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

The movie Jiang Wen is currently filming is called "Devils on the Doorstep".

After learning that this was a war drama, Jiang Lai asked in bewilderment, "Why do you need to practice a Taiwanese accent?"

Jiang Wen replied, "I'm planning to cast him as a Nationalist Army officer."

"That military commander and the Taiwanese..."

Jiang Lai was about to ask further when he suddenly realized something and inexplicably laughed.

Jiang Wen gave a sly smile.

That evening, Jiang called Sister Ying and talked about the movie investment.

Yingjie said impatiently, "I just got back from abroad, and now I have to deal with this nonsense of yours."

Jiang Lai asked, "What did you do abroad?"

"It's all because of you!"

Jiang Lai was taken aback. "How come it's all because of me?"

So Yingjie started complaining, saying that Lou Ye was too stupid, that he didn't know to bring a suit to the film festival, that he was a taciturn person, that he didn't know how to take pictures, and that he didn't like to smile, blah blah blah.

Jiang Lai pieced together the events from Ying Jie's ramblings: Lou Ye had taken "Suzhou River" to the film festival, and Jiang Lai himself had actually won an award.

One is the Best Newcomer at Venice, and the other is the Best Actor at Paris.

Upon hearing the news, Jiang Lai remained calm and expressed bewilderment, stating that he was not interested in these awards.

"By the way, when are you coming back? Several people have asked you to do interviews, and several others have asked you to act in movies," Sister Ying said, changing the subject.

"I probably won't be back until before the New Year, so let's postpone the interviews. Leave the movie script for me to look at when I get back."

"Okay, I'm hanging up."

"Hey! Don't forget about my investment here!"

"Okay, I'll remember that! Everything."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Lai silently put it down. Why did he feel that Sister Ying was much more irritable than before?

But to be fair, Sister Ying was incredibly efficient. The very next day, she found the three companies that had invested in Jiang Wen. With Jiang Wen's remote assistance, she drafted a contract and secured an investment of six million.

The project managers from the three companies demanded that Jiang Lai receive only 20% of the profits. However, thanks to Ying Jie's strong advocacy, they managed to secure 25% of the profits, on the condition that if Jiang Wen overspent again, Jiang Lai would be responsible for the excess.

The three companies had already given Jiang Wen enough trouble, and they were so angry they wanted to tear them apart and eat them. But considering Jiang Wen's unreliable nature, they finally had no choice but to nod in agreement.

When Jiang Lai heard Ying Jie's report, he was quite curious about what Jiang Wen had done to make these three companies so vulnerable.

After the money arrived, Jiang Wen breathed a sigh of relief and patted Jiang Lai on the shoulder heavily.

"Little Jiang, let's not talk about anything else, let's settle this with what we have to say!"

Jiang Lai rubbed his shoulders; his grip was quite strong.

Beside the reservoir.

Looking at the village before him, Jiang Lai couldn't help but marvel at how Jiang Wen could find a village like this.

The village where Jiang had previously filmed was at least made of adobe houses, but this village was built entirely of stone. He pushed it and found it to be quite sturdy.

"How's Zhang Yimou doing lately?" A middle-aged man strolled over with his hands behind his back.

"Huh?" Jiang Lai doubted that he had heard correctly.

"Oh, it's Zhang Yimou."

"I know you're talking about Director Zhang, but why do you call him that?"

"Hey, that's what we called him when we were in college. He was older than us back then, and not only did he look older, but he was also incredibly cunning. That's why we called him that."

Jiang Lai nodded. So that's how Zhang Yimou got his nickname; it turns out it's a dark chapter in his past.

The man talking to Jiang Lai was the film crew's cinematographer, Gu Changwei. He also had droopy eyebrows and looked even more miserable than Jia Kezhang. Despite his unattractive appearance, his resume was quite impressive.

In the early days, he was basically the cinematographer for Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. He was the cinematographer for films such as "Red Sorghum", "Ju Dou" and "Farewell My Concubine". He met Jiang Wen while filming "Red Sorghum" and then got "snatched" by him. He then filmed "In the Heat of the Sun" and this is the current film.

Because of these brilliant achievements, this guy went to Hollywood to work as a cinematographer and shot an early film starring Robert Downey Jr. You should all be familiar with him. He later played Tony Stark.

"Old Zhang... oops, Director Zhang Yimou is doing quite well lately, probably busy with post-production editing."

"Hahaha, you can call him 'Old Zhang' if you want, he has a really good personality."

Jiang Lai gave an awkward smile.

Gu Changwei reached out and touched the stone wall beside him. "This village looks nice, doesn't it?"

Jiang Lai nodded. "It really has a certain feel to it. It really feels like it's from that era. It's not easy to find a place like this."

"Where is that?! It was built with money!"

"Huh?" Jiang Lai was dumbfounded.

"This place alone cost at least eight hundred thousand!" Gu Changwei smirked, made an eight gesture with his fingers, and then pointed into the distance, "See that?"

Jiang Lai looked in the direction the gun was pointing and saw a pillbox halfway up the mountain. It was the kind of earthen fortress that the Japanese used for observation and fire suppression back then.

"Ah, I see it."

"That thing, two hundred thousand!"

Jiang Lai clicked his tongue in amazement, then turned to look at Jiang Wen, who was directing people to move things in the village. He finally understood why those three companies were acting that way; they were just throwing money away.

According to Jiang Wen, he had already finished filming his scenes here, and staying here was just to wrap things up, and, well, to wait for the money.

Well, Jiang Lai then realized that Ya had completely run out of money to continue filming; they had used up all their film rolls. He couldn't help but wonder if he had gotten himself on a sinking ship.

Just a few days later, before Jiang Lai could even settle in, the film crew packed up and headed to Zhangjiakou.

Nuanquan Town, Xigubao.

Built in the Ming Dynasty, this place has city walls and barbicans. The streets and alleys inside the ancient castle are crisscrossed, and many courtyards that have been preserved since the Ming and Qing Dynasties are still intact.

It is worth mentioning that a craft listed as a national intangible cultural heritage is also passed down here, called "Da Shu Hua" (打树花).

"How is it? This place is pretty good, isn't it? I came here to scout locations last year, and I knew then that the last scene of my movie had to be filmed here."

Jiang Wen stood at the foot of the earthen slope of the city gate tower, his face full of pride.

Jiang Laite was speechless, not understanding what he was so proud of. "Boss, we're already here, you should at least tell me what we're supposed to do, right?"

Jiang Wen glanced at Jiang Lai sideways, seemingly finding him a spoilsport, and then pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

"Just act it out like this."

It's the same city gate tower.

In the footage, a convertible jeep drives in, with Jiang Lai sitting in the passenger seat, dressed in a standard military uniform. The driver is a foreigner, followed by a group of foreigners.

The bustling crowd in front dodged the vehicles and then stopped next to an actor dressed as an old farmer.

In the drama, this person is a prisoner of war after the Japanese surrender, and he is indeed played by a Japanese actor. In this freezing weather, the other party is only wearing a vest and a long coat. Jiang Lai even suspects that Jiang Wen did it on purpose.

"Get this pile of trash away right now!" Jiang Lai said, imitating a Taiwanese accent, pointing at the actor in a condescending manner.

The captured Japanese soldier was a vendor. He bowed and saluted, saying in Japanese, "Excuse me, sir! I don't understand. Do you want to buy my goods?"

Jiang Lai said impatiently, "I order you! Go back to your residence immediately!"

He wasn't acting; listening to that gibberish really annoyed me.

The Japanese soldier, unable to understand, picked up an old-fashioned record from the ground and said obsequiously, "These things are considered valuable in Tokyo and Japan!"

"I order you to stand at attention!"

"Hey hey hey! If you buy this, you'll get a free hat too, it's a great deal!"

The two men were talking at cross purposes, but Jiang Wen did this on purpose, not explaining the meaning of each other's lines to either of them.

Finally, the foreigners next to me started cursing, and all you could hear were a string of "fuck you" and a bunch of "bitch".

The Japanese soldier understood these words instantly, immediately stood at attention, and shouted, "Hey! Yesher!"

The car started, crushing the records on the ground as it sped away.

Jiang Lai got out of the car and walked over to Jiang Wen. "How was it, boss? Pretty good, right?"

Jiang Wen stroked his chin and stared at it for a long time. "No! It's too stiff!"

"What do you mean?"

"It means, you're so handsome."

Jiang Lai ran a smug look through his hair. "Well, your image is what it is, there's nothing I can do about it."

Jiang Wen ignored his conceit and said, clearly and distinctly, "No, you have to be a cripple!"

"Huh? Why does he have to be a cripple?" Jiang Lai didn't follow the other person's train of thought.

"You have to be a cripple!"

Jiang Wen looked very serious.