Huayu: I rely on hit-movie tactics to interweave...

April in Beijing finally felt like springtime.

The magnolia trees in front of the teaching building were in full bloom, their white blossoms dazzling, their petals thick.

Today is the day for the graduation Q&A session.

It's a tradition at Beijing Film Academy that every senior student has to go through this stage in the second semester of their senior year. They stand in front of several professors and answer a variety of questions they ask, from the topic of their graduation thesis to the gains and reflections of their four years of study. They answer whatever they are asked.

It wasn't a defense, but it was better than one.

Only after passing this hurdle can one truly say they have completed the final leg of their undergraduate studies.

The question and answer session lasted about twenty minutes.

Yu Li finally closed the paper, looked at Liu Yu, and her expression softened a bit more than usual.

"Alright, go back and wait for our notification. If nothing unexpected happens, graduation shouldn't be a problem." Liu Yu stood up, bowed, and as he walked to the door, Yu Li added from behind, "Liu Yu, you're the student I've ever had who gave me the least trouble."

Liu Yu turned and looked at her. "Teacher Yu, I will remember your words for the rest of my life."

Yu Li waved her hand, signaling him to hurry up and stop getting emotional.

...

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly on the playground.

The photographer suggested taking the graduation photos at this time, saying that the light was softest and would make the people look good in the pictures.

People from various departments arrived one after another in 2002: Management, Performing Arts, Photography, Fine Arts, Recording, and Literature—a dense, dark mass.

The boys wore white shirts and dark pants, while the girls wore skirts of various colors. They stood in twos and threes chatting, as if they were waiting for someone, or perhaps waiting for a ceremony.

When Liu Yu arrived, a large number of people had already gathered by the playground.

Wang Chaowen followed beside him, wearing a white shirt with the collar buttoned up tightly. He looked uncomfortable, occasionally reaching out to tug at his collar as if something was choking him.

"Dude, do I look like an insurance salesman in this shirt?"

Liu Yu looked him up and down, then nodded seriously. "It looks like it."

Wang Chaowen rolled his eyes and unbuttoned one button on his collar.

"Senior Brother Liu Yu is here!" someone shouted, and everyone nearby turned around.

Before Liu Yu could react, he was surrounded by several people.

There were junior students from the management department, students from the photography department, and two girls he didn't recognize, who seemed to be from the literature department based on their attire.

Everyone was talking at once. Someone asked, "When is your next movie going to start?" Someone else said, "I saw you on the news at the Berlin Film Festival." And someone else said, "Could I take a picture with you, senior? My mom is a fan of yours."

Liu Yu paused for a moment when he heard the last sentence, thinking, "Your mom is my fan? How old is your mom? Forty? Fifty?"

Has his audience expanded to include middle-aged and elderly women? This realization left him somewhat bewildered, but he didn't show it on his face and smiled as he posed for a photo.

"Director Liu!" A loud voice came from outside the crowd.

Liu Yu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Luo Jing.

He was wearing a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and he looked a size bigger than when he filmed "Hearing Girl".

He squeezed through the crowd and came over, smiling as he hugged Liu Yu.

"When did you get back?"

"Yesterday. I flew back from Hengdian. The filming just wrapped up." Luo Jing let go of Liu Yu's hand and stood next to him. The two of them stood there like two pillars.

The surrounding students consciously moved aside, clearing a small space for them.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion arose from the other end of the playground.

Liu Yu looked up and saw a group of people walking towards him from the direction of the teaching building.

The students in the performing arts department, both male and female, numbering a dozen or twenty, were all wearing matching graduation gowns.

A group of girls were walking at the front, chatting and laughing, their steps light and quick.

Liu Yu's gaze swept over the group of people. Liu Yifei was walking in the middle of the group, slightly towards the back, with her hair down.

Her skin was so fair that she could be easily recognized in a crowd.

Two people were standing around her; a girl was holding her arm, and a boy was talking to her.

She listened with her head tilted to the side, nodding occasionally, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Wang Chaowen leaned closer and whispered, "Brother, Liu Yifei is back too. Isn't she filming 'The Return of the Condor Heroes'?"

"We're done filming," Liu Yu said.

He recalled the message Liu Yifei had posted earlier: "Filming for 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' has wrapped up, I can finally rest for a few days."

He replied with "Congratulations," and she sent a smiley face.

The photographer started calling everyone to their positions.

The more than two hundred people were arranged by department, with the management department on the left, the performing arts department on the right, and the photography and recording departments in the middle.

Liu Yu was seated in the first row on the right, next to several teachers from the management department.

Wang Chaowen stood in the second row, and he had to stand on tiptoe to peek his head out.

Liu Yifei stood in the middle of the row of students from the performing arts department. She was tall for a girl and was not blocked from view.

"Look here, everyone! Smile! I'll say one, two, three, and you shout 'cheese!'" The photographer squatted on the tripod, holding a huge camera with a black lens that looked like a big eye.

"one two three!"

"eggplant!"

More than two hundred faces laughed at the same time, some genuinely, some faking it.

"One more! This time, call out 'Tian Qi'!"

"Tianqi!"

With another click, four years for more than two hundred people were captured in a small digital photograph.

.....

After the photos were taken, the crowd dispersed.

Liu Yu said something to Wang Chaowen and walked alone towards the direction of the directing department.

The directing department's teaching building is located in the southeast corner of the campus. It's an old gray building with ivy climbing all over its exterior walls, and tender green leaves are just sprouting.

He went up to the third floor and walked to the door of a classroom at the end of the corridor. The door was open and a person was sitting inside.

Lu Yang, in his early twenties, wore black-rimmed glasses and a dark gray hoodie.

A stack of manuscript paper lay on the table, with a cup of tea beside it.

He heard footsteps, looked up, saw Liu Yu standing at the door, paused for a moment, and then stood up.

"Director Liu! What brings you here? Teacher Tian told me you would be coming today, but I thought I would have to wait until the afternoon." Lu Yang's voice was a little tense as he tried hard to control his emotions.

This was recommended by Tian Zhuangzhuang. Last year, when filming "Hearing Girl" in Weihai, Tian Zhuangzhuang mentioned Lu Yang to Liu Yu, saying that this person has ideas and drive, but lacks opportunities.

Later, Liu Yu had Zhong Lifang meet with Lu Yang. After a few conversations, she felt that Lu Yang was indeed a good person; he had a deep understanding of film, was not pretentious, and was not all talk and no action.

When filming "The Man from Nowhere" in Los Angeles, they needed an assistant director to accompany the crew, and Liu Yu immediately thought of him.

"Sit down." Liu Yu sat down in the chair opposite the desk, glancing at the manuscript spread out on the table. It looked like a script, the handwriting dense and difficult to read. "Writing a new script?"

Lu Yang closed the manuscript and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"Just writing nonsense, it's not even finished yet."

He sat down in the chair, placed his hands on the table, and unconsciously rubbed his fingers together.

Liu Yu didn't ask any further questions, took a document out of his bag, and handed it over.

"Here's the contract, take a look. The film 'The Man from Nowhere,' a co-production between Frontline Pictures and Lionsgate, needs an assistant director to work on set. Filming will take place entirely in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, and the project will last about two months. Mr. Tian recommended you, and I think you're suitable. If you're willing, we can sign today."

Lu Yang took the contract, opened it, and read it page by page.

Liu Yu didn't urge him, and leaned back in his chair.

"Director Liu, I have a question." Lu Yang looked up, his expression serious, like a student going to a job interview.

"you say."

"Why was I given this opportunity? I don't have much experience, and I've never directed a feature film before. I'm not the only one Professor Tian recommended, am I?"

Liu Yu looked at him. The question was direct and straightforward, which was the style he liked. Liu Yu couldn't very well say, "I knew you were a successful director in my past life."

"You're definitely not the only candidate. You have something that others don't; you have your own ideas. That's very important." He paused. "As an assistant director, the two types of people I fear most are those who have no ideas, doing whatever you tell them to do, like a tool. The other type has too many ideas, going west when you tell them to go east, sitting when you tell them to stand. You're neither of those. I believed Teacher Tian when he said you were good."

Lu Yang paused for a moment, then smiled. He signed the contract and placed it on the table, then stood up and extended his hand.

"Director Liu, when do we depart?"

"Early May. The company will handle the visa for you; you just need to prepare your passport."

It was almost dark when I left the directing department.

Liu Yu stood on the steps in front of the building and lit a cigarette.

The evening breeze in April was still cool, feeling like a thin layer of ice on his face. He put a cigarette in his mouth, squinted, and looked towards the direction of the playground. There was no one there anymore, except for a few photography students setting up tripods to take pictures of the night scene, probably for some kind of assignment.