Chapter 263: Three Women, One Play

Zhu Lin's film debut was not a success.

What was truly terrifying wasn't the lack of criticism, but the fact that no one cared at all.

Gong Xue's first film, *Sacrificial Red*, had at least garnered plenty of critical feedback on her performance, but no one paid any mind to Zhu Lin's acting in *The Traitor*.

In fact, the film itself received almost no attention. Zhu Lin went back to that cinema later, only to find the film had been pulled after just five days; they said the print had been sent to Shijiazhuang.

The Beijing market had effectively given up on it.

Zhu Lin had been feeling particularly dejected during this time, but it actually fit the emotional state of the female lead in *Regret for the Past*, so director Xie Tieli affirmed her performance once again.

With the director's affirmation, her family's encouragement, and this letter from Wei Ming—which included praise from his mother—Zhu Lin quickly shook off the gloom of her debut.

She believed *Regret for the Past* would surely allow the audience to truly recognize her.

What surprised her even more was the original screenplay Wei Ming was writing. He had written her a letter specifically from Suqian; what could that mean?

Could it be... could he want her to be the lead in his new script?

Zhu Lin's heart skipped a beat. *You bad boy, you do have a conscience after all. *

So, in the dead of night, Zhu Lin wrote down her recent emotional journey to share with Wei Ming. She didn't mention the new script; she would wait for Wei Ming to give her a surprise.

After screenings in major western cities, Beijing, and Shanghai, the Xi'an Film Studio's *The Traitor* could basically be declared a failure.

How big a failure? With a cast including Zhu Lin, Ma Jingwu, and Golden Rooster winner Na Renhua—especially with Zhu Lin being such a massive draw—the number of people rating it on Douban in the future wouldn't even be enough to generate a score. It was far inferior to the classic films of the same period.

But the Xi'an Film Studio was used to it; after all, they couldn't compete with the Beijing or Shanghai studios in terms of directorial talent or cast.

1980 was just like that, but they would go all out in 1981.

First was director Teng Wenji's *Awakening*, starring the big star Chen Chong. It might be her last film before going abroad, so the Xi'an studio was lucky to have snagged it.

Then there was *The Xi'an Incident*, directed by Cheng Yin, one of the "Four Great Handsome Men" of the Beijing studio. It was a major production officially backed by the higher-ups, and the Xi'an studio only secured the lead on it due to geographical advantage.

And just now, *The Ox and Ox Two*, adapted from Wei Ming's novel, had officially wrapped. After confirming no reshoots were needed, director Wu Tianming led his team back home.

Originally, the studio hadn't placed much importance on this film compared to *The Xi'an Incident* or *Awakening*, but after the leadership saw clips of *The Ox and Ox Two*, they were full of praise, marveling at Wu Tianming's massive improvement.

*How did this kid manage to film an ox with such human-like qualities? It's divine! *

And the way the cow's performance complemented Li Baotian's manic acting was perfect. *And where did this Li Baotian pop out from? How did we not know about such a person before? *

Several studio leaders nearing retirement even discussed giving Wu Tianming the title of Deputy Studio Chief to ensure he would take over the Xi'an studio in the future.

After all, the studio lacked talent, and Wu Tianming had both directorial ability and management skills. To keep such talent, they had to pay a high price.

When the studio chief asked what he planned to film next, promising full support, Wu Tianming pulled out a copy of *Story Magazine*.

Gong Xue took the time to go home and tell her father about helping to renovate the old western-style house. She kept it between the two of them, with no one else knowing.

Her father was already semi-retired and had plenty of free time.

Gong Yuandong was initially suspicious. *Buying an old western house and renovating it on a massive scale? What kind of friends has my daughter made since entering the entertainment industry? Are these proper friends? *

As a father, he had his worries.

To put her father at ease, Gong Xue mentioned that they would pay him for his work, making it sound quite formal. Once he heard that, Gong Yuandong had no objections. It even satisfied his interest, as he enjoyed drawing architecture in addition to fashion design.

Two days later, after receiving a call at the writers' association hostel, Gong Xue immediately went to find Wei Ming.

Wei Ming said the script was finished.

Gong Xue didn't rush to look at the script. She told Wei Ming something: "Ying knows about the house."

"Oh? How did she find out?"

"It was my dad. He's always coming and going, acting suspicious, so Mom sent Ying to follow him. She discovered the house, and Dad told her what he told me, but she guessed it was your house."

Wei Ming asked, "And what did she tell your mom?"

Gong Xue replied, "Dad gave Ying thirty percent of the labor fee, so Ying reported to Mom that he went fishing, though he comes back empty-handed every day. Besides, Ying can help with some of the interior design."

Wei Ming couldn't stop laughing. *What a classic case of a doting father and a leaky-faucet daughter. *

Gong Xue pouted, "Ying is blackmailing me, too."

"I'll show that Long girl when I get back! How is she threatening you?"

Gong Xue said, "She said that once the house is renovated, I have to leave a room for her."

Wei Ming laughed, "I was planning on that anyway. It's such a big house, it wouldn't be safe for you to live there alone. If you're going to move in, it's better to have Ying with you."

"Wouldn't that be... inconvenient?" Gong Xue bit her lip, feeling a bit tainted.

Wei Ming hugged the slender Snow Sister, "It's fine. Let her live on the first floor, and we'll live on the second."

Snow Sister finally smiled. Then Wei Ming brought over the script for *Mother, Love Me Once Again*.

"The script is finished now, so you can take a look. I'll make a copy later to submit to *Flower City*, and then we'll see which film studio is interested."

Although Wei Ming hadn't had a screenplay officially released yet, his reputation spoke for itself. Everyone was fighting to get him to write for them; Gong Xue even knew that big Hong Kong directors were seeking him out.

Gong Xue sat on Wei Ming's bed reading the script, while Wei Ming began revising *The Righteous Path Through the World*. He had been in Shanghai for half a month, and it was almost December; it was time to get some real work done.

However, there was always someone to distract him. Before long, someone called out to him from downstairs.

"Wei Laoshi, someone is looking for you."

Wei Ming told Snow Sister to read the script in peace and went down to check.

To his surprise, it was Su Chen, the editor-in-chief of *Flower City*, whom he had met once at the national book fair.

That was where Wei Ming had promised to submit *Mother, Love Me Once Again* to *Flower City*.

"President Su, are you here in Shanghai on official business?" Wei Ming reached out to shake his hand. There were seats downstairs, but he had no intention of inviting him upstairs.

Su Chen replied, "Not official business in Shanghai. I went to Zhenjiang."

"Zhenjiang?" *Their vinegar is quite good. *

"Not just me. Ba Jin was there, as was Meng Weizai from *Contemporary*. It was a meeting of editors-in-chief from major national literary journals held at Jinshan Temple. There were 27 journals in total. After it ended, I figured I'd be passing through Shanghai anyway, and since Ba Jin told me you were here revising your manuscript, I came to see you."

Wei Ming asked, "You came at the right time. I actually went to northern Jiangsu a while back, and I just got back."

"You went to northern Jiangsu?"

"For that script. I went to do some field research."

Su Chen's spirits lifted. He wasn't here specifically to rush him, but he was concerned: "How is the progress?"

Wei Ming said, "After I got back, I worked overtime, forgetting to eat or sleep. It's just finished."

"Ah, it's already finished?" The editor-in-chief was surprised. He had assumed Wei Ming's research was preparation for a new work, not that he was already wrapping it up.

He couldn't wait: "Can I take a look now? If there aren't any major issues, we might even be able to squeeze it into the December issue."

Although the editorial work for the December issue was already done, squeezing in a new work by Wei Ming wasn't a big deal.

This year, aside from *The Spring of the Sheep-Herding Class* at the beginning of the year, Wei Ming hadn't had any new fiction published. While this was a screenplay and wouldn't have the reach of a novel, it would certainly satisfy the readers' hunger.

Once Wei Ming's major epic was published in *Harvest*, they wouldn't be able to compete anyway.

Snow Sister was still reading it upstairs, so Wei Ming naturally couldn't let him see it yet. He asked, "That's not urgent. President Su, what did you all talk about at the meeting?"

"Nothing much, really. It was mostly about building relationships and introducing the meaningful experiences of our respective publications. Oh, there is one thing that concerns you. Next year, the Writers' Association is going to hold the First National Excellent Novella Awards. Works published between 1977 and 1980 are eligible. You're going to make things very difficult for the judges, I'm afraid," Su Chen said with a smile.

Wei Ming understood what he meant. His primary output over the past year or so had been novellas, and every single one was a classic—especially *The Herdsman* and *The Spring of the Sheep-Herding Class*, which were highly artistic and strong contenders for the awards.

But according to the Writers' Association's usual style, each author would get at most one award. With so many authors and works, how could they let one person dominate?

Wei Ming said a few humble words and asked about literary gossip from the meeting.

Su Chen said, "If you want gossip, there is some. I forget which magazine editor it was, but they proposed the idea of the 'Four Great Dan' of literary journals."

"Oh? Which four?"

Su Chen replied, "*Harvest* is mature and steady, so it's the 'Old Dan'; *Contemporary* is righteous and bold, so it's the 'Zheng Dan'; *October* is fresh and elegant, so it's the 'Qingyi'; and *Flower City* is graceful and colorful, so it's the 'Hua Dan'."

*So the 'Four Great Dan' of literary journals was proposed at this time. * Ba Jin was probably grumbling to himself, *We've always benchmarked ourselves against 'People's Literature'; why are we being lumped in with you rookies? *

Aside from *Harvest*, the other three had all popped up in 1978 and 1979. Neither their foundation nor their circulation could compare to *Harvest*. This grouping felt a bit forced.

However, marketing tactics like "Four Heavenly Kings," "Four Great Talents," or "Four Little Flowers" were indeed very effective.

Originally, Nanjing's *Zhong Shan* and Beijing's *Beijing Literature* were on par with those three, but once the "Four Great Dan" was widely accepted by readers, *Zhong Shan* and *Beijing Literature* fell behind.

Wei Ming laughed, "I've published articles in all four of these 'Great Dan.' I feel quite honored."

"Those little essays don't count," Su Chen shook his head. "*October* heard that your next work is being published in *Flower City*, and they're holding their breath, trying to secure the one after that."

Wei Ming shook his head with a bitter smile, "I don't have any ideas for that yet. *October* might have to wait a while."

But as a writer, he did want to complete the achievement of having a representative work in each of the four great literary journals of 1981, in addition to *The Righteous Path Through the World*.

After chatting for a while to buy some time, Wei Ming figured Snow Sister must have finished reading, and President Su was starting to yawn from fatigue. He asked, "President Su, you're staying here too, right? What's your room number? I'll go back, get the manuscript, and bring it to you."

Su Chen said, "220."

*Good grief, that's the room Sister Chen Rong used to be in, right below mine. *

Wei Ming hurried upstairs. At the door, he heard faint sobbing coming from inside.

Since there were few people on the third floor, he pushed the door open and saw Snow Sister lying on the bed, sobbing softly. Wei Ming went over and took a look; the pillowcase was soaked through. He felt like Snow Sister had shed at least a kilogram of tears.

"Sister..." Wei Ming hugged Gong Xue gently.

Her crying was within Wei Ming's expectations. His script focused heavily on visual imagery, and the text alone could conjure scenes. Thinking of those scenes of bone-deep separation and the mutual longing between mother and child, who could hold back their tears?

*You don't cry? Do you even have a heart? *

Snow Sister had ruined Wei Ming's pillowcase and was now starting to ruin his shirt.

Wei Ming quickly used a joke to dilute the sadness: "My shirt is very expensive, and now it's covered in snot."

Gong Xue quickly pulled away from him. Seeing him looking at her with a mischievous smile, she immediately started punching him with her little fists.

"You bad guy! How can you write something so moving!"

"Reality is just too bitter; I only processed it a little," Wei Ming didn't dare take all the credit. Then he said seriously, "You're a professional actress. If you can't hold back your tears when you shouldn't be crying during filming—like when the mother has to harden her heart and drive her son away to live with his father and stepmother—that won't do. You can't cry in front of the child."

Thinking of Wei Ming's psychological and detailed description of that scene, Gong Xue wiped her tears, "I won't. I was just putting myself in the shoes of an ordinary reader; the emotions were just too overwhelming, I couldn't stop them."

She even thought about how, if she had a child with Wei Ming and he abandoned her, it would be a terrifying thing.

Wei Ming thought to himself, *This is just the beginning. When the film is actually shot, combined with the soundtrack I've planned, that will be a true tear-jerking nuclear weapon. *

"Alright, Sister, wait a moment. The editor-in-chief of *Flower City* came by, and we chatted for a while. I need to let him look over this manuscript."

"Oh, then you go ahead. I should be going too."

"Don't go yet, I..." Wei Ming hugged his good sister, his hands wandering like dragons.

Gong Xue made a bitter face, "My head is full of Crazy Mom and Little Gourd right now."

Wei Ming knew she wasn't in the mood. He could only let out a long sigh, "Then wait for me downstairs. I'll give him the script and then take you home."

Early the next morning, Wei Ming was woken up by a knock on the door.

He opened it to find Su Chen from *Flower City*. He told Wei Ming, "I'm going back to Guangzhou."

Wei Ming asked, "Can the script be published next month? If not, I need to make a copy to see if any film studios are interested."

Su Chen laughed, "I dare say, once this script comes out, film studios across the country will be fighting over it."

Su Chen had stayed up all night reading the script. It was somewhat beyond his expectations; Wei Ming had written a relatively popular story about mother-son affection.

Actually, the background of the story involved the "sent-down youth" returning to the city, which could have been made into a "sent-down youth" film, but Wei Ming didn't dig deep into that. The focus was entirely on Crazy Mom and Little Gourd.

From a literary perspective, this focus made the script seem lacking in weight and depth.

But Su Chen was an old man who had been in literature for decades. What hadn't he seen? A work like *Mother, Love Me Once Again* that made him unable to hold back his tears several times while reading—it couldn't be called rare; it could be said that there wasn't another one like it.