Chapter 24: Oh, I Can Never Go Back

The Huairou Film and Television Base, located in Yangsong Town, Beijing, is the largest film and television industry complex in Northern China. Its core area covers 5.6 square kilometers, with a demonstration zone spanning 18 square kilometers, integrating a full industry chain including film shooting, post-production, and cultural tourism.

Most film crews concentrate their shooting at the Xingmei Jinsheng Film Studio, which primarily features architectural clusters imitating the Ming and Qing dynasties, including outdoor sets like Jiangnan water towns and northern villages. As the core location for location shooting, Xingmei Jinsheng has hosted scenes such as the Bai family pharmacy from "The Grand Mansion Gate" and the imperial palace exteriors from "Iron-Teethed Copper-Toothed Ji Xiaolan."

Meanwhile, the China Film Group (CFG) base serves as an industrial production hub, equipped with 16 international-standard soundstages. It was here, in a massive 5,000-square-meter studio, that the "Begonia Pavilion" set for the film "The Promise" was constructed.

Beyond Jiang Ye’s crew, many others were busy filming within the studio grounds. Three were particularly famous. One was director Zhao Lijun’s "My Dad is an Undercover Agent," a spy drama featuring a cast of veteran actors. Another was the film "Locomotive," directed by Ying Da and starring Cao Yunjin. At this time, Cao had yet to have his falling out with Guo Degang and was a primary revenue driver for the Deyun Society.

Jiang Ye had originally thought his own web series crew, filming "The Princess's Promotion," was already a bizarre outlier. However, he never expected to find a crew even more outlandish than his own: the crew of "Braised Golden Lotus." The chief screenwriter was Chang Liang, grandson of the renowned crosstalk master Chang Baohua, who had led a twenty-person team for a year to finish the script. It told the story of Pan Jinlian time-traveling to the modern era to become an internet influencer.

This crew didn't film during the day; they preferred the night. To build an atmosphere of mystery, they would often seal off the Jiangnan water town area at 3:00 AM, using dry ice machines to create thick fog—so thick that guests at a nearby inn once mistook it for a fire. The development team for this production had even planned a sequel, "A Chinese Odyssey of Ximen Qing," about Ximen Qing inventing the steam train, also starring Cao Yunjin. They wanted to create a "Golden Lotus Universe," though they ultimately failed.

...

On the set of "Locomotive," Cao Yunjin yawned behind the monitor. The lead actress, Yu Huizi, just couldn't get the "glancing back with a smile" shot quite right, and director Ying Da was still debating lighting angles with the cinematographer. Cao admired Ying Da’s professionalism, but he was undeniably bored.

"I'm going to get some air." He wandered over to the neighboring set, just in time to see Jiang Ye’s crew filming the Crown Prince being teased by a drunken Princess.

The props team had constructed a makeshift pavilion using laundry poles and mosquito nets, and the so-called "imperial wine" was just water mixed with food coloring. Meng Ziyi, wearing a gauze dress that had likely sat in the school's storage for ages, was batting her eyelashes at Ou Hao: "Your Highness~ Come and play~" A leaf blower nearby was chugging away, making Meng Ziyi’s hair dance in the wind.

"Cut! Perfect!" Jiang Ye glanced at his watch. "Next scene, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

*What the hell?* Cao Yunjin was stunned. What kind of mess was this? The set, the acting, the speed—nothing about it was normal. Was this even filming?

Before he could process it, the students had already dismantled the pavilion with practiced efficiency. Some sprinted away carrying reflectors, others dashed by pushing suitcases overflowing with costumes, looking like they were performing some sort of avant-garde art piece. A bespectacled girl was handing out boxed lunches to the extras: "Eat up and get back on set immediately! If we finish this scene, you get extra chicken legs!"

Taking advantage of their lunch break, Jiang Ye grabbed a megaphone to explain the focus: "This part is the Princess teaching the palace maids how to do square dancing."

"The extras don't need to actually dance well! I want the effect of total chaos!"

"Lighting, raise those reflectors! I want the shadows cast onto the gauze curtains!"

"Meng Ziyi, make your movements more exaggerated! Let go of your inhibitions!"

Cao Yunjin watched them, dumbfounded.
9:15 AM: Started filming "The Crown Prince Changes Clothes."
9:37 AM: Finished three takes from different angles.
9:50 AM: Already moved on to "The Imperial Study Discussion."

By the time he wandered back to his own crew, the director was still agonizing over whether the lead actress's earrings should be changed to pearls.

During afternoon tea, Cao Yunjin couldn't resist drifting back to Jiang Ye’s side, only to find them filming a climax: a romantic confession in a pond. The young director’s unorthodox tactics were an eye-opener.

"No budget for a water pump? Use a fire hose to create artificial rain!"
"Underwater photography too expensive? Use a fish tank with a blue screen for chroma keying!"
"Meng Ziyi can't swim? Tie a hemp rope around her waist and have a crew member drag her!"

The most extreme part was during a close-up of a "seductive wet look" scene, where Jiang Ye simply grabbed a bottle of mineral water and poured it down Meng Ziyi’s collar, without the slightest hint of chivalry or awkwardness. The lead actress was just as gutsy, cooperating and laughing happily...

"The expression should look like you've been struck by lightning! Yes! That feeling of 'holy crap, I'm soaked'!"

"This actually works?!" he blurted out.

"Why wouldn't it?" the script girl, chewing on a popsicle, replied as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Our director says the audience will only remember Meng Ziyi’s chest; who cares how you filmed it?"

...

When Cao Yunjin returned to his own crew, the art director was still arguing with the stylist over a single piece of the lead actress's costume.

When they wrapped up at dusk, Cao Yunjin did a silent calculation.
"Locomotive" daily progress: 1.5 shots.
Next door, "The Princess's Promotion" based on what he saw: 9 scenes, 23 shots.

Cao Yunjin squatted at the studio entrance, smoking a cigarette, and suddenly felt a wave of doubt regarding his own artistic pursuits. He remembered what he’d overheard the young director say to the lead actress that morning: "Don't think of filming as something sacred; we're in the service industry."

"If the audience wants spicy hot pot, and you insist on serving them Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, you deserve to starve."

It actually made sense... No, he was being led astray! He quickly steadied his resolve. They were making a film; only through meticulous refinement could one produce a masterpiece. What were those people next door doing? Would anyone even watch such a thing?

Time would tell. He convinced himself. "The Princess's Promotion," was it? I'll be waiting to see what kind of splash you can make once you air!

...

As twilight seeped into the makeshift tent, Ou Hao gripped his costume collar, ripping open the gold-threaded toggle buttons. His black Crown Prince robes were a wrinkled mess. His Adam's apple bobbed violently as he stared at his phone, his eyes rimmed with red, his temples still stained with the fake blood from the shoot. It was supposed to be red ink, but the prop team had used expired food coloring, staining his neck a bruised, purplish hue.

"Why aren't you back yet? Weren't you only supposed to guest star for three days?" Ma Sichun’s voice came through from the "Left Ear" set, mixed with the distant sound of a clapperboard.

Ou Hao squatted down, his fingers unconsciously picking at the foam rockery debris on the ground, his voice suddenly trembling. "I can't go back for a while..."

His voice was hoarse, carrying an imperceptible sense of grievance. He crouched there, like a helpless child.

The person on the other end of the line grew suddenly tense. "What's wrong? Is the guest role not going well?"

"It's going well—too well!" Ou Hao suddenly let out a bitter laugh. "That kid Jiang Ye said my acting is good and wants to give me more scenes!"