The Smile

"Ah Zhen, open your mouth!" "Ah!" "A bit wider!" "Ah!" "Too wide!" On the outdoor shooting set, an overturned car lay beside a dummy of a British nun collapsed in a pool of blood. Tsui Hark was currently shooting some miscellaneous inserts. Not far from them, Qiu Shuzhen sat obediently across from Chen Qi, receiving guidance from her shifu. She was still clutching a prop hammer slathered with fake blood, splatters dotting her clothes and face as well. "Tilt your head down a little. Look up from below. Pull the corners of your mouth wide—freeze, don't move!" Chen Qi reached out, took her cheeks in his hands, and tugged them outward. The corners of her mouth stretched open involuntarily until they formed a satisfactory curve. "Okay!" he said. "Make your eyes more sinister. Imagine Yuan Jieying is standing right in front of you, and you're about to murder her... Yes, yes, just like that. Hold it!" He swiftly snatched up a camera and snapped a photo with a click. Then, like kneading plasticine, he kneaded and poked her little face. Daring not to voice her indignation, Qiu Shuzhen had no choice but to let him manhandle her until he finally molded her expression into an exceedingly sweet smile. With another click, he took a second photo. "Once I develop the photos, you'll practice in front of a mirror against them. Make it exact down to the millimeter until it becomes muscle memory." "What's muscle memory?" "It means whenever you want to smile, you can instantly produce this exact expression without thinking." "Ohh~" Qiu Shuzhen nodded. She didn't bother asking what it was for, because he would undoubtedly reply: *With your schooling and IQ, you wouldn't understand even if I told you.* Over the past few days, she had been knocked down a peg countless times and was already used to it. Chen Qi had designed two smiles for her—one sinister, one sweet. In the film, there was a specific shot: she would walk forward with a sweet expression, and as she passed through alternating light and shadow, the look on her face would morph, turning from a little angel into a little demon... A shot like this would elevate the film's artistic caliber and leave an indelible impression on the audience. Just like Zhang Zifeng's chilling smile in *Detective Chinatown*. Asking Qiu Shuzhen to pull it off naturally through pure acting instinct was impossible, so he had to mold her face like dough, manually shaping the expression before having her drill it. But she was obedient, willing to work hard, and did whatever she was told, making Chen Qi all the more eager to nurture her talent. "Ah Zhen, you're up!" Tsui Hark called from over yonder. Chen Qi gave her a nudge and offered some encouragement. "Go on. You're doing great now. Just remember how you were bullied the day you cried your eyes out. Picture that dummy as Yuan Jieying, and smash her good!" Yuan Jieying wasn't on set, yet she was still making immense contributions... "Action!" With Tsui Hark's shout, Qiu Shuzhen crouched down, fixed her eyes on the dummy on the ground, hoisted the bloodstained hammer, and brought it down—*thud, thud, thud!* Blow after blow grew fiercer. As she smashed away, it was as if she truly conjured Yuan Jieying before her eyes. The corners of her mouth curled upward, and an expression of relish washed over her face. She was actually smiling. "Yikes!" Both Tsui Hark and Chen Qi shuddered. How had she drifted straight into method acting mid-take? ... "See you tomorrow, Shifu!" "See you tomorrow!" It was night. Qiu Shuzhen waved goodbye and watched as "Gundam flew off to fight Ultraman" before heading inside. Nowadays, she was the last one in the family to return home. Her parents were already off work, and like usual, they had left dinner for her. Qiu Shuzhen washed her hands and sat down to wolf down her food. As she ate, she noticed her parents flanking her on either side. "What are you two doing? Trying to kidnap me?" "Ah Zhen, be honest with us. What's going on between you and that Mr. Chen? He's driven you home several days in a row now." "He's my shifu!" "Nothing else?" "What else could there be..." Qiu Shuzhen froze. She was in secondary school now and understood a thing or two. Realizing what they were implying, she raised her voice. "You two are completely out of line! I'm only thirteen! My shifu is a great person—why are you treating him like some creep?" "Aiya, we're only looking out for you! There are all sorts of scoundrels out there these days, preying on little girls just like you!" "Well, as long as everything's fine. But since he took you on as an apprentice, has he given you any special perks?" "Of course! He teaches me acting every single day." "Nothing else?" "What else would there be?! You're both so weird today. Don't interrupt my dinner." Her parents shuffled away in mild disappointment. What they really wanted to know was whether Chen Qi had given her extra film allowances, or at least provided special treats at mealtime. After finishing dinner, Qiu Shuzhen washed up and lay down to sleep on her cramped little bed. Just then, her younger brother and sister came scurrying over and scrambled onto the bed. "Why aren't you two asleep yet?" she whispered. "Fifth Sister..." Her little sister whispered even more softly into her ear, "We want to eat steak rice again. When will you bring some home?" "Yeah, the steak rice that day was so delicious," her little brother chimed in. "Someone bought that for me. How would I have money to buy it myself?" Qiu Shuzhen felt torn, but then remembered she had been "sold" for fifteen thousand dollars, so she said, "Mom should have money. Ask her to buy it." "We already did, but Mom wouldn't," the younger siblings said dejectedly. "She said she has to save money for Big Brother's wedding." "..." She fell silent for a moment before offering comfort. "It's alright. Once I start making money, I'll buy delicious food for you every day. Steak rice is nothing—I'll take you out for Western food and we'll live in a big Western villa..." The siblings cheered up again. Her little sister asked, "Fifth Sister, what kind of movie are you acting in anyway?" "I don't really understand it either. In any case, they just have me scare people." "Huh? How do you scare people?" "Well, like this..." Qiu Shuzhen ruffled her hair, letting it hang down to cover both sides of her cheeks. She couldn't produce that exact expression naturally yet, so she squeezed and kneaded her own cheeks to force out an approximation of that horrific smile, then lunged forward and grabbed both siblings in a hug: "Like—this—of—course!" "Waaah!" In the dead of night, the children's wails rang out piercingly loud. ... Meanwhile. Inside the brightly lit Great Wall dormitory, Chen Qi was reading a letter from Gong Xue. The letter mentioned that *Mama, Love Me Once More* was about to begin shooting. For the deadbeat male lead, they had cast an actor named Wang Yongge, a student from the Beijing Film Academy's Class of '78. He was three years younger than Gong Xue and a classmate of Zhou Lijing and Zhang Tielin. Actors in this era generally disliked playing characters with moral blemishes, because audiences easily conflated the actor with their role. This was different from playing an outright villain. A villain was pure evil, clearly belonging to the opposing side. A moral blemish, on the other hand—say, a man who was successful in his career, friendly to his coworkers, dutiful to his elders, and loving to his children, but committed adultery—could you call him a villain? Not really; he just had a moral failing. Actors back then generally hated playing such roles. Unlike in future generations. Thus, after picking and choosing, Wang Haowei settled on Wang Yongge, who had virtually no fame. In history, he had acted in a few films in the eighties before immigrating to Canada. The setting of *Mama, Love Me Once More* was placed in Guangdong, as the male protagonist abandoned his wife and son to marry a wealthy heiress whose family owned businesses in Hong Kong, and he later moved to Hong Kong as well. Furthermore, the culture of worshiping deities was deep-seated in Guangdong, perfectly matching the plotline where the female lead kowtowed with every step to pray to the gods to save her child. After reading the letter, Chen Qi wrote a reply. Along with it, he included a set of autumn and winter clothes and a pair of shoes he had bought in Hong Kong, as well as some gifts for Wang Yang, intending to mail them all back together. Afterward, he smoothed out some manuscript paper and customarily got down to desk work, sorting out his work plans for this year and the next.