Chapter 117: The Great Heist

After many years, Zhang Zhang Yimou once again held open auditions for actors.

In the eyes of ordinary art students, this was simply a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leap to the heavens in a single bound.

No one would forget how Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi had risen to fame back then.

She had been just an unremarkable student in the Acting Department of the Central Academy of Drama's Class of '96.

Even in the eyes of their homeroom teacher Chang Li, Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi could only be considered of middling talent.

But sometimes, luck is really important!

Zhang Zhang Yimou chose her, and so today's International Zhang came to be.

These past two days, the capital's few art colleges were bustling beyond belief.

This year's art-exam registration period hadn't even arrived yet, but many art-exam candidates had rushed over from all over the country ahead of time.

Current students and art-exam candidates alike flooded toward Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama.

Because Zhang Zhang Yimou would personally visit these two schools to pick out a few unknowns as candidates for the male and female leads of "Under the Hawthorn Tree."

Even though it was only the first round of preliminary auditions, no one was willing to give up such a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.

The Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Film Academy provided Zhang Zhang Yimou with every convenience.

This is the treatment a great director gets.

……

"Sigh, I wonder when I'll ever get the kind of preferential treatment Director Zhang gets?"

Director Lu Yang remarked sourly.

He was sitting rather far from Lin Nan and Guo Fan, so that when it came time to edit, they wouldn't interfere with one another.

"Then you'd probably have to wait till your next life," Guo Fan quipped.

"Aren't you the same?"

Director Lu Yang laughed and shot back, instinctively glancing at Lin Nan.

"Lin Dao would absolutely have no problem.

If you started a new film and held open auditions like this, the treatment the Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Film Academy gave you would definitely be no worse than what they give Director Zhang.

For someone like me or Guo Fan, at best we'd get a classroom, hahaha…"

Lin Nan was amused too.

"Then I'm afraid there's no chance. I can't pull off Director Zhang's approach; I prefer working with experienced actors—saves a lot of trouble."

Everyone says Zhang Zhang Yimou is brilliant at coaching new actors, but that's far too draining.

Lin Nan had only gone through it once, and that was with Miss Jing Tian on "The Martian Rescue."

The sheer torment of it was still fresh in his memory.

Thinking back to that scene, Lin Nan couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.

…………

"Avatar's" box office had reached 1.24 billion.

Apart from the theater chains, every production company in the industry was hoping it would be pulled from screens immediately.

Lin Nan heard from Han Han Sanping that the higher-ups had already issued a notice ordering "Avatar" pulled from mainland screens.

Even so, the day before it was pulled, it still raked in twenty million at the box office—utterly terrifying.

Only after the wolf was driven out did the sheep dare come out to graze.

"Confucius," starring Chow Yun-fat and Zhou Xun, was the first to hit theaters.

Opening-day box office: 9 million.

This let a great many industry insiders heave a long sigh of relief—now that was a normal number!

The next day, the Hollywood film "The Spy Next Door," starring Jackie Chan, opened, with an opening day of 5.1 million.

This reassured the domestic films queued up behind it even more, giving them a feeling that they were relevant again!

Domestic films, dead silent for some twenty days, instantly became "fiercely alive."

All kinds of promotional campaigns popped up in a rush, especially for those films set to release in February.

What martial-arts extravaganza "True Legend," "14 Blades," romance blockbuster "Love in a Puff," nostalgic comedy "All's Well, Ends Well 2010," action blockbuster "Little Big Soldier"…

Whether the production and distribution teams behind these films felt embarrassed or not, the internet was a chorus of boos.

Having seen a true blockbuster, audiences felt that the promotional slogans for these domestic films always gave off a watered-down, fake vibe.

……

Among Lin Nan Pictures' four films, "Lost on Journey" had the simplest plot and the lowest budget.

From preparation to now, over four months had passed.

"Lin Dao, I've wrapped on my end."

When Xu Zheng called to give Lin Nan the news, the latter was momentarily stunned.

By any count, they'd only filmed for some twenty days—and now it was wrapped?

But Lin Nan immediately thought of this film's plot, so he said nothing more.

Twenty-odd days was indeed no problem.

"Then come on back. I'll have someone prepare a wrap party for you all."

Many media outlets were keeping a close eye on Lin Nan Pictures' several films.

The moment "Lost on Journey" announced its wrap, news appeared online.

"Actor Xu Zheng's directorial debut 'Lost on Journey' wraps today."

"Lin Nan Pictures' low-budget film 'Lost on Journey' completes filming—Wang Wang Baoqiang plays a migrant worker again!"

"It's a comedy about all the hilarious, laugh-or-you-cry incidents on the journey home for Spring Festival travel…"

……

At the wrap banquet, Wang Wang Baoqiang toasted several times, and each time with baijiu — that must have been picked up at Huayi.

"Lin Dao, this toast is to you — drink at your own pace."

Lin Nan smiled and took a sip of red wine.

He suddenly recalled how Liu Liu Yifei had warned him before, telling him not to touch alcohol when handling social engagements alone — she had looked quite fierce at the time.

"Lin Dao, I'd also like to toast you. And Director Guo, Director Lu."

Xu Zheng raised a glass and downed it in one go. Judging by the look of him, he was a decisive person.

The next day, Xu Zheng arrived at Tiangong Color.

Anyone coming for the first time would be stunned by the scene before them.

Filling the view were large quantities of machines and equipment, and dozens — nearly a hundred — technicians.

Xu Zheng saw quite a few cards with movie titles written on them, standing in different sections.

These were all projects Tiangong Color had taken on — none of them were big ones.

An employee led Xu Zheng to the dedicated film post-production editing area, where Lin Nan and the others were.

"Lin Dao."

"You're here. Go sit across from Director Lu Yang — two editors assigned to you should be enough, right?"

"Plenty. I can do it myself." Xu Zheng smiled.

That afternoon, post-production on "Lost on Journey" also began.

Lin Nan had already started thinking about scheduling — four films, how to arrange them most suitably.

He felt he needed to go find Han Han Sanping.

……

Xing Aina called, wanting to invite Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei over to her home for a meal.

That was rather sudden.

Lin Nan figured there must be something going on, so he didn't refuse.

It happened that Miss Liu had just become free these past couple of days.

By the time Lin Nan returned to the villa, Liu Liu Yifei had already been waiting.

She was still wearing the down jacket she'd had on in Hengdian, with jeans and short boots on the bottom — that outfit was really casual.

"I've been waiting for you forever."

The girl pulled open the car door and got into the passenger seat. She was also carrying a gift box in her hand.

"What's that?"

"Desserts. Sister Xing likes them."

Lin Nan shook his head — they'd really gotten familiar.

He drove toward Ning Hao's house, a little curious — inviting him and Liu Liu Yifei over today, surely it couldn't just be for a meal?

When they arrived at Ning Hao's villa, they saw him strolling around the yard holding his chubby son, the thick gold chain around his neck glinting dazzlingly in the sunlight.

"You two are a bit slow, you know — my wife's cooking personally today." Ning Hao quipped.

Lin Nan had been about to fire back a retort, but hearing that, he fell silent.

Liu Liu Yifei stared at the little fellow in Ning Hao's arms, her eyes lighting up.

She poked the baby's cheek with her finger. "Call me Auntie…"

The little fellow fixed his dark, bright eyes on Liu Liu Yifei, just smiling, refusing to open his mouth.

"Like kids? Go ask Lin Nan for one, hahaha…"

That one line from Ning Hao made Liu Liu Yifei blush on the spot.

"Come on, follow me inside — I've been waiting here specifically for you two."

……

Xing Aina was impressive — a whole table packed with dishes, all made by her alone.

Lin Nan guessed right: the dinner invitation was real, and so was the matter at hand.

"Before, I had you take a look at the script for 'No Man's Land.' I didn't listen to you back then, and now look how things turned out…"

Ning Hao got sentimental right off the bat.

"After we eat, help him look at the new script." Xing Aina said with a smile.

"Sister, this meal of yours doesn't come cheap." Lin Nan quipped.

Liu Liu Yifei had already started eating on the side, wearing an expression of someone enjoying the show.

They didn't discuss business at the dinner table. A little over half an hour later, Lin Nan followed Ning Hao to the study.

Liu Liu Yifei and Xing Aina chatted in the living room.

"Director Ning, what script is it this time?"

Lin Nan had just finished asking when Ning Hao handed the thing over.

A script, slightly thinner than "No Man's Land."

Lin Nan looked up at Ning Hao — the latter's expression was somewhat serious at this point, tinged with a hint of helplessness.

"Take a look, give me some opinions."

Hearing him say that, one could tell Ning Hao was lacking in confidence — "No Man's Land" had hit him too hard.

Lin Nan began flipping through the script, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Another single-narrative-line film, exactly like "No Man's Land," but with the black-humor style of "The Stone" and "Racing."

The story wasn't long, but it was rich in detail.

Lin Nan could tell the script had been reined in a bit, and its thinking was very similar to *No Man's Land*, but what it wanted to express was exactly the opposite.

The difference between this script and *No Man's Land* lay in the direction of the ending. The two films seemed to tell the story in reverse — this one leaned toward what was "correct."

"Why no title?" Lin Nan asked.

"It just wasn't labeled. The name of this script is *The Golden Mystery*, or you could call it *The Great Golden Heist*…"

Lin Nan's eyes went wide for a moment. Well, he'd been too close to the situation to see it clearly himself just now.

"Should be no problem. After all, the male lead goes from being a hoodlum to becoming a glorious 'revolutionary' — isn't that exactly what the old masters like? Ha ha…"

Ning Ha's face darkened a little.

"You mean to say I knuckled under to them?

Fine, I did knuckle under — those stubborn old coots."

"Ha, but that's you admitting it yourself, nothing to do with me.

Still, this script really isn't bad. I suggest you polish it up a bit more — it's a little rough around the edges."

Ning Hao nodded. "Mm, this is only the third draft. The general plot won't change, just a fine-tuning of the dialogue. When I get the budget worked out, you put in a little…"

"Fine, I'll put in a little." Lin Nan agreed.

The two of them stepped out of the study and saw Xing Aina sitting with Liu Liu Yifei on the sofa, playing with the little child. A baby not yet a full year old — still pretty cute.

"How did it go?"

Xing Aina saw the two of them come out and hurriedly asked.

"No problem — I got him on board, ha ha." Ning Hao said with a laugh.

"No problem is good. I'll be the producer on this film."

Xing Aina looked a little excited. She had just been talking about this very thing with Liu Liu Yifei.

"She saw that Liu Yifei had been the producer on *Brotherhood of Blades* and felt that, as a senior, she'd fallen behind — it was a bit of a loss of face for her…"

……