Complex relationships
Lin Jingming and Xia Zhitang spent several days going through the classified video materials, and they were dizzy after watching them.
"What do you think?" Lin Jingming continued to look at her while holding the coffee cup that Xia Zhitang had sent to the crew.
"Write it all down on paper?" Xia Zhitang handed Lin Jingming a piece of printed paper.
They both picked up their pens and started writing at the same time.
After about ten minutes, the two put down their pens one after the other.
Xia Zhitang took Lin Jingming's pen and took a look. The first line was similar to the first line she wrote: multi-line narrative.
“There are so many things to shoot,” Xia Zhitang said with emotion. “The more I learn about this project, the more I feel like there’s more to learn.”
"That's right. What we need to do is to understand and then make a choice, using these materials in a comprehensive way to tell a core story." Lin Jingming looked at the ideas written by Xia Zhitang. "The point about life and death is a good one."
"Your reincarnation and the world and all living things are also in line with the atmosphere over there." Xia Zhitang began to integrate the specific content corresponding to each point.
"We also need to consider local customs and practices. Yaks and cattle herding are inseparable." Lin Jingming listed the locations he wanted to shoot next and handed them to Xia Zhitang. "Is the budget sufficient?"
The two of them spent a long time deleting and cutting some parts and discussing the next shooting plan.
"It's not easy to do this well." Xia Zhitang looked at the latest shooting schedule, "but it's very satisfying."
"The satisfaction of having such a high degree of control over one's own work, the love for life and the world." Lin Jingming stroked the wall of his coffee cup. "The ups and downs of fame and fortune are nothing like the shock of an old yak sacrificing itself for the lives of the younger generation, and ultimately returning to heaven and earth, to the cycle of reincarnation."
Xia Zhitang looked at Lin Jingming's profile, and silently reached out to pinch the diamond ring given by Gu Zian on his neck.
In Cheng Shubai's office, Xia Zhitang submitted the shooting budget form to Cheng Shubai for signature.
Cheng Shubai suddenly asked, "What's Zi'an's reaction?"
"This time we're not following the wild yaks, we're mainly following the crowds. He's fine."
"He's very worried about you." Cheng Shubai was very curious about what Xia Zhitang was thinking. "You have to know that many women like his conditions. People won't wait for you forever."
"Mr. Cheng, people may not always be able to walk together forever. Being able to accompany each other on a journey and grow together is already a very rare thing." Xia Zhitang took back the signed form of Cheng Shubai, "I don't want to be bound by him, and I also want to have my own life choices."
"Aren't you afraid that another woman will take advantage of him first?"
"What's the point of being afraid? If he falls in love with someone else, I can't stop him even if I tie him up tightly." Xia Zhitang smiled, "Besides, I have a career that I love."
Cheng Shubai inexplicably felt that Xia Zhitang and Su Mingyue had a similar temperament.
"What about Old Lin? What does he mean to you?" He didn't understand why Xia Zhitang, knowing Lin Jingming's thoughts, would still stay with him on a collaborative project.
"He used to be my idol." Xia Zhitang looked out the window at the gray sky, "But he fell from grace."
When Lin Jingming invited her to ride alone in his car for the first time, Xia Zhitang was struck by lightning. It was a nightmare that she could not get rid of for a long time.
Cheng Shubai suddenly felt a little bored. The relationships between Xia Zhitang and the others were so complicated that as an outsider, he felt confused and powerless.
Returning to Tibet, Xia Zhitang and Lin Jingming brought their camera crew to follow the herdsmen over the mountains, with yaks carrying the most traditional salt bags to the salt lake to collect salt.
They flew the drone on the edge of a steep cliff, watching the rising sun as the warm sun rose over the back of the snow-capped mountains, spreading an orange-red color between the rocks.
The herdsmen set up camp by the salt lake. An old man with wrinkles as sharp as a knife took his childish grandson to drink butter tea and tell him mythological stories passed down from generation to generation.
"Life and death, reincarnation, heaven and earth, all living things, every flower is a world." Xia Zhitang watched the old Tibetan man instructing his grandson to get salt, and suddenly grabbed Lin Jingming's clothes.
Lin Jingming smiled and patted Xia Zhitang's head, which was covered with a sunhat. "Sometimes, the broad and the everyday are two sides of the same coin. It all depends on your perspective."
"The breath of life in the ordinary." Xia Zhitang looked up at Lin Jingming. Her clear eyes, filled with water, seemed to be filled with stars and the sea.
Lin Jingming smiled and continued, "The touching fireworks of life."
Back at the ranch, the two of them sat down by the campfire, each holding a chair, and discussed the idea for the documentary under the starry sky.
"Lin Jingming, the more I understand this project, the more I feel like thousands of shooting stars are passing through my mind, but I can't catch them all." Xia Zhitang held the wine glass and expressed his inner worries.
"Even in documentaries, which use relatively objective lens language to tell a story, there's still a flow of emotion." Lin Jingming smiled as he poured Xia Zhitang a full glass of warm wine. "Take your time, we're not in a rush. It's very difficult to focus on one thing."
He looked up at the brilliant sky and said, "As long as we keep thinking, inspiration may appear in a dream or at the first light of dawn."
Lin Jingming suddenly reached up to the sky, as if trying to grasp the ethereal stars in his hands: "This is the charm of creation."
At four o'clock in the morning, Lin Jingming was awakened by the vibration of his cell phone, on which Xia Zhitang's name was flashing.
"Lin Jingming, I've got an idea!" Xia Zhitang's excited voice came from the other end of the line, "I've written a rough draft, come and take a look!"
"Do you want to come over or should I go over?" Lin Jingming stood up, put on his clothes and turned on the light.
"I'm coming!"
As soon as Lin Jingming opened the door, he saw Xia Zhitang wearing a down jacket over his pajamas and standing outside holding a manuscript paper.
"Why are you wearing so little? Let's go to bed and wrap ourselves in the quilt to talk." He looked at Xia Zhitang's bright eyes, and his heart moved slightly.
Lin Jingming took over Xia Zhitang's manuscript and suppressed the urge in his mind to hug him and kiss him hard.
“The language here could be more concise, placing the subject in different time and space to create that majestic sense of power.”
Lin Jingming and Xia Zhitang curled up in bed, and it was dark outside.
The two of them were using flashlights to modify the text under the dim light of the herdsman's house.
Their knuckles were frozen red in the cold air, so Lin Jingming simply picked up the quilt and wrapped them both in it.
As the morning light shone through the window onto them, they finally finalized a framework that they were generally satisfied with.
Lin Jingming came to his senses and found that their arms had touched each other without him knowing.
"Xia Zhitang." Lin Jingming's voice was a little hoarse after talking all night.
"Hmm?" Xia Zhitang's eyes were still glued to the latest manuscript.
Lin Jingming thought silently in his heart: I will never give up if you continue like this.
"Why do we have to enter the Qiangtang no-man's land again?" Gu Zian pressed the button on his phone impatiently.
"This time we're going to the conservation station. Doji heard that they've adopted a wild yak calf there." Xia Zhitang took out the filming schedule and said, "I'll give it to you later. I'll be back to celebrate the New Year with you after we finish filming."
"Do you want to continue filming outdoors?" Gu Zian knew that Xia Zhitang always reported good news but not bad news.
"It hasn't been decided yet, but we'll probably go." Xia Zhitang said carefully, "The team has already filmed many outdoor scenes, and the budget has been exhausted. This is the last time."
"Take the amulet with you." Gu Zian knew he couldn't influence Xia Zhitang's thoughts. "I just bought a Tibetan knife. I'll have someone send it to you when the time comes."
"Zi'an is so nice." Xia Zhitang looked at her boyfriend on the screen, clasped her hands together and looked at him with admiration.
"Sister, you're acting like a spoiled child again." Gu Zian's ears turned red.
"This is the truth." Xia Zhitang smiled.
"You only know how to coax me." Gu Zian muttered in a low voice.
"Hmm? Zian, what did you say?"
"I'll fly over as soon as I finish filming." Gu Zian calculated the date. "It should be around the same date as your filming ends."
"Okay, I miss you so much." Xia Zhitang lay on the table and looked at the person on the screen.
"Me too." Gu Zian's eyes became exceptionally gentle.
The azure lake, the grass covered with a thin layer of snow, and the wasteland without a trace of human beings.
Three off-road vehicles equipped with anti-skid chains rolled over the snow, like lonely travelers moving in the vast sky and earth.
The car drove non-stop for a long time before we saw a lonely small bungalow standing on the low uphill slope.
A young man in a military coat was standing at the door waiting for them. Behind him, a furry yak with small horns stuck its head out and looked at them curiously.
Xia Zhitang's heart melted when he saw the ignorant little calf: "How big is it?"
"Probably two or three months." The stationmaster lowered his eyes and touched the yak's horns. "Miss Xia, you can touch it. It's very docile."
"Really?" Xia Zhitang's eyes lit up. After getting the stationmaster's approval, he tentatively extended his hand, "It's so well-behaved!"
Xia Zhitang laughed so excitedly that his eyes curved, and he didn't notice that the dark face of the webmaster, who was smiling foolishly, was a little red.
"Hello, I'm Lin Jingming, the crew's director." Lin Jingming handed the stationmaster a cigarette. "She's our producer, Xia Zhitang."
The stationmaster politely took the cigarette with both hands and shook hands with Lin Jingming.
"Sorry, let's move our things first and talk later." Lin Jingming looked at the stationmaster with an apologetic look and patted Xia Zhitang on the shoulder. "Xia Xia, come and help me look after the scenery."
"Let's help too." The stationmaster stepped forward enthusiastically.
"No need to bother. There are two bottles of white wine and two boxes of instant noodles in the trunk for my brothers. We heard that supplies are hard to come by here." Lin Jingming said apologetically, "I wanted to bring more, but I have to shoot in the wild in a few days and I really can't fit so much stuff in."
"Oh, you're so kind."
Lin Jingming quickly established a good relationship with the webmaster in just a few words.
After packing up his things, Xia Zhitang took the opportunity to go and touch the calf.
The calf was not afraid of her, and even came over and circled around Xia Zhitang.
"Come here." Lin Jingming stood three meters away and looked at Xia Zhitang.
"What's wrong?" Xia Zhitang touched the little yak before walking towards Lin Jingming.
Lin Jingming took Xia Zhitang to a deserted corner without saying a word: "What kind of film are we shooting?"
"A documentary?" Xia Zhitang didn't know why Lin Jingming looked so serious.
"Yes, it's an animal documentary." Lin Jingming was a little angry. "Don't touch the calf until we finish filming."
He cornered Xia Zhitang and said, "Xia Xia, we are the recording window. Don't disturb them before the filming is over. It's not good to be too familiar with them, understand?"
The warm breath sprayed on Xia Zhitang's ear, and a tingling sensation spread from the top of his head to the back of his neck.
Xia Zhitang pushed Lin Jingming's face away expressionlessly: "Lin Jingming, talk nicely and don't be ambiguous."
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