Chapter 26: The Director

Teresa Teng’s music began to infiltrate the Mainland in the late 1970s. A small portion of these cassette tapes were brought back by officials returning from business trips, but the vast majority were smuggled in from the south.

At that time, these were still original tapes. Because dubbing with single-deck recorders was cumbersome, by the early 1980s, people were mostly using blank tapes to copy them. There were no covers and no lyrics; people would listen to a line, write it down, and circulate the handwritten copies back and forth. For quite a long time, Teresa Teng’s songs were considered underground music, something to be listened to in secret.

There were also children of high-ranking officials who would lock the doors, draw the curtains, put on "Sweet Honey," and the boys and girls would begin to dance "erotic dances." The so-called erotic dance was nothing more than a ballroom dance with a slightly tighter embrace. Of course, there were some who were more unrestrained—that was truly erotic, and they were all executed during the "Strike Hard" campaign.

To the people of the Mainland, the "decadent sounds" of Teresa Teng were earth-shattering. Teresa Teng and Yang Yuying were the dream lovers of countless middle-aged and elderly men. This refers to the fathers and grandfathers; by the time the post-80s and 90s generations became nostalgic, it would be the era of Jay Chou, Stefanie Sun, and the "Three Giants of QQ Music."

In any case, Chen Qi bought three tapes and successfully turned his father into a die-hard fan. His father quickly succumbed to the decadent sounds, locking the door every night to listen for a while and humming along, much to the dissatisfaction of Yu Xiuli.

Chen Qi had been back for a few days, during which he treated his friends to a meal. Everyone pooled their ration coupons together; there weren't many, and thirteen people plus Auntie Wang only spent a dozen yuan, averaging about one yuan per person. But they were quite full; although the staff were known for being rough with customers in those days, the portions were generous.

One afternoon, in a storage room at the neighborhood committee, Chen Qi was rummaging through several broken boxes filled with colorful plastic sandals. The workmanship was simple, and they were quite abrasive to wear barefoot, but they had the advantage of being brightly colored, sturdy, dirt-resistant, and suitable for wading through water on rainy days.

"One hundred pairs of men's shoes, one hundred for women, and three hundred for children. They say children's shoes sell the best."

"What about the selling price?"

"3.6 yuan for men's, 3.2 yuan for women's, and 2.1 yuan for children's. That’s the market price. Our cost is very low; the No. 2 Plastic Factory practically gave them away, costing only 200 yuan in total."

"Did you pay them?"

"Yes, I did!"

"Remember for next time: delay the payment for a few months. If you can get it for free, get it for free."

Chen Qi, polluting the noble heart of a socialist warrior, added, "When we sell them, add two jiao to each pair."

"Huh? Why raise the price?"

"Since we don't require ration coupons, they're naturally more expensive. Raising it by only two jiao is already quite conscientious."

Upon hearing this, Huang Zhanying whipped a small abacus out of her bag, clicked away for a while, and exclaimed, "If we sell them all, we'll net over 1,000 yuan!"

"Comrade Zhanying, how many times do I have to tell you? Think bigger, broaden your horizons. Beijing can sell millions of pairs of these sandals in a single summer. We need to acquire as many as we can."

Just as he was speaking, someone outside called out, "Little Chen? Little Chen?"

"Old Liang?"

Chen Qi looked up and saw it was actually Liang Xiaosheng.

"I asked many people before finally finding you. Come back to the studio with me, quickly."

"What's wrong?"

"The director for 'Romance on Lushan Mountain' has been decided!"

Hearing this, he stood up immediately, shouted "I'm leaving first" to Huang Zhanying, and followed Liang Xiaosheng out. Huang Zhanying shook her head; the literary front was truly corrupting. How long had it been, and he was already wavering.

The Beijing Film Studio followed the Soviet model, establishing four creative collectives. Each collective had a core director, several other directors, as well as cinematographers, art directors, prop masters, and so on—a complete production team.

The core of the first collective was Shui Hua, known for "The White-Haired Girl," "Lin Family Shop," and "Lives in Flames." The core of the second was Cui Wei, known for "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" and "Song of Youth." Chen Huaikai also belonged to this team as one of the "other directors." The core of the third was Ling Zifeng, known for "Red Flag Spectrum" and later "Rickshaw Boy." The core of the fourth was Cheng Yin, known for "From Victory to Victory" and "The Red Lantern."

These four were the "Four Great Directors" mentioned earlier, also known as the Four Great Commanders. Later, two more were added: Xie Tieli and Xie Tian.

These were the top creative forces of the Beijing Film Studio. In addition, there were a number of highly capable mid-generation directors who were counted among the "other directors." Other film studios would have given anything for such talent, but the Beijing Film Studio could produce them in bulk, showing just how powerful it was. In fact, this model was formally similar to the producer-team system in Hollywood, but the difference was that one was director-centered while the other was producer-centered.

The person Beijing Film Studio chose for "Romance on Lushan Mountain" was a mid-generation director named Wang Haowei, a female director known for "Haixia" and "Look at This Family." She was only 39 years old, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy's directing department. She had received the assignment a few days ago, accepted it without hesitation, and immediately studied the script. Only when she felt ready did she ask to meet Chen Qi.

Wang Haowei was not tall, sporting a short, ear-length haircut as she sat waiting in the small conference room.

In this era, the proportion of female directors was very high, and their success rate was astonishingly high. Everyone knew Yang Jie, the director of "Journey to the West," and there was also a female director named Cai Xiaoqing for "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," who was also a heroine. For instance, the "Burning of Red Cliffs" scene, a massive sequence involving 2,500 people and the most important part of the entire show, was overseen by Cai Xiaoqing. If that were to happen in the future, wouldn't one have to lose 300 pounds to survive it?

She waited for a while before hearing footsteps outside. Liang Xiaosheng entered first, followed by a young man who looked excessively young.

"This is Director Wang Haowei, and this is Chen Qi!"

"Hello, hello. I'm sorry, I had to go home before I could get here."

"It was my intrusion; I am the one who should apologize..."

Wang Haowei smiled and shook his hand. The height difference between the two was quite significant, making the scene look a bit comical. Chen Qi was always humble and polite in front of these seniors, waiting for her to sit before he took his seat.

"The studio has given me this task. I've been reading the script for the past few days and have written down some thoughts." She took out a notebook and smiled. "These are my notes. Let's talk about them first, and then you can take them back to look over."

"No, no, I'm mainly here to listen to your guidance!"

"I can't say it like that. There must be a script before there is a film. We must reach a consensus and align our ideas, otherwise, we can't film. I'll be open and honest; feel free to share any thoughts you have."

Hmm?

Chen Qi was momentarily stunned. His soul, long accustomed to the stench of the gutter, suddenly encountered purity and was a bit unaccustomed to it.

Immediately, the two began to talk.

First, they defined the film: a lyrical film about scenery. They would not deliberately dwell on "persecution" or "the torrents of history," but rather focus on the theme of "love"—love for people, love for the mountains and rivers, and love for the motherland. They wanted to show positive, uplifting emotions of building a new era.

This was different from the currently popular "Scar Literature," which focused on the criticism and reflection of the torrents of history with a bleak tone. Honestly, Chen Qi had never been a fan of Scar Literature.

"It seems we have quite a rapport! We ended up thinking alike on many things."

Wang Haowei laughed, becoming even more amiable. "Good, then the theme and ideology are settled. Now, let's talk about the casting!"