“Eh?”
Li Huawen was stunned. He turned to look at Fang Qiu and asked in surprise, “How do you know?”
“Because of Hero Yang Yizhi.
“Some time ago, Director Chen said that he would make a movie about Hero Yang Yizhi. He was the first one that came to my mind. It seems to be true,” said Fang Qiu.
“Yes, that is Director Chen Xiaogang.”
Li Huawen nodded and added, “Since you have guessed that he wants to meet you, you should also have guessed his purpose, right?”
“To make a movie,” Fang Qiu answered.
“What do you think?” Li Huawen smiled and asked, “Are you interested?”
“I’m a doctor.” Fang Qiu shook his head with a wry smile and said, “I’m neither an actor nor a star. It’s a bit unprofessional for me to perform at the New Year’s Gala and act in a movie.”
“Are you sure you’re not a star?”
Li Huawen glanced at Fang Qiu and said resignedly, “Let me tell you something. You’re more famous than a star now. Some people said that this year is the year of Fang Qiu, and I also think so! Look at how popular you are this year. If you weren’t a doctor and didn’t compete with stars for a job, those stars would have united to crack you down a long time ago!”
Hearing that, Fang Qiu gave a wry smile.
“From your performance on the program, it seems that you respect Yang Yizhi very much. Director Chen Xiaogang chose you because of your respect for Hero Yang Yizhi and your talent showed in the variety show.”
While pulling Fang Qiu out, Li Huawen asked again, “Are you really not interested in acting?”
“Not interested.”
Fang Qiu shook his head again.
He majored in medicine, and he was a hidden guru in Wulin. Why did he act in a movie?
During the talk, they walked out of the Central Television and got in Li Huawen’s car.
Twenty minutes later.
Led by Li Huawen, Fang Qiu came to a tea room hidden in the corner. It looked simple, but it was extremely exquisite.
The two of them came to the early reserved room together and saw the famous director Chen Xiaogang and his personal scriptwriter Zhao Rulong!
“Welcome.”
As soon as Fang Qiu and Li Huawen entered the door, Director Chen Xiaogang immediately rose to greet them and said, “Nice to meet you!”
Fang Qiu hurriedly returned a salute.
“Please sit down.”
Zhao Rulong echoed and led Fang Qiu and Li Huawen to the table to sit down.
The four people in the room were all seated.
“I can hear Fang Qiu’s name at least three times a day. Today, I finally have the honor to see him. He is indeed a talented young man!”
As soon as they sat down, Director Chen Xiaogang immediately began to praise Fang Qiu.
“Director Chen, you’re flattering me,” Fang Qiu said humbly.
“No, no. Now, everyone in the country knows Fang Qiu!”
Zhao Rulong gave a loud laugh and added, “A talented man can’t hide his brilliance.”
Fang Qiu smiled.
They praised him so much the first time they met that he felt embarrassed.
At this time, Director Chen Xiaogang glanced at Li Huawen. Li Huawen shook his head gently.
Chen Xiaogang’s heart sank after he received the signal.
He asked Director Li to sound out Fang Qiu’s attitude toward playing a role in his film. Now it seemed that Fang Qiu was unwilling to act in a movie.
It seemed that he had to play the second trick.
Immediately, Chen Xiaogang sighed deeply. As he poured the wine for Fang Qiu, he said in a low and miserable voice, “Brother Fang Qiu, I am really envious of you. With such a great reputation, you can still restrain yourself and know what you want.
“I’m now overwhelmed by my reputation, close to death. Look at me. I haven’t made any good works for so many years. Although I’ve always wanted to make a good work for the public, the material is hard to find!
“Brother Fang Qiu, to tell you the truth, I invited you here today because of the variety show that you participated in earlier.” Director Chen Xiaogang frowned and sighed bitterly as he grabbed Fang Qiu’s hand.
His expression was sincere, and his voice was miserable.
Seeing this scene, Director Li Huawen was dumbfounded.
The name of Chen Xiaogang would make all the celebrities in the entertainment circle shudder and scramble for him. If they were to see what Chen Xiaogang looked like now, their eyes would pop out from their sockets.
A big shot in the entertainment circle took the initiative to come here for a meal and praised a newcomer as soon as he sat at the table. After that, he even began to cry for sympathy.
“What is he going to do?
“To persuade Fang Qiu to put on a show by touching him with misery and reasoning with him with the truth?
“What’s more, why did he touch Fang Qiu’s hand?
“Does he have any moral integrity?”
As Director Chen’s personal scriptwriter, Zhao Rulong knew him well without saying. Therefore, he hurriedly began to open his mouth.
He patted Fang Qiu on the shoulder. Like Chen Xiaogang, he sighed softly and said, “Brother Fang Qiu! You discovered the story of Yang Yizhi. You have really done a great thing for our country!
“We are going to film him for the national audience and let them feel and learn from his spirit and stories. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to his country and people.
“If Director Chen is in charge of giving the audience a perfect picture, then I am in charge of giving Director Chen a perfect picture. The business of writing is really difficult. I’ve followed Director Chen for so many years and have finished all I can write. It’s very difficult to find a topic now, especially one that has both the audience’s affection and positive energy.”
“Since we’ve reached this point, we won’t keep it from you anymore.”
Director Chen looked at Fang Qiu and continued, “We have watched the episode of Run Wild&Survive you have participated in. We watched it because of you at the beginning. But later, when Rulong and I saw Hero Yang Yizhi, who was concerned about the overall national interest, we were surprised pleasantly and admired Hero Yang Yizhi very much from the bottom of our hearts. We can also clearly see that your admiration for Hero Yang Yizhi is sincere too.”
Hearing this, Fang Qiu knew what they were doing.
He was not tempted at the moment.
However, he was still touched by Yang Yizhi.
“It is true that Hero Yang Yizhi is really righteous. Those heroes that we had heard before were either in novels or in TV series. But Hero Yang Yizhi is different. He is flesh and blood and very real. So when I saw the last words written by Hero Yang Yizhi before his death, I really felt that he was worthy of respect, admiration, and immortal fame!”
Especially as a guru like Yang Yizhi and a doctor, he was more respectful to Yang Yizhi.
Hearing that, Chen Xiaogang knew that it was still hopeful!
Immediately, he exchanged a look with Zhao Rulong and then quickly said, “That’s right. We have the same idea as you. So after watching the show, I immediately talked to the program group about the copyright. I think I have a responsibility to do something for Hero Yang Yizhi. So I decided to make a movie for him and let his name spread through ages.”
“Not only that,” Scriptwriter Zhao Rulong immediately chimed in, “in my eyes, Hero Yang Yizhi is the perfect embodiment of the spirit of his countrymen. Not only was he powerful in kung fu, but he also dared to stand up to guarantee the safety of one area and finally died in meditation. He is a real hero, a classic legend that the countrymen should pursue.”
“That’s true.” Fang Qiu nodded in agreement.
“You also agree, don’t you?” Director Chen Xiaogang said with a smile at the right time. Then he pretended to be upset, taking a sip of wine, and said, “Such a good subject matter! I really want to make a movie out of this. But it is a pity that I have not been able to find a good actor.”
“Come on, don’t keep talking. Let’s drink!” Zhao Rulong raised his glass and shouted.
The four raised their glasses at the same time and took a sip respectively.
“Brother, you may not know much about the entertainment circle and the industry of film and actor.”
After drinking the wine, Chen Xiaogang felt that he was in a perfect situation. He patted Fang Qiu on the shoulder and said earnestly, “The most important factor for a movie to show a perfect picture is an actor. Only the most suitable actor can make the film identify with the audience to the greatest extent. Only by resonating with the audience can they remember the essence of a film. Only by making a large audience remember the essence can a film be called as a classic and the characters and spirits in the film be passed down.”
“I understand,” Fang Qiu nodded and said.
“Tell me, without a suitable actor, I can’t make the film, can I?” Director Chen Xiaogang asked. Then he said, “I can’t randomly find an actor to act. If the actor plays badly and does not express the essence of Hero Yang Yizhi, the subject will be wasted. More importantly, the reputation of Hero Yang Yizhi might be affected by it!”
“That’s right, it does need to consider and choose actors carefully,” Fang Qiu responded.
It was indeed a good thing to make a movie of Hero Yang Yizhi. But if it was ruined by an unsuitable actor, it would be better not to have made one!
“Hero Yang Yizhi is a man of righteousness and boldness. It would be a pity if the character was ruined by an unsuitable actor,” Chen Xiaogang continued.
Obviously, his purpose was to use Fang Qiu’s admiration for Yang Yizhi to arouse his impulse to act in the film.
However, no matter what he had said, Fang Qiu always echoed and agreed.
He would say things like “I understand” and “Yes”, and nodded.
“Since you agree with us so much, show us your attitude!”
This situation made both Chen Xiaogang and Zhao Rulong speechless.
On the other side, Li Huawen was eating alone and didn’t participate in the discussion at all. Feeling the awkward atmosphere among the three, he burst into laughter in his heart.
He had known that Fang Qiu was a cunning fox.
While he might appear to be harmless, he was strong-minded and the best to play dumb.
However, Li Huawen had never spoken. He was just a middleman. As long as he brought both sides to the table, his task was completed. As for what would happen next, he’d better not get himself involved.
After they waited for a minute, Fang Qiu still didn’t speak.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaogang looked at Fang Qiu helplessly and thought to himself, “Youngsters today are not easy to deceive!”
He went straight to the point and said frankly, “Brother Fang Qiu, in fact, I invited you here this time just because I want to invite you to participate in the movie about Hero Yang Yizhi that I’ve made preparations for. Because you are a very suitable actor, I want to invite you to act the role of Hero Yang Yizhi in his youth. What do you think?”
“Well…” Fang Qiu muttered to himself.
At this point, he could only express his attitude.
He was unwilling to act in a movie.
However, after hearing what Director Chen Xiaogang had said earlier, he became hesitant. He could feel Director Chen’s sincerity. He also knew that Director Chen had said those words to stimulate him. However, they were all true.
Fang Qiu was very respectful to his predecessor Yang Yizhi deep down. Therefore, he did not want an unsuitable actor to ruin the reputation of Hero Yang Yizhi.
So he was considering whether he should act or not.
He was confident that he could perform the essence of Master Yang.
It was not because he was a good actor but because he was a guru, a person who wished to help the world. He could just play himself.
“Should I act or not?”
Perhaps it was because Chen Xiaogang dared not interrupt Fang Qiu’s thinking, or perhaps it was because he could sense Fang Qiu’s internal struggle, surprisingly, he did not disturb or urge Fang Qiu at this moment. He knew that Fang Qiu needed some time to think.
Three minutes.
Fang Qiu thought for three good minutes and finally made up his mind.
