The male lead, Zheng Wen, came from an intellectual family in Shanghai. He had been an outstanding student all his life. After getting into Qing University in Beijing, the country’s top university, he majored in computer science. Upon graduation, he joined the famous Computer Village in Haidian District and became an IT professional.
He was meticulous and refined, someone who planned everything carefully. The biggest surprise of his life was meeting Tong Xiaole, an energetic, carefree Beijing girl who charged through life at full speed.
The heart of the film was not how the two fell in love. Rather, it focused on what happened after their relationship naturally progressed toward marriage, and the series of realities and challenges they faced.
The film’s climax began when Zheng Wen visited Tong Xiaole’s home for the first time.
According to the story, ever since Tong Xiaole graduated from college and started working, Aunt Tong had been busy trying to find her a husband. After she rejected one local young man after another, both of her parents had begun to grow anxious.
So when Tong Xiaole brought home Zheng Wen, an excellent young man from the south with outstanding qualifications, both Uncle Tong and Aunt Tong were delighted, though even more nervous.
However, as they chatted and dinnertime approached, the situation turned into Zheng Wen wearing an apron and helping Aunt Tong stir-fry dishes in the kitchen, while Tong Xiaole sat at the dining table with her father, leisurely drinking baijiu over fried peanuts.
It was a classic lighthearted comedy scene.
Aunt Tong was extremely pleased with her future son-in-law. She was a typical old Beijing housewife who had spent her life taking care of her husband and daughter. But that didn’t mean she wanted her precious daughter to spend the rest of her life taking care of another man.
When the practical and capable Zheng Wen followed her into the kitchen and independently cooked several excellent dishes, she found him even more likable.
Meanwhile, Uncle Tong watched his daughter happily sitting beside him, sipping strong baijiu from a tiny liquor cup, and couldn’t decide whether he should be happy or worried.
According to the older generation’s traditional values, Zheng Wen should have been drinking and chatting with his future father-in-law, while Tong Xiaole, to demonstrate that she would make a virtuous wife, ought to have been helping in the kitchen.
But right from the start, Zheng Wen had declared that he didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, didn’t play mahjong, and wasn’t interested in idle gossip.
The two men practically had nothing in common.
The scene ended with all four sitting around the same table. Aunt Tong and Zheng Wen chatted enthusiastically, while Uncle Tong and Tong Xiaole comfortably enjoyed their drinks together.
By this point, the dramatic conflict had begun to surface, but it was presented in a warm and humorous way.
Another major climactic sequence came when both families officially began preparing for the wedding.
Zheng Wen’s parents traveled from Shanghai to meet Tong Xiaole for the first time.
The southern couple wasn’t particularly satisfied with this northern girl.
The film conveyed this through countless subtle details and delicate facial expressions.
But Zheng Wen’s attitude never wavered.
So the two families sat down to discuss the wedding.
This scene intensified the cultural differences between the northern and southern families.
Deep down, Zheng Wen’s parents still hoped their son would return to Shanghai. However, objectively speaking, Beijing offered better career opportunities, so Mr. and Mrs. Zheng proposed holding the wedding in Shanghai.
Tong Xiaole’s parents, on the other hand, were terrified that their daughter would marry far from home. They insisted on having the wedding in Beijing, arguing that Zheng Wen’s colleagues, classmates, and friends were all there.
From the first family meeting to planning the wedding, deciding where to hold the banquet, preparing the marital home, discussing the bride price and dowry, one practical issue after another came crashing down on the young couple in love.
The conflicts between the two families only continued to escalate.
Although the entire film presented these conflicts through a warm and comedic lens, the wedding preparations still dealt a tremendous blow to the couple’s relationship.
At one point, both of them felt they couldn’t keep going and even considered breaking up.
But in the end, they returned to the place where they had first met. There, they finally understood each other’s hearts, let go of all the worldly concerns that had weighed them down, and Tong Xiaole secretly took the household registration booklet from home so she and Zheng Wen could register their marriage.
Rather than holding the lavish wedding both sets of parents had envisioned, they chose to have a honeymoon wedding instead, letting a spontaneous romantic journey serve as the true witness to their love.
The final scene of the film showed the two of them carrying small backpacks, holding hands as they boarded a train bound for the distant horizon.
Meanwhile, both families finally reconciled.
After all, nothing mattered more than their children’s happiness.
…
The entire film was shot in just one month.
Whether it was because Chi Ying had prepared thoroughly, because they had chosen an auspicious day to begin filming, or because every member of the crew poured their heart into the project, the production went exceptionally smoothly from beginning to end.
So much so that when Chi Ying finally called, “Cut!” and announced that filming had officially wrapped, everyone on set froze for a moment.
Then the entire crew burst into applause.
Everyone was emotional, especially the women on the crew, who all broke into tears.
Everyone except Chi Ying herself.
Most of the crew members were young people, many of whom hadn’t even graduated yet.
The production itself wasn’t large, but everyone loved filmmaking and was full of youthful passion.
Every one of them had given everything they had for their dream.
They had been fortunate to meet Chi Ying.
And Chi Ying had been just as fortunate to find them.
As everyone crowded around her, Chi Ying finally came back to her senses. She gave everyone a deep bow.
“Thank you, everyone! Thank you!”
Her face suddenly felt itchy. She absentmindedly reached up to touch it.
Only then did she realize her face was already covered in tears.
A little after six that evening, the entire crew made their way in a lively procession to the restaurant that had been catering their meals throughout production. Sun Yanyan had already reserved the entire place.
Since the budget had been fairly generous, the wrap party featured an impressive spread of premium dishes.
Although Chi Ying had appeared remarkably calm ever since filming began, she had actually been on edge the entire time.
It was her first time directing a film, and everyone involved was equally inexperienced. Every day had been nerve-racking.
But as the core of the entire production, she couldn’t afford to panic, so she had maintained an unwavering composure throughout.
Now filming was finally complete, and there was still money left in the budget. Funding for editing and post-production was fully secured.
The moment she realized that, all the tension she’d been carrying disappeared, and an overwhelming wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over her.
She still understood the basic etiquette of the industry.
As the highest-ranking person there, she naturally had to give the opening toast at the wrap party.
So after everyone had arrived, including the teachers who had already finished filming their scenes and left the production earlier, Chi Ying filled her glass to the brim, stood up, and addressed everyone.
“This place isn’t exactly luxurious, but you’ve all worked incredibly hard over the past month. Tonight, eat as much as you want!”
Everyone stood up together and raised their glasses.
“Come on! Bottoms up!”
After the first toast, it was time to make the rounds.
Chi Ying first went to toast the senior teachers.
Normally, directors of that era were expected to coach the actors personally.
But Chi Ying knew her own limitations. She had been away from the industry for far too long and simply wasn’t capable of doing that anymore.
Fortunately, the teachers had handled nearly all of it.
For Song Lin and Tan Yi, Professor Zhao had been supervising them the entire time. On many occasions, Chi Ying herself thought a scene was already good enough, yet Professor Zhao remained dissatisfied. Even right before filming, she would continue giving on-the-spot instruction, patiently explaining the performance to them for quite a while.
As a result, both leads rarely needed multiple takes.
The remaining bit-part actors and extras had all been brought in by Teacher Yu.
Professor Yu was even stricter than Professor Zhao. Sometimes, he would keep them after hours for extra coaching sessions.
In truth, those junior students only had a handful of lines, but they treasured every opportunity. After all, receiving live instruction on an actual film set was incredibly rare.
Later, the other two teachers also joined in.
One assisted Professor Zhao in coaching the two leads, while the other helped Professor Yu oversee the remaining actors.
As a result, Chi Ying hardly had to worry about the performances at all.
It saved her an enormous amount of trouble.
She respectfully raised her glass to the teachers.
“Thank you, teachers. Without you, I’d have been completely lost. If you’d asked me to coach the actors myself, I honestly would’ve been intimidated.”
She was speaking from the heart, and the teachers all laughed.
Having participated in the entire production, they knew exactly what kind of quality the film had achieved.
They also knew Chi Ying was destined for great things.
Once the film was released, she might very well leap straight into the industry’s top ranks.
Besides, the fact that she had been able to direct a film immediately after graduation showed just how highly the bureau’s leadership regarded her.
On the first day of filming, General Manager Lei, Director Han, and the others had all come to the set. Since the film was produced by Huaying, both senior executives were credited as presenters. From their perspective, Chi Ying had now become one of their own connections.
Professor Shen, the other female instructor, spoke first.
“Chi Ying, you’ve given us such a wonderful opportunity. We got to satisfy our passion for acting while teaching our students too. I really can’t thank you enough. I’ll be counting on you to look after my students in the future. I have a few promising ones. When the opportunity comes, I’ll introduce them to you.”
“Absolutely. If I get the chance, I’ll definitely look after my juniors.”
The teachers were all fairly advanced in age.
They understood that, because of their seniority, the younger people couldn’t completely relax while they were around.
So after eating a little, drinking a few glasses, they excused themselves.
Only the younger members of the crew remained.
The first to come over was Sun Yanyan.
She had essentially been the production’s chief administrator, and it was also her first time serving as production manager.
She had been even more nervous than Chi Ying throughout filming, constantly afraid the money would run out before they finished shooting.
Now that filming was complete, she felt that every person Chi Ying had recruited had been incredibly reliable, especially Lu Wei.
She dragged Lu Wei over to toast Chi Ying together.
Chi Ying was startled.
“Let’s not do this. We’re all peers.”
“You’re still our boss,” Lu Wei said with a nod, backing Sun Yanyan up.
Chi Ying smiled.
“Then I won’t spoil the mood by saying anything else. Lu Wei, everyone else can take a break, but we can’t. We get one day off tomorrow. The day after that, we start post-production.”
“No problem.”
Lu Wei had been under tremendous pressure throughout the shoot as well.
After that, members of the cinematography team, lighting department, art department, and even the actors all came over one after another to toast Chi Ying.
Later, when they realized she couldn’t really hold her liquor, Song Lin and Tan Yi helped drink many of the toasts on her behalf.
After several rounds, she couldn’t even remember how she had made it back to her room.
But everyone was exhilarated.
Together, they had accomplished something extraordinary.
…
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