Chapter 310: Field Visit

Jiang Qinqin was very happy now, holding the script Wu Yuchen gave her and reading it back and forth several times without letting go.

Although this *Departures* wasn't a big female-led film, it was clearly an award-chasing film, and she was undoubtedly the female lead.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Alright, no one will snatch your script. Read it slowly~"

Jiang Qinqin put down the script in her hand, then got up, hugged Wu Yuchen, and kissed his cheek: "Husband, you're so good~"

Wu Yuchen chuckled and said: "If I didn't bring a script back, wouldn't that mean your last trip was in vain?"

Jiang Qinqin pouted coquettishly: "Oh, I really went to see you last time~"

Wu Yuchen nodded: "Mm-hmm, yes, yes, yes, you went to see me, and while you were at it, you blew some pillow talk and asked me for a role, right~"

Jiang Qinqin pouted her little mouth, then wrapped her arms around Wu Yuchen's neck, blowing into his ear, and while blowing, she said: "I will blow! I will blow!"

Wu Yuchen wasn't annoyed either. He wrapped his arms around her little waist, blocked her mouth, and after a 'smack', he said with a mischievous smile: "Don't just blow on the top, blow on the bottom too~"

Hearing this, Jiang Qinqin immediately pinched Wu Yuchen: "Ah! You're so bad!"

After the two of them laughed and played for a while, Jiang Qinqin took Wu Yuchen's arm and asked, "Hubby, who do you plan to use as the male lead?"

Wu Yuchen shook his head and said: "It's hard to say now. Let's see the audition results; whoever is suitable will be used."

In fact, what Wang Zhonglei conveyed to Feng Xiaogang on the phone was different from what Wu Yuchen said. His real public requirement was for male actors over 30, with a refined temperament and a decent appearance.

Previously, after Liu Dehua learned about this, he immediately contacted Wu Yuchen's side to ask if he still had a chance after passing 40. Wu Yuchen smiled and told Andy that he looked less than 30, so come to the audition and see the effect. Thus, there was his statement to Wang Zhonglei.

This film *Departures* was a 2008 Japanese film and won the 2009 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, helping Japanese film win this award again after 53 years.

In fact, in the 1950s, Japanese film had a period of brilliance. Since the birth of the classic *Rashomon*, Japanese film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film three times in 5 years and won quite a few awards in the international film scene. That was called the strong period of Japanese samurai films. However, after that, Japanese film slowly slid and continued to decline, and now it had entered a low point.

On the contrary, Chinese film had been winning awards at the Oscars continuously by Wu Yuchen and Ang Lee in recent years, and with actors like Jackie Chan and Jet Li becoming famous internationally, it was considered by the international community that Chinese film had begun to enter a golden period.

Speaking of which, the film *Departures* tells the life of an encoffiner, observing various deaths from the perspective of a novice encoffiner, and the story of people full of love surrounding the deceased.

As for the adaptation rights of the original novel of *Departures*, Wu Yuchen had already secured them 5 years ago. The original novel was *Diary of an Encoffiner* published in 1993, which recorded the bits and pieces of his 20 years as an encoffiner in the form of a diary.

Japan and China are both Eastern cultures, and there are many places that are actually similar and common. Therefore, this *Departures* was very suitable for Wu Yuchen to film. Of course, there were many parts of unique Japanese characteristic culture, and Wu Yuchen had to localize them.

However, since he wanted to do a good job of localization, it was inevitable that he would have to conduct field visits. Wu Yuchen flicked Jiang Qinqin's nose: "Don't laugh. Follow me to see the work of an encoffiner in the field these two days, and see if you can still laugh."

In the mourning hall, a man wearing full equipment was applying makeup to a corpse. He was seen skillfully fiddling with those tools, applying color to the corpse's face, changing clothes for the dead, and grooming the remains.

This series of operations was smooth and flowing, giving people a strange sense of beauty. But in the mourning hall, there was no one else around. Being in such a scene, Jiang Qinqin felt it was a bit eerie no matter what, and her body couldn't help but want to stand on end. She held Wu Yuchen's hand and didn't dare let go.

After the whole process ended and they retreated, Jiang Qinqin breathed a sigh of relief. Just now, she felt terrified inside...

A moment later, encoffiner Zuo Dawei walked over after cleaning up. Seeing Jiang Qinqin's reaction, he said to Wu Yuchen embarrassedly: "Did I scare you?"

Wu Yuchen hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no, it's us who disturbed you!"

Then he patted Jiang Qinqin, and Jiang Qinqin also apologized to Zuo Dawei: "Sorry, I didn't control myself, sorry!"

Zuo Dawei shook his head and said with a smile: "Normal, normal. I'm already used to it. Just because I work in this industry, my friends don't want to deal with me much, thinking it's unlucky. Now my parents are worried about my marriage. The girls introduced to me, once they hear I do this, basically none of them are willing. I've already prepared to be a bachelor for a lifetime..."

Saying this, Zuo Dawei took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep puff, and then said to Wu Yuchen: "Wu Dao, are you still following tomorrow?"

Wu Yuchen nodded and replied: "If the family of the other party agrees, we still want to follow."

Zuo Dawei said: "The family knows it's you, so they didn't disagree. But the situation tomorrow is a bit special... The deceased tomorrow didn't die normally; it was a car accident. I'm afraid you..."

Zuo Dawei didn't continue, but Wu Yuchen understood.

If it were a normal death, doing this work might be okay, but if you encounter the remains of an accidental death, then the encoffiner's workload might double, because the condition of those remains might not be very good—bloody and blurred, which is a great test of a person's psychological quality. Ordinary people would feel their hair stand on end just thinking about it.

It wasn't just Wu Yuchen who thought of this layer; Jiang Qinqin also thought of it, and her face turned pale by three points. However, at this time, Wu Yuchen asked her: "Are you still willing to come tomorrow?"

Just thinking about it, Jiang Qinqin felt terrified in her heart. She really didn't want to go, but when she looked up and saw Wu Yuchen's gaze, thinking that the female lead was specially prepared for her, if she didn't even dare to observe now, did she still have the face to play this role?

Thinking of this, Jiang Qinqin nodded: "Come."

The next day, on the way back, Jiang Qinqin's face was pale, and she lay weakly in Wu Yuchen's arms.

However, Wu Yuchen didn't show any dislike at all. Not to mention Jiang Qinqin, even he almost couldn't persist in watching the whole process. That corpse's unrecognizable appearance... it was really hard to describe. Jiang Qinqin ran out to vomit three times, and after vomiting, she came back to watch. She was vomited weak. Afterwards, she kept apologizing to the family with Wu Yuchen.

Shrinking in Wu Yuchen's arms, Jiang Qinqin said weakly:

"When I read the script, I just thought, the male lead is such a good person, what is there to mind? Isn't it just a bit unlucky? But now that I've experienced it personally, I know that the psychological quality of an encoffiner's wife is really not something an ordinary person can have. I understand now why the female lead has always opposed her husband being an encoffiner. Just thinking about this process makes my heart feel uncomfortable..."

Wu Yuchen tightened his arms around her shoulder and comforted her: "Look, isn't the purpose achieved? If you hadn't come to experience this trip, could you understand the female lead's state of mind? Actors, they still need life experience to perform well!"

Jiang Qinqin nodded and asked: "Then should I come later?"

Wu Yuchen thought for a moment and said: "It's up to you. If you feel you have grasped it well enough, it's fine if you don't come. Actually, it doesn't matter if you come or not. Once I determine the male lead, he will definitely have to follow the encoffiner every day to experience life!"

On the third day, Wu Yuchen didn't bother with Jiang Qinqin. Today, he specifically made an appointment to chat with a female encoffiner.

The other party said lightly: "Wu Dao, in our industry, it's normal for relatives and friends not to invite you to weddings. To tell you the truth, I don't even go home for the New Year now. My parents think I'm unlucky."

"In our hometown, we worship gods on the first and fifteenth of every month. It was probably three years ago when I went home for the New Year and saw an apple placed in front of the shrine fall out, so I picked it up and put it back."

"As a result, when I returned to the room, I found that my mother had replaced the entire table of offerings. My heart went cold at that time. How 'dirty' does she think I am?!"

After Wu Yuchen finished listening, he was also silent and couldn't say any comforting words. He knew it was useless. However, he remembered this matter and planned to integrate it into the film, expressing it through the male lead's colleagues.

When the next male encoffiner with a slightly more cheerful personality came, he said to Wu Yuchen with a smile: "When I go back to my hometown now, if people ask what I do, I say I work in the civil affairs department! Otherwise, people wouldn't even dare to touch you!"

"I'll tell you something scary. The first step for our encoffiners to apply makeup is to apply foundation. When I first started, once when I was wiping across the eyes, the brush swept across the corpse's eye socket, and as a result, the corpse opened its eyes! I was so scared that my soul flew out, and I crawled out. At that time, I swore that I would never do it again even if I died!"

"What happened? Was the person not dead yet, and revived?"

"How could that be! Later, the old master and the doctor talked to me for a long time before finding me back, saying that after a person passes away, the muscles will become stiff, and sometimes the phenomenon of eyes wide open will appear. It's a normal muscle reaction. When I brushed it, I touched the muscles around the eye socket, which might have made him open his eyes. Just help him close them again."

Wu Yuchen thought about this scene and also felt it was scary. However, if this were put in a comedy film, it would probably make people laugh out loud. Then he asked again:

"Then didn't you swear not to do it? How did you come back?"

"I can't do anything else, and this doesn't earn little. Just don't let the people in my hometown know. In the future, marry a wife and have a baby in my hometown, and let her take care of it. Just get the rice cooked into cooked rice first. Hehe~"

Wu Yuchen shook his head with a smile, but he didn't criticize the other party. Everyone has their own way of living.

This trip Wu Yuchen came back, he just rested for a few days, and then began to be busy for *Departures*, mainly going to field visits and interviews.

He didn't plan to film the movie immediately, but the preparation work must be done first, especially the key role of the male lead. He must take advantage of this trip back to select him, and then let him follow the encoffiner for a few months to experience life. It would be better if he knew music theory, and could even practice the cello.

According to the script, the male lead was originally a cellist, and then suddenly became unemployed and accidentally entered the funeral industry, which would create a sense of contrast for the audience. The ritual of encoffining, which is quite traditional, and the male lead who grew up under the influence of Western culture, just formed a sense of contrast.

As for why it was set as the cello, because this instrument has a mellow and full tone, low and long, not only can it express deep and complex delicate emotions, but it also contains a kind of peaceful, tranquil, and soothing power, making people feel like returning to their mother's arms.

The profession of encoffiner has always been wandering between life and death, letting the deceased leave peacefully without regrets, and letting the living be comforted. Therefore, the cello is indeed a very suitable instrument.

At the same time, because the cello is not suitable for solo performance, unlike the violin or piano, and the social demand is not high, it is considered a niche instrument. Therefore, it is actually quite reasonable for the male lead to be unemployed as a cellist.

After a week of busyness, Wu Yuchen also reached the day of the male lead's audition.

"There is less than a week before the Spring Festival. I don't know why Wu Dao arranged the audition time at this time..." a fat man muttered in a low voice.

In the car, Leon Lai, who was as gentle as jade and like a graceful nobleman, immediately said: "Shut up. Wu Dao's film, there are plenty of people who want to film it. Don't say such things when you get to the scene!"

"Ming-zai, don't worry, I'm just complaining. I definitely hope you can win this role the most! This time I see that some of the requirements Wu Dao put forward are very suitable for you. The hope is definitely not small!" The agent hurriedly said with a smile.

In fact, Leon Lai had already begun to seek transformation since his peak period. He had always not wanted people to say he was an idol, and wanted to be a powerful actor. Especially on the road of acting, when Liu Dehua was still filming a large number of commercial films or even bad films every year, Leon Lai had already begun to focus on art films, such as *Comrades: Almost a Love Story*, *Eighteen Springs*, *City of Glass*, etc., all wanting to prove himself. Last year, he could be considered to have achieved his wish and won the Golden Horse Best Actor.

Recently, he learned about the male lead audition for Wu Yuchen's new project, and no matter how he looked at it, he felt he should be very suitable for this role. Therefore, he rushed over to participate in the audition without stopping. As for whether it was Spring Festival or not, isn't it the same every year? This was not important at all in front of Wu Dao's new film. ===== CHAPTER 311 =====