Chapter 377

"Big Brother, A-Ming is fine, it's fake, it's all fake, you just had a nightmare."

The assistant patted Cheng Long's back lightly, as if coaxing a child, comforting him incessantly.

"As the saying goes, what you think about by day, you dream about by night. You might be too concerned about the movie, too eager to play the role well, so you entered the protagonist's perspective and just had a similar dream."

Cheng Long had stopped crying, but now he had a numb look on his face, his eyes unfocused, looking completely lifeless.

The assistant had actually been persuading him for quite a while. Seeing Cheng Long's current state, she also had a headache and didn't know what to do for a moment.

What kind of nightmare could have made Big Brother this sad?

The assistant thought for a moment. Since Big Brother said the children were gone, and linking it to the plot of the new movie, she felt that having A-Ming call Big Brother might be a good idea.

A-Ming calling to show concern and comfort him should be more effective than anything else.

"Big Brother, shall I have A-Ming give you a call?"

As the assistant said this, she took out her phone, preparing to dial A-Ming's number again.

Cheng Long's reaction seemed a beat slow. It wasn't until the assistant had already dialed the number, and even A-Ming's somewhat impatient voice came through the phone, that he asked in a hoarse voice, somewhat confused:

"A-Ming... who is that?"

The assistant's hand, which was handing over the phone, paused, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

Should she say this is your son?

That would be a huge joke. Could Big Brother not know this is his son?

Uh!

But looking at Big Brother's expression, it didn't look like he was faking it.

It was simply inexplicable.

At this moment, the assistant really wanted to laugh.

She didn't know why she wanted to laugh, she just wanted to.

Of course, her professional ethics, as well as the honor of being "Cheng Long's assistant," allowed her to suppress the thoughts in her heart very well.

She opened her mouth and could only emphasize dryly: "Big Brother, it's A-Ming, it's your son A-Ming."

Cheng Long frowned, seemingly lost in memory, and only after a long while did he say: "A-Ming? Is he also my son?"

Afterwards, as if suddenly realizing, he muttered to himself: "Oh, oh, right, A-Ming is my son, I'm filming Cao Dao's new movie, that's right, that's it! It's just..."

Then, he frowned again, his face showing a look of some disgust, and he waved his hand casually, saying: "Forget it, I'm very busy right now, I won't take the call, I'm going to the set."

He got up and went to the washroom with a blank expression.

The assistant was somewhat helpless and could only say to the phone: "It's nothing, A-Ming, let's leave it at that."

A-Ming on the other end looked at his phone inexplicably, listening to the "beep-beep" sound, and uttered a very elegant Xiangjiang-style greeting.

Anyone woken up by two consecutive phone calls early in the morning while cuddling a beauty, without being told what the matter was, would be very angry, even if it was his father's assistant.

Cheng Long looked at himself in the mirror with a blank expression and closed his eyes, as if the smiles of the three children were still in his ears. When he opened his eyes again, they were already bloodshot.

He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water vigorously on his face.

He let out a long breath, looked up at the mirror again, and muttered to himself: "I am Cheng Long, I am the actor Cheng Long, I am the Chinese international superstar Cheng Long, I don't have child... uh, it seems I do, I, my three children..."

At this moment, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his heart. Even if his reason told him it was fake, that those were all fake, he just couldn't help but miss those three "children," couldn't help but feel guilty, couldn't help but feel heartbroken, couldn't help but feel a tug at his heart!

The set today seemed a bit abnormal.

Old Gu and Old Tian arrived a bit early. They saw with their own eyes that the performance student Zhu Yilong, who had a major role, arrived looking gloomy, as if someone owed him money.

Old Tian nudged Old Gu with his elbow, gestured toward Zhu Yilong, who had been sunny, polite, and shy until today, and whispered: "What's up with that guy? He looks like his father died."

Old Gu opened his mouth, wanting to scold Old Tian for speaking harshly. Although he had a similar feeling, you can't say it like that, it's really... huh?

Old Gu looked at Old Tian, then looked again, and then started laughing to himself, laughing in a way that left Old Tian confused.

"What the hell are you laughing at?"

Old Tian couldn't help but retort.

"Heh."

Old Gu looked at Old Tian with some disdain and said directly: "You're right, um, you're right, in the movie, his father died, haha..."

Old Tian was stunned, and only then did he realize that he was the one playing his father in the movie, and he had indeed "died."

"Damn it!"

Old Tian cursed, then moved past this point and asked Old Gu.

"That international superstar from Xiangjiang does have acting skills, but for so many years he has only used a fixed mode of performance, forming a set routine. Even if he has talent and acting skills, I estimate it's mostly worn out."

Smacking his lips, Old Tian continued: "Do you think Cao Yang can train him in one day? I think it's a bit difficult; decades of inertia are still very hard to change."

"Heh, hehe!"

Old Gu scoffed at Old Tian's words and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

You, Old Tian, don't know a damn thing!

Can you compare one person to another?

You know absolutely nothing about geniuses!

Don't think that just because you just won the Venice Golden Lion, you're really a Golden Lion grand director.

Heh, you know in your heart how you got this Golden Lion director title, don't you? Compared to Cao Yang, you are the difference between a star and the sun.

You have to understand that the gap between people is sometimes even greater than the gap between a person and a dog.

"Don't use your inertial thinking and self-righteous logic to project onto Cao Yang. Geniuses don't need logic, at least not the logic you think is necessary. Perhaps they have their own logic, it's just that ordinary people can't understand or comprehend it."

Old Gu patted Old Tian on the shoulder and said with some pride and certainty:

"How many movies have you filmed with Cao Yang? I can guarantee that even if that person has long since formed a fixed performance routine, here with Cao Yang, whatever performance routine, whatever performance technique, it's all useless, they all have to get into character for me!

Just wait and see. Cao Yang exerted his influence yesterday to guide him into character. Today, that person's performance will absolutely shock you."

Old Tian smacked his lips again, wanting to refute, but thinking that this was Cao Yang's movie, he felt from the bottom of his heart that Old Gu was right.

But if he didn't refute, seeing Old Gu's face made him angry.

What do you mean by "how many movies have you filmed with Cao Yang"?

Damn it.

You dog, you probably forgot that the reason you were able to become Cao Yang's cinematographer was because I recommended you to Cao Yang.

Winning two Oscars for Best Cinematography makes you act like you're so amazing.

You... damn it, two Oscars for Best Cinematography really don't count for much, but this dog, by following Cao Yang, has filmed movies that have won the Oscar for Best Picture, Oscar for Best Director, and other honors.

If one were to say that in the domestic film and television circle, the Oscars don't really represent "art films."

The key is that this dog has also followed Cao Yang to win the Cannes Palme d'Or and the Venice Golden Lion, not to mention the Cannes Best Director and Venice Best Director awards.

Damn it!

The more Old Tian thought about it, the angrier he got. If he had still been following Cao Yang as a cinematographer back then...

Bah!

That dog Old Gu, a guy who got lucky!

"What is that kid Cao Yang doing? Why hasn't he come yet today?"

Old Tian forcibly changed the subject; he was afraid that if he continued to talk to Old Gu about awards and training actors, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from taking action.

"I don't know, but that person is here."

Old Gu said softly.

Old Tian turned his head to look. Cheng Long was stepping down from the car... well, this famous international superstar, known to the world for his kung fu, stumbled as he stepped down from the car, almost falling flat on his face.

It was just that Cheng Long's kung fu foundation was still there; at the critical moment, he subconsciously slid his feet and straightened his waist, stopping himself abruptly. If it had been anyone else, they definitely would have fallen.

In the past, if he had made such a "fool of himself," Cheng Long definitely would have juggled a few more times, ending with a handsome pose, and finally would have smiled and cupped his hands in thanks, turning the "foolishness" into showing off to resolve it. But today, he pushed away the assistant who wanted to come over to help him with a blank expression, his face full of indifference and lack of concern for worldly things, giving people an attitude of "the sky is falling and the world is ending, what does that have to do with me."

It wasn't that he had a mindset of being detached from the world, but rather a total indifference where living was fine and dying was also fine.

Old Tian and Old Gu looked at each other, both seeing surprise and admiration in the other's eyes.

With Cheng Long's current state, for the movie to be filmed, let alone acting, it was as if the protagonist had "come out" himself.

"Cao Yang is awesome!"

Old Gu glanced at Old Tian, sighing silently and proudly in his heart.

"This kid Cao Yang is really fucking awesome!"

Old Tian pretended not to see Old Gu's expression and sighed.

Only, both of them were a bit puzzled. It was almost time for filming, where was Cao Yang? Why hadn't he come yet?

Cao Yang had encountered trouble.

Yu Feihong didn't have any scenes these past few days, so she didn't come to the set.

However, although she didn't come to the set, Cao Yang had a massive headache.

Listening to Yu Feihong crying her heart out on the phone, Cao Yang... he had been listening to her cry for nearly forty minutes. It was the kind where she didn't say a word; she just started crying as soon as the call connected.

First, she cried with grievance and sadness, later perhaps she was tired from crying, and she just sobbed and cried softly.

No matter what Cao Yang asked, she wouldn't answer, she just cried endlessly.

This left Cao Yang with no way to hang up the phone.

Initially, Cao Yang wondered if Yu Feihong had been bullied, but then he thought about her character and personality. If someone really dared to bully her, relying on her... ability, she wouldn't just be crying so weakly.

Cao Yang was almost certain that it must be because of the immersion experience he added for her.

"Sister, tell me what's wrong, did someone bully you? Don't worry, I'll give the crew a day off right now and rush over to stand up for you. Where are you now? I'm coming over right now."

These words of Cao Yang seemed to show concern for her, and of course, he was genuinely concerned about her.

But there was another layer of meaning, which was that I'm still filming, if you were bullied, I will definitely stand up for you, don't just keep crying, say something, okay?

Perhaps realizing that Cao Yang was filming, Yu Feihong sobbed and said: "I, I am very sad right now, we have three children, but, but they, they... wuwu..."

It was indeed this matter.

According to past experience, after adding the immersion experience, as long as it wasn't during filming, one could generally distinguish reality, and even if the immersion was particularly deep, there would still be reason.

But Yu Feihong's situation was a bit different.

Over the past year, she had been wanting a child, and was even somewhat obsessed with it.

Just because she wanted a child and had a deep obsession with children, when the immersion experience was added to her, and an extra one at that, her maternal instincts were completely triggered.

To the point that she was now sad and distressed to the extreme.

Of course, she could still distinguish reality from dreams, but she just couldn't help but feel guilty and sad.

Cao Yang was somewhat helpless, regretting that he had added the immersion experience for Yu Feihong too early; he should have added it when she had scenes.

"Sister, don't cry, those are all fake, they are all plots in the movie, you might be a bit too immersed.

How about this, you come stay at the set, I will work twice as hard, work day and night, work whenever I have free time, striving to let you become a mother soon and have a child of your own, how about that?"

Cao Yang said, coaxing and comforting her.

Yu Feihong's sobbing paused, and she said: "I, I'm fine, maybe I just, just got a bit too immersed, you go ahead and get busy, I, I will adjust, don't worry, I'm, I'm fine."

After saying this, she hung up the phone first.

Then, she threw the phone on the bed and sobbed for a while longer.

In fact, Yu Feihong could also distinguish reality from immersion, but she was just sad, and that was something that couldn't be helped.

Afterwards, she seemed to remember what Cao Yang had just said about working twice as hard, working day and night, and working whenever he had free time, and she muttered to herself: "I hope you, you keep your word."

Cao Yang didn't know that what he said casually had been taken seriously by Yu Feihong. By the time he arrived at the set, he was already more than ten minutes late.

However, no one in the entire crew mentioned Cao Yang's lateness, as if this matter didn't exist.

The new staff and interns on the crew thought that today would probably be like yesterday, slowly advancing the plot amidst Cheng Long's constant NG takes.

This was actually the most normal way of filming. Whether it was the actors or the crew members, everyone needed to get in sync—the staff needed to adapt to the director's requirements and rhythm, and the actors needed to slowly get into character and display their acting skills.

However, they finally witnessed today what it meant for the filming schedule to fail to keep up with the filming progress!

If someone said that when filming a movie, the daily filming plan couldn't keep up with the filming speed, to the point of easily completing two days or even more of the filming plan in one day, I'm afraid this would be considered a fantasy.

But this "fantasy" had truly happened.

According to the plan, except for the first few shots in the morning where the protagonist played by Cheng Long interacted with Old Tian, the "older brother," most of the scenes today and for the next three days were scenes between Cheng Long and his nephew.

The scenes between Cheng Long and Old Tian in the morning formed a sharp contrast with yesterday. Old Tian... didn't hold up his end of the acting, he failed.

Fortunately, Old Tian's acting skills were still good, and he adjusted in time, finally managing to cope.

This led to Old Tian being fiercely mocked by Old Gu.

It also left the new staff and Beijing Film Academy interns stunned. They couldn't imagine how Cheng Long, who was so lackluster yesterday, could suppress the Golden Lion grand director and the director of the Beijing Film Academy's directing department today?

It's not that I don't understand, it's that this world changes too fast.

Then, they naturally remembered that yesterday Cao Dao had spent several hours talking about the scenes with Cheng Long, and seemed to have called over the "lucky star" Zhu Yilong, coaching both of them at the same time.

They didn't expect that just one night of coaching would give Cheng Long a qualitative leap today. Sure enough, Cao Dao's skill in training actors wasn't just talk.

Thinking that Cao Dao had cultivated four Best Actresses from the three major European film festivals, and also made Depp win the Oscar for Best Actor consecutively and made Mark Ruffalo win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, then making Cheng Long reborn wasn't a big deal.

However, what truly shocked them was the subsequent scenes between Cheng Long and the newcomer Zhu Yilong. Everyone almost started to doubt their own eyes.

What did they see?

The scenes between Cheng Long and Zhu Yilong, a student at the Beijing Film Academy, were so smooth that it was as if they were real uncle and nephew talking, and it was happening within the entire context of the movie.

In other words, the two of them were like moving the movie's plot into reality; it was so silky smooth that it didn't look like acting at all.

Zhu Yilong... what the fuck did you do to deserve Cao Dao's favor, having him talk to you about the scenes personally yesterday!

What a lucky guy.

Consequently, including Cao Yang's original team, the new staff, and the interns, and even Old Gu and Old Tian, they all couldn't help but start to envy Cheng Long and Zhu Yilong.

Just looking at today's performance, Cheng Long seemed to have secured a Best Actor award from the three major European film festivals, and Zhu Yilong getting a Best Newcomer award was also no problem.

Don't look down on the Best Newcomer award from the three major European film festivals.

Look at that guy Liu Ye, who also got the Silver Lion for Best Newcomer thanks to Cao Dao. Look at him now; not only has he won countless major awards, but he has also become one of the most talented first-line male stars.

Being able to win the Best Newcomer award at the three major European film festivals, for an actor who hasn't debuted yet, is almost like standing directly on the shoulders of a giant, and their future career will surely be smooth sailing.

Of course, it also depends on who cultivated the Best Newcomer.

If it's a Best Newcomer cultivated by an ordinary director, their career will be at most a bit smoother, with a higher starting point than others. As for how they develop in the end, it still depends on personal ability.

But a Best Newcomer cultivated by Cao Yang is a stamp of approval on that newcomer's acting skills. It's absolutely a different matter from those cultivated by others, and their career path and starting point are completely different.

The filming plan at the Qingying Studio was originally expected to be 15 days, but as a result, it was completed in just 11 days.

This was still because they spent a few days filming the plot before the fire, and because of Cheng Long's acting problems, one day was delayed; otherwise, it would have been even faster.

Next, they had to go to Xiangjiang to film. The filming plan there was 10 days, and there were also scenes in Canada that needed 10 days of filming.

Cao Yang left the two most important scenes, which were the scenes where the protagonist meets his ex-wife pushing a baby, and the scene where the "nephew" opens the refrigerator and breaks down in tears, for the very end.

These two scenes were too important. He was afraid that if he filmed these two scenes in advance, the actors would "vent" their emotions too early, which would affect the subsequent filming. It was also to accumulate emotions continuously and finally have a release at the end.

(End of chapter)