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Chapter 707 Return
After taking Jing Tian to promote "Sito" for a few days, Gu Wei came to the filming location of "My People, My Country" and officially joined the crew.

To be precise, it is the crew of the "Return" unit in "My Motherland and Me", and it is one of the sub-crews.

【Return】The general content of this unit is as follows.

When Hong Kong was returned to China in 97 and the sovereignty was handed over to the British side, everyone from diplomats to flag-raisers and watchmakers worked together to complete a difficult task: to ensure that the national flag must be raised on time at 7:1:0 on July 0, so that the sovereignty of Hong Kong would be returned as scheduled.

It sounds easy, but it is not.

An Wenbin, a diplomat at the time, once recalled: "Each of our negotiations lasted only two seconds.

I told the British side that our national flag must be raised at 0:0:0. Sovereignty must be returned and every second counts. There is no doubt about this.

So your flag must land at 23:59:58.

The British side disagreed at the time and refused to give us those two seconds, so we negotiated numerous times on this matter.”

2 seconds may seem like a short time, but for China at that time, it meant that the sovereignty of Hong Kong Island could not be recovered on time, and that Britain’s colonial rule over Hong Kong Island would last another 2 seconds!
Britain was extremely reluctant to return Hong Kong Island to China, so it set up many obstacles in the arrangement of the handover ceremony, making the negotiations very difficult.

At the same time, in order to ensure that the Chinese national flag is raised on time, every link must be calculated accurately in seconds in the actual operation. The distance each step of the guard of honor will take must be calculated in advance without any error!

For this purpose, An Wenbin bought a very accurate watch from the United States and synchronized the time with the Greenwich Observatory in London and the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing.

He also asked two emcees to manage the time, and set up a chief protocol coordinator and Chinese technical monitor to strictly control the time.

The two deputy conductors of the military band used countdown to control the time when the national anthem was played.

“Although the entire handover ceremony only lasted 30 minutes, there were 25 procedures to be carried out within these 30 minutes. Each procedure took more than a minute to complete and had to be completed accurately.

In order to prevent China from getting what it wanted, Britain tried every possible means: Prince Charles' speech exceeded the time limit by 23 seconds.

Therefore, the host of the subsequent event spoke faster and the guard of honor marched faster to regain the 23 seconds!

Afterwards, when the UK played the national anthem, it suddenly accelerated and shortened the time by 12 seconds, resulting in a vacuum time of about 12 seconds at the scene!

The whole audience was in a solemn silence. An Wenbin stood next to the band conductor and counted down. It was not until 11:59:58 that the conductor raised his baton to ensure that the national flag was raised over Hong Kong Island with 0% accuracy at 0:0:.

Every inch of land must be fought for, every second must be fought for! The road to Hong Kong's return was long, bumpy and magnificent, and the final success was also the result of the hard work of countless heroes behind the scenes.

Of course, it is impossible for "Return" to tell the story in such detail, because it is a compilation film. "My Motherland and I" has a total of 7 units, and "Return" is actually only about 20 minutes long.

Director Xue Xiaolu selected four characters, including flag-raiser Zhu Tao, female Hong Kong police officer Lian Jie, diplomat An Wenbin, and watch repairer Hua Ge, to reflect from all aspects how hard this great moment is.

Gu Wei plays Zhu Tao, the flag-raiser who ensures the national flag is raised on time.

"Teacher Xue" Gu Wei joined the crew, and director Xue Xiaolu came out to greet him personally.

"You've graduated for so long, you don't have to call me teacher, just call me by my name." Xue Xiaolu is nearly fifty years old but looks very young, with short hair, fair skin, a slim figure, and a very gentle smile.

She is considered one of the most famous female directors in the industry. "Ocean Paradise" and "Beijing Meets Seattle" are both works directed by her.

Xue Xiaolu is a master's degree holder in the Department of Literature at Beijing Film Academy. She later stayed on to teach at the school and became a professor and graduate supervisor in the Department of Literature. Gu Wei had taken her class when he was in school, so he called her Teacher Xue.

Gu Wei is the most famous student of Beijing Film Academy in the past ten years, bar none. He is now almost a signature of the school, and his teacher Xue Xiaolu is also very optimistic about him.

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and Gu Wei officially joined the crew to start filming.

"Multiplication and division still take so long, what did you learn in school?

Zhu Tao, I tell you, when the national anthem ends and the national flag is raised, you are not allowed to look up in between.

You have to form muscle memory! "In a venue built according to the interior of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, Gu Wei and two flag bearers were training over and over again.

Gao Yalin, who played the role of the general commander of the flag-raising ceremony, emphasized to him.

"Yes!" Gu Wei answered seriously, with a soldier's firmness on his face.

"Practice hard and complete the task, and I will give you a wife!" Gao Yalin joked.

"Report!" Zhu Yilong, one of the flag bearers, shouted loudly.

"We are both single."

"Yes, should we give them a wife as well?" another flag bearer, Du Jiang, echoed.

"Fa!" Gao Yalin was amused by them.

But then he emphasized, "If you make a mistake, I will make you single for the rest of your life!"

"Yes!" the three answered loudly.

"Cut! This time it passed, good performance!" Xue Xiaolu's voice came.

"My People, My Country" is a tribute film to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Just like "The Founding of a Republic" produced by China Film Group, it is full of celebrity faces from beginning to end.

In the "Return" unit starring Gu Wei, there are four main characters including him. In addition to the flag-raiser Zhu Tao, there are also Mr. Wang Luoyong who plays the diplomat, Hui Yinghong who plays the female Hong Kong police officer Lian Jie, and Ren Dahua who plays the watch repairer Hua Ge.

Even the two flag bearers beside Gu Wei were played by Zhu Yilong and Du Jiang.

"Yilong, after we finish shooting tonight's scenes, shall we go out for dinner together?" Walking out of the venue, Gu Wei reached out to unbutton the collar of his military uniform and invited Zhu Yilong who was beside him.

They have known each other for a long time and have even worked together in "The Story of Minglan".

In Gu Wei's impression, Zhu Yilong is a bit shy and introverted, but he is very serious at work and is a good actor, so he has always had a good impression of him.

"Okay, Brother Wei, you have the final say."

"Du Jiang, come along too." Gu Wei did not forget Du Jiang who was filming with him.

"Ah? Okay." Du Jiang obviously didn't expect Gu Wei to call him, so he quickly agreed.

"Teacher Gao, would you like to have dinner together after the performance tonight? Yilong and Du Jiang will come with us." Gu Wei said to Gao Yalin again.

This is his habitual socializing. "You young people, eat. I won't join in the fun~" Gao Yalin replied with a smile.

His relationship with Gu Wei could be better. It was Gu Wei who generously donated money to the filming of "In the Name of People", and this favor has not been repaid yet.

[My Country, My Parents] may be the fastest film shot by Gu Wei.

[Return] is only 20 minutes long and has 4 main characters. Gu Wei plays the flag-raiser Zhu Tao, one of the main characters, and there are no more than 10 shots in total.

All the scenes were shot in less than 5 days after joining the crew. The main feature was that it was fast.

Of course, his completion does not mean that the filming of "The Return" has ended, as the scenes of the other three protagonists have not been completed.

However, Gu Wei estimated that in about ten days, the crew of "Return" would be able to wrap up filming.

At the same time, six other crews of "My Motherland and Me" were also filming at the same time.

This kind of compilation movie is shot very quickly. Even though the total length of the movie is more than two hours, it can be shot in its entirety in just one month.

All seven crews started filming in March and will be finished before May. With another one or two months of post-production, it will be more than enough for the films to be released before National Day.

"We have already negotiated with Tencent for The Untamed to be released in June. Since the two main characters, Xiao Zhan and Zeng Shunxi, are not well-known enough, the price is not as high as the company's previous TV series.

However, we have signed a supplementary agreement with Tencent Video. If the subsequent playback volume and membership activation volume reach the agreed amount, we will be compensated a certain amount of fees."

In the office of [Weiming Tianxia] in Beijing, Yang Liwen reported her work to Gu Wei.

"That's normal. The income from this TV series is secondary. It's mainly for the purpose of making Xiao Zhan and Zeng Shunxi famous.

Last year's "Soul of the Town" made Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong famous. The "The Untamed" with the same theme is even more popular than "Soul of the Town".

After the broadcast, there is absolutely no problem for Xiao Zhan and Zeng Shunxi to rise to the top.”

Gu Wei is too aware of the influence of "The Untamed". In the original time and space, Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, who were not even third or fourth tier stars, were promoted directly to the top stars, and their fans have never abandoned them even after many years.

This is the charm of a hit drama, a good role can make an actor soar to fame.

Yang Liwen didn't know why Gu Wei was so optimistic about a gay drama without any big-name stars, but she didn't care. She always admired her boss's vision.

"Xiao Station has already communicated with Wajijiwa and transferred his contract to Weiming Tianxia. We have made some compensation, and President Long is not dissatisfied."

"Well done. Xiao Zhan is not valued in [Wajijiwa]. One more person in [X玖少年团] is not too much, and one more person in [X玖少年团] is not too little. Signing him is a good opportunity for us to train him well."

Gu Wei had already instructed Yang Liwen to do this at the beginning of the year.

Although he has shares in Wajijiwa, he still wants to sign future top stars like Xiao Zhan to the company.

"Boss, if Xiaozhan really becomes as popular as you said, I'm afraid Mr. Long will have opinions." Yang Liwen thought for a moment and said worriedly.

Xiaozhan is not well-known now, so Long Danni let him go so easily. Once his fame rises in the future, she will definitely feel regretful.

It would be fine if the two companies had nothing to do with each other, but Gu Wei is a shareholder of Wajijiwa, and the two companies are allies and partners.

Gu Wei thought for a while.

"Don't worry about it for now. When Xiao Zhan becomes really famous, we can sign his singers back to Wajijiwa. We can eat the meat and let Ms. Long drink the soup. I believe she will be satisfied."

"I understand." Yang Liwen nodded.

"How is the preparation for [Detective Chinatown 3] going in Tokyo?" Gu Wei asked again.

"Director Li Xin and some crew members have already selected the venue over there and sent back a lot of materials, waiting for your decision, Mr. Gu.

There are also some Japanese actors. Except for Satoshi Tsumabuki and Yui Aragaki, who have already signed contracts, the actors for other related roles have also been selected."

"Very good~"

The script of [Detective Chinatown 3] has changed a lot from the original version. It can be said that it has abandoned the excessive jokes in the original time and space, and increased the focus on detective work and logical reasoning.

Gu Wei thought that it wouldn't be much different from the first part.

"[Joy of Life] has invited Director Sun Hao to direct as per your request, and it is currently in the early stages of preparation.

In terms of casting, in addition to you, the boss, and Miss Jing Tian playing the male and female protagonists, it has been confirmed that the company's Tian Xiwei will play "Fan Ruoruo", Guo Qilin will play "Versace", Xin Zhilei will play "Haitang Duoduo", Teacher Wu Gang will play "Chen Pingping", Li Xiaoran will play "Princess Li Yunrui", and Tian Yu will play "Wang Qinian".

The other roles have either not been decided yet or the actors are still being considered."

[Joy of Life] is the most important TV drama project of [Wei Ming Tian Xia] this year, and Yang Liwen is well aware of all the progress of the early preparations.

"Wait, where is Emperor Qing?"

Didn't Mr. Chen Daoming accept this role? "

Gu Wei asked in surprise.

Many of the characters in "Joy of Life" were decided by him and he asked the company to communicate with them, including "Emperor Qing", Guo Qilin's "Versace", Li Xiaoran's "Princess", and Tian Yu's "Wang Qinian". He felt that the original versions of these characters were already very good, and it would be difficult to find better people to replace them.

"I sent the script to Teacher Chen a long time ago, but he has not given me a positive response. He just said he would consider it."

"I understand. I'll go discuss this matter."

At the end of December last year, the Film Association held a new leadership meeting, and Chen Daoming took over from teacher Li Xuejian and became the 12th Chairman of the Film Association.

He also became one of the people with the highest status in the domestic entertainment industry.

However, Gu Wei also has a good relationship with him, and he had talked with Teacher Chen during the previous association meeting.

Judging from Gu Wei’s current achievements in the domestic entertainment industry, as long as he is not the type of person with eyes on his forehead, there are very few seniors who dislike him.

He planned to take some gifts to visit Teacher Chen at home, and then mention "Joy of Life". He believed that the other party would give him this face.

(End of this chapter)