Huayu: Starting with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu

Filming for "Silent Snow" took two months.

By the time filming wrapped, it was already deep winter in Northeast China.

At minus twenty degrees Celsius, even the breath you exhale is white.

The final scene shows Meng Chuan driving that old truck through the snow, heading straight down the road.

The camera shot his profile from inside the car.

His eyes were fixed ahead, and his expression was calm.

The truck engine was so loud that it shook the entire cab.

But he sat very steadily.

On both sides of the highway stretched a vast, white snowfield.

In the distance, a pale sun hung in the gray sky, like a faded coin.

The light was very dim.

But there is light.

"Cut. That's a wrap. Filming for 'Silent Snow' is now complete."

Zhou Mu's voice was transmitted throughout the entire film crew via walkie-talkie.

Chen Mo parked the car and turned off the engine.

He sat in the driver's seat, his hands still on the steering wheel.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

three seconds.

Open your eyes again.

Meng Chuan is gone.

This time, his journey was even more difficult than Xiang Yu's.

Xiang Yu is a ferocious beast; when you shut down the game, just lock the beast back in its cage.

Meng Chuan is like a wisp of smoke, permeating your body, his scent lingering in every pore. To expel him, you have to do it little by little.

But Chen Mo did it.

three seconds.

We ate our wrap dinner in the hotel's small restaurant.

A table full of Northeastern Chinese dishes, generous portions and enough to fill you up.

Zhou Mu drank a glass of baijiu and his face turned red.

He doesn't usually drink alcohol.

We're making an exception today.

He held up his wine glass and said a few words to the entire group.

"Silent Snow" is the eleventh film I've ever made. I wouldn't dare say it's the best, but I dare say it's the most authentic.

He glanced at Chen Mo.

Thank you to each and every one of you.

No one was specifically named in the praise.

But Chen Mo saw it in that one glance.

After finishing their meal, Zhou Mu found Chen Mo.

"Let's go out for a walk."

The two walked along the town's highway for a while.

The moonlight shone on the snow, making it shine brightly white.

The air was so cold, below -20 degrees Celsius, that my nose hurt, but once I started walking around, my body felt warm.

The two walked for a long time without saying a word.

Zhou Mu was the first to speak.

Do you know why I chose you?

"have no idea."

"Because you need to soak the rice in soup to soften it before eating it."

Chen Mo was stunned.

"When we first met, I asked you what you usually ate, and you said you soaked it in soup to soften it before eating." Zhou Mu's voice seemed to emanate white mist in the cold air. "At that moment, I knew you could play Meng Chuan."

Why?

"Because Meng Chuan is that kind of person too."

Zhou Mu stopped and looked at the vast white snowfield in the distance.

"It's not a matter of whether the conditions are good or bad. It's that he's used to making the less-than-ideal things usable. If the rice is hard, he'll soak it in soup to soften it. If life is tough, he'll grit his teeth and get through it. He doesn't complain, he doesn't cry out in pain, and he doesn't confide in anyone. He just silently digests everything, swallows it, chews it up, and then keeps moving forward."

He turned to look at Chen Mo.

"You and Meng Chuan are the same kind of person. That's why you can play him."

Chen Mo stood in the snow under the moonlight, looking at the fifty-two-year-old director in front of him, who wore old-fashioned glasses and was wrapped in a thick cotton coat.

He wanted to say something, but his throat felt like it was blocked by something.

After a long while, he finally uttered a single sentence.

"Thank you, Director Zhou."

"Don't thank me." Zhou Mu's tone was exactly the same as when they first met, still very soft and slow. "Actors and roles complement each other. You deserve this role."

The two of them stood there for a while longer.

Then he turned around and walked back.

The snow crunched underfoot.

Two sets of footprints stretched far into the moonlight.

......

The post-production of "Silent Snow" took five months.

Zhou Mu has just as high standards for post-production as he does for filming.

Chen Mo did three things in those five months.

First, keep updating your personal platform.

The number of fans increased from 1.98 million to 3.5 million.

He posted a video that generated quite a stir.

The content shows him sitting at his desk in his new home eating rice porridge.

I poured the tomato soup over white rice, stirred it, and slurped it down.

Caption: Daily life.

The comments section exploded.

"The mighty Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, eating rice porridge? His image has collapsed!"

"What do you call this? This is called living off a woman's money!"

"I could laugh at the 'gold digger' joke for a year."

"What are you laughing at? Do you know why he eats rice porridge? It's because when he was at the Central Academy of Drama, he practiced until midnight every day, and by the time he got to the cafeteria, the food was cold, so he had to add soup to make rice porridge. This isn't a character collapse, it's called reaping the rewards after hardship."

This last comment was pushed to the top of the most popular comments.

"Eating a woman's rice while forcing herself to eat it" has become one of Chen Mo's most popular memes.

Fans even spontaneously created a super topic called "Overlord's Rice Porridge Diary".

Chen Mo laughed for a long time after seeing it.

Then I sent a message to Xu Zhinian.

"The meme you mentioned back then has become popular."

Xu Zhinian replied, "What?"

"A tyrant who eats a woman's rice, and a woman who eats a woman's rice with a stubborn attitude."

Xu Zhinian: "...The copyright to this meme belongs to me."

"Do you want royalties?"

"Just treat me to a nice meal."

"Okay. When I have money, I'll treat you to a Michelin-starred meal. We'll eat it soaked in tomato soup."

"Get out."

The second thing is that Shen Yu appeared again.

It wasn't in a hot pot restaurant, but in the comment section of Chen Mo's short video.

Her account has no profile picture, her name is just the character "玉" (jade), she follows zero people, and has zero followers.

But she liked Chen Mo's video of eating rice porridge.

Chen Mo was unaware of this.

But Xu Zhinian knew.

Because Xu Zhinian has a special ability: he can accurately find any clues related to Chen Mo in thousands of comments.

"Did you know that Shen Yu liked your post?"

"Who?"

"That hot pot restaurant! That Pu Shi Culture! That Porsche Cayenne!"

"Oh, her."

"What kind of reaction is 'Oh, her'? That's Shen Yu! She liked your post! Do you know what that means?"

"That means she also likes rice porridge."

Xu Zhinian took a deep breath, feeling like he was about to have a heart attack.

Thirdly, Chen Mo used his earnings to buy himself two things.

A better mattress.

A decent rice cooker.

It cost a total of three thousand yuan.

Xu Zhinian said to him, "You've earned so much money and all you've bought is a mattress and a rice cooker?"

"Sleeping and eating are the two most important things in life."

"Can't you be a little kinder to yourself?"

"This is already doing myself a favor. The rice cooked in my old rice cooker was sometimes undercooked. This new one doesn't."

Xu Zhinian was speechless.

In May, "Silent Snow" was scheduled for release in July.

In the same week, Gu Chenyang's "Flower in the Mud" was scheduled for release in August.

Two realistic films, two actors who have been repeatedly compared, with only a month's difference in release dates.

Online discussions have already begun.

"Chen Mo vs. Gu Chenyang, Round Three. This time it's a head-on clash of realistic themes."

"Don't compare them. One is Zhou Mu's film, and the other is a mass-produced product from a commercial company. They're not even in the same league."

"The results aren't in yet, so don't jump to conclusions. What if Gu Chenyang has really undergone a complete transformation this time?"

I bet five cents.

Chen Mo did not read these discussions.

He was waiting for a day.

July 18th.

Release date of "Silent Snow".