Chapter 42: The Big Shot-Gathered *Dance of Martial Arts*

At the same time, at an ordinary round dining table, seven or eight people sat around, most of them elderly.

A gray-haired man in his fifties picked up his teacup and said with full energy:

"Thank you for your hard work over the past few months, but seeing that it's almost the end of the year, we still have to speed up the progress of this documentary!"

"What's so hard about this? This year is the 100th anniversary of world cinema and the 90th anniversary of Chinese cinema. It's only right to do something meaningful for film in such a commemorative time." A kind old lady smiled.

The man smiled, and then asked another younger middle-aged man: "Little Jia, what did Old Hou say?"

Little Jia put down the teacup in his hand and replied: "Director Zhang, Dean Hou sent a student to help."

Director Zhang nodded and encouraged: "We are all old, we can talk, but if we really want to do it, we have to rely on you young people."

"Director Zhang, what are you talking about? Experience is wealth. We young people still have to learn from your valuable opinions!" Little Jia hurriedly replied.

Little Jia's name is Jia Leilei, and he is over 40 this year. He is also a chief researcher in their film and television research institute.

This year is a special year for film, and the institute decided to produce a special documentary about martial arts films, *Dance of Martial Arts — A General Overview of Chinese Martial Arts Films*, with Jia Leilei as the main person in charge.

But the several consultants in his project team have big backgrounds.

The one who spoke just now was their film and television art institute director Zhang Boqing, who was also a director of the Film Association and president of the Film Critics Association, and the honorary general producer of this documentary.

The kind old lady just now was named Ruan Ruolin. Before retiring, she was the deputy director of CCTV and the director of the TV center. She led the filming of *Dream of the Red Chamber* and *Journey to the West*.

The several people sitting beside him:

Luo Yijun, former president of the Film Critics Association and registrar of the Film Association;

Xue Ruolin, former vice president of the Chinese National Academy of Arts and former president of the Chinese Opera Association;

He Guangying, other titles are not mentioned, a certain leader of the retired big scissors.

These people are not young, but they are old and strong. They were invited to be consultants in this project and were all full of interest.

In front of these big shots, Jia Leilei naturally became Little Jia, and he could only be careful and respectful to them.

The progress of the documentary was a bit slow, so Director Zhang Boqing found Hou Keming and asked him to send someone to help, preferably someone who understands martial arts and can edit.

At 1:00 PM, at No. 17 Qianhai West Street, Wu Yuchen stood in front of the Prince Gong's Mansion gate.

Prince Gong's Mansion was formerly the residence of the famous corrupt official Heshen. It witnessed the rise and fall of the Great Qing and was called "a Prince Gong's Mansion, half a Qing Dynasty history."

Many outsiders might think that since it is such an important cultural site, it must be well protected, but Beijingers know that Prince Gong's Mansion has always been used as an office space for government agencies and institutions, and at most, it contained 8 units.

When our beloved Premier Zhou was lying on his sickbed, he specifically instructed the relocation of units in Prince Gong's Mansion and the restoration of cultural relics. But this dragged on for nearly 30 years, and it wasn't until 2006 that all units in Prince Gong's Mansion were relocated.

Wu Yuchen looked at the sign hanging in front of him, the Chinese National Academy of Arts, which was one of the nail households in Prince Gong's Mansion. Don't think that this seems to be a research institution with no status. The dean has always been held by the boss of the Ministry of Culture.

But no matter how awesome it is, it has nothing to do with Wu Yuchen. He already had the awareness when he came over today: do chores, work, and run errands!

After Wu Yuchen walked into the courtyard, he saw a gray-haired old man practicing the Eight Brocades, and an old lady next to him was fiddling with the orchids in the flowerpot, so he walked over and asked politely:

"Hello, old man, may I ask if Teacher Jia Leilei is here?"

The old man stopped his movements and looked at Wu Yuchen: "Inside, who are you?"

"My name is Wu Yuchen, I was introduced by Teacher Hou Keming!" Wu Yuchen introduced himself with a smile.

"Oh, you are the one sent by Old Hou!"

"The young man is quite energetic!" The old lady next to her also straightened up at this time, looking at Wu Yuchen with a smile.

The two didn't stay in the courtyard, and took Wu Yuchen directly into the hall.

"Little Jia, Old Hou's soldier has arrived!"

At this sound, Jia Leilei, who was organizing notes in the room, and others who were drinking tea or closing their eyes to rest, all looked over.

Wu Yuchen immediately said respectfully:

"Hello, teachers, my name is Wu Yuchen. If there is anything you want me to do, just say it."

"What did your Dean Hou tell you?"

"Teacher Hou just let me come over to listen to the command, and didn't say anything specific."

Jia Leilei smiled and didn't care, and introduced to Wu Yuchen:

"Little Wu, we are producing a special documentary about martial arts films, *Dance of Martial Arts*..."

Hearing this name, Wu Yuchen was stunned, and his thoughts flew. This documentary was his favorite documentary, none of them.

Lin Qingxia's unrestrained and free-spirited drinking in *Swordsman II*; the heroic back of the killer Tang Zhan carrying a knife toward the residual blood sunset under the desert west wind; Huang Feihong leading a group of good boys to practice martial arts in the red sun rising from the sea; Zhao Min's heroic and charming look back on a white horse... These scenes surfaced in Wu Yuchen's mind again.

*Dance of Martial Arts* uses a novel and unique perspective and cultural point of view to make a wonderful and detailed analysis of the ins and outs, characteristics, and styles of Chinese martial arts films. The screen concentrates the essence of almost all Chinese martial arts films before 1995. It is not only magnificent, with strong visual effects, but also vivid in content, and extremely knowledgeable and culturally colorful.

In his past life, Wu Yuchen was still in college when *Dance of Martial Arts* was broadcast. After seeing it, he was amazed. According to the clips and shots in this documentary, he found and watched all the martial arts films displayed in it one by one, which also helped him a lot in filming martial arts-themed film and television dramas later.

Later, this documentary reached a high score of 9.5 on Douban, but resources could never be found online. Some people offered a high price of 10,000 per episode to acquire it, but it was impossible to get, and it could only be regretted that the good film became a swan song!

And the theme song of this documentary, *Chinese Martial Arts Soul*, is also very great. Wu Yuchen still remembers the magnificent music and lyrics:

"A cavity of blood, can't flow out the hero's true colors"

"Two feet, stepping through the desert and long river"

"Three sighs, just for the home and country"

"People from all directions, chanting the long song of righteousness"

He didn't expect that the errand Hou Keming found for him was to participate in the production of *Dance of Martial Arts*. This simply stunned Wu Yuchen, and a feeling of joy and excitement arose spontaneously! ===== CHAPTER 43 =====