Chapter 295: Belief
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
Fang Zhao received a notification that the remaining roles of “Founding Era” would all be decided within the next week. At the start of October, the cast and production team would head for planet Wai. There wasn’t much time left for them to prepare.
Once filming started, even though technology had improved and the film production cycle had been shortened greatly, it was not known how long the cast would be on planet Wai before they could return. It was rumored that the drama serial would begin airing in January around Memorial Day. This series would be longer than normal. After all, it was telling 100 years of history, and so it would broadcast and film concurrently.
When the time came, idle time to do other stuff would be hard to come by and it would be even more impossible to return back to Earth.
Fang Zhao would have no way of returning to Yanbei City for Memorial Day in January to spend time with the rest of the Fang family. Thus, Fang Zhao settled matters in Qi’an City and returned to Yanbei City to visit Second Uncle Fang’s family and see his great-grandparents at the retirement facility.
Great-Grandfather Fang was very happy and dragged Fang Zhao for a stroll throughout the retirement facility. Actually, his intention was to flaunt. He was an old person, after all. In the past, they compared their careers, but now that they were retired, the achievements of their descendants were always brought up for comparison.
In the past, Great-Grandfather Fang had not been fond of the entertainment circles and had found them to be foul, but ever since he’d found out that Fang Zhao had entered these circles, Great-Grandfather Fang’s attitude had changed drastically. Furthermore, after everything that had happened, Great-Grandfather Fang now paid much more attention to the entertainment circles. Of course, he only took notice of matters involving Fang Zhao. One thing he did every day without fail was check up on online news regarding Fang Zhao.
Great-Grandfather Fang was repeatedly reminding Fang Zhao to be wary and take care of his health on planet Wai when his ears pricked up from the sound of footsteps ahead. Great-Grandfather Fang, smiling till his eyes turned to slits, pulled Fang Zhao along. “Come, come, come, let’s head this way.”
When the few old folks approaching from the opposite direction saw Fang Zhao, they chuckled and said, “Old Fang, your family’s Little Zhao has returned, heh.”
“It can’t be helped. Little Zhao will be following the production team and heading to planet Wai to film shortly. He won’t be able to return for Memorial Day, so Little Zhao came over to visit us two old folks. He bought a lot of stuff over, including Muzhou produce that isn’t sold externally, a whole carload! How are just the two of us old folks going to finish everything! Really… I just told him, even though he earns a lot, he cannot be too extravagant.”
The few old folks before him: “…” Is this old head showing off how much his great-grandson earns, or is he lecturing his great-grandson?
An old man sighed. “Oh, acting is tough.”
Great-Grandfather Fang’s expression straightened. “Can this be called acting? No! This is considered accomplishing a historical mission! It’s ‘Founding Era’! Even though we have already retired, we all know its significance. I was just telling Little Zhao that he isn’t playing a role, he is performing a belief! No matter how tough or tiring it gets, he still has to complete it earnestly! If he tries to be lazy, I will be the first person not to let him off! Besides, if youngsters do not work hard and strive, they aren’t worthy of the vigor of youth!”
Fang Zhao: “…” That isn’t what you just said to me.
Great-Grandfather Fang then chatted with his old friends for a bit. After they had left, Great-Grandfather Fang’s solemn face immediately became softer as he turned toward Fang Zhao and said, “Those words weren’t meant for you.”
Fang Zhao: “…”
“Let me tell you, Little Zhao, you have to act professionally for this show, but your own health is even more important. Yesterday, I saw some news about certain film stars striving too hard during filming when they were young. They picked up lots of injuries, and they suffered all sorts of ailments when they got older. Even with the current level of medical science, it is still not possible to completely treat everything. How pitiful! Therefore, striving is good, but don’t strive too hard!”
Fang Zhao: “…”
Great-Grandfather Fang continued, “There is another saying that I have told you before: be benevolent to others, but you still have to always be guarded against people, especially since you are a newcomer. I heard that rookies without any background support are liable to be bullied in the entertainment circles? I can’t help you much on this; you just have to make sure to be very careful! There will be times where you need to tolerate it. After all, your qualifications are the lowest in these circles. There will be times where you would need to swallow your pride and anger, but the baseline is that if there are times when you shouldn’t tolerate it, then you must absolutely not hold it in!”
Great-Grandfather Fang even imparted some methods on how to deal with negative people. These were all methods that this old man had put into practice during his own military days.
“Can you remember all that I have just said?” Great-Grandfather Fang asked. He wasn’t too reassured.
Fang Zhao. “…I can remember.”
Great-Grandfather Fang looked at his own gentle and refined great-grandson and felt less assured. “You are just too honest!”
Fang Zhao: “…” Where do you get this from?
After spending two days at Yanbei City with the two old Fangs, Fang Zhao returned to Qi’an City and received a notification to report at Silver Wing. The company would be gathering all actors that had made the cast of “Founding Era” for a meeting.
Besides the cast members of “Founding Era” that would be heading to planet Wai for filming, there would be assistants as well, although they would be limited. Those without sufficient status could not even bring along an assistant. Even an actor with a status like He Lisi’s could only bring along one. Once they got to planet Wai, the entire cast would be under unified administration.
Thus, Silver Wing and the other entertainment companies involved did the same thing, gathering all the celebrities under their flag that were in the cast to take note of this.
“Some of you might be very successful in Yanzhou, but on a global scale, you might not necessarily be such a big deal. Furthermore, there are many experienced precursors in the cast of ‘Founding Era.’ Your each and every move might be deemed immature in their eyes. Don’t try to play any tricks! They have traveled along this path much longer than you!”
“‘Founding Era’ will be different from any of your previous serials. Do not have any funny ideas. Filming conscientiously should take precedence over everything else!”
“Although you all have signed contracts, that doesn’t mean production can’t do without you! If anyone gets kicked out for causing trouble, you can forget about ever returning. As you all know, the competition is very intense. Some people who announced their retirements from the entertainment circles came back because of ‘Founding Era,’ and there are many people waiting to drag you down…”
Department managers, bosses, and board members all took turns speaking in succession.
“I don’t care what conflicts you might have internally, but when you head out, you are all part of the Silver Wing family. You have to stay united!”
Silver Wing had a total of 12 actors that were in the cast of ‘Founding Era.’ More than half would not appear in the serial for more than a few episodes. Silver Wing’s little group was headed by He Lisi, and Fang Zhao’s position inside was only slightly lower than He Lisi’s.
After the meeting, many actors from the company came over to greet Fang Zhao.
“Brother Zhao.”
“Brother Zhao, please look after us when the time comes!”
“Brother Zhao, it’s your first time filming. If you have any doubts, feel free to ask us. We will be more than happy to help.”
“Yes, we are all from the same company. There’s no need for formalities with us!”
Entertainment circles were very realistic and pragmatic. These people’s attitudes changing was nothing strange.
Especially a for some A-lister celebrities. Back when they had first gone to the Wai film studio complex for filming, they had thought Fang Zhao did not seem in touch with reality. He had been an industry outsider back then. They had never felt that Fang Zhao would be any threat to them.
But now, their positions had changed.
Finally, the date of departure arrived.
From the official news releases these few days, it seemed like the cast and crew heading to planet Wai had vast fame and influence.
Two large art academy high-level collectives had appeared!
Five large live-broadcasting platforms would provide instantaneous coverage!
Twelve large media organizations focusing on Huangzhou Airfield!
Thirty art institute professors and student representatives as a sending-off party!
It was as if all the entertainment circles elite were included!
The splendid battle array of the cast and crew alongside the omnipresent news coverage online made the public feel that this wasn’t just purely entertainment, that it possessed epoch-making significance. This was a milestone that would be recorded in the annals of history!
This was also the reason why many actors were willing to get into the cast even without receiving a paycheck, and there were actors who spent large amounts of money to squeeze into minor roles in this serial.
A certain live broadcast channel. The host was currently broadcasting live at the airfield.
“I’m here live at Huangzhou Airfield. At the moment, outstanding actors from all over the world, famous directors, gold medal screenwriters, authoritative advisors, top-notch production teams, and many others are all getting ready to set out! Everyone, take a look at the many flying transports behind me. These flying transports will send these people to the space station where the cast and crew members will board a transport ship and head to planet Wai!
“All 12 continents have transferred over a batch of troops heading to planet Wai too. According to the information I just received, we aren’t able to see the military now, as they are already at the space station. This serial’s escort arrangements are unprecedented!”
After introducing the situation at Huangzhou Airfield, the program host noticed a comment left by a member of the audience: “Isn’t this just filming a serial? Is there a need for such a huge battle array? And even mobilizing the military? This is just a waste of resources!”
The host read the comment out loud but did not reply to it right away, instead asking in a serious tone, “Does anyone know why each continent’s Cemetery of Martyrs has a batch of the finest soldiers?”
Online audiences’ comments started to get lively.
“Is the host talking about cemetery guards?”
“I know! I heard that there are hidden treasures in the 12 continent’s Cemetery of Martyrs!”
“If anyone digs up a grave, they will become rich overnight! If no one is stationed to guard it, those treasures will be stolen!”
When the host saw these comments, his expression became even more grave. “Money and treasures are all dead! If you think about it, they aren’t actually worth anything at all. What the cemetery guards protect is a belief, our spiritual support!”
The host’s spittle was flying all over as he talked about martyrs and cemeteries.
Luckily, he had done enough preparation and memorized a lot of historical information. His seniors had also taught him what to say during the live broadcast, and it was the best and most politically correct answer!
Whether those historical incidents that had circulated down over the years were true or not, the host wasn’t certain, nor did he have any profound feelings. After all, 500 years had already passed; it seemed so far away to him. Nowadays, people were incapable of understanding how desperate and arduous that time period had been.
Memorial Day was just a vacation to celebrate the new year. How many people actually went to worship the spirits of the martyrs? How many gravestones had thick layers of dust on them?
Now, as the host faced the camera lens and spoke to the audience, everyone got all fired up, as if a burning passion had ignited within!
But when he finished, that was it. In just the few minutes after, everyone’s blood had already cooled, let alone after 500 years.
They hadn’t experienced it personally and had never lived during that period. How deep could their sentiments be?
When it came to characters from the Period of Destruction, what the masses came into contact with were only those groundless fabrications, those high-energy historical films with monotonous writing, and the very few historical images online that had been officially released to the public. How ardently could the masses feel about such a thing?
As the host thought about this, he saw the light. He suddenly understood some of the reasons the government wanted to reboot the “Founding Era” project.
When he thought to this point, the host’s expression became very solemn as he stared straight into the camera. “Heroes never die; they are only forgotten. There are some things and some people that should never be forgotten! Don’t even mention 500 years, even 500 years from now, we must never forget!”
“Now, ‘Founding Era’ isn’t just a simple historical serial. It has been coined a revolutionary project to let everyone remember how the present came about! We, as people of the New Era, have to remember this belief!” The host raised a finger to his temple. “Later, when the transport ship leaves the space station, that will be the ark ferrying our beliefs! Those in the cast and crew are heading to planet Wai on a mission!”
When the host finished speaking and recalled what he had just said, he immediately felt that his pretentious level had just risen by a hundred times! I am a f*cking genius!
In no time, this portion of the host’s speech during the live broadcast was clipped and uploaded to the internet. It was met with a round of approval by netizens, and even some big shots in the academic and entertainment circles acknowledged it!
When other live-broadcast hosts saw this situation, they were suddenly enlightened. In the future, they would play this angle, since it could both attract fans and obtain acknowledgment from big shots!
Regardless of what they thought, during a live broadcast, a host needed to love the martyrs more deeply than anyone! Talk about their heroic deeds better than anyone! Be even more pretentious than anyone!
Inside the airfield, celebrities of all sorts of ranks were hurrying to take selfies before they set off.
In the past, many of these celebrities might have been obsessed with taking passerby-style shots of others at the airfield, but this time, in front of so many seniors, they were afraid their actions would be looked down upon, so most photos they took were very normal without too many gimmicks.
There were selfies uploaded online, as well as group photos with other actors from the cast. Regardless of how they treated each other in private, on the surface, everyone put on a show of unity.
“So many seniors from the industry, so nervous! Look who is standing behind me~[image].”
“Met my childhood idol, so excited! Took a photo together [image].”
“Preparing to set off! [Image]”
“Setting off to battle for our beliefs! I feel handsome beyond recognition today! [Image][image][image]”
…
Only when the notification to board the transports sounded did they put down whatever they were doing and board obediently.
Outside, in the area surrounding the airfield, media outlets, fans, and passersby collectively watched as the flying transports rose up into the air like they were saluting those flying off… Or maybe there was envy in their gazes.
When the transports arrived at the space station, everyone from the cast and crew transferred over to the transport ship.
Military personnel armed to the teeth sat in silence, and the solemn atmosphere quelled the lively and excited spirits of the actors, replacing it with a sense of nervousness.
And while there was this sort of peaceful atmosphere, someone just had to suddenly voice his thoughts. “If this transport ship meets with an accident, the entire entertainment industry will be set back by god knows how many years!
Everyone simultaneously looked over at Zaro standing there as they lamented, This bastard! We should just drag him outside and beat him up!
If gazes were like arrows, at this moment, Zaro’s heart would have been pierced a thousand times over.
Who wanted to hear such inauspicious words like “accident” before they had even taken off!?
Zaro’s agent was riddled with despair. What a talent! What did you just eat that made you able to offend an entire ship just after entering the cast and crew?
