This movie wasn’t considered depressing. Yu Jiayou didn’t use heaviness when carefully analyzing Ye Yu’s heart, digging out his pain and struggles for the audience to see. It was a type of sadness that was more like a drizzle, making Lin Luoqing feel even sadder.
In Ye Yu’s life, he was fortunate that the dream he received allowed him to have a dream but he was also unfortunate that the education he received allowed him to have a dream.
His initial abnormality in the university entrance examination was an accident that no one expected. From this accident, everything was like a runaway train that carried him toward the abys
He could obviously have a better and more sober life, but step by step, he gave up on his own dreams, abandoned his own thoughts and embarked on a road he never wanted to take.
Sadly, in the end, no one thought he was living in the abyss. People praised him for being normal, smart and making money. Even Ye Yu himself accepted it and laughed with everyone.
He died in that vibrant summer. Everything grew and was full of vitality except for him, who ‘died’ one summer night.
Lin Luoqing had been savoring this story since he received the script. It had been so long and he inevitably had a lot of emotions. He chatted with Shi Zheng for a long time about the roles of Ye Yu and Xiang Jian. Finally, he reluctantly returned to his room.
Before going to bed at night, Yu Jiayou typed out the schedule sheet and handed it to each actor.
Lin Luoqing looked at the full schedule, took a photo and gave it to Ji Yuxiao.
Ji Yuxiao called him back and asked him, “Why aren’t you asleep?”
“I was just chatting with Brother Zheng.”
Ji Yuxiao knew that Shi Zheng was also participating in this movie but he didn’t know one thing. “Who is he playing?”
“Xiang Jian, a gangster in our village. He envied me, laughed at me and then finally became friends with me.”
“Then his role should be okay.”
“Yes, he is a male supporting role with more scenes.”
To be honest, he was a bit curious about how Shi Zheng would play this role. After all, Shi Zheng looked very decent. He didn’t seem like a rough and flamboyant gangster.
“What about the others? Are they actors from Xingyi?”
“Not all of them. Director Yu found a few others but for some roles, he plans to use villagers directly.”
“Villagers can act?” Ji Yuxiao was curious.
Lin Luoqing laughed. “Isn’t it looking at the people? This movie has some villager roles. Director Yu has filmed this type of movie before. He said that instead of letting actors play the villagers, it is better to let the villagers act. Let them get familiar with the camera and relax. Then they can act in their true colors and it is much better than actors.”
“Villagers playing villagers is more realistic.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll wait to see your finished product.”
“Yes.” Lin Luoqing’s tone was soft. “I’ll give you my makeup photos tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Ji Yuxiao replied.
He looked at his watch and urged Lin Luoqing, “It is late. You should go to have a shower and sleep. Rest early. You will be busy tomorrow.”
“I got it.” Lin Luoqing lay on the bed. “Aren’t I doing this because I miss you?”
“Really?” Ji Yuxiao was overjoyed and deliberately said, “How long have I been away from you that you miss me so much?”
“Oh, you really like me.”
Lin Luoqing rolled over on the bed. “There would be a problem if I didn’t miss you.”
“Who do you want to miss? Shi Zheng?”
Lin Luoqing laughed. “Why do you always worry about Brother Zheng? I said that Brother Zheng and I are just friends.”
“Then does it matter?”
“No no no.” Lin Luoqing touched his hair. “Ah, you can really eat vinegar.”
“Don’t eat it. Next time, I’ll ask Aunt Zhang to cook for you and she isn’t allowed to put vinegar.”
Lin Luoqing was amused by his words. He felt that Ji Yuxiao was very childish like this.
But he was also unexpectedly cute.
“Eat, eat.” Lin Luoqing was quite indulgent. “You can eat whatever you want.”
“It is more or less the same.” Ji Yuxiao was satisfied.
“Then I’m going to take a shower.” Lin Luoqing’s voice was sweet, as if wrapped in powdered sugar.
“Go ahead,” Ji Yuxiao told him. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
Once Lin Luoqing finished speaking, he put down his phone and walked toward the bathroom.
He rested all night. Early the next morning, Yu Jiayou attended the opening ceremony with all the main creators.
Yu Jiayou closed his eyes and prayed sincerely, ‘I hope everything goes well in this filming and that I can achieve good results with this movie.’
Lin Luoqing also prayed sincerely, “Please let this movie achieve its original honor.’
For this reason, everyone was very sincere. It was the standard 90 degrees when bowing with incense.
The opening ceremony finished and the actors went to prepare makeup.
This time, all the actors except for Lin Luoqing were chosen through an audition. Therefore, everyone only needed to follow the styling and makeup according to what was set at the audition. Lin Luoqing was the only one who didn’t audition and hadn’t tried the makeup. This was his first time.
Yu Jiayou had already gone deep into the village and had seen how the boys around 17 or 18 years old were dressed. According to their dressing standards, he bought several sets of clothes that Ye Yu would wear on Taobao. Some of them were specially made to look old.
If it wasn’t for the fear that Lin Luoqing wouldn’t be used to wearing the clothes worn by others, he would’ve gone directly to buy the clothes of the villagers.
“Change into this outfit,” Yu Jiayou said.
Lin Luoqing looked at it. It was a white short-sleeved shirt, jeans and a pair of canvas shoes that looked relatively cheap at first glance.
The jeans had been washed so much that it was a bit white and the canvas shoes weren’t new. It was as if they had been brushed many times. Fortunately, they were very clean. At a glance, it could be seen that their owner kept himself clean and decent within the range of his abilities.
Lin Luoqing changed his clothes and came out. Yu Jiayou looked at him and stroked his chin.
Lin Luoqing’s hair wasn’t long. It didn’t reach the standard buzz cut length but since the school he studied in wasn’t as strict as the city and other people in the village also had such length, Yu Jiayou didn’t have him cut it.
“This is it.” Yu Jiayou looked at it for a while. “It is pretty good and white. Ye Yu has always been a good student who is promising. You look quite like a poor student like this.”
Lin Luoqing stared into the mirror. There wasn’t much difference from usual. It was as if he had returned to his university days.
“Is this okay?”
“What’s wrong with it?” Yu Jiayou smiled. “Ye Yu is a student and has been studying all the time. He doesn’t go out much, so he is like this. It would be too fake if he looks rough and ugly.”
Lin Luoqing heard him saying this and accepted it. After all, it was written in the script that Ye Yu looked good.
His appearance was very beautiful. He was handsome and had good grades. He was a rare high school student in the village and was full of youth, dreams and a future. He was enviable. This was why his ending was so embarrassing.
Lin Luoqing followed Yu Jiayou out and saw that Shi Zheng had changed his clothes and was talking to others. His change was obviously much greater than usual. It wasn’t known if it was fake or not but Shi Zheng’s hair was longer than his, slightly touching his shoulders. Some of it turned into strands like his hair was a bit dirty.
Yu Jiayou called him. Shi Zheng turned around while holding a cigarette in his hand. He didn’t look like the usual Shi Zheng but also wasn’t quite like Xiang Jian.
Shi Zheng should look like that once filming started. Lin Luoqing thought that it was like this now because it was Shi Zheng’s temperament combined with Xiang Jian’s appearance. It wasn’t very harmonious and felt strange. Once filming started and he entered the act to become Xiang Jian, his temperament would change and he should be like Xiang Jian.
Shi Zheng saw Lin Luoqing staring at him and walked over with a smile. He examined Lin Luoqing. “You haven’t changed. You are just as handsome.”
“You have changed a bit,” Lin Luoqing said sincerely.
Shi Zheng smiled. “Yes, it is hair extensions.”
Lin Luoqing curiously leaned up to look at his head. He reached out to touch it and finally sighed.
“Brother Zheng, you are more handsome when it is shorter.”
“I think so too,” Shi Zheng replied.
Yu Jiayou felt that the two of them were like this purely due to inherent impressions. “It is because you aren’t used to seeing it. Just get used to it.”
He said this as he led them toward the camera.
The weather in October wasn’t completely cold. Yu Jiayou wanted to finish filming the summer scenes in the movie while there was still some summer warmth.
He planned to film the scene where Ye Yu didn’t get his university examination results first. At that time, Ye Yu was in a more relaxed mood and Lin Luoqing would be more comfortable acting. He could better get into the role.
Lin Luoqing had no opinion.
Yu Jiayou and the other actors talked about the scene one by one. They talked about the positioning after filming started in a while and then tried it out first.
The scene was very simple. Ye Yu and Mother Ye were walking on the road in the village together. He finished the university entrance examination. In addition to waiting for his results, he would help his parents go to the orchard to pick fruits and do some farm work in his spare time.
Mother Yu was afraid of him being exposed to the sun so she brought him a straw hat. Others in the village saw it and asked him with a smile, “Ye Yu, are you done with the exam?”
Ye Yu replied politely, “Yes.”
It was very polite.
There was actually a small detail here—Ye Yu went to study in the town outside the village all year round and only returned to the village during the winter and summer vacations. After returning, he went home alone to do homework. This meant he wasn’t very familiar with the people in the village.
The people in the village knew that the son of the Ye family was going to university. There was some envy and also bitterness.
In particular, they saw that he hardly had contact with his peers in the village and some people said, “This university student is different. You see, he doesn’t have contact with other people in the village.”
“He is going to be a university student. How can he make friends with such people? He will be going to the city to make a lot of money in the future.”
It was just that they didn’t speak loudly and didn’t go to the door of the Ye house to say it. Ye Yu and his parents didn’t hear the gossip.
However, this also laid the groundwork for the changes in the villagers after Ye Yu failed the university entrance examination many times.
It was just that the current Ye Yu didn’t know anything so he treated the people he didn’t know very politely.
Mother Ye stood next to him and smiled proudly.
The actor who played Mother Ye this time was an actor that Yu Jiayou had worked with before. She had a gentle and cordial appearance and looked like the most common mother.
Lin Luoqing greeted her and matched their lines.
Yu Jiayou took advantage of this time to talk to the villagers about how to film in a while.
He told the villagers to let go of their fear and just be as usual. “Just treat him as your neighbor and talk as you usually do.”
The villages tried it. Yu Jiayou corrected it several times before feeling that there was no problem. He called Jin Yanfang, who played Mother Ye, to go over and start the scene.
Ye Yu walked on the side of the road with a straw hat. He held water in his hand and his mother walked beside him, smiling and talking to him about his life after he was admitted to university.
“At that time, I will send you to school with your father. Mom has never seen what a university looks like. This time, we can see it.”
“I heard from Old Zhang next door that university students can apply for student loans in the village.
However, our village has never produced a university student and no one has applied for it. Let your father ask about it. If it is no trouble, we can also apply for one, right?”
Ye Yu nodded. He heard his classmates say that there was no interest on student loans for the four years of schooling. Therefore, many university students from villages like theirs would apply.
Mother Ye felt happy when she thought about it.
“You have to study hard when you go to the city. Find a good job in the city and don’t come back in the future. This way, your future children can also study in the city and live in the city.”
Ye Yu felt she was thinking a bit far ahead but he smiled and nodded.
They walked forward as they talked. The villagers walked past them and asked him with a smile, “Ye Yu, have you finished the exam? How was the exam?”
“It was okay,” Ye Yu replied.
“Amazing.” The tall and thin man looked at him with admiration in his eyes. “We can also produce a university student in Xinghua Village. Haha, the ancestral grave of Old Ye’s family is really smoking.”
A smile appeared on Mother Ye’s face again. Ye Yu didn’t know how to answer and smiled politely.
The two of them walked all the way forward and met a few people. Without exception, they asked Ye Yu about the university entrance examination and said enviously that Father and Mother Ye gave birth to a good son.
Ye Yu stood quietly, a bit young and shy in his politeness. He looked like a student who wasn’t deeply involved in the world and didn’t know how to make friends.
He lowered his head, his face delicate and clean under his wide straw hat. It was like a bright color in summer.
At one time, Ye Yu liked summer very much.
Proofreader: Jesse
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