Dance for Me

"Oh?" Wang Yang was caught off guard, but his mind quickly caught up with Chen Qi's line of reasoning. He smiled and said, "That's how it is, that's how it is." He didn't care much about Li Lianjie anyway, so he didn't press the matter, only asking, "Seeing how you've been running around like crazy lately without any help, how much can you possibly manage on your own?" "It's not that I don't want to find help; there just isn't anyone suitable..." In front of the old man, Chen Qi let a hint of exhaustion show. "There are two films I absolutely have to make this year: *Tai Chi 2*, and a North American special edition coproduction with Great Wall. *Tai Chi 2* will have the original crew. Now that everyone has experience from the first one, they'll be more proficient on the second, so I can step back a bit. But for the North American special edition, I have to keep my eyes on it the entire way through. Otherwise, they really won't know what I'm aiming for." "Filming in Hong Kong?" "Yes!" "Oh..." Wang Yang nodded, adding, "To be honest, even I don't know what you're up to. The things inside that head of yours—it's like someone shoved them in there. Nobody else has ideas like that. By the way, have you started that magazine of yours?" "Not yet. I haven't had the time at all." Chen Qi sighed. "The company's funding relies entirely on box-office returns, which take forever. I have to keep making films, and one misstep could snap our cash flow. We must have an extra source of revenue, but there are so many restrictions. That's why I'm determined to start a magazine—right now, that's the easiest path. Besides, if either of these two films flops, the company will vanish in the blink of an eye, and I'll be pushed out into the cold... Outsiders see me starting a company and think I'm basking in supreme favor, but who truly understands how difficult it is?" "..." Wang Yang understood. He patted the young man's shoulder. Walking the path others had paved was easiest; blazing a new trail was the hardest. "Let's not dwell on that," Chen Qi said. "I've pretty much finalized the production plan for *Tai Chi 2*, and I'll bring it to you tomorrow. The scale is even larger than the first one. There's a group battle scene with over a hundred people, so I'll need your support." "A little over a hundred people counts as grand?" "Come on, this is a wuxia film. Are you comparing it to a military epic?" Chen Qi rolled his eyes. The mainland's standard for military films was truly superb, though for some reason few people ever brought it up. In the past, *From Victory to Victory* had mobilized several thousand soldiers for filming, and that was just small potatoes. Later came the epoch-making *Decisive Engagement*, which drew on a hundred and thirty thousand soldiers and vast amounts of material—including one hundred and sixty tons of explosives, fifty tanks, a hundred expendable vehicles, and over 1.7 million blank artillery shells... With that kind of foundation, who would look twice at a brawl between a hundred-odd people? Hong Kong, however, was another story. If Hong Kong managed to stage a battle scene with over a hundred people, they would boast about it to the high heavens. *** By the time Chen Qi went to Hangzhou, Li Wenhua was already deep in preparations. The two put their heads together, and the cast for *Tai Chi 2* took shape as follows: Yang Yugan — Li Lianjie; Chen Shaomei — Gong Xue; Chen Shaojie — Wang Qun; Prince Rong — Liu Xun; the maidservant Xiao Tao — Huang Qiuyan; Chen Zhengying — Yu Hai. These made up the righteous faction and remained basically unchanged. For the Red Lantern faction: the Holy Mother of the Yellow Lotus — Ge Chunyan; the Two-Faced Bodhisattva — He Qing and Tao Huimin. The Boxer movement was exceedingly complex, with both positive and negative aspects, requiring a dialectical view. Chen Qi devised two groups: one that fought the foreign invaders, and another that ran rampant, breaking laws and preying on innocent people. The altar master who terrorized the innocent would be played by Ji Chunhua, serving as the secondary villain. The primary villain, Nalan Yuanshu — Zhen Zidan. Tan Sitong — Da Shichang. That was right: the very same Da Shichang who had just won Best Actor at the Hundred Flowers Awards. An actor from Shanghai Film Studio, he had played this exact role in the 1984 film *Tan Sitong* in Chen Qi's past life. Chen Qi deliberately blurred other historical figures, brushing past the likes of Empress Dowager Cixi and Yuan Shikai with a single stroke. Instead, he made Nalan Yuanshu a treacherous villain who captured Tan Sitong. This centered the core conflict firmly between Yang Yugan and Nalan Yuanshu. *Tai Chi 2* was not a historical film; it was a wuxia film. History merely served as a backdrop to lend weight, while thrilling action sequences were what drew crowds and made it popular. Come the third installment, Yang Yugan would take on the foreigners. Three films would be the limit—no more, or audiences would grow tired of it. Chen Qi planned to finish the trilogy and then pivot to modern action films for several years, waiting until period pieces grew popular again before switching back. The film market was just like that, rising and falling in continuous cycles. *Tai Chi 2* had a budget of 1.5 to 1.8 million yuan, with upgrades across the board. Furthermore, several scenes had to be shot in Hong Kong because foreign actors were needed. In this era, where in the mainland could one find foreign actors? The foreigners in *Tai Chi* had been played by brothers from Xinjiang, patched together with makeup and glued-on beards. But *Tai Chi 2* required a larger number of foreigners; they couldn't just fake it anymore and needed the real deal. Once the plan was submitted to Wang Yang, coordination and preparations proceeded in an orderly fashion, aiming to begin shooting in the second half of the year. It could be said that everything was ready, waiting only on Li Lianjie. Chen Qi didn't notify him upon returning, deciding to let him stew for a few more days. *** Even after winning two major awards, Gong Xue still hadn't been allocated an apartment with a flush toilet. She continued to live in the tongzilou, where the sounds of neighbors making love drifted through the walls. Even so, she genuinely felt the perks of being "the most popular actress on the mainland." When she rode the bus, people paid her fare; when she stood in line at shops, folks yielded until she found herself at the front; everywhere she walked, respectful gazes followed her... While such things had happened before, they had never occurred with this kind of frequency. At that moment, she was in her room, carefully polishing her two trophies before setting them back down with great care. Then, hearing the familiar secret knock on the door, she hurried over to open it. "Little ganggang~" *Ganggang* was pronounced just like that in Shanghainese, an affectionate term a woman used to tease her man as a silly fool. "Call me ganggang again, and I'll start calling you gangququ—silly girl!" "You wouldn't dare!" "Why wouldn't I? I'm learning Shanghainese too!" "Hmph!" She wrinkled her nose and wrapped her arms around him. Chen Qi took her by the waist, lifting her up to kiss her again and again. Upon their return, they were supposed to have enjoyed a proper reunion, but both had been swept up in work, and only now did they finally have some free time. A long while passed before they separated. "What were you doing on your own?" "Polishing my trophies. Look, don't they look lovely together?" A new storage cabinet had been added to the room. On the very top shelf, the Hundred Flowers Goddess trophy sat on the left, and a Golden Rooster stood on the right, accompanied by two certificates propped upright. Gong Xue caressed them gently, then suddenly picked up one of the certificates and opened it, revealing a letter tucked inside. "Oh, right. Yesterday I received a letter from Old Xia—Xia Yan." "In his own hand?" "Mm-hmm! I was thrilled to death." "Good grief. Decades from now, that'll be a cultural relic..." Chen Qi was thoroughly intrigued. He unfolded it to look: it wasn't on gridded stationery, just a plain sheet of white paper written freely with a brush, meant to be read vertically from right to left. After a few words of congratulations, the letter concluded: *"In the bloom of your youth and with a splendid future ahead, may you make even more and greater contributions to the revival and progress of Chinese cinema!"* "Wow!" Chen Qi felt a twinge of envy. After bustling about for two years, he hadn't received a single inscription from a luminary. Maybe tomorrow he'd head over to Zhongnanhai and ask for one. Gong Xue carefully tucked the letter away, pressing a hand to her chest. "I feel under so much pressure right now. What if I mess up the next film? What if audiences don't like it, or accuse me of having an unearned reputation? It's all because of these awards—it almost feels like it would've been better not to win them." "Now you're not being honest with yourself. Who doesn't want to win awards?" "I mean it! I never expected I'd actually win. Oh, that reminds me..." Gong Xue suddenly pulled him toward the sofa, making him sit down while she stood before him, speaking with utter sincerity: "When I gave my acceptance speech on stage, I wanted to thank you specifically, but there wasn't a chance. I want to tell you now." "Do you really need to be this formal?" Chen Qi chuckled. "Be serious! I'm speaking to you right now. If not for your guidance and help, I never would have achieved what I have today. This honor belongs to me, but it belongs even more to you. I will work hard and never let your expectations down. Thank you, little ganggang~" By the end, she burst out laughing herself. "Oh? Your gratitude only comes in words?" "What else do you want, then?" Gong Xue asked defensively. *Che!* Chen Qi curled his lip. "You were dancing too far away on stage, so I couldn't see clearly. How about you dance one just for me?"