Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 1 Wu Chen, a freshman in the Photography Department
In the winter of 2003, the wind in Beijing was bitingly cold, and the air was filled with the damp and cold smell of impending snow.

The gray sky hung low, as if the entire city was shrouded in a cold haze.

The students of Beijing Film Academy were dressed very warmly and walked in a hurry. Even the old bicycles downstairs of the photography department were shaking in the cold wind.

Wu Chen walked in the corridor of the teaching building with his hands in the pockets of his brand new woolen coat, which still smelled of mothballs.

Because the weather was too cold, Wu Chen stretched out his hands from time to time and exhaled a puff of white air. After exhaling, he rubbed his hands vigorously, but the folder in his arms was held tightly against his chest.

"Huff!" Wu Chen sneezed involuntarily and felt the tip of his nose sting from the cold wind.

"This damn weather."

"Brother Chen, it's not that cold!" Pu Songri, who was standing by, couldn't help but smile when he saw Wu Chen's expression.

"You are a native of Heilongjiang, of course you don't think so." Wu Chen looked at the little fat man next to him and said speechlessly.

Park Songri has always had a chubby figure, and he was wearing a thick black down jacket, which wrapped him tightly, and a brown scarf. He was muttering with his mouth opening and closing, which made him look particularly fat.

"I forgot, Brother Chen is from Cantonese!" Park Songri chuckled, "But Brother Chen, are you really not going to wear a scarf? I see your neck is red."

"I don't have that habit. Forget it. I'll go buy one later." Wu Chen sighed. As a Cantonese, he really didn't have the habit of wearing a scarf, but the situation was pressing.

"Take two quick steps, I don't know if Lao Mu will be alright later."

Wu Chen quickened his pace and urged.

"Um, Brother Chen, the school cafeteria might be a little crowded later. How about I go and line up first, otherwise I won't even have anything to eat later."

Park Song-il hurriedly followed the pace, but he just looked down at his feet with a hint of timidity on his face.

"You coward!"

Wu Chen stopped and looked at Park Songri who was a little hesitant, and couldn't help but sigh.

Among the nine classmates in the 2003 story photography class, in his opinion, only Park Song-il had decent talent and ability. In later life, only Park Song-il made a name for himself, while the others barely made a splash.

In his previous life, although he graduated from a finance major in a key university, he had a passion for photography and became a photographer by accident after graduation.

He is really talented. After working in the photography circle for several years, he joined a crew by chance. He was then promoted from a junior photography assistant to a photographer. In the first few years of his rebirth, he even became the deputy director of the crew.

On the day of his rebirth, he had just finished discussing a small investment with an investor and was preparing to direct a web drama himself.

He thought he could finally direct a work by himself, but after the discussion, he returned to the crew. He was in a good mood and wanted to smoke a cigarette to relax, but he didn't know which damn prop was a smuggled wire rope, and the line broke when the staff was testing it.

Because he just lowered his head to light the fire, the smoke just rose, and he reacted in a moment, only to hear the shouting beside him: "Director Wu, be careful!"

Then there was a loud bang, and he lost consciousness. When he woke up again, it was the autumn of 2000, and he had just entered the first year of high school.

Perhaps because he was unwilling to not be able to direct a work of his own in his previous life, or because he was pursuing his dream of light and shadow, after his rebirth, he chose the Beijing Film Academy without any hesitation.

However, the directing department did not recruit fresh graduates in 2003, so he had to settle for the second best and choose another signature major of the Film Academy: feature film photography.

"Brother Chen, I'm not afraid! Let's go together."

Perhaps because he was stimulated, or because he was still young, Park Songri responded subconsciously after hearing what Wu Chen said.

"I know you're not a coward, it's just a joke. So, you wait for me at the door, and then we go in together. I'm worried that you'll affect my performance."

Wu Chen chuckled and patted Park Song-il on the shoulder. Park Song-il was one of his early team members and was a very honest and kind person. Although he was a bit timid, he was definitely a promising talent, though still relatively immature.

"OK then!"

Park Songri hesitated for a long time, and seeing that Wu Chen seemed to have made up his mind, he nodded.

At the end of the corridor, at the door of Mu Deyuan's office.

Wu Chen knocked on the door without hesitation and called out, "Teacher Mu!"

At this moment, Mu Deyuan was flicking the bottom of the Yuxi cigarette box with his thumbnail twice, and the cigarette was sliding between his fingers when he suddenly heard a shout and had to stop what he was doing, "Come in!"

Wu Chen pushed the door open directly. The room was dimly lit, with thin squares of felt covering the floor. The air was filled with the strong smell of tobacco and the woody fragrance of old wooden bookshelves.

The indoor heating is average. After all, this building is too old and the heating facilities are a bit poor, but compared with the cold outside, it is still very pleasant.

"Are you having academic problems?"

Mu Deyuan's eyes narrowed slightly. Although Wu Chen put the document in his arms and covered it with his woolen coat, he still saw a little bit of it. He didn't point it out, but his index finger and middle finger had automatically bent into the arc of holding a cigarette.

"There's nothing wrong with my studies, I just want to improve. Teacher, do you still have the sample footage of 'The Haunted Mansion' you worked on back then? I'd like to see it."

Wu Chen walked forward and casually glanced over the old-fashioned domestic kerosene lighter on the table. He skillfully clicked the lid with his thumb, and the lid made a crisp "click" sound, with the unique dull feeling of old metal.

Then he gently rubbed the dial with his fingertips, and a yellow flame suddenly jumped up, and the air was filled with the unique slightly fishy smell of kerosene.

Mu Deyuan was stunned by Wu Chen's words and the skillful way he lit the fire, then burst out laughing, "You brat."

After that, without hesitation, he held Yuxi in his mouth, brought the butt close to the flame, and took a light puff. The orange flame instantly engulfed the tobacco. He calmly put the flattened cigarette box into his coat pocket, took a deep puff, and then exhaled a long puff of smoke, half-closed his eyes and said:

"You're quite skilled with the lighter, aren't you?"

"Hey, my dad is also a heavy smoker. He used to play with his lighter when he had nothing to do. But teacher, you have to smoke less in the future. It's bad for your health!"

Wu Chen smiled and sat on the chair without any restraint, not looking like a student coming to see his teacher at all.

Mu Deyuan also felt a little strange, because in recent years, when students from the photography department met him, most of them acted like students, and the most they said were polite words like "Thank you, teacher" and "Hello, teacher".

On the contrary, there are very few students like Wu Chen.

The reason why he paid attention to Wu Chen was because he saw a slightly exaggerated talent for photography in Wu Chen.

He always pays attention to the new students in the photography department every year, but he has only seen such outstanding talent in his former classmate Zhang Yi.

"I can't quit!" Although Mu Deyuan shook his head, his heart was very warm at the moment.

"By the way, why do you want to watch 'The Haunted Mansion'?"

Just like I promised in the first book.

For this book, I also make the same promise: I will finish it!!!

Please feel free to read!

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(End of this chapter)