Teacher Li

This Spring Festival was a three-day holiday. Justice Bao finished one full run on the third day of the New Year, then was broadcast again at once, and it was still warmly received. Ten million television sets were enough to make a certain impact. Unfortunately, there were no ratings figures in those days. Among some circles, and especially among people in the television trade, it carried a great deal of influence. Last year's Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp had been too conventional. Justice Bao was what truly made people's eyes light up, because it was commercial at heart, and everything in it was the sort of thing audiences loved. Oh—so a television drama could be shot like this! So a historical figure could be written like this! It opened up the way people thought. ...... Spring Festival stretched a long time now. It was not like later ages, when New Year's Eve passed and the feeling was gone. On the morning of the seventh day, a thick smell of sulfur still hung in the air over Beijing. Festive red could be seen everywhere, and it would not be taken down until after the Lantern Festival. "Beep beep!" A bus pulled in at the stop. Li Jianqun, hauling a big bundle, climbed aboard with an effort. She held the rail, tugged down the scarf covering her face for a breath of air, and dug in her pocket for her wallet—then started at a sudden cry. "Qin Xianglian!" "You're Qin Xianglian, aren't you?" A woman in her forties, full in the face and looking every inch a cadre, came straight toward her, looked her over from head to foot in a single second, and said with certainty, "It has to be you. It absolutely has to be!" "Uh, I play Qin Xianglian." "Aiya, didn't I say so! Come, come, there's a seat in the back... No, no, don't trouble yourself, I've bought it. You've got so much to carry. What a struggle." The woman comrade bought her ticket and warmly drew her down into the seat. Every passenger on the bus turned to stare. Those who had seen the show and those who had not were all whispering together. "I'm finished!" The corner of Li Jianqun's mouth twitched. Her free and easy days were over! She had already been through this once while spending the New Year in Wuhan. Her own family had no television, but a neighbor did, and what a commotion that had been! It was as if the whole street had squeezed into the house, and she was gawked at like a monkey. "I chose to act. I'll just have to bear it!" Her frame of mind was sound enough. She simply disliked mixing with strangers, and yet just now she had no choice. "You were so pitiful! A widow with two children—what was so good about that Chen Shimei? Nothing but a pretty-faced climber. You should have accused him and had him put to death. Instead you still thought of him. Such a letdown! Haven't you heard that women hold up half the sky?" "Qin Xianglian hadn't heard of it!" The woman paid no attention to anything she said and simply vented to her own satisfaction. She chattered on and on, and at last said, "Look at you, a born doormat. If anyone dares bully you the way that Chen Shimei did, you just speak up. The masses will stand up for you!" "That's right, we'll all stand up for you!" "Chen Shimei ought to go under the chopper!" Heh! Li Jianqun kept up a perfunctory smile. It was not that she thought herself above them. She truly had nothing in common with this lot. She endured the whole ride, then jumped off before her stop. She had actually broken a sweat. She wiped it away and let out a breath. "So this is what fame tastes like? Pretty hard to take." She walked a long way and, with some difficulty, reached Lechunfang. All was as before. The gate stood half open. Dai Hanhan, broom in hand, was sweeping snow at the entrance. She ran over to greet her. "Teacher Li, a New Year's greeting! Happy New Year!" "Happy New Year to you too!" "Wow, you're a big film star now—oh, no, a television star! The papers have written about you. They might even come for an interview." "If they come, you keep them off me!" Li Jianqun waved a hand, went into the courtyard, and caught sight of Ji Chunhua. They exchanged New Year's greetings, and she asked, "Is Teacher Chen back?" "He's inside talking business. Director Yang Jie is here." "Oh?" She went in, set her things down, took off the heavy padded jacket, and wrapped a blanket around herself until she looked like a Gypsy. Only then did she start to tidy up. At the same time. In the main room, Chen Qi shook hands with some fellow, surprise written all over his face, and said with a laugh, "How did you worm your way onto Director Yang's team? Weren't you in a training class?" "The training class finished last year! I heard they were going to shoot Journey to the West, so I came on my own to try out for Tang Seng. Director Yang didn't take to me, but she kept me on as a production assistant. I never thought I'd see you again either. It's fate!" It was no one else. It was Li Chengru. They had met once at the Beijing Film Academy. Chen Qi had chosen Zhang Guangbei for Justice Bao, and had not chosen him. Li Chengru's work unit was the Jingshan Garment Factory, but he almost never went in to work and loafed about everywhere. He served as a production assistant on Journey to the West and stayed with it from the first day to the last, hoping all along that he could transfer into CCTV. When Journey to the West finished filming and he still had not managed it, he went into business in a fit of temper. Chen Qi exchanged a few polite words with him. Only then did Yang Jie say, "The leaders at my unit asked me to sound you out—whether you still have any interest in writing scripts for Justice Bao. They want to keep shooting it." "Would you be directing?" "No. Where would I find the time!" "Then I won't write them. I don't have the time either." "All right. I'll take that back to them." Yang Jie smiled and went on. "Over the New Year I read Journey to the West twice, then called people together at once. There are six of us now: me, Wang Chongqiu, Li Chengru, plus one for art, one for lighting, and one script supervisor. In a few days we'll go location scouting, make a general tour of the country, and start shooting as soon as we're back." "You're not holding a concentrated training?" "Train for what, on Journey to the West? How to play demons and monsters? No one has ever played them. I'll find opera actors. A solid foundation is enough. I'm not like Wang Fulin. He hasn't read Dream of the Red Chamber, and he demands a full year of study off the job before anyone can shoot. Aiya..." Yang Jie had never been able to let Dream of the Red Chamber go. She went on, "I've been in touch with two screenwriters, but that has nothing to do with you. You write the way you usually do, and when you're finished just give it to me. I came today to borrow two people from you." "The first is Li Jianqun. She is far too beautiful in period costume. You must lend her to me so I can film her a little more. She's your person now, isn't she?" "What do you mean, my person? She's the company's!" "It's all the same! The second is Gong Xue. I want her to come." "She's with Beijing Film Studio. Why come to me?" "..." Yang Jie looked at him sidelong, her whole face saying, What do you think? Chen Qi could only nod. "All right, I'll talk her round. Then let's do it this way. As it happens, I have a little team under me who can go and lend you a hand. Ji Chunhua, for instance—he knows fight work, and he knows wire rigs. And Li Jianqun—don't take her only as an actress. She's an art designer. Set aside a few episodes of costume design for me. I want to let her try. Journey to the West is set in the Tang dynasty, isn't it? If you're shooting the ways and customs of the Great Tang, she'd be just the person..." He wanted the people under him to build up more experience, but the amount he himself could shoot each year was limited, and Journey to the West was a place that truly tempered a person—the finest of opportunities. Yang Jie thought it over and understood. She agreed aloud for the time being. She knew the people under him were all capable. Just as they were speaking, the cotton curtain was flicked aside, and Li Jianqun came in wrapped in the blanket, perfectly at ease. "Ha!" Yang Jie could not help laughing. "What's this getup? I never once saw you like this on my crew." "With you it was work, and you'd have scolded me. It's different here. What are you talking about?" said Li Jianqun. "We were just getting to you. Will you act in Journey to the West?" Chen Qi said with a smile. "Huh?" ...... This year's Spring Festival was unusually lively. Chen Qi was busy with all sorts of things on his side, and Hong Kong was even more restless, for the outcome of the battle for the Chinese New Year slot was already plain.