I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 607 605. What I’m doing

"Xu Jun, did you know? In a survey conducted last year, among 500 Japanese young people, in terms of their preference for pure love-themed movies, "The Untold Secret" ranked 11.3 points higher than the second place. The ratio has won the first place among young people's favorite pure love movies. It's amazing..."

"Well, thank you. It's an honor for me to think that this work will be so loved by everyone."

"This is Xu Jun's debut movie. And it was filmed during the Olympics?"

"um, yes."

"Speaking of the Olympics, according to the information we have, Xu Jun seems to have a position among the directors of the Olympic Games called... big~inside~walking~ho~ Is that how you pronounce it?"

After taking a look at the information in front of her, Kuroyanagi Tetsuko turned to the audience and the camera and said:

"Please also know that this official position can only be held by the most trusted and capable people of the ancient emperors of the Celestial Dynasty. Interpreted in our shogunate system, it is equivalent to the level of "side servant". Responsible for conveying the general's orders, And deliver reports to the general from all the daimyo and laomin."

Amid the surprised looks from the audience and the weird look on Xu Xin's face, Kuroyanagi Tetsuko asked curiously:

"What I'm curious about is...how old was Xu Jun at that time?"

"I was born in 1986, so I'm twenty or twenty-one years old."

"So young! Can you be responsible for such an important thing at such a young age? ...The Olympic Games is a huge project, right? According to the data, there are tens of thousands of people?"

"Well... yes, in terms of the performance team, the Olympic performance team has about 15,000 cast and crew members, and there are more than 7,000 staff behind the scenes to provide support for the performance. If you include volunteers Together, there are about 60,000 people.”

It was a matter of "national affairs". Xu Xin straightened his back a little more and answered very carefully.

"So many people are under the jurisdiction of the director team. Is Xu Jun responsible for all big and small things? Eh? Isn't that too exaggerated?"

"Not really."

Xu Xin quickly shook his head.

After thinking for a while, he corrected:

"It's like this. As a member of the core creative team of the Olympic Games, the things I handle are all jobs that need to be approved by the director. Most of these jobs are based on opening ceremony performances, such as volunteers. There is a dedicated volunteer team, and the performers are managed by their own people.

My role is to be a transitional link.

So... the words of Ouchi General Manager are too exaggerated. It's just a matter of coordination. The Olympic Games is not the work of one person or a few people.

It is a huge, systematic project. We are all ants, and the division of labor is very clear... Indeed, Director Zhang, as the chief director, has many things to take care of, and our role is only to help him share the burden. "

"So how did you get on the Olympic team?"

"Well...I can drive."

"...?"

Kuroyanagi Tetsuko was stunned.

What answer is this?

Just listen to Xu Xin say:

"I got my driver's license relatively early. I took the driver's license test in the summer after graduating from high school. After I got my driver's license and was able to go on the road, my teacher at school, Mr. Yu Zhen, was invited to join the Olympic opening ceremony creative team and attend the meeting.

Coincidentally, that day I went to visit my teacher at her home because of a short film I had made for school assignments. Teacher Yu drank a glass of beer and could not drive. When Director Zhang called for a meeting, it was already dinner time.

So Teacher Yu asked me to drive her to the meeting. She drank. I definitely couldn't just send the teacher to the place and leave. Plus it was March and it was quite cold in Yanjing. Teacher Yu asked me to go up with her. On the one hand, it would not freeze in the car, and on the other hand, it would help me gain some knowledge.

After going up, we saw Director Zhang, Director Zhang Wu and many others. The directors were having a meeting, and as a student, I sat in the corner and listened. Then I heard Director Zhang talking about some of the creative ideas he had envisioned... The directing industry actually requires imagination.

I followed his idea and drew pictures on the sketchbook myself. But because of confidentiality, I definitely couldn’t take those drawings and the like away, so after the meeting, I left the draft in the conference room. The director happened to see it and thought it was pretty good, so he found me and asked me if I wanted to join here.

We were in the early stage of creating a team at that time, and my job was to be responsible for the drawing and production of props. Then I got involved step by step... This is the reason why I participated in the Olympics. So... if you ask me how I joined the Olympics, the answer I can give is... I can drive. "

Finally, Xu Xin concluded with a rather playful reason.

But after listening to his story, Kuroyanagi Tetsuko also gave the same summary:

"So, this is the fate of being rewritten because of a driver's license."

"Haha, yes. So it's actually good to learn to get a driver's license earlier, especially after passing the theory test. When you understand the traffic rules, then whether you have a car or not, you will subconsciously abide by the traffic rules and be responsible for yourself and your family. It’s also a good thing for other people. Not to mention... maybe it will change their destiny like me.”

He said it casually.

Because apart from the fact that every sentence had to be translated by Shangyuan Ai, this interview was quite interesting.

Ms. Kuroyanagi Tetsuko's interview style is very approachable, just like chatting.

The focus is on things before becoming famous, or in the past.

It won't put too much burden on people.

…

"Tetsuko's Room" usually takes half an hour to record.

However, Xu Xin’s situation is quite special.

Because both sides had to translate, the interview was relatively slow and lasted about an hour.

Moreover, Xu Xin could intuitively feel that the energy of the old man opposite was declining.

Obviously, at the age of 77, sitting here with her back straight is also a challenge for her.

It's really admirable.

At the end of the one-hour program, Xu Xin politely said to her, "Thank you for your hard work."

Kuroyanagi Tetsuko smiled slightly, stood up and stretched out her hand:

"Thank you, Mr. Xu, for accepting our interview."

"You're welcome."

Xu Xin smiled and shook hands with her, and finally took a photo together at the recording site before saying goodbye and leaving.

Participating in "Tetsuko's Room" is also his last schedule today.

After confirming that he had nothing to do next, he asked Shangyuan Ai to call him from the contact information given by the old man.

The person on the other end of the phone introduced himself as "Oda Takayuki" and was Takakura Ken's nanny. After hearing that Xu Xin wanted to visit him, he asked Takakura Ken, and the other party readily agreed, but the time was not at night.

Instead, the appointment was made at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.

The original words were translated as:

"Mr. Ken Takakura will be waiting for you at home."

Xu Xin will have his last interview with "The Piano of Steel" tomorrow morning. If Takakura Ken hadn't said this, he would have asked if he could come over tonight.

But after hearing this translation, he knew that the other party attached great importance to this meeting.

So I agreed without saying a word.

On the way back to the city, he said directly to Su Meng:

"Mengmeng, iron the dress tonight and I'll wear it tomorrow morning."

"Okay, Brother Xu."

Then, Xu Xin called the old man again and asked what he should pay attention to when meeting Takakura Ken.

"There is nothing to pay attention to. He is a person who is easy to get in touch with. He is also familiar with you. We often mention you in our correspondence."

Hearing this, Xu Xin felt relieved.

So, at 6 o'clock in the morning on the 5th, Xu Xin got into a commercial car driven by a Japanese driver and headed to Hakone, which is famous for its hot springs. (Note 1)

The distance is 90 kilometers.

After spending an hour squinting in the car, we arrived near a temple in Hakone.

Fude Temple.

The burial place of Takakura Takeru's late wife.

In his later years, he bought a piece of land next to Fude Temple, built a house, and lived a solitary life, accompanying his wife.

After seeing the gate of the temple, Xu Xin tied his tie.

He brought this evening dress with him this time.

Fortunately, after replacing the bow tie with a tie, it is very suitable for formal occasions.

After walking for a while, he saw the gate of a rather luxurious manor.

There was also a very elegant looking woman in a kimono standing at the gate.

Age around 40.

When the commercial vehicle stopped and Xu Xin got off, she bent down and bowed:

"Welcome, Xu Xinsang. I am Mr. Gao Cang's nanny, Oda Takayuki. Please follow me, Mr. Gao Cang is waiting for you."

Although she was the only one to greet her, Xu Xin could directly feel how much the other party valued her when he saw her wearing a very exquisite kimono.

So he carried the box of ginseng as a souvenir and walked into the manor behind Takayuki Oda, who was walking slowly forward.

The weather in Hakone in November is getting colder and colder.

But the door of the entire Japanese-style manor was open. He was also wearing a dark blue kimono, with two hydrangea-like decorations hanging on his chest. The stern-looking old man stood in front of the entrance and looked at him.

It seemed very grand.

When they arrived at the door, Oda Guiyue stepped aside, and Xu Xin took the initiative to take a step forward:

"Hello, Mr. Gao Cang, my name is Xu Xin."

"Um!"

Takakura Ken, whose hair was already gray, nodded, with a smile slowly blooming under the resolute temperament on his face that was not weaker than before:

"Happy, hard, you, Xiao Xu!"

With these words, he walked down the entrance hall, smiled and extended his hand.

When Xu Xin held it, the other hand patted his shoulder:

"Happy hard!"

…

According to the etiquette of hospitality, you should first go to the main room to sit down and chat when you enter.

But Takakura Ken didn't.

Xu Xin could feel that he valued this meeting with him, which could be seen from his meticulous kimono image and the cleanliness of his home.

But after the greetings at the entrance, he did not go directly to chat with Xu Xin in the living room of the main room. After accepting the souvenir from Xu Xin, he nodded to express his liking, and then handed the box of ginseng to Oda Takayuki. He took Xu Xin towards the side door of the house.

Xu Xin thought it was the living room.

As a result, I opened the door and found...

It's a garage.

The oversized garage holds at least twenty cars.

Some of them are very new. For example, Xu Xin saw a Ferrari 430 of the same model as his... It's not right to say that.

The 430 is actually an old car.

But it's really clean.

Another example is Mercedes-Benz S, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar, etc.

They are all new models in recent years.

But there are some old cars too.

For example, Porsche has a very strange shape now, and there are also cars such as the Hutouben, the Lexus that was used in the champagne tower commercial, and off-road vehicles that look like old Toyotas at first glance, etc.

There are so many different kinds, everything is there.

And just when Xu Xin was wondering what Takakura Ken wanted to show him these cars for, he was led directly to a Mitsubishi by Takakura Ken.

Opening the driver's door, the old man bent down and took out boxes about the size of folders from the driver's seat, and handed them to Xu Xin.

"Look, one, look."

Before he said this, Xu Xin had actually noticed something was wrong.

The car is overall in ice blue and looks quite high-quality. But something was wrong.

Japanese cars are all right-hand drive, but this car is left-hand drive.

Moreover, it does not have rear seats, but uses a roll cage-like structural support.

There are only two seating positions in the whole car: the driver's seat and the passenger's seat.

It looks like a modified racing car.

After Xu Xin opened the folder-like box, he first saw a car key, which was a very retro key. It is embedded in the middle of the sponge pad.

Below is a line of text:

"MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 5 RS (CP9A)"

Apart from recognizing the Japanese pronunciation of Mitsubishi in the front, he was completely confused by the letters in the back.

don't know.

So he looked at Takakura Ken with confusion.

But this time, Takakura Ken stopped using Chinese. After talking a lot to Shangyuan Ai, Shangyuan Ai nodded...

But she didn't seem to understand any of this, and translated to Xu Xin with some difficulty:

"Mr. Takakura said that this car is very rare. It is the first batch of...evolutionary models specially introduced in Europe in Mitsubishi's most glorious year in 1998. It is a competition-specific car called WRC. The right-hand-drive Mitsubishi Evolution 5th generation model is very It’s rare, and there are less than fifty in this batch. It’s a gift from him to you.”

After hearing this explanation, Xu Xin vaguely felt that the letters WRC sounded familiar.

But I couldn’t remember what it was for a moment.

But he was not surprised that Takakura Ken sent a car...

After all, the old man's Jaguar is still in Wuxi.

Since it is a rare model, it means that a lot of thought must have been put into it.

So he smiled and nodded:

"Thanks."

Hearing this, Takakura Ken smiled again, patted his shoulder and said:

"The car's procedures are all in the box, just like him. I'll help you deliver it to China, and you can pick it up."

"OK."

"Well, let's go."

After returning the gift, he took Xu Xin to the main hall.

Takakura Kenie has a very traditional Japanese style. The main hall is just like in a Japanese drama movie, a large tatami room with just a table in the middle for entertaining guests.

And he himself was sitting behind a calligraphy and painting that said "Quiet for the mind and body".

He personally boiled water and made tea for Xu Xin.

As if infected by this atmosphere, Kamehara Ai's sitting posture changed to that of kneeling.

Compared with her nervousness, Xu Xin looked much more casual sitting cross-legged.

Takakura Ken didn't mind either, and while pouring water into the pot, he said:

"Celestial Dynasty! There is a saying! An ancient saying!"

"..."

"Peach blossom! Pool water! Thousand feet deep! Not as good as Wang Lun... send me your love!"

After finishing this piece of Li Bai's poem, he turned to Yuan Ai and said:

"Zhang and I often mention you in our correspondence. He always says that he is luckier than me because he can teach you many things, but I can't. I can't find young people who can teach you. He always says It’s very proud.”

Xu Xin's face was actually a little red after being told this.

Nodding shyly:

"Director Zhang's words are too exaggerated. I have only scratched the surface."

"But you changed a lot of his ideas. Although he rarely mentioned it, I can see it from the letters between us after "Three Guns". He attaches great importance to your opinions, and said that sometimes he is not as good at seeing things as You are thorough. So...Xiao Xu, you have to help him more."

Takakura Ken looked at Xu Xin with eyes full of seriousness and persistence:

"He is a very simple person. Just like a child, he knows almost nothing and can't do anything well. As an older brother, I am very worried about his future situation."

"..."

Seeing Xu Xin's hesitant expression, Takakura Ken said again:

"My Chinese is not good, so I can't express my feelings to you directly. I can also understand that there must be some things about him that I don't know about. But he said that I gave him after "Three Guns" You have read the letter I wrote. So I am here to express my opinion to you...

As an actor, I am like a kite, the string is held in the hands of the director and should not be in the hands of others.

As a friend, I want to respect his choice. But seeing him go astray, I couldn't change anything with my actions. This was my powerlessness.

As an older brother, I should have protected him so that his innocent world would not be polluted. But some pollution is caused by the environment in which he lives, and requires people who can really enter this world to solve it.

He shouldn't be swayed by the world, Xiao Xu, do you understand? He has proven his talent. On this road, only persistence and unwavering determination can bring him the greatest happiness. It shouldn't be like this...he was...kidnapped. "

Kamehara Ai restores Takakura Ken's words as much as possible.

But the more I translated, the more confused I became.

I don’t understand who Ken Takakura is talking about...director Zhang Yimou?

What happened to director Zhang Yimou?

Never heard of it.

Indeed, the meaning of her translation can only be said to be very "formulaic". Xu Xin believes that in some emotional contexts of Japanese, this passage must have a deeper meaning.

She couldn't translate it, but that didn't matter.

Xu Xin already understood.

After thinking for a while, he said:

"I know some things, and I understand that you don't understand the real reason why he was dragged away. But since Director Zhang won't tell you, and we can't communicate directly, I can't express it to you through what Ms. Yuan Yuan said."

Hearing this, Takakura Ken showed a "Sure enough" look.

But it wasn't against Xu Xin, but the old man had something to hide from him.

"But I am doing these things. The only thing I can explain to you is this. In our country, everyone knows that I am his disciple. So, since I have seen some things, I must solve them. But you don’t have to worry too much, I think... with his character..."

Xu Xin thought for a while and suddenly showed a smile:

"The most important thing at the moment, I have almost completed. If you are willing, you can ask in the next letter. Ask him whether the things that Xiao Xu said he wanted to complete have been completed. At the same time... I believe that next time you two meet, he will definitely have a surprise ready for you."

Having been an actor all his life, he can naturally tell whether some people's emotions are real or fake. After hearing what Shangyuan Ai said, Takakura Ken looked at Xu Xin seriously for a while and asked:

"real?"

Xu Xin didn't wait for Yuan Ai to translate this time. After feeling his emotions, he smiled and nodded:

"Um!"

"you are doing?"

"Yes."

"Almost successful?"

"um, yes."

He also confirmed again.

On November 1st, the census was launched.

The biggest hot topic was a piece of hot news that appeared on the day of the census.

“People with birth certificates from Beijing and others can settle in the pilot program.”

With the help of this census, Yanjing began to carry out household registration rectification and thorough investigation. The goal is very clear. As a pilot project, the household registration strategy will be clarified before the end of December.

The policy stipulates that residents whose registered residence should be canceled but have not yet been registered should do so through household registration adjustment, and those who should be registered but have not yet settled should register their registered residence through household registration adjustment.

At present, it is only carried out on a pilot basis for Beijing residents.

But some things can actually be understood by changing your thinking a little bit.

Usually, the pilot areas are other places. When did you hear that Yanjing became a pilot city for certain strategies?

Therefore, when this news hot spot appears, its meaning has already been interpreted.

This is an opening for all birth control households.

After all, the country is already showing signs of an aging population.

"Plan" can no longer be planned.

In addition to what she had discussed with the old man in advance... Xu Xin estimated that the overall strategy might not be fully liberalized, otherwise it would be equivalent to directly denying the "plan".

But what goes up has consequences.

Once the hole is opened, it will be easy to handle.

Once the Yanjing pilot is over, the superficial plan will continue to be maintained and gradually slow down until...

Xu Xin estimates that the second child is not far away.

This is not speculation, but fact before our eyes.

It’s just that most people don’t care about this, or are not sensitive enough to interpret these messages.

But the fact is already established.

But when the time came, he could not tell Takakura Ken.

But...

After all, he was someone who had seen all kinds of ups and downs in his life. After seeing Xu Xin's determination, the joy on Takakura Ken's face slowly faded away.

In its place is a positive color.

Sitting at the tea table, looking at the young man opposite him, he put his hands on his knees, bent down and nodded.

Sitting cross-legged on top of the Japanese actor, just like the "Ren Xia" he performed when he became famous, he uttered his own heroic words with a somewhat gangster-like but extremely loyal attitude:

"Then... I'll leave everything to you, Xiao Xu!"

This gesture made Shang Yuan Ai's eyes full of obsession.

This is Ken Takakura...

Even though he is old, his heroic spirit is still so admirable!

Xu Xin, who was opposite him, nodded solemnly:

"Well, please feel free to leave it to me!"

(Note 1: Hotoku-ji Temple is actually in Nara. In his later years, Takakura Ken bought land next to Hotoku-ji Temple in Nara and spent 700 million yen to build a mansion called the "Guardian House" by fans. It is not far from his wife's house. The mausoleum is just over 100 meters away in a straight line. But Nara is far away from Tokyo, and I thought it would take a long time to take the Shinkansen. So I chose Hakone, which is very suitable for healing.)