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

Back at the hotel, Jiang Lai went straight to Li An. Zhang Ziyi wanted to follow, but Jiang Lai pushed her out. Zhang Ziyi was puzzled. What was there to be ashamed of? Apart from not having done *that* yet, what was there to hide?

She didn't say anything, just stood at the door of the room and waited.

Before long, Jiang Lai and Li An came out with smiles on their faces, both looking very satisfied.

Li An said, "Xiao Jiang, I knew you were great!"

Jiang replied, "Not at all, Director, your directing skills are far superior."

Zhang Ziyi looked at him strangely. Why was it so eerie?

......

Li An put a lot of effort into "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," doing a lot of pre-production work. The script alone took three or four years to polish, and he was still working with several screenwriters every day to refine the details until filming began.

One of the screenwriters is Wang Huiling. She was involved in the screenwriting of works such as Li An's "Eat Drink Man Woman" and later "Lust, Caution". She is also the screenwriter of Chen Kaige's future redemption work, "The Legend of the Demon Cat".

Another person is James Schamus, who is Li An's regular partner in Hollywood. He mainly helps Li An solve the problem of East-West language context, that is, to make it easier for Western audiences to understand.

The most important one is Ah Cheng, a writer who is well-versed in Chinese culture. In Li An's original script, there was a core idea: freedom.

According to his own research, the word "freedom" was actually translated from English by the Japanese after the Meiji Restoration, and is therefore a foreign import.

Some of you might be wondering, "Wait a minute, this word is from our country."

Actually, the meaning of this word has changed in ancient and modern times. In ancient times, it wasn't just used to refer to "freedom" alone. The word first appeared in commentaries on the *Book of Rites* during the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the *Book of Rites*, there's a phrase, "Requesting an audience but not requesting to leave," which the Eastern Han scholar Zheng Xuan commented means, "One dares not act freely." This means one dares not make decisions arbitrarily. At this time, freedom primarily emphasized self-determination. Later, however, the word was often used to describe the freedom of life and death, the freedom of power and influence, depicting the tyranny and arbitrary actions of the powerful. In ancient times, it had a somewhat derogatory connotation, similar to "unrestrained." In modern times, the word has transformed into a positive concept; it can be used alone or to express human rights, such as freedom of thought and freedom of speech. In short, it's a term that our daily lives have derived from our ancient texts.

After consulting many ancient documents, Ah Cheng found a word that better suited Chinese culture and the core idea of ​​the film: freedom.

The difference of just one word was the finishing touch, which greatly impressed Li An, and the script was basically finalized as a result.

Aside from the script, there were twists and turns in casting, as well as the difficulties Li An faced in scouting locations across the country to create his own aesthetic. These issues have been largely resolved, and Jiang has now taken care of the funding.

The only thing left was the action design, where Li An and Yuan Heping had a major disagreement.

"Eighth Master! Why can't we use wires!" Li An shouted anxiously, his Mandarin even becoming standard.

Yuan Heping was not to be outdone, slamming his fist on the table, his face red and neck bulging. "Li An! You made me the action choreographer, so you have to listen to me! Wire work is an old trick; foreigners will laugh at us!"

"No! What I want is the lightness and grace of qinggong (lightness skill), it needs to have an artistic conception!"

"Atmosphere? We're doing action movies, it's all about punches and kicks, you talk about atmosphere? Those foreigners don't understand anything about atmosphere!"

The two argued heatedly, their faces flushed, while the other action choreographers, screenwriters, and assistant directors in the conference room trembled like ostriches.

One of them was a director, and the other was a veteran action choreographer who had dominated the film industry. What could they do but pretend to be dead?

Finally, after they both got tired of arguing, they both fell silent.

Li An already had a filming plan in mind, intending to go to XJ to film the desert scenes in July. He thought for a moment and said, "We'll discuss that later. Let's talk about the desert scenes first. Let's design the action scenes for Luo Xiaohu and Yu Jiaolong, especially the action scenes on horseback."

Yuan Heping pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, we need to see how well these two little ones are practicing riding."

"Walk!"

Li An acted swiftly, dragging Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi away from where they were practicing martial arts, and then taking the equestrian instructor Shatu with him. The group then made their way to the hotel's horse farm.

Yuan Heping stepped forward and said, "You two ride your horses around the track so I can see."

Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi were still confused, not knowing what was going on, when Shatu had already led the two horses over.

The two exchanged a glance and then nimbly mounted their horses.

The summer breeze carried the scent of fresh grass as Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi rode their horses one after the other.

Jiang Lai rode the big black horse, its four hooves flying and its mane fluttering.

Zhang Ziyi rode a chestnut horse, like a red cloud skimming the ground.

As they reached the end of the riding arena, the two exchanged a knowing smile, gave a slight twitch of the reins, and the horses instinctively turned around, leaving two smooth afterimages on the grass.

Shatu stood with his arms crossed, looking smug. Anyone with eyes could see that these two were excellent riders.

This scene truly excited Yuan Heping, who wanted to sing out loud, "Let us live freely and unrestrained in this mortal world, galloping on horseback and sharing the prosperity of life."

Hmm? What kind of strange song is this?

"Alright, that's enough! Stop now," Master Yuan shouted.

Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi ran back and stopped.

Eighth Master pointed to his Jackie Chan Stunt Team members, "Go and bring over the weapon and prop boxes."

Several people ran away in response.

"Are we just going to let them try it out?" Li An asked.

Eighth Master nodded. "Horse riding is fine, let's give it a try."

Soon, several people who had gone to move the boxes returned and rummaged through them to find a bunch of weapons. Of course, none of them were real weapons; they were made of wood and plastic and were just for practice.

Eighth Master squatted down, picked out a plastic curved knife, tossed it to Jiang Lai, and then took out a wooden sword from it.

"Ziyi, try out different weapons on horseback later. Use a sword against a knife, a spear against a knife, and a club against a knife. I want to see which combination feels the best."

Eighth Master didn't design any specific moves for them. Instead, he had them practice using the moves they had learned. After all, the action scenes had to be performed while the horse was running, so it was impossible to design every move individually unless the camera shot them frame by frame. But he knew Li An too well, so he would definitely use long shots to follow him.

"Alright, Eighth Master!" Jiang Lai grabbed his knife and mounted Big Black.

Zhang Ziyi smiled and took the longsword, then mounted his horse as well.

The two stood facing each other on horseback. Jiang Lai lowered his voice and said, "Let's make this clear first, be gentle."

Zhang Ziyi smiled and raised an eyebrow. "It depends on my mood."

"Action!" Li An shouted solemnly from the sidelines.

Jiang Lai spurred his horse, and Da Hei galloped off first. Zhang Ziyi followed closely behind, raising his sword as if to stab. Jiang Lai neither dodged nor flinched, but instead raised his sword to block.

With a muffled thud, the two prop weapons collided.