they are great; nor should we denigrate a person to the point of worthlessness and completely negate them just because they have flaws.

The person who kept advocating for and consistently recommended building the bridge was Gordon Wu, a Hong Kong real estate developer and a civil engineering expert. He designed and built the China Hotel, and he also invested in and participated in the design of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Zhuhai Expressway, the Guangzhou Southeast-West Ring Expressway, and the Dongguan Shajiao Power Plant, making a lot of money.

Was his strong recommendation to build the bridge entirely out of altruism? Not necessarily.

Of course, he donated a lot of money to science and education in mainland China, and he donated even more to his alma mater, Princeton University.

All of this led Director Su to confirm that Yang Che's drawing was a "misunderstanding" and not some random, nonsensical reason.

The promotional video certainly cannot be taken down from CCTV; if it were, what would that make us?

Note 1: Excerpted from Zuo Zhuan.

Note 2: Excerpted from "The Imperial Model".