Chapter 825 The Truth About the Script
Since Yu Mengling had said so, Lu Yanhe read it again.
This time, with an interpretation of the ending in mind, Lu Yanhe paid special attention to some details.
Then, my scalp tingled.
When he first read the script, he felt that the family of several people lived a simple and peaceful life.
However, if you look back at the earlier parts of the story with the question of why the ending happened, then you'll be left wondering.
There were a few places that suddenly seemed off.
One place is:
At the beginning of the story, the head of the household received several guests who came to book a boat.
Meanwhile, inside the house, the eldest daughter sat under the eaves weeping, and her younger brother went over to comfort her.
From their conversation, we learned that she was crying because her husband had drowned.
Later, when someone came to place an order, they chatted with the head of the family and mentioned that a few months ago, the head of another boat-making family had drowned in a shipwreck. They used to order boats from that family, but now, within a radius of dozens of miles, only their family still makes boats.
Another place is:
The eldest daughter brought home a child—the head of the household's grandson—who showed a talent for boat building at a very young age and even received praise from the head of the household.
Conversely, although the youngest son of the family was not verbally abused or humiliated by his father to his face, his father's dissatisfaction with him could be seen from many details.
However, judging from the information presented in the script, the youngest son of this family is a very mild-mannered person, and also a very good-natured person.
As an uncle, he was very patient and caring towards his nephew. When the family was collecting seashells by the river, his nephew accidentally fell into the water. It was he who was paying close attention to his nephew's movements and quickly rescued him.
His nephew had a persistent high fever, so he traveled overnight over the mountains to fetch a doctor, who saved his nephew's life.
-
After noticing these details, Lu Yanhe had already sketched out a story behind the script in his mind.
The eldest daughter of this family married the head of another boat-making family. However, in order to steal business, the head of the other family sabotaged his son-in-law's boat, resulting in his son-in-law's death.
Therefore, his son-in-law's original customers transferred their orders to him.
Their father, in his eagerness to exterminate them, also tried to kill his own grandson several times, whether it was by drowning or by causing a high fever, it was all his doing.
-
After noticing these things, Lu Yanhe continued to look at what was behind him.
The numerous dialogues and unspoken details all confirm Lu Yanhe's conjecture.
Because of the gossip from the neighbors, my sister wants to move back to our old house with her child.
Their father, with a stern face, told them to stay and not to leave.
When the older sister's mother-in-law came to visit them and offered to take them back, since they were their only blood relatives, their father said that "two women cannot stand on their own and cannot support a new head of the family." He told his daughter and grandson to stay behind, saying that he would raise them well and that the grandson would naturally inherit the family business when he grew up.
When Lu Yanhe first read it, he genuinely thought that the father was not good at expressing his care and love, which was why he expressed it so awkwardly, and that his true intention was to show his concern for his daughter and grandson.
This time, however, I felt a chill run down my spine.
One rainy night, the son went to cover the unpainted wood with a tarpaulin and bumped into his father, who was carrying his nephew out of his daughter's room.
My nephew was fast asleep, nestled affectionately in his arms.
He said, "Your sister hasn't been sleeping well these past few days, and the child is urinating a lot at night."
On his first reading, Lu Yanhe felt the love of a father who was not good at expressing himself and was taciturn.
Thinking back now, I'm amazed that I didn't wake my sister and nephew when I entered the room on that stormy, rainy night.
Isn't that strange?
Fortunately, he ran into his son, who was also not good with words and was rather slow-witted. In order to let his father sleep peacefully, the son insisted on carrying his nephew to his room.
What if we don't run into them?
Is this yet another accident following the drowning and high fever?
-
Too many things are hidden, left blank, and not directly presented.
Lu Yanhe watched with trepidation.
Then, before the son kills his father, there is a scene where the son accidentally sees his eldest daughter kneeling in front of her father, kowtowing with tears in her eyes, saying, "If it weren't for Father's protection, my daughter and Abao would not be able to live in this world."
Just this one sentence.
On his first reading, Lu Yanhe thought it was his eldest daughter, who was still grieving the loss of her husband, expressing her true feelings in front of her biological father.
Upon rereading, however, it conveyed a sense of begging for mercy.
Then, just after saying that, the nephew was about to go inside.
He quickly got up, picked up his nephew, covered his mouth, smiled and gestured for him to be quiet, and walked out.
Upon first reading, Lu Yanhe thought it was because he didn't want his nephew to interrupt this heartfelt moment.
Looking further, could it be that someone as mild-mannered and silent as him had already guessed something by this point? And that's why he didn't want his nephew to hear something?
When he was about to kill his father, his father was sick and lying in bed, and he was tending to his father's medicine.
His father reminded him that the delivery date was approaching and he shouldn't miss it.
He said no, and then gave his father the medicine.
His father passed away that night.
etc--
Lu Yanhe suddenly paused, then looked back.
He suddenly realized that he had made a mistake again.
The one who actually killed his father was his eldest daughter.
When the coroner arrived, the eldest daughter took the initiative to let go of Abao's hand and stepped forward to greet him. It was at this moment that he held his sister's arm, as the eldest son of the family, to greet the outsider.
He only knew about his sister's plan.
The coroner examined the body and told them that the weather had suddenly turned cold recently, making it easy to catch a cold. He asked if their son, Abao, had a persistent high fever a few days ago.
He was surprised and asked the coroner how he knew.
The coroner said that the person he had invited to treat the patient that day was his father.
The coroner's examination revealed no suspicious cause of death for their father; he died from a relapse of a chronic illness caused by a cold.
On his first reading of the script, up to this point, Lu Yanhe hadn't yet imagined that his son had killed his father.
After the coroner left, the son went into the room, found a packet of medicinal powder, and threw it into the stove to burn.
When Lu Yanhe first saw this scene, he thought it was a son killing his father.
Now that I think about it, who would leave poison in their room and wait for someone to come looking for it?
This was to take the blame for his sister.
-
"Boat".
Lu Yanhe made a phone call to Yu Mengling.
"Sister Mengling? Is it true?" Lu Yanhe explained his interpretation to Yu Mengling. "Is it what I thought?"
“Yes.” Yu Mengling said with a smile, “You’re a screenwriter after all. You thought of these things on your second viewing.”
Lu Yanhe: "Anyway, when I watched it a second time, I was always on edge."
Yu Mengling: "Are you interested in playing this son?"
Lu Yanhe said, "I...I haven't thought about this yet."
“This is a script written by my teacher,” Yu Mengling said. “My film school teacher, Zhang Qiuping, passed away last year. Before she passed away, she showed me this script and said she hoped it could be made into a movie someday.”
Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
"I never quite understood why she would write such a script. At that time, I didn't know the second layer of meaning in the script either. It wasn't until she passed away and wrote about her childhood and her parents in her will that I realized she had a deep regret: she hadn't exposed the truth that her father didn't love her and her mother at all while he was alive. He had been using her and her mother to create the illusion of a warm family. In reality, her father had married her mother only for his own career advancement, and he had another family outside the marriage. Later, she found out about this, but in order to save face for the whole family, she never said anything to the outside world."
Yu Mengling spoke of these past events in a clear and calm voice.
"Before my teacher passed away, he told me the truth about the script, and that's when I finally understood."
Lu Yanhe listened in silence.
"The teacher deeply regretted it because she felt it was a shameful thing, and family scandals should not be aired in public. So she endured it her whole life, kept it a secret, and even continued to play the role of the daughter. By the time she finally understood, her father had already passed away, and she could no longer vent her anger."
Yu Mengling said, "I promised my teacher that I would definitely turn this script into a movie, so that everyone can see this story, discuss this story, and then discover the truth behind this story."
Lu Yanhe said, "Sister Meng Ling, you have no idea what what you just told me means to me."
Yu Mengling was indeed puzzled.
"I don't know if this script will move you."
“I want to help you fulfill Teacher Zhang Qiuping’s wish,” Lu Yanhe said.
-
""Boat"?"
"Yes, Lu Yanhe's new movie."
"His new screenplay?"
"No, it was written by someone else."
"He's a director?"
"Probably not."
"Arthouse film?"
"yes."
"Which famous director is it?"
"I don't know, he's probably not a big director."
"Then how come he got the lead role?"
"I heard that Yu Mengling was the one who approached them. Yu Mengling is the producer."
"Lu Yanhe is to be reassigned to Yu Mengling?"
“I’m not surprised who Lu Yanhe plays in a supporting role. He doesn’t care about the billing order at all. He’s not the kind of actor who says one thing but means another.”
"But with his current status, why would he bother? Doesn't he have enough acting opportunities? Why would he go and act in such a low-budget film?"
"The mind of an artist is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people like you and me."
"Perhaps this movie can help him win an award?"
"Haha, he'd actually take on a movie just to win an award?"
"What could it be? It can't be for the box office, right? This movie is an art film. Even if he's the lead actor, it'll only make a few hundred million at most, right?"
"I don't understand."
"Perhaps there's something about this movie that particularly attracted him."
"Do you have this script? I'd like to see it. What kind of script is it that Lu Yanhe would choose?"
...
Within the industry, everyone became interested in the script of "The Boat" because of Lu Yanhe's sudden acceptance of the role.
In fact, the script for "The Boat" was not kept secret beforehand.
Zhang Qiuping from the Film Academy is known to many people in the industry.
Her suicide note also attracted a lot of attention and discussion in the industry at the time.
The scripts she left behind have naturally been read by many people, who know what the situation is.
-
When Zhang Yuezhen heard the news, she immediately panicked.
Lu Yanhe actually accepted such a script?!
What is he trying to do?
What was he trying to imply?
At that moment, Zhang Yuezhen's first reaction was to contact Chen Pinhe, wanting to discuss with him how to deal with this matter.
However, she didn't do that. Because Chen Pinhe was unaware that she already knew about his relationship with Lu Yanhe.
She understood Chen Pinhe all too well.
She must maintain the current relationship with Chen Pinhe so that he can be with her with the same tenderness and love he has now.
If he were to find out one day that she knew about this, would he still be willing to maintain this facade?
Or, could she still play the role of an innocent woman who knows nothing in front of him, and make him genuinely like her?
Zhang Yue was at a loss.
-
"If you take on 'The Boat,' will you still take on Huang Tianlin's movie?" Chen Ziyan asked.
“I’ll take it.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “These two films are completely different in subject matter and genre, so I can take them.”
"Did 'The Boat' actually make you decide to take on Huang Tianlin's film?"
“Yes.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “Furthermore, I’ve also discussed with Sister Meng Ling that we’d like to make some changes to the script for ‘The Boat’.”
"What should we change?" Chen Ziyan asked.
"To make the film's message more subtle," Lu Yanhe said, "we cut the scene where the son finds the packet of poison in his room, throws it into the stove, and burns it."
“If this scene were burned—” Chen Ziyan said, “there would be virtually no information to definitively suggest that the father in this movie was poisoned.”
Lu Yanhe nodded: "Let the film appear on the surface as a complete, everyday family story."
This tranquility, expressed in a more subtle way, falls into the conventional understanding of "birth, aging, sickness, death, and the inheritance from father to son."
Chen Ziyan was surprised when she heard Lu Yanhe's idea.
"Only secrets that are completely hidden and do not give a clear direction can spark huge discussions and become works that are deconstructed and interpreted by everyone, like the Mona Lisa."
Chen Ziyan: "I thought you would want this film to be a clear, directional work."
Lu Yanhe said, "I'm making a movie, not a manifesto."
“You’re right,” Chen Ziyan said. “We’re making a movie, and no matter what, the movie comes first.”
-
International film festivals immediately noticed the two films Lu Yanhe had taken on.
The Jose Film Festival, which will be held in Jinkou next month, has already contacted Lu Yanhe to ask if he should officially announce the two films at the festival and hold a press conference for the world media.
At the Jose Film Festival held in Jinkou, although Lu Yanhe was no longer the honorary chairman of the selection committee for the main competition, he still had to show his support.
Therefore, after discussing it with Yu Mengling and Huang Tianlin, Lu Yanhe agreed to the matter.
This time, Lu Yanhe had no films selected for the main competition at the Jose Film Festival.
To be precise, none of them registered.
On the contrary, Linghe submitted several of its films, but none of them were selected for the main competition.
This is mainly because the films Linghe makes are primarily commercially oriented.
-
Linghe will be holding a media presentation at the Jose Film Festival this time.
It mainly involves recommending the movies that he/she produces.
This includes projects that have already been filmed, projects that haven't started filming, and projects that are in the planning stages.
The series of works announced last August, including Linghe, are basically 100% ready to start filming.
This is also the place that Linghe wants to promote.
Which company, like Linghe, is able to guarantee 100% success in filming its opportunities?
This time, Chen Yin's new works include "The Corpse 2".
Li Yuefeng will return to the lead role.
It remains to be seen whether this film will continue the world and characters of the first film, or whether it will create a new world and have Li Yuefeng play a new character.
The Jose Film Festival opened in Jinkou on the same day.
Lu Yanhe and others showed up to show their support.
With last year's experience setting a precedent, many overseas filmmakers have come this year.
Because the exposure was too great.
In particular, this is an opportunity to meet with audiences and fans in China.
In recent years, film companies around the world have been paying more and more attention to the Chinese box office market.
The United States and China are the world's two largest markets.
However, the biggest difference between the US and Chinese markets is that the former is very exclusive, and audiences are not willing to watch non-English films.
The latter, China, is not just about Hollywood movies; films from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, India... too many countries have earned over $100 million at the Chinese box office.
Film studios from almost every country want to send their movies to China for release.
Last year at the Jose Film Festival, more than 100 films were screened and received very good box office feedback.
As a result, many of these films were picked up by Chinese film companies, who bought the distribution rights and then screened them on a large scale across the country, with many achieving excellent box office results.
There are 12 films that have grossed over 30 million RMB.
This isn't like those online trolls who claim that a box office of tens of millions is a complete flop.
For foreign film studios, this represents real box office revenue.
For them, the profits could even reach millions of dollars.
For art-house films like this, achieving such high revenue in a single overseas market is something that non-Hollywood films would never even dream of.
Therefore, the number of films submitted to the Jose Film Festival has surged this year.
Even those who weren't shortlisted for the official category still had plenty of people willing to pay out of their own pockets to set up booths and find buyers.
Flourishing and prosperous.
The Jose Film Festival, which was on the verge of collapse, suddenly revived and even became more vibrant.
precisely--
This aligns with the Jose Film Festival's consistent positioning.
Audience Award, Market Award.
Compared to the Situ Film Festival, which is widely recognized as having the highest artistic merit, the Jose Film Festival has always been superior in terms of media attention and public popularity.
Now, the film trading aspect of the Jose Film Festival is back in business.
The People section is still ongoing this year.
In the first year, Lu Yanhe was the one looking for people.
This year, Wu Yang and his team organized it themselves.
We originally wanted to continue working on a trading unit featuring Lu Yanhe, but Lu Yanhe declined.
The main issue is that I don't have any particularly capable people on hand to support this unit.
Conversely, Linghe remains a partner, responsible for the copyright trading market of the Jose Film Festival.
On the first day of the opening ceremony, the film festival officials and Linghe jointly announced that the game adaptation rights of "The Corpse" had been successfully sold for $2 million.
Horror themes will always have a market.
In addition, it was announced that a Japanese film company has acquired the remake rights to "The Sea, My Pfft".
It's not a live-action film remake, but an animated film. In conjunction with this, Chinese cartoonist Mingniao will also be the lead artist, adapting it into a twelve-chapter manga series, serialized in one of Japan's three major manga magazines.
It's worth mentioning that this collaboration was negotiated by Chen Qin and his team.
Chen Qin believed that the movie "The Sea, My Pour" was very much in the style of Japanese passion and was absolutely suitable for adaptation into a Japanese animation, so he took the initiative to make a plan, went door to door to discuss it, and finally reached an agreement.
Although the transaction amount was not large, Xu Tianming specifically highlighted it as a typical example for praise.
"When creating an IP, we must understand one thing: when others come to us, it's because the IP itself has a large influence, which doesn't reflect our abilities. Our job is to let others see the value of an IP that hasn't been seen yet. 'Pah, the Sea' is such a representative example."
Lu Yanhe agreed with Xu Tianming's statement.
The total transaction amount, less than one million RMB, may seem insignificant for Linghe's copyright derivative business. However, it represents a potential market expansion from scratch. Furthermore, given the inherent influence of Japanese manga and animated films, this IP is highly likely to be leveraged to further enhance its copyright value.
-
“Linghe is really lucky. At the beginning of its establishment, Sister Ziyan was in charge. Then, Sister Ziyan brought in Xu Tianming and Chen Yin, one from the outside and one from the inside, so that Linghe did not have to face the problem of large investment, small output and high risk in the early stage of its establishment, unlike traditional film companies.”
Lu Yanhe said to Chen Siqi.
"So, the most important thing in management is to be able to judge people and use them effectively," Chen Siqi said. "Linghe has a few people like them who are truly enviable."
Lu Yanhe: "Aren't Lin Yu and Zi Jun good enough? I've always been envious. You've poached all my classmates."
Chen Siqi: "What do you mean 'yours' and 'mine'? What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours."
Lu Yanhe: "..."
He considered himself to be a very eloquent person, but in front of Chen Siqi, he often found himself speechless.
Chen Siqi said, "I was just about to tell you something."
"Um?"
"We are preparing to launch another magazine."
"Um?"
“A pure literature magazine,” Chen Siqi said. “Jiangyin Publishing House has a magazine that has stopped operating, leaving a magazine number available. I want to create a pure literature magazine, an international one.”
"International?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.
Chen Siqi said, "For now, it's tentatively planned to publish only two issues a year. Of course, this is because the magazine is obviously losing money, and most likely will lose money. However, I still want to do it because I want to create an international edition of this magazine, collaborating with seven publishers to publish each issue in seven languages for worldwide distribution. And this magazine will only invite submissions, inviting the world's top and first-class writers to publish their works."
Lu Yanhe immediately understood.
“I support it.” Lu Yanhe nodded.
Chen Siqi had been trying to "go global" for several years without much success, and now she has completely upgraded her business.
However, if Chen Siqi's idea can actually be put into practice, it will definitely be a very significant milestone.
Because, to date, no literary magazine has been able to achieve this level.
Literature is as priceless as it is cheap.
It is destined to be too sophisticated for the masses.
In reality, it has never been popular.
Stories are for the masses, but literature is not.
However, no country or nation can avoid it.
In a sense, could it be said to be some kind of source?
If that's going too far, then at least we could say it's some kind of symbol, right?
Chen Siqi's decision to create such a magazine suggests that she is no longer satisfied with her success and influence in the business world.
-
The Jose Film Festival is in full swing in Jinkou.
Lu Yanhe also took this opportunity to meet many friends and to show his hospitality as a host.
Those who visited Yuming last year are now coming to Jinkou this year.
Two different cities, with different customs and traditions.
It won't make people feel tired of it.
(End of this chapter)
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