Rebirth on the Doors to the Civil Affairs Bureau

27

When she arrived at the entrance, she saw several women huddling near the trash cans, pale-faced.

“Excuse me, is Director Liu in here?” Yu Dong asked a staff member standing nearby.

“Yes.”

“May I go in?” Yu Dong asked.

The staff member glanced at Yu Dong and hesitated, saying: “The scene they’re shooting right now is rather frightening, I can go call him out for you instead.”

How scary is this show? Yu Dong’s curiosity was piqued.

“It’s alright, I came all the way here already, I’d better just go to him.” Yu Dong said.

“Alright then!” The staff member pointed to a direction and said, “Both Director Zhao and Director Liu are that way.”

Yu Dong thanked the man and went in.

As she approached, she heard 2 men quarreling, their voices loud.

“I’m telling you Zhao, you’re not going to be able to distribute this.” It was obviously Director Liu saying this.

“It’s called realism, doesn’t film-making have to be logical and realistic?” Director Zhao retorted, “Do you think that a few historically accurate costumes are enough to show realism? That it doesn’t matter how you show a person dying, that the corners of their mouths showing blood is enough?”

“You dare talk back, this scene is so bloody you’ll have to mosaic the whole thing to be able to broadcast it.” Director Liu shot back.

“Then I won’t broadcast it in China, I’ll go abroad.”

“You bull-tempered-”
Knock knock!

“Director Liu!” Yu Dong interrupted the violent discussion.

“Yu Dong?” Director Liu saw her and realized, “Oh, that’s right, I asked to see a sample of the dubbing today.”

“I brought a few samples for you to look at. If there’s a problem, please don’t hesitate to tell me, we can adjust it anytime.” Yu Dong passed the samples to him.

Director Liu nodded as he accepted them.

“Huh?” Yu Dong inadvertently saw Director Zhao’s screen and suddenly felt that the scene was a little familiar.

“Scared?” Director Liu laughs.

“No, it just looks a little familiar.” Yu Dong thought about it for a while, but she couldn’t remember where she’d seen it no matter how hard she tried.

“You’ve seen it?” Director Zhao heard Yu Dong’s response and thought it was a bit strange. The scene was arranged by the original screenwriter, it would be reasonable to say that no one should have ever seen it before.

“It’s just somewhat familiar.” Yu Dong was still struggling to remember.

Just then a slender teenager came in with a bucket of fake blood. His eyes brightened at the sight of Yu Dong, and with a sunny laugh he called out: “Sister!”

“It’s you!” Yu Dong was shocked when she saw the teenage boy.

“Sister, did you come to see me make a movie?” The teenager happily walked towards them.

“You’re making a movie?” Yu Dong was surprised.

“Weren’t you the one who recommended me to an investor?” The teenager winked at her.

Yu Dong remembered the previous events and asked, “So Alan really invested.”

“Yes!” The teenager nodded with a smile. “He also got Director Zhao to be Chief of Director and Editor Wang to help me revise the script.”