Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 112 The Fist Technique That Descended from the Sky

"Director Cao, why don't you give us a call? We could send someone to pick you up."

Xu Zheng spoke to Cao Zhong from a distance, taking two steps at a time.

"I just came to check out the filming results. I left in the afternoon to go to Nanjing to wait for the start of filming for my new movie."

Cao Zhong could tell that Xu Zheng was clearly trying to get closer to him.

“We’ve prepared all the materials we had before,” Shen Ao said, rushing over to report the results to Cao Zhong. “The filming recently has been going quite well. I’ve also told Jing Tian about your requirements, and her acting has been alright lately, at least she’s not so stiff anymore.”

Jing Tian wrinkled his nose. "Director Shen, are you praising me?"

"Director Shen is definitely praising you," Cai Ming said cheerfully as she came over. "I chatted with this girl a lot during the process. She's a very hardworking girl, and her talent has come through. I think her eye acting is quite good. It's just that this role doesn't require strict standards for other acting skills."

"The eyes are the soul of an actor," Cao Zhong said.

"I always feel like what you're saying isn't nice," Jing Tian said angrily. "You all know the character I'm playing, and the eyes are supposed to be blank, like a complete idiot."

Upon hearing this, everyone on the set laughed.

“A blank, empty expression is hard to act, that’s why I say you have a natural talent.”

Cai Ming chuckled, looking proudly at Jing Tian. They got along quite well on set.

She was quite tolerant of Jing Tian; the child was truly kind and adorable.
They arranged for someone to provide extra meals for the crew every day; everyone received one.

"Hello, Director Cao." Yan Ni greeted Cao Zhong with a grateful expression.

"Thank you, Director Cao, for giving me this opportunity. Director Shen told me that you didn't refuse to let me join the crew. The whole crew has been waiting for me for almost half a month, which makes me feel really bad."

"Sister Yan, what are you saying? With the current popularity of 'My Own Swordsman,' it's a blessing for the production team to be able to invite you."

"Director Cao, what you're saying is quite something," Yan Ni laughed, and mumbled, "Don't call me Sister Yan, just call me Sister Ni, it sounds more intimate."

After saying that, he realized he was wrong and wanted to slap himself.

"Oh, you're the boss and the producer, how can I let you call me 'sister'?"

Cao Zhong glanced at Yan Ni; she was still getting her makeup done, wearing a beige short skirt suit, and her hair was tied in a short braid at the back.

Cao Zhong was somewhat surprised by the two long, straight legs.
He never expected that this woman, whom he remembered passionately kissing Hu Ge in the film, would actually be quite charming now.
However, my mind is indeed a bit foggy.

After giving a few perfunctory replies, Cao Zhong told the crew to continue according to the schedule.

The crew of "My Disqualified Daughter" were slightly excited by Cao Zhong's arrival.
The entire crew was buzzing with excitement, and the actors were full of energy.
First, everyone knew that the film crew actually belonged to Director Cao, and that he was there to inspect the work, so they were all in high spirits.

Secondly, everyone has seen Cao Zhong's recent news, and many people are actually quite curious about him.

"We Live in Nanjing"? Even Shen Ao and Xu Zheng are curious about this drama. After all, they filmed the first "Nanjing" and know the pressure Cao Zhong is under.

Cao Zhong went against the wind, which worried them.

Cao Zhong watched for a while; their filming was now getting better and better.
It's worth mentioning that the film they were shooting wasn't particularly difficult.

But the further they filmed, the more novel the story became.

The strong genre from the beginning was already very interesting, and the conflicts in the later plot are also very high.

Moreover, it's no longer limited to comedic conflicts; there are also many touching elements.

For example, the relationship between a daughter and her father may not actually be that of biological parents.

The father's true identity is actually the daughter's uncle, but this is just a matter of identity setting.

As for her daughter, she was completely unaware of this identity from beginning to end.

During filming, these were the only scenes that Xu Zheng and Guo Tao would have to discuss.

This explains why there is no mother in the entire show, and why "father" Xu Zheng has to meet Yan Ni, his first love, with Guo Tao's help, to complete the plot loop.

Actually, neither my father nor my childhood friend has ever been married. This makes their earlier statement, "I've never been married, so where would I have a child?" all the more amusing.

Yan Ni plays a character who is not only the first love, but also the one who personally hands over her disgraced boyfriend, leaving her with a deep emotional scar.

He became a complete "disqualified whistleblower".
I have been reporting information about disqualified individuals to government departments to help my superiors maintain social stability.

In fact, Cao Zhong made some modifications to this part in order to pass the censorship.

He didn't dare let Yan Ni personally kill the disqualified boyfriend, but instead stated that this group of people had been sent away for quarantine, but due to insufficient medical facilities, the mortality rate was very high.

Furthermore, the film deliberately downplayed the influence of the word "government," and the people who came out were mostly volunteers wearing white coats.

This allows us to avoid certain things to the greatest extent possible.

Yan Ni hadn't joined the crew before, so she didn't have any scenes. She just joined in the last couple of days.

Cao Zhong only saw two scenes.
Yan Ni is still quite skilled, while Jing Tian has indeed improved considerably.

I reviewed the footage Shen Ao had previously shot on set, and there were indeed no problems.
In terms of comedy, because Xu Zheng, Guo Tao, Cai Ming, Yan Ni, and others all have some comedic talent, their performances were often smoother.
Cao Zhong was relieved.

Guo Tao came over and started talking to Cao Zhong.
"Director Cao, the new movie is still set in Nanjing. Are you still confident that it will have a high box office?"

"I can't say for sure either." Cao Zhong looked at the screen and asked Guo Tao with a smile, "I heard from Director Shen that your wife gave birth?"

"Yes, a little stone was just born."

Guo Tao's face lit up with joy as he spoke.

"We met in Chongqing in 2004 when we were filming 'Crazy Stone'. She is seventeen years younger than me. Many people on the internet thought we were an old man and a young woman and didn't think we would last, but I think I'm quite lucky."

"By the way, I deliberately named my son Stone to commemorate both love and my career."

Guo Tao smiled and said gratefully:
"Suddenly I became a father, and I even got to film a movie about fatherhood with Director Cao. Director Cao, can you understand how I feel?"
My feelings are so complicated. I'm grateful to Director Cao for letting me participate in this film; the story is truly moving.

Cao Zhong patted Guo Tao on the shoulder to congratulate him, saying he understood that as a father, making this movie must have been very moving.

In the end, Xu Zheng died protecting his daughter.

This kind of narrative is actually quite cliché, but Cao Zhong just felt it shouldn't change.

Movies should have many happy endings, but it is the death that makes the emotional conflict greater!
It's like that zero-score film at Cannes.

The judges must have lost a family member for their emotions to be so intense.

For a film to be successful, it should include these elements.

The core emotion that Cao Zhong wanted to express was that a "father" would give his life for his daughter. Putting aside marginal narratives, this is what a Chinese father would do.

Cao Zhong believes that at least nine out of ten fathers with daughters would be willing to die for their daughters if faced with a life-threatening situation.

Many Chinese narratives have been drastically altered.
For example, there's a saying that's been circulating these days: "Raise sons frugally, raise daughters lavishly." But this isn't actually a saying; it's a set of rules from the West that's been hailed as a parenting bible.

Even tracing back to the most remote areas within China, it goes back to Yan Zhitui's "Family Instructions of the Yan Clan" from the Northern Qi Dynasty, which states that sons should be raised with frugality and daughters with wealth.

This, however, can be seen as a long-term narrative that was forcefully embedded in people's perceptions at the beginning of the century, highlighting gender differences and laying the groundwork for decades to pave the way for a "palm technique" that seemed to fall from the sky.

Those so-called changing social environments were actually foreshadowed long ago in previous parenting views.

The words "biological butterfly" were actually buried in unpredictable symbols long ago.

The good things in the Yan Family Precepts have taken away your ambition and your virtue.

This naturally led to the disintegration of the core of Chinese civilization.

Cao Zhong didn't know if it would definitely change anything, but movies, as an audiovisual tool, could certainly subtly change some of people's perceptions.

Even if only one or two are corrected, it's still a good thing.

(End of this chapter)