Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 331 Filming 2
In a small river in the suburbs, out of the camera's view, a staff member was holding a transparent fishing line with two fish hooked at the end.

In the footage, the transparent fishing line is not visible at all; only two fish can be seen swimming upstream against the current.

After seeing Wu Yuchen's gesture, the staff put another dead fish into the water. Soon, the camera showed the dead fish's body floating past two live fish swimming in the river.

At this moment, Zhao Wenxuan, witnessing this scene, remarked with emotion:
"How pathetic! They risk their lives swimming upstream just to die? In the end, they're going to die anyway, so why bother with all that effort?"

Niu Ben, standing beside him, looked at two fish wagging their tails in the river and said, "They want to go home, back to where they were born. That's the law of nature!"

After saying that, he ignored the somewhat dazed Zhao Wenxuan and left on his own.

"Pass!"

Upon hearing Wu Yuchen's words, the staff in the river also came up, while Wu Yuchen was watching the playback.

This dialogue is very concise, yet it carries a unique meaning. At this moment, the male protagonist is terrified after his first encoffining and doesn't quite understand the meaning of his work.

This scene portrays the protagonist's confusion, prompting him to reflect and prompting the audience to consider whether passing away and returning home truly mean the same thing. Are they both a spiritual return, a special kind of homecoming?
At the same time, the two fish that keep striving to swim upstream are also implying a truth to the audience: death is inevitable, but living means striving to survive.

This scene went quite smoothly, but the next scene didn't go so well.

Wu Yuchen looked at the girl in front of him. Although he was a little annoyed, he still patiently said to her:
"You cried very well just now, but it would have been even better if your eyes had shown more longing!"

The scene depicts the male lead's second encoffining. The little girl plays the deceased's daughter, and her performance in this scene is crucial, especially her reaction when Teacher You finishes encoffining her mother and restores her to her lifelike appearance. Her reaction must move the audience.

However, Wu Yuchen was not very satisfied with her crying scene. Her crying was just plain crying, without conveying the sadness, longing, and reluctance one feels for the mother's death.

After hearing Wu Yuchen's words, the girl nodded timidly, knowing she hadn't done well and had upset everyone. Seeing her reaction, Wu Yuchen had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the performance seemed to get worse and worse, so Wu Yuchen had to stop the show and let everyone take a break, especially the middle-aged woman playing the deceased, who also needed to get up and move around.

Wu Yuchen has acted in children's films before, but this time he encountered trouble, which made him realize that children are indeed uncontrollable, even though he performed quite well during the audition.

However, he also knew that it was precisely at times like these that he shouldn't put pressure on the child, otherwise it would be very difficult for her to adjust. On the other hand, while everyone else was resting, You Benchang went to the girl's side and chatted and laughed with her.

Wu Yuchen saw this and knew that Teacher You was probably helping to adjust and guide the child's mood. He didn't go up to disturb her. As the director, he had already left an authoritative impression on the girl, which would put pressure on her no matter what. So it was better to do nothing and let Teacher You do it herself.

After a while, You Benchang smiled and approached Wu Yuchen: "Director Wu, would you like to try again now?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and nodded: "Thank you for your help, Teacher You~"

"3, 2, 1, action!"

In the footage, the middle-aged husband's expression is numb and blank.

After cleaning the body's face, You Benchang suddenly looked up at her husband and asked, "Do you have any of your wife's favorite lipsticks?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged husband, who had been lost in grief and daze, slowly raised his head, revealing a somewhat dazed and confused expression: "What?"

At that moment, the girl beside him, her eyes red, quickly turned around, ran to get a lipstick, and handed it to You Benchang.

Then, You Benchang used a very thin makeup brush to apply the lipstick, and then gently and meticulously applied it little by little to the middle-aged woman's lips.

The moment You Benchang stood up, the middle-aged woman in the shot seemed as if she had never died, with beautiful makeup on, just peacefully asleep.

Looking at his wife's face, the middle-aged husband looked up at her portrait and could no longer hold back his emotions. His eyes welled up with tears, and he began to murmur his wife's name repeatedly.

The girl beside him couldn't help but rush forward two steps, leaning forward to look at her mother, tears streaming down her face, calling out "Mom" sadly, her voice filled with reluctance and longing!

The male protagonist, Lin Wu, was deeply moved by this scene. As the final farewell attendant for the deceased, he brought life back to the cold body, bestowing upon her eternal beauty, allowing her to depart peacefully, and bringing solace to the living!
"Pass! Good!"

Wu Yuchen's "Okay!" brought a sigh of relief to the entire crew. However, the little girl was still crying, clearly not yet over her emotions. At that moment, her parents went over and began to comfort their daughter.

Wu Yuchen looked at You Benchang, then gave the old man a thumbs up, and the old man just chuckled.

That evening, back at the hotel, Wu Yuchen saw Jiang Qinqin watching TV, and the figure on the screen was none other than Di Pangpang. Jiang Qinqin didn't have any scenes to film that day, so she hadn't gone to the set.

Wu Yuchen asked with a smile, "How is it? Is the show good?"

Jiang Qinqin's eyes were glued to the screen: "It's so good! I've been following it all the way through, I just can't stop watching, and today is the finale!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and didn't disturb her watching the finale of Dipty Buddy. He picked up the newspaper and started flipping through it. One news item caught his attention: filming for "The Promise" had wrapped up.

Chen Hong even approached Miracle Films to ask if they wanted to collaborate on "The Promise," but Miracle Films ultimately declined.

Undeterred, Chen Kaige secured funding from four countries, assembling an all-star Asian cast for his film *The Promise*, including Xie Tingfeng, Zhang Baizhi, Jang Dong-gun, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Liu Ye. Reports indicate that the filming process was quite fraught with difficulties, including a fire and a mudslide. There were also reports of Chen being dissatisfied with the local extras, leading him to bring in 800 soldiers as extras, among other things…

In an interview, Chen Hong claimed that "The Promise" would become Chen Kaizi's epic masterpiece for opening up the global market!

Looking at the confident couple, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but sigh. It seemed they had put in a lot of effort, but unfortunately, they had produced a huge mess!
Many people say that "The Promise" ruined Chinese-language period martial arts films because the overseas market for Chinese-language martial arts films has deteriorated since then.

Wu Yuchen believes that this issue cannot be entirely blamed on Chen Kaizi. After all, foreigners watch martial arts movies for the novelty. When "The Promise" was released, it was already the fifth year that foreigners had been watching martial arts movies, so it's not surprising that their interest had waned.

Moreover, it's not that Chinese period martial arts films after "The Promise" simply stopped selling well overseas. Films like "Curse of the Golden Flower" and "The Banquet" did sell well. However, the failure of "The Promise" overseas did accelerate this process, making overseas companies and theaters more cautious about Chinese period films.

Wu Yuchen smiled. This didn't affect him at all. If he, the great director Wu, wanted to make a martial arts film, a whole bunch of subsidiaries and theater chains would be lining up to beg him! He was just waiting to see what the fun would be like next year.

……

In a not-so-large living room, Zhao Wenxuan and Jiang Qinqin were talking across a coffee table, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.

"I just did modeling once in a while..." Zhao Wenxuan still wanted to keep it a secret from his wife.

"I've already looked into what your company does." Jiang Qinqin looked unhappy, but she still managed to restrain herself.

Zhao Wenxuan was silent for a few seconds after hearing this: "So... then what?"

Jiang Qinqin took a deep breath, then asked with a hint of reproach, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I know you'll object if I tell you."

Jiang Qinqin immediately retorted, "Of course! How could you do this kind of work? Don't you feel ashamed?"

"Crack!"

After Wu Yuchen called a halt, he said to Jiang Qinqin:
"Qinqin, watch your emotions! Don't get so worked up here. You are a traditional, reserved Eastern wife. Gentleness and virtue have always been your principles. Even when you're angry, you're quite restrained. It's not time for you to explode yet."

Jiang Qinqin nodded, took a deep breath to calm herself, and after a moment, resumed filming.

Zhao Wenxuan looked at Jiang Qinqin: "Why do you feel ashamed? Is it because you touched a corpse?"

Jiang Qinqin said, her voice tinged with grievance, impatience, and irritation, "I just want you to do a normal job."

"What do you mean by 'normal'?" Zhao Wenxuan's voice rose three points, causing Jiang Qinqin to look at him.

"Everyone will eventually die. I will die, and you will die. Death is a normal thing..."

As he spoke, Jiang Qinqin's brows furrowed slowly in the camera's view, her eyes gradually filled with resentment. Suddenly, she interrupted her husband, saying, "Don't spout these grand principles!"

After a brief outburst of emotion, Jiang Qinqin regained her composure, twisting her hands together. Her tone softened slightly: "I just want you to resign right now, please!"

Zhao Wenxuan opened his mouth, then turned his head away. He pursed his lips and lowered his head again, clearly unwilling to grant his wife's request.

Seeing that Zhao Wenxuan didn't want to speak, Jiang Qinqin looked aggrieved.

“I’ve never asked anything of you before. Whether you wanted to give up the cello and change careers, or move back to the countryside, I always supported you with a smile. Actually, I was also very worried about you…”

Then she looked at Winston Chao and said, "I'm begging you this time! Please listen to me just this once, okay?"

Two cameras were filming from different angles. In one of the shots, Zhao Wenxuan's eyes gradually revealed guilt and heartache. His fingers twisted together as he met Jiang Qinqin's concerned and hopeful gaze, but in the end, he still spoke softly:
What if I said...no?

Jiang Qinqin's chest heaved slightly, and finally she asked with restraint and calmness, "So, are you going to do this for the rest of your life?"

Zhao Wenxuan looked at Jiang Qinqin, speechless.

Several seconds later, the hope in Jiang Qinqin's eyes vanished, replaced by disappointment. She lowered her head and sighed, "I'm going back to my parents' house. Come find me again after you resign!"

After saying that, she got up to leave, but Zhao Wenxuan tried to grab her arm: "Meixiang..."

Jiang Qinqin forcefully shook off Zhao Wenxuan's hand, then involuntarily recoiled, pressing herself against the wall, and shouted, "Don't touch me! You're not clean!"

Zhao Wenxuan, who had fallen to the ground, knelt there in a daze, staring in astonishment at his once gentle and virtuous wife. He never expected her to say such a thing to him. Even his closest person had begun to despise him!

Jiang Qinqin leaned against the wall, tears streaming down her face. She then lowered her head, walked around Zhao Wenxuan, and left.

"Pass! Very good!"

Although it may seem like just a few minutes of simple dialogue, this scene is a huge blow to the male protagonist. After all, the person he loves most has left him because of his profession, which shakes his newly developed goodwill and belief in the mortuary industry.

This scene was naturally not something that could be done in one take; it was filmed repeatedly, with many details added, until Wu Yuchen was finally very satisfied.

……

"Director Wu, what do you think of the attic's decor?"

Looking at the second floor of the attic, which was filled with various green plants and had a vibrant scene, and a small potted cactus was placed on the table as he had requested, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but smile and nod.

This is a contrast that Wu Yuchen deliberately created. The first floor houses a mortuary company, dealing with the dead and symbolizing death. Meanwhile, the owner, You Benchang, transformed the second floor into a place resembling a botanical garden.

The scene about to be filmed is a conversation between the male protagonist, Lin Wu, and his boss as he tries to quit his job. It's not just because his wife left him; he's also facing difficulties at work. An agitated client has blamed and verbally abused him, which has dampened his enthusiasm for his job.

In this scene design, Wu Yuchen placed the two people in a lush green environment, with verdant plants everywhere, creating a vibrant scene that quickly grabs the audience's attention and forms a stark contrast with the cold and solemn topic.

At the same time, this color contrast also suggests that life and death are inextricably linked, and the light of life cannot exist without the shadow of death. So why should we fear or even abhor death?
This also makes it easier for Grandpa You to give the male protagonist some guidance on the relationship between life and death.

(End of this chapter)