Chapter 92: Financial Patron and Song Selection

Returning to school and looking at the quiet campus, Cao Yang realized a problem: he had arrived too early. Neither the school nor the Qingying Studio had resumed work yet.

Cao Yang had originally thought he could stay at his hometown for ten days or so, so he told Hou Ke before the New Year that he would return to school after the tenth day of the lunar month.

With four or five days left until the agreed time, and it being the New Year, he felt embarrassed to call and urge Hou Ke, so he could only wait.

Returning from his hometown this time, he brought quite a few local specialties, which were sitting in the trunk of his car; they were inexpensive, genuine local products.

With Cao Yang's current status, no matter whose house he visited, bringing some local specialties was the most appropriate thing to do.

He went to Old Situ's house first, sponged a meal, and Old Situ accepted Cao Yang's local specialties quite happily.

He then went to Old Tian's house, sponged another meal, and gave away some local specialties.

Neither talked about work; it was the New Year, so it wouldn't have been appropriate.

Cao Yang had originally thought about going to Hou Ke's house, but after some thought, if he went now, Hou Ke would definitely not be able to sit still and would guarantee to come to work tomorrow, while dragging everyone needed to assist Cao Yang with post-production to start work early as well.

Forget it, better to wait until after the tenth.

On the sixth day of the lunar month, Gao Yuanyuan sent a message asking if Cao Yang was returning to Xiangjiang.

Cao Yang was a bit baffled. Why would I return to Xiangjiang? Why would I return to Xiangjiang?

He replied to Gao Yuanyuan with a "?". Had she sent the message to the wrong person, or was she still not out of character?

Gao Yuanyuan did not reply.

How rude.

Before the New Year, Dong Xuan had sent Cao Yang a message asking when he would return to school.

Cao Yang replied that it wasn't decided yet and that he would let her know once he returned.

Upon returning to school, Cao Yang sent a message to Dong Xuan: I have returned to school. Actually, he didn't mean anything else by it and didn't pay any more attention after sending it.

Unexpectedly, Dong Xuan was quite interesting; on the morning of the seventh, she sent Cao Yang a message: I have also returned to school.

Cao Yang naturally understood why the young lady had returned to school so early, so he drove her out for a big meal and asked her upon returning, "How did you get here?"

"By train."

"Why didn't you call me when you arrived at the station? I have a car and could have picked you up."

Hearing Cao Yang's words, Dong Xuan was clearly very happy, unable to hide the joy on her face, and replied softly with a smile: "I was afraid of troubling you, and I didn't know you had a car."

"I bought the car a long time ago, but I rarely drive it to school. As a student who hasn't graduated yet, driving to school always feels a bit awkward."

"Yeah, there are a few classmates in our class who have cars, but they don't usually drive them to school either. They say the guards won't let them in."

Cao Yang didn't continue this topic but instead asked, "I'm taking you back to school; are you going to get some clothes to change into?"

Dong Xuan lowered her head and gave a soft "mm."

In fact, for just a few clothes, Cao Yang would certainly buy Dong Xuan several new sets from head to toe; he was mainly using this small matter to test Dong Xuan's intentions.

What if that wasn't what she meant?

When the car was about to reach the school gate, Dong Xuan was just about to say, "Wait by the side of the road, I'll go into the school to get my clothes," when she saw that Cao Yang had no intention of stopping at all and was driving straight into the school.

The security guard at the gate opened the gate and saluted, letting them through without saying a word.

Dong Xuan mocked herself inwardly; what kind of person was Director Cao? His license plate must have been registered in the school's internal system long ago; how could the guards stop him?

Cao Yang drove the car all the way to the bottom of Dong Xuan's dormitory building. He didn't get out, letting Dong Xuan go up to get her things herself.

Dong Xuan opened the dormitory door, closed it, closed her eyes, and patted her chest with her hand, suddenly feeling dizzy.

She had made a decision after knowing Cao Yang returned to school; at the time, her greatest wish was for Cao Yang to be slightly touched, and she would have been satisfied. While on the train, she had even felt a trace of regret for her impulsiveness.

"Director Cao asked me to bring clothes to change into; is he planning to stay at a hotel for a while?" Dong Xuan thought wildly while packing a few sets of undergarments and clothes she wore often.

"Luckily it's just after the New Year and it's still early before school starts; there aren't many people at school yet, otherwise if someone saw..."

Thinking wildly like this, Dong Xuan took her everyday clothes and got into Cao Yang's car. She didn't know which hotel Cao Yang would take her to, and then she saw Cao Yang drive into a fairly new residential complex.

"I bought the apartment here after returning from Venice last year; it's mainly because it's close to school and quite convenient." Cao Yang carried Dong Xuan's luggage and explained while opening the door.

"I'll give you a key in a moment; you can live here from now on."

Dong Xuan's face was flushed, and her heart was pounding. Is Director Cao trying to keep me as a mistress... pfft, pfft, what mistress or not, that sounds so ugly. To use the words often spoken by seniors, am I now backed by a financial patron?

Having the youngest major director in the country as a financial patron...

For the remaining few days, Cao Yang and Dong Xuan played quite a few adult games.

Her charming eyes shyly closed, her red lips parted in a smile. The wind rolls the grape-patterned sash, the sun shines on the pomegranate skirt.

At the same time, he also began to consider the post-production issues of the film.

In "Secret Sunshine," there is a plot where the female lead, in order to challenge God and take revenge on the church, secretly changes the music during a church fellowship, replacing the church music with Jin Qiuzi's "Lies."

!

Cao Yang certainly wouldn't use a South Korean song. These past few days, he had also been considering what song would be more appropriate.

He initially thought about changing it to "Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China" or the "National Anthem," but thinking about it, the sense of opposition was too obvious and the impact a bit too great, so he decided against it.

Later, Cao Yang thought of a pop song; he could only sing a few lines of the chorus, but these few lines fit the film's plot quite well.

"...It's all fake, fake, fake, crying until I'm mute, mute, mute, thinking in my heart, thinking, thinking, who exactly is this scam being performed for? It's all fake, fake, fake..."

Find someone to sing it, and just play those few lines in the movie.

However, playing this kind of pop song expresses the meaning, but it always feels not shocking enough and cannot leave a memorable impression.

Unable to think of anything more suitable, Cao Yang went online, logged into his Tianya account, and posted a thread asking the omnipotent netizens for help.

In the evening, after another mutually beneficial activity and reaching a state of life harmony, Cao Yang opened his computer and checked the Tianya community; there were indeed a few replies.

"Howl Song?"

Cao Yang didn't react for a moment; he hadn't heard of this song, and then he read the other party's explanation...

Alright, this definitely couldn't be used.

He continued reading down.

"The Internationale?"

The other party even specifically explained that in the 1939 translation by Xiao San, there is this line: There has never been any savior, nor do we rely on gods or emperors. To create human happiness, we rely entirely on ourselves...

Cao Yang's eyes lit up; these lyrics were truly suitable. Changing to this would be no problem; after all, it is a translation, and "The Internationale" is also widely circulated in Europe.

He originally wanted to set it for a timed release at 8:00 AM, but then he thought, it's already this late, what's the point of a timed release? Just upload it directly.

Thank you for your support, brothers. Recently, perhaps because more and more brothers are reading the book, various different opinions have been raised. I am truly grateful; everyone is doing this so the book can be written better and better. I understand.

But after all, it is difficult to satisfy the requirements of different readers, and I am also afraid that changing things back and forth will eventually disrupt my train of thought, leading to worse writing and even a collapse, so I hope brothers will be understanding if I sometimes don't adopt your suggestions.

In addition, I haven't written a novel in over ten years, so I might accidentally step on some "poison points"; I hope brothers will point them out in time so I can revise them early.

Finally, thank you again for the monthly tickets and recommendation support, everyone.

(End of chapter)