Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

Zhuang Huai'an was listed as the producer for both TV series.

Since I've already visited "The Legend of Sword and Fairy," I should also visit "A Deadly Secret."

Upon arriving at the film set, they found that the martial arts tournament scene was being filmed, which was also Di Yun's only highlight moment in the series.

"Producer," Sun Hao said, noting that he had changed his title, and introduced Zhuang Huai'an, "This is Director Cao Long, the action director for the crew. Director Cao happened to be absent during yesterday's dinner."

Zhuang Huai'an smiled and gave a fist and palm salute, "Director Cao, I've long admired your name. Your portrayal of Prince Moang in Journey to the West was truly beautiful."

Cao Long clasped his hands in return and smiled, "Director Zhuang's reputation is truly renowned. It's mainly because every member of the Journey to the West crew is exceptionally skilled. My meager abilities can't be fully utilized, so I can only rely on myself."

Despite having a combat power of only 6000, Cao Long did not have the bad habits typical of Hong Kong martial arts performers; on the contrary, he appeared quite reserved in his words and actions.

The two exchanged a few compliments, and Cao Long sighed, "Sigh, speaking of which, I have to thank Teacher Liu for the recommendation, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to get this job as Director Zhuang."

"Oh?" Zhuang Huai'an became interested and asked, "Director Cao has won the Golden Horse Award for Best Director. What makes you say that?"

Cao Long first asked, "I wonder if Director Zhuang has heard of the TV series 'Journey to the West: The Sequel'?"

"I've watched this TV series, and the plot is really good."

Zhuang Huai'an silently added to himself: "It's just that the martial arts moves are too bizarre."

"well,"

Seemingly sensing Zhuang Huai'an's inner thoughts, Cao Long sighed again and began to explain.

"The plot of Journey to the West: The Sequel is indeed good. The script was originally only 13 episodes, but the investors thought it was too few and worried that it would not sell. So Qian Yanqiu and I came up with a solution: to padded it with repetitive martial arts moves, and eventually expanded it to 30 episodes."

While this approach sold the TV series, it also cost me my livelihood. With an action director producing such stunts, which director would dare to use me?

After finishing filming a TV series called "The Legend of the Jade Emperor" at the end of last year, I've been completely ignored for six months. How embarrassing!

After hearing this, Zhuang Huai'an suddenly realized that there was such an inside story.

"It was after Teacher Liu heard about my situation that he recommended me to Director Sun. Teacher Liu is such a good person."

Seeing Cao Long sigh for a while, Zhuang Huai'an smiled and replied, "That shows that Director Cao is also a very good person, otherwise Teacher Liu would not have recommended you."

However, this matter gave Zhuang Huai'an an idea: why not sign Cao Long?

Many people only know Cao Long's "staring and stiff neck" version of Sun Wukong, but his most famous action director film should be the Li Lianjie version of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", where the action moves are truly beautiful and sharp.

After thinking it over carefully, I decided against it.

Martial arts performers are different from other acting professions. Martial arts practitioners are prone to having short tempers, so there is no need to keep a group of time bombs around. You can just hire people when needed.

After chatting with Cao Long for a while, he left. "Liancheng Jue" is a martial arts film, and he is indispensable in every aspect of it. In fact, his role in the crew is more important than that of director Sun Hao.

The martial arts tournament was the last scene the crew of "Liancheng Jue" filmed in Hengdian. After filming, they would move to the border region to film snow mountain scenes.

In other words, China is a vast and resource-rich country. Where would you find snow-capped mountains in other Eastern Hemisphere countries in August?

After observing the action scene direction for a while, Zhuang Huai'an left. He felt that the crew members were somewhat restrained while he was there, including Zhuge Liang and Feng Chu. They would ask him for his opinion after filming a short segment.

This is not good; it hinders growth.

...

The cast and crew of "Chinese Paladin"

After watching the replay on the monitor, Zhuang Huai'an took off his headphones and gave Liu Yifei a thumbs up. The little girl smiled so much that her eyes were almost invisible.

"His acting skills are passable, but he needs to practice his lines more."

"You," Liu Yifei said, her smile fading, "can't you just let me be happy for a little while longer?"

"Didn't you ask me to give my opinion?" A hint of a smile flashed in Zhuang Huai'an's eyes as he teased, "Only with setbacks can you improve. Keep up the good work, Private Qian."

Liu Yifei glared at him angrily but didn't say anything.

Zhuang Huai'an chuckled to himself. To be honest, this period of time was the best time for Liu Yifei's acting skills. Her charm was almost overflowing from the screen.

But the same problem remains: this is also related to the fact that she is very well-suited to the role of Zhao Ling'er. If she were to stand alone, she wouldn't even be up to the average level of students at the Beijing Film Academy.

Perhaps because she hadn't yet experienced the period of cyberbullying, the young girl had a rather arrogant air about her. Zhuang Huai'an described her as a cocky and conceited little girl, which wasn't actually a good thing for her future acting career.

But that's alright. When Audrey Hepburn first started out, she was just a pretty face. She could gradually improve... cough, gradually train herself.

"Oh, by the way,"

Liu Yifei raised her eyebrows, put her hands on her hips, and looked both cute and fierce. "After all this time, how come I'm still a private first class?"

"What?" Zhuang Huai'an pretended not to understand.

Stop pretending to be stupid!

Liu Yifei counted on her fingers, "Look, the first time I was a private first class, you said you'd write me a promotion report. The second time you called me private first class too. Now it's the third time, and I'm still a private first class?"

This thought process is truly unique.

"Alright then."

Seeing the little girl's angry expression, Zhuang Huai'an could only go along with her. "Then, according to rank, this general hereby officially confers upon you the rank of sergeant. Are you satisfied now, my hot dry noodles girl?"

"That's more like it." Liu Yifei nodded in satisfaction, then added with some dissatisfaction, "What 'hot dry noodles girl'? Don't keep giving me weird nicknames."

Zhuang Huai'an couldn't help but rub her little head and laugh, "You didn't grasp the key point of that sentence."

"What's the key point?"

"My hot dry noodles girl." Zhuang Huai'an looked directly at her, deliberately emphasizing the pronunciation of "my".

This sudden, direct approach made Liu Yifei blush instantly. She turned her head slightly, not daring to look directly into Zhuang Huai'an's somewhat intense gaze, and spat at him softly.

"Pah! Uncle Jiang is right, you are the big bad wolf!"

"Hey, Jiang Wen, you old bastard, teach people something decent! This is just tarnishing my reputation!"

Zhuang Huai'an pretended to be angry and embarrassed. He realized that he had just lost his mind and was flirting with a young girl. Wasn't he just a complete goldfish?

No, this girl is too dangerous. We should avoid contact with her too much for now, or something bad might happen.

We must always remember the lessons learned from Brother Yifan.

Watching her daughter playfully fighting with Zhuang Huai'an from afar, Aunt Liu felt utterly exhausted.

She ultimately gave up on the idea of ​​talking to Zhuang Huai'an.

As someone who's been through it all, Aunt Liu knows all too well how irresistible Zhuang Huai'an's charm is to young girls. Young people naturally admire each other, and it's no wonder that her daughter, at her age, would be smitten to meet someone so outstanding.

He is handsome, talented, and morally upright. Most importantly, Zhuang Huai'an never crossed any lines during their time together, which shows that he is a very decent person.

Never mind, let them be.