Huayu97: Starting with Wu Song Fighting the Tiger

On the day Han Lei and Han Geng left, the platform at Wuxi Station was howling in the northwest wind. The green train, belching white steam, clattered over the tracks. The wooden station sign hanging outside the window was frozen and brittle, with the edges of the two painted characters "Wuxi" chipped off.

Han Geng clung to the car window, his little face red from the cold, his breath condensing into a layer of fog on the glass. He wiped a small crack with his finger and waved vigorously at Liu Xiang and Kang Honglei.

"Brother Liu Xiang! I'll practice martial arts as soon as I get back! I'll definitely be able to spar with you next time we meet!" The boy's voice was drowned out by the roar of the train, but it was filled with excitement, like a leaping flame in winter.

Han Lei stood at the carriage door, cupped his hands in greeting to the two men, and smiled warmly: "Old Kang, Liu Xiang, this collaboration was excellent! See you in Beijing sometime!"

As the train whistled, Liu Xiang waved along, until the green train, trailing thick smoke, became a small black dot at the end of the tracks, swallowed by the hazy sky.

"Alright, alright, stop looking," Kang Honglei nudged Liu Xiang with his elbow, pulling his military overcoat tighter around himself, his nose red from the cold. "This trip has been incredibly lucrative! Three thousand yuan! That'll be enough for you to live it up for a while!"

Liu Xiang clutched the stack of brand-new bills in her pocket, smiled, and shook her head: "Let's go back to the film set."

The "Water Margin" crew's accommodations were still the same as before. The wind blew, and the straw curtains rustled. Several stagehands were huddled around the tin stove for warmth. Just as they reached the door of the prefab house, they saw Wang Siyi carrying a canvas bag, saying goodbye to several young actors. Her scenes were finished, and she was going back to her hometown today.

Wang Siyi, with two braids tied with red ribbons at the ends, her nose red from the cold, her small hands tucked into her cotton-padded coat pockets, saw Liu Xiang approaching and her eyes lit up as she waved with a smile: "Liu Xiang! You're finally back! I thought I wouldn't make it in time to say goodbye!"

Liu Xiang recalled the last time Wang Siyi was so nervous that she forgot her lines and was scolded by the director until her eyes turned red. It was he who secretly took out a White Rabbit candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and gave it to her, which made her smile through her tears. He quickly took out a neatly wrapped box from his bag, handed it to her, and said, "Siyi, this is just a small token of my appreciation. I wish you a safe journey."

Wang Siyi was taken aback. She took the gloves and opened them. Inside was a pair of hand-knitted cartoon woolen gloves, with blue and white stripes and an embroidered kitten. Next to them was a piece of Shanghai brand milk candy, wrapped in colorful wrappers, looking particularly bright in the winter. Liu Xiang had specially gone to a stall near Nanchansi Temple to find these gloves. They were knitted by an old lady and were warm and perfect for a little girl.

"Wow! So pretty!" Wang Siyi's eyes lit up like stars. She immediately put on the gloves, shook her arm, and the little cats on the gloves swayed with them. "Thank you, Brother Liu Xiang! They're so warm!"

The surrounding actors gathered around to watch the commotion, laughing and joking, "Liu Xiang, you're being biased! Why did you only buy a gift for little Siyi?"

Liu Xiang blinked and said, "How could I not bring anything for everyone? I took the things from my bag and everyone shared them!"

Wang Siyi blushed, her face turning as red as a ripe apple, and she also took out a handkerchief embroidered with a little sheep from her canvas bag and handed it to Liu Xiang.

Her voice was barely audible: "Brother Liu Xiang, this is for you. I embroidered it myself. It's not worth much, but you mustn't look down on it."

Liu Xiang took the handkerchief. The little lamb on it was embroidered so lifelike, with fine stitches, and it had a faint soapy scent, the kind of cheap soap that girls used to use in the 1990s.

He felt a warm glow in his heart and was about to say something when he saw Lan Xiaoling standing not far away, holding a stack of scripts. She was wearing a maroon cotton-padded coat, looking very refined, and the wind was blowing her hair wildly.

Liu Xiang took out a beige scarf and a bottle of clam oil and immediately went over.

"Xiaoling, here you go," Liu Xiang handed over the items, scratching her head a little embarrassedly, her bangs flying wildly in the wind. "The scarf was bought at the department store, it's wool, it'll keep you warm; and the clam oil will keep my hands from freezing when I'm writing scripts in winter."

Lan Xiaoling took the scarf and clam oil. Her fingertips touched Liu Xiang's hand, and it felt like an electric current ran through her. She quickly wrapped the scarf around her neck; the beige scarf made her face look exceptionally fair. She smiled and said, "Thank you, Liu Xiang, you're so thoughtful."

She looked down at the clam oil in her hand. The bottle was printed with the word "Friendship," and it was a popular skincare product in the 1990s. It came in a tin box, and when she unscrewed the cap, a familiar oily scent wafted out. Lan Xiaoling felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She wrote scripts every day, and her fingers were already cracked from the cold. This bottle of clam oil had come at just the right time.

Director Zhang Shaolin, who was passing by, was wearing a military overcoat and holding a megaphone. Seeing this scene, he laughed and joked, "Liu Xiang, you know how to handle people! Siyi is gone, but Xiaoling is still here helping us revise the script. We'll have to rely on her a lot in the future."

Liu Xiang chuckled, even scratching his head to reveal a set of white teeth.

After Wang Siyi left, the crew lost a girl who was close to Liu Xiang, and Lan Xiaoling became as quiet as a rabbit. He suddenly felt that the crew seemed to have calmed down a lot.

But this period of calm didn't last long, and the production team was about to make a big move.

Zhang Shaolin is preparing to film the major scene of "Xu Ning teaches the use of the hook-and-sickle spear, and Song Jiang defeats the linked cavalry."

This scene is a famous scene from "Water Margin". Huyan Zhuo set up a chain horse formation, and the Liangshan heroes suffered heavy casualties. In the end, it was Tang Long who came up with a plan to lure Xu Ning, the Golden Spear Master, to teach the Liangshan soldiers the hook and sickle spear technique, which finally broke the chain horse formation.

Although Wu Song, as the leader of the infantry, did not have as much screen time as Xu Ning, he still had to charge into battle on horseback and was in danger several times, making the scenes quite thrilling.

Director Zhang Shaolin had been itching to make this film a spectacular success, willing to throw all his resources into it.

To film this scene well, the crew had previously rented more than 300 horses from horse farms around Wuxi, but only Liu Xiang was able to control the overall situation.

Only Liu Xiang remained calm. He had the horse-training skills given to him by the system, and he was proficient in everything from leading horses and walking them to brushing their mane and adjusting their tack.

For the past two weeks, he had been spending every day in the stables, feeding the horses, grooming their manes, and cleaning up their manure. He had figured out the horses' personalities perfectly. He knew exactly which horse liked carrots, which horse was afraid of firecrackers, and which horse was temperamental and needed to be coaxed.

Seeing the extras hesitant and timid in front of the horse, Liu Xiang smiled.

He walked up to the fiercest white horse. This horse was named "Ta Xue" (Snow Treader), and it had a tuft of white hair on its neck, like snowflakes. It was incredibly spirited; a couple of days ago it had kicked its groom and was now recuperating in a makeshift shed. Liu Xiang reached out and gently patted Ta Xue's neck, his palm against the warm horsehide, muttering, "Old buddy, stop fooling around, we have work to do today."