Chapter 322

Rice still looked as Zheng Tan had seen him at the cat exhibition: still not very expressive, seeming indifferent to people and things around, only when looking over did his eyes widen a bit, pupils dilate a little, making him look less sharp than usual.

And Millet, this was the first time Zheng Tan saw it after it was taken away; the pattern in his memory, and the mole like its father's, these two features meant Zheng Tan wouldn't mistake it.

Unlike Rice, Millet, upon first seeing Zheng Tan after leaving, looked at him with a hint of doubt; Zheng Tan didn't know whether this guy still remembered him.

Millet's gaze followed Zheng Tan's movement; probably feeling the space too cramped, it nudged Rice beside it, and even when Rice slapped a paw onto its forehead it didn't mind, kept pushing, its forehead continually being slapped.

Both cats were crowded at the car window, Zheng Tan couldn't easily get in, so the driver in front greeted Zheng Tan, who jumped in through the front window.

Zheng Tan had never met that driver, but from hearing him talk with Cha Li he knew this was the person Fang Shaokang had said would help look after things in the capital; since everyone had been notified in advance, Cha Li also felt a bit relieved, and after seeing the car off, Cha Li reported Zheng Tan's whereabouts to the people in Chu Hua Shi, as boss Xiao Guo and Jiao Ba had instructed.

Meanwhile, Zheng Tan, who had jumped into the car, sat in the front passenger seat; the back seat held Fang Mengmeng and the two cats, plus an unfamiliar person sent by Fang Mengmeng's mother to help look after the child and the cats.

Zheng Tan noticed that Millet wore a harness, the leash's other end held by the woman he didn't know. Millet's cat tag hung on a buckle of the harness, made rather delicately. The harness also passed under Millet's forelegs, so pulling the leash wouldn't put all the force on the cat's neck. However, those who usually use this kind of harness tend to be more active; Rice is not like that.

Just as Zheng Tan had guessed, this guy Millet had a hyperactive tendency, in stark contrast to Rice's calm steadiness. After Zheng Tan got in the car, Millet was initially curious, occasionally sniffing up close, not sure if it was recalling something or feeling Zheng Tan posed no threat, moving back and forth, even lifting a paw to touch Zheng Tan, being active in the back seat until Fang Mengmeng forcibly pressed it onto the car seat.

Even lying down, Millet wasn't idle, rubbing here and there, playing with this and that, its tail swaying back and forth. I don't know whose personality it resembles. Didn't Peanut Candy used to be like this?

Another thing that annoyed Zheng Tan was the size difference.

In Zheng Tan's view, Peanut Candy was one generation below him, while Rice and Millet were another generation down; standing beside these two juniors, Zheng Tan had to look up at them.

Only after arriving at Fang Mengmeng's home did Zheng Tan realize he had still underestimated Millet.

Zheng Tan lay on the sofa watching Millet bat a tennis ball around the room, occasionally provoking Zheng Tan on the sofa and Rice on the cat tree, then getting slapped by both, yet never tiring of it.

I don't know whether filming later will cause trouble, but those are concerns for Yang Yi and the film crew; Zheng Tan no longer thinks about them.

Fang Mengmeng took many photos of Zheng Tan, Rice, and Millet with her camera; Rice was already used to it, Millet also seemed indifferent to the camera, sometimes curiously moving toward the lens, resulting in a few big-nose shots where the mole beside its mouth was especially prominent.

Zheng Tan didn't stay long at Fang Mengmeng's house; the next day Yang Yi came by car to pick him up, and the film crew had little free time, many aspects still needing adjustment, but Yang Yi had placed great hopes on Zheng Tan.

Many say a documentary is the eldest son of film, the poor sibling of a feature film. As Zheng Tan knows, not every documentary gains public recognition; most are shelved, their names unfamiliar to many, and even if heard of, they fail to spark interest.

Many also aren't optimistic about Yang Yi's painstaking effort on this film—why make a documentary when you could film something else?

Yang Yi couldn't care less about that.

Zheng Tan isn't a native capital cat, so if we're telling stories about cats in the capital, these stories certainly won't be about the real Zheng Tan. Authenticity is the essence of a documentary, recording objective facts to give viewers a more genuine feeling; therefore, Yang Yi won't make things up nor have Zheng Tan act out false stories.

What Zheng Tan must portray are real past events; that is, Zheng Tan must enact the life of another cat long deceased, requiring a change of setting as well as mindset.

Compared to twenty or thirty years ago, the capital has changed greatly, so the scenes and objects in Yang Yi's memory cannot be faithfully reproduced; thus this also involves a technique of virtualizing through scientific technology—of course, virtualization does not equal fabrication; the story remains true, and the scenes and objects virtualized by technical means were once real and historically grounded; therefore, this documentary needs some segments that employ a virtual-real combined shooting method to reenact the true story content.

People have the ability to reenact past events; those events are merely scenes stored in Yang Yi's memory. Yang Yi says he wants to achieve ideological resonance, and Zheng Tan feels the pressure mounting.

Whether it's the cast or the atmosphere, it differs greatly from Xiao Guo's studio.

During filming, emphasis is placed on controlling light contrast to enhance visual impact, thus demanding higher technical skill from both the camera equipment and the cinematographer, who must adjust the light contrast to ensure image beauty, presenting the content to the public from the most flattering angle. Advanced shooting gear and a highly skilled cinematographer show Yang Yi's emphasis on this documentary; post-production also imposes high technical demands on image processing, requiring that, while preserving the authenticity of the footage, images be retouched to boost visual effect—all of which necessitates that the relevant filming technicians possess strong technical ability.

Indeed, shooting pet commercials differs greatly from this kind of documentary, no wonder Xiao Guo has been on edge all along, with Cha Li constantly nagging beside him.

Yang Yi and Cha Li's team that came to the capital explained the upcoming scenes to shoot, how to position, where to look, what to call, etc., while Zheng Tan listened from the side.

The old man acting opposite Zheng Tan and many crew members failed to grasp Yang Yi's approach; from the outset, when they learned Yang Yi wanted to shoot this documentary, they knew the difficulty was considerable. People are fine, but cats are notoriously hard to handle, even more so than dogs—just look at the proportion of dog versus cat films made so far, and you'll see; without prior experience, one wouldn't know how challenging cats are, so they thought Yang Yi was still too young, oversimplifying things.

Yang Yi also knew what others would think, but from what he learned from Xiao Guo and Jiao Ba, and from what he himself saw at the pet center filming site, he came to have great expectations for this cat; this involves a story about his maternal grandfather, the film's significance is substantial, even if it isn't a big-budget movie. It's merely a documentary that many people don't look forward to.

Whenever Yang Yi films animals, he likes to guess the animal's mood at that moment from the frozen eyes in photos. Compared to humans, animals more easily draw the eye; in fact, often an animal's gaze can outshine TV stars on screen—not that they perform better than celebrities, but that a single look can deliver a powerful impact to the viewer. Pet lovers sometimes, even if their pet has misbehaved and they had prepared a stern lecture, will abandon all restraint when faced with the pet's cooing or pitiful gaze. An animal's gaze is also emotion laid bare.

Although it's supposed to be factual, some parts still need acting, especially since Zheng Tan is actually portraying the life of another cat.

Before shooting begins, Zheng Tan needs makeup.

Yes, makeup.

This had been discussed earlier; the black cat that Yang Yi's maternal grandfather once kept wasn't pure black—it had three white paws and one black paw, a small white spot on the nose, and a white triangular patch on the chin; compared to Jingzhang, the white proportion actually isn't large. Zheng Tan had seen the photo Yang Yi produced.

As for the dye's fuel, Yang Yi had specially obtained it, heard it was harmless, even edible, and washable; for this reason Jiao Ba also took some samples to test, and only after seeing the results did he agree.

Before this, Zheng Tan always thought dyeing was easy, but when it came time for the "makeup," he realized it wasn't so simple. The makeup artist Yang Yi hired was extremely meticulous and thorough, and of course the result was excellent. Now when Zheng Tan goes out, he's sure many people won't recognize him—people usually identify animals by color at first glance, so a few white spots change his appearance considerably, and the imposing aura of being all black is diminished.

Thus we translate: "Before this, Zheng Tan always thought dyeing was easy, but only when it came to 'makeup' did he realize it wasn't so. The makeup artist Yang Yi hired was overly conscientious, extremely meticulous; of course the effect was also very good—now when Zheng Tan goes out, he can be sure many people won't recognize him, since people usually identify animals by color at first glance; adding a bit of white changes the appearance considerably, and the all‑black aura is diminished."

We need to keep "化妝" in quotes? The Chinese has 「化妝」 with Chinese quotes. We can translate as "makeup" (keeping quotes optional). We'll just translate as "makeup". Keep meaning.

Charlie held up a mirror for Zheng Tan to look at; aside from that, Zheng Tan was fairly satisfied. At first glance you couldn't tell he'd had makeup done, the only gloomy thing was that little white spot under his nose. Zheng Tan now thinks the peanut candy and millet "moles" look all right, definitely better than his current state. He feels that white dot under his nose is like snot, just dripping straight into his mouth.

Translate: "Cha Li held up a mirror for Zheng Tan to look at; aside from that, Zheng Tan was fairly satisfied—at first glance you couldn't tell he'd been made up, the only gloomy thing being that speck of white under his nose. Zheng Tan now felt that the 'moles' on Peanut Candy and Little Rice looked all right, definitely better than his own. He felt that speck of white under his nose was like mucus, just hanging there."

We need to keep quotes around "moles"? We'll translate as "moles" (without quotes). Keep meaning.

Makeup done, filming begins.

Translate: "Makeup done, filming began."

Many problems only become clear once filming starts.

Translate: "Many problems only became apparent once filming started."

For example, how Yang Yi said to make the coquettish call and the alert call.

Translate: "For example, how to emit a cooing call and an alert call as Yang Yi had said."

"That… the black charcoal won't call, no, it can't make a cat's sound…" Charlie said helplessly.

Translate: "\"Well… Hei Tan can't call—no, it can't make a cat's sound…\" Cha Li said helplessly."

We need to keep the quotes and ellipsis? We'll translate as: "\"Well… Hei Tan can't call—no, it can't make a cat's sound…\" Cha Li said helplessly."

Yang Yi: "……" What do you mean "can't make a cat's sound"?

Translate: "Yang Yi: \"…\" What does \"can't make a cat's sound\" mean?"

Regarding this, Zheng Tan said this indeed exceeded his ability; a regular cat's meow would be enough to impress, let alone that soft, coquettish, whiny sound.

Translate: "Regarding this, Zheng Tan said it indeed exceeded his ability; a normal cat's meow was already sharp enough, let alone a coquettish, soft voice."

Charlie feared this master would get angry, so he hurried over to explain to Yang Yi.

Translate: "Cha Li, fearing this old gentleman would get angry, hurried over to explain to Yang Yi."

Yang Yi thought back to those commercials he'd seen; it seemed he had indeed never heard this cat make a sound.

Translate: "Yang Yi thought back to those commercials he'd seen; it seemed he had indeed never heard this cat call."

He sighed, Yang Yi said: "Forget it, we'll figure out the call later, just continue."

Translate: "Yang Yi sighed, then said: \"Forget it, I'll figure out the call later; let's continue. \""

Line 48: "……"

We need to output the line as is? The line contains only ellipsis. We should translate ellipsis as "……"? Probably we keep as "……". The instruction: Render onomatopoeia / sound effects as English sound words. Ellipsis is not sound effect; it's just omission. We'll keep as "……". So line 48: "……"

"All right, later we'll have it bite the sock…… What?! Not bite the sock?! Hate smelly socks?! Ah, that's a new one, just deliberately made to look old, don't you believe me? Smell it…… okay, continue!"

Translate: "\"Okay, later hold the sock…… What's up?! Won't hold the sock?! Hate smelly socks?! Ah, it's new, just deliberately made to look old—don't believe me, give it a sniff…… okay, continue! \""

We need to keep the punctuation and quotes. We'll translate as: "\"Okay, later hold the sock…… What's up?! Won't hold the sock?! Hate smelly socks?! Ah, it's new, just deliberately made to look old—don't believe me, give it a sniff…… okay, continue! \""

Line 50: "……"

Again ellipsis.

"All right, later we'll have it sit on the wooden stool and lick its paws…… What? Not lick paws?! Which cat doesn't lick its paws, people even suck their fingers…… Any dye? No problem, that dye is edible, I've even eaten it…… Or just have it lick that paw without dye…… okay, continue!"

Translate: "\"Okay, later have it sit on the wooden stool and lick its paws…… What? Not lick paws?! What cat doesn't lick its paws? People even suck their fingers…… Any dye? No problem, that dye is edible—I've even eaten it…… Otherwise just have it lick the unpainted paw…… okay, continue. \""

Line 52: "……"

After a day of filming, Charlie and the team were drenched in sweat, Zheng Tan wasn't doing much better either—Yang Yi's demands were too high, even the director didn't see anything wrong, but Yang Yi was dissatisfied, and one small mistake meant a reshoot; apparently he wanted it to match his memory of the footage as closely as possible.

Translate: "After a day of filming, Cha Li and several crew members were drenched in sweat; Zheng Tan wasn't doing much better either. Yang Yi's demands were too high—even though the director thought nothing was wrong, Yang Yi remained dissatisfied, ordering a retake at the slightest flaw, apparently aiming to match his memory of the segments as closely as possible."

Zheng Tan let out a long breath. Forget it, just consider it a sacrifice for art. (To be continued..)

Zheng Tan let out a long breath. Forget it, just consider it a sacrifice for art. (To be continued..)

Now we need to output each line as "【N】 translation". Ensure each translation is on a single line, no line breaks inside.

Chapter 305: Devoted to Art

Chapter 305: Devoted to Art

Then

Cha Li held up a mirror for Zheng Tan to look at; aside from that, Zheng Tan was fairly satisfied—at first glance you couldn't tell he'd been made up—but the only thing bothering him was that white speck under his nose; Zheng Tan now felt that the 'moles' on Peanut Candy and Millet looked all right, definitely better than his own. He felt that white dot under his nose resembled snot, just hanging there by his mouth.

Makeup done, filming began.

Many problems only become apparent once filming starts.

For example, how Yang Yi said to make a cooing sound and an alert sound.

"Well… Hei Tan can't call, no, it can't make a cat's sound…" Cha Li said helplessly.

Yang Yi: "…" What does "can't make a cat's sound" mean?

Regarding this, Zheng Tan said it indeed exceeded his ability; a normal cat's meow is already sharp enough, let alone that cooing, squeaky sound.

Cha Li feared this old gentleman would get angry, so he hurried over to explain to Yang Yi.

Yang Yi thought back to those commercials he'd seen; it seemed he had indeed never heard this cat call.

Yang Yi let out a sigh and said, "Never mind, I'll figure out the call later; let's continue."

……

"Okay, later you'll hold the sock…… What's up?! Not holding the sock?! Hate smelly socks?! Hey, it's new, just deliberately made to look old—don't believe me, give it a sniff…… okay, continue!"

……

"Okay, later have it sit on the wooden stool and lick its paws…… What? Not licking paws? What cat doesn't lick its paws, people even suck their fingers…… Any dye? No problem, that dye is edible—I've even eaten it…… Otherwise just have it lick the paw without dye…… okay, continue."

……

After a day of filming, Cha Li and several crew members were drenched in sweat, Zheng Tan was no better off—Yang Yi's demands were too high; even though the director thought nothing was wrong, Yang Yi remained dissatisfied, ordering a retake at the slightest flaw, apparently aiming to match his memory of the footage as closely as possible.

Zheng Tan let out a long breath. Forget it, just consider it as dedicating oneself to art. (To be continued...)