My Artist Is Reborn

Chapter 81.2 – Du Yuping

Shen Huai registered his name and took Ye Cang to the other sideward. He didn’t need a nurse to lead the way. Judging by his familiarity with this place he should have been here many times.

When they arrived at the door of the ward, Shen Huai was about to knock, when the door suddenly opened from the inside, and a man with sunglasses and a pale face appeared.

Shen Huai recognized the man as Fu Cheng at a glance, and could not help frowning.

Fu Cheng didn’t expect to see Shen Huai here, making his face even worse for a moment. Without saying hello to Shen Huai, he brushed past him with his bodyguard and left in a hurry.

Shen Huai adjusted his mood and stepped in the ward. Who would have known, that just after he entered, a pillow flew directly to his head.

Ye Cang hurriedly said, “Be careful!”

Shen Huai, however, seemed to be well prepared. He raised his hand and grabbed the pillow.

The room was spacious, bright, and well-equipped. The central air conditioner maintained an appropriate temperature in the room. The soft sunlight fell on the carpet through the window. If it wasn’t for the medical equipment at the bedside, it would look like a presidential suite in a hotel.

There was an old man with white hair sitting on the bed at that moment. He turned his back to the door and said angrily, “Get out! Don’t bother me!”

Ye Cang was stunned for a moment. Obviously, he didn’t expect that Shen Huai’s friend would have such a different temperament from him, so grumpy and unapproachable.

However, Shen Huai just smiled and said, “You can still swear, it seems that you are feeling better recently?”

After hearing him, the old man hurriedly turned his head and said with surprise, “Oh! What are you doing here?! Come and sit down!”

Shen Huai introduced, “This is my friend Ye Cang. I have brought him to meet you.”

The old man waved his hand and said, “No need for introduction, I know him! The star whose bet made people run naked!”

Ye Cang’s smile froze on his face. He obviously had other and more remarkable deeds. Why did the old man only remember the bet about running naked?? Was he sincere or did he do it on purpose?

Shen Huai coughed gently, suppressing his smile and introducing him to Ye Cang, “This is Yi Mian, the founder of Yihang Film Company.”

Yihang Film Company was a well-known movie company in China for more than 20 years, but Yi Mian was stubborn and refused to raise fundings. Now, 20 years later, the easy kids have grown into the big guys in the circle, and it slowly declined. Now, Fu Cheng, who Yi Mian has always championed was gone, and the Yihang Film Company’s situation has become even worse.

At the beginning, Yi Mian was still a bit proud, but later his eyes began to dim.

Shen Huai pretended not to notice and took Ye Cang to sit on the sofa in the reception area, then said to Yi Mian, “This time I came in a hurry and only brought some fruits.”

“It’s alright. I’m glad you came,” Yi Mian said, jumping out of the hospital bed in a vigorous manner. “Come here, I’ll make you some tea.”

There was a whole set of teacups on the table in the reception area. Yi Mian was very skilled. Ye Cang couldn’t taste tea, but he could still see that the tea was full of fragrance, and even sweet after tasting it.

Yi Mian looked at the two men and said with a smile, “I thought you were very busy recently. You should not have the time to come here today.”

Shen Huai: “I was a little busy. I originally planned to come here on the 15th.”

Why did he come earlier? Yi Mian knew the answer and was silent for a while before he said, “Fu Cheng was discovered by me eight years ago. Whether it was acting or appearance, he was exceptionally suitable for the big screen. I thought that when he honed his acting skills, I would let him go to a bigger company. At least there would be more opportunities, but I didn’t expect... He can’t help himself.”

Yi Mian laughed at himself, “But now the domestic film environment becomes more and more unsuitable for the survival of small companies. My daughter has been asking me to sell the company and move to the United States. I didn’t want to give up, but now, it’s time to make a decision.”

Shen Huai has never seen such a depressed Yi Mian. Even after he had a heart attack and was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, he was still in the mood to joke with him after he woke up.

He was afraid the matter with Fu Cheng had hit him harder than he thought.

The atmosphere got a bit depressed for a moment.

Yi Mian adjusted himself first and laughed, “Hey, I won’t say more. You just came here. I’ll ask the head nurse for a leave and take you out for a stroll. I’m staying in the sanatorium all day and feel like I am starting to grow mushrooms.”

Shen Huai couldn’t bear to refuse him. Fortunately, Yi Mian’s recent recuperation was very good, and Shen Huai looked very reliable, so the head nurse was very straightforward and approved the leave, but he needed to send Yi Mian back before the evening.

So Shen Huai rented another car and drove to the suburbs with Yi Mian and Ye Cang.

There is a film and television city on the outskirts of Yunshui city. Before the sanatorium of Yunshui city was built in the early years, Yi Mian had boldly invested a lot of money to build Yunshui Film and Television City here. After more than 20 years of changes, the film and television city, which was very modern at the beginning, got old and shabby. Compared with such a big film and television city like Shanyang, many new small film and television cities are far behind.

Shen Huai pushed the wheelchair to drive Yi Mian to the movie city.

He knows very well that Yi Mian attaches great importance to Yunshui Film and Television City, otherwise with so many good sanatoriums in the country, he wouldn’t stay in Yunshui all these years.

Yi Mian looked at every plant and tree in the movie city with nostalgia, as well as at those weather-beaten city walls and palaces, many of which were built by Yi Mian himself when he led the construction team.

He talked a little about the difficulties of building the film and television city in the beginning, as well as about the interesting things about filming there after it was built.

Shen Huai was surprised to find out that there were still people shooting on such a cold day, but these people were not mature and the photographic equipment in their hands didn’t look professional.

Yi Mian greeted them with a smile and said to Shen Huai, “His name is Shao Ning, a student from a nearby university. He has always liked movies, so during the winter vacation, he tried to make an online drama with some of his classmates. Don’t think of them as unprofessional, I still thought it was interesting after reading their script!”

Shao Ning had focused all of his attention on filming, so after seeing Yi Mian, he just waved and said hello, and then continued to direct seriously, but in the eyes of people like Shen Huai who have seen many professional directors, Shao Ning seemed no better than an amateur.

Yi Mian didn’t mind and still smiled. “Movies, in the end, are still a popular art. It’s about storytelling. Look at today’s big directors, good-quality cameras, advanced audio-visual and special effects. But the story is like a piece of shit, how can the audience pay for it!”

“I don’t think we made any money when we made a movie, but all of us worked together. Even though the picture was simple, the story was good. Even after so many years, some people still remember it!”

Yi Mian said happily, “I don’t know how many people have taken a fancy to this land before, and wanted me to sell it. I can’t seem to get along with money. But seeing Shao Ning and others still making movies here, I can’t bear to part ...”

Yi Mian rambled for a long time but received no response from Shen Huai. He couldn’t help but wonder. After a moment he looked up and discovered that he and Ye Cang were staring at the place where Shao Ning and the others were filming.

“What are you looking at?” Yi Mian wondered and looked at the place they were looking at, but he didn’t see anything interesting.

He didn’t know that in Shen Huai’s and Ye Cang’s eyes, there was an old man jumping up and down in the scene shot by Shao Ning.

“Stupid! It has been several days but he still can’t remember a few lines! Do you have a pig’s brain!? Ah, ah! You forgot your words again! I think even a pig’s brain is smarter than you, you just have a tofu pudding for a brain!”

“And you, what are you staring at! Acting like a black cat sheriff! Feelings! Don’t you have feelings ?! There should be a change in expression, the change shouldn’t make you look grotesque!! Keep your mouth shut!”

“You director! Where in the world did you find this bunch of straw bags? They have poor memory for lines and so stiff expressions that they can’t even move their eyes. A zombie dug up from the ground would act better than you!”

“I’m so mad!!!!”

Shen Huai coughed slightly, his eyes stiffly turning back to Yi Mian. “You never mentioned that Du Yuping had such a bad temper?”

Yi Mian: “??”