The literary era since 1979

Chapter 258 Gong Xing by the Suzhou River

The Suzhou River enters the city from Baihe Town in Qingpu. It is about 53.1 kilometers long and has many twists and turns.

There are old alleys, new alleys with Western style, modern high-rise buildings, as well as the former British Consulate, the Ritz Hotel, the Guanglu Theater, the Tianhou Temple, the Fire House, St. John's College... These buildings stand by the water and are called Lianyun Pavilions.

The Sanguantang Bridge across the Suzhou River was later called "Caoyang Road Bridge". At this time, Fang Yan, Zhang Yu and Zhao Jing were walking on it.

"Oh, what a smell!"

Fangyan covered his nose and frowned.

Zhao Jing covered her mouth and nose and explained slowly.

The Suzhou River Basin is home to many enterprises and residential areas. Industrial wastewater generated by chemical industry, printing and dyeing, cotton spinning, papermaking, leather making, and food, as well as domestic sewage, are discharged into the river.

The locals describe it as, “black as ink, smelly as feces”.

It is like a "black ribbon" tied around the waist of a bustling city.

“This is Suzhou River!”

Fangyan shook his head.

Pedestrians hurriedly passed by with their noses covered. Zhang Yu also covered her nose and said, "Teacher Fang, let's go quickly."

The filming location for "Under the Bridge" is the old residential area below the abutment of the bridge. Fangyan really admires these people.

He was able to carry on the show without batting an eyelid in such a smelly environment. If it were one of those traffic stars, they would probably either use a stand-in or just cut out the picture, making it impossible to shoot the scene.

When the three of them arrived at the crew, they heard the crew chatting:

"I found that Gong Xing seemed to take special care of Chen Daoming."

"Yeah, I feel that way too. It's a little abnormal."

"How is it abnormal? They are the male and female protagonists in "That Man, That Mountain, That Dog". They have known each other for a long time. It's normal for friends to take care of each other."

"Friends? What kind of friends? Just ordinary friends?"

"It's hard to say! Falling in love during filming is not uncommon in the crew, and we have heard about it in the factory as well."

"........."

Everyone was talking at once, discussing the matter.

Zhang Yu lowered her voice and said to Zhao Jing: "No way? Sister Gong Xi and that Chen Daoming..."

Zhao Jing made a gesture to silence him. "There is no evidence, let's not talk nonsense!"

Fangyan narrowed his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Teacher Fang!"

When everyone saw the three of them, they immediately greeted them.

Not far away, Bai Chen was directing a play. When he heard that Fang Yan, Zhang Yu and others were coming to visit the set, he asked the assistant director to invite them over.

"Director Bai, excuse me for interrupting you."

"Don't bother me, don't bother me, but Mr. Fang, aren't you in the guesthouse revising the script with Lao Xie? How come you suddenly have time to come visit me?"

"I've been revising the manuscript for a long time, and I feel dizzy."

Fangyan smiled and said that while Xie Jin was reading the manuscript, he wanted to come out for some fresh air, so he asked Zhang Yu and Zhao Jing to be guides and stroll around the area. In the end, he ended up here without knowing where to go.

"Just in time! Teacher Fang is here just in time!"

Bai Chen said that there was a big disagreement in the crew, and it was a good opportunity for him, a knowledgeable bystander, to make a judgment.

I originally thought that the dialect would be a problem with the plot, but it turned out to be a detail. Many people in the crew, including Gong Xing, suggested that they should arrange some young men and women wearing bell-bottom pants and floral shirts to express the sense of the times and to show the real living conditions of young people in the 80s.

"I guess Director Bai doesn't approve of this."

"Yes, Mr. Fang, you guessed it right."

Bai Chen nodded and asked for his opinion.

Fangyan said that there was no need to hastily add unnecessary elements in order to highlight the sense of the times. This conflicted with the film's theme of showing the youth's positivity and had nothing to do with the plot, which was superfluous.

Unless a special segment is designed.

The young man, who was dressed strangely and acted like a gangster, frequently harassed the heroine because she had a child out of wedlock, and even spread rumors about her immoral lifestyle. Under the huge pressure of public opinion, the heroine became timid and did not dare to talk about feelings with the hero.

The male protagonist, played by Chen Daoming, steps forward to save the beauty as a hero, and then follows the routine of later TV dramas, with more than a dozen bloody episodes, repeated abuse, and some industrial saccharin mixed in.

But then the movie becomes cliché.

"Heroes see the same thing."

Bai Chen smiled: "As expected, Teacher Fang understands me!"

"Haha."

Amid laughter, a group of people came to the shooting scene.

Gong Xing was holding the young actor in his arms. When Fangyan's figure came into view, his eyes flickered with surprise and nervousness.

The surprise was that when he went south to Shanghai before, he happened to catch up with the filming of "Under the Bridge" and the two missed the chance to get together. Unexpectedly, he would visit her on set today.

What made me nervous was that my best friends were also there.

Chen Daoming was also surprised and nervous.

"Teacher Fang!"

"how do you feel?"

"Hey, Director Bai and Sister Gong Qian all said that my acting was good. I didn't embarrass you and didn't disappoint you."

Chen Daoming grinned.

Fang Yan was surprised and asked, "You just called Gong Xing 'sister'?"

Chen Daoming scratched his head and said that he was the one who called out on his own initiative. Fortunately, Gong Xing did not object. Doing so would make it easier for him to get into the role.

You know how to recognize your sister!

Fortunately, I was better and recognized Li Guyi as my half-sister. Next, I recognized the singer of "La Meizi" as my half-sister. Blood is thicker than water! Fang Yan looked at her for a moment and shook his head.

In his previous life, Chen Daoming became famous late.

He became famous only when he was in his 30s with The Last Emperor.

He was supposed to be a late bloomer, but he suddenly stood out ahead of time.

Support! General Fang is kind-hearted and generous, and his students are all over the world.

The Yanjing TV station is currently broadcasting "Listening to the Wind", and originally wanted to recommend him to play "Qian Zhijiang", but unfortunately there was a conflict in schedule.

"Teacher Fang, please don't say that."

"I understand that you can't have your cake and eat it too!"

Chen Daoming was very emotional, and the gratitude on his face was beyond words. He thought that he could never repay Teacher Fang's kindness in this lifetime.

Fangyan patted his shoulders heavily several times.

Chen Daoming felt the force was very strong, but he did not think much about it. He just felt that this was Teacher Fang's care and respect for him.

Seeing that they were chatting animatedly, Bai Chen agreed to the assistant director's suggestion to finish work early. In another half an hour, it would be time for lunch.

"Thank you Director Bai!"

Gong Xing and other crew members were overjoyed.

Bai Chen said, "Teacher Fang, if you don't mind the simple food in our crew, why don't you stay and try it?"

"How could that be? The scenery here is so beautiful that it's a feast for the eyes."

Fang Yan waved his hand and looked at Gong Xing calmly.

Hearing the hidden meaning in the words, Gong Xing glared in shame.

"Yes, beauty is a feast to the eyes, beauty is a feast to the eyes."

Bai Chen sighed: "If Suzhou River could be as clean and clear as before, it would be even more beautiful."

…………

After lunch, during the break, Gong Xing took Fangyan and the other two to stroll around the surrounding alleys to help digest their food.

The gaps between the Shikumen buildings formed narrow and dark passages, which were intricately intertwined.

The so-called Shikumen has a stone door frame and a black lacquered solid thick wood door leaf with a pair of copper rings on it. Inside is a patio, a living room, and then a staircase. Upstairs is usually a boudoir with a window to lean out and a balcony to stand on.

Fangyan walked back and forth in the alley, knocking on the bricks and walls.

Just for this piece of house, the price per square meter will be at least hundreds of thousands in the future!

"Teacher Fang, during the Chinese New Year, 'On the Shores of Lake Baikal' was considered a pornographic song. Sister Gong Qian and we were all very worried about you."

Zhao Jing looked at Fangyan on the left and Gong Xing on the right.

"Yes, yes, the criticism in the newspapers is really too much. It's such a beautiful and moving song."

Zhang Yu nodded.

"It's all in the past. Now that the ban on "Homesickness" and "By the Lake Baikal" has been lifted, the pornographic songs by Hong Kong and Taiwan singers like Teresa Teng and Liu Wenzheng can be sung openly."

Fangyan was walking at the outside, next to Gong Xing.

"Will there be another big debate like that?"

Gong Xing's heart skipped a beat and he couldn't help but worry.

"Maybe there will be, maybe not, but no matter what, the old saying still applies: if an enemy comes, we will fight him with our troops; if a flood comes, we will block it with earth."

Fangyan gave a relaxed smile.

As everyone chatted, Zhang Yu mentioned Bai Ruoxue and Qiu Peining, "I didn't expect them to be so talented and to be able to compose music. But Teacher Fang, why did you think of asking them to compose music?"

"The thing is like this..."

The dialect briefly explained the cause and effect.

Zhao Jing suddenly realized, "I thought you wrote this song specifically for them."

Gong Xing rolled his eyes in annoyance, his eyes full of resentment.

"Yeah, I thought so at first."

Zhang Yu asked curiously, "Teacher Fang, who did you write this song for?" Then she teased, "Could it be for your girlfriend?"

Fangyan smiled without saying anything and nodded slightly.

Gong Xing's heart tightened. Before she could open her mouth, she heard Zhang Yu and Zhao Jing excitedly shouting, "This is really written for your boyfriend!"

With a gleam in his eyes, he said, "Teacher Fang, I remember last year in Yanjing, you said you didn't have a partner, right?"

“At that time, there really wasn’t one.”

Fang Yan smiled and said, “But now, I have it.”

"Who is it? Can you tell us, Teacher Fang?"

Zhang Yu was burning with gossip, and his tone was anxious.

"Xiao Yu!"

Gong Xian panicked, feeling everyone's eyes on him, "Ahem, it's almost time to go back, I have to film in the afternoon."

Just as she was about to turn around, she felt a hand tightly grasping hers.

"You...you..."

Seeing this scene, Zhang Yu was struck by lightning and was stunned.

Even though Zhao Jing had already guessed about 70% of what was going on, she was still shocked. They were holding hands in broad daylight!

Two people, in front of us! They were still pulling and tugging!

Bah! When we were dating, I always turned off the lights!
You can tell me about this kind of thing, tell me!
I can't say much! Even if I do it secretly, it's just bold! So bold!
(End of this chapter)