Chapter 429: Forming a Team, New Proposition, and Wedding

Today Wei Ming was staying at the Overseas Chinese Apartment, and Xiao Hong was also there.

She was in a bad mood.

"Brother, do you think I still count as a prodigy?"

"What's wrong."

Wei Ming sat upright in front of the computer, creating a new English novel. After the finishing work of *District Nine* ended, Melinda would stand on her own, so he had to write an English novel that could sell well.

Xiao Hong took a copy of *China Youth Daily* and asked him to look at an article on it.

This article introduced a 15-year-old Chinese-American child named Qin Zhibin who was admitted to the graduate school of the Physics Department of Cambridge University. The big word "Prodigy" in the title stung Xiao Hong.

"I'm 16 this year, only a sophomore. Even if I get into Stanford's graduate school next year, I'll be 17, two years older than him!"

Wei Ming laughed. Just this.

He pulled Xiao Hong to sit opposite him: "Your intelligence is definitely no problem, even in the talented Peking University, you are a top talent. And you have to wait until you are 17 to read graduate school, not because you are stupider than him, but because you didn't receive good educational resources when you were young. But being smart when young doesn't mean being good when old. It's not too late for you to catch up now. Work hard and strive to graduate with a doctorate at 20 and become a university professor."

A twenty-year-old university professor? Wei Hong felt excited just thinking about it, and immediately had a goal.

"Hmm! Brother, I'll go to the United States to study next year. You accompany me then!"

"Definitely. How can I be at ease with you alone abroad."

After coaxing Wei Hong away, Wei Ming took the newspaper and read it carefully.

The Youth Daily reported on a prodigy of overseas Chinese with such great fanfare. This must be a signal. It was estimated that the prodigy class would soon bloom across the country.

In fact, only the University of Science and Technology of China currently has a gifted youth class, which was established in 1978 under the initiative of Tsung-Dao Lee for the purpose of reserving high-end scientific and technological talent for the motherland. Later, some of these high-end talents became talents in the United States, some returned to China to become professors or start businesses, and some even became monks.

After Qin Zhibin's report became popular in China, the whole nation set off a craze for worshipping child prodigies. Prestigious schools like Tsinghua and Peking University followed suit by opening gifted youth classes. Parents were obsessed with "manufacturing" prodigies, which naturally led to many ridiculous stories.

Wei Ming continued writing his novel, and early the next morning, he received a call from Liang Xiaosheng.

"Wei Laoshi, our Factory Director Yu is back; she invites you over to chat."

Wei Ming: "Alright."

The sun was very bright today, and Wei Ming rode his motorcycle, with its seat slightly hot, to the Children's Er Yingchang within the Beijing Er Yingchang compound.

When he walked into Factory Director Yu Lan's office, he discovered that Factory Director Wang Yang was also there, and there was also Shi Fangyu, the Deputy Factory Director of the Shanghai Er Yingchang, whom he had met a few times. What was someone from the Shanghai Er Yingchang doing here?

However, with three factory directors facing Wei Ming together, this was like a joint interrogation. Wei Ming knew that regardless of whether it succeeded or not, this lineup would definitely give him an answer today.

Factory Director Wang Yang spoke first: "The Ministry of Culture just held a meeting yesterday. From now on, Comrade Shi Fangyu will be the Director of the Film Bureau under the Ministry of Culture, officially taking office on July 1st. So when Old Yu mentioned your matter to me, I called Director Shi over as well."

Deputy Factory Director Shi, who was chatting with Gong Ying about "Under the Bridge" just a few days ago, had now become the Director of the Film Bureau. He had thought he would succeed Xu Sangchu at the Shanghai Er Yingchang, but he didn't expect to take over the affairs of the Film Bureau instead.

Shi Fangyu smiled and said: "We are no strangers to Wei Laoshi, so let's get straight to the point. I heard from Sister Yu that you want to direct this 'The Chorus' yourself."

"Yes."

Shi Fangyu looked at the two people on his left and right: "No wonder you wouldn't hand it over to Director Xie Jin; so that was the reason. Then Director Xie didn't lose unjustly."

Yu Lan smiled: "So there was this past story?"

Wang Yang also said: "It seems you were thinking of directing it yourself from the very beginning."

Wei Ming nodded; that was indeed the case. He wouldn't be a full-time director, but if he were to dabble, he felt this novel he wrote himself was very suitable—simple, pure, and conveying the values he liked.

Shi Fangyu added: "But how can you prove that you can direct this movie well? After all, the investment in making a movie is not small, and the production quotas of each film studio are also very precious. How can we feel at ease letting an outsider like you operate this project? If word gets out, I'm afraid other directors will be dissatisfied."

Wei Ming said: "I certainly cannot guarantee directing it well; after all, the standard for a good movie in my heart is very high. In my view, of the hundred or so movies produced in the country every year, not even one-tenth meet this standard, and most of them are just making up the numbers."

Whoa, once this statement was made, the three factory directors looked at each other; as expected of Wei Laoshi Ming, spicy!

But they didn't think it was an exaggeration. Wei Ming often goes to Hong Kong and has also been abroad; he is a person who has seen the world and has an extremely rich inner world. It's not strange that his standards for excellence are higher.

However, being able to say it directly is still very impressive; he must write this into his memoirs later.

Wei Ming: "Whether it can be directed well is the result of the collaborative efforts of the director, actors, cinematographer, art director, and all other crew members. I cannot guarantee that, but at the very least, I can guarantee that it will be filmed. There are storyboards I drew in the script; that can be considered a manifestation of my basic film skills."

Yu Lan took out those storyboard drafts and showed them to Factory Director Wang and Director Shi; expressions of amazement indeed appeared in their eyes.

Wang Yang asked directly: "When did you learn this? Who did you learn it from?"

"Just like how I write novels, I'm self-taught," Wei Ming said. "Of course, Director Xie Jin and Director Wang Haowei deserve a lot of credit for this. When watching them film 'The Herdsman' and 'Mama, Love Me Once Again', I was also constantly stealing their techniques. Moreover, I like playing with cameras in my spare time, so I still understand the basic principles of composition and optics. I have borrowed many textbooks on directing and cinematography from the Film Academy, but static photos can no longer satisfy me, so I want to make movies."

After Wei Ming expressed his determination and strong desire, the three elders fell silent; making a decision on this matter also required great courage.

If it were a large studio like the Shanghai Er Yingchang or the Beijing Er Yingchang, it would be basically impossible. Directors fight too fiercely for filming opportunities; how could they frivolously let a writer be a director?

The Children's Er Yingchang is newly founded, with simple staffing, which would be a bit better, but it also needs to face the scrutiny of film studios and directors across the country. Once Wei Ming messes up this project, he can just walk away and continue writing novels to earn foreign exchange, suffering no loss, but the leaders who decided this matter would inevitably have to bear the corresponding consequences.

Seeing that they didn't dare to make a decision, Wei Ming continued: "Actually, writers becoming directors is nothing new. The great French director Jean-Luc Godard didn't study directing either; he started out as a film critic. And there's the famous female writer Marguerite Duras, who started writing and directing her own films over a decade ago."

Wang Yang smiled: "Good fellow, you even know Godard, and you've also watched French New Wave films?"

These are basically things that only students at the Film Academy can occasionally come into contact with; they haven't been formally introduced in the country at all.

Wei Ming said: "When I was in Hong Kong and the United States, I watched plenty of videotapes—Hollywood commercial blockbusters, French New Wave, Japan's Akira Kurosawa, Hong Kong kung fu movies; if not a hundred, there are at least several dozen. And I haven't watched less on film sets either."

Factory Director Yu Lan said: "The Godard and Duras you just mentioned basically make what are considered writer's films. A major characteristic of this type of film is that there is no plan for filming; you film as you think of it, relying on inspiration to push forward. Especially since you haven't even filmed a short film before, what if you can't continue filming halfway through?"

This possibility indeed exists, and Director Shi and Factory Director Wang on the side also nodded.

Wei Ming said: "If such a situation really arises, that's simple: you can just find a director to replace me. Furthermore, I will bear the money spent by the studio."

Yu Lan waved her hand: "That's not necessary; no matter what, we can't let you pay out of your own pocket."

Even though they knew Wei Ming probably wasn't short of that bit of money.

Shi Fangyu said: "Ma Xiaowei, we have already understood your thoughts. How about this, the three of us will discuss it again. We will give you an answer by this week at the latest."

Wei Ming nodded: "Alright, if you need me to film a short film to prove myself, I can accept that too."

Wei Ming left and went to wander around the actors' area, chatting with Sister Xue and the old man Chen Qiang for a few sentences before leaving.

Sister Xue followed him shortly after, and soon the two met at their home in Nanluoguxiang.

"What were you doing at the studio?"

Wei Ming told her about the matter of "The Chorus," including his desire to be the director himself.

Wei Ming hadn't revealed this matter before, which shocked Gong Ying. After confirming repeatedly that it was true, she hurriedly called Zhu Lin to tell her about it.

By the evening, Zhu Lin also came, and she asked curiously: "You want to be a director—could it be that you're doing it to film the two of us?"

Wei Ming: "Look at my lack of ambition; can't it be that I want to express my thoughts through images?"

He wants to establish "The Chorus" as a benchmark for educational films; he feels this is a very meaningful thing for children.

Some teachers in the 80s and 90s were actually quite unprofessional, lacking the benevolence of a teacher, especially in some rural areas where the quality of teachers was uneven; there was no education, only discipline. He is certainly not his uncle-in-law, the Yin-Yang Qi Kexiu.

Gong Ying worried for her little man: "I don't know if they will be able to agree to you."

Zhu Lin: "They can't not agree; I really want to see what the movie you film looks like!"

Gong Ying felt the same; she didn't know how many more surprises this little man could bring them.

At this time, Shi Fangyu and the others were also discussing this matter. They said they would give a result this week, but Shi Fangyu had to return to Shanghai tomorrow to handle the handover. Since he, a powerful Deputy Factory Director of the Shanghai Er Yingchang, was leaving, there were many things to account for.

Therefore, they had to discuss a plan tonight.

The next day, Wei Ming received a call from the Children's Er Yingchang at Peking University, asking him to come over. He knew there was a result.

This time, there were only the two factory directors, Yu Lan and Wang Yang; Director Shi had returned to Shanghai.

Factory Director Yu said to him: "Ma Xiaowei, you have indeed given us a difficult problem. After our discussion, we basically agree to let you serve as the director of this movie. However, you must first film a short film to let us, and other peers, see your scheduling ability. What you film and how many minutes it is is up to you. Tell us what personnel configuration you need, but keep it within ten thousand yuan."

Wei Ming said: "How about this: I will bear the cost of the short film myself, but after it's filmed, the film will also be mine. I plan to take it abroad for exhibitions."

It can also be considered a precursor for the upcoming "The Chorus," creating some reputation for himself first—a reputation in the film circle.

"You bear it yourself?" The two factory directors looked at each other. "Then can you buy the film yourself?"

Wei Ming said: "Oh, the studio needs to give me a certificate. I want to film this short film in Hong Kong; once I get there, I can use the film freely."

Filming in the country has too many restrictions. When Sister Lin filmed "Small Courtyard," the actors had to rehearse many times to save film before they could actually shoot. He doesn't have that kind of time; it's better to go to Hong Kong to film, where money can solve most problems.

Moreover, to go abroad for exhibitions, one must film something explosive and avant-garde, which the domestic environment doesn't quite allow, so Hong Kong is a very good choice.

"Besides filming, I also miss my mom and dad a bit; it just so happens I can visit them while I'm at it." Of course, he can also see little A Min; in her last few letters, she almost wrote "You should come see me soon" directly.