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

The final assembly was completed on the fourth day after the crew joined the production team.

The location is the base's clothing warehouse.

The costume warehouse was a large warehouse, more than 200 square meters, with rows of iron racks standing up, filled with costumes from various dynasties, with the Ming Dynasty costumes hanging at the very back.

Chen Mo arrived at 2 PM.

The stylist's surname is Lin, he is in his forties, wears gold-rimmed glasses, and holds a tape measure in his hand.

"Teacher Chen, over here."

He led Chen Mo to the front of a fitting room.

Two sets of scale armor were already hanging on the clothes rack outside the fitting room.

One set is placed on the left, and the other set is placed on the right.

Director Lin pointed to the set on the left.

"This is version A, which we prepared for you."

"This is the main costume for Zhu Zhanji's childhood scenes. He wore this costume for all the scenes in the Northern Expedition when he was fifteen years old."

"The exterior is like scales, and the inside is made of improved materials, modern polyester fiber plus aluminum sheets. The simulation is very high and you can't see it in the lens. It weighs three kilograms."

"You won't get tired even if you ride a horse, draw a bow, or run while wearing these clothes."

Chen Mo nodded.

He walked over and reached out to touch the scales of the A-version scale armor.

It feels nice to the touch, the workmanship is exquisite, the stitching between the scales is hand-embroidered, and the colors are beautifully matched.

After he finished touching it, he turned to look at the set on the right.

"What about that one?"

Director Lin followed his gaze.

That set is a sample armor.

"What is meant by 'sample armor'?"

"These were prepared by the production team for the promotional photos; they're genuine."

Director Lin's tone carried a hint of pride.

"The iron sheets were forged by hand, made according to the specifications in the 'Essentials of Military Equipment'. Each sheet was the size of a fingernail, and there were 2,130 sheets strung together with cow tendons."

"Weighs eighteen kilograms."

"Our original plan was to take promotional photos for one day and then put them back in the archives. Acting in real clothes would be too tiring, and we couldn't keep it up."

Chen Mo walked over.

He reached out and lifted the shoulder of the sample armor.

It's really heavy.

He tried to take it off the shelf, and it took him both hands to pull it off.

Director Lin watched from the side.

"Teacher Chen, this is really unnecessary. The footage in version A looks exactly the same as this one; there's no difference at all."

Chen Mo didn't speak.

He held the sample in his arms and carried it into the fitting room.

Director Lin stood outside for two seconds, stunned.

Then he quickly called two assistants in to help Chen Mo put on his clothes.

Wearing a set of genuine scale armor is no easy task.

First, wear the armor skirt on the lower body, then the greaves, then the breastplate, then the backplate, fastened with leather straps, then the two arm armors, one for the upper arm and one for the forearm, then the shoulder armor, and finally the helmet.

Including everything, it weighs a total of eighteen kilograms.

Chen Mo finished dressing forty minutes later.

The two assistants stood by, not daring to utter a sound.

Chen Mo stood in the center of the fitting room.

He did not move immediately.

He closed his eyes and stood there for ten seconds.

Then he opened his eyes and took a step forward.

The second step.

third step.

As he walked, he felt the distribution of the eighteen kilograms on his body.

Six kilograms on the shoulders, eight kilograms on the chest and back, and four kilograms on the arms and legs.

When he reached the fifth step, he squatted down.

When I squatted down, the breastplate pressed against my thigh, making a slight muffled sound.

He squatted for two seconds.

Then he used his legs to push himself up and stood up.

He stood up a beat slower than usual.

Chen Mo nodded.

He turned to look at Director Lin.

"This one will do."

Director Lin was stunned.

In his twenty years in the industry, he has seen all kinds of actors. He has seen actors who are afraid of the cold, heat, and sun; actors who want to cut corners because they are afraid of heavy costumes; and actors who want to put thin gauze inside their headgear because they are afraid of feeling stuffy.

He had never seen an actor actively request heavy armor.

"Teacher Chen," Director Lin stepped forward, "this really won't do. If you're going to perform the Northern Expedition scene here, you'll have to wear this for everything—riding horses, charging, drawing bows, and acting out scenes."

"Eighteen kilograms. If you wear that all day, you won't be able to straighten your back at night."

"There's absolutely no need for the production team to make the actors suffer like this. The standard of the modern film and television industry is that costumes should be comfortable for the actors. We'll reduce the weight and increase the effect on camera."

Chen Mo listened to him finish speaking without interrupting.

Then Chen Mo spoke.

"Teacher Lin."

"Um."

"You just said that version A and this sample armor are exactly the same in the footage."

"right."

"It looks exactly the same in the footage," Chen Mo said, "but my body is different."

Director Lin didn't understand.

Chen Mo took two steps forward, then squatted down, then stood up again.

His movements were a little more practiced than before, but still a beat slower than usual.

"Look, I just squatted down."

"Um."

"When I squat down, the breastplate presses on my thighs, which adds weight. When I stand up, I use my legs to push myself up, not my waist."

"If I were wearing a 3-kilogram armor plate (Version A), I could do this squatting and standing motion using my waist, or even my core muscles."

"It looks the same on camera."

"But my eyes are different."

Chen Mo looked at Director Lin.

"A person's perception of the world is different when they are carrying 18 kilograms versus 3 kilograms."

"When a fifteen-year-old boy puts on real scale armor for the first time, his movements become heavier, his breathing becomes more labored, and his eyes change accordingly."

"What exactly was the spirit of Zhu Zhanji in his youth?"

"It's that kind of spirit, like 'My grandfather made me wear this, so I really am a general of the Ming Dynasty.'"

"This aura isn't something you can fake."

"This energy was created by compressing these eighteen kilograms."

Director Lin was stunned for a long time.

In his twenty years in the industry, this was the first time he had heard an actor talk to him about costumes in this way.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something.

As a result, what he wanted to say was cut off by Chen Mo's next sentence.

"Teacher Lin, I'm going to keep this armor myself," Chen Mo said. "I'll start wearing it today, for four hours every day, until filming for the Northern Expedition movie begins."

"If you need any adjustments to the size or anything else, feel free to contact me anytime."

After saying that, he walked out of the fitting room.

Eighteen kilograms weighed on my body.

His footsteps were many times louder than those of an average person.

With each step, the nail plates rubbed together, making a rustling sound.

Chen Mo walked around the film set all afternoon wearing that set of sample armor.

He walked from the costume warehouse to the filming location, from the filming location to the actors' rest area, and from the actors' rest area back to the library.

The crew members he encountered along the way couldn't help but glance at him a few more times.

He didn't explain it to anyone.

He just walked quietly.

Around 4 p.m., he walked into the library.

The girl looked up and saw him, then froze on the spot.

Then the girl asked cautiously.

"Teacher Chen, are you... filming a movie today?"

"No photos were taken."

"So what are you doing...?"

"Get used to the way you wear it."

The girl didn't understand.

Chen Mo sat down in front of the table, wearing the 18-kilogram suit of armor.

The nail plate made a sound when I sat down.

He took out the notebook from yesterday and turned to a new page.

He began to write.

He stopped writing halfway through.

He looked down at his wrist.

Because of the armor pressing down on A's arm, he wrote with his arm slightly tucked in.

He looked at it for a while, then added another line to the notebook.

What posture did the young Zhu Zhanji adopt when writing?

After he finished writing, he closed his notebook, stood up, and walked out.

When the library door closed, the girl was still sitting in her seat, stunned.

After a while, she took out her phone and sent a WeChat message to the assistant director.

"Assistant Director".

"Teacher Chen spent the entire afternoon at the training base wearing sample armor."

"I'm still wearing it."

The assistant director didn't reply for two minutes.

"Know."

"Don't mention this to him."

It's 9:30 p.m.

Wang Xueqi was reading the script in his hotel room.

His phone rang.

A piece of prestige.

The sender was the assistant director.

The content is very simple.

a photo.

The photo was taken at the base this afternoon. In the photo, Chen Mo is wearing the 18-kilogram sample armor, standing on a dirt road in the sunset, with his back to the camera, walking step by step.

Wang Xueqi stared at that photo for a long time.

He walked to the window.

From the 18th floor of the hotel, you can see several lights on at the base from the window.

Wang Xueqi stood by the window.

I stood there for a long time.

He suddenly remembered forty years ago.

Forty years ago, he was twenty-four years old and had just been admitted to the Central Academy of Drama.

He was playing a lowly soldier at the time, and the props department gave him a very light set of armor. After wearing it for one scene, he felt something was off and asked the props department for a heavier set.

The prop master asked him at the time.

Why are you wearing such heavy clothes? The difference isn't noticeable on camera.

He said something to that master at the time.

He has now forgotten exactly what he said back then.

He only remembered that the sentence meant this.

"I can tell I'm acting."

Wang Xueqi stood by the window, looking at the few lights in the direction of the base.

He smiled.