Returning to the 82 Mountain Village: An Encounter with the Journey to the West Film Crew at the Beg

The production assistant looked at the group of people in front of him with a surprised expression and quickly asked them questions.

"Hey? Wait a minute, where did you three go? What happened in this mess?"

The three mud figures looked at each other, who were covered in dirt, and laughed sheepishly.

"Director Zeng, the thing I mentioned last night that I had to get busy was to go to the mountains to dig for medicinal herbs."

"Going hiking? You're covered in mud, you must have had quite a haul!"

Uncle Wang replied, his eyes filled with gratitude.

"Haha, you're all covered in mud, you must be quite a child now. Fang Yazi, I heard about what happened yesterday. Thank goodness you were there, otherwise it would have been a disaster!"

Old Zeng became interested after hearing this. He was a native of Beijing and really didn't know anything about digging for medicinal herbs.

"Haha, it's nothing, Uncle Wang." Zhou Fangyuan waved his hand to indicate that it was nothing, and turned to Old Zeng to continue talking.

"We dug up a lot, and even found some rare items."

"Hey, okay! So, are we selling these herbs? Or are we exchanging them at the local herbal medicine shop?"

"Go to town to sell it and see if anyone will buy it at a high price. The town isn't too far from here. I'll take an oxcart there tomorrow morning and be back in the afternoon."

Hearing this, Old Zeng pondered for a while before continuing to ask:

"The roads must have been difficult to travel on after yesterday's heavy rain, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Fangyuan's smile changed slightly. Indeed, the difficult road would take up a lot of time.

"Judging from your expression, you really helped us a lot yesterday..."

Anyway, since we're all free, how about I have Old Zhang drive you there in his tractor? He's a veteran on set, super reliable.

Brother Wang, don't worry, the tractor was provided by the film crew, it won't cost you any money. Hurry up and sell the herbs, fresh ones are the best!

The three declined several times, but it was only after Uncle Wang persuaded them that they reluctantly agreed.

They tidied themselves up, and during that time, the younger sister even went to Chunxiao's house to check if they were going to join them.

But they couldn't find her; she and Aunt Zhang must have gone to the fields.

Ma Dehua had already finished her performance before they returned to the village.

He and Lao Zhang stood beside the tractor, seemingly waiting for them.

"Master Zhang, Teacher Ma."

"Haha, you're here? Production assistant Zeng said the roads were difficult to travel due to the heavy rain, so he was a little worried and sent me with you."

As he spoke, he took two steps forward, rubbing his thick hands together with a simple smile.

"There are dry rations in the truck bed. The leader instructed me to be your follower and ensure your safe journey and safe return."

"The production manager was too thoughtful."

Zhou Fangyuan was very grateful for this arrangement, as it made him feel at ease.

It was already past noon, and even the food was prepared. Looking into the truck bed, there were dry blankets inside, apparently to prevent people from catching a cold if they came back too late.

Along the way, Ma Dehua kept telling jokes to keep everyone entertained, and she never repeated a single one.

This made my little sister laugh so hard she almost fell over; she was even happier than last night.

When selling medicinal herbs, because I had plenty of time, I compared prices with several vendors.

Old Zhang and Old Ma were thoroughly shocked.

Gastrodia elata sold for 290 yuan, while a century-old Polygonum multiflorum sold for 170 yuan.

After finishing their business, the group returned at 6 p.m. It was still light outside, but the village performance had long since ended, and everyone went back to their own busy work.

The villagers didn't let the film crew cook for themselves; they treated them like family and prepared a large pot of food for them.

Zhou Fangyuan specifically instructed last night that the guests from the north couldn't handle very spicy food, so he added less chili.

For the people of Hunan, not having chili peppers is impossible.

After dividing the money, I wanted to give the film crew some money so they wouldn't use the tractor for free, but they absolutely refused to accept it, so I had to give up.

The Zhou siblings had entrusted all their money to their younger sister, so Zhou Fangyuan told her to go home first while he went out to help out.

He saw the old man in the rainy night, who was drawing with a brush, very focused, as if communicating with the figures on the paper.

"Sir, are you drawing a portrait of Sun Wukong?"

"Yes, this image is not good. It looks like a wild monkey, not like the Monkey King."

He answered without even looking up.

"Sir, wouldn't it look better if you changed that brown hair to a bright yellow?"

"Um?"

Only then did he look up at the young man, the one who had protected his makeup case?

Zhou Fangyuan also recognized the old man.

Wang Xichong, the makeup artist and costume designer who created all the classic looks in Journey to the West, is one of the true masterminds behind the scenes.

In the 80s, special-style makeup was still rare in the film and television industry in mainland China.

Creating costumes for mythological figures from Journey to the West is a first for us.

It was under these circumstances that he designed hundreds of figures representing gods, demons, and immortals.

They strive to ensure that the appearance matches the character's identity and personality, such as the Jade Emperor, Golden Horn, and Silver Horn, whose images are deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Wang Xichong felt that what the young man said made sense.

"Do you think it would look better with blond hair?"

Zhou Fangyuan replied with a smile, "Yes, it will look better if it's lit up. Also, the monkey's eyes are very important, so they should be drawn beautifully."

Wang Xichong turned his attention back to the painting. This time, Sun Wukong was more in line with the original story, with a red face, brown hair, and black-rimmed eyes, almost showing his teeth.

And Director Yang's words echoed in his mind again.

"These monsters and ghosts should be anthropomorphized so that they can be enjoyed by all ages and tastes. If they are made to look as ugly as in the original story, then even children would probably be too scared to watch it."

Perhaps I could design something bolder, something that makes the Monkey King more than just the "Monkey King" from the original story; something that people would find beautiful.

Then another voice came from afar.

"Fang Yazi, come help me distribute the food to the comrades!"

"Here we go!"

Wang Xichong was so engrossed in his creative process that he was only brought back to his senses after being interrupted by the sound.

Just as he was about to express his gratitude, he discovered that the young man had already left, leaving him only with his busy back view.

Zhou Fangyuan jogged to the large cooking pot and carried the food to the crew.

"Brother Wang, you've really set up these colored lights beautifully."

"Haha, it has to be beautiful!"

"Hey, dinner's ready? I, Old Zhu, have been starving!"

"Old Zhu, you've worked hard today~ Keep it up tomorrow~"

The small mountain village was bustling with activity again, and children were running around in the crowd.

Amidst the laughter and cheers, a strikingly different voice rang out.

"Have you seen Chunxiao? There's no one in her house until now!"

Zhou Fangyuan rushed over when he heard his younger sister's anxious voice.

"What's wrong, sis?"

"I passed by her house on my way to call everyone over for dinner. It looked the same when I checked this morning, and it still looks the same now. She hasn't come back at all!"

When the younger sister said that, the other women around her also stopped.

"Yes, I haven't seen anyone from her house all day," Aunt Li said, wiping her hands with her apron.

"It seems she went to pick mushrooms in the back hill, saying that mushrooms sprout quickly after the rain."

Zhou Fangyuan had a bad feeling and pressed, "The back mountain? When did you go there?"

"It was around nine or ten o'clock in the morning when I saw Chunxiao and her mother carrying baskets up the mountain with my own eyes," Aunt Wang recalled.

They should have come back long ago...

Zhou Fangyuan frowned again; the situation in the mountains might really cause trouble now.

After all, it's all too common for mountains to swallow people up.

The atmosphere in the village subtly changed. The old men stopped laughing and talking loudly, the women exchanged glances, and the children sensed something, slowly stopping their play and gathering around the adults.

Old Zeng and Uncle Wang came over and asked what had happened.

"Hey Production Manager Zeng, do we have any flashlights? Two of our crew members went up the mountain and haven't come back yet."

Zhou Fangyuan spoke concisely.

Yan Huaili shouted urgently, "Huh? He's not back!"

"Yes, yes, I remember that box was in the ancestral hall."

Several village men immediately put down what they were doing and followed them to the ancestral hall.

Zhou Fangyuan noticed that his younger sister and Li Lingyu had also followed him with panicked expressions, so he quickly comforted them.

"Don't worry, girl. Maybe she found something big like us, and the muddy road is difficult to travel on, which is why she's been a little slow to get back."

"Comrade Li, please do me a favor and stay home with your little sister. We'll go look for her. The mountains aren't that big, and they can't have gone far. It's getting dark, so don't follow them."

"I know first aid, so I can provide first aid in case of an emergency!"

"Guo... I'll go down the mountain and wait for them, Guo, you must bring them back."

The younger sister was so anxious she was almost crying, but she was very sensible and knew that going with her so late at night would probably only cause trouble.

He patted his little sister's head and made a promise.

Zhou Fangyuan agreed to Li Lingyu's request to follow him, but he insisted that she stay close to him.