Global Film Emperor

Chapter 527 Audio Movies
Passing through the crowded open-air market, the smell of livestock and seafood mingled with everyone's presence. Vehicles waited quietly for pedestrians to pass, but the elderly people in front of me hobbled along, yet with a hint of haste, as they made way for the cars.

As young people are confined to cages to make a living, this city, known for its fast pace, suddenly slows down, much like the tin-roofed vegetable stalls that can be seen now, as if it has traveled back to a very, very long time ago.

This is an old community in the suburbs of the capital city.

Old, but not dirty or messy, the clean and tidy road was where elderly people were cooling off. The red bricks covered with moss were cracked, and a few foxtail grasses were growing. It was early autumn, and the tips were starting to turn yellow. They were plucked by toddlers who were not yet of school age and rubbed to get tiny seeds.

As the vehicle adorned with streamers from the TV show drove by, it caught the attention of the elderly. They watched, then whispered among themselves to one of the older folks. Lu Ze hadn't seen this scene of neighbors chatting for a while, and he felt a sense of warmth as he leaned against the car window and peered out.

But in the blink of an eye, after turning the corner to the back of the community, a doorway was carved out of the middle of the building in front of us, as if a piece of wood had been pulled out from a neatly arranged pile of timber. Going through this small hole, the asphalt road turned into a road surface paved with black coal ash dumped from a boiler, and the tires made a creaking sound when driving on it.

This used to be a boiler room, but now it's the property management office for this old residential complex and... the address of a school for disabled people.

Compared to ordinary primary and secondary schools, schools for the disabled have no competitive advantage and can only become a stone lying motionless at the bottom of the river in the torrent of the times.

There are no sports facilities here, and even the playground has to be shared with the old men in the property management office. But thankfully, you can still hear the sound of reading, adding some youthful color to this somewhat desolate scene.

There's no need to complain, and it's not all bad. At least it provides a free education opportunity for some children who want to learn but lack the ability to do so in this extremely valuable area. For these children, this is already a thoughtful act of care.

Hidden within this bustling city are numerous schools for disabled children, unknown even to locals, creating an opportunity for these children, whose future livelihoods are uncertain, to support themselves.

The car stopped next to a camel-colored, somewhat old-fashioned minibus. This was a vehicle belonging to the Beijing Traffic Radio Station, which would take its hosts, who had just finished their broadcasts or hadn't yet started, to the schools for disabled children every week to conduct audio film activities. Ever since Lu Ze suggested it, and with the strong support of the Cultural Bureau, a nationwide promotion of audio films had been carried out, they had been traveling between various schools for disabled children in Beijing for almost two years now.

Wu Chun was still asleep in the car. She had fallen asleep just a few minutes after getting on and hadn't woken up when the car stopped. Lu Ze gently nudged her, and she rubbed her eyes, quickly put on her backpack, and got off the car with Lu Ze.

The school's main gate was rather shabby, resembling a storefront. On either side hung plaques indicating the school and the supporting organizations. As soon as Lu Ze got out of the car, someone quickly ran out of the gate to shake his hand.

“Mr. Lu, it’s been a long time. You don’t look much different. You’re still so young.”

“Principal Liu, today I just wanted to bring my student to participate in the reading of audio films, and also to find ideas for her future work.”

"Welcome, welcome. Please come with me."

Principal Liu, who was over sixty years old, shook hands with Lu Ze on his left hand. Perhaps it was the sight of Principal Li's empty right sleeve that made Wu Chun a little scared. She turned her head to look at Lu Ze, but didn't dare to say anything. She just followed Lu Ze inside.

This was not the first time Lu Ze and Principal Liu had met. Principal Liu was very grateful to Lu Ze, after all, Lu Ze had been the school's biggest donor over the years.

The first donation was 150,000 yuan, which happened about ten years ago. At that time, Lu Ze had just debuted and was filming the TV series "Youth in the Capital". The filming location was nearby. During his spare time, Lu Ze came here and left 150,000 yuan as a donation. Since then, Lu Ze has sent money every year and has never lost contact with Lu Ze.

This is a privately-run school for disabled children, which was later approved. Although teachers' salaries and school maintenance are funded every year, there are still some financial gaps. However, these gaps do not come from the school itself, but from the students, either because their families are poor or because their parents are unwilling to pay for their children's expenses. So there are always children who cannot even afford food. This is why Lu Ze donated money.

It had been some years since Lu Ze had been here. The children he knew back then had long since graduated and gone to study at a more specialized vocational school for disabled people. Lu Ze followed behind Principal Liu, listening to him talk about the talents of the new children. It was clear that Principal Liu truly loved these children.

As they walked, they listened to the script. Lu Ze smiled and nodded in response until they arrived at the principal's office. He pushed open the door and went in. Six people were sitting in the small office, facing each other and reciting their lines. People who regularly listen to the radio might recognize their names immediately.

Upon seeing Lu Ze enter, the radio hosts quickly stood up to shake hands and greet him. Their Mandarin was extremely standard, even pleasant to the ear, demonstrating their excellent oral communication skills.

"Is Teacher Lu reading aloud with us this time?"

"No, this time it's my students working together with you all, please take good care of them."

"Where are you from?"

Lu Ze pushed Wu Chun forward, letting her interact with the hosts. Compared to these hosts who had been working for at least three to five years, and some even for over ten or twenty years, the eighteen-year-old Wu Chun seemed overly shy. No matter what the hosts said, she nodded and agreed like a kowtowing insect, frantically taking out her script to compare with the others. Lu Ze, along with the cameraman, sat aside watching her reactions and occasionally spoke to the cameraman.

"Wu Chun probably didn't sleep well last night. She looked so sleepy in the car. It's hard to say whether she can maintain her form today. Hopefully, she can perform steadily."

The cameraman couldn't speak, he just nodded in response off-camera. Lu Ze sat on the sofa and watched Wu Chun's performance for a while, then shook his head, got up and went outside to talk to Principal Liu.

The conversation lasted for almost an hour. They also went to the student cafeteria for a meal, which consisted of one meat dish and two vegetable dishes. Although there were too many potatoes in the beef stew, the taste was still pretty good. After eating their fill, the students started their meal. Lu Ze and Principal Liu carried stools to the door to enjoy the breeze. When they saw the teachers carrying plastic stools and arranging them on the cinder path, they went over to lend a hand.

The school is not large, but blind people make up more than 80 percent of its population. Excluding the children who can see the world with their eyes, Wu Chun and his audience consisted of more than 60 people. Soon, all the chairs were arranged, and the narrators for this audio film also finished their meals and came out to adjust the accompaniment and sound effects. Wu Chun couldn't help with these things and could only stand awkwardly next to Lu Ze, nervously clutching the script.

What did you do last night?

"I had some trouble sleeping last night..."

Finally having some free time, Lu Ze looked at Wu Chun seriously. He was very dissatisfied with Wu Chun today. No matter how lively and mischievous you were before, now that you have important work to do, you are still so lazy, and even keep yawning throughout the day. This is a problem.

When Lu Ze questioned her, Wu Chun panicked a little and her answer seemed like a cover-up. However, Lu Ze had asked the PD and confirmed that she had indeed stayed in the hotel last night and hadn't gone out. He couldn't ask her any further questions, but he just glared at her and told her to help the teachers arrange for the children to sit down.

She had never been in contact with visually impaired people, nor had she encountered many disabled people in her life. So ever since she came to this school, Wu Chun had been on edge, maintaining a relatively distant relationship with groups that made her feel uncomfortable.

But this time, close contact was unavoidable. Following the school teacher, she waited at the classroom door. The children who had been looking forward to this day were somewhat excited. The noisy classroom was no different from that of children of the same age in ordinary schools.

She hid at the back, watching the children line up and hold hands one by one. When she heard the teacher call her for help, she snapped out of her daze, caught up with the children, stood next to the first child in the row, and after getting the child's consent, slowly extended her hand to hold that small, tender hand.

"Who are you, sister?"

The girl beside him raised her head, her eyes closed, but her smile was radiant. Looking at that innocent face, Wu Chun suddenly felt her palms sweating. Looking at the children behind her, holding hands and also with their eyes slightly closed, she felt a strange tightness in her chest.

"I'm the narrator for today's movie review." "Really? Thank you, sister!"

Wu Chun was taken aback, and looked at the girl with slight confusion, asking, "Why are you suddenly saying thank you?"

"The teacher said she wanted to thank you all, because without you, we wouldn't have heard such interesting stories."

The pressure arose in Wu Chun's heart because others had expectations of her, even though they lacked confidence in her, and offered their heartfelt thanks. This placed a great psychological burden on Wu Chun, who silently followed the teacher and led the children outside one by one.

Humans will never lack empathy or the ability to put themselves in others' shoes, but it will never manifest in those with whom you are arguing or hostile; rather, it will manifest in those with whom you have compassion.

After arranging the children in their seats, she glanced at Lu Ze, who was sitting expressionlessly with his legs crossed. She then joined the other announcers for final adjustments. Finally, amidst enthusiastic applause, she stood nervously before the more than sixty children and picked up the movie script, "Forrest Gump."

The same music as the film played from the speakers, and the previously noisy children immediately quieted down. The male host, who had worked at the Beijing Radio Station for more than ten years, narrated the voice-over in perfect Mandarin. Compared to the narration and interludes in visual films, the workload of the narration in sound films is much greater. It is not only necessary to complete the original lines, but also to describe and recreate the scenes in the film to the audience as much as possible.

"The bus pulled up and kicked up a white feather, which fluttered in the wind and slowly drifted to the feet of the man sitting on the bench. His shoes were dirty and worn, and you could no longer tell that they were originally white. The man picked up the feather, looked at it, then moved the gift next to him and gently put the feather into his suitcase."

The sounds of cars, music, and the host's voices blended together, achieving a wonderful balance. None of the children spoke; they seemed to be imagining the scene in their minds, even though they had never seen it before. But vision is never a constraint on a child's imagination.

"Hello, I am Freys, Freys Gan."

While dialogue may not be a host's forte, in the field of sound films, they can use their richer emotions than actors to solidify the stability of the dialogue. Lu Ze listened and couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Without asking the woman next to him who was also waiting for the bus, the man named Forrest began to recount his childhood experiences. However, the script they were reading had been partially adapted, with the part about Forrest's mother sleeping with the headmaster to secure Forrest's chance to attend a regular school being changed, since it was not appropriate for children to be exposed to such things.

Wu Chun sat down and gently turned the page following the story she was telling. There was only one character she was going to narrate, and that was Jenny as a child. Soon, she would appear when Forrest Gump first boarded the school bus.

"You can sit here if you like."

Wu Chun's voice was very clear and clean. If she deliberately controlled her vocal cords, she could imitate a little girl with a 70-80% similarity. She delivered her lines without any mistakes, which relieved her. Lu Ze was also somewhat relieved.

She gradually relaxed, and her speech became more relaxed. When she asked Forrest Gump if he was a fool, and Forrest Gump replied, "A fool is a fool if he does foolish things," the children in the audience suddenly became a little unsettled. This was what they hoped to see. If the event could not help these children find something to think about while seeking happiness, then the sound film activity would not be so important.

She relaxed and had a good rapport with the host who was imitating a boy, even when they were running through a cornfield trying to avoid Jenny's father. But then an unexpected incident occurred.

“Come and wash and pray with me, Freys.”

Her old habit kicked in again; she couldn't distinguish between Q and X. This small mistake made her a little flustered, and she subconsciously looked up at Lu Ze sitting in the front row. He was sitting with his arms crossed, not saying anything, but just looking directly into Wu Chun's eyes.

She suddenly felt as if her tongue had turned into a piece of wood, sticking straight up in her mouth and blocking her throat. The lines became increasingly difficult to deliver, and even her partner patted her on the shoulder to encourage her, but it had no effect. Towards the end, even the slightest mistake made it difficult to finish a line.

Feeling dazed and confused, she didn't even know how she got off the field to rest. She just sat silently next to Lu Ze. When she saw that he didn't say anything, she became discouraged, but fortunately she was still strong and didn't shed a few tears in public.

This was a major mistake for Wu Chun at the moment, but if you consider her future career, it was just a small, insignificant setback. So Lu Ze didn't scold her. He just continued to watch other people's broadcasts and pay attention to the children's psychological activities. After a while, he took out an eye mask from his bag, handed it to Wu Chun, and told her to put it on and continue to watch the broadcasters.

She held the blindfold, hesitated for a moment, and slowly put it on. The darkness obscured her vision, and as she listened to the ongoing broadcast on stage, she temporarily drew a line between herself and the visible self she had just seen. Relying solely on her hearing, she paid attention to every movement around her.

In this situation, it was extremely unsafe. The blindfold was very protective and completely opaque. She listened quietly to the hosts reading in the pitch-black world. When she heard that Forrest Gump had joined the All-Star football team and the children laughed, she suddenly began to feel sad.

Just now I felt embarrassed and guilty; now I feel sad.

From that moment on, she truly began to empathize with the children, putting herself in their shoes. Recalling her earlier mistake, she realized it was her fault that had caused the children's month-long anticipation of the audio film to fall short of expectations. From that moment on, every second became an ordeal, tormenting her already fragile heart.

Until the movie was over, Lu Ze removed her blindfold. Perhaps because of the sunlight or because of her guilt, she didn't dare to look Lu Ze in the eye. She was quietly pulled up by another female host and walked to the children, listening to them repeatedly say thank you.

Grabbing the girl in front of her hand again, Wu Chun escorted the students back to the classroom. The others helped tidy up the chairs placed outside. While the others weren't paying attention to her, she quietly walked to the corner, curled up into a ball, and secretly wiped away her tears.

But Lu Ze saw all her actions, which she thought no one had noticed. The cameraman secretly went over and filmed for a short while before Lu Ze called him back to ask about her situation.

"How's it going?"

"She's crying, probably because she feels guilty. Should we go and comfort her?"

"Let her cry, let her cry as much as she wants. When she starts working, she'll cry a lot more. Who will comfort her then? She'll have to process everything on her own. Besides, two of the other three cried too."

Lu Ze didn't care. Instead, he talked about the other three students. Last night, he received a call from the film crew and heard the news of Ju Yulin's breakdown. The girl started crying in the subway station because she had worked overtime past 11 p.m. for three consecutive days. Last night, she ran more than two kilometers to catch the subway, but watched helplessly as the last subway left, which caused her to break down. The film crew also received instructions from Lu Ze to not give her money for a taxi home. They just asked their leader to make an exception and let her sleep in the office for the night. They heard that she was still in a bad mood when she woke up this morning.

Another one is even worse off. Peng Kuo went to Sanhe and worked on the assembly line for a few days, but then he lost his wallet. He really lost it. He's been sleeping on the streets for the past few days. Today, he was collecting bottles and surfing the internet with some new gurus he just met. He's obviously been corrupted by them and has fallen into the same bad habit. But this kid comes from a very well-off family and has never experienced this kind of hardship. He often watches the cars going by at night and secretly wipes away his tears. His situation is truly tragic.

Compared to them, Wu Chun, a girl still under Lu Ze's protection, is nothing in comparison to this setback. Let her cry here.

Today's event was over. Lu Ze saw the hosts off to their cars when his phone suddenly vibrated. He glanced at the caller ID, his expression a little strange, and answered the call. The cameraman next to him was drinking water, and when he heard Lu Ze say something, he spat out the water he had just drunk.

"What? Huh? Chen Dongsheng has also collapsed?"

"..."

(End of this chapter)