Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

By the seventh day of filming, Lu Chen had lost weight.

I get up at 5 a.m. and go to bed at 1 a.m. every day. Apart from eating two boxed meals and going to the toilet, I basically never sit down.

He did the work of a director, producer, and production assistant all by himself.

Ning Hao was in charge of camera work and direction, Zhang Songwen was in charge of the actors, Zhao Bo was in charge of cinematography, Wang Yan was in charge of logistics, and Xing Aina was in charge of the script.

All the remaining messy things were his.

Lu Chen felt that he was more like a kindergarten principal than a director.

Before the scene was filmed, the production assistant, Xiao Liu, ran over and said, "Director, the actors haven't all arrived yet, we'll have to wait a bit."

"Where are the actors? I'm about to start filming, where are they?" Lu Chen pointed at assistant director Ning Hao's nose and cursed loudly. At this moment, he was definitely a tyrant on set.

"Where is the Grand Steward? I'll go ask him. Don't worry," Ning Hao whispered to comfort Lu Chen.

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment.

Grand Steward? Who?

Wang Yan emerged from around the corner of the alley.

He carried a boxed lunch in his left hand, a walkie-talkie tucked under his right shoulder, his pockets bulging with cash envelopes, and a sun hat he'd somehow managed to smuggle on his head.

"Hehe, here it is," Wang Yan said, putting the lunchbox on the ground. "Coming, coming."

"Chief Steward, is dinner served?" Huang Bo called from afar.

From that day on, the title of "Grand Steward" was welded onto Wang Yan.

All preparations are complete, and we're ready to start filming the toilet scene.

This is a scene performed by Lu Chenjia.

In the script, Dao Ge and Mike share the same toilet, one squatting on the toilet while the other washes his hands.

The characters are complete strangers to each other, and the tension created by this information gap makes the audience both nervous and want to laugh.

The problem is that this scene was filmed in a real public toilet.

The public toilet in an old residential building in YZ District has three stalls for men and three for women. The doors are made of wood, and the lower half of them is rotten. The floor is always wet.

As for the taste, Lu Chen didn't want to recall it.

"Is this it?" Zhao Bo stood at the door with a camera on his shoulder, his face turning green.

"Right here," Lu Chen said. "Smell this. Can you recreate the set?"

Zhao Bo opened his mouth, then silently walked inside.

Ning Hao laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight: "You're risking your life to make this movie, damn it."

"Enough talk, let's go inside and check the camera positions."

The toilet is very small, with three squat toilets and a sink, totaling less than five square meters.

Zhao Bo's camera was set up at the entrance, so he could only shoot a panoramic view.

Close-ups are needed to show Mike's reflection in the mirror while washing his hands and Dao's expression while squatting on the toilet. The subtle distance between the two as they brush past each other requires an over-the-shoulder shot.

"There aren't enough camera positions." Ning Hao frowned.

"A five-square-meter space is already full with two people and one camera; how can we shoot close-ups?"

Lu Chen thought for a moment: "Remove the door panel."

"What?"

"Remove half of the door panel of the squatting area, and film from the side, shooting Dao Ge's face through the upper half of the door panel."

Lu Chen gestured with his hand, "The audience can see Dao Ge's expression, but Dao Ge can't see the microphone outside. That's how the information gap is created."

Ning Hao thought for two seconds, then his eyes lit up: "Okay. But after the door panel is removed, when Brother Dao is squatting on the toilet—"

"Half-exposed," Lu Chen said.

"Perfect. Dao Ge is the most vulnerable person in the toilet. His half-exposed state only increases his sense of vulnerability. It's funny in itself that a gangster is squatting in the toilet being looked at through the door."

"You're ruthless," Ning Hao said.

"If you don't make 'ruthless' comedies, how will the audience laugh?"

Zhang Songwen walked over, squatted down, and gestured to indicate the positions of Dao Ge and Mike.

"When the two of them brushed past each other," Zhang Songwen said.

"Dao Ge should have slightly raised his head, but Mike didn't react because he didn't know Dao Ge at all. This slight raising and not raising of the head is the key to the whole scene."

"Yes," "When Liu Hua plays Dao Ge, when he looks up, it shouldn't be too obvious, like he's been startled by something."

Formal filming begins.

Liu Hua went into the toilet and squatted down in the stall.

He was wearing Dao Ge's dark jacket, but the zipper was halfway up, revealing a white tank top underneath.

Lu Chen personally took on the role of Mike.

Mike doesn't have many scenes in the script, but he needs someone with a good sense of camera presence to play the role. Lu Chen doing it himself saves money and effort.

When he was acting, Ning Hao called "cut" for him and kept an eye on the screen.

He walked to the sink, turned on the faucet, but the faucet was broken, and water sprayed all over his face.

"Click!" Ning Hao shouted.

There was a two-second silence, followed by a burst of laughter. After all, there aren't many opportunities to laugh at the director on set.

Damn it, this is some kind of grand filial piety celebration, isn't it?

Lu Chen wiped the water from his face and said expressionlessly, "Wang Yan!"

"Coming, coming!" Wang Yan ran in with a wrench in his hand.

Five minutes later the faucet was fixed, and filming resumed.

Mike washes his hands, and Daoge squats in the toilet.

The two people are in the same space, each doing their own thing, neither looking at the other.

After washing his hands, Mike, played by Lu Chen, shook off the water and turned to leave.

As Liu Hua passed Dao Ge's squatting spot, her eyelids twitched slightly, very slightly, like being bitten by a mosquito.

One take.

"Okay!" Lu Chen said, "Let's watch the replay."

Everyone crowded in front of the seven-inch portable monitor.

In the scene, Lu Chen walked past the sink, and Liu Hua squatted behind the door, her eyelids twitching slightly. That action lasted less than a second in the frame, but everyone saw it.

"This is it!" Xing Aina slammed her hand on the table.

"Let's do another take, from a different angle, shooting Dao Ge from the front!"

"Take a picture of the squat toilet from the front?" Ning Hao glanced at her.

"Take a picture of his face from the front." Xing Aina rolled her eyes. "Who told you to take a picture of his lower body?"

Ning Hao was momentarily speechless, then silently went to adjust the camera position.

After filming the toilet scene, Lu Chen felt like he was completely soaked in that smell.

He stood outside the residential building and took a few deep breaths of the mountain city's fog, finding it surprisingly fresher than the toilet.

"Director Lu!" Wang Yan ran over. "It's Liu Yifei on the phone."

Lu Chen was taken aback. He had been so busy these past few days that he had barely had time to contact Liu Yifei.

He took the phone from Wang Yan and walked to the side.

"Feed?"

"You're still alive?" Liu Yifei's voice came through the receiver, carrying a righteous accusation. "You haven't called me for five days."

"I'm filming a movie—"

"I know you're filming, it's not like I don't know you're in Chongqing." Her tone was like scolding a disobedient child. "I'm asking you, how's filming going?"

"It was alright. We filmed a scene in the toilet today."

"bathroom?"

"Yes, public toilets."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Do you guys film movies... in the bathroom?"

Lu Chen laughed: "Not all movies, just ours."

"Then you," Liu Yifei paused.

"Have you been eating properly?"

"I ate. A boxed lunch."

"Does the boxed lunch have meat?"

"Yes. Two pieces."

"Two pieces of meat?" Her voice rose a half-octave. "You only eat two pieces of meat a day?"

"I also have cabbage and rice."

There was another two seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Lu Chen could imagine her frowning and pouting slightly. That's how she looked when she was thinking, like a cat seriously figuring out how to unpack a cardboard box.

"I'm free next week," Liu Yifei said, her tone suddenly becoming very casual, as if she were talking about something unimportant. "Filming for 'The Story of a Noble Family' has finished. I told my mom, and she agreed to let me come."

"and then?"

"Then I'll see if my 500,000 was well spent."

"You've come to Chongqing?"

"What, is that not allowed?"

"It's possible, but—"

"But what?"

Lu Chen wanted to say that the conditions here were terrible, but then he also wanted to say that he wouldn't have time to spend with her if she came. In the end, he just said, "The conditions here are bad."

"It's not like I haven't stayed there before."

"You stayed here?"

"When we were filming 'The Story of a Noble Family,' the guesthouse where we were shooting on location was even worse than this," Liu Yifei said. "The windows couldn't be closed, and cats would come in at night and step on my face."

Lu Chen couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing at you for getting your face stepped on by a cat."

"Shut up, you dog."

"Can you use a different term of address? Who calls their little fairy 'dog' all the time?"

A distinct giggle came from the other end of the phone.

There isn't a term like "little fairy" yet, and it's certainly not being overused.

A rustling sound came from inside, like something was being rummaged through.

"By the way," Liu Yifei said, "I checked, and the train from Beijing to Chongqing takes 26 hours."

"You can take an airplane."

"Trains are cheap."

"You've invested 500,000 yuan and you're still worried about train tickets?"

"500,000 is an investment, a train ticket is consumption; they're different." Her tone was as confident as if she were discussing economics. "Investment yields returns, consumption doesn't."

Lu Chen felt that the logic was twisted yet reasonable, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why it was twisted.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at the train station when you arrive."

"No need to answer, I can find it myself." She paused for a moment. "You just do what you're doing."

"I definitely have to pick you up; you don't know the way around this mountain city."

"I'm not directionally challenged—"

"Last time at the Beijing Film Academy, you got lost walking from the Acting and Directing Building to the Photography Building."

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"That's because the directing building and the photography building look too alike!"

"The two buildings are different colors."

Are you going to answer or not?

"catch."

"Okay. I'll call you when I arrive."

"it is good."

"Also," her voice suddenly softened, "remember to buy two extra pairs of thermal underwear. It's cold in the mountain city."

How do you know it's cold in the mountain city?

"I checked. In December, the average temperature in this mountain city is six degrees Celsius, with 80% humidity. The wind chill makes it feel like minus one degree Celsius."

Lu Chen was taken aback: "You even checked the perceived temperature?"

"Basic lessons for investors," she said before hanging up the phone.

Lu Chen stood below the residential building, holding his phone, a slight smile playing on his lips.

A cough came from the side. Ning Hao leaned against the wall, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"Who hit him?"

"Investors".

Which investor?

"The one who invested 500,000."

Ning Hao glanced at him, took the cigarette out of his mouth, and said nothing.

"What are you looking at?"

"It's nothing." Ning Hao turned and walked back, but after a couple of steps he turned back and teased with a smile, "You're smiling like a fucking idiot."

Lu Chen cleared his throat: "Let's go, we still have three scenes to film this afternoon."

"Also, thanks for what happened earlier." He then patted Ning Hao on the shoulder.

"You know I can't insult others."

"Thanks, chicken feathers, you're all hooking up with mynahs."

Ning Hao repeated what he had said that day to Lu Chen, and the two looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Yes, we're all buddies.

No one knows how much they put into this movie, nor is it necessary.

There's no need to play the victim when making a movie; just make a good movie.

He followed Ning Hao toward the filming location, passing a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes.

The roasted sweet potatoes in the mountain town are a size bigger than those in Beijing, and the vendors roast them in iron buckets, resulting in perfectly charred skins.

Lu Chen bought two, one for himself and one—

He thought about it for a moment, then bought another one.

Three roasted sweet potatoes.

This time, however, he pocketed the third one.

He took a bite of the sweet potato; it was so sweet it felt hot.

The December fog of the mountain city seeped into his collar, making him shrink his neck in the cold.

But the sweet potato in my hand felt warm, the taste in my mouth was sweet, and the words "Remember to buy two more pairs of thermal underwear" still echoed in my ears.

Lu Chen thought to himself, "This girl has a mouth harder than a hot pot from Chongqing, but a heart softer than a roasted sweet potato."

He quickened his pace and caught up with Ning Hao.

Back on set, Su Chang was on the phone with Liu Yifei.

"Yes, I'm filming in Chongqing," Su Chang said into her phone. "Guess who I play? Dao Ge's girlfriend."

Liu Yifei's laughter came from the other end of the phone, which Lu Chen could hear even from several meters away.

"Really?" Liu Yifei asked. "Someone like Dao Ge actually has a girlfriend?"

"Why isn't it there?" Su Chang asked.

"I play the kind of character who says, 'What's the point of you scolding him, Brother Dao? He doesn't understand.'"

"Isn't that what you usually say about me?"

"Yes, that's the style." Su Chang laughed. "When are you coming?"

"next week."

"Okay, I'll treat you to hot pot when you get here."

"You're treating?" Liu Yifei's voice was tinged with doubt. "Is your salary enough?"

"That's enough to treat you to a meal," Su Chang said. "Besides, you invested 500,000 yuan, what's wrong with me treating you to hot pot?"

Lu Chen listened from the side, thinking to himself that these two girls, one fifteen and the other sixteen, spoke as if they were old friends who had known each other for twenty years.

Su Chang hung up the phone and saw Lu Chen standing next to her. She smiled at him and said, "Director Lu, Yi Fei will be here next week."

"I know," Lu Chen said. "She just called me."

"Did she ask you again if you ate properly?" Su Chang asked, tilting her head.

"She does this every time she makes a phone call."

Lu Chen paused for a moment, then laughed: "How did you know?"

"That's how she was when I filmed 'The Story of a Noble Family' with her," Su Chang said. "She's fierce in words, but not in deeds."

Lu Chen looked at Su Chang.

This 15-year-old girl is a former child star who entered the industry at the age of five, and she is much more mature than her peers.

Her friendship with Liu Yifei was built up little by little on the set of "The Story of a Noble Family". The two girls, who were about the same age, found warmth in each other in an unfamiliar environment.

"Are you two close?" Lu Chen asked.

"Yeah." Su Chang nodded. "There aren't many people on set who can tell you the truth."

Lu Chen didn't ask any further questions.

He knew Su Chang was telling the truth; in the entertainment industry, sincerity is more precious than gold.

The afternoon's filming focused on Dao Ge, Hei Pi, and Xiao Jun in the rented apartment.

Jingjing is also in this scene. When Daoge is scolding Heipi, Jingjing sits next to him painting her nails and occasionally chimes in, every word hitting Daoge's sore spot.

When Su Chang played Jingjing for the first time, the entire audience fell silent.

She sat on the shabby sofa, legs crossed, holding a bottle of nail polish that cost two yuan.

Without even looking up, he said, "Brother Dao, what's the point of scolding him? He doesn't understand."

Liu Hua was stunned by this one sentence. It wasn't that he was out of character; he was completely taken aback by the fifteen-year-old girl.

The tone she used when she said that was spot on. It wasn't sarcastic or echoing others; it was the kind of nonchalant attitude that comes from "I can't be bothered with you guys, but you're disturbing my nail painting."

"That's a pass!" Lu Chen said. "Su Chang, your intuition is spot on. You've always filmed serious dramas before, how can you get the pacing of a comedy this accurate?"

Su Chang tilted her head: "I debuted when I was five years old, what kind of drama haven't I seen? And I've seen plenty of guys like Dao Ge. They're everywhere."

Liu Hua laughed out loud from the side.

Yue Xiaojun, who played Xiaojun, didn't have many scenes, but his posture standing behind Dao Ge was perfect—slightly hunched over, like a dog ready to obey at any moment. Zhang Songwen glanced at him and whispered to Lu Chen, "This guy doesn't need to be taught; he'll find his place on his own."

Lu Chen nodded. Yue Xiaojun's value wasn't in his acting, but the fact that he took even minor roles so seriously showed that he had a deep-seated reverence for acting. Someone like that would be a great screenwriter in the future.

The scene between Huang Bo and Liu Hua is the funniest part of the whole film. Dao Ge scolds Hei Pi, who is not convinced. The two of them talk back and forth, and the pace is as fast as playing billiards.

However, Xing Aina rewrote all the lines for this scene last night.

"The original script is too formal," Xing Aina said, handing the new script to Huang Bo and Liu Hua. "Take a look at it first, and let me know if you think it doesn't sound natural."

Huang Bo glanced at it, then looked up: "'Did you get your head stuck in a door?' That's fine. But Blackie wouldn't say something like, 'I never drag things out.'"

"Then what did you say?"

"I never do things like that—" Huang Bo thought for a moment, "You can trust me to do things. No, that's not right either. People like Hei Pi wouldn't say 'trust me,' he doesn't even trust himself."

"Then what did you say?"

Huang Bo thought for a moment, then said, "I'll handle things. You... just wait and see."

Xing Aina glanced at him for two seconds, picked up a red pen, crossed out the original version, and wrote Huang Bo's version instead.

"This one is good," she said. "It's better than mine."

Huang Bo paused for a moment, then laughed.

Lu Chen stood by and watched this scene without saying a word.

"All departments, prepare!" Lu Chen clapped his hands. "Next!"

The fog in the mountain city hadn't lifted yet, but the lights on the filming location were on.

In the hazy fog, the lights, like tiny suns, illuminated the old residential buildings, rusty iron gates, and damp alleyways.

Standing in the light, Lu Chen felt that this was the right thing to do.

They were truly poor, truly exhausted, and truly smelly.

But it's down-to-earth.