May in Yanjing is the best season of the year as long as there is no wind and sand.

But in such a good season, Xie Jin, who lives here as a guest, is full of troubles.

Since he decided to shoot the movie "Garland Under the Mountain" in February, the news has become the hottest topic in the Chinese film industry.

It has been three months now, the script has been released and the crew is almost ready, but the main actors have not yet been found.

In order to select actors, he stayed in Yanjing for more than a month. In addition to attending events and meetings, he spent most of his time selecting actors.

He visited all the major drama troupes, song and dance troupes and art schools in Yanjing, but he never found the actor he liked.

Some famous Chinese actors have their hair combed almost all over in his mind.

But where are Zhao Mengsheng, Liang Sanxi, and Jin Kailai?

There are a lot of talents in the Chinese film industry, not to mention that they are all available, but according to general standards, it is not a problem to select a few actors who meet the requirements.

It's just that Xie Jin's expectations and requirements for the movie "High Mountain" are too high. He has read the novel and script of "High Mountain" countless times. He has his own imagination about the protagonists and refuses to relax at all about the casting.

Require.

On the one hand, hundreds of actors worked hard to be cast in Xie Jin's movies, but on the other hand, he looked sad because he couldn't find the right actor.

The reason why such a paradoxical situation occurs cannot be explained by high standards and strict requirements, but by Xie Jin's idealism caused by his excessive emphasis on movies.

So although it has been spring in Yanjing recently, Xie Jin's face looked as cold and hard as a severe winter.

Seeing that in the second half of the month, he had to go to Shaanxi to participate in this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards. This delay was more than a week. His mouth was so anxious that he didn't even drink alcohol these days.

The person in charge of casting the film is the assistant director Wu Zhennian, and she has been very angry with Xie Jin these days because of this incident.

That evening, when Wu Zhennian returned to the guest house after running around all day, Xie Jin came to find her.

Xie Jin thought that the efficiency of selecting actors in this way was too slow, and since both of them were in Yanjing, it was a waste of resources. He decided to ask Wu Zhennian to visit other cities.

The first city Xie Jin chose was Changchun, where there is the Changying Film Studio and many theater troupes. It is one of the important towns in the Chinese film industry.

After Wu Zhennian left, Xie Jin was not in a hurry to choose actors again.

He was in a bad mood these days and planned to find a place to relax. At first he wanted to go to Yanying Factory to find those few friends, but when he thought about these people working together to deceive him, he felt angry.

Instead of looking for those old foxes, it's better to look for the little foxes.

On Sunday, Xie Jin ran to the Overseas Chinese Apartment, but failed. He found Xiaoliubukou Alley according to the address provided by the security guard.

As soon as he saw Lin Chaoyang, he complained: "Why didn't you tell me that you moved?"

After walking around the door and seeing Lin Chaoyang living in such a large courtyard, he immediately felt unbalanced again.

"You live in this courtyard, and I have a share of the credit!"

"Come on, just the royalties, I can't stop talking about it. No one is willing to write a script for you like this."

Lin Chaoyang told him to be more honest, and then started to drink some.

Lin Chaoyang looked at his mouth full of fire bubbles and asked: "You still need to drink more?"

"I got up because I didn't drink."

Lin Chaoyang joked: "I think you didn't get drunk because you didn't drink, but you started bragging, right?"

"What did I brag about?"

"'If you can't make "High Mountain", you'll quit the film industry.' Is this what you said?"

Xie Jin's face felt a little hot when he was stared at by Lin Chaoyang, "Hey, isn't this just something you say in a meeting?"

"Just open your mouth and come, right?"

Seeing Lin Chaoyang's reluctance, Xie Jin frowned and said, "How do you know I can't take pictures well?"

"Don't change the subject. Are we talking about the same thing?"

"Okay, okay, don't talk about this trivial matter, it's annoying!"

Xie Jin seemed like a rebellious young man, waving his hands impatiently, interrupting Lin Chaoyang's words, and then said: "I have been so worried for more than half a month, and the wine no longer tastes good to my lips."

When the old comrade came to Lin Chaoyang to do a miserable job, he couldn't help but entertain him. He got some food and drinks and said to Xie Jin, "I don't want to drink!"

"Just sit with me."

Xie Jin pulled Lin Chaoyang to sit down, poured himself a glass of wine, picked it up, looked at each other for two seconds, then raised his neck and drank it, letting out a cheerful cry.

Then he looked at Lin Chaoyang, "Don't be stunned, pour the wine!"

"You really treat me like a waiter!"

Saying this, Lin Chaoyang still poured him a glass of wine. Xie Jin drank it happily, and then said: "Seeing that you are so sensible, I won't care about what happened before."

"Can you argue with me?"

After drinking some wine, Xie Jin relaxed and told Lin Chaoyang about his recent suffering.

He originally came to Yanjing to select actors for "High Mountain", but after arriving, he spent one-third of his time attending meetings and participating in various cultural activities.

The reason why there are so many meetings and activities has a lot to do with the popularity of "Wrangler" at the beginning of the year.

This movie has continued to be a hit since its release. It can be said that it has hit a record high in the past years. Both the box office and the number of moviegoers have reached new highs.

Even the male and female protagonists Zhu Shimao and Cong Shan, who were originally just transparent actors in the film industry, quickly became famous during this period and were surrounded by thousands of movie fans and became movie stars.

It is said that in February, "Popular Cinema" had Cong Shan on the cover, and the sales volume was over a million copies. This kind of appeal was no worse than when Liu Xiaoqing finished her performance in "Little Flower" and Zhang Yu finished her performance in "Lushan Love".

In late May, this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards will be held in Shaanxi. If nothing else happens, "Wrangler" will definitely win the award.

Now this film has become another masterpiece of Xie Jin, which increasingly highlights his age-old and ever-increasing artistic creativity.

Listening to Xie Jin complaining about wasting time by participating in many unnecessary activities because of the popularity of "Wrangler", Lin Chaoyang chuckled: "Many people want to participate but can't."

"Those are just idle people who like to join in the fun. I have so much work on my hands."

"Yes, you are so busy!"

Sensing the strangeness in Lin Chaoyang's words, Xie Jin glared at him fiercely.

"Everyone is willing to flatter me and invite me to a meeting, and I agree. Just say a few words to show off.

But this group of people refused to do it. When they heard that I was going to shoot "Mountain", they were all like chicken blood, and one or two of them wanted to give me advice.

Humph! Do you really think I don’t know what they are thinking?”

"What are you thinking?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Xie Jin put down the wine cup in his hand and said, "I'll take credit and sell it!"

The novel "High Mountain" was approved by the top leaders. Nowadays, if you want to shoot a movie, as long as you can get involved, many leaders of the cultural department are willing to come and intervene to increase your presence. This is normal.

Lin Chaoyang joked: "I will remember this for you. I met some old comrades later and talked to them."

Xie Jin knew this was all a joke and turned a blind eye to his threat.

After chatting for a while, Xie Jin's topic turned to the casting of "High Mountain", which was also the root cause of his recent depression.

Hearing what Xie Jin said, Lin Chaoyang immediately thought of Tang Guoqiang who came to ask for his help a few days ago. He got up and went to the study. When he came back, he had a letter in his hand, which he put on the table and handed to Xie Jin.

"What is this?"

"An actor came to me and said he wanted to play Zhao Mengsheng."

"What's your name?"

"Tang Guoqiang."

"He!"

A delicate face flashed in Xie Jin's mind, and before he read the letter, he said: "Young lady is not good at playing a soldier!"

Lin Chaoyang said with a smile: "Stereotypes are unacceptable."

Xie Jin glanced at him unexpectedly, "What? Do you think he is suitable for "High Mountain"?"

"It's up to you, the director, to decide whether it's suitable or not. I'm just making a suggestion."

Xie Jin glanced at him sideways when he heard this, "You also know that I am the director!"

Lin Chaoyang knew that he was seeking revenge for the phone call that day, "Look at you, you are also an old artist after all, and your mind is as big as a needle."

After a few sarcastic remarks to each other, Xie Jin grabbed the letter on the table and asked, "What did you write?"

"How dare I read the letter someone wrote to you!"

Xie Jin heard the words and read the letter silently.

Lin Chaoyang stared at his face, his brows furrowed at first, then relaxed, and finally the muscles in the corners of his eyebrows began to beat. It was obvious that the flattery in Tang Guoqiang's letter had hit Comrade Xie's heart.

After reading for a few minutes, Xie Jin put the letter on the table, and Lin Chaoyang's eyes caught a glimpse of a line of text in it:

I very much hope that an experienced gardener like you can prune my little tree that has grown too many branches.

"The actor Tang Guoqiang..." Xie Jin was about to speak when he saw Lin Chaoyang's eyes fixed on the letter and pushed the letter over. "If you want to read it, read it openly."

Lin Chaoyang pretended to be indifferent, "Hey, there's nothing to see."

Having said this, he still picked up the letter and glanced at it a few times.
To be continued...