Huayu: King of Kung Fu

Chapter 124 The Final Audition

University life was carefree. After dinner, we went to KTV to sing karaoke and booked a large private room.

Lin Hu was undoubtedly the main character; the girls in the class vied to sing love songs with him, while the boys could only feel envy and jealousy.

Because they were so popular, and no one knew who to sing with, Lin Hu suggested, "Well, how about I sing a song with the class monitor?"

Class monitor Liang Jingke readily agreed, "Sure, I'll request a song. What would you like to sing?"

"I'm fine with anything!"

Liang Jingke requested the song "Hiroshima Mon Amour," and the two began to sing it.

"Crossing the boundaries of morality, we trespassed into forbidden zones of love, indulging in the illusion of happiness and misunderstanding the true meaning of joy!"

"Who was so brave as to say they enjoyed parting, that they only wanted today and not tomorrow, watching love slip through their fingers, and still saying goodbye!"

This is a song about one-night stands, with very embarrassing lyrics. After the two finished singing, everyone egged them on to go to a hotel.

The squad leader said generously, "I'll go then. If Brother Tai takes me away, I'll go with him right away."

Yao Dazui said, "Dream on! You didn't even ask Yuanyuan if she agrees."

Gao Yuanyuan said, "What does it have to do with me? If they want to book a room, let them."

Lin Hu laughed and said, "Yuanyuan, let's sing a song together."

Gao Yuanyuan refused: "I can't sing."

Everyone cheered together, "Sing a song! Sing a song!"

Gao Yuanyuan couldn't refuse and said, "Oh, sing, sing, sing!"

Lin Hu selected the song "Crystal" and sang it with Gao Yuanyuan.

"Our love is like crystal, without burdens, secrets, clean and transparent."

"The love I give you is like a beautiful crystal, its unique light shining brightly in our eyes—"

Everyone partied until very late, then went their separate ways.

Lin Hu and Gao Yuanyuan walked side by side on the street. It was late at night, a rare moment when they could be alone.

Lin Hu said, "The screening of 'The Legend of Martial Arts' will be held in a few days."

Gao Yuanyuan said "Oh," and asked, "Will a lot of people come?"

"This is just from an internal perspective!"

When will it be released?

"I hope it will be released during the Spring Festival, but there are less than two months left, I don't know if it will be ready in time —"

Lin Hu held Gao Yuanyuan's hand and talked on and on about the release of "The Legend of the Martial Arts". Gao Yuanyuan listened quietly, occasionally interjecting a word.

The road ahead is so long, and she wants to keep walking like this forever, so that Lin Hu will always belong to her.

Suddenly, heavy snow began to fall from the sky. The snowflakes were tinged orange by the streetlights and drifted down onto the two people's heads, getting into their clothes.

It was icy cold, and Gao Yuanyuan couldn't help but shrink her neck.

Lin Hu looked around and saw that a gift shop not far away was still open. He said, "Wait for me a moment."

After saying that, he ran over quickly. Gao Yuanyuan stared blankly at his back, wondering what he was going to do.

A few minutes later, Lin Hu came out of the gift shop with a bright red knitted scarf in his hand.

In autumn and winter, gift shops in Beijing often sell scarves as part of their offerings.

Lin Hu quickly walked up to Gao Yuanyuan and wrapped the scarf around her neck.

It was just a small gesture, but it warmed Gao Yuanyuan's heart and soul.

She felt Lin Hu's tenderness, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Internal screening of "The Legend of Martial Arts".

It was just a few leaders from China Film Group, some domestic cinema managers, and some film distributors from Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

After the movie ended, everyone applauded, expressing their satisfaction with its quality.

The theater managers were very excited. This movie brings together a group of powerful kung fu actors such as Lin Hu, Donnie Yen, and Zhang Jin. The action scenes are very exciting, and it also has a patriotic theme of resisting Japanese aggression. It is bound to be a box office success.

One theater manager said, "This is a fantastic movie. Could we release it during the Chinese New Year this year?"

Lin Hu said, "Isn't it a bit rushed? There are less than two months until the New Year!"

Another manager said, "Since 95, Chen Long has released a movie every Spring Festival, and it's been a huge box office success. Your 'Ong-Bak' also did very well during the Spring Festival. It's a pity you weren't there last year; we really lost a lot of money."

Another manager said, "This movie expresses patriotism and doesn't have overly bloody scenes, so it shouldn't have much of a problem passing censorship, right?"

"Yes, this is a remake of an old film. The audience who watched 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' in the 1980s are still around, so it saves a lot of effort in promotion."

A group of cinema managers were urging China Film Group to release "The Legend of the Martial Arts" during the Spring Festival to revive the market.

Huang Yiyun of Oriental Film Company said, "Our Oriental Film Company also hopes to release 'The Legend of the Martial Arts' during the Lunar New Year season."

However, there were also many overseas film distributors present. "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was mainly invested by China Film Group and they hoped it would be a big hit overseas. The opinions of overseas film distributors would also be taken into consideration.

China Film Group ultimately yielded to public opinion and decided to release the film during the Spring Festival.

Once the idea was decided, all departments in the company got busy.

After the news of the open auditions for the male lead in my film "My Sassy Girl" spread, I received thousands of resumes.

Those who seem unreliable are screened out first, and then the interviews begin.

After interviewing hundreds of people, a final shortlist was selected.

There were more than a dozen people sitting in the room. If people in later generations saw them, they would find that most of them were well-known actors.

After all, there aren't many people working in the film industry these days, and those who have become famous in later generations are all quite capable.

Most of these people graduated from several major art colleges. Some knew each other, and some didn't. They gathered together and chatted, quickly becoming familiar with each other and starting to whisper among themselves.

Huang Haibo, a student from the Beijing Film Academy's class of '97, saw Yang Zhigang there and asked, "Are you classmates with Brother Tai?"

Yang Zhigang nodded: "Yes."

"Then you should have a very good chance."

Upon hearing this, the other auditionees immediately became nervous.

Yang Zhigang quickly said, "Brother Tai is very fair; we all compete fairly."

Just then, a woman dressed as a secretary came over and called out, "Yang Zhigang!"

Yang Zhigang quickly agreed, and the woman said, "You'll be the first to audition, Xu Zhen, get ready."

Yang Zhigang went in for more than ten minutes and then came out.

The secretary called out again, "Xu Zhen, it's your turn. Huang Haibo, get ready."

A bald man strode in.

After seeing him leave, Huang Haibo asked Yang Zhigang, "How did it go?"

Yang Zhigang said, "Brother Tai and Director Chen were both there, as well as Ms. Fan Binbin. I saw the script this time and even acted out a scene with Fan Binbin."

The other interviewees listened intently, their eyes lighting up as they realized this was the final round, and they were getting serious.

Huang Haibo asked, "How was your performance?"

"I think it's alright, but they just told me to go back and wait for news!"

Huang Haibo said, "They definitely won't announce it on the spot. Go back and wait for news; it might be good news."

A short while later, Xu Zhen walked out of the office and left without saying a word.

The secretary called out again, "Huang Haibo, it's your turn! Shen Teng, get ready!"

Huang Haibo said to Yang Zhigang, "Wait for my good news, buddy!"

He walked confidently into the office as he spoke.