Huayu: Reborn in 97, transferring to the Central Academy of Drama's star-studded class

Liu Ye's judgment was correct; the middle-aged man with the backpack was indeed a director, and he was indeed there to select actors. His name was Huo Jianqi.

This made Jiang Lai realize that Liu Ye, who seemed carefree, actually had a sharp mind and keen observation skills.

Even more surprisingly, the other party actually took a liking to Liu Ye.

Director Huo frankly stated that he actually came for Duan Yihong, but Duan Yihong didn't have time, so he asked Liu Ye if he could play a postman.

Liu Ye immediately stood at attention, his eyes filled with determination as he declared his intention to join the Party: "I guarantee I can act well!"

Director Huo felt that the young man was full of energy and nodded in satisfaction.

The story takes place in the mountains, and the character needed to portray the simplicity of a young person. Liu Ye's performance caught the eye of Director Huo, so he asked Liu Ye for a photo.

Without saying a word, he dashed back to his dorm, his long legs making him run like the wind.

Director Huo was even more satisfied when he saw this. Wow, this person's physical fitness is excellent. After all, it's a mountainous area, and running up and down the hills requires a lot of physical strength.

When Liu Ye returned, Director Huo mentioned that there was a girl in the film who hadn't been cast yet. He had originally liked Tao Hong, but she didn't have time, so he asked Liu Ye if she had any recommendations.

Liu Ye's first thought was to recommend the girls in his class, but some had acting offers and others didn't have time, so he had to recommend a junior, Chen Hao.

After calling the person over, Director Huo took one look at their appearance and immediately decided to hire them. He told the school that the filming was to take place during the summer vacation, and the school agreed to release them.

With the casting process concluded, Director Huo packed up and left, but before leaving, he also took Dang Hao with him to play Liu Ye's father, specifically his younger self, given his age.

Director Huo's film is called "Postmen in the Mountains".

Although Director Huo has left, disputes have begun.

"Son! Call me Dad!"

Dang Hao, all smiles and grins, inexplicably landed a role, and to make matters worse, he was playing his best friend's father—it couldn't be more awesome.

"I'll fucking beat you to death!"

Liu Ye was furious and embarrassed. His good mood after getting the role was instantly ruined. He couldn't reason with the director, so he vented his anger on Dang Hao. The two of them fought and yelled.

Jiang Lai watched this scene with amusement, with Chen Hao and Zhang Jingchu beside him.

As for why Zhang Jingchu was there, it was because the girl was running around with him, and Jiang Lai couldn't very well send her away.

After Liu Ye and Dang Hao finished their playful banter, the group decided to have a meal together as a way to get to know each other better before joining the production team. Liu Ye shamelessly dragged Jiang Lai along, figuring that as long as he was there, there wouldn't be any problem with paying the bill.

Jiang Lai was fine with it, so the group headed towards the boiled fish. Jing Chu also followed, having been pulled along by Liu Ye.

For some reason, Liu Ye quite liked this quiet younger sister; perhaps it was because he saw similarities between her and himself in certain personality traits.

Walking down the street, Jiang Lai pulled Liu Ye to his side. Seeing the two younger girls chatting happily arm-in-arm ahead, he asked curiously, "How did you meet Chen Hao?"

After all, this person would later be known as a heartthrob, so he was still very curious.

Liu Ye scratched his head and said, "We filmed that short film 'Hello, Teacher,' right? People have seen it. We bumped into each other during a general class when you weren't around, and we chatted a bit. Nothing happened between us."

Jiang Lai believed this. With his current dark and unkempt appearance, no girl would like him. Besides, he could tell that Liu Ye definitely didn't like Chen Hao's type.

"Okay, congratulations on being able to make movies now." Jiang Lai smiled and patted Liu Ye on the shoulder.

Liu Ye chuckled sheepishly, then said strangely, "Actually, when school first started, I thought I was going to be able to make a movie."

"What do you mean?" Jiang Lai asked.

"It was right at the beginning of the semester when a lot of people came to the school specifically looking for me. I thought they wanted me to act in a movie, but it turned out they all wanted me to write scripts. I thought to myself, I'm studying acting, how could I possibly write one? It was all really inexplicable."

Liu Ye thought for a moment and added, "Back then, there were also people looking for Ziyi, which annoyed both of us. Oh right, there were also people looking for you."

Jiang Lai also asked in confusion, "It is quite strange."

"Well, those people are talking about Spring Festival Gala writers, but what does that have to do with us?"

Wow, case solved.

Jiang Lai then remembered that Uncle Panshan had added them to the scriptwriting credits for his skit, but he had forgotten to tell them about it later.

The current situation...

Forget it, let's just pretend we don't know. After all, who in their right mind would look up who wrote the script for a comedy sketch?

Afterwards, the group had a pleasant and normal meal. After finishing, Jiang Lai went home, completely ignoring Jing Chu's hesitant look.

Chen Hao sensed something, but having already heard about Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi's situation, he patted her reassuringly. Jing Chu smiled and indicated that everything was alright.

After that, Jiang Lai found himself surprisingly busy.

First, Director Feng invited him out for dinner, accompanied by Xu Fan and Ge You.

Director Feng pulled out a trophy and a certificate, and said with a lewd grin, "Come on, Jiang'er, I got you an award."

Jiang Lai took the trophy with suspicion. It was quite bizarre; it looked like a tiger but not quite, and it even had a pair of wings. He immediately opened the certificate, which read:

Congratulations to actor Jiang Lai for winning the Most Popular New Actor Award among college students at the 5th Beijing College Student Film Festival.

This certificate is issued as a form of encouragement.

Beijing College Student Film Festival Organizing Committee

Awarded in 1998

Jiang Lai looked puzzled. "What kind of award is this?"

Grandpa Ge rubbed his bald head and said dejectedly, "Hey, it's not a very important award, just consider it a bonus."

Director Feng laughed twice and pointed at Ge You, saying, "He's won the Most Popular Actor Among College Students."

"It's all because the students are giving me face." Uncle Ge smiled sheepishly and didn't say anything more. He's even won the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award, so he really doesn't take this one seriously.

Moreover, although this film festival is called a film festival, it is actually organized, watched, and judged by university students in Beijing themselves. It was indeed quite good at the beginning, but after the official intervention, well, it changed a bit.

For example, Feng Xiaogang's film "The Dream Factory" didn't even make it into the competition section, and Ge You and Jiang Lai's award was actually decided by the college students themselves.

At that time, people didn't think much of Director Feng. It was only after Director Feng dominated the Lunar New Year film season for a few years that he entered the competition section and won the Best Director award several times.

Halfway through the meal, the group chatted and laughed, creating a harmonious atmosphere. Seeing that the mood was just right, Xu Fan gave Director Feng a wink.

Director Feng looked troubled, picked up a tissue to wipe his mouth, and explained that he had come to Jiang's place to seek investment.

The huge success of "The Dream Factory" gave Beijing Film Studio and Forbidden City Film Company a taste of success, so they immediately asked Director Feng to set up a new project. They approached Jiang's father for investment again, and Jiang's father said the same thing: he didn't care about the film, just ask his son.

The two bosses wouldn't bother talking to a junior, so they had Director Feng come out to talk to him.

Director Feng and Jiang Lai have a pretty good relationship now, but when it comes to money, no one can say for sure, and it's precisely because they have a good relationship that they're embarrassed to talk about it.

Director Feng thought for a moment and said, "Jiang'er, I'm starting a new movie. How about you come and play a role?"

Jiang Lai took a bite of the pig's trotter and mumbled, "Sorry, Director Feng, I've already taken on a role for the second half of the year, so I probably won't be able to go."

"Oh, that's good." Director Feng nodded, unsure how to respond.

Xu Fan watched anxiously from the sidelines. She was definitely the female lead in this film, and the Beijing Film Studio would definitely give it a lot of support, so they would certainly want to make it well with sufficient funding.

Although Jiang Lai was stuffing himself, he understood what was going on from the scene, so he said, "Director Feng, we have a relationship, so don't be shy. Just tell me how much investment you need."

"Hey!" Director Feng slapped his thigh. "Jiang'er, you're so generous! It was my fault, don't worry, I won't let you make up for it!"

Jiang Lai waved his hand and said, "Director Feng, I'll still invest even if you lose everything."

These words touched Director Feng's already worldly heart.

In fact, Jiang Lai knew that Director Feng had very few films that lost money throughout his entire directing career. Despite being constantly called "Feng Kuzi" (Feng the Pants), he was one of the few directors in China who could truly master commercial films.

Later, Jiang Lai introduced Li Ying to Director Feng, and she was put in charge of the payment and contract matters. Jiang Lai also learned about the movie, which was called "Be There or Be Square".

Yingjie, who was on vacation, sighed deeply. Her low mood and deadpan expression made Director Feng, who was working with her, feel scared. He also missed Old Li a little.

After that matter was over, Jiang Lai received another phone call, this time from Jia Kezhang and Lou Ye.