It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 26 She's really easy to coax! A battle between truth and prejudice...

In the hotel room.

Seeing her daughter looking unhappy, Liu Xiaoli casually opened a bottle of Ad calcium milk and handed it to her before asking, "Why did I scold you?"

"Because I failed to capture the feeling he wanted several times, he guided me five times before I finally passed, and then he called me stupid. Humph, he's the stupid one!"

"..."

Liu Xiaoli was both amused and exasperated. "The director was just trying to help you. He even bought you some Ad calcium milk and asked me to give it to you."

"what?"

Liu Yifei blinked, looked at the Ad calcium milk in her hand, and subconsciously asked, "Did Lü Rui buy this?"

"Correct."

"Was it specially made for me?"

"Yeah, you're the only underage kid on the crew, so of course they bought it for you. Who else would they give it to? Nobody else drinks this."

Liu Yifei's pouting lips suddenly drooped, and she couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Mom, you're right, he's scolding me for my own good."

"You're so easy to please." Liu Xiaoli shook her head helplessly. "Learn from the director properly. It's a rare opportunity, don't miss it."

"But my scenes are almost finished filming." Liu Yifei said, sounding a little down.

Her character has so few scenes!
Liu Xiaoli thought she hadn't had enough of acting, so she immediately told her some good news: "Don't worry, the collaboration with 'The Story of a Noble Family' has been finalized."

"Once filming for 'Mystic River' wraps up here, you can go directly over there and continue filming. You have a lot of scenes this time, and you're the second female lead."

"Oh, I know."

Liu Yifei responded casually, but her mood did not improve.

She wasn't unhappy because she wasn't getting roles; she... she just felt she could learn more useful experiences at Mystic River.

Under Lü Rui's guidance, her acting skills have improved rapidly!
She took a sip of the Ad calcium milk, and then another thing came to mind.

If she goes to another film crew, I'm afraid no one will treat her like a minor girl anymore and pamper her or buy her milk.

Thinking this way, she suddenly realized that Lü Rui was clearly all bark and no bite!

"He's fierce on set, but he's nice off set, hehe. I won't call him by his full name anymore, I'll still call him 'senior' like before... But we have to agree on this first, if he's still fierce to me, I'll immediately switch back to 'Lü Rui'! Hmph, it's settled then~"

Her eyelashes fluttered as she mentally calculated her next move, then she took a sip of Ad calcium milk, feeling a sweet warmth in her heart.

But then, she tilted her head and started muttering to herself.

They're all Ad calcium milk, so why do the bottles my senior bought taste sweeter than the ones my mom bought?

"Could it be that the senior secretly cast some kind of spell on the bottle?"

……

As May approached, Lü Rui noticed that Jiang Wen's emotions had inexplicably become restless.

On the day Liu Yifei finished filming, he came over and said, "I need to take a few days off. 'Looking for a Gun' is about to be released, and I need to go out and do some promotion."

This was a legitimate reason, and Lü Rui naturally wouldn't refuse, immediately nodding in agreement.

After watching Jiang Wen leave, he casually handed the prepared red envelope to Liu Yifei, who was standing next to him, saying, "This is yours."

"Hey?"

Liu Yifei reached out and took the red envelope in a daze. Seeing that no one else was around, she felt a strange sweetness in her heart.

But then Lü Rui explained, "If an actor's character dies in a drama, they have to receive a red envelope, which is meant to bring good luck and ward off bad luck."

"Oh, I see."

Liu Yifei pouted. Oh, so that's how it is. She thought it was hers alone.

But the next second, Lu Rui's coaxing tone sounded again: "At the same time, this also contains a beautiful expectation for you, hoping that your future acting career will be smooth and successful."

"Hehe, thank you, senior. I really like this red envelope."

A smile played on Lu Rui's lips as he thought to himself, "This girl is really easy to coax."

"Director Lü/Senior, we'll take our leave now."

Zhou Yiwei, Lin Jiachuan, Jia Nailiang, Huang Shengyi, and Wang Luodan also came forward to greet him; their scenes had all been completed.

"Well, pay attention to safety on the road."

Lü Rui nodded, his words carrying a hint of politeness.

The boys were completely oblivious, but Huang Shengyi and Wang Luodan felt a tightness in their chests.

Why is the director so kind to Liu Yifei, but so "cold" to the others?
This is not fair!

Huang Shengyi was furious.

After joining the group, she also started calling him "senior" like Liu Yifei did.

But for some reason, she always felt like she was "imitating Xi Shi" (a Chinese idiom meaning to imitate someone poorly).

This feeling is especially strong today!

"Zhao Peng, go and see them off."

"Okay, Brother Rui."

After giving Zhao Peng a few brief instructions, Lü Rui threw himself back into filming.

Liu Yifei was personally chosen by him, while Huang Shengyi and the others were merely people he'd been placed in by the Beijing Film Academy as favors; naturally, the level of importance he placed on them couldn't compare. ...

On May 9th, "Looking for a Gun" was officially launched.

This film had been screened on a small scale several times before, and the response was quite good.

On the 10th, Jiang Wen returned from Yanjing, looking very unwell.

Lu Rui initially thought the movie had flopped at the box office, but after glancing at the reports on the portal websites, he found that the reviews were actually quite good.

"Life is a constant search: fame and fortune, spirit and flesh, love and truth. You say you're searching for a gun, but aren't you yourself a gun that's been tormented by life to the point of misfire? Director Jiang Wen's new film is indeed brilliant!"

"Telling a man's story from a man's perspective, about pursuit, searching, and breaking through our concerns and secrets, the story is really good. Jiang Wen brought this movie to life and also brought Ma Shan to life."

"Written, directed, and acted all by himself! As expected of Jiang Wen! Awesome!"

The audience's eyes are discerning; only Lu Chuan is deceiving himself, constantly boasting about how excellent his debut work is.

After pondering for a moment, Lü Rui asked Jiang Wen if he had encountered any trouble.
The movie received fairly good feedback after its release, so why is he in such a bad state?
Jiang Wen shook his head and said in a deep voice, "I'm fine. Let's hurry up and finish filming as soon as possible. I have other things to do."

"Row."

Lü Rui nodded in agreement and sped up the filming schedule again.

The supporting characters have all finished filming, and now it's time for the main characters' scenes. Speeding up the pace a little shouldn't be too difficult.

Before we knew it, it was May 20th.

The scene that Jiang Wen was most looking forward to, which was also the final scene of filming for "Mystic River," arrived as scheduled.

On the riverbank under the cover of night, he and Leslie Cheung stood face to face and began a heated argument.

"It was you! You killed my daughter! You were the only one there that night!"

Jiang Wen let out a series of angry roars.

The night wind, carrying the fishy smell of the river, rushed into his collar, but it couldn't suppress the ruthless rage burning in his eyes.

Leslie Cheung leaned against a crooked old locust tree, making a wheezing sound like a broken bellows, "I told you! I don't know! I didn't do it!"

Jiang Wen clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white.

When his daughter's body was found curled up next to a trash can, her pink dress covered in mud, the image was like a rusty nail stuck in his temple.

"Your wife told me that you came home covered in blood that night, and now all the evidence points to you! Who else could it be but you?"

“And I’ve checked your medical records.” Jiang Wen suddenly lowered his voice, a metallic taste rising in his throat. “You always say you can hear a voice in your head telling you to kill someone, but the doctor said it’s hysteria…”

Before he could finish speaking, Leslie Cheung suddenly burst into laughter, bending over with his shoulders shaking violently.

"Hysteria?" He looked up, tears welling in his eyes. "Does your daughter believe it? Do you believe it? Does anyone else believe it? Who the hell in this world believes me?!"

The river water crashed against the stone bank with a clattering sound. Leslie Cheung staggered back to the edge of the riverbank, his shoes crunching over the damp moss.

He suddenly ripped open his shirt collar, revealing a hideous old scar below his collarbone, a scar he had made himself with a razor blade ten years ago when he tried to escape the pain of being assaulted.

At that time, he wanted to commit suicide, but his mother saved him.

Today, those who loved him are long gone, and all that surrounds him is prejudice.

Including his lover!

"Fine! I killed your daughter." He beckoned to Jiang Wen with his finger, his smile both manic and broken. "Come on, kill me like your daughter longed for you before she died!"

Jiang Wen dug his nails deep into his palm, pulled out a dagger, and strode forward.

When Leslie Cheung looked at him, the light in her eyes quickly went out, like a candle flame blown away by the wind, leaving only a few embers of warmth in the ashes.

The cold dagger finally pierced his chest.

Driven by a desire for revenge for his daughter, Jiang Wen had long since lost his mind.

Leslie Cheung did not struggle or resist; all he could see in his eyes were the wrinkles that had finally smoothed out.

He's finally dead, no longer having to face this world devoid of love, where no one trusts him, and where prejudice surrounds him!
The lights on set came on one by one, illuminating Jiang Wen's reddened eyes and Zhang Guorong's empty gaze.

Two men, one chasing the killer to the riverbank for his daughter, the other falling into despair because no one believed him.

Jiang Wen's superb acting skills portrayed a father's love and revenge intertwined with violence, while Leslie Cheung thought of himself in real life, just like the character in the film, who always harbored a sense of loneliness and struggle from not being understood.

Just like the title "Mystic River," what lies beneath the surface is a soul dilemma that everyone is unwilling to face but cannot escape!
"Cut! Filming for 'Mystic River' has officially wrapped!"

Lu Rui's shouts echoed on set, but just like when "The Vanished Lover" wrapped up filming last time, there was still no applause this time.

Some people's eyes were fixed on Jiang Wen and Zhang Guorong, still reeling from the complex choices the two had just made under pain and pressure.

Many others, such as Zhang Fengyi, Ning Jing, and Mao Shunyun, had their eyes fixed on Lü Rui.

"The chain reaction after psychological trauma, the gray areas of human nature, the struggle between truth and prejudice..."

The three of them felt like their brains were about to explode!
Even though they only participated in the performance of one of the characters in the film, they could still feel the deep despair and compromise that seeped out from the prejudices around them!
But what about Lü Rui?

He actually immersed himself in each character and wrote this heart-stirring story!
"How on earth did he do it?"

Ning Jing murmured to herself, her eyes filled with shock.

Zhang Fengyi, who was standing next to him, also chimed in: "If nothing unexpected happens, this will be another work that can win a major award..."

They already knew that Lü Rui was going to take this film to the 59th Venice International Film Festival!
The chairman of this year's jury is named:
—Gong Li!
Gong Li, who played "Juxian" in "Farewell My Concubine"!

(End of this chapter)