The charcoal in the copper pot had burned down to only a few scattered embers, and a wisp of white smoke curled up from the chimney, mixing with the strong aroma of mutton and the richness of sesame paste, condensing into a thin mist under the chandelier.
On the table lay several plates of wilted cabbage leaves, while vermicelli and tofu had settled at the bottom of the pot, forming a layer of oil film, and the rim of the bowl still had half a piece of frozen mutton tail fat stuck to it...
Ning Hao was exchanging contact information with Wu Chen and Pu Songri, then he said, "Teacher Mu, then Ai'na and I will take our leave first."
"Mm, alright, go ahead and be busy," Mu Deyuan nodded.
"Junior Brother, keep in touch," Ning Hao said with a smile, then left the private room with Xing Ai'na.
"That junior brother of yours is truly something."
As soon as they stepped out of the private room, Xing Ai'na couldn't help but say, "His script is even more professional than those written by our Literature Department!"
"He really is something. To be honest, the scripts I wrote in my first and second years of graduate school weren't as good as his."
"Oh, come on, even your current scripts aren't as good as his. Look at how well-structured his writing is; learn from it. If you truly want to be a great director, you can't ignore the details!"
Upon hearing this, Xing Ai'na couldn't help but retort.
"That's why I have you," Ning Hao lightly nudged Xing Ai'na's arm, grinning.
"Corny," Xing Ai'na said, but her face was full of smiles, clearly enjoying it immensely.
"Oh, right, regarding that script of yours that you haven't polished yet, if it's suitable, you could ask your junior brother for help. We're all from the same school, and you understand Teacher Mu's meaning: after graduation, we'll all need to help each other..."
"I know, but there's no rush. That movie's investment isn't that small. If no one invests, it won't be able to start anytime soon. I should still think about how to do another small project."
Ning Hao sighed, looking up at the sky, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Although "incense" was considered a success, raising investment wasn't easy, and a big project wouldn't be given to a small director like him.
Which way should this path go...?
Seeing this, Xing Ai'na suddenly rushed forward, faced Ning Hao, and shouted loudly, "Ning Hao, you will definitely succeed, definitely..."
Ning Hao gazed at Xing Ai'na, and at this moment, he felt as if his eyes were covered with a layer of mist, but his heart had never held such strong conviction.
However, due to Xing Ai'na's voice, the surrounding gazes also gathered at this time.
In the end, it was Xing Ai'na who was thin-skinned, and she shyly pulled Ning Hao away quickly.
On the way, Xing Ai'na couldn't help but ask:
"Ning Hao, do you believe what I just said?"
"I believe!" Ning Hao nodded solemnly.
"Then let's work hard together!"
"Mm!"
"....."
At this moment, Mu Deyuan, Wu Chen, and Pu Songri also walked out of the private room. A gust of cold wind, carrying the smell of coal ash, swirled in from outside the door, dispelling the last trace of warmth.
The three of them happened to see the scene between Xing Ai'na and Ning Hao not far away.
"Senior Brother Ning Hao and Senior Sister Xing have such a good relationship," Wu Chen said with a smile, standing at the doorway.
Upon hearing this, Pu Songri nodded repeatedly like a pecking chick.
Mu Deyuan watched the two walk away with satisfaction, "Let's go, it's time to head back!"
Back at school, Wu Chen first went back to the dorm with Pu Songri, because the storyboard was in the dorm, and Wu Chen had to go get it first.
"Chen Ge, do you think your script has any hope?"
Pu Songri glanced around, and seeing no one nearby, he quietly asked.
"I don't know. I'll do my best and leave the rest to fate. If it really doesn't work out, then it'll just be a bit later."
Wu Chen replied with a smile. He had two plans in mind; the best scenario, of course, was to get resources from the school.
However, if that didn't work, he would have to rely on himself, which would likely delay things by about half a year.
"Chen Ge, don't worry, even if the school doesn't give money, I'll lend it to you, and I don't want any share," Pu Songri immediately said, but then he scratched his head and scuffed his feet on the ground, "It's just a little bit, I'm afraid you'll dislike it."
"How much is it?" Wu Chen was also curious.
"Over ten thousand, with some effort, I can probably gather around twenty thousand," Pu Songri whispered, "If I tell my family I'm buying some equipment, I might even get a bit more."
"That's not bad, Songri, you're quite well-off!"
Wu Chen was a bit surprised too. In fact, for those who came to the Film Academy, their families couldn't possibly be dirt poor. For departments like Photography Department, buying a film SLR camera was a necessity.
And a Minolta X-700, even used, would cost nearly a thousand, plus a standard lens for five hundred, totaling about fifteen hundred.
And for consumables like Kodak TRI-X 400 black and white film, the school couldn't provide that much; most of it had to be bought personally.
Tripods, light meters, wide-angle lenses, telephoto lenses, all sorts of miscellaneous items, even if they were all entry-level and second-hand, would easily add up to several thousand.
One must know that the average monthly salary in Beijing at that time was only about 2000 yuan.
"It's all what I've saved up, plus the red envelopes from the graduation banquet..."
"I don't want to expose you, but I'm afraid most of it is from the graduation banquet red envelopes, right?" Wu Chen teased. Wu Chen had a rough idea of Pu Songri's family background, as they occasionally talked about it when chatting.
His family's business was related to oil, and his relatives weren't poor, but they were still far from being extremely rich; they were considered a well-off family.
"Chen Ge, you really understand me."
Pu Songri showed no embarrassment at being exposed; after all, they were buddies.
"You keep that money for now. If I really need it, I won't be polite."
"Mm!"
"......"
Just then, Wu Chen's Motorola V750 suddenly rang.
"I need to take a call, it's my mom!" Wu Chen glanced at the screen and stopped walking.
"Oh, okay!"
"Mom!"
"Xiao Chen, are you getting used to school? I heard it's cold in Beijing, so wear more clothes. If your clothes aren't warm enough, buy some. If you want to wear your thick clothes from home, Mom can send them over..."
Wu Chen remembered that in his previous life, during high school, he had tried many times to get his parents to stop calling him Xiao Chen, but old habits die hard. Even after he started working, they never changed how they addressed him.
But in this life, he felt those two words were especially warm.
"Mom, I'm warm. There's heating indoors, and the weather here isn't as cold as you imagine, so don't worry," Wu Chen replied with a smile.
"That's good!"
"Oh, right, I might return a few days later during this winter break. I have a movie project here... I'm thinking of using this time to prepare more!"
"Mm, are you short on money? Your father and I don't understand anything about movies, so we can't help you much. But your father still has some money..."
"I'm not short. The school might help with the project, so you two can rest assured. If I really need it, I'll ask. Keep it for buying leather materials. The distributors are holding onto our family's funds, and the price of cowhide keeps rising!"
Wu Chen really didn't want his family to spend money, mainly because the return on investment in the film industry was too slow, and although his family ran a small factory, their actual working capital relied on a single cash flow.
Because their current leather shoes were sold through export channels to Russia, but there was also a domestic distributor in between, and they usually had to wait a month for payment settlement, so the cash flow was always tight.
"Sigh, the leather shoe industry is just like this. If we don't do it, other factories will. When the market is good, there's nothing we can do about delayed payments..."
"Sister Yuan, how do we deal with this new material? Come and take a look!" Wu Chen clearly heard the voice of a factory worker through the cell phone.
The person called Sister Yuan was Wu Chen's mother, Yuan Xiaoqin.
"Coming, coming," Yuan Xiaoqin held her cell phone, waved to the people in the workshop, and then said, "Mom's going to work now, remember to take care of yourself out there."
"Got it, Mom, you too. And tell Dad to smoke less, it's not good for his health."
"......"