Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 646 Free Car
When we returned to Yunhu, the city lights were already on.

Chen Fan drove the car to his front door, got out, unlocked the door, pushed open the gate, drove the car into the yard, got out again, and closed the gate.

After a flurry of activity, as soon as I turned around, I saw two pairs of bright green eyes staring at me from the ground.

"Meow..."

He stepped forward and gently kicked one of the cats twice, massaging its belly. "You two are still here? Not bad, not bad. I'll give you something good to eat later."

These two adult raccoon dogs are so loyal and dutiful; consider feeding them an extra meal a bonus.

The other stray cat, which hadn't been massaged, lay on the ground and meowed again, thinking to itself, "Living here sheltered from the wind and rain, and with young ladies coming over to feed the fish every few days, only a fool would leave."

After releasing the two cats, Chen Fan opened the door and went inside, turned on the light, then threw his backpack onto a chair and went from the front of the house to the backyard to see what else was available for food.

Normally, this house is uninhabited year-round, so food is not usually stored there.

However, Yang Mei and the other two often take turns cleaning, and they know that he might come back at any time, so they might leave some food at home.

The refrigerator wasn't plugged in. I opened the door, and it was completely empty.

Then go to the kitchen.

Not bad. Inside the cupboard, I found a piece of cured pork, a few sausages, and a cured chicken. In the water tank outside, there were also several large fish, each a foot long, swimming around.

There is a small vegetable garden against the wall in the backyard, where scallions, ginger, garlic, and several different kinds of vegetables are planted in separate plots.

These dishes look like they're regularly tended to; they don't appear messy at all.

The pavilion in the middle of the backyard is surrounded by a ring of chrysanthemums in full bloom.

In short, although no one lives here, it's no different from if someone does.

Since he had everything he needed, Chen Fan didn't bother going out to eat.

I steamed a pot of rice, dug up a few potatoes from the vegetable garden, picked some greens, stewed a pot of preserved chicken with potatoes, and caught a fish...

More than half an hour later, three dishes and a soup were served.

First, I picked out some fish back meat and bones with meat and put them into two cat bowls. Then I found a bottle of aged Yunhu Daqu liquor in the room, took it to the kitchen, sat down, and started showing off with my food bowl in hand.

After a satisfying meal, I washed the pots and pans, filled a kettle with water and placed it on the coal stove. When the water boiled, I moved a rocking chair to the front yard and placed a stool next to it to hold the teapot.

He took a sip of tea, lit a cigarette, leaned back in the rocking chair, and began to rock back and forth with the momentum.

The two cats looked a bit stuffed, lying motionless on the ground, not even bothering to wag their tails.

Chen Fan rested his head on his left arm behind his back, a cigarette between his fingers, his eyes gazing at the sky, filled with philosophical contemplation.

Why is the moon so big now?

Modern cities don't have as much light pollution, and the night sky is very clear and bright.

The moon is very big tonight... Well, today is the 14th day of the 9th lunar month, which is the time of the full moon. The moon is so big that it looks like a silver plate, hanging not far overhead, as if you could reach out and pluck it down.

Chen Fan lay in the rocking chair, looking at the full moon overhead and feeling the cool autumn breeze. Suddenly, he felt sleepy. What was that all about?

In a daze, I heard some chatting sounds coming from not far away. It must have been the neighbors chatting together after dinner.

"It's Sunday today, and I went to Yunhu to see it. There were so many people! The filming location was packed with people inside and out; it was impossible to squeeze in."

"Of course. You have a day off on Sunday, and other units also have a day off. It's been more than two thousand years since Yunhu was opened to the world. When has anyone ever come here to make a movie? Why don't you hurry up and go see the excitement?"

"What you're saying is ridiculous. There were no movies more than two thousand years ago..."

"You weren't here more than two thousand years ago."

In the courtyard, Chen Fan suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head to look in the direction from which the sound came.

Filming a movie? Or at Yunhu?
What kind of movie are you making?
His ears twitched slightly, and the faint sound immediately became much clearer.

"If you ask me, Chen Fan is really capable; several of his novels have been picked up by film studios."

"Do you need to tell me that? Everyone in Manyunhu knows that Shanghai Film Studio is going to make three movies, all written by Chen Fan. The first one is 'The Ferryman,' which has already been filmed and is just waiting to be released."

It's a pity this film wasn't shot at Yunhu Lake, but at a location near Taihu Lake. I wonder how it turned out.

"Cloud Lake Romance" is the second film. After this film is finished, they will also make "Shanghai Spy Shadow".

I'm quite curious, Chen Fan has written so many novels, are they all going to be made into movies?

"Hey, that's a good question. I actually asked them about it. They said it was a director, who was in charge of their project."

He was saying that some novels are suitable for film adaptation, while others are not, unless only a segment is filmed. For example, Chen Fan's famous work, "On the Field of Hope," is only suitable for filming a segment of the story because the main plot is too long to fit into a single film.

Chen Fan stopped swaying, took a drag of his cigarette, and muttered to himself, "If I can't fit all the movies in, I'll just make TV series. I'm not picky."

Oh, by the way, there is currently no precedent for producing long-form TV dramas in my country.

So much so that when the scriptwriters filmed a few episodes of a terrible Journey to the West, the leaders of CCTV treasured it and applied to buy it at a high price. However, after airing only two episodes, it was criticized so much that it was taken off the air.

So miserable.

What's the current state of TV dramas?

my country's first TV series was produced and broadcast in 1958 by the Beijing Television Station, the predecessor of CCTV, and consisted of only one episode.

Yes, it's just one episode.

The total duration is even more touching, at 20 minutes!

Because they are not shown in cinemas but broadcast on television, the term "TV series" was used to distinguish them from movies.

For the next 20 years or so, it was basically the same series, with as few as one episode and only 20 or 30 minutes long, and as many as two or three episodes, each episode also not exceeding 30 minutes.

content?

Don't ask about the content, it's probably something like a model opera.

It wasn't until 1981 that CCTV produced the nine-episode TV series "Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp," pioneering the long-form TV series genre.

Look, they've even changed the names. The old ones were called TV series, but the new ones are all called serial dramas.

Moreover, even after the emergence of "Enemy Camp Eighteen Years" and the length of each episode was extended, the industry still uses the method of shooting movies to shoot TV series. That is, a series only has one or two episodes, and the length of each episode is fixed at 45 minutes. Therefore, it is also called "single-episode TV series".

The true formation and explosion of television series did not occur until 86, a year that television professionals called the first year of Chinese television series.

Three hit dramas were released one after another: "Four Generations Under One Roof" (28 episodes), "Finding the Lost World" (12 episodes), and "New Star" (12 episodes).

Classic versions of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Journey to the West" were also produced and broadcast during this period.

It's still a long way off!
要一直到88年，央台才对电视剧作出了篇幅的划分：3集以上的电视剧为连续剧；只有1、2集的称为单本剧，每集不超过50分钟；30分钟的称为电视短剧；15分钟的为小品。

Therefore, my country's first TV series was at best a short comedy sketch.

Of course, it is significant, as it sets a precedent.

According to the standards set by CCTV, if Chen Fan's novel "On the Fields of Hope" were adapted into a TV series, it would be phenomenal.

To put it simply, if each story consists of two episodes, he has already written 18 stories, which would amount to a total of 36 episodes.

Who's so rich that they could produce 36 episodes in one go?
Employee salaries and equipment/consumables are all free?!

Chen Fan threw away his cigarette butt, stood up, and walked inside with the teapot in his hand.

The water on the kitchen stove is boiling, I should take a shower first, I can worry about TV shows and movies later.

……

The next morning, Monday, October 16th.

As usual, Chen Fan got up early, ate something simple, and drove away.

However, he decided to postpone his return to Lujiawan and go to Yunhu to see the excitement first.

This Yunhu is not the Yunhu in Yunhu City, but rather the Yunhu from which the name of Yunhu City originates.

It's roughly the same as the relationship between Honghu City and Honghu.

I drove north at breakneck speed, stopped to ask for directions, and arrived at the filming location in less than twenty minutes.

That was a little-known scenic spot in Yunhu.

Cough cough, what I mean is that locals all know about it, but outsiders, even people from the surrounding counties, don't know it, and don't even have its name.

However, in the book, Chen Fan still gave the place a name: "Jade Dragon Bay".

He himself felt a little embarrassed.

Compared to the Lushan Mountain in the original story, Yunhu has far fewer attractions to offer.

However, the scenery here is quite nice, and with a bit of a far-fetched story, Chen Fan gave names to several places here, which also became the dating spots for the male and female protagonists in the book.

For example, Green Grass Path, Jade Dragon Bay, Moon Gazing Stone, Lüzu Rock, Green Water River, Hundred Flower Island, ...

It's just making things up; he's good at that.

So he drove to the Moon-Gazing Stone, parked, and walked along the grassy path, past Lu Zu Rock, and soon arrived at Jade Dragon Bay. Ahead lay a winding river, its waters reflecting the green grass like jade – that was the Azure Water River. As for Hundred Flowers Island, it was a small island of about ten acres in the center of Cloud Lake. It had few large trees but many flowers and plants, making it a wonderful place for a spring outing when they bloomed. ...If you're not afraid of snakes.

Turn your gaze back to the film crew who are currently shooting.

A man and a woman walked slowly along the grassy path, their shoulders less than a foot apart—a distance that was more than friends but not quite lovers.

He didn't know what kind of grass this was. It only gradually turned yellow after the snow each year, and then turned green again the following spring, which was why Chen Fan named it Green Grass Path. ...There really wasn't any better name to come up with, so he'd just have to make do with this one.

The difference in their clothing was quite obvious.

The man wore a long-sleeved shirt and trousers with a casual jacket over them. Although he looked handsome and dashing, clearly from a cadre family, his outfit was still the kind of style you could find in China.

The actress was different. Just like Zhou Yali, her clothes were clearly not from mainland China. As the autumn wind blew, her dress clung to her body, showing off her exquisite figure.

The difference between her and Zhou Yali is probably that she doesn't have the air of a foreign heiress, and... well, although she's pretty, she's still not as good-looking as her slightly neurotic cousin.

To be honest, Chen Fan wasn't very familiar with the actors from that era. He only knew a handful of people who came from that time, such as Pan Hong, Liu Xiaoqing, Tang Guoqiang, and Gong Xue, as well as Qin Yi, who later frequently appeared at award ceremonies.

Then it was gone.

Of the two actors in front of me, I recognize the man; he seems to be the male lead in the original "Romance on Lushan Mountain." But I really don't remember the actress.

Anyway, it's not Zhang Yu, and it's not Gong Xue either.

He stood at a distance and watched. The crew had already noticed him, but seeing that he didn't approach, they ignored him.

The director was also on tenterhooks for a while, fearing that the noise would interrupt the filming. Only after confirming that everything was alright did he feel at ease and continue filming.

Two people kept glancing at him, as if they knew him but weren't sure.

Chen Fan didn't mind and prepared to leave after the scene was filmed.

These days, that's how filming is. The acting is a bit formulaic, and it can be a little jarring to watch, but you can't say the actors' acting is bad. That's just how they act, and the two of them work together quite well.

If a future Best Actor or Best Actress with smooth and natural acting skills were to appear, it wouldn't really be a good match.

Just as he was about to leave, the two men walked over quickly, and the one in front asked loudly, "Excuse me, are you Director Chen from the Provincial Writers Association?"

Chen Fan turned around and looked at him. "It's me. And you are?"

Upon hearing that it was indeed Chen Fan, the man immediately quickened his pace and extended his right hand from a distance, "Hello, hello, I'm from the Cultural Department of the Prefectural Committee, my name is Huo Junyong..."

He then pointed to another person next to him, "This is my colleague, Zheng Anmin."

He then smiled at Chen Fan and said, "I haven't met you before, I've only seen your photos, so I wasn't sure just now."

Chen Fan smiled and shook hands with the two of them, "Hello."

If they are indeed from the Cultural Affairs Department, it's not surprising that they've seen their own photos. The department head, Pan Yunshen, is also a member of the provincial branch of the Writers' Association, and they took a group photo after a meeting at the provincial Writers' Association earlier this year.

Although Chen Fan was the tallest in the group photo, he could only stand in the middle of the last row, with only his chest and above being captured, his good looks made him instantly recognizable to anyone.

After exchanging pleasantries, Huo Junyong asked, "Director Chen, are you here today to inspect the filming?"

Chen Fan waved his hand with a smile, "I'm not from the Shanghai Film Studio, so I'm not qualified to inspect any work. I just happened to be back and came to see what was going on."

Huo Junyong couldn't help but laugh and said, "So writers also enjoy watching the excitement."

He then turned to the side and gestured, "Then let me introduce you to the director, you two will definitely have something to talk about."

Without waiting for Chen Fan's response, he walked towards the film set.

Chen Fan raised an eyebrow. He had originally planned to leave, but since he had been recognized, he might as well have a chat.

Following behind the two, Huo Junyong shouted loudly, "Director Huang, look who's here!"

Director Huang Zumo was giving instructions to the actors when he heard the shout and immediately turned around to look.

The young man who had been watching from a distance was now walking up behind him.

Who is this?
As Huo Junyong approached, he turned to the side, pointed at Chen Fan, and said with a smile, "Director Huang, didn't you say you'd never met the original author of the work? Let me introduce you. This is Chen Fan, the author of 'Cloud Lake Romance,' also known as Director Chen."

At this moment, Chen Fan also walked over, immediately extended his right hand, and greeted him with a smile, "Director Huang, hello."

He took the opportunity to sized him up. He had a long face and small eyes. Although he wasn't handsome, he had a distinctive look that made him unforgettable at first glance.

It seems that he was originally the director of "Romance on Lushan Mountain".

Huang Zumo was both surprised and delighted. He quickly reached out and shook his hand, saying, "Hello, hello."

He was surprised that Chen Fan was so young, and even more handsome than the actors from the Shanghai Film Studio. He was delighted to finally meet the author in person, so he could have a good chat with him about some issues that arose during filming.

This script was personally adapted by Comrade Xia Yan. He had previously visited Xia Yan's home to seek advice, but there was still a barrier between them. If he could communicate directly with the original author, it would help him to deepen his understanding of the work. Therefore, this exchange was very necessary.

However, now was not the time to talk. After exchanging greetings, he called the two actors over and introduced them, saying, "This is Guo Kaimin. He joined our Shanghai Film Studio as an actor in 75 and is one of our best male actors."

Then she pointed to the actress, "This is Wu Haiyan. Don't let her young age fool you, she's a veteran actress. She started performing in 66 and has played many roles. She was the lead in the popular Beijing Film Studio movie 'Haixia' a couple of years ago."

Last year, she joined the Shanghai Film Studio. She first trained in the studio's drama troupe for a while. This film is her first film after joining the studio.

Chen Fan smiled and extended his hand to shake hands with both of them, saying, "Hello, hello."

Looking at Wu Haiyan in front of me, I suddenly realized, it was her.

Chen Fan had never seen Wu Haiyan act in any dramas, but he had heard of her name and knew that she had played Xi Shi and Sister Song.

The fact that she was able to play these two roles proves that she is quite attractive.

Unexpectedly, this time it took Zhang Yu's luck to star in the drama "Yunhu Lian".

Is Zhang Yu filming another project?
However, he had no say in this matter and was too lazy to care. After exchanging pleasantries, he chatted with Director Huang about the creative story and his personal journey in making "Yunhu Love".

It's all made up anyway.

The two sat in chairs, smoking and chatting. Director Huang was a serious and meticulous old director who wanted to get every detail right.

What he found most difficult to grasp was how to portray the female lead, a returned Chinese, in a certain manner.

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan immediately said that he was familiar with it.

He then described Zhou Yali's appearance, behavior, and other details for Director Huang's reference, and concluded by saying, "No one is static. The Zhou Jun I wrote is the Zhou Jun in the book, which does not mean that the movie must be a faithful recreation of this character."

As she spoke, she looked at Wu Haiyan, who was sitting quietly to the side, and said, "After all, Comrade Wu Haiyan is not Zhou Jun, nor can she become Zhou Jun. The most important thing is how to use herself to express the readers' or the audience's imagination of this character."

If she can make the audience feel that she is a truly kind-hearted, passionate, and sunny girl, and if everyone can like her, then that's enough for her as Zhou Jun.

Upon hearing this, both Director Huang and Wu Haiyan nodded slightly, their eyes thoughtful.

Even Guo Kaimin, who was sitting next to him, was reflecting on whether he had truly captured the core essence of the scenes he had filmed before.

The conversation lasted all morning. Director Huang had too many questions, some of which even went beyond the scope of the original work, delving into discussions about human nature, society, and even expectations for the future.

It's only because Chen Fan has a solid foundation, especially after studying for the past six months, that he can readily quote various classics. Otherwise, even if he knew the future trends, he might not be able to express them in a way that would cause him trouble.

As noon approached and they finished their conversation, Huo Junyong, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up, "Director Chen, Director Huang, how about we go back to the city for a casual lunch today?"

Director Huang then seemed to snap out of his daze, looking around, "Ah, is it already noon?"

Wu Haiyan raised her hand and looked at the prop watch. "Director, it's 11:30 now."

Director Huang slapped his forehead and first called over the assistant director, "Tell everyone to pack up, we're not filming today. I just talked with Writer Chen for a long time, and some new ideas came out, so I need to revise the filming schedule."

He then smiled at Chen Fan and said, "I have benefited greatly from our conversation. Please give me a chance; I'd like to treat you to a simple meal."

Huo Junyong, standing nearby, became anxious. "No, Director Huang, this is Yunhu. How can we let you invite us? If word gets out, won't our Yunhu Cultural Affairs Bureau be a laughing stock?"

Director Huang waved his hand and laughed, "It's not the same thing. This is between me and Writer Chen. Even if you are the landlords, you can't overstep your bounds."

Before Huo Junyong could speak, Chen Fan suddenly asked, "Director Huang, are there any car scenes in your movie?"

Director Huang paused for a moment, then said, "Yes, it's mainly for Zhou Jun's use, to showcase the extravagance of this rich young lady. We've also prepared a car; it's a Hongqi borrowed from Jiangnan Film Studio."

He paused for a moment, then asked again, "Is there a reason you're asking this?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "How about this, let's save some money for lunch today. I'll find someone willing to be a sucker to treat us. But there's one condition."

Director Huang frowned slightly. "Sorry, I don't understand what you mean?"

Chen Fan smiled and pointed south, "What I mean is, we also have a car factory in Yunhu, which produces sedans, and in addition to sedans, we also produce minivans."

"We'll go to Yunhu Automobile Factory later, have lunch there, and then I'll ask them to provide a few cars for your film crew to use free of charge. What do you think?"

Director Huang's eyes lit up. "Can Yunqi Factory really provide us with cars?"

He had also heard that Yunqi Factory had a very beautiful and advanced sedan that was even more comfortable to ride in than the Hongqi.

But these kinds of cars are hard to find, and each one costs 98,000 yuan. How could the factory possibly allow such an expensive car to be purchased for the film crew?!

So they had to borrow an old Hongqi from the Jiangnan Film Studio.

Unexpectedly, Chen Fan has now proposed to borrow a car from Yunqi Factory for the film crew to use for free. If this works out, they'll be making a fortune!

Chen Fan stood up with a laugh and said to him, "Whether it works or not, we'll find out once we go and see."

(End of this chapter)