Huayu: Enjoy Yourself

Will Chapter 19 be different?

These days, both of them are having their share of troubles. 🍧♣ ❻➈ŜⒽ𝕦𝐗.𝒸σ𝓶 ♠😺

Zhang Yimou was even more puzzled. He couldn't get the investment he, as a director, could, but a "Zhang Yimou Girl" could.

Chen An didn't stay long. The group clearly had something to do, so they left after a few words.

Chen An couldn't get involved in this matter, nor did he have the money to invest in him; the few thousand yuan in his pocket wasn't even enough to fill a gap in his teeth.

Seeing his senior brother struggling so much, Chen An felt that he must start a media company in the future.

Even a director as renowned as Zhang Yimou couldn't secure investment, making Chen An realize that simply becoming a great director wasn't enough.

You still need to have your own say; when making movies, you should invest in them yourself and not have to depend on others.

Anyway, I have plenty of good movies in my head, so I'll make some money first and then make some low-budget films.

Earning your own money and spending it yourself—that's what truly defines the top tier of talent, the kind of people even directors admire.

Chen An originally just liked making movies and planned to buy a house after making money. Now it seems he needs to save money to invest in his own movies.

Using other people's money is never safe. Although it may be comfortable, you earn less and have to be mindful of other people's feelings.

Walking down the street, kicking small pebbles as he went, Chen An muttered to himself:

"The road ahead is long, and time will tell. I absolutely cannot live the same miserable life I had in my last life!"

Every day, I'm immersed in the mundane routine of going to work and coming home, just waiting for my paycheck to arrive.

Overtime or no overtime, there are still a few days of holiday left, then the holiday is over. A stupid boss, and a subservient self.

You can see the end from the beginning, but you can't change it, you're powerless to change it, and you don't know how to change it.

"grass!"

"Those days were truly awful!"

Suddenly, Chen An put his hands in his pockets and kicked the pebble under his feet away with all his might, as if kicking away the days of the past!

On the way back, Chen An bought some side dishes to take with him, and also bought a dozen beers.

I'm planning to have a drink with Chen Wei tonight, since he can't find anyone else.

We can't exactly drag Teacher Mu into this, or he'll probably get slapped.

"My love for you has an urge to turn right when the traffic light is on."

"Crazy, yet fearing there's no way out."

Humming a song, Chen An carried food and drinks and jogged up to the dormitory building.

Pushing open the door, I was surprised to see Chen Wei, whom I only see at night recently, lying in bed.

He fiddled with the camera, took out the film inside, presumably from his assignment.

Chen An placed the dishes and beer on the table.

"I haven't seen anyone during the day for days. Today I finally have some time, so I'll have a drink tonight. I've already brought all the food back."

Chen Wei glanced at the table, put down the film in his hand, and said irritably:

"You've already bought the groceries, and you still ask me if I have time, but isn't the result the same?"

Chen An wasn't shy at all. He smiled, hooked his arm around Chen Wei's neck, and patted his shoulder: "It's only proper to ask, isn't it? I only brought cold dishes. We still have some time, let's go downstairs and get something hot."

Before Chen Wei could refuse, she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him outside, saying, "Come on, hurry up, come up quickly after you're done buying it, we'll deal with the film later."

"Wait, let me put it away first!"

"Okay, let's get this ready quickly. We'll have a good meal together tonight. You've been so busy lately, I haven't been able to find you at all."

After preparing the film, the two went downstairs together, went to a restaurant across from the school, got some dishes, and brought them back to their dorm.

Walking down the street, Chen Wei, carrying some things, asked Chen An, "Did you watch the art exam last time?"

"No, I was busy at that time." Chen An genuinely hadn't noticed.

During that period, Chen An was so busy that he didn't even go to check on any of the three rounds of assessments.

"You didn't go, but their performing arts department recruited quite a few people this time, including many handsome men and beautiful women."

"Our school has never lacked handsome guys and beautiful girls, but I've never seen anyone take a liking to me. So why do you have someone you like? I'll go first for you. With your looks, you can take a backseat for now, or you'll scare them away."

"Get lost!"

Chen Wei, who was listening to Chen An's jokes, didn't indulge him.

The two of them joked and bickered all the way back to the dormitory.

Speaking of this, Chen An also remembered that this year's performance department was full of talented people, and it was the year with the most stars in later generations.

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The Central Academy of Drama next door is the same; many talented people from the same graduating class of both schools have emerged, producing a large number of star actors.

The debate over which side is superior has raged on for years.

While eating and drinking, Chen An felt that all he was missing was a hot pot.

"How's your movie going? Still no news?"

Chen Wei knew that Chen An had been spacing out a lot lately, probably because of the movie incident.

"There's no news yet, it hasn't been announced, that's why I'm worried. You know, when I was filming, I was thinking of finishing it in one go, but now that it's finished, I'm starting to worry about this and that."

"I didn't see you like this in the short film."

"It's different. Short films are just something you do on the spot, like being forced into it. Whether they succeed or not is the same. You just have to live with it the way it is."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Chen An held a bottle of beer in his hand and spoke of his feelings:

"But this movie is the culmination of my hard work; if it fails, all my previous efforts will be wasted."

"You said everything was fine before, but now you can't stand it anymore. Before, you went to class and ran around on set every day without any problems."

"After winning the Golden Lion for short film, I wanted to make a feature film. What a great experience! I know in my heart that this is an opportunity that others don't have. Even if I fail, it will just be the same as before."

"But I don't want to be like before. I want to continue making movies. I don't want to fail, and I'm also a little afraid of failing. I don't know if I'm afraid of failing or afraid of becoming like before. I'm a little confused."

After saying that, Chen An finished his beer in one gulp, then opened another bottle and took a big gulp before letting out a long sigh of relief.

Looking at his roommate, who was also one of his few friends at the school, Chen An couldn't help but ask:

"Do you think things would be different if I hadn't made that short film? Would I have fewer worries?"

Chen Wei didn't answer the question. He probably knew Chen An's troubles, but didn't know how to bring them up.

"Forget about that, let me tell you something. Guess who I ran into today?"

Knowing that the conversation was getting increasingly awkward, Chen An suddenly changed the subject.

"Who?"

Hearing his interest, Chen An began to explain in a serious tone:

"Our department has produced the most amazing director ever, do you know him?"

"Everyone knows me, it's just that they don't know me. Have you seen Zhang Yimou?"

"Yes, it's our most awesome senior."

"Holy crap, you really saw it?"

"Stop fucking me, you're already throwing up!"

Upon hearing Chen An's reply, Chen Wei excitedly crushed the beer bottle in his hand, squeezing out the beer he hadn't drunk much of and splashing it onto Chen An's clothes.

Chen An, who had taken off his clothes intending to wash them tomorrow, said irritably:

"Long hair, short on brains. You get this excited just from hearing a name? I've never seen you get this excited when I do. Brother, I'll be just as awesome as him someday!"

"Tell me about this after you win a long-form Golden Lion. How did you even meet him?"

Chen Wei didn't want to listen to Chen An's boasting and asked about the situation directly.

Chen An first put the clothes into the washing tub, changed his clothes, and then sat back down on the bed and said:

"I had nothing to do today, so I went to see Jiang Wen, but who knew he was there too."

"Later I heard from them that Gong Li will not be acting in the new movie, the investors have withdrawn their funding, and they are now in a terrible predicament."

"You're saying the investors in Zhang Yimou's film withdrew their funding?"

Chen Wei was somewhat incredulous.

"Yeah, saying it's because Gong Li stopped acting sounds like complete nonsense."

After listening, Chen Wei looked speechless and took a sip of his drink: "That's really ridiculous."

Chen An nodded, feeling a sense of empathy, and said, "Nowadays, ordinary viewers only care about the actors; nobody cares who the director is. Although the director is the boss on set, ordinary people don't care about that. They just like to watch their favorite actors."

"So it's normal for them to withdraw their investment. They'll have to act as investors themselves again later. What do you mean?!"

As they were talking, Chen An noticed that Chen Wei had the same speechless expression as before when he mentioned being an investor, which made Chen An very unhappy!

Something's not right, something's not right, this isn't how I'm writing. I need to think about it. Why am I getting more and more pretentious? Luckily, I realized it halfway through.

(End of this chapter)