Chapter 16

Fang Hong dared to speak nonsense in front of Liu Tianxian, but not in front of Liu Xiaoli.

Liu Tianxian is a peer; you can joke around freely with her. Liu Xiaoli is an elder; you can't joke around casually—that's the bare minimum of respect.

And he knew his real creditor was Liu Xiaoli; if she didn't agree, he wouldn't get the three million.

Liu Tianxian listened well to her mother.

Of course, Liu Tianxian had surely explained the reasons to her mother, but how she explained them? That was unknown.

Hearing Fang Hong greet her, the group of students behind also chimed in unison: "Hello, Auntie Liu!"

"Good, good!"

Liu Xiaoli smiled and nodded, appearing warm and approachable—quite different from the rumors.

She looked at the group, many still showing traces of youth, and asked: "You're all still students, right?"

"Yes, we're all from Beijing Film Academy," one student replied.

This disappointed Liu Xiaoli slightly—how could students make a good film? But she didn't show it, instead continuing: "Have you just arrived?"

"No, we've been here two hours already. All the work's done—we're just waiting to start filming," another student replied.

"Oh!"

Liu Xiaoli glanced at her wristwatch—it was nine. They'd arrived right on time, meaning this group had been here since seven.

That looked like proper conduct.

She'd originally worried her daughter was being scammed, so she came to check. Though the team was terrible, their attitude was decent.

She waved to the people around her: "Go on, get back to work. Go study too. Don't let us interfere with you."

Soon, the middle schoolers dispersed under their teachers' supervision.

After the crew members had their fill of gawking, they returned to their duties under Chen Zhixi's urging, preparing for filming.

"Go, bring over a chair," Fang Hong signaled to Yu Xian beside him.

Yu Xian, watching Liu Tianxian intently, heard the order and hurried off toward the distance.

Fang Hong introduced: "Auntie Liu, Chen the producer will accompany you around. I'm about to start shooting, so I can't stay with you."

If they wasted more time like this, it'd be noon. They hadn't done a thing in the morning, and they still had to feed the whole crew—the budget was burning.

Chen Zhixi nodded and greeted: "Hello, Auntie Liu."

"Hello. Go ahead and work. I'll just take a look and leave."

Liu Xiaoli was sensible; she turned to her daughter: "Xixi, go shoot your scene. Don't delay things."

Since you took the role, just act—no excuses!

"Okay!" Liu Tianxian nodded obediently.

At that moment, Yu Xian brought the chair and placed it before Liu Tianxian, stammering: "Y-you sit."

Damn suck-up. Fang Hong walked over, moved the chair to Liu Xiaoli's side, and gestured: "Please sit. Our crew is humble—hope you don't mind."

Liu Tianxian was here to work—why would she need a chair?

"Too kind."

Liu Xiaoli gave him a long, deep look.

This man's manners and conduct were far more mature than the others'.

Yu Xian saw the chair had been moved to Liu Xiaoli's side and awkwardly scratched his head.

Forgot himself the moment he saw a pretty girl!

"Get to work."

Fang Hong slapped his shoulder, then signaled Liu Tianxian to get to work too.

Liu Tianxian didn't delay—she walked forward, and as she passed the man, she raised a tiny fist as if to punch him—get the money, then turn your back.

How come she didn't deserve a chair?

Ignoring Liu Xiaoli entirely, there was no opening ceremony—filming began immediately.

The plot of Those Years is divided into four parts.

High school life, college life, after graduation, fantasy parallel world.

The earlier plots are all about missed chances; only the fantasy world brings closure.

The high school story can be summed up as: the riot of adolescent hormones.

In plain terms: no goddess? Then use your five fingers as backup.

Of course, they couldn't film it as explicit as the original, but they could imply it subtly.

Fang Hong was a poor student and a troublemaker in school, with a few close friends.

Li Xian, who loved showing off but constantly failed in love; Zhu Yirong, who tried to win with humor.

Zhu Yirong had better acting skills—he could handle the comedy.

And there was also Fei Long, the master of stealing love!

All three had one shared crush: Liu Tianxian!

Except Fei Long was slightly more mature, the other two were extremely childish—Fang Hong told them to act as childish as possible, just recall how stupid they'd been themselves.

Liu Tianxian played a clean, pure, beautiful top student, loved by teachers and classmates alike.

As for her best friend Cai Wenjing, she could improvise based on her own personality.

This role wasn't important at all—just for comic relief!

The current scene being filmed is Fang Hong, bored during class, flipping through pornographic magazines with Li Xian, getting caught red-handed and scolded by the teacher.

Since Fang Hong was directing and starring, he had Yu Xian control the framing.

The teacher was played by Zhang Songwen—he was still a nobody, so any role was better than none; he had no right to complain.

In the hallway, Zhang Songwen hit Fang Hong on the head and scolded: "Reading pornographic magazines in class—do you have no shame at all?"

"I didn't."

Fang Hong dared to talk back, but before he could finish, Zhang Songwen hit him on the head again, just like hitting his own son.

Liu Tianxian, inside the classroom, was leaning out through the window, curiously watching outside!

She wore her medium-length hair loose, dressed in a blue-and-white uniform, looking simple and pure.

Here, she wasn't wearing a skirt; this era here was still very conservative, unlike across the strait.

But even without a skirt, her face was still the focal point!

At that moment, her deskmate Cai Wenjing asked: "Hey, have you ever read porn magazines?"

"No!"

Liu Tianxian gave her a disapproving look—could she be a little more reserved?

Just as she turned her gaze away, she heard the teacher call: "Liu Tianxian, come out for a moment."

Liu Tianxian stood up and walked out of the classroom, joining the group beside them.

"From now on, Fang Hong will sit in front of you. Help me keep a good eye on him," Zhang Songwen said.

Hearing this, the two exchanged a glance, their eyes clearly conveying: disgust!

With this shot, their paths crossed, and the plot began to unfold normally.

Fang Hong returned to the monitor, checked the footage, and waved: "Old Yu, come here."

This address startled Yu Xian, but he didn't think much of it and came over to the monitor.

"You shot this scene badly—the background is too big, it doesn't highlight the characters. Movies and TV shows are different; movies focus on people—you must use people to overpower the scenery. If there's too much scenery, the frame feels empty."

Fang Hong paused here, placed his hand on his shoulder, and leaned close: "Like women—they all prefer something full and substantial. Get it?"

Yu Xian had been listening attentively, but now that Fang Hong had gone off-track, the tone felt unprofessional.

Though crude, he understood the meaning Fang Hong was trying to convey—and it helped him a lot.

These were things school couldn't teach!

He glanced shyly around at the crowd, paying special attention to Liu Tianxian; seeing her flipping through the script and not paying attention here, he relaxed.

He still cared about how that girl perceived him.

"I get it. Should we reshoot?" he said.

"Reshoot it!"

Fang Hong said, then turned to the crew: "Shoot that scene again."

(End of Chapter)