Huayu: Enjoy Yourself

Chapter 16 The capital city is vast, but living there is not easy.

That evening, the old hen was served on the dinner table. 💘😂 ➅❾𝓼𝐇ย𝕏.ℂㄖ𝕄 🌷💲

Feeling guilty, Chen An ate until his face was covered in oil.

The mother was happy to see that her son liked to eat it.

She kept piling food onto his plate, and Chen An couldn't keep up with her pace of eating.

After eating, Chen An felt uncomfortably full.

I went for a walk in the evening.

There are no cement roads in the village now, only dirt roads.

There is a river in the village, and Chen An remembers that he often liked to go to the other side of the river to play when he was a child.

There is a long stone bridge in the middle, which is not very safe, so parents do not allow their children to go across the bridge to the other side.

Every time Chen An went over to play and got caught, he would get a severe beating.

After being severely beaten, Chen An went to hide on the other side of the river.

If they were caught on the other side of the river, they would be severely beaten.

Chen An was severely beaten.

This repeated process forged Chen An's current strong physique.

The high-intensity filming work did not put much of a burden on Chen An, so he did not feel overwhelmed even though he worked almost non-stop for the second half of the year.

Winters in southern Hunan, while not as cold as in the north, are still freezing.

Chen An wandered around for a while but didn't see many people.

When walking along the road, the wind blowing from the river felt like a knife scraping.

The wind howled and poured into his clothes. After a while, Chen An couldn't stand it anymore and went home.

My hometown doesn't have cave dwellings like those in the north, nor does it have underfloor heating or the heated brick beds seen in Northeastern TV dramas.

In winter, you can get through the cold by covering yourself with more blankets.

When Chen An got home, he saw that his mother had lit a fire, which was the local way of keeping warm at night.

Chen An also went over to warm himself up.

"Man'er is back. Come sit down for a while. Mom roasted some sweet potatoes for you. They'll be ready soon. Come and tend the fire for a bit."

When Chen An's mother, who was sitting by the fire, saw him return, she immediately beckoned him over to warm himself by the fire.

I also gave him some sweet potatoes beforehand.

However, Chen An really wanted to tell her that he couldn't eat anymore.

Even if you lose weight, it's impossible to gain it back just by going home.

Chen An finally gritted his teeth and finished the sweet potato before returning to his room to go to sleep.

Looking at the room where I first transmigrated, it hasn't changed at all.

The movie posters on the wall are still the same as before, and they haven't gathered any dust.

It seems someone comes to wipe it down occasionally.

Days passed as I returned.

Chen An has indeed gained quite a bit of weight, as his mother feeds him a different diet every day.

In addition, he sleeps until noon every day, unlike at school where he runs around.

On New Year's Eve, Mom prepared a large table of dishes before taking out the wine Chen An had brought back and pouring it for the father and son.

"When are you leaving?"

Chen Ping, who had finally gotten to drink the wine his son had brought, asked, remembering his wife's worries.

"I filmed a movie last year, but it's not finished yet, so I need to go back early. I'm leaving on the 6th."

Chen An calculated the days and realized that after the New Year, a few days would be enough to visit all the relatives.

So Chen An wanted to return to Beijing as soon as possible, because he was still worried about the film and wanted to get it ready to see the finished product.

"Leaving so early? It's rare for you to come back, why not stay a little longer?"

The mother, sitting next to her son, complained a little when she heard him leaving so early.

My son went to Beijing and only came back after more than a year. He must be unhappy that he has to leave after only a few days at home.

"Mom, don't worry. If the movie is a success this time, I can come back whenever I want. I can also build a big, two-story house for the family and buy one in Beijing as well. Then I can bring you both over."

Chen An could only quickly comfort her.

"Okay, just come back more often. Take care of yourself first when you make money, and come back to see Mom more often."

She didn't think about anything else; she just wanted her son to come back often.

They couldn't make things difficult for him. The couple had sent Chen An to the capital alone because they knew it was their son's dream, and they couldn't stop him.

"And Mom, I bought a cell phone. Call me if you miss me."

As he spoke, Chen An wrote down the phone number he always carried with him and protected it closely. His mother took it and hid it carefully, afraid of losing it.

The family didn't talk about it again after that. After finishing their dinner, they watched the Spring Festival Gala on their secondhand black-and-white TV.

I woke up the next day.

Chen An then received a red envelope from his parents.

69 new books

Chen An did not refuse and took it.

Chen An was still very happy even though he only had ten yuan.

During the Chinese New Year, I started visiting various relatives with my parents, going back and forth between them.

Everyone is happy during the Chinese New Year.

Relatives gave Chen An, who didn't come back last year, red envelopes, wishing him to become a great director and be able to find many big stars to film TV series, which they would definitely watch.

Chen An smiled and thanked him, saying he would invite everyone to watch it together.

After the lively Spring Festival, the shops in the town gradually began to reopen.

Chen An also bought some local specialties to bring back to the capital.

In the end, Chen An stayed an extra day and set off for Beijing on the 7th.

Before leaving, he took the local specialties he bought and the sweet potato peels he made at home, which he could eat as snacks. Chen An himself liked to eat them and would chew on a piece whenever he had free time.

He secretly left five thousand yuan under his parents' pillows and kept five thousand yuan for himself before setting off.

Chen Ping saw his son off the whole way, and after he saw him get into the car and leave, and could no longer see him, he squatted down and smoked a cigarette.

He didn't say anything, I don't know what he was thinking, and left the station after he finished smoking.

Chen An brought a lot of things this time, so he bought a plane ticket and flew directly to Beijing.

Chen An went back to school first. He had a good relationship with the teachers and dormitory manager.

Because of his act of staying at the school, the dormitory manager gave Chen An a key to the dormitory building, but he never asked for it back.

So Chen An went straight back to his dormitory.

After putting his things down, Chen An made a phone call and learned that Jiang Wen was at home. Then, carrying his things, he headed to Jiang Wen's house.

"Did you bring anything else?"

Seeing the local specialties and sweet potato peels that Chen An was carrying, Jiang Wen took them without ceremony and placed them on the table. He didn't like to do anything fancy.

"This is a local specialty. Take a bite and try it. It's homemade here. Give it a try."

As he spoke, Chen An opened a plastic bag, took out a piece of sweet potato peel, tore off a small piece, and put it in his mouth to eat.

Jiang Wen also took out a piece, tore off a bit and took a bite: "Let me try it, hmm, not bad! It wasn't a waste of my good wine."

"It's perfect for having with drinks. My mom and brother went to visit relatives, and I don't want to go. I'll just stay home alone. It's good that you're here to have a drink with me."

He turned around and went back to get the wine.

They brought some snacks with them when they came out.

"You're in such a hurry to go back to Beijing because you're worried about your movie, right?"

Upon seeing Chen An return so early, Jiang Wen immediately guessed the reason.

"Definitely. This is my first movie. The previous short films don't count; they were just a trial run. If this movie flops, it'll be difficult to get another chance."

Chen An felt at ease talking to Jiang Wen and didn't hold back, speaking his mind freely.

Jiang Wen took a sip of wine, leaned back in his chair, nodded, and muttered:

"Yeah, you're lucky to have run into an investor. If you had failed this time, it would have been difficult to find him again."

Although many people wanted to invest in Jiang Wen's films and had to beg him to do so, Chen An was different.

Even though a university student won the Golden Lion for short film, it's still just a short film, and other people don't really recognize that.

Even when Zhang Yimou started making movies, he first worked as a cinematographer at Xi'an Film Studio after graduating, and made several films before that.

He also tried his hand at acting, and after a few years of silence, he finally achieved legendary status with his first film, "Red Sorghum," winning the first Golden Bear for a Chinese-language film!

He himself first starred in numerous classic films, and won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actor for his first leading role. He only started making movies after he had already gone through most of the acting career.

Even if it doesn't work out, he can go back to acting, although that's what he says.

None of those directors were obedient enough to become directors, but ultimately, Jiang Wen transitioned from acting to directing.

With a solid foundation, one is not afraid of failing once or twice.

At this moment, Chen An was like a tree without roots, which would fall over with a gust of wind.

"Run Lola Run" is his foundation. If he succeeds, Chen An will have truly established a solid foundation; if he fails, all his previous efforts will have been in vain.

"So, my brother, I'm now focused on making this movie a success. It's a hard-won opportunity, and I can't let it slip away like this. How many people never get this chance in their entire lives?"

"I have to be true to myself. Like I told myself during the last short film shoot, I have to go up and say it. It doesn't matter if I fail. If I don't try, I'll never have a chance. So this time, I'm going to give it my all!"

(End of this chapter)