The place where Hou Yong asked Li Tang to meet was in a cafe near Sanlitun.
I don’t know since when, a kind of cafe became popular in Shanghai and Beijing, which is nominally a cafe, but sells both coffee and tea, and serves both Western steaks and Chinese lunch boxes. It is simply a hodgepodge.
Moreover, most of the bosses are Taiwanese, and the name of the cafe has a strong Japanese style, such as Ueshima and Manabe.
Li Tang got off the car at the door of the Shangdao Cafe and saw Hou Yong sitting at the window seat waving to him. He also smiled and waved and walked in quickly.
"Xiao Li, I'm sorry for disturbing you." Hou Yong walked out of the booth to greet him, and said apologetically.
"Teacher Hou, you're welcome. It's an honor for you to come to me." Li Tang held his hand and smiled.
Hou Yong was very polite. After sitting down, he specifically asked: "Where is your driver? Do you want to make arrangements too?"
"No."
It was already past four o'clock in the afternoon. Li Tang was looking forward to talking early and had to go home to cook.
"any drinks?"
"Let's have a cup of coffee."
There are many varieties of coffee here, and Li Tang is not particular about it, as long as it is freshly ground.
While making coffee, Hou Yong asked with a smile: "Has everything been settled with the director?"
From what he said, it seemed that he was aware that the director was talking to him about a new movie.
However, Li Tang still said vaguely: "Almost."
Hou Yong was quite honest, and then laughed: "Actually, the main reason I met the director today was to ask him to give me the final check before starting my new movie. After all, I haven't made a movie in many years, so I feel a little worried. Down."
More than ten years ago, he independently directed a feature film called "Heavenly Bleeding", which also won the Grand Jury Prize at the Shanghai International Film Festival.
Now that he had started, Li Tang asked knowingly about the new movie he just mentioned: "Mr. Hou, your new movie is..."
"My new movie is called "Jasmine Blooms" and is adapted from Su Tong's "Women's Life". It tells the story of the love and destiny of three generations of women in a family."
As he spoke, Hou Yong took out the script from his bag, handed it over and said, "Xiao Li, take a look at it first."
Li Tang did not dare to reach out to take it, but said hesitantly: "Teacher Hou, is this appropriate?"
Just handing over the script without saying anything is not easy in itself.
"fine."
Hou Yong handed it forward again, and Li Tang had no choice but to take it and roughly read the summary of the story.
Mo, an 18-year-old girl who was raised by a single mother who ran a photo studio, her life changed after meeting Boss Meng. She became a star and became pregnant with Boss Meng's child. Mo was abandoned soon after giving birth to a child and lost the glory of her star. She named the illegitimate daughter Li.
As Mo's illegitimate daughter, Li has been in an environment where she has a mother but no maternal love since she was a child. She was helpless and wanted to leave this cold home. When she grew up, she married Zou Jie, a cement factory worker. She decided to give birth to a child. However, she was unable to give birth and had to adopt a girl named Hua from an orphanage. Li was still extremely dissatisfied with her life and even suspected that her husband, Zou Jie, was having an affair with her adopted daughter. Her husband chose to commit suicide by lying on the train. Split.
Hua is an abandoned baby brought back from a children's welfare home. As an adoptive mother, Li is disgusted by her gender, while her grandmother Mo just treats her as a Persian cat. Hua, who grew up in a loveless family environment, found a boyfriend, Xiao Du. Soon after getting pregnant, she discovered that Xiao Du was having an affair. She resolutely filed for divorce and gave birth to the child.
To be honest, Li Tang didn't like this story at all. There were three generations of mother and daughter, and each generation was repeating the tragedy of the previous generation, leaving no hope at all.
After reading the synopsis of the story, he did not read any further. He looked at Hou Yong and said directly: "Teacher Hou, if you have anything to do with me this time, just tell me directly."
"Xiao Li, do you have a schedule next month?"
"There should be nothing wrong with me next month."
Li Tang now only has two endorsement commercials left to shoot, and there are quite a few scripts handed over to him, most of which are TV drama scripts. It's not that he doesn't want to film TV dramas, it's just that none of these scripts he likes. Originally, he planned to simply take a break and help Zeng Jia handle some company matters. At the end of April, I will go to Cannes with the crew of "Purple Butterfly", and I will plan my work plan for the second half of the year when I come back.
Hou Yong's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he quickly said: "In my new movie, I invited Zhang Ziyi to play the roles of Mo, Li, and Hua respectively. Surrounding the three characters of Mo, Li, and Hua, there are three men, namely Meng Mr. Meng, Zou Jie and Xiao Du. Jiang Wen plays Mr. Meng, Liu Ye plays Xiao Du, and I think you are particularly suitable for the role of Zou Jie."
It should be said that Hou Yong was very ambitious this time. Not only did he invite Zhang Ziyi, the most popular actress in China, to play the third role, but he also invited three heavyweight actors to play the role for Zhang Ziyi. Needless to say Jiang Wen, Liu Ye is the new Golden Horse Best Actor and is also a rising star.
Originally, the role of Zou Jie was originally cast by Lu Yi. The young man was tall, handsome, and very popular. But after trying out the show twice, Hou Yong still felt dissatisfied. There is no problem with the image, the only problem is the acting.
Today he met Li Tang at the director's place. Li Tang's image and temperament are no worse than Lu Yi's, and more importantly, his acting skills are reliable. He has won the Huabiao Award for Outstanding Newcomer, the Venice Best Actor, and the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has also won Nominated for the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor. This series of awards speaks for itself.
So as soon as he came out from the director's place today, he discussed it with the producer and decisively called Li Tang to make an appointment to talk.
Facing Hou Yong's expectant look, Li Tang could only forcefully smile and said, "Teacher Hou, please allow me to consider this matter. In addition, I need to discuss it with my agent."
"Uh... Okay, but you'd better hurry up and give me a reply within a few days, because our drama will start filming on the 8th next month, and the first thing to film is the story of Zou Jie and Li."
Hou Yong was a little disappointed, but he still had great expectations, and then said: "You can keep the script and read it carefully. I really hope to cooperate with you."
Now that the words have come to this, Li Tang also nodded solemnly and said: "I will definitely read the script carefully. Don't worry, Mr. Hou... Well, let's give it three days. I will give you a reply in three days."
…
The range hood was working "whirring" in the kitchen, and Li Tang stood in front of the stove frying fish. Not to mention, during Hu Jian’s days, because what he ate the most was the miscellaneous food that was abundant there, Li Tang developed a good skill at frying fish. The fish skin was browned and did not stick to the pan at all. It's very appetizing to look at.
Xiaopang was sitting at the dining table, flipping through the script he had brought back, and asked in a rather envious tone: "You said that the three roles of Mo, Li, and Hua in this script were all played by Zhang Ziyi?"
"Well, that's what Teacher Hou told me."
"She is also the heroine in the new movie directed by Zhang Yimou. Alas - she is really dying of drought and dying of waterlogging!" Xiaopang sighed with emotion.
It's so frustrating to compare people to others. Look at Zhang Ziyi, and then think about yourself, Xiaopang doesn't even feel jealous because the gap between the two sides is so big.
"Hey, don't talk nonsense outside about directing a new movie!" Li Tang turned around and warned.
He didn't pay attention at all to Xiaopang's sighs. In his opinion, there is no comparison between Xiao Pang's current acting skills and Zhang Ziyi's. Xiaopang is not particularly talented. All he has to do now is to hone his acting skills and talk about other things. Otherwise, even if he has a pretty face, he will be nothing more than a vase no matter how he acts.
"Oh, you think I'm stupid, I get it!"
Xiaopang deliberately imitated his tone of voice to express his dissatisfaction, then lowered his head and continued reading the script.
The fried fish was added with water and seasonings, and he was slowly simmering in the pot when he suddenly heard the little fat man making a "squeak" sound, and said with disgust on his face: "This Zou Jie is too disgusting, even if his wife treats him badly, It’s not like he wants to violate his adopted daughter, she’s still a child!”
"Is there any?"
Li Tang was stunned, because the synopsis of the story he had read before only stated that Li suspected that her husband Zou Jie was having an affair with her adopted daughter, which led to Zou Jie committing suicide by lying on the train. How did it turn into violating her adopted daughter?
"Here, see for yourself!"
Xiaopang spread the script on the dining table, pointed to one of the paragraphs and said, "This woman is also perverted. She almost drove her husband crazy. No wonder she herself went crazy in the end."
Li Tang went over and took a look. Sure enough, this paragraph described how Li, who was suffering from depression, took extremely extreme measures to monitor everything about her husband Zou Jie. Zou Jie, who couldn't bear it, wanted to violate his adopted daughter Hua, but Li discovered it. They made a hysterical noise and made it public. In that era when saliva could drown people, Zou Jie chose to commit suicide by lying on the train, and Li went crazy because of this.
Seeing this, Li Tang suddenly felt an unspeakable feeling of disgust in his heart. Maybe there is such a beast in the world that violates his adopted daughter, but in his opinion, Hua was raised by Zou Jie after all. No matter how much Zou Jie hated Li , and it is impossible to violate his adopted daughter. Is it necessary to portray a person as such a pervert?
Just as he was looking at the words on the script and lost in thought, he suddenly heard Xiaopang shouting: "It's so confusing!"
Li Tang also smelled a burnt smell at this time, and ran over to turn off the fire, but it was too late. The soup in the pot had already dried up, and a perfectly fried fish had already stuck to the bottom of the pot.
With a depressed look on his face, Li Tang was about to throw away the fish in the pot when Xiaopang quickly stopped him and said, "No, the bottom part is burnt, the top half is edible!"
As he spoke, he picked up his chopsticks and tasted the upper part of the fish. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Well, it tastes good and is edible. Take out the upper half and throw away the battered part at the bottom."
Xiaopang is still diligent and thrifty, but it's a pity that half of this wonderful braised mandarin fish was wasted.
I mixed a cucumber, half a fish, cut some beef in sauce, put a small plate of Fatty's favorite drunken chicken, and the two of them sat down to have a drink.
Seeing that Li Tang was still moving his chopsticks after taking a sip of wine, Xiaopang couldn't help but said, "What's wrong? You have no appetite?"
"No, it's just...well, I was disgusted by the part in the script just now."
To be honest, he really couldn't understand that although such disgusting things existed in real life, such as that old gangster Woody Allen and his ugly adopted daughter, it was a consensual act after all. But why do our authors or directors insist on talking about such dirty things?
"Oh, art comes from life, but is higher than life. It has to be a little exaggerated to reflect the artistry. Or will you ask the director to change the script when the time comes?" Xiaopang comforted with a smile.
Li Tang glanced at her and said, "Who said I would take on this drama?"
"Hey, didn't you just say that Teacher Hou wants you to play the role of Zou Jie?"
"Yes, he invited me, but I didn't plan to accept it. After all, it's not good to refuse someone in person, so I just told him to think about it. This was an excuse. I was busy last year, and I was planning to take a good rest today... …”
Before he finished speaking, he heard a "pop" sound from the little fat guy. He slammed his chopsticks on the table and stared at his big eyes full of incredible expressions and said: "You are stupid! What you just said, this This drama has Zhang Ziyi, Jiang Wen, and Liu Ye, but you didn’t accept it?"
"..."
Li Tang was a little at a loss.
"I ask you, why did Jiang Wen pick up the call? Why did Liu Ye pick up the call? Why didn't you pick up the call?"
The more Xiaopang talked, the more angry he became. He couldn't get the opportunity he was looking forward to, but someone didn't cherish it.
"Well, Jiang Wen and Teacher Hou have a good relationship, what about Liu Ye..."
Li Tang was almost dragged into a ditch by Fatty, but after he realized it, he hurriedly said: "The main reason is that I don't like this book, and I don't like the character Zou Jie, so I don't want to play it."
"Tch, I don't know who told me back then that there are no small roles, only small actors. An actor should challenge a variety of different roles. How come you don't like it when you get here?"
"no……"
"What the hell! Don't you even look at Zhang Ziyi, Jiang Wen, Liu Ye, you actually gave up such a good opportunity? You acted, which shows that you are on the same level as these people, but if you give up, what will happen if you give up?" Why don’t you give others a chance and give them an advantage in vain?”
I have to say that Xiaopang's mind is still very clear, and the entertainment industry has always been fiercely competitive. Actors often go to great lengths to compete for a role. Especially if you cooperate with big names, you are improving your own status.
For example, Li Tang's film salary quotation last year was only a little over one million, but since the release of "Hero", the salary suddenly increased to 2.8 million, more than doubling.
If Li Tang appears in this movie, in a sense, it will also be a recognition of his status. Although he is not on an equal footing with Jiang Wen, he is at least not inferior to Golden Horse Best Actor Liu Ye.
But at this time, Li Tang didn't want to have a pointless argument with Xiaopang, and said in a low voice: "Okay, okay, I still have to discuss this matter with Jiajia. Now...well, we haven't reached a conclusion yet."
It’s the last day, please vote for me! There is also a guaranteed monthly pass for next month. My performance this month was average, mainly due to the changeable weather. I caught two colds in succession, with low fever and stomachache. I was in extremely poor condition for several days in between. Work hard next month and strive for two updates tomorrow.
(End of chapter)
