New Year's Day.
The two of them went out early. Li Tang rode a motorcycle, and Lao Li drove his own minivan for grocery shopping, which contained half of the goods.
Before leaving, Lao Li gave his usual instructions: "Be careful and don't ride too fast."
During the Spring Festival, there were very few cars on the road and the journey was smooth. It took less than an hour for the two of them to arrive at the downstairs of the old apartment on Taiyuan Road almost at the same time.
Li Tang parked the car and went to help carry things upstairs. There were a lot of big and small bags.
"Look at how messy your place is. You don't even know how to clean it up during the Chinese New Year." As soon as Lao Li entered the door, he started to pick his nose and eyes.
The results of the last time my ex-girlfriend came over didn't last for a few days. Clothes were randomly thrown around on the sofa, and scripts, manuscripts, etc. were spread out in a mess on the table.
Li Tang chuckled, quickly gathered his clothes and threw them into the closet. When he came out, he saw his father was about to help clear the table, and hurriedly stopped him: "Dad, don't move! These are work materials, I know it well, don't I can’t find it when I look back.”
During this time, he was busy familiarizing himself with the script and doing various desk work. When actors get a script and prepare for it, it is not as simple as memorizing lines. They must first sort out the plot, figure out the relationship between the characters, and write biographies of the characters, etc.
Lao Li hummed twice, turned around and put the things he brought in the refrigerator.
His son did not rest during the Spring Festival, and he was worried that his son would not eat well. He was stuffed with milk and fruits, home-made beef sauce duck, bad fish and drunken chicken, as well as rice dumplings, glutinous rice cakes, and meat steamed buns.
"Don't be lazy when eating. Don't microwave it. Steam it over water to make it delicious."
After finishing his busy work, Lao Li would go around to the neighbors upstairs and downstairs, and give each house a piece of glutinous rice cake. There are all old residents here, most of them have status and status. In the early years when Li Tang's grandmother lived here, Lao Li came and went often, and everyone was familiar with it.
Li Tang's grandmother came from a wealthy family, and everyone looked down on her country son-in-law at first. But Lao Li did a good job. Even after getting divorced, he still treated the old lady as his own mother and respected him until the old lady passed away.
These neighbors all saw it and had a very good impression of Lao Li.
There is a good side to Lao Li, but he also has a thief who is a low-level citizen. He pats the horse and waits for others to serve him, and the one who plays is called a slippery one.
Shanghainese like to eat sweet glutinous rice cakes, which are a must-have food during the Chinese New Year. Although there are some that are sold outside, they are definitely not as good as the ones that are ground with fresh glutinous rice at home and steamed in a big pot without adding ingredients. A small portion of glutinous rice cake is delicious, has a good meaning, and is light on etiquette but heavy on affection. This is all a favor!
After finishing, the father and son drove to Lou's house in a hurry.
"Teacher Lou, Mrs. Lou, happy New Year!"
"Hey, Xiaoye is back too!"
Lao Li is really grateful to the Lou family. They helped Li Tang a lot in taking exams and finding a job.
"It's National Day, come when you come, don't bring so many things every time... I'll take these cigarettes back later, Lao Lou has quit smoking now." Mrs. Lou was as polite as ever.
That's right, Lao Li's real name is Li Guoqing. He was born in 1950. His birthday coincides with the first anniversary of National Day. His name is very consistent with the characteristics of that era.
"Teacher Lou has quit smoking. Okay, take care of yourself. Give the cigarette to Xiaoye."
Lao Li took two Chinese cigarettes and stuffed them into Lou Ye's arms.
Lou Ye was not good at evading, so he had to say next: "Thank you, Uncle Guoqing."
"Thank you no matter what, it's all my own."
Lou Jicheng reluctantly glanced at the cigarette in his son's hand and called the Li family and his son to sit down.
"National Day, is business going to be good this year?"
"It's just so-so, so I can get by. Teacher Lou, the little guy has troubled you a lot this time, right?" Lao Li said with a simple and honest smile.
"Hey, it's him who strives for success." Lou Jicheng waved his hand.
Speaking of which, Li Tang was actually very surprised when he was chosen by Peng Xiaolian to play the male lead in the gift film "Shanghai Chronicles".
As he said that, he turned his attention to Li Tang and said, "Li Tang, this opportunity is rare. You must listen more, watch more and learn more."
Lou Jicheng is also an actor, and he knows very well how rare it is for an actor to get a leading role. Many actors never get the chance to play a leading role in their lifetime.
There is an old saying in the industry that acting is about fate, luck, feng shui, accumulation of yin virtue, and reading. It talks about the development of an actor, first of all, luck, and then the so-called personal efforts such as studying.
Li Tang's luck has arrived this time, and the next step will be to see how good he is.
It is said that acting requires listening, watching and feeling. If you don’t understand anything and don’t have enough accumulated knowledge, you will not be able to feel the tension behind the character and the personality characteristics of the character through the script, and you will not be able to create a character that is recognized by the audience. , even if you have a chance, it will most likely be short-lived.
Li Tang understood what Lou Jicheng meant and said seriously: "Uncle Lou, I remember it, and I will work hard to seize the opportunity."
Lou Ye sat next to him and blinked his little eyes, looking at Li Tang curiously. This little brother's growth seemed to exceed his expectations.
When Li Tang looked over, he smiled and stretched out his hand: "Li Tang, congratulations!"
"Thank you, Brother Ye."
As people get older, they love to reminisce about the past. Every time I follow my father to the Lou family for New Year greetings, I can always hear my father, Uncle Lou, and Mrs. Lou talking about the difficult years they had on the farm in Jiangxi.
Li Tang's ears had already become calluses from listening to it, but he still showed a polite look of enjoying it. He asked a question or sighed at the right moment at the critical moment, which was very admirable.
Suddenly I heard someone whispering next to me: "Hey, I saw you riding a motorcycle on the street last time, with a girl behind you."
"ah?"
Li Tang turned to look at Lou Ye with a surprised look on his face, as if to say: Are you talking to me? Don't you always act as a silent listener?
He was very flattered and said, "Oh, that's my classmate from Beijing. He came here to shoot a commercial some time ago."
classmate? There is no classmate who hugs me so tightly.
Lou Ye is not a gossip, he only wants to know what he cares about.
"Is your classmate also an actor?"
"Well, her name is Li Binbin. She is from the Beijing Experimental Repertory Theater. She has filmed "No Regrets" and she played Feng Kangmei."
Lou Ye recalled it carefully, nodded and said, "So it's her. She did a good job."
He rarely watches TV dramas, but he still has an impression of this popular spy drama that was broadcast two years ago. He and Wang Zhiwen are good friends, so he naturally recognizes Feng Kangmei, who plays Wang Zhiwen's daughter in the drama.
Since Lou Ye took the initiative to talk to him for the first time, Li Tang started chatting with him: "Brother Ye, are you busy recently? Do you have any new movie plans?"
"There are plans for a new film, but..."
Lou Ye sighed, not knowing where to start.
He really wanted to film his new script "Suzhou River", but the last time he contacted the film studio, there was no result. Shanghai Film Studio has plans for three gift films this year and next, so it is temporarily unable to cooperate with him.
Li Tang was originally at a loss for words, so when he saw this, he did not continue to ask questions. Instead, he changed the topic and talked about the two movies the other party had made before.
In his memory, he had seen Lou Ye's works before, and he still had the discs of these two movies at home. After meeting Lou Ye last time, he relived it again.
With his current understanding, he will naturally have a deeper understanding after watching it than before.
Lou Ye was surprised. He didn't expect Li Tang to have such a deep understanding of his movie. Not only was his words meaningful, but most of them coincided with his original intention.
The scene he saw last time appeared in his mind unknowingly - Li Tang, wearing a leather jacket, riding a motorcycle with a thin girl, weaving through the traffic...
…
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, in the morning.
A Xingfu 90 roared into the Shanghai Film Studio. The car stopped in front of a small building. Li Tang, who was wearing a leather jacket and jeans, kicked the stand, swung his long legs back, got out of the car, and took off his helmet. Just hang it on the reflector and complete the entire action in one go.
Today is the day when the crew of "Shanghai Chronicle" gathers.
