Insights
"The drone is ready to take off." Lin Jingming sat in front of the monitor and gave orders with a walkie-talkie in hand.
Today is the college entrance examination oath-taking ceremony for the senior students of Qingshui Girls' High School. Lin Jingming scouted the location a day in advance to arrange the layout of several camera positions. Due to the shortage of manpower, Xia Zhitang was also arranged to go to Dajing's camera position to serve as a guard cameraman.
As the sun broke through the layers of pale gray clouds, shone down on the earth, Principal Wang, wearing a bright red dress and holding a megaphone, emerged. The wind blew her black and white hair, and the sun shone on her wrinkled face. Her small figure, like steel, held up a shelter from the wind and rain.
"Camera No. 2 will take a close-up of Principal Wang, and Camera No. 1 will take a wide shot of Principal Wang. I want to see the students behind him." Lin Jingming concentrated his attention and arranged the filming of the oath-taking ceremony of this county-level girls' high school as if it were the stage for an evening party.
When dozens of senior high school students were standing on the simple cement basketball court, Xia Zhitang looked up and saw the freshmen and sophomores standing upstairs looking at them.
"Reporting to Director Lin, the female students upstairs are watching." Xia Zhitang picked up the intercom and reported to Lin Jingming.
"Camera No. 3, zoom out and see if you can capture the teaching building." Lin Jingming's voice came from the intercom.
Xia Zhitang operated the camera as instructed. After she adjusted it, Lin Jingming gave the latest instructions on the intercom.
"The drone flew towards the teaching building, and the mid-shot panned across the students' faces."
On the gray playground, students all wore bright red uniforms. Principal Wang stood at the front, holding a loudspeaker and shouting towards the mountain, word by word: "The pen's tip is like a sword that cuts through thorns, the fragrance of ink forges its sharp edge! Who says beauty loses ambition? Women hold the pen to determine the sky! Where the mountain flowers bloom, it's time to reach the summit. Twelve years of hard study, splitting the ten-thousand-foot mountain!"
Under the camera, the female students' eyes were red as they turned all the pain and loneliness of walking in the darkness into sonorous roars, and their dark faces flushed with excitement.
Xia Zhitang seemed to see a group of soldiers wearing bright red armor, holding swords made of pen and ink, and about to rush towards the battlefield that belonged to them with solemn expressions.
It was a war that could change their destiny. For them, knowledge was the only chance. Only by seizing it could they have the opportunity to break the heavy chains imposed on them.
With the oath-taking ceremony successfully concluded, Principal Wang ran to the cafeteria with joy to check today's extra meals.
Thanks to the successful acquisition of several sponsorships, the school’s funding has become a little more abundant.
In order to encourage students preparing to take the college entrance examination, and in line with the principle that no one should be spared but the treatment of students and teachers should be spared, Principal Wang specifically ordered that a big chicken leg be given to all students today.
The camera crew, who had received the news long ago, soon arrived at the cafeteria and took pictures of the plates of steaming chicken legs fresh from the pot.
The air was filled with the aroma of meat, and the first wave of students who arrived at the cafeteria cheered, and the camera recorded their surprised faces.
Lin Jingming smelled the aroma of rice and meat in the air, looked at the big students on the monitor, and felt that the browned chicken legs exuded an extremely tempting taste.
His stomach growled in frustration, and he wished he could grab his lunch bag and rush to the cafeteria lady to get a simple chicken drumstick and vegetable rice like the other students.
When Xia Zhitang came out holding two chicken legs, Lin Jingming looked at the meat in her hands and swallowed his saliva: "Where did the chicken legs come from?"
"Director Feng left this for us, one for each member of the filming crew." Xia Zhitang handed the one in his right hand to Lin Jingming.
"I haven't washed my hands yet!" Lin Jingming's eyes were glued to the chicken leg. "Feed me."
"You're so pretentious. If you don't want to eat it, I'll eat it for you." Xia Zhitang would not indulge him.
When she was about to retract her hand, Lin Jingming grabbed her wrist and took a big bite of the chicken leg through her hand.
Xia Zhitang wanted to pull his hand back, but Lin Jingming refused to let go: "I'm hungry. I got up so early in the morning."
He was afraid that Xia Zhitang would not agree, so he quickly gnawed the chicken leg until only a big bone was left before letting go of her hand.
Xia Zhitang was not really angry. She was so hungry that she grabbed two chicken legs and ran away. When she came to her senses, she had already run to Lin Jingming.
Considering that he has helped the girls' high school a lot, give him a big chicken drumstick.
Xia Zhitang thought so in his heart.
When Director Feng called, Lin Jingming and his friends were having dinner outside, and the group rushed back to school.
"Come take our car." Lin Jingming said to Principal Wang who was helping the students get on the motorcycle.
"Thank you for your help." Principal Wang smiled gratefully at them and handed the student to the strong cameraman who quickly carried him to their off-road vehicle.
On the way to the hospital, Principal Wang held the slender hand of the pale, huddled-up student sobbing softly. "Don't be afraid, we'll be there soon."
"Principal, I'm fine." The student cried and whispered, "Don't go to the hospital, it's a waste of money."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Your health is more important than money." Principal Wang hugged the student's shoulders with concern.
"I'm sorry." The student's apology was as soft as a mosquito's hum.
"Everyone gets sick. There's nothing to be sorry about." Principal Wang wiped the sweat from her forehead with his hand.
The student couldn't hold back his tears any more, and curled up in Principal Wang's arms like a kitten.
Xia Zhitang silently took out a tissue and handed it to Principal Wang.
She suddenly realized that being sensible beyond one's years was, in a way, cruel. Because they had been neglected since childhood, their reasonable needs seemed wrong, and they would even feel guilty about spending money to go to the hospital when they were sick.
Psychological pain may be the issue they need to overcome in their lifetime.
When the sick student was finally put on an IV drip in the hospital bed, Director Feng hurried over with the student's cousin.
"Acute gastroenteritis," the doctor told Principal Wang, "but the patient's gastrointestinal problem is quite serious. He needs to be properly treated."
Xiaofang, the cousin of the sick student, suddenly burst into tears.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault." She squatted on the ground crying.
"Sister, it's all my fault. It's my fault for being greedy." Xiaoling, who was lying on the hospital bed, also started crying.
Everyone hurriedly tried to calm the two of them down, and only after they calmed down did they piece together the truth from their messy words.
It turned out that during lunch, Xiaoling wolfed down her own chicken leg, and then she couldn't help drooling at the chicken leg in someone else's bowl.
Xiaofang, who was having dinner with her, saw this and couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted.
Although Xiaofang's family situation was only average, it was much better off than her cousin's family, whose father was ill. And as the eldest child, she was treated better than her cousin Xiaoling, who was in the middle.
She looked at Xiaoling's wrists, which were so thin that the bones were visible, and put the chicken leg, which she had only bitten a few pieces of, into Xiaoling's bowl.
"I feel a little dizzy after being exposed to the sun today, and the smell of meat makes me want to vomit. You can eat it for me."
Xiaofang used this lame lie to convince her cousin to accept her chicken leg. However, she did not expect that her cousin's already poor stomach would suddenly flare up due to the uncontrolled consumption of meat and vegetables.
"Lin Jingming, sometimes I feel like we were too self-righteous." On the way back, Xia Zhitang said to Lin Jingming from the passenger seat, "What I heard in stories and on the news is completely different from what I saw with my own eyes."
"After all, real contact between people is warm."
Lin Jingming looked at the road before him. It was a two-lane cement road with no painted traffic lanes. He occasionally encountered two-wheeled motorcycles and cyclists on the roadside. It was completely different from Taipei City and the bustling film and television base. Time seemed to move very slowly here, and the bustling modern world was only glimpsed in the sound coming from his phone.
"We have had in-depth exchanges with them in the same space, glimpsed their life trajectories, and shared memories. They have become part of our lives, no longer living in a story in another dimension." Lin Jingming seems to have realized the charm of film and television. "The charm of film and television is probably to simulate this real-life contact through audio-visual language."
"Will you go back to continue making films?" Xia Zhitang looked at Lin Jingming. He had been making documentaries for the past two years, and she was not sure about Lin Jingming's future development direction.
"Go ahead. Only directors who have reflected on life and have real experiences can create films with depth." Lin Jingming threw the question back to Xia Zhitang. "What about you? What do you want to do next?"
Outside the car window, I could just see the red flag of the Girls’ High School fluttering in the air, and the filming experience of this month flashed through my mind like a kaleidoscope.
"We're making films and doing charity work." She looked out the window. "The children need an outlet for their emotions. We've been with them for a month, and they still act sensible in front of us."
She sighed and recalled herself when her mother died: "But teenagers are a time of youth and recklessness. Many things will not disappear if they are ignored or suppressed. They are still there."
"Any plans?" Lin Jingming was a little surprised, but he understood her idea. "For charity, you can ask Lao Cheng. It seems that Lin's company also provides charity funding."
"I'm not sure yet. I'm not as decisive as Principal Wang. I hope to make enough money to get things done first." Xia Zhitang felt that she couldn't be like Principal Wang. She couldn't face the pressure of funds running out at any time.
"It's a good thing to have ideas. Take it step by step and one day you'll realize them." Lin Jingming parked the car next to the small restaurant. "Let's take care of the food first."
"I only took three bites of my boiled pork, just three bites!" Lin Jingming's expression became resentful.
In the afternoon, the lights in the restaurant were off and the proprietress was leaning on the table and dozing off.
Lin Jingming's favorite boiled pork was not yet prepared, so he was so hungry that he could only choose some food that could fill his stomach quickly.
After serving the dishes, the proprietress brought a small stool over and started chatting with them about gossip. When she accidentally mentioned Teacher Ye, the proprietress instantly perked up.
It turns out that Teacher Ye's husband is a distant relative of the boss's mother-in-law. It is said that when Teacher Ye was pregnant, her husband asked his biological mother to come over to cook for him.
"Wow, plain porridge with pickles every day!" The proprietress slammed her hand on the table excitedly. "When her son asked her what she was doing, she said she was used to hardship and couldn't do anything else. Then she complained about her daughter-in-law spending money lavishly and eating out instead of coming home for meals."
"Wow, did she do it on purpose?" The cameraman couldn't help but gossip.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com