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

It was a June evening in Yanjing, and the rain had just stopped.

Gao hope sat in the study, the window was open a crack, and the air still smelled of damp earth.

There were two things spread out on his table.

A well-worn copy of the "Legend of Chu and Han" editing script, and a freshly opened bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor).

It's been almost a year since "Chu Han" ended.

Gao hope never watches the movies he's filmed.

His reasoning was simple—when filming, you've thought of everything you need to think about and changed everything that needs to be changed. After it airs, looking back, there's only one thing left: finding fault. But finding fault is useless; the show has already finished airing.

So he threw away those twenty-odd films as soon as he finished filming them.

But he kept this one.

For no particular reason, I just sometimes can't sleep at night, so I take a look at this. I see that skinny 23-year-old standing in front of the Hongmen tent, and that 52-year-old fox bowing and saying, "Your subject is willing to be the King of Guanzhong." I see that the kind of thing I wanted to film but couldn't when I was young has grown up in someone else's hands.

Gao hope poured half a glass of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), but before he could pick it up, his phone rang.

Three words popped up on the screen: Lao Luo.

Gao hope was taken aback.

Luo Yifeng hadn't called him proactively for five years.

The last time they spoke was on his father's 70th birthday. Gao hope had given him a calligraphy piece, and Luo Yifeng called to thank him, but hung up in less than two minutes.

Gao hope answered the call.

"Old Luo".

"Old Gao."

Neither of them exchanged pleasantries.

That's how conversations between old friends in their fifties are: no need to ask if they've eaten, no need to ask how they've been lately.

"Are you drinking?" Luo Yifeng asked.

"Just poured it in."

"Then I'll get straight to the point, so as not to keep you from drinking."

Gao hope gleaned something from his tone.

It's not just politeness; I really have something to do.

"explain."

"My buddy is currently preparing a drama about the Ming Dynasty, spanning from Hongwu to Xuande, covering three reigns. The main cast is almost complete, and Mr. Wang has agreed to play Zhu Di."

Gao hope hummed in agreement.

Wang Xueqi is a veteran actor in the industry with solid acting skills and high qualifications. He is suitable in all aspects, including temperament, so it is reasonable for him to play Zhu Di.

"But I'm missing one person," Luo Yifeng said. "Zhu Zhanji."

Gao hope put the wine glass on the table.

"Isn't Zhu Zhanji the central character?"

"Yes, from episode 30 to the last episode, more than 30 episodes were about him."

Gao hope remained silent for a few seconds.

He knew exactly what kind of person Zhu Zhanji was.

The first half of this person's name is "Good Grandson," Zhu Di's most beloved grandson, who is clean, intelligent, and full of youthful vigor.

The middle part was the most difficult. After obtaining the throne, the first thing he did was to kill his own uncle in a bronze vat.

The last part is even more difficult: "The Cricket Emperor" was enjoying the peaceful and prosperous reign of Emperor Renxuan, while simultaneously engaging in cricket fighting in the palace until midnight.

One person needs to have three faces.

A boy, a butcher, and a player.

Moreover, these three faces must all come from the same person; they cannot be pieced together.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Gao hope asked.

"I've chosen three."

"no?"

"None of them will work."

Luo Yifeng's voice was tinged with weariness.

"The first one is Xiao Dong. He has a clean face and is fine in youthful roles, but he falls apart in the middle. His eyes lack that quality. The second one is Zhao Lei. He's a veteran actor, and he's okay in the middle, but he can't pull off youthful roles. A forty-year-old playing a nineteen-year-old Zhu Zhanji is just too much for him. The third one was pushed by the investors. I won't say more, it'll make me angry."

Gao hope smiled.

He knows Luo Yifeng well. Among the directors of serious dramas in the industry, Luo Yifeng is the least willing to bow down to investors. When he said "I won't say anything, I'll get angry if I do," he really was angry.

What are your criteria for casting?

"It has to be the kind of..." Luo Yifeng paused, as if searching for words, "The first time you look at him, you think he's clean; the second time you look at him, you think he's deep; the third time you look at him, you think there's something sinister about him."

"Three floors."

"Yes, three layers. Even one less layer wouldn't be Zhu Zhanji!"

Gao hope didn't respond.

He picked up the Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) and took a sip.

The liquor was strong, and a surge of heat rushed down my throat.

The rain started falling again outside the window, lightly, making only a soft sound as it hit the glass.

Gao hope's gaze fell on the blueprint on the table.

The four characters are "The Legend of Chu and Han".

He suddenly remembered a detail.

During the filming of the scene at Gaixia, he made Chen Mo practice seven times.

When the seventh take was finished, he sat behind the monitor for a long time.

It wasn't because it was bad, but because he suddenly realized something.

When that kid played Xiang Yu, there were two things in his eyes.

The first is the arrogance of a tyrant, which he inherently possessed. The second is something else entirely.

It's a kind of... how should I put it?

It's the kind of coldness that comes from watching your empire crumble inch by inch while still smiling.

The scene was set up so that Xiang Yu had already been defeated and Yu Ji had died. He looked at the few soldiers who were still following him and said, "Heaven has forsaken me; it is not my fault in battle."

When Chen Mo recited this line, he had a smile on his face.

It wasn't a bitter smile.

It was a quiet, almost blissful laugh.

Gao hope sat behind the monitor, stunned for a full ten seconds.

A thought popped into his head: this kid has another role to play.

It wasn't just Xiang Yu.

He can even play the kind of person who...smiles as he pushes his closest loved one into a bronze vat.

The thought flashed through his mind for a moment, and he didn't think much of it.

Xiang Yu had occupied him for two and a half months, and he had no energy to think about anything else.

But now.

Luo Yifeng said "three layers".

Clean, deep, shady.

Gao hope put down his wine glass.

"Old Luo".

"Um?"

"I have someone here."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Who?"

"Chen Mo."

It quieted down again.

"Which Chen Mo?"

"The one who played Xiang Yu."

Luo Yifeng responded with an "Oh" on the other end of the phone.

Just that one "Oh".

Gao hope realized that Luo Yifeng didn't take this matter seriously.

That's normal.

Luo Yifeng has been preparing for this Ming Dynasty drama for the past year, and his mind is full of Yongle, Hongxi, and Xuande emperors. When "Chu Han" aired, he probably didn't even finish watching the first episode.

He vaguely knew the name Chen Mo, but didn't pay much attention to it.

"Old Gao," Luo Yifeng's tone became noticeably more polite, "Are you recommending someone to me?"

"It's not a recommendation," Gao hope said. "It was just something I mentioned casually."

"He's currently not working on any projects. He just signed a contract with Pushi Culture a couple of days ago, so his schedule is open. If you're interested, you can contact his agent yourself. I won't get involved."

"OK."

Luo Yifeng answered readily.

Gao hope didn't say anything more.

Given their relationship, this is enough; saying anything more would only diminish their status.

"By the way, Lao Luo."

"Um?"

"I have the original text of 'Chu-Han Contention' here. If you have some free time recently, come and get a copy."

There was a two-second pause on the other end of the phone.

"...Will you take me?"

"This is for you."

"You never look back at the scenes you've finished filming, and you never give them away."

"This one is an exception."

Luo Yifeng remained silent for a longer period of time.

He has known Gao hope for thirty years, and he knows Gao hope well.

Gao hope never gives a reason for giving gifts, but there is always a reason for giving a gift.

"Old Gao, what do you mean by this?"

"It doesn't mean anything," Gao hope said. "I just wanted to show you."

"Take a look at what?"

"Take a look at the person you want."

After saying that, Gao hope hung up.

He slammed his phone down on the table, picked up his glass, and downed the remaining half-glass of Erguotou in one gulp.

As he drank the wine, he muttered to himself:

If Lao Luo doesn't read this book, it's just bad luck for him.

If you've seen it.

Gao hope smiled.

If he sees it, that old guy will probably call Chen Mo's agent right away.

......

After hanging up the phone, Luo Yifeng stood still in his office.

On the table in front of him was a complete set of casting files. The top one was a new candidate that the investors had just handed over—a popular young actor, 24 years old, whose representative works were two idol dramas.

Luo Yifeng glanced at that face and felt annoyed.

He closed the file and tossed it aside.

Then he sat back in his chair and turned on his computer.

He slowly typed two words in the search box of the video website.

Chu and Han.

The playlist popped up: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3...

Luo Yifeng stared at the screen for a few seconds.

He didn't actually want to watch it.

He's almost sixty years old, and he hasn't stayed up all night watching TV dramas for many years.

But Gao hope's last words kept replaying in his mind.

Take a look at the person you want.

He knew Gao hope.

This old guy never praises anyone in his life, especially not young actors. In the past thirty years, he has probably described no more than three people as "the one you're looking for."

Luo Yifeng sighed.

He reached out and pulled the lamp closer to himself, picked up an empty cup next to him, and poured himself a strong cup of tea.

Then I clicked on the first episode.

......

At the same moment, in a rented room on the other side of Yanjing City.

Chen Mo had just returned from his run, a towel draped around his neck, and was drinking water.

My phone rang.

It's Shen Yu.

Just one message.

See you at the office tomorrow morning at 10:00.

Chen Mo wiped his sweat and replied with a single word.

"it is good."

After sending the message, he put down his phone and walked to his desk.

A book was lying open on the table.

The History of Ming Dynasty, Volume 9, Annals.

Emperor Xuanzong.

He didn't know why he had come across this book.

Last week, I found a stack of Ming and Qing history books mixed in with other books at a used bookstore. They were a few scattered volumes from the Twenty-Four Histories.

He had been wanting to find time to read it, but in the months since filming of "Silent Snow" was completed, he had been busy with Huabiao (a traditional Chinese ornamental column), signing contracts, and having barbecues with Xu Zhinian, so the book had been sitting on the corner of the table.

He finally opened it this afternoon.

I originally just wanted to browse around casually.

When he got to a certain section, he stopped.

"Gao Xu, a commoner of the Han dynasty, rebelled. The emperor personally led an expedition, and when he reached Le'an, Gao Xu surrendered."

Chen Mo looked at the passage and thought for a while.

Then he took a pen from the drawer and wrote two small words on the margin of the page.

"Laughing?"

After finishing writing, he closed the book and put it back on the corner of the table.

He didn't think much of it.

I just feel that there's something interesting hidden in this part of history.

A young emperor who had just ascended the throne personally led an expedition and captured his own uncle.

After being captured, my uncle was held in a copper vat and roasted alive.

What expression does the emperor in the middle have?

It's not mentioned in historical records.

Chen Mo stood up and went to take a shower.

The hot water was turned on full blast, and the steam completely obscured the mirror.

He stood under the showerhead, and a sentence suddenly flashed through his mind from the old script that Chen Daomin had given him.

"Killing people while laughing."

Cao Cao's annotations.

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment.

Then he smiled, didn't think much of it, and reached out to turn off the tap.

See you tomorrow, Shen Yu.

Let's put other things aside for now.