Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

The people from Castle Rock approached us on their own initiative.

There was no probing or waiting; instead, a formal meeting was scheduled directly.

Chen Yuan saw the email in China and immediately forwarded it to Fei Zhao. After reading it, Fei Zhao replied, "Talk to them."

The negotiations proceeded faster than anyone had anticipated.

Castle Rock brought more than just money; they brought an entire North American production system—distribution channels, theater resources, union connections, completion insurance—filling in all the gaps that Tianxing couldn't manage. Fei Zhao used Asian copyright revenue and distribution channels as leverage, and after two rounds of talks, the basic framework for cooperation was finalized.

WarnerMedia entered the fray in the final round of negotiations, securing the North American primary distribution rights and making up for the remaining budget shortfall.

At this point, funding, production, and distribution for "The Shawshank Redemption" were all in place.

From the time the investors withdrew their funding to the time the project regained its footing, it took less than two weeks.

On the day filming began, there was no ribbon-cutting ceremony or any formalities on set. Michael simply stood in front of the monitor and said one sentence to everyone: "Action."

The scene where Andy goes to jail.

Lin Yuan watched Tim Robbins change into his prison uniform and walk out in front of the monitor without saying a word.

This scene has no long dialogues, no emotional outbursts, and the entire shot focuses on one thing—a person walking through a door.

But Lin Yuan knew that this was the most difficult scene in the entire film.

This shot is meant to make the audience feel that a person's world is shrinking.

Andy Dufresne, once a bank vice president, had suits, a name, and a future. Now, he's just number 37927.

The moment the iron gate opened, Tim made no attempt to show any emotion. He simply walked in, his gaze calm, like someone who had already accepted everything.

The iron gate closed.

The heavy sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the film set.

Lin Yuan stared at the monitor and said, "Okay, that's a pass."

The staff members nearby didn't say anything.

The moment that door closed, everyone felt it—that person had truly entered a prison with no exit.

The second key scene: the rooftop beer.

The most difficult part of this scene is that nothing has happened.

There was no conflict, no twists or turns; it was just a group of prisoners sitting on the roof, sunbathing and drinking the ice-cold beer that Andy had managed to get for them.

But it is precisely because there is nothing there that this scene is the most difficult.

Lin Yuan told all the actors something: "Today you're not prisoners, you're workers. After get off work, sit on the rooftop, drink the beer the boss gave you, and feel the sun on your shoulders. That's it."

Michael stood to the side, saying nothing, only nodding.

The camera started running.

Andy sat to the side, not drinking his beer, but looking up at the sky with a slight smile. Red held his glass, drinking silently, his eyes narrowed, as if he hadn't been exposed to the sun like that in a long time.

No one is speaking in the video.

But that feeling came through—it wasn't a group of prisoners on the roof; it was a group of people who had temporarily regained themselves.

Lin Yuan called a halt.

He glanced back at Michael, who said, "Keep it."

The prison break scene took three whole days to film.

The downpour was real, the water in the pipes was real, and when Tim crawled out, he was covered in mud. He propped himself up on the ground, raised his head, and rain splattered on his face.

Tim said he had been mentally preparing for that pose of spreading his arms for two whole months, but when he actually did it, he didn't tell anyone beforehand how he was going to do it.

In the footage, he stands in the pouring rain, his face tilted back, arms outstretched.

There was no background music, no slow motion, he just stood there.

There was a silence on set for about five seconds, then Michael said one word: "Perfect."

Later, Lin Yuan talked about this scene with someone, saying, "Andy spent nineteen years digging that road to freedom. That night, he finally climbed out of Shawshank. All we can do is not ruin that moment."

The final scene: a reunion by the sea.

On the Mexican coast, the sun shines on the sandy beach.

Reed walked along the beach, where a man was repairing a boat in the distance. They approached, without dialogue, without long reunion talks, and finally just an embrace.

Morgan later said that before filming this scene, he sat in the tent for a long time, thinking about what Red had gone through to get here—it wasn't a prison break, but a person who dared not believe in the future, and ultimately chose to believe in the future.

He truly cried during that hug.

It wasn't for the sake of the camera, but because I felt that Red had finally reached the place he was meant to be.

After filming this scene, Lin Yuan called "cut," and no one spoke immediately. The entire set was silent for about a minute.

Finally, the producer spoke up: "That's a wrap."

On the day filming wrapped, the set was unusually quiet.

There was no celebration, no applause, and no one even suggested going to dinner. Everyone packed up their equipment and stood there sparsely, speaking in hushed tones, as if they didn't want to break anything.

Tim stood in front of the monitor, watched the last scene, and then turned around.

He said, "After filming Andy, I realized he wasn't just a character. He was a real person who had lived. He wasn't a hero; he simply didn't extinguish that light during twenty years of darkness."

Morgan remained silent for a long time.

"I used to think Red was just someone who had adapted to prison. But now I understand, he was actually waiting. Waiting for a reason to believe in hope again. Andy was that reason."

Lin Yuan stood to the side without saying anything.

He didn't teach them these words; they found them themselves. They spoke them after spending months with the characters, after immersing themselves in them and then stepping out of them.

All he did was tell them at the very beginning that Andy wasn't a prisoner; he was someone who had never actually been locked up.

The Hollywood team members came over one after another. Some patted him on the shoulder, some shook his hand. No one said "You're amazing" or "That's incredible." They just used that way to tell him: We acknowledge you.

It's not because he's nineteen, nor because he's a director from China.

It was because he truly understood this story about freedom, hope, and redemption that he ultimately allowed it to reveal its true nature.

Lin Yuan glanced down at the script in his hand; the cover was already a bit wrinkled.

The Shawshank Redemption.

He knew this wasn't a story about a prison break.

Andy waited nineteen years before he finally found that exit.

But what truly trapped him was never the prison.

He climbed over more than just a sewage pipe.

Rather, it was the dark life that trapped him for nineteen years.

That night, he stood in the pouring rain with his arms outstretched.

He was finally free.