Chapter 44: The Storyteller

"Storytelling? Does he tell you stories too?"

"Yeah! Little Chen tells us stories whenever he has free time, and everyone loves listening."

"What kind of stories does he tell?"

"Oh, all sorts of things! The Monkey King, Wu Song, Lin Daiyu, Mu Guiying... Anyway, you'll see for yourself once you meet him. Say, are you looking for a room?" the hotel receptionist asked.

"Uh, yes. Do you have any vacancies?"

"You're in luck, there's just one left. Let me see your travel introduction letter."

He Chengwei handed over his introduction letter and work ID card to check in.

This was one of the reasons why the tourism industry could not easily develop at the time. Ordinary citizens found it difficult to travel; they needed an introduction letter just to take a train or stay at a hotel, along with national ration coupons. For many people, the farthest place they ever visited in their entire lives was the county seat. If someone managed to visit the provincial capital, they could brag about it for three months, and visiting the capital city was an even more incredible feat...

He Chengwei arrived at his room, freshened up, and felt extremely excited about the upcoming meeting.

***

As the verse goes: Naturally carved by immortals, infinite beauty peaks in perilous heights.

Immortal's Cave is a natural sandstone cavern on Mount Lu, where Lü Dongbin is legendary to have practiced Daoism and attained immortality. In later generations, the place became crowded with wooden blessing plaques, seeking wealth, romance, peace, and success in imperial examinations. Chen Qi had even hung one up in his past life.

Next to Immortal's Cave stood the Old Lord Temple, dedicated to Lord Laozi.

Two-thirds of *Romance on Lushan* consisted of exterior shots, with the camera following the footsteps of the male and female leads to showcase the magnificent scenery of Mount Lu. However, focusing solely on the two of them would make the visual narrative too monotonous, so director Wang Haowei added some tourists and mountain residents into the background, even though there were no actual tourists around at the moment.

These extras were all played by crew members, and Chen Qi had also stepped in as an extra a few times. Messing around for fun was fine, but if they actually expected him to act seriously, he wasn't interested—his ambitions lay elsewhere.

Today, he was cast as an extra once more, playing a game of chess in front of the Old Lord Temple with another crew member, leading right into a scene where the female lead rushes over.

"Let's run through it once first!"

"Three, two, one, action!"

Chen Qi sat before the stone table with his legs crossed, playing chess as leisurely and carefree as a veteran cadre drawing a handsome pension.

Gong Xue entered from the left, intending to enter the Old Lord Temple. She pushed the door only to find it locked, and just as she was about to turn around to ask, she suddenly heard that rascal blurt out:

"You jump~"

"Asakura jumped, and Tanta jumped too. Why don't you jump~"

"Ouch!"

She immediately broke character and laughed.

Wang Haowei snapped directly, "Little Chen, what kind of mischief are you up to again?"

"I saw he was about to move his knight, and the moment he moved it, I would win. I just got carried away for a moment. Sorry, Director!"

"You're the one acting, so take it seriously when you're on camera. Why are you improvising your own lines? This is called stealing the spotlight, understand? Who is the supporting actor and who is the lead? You're supposed to highlight her!"

"Got it, I promise to keep her facing the audience!"

"Take two!"

Wang Haowei rolled her eyes. She had already figured out this kid's temperament—his mouth was full of nonsense, he loved joking around, and he was thoroughly entertaining, yet he always maintained a proper sense of boundaries so as not to genuinely anger anyone, while possessing undeniable talent.

Those lines he used just now were from the movie *Manhunt*, vivid and full of life, though unfortunately a bit out of place here; otherwise, she really would have liked to use them.

"Three, two, one, action!"

Gong Xue ran through the motion again, pushing the door. This time, undisturbed, she turned back and asked, "What's going on here?"

"Closed to the public!" Chen Qi replied without lifting his head.

"Why?"

"The Four Olds!"

"Alright, that's a wrap for this shot! Little Chen, come here!"

Wang Haowei called Chen Qi over and said, "The next scene is her peeking through the crack of the door to look inside, seeing the statue of Lord Laozi, and then paying her respects. I feel it's a bit too plain. Can we add some flair?"

"Are we allowed to feature Christian imagery?"

"It's permitted this year."

"Then have her make a gesture..."

Chen Qi used his finger to tap his forehead, chest, left shoulder, and right shoulder, performing the common Christian gesture of crossing oneself, and said, "Halfway through the gesture, she stops, remembers this is an Eastern deity, and hastily switches to pressing her palms together in prayer."

"Don't Daoists use a different greeting instead of palms pressed together?"

"She's a foreigner, she doesn't know!"

"That's true!"

Wang Haowei was thoroughly satisfied. The kid had a vast and messy store of knowledge, produced results quickly, and had an answer for everything—he was an absolute delight to work with.

After a period of adjustment, efficiency had improved considerably. Instead of dragging out a single shot all day, they could now film three shots daily. Soon, it was time for dinner. A logistics staff member pushed a flatbed cart over, carrying several large barrels.

No matter who you were, everyone obediently lined up with their aluminum lunchboxes to get their food, washed them after eating, and used them again the next day.

"Radishes and cabbage again?"

"The wild vegetables on this mountain are plentiful. If you toss some in with a bit of beef, blanch it in water, and mix it with vinegar, MSG, minced garlic, and sesame oil—served both hot and cold—oh man, the aroma is incredible!"

"Do I look like a little beef to you? Hot and cold dishes, what kind of capitalist joke are you playing!"

The logistics worker scooped a large ladle of vegetables into a box and asked eagerly, "Master Storyteller Chen, are we getting a story today?"

"You bet!"

"Then wait for me a second. Here, here, let me give you another scoop of soup."

Radish and cabbage soup poured over rice—with no meat, at least it gave the meal a bit more flavor.

Chen Qi carried his lunchbox, found a rock to sit on, and the others consciously formed a circle around him, all looking full of anticipation. Once the logistics worker finished serving his own food, he hurried over to grab a spot. Good grief, it looked just like attending a Daoist sermon at the Purple Heaven Palace.

If someone laid out a few straw mats in front of him, he could practically achieve enlightenment sitting right there...

He took a large bite of his soup-soaked rice and said leisurely, "Picking up where we left off last time!"

"When Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the Jiangnan region, Shen Wanshan actively extended a gesture of goodwill, initially helping to fund the construction of the Nanjing city wall by footing one-third of the expenses single-handedly. When Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to reward his troops, Shen Wanshan volunteered to pay for the rewards as well."

"Zhu Yuanzhang asked him, 'I have a million soldiers, can you reward them all?' Shen Wanshan replied, 'Giving one tael to each is definitely no problem.'"

"Was he really that wealthy? Can a single merchant pull out a million taels of silver?" During the break, Wang Haowei wasn't as stern as she had been earlier, and she also enjoyed listening to stories.

"A million? Far from it! Shen Wanshan was the wealthiest man under heaven; nobody knew how much money he actually had."

"So how did he make all that money?"

Gong Xue held her lunchbox in her left hand, a spoon in her right, eating in small, delicate bites.

"That's a long story. Shen Wanshan's hometown was Shen Village, which had nine *qing* of farmland and a dozen farmhands. During a severe drought one year, the vegetation withered and died, yet one farmhand managed to carry back a bundle of tender green grass every single day."

"Shen Wanshan secretly followed him and saw him arrive at a mountain ridge covered by a circular patch of lush green grass. The strangest thing was that no matter how much was cut, it just kept growing back endlessly, as if it were inexhaustible."

"Shen Wanshan invited a Daoist priest to take a look, and the priest said this mountain was originally called Phoenix Mountain, and phoenixes never land on treasureless ground..."

Reaching this point, Chen Qi shoveled another massive mouthful of rice into his mouth, followed quickly by another.

"Hey, finish the story!"

"Not telling anymore! The next part involves feudal superstitions!"

"Boo!!!"

The crowd expressed their unanimous disdain. If this were in a crosstalk theater, he would have been booed right off the stage.

Before they knew it, the crew had been here for over twenty days. Almost everyone had grown to fond of this guy—he was generous, warm-hearted, sociable, humorous, and always telling them stories.

You had to keep in mind that for a full decade, the masses had only been fed the Eight Model Operas and the Three Great Military Campaigns (*Tunnel War*, *Landmine War*, and *Fighting North and South*).

No matter how good something was, people would eventually grow sick of it.

Now that the political environment was easing up, people were starved for entertainment. Forget Shen Wanshan; they would have happily listened to a story about a cat catching mice. The only annoying thing was that this guy always cut the story off right at the climax, using feudal superstition as an excuse to stop, and then started a fresh story instead, repeating the cycle over and over...

Actually, it wasn't that Chen Qi didn't want to finish; in this era, people really would report you for telling such tales.

***

Work wrapped up a little past five o'clock, as usual.

The group returned to Guling. As soon as Chen Qi stepped into the hotel, the receptionist hurried over and said, "You're finally back! Someone has been looking for you!"

"Who?"

"They said they're an editor from *Story Monthly*!"

"They actually came all this way in person..."

Chen Qi hurried upstairs and knocked on the door. He Chengwei had been waiting for quite a while. When he saw a young man standing outside, he asked, "Hello, comrade. Is there something you need?"

"Are you the editor from *Story Monthly*? I'm the one who submitted the manuscript to you."

"You're Ah Qi???"

"Yes, my name is Chen Qi."

He Chengwei looked as though he had seen a ghost—the author was far too young! Still feeling uncertain, he asked, "You're also a screenwriter?"

"Yeah, we're currently in the middle of shooting a film."

"Truly a young talent! Please, come in, come in!"

He Chengwei ushered him inside, poured a cup of water, sized him up once more, and laughed, "If my colleagues knew, they'd be even more surprised than I am. We all read your *Kapok Kasaya*, and our editor-in-chief specifically sent me here to pay a visit and make friends with you."

"You've come such a long way, it must have been exhausting. Are you satisfied with the manuscript?"

"It's fantastic! We've already decided to publish it in the next issue—it'll be coming out soon, early next month. How is the second half coming along?"

"It'll be finished in a few days. Around thirty thousand words, I estimate."

"Then can you give me a sneak peek and tell it to me now?"

Chen Qi gladly agreed, invited him out for a meal first, and after returning from dinner, they settled down for a detailed conversation.

He narrated the second half of *Kapok Kasaya*: essentially, Ding Mo is saved by Lin Ying, and as they spend day and night together, their feelings deepen. By a twist of fate, he masters supreme martial arts, returns to the Shaolin Temple to exact revenge, and eliminates the main antagonist.

However, the Shaolin Temple suffers heavy casualties and remains in a precarious state. Only Ding Mo is capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility, and he ultimately decides to take formal vows as a monk.

"At the abbot succession ceremony, Ding Mo wears the kapok kasaya, bowing before the Buddha. Lin Ying stands outside watching him. Separated by mere doors, it feels as though they are worlds apart... As the saying goes, 'How can one reconcile the ways of the world, forsaking neither the Buddha nor my love?' Ah..."

Chen Qi finished the story and let out a melodramatic, lingering sigh. Not hearing any movement from across the table, he looked up.

Oh!

He Chengwei was crying.