Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

When Yang Che arrived at the film set, which was Fenglian Plaza in Chaoyangmen, he realized why that paparazzi surnamed Liu had been staking out the location earlier—he wanted to take a "photo of the century."

Today's Beijing Daily's lifestyle section features a photo on its front page: Yang Che and Wang Fei. Zhang Yadong, Wang Yuelun, and others have been photoshopped out...

Yang Che stood there with a cool, expressionless face, holding Wang Fei's hand as she covered her mouth and chuckled. The backdrop for the two was the Hundred Flowers Deep Alley, a particularly beautiful and artistic scene.

Most people would smile knowingly upon seeing this, except for Gao Yuanyuan and Fan Bingbing.

Yang Che glanced at the newspaper. It started with a phone interview with Chen Jiaying, who said that Yang Che was producing Wang Fei's new album, with Wang Fei composing the music and Yang Che writing the lyrics. The production team gave it very high praise, and so on.

Clearly, Chan Ka-ying is also involved in marketing; no wonder he was all smiles yesterday.

The newspaper concluded, "The photo, taken outside the Baihua Recording Studio, shows Wang Fei's unusually shy demeanor, proving not only her happiness but also her satisfaction with the song Yang Che composed for her..."

"Brother Che..."

Seeing Wu Shih-hsien approaching, Yang Che raised his hand: "She's busy with her new album and won't have any free time for a long time. After you finish filming, I'll write a theme song and ask her to sing it."

Wu Shixian was so excited that his face turned red, and he couldn't help but grasp Yang Che's hand: "Brother Che, from now on I am a staunch supporter of Qingfei Cheying."

Yang Che was completely bewildered. What the heck?

Meanwhile, Xing Jianwei, the lighting technician not far away, curled his lip and muttered to himself that this foreigner had no principles and was just a pragmatist.

And so the days went by.

Yang Che stayed at Wang Fei's place for several nights in a row, mainly on weekends, while Gao Yuanyuan returned to Fengtai.

Next week, we'll mostly be at Courtyard No. 8 again, because Wang Fei is going to Gangcheng to pick up Tongtong and also to Tianjin for a performance.

During the day, he's either on the set of "Waiting Alone," on the set of "The Grand Mansion Gate" at Taiyang Palace, or at the Xinqiao Hotel.

Reporters stopped surrounding Jia Jingwen. It is rumored that Cheng Yizhong, the chief editor of the Beijing News, gave the editor of the entertainment section a severe dressing-down, and Guo Ying, the intern editor in charge of Jia Jingwen's article, was fired.

Upon hearing about this, Jia Jingwen immediately arranged to meet Yang Che that evening to discuss the script.

But this left Yang Che feeling rather bored. However, he also said, "I don't have much free time lately. Let's talk about it after filming is finished."

Alyssa Chia pursed her lips and nodded obediently: "I'm sorry, Brother Che, I wasn't serious. I will definitely try my best to act well."

.......

On April 23, when Yang Che went to the Sun Palace to watch He Saifei and Ning Jing audition, he chatted a lot with Zhou Liren there.

Zhou Liren found five people, and Li Xiangdong found three, making a total of eight people to go and keep watch. They all acted alone, with one camera, one DV, and 300 yuan in funding. The goal was to see who could produce the most results within a month. However, Zhou Liren also told them that there were other people involved to avoid any misunderstandings.

Of course, Zhou Liren also arranged for someone else, ostensibly to cut off contact, but actually to evaluate the performance of the group.

Yang Che was very satisfied with this, and his April salary included an extra 5000 yuan bonus.

As for He Saifei and Ning Jing's audition for the role of Yang Jiuhong, they auditioned for the scene where, after the Second Madam dies, Yang Jiuhong is not allowed to wear mourning clothes, and then she strangles a cat.

He Saifei tried it first. She wore a shirt that day. At first, she calmly stroked the middle button of the shirt, then laughed softly, then cried, until the laughter and crying mixed into an indescribable ferocious laugh. Then she grabbed the shirt with both hands and tore it down, ripping the shirt to shreds...

After watching He Saifei's audition, Ning Jing politely declined to audition, saying she couldn't portray that feeling.

The atmosphere at the scene was one of mutual agreement and harmony.

This surprised Yang Che, but he chuckled and said, "Ning Jing has taken on the role of Zhao Ji in 'The Legend of Lü Buwei,' so there's a scheduling conflict. She can make a cameo appearance then."

Ning Jing looked at him in confusion, only to see him shake his head almost imperceptibly.

After leaving the room, Yang Che said to her in the corridor, "You have a big heart, but if this gets out, it will immediately make He Saifei famous, but it won't be a good story in the industry. On the contrary, many people will say that you are not as skilled as others."

Ning Jing laughed heartily: "Do you think this is a theater from the Republican era?"

Yang Che said calmly, "Although it was feudal dross back then, there were still quite a few respectable people."

Ning Jing stopped laughing, looked at him and nodded: "Then thank you for making amends for me. By the way, what did you mean by saying I have big breasts? Couldn't you have said something about my character?"

Yang Che glanced at it subconsciously. It was indeed big and quite large. Damn, the foreigners got a good deal.

Ning Jing noticed his gaze and immediately straightened up, but smiled mockingly.

Yang Che blushed, a rare occurrence for him, and then snapped, "Big sister, you can't act like this!"

Ning Jing became even more smug: "Still shy? Want to see?"

This time, Yang Che went against his instincts and didn't look. He waved his hand and said, "Bye-bye."

Ning Jing pouted, but then laughed and left, having a great time teasing the young boy.

The fact that this man is looking at breasts isn't something morally wrong; it's a normal psychological phenomenon.

Both men and women have a reproductive instinct in their genes, and the male visual system has developed an instinctive path to prioritize capturing "reproductive cues" over a long period of evolution.

Reproductive cues are the parts of the body that you find pleasurable to look at. They do indeed feel pleasurable; visual stimulation activates the brain's reward circuits, releasing dopamine and instantly producing a sense of pleasure. This helps reduce stress, improve sleep, and boost the immune system.

So you should definitely look at lots of girls; it really does make you feel good, both physically and mentally.

..........

Regarding the choice of Bai Wenshi, also known as the Second Madam, Siqin Gaowa did indeed come, and she was very imposing. Her attitude during the audition was also quite serious.

But Guo Baochang was still unwilling and did not say it to her face. He simply told her to go back and wait for news.

This left Siqin Gaowa feeling quite disappointed. She wanted to try again, but there were too many people in the room, and besides, the other party hadn't explicitly rejected her, so she had no choice but to leave.

As she was leaving, she expressed her gratitude to Yang Che, who saw her off. She naturally knew that it was this young producer who wanted to choose her.

Yang Che handed her a script instead: "I still think this role is perfect for you, but I can't force you, Bao Ye. This is just a discussion. If you want to play this role, you have to fight for it yourself. Study the role, and most importantly, you need to lose weight. Consult a nutritionist, hire a personal trainer, or something."

Siqin Gaowa was very grateful. She shook Yang Che's hand, like an Eighth Route Army soldier bidding farewell to his fellow villagers after recovering from his injuries.

Whether it's Ning Jing or Siqin Gaowa, Yang Che's intentions are the same: to play the role of a "gangster boss," and he enjoys it.