Mother
"Who knows? They don't even know how to cherish their son and daughter-in-law." The proprietress clapped her hands. "They're both teachers, so why would they need a little money? Why should they force the young ones to suffer the same hardships they've suffered?"
The proprietress snorted coldly, her expression full of disdain: "She has no idea how to live. Why would she go against Haochiga when she has the money?"
"That's right. Who in their right mind can eat white porridge with pickles every day?" The boss wearing an apron also came out from the kitchen, wiping his hands, moved a stool and sat down to chat with them.
"What happens next? How do we resolve this issue?" Xia Zhitang suddenly asked.
"The man sent me back again." The proprietress suddenly sneered, "Then, when the woman was about to give birth, the old woman came over eagerly and said that young people don't know how to take care of a baby for the first time, so she came to help."
After hearing the information provided by the boss's wife, Xia Zhitang finally understood why Teacher Ye's husband suddenly exploded at the door of the delivery room.
"Alas, what good is there in doing this now? In the future, when you're lying in bed, you'll still be counting on your daughter-in-law to take care of you." The proprietress shook her head and sighed at the old woman's short-sightedness.
Xia Zhitang felt a little uncomfortable with the theory that the daughter-in-law should take care of the mother-in-law when she is sick. Isn't this simply outsourcing filial piety?
But she didn't know what to say. After all, she knew in her heart that for the people here, all this was as normal as eating and drinking.
But in this way, she suddenly felt that there was no point in continuing the conversation.
"Check out!" Lin Jingming suddenly interrupted the gossip. "Come on, I'll take you to pick some watermelons."
He said to Xia Zhitang, "I've discovered a little trick for choosing melons."
"Director Lin, everyone who listens has a role to play!" the assistant said, "You can't be partial to Producer Xia!"
"When have I ever bought melons without your share? Hurry up and move your equipment back to copy the materials." Lin Jingming said with a stern face as he drove the others away.
As the two of them walked back shoulder to shoulder carrying watermelons, Lin Jingming suddenly said, "Let's make an appointment with Teacher Ye. I want to go to his house to take photos."
Xia Zhitang was stunned for a few seconds before realizing that Lin Jingming had a new idea: "Are you going to treat Teacher Ye as a new branch?"
"The control group is also the future they can reach." Lin Jingming's eyes drifted towards a girl with a little baby in a basket on the side of the road.
"We need to increase the shots to set the scene." Xia Zhitang began to plan how much visual information would be needed to present a new idea. "Without the right details, the audience won't understand how precious Mr. Ye's family's choice of land is."
After she finished speaking, she suddenly had a new worry: "Lin Jingming, there's another issue we need to consider. We currently have too much information and it's too complicated. How should we organize it later? How should we choose between them? If we want to make it into a series, we need to reallocate the budget reasonably."
"Well, it would be best if it were made into a series." Balancing artistic and budgetary aspects is a lifelong task for every director. "Let me start with a rough schedule. Based on the current progress, this only involves post-production."
"good."
Considering that the baby in Teacher Ye’s family was too young, Lin Jingming only brought Xia Zhitang, a cameraman, to the house.
They waited outside the door for a while before Teacher Ye's husband opened the door with a haggard look on his face: "Sorry, the house has been a bit messy lately."
After saying that, he didn't have time to exchange pleasantries with the camera crew. He made way inside and then went back inside.
The baby had just finished feeding, and the baby's father was holding the baby to burp the milk. Not long after, the baby vomited it out again. After vomiting, the baby burst into tears. The baby's soft cry was as piercing as an electric drill.
The camera crew, none of whom had ever taken care of a baby, were shocked by the scene. In their impression, babies should be little angels who sleep after eating and eat again after waking up.
The new father was somewhat accustomed to this situation. Although his hands and feet were not very dexterous, he handled the emergency in an orderly manner.
After obtaining consent, the camera also recorded the footage of taking care of the baby.
While the new parents were busy taking care of the baby, the aunt hired by Teacher Ye and others finished cooking in the kitchen, took out the baby clothes that were soiled by vomit from the washing machine, and then came over to pack up the full bucket of diapers and throw them away.
Apart from Teacher Ye who was still weak and unable to do much during the confinement period, they saw that the whole house was extremely busy because of the arrival of a new life.
The room finally became quiet after the baby fell asleep.
Xia Zhitang and the others were conducting a less formal interview in another room. Lin Jingming felt that there was no need to make it too formal, and some casual atmosphere would be good enough.
Xia Zhitang glanced at the pile of diapers and various express boxes in the corner: "Can you handle it now?"
"With the whole family working together, there's nothing we can't handle. It's just that I'm having trouble sleeping." Teacher Ye is more talkative than before, perhaps because she hasn't had any social outlets to share the details of her life. "No wonder everyone said before the birth to enjoy the relaxing days. I thought the worry about when I'd give birth and the physical pain was just too much pressure, but now I realize it's just the beginning."
"What's your current sleep schedule?" Xia Zhitang had no experience in this area, so she could only start with the simplest issue, such as poor sleep, to slowly understand. As for the original interview outline, she and Lin Jingming had decided to abandon it in the chaos of the previous scene.
"I wake up about every two hours at night to feed, change diapers, and burp him to sleep," Teacher Ye recalled. "I now realize that the old sayings about babies growing up in the blink of an eye are deceptive. The spitting up I just experienced is a very common symptom among newborns."
Xia Zhitang was a little shocked. This intensity sounded even more tiring than filming a movie. At least there would be a wrap-up day for filming, and he could take a break after this busy period.
"However, looking at the baby's little face, those little hands and little feet, I feel that everything is worth it." Teacher Ye smiled gently in front of the camera.
"Can I ask a personal question? You may choose not to answer." A question suddenly popped up in Xia Zhitang's mind: "What do you think is the meaning of marriage and childbirth?"
Teacher Ye pondered for a moment before answering, "Maybe it's about starting a family with the one I love, and then continuing the love between us."
Xia Zhitang felt that he knew too little about childbirth: "Then what do you think about the various difficulties and hardships encountered in marriage and childbirth?"
Teacher Ye thought seriously for a while and said, "Perhaps it is to make the joy and happiness of life seem precious."
As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of a baby crying came from the next room.
Teacher Ye stood up reflexively, looking anxious. He subconsciously rushed a few steps to the next room before realizing that he was being filmed. He turned his head and said, "Sorry."
"We are sorry to bother you. Please go and do your work first." Xia Zhitang inexplicably felt that they were too abrupt.
"I'm very happy to chat with you." After saying this, Teacher Ye hurriedly left with an apologetic look on his face to check the situation next door.
Although today's shoot was different from what she had imagined, Xia Zhitang felt that it had given her some different inspiration for her outlook on life.
However, she felt a little vague about what she was thinking. It was just that today's interview had opened a corner of the curtain for her to another world, a world far away from her own, the curtain of the role of mother.
Lin Jingming had just finished washing up and was about to lie down when the door was kicked open.
"Lin Jingming, open the door!" Xia Zhitang's voice came from outside the door, startling him.
"What happened?"
As soon as he opened the door, he saw Xia Zhitang holding a laptop on his uncasted hand, with a pen and paper tucked under his armpit and a bag of hard drives at his fingertips.
"Be careful!" Lin Jingming quickly stepped forward to catch her notebook and the pen and paper under her armpit. "You're so stubborn even though the plaster hasn't even been removed?"
Xia Zhitang glanced around Lin Jingming's room and placed the hard drive on his bed.
"You should at least clean up the room." Xia Zhitang looked at his desk with some disgust, took the laptop from his hand, kicked off his slippers, and climbed onto his bed.
"That was you breaking into my bedroom at night." Lin Jingming tidied up the scattered manuscripts on the desk and looked at her with a squint. "You even learned to climb into the bed. You're getting really bold."
"Is there a floor on your table?" Xia Zhitang rolled his eyes at him.
"Tell me, what inspiration do you have?" Lin Jingming grabbed a piece of paper for taking notes and a pen.
"Bring over the paper and pen I brought with me." Xia Zhitang said as he opened a file on the computer.
"Yes, yes, Producer Xia, you are now a higher official than me." Lin Jingming gathered all the things and climbed onto the bed to move next to her.
"I've put together a set of contrasting images. Come and see if we can form another story line." The ends of her hair were still half wet, and she casually tied it up with a hairband.
Lin Jingming couldn't help but pull off her hair tie, and the slightly damp ends of her hair brushed across his chest: "Don't keep your hair wet, it's easy to get a headache."
"Pay attention to what I'm saying." Xia Zhitang impatiently slapped him on the thigh. "Take a look at this set of images first."
What Xia Zhitang clicked on were images of young, rural mothers captured by the camera. A woman in her early twenties, followed by a group of casually dressed children, worked at the doorway. A young woman sat blankly behind the cash register, playing with her phone. Two bored children sat on the doorstep of a shop. An elementary school student carrying her younger siblings on her back in the mountains...
"Then this group was taken at Teacher Ye's home."
Xia Zhitang opened another folder. Teacher Ye's husband was holding a spitting-up baby, soothing her with gentle words while changing her clothes. The couple breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the baby finally fall asleep in bed. One couldn't help but touch the baby's face and smile gently.
"This is the idea I wrote, take a look." Xia Zhitang took out a piece of paper and handed it to Lin Jingming.
After reading it, Lin Jingming thought for a moment: "The contrast between these two groups is very strong. It is a good comparison for this soil."
"But," he changed the subject, "there's a missing piece of the puzzle that connects these two dots to our theme. What does this have to do with our female students?"
"Cultural soil and breakthrough." Xia Zhitang feels that their significance is not only related to their own lives, but also to future generations.
"Educational level has no correlation with marriage, and marriage and childbearing are not inevitable choices in life." Lin Jingming believes Xia Zhitang's thoughts are valuable, but how to express them is a question that needs to be considered. "I don't plan to use third-party commentary for this film. Imposing values on them is arrogant."
"You're right." Xia Zhitang was a little discouraged.
Lin Jingming picked up a dry towel from the bedside table and wiped Xia Zhitang's hair. "Your idea is valuable. If we can find the missing piece of the puzzle later, the whole clue will be connected."
"I'll wipe it myself." Xia Zhitang snatched the towel from Lin Jingming's hand, and the touch of his fingertips brought out a slight itch.
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