775 Getting Together

Their first impression of each other was not that good. Qin Guan liked the honest man with the glasses, but Yin Li looked at the young man regretfully. He knew what brilliant guys with big eyes and bushy eyebrows were like.

In his opinion, Qin Guan was too elegant. He looked like a military officer trained at the Huangpu Military Academy. He was charming, deliberate and too Western-looking. The hero of the film was a student born and raised in the countryside, whose mother had worked hard to send him to medical school. Could he portray a rusty, plain soldier of that time period? Yin Li was not so sure.

Qin Guan, who could see the director's worry, took a cap he had brought for the audition out of his Hermes bag. Then he pointed to a military coat hanging at the back of the door. "May I use that, sir?"

Yin was taken aback at first, but he came back to his senses fast and nodded. "Sure, no problem." He was impressed by the young man's bravado. Most actors yielded to his mighty presence and were unable to perform well. There were few young men that could act this cool around a director.

When Qin Guan changed into his clothes, he looked like he had gone back in time.

The cotton inside his broken military cap was exposed, and his green coat was gray with dirt. Qin Guan was holding a mug in his hands carefully. He was not the elegant young man he had been moments ago, but a mature man suffering from difficulties.

His sparkling eyes did not belong to a charming playboy, but a soldier in awe of his own ideas and beliefs, who fought bravely for his ideals and his country.

His expression was one that had been buried in the passage of time. The pure love for one's nation, ideals and revolution had faded away with that generation. 

Qin Guan didn't say anything. Instead, he just looked at Yin silently as if he was his leader. He would do anything Yin commanded him. Yin took a deep breath to calm down.

"You passed the audition."

Qin Guan's eyes were still fixed on him.

"Cut!"

Suddenly, Qin Guan relaxed and smiled at Yin.

"When shall I join the crew?"

"We can have a meeting with the other guys tomorrow. We'll start this week."

"Okay! Can I go now?"

"Yes! Hey, put the coat back!"

Before he could finish his words, Qin Guan had gone out of the office, but he reached in with his hand and put the coat back at its original place.

Qin Guan was quite satisfied with the meeting. As he got into his new Mercedes-Benz, he saw people walking around to the entrance of the studio.

"Are those figurants looking for work?"

"Yes. There might be guys like Wang Baoqiang among them. I think Wang gave them false hope. They gave up everything to come to Beijing. They've been waiting here all day long, struggling for their lives."

What were they after? Realizing their dream, or becoming rich and powerful? No one really knew.

This had nothing to do with Qin Guan anyway. The next day, he saw two acquaintances of his at the meeting. It was Li Bingbing and Gui Yalei.

The older Taiwanese actress would be playing an old supporting female character, a woman who waited for the protagonist in Taiwan, remaining alone her entire life.

Qin Guan could cooperate with Li Bingbing well. They didn't need an unreliable sixth-generation director to create a beautiful scene. Thanks to the investment of the state-owned production company, the film had a natural, domestic style to it.

Their shooting location was self-sufficient. They had chosen Zhangzhou in the Fujian Province as their site in Taiwan. The old 1930s streets of the small city had remained intact, and so had its beautiful rivers and lakes.

The bamboo buildings, water trucks, small bridges, and folk houses all looked fascinating.

Li Bingbing had no reason for being in Fujian, but she had followed the director there by paying for her own plane tickets. She was actually afraid of Qin Guan. Considering his many international awards, the young man was no green hand. She wanted to watch his performance in advance to avoid any future embarrassment.

Fortunately, there was a silly girl exploring the way for her. Li Bingbing frowned. This girl is not capable enough. If it was Gui Yalei...