Chapter 291: Troubles
Director Wang Weifan’s popularity had risen recently. In a modern era of a developed internet and extremely high exposure, it was truly surprising that this old director from the last century could still get attention. Originally, he had already prepared himself not to be noticed. After all, he knew he was just a remnant of a bygone era, not belonging to this one. But he was unwilling to leave the film industry and still held on, working hard to make movies. Finally, his efforts had paid off.
Dream Life was nominated for Best Film at the Golden Horse Awards, competing this year. Whether it could win an award and send this “eliminated” director back to the front lines of the film industry had become a focus of attention for many. Although newcomers were worthy of attention, a director with such a long history, and who had returned with his work like a king, his popularity would not be lower than theirs.
“Director, what are the arrangements for the new film?”
“We start filming in three days.”
“Alright, the script has been polished, and the actors are expected to be in place tomorrow.”
After Director Wang made a name for himself again, he seemed to have returned to the 1990s, when he was also the center of attention. But at that time, the internet was not developed, and the domestic film market was not developed either, just starting out. At that time, the film market was mostly dominated by art-house films, and there were very few commercial films. He still remembered that in the 90s, the mainland was very keen on importing American blockbusters, such as Dinosaur World, Jack and Rose, Shawshank, and Superman. Many people liked to watch them. Of course, there were also Hong Kong films, such as A Chinese Odyssey and From Beijing with Love.
After the new century, mainland films began to rise, and they also began to make commercial films. Wang Weifan still had a certain status at that time. At least at that time, he had made a commercial film, and the box office at that time was two hundred million. At that time, two hundred million was a lot in the mainland market. And after that, his film was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Although it didn’t win in the end, he was truly in the limelight at that time. Later, his career gradually went downhill, and gradually no one watched his films anymore. Not commercial enough, not artistic enough—it was the most appropriate description for Wang Weifan.
“Director, an investor asked you if you wanted to collaborate with Tang Yumeng again.”
“That depends on her thoughts.”
Director Wang Weifan did recognize Tang Yumeng’s ability. This little girl was also very hardworking. She would surely have achievements in the future. She was still young.
The most he could do was to give young people a little more opportunity.
…
Tang Yumeng’s exposure had indeed increased, which also made her busier. She now had almost no time for vacation and was on set every day. After this one was finished, she would go to the next one. Her schedule was already arranged until the New Year. She only had a one-week vacation this New Year.
…
The queen of the entertainment industry, Zhou Shilan, had not written any new songs these days. She wasn’t holding any more concerts either. Her fans were waiting anxiously, but Zhou Shilan just wouldn’t release a new album. After holding a concert in August last time, she had gone into seclusion for a long time, and her fans hadn’t seen her in a long time. In the current Mandopop scene, only Zhou Shilan was holding it up. The older generation of pop kings were all getting old, with fewer concerts, and even fewer representing the country to hold concerts abroad. Among the younger generation, only Zhou Shilan could hold a concert in Japan.
“Sister Zhou, when will your new song be finished? Brother Zheng is rushing you over there.”
“When fate arrives, it will naturally be written.”
Every time, Zhou Shilan would answer her colleagues like this, but in fact, there was no such thing as fate. She just couldn’t write anymore.
A person’s inspiration is not a machine that can be produced at any time. Zhou Shilan had been writing songs for almost ten years. It was impossible for her to have inspiration every day.
After ten years in the industry, she had tasted the bitterness of her inspiration drying up. People all said that she could take over the Mandopop scene in the future, representing China abroad, but was it really that easy?
“Sigh…”
The 25-year-old Zhou Shilan was in trouble. She couldn’t write good songs, nor did she know how to write them. If she wrote in an assembly-line fashion like before, the fans would still buy it, but that wouldn’t be the kind of song she wanted. She didn’t want to turn herself into an industry, let alone a machine. What she wanted was real creation.
That little girl named Yu Linna had once given her inspiration, given her creative inspiration, but now, could she still find inspiration in her? It was probably very difficult.
“Sister Zhou, Miss Nangong wants to see you.”
“Then let her in. In the future, if she wants to come, just let her in directly. You don’t have to notify me.”
Zhou Shilan leaned back on her lounge chair, covering her face with a book. Her head hurt. Thinking about lyrics every day, thinking about how to write good songs every day, but never being able to come up with anything. This feeling was the most painful.
“Hello, Sister Zhou.”
“Mmm.”
Nangong Ying, as a junior, brought a gift, calling her Sister Zhou. Zhou Shilan symbolically nodded, not even putting down her book.
“I hear you haven’t been working recently. I was worried about you and wanted to come and see you.”
“Thanks.”
Zhou Shilan didn’t want to bother with her at all. She only knew she was very annoyed. Not being able to come up with a song was the most painful thing. She was a musician. Not being able to come up with suitable lyrics was no different from being dead to her.
“Perhaps I should find some inspiration from you,” Zhou Shilan said.
There were still many things that could be dug up from Nangong Ying, such as the story of her and Yu Linna from before, which had given her creative inspiration. If she started digging from her legendary story, it would also be a good idea.
The current Nangong Ying was very popular. Her recent movie, Blue Pupil, was quite a hit. The cumulative box office had now reached 2 billion, and the final box office was expected to approach 3 billion, perhaps setting a new box office record for a female solo film market, completely breaking the past male-dominated film box office market.
“If you really want to talk about me, it would take three days and three nights to finish.”
Nangong Ying was not repulsed at all; on the contrary, she was looking forward to it. Zhou Shilan suddenly felt bored.
“When will you give me some inspiration?”
She leaned back on the lounge chair again, continuing to be decadent. If she couldn’t write another song, she might face the point of being questioned by people. Perhaps everyone would flame her, saying her talent had run out, that she couldn’t support the future music scene. That would cause her huge pressure. At this thought, her head throbbed.
Actually, in the year she entered the industry, she had never thought she would have today’s achievements. She had originally thought that as long as she could make a living, it would be fine. Otherwise, why would she have dropped out of school to pursue music? Did she really want to be famous? She really didn’t have that thought at that time. The first time she had an ambitious heart was at the age of eighteen, after her album was a great success. She had an ambition to create her own musical era.
“A producer from Hollywood in America found me. They want to contact you through me,” Nangong Ying said, revealing her purpose for the day.
“If they want to find me, they can come and find me personally. They can also find my assistant. Why are they looking for you to contact me? What are they thinking?”
Nangong Ying smiled but didn’t speak.
“Don’t tell me they want to ask me to act in a movie. Please, this joke is not funny at all.”
Zhou Shilan laughed. She had never acted before. Wasn’t it a joke to ask her to act in a movie?
“This is not a joke. This is a film contract from Hollywood. They will discuss the specifics with you. I hear they want you to sing a song in the movie.”
Zhou Shilan became even more unhappy.
Wasn’t this clearly a trap!
To have a big star like her play a bit part in a Hollywood movie, to make money in the Chinese market, treating the audience like fools. She had seen this trick many times. The young fresh meat in China were often invited by Americans to act in movies. They would say they would give them a role, but in fact, it was just a bit part, with probably less than ten minutes of screen time. Making the Chinese audience foolishly walk into the cinema, only to find they had watched a bad film. The City of a Thousand Stars, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, and X-Men from a few years ago were clear examples.
They still wanted to use this trick on her? Not a chance.
“Just say that Zhou Shilan feels her acting skills are not good enough and is afraid of dragging down the crew, so she politely declined the invitation.”
Zhou Shilan would not give Nangong Ying a chance. She quickly shut her up, had someone bring her some delicious food, and even changed the subject, proactively talking about Nangong Ying’s movie. Anyway, she just wouldn’t give her a chance to bring this up.
Nangong Ying also knew that this person didn’t want to listen to her, so she gave up. She decided to let the film company come and find her themselves.
…
After sending Nangong Ying off, Zhou Shilan was truly grateful. She had finally sent away this great Buddha. To relax and relieve her stress, she asked the company for a leave of absence, saying she was going home for a trip. Zhou Shilan could no longer continue to create. The people at the company didn’t make things difficult for her and let her go on vacation to rest. Zhou Shilan could finally go home and stay for a while, to change her mood.
Zhou Shilan’s mother was a mainland Chinese, but Zhou Shilan’s hometown was in Taiwan. Ever since she came to the mainland to develop and became famous, she rarely went back to her hometown. This time, because of the pressure from work, she decided to go home for a few days to rest. Her mother was quite happy after she found out and called her family to make a table full of food for her.
When Zhou Shilan returned to her old home in Taiwan with her suitcase, her younger sister was already there to greet her. She gave her a big hug and welcomed her into the house. Zhou Shilan had a younger sister and a younger brother in her family. Her younger sister was three years younger than her and was already working outside. Her younger brother was still in high school, about to go to university. Zhou Shilan’s family background was quite ordinary. Before she became famous, her family’s financial situation was not very good. It was only after she became famous that she bought a house for her family, moved to a new place, and her family’s conditions improved at that time.
“Lanlan, you’re back?”
“Mmm.”
“You must be hungry. I made you some delicious food. It’s all your favorite.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Tired, hungry, home, all troubles were gone.
Her mom was also constantly asking her by her ear how long she could stay this time. Zhou Shilan just said she would stay for a few more days, and the specific number of days would depend on the situation. In the past, she only came back during holidays. She was a complete busybody. Her family also knew that she was busy with her career and didn’t interfere. But as a traditional Chinese woman, and a woman from an ordinary family, Mama Zhou had always been very worried about her daughter’s marriage.
“Lanlan, you’re not young anymore. You’re almost 26. Shouldn’t you consider getting married?”
“…Forget it. I don’t have a boyfriend now, and no one dares to have a crush on me.”
“If you don’t get married soon, it will be too late.”
“Please, if I wanted to get married, I would have gotten married long ago. Why would I have to wait until now?”
Zhou Shilan indicated that her mom was so annoying, she really wanted to shut her up.
