HuaYu: A Great Director Starting with Dream of the Red Chamber

Xicheng District, Mianhua Hutong (Cotton Alley).

Li Yan knocked on the door with practiced ease.

The person who opened the door was a balding old man in his sixties, holding a few cloves of unpeeled garlic in his hand.

Guo Fumin, a professor at the Central Academy of Drama and Li Yan's mentor, was the one who introduced Li Yan to the role in "Dream of the Red Chamber".

"You're here? Oh, you've finally figured it out, you even know how to carry things now."

Guo Fumin glanced at the two bottles of 42-proof Niulanshan Centennial liquor that Li Yan was carrying, then stepped aside to make way. "The slippers are in the cabinet, change them yourself."

Li Yan chuckled and, without any ceremony, changed his shoes and went inside.

"I just finished filming and stopped by to see you."

Guo Fumin was pleased and patted him on the shoulder, "It's the film crew that really toughens you up. It's only been a few days, and you've already gotten much thicker-skinned. That's great!"

Li Yan never thought of these things before. It wasn't that he was ungrateful; he was just a fool who didn't understand human relationships.

Don't let Lao Guo's status as just a theoretical researcher fool you; he usually manages the library.

However, the highest-ranking person most people will ever meet in their lifetime is often a university professor.

How many graduates from the Central Academy of Drama haven't attended his theory classes?

Perhaps because they were both from the same hometown in Qin Province, and he was an honest boy with a bit of talent in opera, they took good care of him, this stubborn and timid fellow.

"Wash your hands and serve the dumplings."

Guo Fumin didn't treat Li Yan like an outsider. He turned around and went into the kitchen. "I'm going to fry some peanuts. Your teacher's wife is away on a business trip, so the two of us can have a drink."

Steaming hot dumplings are served, and wine glasses are filled.

After a couple of drinks, they started talking non-stop.

"Is filming finished?" Guo Fumin picked up a peanut, then sipped his wine.

"With your physique and voice, it's a pity you're not a professional opera singer. Old Song from the opera academy was talking about you the other day."

Li Yan served his teacher a refill of wine, saying, "Teacher, I still want to try a little more. Singing opera is a lifelong pursuit, so there's no need to rush."

Guo Fumin sighed inwardly, thinking that traditional opera was declining more and more.

"Young people all want to appear glamorous in public, but kid, this industry is the most realistic! So many people want to become famous overnight, but what happens when they spend half their lives and don't even make a name for themselves?"

He shook his head, looking at Li Yan, "Let's not talk about that. Let's talk about you. You've been on set for so long, what have you figured out?"

"Shortsighted! Unprofessional, inefficient, and a huge waste of resources—that's not how you make money..."

Li Yan put down his chopsticks and, without any hesitation, seemed to have something to say.

"Everyone's just thinking about making a quick buck and running, nobody cares about the consequences. To put it bluntly, even if you tied a dog to the director's chair and just knew how to yell 'cut,' the result would be better than what we've seen now!"

Guo Fumin was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter:

"You're quite arrogant! Looks like you've been wronged on set? Alright, stop being so conceited. Anyone who can run such a big operation has something special about them. You should focus on making sure you have enough to eat first."

As he spoke, he got up and took a business card from the study.

"This is one of your senior classmates, he owns GG Company. He recently got a job, you need to shoot some sample photos for him. The pay isn't much, just two thousand."

"It's just a cameo appearance, it only takes half a day..."

Two thousand yuan?

These days, a square meter in the Olympic Village costs only 8,000 yuan. Why not go?

Li Yan smiled broadly, "Two thousand! I'd be a fool not to make money like this. Thank you, teacher."

"Stop being so glib." Guo Fumin waved his hand. "Alright, finish eating and get out of here. Go home and rest early."

After a satisfying meal, Li Yan tactfully washed the dishes before saying goodbye to his teacher.

……

Li Yan rented a house in Dongba.

The dilapidated urban village, with its self-built houses, has only one advantage: it's cheap.

Even in the small room of about ten square meters, the dry air of Yanjing still had an undeniable musty smell.

You can still faintly hear the wailing and howling coming from the KTV in the distance.

Lying on the hard bed, looking at the yellowish water stains in the corner of the ceiling, he had no complaints.

Compared to my past life, when I was struggling alone in New York, enduring the wait for the free bread at the bakery after 20 PM, this is nothing.

Li Yan took out his phone, looked at the last text message he had sent, thought for a moment, and then dialed the number.

"Hello, Mom."

"Hey, Yan Yan? Why are you calling at this hour? Aren't you asleep yet?" came her mother's voice, a mix of surprise and caution.

For some reason, his tone softened, "Just finished work, missed you. How have you been lately?"

"Everything's fine, everything's fine! You don't need to worry about home. How are things on your end? Do you have enough money?"

"That's enough, more than enough." Li Yan looked at the flashing neon lights outside the window, her tone light. "I'll get paid tomorrow, and my teacher introduced me to a job today."

"That's good. Go buy some things and visit your teacher later. Be sensible, okay?"

Reporting only good news and not bad news is a common problem among all Chinese people living away from home.

But for Li Yan, this phone call had a different meaning.

He was an orphan in his past life, but in this life, he has a family.

After hanging up the phone, I gently wiped my eyes, and the feeling of unease in my heart gradually disappeared, and I calmed down completely.

He closed his eyes and called up the system again.

[System upgrade encountered a compatibility issue. Please try again later.]

……

The same scene.

"Alright, you can rise through the ranks at your own pace."

Li Yan chuckled and pulled the blanket over his head.

……

The next morning, Jianwai SOHO.

Li Yan arrived downstairs at the agreed time and dialed the number on the business card.

Soon, senior student Zhang Qiang emerged from the building, sporting large dark circles under his eyes and a scruffy beard.

The office desk was piled high with discarded proposals, and the ashtray was full of cigarette butts.

Zhang Qiang pushed a stack of documents to him, "Take a look. Since Teacher Guo recommended you, don't be shy. We're all on the same side. After we approve the proposal, we'll sign a contract with you."

Li Yan slowly flipped through the A4 paper in his hand, and it turned out to be a Canon GG.

However, the "seventh edition" at the top of the page made him instantly understand where his senior's dark circles came from.

Zhang Qiang noticed his gaze and felt a little embarrassed. "The client's demands are ridiculous. They want everything, and all I'm supposed to do is be a mix of indifference, sarcasm, and nonchalance. Damn it!"

Li Yan flipped through the text and casually remarked, "That's impressive. Who can handle Canon's 'GG'?"

Zhang Qiang was secretly pleased.

This kid's got it!

Li Yan quickly glanced through it. "The script is great, and I'm fine with the role."

After hesitating for a moment, he carefully said, "Inspired by my senior brother, I came up with an interesting idea. Could you give me your feedback?"

"you say."

Zhang Qiang found it amusing; the young man was still too inexperienced, already eager to show off.

However, because of Professor Guo's influence, I didn't mind too much.

It's only three thousand yuan; he's not a petty person.

What Li Yan wanted to talk about was a short film he had seen in his past life.

A man, still grieving the unexpected death of his wife, holds a broken camera in his hand.

This camera was his wife's keepsake; the memory card is filled with memories.

To comfort his son, the protagonist's father wanted to test if the camera still worked.

The father raised his camera towards the male protagonist and snapped a picture.

The male protagonist vanished instantly and reappeared in the camera's playback mode.

Zhang Qiang felt this opening was somewhat original, "Continue..."

Li Yan continued speaking.

In his panic, the father flipped through the photos, and the male protagonist appeared in different times and scenes.

In the park, by the fountain, at a party...

The male protagonist realizes that he is inside his wife's camera, traveling through her memories.

So, with the low battery warning sounding, the protagonist frantically points his arm at his father in the camera, urging him to turn to the last page.

The male protagonist knows that the last page contains a photo of his wife, and he wants to see her.

Zhang Qiang nodded, lit a cigarette, and leaned back in his chair. "This is getting interesting. They met? And then?"

Li Yan didn't keep anyone in suspense and told the whole story in one go.

Before the battery ran out of power, the father captured the moment on a stone bridge in a water town.

In that photo, the male protagonist is reunited with his smiling wife, and they embrace tightly.

The battery eventually ran out, and the protagonist did not choose to escape this world.

Instead, he stretched out a hand and blocked the camera.

He resolutely wrote a line of words on his palm: "Let me stay."

The screen went out, and the male protagonist chose to remain forever in that moment when she was there.

"The story is over. How was it, senior brother?"

"Hiss~"

Zhang Qiang took a deep drag on his cigarette. Compared to this idea, the "seventh edition" was utter garbage.

The entire film focuses on emotions, but the element of the camera runs throughout.

"Good story, why don't you... write it down and let me see?"

"no problem."

"Take your time, no rush. I'll go buy you coffee, espresso or latte?"

"An iced Americano will do."

"Alright!"

More than an hour later, Li Yan had not only finished the copywriting, but also the storyboard.

"this……"

Zhang Qiang looked at the thick stack of manuscripts, then suddenly looked up and stared at Li Yan:

"Aren't you an actor? You can even draw storyboards? This script is so...mature!"

Having been in the gay scene community for five or six years, he had never seen such a smooth storyboard. Just looking at it, he could visualize the whole scene in his mind.

"Senior, will this plan be approved?" Li Yan leaned back in his chair, feeling a bit tired after drawing so many storyboards at once.

"Yes, absolutely! Canon would definitely have nothing to say about that."

Zhang Qiang slammed his fist on the table excitedly, "Hey, Li Yan, name your price for this script, and you've also been cast as the male lead... we..."

"Senior brother," Li Yan interrupted him, and with the roles reversed, Zhang Qiang subconsciously shut his mouth as well.

"I can write the script for free, and I can even act for free, but I have one condition."

"you say."

"I want to be a director."

"What?"

Zhang Qiang's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? Have you ever even worked as a director for a day? This is a Canon project, a deal worth hundreds of thousands..."

Li Yan pointed to the stack of manuscripts, very confident and certain:

"Can you find someone who understands this script better than me? The composition, the shots, the lighting, even the editing points are all in my head."

Zhang Qiang fell silent.

Indeed, the storyboard is very detailed, so detailed that even a recent graduate could shoot it almost perfectly.

Even this seasoned veteran felt inferior to him.

But he still didn't dare to gamble.

Li Yan noticed his hesitation, smiled, and sincerely stated his bottom line:

"How about this, senior? We'll co-direct the film, and you'll oversee it. If it's a mess, I won't take a single penny."

After saying that, he chuckled and softened the tone:

"At worst, consider this my pledge of loyalty. If I have another script, will you still have the nerve to compete with me for the director's role?"

Zhang Qiang also smiled; this kind of negotiation style was hard for him to dislike.

He's always been an impulsive person; otherwise, he wouldn't have left Beijing and Taiwan to work independently back then.

In addition, this deal required an unconventional approach to win.

Thinking of this, he slapped his thigh and stubbed out his cigarette.

"Alright!" Zhang Qiang stood up and held out his hand. "Since we've come this far, let's work on this film together, brothers!"