The story of "The Mute Woman" is quite simple; it's less a novel or a screenplay and more a written documentary. The writing style is unpretentious and plain, carrying the detached objectivity characteristic of an outsider.
The script mainly tells the story of a grandmother and her grandson.
The mute woman was a mentally ill woman who was both deaf and mute. Her parents had betrothed her to a grumpy, lame bachelor. A few years later, she gave birth to a son and a daughter. Her daughter went out to work, while her son stayed in the village to take care of her.
The mute woman's son soon married and had an extremely intelligent daughter. The daughter excelled academically from a young age and was the hope of the whole family.
Just as this family was looking forward to a bright future, tragedy struck. First, the mute woman's daughter's son, who was also her grandson, was imprisoned for a crime. Then, the mute woman's daughter-in-law, after years of overwork, fell ill and passed away.
Not long after, the mute woman's daughter was diagnosed with cancer and died from the disease.
The mute woman's son shouldered the burden of the family alone, but unexpectedly, while using a farm machine to shred grass, he accidentally got his hands caught in the machine and severed them, leaving him disabled.
In an extreme state of distress, the son committed suicide by drinking pesticide so as not to become a burden on his family.
From then on, this ordinary little family consisted only of the mute old woman and her granddaughter.
The story doesn't end there. Despite their poverty, the granddaughter persevered and eventually got into her dream university. On the day she received her acceptance letter, the entire village spontaneously pooled their money to throw a celebratory banquet for the village's first college student.
The banquet for the woman's graduation was lavish, and the impoverished mute woman hadn't seen such a sumptuous feast in a long time. She ate and drank to her heart's content. The villagers, unable to bear stopping the old woman, allowed her to eat, drink, and feast as she pleased.
In the end, the mute woman ate herself to death.
The script ends here.
From a reader's perspective, this story is far too depressing, even giving the impression of suffering for the sake of suffering. If Ji Juntao hadn't repeatedly emphasized that it was adapted from a true story, even Shang Yechu would have made this assumption.
From an actor's perspective, the script spans an enormous period of time, a full fifty years. In terms of acting difficulty alone, it is indeed extremely challenging.
Shang Yechu read the script three times over and over again. At first, she was indifferent, but gradually she began to appreciate its unusual flavor.
This script has a very unique style. Its most distinctive feature is its flatness and detachment. Although it depicts a great deal of suffering, it does so objectively, without any personal emotion.
When the car arrived home, Shang Yechu walked into the house while making a video call to Ji Juntao.
Ji Juntao answered the video call, but his eyes weren't on the screen; instead, he was looking down at a form or something similar.
"What's up?"
Shang Yechu asked, "Is that college student who wrote the script the granddaughter in the story herself?"
“No.” Ji Juntao didn’t even look up. “I asked that question too. The original screenwriter said no.”
After waiting for a while, Shang Yechu remained silent. Ji Juntao looked up and asked, "Why are you asking this? Didn't you say you weren't planning to act in this script?"
Shang Yechu walked into the room. "This notebook gives me a good feeling...it's quite special."
"What exactly constitutes 'not bad'? What's special about it? If you're sure you don't want to act, I'll give it to someone else. Maybe we can cultivate a Best Actress or something."
Shang Yechu propped her phone up to the side. She had originally planned to pack her luggage, but after thinking about it, she stopped in front of her phone.
“I can’t quite put my finger on it.” Shang Yechu’s tone was somewhat puzzled. “Some scripts are like gems, some are like silver-plated spearheads, some are like uncut jade—this script is different. It’s like none of those things.”
"What did you feel when you watched it?" Ji Juntao asked directly.
The two were business partners, so there was nothing to hide. Shang Yechu honestly replied, "I didn't feel anything."
"puff--"
Ji Juntao spat out a mouthful of coffee: "Is your heart made of iron? Even I was a little shocked!"
“It’s not that I feel nothing at all,” Shang Yechu corrected. “There’s a small amount of pain, and a little… envy.” She said the last two words very softly.
Ji Juntao's face contorted, and he looked at Shang Yechu as if she were an idiot: "What are you envious of?"
Shang Yechu sat on the bed, trying to describe the feeling to Ji Juntao: "My granddaughter is very smart. She got into university on her own merit... Her parents love her very much."
...
silence.
A long silence suddenly filled the room.
Shang Yechu stared at Ji Juntao, whose face went blank for several seconds. After the blankness ended, Ji Juntao's expression became much more serious.
"Ye Chu, I've come across a serious problem," Ji Juntao said solemnly. "Please note, I have no intention of cursing you. If, if your parents died, how would you feel?"
This problem really stumped Shang Yechu.
How would I feel if Ji Ya and Shang Hongxuan died?
Shang Yechu tried hard to imagine it, but she couldn't picture that feeling at all. She had nothing but unfamiliarity.
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