Huayu: Enjoy Yourself

Chapter 18 You think you're Jay Chou?

Life is like water, sometimes calm and still, sometimes turbulent and turbulent. 🐻💥 69𝓢ħᵘｘ.𝕔ᗝⓂ 🐜✌

Now that Chen An is attending school normally, he feels that the movies he filmed don't exist in his life.

We've returned to those tough days.

I attend classes every day, audit them, and complete assignments.

Chen Wei doesn't have many friends, and he's always busy.

As graduation approached, he was naturally much busier than Chen An.

So Chen An would occasionally go to the Central Academy of Drama to chat with Duan Long, and also to check out some good shows there.

"Do you like that troublemaker in your class? The way you looked at me the other day when I approached you was quite something."

Chen An already knew about this in his past life, but he was still a little curious, so he secretly asked.

When asked, Duan Long immediately became nervous and vehemently denied it: "No, how could that be? We're just classmates, there's no such thing."

Seeing his nervous expression, Chen An chuckled and teased, "Not yet. Look at how nervous you are, why wouldn't I like you to be nervous?"

Knowing he had been seen through, Duan Long stopped explaining and lowered his head in embarrassment.

Seeing his pathetic state, Chen An got angry, grabbed his shoulder and shook him, saying irritably:

"What are you so afraid of? He's a handsome, grown man acting all effeminate. If you like him, go for it. If you keep going like this, you'll just keep watching her. You'll only be happy when she's in another man's arms?"

Chen Anke knew that Duan Long had been too afraid to speak up in his previous life, and Tao Hong was eventually taken home by Xu Guangtou.

"No, it's different. I'm not good enough for her. I can't bring myself to say it to her."

Duan Long's voice was broken and intermittent, as if he couldn't quite get the words out.

Chen An ignored him and continued to persuade him: "What do you mean you can't speak up? Do you think you're Jay Chou? You can't even speak up? How do you know she doesn't like you if you don't ask?"

"I don't dare. She's like a star in the sky, and I'm just a country bumpkin who had to take the entrance exam three times to get into school."

Duan Long kept his head down, as if he dared not look up at her.

"Sigh~ Forget it, I won't try to persuade you anymore. You'll regret it sooner or later anyway."

Chen An knew he couldn't persuade him otherwise, and he understood his feelings.

Chen An was deeply moved when he first came to the capital alone and the senior student who had run away was willing to help him when he enrolled.

Later, I treated her to a meal, but she already had a boyfriend, so I gave up.

When Chen An moved into the dormitory, only Chen Wei treated him the same way. Chen An was very touched, but it was a pity that Chen Wei was a boy, so he had to let it go.

I'm still single, and it's a shame to see this couple like this. But Duan Long is so stubborn, nothing I say will work, so I've stopped trying to persuade him.

The atmosphere grew cold, and Chen An lit a cigarette while neither of them spoke.

After finishing his cigarette, Chen An said goodbye and left without saying anything more.

Duan Long was still sitting there alone, seemingly lost in thought.

With a rare holiday off and nothing to do, Chen An was like a restless monkey.

After wandering around, Chen An arrived at Jiang Wen's house.

Speechless, I scratched my head. Could it be that Zhang Mazi is my true love?

This is not normal!

Since he was already there, Chen An decided to go in and have a chat with Jiang Wen.

As Chen An walked through his yard, he saw that he wasn't alone, and he also spotted a familiar figure.

Uncle Ge is here today, and the people next to him are even more important.

The original owner's idol, Zhang Yimou, wanted to make a movie about him!

Upon seeing this person, Chen An froze on the spot, unable to believe that he had met this heavyweight director.

Whether in his past life or this life, Chen An is a heavyweight director.

Now he is shining brightly, winning two gold medals at the three major competitions. He also won the Best Actor award and the Jury Prize at Cannes for "To Live". He is in a honeymoon period with Cannes and is enjoying great success.

Unlike later, when "Not One Less" was withdrawn from Cannes due to issues, thus losing the opportunity to win all three major awards.

This is the peak of his creative output.

He looked much younger, not like the wrinkled face Chen An remembered.

Looking at the people in front of him, Chen An thought of a film, "Keep Cool," an experimental film in which Zhang Yimou began to seek commercial transformation.

I watched this movie in my past life, and I laughed so hard at the character played by Zhang Yimou. I still remember his lines to this day.

"An Hong, I miss you!"

I really did get lucky.

"Little Chen's here, come in quickly, what are you doing standing at the door?"

Chen An, who was standing blankly at the door, was the first to be noticed by Grandpa Ge, who beckoned him in.

Chen An realized what Grandpa Ge was saying and began to walk inside:

"I was a little excited when I first met Director Zhang, and I didn't react in time."

Before Zhang Yimou could even speak, Jiang Wen feigned displeasure and retorted:

"You little rascal, you really like 'To Live' that much? You don't react much when you see me every day, but when you come to visit, you get all excited like you've seen aliens when you see Ge You and Zhang Yimou. What does that mean?"

"How could that be? I'm used to seeing you all the time. I've only ever heard of Director Zhang, never met him. He's a legendary figure in the eyes of the teachers. I've finally seen him today."

Chen An felt a little embarrassed by what Jiang Wen said. Although he did like "To Live" quite a bit, he didn't think it was to the extent that Jiang Wen described.

"That's all flattery. What legend? We haven't reached that level yet."

Zhang Yimou was also very happy to hear Chen An's words, after all, Chen An liked his work.

"I've heard of you too. Professor Gan told me that our photography department has produced a genius who made a short film that won an award at Venice."

Chen An was pleasantly surprised that Zhang Yimou had heard of him.

"I can't compete with Director Zhang with just one short film, yet he won both the Golden Lion and the Golden Bear, while I've never won a single feature film award."

"Just call me senior brother, we're from the same school."

Zhang Yimou waved his hand, a smile on his simple face. When he smiled, his face wrinkled up, looking somewhat like the image Chen An had seen on TV in his previous life.

"Your junior is quite something. He went from shooting a short film to a feature film. The script is good, and it's been submitted to Cannes."

The two brothers were praising each other when Jiang Wen, sitting next to them, chimed in and changed the subject.

"Hey, to tell you the truth, this movie has left me feeling a bit lost. After all that work, I've finally got some free time and all I can do is wander around. That's why I came here."

Hearing Jiang Wen talk about this, Chen An felt a little melancholy again.

Although I haven't been thinking about it these past few days, it's unlikely that I haven't felt anything at all.

So when he was free from classes, Chen An would wander around to relax.

"Like your short film?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yimou asked curiously, as he had also watched the short film.

It's very original. For a freshman to be able to shoot this, it's quite impressive, much better than what I did back then.

Now that feature films are being made, he was already 37 when he was filming "Red Sorghum" all over the place.

My junior is only 20 years old and is already making movies in his second year of college. Compared to the opportunities I went through so much trouble to get, it's incomparable.

Chen An shook his head: "No, a short film is enough for that movie. I rewrote the script and got the same boss who made the short film to invest."

The movie "Carrying the Burden" was originally a short film, which was later made into a feature film.

However, feature films don't quite work; the length of a movie doesn't provide the same impact as a seven-minute short film.

Chen An doesn't plan to film it; it would be a waste of time. At most, he'll sell the adaptation rights to anyone who wants to film it, but he himself has no intention of doing so.

"Relax, junior brother. It's already quite good that you're able to direct a film at this stage. Back then, I also joined a production studio and started as a cinematographer. It took me three years before I had the opportunity to direct."

As someone who has been through similar experiences, Zhang Yimou understands how Chen An is feeling.

After filming "Red Sorghum," I couldn't sleep all night. I messed up this opportunity, and I didn't know when I would get another chance.

But he succeeded. "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, becoming the first Chinese-language film to win the Golden Bear.

However, Chen An was unmoved by the advice given by someone who had been through it all.

Although he himself was cheating, judging from his actions, his senior brother was also cheating.

Does he have to wait until he's over thirty to succeed?

Chen An didn't want to wait, nor could he afford to wait.

However, Zhang Yimou is now in a bit of a mess. With Gong Li's departure, the investors of "Keep Cool" have also chosen to withdraw their investment.

Zhang Yimou, who single-handedly brought the title of "Mou Girl" to fame, lost investors due to the withdrawal of these actresses, leaving him speechless.

Seeking everything

(End of this chapter)