Huayu Tianxian: This director is such a hypocrite!

"One mannequin, one fake dog, and one large yellow dog costume. Director Ye, is there anything else you need?"

Backstage at the Beijing Film Academy Grand Theater, Ye Chong examined a yellow dog leash closely. The warehouse keeper behind him glanced at him, somewhat dismissively.

The academy puts you in charge of directing a play, and you're actually acting like you're in a role? Picking and choosing like this and that, do you really think you can win the championship?

"Ye Chong, how's it going? Have you picked out the props you like?"

The warehouse door opened, and Li Chen walked in with a group of actors.

"Perfect timing!" Ye Chong strode to the front of the crowd and pulled Zhu Yawen forward. "Look at these props I painstakingly prepared for you!"

"Pfft..."

"Hahaha……"

The group of people were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe, and even Wang Jingsong couldn't help but chuckle.

"Chongdi! You son of a bitch..." Zhu Yawen pouted, looking at Ye Chong who was a little taller than him, but still didn't explode.

"Don't you dare insult me! I only agreed to play Ah Huang because you said it was the third male lead, but you actually did this!"

At this point, Zhu Yawen's eyes reddened again, and Ye Chong quickly stepped forward to pull him back.

"Actually, I think your portrayal of the dog might be even more captivating than the human one."

"Really?"

"real!"

"Alright then." Zhu Yawen looked around, his gaze finally settling on Luo Jin: "This outstanding Ah Huang is yours!"

"Screw you, I don't care!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

A burst of laughter and chatter made the custodian standing nearby break out in a cold sweat.

This Ye Chong seems a bit unusual, doesn't he?

Of course it's extraordinary!

Today is August 20th, ten days after the release of "The Unknown". No matter how much Huayi Brothers tries to limit the number of screenings, an art film is still an art film.

Over the past ten days, the box office revenue of "Coco" has been decreasing daily, dropping to tens of thousands as of today. Meanwhile, "The Unknown" has been gaining momentum, gradually climbing from five hundred to eight million, and its box office revenue has stabilized at eight million as of today.

This led to positive word-of-mouth, and also showed that China Film Group finally thought highly of Ye Chong, increasing the number of screenings for "The Nameless".

Ten days, 7 million – this is the first miracle created by new director Ye Chong.

The second miracle is that the youngest director in history to have a box office gross of over 100 million yuan may be born!

The third miracle: Ye Chong is about to become the third director since the millennium to have a box office of 100 million yuan. The two people before him are Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang.

These three pieces of news were spread by Wang Jinghua's online army, and within just two days they became hot topics in mainstream media.

#Breaking! A new director with a box office exceeding 100 million yuan is about to be born!#

#Shocking! A boastful statement from the past, now a box office champion!#

#The third director to achieve a box office of over 100 million yuan, with both critical acclaim and box office success, Ye Chongchong is truly outstanding!#

These trending topics have made Huayi and Lu extremely angry, but they can't do anything about it.

Now, at the end of August, the Columbia incident has begun to escalate. Having finally suppressed Lu's plagiarism incident, Huayi cannot afford to cause any more trouble.

Filmmakers should let their films speak for themselves. Once Xiao Gang's "A World Without Thieves" comes out, Ye Chong will be nothing but a defeated opponent.

"Alright, that's all. Let's move our things. We'll be spending the next twenty days at the Beijing Film Academy Grand Theater."

"You go ahead and do your own thing, I still have classes!" Wang Jingsong spat.

"Hahaha……"

Ye Chong raised an eyebrow at Teacher Wang, which earned him another scolding from the latter.

They were all acquaintances. The twenty or so people present were Ye Chong's classmates and teachers, as well as the actors in this play.

"Then I'll be going now."

After leaving the warehouse, Ye Chong patted Zhu Yawen on the shoulder: "Thank you for your help, Brother Huang. I need to go to Building A of the teaching building."

"Ye Zi, you're really asking for a beating, aren't you!"

Ye Chong turned and left: "Let's talk when you're 1.88 meters tall. Right now, you can only hit my knees!"

"Hey--"

Zhu Yawen was still shouting behind him, but Ye Chong ignored him and spent ten minutes getting to the director's teaching building.

Upon arriving at the seventh floor again, it wasn't the director's office, but Xie Fei's office.

"Knock knock—"

"Enter."

When Xie Fei's aged voice came, Ye Chong suddenly felt a little nervous for some reason.

"Thank you, Teacher Xie."

"Um."

When Ye Chong closed the door and turned around, Xie Fei was looking at the script with his head down, wearing reading glasses. As if sensing his gaze, he pointed to the sofa and asked Ye Chong to sit down first.

Ye Chong wasn't one to mince words. He looked around the office, touching this and that, and lingered for a long time at the bookshelf.

On the burgundy bookshelf, besides some director's textbooks and novels, there were also some trophies, which were placed there inconspicuously like ordinary books.

"Golden Rooster Awards, Hundred Flowers Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Director, Best Film, Lifetime Achievement Awards..."

There are too many to list. These are just some of the ones Ye Chong recognizes; there are also things like the Don Quixote Prize, the French Public Prize, and so on…

Wait, where's the Golden Bear?

"Ye Chong."

"Ah, Teacher Xie, I'm here."

Ye Chong took two steps to Xie Fei's side and, without asking for his permission, pulled up a stool and sat down.

Xie Fei's eyelids behind his reading glasses twitched, and a faint smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.

"How did you come up with the idea for 'Root'?"

""root"?"

Ye Chong's expression shifted. He had thought that Teacher Xie Fei had seen his play "The Nameless" and was planning to take him on as a disciple. But it turned out to be just routine work, studying the play.

"I was just thinking about it and then..."

"Don't try to fool me." Xie Fei spat at him, but didn't seem too angry.

Although he had only met Ye Chong once, he had heard of him before. He was cheerful, a little mischievous, and a bit unconventional.

"This is the 'root'!"

The story of "Roots" goes back to a month ago when the Beijing Film Academy asked him to represent the school in putting on a play.

Since the system doesn't sell stage plays, and selling movies would be too unprofitable, he simply copied a movie from his previous life and turned it into a stage play.

In that case, they might have to pay me to make the actual film later!

"You're so young, where do you get so many feelings from?"

This is the key point: Ye Chong's age shows that he cannot write such a profound script. "The Nameless" also has depth, but it is still within the realm of common sense.

What amazed Xie Fei most about "Roots" wasn't the plot of the movie from his previous life, but the story of the dog.

"I observed it. My dad was a construction foreman, so I've known about the joys and sorrows of these people from the lower classes since I was a child, plus some of the customs of my hometown."

Ye Chong spoke lightly, without revealing any flaws, but Xie Fei didn't let him off the hook: "Where's Gouzi?"

"Big Yellow, the second-in-command of our village." Ye Chong pointed to himself, "I'm the boss!"

"A storyline where an older woman is disliked by her child?"

"I used to dislike my mom. I was a boarding student at school, and she brought a jar of fermented tofu into our classroom... I disliked her then, and I still regret it now."

"The story of the hair salon?"

"Of course it is..." Ye Chong paused, coughed, and then said, "Of course it's for observation."

"OK."

Upon hearing Xie Fei's name, Ye Chong breathed a sigh of relief.

"Would you like to become my disciple?"