1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Several people walked out of the restaurant, and Yu Hua was still looking back inside.

"What are you looking at?" Liu Zhenyun asked.

"I'll see if anyone comes out to chase me."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I signed the autograph for the little girl, she probably won't spread the news."

Yu Hua nodded, "It seems that this signature is very useful."

Liu Zhenyun said with a smile, "Actually, I want to see how people react when you are recognized. Will it be like those star-chasing fans on TV?"

"That's about right." Shi Tiesheng said with a smile, "If people really surround me, it will be difficult for me to leave."

"Don't worry, Zhou Yan is well disguised today. He is wearing a hat and a mask. Even if we meet him on the street, we probably won't recognize him."

Liu Zhenyun looked up at the tall buildings on both sides of the road. For him, who was visiting Hong Kong for the first time, the night view here was indeed worth seeing.

Among the cities he has visited, Hong Kong is undoubtedly the most prosperous and modern. It looks basically the same as the scenes in Hong Kong movies.

"Where are we going now?" Liu Zhenyun asked.

"Or let's go back to the hotel. It's getting late. After all, we came here with an exchange group, and it wouldn't be good to go back late." Chi Zijian said.

The exchange group stayed in standard rooms. Chi Zijian and Tie Ning, two women, stayed in one room. Chi Zijian didn't call Tie Ning when she went out during the day. It would not look good if she came back late at night.

In fact, several gay men really wanted to go shopping. It’s not that they wanted to do anything fancy, but since they had finally come to Hong Kong, it would be nice to go shopping at the night market.

Hong Kong at night is very different from Hong Kong during the day. From the time they landed until now, they finally had a feeling of being in Hong Kong.

But they all knew that Chi Zijian was right. After all, they were here to participate in an event, not to sightsee. It was indeed inappropriate to wander around late at night without going home.

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Let's go back to the hotel tonight. When the event is over, we can go shopping in the night market in Xiangjiang. Xiangjiang at night is quite fun."

"Okay, let's go back."

The few of them didn't take a taxi, so Zhou Yan called the driver and asked him to pick them up.

The driver is at the hotel now and it will take about ten minutes for him to arrive. Zhou Yan and the others are waiting on the roadside.

Looking at the people coming and going, Liu Zhenyun asked, "Is this Mong Kok?"

"Yes." Zhou Yan nodded, "This is Mong Kok. The subway station in front is called Mong Kok."

“I always saw Mong Kok in Hong Kong movies before, but now I am here in person, it feels very special.”

Yu Hua asked curiously, "Hong Kong is so small, but so many movies have been made there. Can we often see people making movies on the streets?"

"The frequency is quite high, but it generally does not affect people's lives." Zhou Yan pointed to a building not far ahead, "That's the HSBC Building. Do you remember that the movie "Time Traveler" was filmed under that building?"

Several people looked over there, and Yu Hua nodded, "Now that you point it out, I do have some impression of it. Is it the part where the male protagonist goes to the bar?"

"You have a good memory. That scene was filmed downstairs at the HSBC Building."

"Is that bar also nearby?" Yu Hua asked curiously.

"No." Zhou Yan shook his head. "That bar is far away, and it's not actually a bar, but a restaurant that hasn't opened yet. We made some simple arrangements."

"It's not even a restaurant." Mo Yan was surprised, "Then you decorated it very well, it looks like a bar."

"It turns out that the bar is fake. I actually think that bar is quite interesting. I was thinking of asking you to take us there to play later." Yu Hua looked regretful.

For the bar scene in the movie, there was no need to find a real bar to shoot because most of the shots in that scene were dark.

If they found a bar that was open, the cost would definitely be high, so Zhou Yan and his team found a restaurant that hadn't opened yet, simply decorated the front, and filmed the scene of the male protagonist and his team entering.

As for the scenes where the male and female protagonists chat inside, they were all filmed in the studio.

"A lot of things that the camera can see are different from what you imagine."

Mo Yan smiled and said, "I have also participated in the filming of movies. I know that movies are an art of visual deception, but there are still many things that I can't imagine."

"You still haven't seen enough." Yu Hua said with a smile.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, Yu Hua was right, Mo Yan just didn’t read enough.

Mo Yan said that he had participated in the filming of a movie, and he should have been referring to the filming of Red Sorghum. Zhang Yimou probably didn't do any fancy moves in that movie because there was no need.

Although both are films directed by Zhang Yimou, "Raise the Red Lantern" has many more tricks than "Red Sorghum".

The first one is the lantern, which is the most important prop in "Raise the Red Lantern". In order to achieve better lighting and shadow effects, all the lanterns used on the scene are fake, and they contain light bulbs instead of candles.

The second is snow. Zhang Yimou originally wanted to wait for real snow to fall, but he waited and waited and it never came. In the end, he had to use chemical fertilizer instead. At that time, chemical fertilizer could be found, and Zhou Yan played a role in it.

In fact, most of the deceptive shots are taken because conditions do not allow or they are taken to save costs.

For example, for the bar scenes in "Time Traveler", Zhou Yan could have just found a bar that was open for business to shoot, and just paid more money.

The heavy snow in "Raise the Red Lantern" could have been filmed after real snow fell, but it would have cost too much for the entire crew to have to wait together.

Because of this opportunity, several people started talking about the filming of the movie.

They were all very interested in the filming of the movie, and most of the time they were the ones asking questions and Zhou Yan was answering them.

But sometimes, Yu Hua can help answer questions without Zhou Yan. After spending a long time in the studio, Yu Hua knows a lot about filming.

Moreover, during the filming of "To Live", Yu Hua also visited the crew.

After chatting for a while, Chi Zijian said with emotion, "So this is how movies are made. It's completely different from what I imagined."

"If you have a chance, go to Zhou Yan's studio. He has a lot of documentaries of filming. You can tell how the movie was made at a glance."

"Well, I'll definitely visit you when I have time."

……

Zhong Wen Ze and his wife had just finished their meal in the restaurant and came out of the hotel, preparing to take their son for a walk when Zhong Wen Ze suddenly stopped.

Qiqi turned around and asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"

Zhong Wen Ze looked ahead and narrowed his eyes. "Look at those people."

"Those people? What happened?"

"They are from mainland China," said Zhong Wenzhe.

"Well, he should be from the mainland."

There is an essential difference in temperament between mainlanders and Hong Kong people, especially in their clothing styles, which are very different and can basically be seen at a glance.

Qiqi could also tell that those people were probably from mainland China, but there was nothing strange about them. There were more and more mainland Chinese coming to Hong Kong, and they could often be seen on the streets.

They often see people from the mainland on the street, and have never seen Zhong Wenzhe have such a reaction.

Seeing that Qiqi didn't react, Zhong Wenzhe hurriedly pointed at the person in the wheelchair and said, "That person, what didn't you expect?"

"What did you think of..." A figure suddenly appeared in Qiqi's mind. She covered her mouth and said in surprise, "You mean Shi Tiesheng!"

Zhong Wen Ze smiled and said, "Yes, it's Shi Tiesheng."

Just now when they were walking, Zhong Wen Ze was immediately attracted by Shi Tiesheng's image.

Mainlander, wheelchair, thick glasses, high hairline... completely consistent with Shi Tiesheng's image.

The key point is, Zhong Wen Ze watched the news and found out that Shi Tiesheng and others did come to Hong Kong in the past two days. They were still talking about this while having dinner just now.

"Could it be a mistake?"

Zhong Wenzhe didn't dare to make a guarantee, and then he looked at the people around him. Soon, he found Yu Hua.

Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng are the two mainland writers that Zhong Wenzhe pays the most attention to—besides Zhou Yan.

The reason why he paid attention to Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng was also because of Zhou Yan.

Zhong Wenzhe and his friends watched the videotape of "The Distant Journey" many times.

"Look, isn't that Yu Hua?"

Qiqi looked in the direction Zhong Wenzhe pointed and nodded, "Very similar."

Zhong Wen Ze laughed. If these two people were really Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng, then it would be obvious who the person wearing the hat and mask was.

Dressed like this, he definitely doesn't want others to recognize him.

"us……"

When Zhong Wen Ze just opened his mouth to ask Qiqi if he wanted to come over and chat with her, Qiqi had already walked over.

Qiqi walked very quickly and covered the distance of more than 20 meters in just a few seconds.

When she got to Zhou Yan, Qiqi said excitedly, "Mr. Zhou, I'm your loyal fan, can you sign an autograph for me?"

Her voice was so loud that many people around her heard it.

"Mr. Zhou? Who is Mr. Zhou?"

"Stephen Chow?"

"Chow Yun-fat?"

"These people look like people from the mainland."

“She also speaks Mandarin.”

"A mainland celebrity named Zhou..."

"Wow, Zhou Yan."

……

Someone called out Zhou Yan's name, and more people around were alarmed.

Zhou Yan looked at Qiqi in front of him in surprise, "How did you recognize me?"

At this time, Zhong Wenzhe had already rushed over with a baby carriage, "Because we saw Teacher Yu Hua and Teacher Shi Tiesheng."

Zhou Yan patted his head and said, "Oh, that can't be helped."

He never thought that Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng would be recognized on the streets of Hong Kong.

Zhou Yan was not panicked when several people were recognized. He smiled and held out his hand, "Come on."

"what?"

"You want me to sign, right? Where should I sign and what should I use?"

Qiqi's face suddenly turned red. She was so excited just now that she ran over to ask Zhou Yan for an autograph, but she forgot that she didn't even have paper and pen.

This is too embarrassing!

But at this time, a young man with a schoolbag came over from the crowd, holding a small notebook and pen in his hand, "I have it, use mine."

Zhou Yan took the notebook and pen with a smile, and saw that there was blank paper in the notebook. He shook his head and said, "Sorry, this paper won't work."

Qiqi said without Zhou Yan's explanation, "This kind of blank paper cannot be signed. At least it should be grid paper."

Now the difference is clear. The young man probably isn't a fan of stars, but Kiki is.

Zhou Yan and his colleagues are indeed more careful when signing. Signing on a blank paper can easily lead to legal risks, but there would be no problem if the paper had grids.

Of course, if you really want to sign on a piece of white paper, you can sign it in a very large size, trying to fill up the entire paper, so that others basically have no room to operate.

The paper provided by the young man was not good enough, so Zhong Wenzhe took off his white T-shirt and handed it to Zhou Yan, "Teacher Zhou, please sign here."

Seeing Zhong Wen Ze taking off his clothes, passers-by at the scene started to make a noise.

Zhou Yan took the T-shirt and said with a smile, "If you don't take it off, I can still sign it. It's easier to sign when you're wearing it."

"Sorry, I'm so excited."

Zhou Yan looked Zhong Wen Ze up and down and said with a smile, "She has a nice figure."

Maybe it's because of his good figure that this guy dares to take off his clothes in public.

After saying that, Zhou Yan picked up a pen and signed his name on the T-shirt, adding his signature.

"1997, 7, Mong Kok."

It contains the time and place of the signature. This is not an ordinary signature.

The reason why Zhou Yan gave this signature was to reward them for recognizing Shi Tiesheng and Yu Hua.

After Zhou Yan finished signing for Zhong Wen Ze, the others also became excited, especially the guy in the white T-shirt, who ran over pulling on his shirt.

"Mr. Zhou, please sign my name."

"Ayan, I love your music so much, please sign it for me."

"Welcome to Hong Kong."

In addition to those who wanted autographs, some even wanted to take photos.

"Can we take a photo together? I happened to have a camera with me."

Sure enough, the probability of encountering passers-by carrying cameras on the streets of Hong Kong is higher.

Zhou Yan came to Hong Kong this time to promote exchanges between the two sides. He was very patient at this moment, and tried his best to satisfy everyone's requests, whether it was signing autographs or taking photos.

In order to make the photo look better, he even took off his mask and revealed his face.

The streets here were not particularly wide to begin with, and because of Zhou Yan's appearance, they were suddenly blocked.

The little boy and his family who had just been eating in the restaurant also came out of the restaurant. When they saw the door was blocked, they were a little confused.

But soon they figured out the situation. It turned out that Zhou Yan suddenly appeared and everyone was looking for Zhou Yan's autograph.

The little boy stood on the steps and saw Zhou Yan in the crowd. He said in surprise, "Isn't that the brother who played the piano in the restaurant just now?"

His father suddenly realized, "No wonder he plays the piano so beautifully, it turns out to be Zhou Yan. Let's go and get his autograph too."

……

Yu Hua and a few others were also surrounded by the crowd. When they had a chance, some people held out their clothes in front of them and asked them to sign.

Some people recognized Yu Hua and Shi Tiesheng, but most of those who asked them for autographs just wanted to get an autograph. After all, autographs were free, so they wouldn't lose out.

Yu Huagang signed for you alone, then turned to Liu Zhenyun and said with a smile, "Didn't you want to see him being recognized just now? Have you seen it now?"

Liu Zhenyun nodded, "I've seen it, it's indeed crazier than what is shown on TV."

As they talked, it was not just the pedestrians on the roadside that were blocking the road, but even the road itself was blocked. (End of this chapter)