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

"Old man, you're underestimating me, aren't you?"

Li Yan moved a small stool over and, like a rogue, snuggled up to Lan Tianye's legs. His hands weren't idle either; with a snap, he cracked open a chestnut.

"If I were the kind of person who uses your reputation to embellish my own image, would Teacher Li dare to let me into this role? I truly believe that, looking across the country, no one but you could handle this role."

On the coffee table lay the script that Li Yan had just taken out—"The Father Trapped in Time."

The original male lead was Anthony Hopkins, who played Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs"!

It tells the story of an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer's disease who is trapped in a labyrinth of time and memory.

It requires not only acting skills, but also a kind of haughty and unassuming demeanor.

Lan Tianye leaned back on the sofa, not even glancing at Li Yan:

"Goading?! Jiang Ziya has already exhausted that trick! If you want to find an old man, go find Jiao Huang or Xue Jian. They're still working on the front lines. Why would you want to find me, someone who's half-buried in the ground?"

"Master Jiao has played too many emperors, and Teacher Li Xuejian... has a bit more bitterness in his performance."

Li Yan placed the peeled chestnuts into a plate, his playful smile fading, and said sincerely:

"The old man in this play is different. He has Alzheimer's disease; his brain is shattered, time and his memories are all jumbled up. He feels like the whole world is deceiving him, and only he is lucid. That kind of stubbornness and pride in resisting even in despair..."

He looked into Lan Tianye's bright eyes, which were still clear even though he was over eighty years old:

"Grandpa Lan, only someone like you who has truly weathered many storms and taken life and death lightly can portray this role."

Lan Tianye glanced at the script, then at Li Yan, and chuckled:

"Not some fairy tale with flying figures? Or one of those tearful farces?"

Li Yan quickly raised his hand to guarantee:

"Even if you gave me three lives, I wouldn't dare hang you up! It's purely a dialogue-driven play, mostly a one-man show!"

"fart!"

Lan Tianye suddenly glared and shouted in a powerful voice:

"If the plot requires it, I can still be suspended in mid-air and fly around, believe it or not?! My physique is way stronger than yours, who's so young yet already drinking goji berries from thermos flasks!"

"Yes, yes, you're still so strong and healthy, I'm just worried about you."

Li Yan immediately seized the opportunity, handing over the plate full of chestnut kernels and repeatedly saying yes:

"Calm down, everyone in the country knows how good you are! These chestnuts won't taste good if they get cold."

Lan Tianye snorted, took a chestnut and put it in his mouth. The chestnut from Qiulixiang was both sticky and sweet.

"Alright, stop playing the role of Cheng Men Li Xue (a traditional Chinese scholar who stood in the snow outside his master's door) with me. Just leave the script there."

The old man pointed to the long table next to the desk:

"Perfect timing. My table legs are a bit uneven, and this script is just the right thickness to support them. If you think putting this down means I agree, you're dreaming."

Li Yan was certain.

As long as Mr. Lan is willing to read the script, there's hope!

He brushed the crumbs off his hands, stood up, and said briskly:

"Alright, you can use this as a cushion first! If it's not high enough, I'll bring you two pounds of Alzheimer's disease brochures later; they're thicker, so they'll be more stable!"

Lan Tianye waved his hand, laughed, and cursed, "Get lost!"

Li Yan knew when to stop, so he bowed respectfully and left the courtyard.

"Then you should rest, I'll come back in a couple of days."

The courtyard has become quiet again.

Lan Tianye looked at the cleanly peeled chestnuts on the plate, picked one up, and muttered:

"He's glib and doesn't seem like someone who does things properly."

……

With the Qingming Festival approaching, the promotional campaign for "Silent Witness" has begun in earnest.

In Li Yan's words: "It doesn't hurt me so much to use other people's money to train the team."

Aside from the necessary roadshow appearances, he basically handed over the entire operation to Zhang Qiang and Ding Xiaoxiao.

Ding Xiaoxiao was so busy that she felt like she could be split into eight pieces every day, and she kept yelling on the phone until her voice became hoarse.

My senior colleague, on the other hand, had to attend social events every few days, and he would always be dizzy when he returned to the office.

As for Li Yan, all the money has already been distributed, why would you expect him to risk his life? Dream on!

He devoted all his energy to "polishing" the blue fields.

Three days later, Nianzi Hutong.

Li Yan came again, carrying several old Peking Opera records he had bought from Panjiayuan.

Without saying a word upon entering, he rolled up his sleeves and started loosening the soil around the old man's several pots of precious clivia plants.

"I haven't read it! I haven't read the script yet!" Lan Tianye shouted.

"If you didn't watch it, you didn't watch it. I'm not in a hurry."

Li Yan chuckled as he watered the flowers. "Listen to this Xun School record I just acquired. Isn't it authentic?"

A few days later, spring rain began to fall.

Li Yan came again, carrying a bag of freshly baked sesame seed cakes, steaming hot.

Like the roasted chestnuts, he found out that they were Old Master Lan's favorites.

"Grandpa Lan, eat it while it's hot, this place has a wonderful sesame flavor."

Lan Tianye watched Li Yan skillfully grinding ink for him inside the room, and frowned helplessly:

"Are you bored out of your mind? Your movie's about to be released, and you're just going to ignore it?"

"With China Film Group around, why should I worry about so much?"

Li Yan put the ink stick away and chuckled, "Besides, making you happy is the most important thing, not that."

Lan Tianye twitched the corner of her mouth, turned around, and went about her business.

It wasn't until Li Yan was about to leave that the old man suddenly blurted out a sentence with his back to him:

"Next time you come... bring some autumn chestnut fragrance again, the last one got too hard when it cooled down."

"No problem! I'll send it over to you tomorrow."

……

Constant dripping wears away a stone; the time is almost right.

That afternoon, Li Guangfu somewhat awkwardly pushed open the gate of Lan Tianye's courtyard.

"Old Lan, I heard that Li Yan has been coming here every day lately? He must be giving you a lot of trouble, right?"

Li Guangfu found a place to sit down, familiar with the area.

Lan Tianye was staring blankly out the window when he heard this, and gave a light scoff:

"Look what trouble you've brought me! You're like a leech, I can't get rid of you. The other day you insisted on helping me move flower pots, you were so clumsy, you almost fell."

Li Guangfu could tell that he was just being verbally critical.

"Haha, isn't he just trying to get you to come out of retirement?"

Li Guangfu picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup of tea, and, his smile fading, said seriously:

"However, Elder Lan, this kid seems a bit slick, but he's actually a good person at heart."

"Not bad?" Lan Tianye took off his reading glasses and wiped them. "You can't really say about young people these days!"

"Hard to say? Do you know why his movie wasn't released during a major holiday period, but instead had to be squeezed into a horrible time like the Qingming Festival?"

Why?

"I've been pranked!"

Li Guangfu sighed:

"At the Venice Film Festival, in front of the world's media, this guy pointed his finger at another guy named Guan Hu and called him a 'cultural traitor,' saying that he was engaging in 'self-colonization' in order to win awards from foreigners, making us lose face completely!"

Lan Tianye stopped wiping his glasses.

He slowly raised his head, stared at Li Guangfu, and asked:

"Such harsh criticism? Really?"

"Absolutely true! Everyone in the audience heard him say from below the stage, 'Chinese films don't need to kneel to gain recognition!'"

Li Guangfu sighed:

"As a result, when he came back, they had people make things difficult for him and blocked the censorship. To get the film released, this guy gave up all the money he had in hand without even blinking an eye!"

Upon hearing this, Lan Tianye remained silent for a moment, then slowly folded the eyeglass cloth and put it back in the box.

His gaze passed over the coffee table and landed on the stack of Xuan paper on the desk.

Beneath the Xuan paper, the edges of the script had been turned upside down.

Actually, he had already seen it.

Not only have I watched them, but I've also researched the characters.

He's been retired for too long and really doesn't want to get involved anymore.

But now...

"Be a real man."

Lan Tianye suddenly spoke:

"Guangfu".

"Yes, please tell me."

He reached out and pulled out the script: "Tell that kid, next time he comes, bring me two bottles of wine!"