Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 297 Golden Words
In August, Lin Chaoyang stirred up the literary world with a review, but these things had nothing to do with him.

During this period of time, domestic public opinion has been still heatedly discussing the "Zhang Hua drowning while saving people" incident. In an era without the Internet and when television media communication is not so developed, the vitality of a hot news event that attracts the attention of the entire nation is very long-lasting.

Tao Yushu said a few days ago that using "life value" or "life meaning" as the core of creation is a good idea. After thinking about it for a few days, Lin Chaoyang also felt that he could try writing about it.

So these days, he has been conceiving such a new work.

After thinking for a few days and preparing to start writing when his idea matured, he was dragged to the Chengde Mountain Resort by Li Hanxiang.

After more than a year of preparation, the two films "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor" are finally ready.

According to Li Hanxiang's status in the film industry and the scale of investment in the two films "Fire" and "Hanging", it was only natural to hold a grand press conference.

However, the relationship between the mainland and Taiwan is still tense, and Taiwan is the largest box office for Hong Kong films, so Li Hanxiang has been keeping the preparations for "Fire" and "Hanging" highly confidential.

During this period, many reporters from Hong Kong and Taiwan heard that Li Hanxiang was planning to go to the mainland to shoot a film, and they used various methods to spy on him.

Moreover, the Hong Kong film industry is now divided into two factions: the Z faction and the Y faction. The Z faction naturally tends to be inclined towards the mainland, while the Y faction is close to Taiwan. Those filmmakers who are close to Taiwan have also done a lot of sabotage.

As the saying goes, good things take time. The preparation of "Fire" and "Hanging" went through untold hardships. Now that the script has been finalized and the funds are sufficient, the support from the higher-ups for Li Hanxiang is unprecedented, and a large film crew of hundreds of people from more than 60 units across the country has been assembled.

When he saw Li Hanxiang again, Lin Chaoyang saw on his face the high-spirited look of a young man who had passed the imperial examination.

The two met at the Chengde Mountain Resort. Today is the film's opening ceremony and the first scene is about to be filmed here.

Li Hanxiang conducted a worship ceremony before filming began in accordance with Hong Kong customs. After he finished worshipping the gods in a mysterious manner, he asked many cast and crew members to worship together.

He is the director, so naturally he has the final say. Even if many mainland staff members don't want to participate, they can only go through the motions reluctantly.

But when it was Lin Chaoyang's turn, he did not give Li Hanxiang face. Instead, he said to Li Hanxiang: "Forget about your feudal superstitions, but don't drag me into this. I am an atheist."

Li Hanxiang's face became long with displeasure when he heard this, but he could do nothing to Lin Chaoyang, so he could only say: "I should not have asked you to come today!"

"I didn't ask you to call me!"

Today is the first day of filming. Based on the principle that harmony brings wealth, Li Hanxiang does not argue with Lin Chaoyang.

He threw Lin Chaoyang aside, sat in front of the monitor with his arms and legs spread out, and shouted the first words of the filming of "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" in an extremely excited tone: "Ready, ready, go!"

Today we filmed the very beginning scene of "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace", which mainly talks about Cixi's experience before entering the palace.

At that time, she was not yet the evil queen who dominated the Qing Dynasty, but Yulan, a beautiful daughter of an official who was troubled by the selection of concubines.

Liu Xiaoqing in front of the camera was dressed simply and had a braid. According to the aesthetic standards of later generations, her appearance was not considered a great beauty, but she was natural. Especially after being dressed up by a makeup artist, her eyes were quite charming, and she looked like she had the charm to charm the emperor.

"Why is it that the dragon is always on top and the phoenix is ​​always on the bottom?"

Yulan, played by Liu Xiaoqing, sat next to the stonemason who was carving stone sculptures for the palace. She looked at the patterns he carved bit by bit and asked a question in a shrill voice, which was completely different from her usual speaking voice.

Liu Xiaoqing was already 32 years old at that time. To play the role of a young girl, she had to use some acting skills.

Lin Chaoyang was watching from the side with some sighs. Who could have thought that Comrade Xiaoqing would still be playing the role of a young girl thirty years later?

"Of course, the dragon is the emperor and the phoenix is ​​the queen..."

The stonemason answered, but before he could say the next line, Li Hanxiang shouted "Cut", asking Liu Xiaoqing to control her voice as it sounded a little too deliberate.

Filming is a very delicate job. Even with so much repetition, you may not be able to shoot more than two scenes in a day. Especially in the early stages of filming, all departments are in the process of running in and all kinds of unexpected situations may occur.

At noon, the crew had lunch. Lin Chaoyang and Li Hanxiang sat together. The food was brought by the staff on a food cart. There was fish, meat, and a combination of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

There were many staff members in the crew who were brought over from Hong Kong by Li Hanxiang, and the food standards were the same.

However, most of the mainland staff in the crew, including the leading actors such as Liu Xiaoqing, were only given a vegetarian dish and a steamed bun.

"Why do Hong Kong people have fish and meat? Ours are all vegetarian?" Liu Xiaoqing looked at the rich fish and meat of the Hong Kong staff not far away and felt a little indignant.

Zhou Jie, who plays Concubine Li, whispered to her, "They are from Hong Kong, so their food and accommodation are different from ours."

It would have been better if she didn't say it. Liu Xiaoqing became even angrier when she did. The room she stayed in the guesthouse was not as good as the one that the Hong Kong actress played her maid in the movie.

"They are bullying us!"

"Okay, stop talking. The people who have the final say in the crew are from Hong Kong. Be careful that they may make things difficult for you."

Zhou Jie's persuasion made Liu Xiaoqing feel timid. She had finally become the heroine and did not want to have conflicts right after the filming began. She could only helplessly endure it for the time being.

In fact, it was not just the two of them as the leading actors who felt dissatisfied, but the vast majority of the crew members also felt the same way. It was a pity that everyone dared to be angry but not to speak out.

As a director, Li Hanxiang had a special awning. After dinner, he sat down to eat with several key staff members of the crew. Seeing Lin Chaoyang standing there looking around but not eating, Li Hanxiang couldn't help but ask him.

"Why don't you eat?"

Lin Chaoyang turned around and asked Li Hanxiang: "Why are the meals for the staff on both sides different?"

Li Hanxiang was stunned for a moment when he heard this. At this time, the assistant director Xu Tongjun beside him said hurriedly: "Mr. Lin, our film is a co-production between Hong Kong and the mainland. Both parties are responsible for the treatment of their own employees."

Teng Hongsheng from the co-production company is the producer of the film, so he is also here. He also said, "That's true." Lin Chaoyang asked again, "Does this treatment include food?"

Xu Tongjun was stunned when he heard this and said, "Both parties are responsible for their own actions."

Lin Chaoyang looked at Teng Hongsheng, "Are the mainland staff members under the responsibility of the production studio?"

"Yes."

"Who will be responsible for the meals of Xiangjiang's staff?"

"It's the crew."

Lin Chaoyang looked slightly surprised, and seemed to be being a little deliberate, "So it was the crew that paid for it!"

He smiled and said to Li Hanxiang: "Director Li, don't you regard the mainland staff as your soldiers?"

His tone was gentle and there was a smile on his face, but there was a sharp edge in his tone.

Normally when Lin Chaoyang and Li Hanxiang were together, he would call him Lao Li, but today there were staff from Hong Kong present, so he naturally had to maintain Li Hanxiang's authority.

Seeing him ask this, Li Hanxiang couldn't remain silent any longer, so he replied, "The treatment of the staff in the two places is indeed different. The staff in the mainland are all employees of the production studio. They don't get wages or remuneration on the crew. They are all paid by the production studio, even the leading actors."

“Since the crew doesn’t have to pay for the salary, shouldn’t the treatment be better?
After all, they do no less work than their fellow Hong Kong compatriots.”

"This..." Lin Chaoyang's words were well-reasoned and Li Hanxiang didn't know how to respond for a moment.

At this time, assistant director Xu Tongjun forced a fake smile on his face.

"Mr. Lin, there are hundreds of crew members on the crew. If we raise the food standards all at once, it will be a huge expense.

Director Li had a hard time getting investment from Mr. He. For a movie of this scale, there are many places to spend money, so we must save wherever we can.”

Lin Chaoyang glanced at Xu Tongjun without showing any emotion, then turned back to Li Hanxiang and said in a gentle voice:
"Saving costs is of course a good thing. But I think what Director Li wants is a masterpiece of film history that strives for perfection, rather than a shoddy work that has not yet spent all the investment after it was released, right?"

Lin Chaoyang's words were somewhat alarmist, but they were not completely unreasonable, and they also struck Li Hanxiang's heart.

Li Hanxiang took great pains and spent several years on the movies "Fire" and "Dropping". No one valued these two movies more than him, so he naturally did not want the quality of the movies to be compromised due to any external factors.

Lin Chaoyang's implication is that the harsh treatment of mainland staff is likely to cause these people to work without putting in effort. If this continues, it will inevitably affect the filming and even the final effect of the film.

Li Hanxiang has been on the film set for many years. Although he knows that what Lin Chaoyang said is a bit exaggerated, it does make sense.

As he thought about it, a look of hesitation appeared on his face. Seeing this, Lin Chaoyang played the emotional card again.

"Director Li, you have been in Hong Kong for decades, but you and I are actually from the same hometown. I was chatting with the staff just now, and there were quite a few people from Northeast China among them.

Now that you have returned to the mainland to film, you can be considered to have returned home in glory. You don't want your fellow villagers to stab you in the back and say that you, Li Hanxiang, are a miser, right?"

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Li Hanxiang's eyebrows twitched twice. He usually prided himself on being loyal and righteous, and he hated being criticized for this the most.

He looked at Lin Chaoyang with a hint of displeasure in his eyes, "You didn't pray to the gods when the machine started today, I knew something would happen sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly."

Lin Chaoyang ignored the unhappiness in Li Hanxiang's tone, but chuckled and said, "What you said is wrong. So many staff members worshipped the gods today. It was the gods who blessed them through my mouth."

After saying this, several main members of the crew in the awning couldn't help but admire Lin Chaoyang. He was truly a writer, with a lot of eloquent words.

Li Hanxiang looked at Lin Chaoyang with slight surprise, and then couldn't help laughing.

"Okay, okay! Since it's God's blessing, we should really follow his lead!"

After saying that, he called the production director over and asked him to calculate how much it would cost to improve the food standards for the internal staff.

After some calculations, the number we came up with was "5".

Li Hanxiang felt a little distressed when he saw the number, and said to Lin Chaoyang: "You just opened your mouth and it means tens of thousands of dollars. It's really a golden word."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "This is not my advice. Director Li, you must have a fear of the gods!"

Seeing him being so ungrateful, Li Hanxiang couldn't help but mock him, "Aren't you an atheist? Now you keep talking about God?"

Lin Chaoyang said frankly: "You said I'm an atheist, so it's okay for the gods to use me. A great man doesn't care about the mistakes of a small man, and a prime minister can hold a boat in his stomach. I'm sure the gods won't blame me!"

Hearing this, Li Hanxiang couldn't help but smile helplessly and shook his head, "You can even make a dead person come alive with your mouth!"

Once a word is spoken, it is hard to follow.

Since Li Hanxiang said that he would improve the food standards of mainland staff, he naturally could not go back on his word. A few tens of thousands of yuan is indeed not a small amount of money, but "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor" had investments of several million yuan, so he would not make a difference with these tens of thousands of yuan.

Lin Chaoyang stayed in the crew for more than a day and left the next morning. When Li Hanxiang saw him off, it was as if he was sending away the god of plague.

Lin Chaoyang had only been here for one day and he had already spent tens of thousands of dollars more, which was more expensive than hiring a movie star.

The issue of improving the food standards was discussed yesterday at noon. The production department did not have time to improve the food for that evening meal, and it was not until noon on the day Lin Chaoyang left that the food standards for the mainland staff were raised.

(End of this chapter)