Chapter 35: Adapting Lion Camel Ridge

Jiang Heng didn't have that unbearable sense of urgency, so the crew wouldn't be nonstop busy from startup to wrap.

Although he couldn't rest like on a statutory holiday, every ten days or so he would always give the crew a day off.

However, on this day off, Jiang Heng slept until noon at the hotel, and after eating he went out for a drive in his newly picked-up BMW 728, not the hotel's car.

On the Xianggang side there was a Tiger-Head Benz, and here in Jingcheng a BMW 728, so finally he had a car on both sides.

The only thing missing was a luxury mansion.

He wasn't particularly fond of villas, because in both his past and present lives he had mostly lived alone.

He felt villas were too spacious, and a large flat would be better.

If it were a river-view large flat, it would be the perfect home for him.

Unfortunately, in Jingcheng in 1998, finding such a unit was really not easy.

Driving around the Second Ring Road area, he eventually spotted a newly opened housing development, went in to look, and felt the unit sizes were a bit small.

But seeing the young, pretty salesgirl energetically pushing the sale, he decided to swipe his card and buy two units.

Seeing Jiang Heng produce his Xianggang credentials, the salesgirl's face showed surprise, which she forcibly suppressed.

After the contract was signed and the payment made, the salesgirl timidly asked, 'Um, excuse me, are you Director Jiang Heng, who filmed The Matrix?'

"Yes!"

"Ah...!" the girl shouted halfway, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

At that moment, the sales office manager came trotting over, invited Jiang Heng to sit in the office, and said the company boss would arrive shortly.

Actually, when Jiang Heng produced his credentials, the sales staff had already recognized him and quietly informed the manager.

The manager feared that showing enthusiasm would scare him off, so he stubbornly waited until Jiang Heng had signed the contract and finished swiping his card before approaching.

After all, some bigshots in the film and TV industry have their quirks; if he were scared off, the boss might as well have cut out his heart!

After all, Jiang Heng is the top-grossing director domestically; someone like him buying a unit in their complex would naturally be an extremely effective live advertisement, possibly even drawing in some stars and artists to move in.

Since Jiang Heng had bought a property, he inevitably had to deal with the developer; naturally he wouldn't easily offend anyone, and he followed the sales manager upstairs with a chuckle.

After chatting a while, a bespectacled man with a sharp look entered the room.

"Oh dear, Director Jiang, I said this morning when I went out I saw a magpie—turns out a noble person has arrived!"

Jiang Heng looked at the man's face and thought, at least he'd be able to deliver the property on time, without it being an abandoned project.

"Well, I'm just someone who shoots films; I certainly don't count as a noble person!"

"Director Jiang, your words are too modest. I watched your film The Matrix—it was truly fantastic, beyond imagination, absolutely superb! The box office is unprecedented—four hundred million US dollars, which is over three billion yuan!"

"Do you know what the annual sales of the nation's top real estate company were last year? Just over two billion, with profit under two hundred million—compared to your numbers we're nothing!"

Jiang Heng was taken aback, thinking to himself, 'They're practically lifting me to the heavens—are they about to ask for a loan?'

He chuckled, 'Too kind, too kind!'

"Director Jiang, our meeting is fate; let me treat you to a casual dinner tonight."

Jiang Heng hastily waved his hand, 'No, I have plans tonight; another day, another day!'

Seeing this, the boss didn't insist, laughed, exchanged phone numbers, and led a group to see Jiang Heng off from the sales office.

The young men and women who had come to buy houses wondered, 'Who is all this fuss for?'

Seeing that he drove a BMW 728, they knew he was either rich or noble.

At that moment a staff member whispered, 'Director Jiang Heng!'

"Who?"

"Jiang Heng!"

"No way, he came here to buy a house? He isn't from Xianggang!"

"It's precisely because Director Jiang is from Xianggang that he came here to buy a house—do you know why? The feng shui here is good, and people over there all believe in it!"

Several prospective buyers nearby, who had been hesitating, hurriedly paid deposits upon hearing that.

Others, wary of the sales office's tricks, wanted to see Jiang Heng's purchase contract to verify the truth, but were refused.

Rumors mixing truth and falsehood are the easiest to spread.

By evening, the news of Jiang Heng buying a house in Jingcheng began to circulate in a small circle.

The next noon, Han Sanping called, laughing, 'How did I hear you bought a house yesterday?'

"Oh, I was driving by, saw it looked good, and just bought two units!"

Han Sanping was taken aback, feeling Jiang Heng's words sounded less like buying a house and more like buying two crepes.

"You didn't even give me a heads‑up—at least let me help you plan!"

Jiang Heng laughed, 'Nothing much, just casually bought two units; I might not even live in them, but if a suitable place comes up I'll definitely buy again—then I might ask you to help me plan.'

Han Sanping said breezily, 'Rest assured, I'll definitely help you pick a unit you'll love.'

He also asked about the film's shooting progress, which was naturally going smoothly.

A monster movie hardly demands much acting; the appeal lies in the effects, so how hard could it be to shoot?

In the blink of an eye it was early July, and the shoot wrapped officially.

After the crew disbanded, Jiang Heng first did a rough cut of the film, then took the source material back to Xianggang.

The excuse was naturally to go abroad for effects work; Han Sanping had wanted to send someone along, but Jiang Heng flatly refused, so that was that.

In Xianggang, Jiang Heng first returned home to rest for two days, then promptly flew to Australia, and soon after to the United States.

In North America he bought a house, so he didn't have to keep staying in hotels; although he couldn't obtain a gun permit, living in an upscale community still guaranteed safety.

He stayed that way until November, aside from a single trip back home to donate, the rest of the time he spent writing scripts in the United States.

The reason was that, when bored, he would flip through Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods at home, wondering which story to adapt.

As a result, when he carefully studied the 'Lion Camel Ridge' chapter, he was greatly shocked—the scenes described in the original were truly terrifying and bloody, making Hollywood horror films seem like child's play by comparison.

Unfortunately, if filmed according to the original, it simply couldn't pass censorship.

He immediately thought: "This film doesn't necessarily have to be shown domestically! I can directly sell it to Beimei, Europe, Japan-Korea, Southeast Asia!"

He then thought again, "It's just that there are too many bloody parts; worst case, we let them cut and edit however they want, or we just make a cleaned-up version for domestic release—no big deal, we won't lose money anyway!"

Therefore, over the several months Jiang Heng spent, he could be said to have been busy with just one thing—adapting the script for 'Lion Camel Ridge,' which can now be considered basically completed.

He immediately ran into a problem: who should play Sun Wukong?

Wu Yanzu is quite famous internationally now, but in terms of physique and appearance, Jiang Heng feels he isn't very suitable.

He suddenly saw, in the finished film 'Prehistoric One Hundred Million Years,' amidst the dinosaur chase, the agilely dodging Wu Jing, and thought to himself: "Alright, it's you then!"

(End of chapter)