Chapter 636 Mr. Wan’s Gift
It was the weekend, so early in the morning, Lin Weimin and Tao Huimin took Xiao Doubao and the family of three went to Yanjing Hospital.
Mr. Wan has been suffering from illness in the past two years and has spent most of the year in the hospital.
Some time ago, when Xiao Doubao was born and held a full-month banquet, Mr. Wan called and wanted to go over to see him, but Lin Weimin refused, telling Mr. Wan not to worry and that he would bring his daughter to visit him when he was free.
Today, Lin Weimin and his family came to the hospital and called Mr. Wan in advance.
Mr. Wan was particularly happy. He changed into a white shirt and polished his glasses until they sparkled. He looked very energetic.
"You don't look sick. I think you should just be discharged from the hospital!"
The little bean bun was held in Tao Huimin's arms, and Mr. Wan was teasing her from behind. The little girl was laughing so hard that her laughter was clear and pleasant, which made Mr. Wan and his wife very happy.
"It's impossible to be discharged from the hospital. My health is getting worse day by day. Occasionally I'll be bright and alert for a day, maybe it's a last burst of vitality!" Mr. Wan said easily.
His words caused Li Yuru to roll her eyes.
Mr. Wan added: "This child is beautiful and has a good personality. She really looks like Huimin."
Lin Weimin couldn't help but ask, "How do you know she looks like her? I think Xiao Doubao looks more like me!"
Tao Huimin repeated Li Yuru's actions and rolled her eyes at Lin Weimin.
"The girl looks as beautiful as her mother." said Li Yuru.
"Master's wife, I'm not ugly! Besides, girls can't be too pretty, or they'll be targeted by those bad boys."
Mr. Wan joked: "Are you a 'good boy'?"
To use a common saying in later generations, he who slays a dragon will eventually become a dragon.
It is indeed a bit ironic that Lin Weimin married a beautiful wife and had a lovely daughter, but he was so wary of her potential future suitors.
If everyone is like him, how can society progress? How can humanity develop?
After staying in the hospital for more than an hour, Mr. Wan was almost exhausted. Seeing that he looked tired, Lin Weimin decided to leave.
Mr. Wan said to Li Yuru, "Go borrow a camera from the hospital and take a picture of me and the child."
Lin Weimin stopped Li Yuru and went to look for him himself. When he heard that it was Mr. Wan who wanted to borrow a camera, the hospital quickly found it in the office and sent it over.
It was a little after ten in the morning and the sun was shining brightly outside the window. Lin Weimin asked Mr. Wan to stand against the wall. The sun was coming in from the side, providing plenty of light.
Mr. Wan was wearing a white shirt and looked relaxed. He looked at the baby in his arms with a faint smile.
The little bean bun in his arms was looking at him with his dark pupils, and the old and the young were staring at each other.
Lin Weimin seized this moment and pressed the shutter.
"It's done."
"So fast?" Mr. Wan didn't expect it to be taken so quickly.
Lin Weimin said: "The camera is good. It's imported from Japan, and it has automatic focus."
Mr. Wan handed the child back to Tao Huimin, and then took out his camera to look at the child left and right, showing the curiosity and innocence of a teenager.
"This thing is really good, it's really high-tech!"
After instructing Lin Weimin to develop the photos and send them to him later, Mr. Wan called out to Li Yuru, who took out a box from the cupboard.
"This is a handicraft given by the leader a few years ago. At that time, African brothers gave China a large number of ivory. These ivory were made into handicrafts and given to us cultural figures. This fan is a gift for Xiao Doubao."
At that time, ivory trading and processing had not been banned in the country. Lin Weimin opened the lacquer box and found an ivory carved round fan inside, which was exquisitely crafted and beautiful.
Ivory has been a luxury item since ancient times. Although modern handicrafts lack collection value, ivory products themselves are priceless. Mr. Wan and his wife gave ivory to their one-month-old baby and treated the little ivory bun as their own offspring.
"Look, look at how much money you have to spend on the child!"
Lin Weimin smiled brightly and spoke politely, but he had no intention of refusing.
Seeing his attitude, Mr. Wan couldn't help but laugh and scold him.
The ivory carved round fan that Mr. Wan gave to Xiao Doubao is both a round fan and a folding fan. Liu Yuanqing's Xian Yi Bian says: "A folding fan is also called a scattering fan." This means that it can be folded when it is used and spread out when it is used.
In ancient times, the imperial fans were divided into different seasons. Folding fans were used in early summer, round fans were used in mid-summer, feather fans were used in hot summer, round fans were used again when it was slightly cooler, and folding fans were abandoned.
It is only mid-June now, which is the time to use fans. The gift given by Mr. Wan is very appropriate for the occasion, and it shows that he put a lot of thought into it.
In ancient times, fans made of ivory might really be used to fan themselves and cool off, but in modern times, they are more like collections.
"This thing is too precious. It's a bit extravagant to use it to fan yourself. What if it breaks again?" Lin Weimin said with a smile.
Mr. Wan said, "She is just a little kid and can't fan herself with a fan. If she needs to fan herself, you adults should do it. If it breaks, it's your fault."
"I don't dare to use what you said."
The teacher and the student had a brief argument, and Lin Weimin accepted the gift.
Two days later, Lin Weimin received an international call from Italy.
The person who called was Bertolucci, the director of "The Last Emperor". He saw the list of the top 5 finalists for this year's Strega Prize and found Lin Weimin's name, so he called him to congratulate him.
Since "The Last Emperor" won the Academy Awards in 1988, Bertolucci's reputation in the European film industry has been at its peak.
Although most people working in the European film industry do not like Hollywood, they have to face the reality that Hollywood's influence is completely crushing the European film industry.
After "The Last Emperor", Bertolucci's main work was on "The Sheltering Sky", a film adapted from Paul Bowles' novel. The film is the second part of Bertolucci's "Oriental Trilogy", and the first part of the "Oriental Trilogy" is of course "The Last Emperor". In any case, Lin Weimin had never heard Bertolucci say such a thing when the movie was being filmed.
"The Sheltering Sky" was filmed on location in Africa at a cost of 50 million U.S. dollars. During this period, Bertolucci also took time out to participate in the filming of the movie "Twelve Italian Directors and Twelve Cities".
The film was released in Europe and the United States in the second half of 1990, but received a mediocre response, with no box office success and no awards, which dealt a heavy blow to Bertolucci.
"The Last Emperor" was an investment of tens of millions of dollars. The box office was not ideal, but at least it won an Oscar, and it was able to make back the money by selling copyrights and videotapes later.
But "The Sheltering Sky" is a big production with a budget of 50 million US dollars, and it is a bit hard to understand why it failed at the box office and in many awards.
During this period, Bertolucci was still working on the third part of his "Oriental Trilogy", which tells the story of a Western child who was identified as the reincarnation of H Buddha.
Lin Weimin smelled a flop as he listened to Bertolucci's story. Lin Weimin had seen this movie and had only one comment: it was not good.
Lin Weimin felt that Bertolucci had fallen into paranoia and had to create an "Oriental Trilogy" for no apparent reason. However, in fact, the three films were completely unrelated in terms of content or style. The result of such a rigid application was only failure.
His relationship with Bertolucci was not good enough for him to give him advice on how to make a movie, so Lin Weimin did not express any opinion on the movie. He just made an appointment with Bertolucci to meet up when Bertolucci went to Italy.
In late June, the first draft of the script for Farewell My Concubine was released.
Lu Wei took over the script of Farewell My Concubine in March. Although he was born in Yanjing, he grew up in Xi'an. Farewell My Concubine tells a story that takes place in Yanjing. He was afraid that he would show his weakness while writing the script and make some common sense mistakes. In order to better express the emotions in the script, he borrowed the video tape of the drama Tea House and watched it day and night, learning as he watched.
Then I went to Yenching Library and the Central Academy of Drama Library to look for information, and finally went to the Dramatists Association to collect materials.
After three months, the first draft of the script of "Farewell My Concubine" was finally written, but many details still need to be carefully polished.
Cheng Kaige knew very well that this movie was of vital importance to him, so he was more stringent with the script.
At the same time, news came from Hong Kong.
Zun Long's agent, Miss Chen, is really something. She offended Xu Feng so much that in the end, even if Zun Long called to apologize personally, it was of no use. In addition, Leslie Cheung was very eager to play the role of Cheng Dieyi, so it was finally decided that he would play the role.
Within two days of confirming his performance, Leslie Cheung flew to Yanjing.
The first request he made to Xu Feng was to meet Lin Weimin, the original author of Farewell My Concubine. The two had also worked together on the filming of The Female Doctor.
"Ah, long time no see."
"Mr. Lin, we meet again!"
After not seeing each other for seven or eight years, Leslie Cheung has long shed his youthfulness. In recent years, he has been very successful in the Hong Kong entertainment circle, developing in both the film and music industry, producing many excellent works, and has become a superstar.
"Back then you said I would have the opportunity to play the role of Cheng Dieyi, and now it has really come true. Thank you."
Lin Weimin said, "It has nothing to do with me. It was Ms. Xu who strongly recommended you to play the role. Besides, you are a movie star now. Being able to play Cheng Dieyi is also a bonus for this movie."
Lin Weimin and Zhang Guorong were not very familiar with each other, but they were old friends after all. With Xu Feng and Cheng Kaige accompanying them, they got together to have a meal and talk about their experiences and movies in recent years. They had a great time.
Zhang Guorong said that he would go to pay homage to Mr. Mei’s tomb tomorrow. "Farewell My Concubine" is not only a novel, but also a drama. The story told in the novel is also based on the drama "Farewell My Concubine".
Hearing him say this, Lin Weimin felt satisfied. This is called awe.
"A-zai, you still need to practice your lines. Although your Mandarin is very good, your Hong Kong accent is too strong and the audience will be distracted by it."
Before leaving, Lin Weimin gave instructions.
"Don't worry, I came to Yanjing in advance this time just to learn Peking Opera and practice Mandarin."
Feeling Zhang Guorong's sincerity in the role of Cheng Dieyi, Lin Weimin encouraged him: "With your dedication, you will definitely be able to play this role well."
Leslie Cheung smiled happily. The filming of "Farewell My Concubine" is scheduled to start in September. He has less than three months to prepare. The pressure can be imagined.
Hearing the encouragement from the original author made him feel a little relieved and more confident in the role of Cheng Dieyi.
(End of this chapter)
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