1990: Starting from Baojia Street

The three of them did not use any means of transportation. They each carried a lunch box and walked to the Yanjing Cinema.

Zhou Yan often ate at the Yanjing Studio, so he left his lunch box in the director's office. The lunch box he brought today is quite old. He brought it when he was filming "Farewell My Concubine".

It was lunchtime and there were many people in the cafeteria of the Yenching Film Academy.

Seeing the mess in the cafeteria, Xiao Can frowned, "Old Huo, is meal time really a good time to come and look for actors? Why not contact the director of the acting department and bring the students together directly to have a look?"

Huo Jianqi laughed and said, "That's so boring. I think it's very important to observe an actor and see their most natural state."

Zhou Yan curled his lips. What Huo Jianqi said sounded reasonable at first glance, but it was actually pure nonsense.

According to Zhou Yan's observation, it is impossible to tell how well an actor performs from his usual state.

Many actors are in completely different states when they are acting than when they are not.

Some people usually look confused, but they are in great shape when acting and can play any role well; others usually look quite smart, but act like idiots when acting.

Therefore, if you want to observe an actor, it is best to let him/her audition. Like them now, you can only see the appearance.

A few people ordered some food and found an empty table to sit down.

It’s true that the food in the Yandian canteen is quite good. Although Zhou Yan is reluctant to admit it, it is better than that in the Central Conservatory of Music canteen.

Of course, it can’t be compared with Zhou Yan’s studio cafeteria.

During this period, the food in the university cafeteria was already quite good, at least there was plenty of meat.

Huo Jianqi looked up and looked around the cafeteria, then said to Zhou Yan and Xiao Can, "Look at the direction of eleven o'clock, there are a few students, are they not bad?"

Xiao Can glanced in the direction he said, rolled his eyes and said, "Aren't those people from your art department?"

Xiao Can then explained to Zhou Yan, "The students in the art department have a very obvious characteristic, which is that they are dirty."

Zhou Yan nodded. Xiao Can was right. Although these students were dressed quite fashionably, their clothes were dirty with all kinds of paint and ink on them.

Huo Jianqi himself was from the Fine Arts Department, so he didn't refute it because it was an objective fact. They worked with all kinds of paints and inks every day, so it was impossible for their clothes to be clean.

If someone's clothes are clean every day, it only means that this person's studies are not very good.

He said with a smile, "It doesn't mean that actors must be from the acting department. It's not impossible to find suitable actors from other departments. There are many students from other majors who become actors."

This is how it is in film school. The major you study does not mean you will do that after graduation.

Those who study fine arts become directors, those who study directing become actors, those who study acting become directors...Except for the fine arts department and the photography department, which are difficult to enter, the barriers to entry to other departments are not high.

"Let's eat first, and then go out for a walk after dinner. It seems that there is nothing to see in the cafeteria. We should eat quickly on this day, otherwise the food will get cold. I have to say that your school cafeteria is not bad. Unlike our school, the last time I went back to school, I still couldn't see any meat." Xiao Can said.

"It's not necessary to go on stage." Zhou Yan asked curiously.

Xiao Can graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy. After all, Shanghai is a big city and the living standard of the school should not be bad.

Huo Jianqi laughed and said, "When we were in school, everyone was basically the same, no one was better than anyone else. At that time, our art, directing, recording, and photography departments were all in the Zhuxinzhuang campus, and only the acting department had classes here in Xiaoxitian. At that time, the price of a dish in the cafeteria of the Zhuxinzhuang campus was between five cents and ten cents, and there was basically no meat. The main dish was carrot beans - soybeans, pork skin cubes and carrot cubes stewed together, which was considered a big dish. In addition, there was boiled eggplant, stir-fried three cubes, and boiled cabbage, basically without oil. If you ask me to eat it now, I can't even eat it."

Huo Jian can't stop talking when talking about the past. "Life was very poor at that time. In order to have enough food, we stole cabbage, apples, and chickens from fellow villagers and teachers. We went to the fields to get some edamame at night. When we came back, we didn't have a pot, so we used a washbasin to cook..."

Zhou Yan rolled his eyes. He remembered the incident of Yu Hua and the others stealing cucumbers.

In comparison, Yu Hua and his friends are moral, at least they didn't steal other people's chickens to eat. Stealing chickens is much more serious than stealing cucumbers. If you are caught stealing cucumbers, at most you will be scolded, and if you meet some generous people, they may even give you a few.

But stealing chickens is different. If you get caught, you might be beaten half to death.

Huo Jianqi and Zhang Yimou were students of the same class, both entering the university in 78. At that time, eating meat was a luxury, because it was not just about money, but was supplied with tickets.

There were two boys sitting next to them. After hearing what Huo Jianqi said, they were very interested and listened with their ears tilted.

Later, one of the boys couldn't help but ask, "Brother, how much living expenses did you have per month at that time?"

Huo Jianqi knew that the two boys were listening, so he was not surprised to hear this question. He smiled and said, "It's about 20 to 30 yuan. That was the amount of money our student allowance received at the time."

"If it's just for eating, it's more than enough."

According to Huo Jianqi, a dish in the cafeteria costs between five cents and ten cents, and the daily living expenses are only a few cents.

"You guys are at school now, just eating?"

"Well, that's definitely not it."

"That's it. Although we didn't have many places to spend money at that time, almost all the boys smoked. The better cigarettes were Xiangshan brand, which cost 2.3 yuan a box. Most students smoked Zhandou brand cigarettes, which sold for 2 yuan in Yanjing. Sometimes when students from Tianjin went home, we would ask them to bring some for us, because they sold for 1.9 yuan in Tianjin. We could save 10 yuan on a pack of cigarettes and have a meal in the cafeteria. Students who were heavy smokers would spend about 10 yuan a month on cigarettes. I remember that at that time, everyone was really broke, so we pooled money to let the Uyghur students buy Mohe shredded tobacco when they went home, and then roll it up with Reference News to smoke."

The two boys were amazed when they heard this. "So what happened when you stole the chickens from your fellow villagers and teacher?"

"It's OK if we haven't been caught. At first, we stole chickens from our fellow villagers. Later, the villagers were very cautious, so we had to use air guns to shoot the teacher's chickens. In order to find the murderer, the teacher asked his children to run to our dormitory to smell who was stewing the chicken. But even if they saw it, they were not caught in the act, so the teacher could do nothing but condemn it. In addition to eating chicken, our other source of meat is sparrows..."

At that time, Huo Jianqi and his friends not only stole chickens, but also hunted sparrows and fished for frogs.

In addition, Huo Jianqi also disclosed one of their crimes that year, which was ticket-drawing.

Because students from the Fine Arts Department and the Photography Department have a solid foundation in art, they draw tickets in their spare time. The so-called drawing tickets means making fake tickets, and the types of tickets include but are not limited to movie tickets, tram and bus monthly passes.

Huo Jianqi spoke loudly about such a shameful thing.

By the time he talked about drawing tickets to participate in the Spring Festival entertainment activities and then being exposed, a dozen students had already gathered nearby.

Seeing the students around him, Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh that students really love to join in the fun.

He pulled the scarf around his neck up to cover his chin, trying not to be recognized.

"Brother, which class are you from?"

When Huo Jianqi was talking, a girl asked curiously.

"I'm from Class 78." Upon hearing that Huo Jianqi was from Class 78, the students all showed surprised expressions. In addition to surprise, many of them also showed a little respect.

For these later students, the students of the Class of 78 of Yenching Film Academy are very legendary.

Although overall the fifth generation directors do not seem to be old enough, to these students, these directors are already masters.

Any student picked out from the class of 78 is a heavyweight.

Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Zhang Jianya... When they were in class, the teachers would always mention the movies of these people.

Many students aim to be these people, and not just those in the directing department, but students from other departments as well.

The students of Class 78 of Yenching Film Academy had a status in the school similar to that of the golden generation of Class 77 and 78 of the Central Conservatory of Music.

"You are Senior Brother Huo Jianqi, right?"

Someone finally recognized Huo Jianqi.

Of course, the other party recognized him not because his face was famous, but because he often came to the school before and some students knew him.

When hearing Huo Jianqi's name, most students looked confused, but some students also showed expressions of sudden realization.

Huo Jianqi has only directed two films independently so far, and neither of them is particularly well-known. As for the films for which he served as art design, although the films themselves are very famous, they did not bring him any fame outside the industry.

Normally, no one pays attention to who is the art designer of a movie.

If this was not the Yanjing Film Academy but any other ordinary school, I'm afraid no students would have heard of Huo Jianqi at all.

"Director Huo, your filming of 'Winner' is really great."

"Yes, "Winner" made me cry."

Speaking of the movie "Winner", more people know who Huo Jianqi is.

Although the movie "Winner" is not a big hit, it also won the Best Director Debut Award at the Yenching University Student Film Festival and the Best Director Debut Award at the Golden Rooster Awards.

Students at film schools have more or less heard of the name of this movie.

Huo Jianqi responded with a smile, "Thank you for your support, fellow students. The three of us came to school today to look for actors who are suitable for our new movie."

When he said that, the place went into an uproar.

Soon, the number of people around them expanded from a dozen to dozens.

"Director Huo, is this your new movie?" a student asked.

"I am the producer of the new movie, and the director is this Director Xiao Canxiao."

Everyone followed Huo Jianqi's hand and looked at Xiao Can. Originally, Xiao Can had his head half lowered like Zhou Yan, but now he could only raise his head, smile, and greet everyone, "Hello everyone, I am Xiao Can."

The student who knows how to deal with things has already greeted him first, "Hello, Director Xiao."

Huo Jianqi continued, "Do you know the recently popular movie "Time Traveler"? Director Xiao was the assistant director. He was also the assistant director of the previous movie "The Chorus."

"Wow!"

Originally, no one knew who Xiao Can was, but when they heard that he was the deputy director of "Time Traveler" and "The Chorus", they all exclaimed in surprise.

Although the assistant director is not as good as the director, it is not easy to be the assistant director in these two films.

"Director Xiao, your new movie "Time Traveler" is really beautiful."

"Yes, yes, the music is nice, the story is good, the filming technique is good... every aspect is very good."

"I went to see it a few days ago, but I haven't bought a ticket yet."

"Yeah, it was really hard to get tickets a few days ago, but it's getting better now."

Although he was praised by the students, Xiao Can was not happy at all because the director was sitting next to him.

Xiao Can asked Zhou Yan in a low voice, "Director Zhou, how about you say hello to everyone?"

Zhou Yan also felt that it was no longer necessary to hide the truth, so he raised his head and said with a smile, "Thank you all for your support for "Time Traveler".

The students were originally praising Xiao Can, but Xiao Can didn't say anything. Instead, the young man next to him suddenly looked up and responded, and everyone was a little confused for a moment.

However, some sharp-eyed people had already recognized Zhou Yan and shouted loudly, "Zhou Yan!"

Zhou Yan simply stood up, pulled the scarf around his neck down, and said with a smile, "Hello, fellow Yandian students, I'm Zhou Yan. The three of us came here today mainly to scout actors for director Xiao Can's new movie. I hope I didn't disturb you."

As more and more people came, Zhou Yan also saw some familiar faces, but these faces were still relatively young at this time, and somewhat different from their later appearance.

The most eye-catching one is Chen Kun, who is tall and thin, with long hair and looks very cool.

Although students at film academies are generally more fashionable than students at ordinary schools, Chen Kun is also a very fashionable figure in the film academy.

Another person who was more conspicuous was Yan Danchen. She was standing a little further back, but was still recognized by Zhou Yan.

It’s not that Yan Danchen is a peerless beauty, it’s just that this girl is in very good shape. She doesn’t wear any makeup but has a very fair complexion, which makes her very eye-catching in the crowd.

In addition to these two, Zhou Yan also saw Fu Dalong.

The reason why he was able to recognize Fu Dalong was because Fu Dalong was a child star and had been acting for many years.

It can be said that Zhou Yan roughly knows what Fu Dalong looked like in different periods after he was eight years old.

In addition to the three of them, Zhou Yan also saw some people who looked familiar, but he was not sure. (End of this chapter)