Chapter 80: Crew

Lu Sheng, Zhou Cun.

"Cut! Good, cut!"

After Director Wang Wenjie called "cut," the entire crew immediately plunged into bustle.

The scenes in Zhou Cun aren't many—mostly covering Chen Shouting's childhood to adulthood.

"Yongzi, you did well. Get ready for the next scene—don't worry, your lines are few."

During the transition, Wang Wenjie patted Hou Yong on the shoulder and smiled.

"Director Wang, please don't say that—every time you say that, I know something bad's coming!"

Hou Yong said helplessly.

Cheng Chen had already changed into a crisp suit costume and stood nearby, grinning:

"Big Brother Yong, Director Wang said your lines are few, but that doesn't mean no action scenes!"

"Get lost, kid—everything dirty and tiring falls to me."

"You're cozying up to women, looking cool and carefree—I'd swap roles with you right now: you be the lead, I'll be the young master!"

Hou Yong scolded with a frustrated laugh.

Hou Yong's Chen Shouting is an uneducated man who spends his days squatting in the dye workshop, preferring to work alongside laborers.

So he's often shown dyeing cloth, washing cloth, doing heavy labor—always covered in grime.

Compared to Cheng Chen, the young master always dressed in a white suit, it's like heaven and earth.

"Hey, Yongzi, don't talk like that. Look at Cheng Chen's handsome face and elegant bearing—he was born to be a young master. You just can't compete, can't compete."

Director Wang Wenjie teased.

Hou Yong is already 35, his skin dark, his face lined—he's much older than Chen Shouting's age in the original novel.

But acting depends on visual age; though he's 35, it's believable he's been worn down by years of hard labor.

As for the young master, Lu Jiaju, he must match the original.

In the previous timeline, Teacher Luo Gang portrayed Lu Jiaju well and successfully, but his visual age was too old, inconsistent with the original.

In Cheng Chen's version, his temperament, appearance, and age are much closer—but to match the older-looking male lead, Director Wang had to have makeup age Cheng Chen up a bit.

So he wouldn't look like his father instead of his brother beside the lead, Hou Yong.

"Fine, I get it—Director Wang, you're just teaming up with this kid to pick on me. Enough! I'm going to memorize my lines!"

Hou Yong clutched his chest as if wounded, ignored the two troublemakers, and went off to find some peace.

Wang Wenjie looked at Cheng Chen and pointed toward Hou Yong's direction:

"Kid, learn well from your Big Brother Yong—he's a veteran actor who's honed his craft for years in a theater troupe."

"Even still, he's always diving deep into his roles. Watch—he's a late bloomer!"

Cheng Chen nodded in agreement. When he was in Modu, he often saw Hou Yong cleaning one wall in his home.

Then he'd tear apart the script, hanging each episode, each page, one by one on the wall.

Every night after returning, he'd recite his lines until he knew them by heart, then ponder how to deliver them best.

Only then, on set, would he make minor adjustments based on the director's instructions.

Though Cheng Chen's memory is extraordinary and he doesn't need to do this, Hou Yong's attitude toward his craft is worth learning from.

Saying this, Cheng Chen pulled out his script and squatted on the ground like Hou Yong, studying it with no dignity.

……

The actors approached their scenes with sincerity, and the director respected the craft deeply.

The costume, makeup, and props were all handled with care—no need to elaborate.

In the drama, Chen Shouting spends a fortune to buy the world's most advanced dyeing equipment.

To that end, the crew didn't just track down the original dyeing machines from that era.

They also brought in masters from Modu to inspect, maintain, and repair them daily, fully recreating the advanced production line and dyeing process of the time.

"The Great Dye Works" isn't just about Chen Shouting's personal legend—it reflects the broader picture of modern China's indigenous industry.

To recreate the industrial dyeing scenes, the crew meticulously built sets for the dye workshop, office, and accounting room.

It's said the producer of "Titanic" praised this set as "Asia's Number One Set."

Even the misty, steam-filled atmosphere of the dye workshop was rendered perfectly.

It made viewers feel not only that the characters lived within the story, but that they themselves were immersed in it.

It would be against nature if this drama didn't become a hit.

"All right, ready!"

Director Wang Wenjie sat before the monitor and shouted.

"Camera, ready!"

"Sound, ready!"

"Lighting, ready!"

"Props, ready!"

"Roll!"

Cheng Chen took a deep breath and began his first scene in Zhou Cun.

The plot of this scene is roughly:

Master Lu, influenced by new ideas, sent his son Lu Jiaju (Cheng Chen), who had studied dyeing abroad, to buy a dye factory in Qing Shi, naming it Dahua.

At this time, Chen Shouting had gained fame in Zhou Cun after subduing bandits.

Master Lu hired Chen Shouting to assist in Qing Shi and join forces with Jiaju to build their empire.

Though Lu Jiaju had studied dyeing and weaving, he was still a student and knew nothing of business.

Old Master Lu strongly recommended Chen Shouting, but Lu Jiaju looked down on him, thinking Chen Shouting was illiterate and a rough old man.

After Chen Shouting arrived at the Lu residence, the two sides immediately launched into a war of words.

Chen Shouting was hot-tempered and wanted to fling his sleeves and leave, but Old Master Lu tried hard to keep him, and only then did the two sides begin to cooperate...

On set:

Old Master Lu grabbed Chen Shouting's arm and said with a smile:

"Great nephew, oh great nephew, you're the great talent I've invited—sit, sit!"

Gao Ming, who plays Old Master Lu, is also a veteran actor, a national first-class performer, who once played Tian Dajie in "Chuang Guandong."

He often plays historical figures or national leaders, which can be considered stepping into the category of specialty-role actors.

After some back-and-forth, Old Master Lu still sat in the seat of honor, and Chen Shouting said:

"I'm illiterate, just a dyer. The young master is the real great talent—not only can he read and write, I've heard he can even speak foreign languages. Young master, I was born in the year of the tiger, what are you?"

Chen Shouting had grown up roughing it in the marketplace from childhood; he'd seen every kind of scene.

Before coming over, he already knew his own purpose, so a few words were enough to finish the pleasantries with Old Master Lu.

Then he steered the topic onto his future partner, Lu Jiaju.

Cheng Chen straightened his suit and replied rather perfunctorily:

"I was born in the year of the rabbit, one year younger than you."

"Young master, you've got a good father. We're about the same age.

You've spent all these years studying, I've spent all these years begging for food—that's fate.

Young master, if I had a father like yours, even living one day the life you live, this whole life wouldn't have been lived in vain!"

Listen to that speech!

He drew the two of them closer through age, then compared their respective experiences—invisibly flattering Old Master Lu while also carrying a hint of seeking sympathy.

After all, Chen Shouting had been invited this time because he too needed something from them.

Having spent his whole life in Zhou Cun, Chen Shouting certainly wasn't willing to stay there; he needed Dahua Dyeing Factory to put his talents to use.

So, revealing his background at the Lu residence to seek sympathy while flattering them—there's nothing shameful in that.

A real man knows when to bend and when to stretch!

Too bad Chen Shouting was making eyes at a blind man—Cheng Chen didn't appreciate it at all...