Hearing Director Mu's question, Jiang Dao blinked and smiled.
"Even if I've never seen a war..." he argued, "I know that the power of one person alone cannot determine the outcome of a war. Although sometimes individual soldiers can play a key role in a war, the performance in "Han Xiao" is really a bit too much. That's not a soldier king, it's a god!"
“Hahahaha!” Mu Zhixing laughed when he heard that. “Apart from a few old guys, you’re the only one who dares to comment on my movie like that in front of me.”
Jiang Dao shrugged, not showing any fear at all.
"But you are quite perceptive." Mu Zhixing continued, "'Cold Owl' is a commercial film, made to make money at the box office, so of course I made it based on what the audience likes to watch. 'Homecoming' is my personal work, not for making money or even winning awards. I just liked the script and was lucky enough to meet the right actors, so I made it."
“That’s why it didn’t sell well.” Chu Yinlong added, “The emotional tone was too desperate.”
“I don’t think it’s desperate enough.”
Jiang Dao chuckled: "If those two teams of soldiers were sacrificed from the beginning and were sent out as bait, and they went to rescue the small town just to divert the main force of the enemy... In the end, no one would survive, including the residents of the town."
"Hiss..." Director Mu grinned with an expression as if he had a toothache.
"Then it will be a banned film!" Chu Yinlong was speechless, "What are you thinking?"
"It's more realistic." Jiang Dao replied with a smile.
After a long silence, Chu Yinlong asked Director Mu, "Why do I feel that even the little grey wolf is not as evil as him?"
Mu Zhixing laughed out loud.
…
Two hours later, the car finally stopped on a slightly deserted street.
Jiang Dao, Chu Yinlong and Mu Zhixing were taken to a house rented by the program crew to rest for a while. After their hair and makeup were done, the three were put into a car and driven towards the winding and rugged mountain road.
After sitting in the car for twenty minutes and then taking a small boat prepared by the program crew to cross the lake, Jiang Dao finally saw the villages scattered on the islands in the middle of the lake.
At the village dock, there were already cameramen waiting there, ready to follow and film.
“How did you find this place?” Mu Zhixing was so agile that he didn’t look like he was over 50 years old. He was the first to get off the boat and land. He sighed, “Wow, this is really a paradise? There’s no road, and we have to take a boat…”
The program director who came with him quickly stepped forward to take Director Mu's luggage and said with a shy smile, "But the scenery is good, and the rent is cheap."
Jiang Dao jumped ashore with his suitcase and followed Director Mu silently, looking around curiously and observing the environment here.
This island has a large elevation difference. There is a tall mountain on the island. You can see winding stone steps, houses built on the mountain, and smoke rising from cooking fires, which obviously shows that people live there. Accustomed to the city life described in books, this was the first time he saw such a pristine village in the world.
"How is it?" Chu Yinlong asked, "Does it match the 'beautiful place with clear water and mountains' of your dreams?"
"Very good." Jiang Dao nodded and looked at Chu Yinlong, "So you specially invited me to record this variety show?"
Chu Yinlong admitted it straightforwardly: "Yes."
He added with a smile: "Being an artist has this advantage. No matter what kind of life you want to live, you can always find an opportunity to try it out... Even if you want to be a soldier, there are variety shows that cooperate with military training bases, and the instructors in them are real soldiers."
"No." Jiang Dao shook his head quickly, "I will never be a soldier in my life."
"Are you afraid of hardship?" Chu Yinlong asked with a smile.
"I'm not afraid, but since I don't have to suffer, there's no need for me to rush to eat." Jiang Dao glanced at him, "There are so many delicious foods in the world that I haven't eaten enough, why should I suffer, right?"
The program director who was walking in front turned his head to look at Jiang Dao, then turned back silently and sighed in his heart.
Among today's young artists, which one can really endure hardship? Although most of them work hard enough, their lives are much more comfortable than those of their predecessors.
The group climbed along the mountain road until they reached the top of the mountain, and finally stopped at a platform.
The director returned the luggage to Mu Zhixing, and arranged for all the staff to return to the courtyard to start filming the scene of Jiang Dao and the other two arriving at Taoyuanju.
The camera position was changed four times before the shooting was completed after entering the venue. The three of them walked into the dilapidated mountain courtyard in front of them, and saw a strong and handsome uncle coming out of the house with a smile.
"Hey! Xiao Chu, you're finally here. You're so hard to invite!" He stepped forward and gave Chu Yinlong a bear hug, then stretched out his hand to Mu Zhixing, "Director Mu, long time no see!"
"Bullshit, I just met him at the audition last week!" Mu Zhixing was obviously very familiar with him and spoke bluntly.
Next to him, the program director raised his hand, then retracted it, with an expression that looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped.
The handsome uncle saw his dilemma and laughed, "Director Mu, swearing is not allowed on the air. Let's record it again."
Mu Zhixing: …
After re-recording the greetings, the four permanent residents of Taoyuanju finally showed up.
The handsome uncle with a strong physique is called Qi Peng, a powerful veteran actor. His wife Haitang was once a dancer, and later entered the entertainment industry. Now she and Qi Peng have become regular members of "Taoyuan Dreamland", and they are a true husband and wife duo.
In addition, Taoyuanju has two young newcomers, the older brother Cheng Zhiyi and the younger brother Anzhe. The older brother is a talented dancer who graduated from a professional dance school and is Qi Peng's favorite disciple; the younger brother is a popular idol artist who is learning dance from Haitang.
"Okay, Xiaoyi, take Director Mu to... the room on the east side. An'an, take Brother Long and Xiaodao to the west side." Qi Peng said, and suddenly remembered something, and asked, "Xiaochu, is it okay for you and Xiaodao to sleep in the same room? We don't have enough houses this time. The roof of the room in the southwest corner was blown away before, and it hasn't been repaired yet, so it can't be lived in."
"I'm fine." Chu Yinlong said, looking at Jiang Dao.
Jiang Dao shrugged, "That's fine with me."
Although he answered with certainty, when Chu Yinlong followed An Zhe to the west wing and saw the layout of the house, his face suddenly became interesting.
"Just one bed?" Chu Yinlong looked at An Zhe.
"Well... the conditions this season are so, so bad, I'm so sorry..." Anzhe was a little afraid of Chu Yinlong, and spoke tremblingly, "Or, or you can live in my room, my brother and I sleep in separate beds..."
"No, let's just stay here. We don't want any special treatment."
After saying that, Chu Yinlong looked at Jiang Dao again: "Sleep in the same bed with me, okay?"
"Sure." Jiang Dao didn't care and just put the suitcase next to the bed.
Not to mention sleeping in the same bed with others, he had even slept with his comrades in a palm-sized grass nest. This bed was much more spacious than that grass nest.
"The quilts are separate." Anzhe quickly dragged out the second quilt from the cabinet, "but the bed is a little small, and... the wooden board might make noises."
Jiang Dao glanced at the quilts piled on the bed and silently raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
It's so hot today and there's no air conditioning in the room. Does it make sense to have two quilts? In the end, I'm afraid they will all be kicked under the bed.
After simply packing up my daily necessities, I heard Haitang calling people to eat in the yard.
Jiang Dao and Chu Yinlong went out side by side and found that a round table had been set up under the wooden shed in the yard. On the table was four dishes and a soup, plus a large bowl of noodles and three kinds of side dishes.
"The kitchen equipment is not complete this season, and rice is not easy to steam. We mostly eat noodles as a staple food." Qi Peng sat down at the table with Director Mu and pointed to an empty seat. "Sit wherever you like. In Taoyuanju, no matter your seniority, you can sit wherever you like."
Looking at the table full of dishes, Jiang Dao's nose twitched and he asked, "Did Sister Haitang cook all of this by herself?"
"Yeah, that's amazing, isn't it?" Qi Peng smiled proudly, "Come and try it, the cold noodle sauce she made is really good, add whatever you like."
"Indeed, I haven't eaten the shredded chicken cold noodles made by Sister Haitang for a long time."
Chu Yinlong naturally wouldn't be polite to Qi Peng. He stood up and scooped up a bowl of noodles. He used his chopsticks to pick up some of each vegetable. Finally, he poured the sauce on it, mixed it well, and put it in front of Jiang Dao.
"Try it."
Jiang Dao, who was about to get up to pick up the noodles, sat back down silently.
He bit the tip of his chopsticks, smiled as he watched Chu Yinlong mix another bowl of noodles, and jokingly said, "I made the egg tarts for you myself, and you're giving me the cold noodles made by Sister Haitang in return?"
"Tsk," Chu Yinlong looked at Jiang Dao, "Then I will cook for you myself tomorrow?"
"Don't do that!" Qi Peng quickly stopped him.
"Just give up!" Director Mu also exclaimed immediately.
Jiang Dao was amused: "Why? Teacher Chu can't cook?"
Qi Peng looked miserable: "What he made tasted OK, but it was a bit time-consuming."
Director Mu also recalled: "When he was filming "The MasterChef" before, he wanted to learn a few dishes from the chef consultant in the group... Hey, how many pots were burned later? I remember that he even burned the cooking spatula?"
Chu Yinlong: ...
Jiang Dao was puzzled: "Isn't the cooking spatula made of iron? How can it burn?"
Mu Zhixing spread his hands and said, "We were puzzled, but he did it. The shovel was completely burnt black and broke into pieces when touched... Later, during the filming, the props team was on tenterhooks the whole time, fearing that he would blow up the stove in one shot."
Qi Peng said: "Later, he started three fires while cooking at home. Fortunately, he was not so famous at that time, otherwise he would have been on the hot search for a few days. My goodness, three consecutive moves were caused by fires. Some people even speculated that he had an enemy who deliberately set the fire."
Jiangdao: ...
"But strangely enough, the food he makes tastes really good." Qi Peng had a complicated expression, "As long as the kitchen is fine, his dishes will be successful."
"Schrödinger's cooking skills." Cheng Zhiyi suddenly said, "If you don't succeed, you will die."
Everyone laughed.
Haitang came over with a plate of sliced watermelon and said with a smile, "Then you mustn't touch my kitchen these two days. Our conditions are already difficult enough. If you cook for us again, we won't be able to invite guests in the future."
Chu Yinlong quickly changed the subject: "Why, are you worried about not being able to invite guests to your show?"
Qi Peng shook his head and said, "What's the use of having a good reputation? The accommodation conditions are too bad this season, and it's hard work going up and down the mountain. Didn't you notice that there is no running water in this yard? We have to go down the mountain to fetch water from the lake and then pour it into the water tank on the roof... Otherwise, why would I come to you so many times?"
Chu Yinlong raised his eyebrows: "Are you asking me to fetch water for you?"
Qi Peng laughed: "Of course not. You were born as a martial monk in Huaishan Temple, so you should be very skilled in carrying water."
Chu Yinlong: ...
"Brother Peng." He said calmly, "I have never carried water in Huaishan Temple. They have running water."
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