"I've never been to Mount Lu, but I've always longed to go.
"Whether it's Li Bai's poetry or the Chairman's 'Ascending Mount Lu,' I could recite them backwards since I was a boy. Both of my parents work at the Xinhua Bookstore, so I had access to a great deal of books. Once, I came across an *Atlas of Geography* showcasing many of our motherland's famous mountains and great rivers, and among them was the breathtaking scenery of Mount Lu.
"I was completely entranced. Then I began to think: a place so beautiful must surely hold beautiful stories—for instance, two young people crossing paths on Mount Lu and falling in love at first sight...
"Following that spark of inspiration, I kept mulling it over, and bit by bit, it turned into this screenplay."
When Chen Qi finished speaking, a ripple of light laughter went around the room.
"Young people yearning for romance!"
"Their thinking really is different from ours—such strong romanticism."
"Still, it represents the spirit of a certain segment of modern youth..."
Jiang Huaiyan nodded and smiled. "Xiao Chen, I read that letter you wrote to *China Youth Daily*. You're a young man with real depth of thought. We're always eager to see fresh blood emerging in the film industry. When you mentioned wanting to try your hand at creative writing, we were quite surprised. Right after we saw the newspaper, your submission arrived."
"Indeed. We were all taken aback, and reading the script gave us another shock: you actually wrote a love story."
Shi Wenxin chimed in, "You ought to know what it means to openly depict romance in a film right now, don't you? That was precisely our concern. We discussed it for a long time before deciding to invite you over. Since we speak of a new era, there ought to be the spirit of a new era. If nowhere else in the country is doing it, then let it begin with the Beijing Film Studio!"
Of the many film studios across the country, Changchun, Beijing, Shanghai, and August First were the undisputed Big Four.
August First Film Studio was military in nature, so setting that aside for a moment, the other three were powerhouses with boundless connections and tremendous boldness. During the wavering, uncertain early days of Reform and Opening Up, they produced a string of films that bordered on "outrageous."
Take Beijing Film Studio: this year they had *What a Family*. A comedy film, of all things—a comedy in 1979!
Then there was *Mysterious Buddha*, slated for release next year, starring Liu Xiaoqing—the country's first commercial action film. And *The Second Handshake*, also coming out next year, went without saying: an adaptation of a once-banned book.
As for *Romance on Mount Lu*...
There was a writer in Jiangxi named Bi Bicheng. In July of this year, he had submitted a script to Shanghai Film Studio and traveled there for revisions. During his spare hours while revising, he penned *Romance on Mount Lu*.
The story was exceedingly simple: the daughter of a Kuomintang officer returns to the mainland from America and falls in love at first sight with the male protagonist on Mount Lu. But hemmed in by the special circumstances of that era, they are forced apart.
Five years later, with Reform and Opening Up underway, the female protagonist visits Mount Lu again. Sparks fly, and the two are joined at the hip once more. However, the male protagonist's father is an officer in our Party's army, and the two fathers had even clashed on the battlefield. Just when she assumes the relationship is doomed, the male protagonist's father takes the initiative to approach her, saying:
"You are a good child who loves the motherland. Though your father is overseas, he never forgets his homeland either... For the motherland to achieve the Four Modernizations, we need national reunification and ethnic unity. He is welcome to return!"
It dripped with the flavor of the era.
It might seem cringe-inducing in hindsight, but back then, it was an earth-shattering sensation.
Upon its release, it sparked a nationwide frenzy, becoming a landmark cinematic milestone. One could even say that if anyone were to write the history of post-reform Chinese cinema, the very first stroke of the brush would belong to *Romance on Mount Lu*.
Yet the version Chen Qi had written intentionally omitted certain elements.
Jiang Huaiyan continued, "We've reviewed the script carefully. Its strengths lie in the fluent prose, clear structure, and several sections written with genuine elegance, painting Mount Lu's scenery with vivid life.
"Yet its flaw stems from that very same point: you focused far too heavily on the scenery. As a result, it lacks dramatic conflict and an authentic backdrop of social life. It feels somewhat like describing scenery purely for scenery's sake.
"Our suggestion is that you add some conflict to give the plot rising and falling arcs, enrich the protagonists' backgrounds, and more importantly, while you wish to portray romance, the emotional core must ultimately land on a grander level."
"A grander level? Love for the motherland?"
"Mm, precisely!"
Jiang Huaiyan felt another surge of appreciation. The young man caught on fast.
Right after, the other editors shared their thoughts as well. Perhaps seeing how young and inexperienced he appeared, they offered step-by-step guidance. Knowing they meant well, Chen Qi displayed the utmost modesty.
The discussion lasted two full hours before the meeting adjourned.
Liang Xiaosheng walked out with him, saying, "There are a lot of people at the studio, so take your time getting to know them. If you need anything, just come find me. You don't need to rewrite the entire script from scratch—just paste the new sections in with glue, and copy out a clean final draft once it's approved.
"That's how we all do revisions. By the end, the script ends up as thick as a brick.
"Just imagine: you carry a brick like that, drop it in front of the leadership, and say, 'Look how many times I've revised this!' Boom—you win first prize for impression points!"
"Ha! Thanks for the tip!"
Chen Qi grinned. After a moment of thought, he asked, "What's the studio's fastest revision record?"
"Twenty days! That screenwriter had an emergency at home and had to rush back to handle it, so he finished the revisions overnight... To be honest, we all know the guesthouse offers great conditions, so people come to freeload on food and lodging.
"It's no big deal. We respect screenwriters and are glad to give them this treatment."
As they talked, they made their way back to the guesthouse.
Once inside his room, Chen Qi bolted the door, officially kicking off his life of freeloading.
Since the fastest record was twenty days, he would aim for roughly that timeframe. Then he would have it published in *Film Creation* first to avoid colliding with the original author.
Once the script was finalized and the production crew was assembled, he could keep riding the free train. After wrapping up *Romance on Mount Lu*, he would write another, and then another—an endless cycle of milking the benefits...
Truth be told, while *Romance on Mount Lu* was an acclaimed classic, he couldn't actually sit through it.
Some classics were products of their era.
Other classics were inherently eternal.
If asked to rewatch *The Bund*, the 1983 *Legend of the Condor Heroes*, or *The Legendary Fok*, he would undoubtedly find them horribly dated. But watching CCTV's adaptations of the Four Great Classical Novels was an absolute delight—dishes he still regularly consumed with his meals even in his future life.
Teacher Liu's personal character might have been questionable, but his Sun Wukong never grew stale;
the Silver Horn King was endearingly dopey;
Daiyu and Baochai's early intimacies;
Lü Bu newly outfitted with a batch of Western Liang 'American-grade' equipment; Pan Jinlian's legs, long and pale, with Yang Simin's rendition packing an even bigger punch...
Why, then, did Chen Qi still insist on tackling *Romance on Mount Lu*?
To put it bluntly, it came down to the era. He didn't dare test the waters of 1979 with an unproven film. His head was packed with ideas, but those concepts clashed violently with the present environment, and might even be branded as dangerous beasts of corruption.
If he were in an open environment, he could have soared straight into the stratosphere...
*Even if I'm freeloading, I should at least put on a show!*
Chen Qi pushed open the window. Outside, willow branches swayed gently in the breeze. Sitting down at the desk, he flipped through the script, which was covered in copious revision notes.
Following Liang Xiaosheng's instructions, he found some glue and manuscript paper, drafted a fresh passage, and pasted it over the original text. After pasting down a few sections totaling a few hundred words, he slammed the manuscript shut with a sharp *clap*.
"All right! Today's work is done!"
Chapter 16