Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

At 12 o'clock, Yang Che arrived at Zhou Shuizi Airport. The people of Bincheng were very calm when they saw Yang Che, even those who recognized him.

To Yang Che's surprise, the person who came to pick him up at the airport was an acquaintance—Xie Dong, the executive director of Zhang Yimou.

He's not Hou Baolin's illegitimate son; he's a director, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy's class of '91.

The reason they were familiar with each other was twofold: first, because of the film submitted for the Olympic bid; and second, because he was the one who handled the selection of the female lead for 360.com.

"Boss Yang."

Yang Che laughed and said, "Looks like the crew isn't too busy. It's you who came to pick me up."

"Director Zhang said that if he hadn't injured his ankle, he would have come by himself."

"That's ridiculous, huh? How did you get hurt?"

"I sprained my ankle while jogging in the early morning, because the roads in the old factory area are uneven."

Yang Che sighed, "I've made a mistake! I'm getting old, I really have to be careful."

As an assistant director who had worked with Zhang Yimou since graduation, Xie Dong remained silent.

"..."

About half an hour later, Yang Che arrived at the old steel rolling mill area in Ganjingzi. The Happy Time Hut and the fake massage loft were the main filming locations for the movie.

At this moment, the crew members were sitting on stools under the shade of a tree, chatting. At a glance, you could see Zhang Yimou, Benshan, Fu Biao, Tao Hong, Dong Jie, Ximen Qing, oops, Li Qiang, and Gangzi from "Ma Dashuai".

To Yang Che's surprise, the first person to notice him was Benshan, who waved with a warm smile but did not stand up.

The others couldn't help but look over, their expressions all quite friendly. As for Tao Hong, she seemed to jump up, her eyes disappearing from her laughter.

Yang Che smiled and nodded, then quickened his pace, first shaking hands with Zhang Yimou, and asked with a smile, "What's the situation?"

Zhang Yimou was also pleased, and his words were consistent with Xie Dong's.

Yang Che also noticed that Zhang Yimou was wearing a T-shirt from the Olympic bid committee's filming crew... Yang Che had always thought the shirt was ugly and had never worn it, mainly because the emblem wasn't even printed on it.

While Yang Che and Zhang Yimou were greeting each other and chatting, Benshan stood up and smiled along with them. Yes, he just smiled along with them.

Yang Che caught a glimpse of Gangzi and some other people with typical Northeastern faces looking displeased; they clearly felt that Yang Che did not deserve such courtesy from Benshan.

Yang Che was also quite apprehensive: "Uncle Benshan, we've finally met! I'm so excited!"

Uncle Benshan laughed heartily: "Haha, I've long admired your name. The director made us eat boxed lunches at noon, so I had no choice. Tonight, I'll arrange it for you. Please do me the honor of joining me."

Yang Che smiled kindly: "I'll do whatever you say. A few days ago, at an industry gathering in Hong Kong, we talked about making a cameo appearance in Northeast China. Liu Dehua told me about the help you gave him in Houcheng in May. A group of people from Hong Kong were full of admiration when they heard it. I said at the time, 'Once you cross the Shanhaiguan Pass, if you need anything, just ask Benshan.' That's not just an empty saying."

Upon hearing Yang Che's words, Benshan was visibly taken aback, suppressing the urge to smile, and quickly waved his hand, saying, "You flatter me too much, you flatter me too much."

Yang Che was also somewhat surprised. Could it be that this message hadn't been spread yet?

Zhang Yimou gave a thumbs-up very seriously: "That's a very apt summary."

Okay, it has indeed been circulating.

Meanwhile, the people on Uncle Benshan's side were either dumbfounded or looking at Yang Che with eyes full of affection.

Clearly, everyone thought this was a compliment to Uncle Benshan's loyalty, and Uncle Benshan himself believed so. Years later, he said the same thing in public (at the premiere of "Assembly"), until later, during the anti-gang campaign...

Looking at Benshan's expression and then at Yang Che, Zhang Yimou couldn't help but think to himself: "No wonder those high-ranking leaders like Yang Che so much; how could they not like him?" With this simple sentence, he truly hit the nail on the head.

Afterwards, Yang Che chatted with the others one by one with a smile. He had met Fu Biao several times and they were all quite familiar with each other.

When it was Tao Hong's turn, Yang Che asked, "Are you my girlfriend?"

Tao Hong smiled broadly, "That's fine, you can discuss it with Brother Li Qiang."

Ximen Qing, standing to the side, laughed and said, "Don't discuss it with me, I'll listen to the director."

People were laughing and joking.

Zhang Yimou was surprised: "You two know each other?"

Tao Hong explained again: "He is the boss of 'Springtime Pigsy'."

People suddenly realized that he was indeed a jack-of-all-trades, capable of doing everything.

Benshan, who had been smiling, couldn't help but ponder these words.

Dong Jie, wearing a floral dress, looked curiously at Wang Fei's boyfriend from the corner. She thought he was amazing; he could talk and chat with anyone so openly, including herself.

Dong Jie was initially a little nervous when she saw Yang Che walking towards her, but when he looked at her and smiled so naturally, as if they had known each other before, she instantly stopped being nervous.

When Zhang Yimou saw Yang Che holding Dong Jie's small hand, he inexplicably thought of the bet on "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"... and couldn't help but ponder, could that film really be good?

The subsequent boxed lunch was truly a boxed lunch; it didn't even include any local seafood specialties from Bincheng, resembling a construction site buffet... but the taste was good, at least Yang Che ate it with great relish.

Green pepper and pork slices, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, Mapo tofu, braised pork slices, hot and sour shredded potatoes, stir-fried potatoes, eggplant, green peppers, and green beans, mung bean soup.

Benshan found Yang Che's meal even more pleasing to the eye.

During the meal, Zhang Yimou didn't forget to give some pointers to the cameo actors. He explained the general story and lines, and the location was a small, happy house converted from an old bus.

"You're all experts, so take a look. As long as you think it suits you, whatever you choose is fine."

Yang Che's "girlfriend" also came, and Zhang Yimou asked the two to get to know each other and eliminate any awkwardness as soon as possible.

As for how to eliminate it, no one said. Everyone thought it was the simplest thing for Yang Che, since he had already struck up a conversation with all the actors and behind-the-scenes creators before he had even finished his meal.

Now, his "girlfriend" was a pretty young girl, a local from Bincheng, named Han Wenwen, 19 years old, and Yang Che felt that she looked familiar.

During our conversation, I learned that the girl had debuted as a child star, recently acted in a movie, and was admitted to the vocational high school program at Beijing Film Academy this year.

Well, Yang Che laughed and said, "What a coincidence, we'll be classmates next month. I got into the directing graduate program."

Han Wenwen immediately felt a sense of kinship... After three sentences, she called him "brother-in-law," saying she was a fan of Wang Fei's songs. Yang Che found it incredibly annoying!

Filming began at 2 PM.

The prelude story is that Benshan is getting on in years and wants to get married. His blind date, Dong Lifan (a professional rich woman actor), asked for a dowry of 5 yuan. Benshan didn't have any, so he borrowed it from his apprentice, Fu Biao. Fu Biao was henpecked and didn't have that much money either, so he came up with the idea of ​​opening a "Happy Hut" (love hotel) in the hillside park to make money.

Ximen Qing and Tao Hong were the first couple of guests.