From unemployment in crosstalk to top star in Chinese entertainment

A few days later, Yu Liang finally had his first scene in the "Raging Storm" crew.

This scene depicts Gao Qisheng and his sister Gao Qilan standing at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau on New Year's Eve, delivering dumplings to their brother Gao Qiqiang, who has just been arrested.

At that time, Gao Qisheng was still a college student. He was wearing a faded cotton-padded coat and carrying an aluminum lunchbox in a fishing net. He and his sister Gao Qilan stood in the cold wind, looking towards the gate of the Public Security Bureau.

An Xin came out from inside, and Gao Qisheng went up to her...

"Card!"

Xu Jizhou's voice came from behind the monitor.

Yu Liang stopped moving. He stood at the bottom of the steps in front of the police station, holding the fishing net, his brows slightly furrowed.

"What's wrong, Yu Liang?" Zhang Yi asked as he walked down the steps.

He looked Yu Liang up and down.

"Zhang Yi, don't you think this scene is a bit awkward?"

"Awkward?" Zhang Yi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Is the problem with the character portrayal, or with the costumes and props?"

This drama spans twenty years. The scenes filmed a few days ago were the main events of the supervision team entering Jinghai. Today, we're switching back to New Year's Eve twenty years ago.

Zhang Yi had carefully checked the costumes and props before filming began.

The shoulder patches on the old-fashioned police uniforms, the peeling paint on the plaque at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau, and the clothes worn by several people.

The prop team put a lot of effort into every single prop.

"There shouldn't be anything wrong with it," he said after a moment's thought.

Zhang Songwen, who was waiting nearby, stood up and walked over after hearing the two talking.

"The filming locations and character relationships are all fine," Zhang Songwen said, looking around. "These all fit the historical context of Jinghai back then."

It aligns with the historical context of Jinghai.

These words suddenly reminded Yu Liang.

"And this?" He took the lunchbox out of the fishing net and held it in his hand.

The lunchbox was empty for this scene, but the next scene to be filmed was the one in the interrogation room where Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen ate dumplings on New Year's Eve.

"The lunchbox was also artificially aged, what problem could there be?" Zhang Yi asked, puzzled.

Zhang Songwen paused for a moment, then slapped his forehead: "Right! You mean the following plot doesn't make sense?"

Yu Liang nodded.

Screenwriter Zhu Junyi set the historical background of Jinghai in Jiangshi, a southern coastal city.

However, eating dumplings during the Spring Festival is completely out of step with the cultural background of Jiang City.

"Yes, we in Guangdong province don't eat dumplings as our staple food during the Lunar New Year."

Zhang Yi and Lin Jiachuan, along with the others in the crew, were stunned. As northerners, they had traveled to countless film crews all over the country, but in their deeply ingrained beliefs, eating dumplings on New Year's Eve was as natural as the countdown to the Spring Festival Gala.

"So what do you eat for Chinese New Year? Fried dumplings, pan-fried rice cakes, or if all else fails, sweet rice balls in soup."

Zhang Yi struggled to process this information. "So, do you eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice?"

"No, I'll have glutinous rice balls instead." Zhang Songwen laughed.

Zhang Yi opened his mouth, and as a Northeasterner, his expression suggested that his worldview had been greatly shaken.

"Fried dumplings and rice cakes are too inappropriate for a TV series. How about we just change dumplings to glutinous rice balls?" Zhang Yi shook his head after saying that. "No, it's too awkward. I would definitely be out of character if I acted that way."

This was even more unacceptable to him than having tofu pudding with two spoonfuls of sugar. What's more, for over twenty years, the last line of the Spring Festival Gala has always been "Let's all make dumplings together," and he had never heard of "Let's all make glutinous rice balls together."

"But dumplings really don't fit the Jinghai background." Zhang Songwen also frowned, his tone revealing the certainty of a Cantonese. "If Gao Qiqiang were a native of Jinghai, and he brought out a plate of dumplings on New Year's Eve, the audience in the south would find it jarring."

"Can't we think of a solution that satisfies both sides?" Xu Jizhou appeared from behind the monitor at some point, holding a storyboard in his hand. He looked at the group of people gathered around, finally fixing his gaze on Yu Liang. "Teacher Yu Liang, what do you think?"

Yu Liang didn't answer immediately. He squatted on the steps, turned the aluminum lunchbox over, and stared at the dent on the lid for a moment. Everyone around quieted down, and the only sound could be the distant noise of the production crew moving props.

"We can't lose the dumplings." He finally spoke, his voice soft but firm.

"Gao Qiqiang has a final scene in prison where he eats dumplings."

That was the climactic scene at the end. The dumplings represented family. He turned to the dark side of life for his family, and in the end, he died in prison, accompanied by a plate of dumplings made by his family.

He paused.

"But the beginning can't be wrong either. On New Year's Eve, in front of the police station, if Gao Qiqiang is a local, eating dumplings at this time wouldn't make sense."

Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen exchanged a glance but neither responded.

"So my suggestion is—keep both."

Yu Liang put the aluminum lunchbox back into the fishing net bag, stood up,

"In the interrogation room scene, An Xin changed her New Year's Eve dinner to glutinous rice balls, and let Gao Qiqiang continue to eat the dumplings that his younger siblings brought him."

"And then?" Xu Jizhou pressed.

Because he knew that this would make the plot even more illogical.

Then Anxin said, "Aren't you from Jinghai? Why are you eating dumplings?"

"At that time, Gao Qiqiang will add: 'My father's generation is from the North. I came to Jinghai with my father when I was a child. We've had the habit of eating dumplings during the Lunar New Year since we were little.'"

Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen stood there, their eyes lighting up.

This seemingly casual line actually contains a whole backstory of the character.

Why did Gao Qiqiang lack a foothold in Jinghai?

Besides his father working as a boiler operator in the factory, it was also because his family were migrant workers.

So even though he gave gifts, he was still bullied by Tang Xiaolong and Tang Xiaohu.

This change not only made it more reasonable for Gao Qiqiang to eat dumplings,

It also buried his entire background, personality, and fate in it.

"This is a good setup," Zhang Yi said, his tone filled with undisguised admiration. "The ending, where Gao Qiqiang eats dumplings in prison, echoes the beginning."

Moreover, adding that line at the beginning at least doubled the impact of the ending scene.

Zhang Songwen nodded as well.

Xu Jizhou had already taken out his phone and quickly typed a few lines into his notes app. "I've memorized the lines. I'll have Junyi add them later. With this change, the act of eating dumplings will become a more symbolic representation of the character. Dumplings are used at the beginning and end, but twenty years ago it was a memory, and twenty years later it's the ending."

"Then it's settled." He put his phone back in his pocket and patted Yu Liang on the shoulder.

---

In the rest area, Lin Jiachuan, who plays Tang Xiaolong, and the actor who plays Tang Xiaohu are squatting next to a folding chair, waiting for their next call.

Lin Jiachuan's eyes never left the monitor.

He witnessed the entire discussion.

From Yu Liang saying "awkward" while carrying a lunchbox, to Zhang Songwen slapping his forehead in sudden realization, to a group of people forming a circle on the steps to discuss the North-South debate over what to eat on New Year's Eve, and finally to Yu Liang standing up and proposing a revised plan that surprised everyone.

Lin Jiachuan remarked to the actor playing Tang Xiaohu, "He really is someone who can participate in scriptwriting. You know, the other day when we were filming the scene where Xu Jiang smashes the TV, it was Teacher Yu Liang who added a line on the spot..."

"What kind of class are you? Watching the same TV shows as me." Tang Xiaohu blurted out the line first, then laughed at himself. "I almost burst out laughing back then, and I still find it funny when I think about it now."

"Just that one line perfectly captures Xu Jiang's arrogance," Lin Jiachuan clicked her tongue.

He squatted down and thought for a moment, then nudged Tang Xiaohu with his elbow: "Do you think we could ask Yu Liang to give us some lines too?"

"What are you thinking?" Tang Xiaohu glanced at him. "Does it even belong to us?"

"What if?"