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

Regardless of what happened outside, no news came through in this small mountain valley on the Bashang Grassland because there was no signal.

The film crew was filming as scheduled. Jiang Lai had nothing to do anyway, so he went to find Lao Zhao. All five children were there, and there were even a few more.

"You gave money to a few parents back then, and when the villagers heard that, they all sent their children over. But when they found out that you weren't paying them anymore, they all took them away. However, a few of them did stay."

Old Zhao was all smiles; he was happy as long as one more child could go to school.

Jiang Lai nodded noncommittally. Money can be a powerful motivator. Regardless of the parents' motives for sending their children here, it's good if they can stay.

"Don't worry, Lao Zhao, next year! Next year, the clouds will part and the light will shine through!" Jiang Lai said mysteriously.

Although Lao Zhao didn't know what the other person meant, he could roughly guess that they wanted to help him. He knew that the other person was in this place to film a movie, and those who could film movies must be big stars. Perhaps a little money could make a big difference, but he still declined.

He lacked nothing materially, and besides, money alone couldn't fundamentally change the villagers' minds.

Jiang Lai didn't say anything more, only that there was no rush and they should wait a little longer.

As the days passed, in mid-December, the crew began filming the final scene.

Luo Changyu, who taught his whole life, died, and the village lost its schoolteacher.

One day, the sound of reading came from that classroom again.

Zhao, who played the elderly Zhao Di, rushed over, and the voice she had heard for forty years lingered in her ears once again.

"Respect and order should be maintained between elders and juniors, and this should be observed."

"Respect for elders and juniors should be maintained."

"In life, one must have ambition and aspirations."

"One must have ambition in life."

She walked faster and faster until she finally stopped in that classroom.

The camera lingered on Old Lady Zhao's face, where the deep wrinkles spoke of countless longings.

Her son, Luo Yusheng, was in the classroom.

With the teacher gone, the son took his father's place, and the mother, just like when she used to wait for her father to finish class, stood quietly outside the classroom listening to the teacher's voice, never getting enough of it.

For some reason, Jiang Lai was suddenly deeply moved by this scene.

It wasn't just for the love between Zhao Di and Luo Changyu, but also for their dedication to rural education.

The characters Luo Yusheng and Luo Changyu in the story reminded Jiang Lai of the story of Lao Zhao and his father, both of whom upheld the same principles and passed on the same legacy.

Before filming began, Director Zhang mentioned a brilliant idea: the scenes after the death of the elderly Luo Changyu would be in black and white, while the scenes of the young Zhao Di and the young Luo Changyu would be in color.

Finally, when the elderly Zhao Di stands in the classroom, the scene flashes back to the two of them in their youth.

At this moment, Jiang Lai imagined that in the black and white image, Mr. Luo's clean smile would reappear, and Zhao Di in her red dress would run in the field again.

It seems pretty good.

After this scene was filmed, the production was completely wrapped up.

Director Zhang led everyone to evacuate from the Bashang Grassland and drove all the way to Fengning County, where they found the largest restaurant in the area.

Normally, at wrap parties like this, toasting is an inevitable part of the process, but the months of hard life in the mountains had been too tough, so everyone just drank heavily and no one cared about that.

In high spirits, Yate performed another Tibetan dance, which drew applause from everyone.

Jiang Lai was still sipping his cola. It wasn't that no one tried to persuade him to drink; Zhang Ziyi had blocked them all. She would drink a glass for every person who came, and in the end, her face was flushed from drinking too much.

Seeing this, everyone realized they couldn't bully the young girl, so they stopped making things difficult for the couple.

Zhang Ziyi proudly made a peace sign, and Jiang Lai smiled and patted her head.

After Director Zhang and Hou Yong clinked glasses, they noticed the two whispering to each other. After thinking for a moment, Director Zhang walked over and sat down next to them.

"Xiao Jiang, Xiao Zhang."

"Hey! Director." The two quickly regained their composure.

"There are some things I've thought about and I still need to tell you." Director Zhang's tone was unusually serious. "I can say with absolute certainty that you two were born for this job."

Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi exchanged a glance, unsure of what to say.

"But!" Director Zhang raised his voice, "Having talent is a gift from God, but you must not waste it. You must not make bad movies, and you should only make movies as much as possible."

Zhang Ziyi nodded seriously and took notes.

"As long as you two keep this up, I'll definitely ask you two again if I have any suitable scripts in the future."

Zhang Ziyi said excitedly, "Thank you, Director! I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

Jiang Lai chuckled and flattered him, "Don't worry, Director, you're my mentor, and your words are my guiding principles!"

Zhang Yimou chuckled and waved his hand dismissively: "Don't give me that crap, kid."

He looked at the two of them with satisfaction in his eyes. He wasn't just being polite; he genuinely felt that way. Both of their faces were perfect for the big screen; they were born movie faces.

Just as he was about to say something more, his phone rang.

"Wait a minute, I need to take this call."

Zhang Yimou got up and went outside to answer the phone.

This reminded Jiang Lai, who also took out his phone, told Zhang Ziyi, and ran out to make a call.

"Dad, could you talk to Mom about whether we can propose a motion at next year's meeting regarding universalizing compulsory education and making it completely free in rural areas? Hmm, you can discuss the details with Mom, and I'll explain it to you in more detail later."

After making that call, he dialed the housekeeper, Old Li.

"Hey, Uncle Li, could you get someone to come to Fengning and talk to the local authorities about funding the construction of a primary school? Um, the exact location is..."

The idea of ​​free rural education was first proposed in 2003, but it didn't achieve significant results until 2006. Jiang Lai hopes that this process can be accelerated.

The following year, Lao Li contacted the local authorities and built a primary school in Lao Zhao's village, which was then incorporated as a teaching point. The local authorities also funded the improvement of teachers' salaries, attracting many young people to teach in rural areas.

A comprehensive education campaign was also launched for the villagers, with slogans shouted loudly and clearly, for example:

"No matter how poor we are, we must not neglect education; no matter how hard life is, we must not let our children suffer."

"Raising a son who doesn't study is worse than raising a pig."

"No one will go out to work until they finish junior high school."

With vigorous support and publicity, the villagers' attitudes have changed a lot, and the local government has even provided subsidies to families who send their children to school.

Jiang Lai's only contribution was getting Lao Li to build a few more buildings, repair a few more roads, and construct a few more factories in the county.

So what about Lao Zhao? He transformed from a stooped, middle-aged, dark-skinned man into Principal Zhao.

However, he would still rest in that dilapidated house, still resting his head on the national flag that gave him peace of mind, only the matchmaker's footsteps made his dilapidated house even more broken.

Old Zhao would always shake his head shyly and say he wasn't in a hurry.

His "Zhaodi" might be walking slowly down the road, along that country path, waiting for him to turn around and see her.

Leaving those aside, let's return to the present.

Zhang Yimou took his phone and went to the hallway to answer the call.

"Hello, who is this?"

"I am Jiang Wen."