1980 My literary era

Catching up with the weekend, Lin Weimin and Tao Huimin carried their little bean bags early in the morning and headed to Yanjing Hospital as a family of three.

Mr. Wan has been plagued by illness for the past two years and spent most of the year in the hospital.

Some time ago, Xiao Doubao was born and a full-moon party was held. Mr. Wan called and wanted to come over and have a look, but Lin Weimin refused, telling Mr. Wan not to worry. He would bring his daughter over to visit his old man when he had time.

Lin Weimin and his family came to the hospital today and called Mr. Wan in advance.

Mr. Wan was particularly happy and put on a white shirt. His glasses were polished and he looked energetic.

"You don't look sick. If you want me to see you, you should be discharged from the hospital!"

Xiaodou Bao was held in Tao Huimin's arms, and Mr. Wan was teasing her from behind. The little girl was so amused that her laughter was clear and sweet, making Mr. Wan and his wife very happy.

"It's impossible to be discharged from the hospital. My body is getting worse day by day. If I become brighter every once in a while, I might be able to regain my health!" Mr. Wan said easily.

His words made Li Yuru roll his eyes.

Mr. Wan added: "This child is beautiful and has a good personality. He really looks like Huimin."

Lin Weimin couldn't help but ask: "How do you see that she looks like her? I think Xiaodou Bao looks more like me!"

Tao Huimin repeated Li Yuru's actions and gave Lin Weimin a big roll of his eyes.

"Girls are as beautiful as their mothers," Li Yuru said.

"Master's wife, you're not ugly even like me! Besides, girls shouldn't be too pretty, or they'll be easily targeted by those bad boys."

Mr. Wan joked: "Are you a 'good boy'?"

To paraphrase a saying from later generations, the dragon slayer will eventually become the evil dragon.

Lin Weimin married a lovely wife and gave birth to a beautiful daughter. It is indeed a bit ironic to guard his daughter's potential suitors.

How can society progress if people are like him? How do humans develop?

After staying in the hospital for more than an hour, Mr. Wan's energy was almost exhausted. Lin Weimin saw that he looked tired and planned to leave.

But Mr. Wan said to Li Yuru: "Go and borrow a camera from the hospital and take a photo of me and my child."

Lin Weimin stopped Li Yuru and went to look for it himself. Hearing that it was Mr. Wan who wanted to borrow a camera, the hospital quickly found it from the office and sent it to him.

It was around ten o'clock in the morning, and the sunshine outside the window was just right. Lin Weimin asked Mr. Wan to stand against the wall. The sun came from the side and there was enough light.

Mr. Wan was wearing a white shirt with a relaxed expression. He looked at the baby in his arms with a faint smile.

The little bean bag he held in his arms was looking at him with dark pupils, and the young and old looked at each other.

Lin Weimin seized this moment and pressed the shutter.

"It's done."

"So fast?" Mr. Wan didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

Lin Weimin said: "The camera is good. It is imported from Nihung and has automatic focus."

Mr. Wan handed the child back to Tao Huimin, and then came to the camera to look around, showing the curiosity and innocence of a young man.

"This thing is really good, it's really high-tech!"

After telling Lin Weimin to turn around and develop the photos and send them to him, Mr. Wan greeted Li Yuru again, and Li Yuru took out a box from the cabinet.

"This is a handicraft given by the leaders a few years ago. At that time, the African brothers sent a large number of ivory tusks in China. These ivory were made into handicrafts and given to those of us in the cultural circles. This fan should be regarded as a meeting gift for Xiaodou Bao. .”

At this time, the domestic trade and processing of ivory had not yet been banned. Lin Weimin opened the lacquer box of the package and found an ivory carved round fan with exquisite craftsmanship and exquisiteness.

Ivory has been a luxury product since ancient times. Although modern handicrafts lack collection value, the ivory products themselves are valuable. When they were given to their one-month-old child, Mr. Wan and his wife regarded the bean bags as their own descendants.

"Look, your child is costing you money!"

Lin Weimin smiled brightly and was polite, but had no intention of declining.

Seeing his attitude, Mr. Wan couldn't help but laugh and curse.

The ivory carved round fan that Mr. Wan gave Xiaodou Bao as a gift is both a round fan and a folding fan. Liu Yuanqing's "Xian Yi Bian" said: folding fan, also known as a spreading fan. The meaning of the lid is to fold it when choosing it, and to spread it when using it.

In ancient times, imperial fans were divided into seasons. Folding fans were used in early summer, round fans were used in mid-summer, feather fans were used in mid-summer, round fans were used again when it was slightly cooler, and folding fans were used for donation.

It is only the middle of June, which is the time to use fans. This gift from Mr. Wan is very suitable for the occasion, which shows that he has put a lot of thought into it.

Fans made of ivory might have been used for cooling off in ancient times, but in modern times, they are just as useful for collection.

"This thing is too expensive. It's a bit too luxurious to use it as a fan, in case it breaks again." Lin Weimin said with a smile.

Mr. Wan said: "Her little doll can't fan her. If she wants to fan her, it's up to you, the adults. If it breaks, it's your fault."

"I don't even dare to use what you said."

The teacher and student bickered for a while, and Lin Weimin accepted the gift.

Two days later, Lin Weimin received an international call from Italy.

The caller was Bertolucci, the director of "The Last Emperor". This time he saw the list of twelve shortlisted for this year's Strega Literary Award, discovered Lin Weimin's name, and called him specifically to congratulate him. .

Since "The Last Emperor" won the Oscar in 1988, Bertolucci's reputation in the European film industry has been at its peak.

Although most practitioners in the European film industry do not like Hollywood, they have to face the reality that the influence of Hollywood is completely crushing the European film industry.

After "The Last Emperor", Bertolucci's main work was on the film "The Sheltering Sky" adapted from Paul Bowles' novel, which is the second part of Bertolucci's "Oriental Trilogy" , and the first part of the "Oriental Trilogy" is of course "The Last Emperor". Anyway, Lin Weimin had never heard such a statement from Bertolucci when he was filming the movie.

"The Sheltering Sky" was shot on location in Africa at a cost of US$50 million. During this period, Bertolucci also took time to participate in the filming of the film "Twelve Italian Directors and Twelve Cities".

The film was released in Omi countries in the second half of 1990 and received a mediocre response. It had neither box office nor awards, which was a big blow to Bertolucci.

"The Last Emperor" invested tens of millions of dollars, but the box office was not ideal, but it finally won an Oscar and could make money by selling the copyright and video tapes.

But "The Sheltering Sky" is a large-scale production worth 50 million yuan, and it failed at both the box office and awards, which is a bit unjustifiable.

During this time, Bertolucci was still tinkering with the third part of his "Oriental Trilogy", which tells the story of a Western child who is identified as the reincarnation of H Buddha.

Listening to Bertolucci's narration, Lin Weimin smelled a rush. Lin Weimin had seen this movie and had only one comment: it didn't look good.

Lin Weimin felt that Bertolucci had fallen into paranoia and had to make an "Oriental Trilogy" for some reason. But in fact, the three films were not close to each other in terms of content and style. The result of such a blunt application would only be failure.

The relationship between him and Bertolucci was not good enough to give him advice on how to make a movie, so Lin Weimin did not express any opinions on the movie. He just made an appointment with Bertolucci to meet him when he went to Italy. gather.

In late June, the first draft of the script for "Farewell My Concubine" was released.

Lu Wei took over the script for "Farewell My Concubine" in March. Although he was born in Yanjing, he grew up in Xi'an. "Farewell My Concubine" tells a story that happened in Yanjing. He was afraid that he would show cowardice and make some common sense mistakes when writing the script. In order to better express the emotions in the script, I borrowed the video tape of the drama "Tea House" and watched it day and night, learning while watching it.

Then he went to the Yanjing Library and the Central Academy of Drama Library to search for information, and finally went to the Dramatists Association to collect information.

After three months, the first draft of the script for "Farewell My Concubine" was finally written, but many details still needed to be carefully polished.

Cheng Kaige knew that this movie was very important to him, so he had stricter requirements for the script.

At the same time, news also came from Xiangjiang.

Zun Long’s agent, Ms. Chen, really had something, and she offended Xu Feng to death. In the end, even Zun Long personally called to apologize, and it was useless. In addition, Zhang Guorong’s willingness to play Cheng Dieyi was very strong. In the end, It's confirmed that he will star.

Within two days of confirming his role, Zhang Guorong flew to Yanjing.

The first request he made to Xu Feng was to meet Lin Weimin. Lin Weimin was the original author of "Farewell My Concubine" and they had also collaborated on "The Biography of a Female Doctor" back then.

"Azai, long time no see."

"Mr. Lin, we meet again!"

We haven’t seen him for seven or eight years, and Zhang Guorong has long since shed his youthfulness. In the past few years, he has flourished in the entertainment industry in Hong Kong. He has developed in both the film and music circles, and has frequently released masterpieces. He is already a superstar.

"Back then you said that I would have the opportunity to play the role of Cheng Dieyi, and now it has really come true. Thank you."

Lin Weimin said: "It has nothing to do with me. It was Ms. Xu who recommended you to star. Besides, you are now a movie superstar. Being able to play Cheng Dieyi is also a bonus for this movie."

Lin Weimin and Zhang Guorong were not very close, but they were old friends at least. They were accompanied by Xu Feng and Cheng Kaige. They had dinner together and talked about their experiences and movies in the past few years. They had a great time.

Zhang Guorong said that he would go to visit Mr. Yemei's mausoleum tomorrow. "Farewell My Concubine" is not only a novel, but also a drama. The story told in the novel is also based on the play "Farewell My Concubine".

Hearing what he said, Lin Weimin felt satisfied, which was called awe.

"Azai, you still need to practice your lines carefully. Although your Mandarin is very good, the smell of Hong Kong is still too strong, and the audience will get into trouble after hearing it."

Before leaving, Lin Weimin warned.

"Don't worry, I came to Yanjing early this time just to learn Peking Opera and practice Mandarin."

Sensing Zhang Guorong's sincerity for the role of Cheng Dieyi, Lin Weimin encouraged: "With your dedication, you will definitely be able to play this role well."

Zhang Guorong laughed happily. The movie "Farewell My Concubine" is scheduled to start shooting in September. He still has less than three months to prepare. You can imagine the pressure.

Hearing the encouragement from the author of the original work made him feel more relaxed and more confident in the role of Cheng Dieyi.