1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The name Chen Kaige is naturally like thunder in the ears of Zhang Ziyi and others.

There are only a few well-known directors in China today, and the first tier should be Zhou Yan, Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou.

Of course, Zhou Yan’s entry into the first echelon is also related to his soundtrack and the box office of the movie.

The girls all knew what Chen Kaige looked like and wouldn't mistake him for a liar or something like that.

It was just that it was so late, and Chen Kaige suddenly appeared at the gate of their school and introduced himself, which was difficult for them to understand.

In fact, when they were at the factory tonight, Mei Ting saw Chen Kaige, so she was even more puzzled. If Chen Kaige really wanted to find them, why didn't he look for them at the factory?
Mei Ting is older and has worked for many years. She is much calmer in the face of sudden situations. She was the first to speak, "Hello, Director Chen. Are you looking for us?"

Chen Kaige smiled, looked at Zhang Ziyi, and said directly, "I want to find Zhang Ziyi."

"Me?" Zhang Ziyi looked surprised. She had never had any contact with Chen Kaige before.

The other three girls were all confused, wondering why Chen Kaige would look for Zhang Ziyi and whether they knew each other before.

"Well, it's you. Are you ready to chat?"

To be honest, it is a bit abrupt to make such a request to a girl at this time.

But Chen Kaige is a celebrity after all, and they felt that there shouldn't be any problem.

Of course, whether to agree or not depends on Zhang Ziyi herself. The other three girls cannot make the decision for her.

Hu Jing looked at Zhang Ziyi, then at Chen Kaige, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

She actually wanted to tell Zhang Ziyi not to agree. After all, it was so late, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

Normal things can be discussed in front of them. If there are things that are not convenient to discuss in front of them, you can wait until tomorrow to discuss them.

It's just that getting to know a big director is a good opportunity, and Hu Jing wants to persuade him at this time, but she is also worried about offending people.

Zhang Ziyi thought about it and nodded, "No problem."

Seeing that Zhang Ziyi agreed, Mei Ting said, "Then you talk to Director Chen. We will go back to the dormitory and wait for you to come back."

"Ah."

After the other three left, Chen Kaige took out a cigarette, lit it for himself, and then asked Zhang Ziyi, "Do you smoke?"

Zhang Ziyi smiled and shook her head, "Thank you, I don't smoke."

Chen Kaige took a long drag on his cigarette, then smiled and said, "I asked Lao Zhou for your name."

Seeing the confusion on Zhang Ziyi's face, he added, "It's Director Zhou Yan."

Zhang Ziyi was quite surprised. She didn't expect that Chen Kaige's contact with her was related to Teacher Zhou.

In fact, she had very little contact with Zhou Yan. They only met a few times when they went to rehearse.

However, during the rehearsal, there were so many people there that she thought Zhou Yan didn’t remember her name. After all, she didn’t think she was very eye-catching among her classmates.

"Director Chen, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Chen Kaige got straight to the point and said, "I want to audition with you."

"Me, audition?" Zhang Ziyi was particularly surprised.

She wanted to ask Chen Kaige why he wanted to find her, but she felt that it was a bit silly to ask. After calming herself down, she asked, "What movie? What kind of role?"

"Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin, Zhao Ji."

Zhao Ji?

Zhang Ziyi remembered that she seemed to have read in the news that Chen Kaige was going to make a movie about Qin Shi Huang, but she didn't care what the specific story was.

But this Zhao Ji is not suitable for her.

Isn’t Zhao Ji the mother of Qin Shi Huang?
Since it is a story about Jing Ke assassinating the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, then Qin Shi Huang should have been quite old.

Zhang Ziyi doesn't know much about history, but she remembers that Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin should have happened not long after Qin Shihuang unified the country, and Qin Shihuang must have been an adult at that time.

To play the mother of Qin Shi Huang, she is definitely not the right age.

"Is it when Zhao Ji was young?" Zhang Ziyi asked.

Zhang Ziyi speculated that the movie might also include stories about Qin Shihuang’s childhood.

Chen Kaige shook his head, "The Zhao Ji I'm talking about is not the same person as the Zhao Ji you think of."

"Is that so?"

"Are you willing to audition?" Chen Kaige asked again.

Zhang Ziyi was in a dilemma. Of course she wanted to audition. It was a rare opportunity to work with a great director like Chen Kaige. How many chances like this could an actor have in his lifetime?
Moreover, Chen Kaige took the initiative to find her. How many actors can get such treatment?
However, their homeroom teacher, Mr. Chang, had repeatedly warned them not to go out and film without permission. How could she dare to agree to Chen Kaige's request now?
If she wanted to go out and film, it would mean she would have to drop out of school.

Unless Chen Kaige asks her to play a very small role that can be completed in a few days, or the shooting time is during the holidays and does not take up school time.

After struggling for a while, Zhang Ziyi asked, "Director Chen, when will this movie be shot and how many scenes will we have?"

"We'll be shooting next summer. You'll have a lot of scenes."

When she heard that the filming would be in summer, hope ignited in Zhang Ziyi's heart.

If the filming can be completed during the summer vacation, it won’t take up class time and I can have the best of both worlds.

"Can I finish filming my drama during the summer vacation?" Zhang Ziyi asked expectantly.

Chen Kaige shook his head. "I can't guarantee that. We can't even guarantee whether the filming will be in summer. The Qin Palace is still under construction, so our schedule will depend on the construction schedule. I know what you're worried about, but don't worry too much. I can talk to your teacher for you later."

"Is that okay?"

Chen Kaige said confidently, "It should be no problem."

Seeing how confident he was, Zhang Ziyi also believed it a little. After all, Chen Kaige was such a big director, so it was normal for the school to give him some face.

Zhang Ziyi smiled and said, "If the school agrees, of course I have no problem with that."

Chen Kaige nodded. "In that case, let's do this. You go to the Yanjing Film Studio for an audition tomorrow. If the audition goes well, I will go to the school to discuss this matter."

Zhang Ziyi felt that what Chen Kaige said was correct. If she couldn't even pass the audition, then there was no need for Chen Kaige to tell the school about it.

After the two of them made an agreement, Chen Kaige took the initiative to give Zhang Ziyi a phone number, and Zhang Ziyi also gave Chen Kaige her home phone number.

"The school is on holiday now, and I will be back home tomorrow. Director Chen, if you want to find me, you can call this number directly. It's my home number."

"no problem."

After getting the phone number of Zhang Ziyi's home, Chen Kaige didn't say much. He put his hands in his pockets and left with a cigarette in his mouth.

Zhang Ziyi stood at the door for a long time and then returned to the dormitory.

As soon as she arrived at the dormitory, several other girls started chattering and asking, "Ziyi, why did Chen Kaige ask you to do something?"

"Is he looking for you to film a scene?"

"They came here in person, which shows that they value you very much."

……

Zhang Ziyi was in a good mood and said with a smile, "Director Chen said he has a role in his new movie for me to try out."

"Did you agree?" Qin Hailu asked.

"Well, I agreed to audition first, and I'll talk about the rest after the audition results come out."

After hearing what Zhang Ziyi said, Mei Ting rolled her eyes and asked, "If the audition is successful, what will happen next?"

Although she didn't say it clearly, they all knew what Mei Ting meant.

According to the rules of their school, even if they passed the audition, they would not be allowed to go out to film.

"Director Chen said that if the audition was successful, he would help me talk to the school."

"Will the school agree?"

"I don't know. Anyway, I think Director Chen is quite confident."

"Maybe the school will really give face to the big director." Qin Hailu sighed, "Ziyi, if you can work with Director Chen this time, your future will be easier."

"Yes, the starting point is too high. If I were the protagonist, I would not care about anything else, even if the school doesn't let me study, I would still go to film." Hu Jing said.

Hearing Hu Jing's words, Mei Ting blinked.

In fact, Mei Ting is now facing a similar problem as Zhang Ziyi. A few days ago, director Wang Rui found her and hoped that she would participate in the TV series "Northern Story".

Over the years, Mei Ting has received many scripts, but this one is the most exciting for her.

What moved her was not the director Wang Rui, but the screenwriter Jiang Wen and the male lead Kenny Bee.

This TV series was invested and produced by Yanjing Sunny Production Company. Jiang Wen wrote the story himself and also invited Kenny Bee to star in it. The investment was not small and the goal was not small.

Even before the TV series was filmed, an agreement had already been reached with Yanjing Television to broadcast it during prime time.

Mei Ting was very tempted, but she was also worried that the school would not let her go. She had given up a bright future in the Frontline Song and Dance Troupe in order to study at the Central Academy of Drama, so of course she was reluctant to drop out at this time.

So she was very conflicted during this period and had not yet given the director a reply.

When she heard about Zhang Ziyi's story today, she was very concerned. If Zhang Ziyi's story can succeed, can her story also succeed?

Mei Ting was also wondering, if Chen Kaige had approached her instead of Zhang Ziyi today, would she still hesitate?

the answer is negative.

If it was Chen Kaige who approached her, she could decisively give up the Central Academy of Drama.

……

Zhou Yan didn't know that Chen Kaige had secretly gone to see Zhang Ziyi. At this moment, he was looking at the Neon lyrics of "Homecoming" with Akina Nakamori.

Zhou Yan had already come up with the music for this song, but the lyrics were still missing.

The person we found to write the lyrics was Yoshio Oyama, who also wrote the lyrics for the Neon version of "Snow Flower". Akina Nakamori was quite satisfied with the lyrics of "Snow Flower", so they chose to collaborate again.

"The closer I get to home, the more shy I feel..."

Zhou Yan couldn't understand Neon language, so Akina Nakamori translated it for him sentence by sentence.

After hearing the first sentence, Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "Will the next sentence be that you dare not ask people from your hometown?"

Now it was Akina Nakamori's turn to be surprised. "Although they are different, the meaning is almost the same. This sentence means that you want to ask someone from your hometown about the situation in your hometown, but you are too cautious to know how to start. How do you know this is the case?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Because there is an ancient Chinese poem, which says that the closer you are to your hometown, the more you feel attached to it. I dare not ask the visitor."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Akina Nakamori suddenly realized.

After receiving this job, Ooyama Yoshi called Zhou Yan and asked him about his mood when writing the song. Naturally, he wanted to determine the tone of the song through Zhou Yan's ideas.

Zhou Yan told him that this song is mainly about feeling the warmth from one's hometown when returning home, and thus gaining strength to fight against the loneliness and anxiety in a foreign land.

It is estimated that after listening to this, Oyama Yoshi also studied ancient Chinese poetry, so he incorporated these two sentences of Song Zhiwen into his work.

But Zhou Yan felt something was weird when writing it this way.

It is obviously inappropriate to directly translate the word "timid" in "I feel more timid when I am close to home" into "shy".

When Song Zhiwen wrote this poem, he was escaping from his place of exile in Longzhou and passing through the Han River, so the poem is called "Crossing the Han River".

At this time, he was still away from home for some time, and he had been out of touch with his family for many years. He didn't know the situation at home, so he was full of worries about his family.

He was worried that during the years he was away, something big might have happened at home, and whether all his family members were still alive.
The "timidity" here mainly means worry, and this worry becomes stronger as one gets closer to home.

Therefore, when he met someone from his hometown, he didn't dare to ask about the other person's family situation, because he was afraid that the situation he had worried about before would happen, and that his dream of reuniting with his family would be shattered.

To sum up, the word "timid" not only means worry, but also a bit of panic and fragility.

Anyway, no matter how you translate it, translating it into "shy" is definitely not a good idea.

After thinking about it, Zhou Yan didn't say anything, but asked Akina Nakamori to continue translating the rest of the lyrics.

After Akina Nakamori finished translating all the lyrics, Zhou Yan nodded. Overall, the lyrics were pretty good. At least the main theme was clear and there were longer narrative sentences.

Using longer narrative sentences can give the lyrics a greater sense of space and be more artistic than lyrics that are cluttered with words.

Many lyrics that seem simple are actually very memorable, also because of their use of long narrative sentences.

Zhou Yan did not want to make changes based on the meaning of the lyrics, because he did not understand Neon language and his understanding of the meaning of the words would be biased. If he modified the Neon lyrics based on his understanding of Chinese, it would obviously be easy to cause problems.

So he asked Akina Nakamori to sing the lyrics according to the version written by Yoshi Oyama, and then he gave her suggestions based on Akina Nakamori's pronunciation.

What he wants is a perfect fit between the music and the pronunciation of the lyrics.

This can at least guarantee one thing, that is, listeners who do not understand Neon will find it nice to listen to, because people who do not understand Neon will not care about the meaning of the lyrics at all, they will only listen to the fit between the pronunciation of the lyrics and the music.

When the lyrics of "Snow Flower" came out last time, Zhou Yan also changed it in this way.

This time, Akina Nakamori was also familiar with the song. She tried singing the lyrics of "Return Home" to Zhou Yan, and in order to give Zhou Yan more references, she also used several pronunciation methods.

Afterwards, they would give their opinions to Oyama Yoshi and ask him to make revisions.

Zhou Yan's plan is to record the two songs "Returning Home" and "Fireworks" next spring. (End of this chapter)