Chapter 12 Gold Dust and Red Mansion

After putting down his phone, Zhang Yuan hailed a taxi and hurried to the agreed hotel.

Faced with such a great opportunity, he dared not delay for a moment.

At the beginning of the 20th century, countless TV dramas were competing with each other for beauty, but even under such fierce competition, "The Story of a Noble Family" still became an extremely important part of the history of mainland TV dramas.

Moreover, unlike the "small workshop" such as "Conquer", "The Story of a Noble Family" is a big production with a star-studded cast.

This play made two female protagonists famous, and also provided pension insurance for Sha Baoliang, who sang the theme song.

Arrive at the hotel's private room, knock on the door and enter.

"Zhang Yuan, you're here. Let me introduce you." Gao Qunshu stood up to greet him with a smile.

"This is Director Li Dawei."

"This is Director Yang Tao."

"This is Director Zhou Xiaowen."

"Who is this……"

Those present were either directors or crew members, all of them were insiders, and everyone looked at the young man who had just arrived with curiosity.

Li Dawei, whom Director Gao mentioned on the phone, had a hint of disappointment in his eyes after meeting Zhang Yuan.

Lao Gao boasted to me for a long time, and I thought he was a master who could be found everywhere, but it turned out he was just a yellow-haired boy... Li Dawei complained in his heart.

You can't blame him. Who would believe that a guy under 20 years old would modify the script?

After greeting everyone one by one, Zhang Yuan took the initiative to sit in the lowest seat at the banquet.

Although he was able to sit next to the director in the "Conquer" crew, when he was out in the field and surrounded by strangers, he still had to be low-key and humble.

"Lao Gao, this is what you call a genius. Are you bragging?" Zhou Xiaowen has a straightforward temper and speaks directly.

It can be considered as speaking up for Li Dawei.

"You must be drunk, you are joking with us."

Gao Qunshu smiled wickedly and gave Zhang Yuan a look, as if saying.

Xiaoyuan, give them the whole life!
Seeing that Li Dawei, the host, remained silent, Zhang Yuan took the initiative to speak.

"Director Li, I heard from Director Gao that you are planning to adapt and film "The Story of a Noble Family" recently, right?"

“I just happened to read this novel.”

Li Dawei was stunned. This is a novel from the Republic of China period, and you have actually read it.

He asked himself, if it wasn't for the TV series, he wouldn't even read the original novel.

This kid is not lying, is he?
"Okay, you said you have read it, so tell me what you think of this novel." Li Dawei's suspicion became stronger and stronger, and he even felt that Gao Qunshu was unreliable.

Others thought so too. They wanted to see what Gao Qunshu, who had been bragging for so long, could do.

Speaking of this book, Zhang Yuan had actually read it in his previous life.

It’s not that he is a literary youth, but there was a literary girl he wanted to date in college who loved reading novels from the Republic of China, and he wanted to create some common topics, so he studied hard all night long.

Of course, in the end, this so-called literary girl was actually a beauty lover, and all she read Zhang Yuan’s book was in vain.

I didn't expect that living a new life would be useful.

Zhang Yuan calmly raised three fingers and said, "To be honest, the story of The Story of a Noble Family can be summed up in three words."

"A Dream of Red Mansions!"

"This..." Li Dawei raised his eyebrows and then looked at the people on his left and right.

"What do you mean?" Seeing that the others were as confused as he was, he continued to ask.

Zhang Yuan acted like a storyteller and told the story in a leisurely manner.

"Everyone knows that the book Dream of the Red Chamber uses a mythological background to tell the story of human nature."

In fact, three of the four great classics have this kind of story structure, starting with gods and monsters and then telling stories about human affairs.

Moreover, all three books start with a stone, namely the Immortal Stone in Journey to the West, the Demon-Subduing Stone in Water Margin, and the Waste Stone for Patching the Sky in Dream of Red Mansions. In fact, if you insist, Romance of the Three Kingdoms also revolves around the Imperial Seal, a jade stone that represents power.

"It seems that what is written are the bad things of Jia family, but in fact, these characters are used to describe how the aristocratic family represented by Jia family, or even the dynasty, declines."

“Although the last few dozen chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions are missing, their content must be about the decline of the Jia family and the desolation after the tree fell and the monkeys scattered.”

"Seeing him lift up the Zhulou, seeing him banqueting guests, seeing his building collapse."

"And if we take a synopsis of the novel "A Noble Family", it is at least 70% similar to "A Dream of Red Mansions"!"

Li Dawei's eyes flickered after hearing this. He had read the novel over and over again in the past few days, and he knew the content by heart. He always had an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

After hearing what Zhang Yuan said, he suddenly understood and everything became clear!
Zhang Yuan smiled secretly. Zhang Henshui, the original author of "The Story of a Noble Family", was known as the male version of Eileen Chang. Apart from some short stories that satirized the social and political life of the time, his major works were almost all about love.

Moreover, this guy is a tentacle monster who once wrote seven novels at the same time, each of which had over a million words!
There were no computers or keyboards in the Republic of China, so people had to write word by word with a fountain pen and ink. This shows how fast his hand was. He could be called the Kato...Eagle of the Republic of China.

"That can't be said. There are too many novels like Dream of the Red Chamber. After all, it is the pinnacle of Chinese novels. We can't say they are the same just because the backgrounds are similar."

Zhou Xiaowen next to Li Dawei raised questions. Although Li Dawei did not speak, he looked at Zhang Yuan and instinctively wanted to hear what the young man had to say.

"In fact, not only the background, but also many characters and plots can correspond one to the Dream of the Red Chamber." Zhang Yuan answered with his head held high, unafraid of doubt.

"The main character of the Jin family in "A Noble Family" is a playboy. Not only does he keep a concubine, he also falls in love with his wife's maid Xiao Lian."

"This is almost exactly the same as the story in A Dream of Red Mansions where Jia Lian coveted Ping'er, Wang Xifeng's maidservant who came with her as a dowry. Moreover, the eldest young lady's child was a girl, and Wang Xifeng's child, Jia Qiaojie, was also a girl."

Zhou Xiaowen, who raised the question, lowered his head and thought for a while, and found that they indeed corresponded one by one.

"Not only that, but the third young master of the Jin family is having an affair with a male actor. This is very similar to how Xue Pan in the Dream of the Red Chamber fell in love with the actor Liu Xianglian."

"Let's talk about the protagonist Jin Yanxi again. The main plot of the story is his entanglement with two women, which just correspond to Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. Even the characters' personalities match well!"

Li Dawei looked at Zhang Yuan curiously. What this kid said made sense.

I was confused by the situation and didn't realize it when I was reading the book, but now that I have stepped out of the book, I can see that it is true.

"This... there are many books with similar plots. The similarities between a few characters doesn't mean anything." Zhou Xiaowen was still being stubborn.

"Then how do we explain the fact that both the heroine Leng Qingqiu and Lin Daiyu's birthdays are the Flower Festival?" Zhang Yuan threw out the "trump card".

Zhou Xiaowen remained completely silent.

It’s easy to explain if their personality designs are similar, but even their birthdays are the same, so it can’t be said that they have no connection.

"Director Li, I think The Story of a Noble Family pays tribute to A Dream of Red Mansions to a great extent, just like Jin Yong's Untold Story pays tribute to Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo."

"Okay, the word 'tribute' is a good word!" Li Dawei raised his glass and toasted Zhang Yuan.

Then he looked at Gao Qunshu beside him.

"Lao Gao, you have such a talent, but you didn't share it earlier. You are hiding it. That's really mean of you!"

You didn’t believe it before and thought I was bragging... Gao Qunshu rolled his eyes at him.

His words were meaningful and irrefutable. All the industry insiders present were convinced and started to get along well with Zhang Yuan.

The film and television industry is like other circles. Either you rely on your background or your strength. You have to have something to show off.

Obviously, Zhang Yuan won the recognition of these people with just a little showing of his skills.

After a round of toasts and a few hot dishes, the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.

Zhang Yuan also took advantage of his improved drinking capacity and became friends with the directors.

"You have a good alcohol tolerance!" The straightforward Zhou Xiaowen was speechless after being rebuked by Zhang Yuan. He was originally very angry.

But people with a straightforward temper are actually easy to coax. After a few glasses of white wine, he hooked his shoulders with Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan also intended to get close to this person. He knew that Zhou Xiaowen had a very good relationship with Zhang Da Huzi, and that he would probably replace Ju Jueliang to direct "The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" soon!
"In that case, it's quite easy for me to make this movie. I just need to follow the style of the 87 version of Dream of the Red Chamber and bring the contents of the novel to the screen in a rigid manner!" Li Dawei was in a good mood, feeling a sense of relief as if he had finally defecate after three weeks of constipation.

"No!" But he didn't expect that Zhang Yuan suddenly said, "We can't follow the novel completely."

Li Dawei's smile froze, and everyone else looked at him together...

(End of this chapter)