Chapter 467: Beasts
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The conference room and the dorm near the outdoor shooting range were temporarily built plastic houses with poor sealing jobs. When there was strong wind outside, there was a small wind inside. Even when they were indoors, people wore coats or jackets to keep warm.
Feng Xuan’s assistant knocked on the door and came in, leading Zhang Zian and Old Yang into the room. Famous followed behind them.
“Director Feng, here they are,” the assistant said before he left.
The heat was on in the room, but due to the frequent coming and going of personnel, it wasn’t quite warm. Feng Xuan was still wearing the same green military coat he wore when he visited the police dog training base, and was sitting across a middle-aged man in a dark, blue jacket.
“Zhang, Old Yang. Let me introduce you to Xu Gang, the outreach producer.” Feng Xuan continued the introductions, “This is Zhang Zian, the chief dog trainer hired by our crew, and the owner of the dog who plays Lightning. This is Master Yang who is temporarily transferred from the police dog training base. He has spent more than twenty years at the base and has prior dog training experience.”
Xu Gang looked sleepy, beaten by the weather, and his hair seemed like it hadn’t been washed for a few days, but he managed to get up with an effort and shake hands with Zhang Zian and Old Yang.
“Hello, just call me Gang Zi.” Xu Gang’s tone was very straightforward, like a person who didn’t pay much attention to trivial formalities. He said to Zhang Zian, “Zhang, we’ve never met before, but I’ve heard good things. Your Famous is very impressive. I was worried that the shooting process would not go smoothly if the protagonist was played by another dog. Everyone in the film industry knows that the hardest objects to shoot are animals and children. Especially animals because of their disobedience.”
“Thank you,” Zhang Zian said honestly, “I’m not talented. Famous is just intelligent.”
Xu Gang thought Zhang Zian was being humble, so he laughed.
Feng Xuan said from the side, “Zhang, before you joined the crew, Gang Zi went to the Western region with the outdoor scenery team, which is why you’ve never met.”
Xu Gang nodded and said, “The title ‘outreach producer’ sounds fancy, but I’m just doing odd jobs. I went to the west this time to find props.”
He glanced at Feng Xuan and said meaningfully, “Fortunately, apart from getting tanner, I found the props we need.”
Zhang Zian was intrigued, what props needed to be found in the west?
“Well done, Gang Zi,” Feng Xuan encouraged him, “Go to the hotel to rest, and come back to report for duty after you’ve had enough sleep.”
Xu Gang said with a bitter smile, “You don’t need to tell me twice, I do need a good rest. The altitude sickness almost killed me.”
Feng Xuan joked a little more with Xu Gang before he stopped smiling and said to Zhang Zian seriously, “Zhang, have you read the script yet?”
“Yes,” Zhang Zian immediately replied.
Feng Xuan asked him this question everyday, and he always gave the same answer.
Zhang Zian had read the script many times. When he first got the script, he read it in its entirety several times.Now, he read the parts that were to be filmed each day before shooting. He could almost recite every word of the script.
Feng Xuan smiled, “Then, do you have any questions about the script?”
“Questions…” Zhang Zian repeated the word, quickly turned the pages of the script in his mind. The script landed on one of the pages he’d written a big question mark.
“Ah! The power grid outside, is it…” he started.
When he read the script for the first time, he had some questions. Some were about the performance and some about the plot. Even if he had doubts about the performance and the story, he was not qualified to voice his doubts. He knew that he was just a dog trainer with little say over things that didn’t concern him.
After Zhang Zian started participating in the film, these questions had been answered one by one. Some things that didn’t seem reasonable in the script were actually the results of the eye-candy actors that were hired by higher ups, or results of the compromising choices made because of insufficient funds or technology.
In addition to the questions about performance and plot, there was one question that had been bugging him from the beginning. The script mentioned that in the climax of the movie, Lightning, played by Famous, along with several other police dogs, would need to cross the minefields of the snowy plateau, dodge bullets from poachers, and escape the siege of ferocious beasts before they could successfully return to the garrison headquarters to get help. Everything seemed fine except for the fact that the script didn’t mention what the “ferocious beasts” were.
Of course, because of the word “siege,” Zhang Zian assumed that the beasts were wolves, since the wolf was almost the best beast that excelled in cooperating to hunt for prey. Plus, wolves were indeed distributed in the Western region. So, he held back the doubt in his heart and did not ask Feng Xuan.
It’s not uncommon for wolves to take part in filming. Whether it was in Wolf Totem or Game of Thrones, wolves and wolf trainers could always be found. There was no wolf trainer in their crew, so Zhang Zian assumed that Feng Xuan would make the German Shepherds act as wild wolves, which was not a problem.
However, when he heard Feng Xuan and thought about the question with the power grid outside, Zhang Zian started to suspect his idea. If German Shepherds were to play wolves, there was no need to prepare on such a grand scale. So, was Feng Xuan intending to shoot the film with real wolves? Then, where was the wolf trainer? Would Feng Xuan ask him, a dog trainer, to serve as the wolf trainer?
He didn’t really have the skills to tame wolves. If he entered the wolf pack, the only result would be becoming the manure of the wolves. It’s not worth taking such a risk with his wage of 1,000 Yuan per day.
Feng Xuan slowly nodded, “That’s right, the power grid outside is used to prevent the beasts from escaping. Do you have any idea as to what kind of beasts?”
“Wolves?” Zhang Zian assumed.
“No. Try again.” Feng Xuan and Xu Gang looked at each other, smiling.
“Not wolves? Then, I don’t know what they are,” Zhang Zian said confused. He felt inexplicably agitated and had no interest to play this guessing game.
“Huh,” Old Yang asked, “can I guess? Are there any prizes?”
Feng Xuan knew what he wanted as the prize, so he laughed, “Well, Old Yang, if you can get it right, I will give you a carton of cigarettes.”
“A carton of cigarettes? Let me guess,” Old Yang said with confidence, “If not wolves, the beasts must be Tibetan Mastiffs.”
Tibetan Mastiffs? Dogs?
Zhang Zian’s heart suddenly tightened. He remembered those empty iron cages, of which the sizes were more than twice the size of the cages containing the German Shepherds. There’s no need for such cages if the beasts were wolves. Were they really Tibetan Mastiffs?
Feng Xuan and Xu Gang simultaneously clapped their hands, and the former one applauded, “Old Yang, you’ve got it! Gang Zi brought back a group of Tibetan Mastiffs from his trip to the west.”
