Chapter 377: Reborn

"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 gently, comforting him incessantly as if coaxing a child.

"As the saying goes, what you think about by day, you dream about by night. You’re probably too invested in the movie, too eager to perform well, so you entered the protagonist’s mindset and had a similar dream."

Cheng Long had stopped crying, but his face was now numb, his eyes unfocused, and he looked completely devoid of life.

The assistant had actually been trying to persuade him for quite a while; seeing Cheng Long’s current state, she felt a headache coming on and didn't know what to do for the moment.

What kind of nightmare could it have been to make Big Brother this heartbroken?

The assistant thought for a moment. Since Big Brother mentioned 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 offer comfort should be more effective than anything else.

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

As she spoke, the assistant 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 placed the call, and even A-Ming’s somewhat impatient voice could be heard from the phone, that he asked in a hoarse, confused voice:

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

The assistant’s hand holding 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; how could Big Brother not know this is his son?

Uh!

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

It was simply baffling.

At this moment, the assistant really wanted to laugh.

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

Of course, her professional conduct and the honor of being "Cheng Long’s assistant" allowed her to suppress her thoughts quite well.

Opening her mouth, she could only dryly emphasize: "Big Brother, it’s A-Ming, 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?"

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

Then, he frowned again, a look of disgust appearing on his face, and he waved his hand dismissively, 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, expressionless.

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

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

Anyone who is fast asleep in the morning, cuddling a beauty, only to be woken up by two consecutive phone calls without being told what the matter is—even if it is his old man’s assistant—would be extremely furious.

Cheng Long looked at himself in the mirror, expressionless, 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 hard onto 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 international Chinese 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 chest. Even though his reason told him it was fake, that those things were all fake, he couldn't help but miss those three "children," couldn't help the guilt, couldn't help the heartache, couldn't help the anguish!

Today on set, things seemed a bit abnormal.

Gu and Tian arrived a bit early, and they saw with their own eyes that the performance student, Zhu Yilong, who had important scenes, arrived with a gloomy face, as if someone owed him money.

Tian nudged Gu with his elbow, gestured toward Zhu Yilong—who had been sunny, polite, and shy until today—and whispered: "What’s up with him? Looks like his old man died."

Gu opened his mouth to scold Tian for his crude words, though he had a similar feeling, but you can't say it like that, it’s really... eh?

Gu looked at Tian, then looked again, and then started chuckling to himself, leaving Tian confused.

"What are you laughing at?"

Tian couldn't help but retort.

"Heh."

Gu looked at Tian with some disdain and said directly: "You’re right, yes, you’re right, in the movie, his old man did die, haha..."

Tian was stunned, then realized that he was the one playing his old man in the movie, and he did indeed "die."

"Damn it!"

Tian cursed, then moved past that point and asked Gu.

"That international superstar from Xiangjiang has acting skills, but for so many years he’s used a fixed mode of performance, forming a set routine. Even if he has talent and skill, I reckon it’s mostly worn out by now."

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

"Heh, hehe!"

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

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

Can you compare people to one another?

You know absolutely nothing about genius!

Don't think that just because you just won the Venice Golden Lion, you’re truly a Golden Lion master director.

Heh, you know how you got that Golden Lion, don't you? Compared to Cao Yang, you’re the difference between a star and the sun.

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

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

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

"How many movies have you shot with Cao Yang? I can guarantee that even if he has long formed fixed performance routines, here with Cao Yang, no performance routine or technique will be of any use—they all have to get into character!

Just wait and see, Cao Yang exerted his influence yesterday to guide him into the role; today, that man’s performance will absolutely shock you."

Tian smacked his lips again, wanting to retort, but thinking that this was Cao Yang’s movie, he felt in his heart that Gu was right.

But if he didn't retort, seeing Gu’s face made him angry.

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

Damn it.

You bastard probably forgot that you only became Cao Yang’s cinematographer because I recommended you to him.

Winning two Oscars for Best Cinematography makes you think you’re something special.

You... damn it, two Oscars for Best Cinematography really isn't much, but this bastard followed Cao Yang, and the movies they shot won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and other honors.

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

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

Damn it!

The more Tian thought about it, the angrier he got; if he had stayed on as Cao Yang’s cinematographer back then...

Pfft!

Damn that Gu, the guy who got lucky!

"What is that kid Cao Yang doing? Why isn't he here yet today?"

Tian forcibly changed the subject; he was afraid that if he kept talking to Gu about awards and training actors, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from throwing a punch.

"I don't know, but he’s here."

Gu said softly.

Tian turned his head to look; Cheng Long was stepping out of the car... well, this famous international superstar, known worldwide for his kung fu, stumbled as he got out of the car, almost falling flat on his face.

It was only because Cheng Long’s kung fu foundation was still there that he instinctively slid and braced his waist at the critical moment, stopping himself; if it had been anyone else, they definitely would have fallen.

In the past, after such a "gaffe," Cheng Long would definitely have performed a few more stunts, finished with a handsome pose, and finally smiled and cupped his hands in thanks, turning the "gaffe" into a display of coolness to resolve it. But today, he pushed away the assistant who wanted to help him, expressionless, his face full of indifference and lack of concern for worldly things—he just gave off 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 transcendental state of mind, but rather a total indifference where living or dying didn't matter.

Tian and Gu exchanged a look, both seeing surprise and admiration in each other’s eyes.

With Cheng Long in this state, for the movie they were about to film, let alone acting, it was as if the protagonist had truly "emerged."

"Cao Yang is awesome!"

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

"That kid Cao Yang is truly fucking awesome!"

Tian pretended not to see Gu’s expression and sighed.

However, both were a bit puzzled; it was almost time to start filming, so where was Cao Yang? Why hadn't he arrived yet?

Cao Yang had encountered trouble.

There were no scenes for Yu Feihong these past few days, so she hadn't come to the set.

However, even though she hadn't come to the set, Cao Yang felt like his head was going to explode.

Listening to Yu Feihong sobbing uncontrollably 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, just cried as soon as the call connected.

First, she cried with grievance and sadness, then perhaps she got tired of crying and started sobbing with little whimpers.

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

This made it impossible for Cao Yang to even hang up the phone.

At first, Cao Yang wondered if Yu Feihong had been bullied, but then thinking of her character and personality, if someone really dared to bully her, given her... capabilities, she wouldn't just be crying so weakly.

Cao Yang was almost certain it must be because he had added the immersion experience 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? I’m coming over."

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

But there was another layer of meaning: I’m still filming, if you’ve been bullied, I’ll definitely stand up for you, but could you please stop just crying and say something?

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..."

So it really was this.

According to past experience, after adding the immersion experience, as long as it is not during filming, one can generally distinguish reality; even if the immersion is particularly deep, there will still be reason.

But Yu Feihong’s situation is a bit different.

For the past year, she has been wanting a child, even to the point of being somewhat obsessed.

Just because she wants a child and her obsession with having one is quite deep, 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 is now sad and distressed to the extreme.

Of course, she can still distinguish reality from dreams, but she just cannot help feeling guilty and sad.

Cao Yang feels somewhat helpless, regretting that he added the immersion experience to Yu Feihong too early; he should have added it when there were scenes for her.

"Big sister, don't cry. That’s all fake, it’s just the plot in the movie; you might have gotten a little too immersed."

"How about this: you come stay at the set, and I will work twice as hard, day and night, working whenever I have a spare moment, striving to help you become a mother soon so you can have a child of your own, how about that?"

Cao Yang said, coaxing and comforting her.

Yu Feihong’s sobbing paused for a moment, and she said, "I, I’m fine. Maybe I just, just got a little too immersed. You go ahead and get busy; I, I will adjust. Don’t worry, I’m, I’m fine."

After saying that, she was the first to hang up the phone.

Then, she tossed the phone onto the bed and sobbed for a while longer.

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

Afterward, she seemed to recall what Cao Yang had just said about working twice as hard, day and night, and whenever he had a spare moment, and she muttered to herself, "I hope you, you keep your word."

Cao Yang did not yet know that his offhand remark had been taken seriously by Yu Feihong, and by the time he rushed to the set, he was already ten minutes late.

However, no one in the entire crew mentioned Cao Yang’s tardiness, as if the matter did not exist at all.

The new crew members and interns thought that today would probably be like yesterday, slowly advancing the plot amidst the process of Cheng Long constantly retaking scenes.

This is actually the most normal way of filming; whether it is the actors or the crew, everyone needs to get in sync—the crew needs to adapt to the director’s requirements and rhythm, and the actors need to slowly immerse themselves to deliver their performance.

But today, they finally witnessed what it means for the filming schedule to be unable to keep up with the filming progress!

If someone said that when making a movie, the daily filming schedule couldn't keep up with the speed of filming, to the point where they could easily complete two days or even more of the filming schedule in a single day, I’m afraid this would be considered a fantasy.

Yet this "fantasy" truly happened.

According to the plan, except for the first few shots in the morning where the male lead played by Cheng Long interacts with "older brother" Old Tian, the scenes for today and the next three days are mostly scenes between Cheng Long and his nephew.

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

Fortunately, Old Tian’s acting skills are still quite good, and he adjusted in time, finally managing to muddle through.

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

It also left the new crew members and the Beijing Film Academy interns stunned; they could never have imagined how Cheng Long, who was so lackluster yesterday, could suppress the Golden Lion-winning director and head of the Beijing Film Academy’s directing department today.

It’s not that I don’t understand, it’s just that the world changes too fast.

Then, they naturally remembered that yesterday, Director Cao spent several hours coaching Cheng Long on the scenes and even called over the "lucky star" Zhu Yilong, coaching both of them at the same time.

Who would have thought that just one night of coaching would allow Cheng Long to make such a qualitative leap today; sure enough, Director Cao’s skill in training actors is not just talk.

Thinking that Director Cao has produced four winners of the "Big Three" European film festival best actress awards, and also enabled Depp to win consecutive Oscar best actor awards and let Mark Ruffalo win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, then making Cheng Long undergo a complete transformation is no big deal.

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

What did they see?

The scene between Cheng Long and the Beijing Film Academy student Zhu Yilong was so smooth that it was as if they were truly an uncle and nephew talking, and it all happened within the context of the movie’s background.

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

Zhu Yilong... what the hell did you do to deserve Director Cao’s favor, having him coach you personally yesterday!

What a lucky bastard.

Consequently, including Cao Yang’s original team, the new crew members, the interns, and even Old Gu and Old Tian, everyone couldn't help but start envying Cheng Long and Zhu Yilong.

Just looking at today’s performance, Cheng Long seems to have secured a "Big Three" European film festival best actor award, and there is no problem with Zhu Yilong winning a Best Newcomer award.

Don't look down on a "Big Three" Best Newcomer award.

Look at that guy Liu Ye; it was also Director Cao who helped him win the Silver Lion for Best Newcomer. Look at him now—not only has he won countless major awards, but he has also become a top-tier male star with the most acting ability.

Being able to win a "Big Three" Best Newcomer award for an actor who hasn't debuted yet is almost like standing directly on the shoulders of giants; their future career will surely be smooth sailing.

Of course, it also depends on who is the one promoting the Best Newcomer.

If it’s a Best Newcomer promoted by an ordinary director, their career will at most be a bit smoother and their starting point a bit higher than others; as for how they end up, it still depends on individual ability.

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

The filming schedule at the Qingying Studio was originally expected to be 15 days, but in the end, it only took 11 days to finish.

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

Next, they have to go to Xiangjiang to film, where the filming schedule is 10 days, and there are also scenes in Canada that require 10 days of filming.

Cao Yang left the two most important scenes—the male lead meeting his ex-wife pushing a baby, and the "nephew" breaking down and crying in front of the refrigerator—for the very end.

These two scenes are too important; he was afraid that if he filmed them too early, the actors would "vent" their emotions prematurely, which might affect the subsequent filming. It was also to continuously accumulate emotions and then have a final release.

(End of chapter)