Chapter 35: The starry sky is beautiful
After getting off the plane, they got into the car that the crew had sent to pick them up at the airport. It took a long time before they arrived near the location where the crew was stationed.
Shi Rou put her hands on the car window to look out at the scenery and turned her head excitedly to talk to Yu Nian, “This is the first time I saw Gobi. NianNian have you been to Gobi before?”
Yu Nian nodded and recalled with a smile, “I came with my grandpa before, but I was very young at that time, probably not even ten years old. I just remember that it was very hot during the day and very cold at night, and it was desolate everywhere. My grandpa was very busy, and I played with the sand by myself, and when I came home and my grandma saw me, I was so dark that she couldn’t even recognize me.”
Shi Rou covered her mouth and laughed, “I can’t imagine NianNian looking dark!” She asked the driver curiously, “Uncle, is there anything fun nearby?”
The driver pointed in a direction and said in unproficient Mandarin, “If you have time, you can go over there to see. There is a Buddhist cave dug out there more than ten years ago. It is said that there were hundreds of thousands of scriptures and many artifacts, so it was directly built into a museum. It is quite small, but the things are good and priceless!”
Yu Nian thought of his maternal grandfather seeing the Buddhist caves and those cultural relics buried under the yellow sand for thousands of years. He also sighed with the same sentence — really priceless!
The car drove into the range of the crew and finally stopped. The driver jumped out of the car, opened the door, waited for Yu Nian and Shi Rou to get off, and went around to the trunk to start unloading the luggage.
As soon as Yu Nian got off and stood firm, he was slapped on the back from behind, “You’re here?”
Yu Nian turned around and laughed first, “Sister!” He looked carefully and said, “Sister, you didn’t lie to me; your skin is really far worse.”
“Get lost!” Yu Qing wore a big mask, and her tone was fierce, but her eyes were smiling. She threw a thick mask at Yu Nian and urged, “Put it on quickly; the wind and sand here are too strong. One breath and half a mouthful of sand in, I feel like my lungs are full of sand!”
Yu Nian put on the mask obediently, and his voice became muffled, “Aren’t you filming?”
“My shots are almost done, and the schedule is not tight,” Yu Qing raised her eyebrows, “Why, aren’t you happy that I came to pick you up in person?”
Yu Nian said quickly, “Of course not. The heroine Yu Qing came to pick me up, it was my honor.”
Yu Qing read martial arts novels when she was a child, and she wanted to be a swordsman, so she forced Yu Nian to call her by this title. Listening to it now, Yu Qing herself couldn’t stop laughing.
All the luggage was unloaded. Most of it was Yu Qing’s stuff; Yu Nian himself only had a suitcase and a backpack. Seeing Yu Qing’s two assistants coming over to carry the luggage, Yu Nian pointed to one of the boxes, “There’s a bottle of hot sauce in it, do you want to take it out first?”
Yu Qing’s eyes lit up, “Damn it, I didn’t take you to play for nothing when I was young!” She lowered her voice again, “Let’s be quiet, don’t take it out yet and expose it to others; otherwise, this bottle of hot sauce will definitely not survive tonight!”
Yu Nian blinked and agreed.
First, he went to report to Xu Xianglan and Producer Ning, and then he greeted the crew. It didn’t take long for the sky to darken.
The place where Yu Nian lived was a temporary board house with little space. Inside there was a single bed, a table for small items, and a hanger for hanging clothes. Looking out of the window, it was the bright, lonely moon and the desolate wilderness.
Yu Nian stopped wiping the table, stood and looked at it for a while, and suddenly felt that the world had become more vast.
He didn’t bring many things with him, so he quickly tidied them up. When Xu Xianglan knocked on the door and came in, he took a look and said with a smile, “Oh, Xiao Yu’s living habits are pretty good!” Seeing that Yu Nian was about to stand up, he quickly raised his palm and pressed it down, “You don’t have to be polite, just sit and talk. “
Yu Nian nodded, “Thank you, Director Xu.”
Xu Xianglan brought a camp chair with him and found a place to sit down and talk to Yu Nian, “If there is any inconvenience in living, just tell the crew, and we will try to fulfill it if we can.”
Seeing Yu Nian nod his head, he asked again, “Have you familiarized yourself with the script?”
Yu Nian was a little embarrassed, “I’m familiar with it, but I haven’t filmed a movie before, so Director Xu may need to spend more time.”
“It doesn’t matter; as long as you study hard, I will teach you seriously. Who hasn’t started as a rookie before? I didn’t even know how to turn on the camera back then!”
Xu Xianglan unscrewed the thermos and took a sip of water, “Your scene can be finished shooting in this location. Let’s hurry up; after your part is finished, it’ll be almost time for the crew to wrap up.” He laughed again, saying, “I calculated it in my mind. This film has been filming for more than half a year; the time is really not short, and everyone in the team is tired.”
At this time, there were faint knocks on the door; as if the person who knocked deliberately lowered their strength. Xu Xianglan opened the door, and met Yu Qing who was outside the door.
Xu Xianglan’s eyes were sharp, “Yu Qing, what’s in your bag?”
Yu Qing didn’t speak.
Xu Xianglan was very tricky, “If you don’t tell me, I’ll let you NG twenty times in one scene tomorrow.”
“F*ck!” Yu Qing was very angry in her heart, but she couldn’t stand twenty NGs in a row and reluctantly took out a bottle of hot sauce from her bag.
Xu Xianglan laughed loudly, “Comrade Yu Qing, our entire production crew is a family that loves each other, and we are blessed to share it!”
Soon, everyone living in several temporary houses around knew that a bottle of hot sauce had appeared on the production crew! So each person shared a little bit, and a bottle of hot sauce didn’t last more than ten minutes. Knowing that it was Yu Nian who brought them all the way, they all smiled and leaned over to say thank you. Yu Qing was so angry that she wanted to fight Xu Xianglan.
Early the next morning, Yu Nian got up by himself without anyone calling. The staff of the service group yawned, took him to sit in front of the makeup mirror, and said with a smile, “The hot sauce you brought over yesterday completely saved my sense of taste! You don’t even know how long it’s been since I tasted that!”
Another makeup artist named Tang Ni nodded repeatedly, “Yes! I now feel that hot sauce is the most delicious food in the world!”
Yu Nian laughed when he heard it, “I should have brought a box if I knew it earlier, so maybe everyone can get half a bottle.”
“No need. Bringing a box over is too much, NianNian!” As she spoke Tang Ni laid out a large row of makeup brushes, “Let me help you finish the makeup of the headgear first, and then we will try on the clothes, okay?”
Yu Nian smiled and nodded, “Okay, thank you.”
The whole process took almost two hours. After Yu Nian got dressed properly, Tang Ni couldn’t help but take out her phone and take several photos in a row, with various filters from various angles. She sighed while taking pictures and said, “NianNian, you really look good in ancient clothes. Director Xu’s vision didn’t fade; he found you, a pearl!”
Yu Nian stood in place as the pictures were taken, and was about to speak when the door was opened from the outside, and Xu Xianglan walked in. The footsteps stopped a couple of steps away from Yu Nian. Xu Xianglan looked him up and down carefully, and ordered, without turning his eyes, “Bring that folding fan!”
After hearing it, Tang Ni took out a rectangular box, and a folding fan was taken out from inside.
Xu Xianglan looked at the fan and said, “This is one of the few folding fans that I specially asked for from a senior. This time, I really spent a lot of money to use it as a prop. Don’t break it!”
Yu Nian opened it cautiously, and his pupils shrank slightly.
On the snow-white fan, the word “Fengya” was written in ink. The handwriting was like a long wind blowing snow, and there was a private seal printed on the corner with the old and clumsy words – Xiu Ning.
It was his grandpa’s handwriting.
Yu Nian breathed lightly, holding the folding fan in his hand, nodding his head, and saying, “I will be very careful.”
Wearing costumes and taking makeup photos, Yu Nian found a camp chair and sat on the sidelines to watch the filming. He also took a pen and paper to write down the notes.
Xu Xianglan saw it and asked his assistant, “This attitude is indeed correct. Go over and ask Yu Nian if there is anything he doesn’t understand. If there is anything, you can explain it to him.”
It was approaching noon, and when it was Yu Nian’s turn, Xu Xianglan didn’t want to embarrass him, so he asked him to play the simplest scene first to get used to it and find the feeling.
Outside, where the wind and sand have been blowing for a hundred years, there was a dilapidated tea house, which looked as if a few more gusts of wind could completely overturn the place. A reckless man in a commoner jacket slammed the big knife with a copper ring on the table, and the wooden table made an ear-piercing “creak” sound as if it couldn’t bear the force.
He looked to the side fiercely, “Who are you?”
Sitting in front of the square table that had been used for many years was a young man in white clothes. He didn’t react and drank the turbid tea calmly. Putting down the empty rough tea bowl, he raised his eyes to look at the person who asked the question, raised his lips lightly, and smiled like a wind returning to the snow, “Gu Xuanning of East Capital.” He said softly, “Tell your general, I want to see her. “
“Cut.”
Yu Nian sat on the long wooden bench, couldn’t help taking a deep breath, and then looked at Xu Xianglan anxiously, “Director, can I watch how it was filmed?”
Xu Xianglan laughed, “Why do you ask so pitifully? It’s good to be able to produce such an effect for the first time, but the movements are still a little unnatural. It’s okay; let’s do it again. Everyone get ready!”
Yu Nian adapted to the crew’s life faster than expected, and he treated everyone with a smile. When he was not on stage, he would sit on a camp chair with a steamed bun, observe and take notes, and eat while watching.
Sometimes Xu Xianglan, Yu Qing, and the others were busy, so Yu Nian would ask those group performers who have been in large and small crews for more than ten years where and how to act, and then think about it carefully. After several times, the number of times he did NG became less and less.
Office.
Assistant Qin handed the document to Xie You and said in a low voice, “In the past few days, Ding Zhaoxian has been fasting in the temple, and there have been no other movements.”
“Fasting?” Xie You’s hand doing signatures didn’t stop, “What about the two people I asked you to keep an eye on?”
“Very peaceful. However, Song Ke passed away unexpectedly, and his three children are fighting for the inheritance. These two people on Ding Zhaoxian’s side had contact with Song Ke’s eldest son and second son, respectively, and they should be interested in the shares held by Song Ke during his lifetime.”
“Got it.” Xie You put the cap of the pen back on and stood up, “Arrange the car.”
After reaching the underground parking lot, Qin Jian stepped forward and helped Xie You open the door of the back seat. After sitting down, Xie You inadvertently saw the other party’s hands on the steering wheel — he had never seen this person before.
Xie You pushed open the door that had just closed and got out of the car.
Qin Jian was puzzled, “President Xie?” Thinking of something, his face changed slightly.
Xie You shook his head slightly at him and said, “I forgot a document.”
After walking two steps back on the original path, Xie You stopped, turned around again, walked to the side of the car, and looked at the driver in the driver’s seat. He ordered, “You drive the car out.”
The other party didn’t move.
Xie You’s eyes darkened, and his words were clear, “Drive out.”
At this time, the bodyguard who was following Xie You also noticed something was wrong and held his breath.
Xie You looked at the motionless person in the driver’s seat and sneered in a cold voice, “You do what Ding Zhaoxian told you, understand?”
The tires rolled on the gravel, making a rustling sound. Yu Qing was wrapped in a scarf and wore a wide-brimmed hat, which almost covered her face tightly. Yu Nian was sitting in the front passenger seat, carefully looking at the icon on the upper right corner of the phone screen, “Sister, will the signal get better if we go this way?”
“Yes, this road is the one I remember best.” Yu Qing turned the steering wheel skillfully, “The crew is stationed there, and there are many people. The signal is not good sometimes, and it’s very frustrating.”
After driving for a while, Yu Qing stepped on the brake and said, “It’s here. Look at how the network speed is?”
Yu Nian tried it out, and was overjoyed, “I can load the videos!”
Yu Qing nodded and put down the back of the seat, “Then play with your phone by yourself. I have a scene in the middle of the night, so I’m going to sleep for a while. Remember to wake me up when it’s time.”
“Okay, you can sleep peacefully.”
Yu Nian was afraid of making a noise for Yu Qing, so he got out of the car wrapped in a thick coat and didn’t dare to go far. By the light of the headlights, he found a stone on the side and sat down.
He thought about it, opened Weibo first, and looked through it. Xie You’s update was still at the previous one, and there was nothing new. He went to read the financial and social news as usual, but none of them had anything to do with what he wanted to know.
Just when Yu Nian was about to quit, a piece of news suddenly popped up. Seeing the word “car accident” in the title, his breath trembled, and he quickly clicked in.
The headline of the news was “ghost car”. According to reports, in the evening, a limited-edition luxury car broke through the fence of the bridge and fell into the river. After being salvaged, it was found that there was no one in the car; the driver was gone, and no body was found. After verification, the owner’s surname was Xie, and the follow-up situation was still being understood.
Seeing the word “Xie”, Yu Nian gasped for breath. Two seconds later, he clicked on the address book with almost shaking hands, found Xie You’s name, and dialed.
Calling.
Calling—does it mean that he is safe?
Taking a deep breath, Yu Nian was about to call again when the phone rang.
Yu Nian looked at the unfamiliar number displayed on the screen and tapped to answer.
No one spoke on the opposite side; only the whistling wind could be heard as if tearing the eardrums.
“Is it… Xie You?”
After several breaths, a slightly cold voice responded, “It’s me.”
Yu Nian’s tense muscles relaxed, and he lay on his back directly on the sand, laughing softly.
“I’m in Gobi now; the starry sky is beautiful tonight.”
Standing by the river where the car crashed, Xie You looked at the river rolling past like a cold pool and abyss, and suddenly felt that the bone-chilling coldness was dispelled and warmed up again.
