Chapter 295: On Mars, Target Survives
Hearing this, Shi Jinwei sat back in her seat with a nose that’s not a nose and eyes that aren’t eyes, crossing her legs and saying nothing.
Chi Ye didn’t pay attention to her and started chatting simply with Li Qian about the Mars Rescue role issue.
Li Qian had already tested the scenes a few days ago. After all, as the former Golden Horse Film Empress, her performance and acting skills were all on point, fully capable of supporting the female lead’s character design and acting.
The reason she came this time actually signaled the start of filming for Mars Rescue, and Li Qian was here to join the crew.
Shi Jinwei was also here to join the crew, but she was a guest star, and wouldn’t stay for long.
They chatted until dark, and Mars Rescue director Guo Feng called everyone to have dinner together. All the main creators of the crew were present today for a formal meeting to get to know each other.
During this time, Sister Qianzi kept a stinky face, as if someone owed her a billion, looking not very enthusiastic.
Her little assistant, who knew her well, stayed by her side and took the opportunity to comfort her: “Sis, the way Chi Ge treats you just shows he doesn’t treat you as an outsider.”
“Look, why doesn’t he treat Li Qian like that? That’s because Li Qian isn’t as close to him as you are. Didn’t you see Li Qian keep looking at you and Chi Ge?”
Shi Jinwei: “…”
She said indifferently: “You don’t need to gaslight me.”
“…Sis, how could this be gaslighting? Weren’t you enjoying it yourself?”
Shi Jinwei: “?”
The little assistant realized she had said the wrong thing, quickly covered her mouth, and tried to save face: “Uh… I mean, this isn’t gaslighting, it’s the truth. If you don’t believe me, look at Li Qian… there.”
Sister Qianzi’s eyes subtly glanced at Li Qian not far away.
Actually, no need for the little assistant to say it, ever since Chi Ye had “roasted” her a few sentences upon meeting, Li Qian’s gaze had indeed been flickering on and off between the two of them, with an unclear emotion.
But it was certain that she was quite surprised by Chi Ye’s attitude toward Shi Jinwei, and… Shi Jinwei’s reaction.
To most people, Chi Ye’s casualness toward Shi Jinwei earlier indeed showed that their private relationship was more “close.”
Otherwise, who would say “don’t just sit idle” right upon meeting?
To be honest, Li Qian was a bit envious of this relationship, because when she met Chi Ye, Shi Jinwei probably didn’t have such a good relationship with him yet… she didn’t know what happened, but it progressed so fast.
And precisely because she sensed Li Qian’s “envious” gaze, Sister Qianzi felt a mix of joy and gritted teeth.
Especially after the little assistant pointed it out, it gave her a “shocked and angry” feeling like her pants had been pulled off.
Very shameful, very “angry”!
What’s wrong with me? The worse his attitude toward me, the happier I get…
Am I crazy?!
Am I really this masochistic?!
Shi Jinwei fell into deep thought and self-reflection.
She felt she was sick; whenever she encountered Chi Ye, this illness became particularly prominent and obvious.
“In short, I’m a newcomer, and everyone here is a senior and big name. President Chi values us so much this time by entrusting such a big, very important project to our team.”
At the dinner table, Guo Feng was usually the silent type, a tech nerd, not good with words.
But after drinking, he became a completely different person, more emotional and passionately enthusiastic—enthusiastic about the work.
He seemed to have a obsession and love for sci-fi films that ordinary people couldn’t understand.
He wiped his eyes, and this big man actually cried in front of more than a dozen main creators: “Just for scouting locations this time, we traveled the whole world… including later construction and filming, casting… this project’s preparations have been long. For this, I called President Chi multiple times in the middle of the night and got scolded by him…”
“Hey, don’t talk nonsense, I never insult people.”
Chi Ye had been listening seriously, but upon hearing this, he immediately stood up to deny: “Everyone knows, I’m a civilized person.”
Everyone: “…”
Yes, you don’t insult people, does this mouth of yours even need to?
As soon as you open your mouth, nothing good happens.
Such a good person, why does he have a mouth!
“Fine, not insulting… not insulting, it’s roasting me… roasting.” Guo Feng swayed, on the first night of the Mars Rescue project officially launching, he was already excitedly disoriented.
“During this time, I found all the big stars in the industry suitable for the roles for President Chi… most were rejected, but in the end, excellent actors like Ling Bingbing… Li Qian came for auditions.”
“Ling Bingbing, everyone, I really didn’t expect my first sci-fi film to have Ling Bingbing come for an audition…”
He rambled on for a long time, but no one could listen anymore, because the others were also drunk, swaying all over. The only sober ones on site were probably Li Qian who couldn’t drink due to health reasons, Shi Jinwei with her high tolerance, and Chi Ye whom no one dared to pour drinks for.
“…Have their assistants come pick them up and send them back to their rooms.”
One o’clock in the morning.
Chi Ye surveyed the mess, looked at Xiao Liu who had also drunk a bit, and beckoned to Shi Jinwei: “You go call.”
“Chi Ye, what do you take me for?”
Sister Qianzi felt pleased inside but couldn’t help rebelling: “I’m not from your company, why do you keep ordering me around?”
Chi Ye looked at her: “Can’t I order you?”
Shi Jinwei felt a bit guilty, but then cursed herself for being both incompetent and playful, why fear him?
Meeting Chi Ye’s gaze, she puffed out her impressive chest: “No.”
“In the billing order for guest stars, you’re after the dog.”
Shi Jinwei: “?!”
“There’s a dog in this movie?!”
Li Qian, who had been biting her lips watching them, was surprised: “How come I didn’t know.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Chi Ye apologized: “I misspoke, you’re after Sister Shang and Xia Xia, you’re third!”
Shi Jinwei: “…No, you promised me I’d be first for the guest starring!”
Chi Ye grinned: “I changed my mind.”
Shi Jinwei gnashed her teeth: “Chi Ye, you’re really shameless. You only bully me. You insisted I come for this movie, and now you’re going back on your word, you… you…”
“In the guest starring row, give you a spot, go help out, okay?”
Chi Ye saw that he’d teased her enough for today; any more and Sister Qianzi might really turn and leave. Plus, his tolerance wasn’t great, his head was a bit dizzy now, so he waved: “I’m a bit thirsty.”
“…If you can’t drink, don’t.”
Shi Jinwei glanced at him, turned to call the other staff.
Ten minutes later, she returned with a few crew members, only to see Li Qian bending over holding a familiar water cup catching water, her full figure straining tightly, softly asking: “Boss Chi, I mixed some hot water for you, temperature just right.”
“Thanks.”
Chi Ye took the water cup, looked up, and met Shi Jinwei’s gaze.
Shi Jinwei: “…”
Bastard!
She was silent for two seconds, then turned and walked toward the door.
Chi Ye called out: “Don’t go yet, help me one more time…”
“I’ll call Jin Xia for you, have her come take care of you tomorrow, Boss Chi~”
Chi Ye: “…”
Li Qian stood up a bit awkwardly: “Um… I… I’ll head back too.”
“Okay, thanks for the hard work.”
Chi Ye was indeed parched now, having drunk three or four cups of water continuously, he took the disposable paper cup and gulped it down.
“…Don’t drink so fast, not good for the stomach.”
Li Qian advised, then felt Shi Jinwei’s earlier words were too direct, a bit embarrassed to stay, greeted a few groggy people, and left the room.
Chi Ye glanced at Guo Feng still muttering “Our movie will explode!” “Change the landscape of Chinese sci-fi films,” feeling a headache.
—Buddy, with your sorry state, are you sure you can change the landscape of Chinese sci-fi films?
I want to “change” you first right now.
…
Mars Rescue is a classic hard sci-fi film—after Guo Feng and Chi Ye consulted many national professional institutions and scientists, the Mars Rescue script can now fully be called a hard sci-fi work.
Precisely because of this, the higher-ups provided more and more help and “resources,” finally launching this project at this time.
Otherwise, with Chi Ye’s “personal” efforts alone, it would take at least another half year to prepare.
And its story is equally simple.
—A man’s story of growing potatoes on Mars.
A human astronaut team encounters a catastrophic accident during the “Zhu Rong 3” mission survey on Mars.
A sudden violent dust storm forces the mission to abort emergently, with the team evacuating hastily.
Chinese botanist Ma Mo is hit by antenna debris while executing the evacuation order, his vital signs disappear, and he’s mistaken for dead by his teammates.
The commander, unable to confirm Ma Mo’s status and with the spaceship about to capsize, painfully leads the other team members to evacuate Mars and return to the “Vulcan” mothership in Earth orbit.
Ma Mo didn’t die.
He miraculously wakes up after the dust storm, finding himself abandoned alone on Mars.
At this point, the base is damaged, communications cut off, supplies limited（ only enough for one person’s short-term survival）, the next Mars mission（ Zhu Rong 4） won’t arrive for four years.
Thus, Ma Mo begins his four-year survival life on Mars.
He uses his expertise as a botanist and engineer to devise an extremely challenging survival plan.
During this time, he shows the unique humor, optimism, and positive spirit of Chinese people. Chi Ye’s lines in this aspect are almost pure natural talent; in this regard, the character Ma Mo can be said to “perfectly fit” him.
At the same time, he starts cultivating potatoes bit by bit, experiencing various thrilling and fun accidents along the way. Finally, NASA satellite images keenly detect signs of human activity on Mars’ surface, speculating Ma Mo may still be alive, causing a global sensation.
This kicks off a major climax in the latter half of the film. During this, not only China’s CNSA family members come to rescue, but global resources including the United States achieve a globally watched “live broadcast” effect, symbolizing the borderless nature of sci-fi films.
At the end of the film, Ma Mo safely returns to Earth, becoming a hero in the spotlight. As a veteran astronaut, he imparts knowledge and experience to the new generation of trainees, emphasizing the “Mars Rescue” spirit of never giving up.
The entire film actually has many plot points worth detailing, and almost all the highlights are Ma Mo’s own.
Why does everyone say Mars Rescue is a “main male protagonist” movie?
Just look at the plot above, it’s impossible not to be “main male protagonist.”
So this filming is a challenge for Chi Ye Team, as they’ve never shot a sci-fi blockbuster of this level.
It’s a challenge for Guo Feng’s team, as this is their first lesson turning theory into practice, and also the first test Chi Ye set for them.
For Chi Ye, it’s also a huge challenge.
—He will play a role he’s never had experience with, breathe life into it, with the first full-film “presence” role.
“Ma Mo’s personality is very optimistic; he’s an outgoing person. Though he breaks down, he’s never self-abandoning, so his hairstyle must show this effect, not too idolized…”
Five days later.
Mars Rescue officially starts filming in XJ.
Chi Ye Team finalizes the role makeup and styling, completes the shooting of the first batch of individual movie role posters.
Afterward, the entire crew operates like a precision machine.
…
That evening.
The newly registered Mars Rescue official Weibo, with fan count under a thousand, posted about Mars Rescue starting filming, and Chi Ye’s role finalized poster（ other roles will be released one by one every interval per publicity strategy）.
@Movie Mars Rescue: #Mars Rescue Starts Filming#『Poster Image』
【Official role poster released! Solitude·Tenacity·Hope·Assembly·Expedition!】
In the deep red poster, Chi Ye wears a spacesuit covered in red Mars dust, standing on the vast, orange-red barren Mars surface.
A massive crashed spaceship, landing module wreckage casting long, lonely shadows behind him.
He slightly turns sideways, helmet visor open, eyes staring straight at the lens, mixing tenacity and a trace of fatigue, but his mouth corners slightly upturned—not smiling, more like crying, yet not bringing sadness.
A… very contradictory complex emotion.
These clearly opposite emotions on the same face feel not discordant at all; the first impression is that this person might be miserable, but it’s a “comedy.”
Next is the second poster, Chi Ye carefully holds a vibrant green potato seedling with a gloved hand.
This burst of vibrant green on the desolate red earth becomes the most dazzling, moving symbol of hope!
The poster background clearly shows the pitted Mars terrain and distant horizon.
Seeing this, Chi Ye, with his over 60 million fans account, reposted the official Weibo and captioned:
【On Mars, just landed the spaceship, planting potatoes, welding steel plates, messing with rockets… main job—staying alive!】
