Chapter 283 Rushing to the Crew
"Sir, do you need cigarettes or liquor?"

At this time, the stewardess in gray uniform pushed a food cart covered with plaid cloth, walked to Li Changhe's side, and asked softly.

Li Changhe shook his head: "No, I don't need anything."

The stewardess nodded and continued walking forward.

Different from the green military-uniformed flight attendants last year, last year the civil aviation authorities made a high-level decision to allow the civil aviation industry to separate from the air force and form its own company.

Therefore, the attendants on the planes today are no longer female soldiers in the army, but flight attendants recruited by civil aviation themselves, who are considered the first batch of stewardesses in later generations.

However, their recruitment standards are still based on the original standards for female soldiers.

When getting off the plane, Li Changhe had an extra bottle of Moutai in his hand. This time it was not a small bottle, but a real big bottle.

Because Hong Kong Island is now considered an overseas area, the treatment of passengers is based on the standards of international flights. Cigarettes and alcohol are of normal specifications, not the small portions as before.

After leaving the airport, Li Changhe felt the cold wind in the capital city in the cold winter and couldn't help but wrap himself in his windbreaker.

The suit and windbreaker he is wearing now were left for him in Hong Kong Island by Pierre Cardin.

In Hong Kong Island, Pierre Cardin agreed on the general terms with Wells, and then returned to Europe to prepare. The signing of the contract by both parties will not take place until March this year, after all, a lot of things need to be prepared.

Before leaving, Pierre Cardin left the finished suit for Li Changhe in Hong Kong Island, and later made him a black stand-collar windbreaker, which was made of high-end materials and had a first-class warmth-retaining effect.

But a windbreaker is a windbreaker. No matter how high-end the materials are, its effect is still inferior to that of a cotton-padded jacket in the cold wind of winter.

Li Changhe quickly hailed a taxi, got in, and said, "Let's go to Beijing Film Studio."

"Okay, sir!"

Without any extra words, the driver drove quietly towards the Beijing Film Studio.

Soon, the car stopped in front of the Beijing Film Studio, and Li Changhe got out of the car pulling his suitcase.

Then he dragged his suitcase into the Beijing Film Studio.

Along the way, employees of the Beijing Film Studio who passed by saw Li Changhe's outfit and stopped to look at him curiously.

After all, Li Changhe's outfit doesn't look like a Chinese.

"Sir, who are you looking for?"

At this time, a man with glasses came over and asked Li Changhe curiously.

"Hello, I'm looking for Director Wang Yang. I know where his office is."

Li Changhe said to the other party with a smile.

"Eh? A long river?"

Just at this moment, someone not far away shouted curiously.

Li Changhe looked in the direction of the voice and saw Director Ling Zifeng walking towards him wearing a thick cotton coat.

"I didn't recognize you dressed like that. We thought you were from overseas."

"You just came back?"

Seeing that Li Changhe was dragging a strange box in his hand, Ling Zifeng asked curiously.

"Yes, I just got off the plane and came back from Hong Kong Island. Director Ling, I want to talk to Director Wang."

Li Changhe said with a smile.

"Looking for Lao Wang? Are you planning to go to Comrade Zhu Lin's crew's residence?"

Ling Zifeng said with a smile.

"Yes, I want to ask Director Wang if he can help me coordinate a car to take me there!"

Li Changhe didn't know where exactly Zhu Lin and their crew were, but he knew they were definitely not close.

In this cold winter, it would be extremely troublesome to reverse the car and take the bus.

"That's easy. Come on, I'll take you there. Old Wang is probably in the office right now."

"You are a well-known person in our factory now. It's no problem to coordinate a car for you."

Ling Zifeng said to Li Changhe with emotion on the way.

Apart from anything else, the fact that the crew was provided with cars shocked everyone at the Beijing Film Studio.

The bus they are equipped with is not an old bus, but a brand new luxury version of Toyota Coaster, which not only has leather seats, but also is equipped with air-conditioning fans and other facilities. The feeling of sitting on it is simply beyond imagination.

It would be fine if there was just one, but the key is that two were allocated at once, in addition, there was also an imported small van.

That was prepared by Li Changhe for his wife and Lao Tian and others, and it also contained some photographic equipment.

Small cars keep warm better.

"When these cars arrived, the whole factory was stunned. Who the hell has ever seen such a scene?"

“But there are downsides.”

Ling Zifeng then complained to Li Changhe with a smile.

Li Changhe was a little surprised: "What's wrong?"

"I heard that the cars in Hong Kong and Japan are different from ours. The steering wheels and other things are all on the right side, while the cars here are all on the left."

"Old Wang finally managed to get a driver together, but the different steering wheels are still a hassle."

"There was no other way. We asked the driver to practice for another three days until he was completely familiar with the vehicle before we drove it out."

"You don't know, the employees in the factory are very active this time."

"Originally, a crew of thirty people is enough, and there are also some students from the Beijing Film Academy."

"But when they saw the benefits you offered, a bunch of people signed up enthusiastically, and even Old Wang couldn't handle it."

"Finally, I discussed it with Zhu Lin, who waved her hand and invited them all to join the crew."

"In the end, there were 50 people there, which was almost like a crew for a large-scale production."

Ling Zifeng couldn't help but sigh at the end.

The main reason is that the crew’s configuration is too luxurious. In addition to the luxury minibuses, the meals are also of high standards.

Although all the employees employed are from Beijing Film Studio, the meal standards adopted are those of Hong Kong.

This is amazing!

"We are all family, so it's always good to improve our treatment."

Li Changhe said with a smile.

He actually did it on purpose. On the one hand, he had too much foreign exchange to spend, so he used this opportunity to spend some of it.

On the other hand, it is also to establish the character of one's own wife.

Working with Zhu Lin to make a movie, with good food, drink and good treatment, needless to say, Zhu Lin's authority was naturally established.

Let’s not talk about anything else. If you don’t listen, you will be fired. With such good treatment, if some people quit, there will naturally be plenty of people to fill their places.

After all, in this day and age, in co-production crews, the treatment of Hong Kong crew members is completely different from that of mainland crew members.

The Hong Kong members received salaries, travel allowances, and good food.

Employees on the mainland receive wages from the factory and eat simple food. The treatment of both sides is completely different.

Therefore, the co-produced films in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s promoted exchanges between Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Mainland in general, but in private they actually created serious conflicts between the two sides.

The uneven treatment within the crew has created a huge gap between the Hong Kong film and television circles and the mainland film and television circles.

Apart from anything else, Li Changhe had heard a piece of gossip in his previous life.

When Zhou Xingchi was filming "A Chinese Odyssey" in Yinchuan in the 1990s, he caused anger among the staff at the Xi'an Film Studio because he shot multiple takes. It was said that they chased Zhou Xingchi and beat him.

When the movie was released later, Mr. Lu, who played the Bull Demon King, didn't even have his name signed in the movie.

While this conflict was apparently caused by the filming, in private it was actually the psychological dissatisfaction caused by the different treatments given to the two.

But there was nothing that could be done about it. In the early days of reform, everyone's ideology could not be changed immediately, and the system could only be used flexibly. The country was poor and did not have such good material conditions, so we could only endure this grievance.

After all, the country is not strong enough!
The two chatted with emotion and soon came to Wang Yang's office. In the office, Wang Yang was reading a document. When he heard the noise and saw Li Changhe coming in, his eyes lit up.

This is a very rich man!
Now when Wang Yang goes out, his back is very straight. Not to mention anything else, just those two minibuses are the envy of many units.

A few days ago, someone from the Film Association even asked indirectly if there was a chance to borrow it later.
He just laughed it off.

The car belongs to the Hong Kong Island Film Company, but it is temporarily registered under the name of the Beijing Film Studio.

Even if Li Changhe said that he could lend it to the Beijing Film Studio later, Wang Yang would not promise to do so now.

"Changhe, are you back from Hong Kong Island?"

Seeing Li Changhe coming in, Wang Yang immediately spoke enthusiastically.

"Yes, Director Wang, I just came back and came to our Beijing Film Studio first to ask for your help."

Li Changhe said to Wang Yang with a smile.

"Help? Just tell me what it is."

Wang Yang said proudly.

"I would like you to help me coordinate a car to take me to the crew."

Li Changhe stated his purpose.

Wang Yang smiled and nodded: "I knew it was this."

"No problem. The factory has a car right now. I'll ask the driver to take you there!"

Wang Yang then picked up the phone on the table and quickly made a call.

Not long after, a jeep drove up to the front of the office building.

Li Changhe had already gotten out of the car, opened the door and sat in the passenger seat.

However, he couldn't go directly to the crew's residence and had to go back home first.

This windbreaker is not warm enough in Beijing, and it will probably be even colder when we get to the grassland.

So, Li Changhe went home first, changed his clothes, took out the down jacket he bought and put it on, then stuffed a few more thick clothes into the suitcase, and then the two of them set off.

"Comrade Changhe, is this a cotton-padded jacket?"

In the car, Master Wu, the driver from Beijing Film Studio, looked at Li Changhe's down jacket and asked curiously.

Driver is definitely a popular profession these days. As a driver of Beijing Film Studio, his status is higher than that of ordinary actors. He also often helps Wang Yang to meet some cadres, which broadens his horizons.

Besides, in this era, there is not such a strong bureaucratic atmosphere, and people are relatively sincere to each other, so they speak warmly and casually.

"This is called a down jacket. It's imported from abroad and keeps you warm. A foreign friend gave it to me last time."

Li Changhe said with a smile.

"You are so amazing! You have foreign friends!"

In the past, anyone who dared to meet a foreigner would be guilty of a serious mistake.

However, with the country's propaganda in the past two years, everyone's attitude has changed. Having foreign relations in the family is not a fault, but a good thing.

"By the way, I think you should be careful with your clothes. Don't let them get burned by the stove."

There was a stove burning in the middle of the jeep, plus the residual heat from the engine in the heater.

Although the car's windshield is not that tight, it is not that cold and is still very warm.

"Don't worry, I'm paying attention!"

Li Changhe said with a smile.

The two of them then headed towards the Jingxi grassland while chatting.

The Jingxi grassland is about 100 kilometers away from the capital, and in later times it would only take an hour or so to drive there on the highway.

But in this day and age, let alone expressways, it’s good enough to have roads.

There is not even a single expressway in the country.

Li Changhe remembered that the construction of the first expressway in the country would not start for several more years, and it would be in Shanghai.

But nowadays there is no difference between driving on the highway and on the freeway. There are fewer cars on the road, no speed lights, and you can basically just drive wherever the driver wants.

However, the highway is only about half the distance, and the rest is a gravel road.

Fortunately, the road is relatively flat and not too bumpy.

It took Master Wu two and a half hours to send Li Changhe to the local guesthouse.

In order to film the movie, there were so many people in the crew that they directly booked an entire guesthouse.

Fortunately, there are not many people coming here. There are not many customers in the cold winter, so the hotel can accommodate them.

"Hello, comrade. We are from the Beijing Film Studio. Do you have any cadres' housing available?"

Nowadays, there are many types of rooms in guesthouses. Ordinary people can only sleep in big rooms, and single rooms are available only in cadres' rooms.

The Beijing Film Studio also has levels. At that time, we had private rooms and talked with the guesthouse. They would reserve rooms for cadres at any time to make it convenient for Wang Yang and others to come and inspect.

Therefore, after Master Wu came in, he directly revealed his identity and asked about the room on behalf of Li Changhe.

"Oh, you are from the Beijing Film Studio, right? Are you the filming crew? The cadre room in Room 302 is empty now. It's just a high-ranking cadre room. Do you want to use it?"

"can!"

Before Wang Yang came, he was asked to help Li Changhe book a high-ranking official's house.

The decision to rent a room for high-ranking officials does not mean that Li Changhe would be given high treatment. The main reason is that the room for high-ranking officials is a single room with a king-size bed.

When a couple meets, they can't just sleep together in a big bunk bed at night.

Even if it is an ordinary cadre room, it is a standard room for two people, not a single room.

So Wang Yang was very considerate and asked Master Wu to help Li Changhe get a high-ranking official apartment.

Anyway, with the level of Beijing Film Studio, they are qualified to open such high-ranking officials' housing.

Soon, the room was ready and the service staff led Li Changhe and Master Wu upstairs.

When Li Changhe entered the house, Master Wu said with a smile: "Comrade Changhe, I will go back first. You can rest in the house. They will be back around five o'clock."

Master Wu was only responsible for bringing Li Changhe here, and after that, he had to go back.

It was only around three in the afternoon, and he could definitely get back to the Beijing Film Studio before dark.

"Okay, thank you Master Wu. By the way, this is for you. Try it."

At this time, Li Changhe took out a box of cigarettes from the suitcase.

"Oh, I dare not accept this, it must be a foreign cigarette!"

"Yes, a friend gave it to me when I came back. I don't smoke, so I brought some for some friends. You can try one too."

Li Changhe said to Master Wu with a smile.

"Well, thank you so much, Comrade Changhe, can you tell me what brand this cigarette is?"

Master Wu excitedly took the box of foreign cigarettes, looked at it carefully, and then asked curiously.

"Marlboro!"

Li Changhe said with a smile.

In fact, Marlboro is also available in China, but it is only sold in Friendship Stores, and there are not many varieties and the distribution range is very narrow.

This time, Li Changhe bought high-end Marlboro cigarettes from Hong Kong Island for his father and father-in-law, and also brought one for Tian Zhuangzhuang and the others.

After all, these men are all heavy smokers!
Master Wu happily took his Marlboro and left, while Li Changhe, feeling the heat in the room, prepared to lie down for a while and wait for Zhu Lin and the others.

He was tired after taking a plane and a bus all day!

(End of this chapter)