Chapter 16: Beijing is a big city, living in it is not easy

That night, the old hen was served on the dinner table.

Chen An felt guilty and his face was covered in grease from eating.

The mother was also very happy to see that her son liked it.

She kept picking up food, but Chen An's eating speed could not keep up with her.

After eating, Chen An just felt uncomfortable with a bloated stomach.

Go out for a walk in the evening.

There is no cement ground in the village now, only dirt roads.

There is a river in the village. Chen An remembers that when he was a child, he often liked to play on the other side of the river.

There is a long stone bridge in the middle, which is not very safe, so parents don’t allow their children to cross the bridge to the other side.

Every time Chen An was caught playing there, he was severely beaten.

After being severely beaten, Chen An hid on the other side of the river.

Once they were caught on the other side of the river, they were severely beaten.

Once Chen An was beaten severely.
This repeated practice has forged Chen An into the strong body he has today.

The high-intensity filming work did not cause any burden to Chen An, so he worked almost non-stop in the second half of the year without feeling overwhelmed.

Although the winter in southern Hunan is not as cold as in the north, it is still extremely cold.

Chen An walked around for a while but didn't see anyone.

When walking on the road, the wind from the river felt like a knife.

The wind blew into his clothes, and after a while Chen An couldn't stand it anymore and went home.

There are no cave dwellings like those in the north in my hometown, nor are there floor heating or the kangs seen in Northeastern TV dramas.

In winter, you just need to cover yourself with more quilts when sleeping, and you can get through it.

When Chen An returned home, he saw his mother had lit a fire, which is also the way to keep warm at night here.

Chen An also went over to warm himself.

"I'm back now, come sit for a while, mom has roasted some sweet potatoes for you, it will be ready in a moment, come and light the fire first."

When the mother who was sitting by the fire saw Chen An coming back, she immediately called him over to warm herself by the fire.

By the way, I also gave him some sweet potatoes.

But Chen An really wanted to tell her that he really couldn't eat anymore.

Even if you lose weight, it is impossible to gain weight immediately after returning home.

Finally, Chen An finished the sweet potato with gritted teeth and returned to his room to prepare for bed.

Looking at the room that I had just come from, it hasn't changed at all.

The movie posters on the wall are still the same as before and not covered in dust.

It looks like someone comes to wipe it occasionally.

After I came back, the days passed one by one.

Chen An has indeed gained a lot of weight, and his mother feeds him different food every day.

Besides, he sleeps until noon every day instead of running around in school.

On New Year's Eve, my mother cooked a large table of dishes, then took out the wine that Chen An brought back and poured it for the father and son.

"when are we leaving?"

Chen Ping, who finally drank the wine his son brought, thought of his wife's worries and asked.

"I filmed a movie last year and it's not finished yet, so I have to go back early. I'll be leaving on the 6th."

Chen An calculated the time and decided that after the Chinese New Year, there would be enough time to visit all the relatives.

So Chen An wanted to return to Beijing as soon as possible. He was still worried about the movie and wanted to finish it and see the finished film as soon as possible.

"You left so early. It's rare that you come back, so why don't you stay longer?"

The mother, who was sitting next to him, felt a little resentful when she heard that her son was leaving so early.

My son went to Beijing and didn’t come back for more than a year. He must be unhappy to leave after just a few days at home.

"Mom, don't worry. If the movie is successful this time, I can come back whenever I want. I can also build a big house for our family, a two-story one. I can also buy one in Beijing and bring you two over there."

Chen An had no choice but to comfort her quickly.

"That's fine. Just come back more often. When you make money, take care of yourself first and come back to see mom more often."

She didn't think about anything else, just wanted her son to come back often.

It couldn't be difficult. At that time, the couple let Chen An go to the capital alone because they knew that this was their son's dream and they couldn't stop him.

"And Mom, I bought a cell phone. Just call me when you miss me." Chen An wrote down the number of the cell phone he always carried with him for personal protection. His mother took it and hid it carefully for fear of losing it.

The family didn’t talk about it anymore. After dinner, they watched the Spring Festival Gala on their second-hand black-and-white TV at home.

Get up the next day.

Chen An received a red envelope from his parents.

Chen An did not refuse and put it away.

It was only ten dollars, but Chen An was still very happy.

During the Chinese New Year, I started visiting relatives with my parents.

It’s the New Year and everyone is happy.

All the relatives at home gave red envelopes to Chen An, who did not come back last year, and wished him to become a great director and find many big stars to shoot TV series, which they would definitely watch when the time comes.

Chen An also thanked with a smile and said that he would invite everyone to watch it together then.

After the lively Spring Festival, shops in the town gradually began to open.

Chen An also went to buy some local specialties to bring back to the capital.

In the end, Chen An stayed for another day and set off for Beijing on the 7th.

Before leaving, take the local specialties and homemade sweet potato skins as snacks. Chen An likes to eat them and chews a piece whenever he has time.

He secretly left 5,000 yuan under his parents' pillow, kept 5,000 yuan for himself and set off.

Chen Ping accompanied his son all the way until he saw him get into the car and leave. After he could no longer see him, he squatted down and smoked a cigarette.

He didn't say anything and no one knew what he was thinking. He left the station only after he finished smoking.

This time, he had to bring a lot of things, so Chen An bought a plane ticket and flew directly to Beijing.

Back to school first, Chen An has a good relationship with the teachers and dormitory managers.

Because of his experience of staying behind in school, the dormitory manager gave Chen An a key to the dormitory building, but he didn't ask for it back in the end.

So Chen An went straight back to the dormitory.

After putting the things down, Chen An made a phone call to find out that Jiang Wen was at home, then went to his house carrying the things.

"Did you bring anything else?"

Seeing the local specialties and sweet potato peels in Chen An's hand, Jiang Wen took them and placed them on the table without hesitation. He didn't like those empty things.

"This is a specialty. You can try it as a snack. We make it at home. Try it."

As he spoke, Chen An opened a plastic bag, took out a piece of sweet potato peel, tore off a small piece and put it in his mouth to eat.

Jiang Wen also took out a piece, tore off a little and took a bite: "Let me try it, um, not bad! My bottle of good wine was not wasted."

"It's just right for drinking. My mom and my brother have gone to visit relatives, and I don't want to be alone at home. It's just right that you're here to drink with me."

Then he turned around and went back to get the wine.

When he came out, he brought some snacks with him.

"You're in such a hurry to return to Beijing because you're worried about your movie, right?"

Seeing Chen An coming back so early, Jiang Wen immediately guessed the reason.

"Of course. This is my first movie. The previous shorts don't count. I can only try it out. If this movie fails, it will be hard to have another chance in the future."

Chen An felt at ease talking to Jiang Wen, and he didn't hide anything, so he spoke out his thoughts.

Jiang Wen took a sip of wine, leaned back in his chair, nodded and said silently:

"That's right. You are lucky to have met an investor. If you fail this time, it will be difficult to find him again."

Although many people wanted to invest in Jiang Wen's movies and he had to beg them to do so, Chen An was different.

Even though a university student won the Golden Lion Award for Short Film, it is still a short film after all, and others do not recognize it.

Even when Zhang Yimou started making movies, it was after graduation that he went to the Xi'an Film Studio to work as a photographer and then shot several films.

He also worked as an actor, but then was silent for a few years before he became a legend with his first film, Red Sorghum, which won the first Golden Bear for a Chinese-language film!
He himself has participated in countless classic films and won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actor for his first starring film. He only started making movies when he had almost mastered the path of an actor.

Even if it doesn't work out, he can go back to acting, although according to him.

None of those directors were obedient, so I became a director myself. But in the final analysis, Jiang Wen was able to become a director because he was a good actor.

I have a solid foundation and am not afraid of one or two failures.

At this time, Chen An was like a tree without roots, which would fall down at the slightest breeze.

"Run Lola Run" is his foundation. Once it succeeds, Chen An will have truly laid a solid foundation. If it fails, everything before will be in vain.

"So, brother, I am now fully focused on making this movie a success. I can't let this opportunity slip away with great difficulty. How many people don't have this opportunity in their entire lives?"

"No matter what, I have to be true to myself. Just like what I said to myself during the last short film shoot, I must go up and speak. It doesn't matter if I fail. If I don't try, I will definitely have no chance. So I have to try my best this time!"

(End of this chapter)