Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Fan Bingbing was completely bewildered; she didn't understand, but she was deeply shocked!

Yang Che couldn't resist and pinched her cheek; it was so smooth.

"Ouch, that hurts."

Yang Che touched his nose and changed the subject: "Most importantly, Doubao has a down-to-earth, warm, and approachable feel to it, which fits my personality perfectly."

Fan Bingbing didn't understand anything about character settings, nor was she interested. She blinked and asked, "Brother, does it smell good?"

Yang Che's face immediately turned red. Damn it! It wasn't that he wasn't thick-skinned enough, it was that this girl lacked martial ethics and launched a sneak attack.

After all, he had been with Gao Yuanyuan for the past few days and had gotten used to her gentleness, which made him unable to guard against Fan Bingbing's audacity.

"Hey, hurry up and eat, it's getting late, and you've traveled for so long."

Fan Bingbing grinned and laughed, clearly pleased with himself, showing no regard for his feelings.

Once Yang Che came to his senses, he remained completely calm.

Fan Bingbing's fun was gone.

...........

At 8:30, the two entered the movie theater and specifically requested tickets for the back row.

The ticket seller glanced at Yang Che, then at the girl wearing a baseball cap not far behind him, and said in a knowing tone, "There are plenty of front-row tickets."

"No, I'd prefer a seat in the back row, thank you."

The ticket seller said nothing more and busied herself handing over two tickets for the 8:40 movie.

The two of them sneaked into the screening room at the exact time, and then they were completely dumbfounded.

The small hall, which is meant to accommodate around 200 people, only had about 50 or 60 people, and almost all of them were in the back rows, with only a handful sitting in the middle.

Yang Che remarked with deep emotion, "There are still more good people than bad in this world."

Fan Bingbing nudged his waist: "So, where shall we sit?"

Where can we sit? Of course, in the third or fourth row. Anyway, we don't plan to do anything. The goal is to have "no one around".

Shortly after the film began, Yang Che paid no attention to the plot, and of course, he paid even less attention to Fan Bingbing.

He was like a treasure hunter, searching for the scenes in the animation that remained deep in his memory, because he had been an art teacher.

For example, the scene where fireflies illuminate the Lotus Lantern, making it flicker on and off; the celestial dog charging towards the sun; and on the clear lake, a small boat gliding past lotus blossoms, children playing with the flowers and frolicking with the leaping frogs...

There's also Jiang Wen's Erlang Shen, Hu Ge's "Ah!", and Chen Xiaoer's "If I don't beat you until your face is covered in peach blossoms, you won't know why flowers are so red!"

Then Yang Che felt that the background of the Heavenly Palace was dark, much like a stage play, where the lights moved to wherever the characters went.

Yang Che wasn't drawn in by the simple, straightforward plot; he simply watched the visuals and listened to the sounds...

Shanghai Animation Film Studio is an insurmountable mountain for Chinese animation; it is a standard and an aspiration.

Actually, they are also world-class, such as "Havoc in Heaven", "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King", "The Legend of Sealed Book", and "Feelings Between Mountains and Rivers".

Especially "Feelings Between Mountains and Rivers," the best and last ink-wash animation, showcases the unique Chinese style of using blank space for freehand expression, the gentlemanly spirit, a masterpiece.

Which of Japan's two great left-wing manga masters, Osamu Tezuka, the god of manga, and Hayao Miyazaki, the giant of animation, was not inspired and influenced by Chinese animation?

As for why it declined?

First, there was institutional reform, which abolished government acquisitions and left the company without funds after it became self-sufficient in profits and losses.

The commercialized "Lotus Lantern," which imitates Hollywood narratives, was the last straw that broke Shanghai Animation Film Studio's back. With a production cost of 1200 million yuan, it only grossed 2400 million yuan at the box office despite rampant piracy. Even if it had been sold to a TV station, it would have barely broken even. But what about all those years of hard work? Furthermore, the creators had lost their spirit.

Secondly, with the opening of China's doors to the world, foreign animation has flooded in. Most of these imported animations are works that have already been nurtured in the global animation market, making them incredibly popular. Furthermore, in order to quickly seize market share, these animation studios are currently offering these works to television stations at extremely low prices or even for free, such as *Transformers* and *Tom and Jerry*...

TV stations are already short of programming, so why would they spend money to buy domestic animation when they encounter such a good opportunity?

All of this suggests that if it weren't for the fact that there are still some truly principled intellectuals in China, perhaps more than 20 years later, they wouldn't have been able to utter the phrase "My fate is in my own hands, not in the hands of Heaven."

.........

During the movie, Yang Che's phone vibrated several times, naturally from text messages sent by Gao Yuanyuan, who rarely makes phone calls.

In her text messages, her words were always very poetic. For example, besides mentioning the bumpy car ride and how interesting the Tangshan dialect was, there was this love quote.

"Thinking of you makes me feel lucky. I often feel a warm feeling, like the comfort of being well-fed and well-rested at home."

Yang Che was happy to play along with her.

Whether you are by my side or at the ends of the earth, knowing that there is someone like you in some corner of the world makes the whole world feel gentler and more peaceful.

After sending such a text message, looking at Fan Bingbing next to me, who was stuffing popcorn into her mouth and concentrating intently, always felt a sense of incongruity.

What happened to maintaining a good figure and controlling weight?

...........

As he stepped out of the movie theater, a gust of wind blew by, and Yang Che felt the natural coolness for the first time since arriving in Beijing. He squinted his eyes in comfort.

It makes sense, as it's already 10:15, and the White Dew solar term will be in a week.

Fan Bingbing, who was standing next to him, took his arm and said, "Brother, I'm cold."

Slightly tea.

Yang Che felt the warmth and softness emanating from her body and thought she would never be cold, so he immediately accepted her reason.

"Then hurry home, I have to register the company tomorrow."

"Going tomorrow?"

"Oh, the Sole Proprietorship Law was just promulgated today."

Fan Bingbing didn't understand any of this and just nodded: "I plan to buy some things for my parents tomorrow, and go back to Yantai the day after tomorrow. I haven't seen her since she got pregnant. I'll stay for two nights and then come back to participate in the script reading."

"Your mom had a second child, and your parents weren't fired?"

"Oh dear, they all resigned voluntarily, okay? Bro, I'll go with you to register the company tomorrow, then you can go shopping with me, I don't even have a single friend in Beijing."

As Fan Bingbing spoke, she swayed her body and then rubbed against him.

Although she is two years younger than Gao Yuanyuan, she is already a size larger, and in another year or two, she will be a size larger, even with Gao Yuanyuan receiving his frequent help in getting bigger.

So Yang Che pulled his arm away: "Speak properly, I'll pick you up first thing tomorrow morning."

"hey-hey."

A short while later, Yang Che escorted Fan Bingbing to her doorstep, gave her some instructions, and then left.

I went downstairs.

Fan Bingbing jumped up and down on the balcony, waving at him and shouting, "Come back quickly!"

Yang Che smiled and said just as loudly, "I know!"

Then he left the residential area, got into his minivan, and sped away.

The conversation we just had served the same purpose as the men's shoes she put at the door.