Chapter 27

Almost the whole village was taken to have their blood tested; only Ma Youtie was the precious panda blood.

Zhang Yongfu still owed the village grain money and hadn't paid it. Zhang Yongfu's son, played by Li Yu, used this to threaten the villagers.

Human hearts are vicious, especially when treating the weak.

Ma Youtie was once again bound and kidnapped by morality, starting to donate blood again and again for free.

Li Yu was a hardworking actor. Although there were not many shots, they were all one-take. Lin Nan knew he had practiced many times underneath, and Li Baotian would also guide him.

"Cut." That's it for today, we'll continue tomorrow.

Up to now, Lin Nan had very few NGs.

Li Baotian and Jiang Wenli were particularly invested; they were very optimistic about this script, especially the tragic ending.

After clearly knowing that Lin Nan would take it abroad for awards, they were even more attentive.

Takakura Ken, who was over seventy, handed his last film to Zhang Yimou; this was the hottest news in the industry recently, and Lin Nan heard everyone discussing it on set.

"Teacher Li, you have collaborated with Director Zhang Yimou on three films. What do you think of his *Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles*?" Lin Nan asked during a break.

Li Baotian smiled. "Watching from under the awards stage."

"So certain?"

"This subject matter is what he is good at."

Lin Nan nodded. This was a film about soul redemption after two consecutive commercial blockbusters.

The crew continued to work, and filming had reached the second half.

Ma Youtie had to draw blood and come back to work on the farm; life became even harder. The vacant house they were staying in was also going to be demolished by the village for a fee, and the owner told them to pack up and leave quickly.

Ma Youtie, played by Li Baotian, was determined to build a house himself, brick by brick, slowly building a bungalow for himself and Cao Guiying, pasting the 'happiness' character from their wedding, hoping that life would get better.

Every bit of Ma Youtie was seen by Cao Guiying, and her attachment and trust grew deeper. Although she was weak and sickly, she also tried hard to help. This was perhaps the warmest period of her life.

Jiang Wenli delivering food and falling into the river due to dizziness was a scene that signaled the story was about to end; suffering still chose the suffering.

The river water, not deep, the crew specially chose a shallower section, about one meter deep, with two or three people standing not far away ready to help at any time.

"Cut, passed."

Jiang Wenli was very hardworking, choosing a close-up shot. Several people hurriedly fished her out, and towels and blankets were brought up. It was November, and in the Northwest, it had already turned cold.

"Lin Dao, was my part okay?" Jiang Wenli still had the mood to joke.

"Of course, it scared us all."

Lin Nan wasn't lying. If Jiang Wenli hadn't said in advance that she could hold her breath, Lin Nan would have really shouted for people to fish her out; it really looked like she had fainted and drowned.

"Prepare, we'll start the last shot."

How can a person calmly face death?

Being in despair and seeing a glimmer of light, this beam of light was finally extinguished.

In the last shot, Ma Youtie calmly drank the pesticide...

Lin Nan watched Li Baotian's interpretation and was very moved.

That was the final choice of a suffering person. They had lived together, worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, using every bit of strength, supporting each other and relying on each other. Fate did not favor them...

"Passed."

Lin Nan shouted passed, but Li Baotian still sat there for a while before getting up.

"It's been a long time since I filmed like this, and it's a bit hard to get out of it." Li Baotian said with a smile after getting up.

A month of fine work and slow labor, it was time for the wrap-up.

The prepared wrap-up banquet, everyone ate very happily.

"If there's a suitable script in the future, come find me, not inferior to this one." Jiang Wenli said jokingly. She had to rush back; there were script appointments.

"Okay, Sister Wenli."

Jiang Wenli had a strong personality but was very generous, with extensive connections in the circle. After this time, the two could be considered to have a friendship, especially since Lin Nan was now rising in fame, making it even more worth Jiang Wenli's while to befriend him.

"I should go back too, after all, I'm still a teacher at the school." Li Baotian also said goodbye to Lin Nan, with Li Yu by his side.

Lin Nan exchanged a few polite words and saw them off.

This time, because of the shooting location, the equipment and everything were rented from the Western Film Studio.

At the wrap-up banquet, the other side sent a director of the production department. Lin Nan knew it couldn't be just for eating.

Lin Nan's company specially sent a financial person to hand over the equipment with the other side, and Lin Nan chatted with that director.

Investment, it was nothing more than investment.

Lin Nan's *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*, Shanghai Film and he jointly invested; *Returning to Youth* added China Film and Enlight Media.

Since Enlight Media could invest, why couldn't Western Film Studio? You are still a hometown person, Western Film Studio thought so.

"Currently there is no new film plan, this one just wrapped up, I can't compare to Director Yimou's high output." Lin Nan spoke the truth.

"If I plan to make the next film, I will consider it then, but if the cost is not high, maybe I will do it myself." Lin Nan didn't say it was impossible, but didn't give a promise either.

The people from Western Film Studio were not very willing to give up and talked about actors again. Lin Nan relaxed his stance on this; if he started a new film, they could send people to audition.

The forty-year-old production director didn't expect Lin Nan to be so slick, not at all like a twenty-year-old young man.

Speaking to the end, they started talking about hometown feelings again.

Policies were becoming clearer, encouraging the vigorous development of the film market. Everyone knew that commercial films would be the mainstream, and box office was the kingly way.

But the transformation of traditional film studios was very slow, mainly because the basic market was there, and the thinking was deep-rooted. Old directors couldn't play commercial films; not everyone was Zhang Yimou, and newcomers couldn't be cultivated. On this point, they couldn't even compare to private enterprises.

Competing on their own, Western Film Studio showed signs of falling behind.

The reasons were very complex. The talents in the industry were all in the capital and Shanghai, and the most famous art colleges were also there, and the economy couldn't compare, so the result was imaginable.

Lin Nan visited Western Film Studio, and the heavy historical atmosphere and museum all told of the outstanding contributions it had once made.

Lin Nan boarded the plane back to school. The post-production of *Return to Dust* was done at a company under China Film.

He received an invitation, an invitation to the premiere of *A World Without Thieves*, sent by people from Huayi directly to Lin Nan's company.

"Sure enough, realistic."

After complaining, he put on an eye mask and prepared to nap for a while; he would be there when he woke up.

A few hours later, Lin Nan landed at the Capital Airport.

After the *Returning to Youth* celebration banquet, many people looked for him, but Lin Nan had already left the capital by then.

This month on the *Return to Dust* set, Lin Nan could still constantly receive congratulatory calls, many from companies or industry insiders he hadn't dealt with before.

First went back to the company. The adaptation rights for *Returning to Youth* had already been settled by the South Korean side, and China Film had also transferred the money to Lin Nan's company according to the proportion. The finance department reported it to Lin Nan immediately.

"Hello, Lin Dao."

"Lin Dao."

"Haha, this is what both Director Feng and I are looking forward to. I don't know what Lin Dao Nan thinks of the box office prospects of our *A World Without Thieves*?"

On the desk was Huayi's invitation, handwritten, quite exquisite.

"Lin Dao, recently many people have come, all asking if the company signs actors, and they even left some resumes."

"Later, you issue an announcement. In the short term, the company has no plans to do artist management."

"Okay."

When Lin Nan was on set, school teachers had called him about this matter, probably wanting to insert people, but he refused.

*Returning to Youth* would be released in South Korea in a while. Lin Nan estimated the box office wouldn't be bad, and China Film was also operating to go to more Southeast Asian countries.

December 3rd, Monday.

Lin Nan arrived at school on time. The Film Academy was still the same, with many handsome men and beautiful women. If you saw someone who looked strange, it definitely wasn't the acting department.

Walking in school, Lin Nan was watched by many unfamiliar faces, all freshmen and sophomores, and some even took the initiative to ask for contact information, very good at seizing opportunities.

"Oh my, our big director is back for class." Zhou Yang's sarcastic voice could be heard from afar.

Lin Nan greeted other juniors and juniors, ignoring Zhou Yang.

When people had almost dispersed, Zhou Yang came over. "Now that you're a big director, the classmates of the past don't catch your eye anymore, right?"

"Do you have anything to say? If you do, say it; if not, I'm going back to the directing department."

"Yes, yes, yes. The classmates in the class just asked me to ask, does your company really not sign people?"

"I've already asked the company to issue an announcement, no signing. I didn't even sign Old Zhu, tell them not to ask anymore."

How many actors signed with New Picture for Zhang Yimou's reputation.

Huayi also fooled many artists into signing with Feng Xiaogang's signboard, but Lin Nan found it troublesome.

Zhou Yang went back to pass the message.

Lin Nan went to the directing department to cancel his long leave and was kept for a while.

As an outstanding student representative, the list for recommended admission to graduate school was submitted, and the first one was Lin Nan.

"Does the department not ask for my opinion?"

Lin Nan reacted very strongly; he wasn't very willing to continue graduate studies. In terms of exam scores, he was at most slightly above average.

The teacher said it well, exam scores were just parameters to test the degree of mastery of theoretical knowledge, and actual operation scores were the final result.

Unfortunately, Lin Nan just had a film that exceeded one hundred million, the second one after Zhang Yimou.

"Then what about the second thing?"

"The acting department wants you to be an art exam judge. You are now a business card of the school, especially since you transferred from the acting department."

Lin Nan couldn't believe his ears. "Teacher, what kind of joke is this? Can I do that?"

"Why not? Just use your director's eyes to choose talented students."

"Doesn't our school's acting department just look at faces?" Lin Nan whispered a rebuttal.

"You, it's fine for outsiders to say this, why did you say it out loud."

"Afraid it's too late." Lin Nan said.

"How could it be too late? Going into a crew again? Didn't you just finish a film?"

Lin Nan sighed. "Teacher, I didn't lie to you. *Return to Dust* is a realistic rural subject matter. I'm preparing to take it to a film festival. The time might conflict with the art exam."

The instructor of the 02-level directing department looked at Lin Nan and reacted for a while. "Berlin?"

Lin Nan nodded.

Confirming this conjecture, Zhang Laoshi's face changed, and he suddenly laughed. "Art exam is a small matter. I'll help you decline the acting department. It's really unreasonable for their affairs to trouble our directing department."

"Are you sure?"

When Zhang Laoshi asked this, he wanted to slap himself. It would be good enough to get in; he was still thinking about getting something back.

Lin Nan shook his head. "I don't know, but at least I have to try."

"You have this heart, that's enough. Then put other things aside."