Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

After the art exams ended, Zhuang Huai'an remained silent throughout.

The selection process for the acting department at Beijing Film Academy—from male to female roles, only focuses on young male and female actors—is so poor that it's no wonder the department is becoming increasingly inadequate.

After arranging to meet Lao Wang in the office, Zhuang Huai'an shoved the documents into Zhang Songwen's arms and walked out of the building.

"Senior...

Luo Jin brought Zhu Yawen over, speaking in Hakka dialect: "You helped Ya last time, and I didn't have a chance to thank you. Would you like to have a meal together sometime?"

"Let's skip it today. If you get accepted, I'll treat you after school starts." Seeing his fellow villager looking a bit down, Zhuang Huai'an could only explain, "I really don't have time. I have an appointment to discuss something tonight."

"Alright then." Luo Jin didn't insist, so he said goodbye to Zhu Yawen and the two left.

As he continued walking, past the small flower bed, another girl jumped out and just stared at him without saying a word.

Zhuang Huai'an chuckled. Why did going out feel like playing a game, requiring him to talk to NPCs before he could leave?

"Little friend, what's the matter?"

"I'm not a little kid, my name is Liu Yifei," the girl wrinkled her nose, her tone sweet and charming. "We met outside Teacher Wang's office last time. Are you an upperclassman?"

"I guess so. If you get accepted, I'll be a year ahead of you."

"So you're also in the performing arts department?"

"No, I'm in the directing department." Zhuang Huai'an shook his head and asked, "Didn't you finish your exams a long time ago? Why aren't you home yet?"

"I'm waiting for my mom. She's gone to the teacher's office." Liu Yifei tilted her head back, her ponytail swaying behind her head.

"Senior, what did it mean when you shook your head during my exam?"

"Did you take the exam?" Zhuang Huai'an asked, feigning surprise.

Liu Yifei blushed and muttered with her head down, "I also want to perform, but my mom said I went through the international student channel and didn't have to take the exam."

Although the girl is only 14 years old, she understands what she's doing and feels ashamed of this kind of backdoor behavior.

In Zhuang Huai'an's view, this is not considered using back channels, as the international student channel at Beijing Film Academy is exempt from entrance exams.

But the other candidates don't know this. You've made it too obvious. If they know it's exempt from the exam, they shouldn't have gone through the process. They could have just enrolled directly when school started.

In short, this operation is very confusing.

The little girl looked down, somewhat dejected. Zhuang Huai'an didn't think to comfort her, because the big boss had already arrived.

"Sissi, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Mom," Liu Yifei looked up, "I'm chatting with my senior."

"Senior?" Liu Xiaoli looked at the exceptionally handsome young man in front of her, feeling a little wary, but still asked with a smile, "Excuse me, are you also a student in the performing arts department? I'm Liu Yifei's mother, you look somewhat familiar."

"Hello, Auntie, my name is Zhuang Huai'an, and I'm a directing student." Faced with this notoriously difficult mother-in-law, Zhuang Huai'an still chose to respond politely.

"Zhuang Huai'an from the directing department?"

After muttering to herself for a few moments, Liu Xiaoli suddenly realized and said, "You must be Zhuang Huai'an, the director who won the award at Cannes?"

"Yes, Auntie, I have something to do, so I won't bother you any longer." Zhuang Huai'an smiled at the little girl and turned to leave.

The little girl, still not quite understanding, blinked and asked, "Mommy, what's this about winning an award in Cannes?"

"We'll talk about this when we get back." The mother and daughter, like sisters, left hand in hand.

Zhuang Huai'an arrived at the Performing Arts Department office, and Wang Jingsong had just arrived as well.

Without much small talk, Zhuang Huai'an showed him the script and started fiddling with the tea set.

"Phew... this notebook..."

Wang Jingsong's face showed a hint of disbelief. "Huai'an, are you sure you want me to act in this script?"

"The notebooks are all in your hands, how could they be fake?"

Zhuang Huai'an handed him a cigarette and joked, "You'd better be prepared to suffer with these out-of-season scenes."

"Sigh, it's all worth it to act in such a good script, no matter how tough it is." Wang Jingsong exhaled a puff of smoke and asked, "When do you plan to start filming?"

"Depending on your schedule, the crew is all set up. They're all our own people. I plan to film a segment in Huairou first, and then head to Huludao."

"Okay, I'll hand over what I'm doing to Teacher Cui, and then I'll join the group with you!"

The two discussed the details again. Zhuang Huai'an left the script behind, went to the temporary office, looked at the somewhat bored Zhuge Liang, Feng Chu, and the three vocational school students, and laughed:

"Hey guys, we've got some work, let's get this party started!"

With the experience from the previous one, the crew worked together much more smoothly this time.

Production Manager: Wang Zhiyong; Cinematographer: Ning Hao; Assistant Director and Cinematographer: Sun Hao; Script Supervisor and Versatile Cog in the Vocational High School Class: Sanxiong.

The male lead is Wang Jingsong, the female lead is Yu Feihong, and the nephew is Zhou Yiwei.

Of the three top students in the vocational high school class, Zhang Songwen is too old, Lin Jiachuan is too fierce, and he is more suitable.

Everything is ready.

On May 30th, filming of "Seaside Town" (renamed) officially began at the Huairou Film and Television Base in Beijing.

Wang Jingsong truly lives up to his title as the head of the acting department; besides his excellent portrayal of mentally ill characters, he also handles the role of a颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being decadent, dispirited, or disheartened) middle-aged man with ease.

Filming is progressing smoothly. The team of his own people is indeed very useful. Zhuang Huai'an is already considering signing these senior students to his company.

After taking some time to talk to them, everyone was very willing. They are just waiting for the film to be completed before officially signing the contract.

That day, Wang Hongwei brought Han Sanping to visit the set.

"Huai'an, have you forgotten something?"

Han Sanping, his face dark, questioned him as soon as he sat down.

"Huh? What's going on?" Zhuang Huai'an, Louis XVI, was a little confused. He hadn't offended Zuo Shandiao, had he?

"You've been back from Cannes for half a month now, when do you plan to release 'The Hunt'?" Han Sanping asked, sounding exasperated. "There's a lot of buzz about it right now, you should strike while the iron is hot."

Zhuang Huai'an scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. He had already made back the money he spent on buying the rights to "The Hunt," and he had been preoccupied with the Venice Film Festival lately, so he had neglected this matter.

Han Sanping was also helpless. After all, he was the vice chairman of China Film Group. He had originally planned to sit in his office and wait for Zhuang Huai'an to come to him. Now it seemed that the kid didn't take this matter to heart at all, and he had to take the initiative.

"Mr. Han, Hunting is an art film, so its box office performance is destined to be low. You can arrange it as you see fit." Zhuang Huai'an waved his hand dismissively.

Is this about box office performance? This is about political achievements!

Han Sanping couldn't say this out loud, but since Zhuang Huai'an had told him to handle the arrangements, he had achieved his purpose in making this trip.

"Okay, I'll go back and pick a good time to release it. With the support of awards, the box office won't be too bad."

Han Sanping sat behind the monitor, watching Zhuang Huai'an smoothly control the scene setup, and was somewhat surprised. It seemed that this kid really wasn't lucky.

He has also made many films, and as an insider, he can naturally tell the difference between good and bad.

After filming a scene, Zhuang Huai'an called out "Cut!" and told the crew to take a half-hour break.

"I heard from Hongwei that you're planning to try this film at the Venice Film Festival?"

"That's one of those ideas."

"Are you confident?" Han Sanping asked again.

"There's no such thing as absolute certainty in these matters, but let's give it a try."

Zhuang Huai'an smiled and dodged the question, saying that awards require the right timing, location, and people—all three are indispensable.

"It's worth a try."

Han Sanping nodded, stood up and said, "I happen to have some free time right now, I'll take you to see someone."

"Where to?"

"next door."