Chapter 300: Jiang Ge Listens to Chen Nuo

After seeing off the guests at WLMQ International Airport, Tong Tong Liya returned to the city center with the district and municipal leaders.

That evening, the district's top leader hosted a dinner for her and the staff who had participated in the reception.

Although, until the very end, none of the reception staff had received any definitive word from the foreign guests or the domestic VIPs.

No one knew if it would work out, or if the results would truly be as good as hoped, or if it could really bring an increase in tourism revenue to the local area.

No one could say for sure.

However, there were still many people at the table that day who sought out Tong Tong Liya to toast and chat with her.

This was because the top leader had mentioned her in his speech before the meal, using the phrase, "Truly a fine daughter of XJ."

As it happened, it was fortunate that Tong Tong Liya had been drinking since she was young and had an excellent tolerance for alcohol; otherwise, she certainly wouldn't have lasted until the end of the banquet.

At this banquet, the people arranged at her table were the various leaders and actors from her former workplace.

Sitting to her left was a Uyghur girl, who, by count, was her junior in the dance troupe.

This young Uyghur girl was about 17 or 18 years old, with a slightly plump figure, large eyes, and a high nose bridge; she was truly unforgettable, and even in XJ, where beauties are as common as clouds, she could be considered top-tier.

Sitting next to her, the young girl was clearly meeting a major senior from the troupe and was a bit shy, barely speaking the whole time.

It wasn't until the end that she very politely greeted Tong Tong Liya and, with a look of trepidation, asked her a few questions.

Tong Tong Liya answered truthfully.

She said that the Beijing Film Academy had indeed been prioritizing looks and appearance in their admissions these past few years, and as for the reason, although it was mocked by the professors at her own Central Academy of Drama as "wishful thinking," for girls with outstanding looks, the chances of getting in were indeed very high.

However, she still had to offer a word of advice: the teaching standard at the Beijing Film Academy was hard to say.

For example, she had previously gone to the Beijing Film Academy to watch the 2005 class's graduation play, and in truth, aside from the two minutes at the end where the whole audience was cheering, the performances of the others were really nothing special.

Therefore, if one really wanted to develop a career as an actor, the first choice should still be the Central Academy of Drama, where one could learn real skills.

As for the Shanghai Theatre Academy... that school was also not bad; after all, it was in Shanghai, an international metropolis, so if one were truly at a dead end with nowhere else to go, one could give it a try.

Once she finished speaking, amidst the other's grateful thanks, this victory banquet was just about over.

As for whether this young girl named Dilraba Dilmurat would really follow in her footsteps, resign, and go to Beijing or Shanghai to take the exams, Tong Tong Liya did not know.

Just as she did not know in which direction her own future would take a turn.

Walking out of the hotel, Tong Tong Liya went home with her parents, who had also attended the event.

Her father spoke earnestly in their ethnic language: "You aren't young anymore; if there are no roles to film, just come back to our XJ. The top leader even mentioned you by name this time. Finding a good job in WLMQ will definitely be no problem. Having a stable job, finding a boyfriend—that's not bad at all. If you're willing, Dad will go find someone to ask around for you. What do you say?"

Tong Tong Liya felt a bit hesitant in her heart.

She really wasn't a person with grand ambitions. Going away to study was just to see the outside world, and now that she had seen it, if she really returned to the frontier, finding a stable job and getting married and having children in the future was not something she couldn't consider.

After all, the company she was currently signed to didn't seem to care about her at all; she had already graduated, yet had no roles to film. It would be impossible not to feel panicked.

The main thing was that the students of her graduating class in the acting department were facing even more pressure than previous years. Many opportunities in various film crews were being snatched up by that group from the 2005 class of the Beijing Film Academy.

As for the reason, one could only say it was a case of "when one person attains the Dao, their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

But they, the newcomers from other schools, really had no way to deal with it.

After thinking for a while, Tong Tong Liya simply nodded and agreed under her parents' gratified gazes.

For the next two weeks or so, she stayed at home in WLMQ, eating and drinking as if on summer vacation, thinking of nothing, which was quite leisurely.

With no leads on work, she suddenly received a phone call that evening.

At 10:00 PM, although it wasn't dark yet in XJ, it was already late at night in the interior.

At this hour, why would Brother Zhou, the agent arranged for her by Happiness Blue Sea, be looking for her?

Picking up, the first sentence from the other end of the receiver was: "My little ancestor, oh my god, you hid this so well; how could you not tell me about such a big deal?"

Tong Tong Liya listened for a moment and understood what the other party was talking about, so she explained the ins and outs of the matter very sincerely over the phone.

However, Brother Zhou on the other end didn't buy it at all; upon learning she was still in WLMQ, he told her to hurry back to BJ to discuss the grand plan.

Tong Tong Liya agreed verbally, but she didn't really take it to heart.

Grand plan or no grand plan, after graduating, she had heard this talk more than once or twice, and in the end, nothing ever came of it.

But this time, it felt different.

Two days later, she received another call.

Brother Zhou's voice was exceptionally excited: "It's settled. There are still roles in the film Jiang Wen is shooting that haven't been decided yet. It just so happens our company has invested in it. I've scheduled an audition for you tomorrow morning at eight. Get prepared; I'll come to pick you up then."

Tong Tong Liya was stunned for a moment.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Hello, hello, hello. Don't tell me you're looking down on this; if it weren't for the timing being just right, the role not being cast yet, and your connections being there, you wouldn't even dare to dream of this role. Do you know what kind of big names are in it? The biggest names in the mainland and Hong Kong that you can think of are all in it. Tong Tong Liya, don't scare me, say something!"

Tong Tong Liya steadied herself and said calmly, "Brother Zhou, I was wrong; I shouldn't have let my imagination run wild. I'm still in WLMQ. Do you think it's still in time if I buy a plane ticket and come back immediately?"

And then.

Tong Tong Liya held the phone a little further away to avoid the foul language coming from the other side.

Chen Nuo had never realized so clearly that he was, for f***'s sake, just a vulgar person.

Too vulgar.

He had only been in the *Let the Bullets Fly* crew for three days, and he already wanted to leave.

No matter where, heaven or hell, a mountain of blades or a sea of fire.

In short, find a place with women, don't stay in this monk temple waiting to die.

He couldn't take it, really.

Although he had been mentally prepared before coming. This was a film for big men.

But when it came down to it.

He realized he would rather go under the hawthorn tree to flirt with Liu Qi Yifei for 100 years, or spend three days and three nights in bed, in the kitchen, or anywhere else with Fan Fan Bingbing,

than be here facing the ugly mugs of these men.

The boss Zhang Zhang Muzhi (Jiang Wen), the second brother Shao Bing, the third brother Chief Liao Fan, the fourth brother (a replica of Andy Lau) Du Du Yiheng, the fifth brother Zhang Mo, the seventh brother (the film's editor) Wei Xiao, plus him—all f***ing men, not even a single "Thirteenth Sister" among them.

If he had come two days earlier, he might have been able to see a few glimpses of the charming and seductive Lady Liu Jialing.

But, who told him to delay for a few days; by the time he arrived, only the bandits were left.

On the day he arrived, he walked around shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries for a long time, but didn't see a single female.

This was Qi Yuntian's heaven, but it was his hell.

At first, it didn't matter.

Because he was still intoxicated by the aftertaste of traveling the grasslands with Tong Tong Liya, and he had also received a phone call from Yang Mi, who spoke in a whimpering, clingy, and feminine voice.

Yang Mi had plenty of things to complain about on the phone at the time.

First, the broadcast of *Chinese Paladin 3*, following her previous drama *Dark Fragrance*, also showed faint signs of flopping.

The reason was that the producer, that female boss of Tang Ren Media, Cai Cai Yinong, was determined to make *Chinese Paladin* like *The Return of the Condor Heroes* back in the day—selling the first run starting from local stations to accumulate word-of-mouth, and then selling it at a good price during the second-run satellite negotiations, thus maximizing the profit of this drama.

As a result, it now looked like it couldn't even compare to *Chinese Paladin 1*, let alone *The Return of the Condor Heroes*, and it couldn't even match the popularity of Mango TV's *Let's Go Watch Meteor Shower*.

Although the latter was mocked by the masses for daring to claim to be a rich kid just by driving a modern car, and the knock-off version of Japanese Shancai played by Zheng Shuang was truly like pickled vegetables—compared to the authentic Japanese Japanese Shancai, it was simply disgusting.

But in Yang Mi's eyes, being scolded was also proof of popularity.

Therefore, the proud and arrogant Yang Mi was furious, cursing on the phone about whether Ms. Cai had something wrong with her brain.

Although she, Yang Mi, was 100% better than Liu Qi Yifei, what was Hu Ge?

And what kind of dead weight were people like that Liu Liu Shishi?

Now the public opinion on the internet was saying that the highly anticipated *Chinese Paladin 3* had flopped without a sound, which made her so angry she couldn't sleep well at night.

The second thing was that Yang Mi was truly popular now; even if *Chinese Paladin* flopped, she was still very popular, and with that came the fact that she was too busy.

It could be said she was so busy she didn't even have time to drink water; her schedule was already booked until next year. After finishing this *Beauty's Rival in Palace*, she would immediately go to shoot that well-known *Dream of the Red Chamber*, which everyone had high hopes for.

Besides that, there were three or four other big productions.

The only thing that was annoying and a pity was that the good dramas she received were almost all TV series, not a single movie.

She didn't know what her agency was doing; why, with her fame, could she not get a single good movie?

She really wanted to change companies.

So, may she ask, in this situation, would "Brand New" really not sign her?

Likewise, the third thing was also related to this.

It was about that girl named Zhao Zhao Liying who was currently filming with her.

She had been filming with her for ten days or so.

Yang Mi just wanted to say, where was that high school graduate surnamed Zhao better than her, a professional graduate with an authentic Beijing Film Academy background? Your company signs even this kind of extra, so on what grounds do you say "no" to me?

Chen Nuo had such a headache hearing so many questions at the time that he just said one sentence: "I'm busy, hanging up now."

And he hung up on Yang Mi.

Thinking about it now, he really regretted it.

One thing to say, Yang Mi's voice was truly soul-stirring. If you don't believe it, close your eyes, find an interview, and just listen without watching; you'll know.

He didn't cherish Yang Mi back then, and now, in this desert of women and forest of men, Chen Nuo only had one thought in his mind:

Hurry up and f***ing shoot; the sooner it's done, the sooner I can leave.

However, what was very annoying was,

He was in a hurry, but some people were not.

They were so leisurely, it didn't look like they were filming a movie at all; it was like they were on vacation, as if the investors' money was his travel fund.

This morning, Chen Nuo had been in makeup for almost 30 minutes.

Only then did he see Jiang Wen swinging his arms, coming to work like an old man on a tour.

Looking around the set, pointing here and there, gesturing over there, and dawdling for quite a while, he finally walked over to him, as if he had just seen him, greeted him, and asked, "Nuozi, you're ready so early? Alright, wait a bit more and we'll start shooting."

Chen Nuo really wanted to endure it, but he couldn't help it: "Brother Wen, what time is it now?"

"Past 9, what's wrong?"

"What time were we originally scheduled to start work?"

"9 o'clock."

"Then you're late, aren't you?"

"Huh?" "Huh what? Brother Wen, it's not that I'm complaining, but making a movie requires a rigorous attitude. You can't just shoot when you feel like it and rest when you want to. There are so many of us working together, and you are the leader. If you are more efficient, everyone's efficiency will increase significantly. Every little bit helps; think of how much money we could save, don't you agree?"

As the co-producer, partner at Bu Yi Le Hu, and the businessman who raised the funds for this film, Ma Ke was stunned at first upon hearing these words from Chen Nuo, but gradually, his eyes turned slightly red.

Brother Nuo, it really has to be Brother Nuo.

It's no wonder that despite his young age, so many people in the industry call him "Brother."

It's not just because of the various honors he has received.

It's also because he truly doesn't give a damn about anyone—not heaven, not earth, not the fans, and not even Jiang Wen.

He had directly and thoroughly spoken out the words that had been bottled up inside him for nearly ten days!

After all, in *Let the Bullets Fly*, there are still many roles that haven't been cast yet.

For instance, among the female roles, only Miao Pu has been cast; others, including the main role of Hua Dong Jie and various courtesans, remain undecided.

Even one of the three leads, the biggest villain Huang Huang Silang, is still waiting for a response from Fa Ge in Hong Kong.

As a result, with all this casting work unfinished, what was the reason they couldn't wait and secretly started filming on July 1st?

Isn't it because after the pre-production was finished and the funds were in place, they simply couldn't afford to wait any longer?

Waiting one more day means one more day of staff wages and interest on capital; over time, it adds up to a figure that cannot be underestimated.

Therefore, they started filming early to move forward in parallel, compress the schedule, increase efficiency, and avoid going over budget.

These principles had been discussed in meetings when all parties sat together.

But what happened? Once this certain artist started filming, he was unhurried and dawdling every day; being on time was impossible, and working overtime was a pipe dream.

He would shoot just a few shots each day and wrap up immediately, never adding even a single minute.

He was truly at his wit's end regarding this.

Not to mention him, the Hong Kong Emperor Group and Xingfu Xingfu Lanhai also had a bunch of producers and supervisors on set.

Especially the Emperor Group; it is well known that Boss Yang lost everything on *The Sun Also Rises*, and he was counting on this film to break even.

That certain someone had also said this film was made to earn money to pay back favors.

Yet, in the end, it turned out like this; if you ask who is the most annoyed, it definitely has to be the Emperor Group.

However, who would dare to stand up and lecture this master, telling him to pull himself together and film properly from eight to six?

No one.

It's not that they didn't dare to speak up.

It's just... what would be the point of saying anything?

Who would this master listen to?

Until now, Ma Ke knew, and everyone else on set knew.

So, Brother Jiang listens to Brother Nuo.

As Chen Nuo finished speaking, Jiang Wen actually showed a slightly embarrassed smile, scratched his head, and said in a gruff voice, "Fine, I'll be on time from now on."

Real men don't mince words, and Chen Nuo didn't say anything more after hearing that.

As a result, Jiang Wen really turned over a new leaf that day; he didn't drag his feet, he did what was needed, and he didn't fuss at all.

The filming went exceptionally fast and smoothly.

However, the next scene they were to shoot made Jiang Wen feel a bit troubled and hesitant.

This was the very first shot of the entire *Let the Bullets Fly* film.

The plot involved Xiao Xiao Liuzi lying on the railroad tracks, listening for the sound of the approaching train to report back to Zhang Zhang Mazi.

The specific action was also very simple: the fool, Xiao Xiao Liuzi, would listen in one direction for a while, realize it wasn't right, and then switch to another direction to listen again.

The key was that when he switched directions and turned his head, it would cause Chen Nuo's face to be presented to the camera, serving as the opening of the entire film.

This was the shot Jiang Wen had designed after much deliberation.

It sounded quite familiar.

If Zhang Yi knew about this design by Jiang Wen, he would probably think it had similarities to his *The Zhang Zhang Yaba*, where the first shot was also Chen Nuo getting beaten.

This includes directors like Chen Chen Kexin and Nolan, who let Chen Nuo, a supporting actor, appear before the lead.

Because every director, regardless of whether they are formally trained, understands one thing during the filming process.

A movie isn't just about telling a story; sometimes it's more like a painting.

Whether it's likable or not might depend on whether the first glance is beautiful and whether it can attract attention.

If the first impression is good, it will have a multiplier effect on the entire film.

Jiang Wen had originally thought the same, wanting to sell Chen Nuo's face to make a striking first impression.

But when he sat behind the monitor and called out "Action!" into the walkie-talkie,

Chen Nuo began a performance that made Jiang Wen worry.

Chen Nuo was acting too seriously. It could be said that every movement was meticulous, and every action followed the script and the director's requirements, bringing out the full twelve percent of his ability as a Beijing Film Academy graduate.

In the script, Xiao Xiao Liuzi is a simpleton who hasn't read many books, doesn't know many characters, and can't even tell north from south.

That is why he would later be tricked into cutting open his own stomach to prove "whether he ate one bowl of jelly noodles or two."

But, forget about being a high-and-mighty Beijing Film Academy graduate; just look at the two awards Chen Nuo won in Europe.

One mute role won him Berlin, one mentally disabled role won him Cannes,

And is there any essential difference between those two characters and this Xiao Xiao Liuzi?

The answer is... no.

So Chen Nuo got into the zone.

He slowly bent over, pressed his ear to the track, and listened, pausing for a second on the rails.

Although you could only see the back of his head at this moment, the way he pressed against the tracks made people feel that this person was a bit strange.

Because he pressed his entire ear against it with such force that it even became deformed.

This was definitely a useless gesture.

Then, he lifted his head, shook it, used his little finger to dig his ear with great effort, and shook his head again.

Next, he leaned back onto the tracks to listen again.

It was the same strange posture that squeezed his ear out of shape.

Doing it a second time immediately made everyone realize that this seemed to be a weirdo.

Half a second later, Chen Nuo lifted his head and peered into the distance to observe.

Although you couldn't see Chen Nuo's face, you could sense his confusion from the back of his head, which was tilted slightly to one side, as if he were wondering why.

Why was there a sound but nothing to be seen? The train should have arrived, right?

Then, this simpleton finally turned his face around.

At this moment, under the close-up shot of the cameraman, Chen Nuo's features entered the frame, filling the monitor in front of Jiang Wen.

His somewhat dull eyes stared straight into the lens, and then, they suddenly widened.

It was clear he had seen something unexpected.

What did he see?

Jiang Wen felt that if it were a horse-drawn train approaching, it should have a similar effect.

"Cut."

He said into the walkie-talkie.

Afterward, Jiang Wen's eyebrows, nose, and mouth all wrinkled together as he stared at the viewfinder, beginning to feel troubled.

Actually, he had felt this way for the past few days, but at this moment, the feeling was even more pronounced.

If this person acts like this,

and then he is made to cut his stomach open and die immediately?

Can the audience really accept that?

The movie he is making is a commercial film, not some unpleasant art-house movie.

In the script, the death of Xiao Liuzi is meant to be a "suppress before you elevate" tactic, stirring up the audience's righteous indignation against Huang Huang Silang and the others, thereby making the final climax more satisfying.

But...

Would it be too depressing and end up killing the box office?

He wasn't joking with Ma Ke and the others; in making this film, he, Jiang Wen, was truly prepared to make money while standing tall.

But... if he keeps filming like this, he'll definitely be standing tall, but will it sell?

As a director who has never made a film that sells, he was truly a bit unsure.

After he called "Cut," he was thinking about how to handle this matter.

Whether it's a blessing or a curse to let this person keep acting like this is hard to say.

Just then, a voice suddenly popped up from the side, "Director, do you think his acting is a bit pretentious?"

Caught off guard, both the voice and the words startled Jiang Wen.

He turned his head and saw that, he didn't know when, two people had appeared behind him.

One was about 30 years old, with a thin, long face like a shoehorn and a small mustache.

The other was younger, in his 20s, with a buzz cut, looking spirited and quite handsome.

They were the two tough characters from their bandit gang.

"Fan Zi?"

That middle-aged man with the shoehorn-shaped face was looking at the young man beside him in astonishment.

Upon hearing Jiang Wen's words, he snapped back to reality and hurriedly waved his hands, saying, "Director, you know me; it's impossible that I said those words."

"Mo?"

The young man said, "Brother Wen, you've been thinking for so long, isn't it just because you think he acted poorly? Do you want to let me try instead?"

PS:

It reached the "Boutique" status today.

Thank you all for every subscription~ I am so grateful I cannot express it in words.

Here, I resolve:

To write the book well and update quickly.

No breaks during the Lunar New Year, it's a promise!

(End of this chapter)