1990: Starting from Baojia Street

In the end, the three of them only drank the wine in their glasses and did not drink three more glasses.

After all, Chen Kaige had things to do in the afternoon, and getting drunk would only delay his work.

Gong Li was just bluffing. She herself would not feel good after drinking so much.

Huang Hexiang drank one glass less than the other three, but he was the most obviously drunk. After dinner, when Zhou Yan and the others went to the audition room, he was dizzy, so Zhou Yan arranged for someone to take him to the lounge to rest.

The three of them arrived at the dressing room of the audition room, but did not see Hong Xin and the others.

Later Zhou Yan went to the makeup workshop to ask and found out that Hong Xin and Lin Juan took Zhang Ziyi to the clothing workshop, and then they went to the clothing workshop instead.

On the way there, Chen Kaige was still muttering, "Didn't I tell you not to change clothes?"

The key point is that Zhou Yan had said before that their studio did not have suitable clothes and they could not change them even if they wanted to.

I don’t know what’s going on now. After putting on makeup, she went to change clothes.

Arriving at the clothing workshop, Zhou Yan saw Lin Juan sitting outside and asked, "Xiao Juan, where are Manager Hong and Zhang Ziyi?"

Lin Juan pointed to the fitting room and said, "Sister Xin took her inside to change clothes."

Chen Kaige asked: "What clothes should I change into? Didn't you say there are no suitable clothes?"

"Sister Xin said that she spent several hours on her makeup, and it would be a waste if she didn't change her clothes. Although we don't have costumes from the Warring States period here, we do have quite a few ancient costumes. Let's take her to try them on." Lin Juan explained.

"Oh, okay." Chen Kaige nodded and didn't ask anything. He just glanced at the fitting room again with some anticipation.

Gong Li, who was standing by, looked at Lin Juan's face seriously, then smiled and said, "You are Juan'er, right?"

Lin Juan smiled and nodded, "Yes, it's me, Sister Li."

"Oh, it's been a while. I knew Hong Xin was here, but I didn't expect you to be here too."

"Many people from our Chang'an factory are here."

Lin Juan and Gong Li have collaborated on two dramas. The makeup artist has had contact with the actor for a long time, so the two know each other.

Lin Juan didn't take the initiative to say hello just now because she was afraid that Gong Li would not remember her. After all, Gong Li has worked with many big names like her.

When Gong Li saw Lin Juan, the first person that came to her mind was actually Zhang Yimou, because both of the dramas she collaborated with Lin Juan were collaborations with Zhang Yimou.

When she saw Lin Juan, she thought of the scenes from the filming of those two dramas.

Looking Lin Juan up and down, Gong Li said with emotion, "When we were filming Raise the Red Lantern, you were still like a student. So many years have passed, and you are different now. If I hadn't called you Xiao Juan, I wouldn't have recognized you. How about it, your Director Zhou doesn't act arrogantly or put on airs with you guys, right?"

Lin Juan glanced at Zhou Yan, smiled and shook her head, "No, Brother Zhou Yan treats us very well."

Among the group of elderly people who followed Zhou Yan, other people called Zhou Yan "Director Zhou" in public, but Lin Juan was the only one who called her "Brother Zhou Yan" no matter what the occasion.

If it were someone else, everyone might think that this girl had ulterior motives, but no one thought so about Lin Juan, because everyone knew Lin Juan's character. Although everyone knew that she was interested in Zhou Yan, she had never looked for Zhou Yan in private and was very sensible.

Although Gong Li knew Lin Juan, she didn't know that Lin Juan was interested in Zhou Yan. When she heard Lin Juan calling Zhou Yan "Brother", she didn't think much about it and thought they were a good personal relationship. Didn't she also call Zhou Yan "Little Brother"?

She also said with a smile, "If she bullies you, just tell your sister and I will help you teach her a lesson."

"If he bullies me, will you help me teach him a lesson?" Chen Kaige joked.

"Tsk, Director Chen, you must be joking. This kid is a fool, you're lucky you don't bully him."

Chen Kaige curled his lips and said, "It seems that you still don't know your little brother very well. He is too shrewd to be a human being."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Master Kai, you must speak with conscience."

"Why don't I follow my conscience?"

……

A few people were chatting and laughing, and after a while, the door of the fitting room was pushed open and Hong Xin walked out first.

Zhou Yan and the others all looked behind Hong Xin.

Zhang Ziyi stood behind Hong Xin. She lowered her head and fiddled with her skirt, muttering, "Sister Xin, this dress is so awkward. I can't even walk properly."

As she spoke, she raised her head, and when she saw Zhou Yan and the others, a look of surprise appeared in her eyes.

When the people saw Zhang Ziyi, their eyes lit up.

Probably to conform to the characteristics of the times, Hong Xin did not give Zhang Ziyi any fancy hair accessories, only a few hair ties in two colors, gray and dark red.

Although there were no gorgeous hair accessories, Hong Xin gave Zhang Ziyi a very elegant bun.

The bun is neither too high nor too low, which makes Zhang Ziyi's originally sagging face look straighter.

The makeup on Zhang Ziyi's face doesn't look bright at first glance, but she looks like a completely different person.

It is obvious that the makeup on the eyebrows and eyes was carefully arranged, especially the eyebrows, which are completely different from Zhang Ziyi's original eyebrows.

The one with the brightest eyes was Chen Kaige. He actually originally thought that Zhang Ziyi looked a bit rustic, which was also a point that made him hesitant. But at this time, Zhang Ziyi had completely lost that rustic look. Her whole body became upright from head to toe, and she even had a bit more cool temperament.

If someone you don’t know walks on the street, you probably wouldn’t recognize him or her.

This Hong Guantou...

Chen Kaige sighed inwardly. He had always known that Hong Xin had good skills, otherwise Zhou Yan would not have been with her all the time, but he did not expect her to be so good.

It can't be said to be a transformation of decay into magic, but it can be called the finishing touch.

In Zhou Yan's previous dramas, there didn't seem to be any high requirements for makeup. After all, they were all modern costumes and there was nothing special to look at.

Oh, by the way, Hong Xin has worked as a makeup artist in Zhang Yimou's crew several times before, and was responsible for Gong Li's makeup several times. The hairstyles of the concubines in "Raise the Red Lantern" were basically designed by her alone.

Thinking about it this way, it is understandable that Hong Xin’s level is so high.

Being stared at by several people, Zhang Ziyi felt a little embarrassed, but she was also very satisfied with her makeup... It cannot be said to be satisfied, it could be said to be a surprise.

She never thought that she could dress so beautifully.

Although it took a long time and the process was a bit tiring, she felt it was all worth it when her makeup was completed.

The moment she saw herself in the mirror just now, her confidence in becoming a star in the future reached an unprecedented level.

No wonder the characters in Director Zhou's movies are so good-looking, it turns out his makeup artists are so talented. After Chen Kaige looked at Zhang Ziyi's makeup and hair, he looked at her clothes.

This is a black and red skirt with a simple color combination, which has a bit of Hanfu style, but the advantage is that it fits the body very well.

The reason why Chen Kaige thinks Zhang Ziyi is very tall and straight is also related to this skirt.

Zhang Ziyi is quite thin, and this skirt can show her slim figure without making her look skinny.

Although Chen Kaige did not see the back of the dress, he could imagine that it must be very tight, forcing Zhang Ziyi to open her shoulders to avoid hunching over.

"This dress?" Chen Kaige looked curious.

"Oh, this dress." Hong Xin explained, "I found it in the workshop. It seems to be one of the dresses that Teacher Dong's studio made for the orchestra before. It's a sample."

When Hong Xin said this, Zhou Yan remembered that this was indeed one of the dresses that Dong Wenmiao and her colleagues had designed for the girls in the folk music orchestra.

Although this dress is elegant and good-looking, it is not convenient for performance, so it was not adopted.

Just imagine, if all the girls in the folk music band wore this kind of clothes, not only would it take them more time to go on stage, but they might also trip.

I didn’t expect that the plan that was not adopted at that time would be used today.

Chen Kaige didn't know about the dress, but he didn't worry about it. His attention was now on Zhang Ziyi.

I have to say, changing clothes does have a very good effect.

He even thought that there could be no need for an audition and he could just let Zhang Ziyi play Zhao Ji.

However, Zhang Ziyi spent several hours to complete her makeup, so it would be a waste not to try it out, and he just said that he would let Zhou Yan and Gong Li check it.

"Now that it's ready, let's go to the audition room." Chen Kaige said impatiently.

Hong Xin smiled and said, "Director Chen, my mission has been completed, and the rest is up to you."

Chen Kaige said gratefully, "Thank you so much, Manager Hong, you really gave me a big surprise. I will definitely give you a big red envelope later."

Before, Chen Kaige wanted to give them some New Year's goods, but now after seeing the craftsmanship of Hong Xin and others, he felt that he had to give them a big red envelope.

"Forget about the red envelopes, this is all part of our job..."

Before Hong Xin finished speaking, Zhou Yan said sternly, "Captain Hong, what are you talking about? Director Chen is so kind, how can you refuse? Besides, you are an employee of my studio, and it is not your job to help him. If he doesn't give you a big red envelope, he will definitely not be able to sleep at night. For the sake of Director Chen's sleep, this red envelope must be accepted."

"Then...it's better to be respectful than to obey."

Chen Kaige laughed, "Old Zhou, since you said that, it seems I have to give a bigger red envelope."

"It's just a token of appreciation. Generally, the red envelopes in our studio cannot exceed 500 yuan."

What Zhou Yan meant was that he wanted Chen Kaige to give Hong Xin and the others a red envelope of 500 yuan.

A red envelope of 500 yuan is certainly not a small amount, and this work was done by both Hong Xin and Lin Juan. If Chen Kaige wanted to give it to two of them, he would give it to two of them, which adds up to 1,000 yuan.

One thousand yuan, most people can't earn that much in a month. The makeup staff of Yanjing Factory can only earn this much money in several months.

But for Chen Kaige, this is nothing. The key is that the money is worth it.

What Hong Xin and her colleagues did for Zhang Ziyi was not just a makeup for this time, but also a makeup design with guiding opinions.

When Zhang Ziyi was doing her makeup later, she could have completely followed the designs of Hong Xin and others.

When you think about it this way, one thousand dollars is a real bargain.

Chen Kaige said very straightforwardly, "Since your studio has its own rules, I won't break them. I'll give Hong Guantou and Xiao Lin a red envelope of 500 each."

"Thank you very much, Director Chen." Hong Xin said with a smile.

They have good salaries and benefits in Zhou Yan's studio, but they are also very happy to receive a red envelope of several hundred yuan.

After Hong Xin and Lin Juan left, Chen Kaige turned to look at Zhou Yan and said half-seriously, "Old Zhou, why don't you lend me your team later?"

Although Chen Kaige has been making movies for so many years, he actually does not have a fixed team. In most cases, he relies on the team of Yanjing Studio and Chang'an Studio, which is actually similar to other directors.

For example, he is currently filming "The Emperor and the Assassin", and most of the team members are from Yanjing Factory. If he wants to transfer people from other factories, it will be very difficult.

Unlike Zhou Yan, he already has a relatively mature team.

Although he did not have enough people under him to make a movie, with these people as the framework and some more people from the film studio, it could run very smoothly and it would also be convenient for Zhou Yan to control.

The stability of the team is extremely important to the director, and Chen Kaige is certainly aware of this.

This time he saw Hong Xin's ability and naturally wanted to poach her.

The key is that if he wants to borrow people from Zhou Yan, it is still feasible, because in theory Hong Xin and others are all from Yanjing Factory, and their positions are still in Yanjing Factory.

Zhou Yan didn't agree to him directly, but just smiled and said, "I'll come back to see if they have any work in August. If not, you can really let them go to your crew to help."

This is not just a polite remark, Zhou Yan really thinks so.

Although he can afford the salary of Hong Xin and others, and doesn't care whether they have jobs or not, it's not bad to let them go out to work and earn money and let others pay their salaries. Who wouldn't complain about making more money?

Of course, the most important thing is that Zhou Yan still wants them to join groups for more training, so that they can have better development.

Whether "The Emperor and the Assassin" is a good movie or not is the point for now. It is definitely a movie from which you can learn something, because it has a high investment and the people involved are all big names. It is a good thing to hone your skills in such a large crew.

Chen Kaige was also very happy to hear Zhou Yan say this, "Old Zhou, you are still reliable."

Before, Zhou Yan did not agree to compose music for his movie, and he had some complaints. If Zhou Yan is really willing to lend him the team this time, then these complaints will immediately disappear.

"It's fine for me to lend you people, but we've made it clear that I won't charge you a penny less than what you should."

Chen Kaige nodded with a smile, "Of course, I won't let you suffer any loss, buddy has a large budget."

When saying this, Chen Kaige sounded a bit like a nouveau riche.

But it’s no wonder, Chen Kaige did get a lot of investment this time.

The budget of "The Emperor and the Assassin" is said to be more than 70 million yuan, which should be the most expensive movie in mainland China.

However, with such a high budget, it is not easy to make back the money. (End of this chapter)