Chapter 71: Ebb and Flow

To get to the crew, we had to take a bus. We walked along the muddy road with our bags. Some of the young people couldn't stand the ordeal and had never suffered such hardship before, so they just left.

Fortunately, Lu Ziyan, Xu Xu and a few others helped to cheer him up, and he was able to stand up and walk together.

I thought the trip was over when I got on the bus, but there was a stretch of road that the bus couldn't go on.

One of them started to make a scene, "What a lousy place! You don't even know someone is filming here! I don't even have any signal on my phone!"

Lin Qinghua was walking in front and couldn't hear what was said, but most of the production team heard it.

Although there are some who are dissatisfied, most of them are willing to follow Lin Qinghua. After all, his strength is obvious to all.

Fang Xin approached him silently and whispered in his ear, "Director Lin Qinghua's movie could not have been made without hard work."

The other party was silent, as if he had not expected Fang Xin to take the initiative to talk to him. Instead, he encouraged him. Thinking about it, it was indeed the case.

Despite a few complaints, he still followed the team grumblingly.

When we got to the destination, we saw a rural household that had vacated most of the empty rooms in its home. There was an elderly woman living alone there. The grandmother was very old and had been waiting at home all year round for her children who had no idea when they would return.

At that time, the crew came to inquire if there were any tenants who could stay. Seeing the grandmother sitting on a small bench outside the door every day, Lin Qinghua went to ask her and the grandmother agreed immediately. Her house was big but empty.

Fang Xin couldn't help but look at her grandmother for a long time. Her own grandmother lived a much better life than this grandmother, and she asked her almost every day when she would go back to see her.

I used to think it was annoying to have grandma calling me every day, but now seeing this scene, one call a day is not much.

After he put his luggage away, he came out to talk to the old lady. Perhaps because of her age, her hearing was not very good sometimes and she could not hear clearly.

The old and the young could actually chat with each other.

Lin Qinghua stood in the attic and looked at the scene, deep in thought. The screenwriter beside him approached and asked, "You also think this child is unusual, right?"

"It remains to be seen." Lin Qinghua said indifferently, and the screenwriter curled his lips and said nothing.

Life in the countryside is really hard for some people to accept. There are bound to be many inconveniences in a house made of earth. People who are used to living in the city will become irritable when they return to the countryside.

It started to drizzle at night, and the whole roof was hit by the rain, making a clattering sound. People who had trouble sleeping would always be woken up several times, and could vaguely hear someone crying.

Fang Xin slept well, which was rare for her. After all, a room for one person is always more comfortable.

Lu Ziyan wanted to come to see him early the next morning, but Xu Xu stopped him and took him to have breakfast.

Mo Chai, as a personal assistant, did not come this time. He said that he had taken a few days off to go back and pay tribute to his father's death.

I wanted to call Mo Chai, but I found that there was no signal in the mountains and the message could not be sent out.

The shooting started at around seven in the morning, and Fang Xin went to the makeup artist's place to prepare long ago.

During the makeup process, we inevitably chatted for a while, "I really can't stand it here. I was almost carried away by mosquitoes yesterday."

"I brought some floral water and will give it to my sister tonight." Fang Xin said to the makeup artist, who smiled gratefully and said, "Thank you very much, but it's only for the next two days. I'm just here to cover for you. A makeup artist specifically in charge of you will come in a few days."

Fang Xin asked curiously, "Who is it? Can he find this road?"

The makeup artist thought for a moment and said, "It seems that he came from City B. He was not the one who was supposed to be transferred here. He asked to be transferred to City A on his own initiative."

"It's great to come to City A. Isn't the purpose of living in City B to be able to come to City A in the future?" The makeup artist said to herself while putting makeup on Fang Xin.

This is something in the beauty industry, and Fang Xin doesn't know much about it. But after hearing what the makeup artist said, she seemed to feel a little scared.

This time Fang Xin is a supporting role, so his role is not more than the two protagonists. When he comes out in frugal clothes, everyone's attention is still unconsciously attracted to him.

No matter how Fang Xin puts on makeup, his face doesn't look like a villager, but his clear and pure eyes carry a bit of the simplicity of the working people.

Lu Ziyan and Xu Xu's scenes were over, and Fang Xin was notified that it was almost time for everyone to return to their roles.

He glanced at the script for a few seconds, figured out the emotions he wanted to express, and then went into a woodshed.

Shoot.

"Grandpa, grandpa, I'm burning firewood." Xu Shan (Fang Xin) walked out with his hands folded in front of him, looking at his grandpa who was sitting not far away.

Grandpa had a hunched back, kind eyes, and a hoarse voice that was unique to this grade. "Xiaoshan, go play at Ah Xi's house, and come back later for dinner."

Xu Shan blinked slowly, and then a smile appeared on his lips, "Grandpa, I'll go pick wild strawberries for you!"

The young boy who received the liberation order rushed out of the house. The figure outside the wooden door was happy and joyful. The hunchbacked old man inside the door looked at the receding figure with kind eyes, and he slowly turned around until the other figure disappeared.

Xu Shan found the door of Ah Xi's house and said, "Grandpa said you have to knock on the door before entering someone's house."

So he knocked on the wooden door of the outer fence. There was a sound of someone coming from inside, and the door opened soon after.

"Axi's mother, go find Axi to play with." Xu Shan had a heart-warming smile on his dirty face. He leaned against the door and looked at Axi's mother expectantly.

"Ah Xi is going to school. If you walk this way, the end is... Hey, slow down!"

Xu Shan ran while shouting, "Thank you, Mama Axi!"

The woman smiled helplessly and went into the house without closing the door.

In the morning, the village was filled with thick smoke. Someone saw Xu Shan running to the school and laughed, "A fool also wants to go to school?"

Xu Shan smiled at them and said, "Hello, Auntie! Hello, Uncle!"

The man sneered, "Fools are good, they have no worries."

The road to the school seemed difficult to walk on. The path was always muddy and slippery after the rain. Xu Shan fell to the ground several times but he didn't seem to feel anything. He just stood up and continued walking.

He kept muttering, "Be careful, be careful..."

The class was not over yet, but Xu Shan was waiting outside the school gate. He picked all the small red fruits on the roadside, put them in a cloth bag and hung it gently at his side.

The sound of reading aloud came from the room. They were reciting poems. Xu Shan was slow in speaking and could not keep up, so he could only draw on the ground with a wooden stick.

When the scene was over, Fang Xin was covered in mud and looked like a dirt bag.

However, the original skin color could not be seen under the black foundation, because it was not over yet and the mud marks on his body would have to remain for a while.

The director just looked at Fang Xin in the camera for a long time, and the fool played by Fang Xin seemed really... stupid.

He thought Fang Xin could only play villains with big contrasts or those with stronger emotions.

I never thought that such carefreeness of a fool could be acted out, and even easily bring people into his world.

For a fool, besides eating and sleeping, the only thing he does is being happy. He will feel happy even when something unhappy happens.

But isn't this the beginning of tragedy?

Lin Qinghua was thinking in his mind, so he asked Lu Ziyan and Xu Xu to get ready and go on stage, and they entered the classroom.

Get ready and start shooting again.

Xu Shan was bored and sat on the ground at the door. He piled up the ant nests and took out a few cranberries from his bag and placed them next to the nests. "Take them back and eat them. I'll give you one as a gift."

It was almost noon, and students in the school could be heard sighing, "School is finally over."

"You have to come back in the afternoon, or else we'll go catch katydids."

"I can't skip school, or my mom will scold me again later."

"You coward! Mr. Qin finally asked for leave and you still don't have the guts!"

"The cranberries are ripe. Pick some if you pass by."

The door opened, and Xu Shan looked inside with his big eyes, "Ah Xi! Xiao Yang!"

The two friends at the back of the crowd faintly heard a familiar voice. They wanted to squeeze out but were squeezed inside.

"Hey, isn't this the idiot from the north of the village?"

"What are you doing? Chatting with ants? Hahahahahahaha..."

"And there are cranberries. Give me some."

Xu Shan didn't want to pay attention to them at first, but when someone asked for cranberries, he squeezed the bag tightly and said, "This is not for you..."

Someone came forward and kicked him. Xu Shan took two steps back, still holding the bag tightly, and said, "No."

"You idiot, you really deserve a beating! You've already picked all the cranberries on the roadside, what are we going to pick?"

The tall one among them spoke bluntly and stepped forward to grab it, but before he could do anything, he was pushed away by someone, "Who is it?"

Chaoyang (Xu Xu) used his taller stature to block the way and said, "It's me, what's wrong?"

The other party was startled and said, "Why are you so arrogant? You are just taller than me. I will let my mother make bone soup for me..."

Wang Xi (Lu Ziyan) was beside Xu Shan, comforting her, "It's okay, it's okay, we'll help you get rid of him."

When Xu Shan saw Chaoyang and Wang Xi, he immediately handed over the cloth bag in his hand and said, "I got it!"

Wang Xi nodded and said with a smile: "Thank you, Xiaoshan, but you don't have to come here every day."

They knew that there would always be people who bullied Xu Shan, and they were afraid that if they were not around one day, they would regret it for the rest of their lives if something happened.

"Pick some wild strawberries for you." Xu Shan took out the red berries and handed them over.

Wang Xi took it and took out a few for Chaoyang. He also took a few for himself. He tied up the rest and stuffed them back into Xu Shan's hand. "Take it and give it to Grandpa when you get back."

"Okay, here you go." Then he urged them to eat, "Eat, you guys eat."

Chaoyang ate a few and found them quite sweet, so he stuffed one into Wang Xi's mouth. Wang Xi glared at him angrily and said, "I have one myself!"

"My sweetie." Chaoyang raised his eyebrows, took Xu Shan in one hand and left.

Wang Xi jumped up and down behind him, "Stinky Chaoyang!"

The young men were just fighting and quarreling with each other. They hurt each other. The three of them walked side by side on this not-so-clean road, but their faces were filled with the smiles that young people should have.

A lot of footage was shot on the first day. Lin Qinghua watched the footage on the monitor with satisfaction, and his expression finally looked much better.

Fang Xin also spent the day covered in dirt, looking so filthy that it was unbearable to look at.

When we get back to grandma's house, we still need to boil water for a bath, and everyone has to take a bath one by one. Some people don't even plan to take a bath themselves so that those who are more tired can take a bath, and just go straight to bed.

Fang Xin sat in front of the stove, with more marks on his face than when he came back.

He kept putting firewood in, but found that there was no fire as soon as he put it in, which made him panic.

At this time, grandma came in from outside and saw that the young man's face was covered with dust. She smiled twice and took a clean towel to wipe him.

"This is how fire burns, look." Grandma took out the smoldering charcoal that still had sparks, put some dry grass in it, and it caught fire in a short while.

Fang Xin stared at the miraculous scene with eyes wide open, "Grandma is so amazing!"