Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

However, Yang Che wanted to cry. He really didn't want to show the dilapidated town and the brand-new archway; a brand-new, capitalist-style fake "White House" was enough... He inexplicably exchanged a glance with Jiang Wen, then said, "Boss, when will Dingguang Gate be repaired?"

The deputy district head was quite proud: "It will take at most a month, it definitely won't delay your filming."

Yang Che remained silent for a while, then politely declined the leaders' invitation to dinner, saying that it would be a good opportunity to test the night scene.

The leaders praised Cao Yu and Lin Mu for their cameras and microphones, and then said they would accompany them.

When he arrived at Dingguang Gate, Yang Che felt a pang of heartache looking at the cleaned-up, dilapidated archway, but there was nothing he could say at the moment.

He wasn't distressed about the ancient building itself; it was just a dilapidated archway from the Ming Dynasty—which village in Shanxi Province didn't have one? What he was distressed about was the well-designed layout.

"Boss, could we prioritize repairing this stone pavement? You see, it's missing a piece and broken in another. Our film crew can contribute 30 yuan from our repair fund as a sponsorship."

This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision by Yang Che; it was something he decided upon seeing the photo.

At this moment, the leaders finally looked at Yang Che seriously, their expressions becoming more varied and they were moved.

After receiving confirmation again, she shook Yang Che's hand.

Yang Che felt a little ashamed. It was only 30 yuan. He was a department-level cadre, after all. It shouldn't be that much.

It's not about the money, but the nature of the issue is different.

Then, the leaders didn't wait to treat everyone to a meal; they simply arranged for drivers and vehicles to be ready for dispatch and then left.

Yang Che and Jiang Wen sat on the old site of the archway, watching Cao Yu and Lin Mu busy with their cameras.

Suddenly, Jiang Wen stood up and walked to the side.

"The new one is great. When the time comes, you'll see me walking like this, taking a shot from below."

Yang Che watched Jiang Wen walk and gesture, and twitched the corner of his mouth: "A sense of oppression, huh?"

Jiang Wen pointed to the sky: "Don't you say the four characters on the archway are 'Shengping Centenarian'?"

Yang Che waved his hand: "I don't like this kind of metaphor, it's meaningless."

"That's no fun. This is so much fun!"

"It's boring, and it's easy to get carried away."

"..."

After getting close enough to use his ultimate skill, Yang Che finally agreed with Jiang Wen's opinion.

A pang of bittersweet emotion welled up in Jiang Wen's heart. Damn, this guy was much harder to please than Mou Zi or Kai Zi. Not only was he righteous, but he was also more talkative than him.

After that, the group stayed in the ancient town. In the past few days, Yang Che rehearsed Zhou Xiaogang's scenes several times... He also asked Rong Jianlin, a local producer from the Guizhou Film Distribution Company, to give him guidance on pronunciation.

Of course, the most important task was to discuss camera design with Jiang Wen. For example, the jump cut shot in the alley where the two had the biggest disagreement. After several test shots, Jiang Wen agreed to Yang Che's plan.

He initially disagreed, but Yang Che privately told him, "Old Jiang, I invited you all this way here to tell you that I respect your opinion. When we disagree, I'm willing to spend time and effort to persuade you, but there's a limit to that patience. If you can accept that, we can continue; if not, I'll pay the penalty."

Jiang Wen was stunned. Looking at Yang Che's frighteningly calm face, he finally nodded, but still said, "How about we film it twice?"

Yang Che shook his head: "No, that would be a waste of film."

Jiang Wen, of course, did not give up. Although he was still unwilling, he remained silent.

The work continued as usual, with arguments and disputes. Yang Che didn't claim he could convince Jiang Wen of everything. He acted like an adult playing with a child, agreeing with Jiang Wen as long as no fundamental mistakes were made.

It can only be said that Yang Che's hard work in training Jiang Wen was not in vain. For example, in another time and space, around this time, Jiang Wen took on the film "The Barber," which directly caused the crew to disband. Director Chen Yifei took three or four years to reshoot the film with Chen Kun and Zeng Li. He passed away halfway through filming, and people said that he was still angry with Jiang Wen and never recovered.

There's also a TV series called "The Great Qing Dynasty," which, according to Southern media, involved actor Jiang Wen who replaced the entire production team, resulting in a poorly made mess. The original director and screenwriter team was from Hong Kong, later replaced by Chen Jialin. Chen Jialin himself admitted that he took over relatively late and didn't have time to thoroughly study the script...

Anyway, neither the movie nor the TV series turned out very well in the end.

It's true that Jiang Wen is a cinematic genius, but the only people who could truly master him were Xie Fei and Xie Jin, back when Jiang Wen was under 30.

Of course, Yang Che also learned a lot in the past few days, mainly in terms of acting. Although Jiang Wen didn't say it, he understood Jiang Wen's acting technique: it's not about playing a role or imitating someone in real life, but about understanding and then playing yourself.

This is very interesting.

Regarding the directing, Cao Yu felt that these two were unlike any other directors he had encountered before. Calling them amateurs wasn't quite right, nor was calling them professionals; they simply had an incredibly strong intuition for visuals and camera work...

Those who have been following the two of them these past few days all think that "Looking for a Gun" will be a really awesome movie.

On August 26, Yang Che flew to Zhuhai. He arrived at the airport after 9 p.m. and no one picked him up. He took a taxi to the resort hotel.

Yang Che started feeling unwell while in the taxi.

It feels like running home with poop in your mouth after school.

Of course, he didn't want to defecate; rather, his body, in its twenties, had been deprived of food for almost a week and was feeling extremely aggrieved.

How can I feel good just thinking about that soft, chubby, pink little boy?

Looking at the chubby boy's text message, "Why hasn't it arrived yet? It's almost dried out," Yang Che felt his nostrils flaring with heat.

I tugged at my collar and realized that, despite the sweltering heat, the taxi hadn't turned on the air conditioning.

"Hey sir, could you turn on the air conditioner? Here's 10 yuan for the air conditioner fee."

The driver, who had initially looked unfriendly, instantly became amiable, gripped the steering wheel with one hand, turned around and smiled, then turned on the air conditioning.

They sped all the way to the hotel, and Li Yue, the lobby assistant, was as happy as a flea when she saw Yang Che.

"Brother Che".

"Eat less, or your chubby face will turn into a pancake face."

Li Yue quickly withdrew her smile, then pouted and went to the front desk to check Yang Che in. Of course, she had to check him in even if the room was empty.

Just look at the hesitant smile on the receptionist's face; she clearly knows him, but she didn't ask him any questions—is it professional conduct or a confidentiality agreement with the production crew?

Yang Che kept letting his thoughts wander and distracting himself, after all, he was about to succeed and didn't want to bend over and walk.

As soon as I entered the elevator and pressed the close button, I heard a voice in Cantonese saying, "Please wait a moment."

Then, however, it turned out to be a short, unattractive man with a receding hairline, around forty years old, embracing a heavily made-up woman with big, wavy hair.