Benshan’s beloved disciple, starting from the 2009 Spring Festival Gala
Chapter 27 - Filming Completed – The Fully Automatic Version of Zhang Tian’ai

Chapter 27  Filming Completed – The Fully Automatic Version of Zhang Tian’ai

[On July 1st, the period horror comedy A Simple Noodle Story (originally Three Guns), officially began shooting at the Danxia Landform Park in Gansu Province. The cast is star-studded.]. [Zhang Yimou praises rising crosstalk performer Cao Yunjin: “He has a real gift for acting.”]. [On July 10th, the modern romantic comedy Love Is Not Blind held its launch ceremony in Beijing. Director Qu Yiming is once again working with two rising actresses born in the 1990s.]. [Love Is Not Blind has yet to be released but has already made over 30 million yuan through product placements alone!]. [Reportedly, Love Is Not Blind will feature more than ten product placements—including phones, cars, beverages, fashion, restaurants, and dating sites. The final product’s quality is in doubt!]. [Product placement now seems to be the benchmark for evaluating a commercial film’s potential—following Feng Xiaogang’s lead comes Qu Yiming.]. […].

Swoosh! Smash!

At the hotel where the Three Guns crew was staying. Inside Zhang Weiping’s room, watching the news about Qu Yiming and his damn film, Zhang Weiping was so furious he smashed the laptop he was using to read the news.

He had pulled Bona Media’s investment, costing him a 10-million-yuan penalty. Although he eventually recouped the money from Guo Degang, it was a real loss.

Moreover, Three Guns had a production budget of 80 million yuan—not including post-production and marketing. Zhang Weiping estimated that if he wanted to compete with Qu Yiming in a marketing war, he’d need to invest at least another 20 million yuan.

The cost of achieving “a small goal” was keeping Zhang Weiping up at night. When he saw Love Is Not Blind making over 30 million just from product placements, he was even more sleepless.

“Goddamn that idiot!” He cursed.

August 10th, early morning.

Love Is Not Blind set.

After a month of filming, only one scene remained—the final scene of the film.

In it, Qu Yiming (playing Wang Xiaojian) confesses to Zhang Tian’ai (playing Huang Xiaoxian).

“Hello…”

Standing in the office area, Zhang Tian’ai picked up the phone.

“Huang Xiaoxian, walk over to the window.”

Zhang Tian’ai: “What are you up to now?”

“Just a few steps, come on over.”

Zhang Tian’ai walked to the office’s floor-to-ceiling window and looked down. Cut to Qu Yiming’s point of view. He was on the rooftop of the building opposite Zhang Tian’ai.

“I’m here. Now what? You trying to get me to open the window and jump?” She joked.

“What do you see?”

“Total darkness, nothing.”

“Alright, count down from three.”

“Wang Xiaojian, I’m really not in the mood for this today.”

“Okay okay, I’ll count. Three, two, one…”

After the countdown, a billboard across from her suddenly lit up—and…

“Can you see me? I’m under the ‘T’!”

The billboard displayed an English word—FAITH. From Zhang Tian’ai’s perspective, Qu Yiming was jumping up and down beneath the letter “T.”

“See me? Here!”

“I see you! I see you! Stop jumping or you’ll fall!”

“I noticed you often stand by the window, zoning out. I stood there one day too and realized there’s nothing to see—just darkness at night. But I did notice a neon light that’s never been on since we joined the company. I went through a lot to get it fixed and lit up. Now there’s light, and maybe the view will feel a little less empty when you look out.”

“Wang Xiaojian, thank you.”

“Come on, don’t say it like that. Huang Xiaoxian, with this word as witness, I promise—no matter what happens, I’ll always be within one meter of you…”

“What did you just say? Bad signal, I didn’t hear you.”

“Huang Xiaoxian, I’m here for you.”

“Still didn’t catch that—say it again.”

The call went silent.

A moment later, Qu Yiming entered the office area and stood next to Zhang Tian’ai. He dropped his usual flamboyant tone and said seriously and gently, “I’m here for you.”

Zhang Tian’ai was touched and smiled through tears. Qu Yiming smiled back faintly. On paper, the scene flowed smoothly, but on set, due to repeated camera angle changes, emotional inconsistencies, and awkward lines, Zhang Tian’ai had several takes.

To get through the film, Zhang Tian’ai relied on three things: persistence, enduring scolding and even physical reprimands, and soothing the director’s temper. Of course, the last 1.5 points were unknown to the rest of the crew.

“Cut!”

The assistant director shouted.

Phew…

Hearing this, Zhang Tian’ai exhaled in relief.

“Director Qu, please take a look.”

The assistant director stepped aside to show the monitor. Qu Yiming sat down, reviewed the scene, and nodded slightly.

“Pass.”

“That’s a wrap!”

The assistant director cheered. The exhausted crew finally relaxed.

“Has the midnight snack arrived? Feed everyone first—tonight we celebrate the wrap.” Qu Yiming ordered.

“It’s here, it’s here—I’ll start handing it out.”

The set turned lively.

“Congrats on wrapping.”

In a side office, Qu Yiming congratulated Zhang Tian’ai as they ate their snack. Zhang Tian’ai looked pitifully at him.

“Finally, no more yelling at me…”

“A gem needs polishing. If you can’t take it, I’ll just cast someone else next time,” Qu Yiming replied bluntly.

“No, no, no—I was wrong! I’ll never complain again.”

She quickly begged.

“Next time I’ll be fully automatic!”