Night had fallen, and nearly everyone in the office building had gone home. Chi Ying was still in the office, working overtime as she organized the screenplay.
She actually enjoyed staying at the office. Her dorm room was just a single room with no air conditioning, and she simply couldn’t afford to install one yet. During Beijing’s sweltering, sauna-like summer weather, all she had was an electric fan. Once the door was shut, the room became unbearably stuffy without proper airflow. Even opening the transom above the door in hopes of creating a cross breeze with the window made little difference.
The office, on the other hand, had air conditioning. Whether she was reading or secretly browsing the internet on the ancient, painfully slow office computer, it was a pleasant place to spend time.
She was completely absorbed in her work when her pager suddenly beeped again. She glanced at the display and saw that Tan Yi was trying to reach her. She immediately picked up the office landline and returned the call.
At first, Chi Ying assumed Tan Yi had run into some kind of trouble. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be contacting her this late.
But after the call connected, she learned it wasn’t about him at all. Song Lin had nowhere to go and was coming to stay with her.
After graduation, Song Lin had been like many of their classmates who hadn’t secured steady jobs. She spent her days auditioning for one film crew after another, hoping to land work. That was simply the nature of an actor’s career. Fresh graduates like her had no choice but to cast a wide net.
She had rented an apartment near the university district. The rent wasn’t cheap, over six hundred yuan a month. Fortunately, she’d appeared in quite a few productions while still in college, so she had some savings to keep herself afloat.
Unfortunately, her new landlord was a terrible person.
That day, after running around to several auditions, exhausted and drenched in sweat, she had barely returned home when the landlord showed up demanding a rent increase.
Naturally, Song Lin refused.
What kind of joke was that? He wanted to raise the rent after only a few days. If she gave in now, how would she survive later?
As they argued, the man simply sat inside her room and refused to leave. Even after Song Lin left the front door wide open, it made no difference.
Then, little by little, the disgusting bastard started dropping hints.
If she didn’t want the rent raised, there were… other ways to make up the difference.
That was beyond revolting.
Song Lin had quite the temper herself. She immediately exploded and told him to get lost.
The man refused to give up. He shut the front door and started putting his hands on her.
Terrified, Song Lin managed to seize an opportunity to escape. After getting out, she contacted Tan Yi and several other male classmates who lived nearby to help her. Since there was no evidence, there was no point in calling the police, so they simply beat the scumbag half to death.
There was obviously no way she could continue living there.
After thinking it over, the only female friend nearby was Chi Ying, and the two of them were close, so Tan Yi called to ask for help.
Without hesitation, Chi Ying told them to come over immediately.
She locked up the office, then hurried downstairs to her dorm building to meet them.
Not long afterward, an overcrowded taxi pulled up. The boys unloaded Song Lin’s mountain of luggage from the trunk and carried everything into Chi Ying’s room before heading off.
Tan Yi and the others were sharing a rented apartment together. Their living conditions were even worse than Song Lin’s, though the rent was much cheaper. Men weren’t nearly as particular about living conditions as women. Everyone was still struggling through the early stages of their careers, and life wasn’t easy for any of them.
Seeing how drained Song Lin looked, Chi Ying didn’t ask many questions. She simply poured her a glass of water to help her calm down while tidying up her belongings.
“I’ll boil some hot water. Just make do with a quick wash.”
Using an immersion heater, Chi Ying heated two thermos bottles of water for Song Lin to bathe with.
There wasn’t much she could offer. There was no private bathroom in her room. They had both only recently left dormitory life behind, and neither of them was particularly fussy. Once everything was settled, Chi Ying let Song Lin sleep on her bed while she herself prepared to return to the office.
Feeling terribly embarrassed, Song Lin said, “I came here to rely on you, but now it feels like I’m taking over your place. I’ll sleep on the floor. It’s hot anyway. Just spread out a mat. You should take the bed.”
Chi Ying decided to tell her the truth.
“It’s fine. Sleep in my bed tonight. Tomorrow we’ll go buy a single bed. The room’s big enough for both of us. It’ll actually be nice having some company.”
“I was already working overtime. Tomorrow our center is pitching a project to General Manager Lei at Huaying. I want to spend tonight preparing properly. If this works out, I might actually get to direct a movie!”
Song Lin stared at her in disbelief.
She had been suffering setback after setback lately. She hadn’t even made it into a single production.
Back in college, even if she couldn’t land a role for a while, she never panicked.
But now she had entered society.
Not getting cast meant not having a job.
No job meant no income.
Yet food, clothing, housing, and transportation all required money. Watching her savings dwindle day by day while her family constantly urged her to return home had left her anxious and helpless.
Then today’s incident happened.
She had only just begun pursuing her dream, yet the harsh reality already made her feel like she couldn’t keep going.
So hearing Chi Ying casually say, “I might get to direct a movie,” instantly filled her with excitement.
“Really? That’s amazing! What kind of movie…”
“I can’t really explain it right now. I need to get back and finish preparing. I’ll probably be working very late, so I’ll just stay in the office tonight. Lock the door after me, and make sure you latch it. I’ll come back early tomorrow morning so we can tidy things up. Take care of yourself, and don’t worry about me.”
As she spoke, Chi Ying rummaged through a drawer, found the spare key, and handed it to Song Lin.
“Just stay here without worrying. Don’t bother looking for another place yet. If you end up joining a production and are away for months at a time, paying rent on an empty apartment is just throwing money away.”
Song Lin paced around the room, looking even more excited than Chi Ying herself.
“Chi Ying, I know you’re going to make it! You’re so talented. The first time I met you in college, I knew you’d accomplish something someday! You always looked incredibly smart, and you’ve always had such high aspirations!”
She kept rambling on, making Chi Ying feel both touched and bittersweet.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Let’s both keep working hard.”
After talking for a while, tears quietly rolled down Song Lin’s cheeks.
“Chi Ying, do you know what it’s like for those of us who didn’t get assigned to a work unit? We’re just drifting. All we’ve been hearing lately is bad news.”
“You know Tan Yi, right? He was such an outstanding student in school. But things have been really hard for him lately. At least I’d acted in productions while I was in college. He’s never even had the chance, so he has almost no practical experience. Every film crew turns him away.”
“His family keeps telling him to come home so they can arrange a job for him at a cultural institution, but he refuses. He doesn’t have much savings either. If it weren’t for all the guys helping each other out, I don’t even know if he’d have made it this far.”
“It’s okay. There are so many of us classmates supporting one another. Maybe we’ll all find our way through this together. Whose career doesn’t start with a rough patch?”
There wasn’t much Chi Ying could say besides offering encouragement.
“You’re right! As long as we take that first step, we’ll all keep moving forward.”
Embarrassed, Song Lin wiped away her tears and smiled.
…
The air conditioner hummed steadily in the general manager’s office at Huaying, keeping the room pleasantly cool.
But inside, Chi Ying felt as though she were being fried in hot oil.
She was incredibly anxious.
She did her best to appear calm.
Director Han, sitting beside her, looked completely relaxed, casually sipping tea every now and then. Behind the desk, General Manager Lei was carefully reading through the project proposal Chi Ying had submitted.
That morning, when Director Han had brought her over for the visit, General Manager Lei had been genuinely surprised by the thick stack of materials Chi Ying placed before him.
The day before, he’d simply thought the young woman had plenty of ideas. Since Han Haiyan’s newly established department hadn’t produced any tangible results yet, he’d only made a casual remark.
He never expected her to actually come back with a complete project.
He first read through the screenplay, then flipped through the storyboard script. Besides those, there were also detailed scene outlines and shot lists. The level of professionalism was undeniable.
General Manager Lei closed the script, patted it lightly, and said, “Haiyan, you’ve got a real talent working under you.”
Director Han smiled.
“I was shocked too when I saw this first thing this morning. It completely exceeded my expectations.”
“When Xiao Chi told me after work yesterday that she’d prepared something, I honestly didn’t think much of it. But after seeing this today, I have nothing but praise. Now, General Manager Lei, the rest is up to you.”
Lei Dongming leaned back in his office chair.
“Xiao Chi, tell me what you’re thinking. I’ve looked through the script, and it’s clearly aimed at the commercial market. It’s very promising. But I’d still like to hear your own thoughts.”
After gathering her thoughts, Chi Ying began.
“General Manager Lei, I want to make a chick flick.”
“Last year, there was an extremely popular American film, My Best Friend’s Wedding, starring the actress with the famous big smile. That’s a classic example of a chick flick.”
“It’s also known as a women’s film. They’re generally lighthearted and romantic, centered around female protagonists, with the male characters taking supporting roles in the romance.”
“The primary audience for these films is young women. When a dating couple or a young married couple goes to the cinema, it’s often the woman who decides what they’ll watch. Women are the ones who usually hold the power of choice.”
“My Best Friend’s Wedding earned 299 million dollars at the box office last year, even though its production budget was under 20 million dollars. The returns were phenomenal, and audiences loved it.”
“I believe my film can target the same market and use a similar promotional strategy.”
“The story follows a northern girl and a southern boy, tracing their journey from falling in love to getting married.”
“The main focus is everything that happens while they’re preparing for the wedding. The story revolves around regional cultural differences, conflicts between men and women, and generational clashes between older and younger people. These various conflicts are presented in a lighthearted and humorous way.”
“People go to the movies nowadays mainly to relax. There’s no need to make everything heavy and depressing. That’s how we’ll get audiences to come back to the theaters.”
General Manager Lei hadn’t expected Chi Ying to have thought through even the audience positioning.
As for filmmaking itself, Chi Ying was a graduate of the Film Academy. Lei Dongming had watched several of her award-winning short films before. There were no concerns whatsoever about her technical ability.
That left very little to discuss.
At present, Ma Yuanchao and his team specialized in commercial neighborhood comedies aimed primarily at male audiences.
If Chi Ying could successfully make this kind of chick flick, then they’d have the female moviegoing audience covered as well.
…
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