Chapter 131: The New China, Rebuilding from Scratch, How Can It Not Bring Tears to One’s Eyes
It wasn’t until the premiere began and the red carpet walk started that people inside and outside the industry, as well as the media, realized they had been teased by Shen Qing for months.
From the buzz generated by Zhang Liangying’s second album, “Wish,” to this battle between the director and the screenwriter, the focus never shifted from “My People, My Country.”
Without spending a single cent, they managed to promote “My People, My Country” to every city in the country?! And the popularity has been skyrocketing for the past half month!?
Where did you learn marketing tactics!!!
Is this what a marketing genius looks like?
At this very moment, someone was about to speak, and that was Zhang Yimou, who had spent over a hundred million on the promotion of “Curse of the Golden Flower.”
He smoked, utterly perplexed.
“Shen Qing, you brat, you’re not allowed to be this awesome next time, it makes me look stupid…”
…
Beijing was quite cold in winter.
But few artists could resist the enthusiasm for walking the red carpet, especially for projects with explosive attention.
The 123-meter red carpet led from the roadside to the cinema entrance, all the way to the screening hall door, symbolizing smooth sailing.
Reporters lined one side of the passage, while the other side was adorned with large posters built on scaffolding, featuring stills of all the main creators of “My People, My Country.”
The order of walking the red carpet was the same as the order of the film’s story. The first to take the stage was the small crew of “The Eve,” led by Feng Xiaogang.
Today, Old Feng had emerged from the shadow of the failure of “The Banquet.” The film, released exactly one month ago, had only grossed 86 million yuan. Coupled with his “unenthusiastic promotional attitude” and “embracing Shen Qing’s face,” he had thoroughly offended the Huayi brothers.
He had considered hosting dinners and apologizing to regain the trust of the Wang Brothers, but he didn’t want to grovel anymore.
After toiling for so many years, he had finally reached a point where no one called him “Feng Pants” anymore. If he went back to beg for shelter with his tail between his legs, wouldn’t he just become “Feng Pants” again?
Once he understood this, it was like a long bout of constipation finally resolving, and everything became clear.
He was completely free of the haggardness of the past few days, appearing as if he had come alive, greeting everyone with a cheerful smile.
“Director Feng, you seem very happy today. Do you have any expectations for the box office?”
A reporter with a loud voice asked.
Feng Xiaogang recognized the Sina reporter and waved his hand.
“Of course, I’m happy! It’s an honor to contribute an excellent main theme film to the country, so I have every reason to be happy. As for the box office you mentioned, I can’t say. Everything is up to the audience; they will vote with their wallets!”
Another reporter asked, “Can you comment on actors like Huang Bo?”
Feng Xiaogang turned back, looked at the small crew of “The Eve,” and laughed, “Huang Bo is spiritual, Jiang Wen is steady, Huang Xuan is talented, Hu Jun is imposing, Huang Xiaoming is handsome, Xu Fan is skilled and gentle… Haha, there are too many to mention. You’ll know once you watch the movie.”
Their group of over a dozen people stood for about ten minutes. Following them was the crew of “Encounter,” led by director Li Yang, along with Zhang Jiayi, Zhang Yi, Gao Yuanyuan, Jing Tian, and others.
Although it was already cold in Beijing in December.
It still couldn’t stop Yuanyuan and Tiantian from wearing their evening gowns.
Both wore off-the-shoulder dresses, revealing their snow-white shoulders, which turned rosy from the cold, looking so tender they could be squeezed for juice.
The media’s attention was mainly focused on the two of them, and they snapped photos furiously.
Afterwards.
Lou Ye and the crew of “Win the Championship,” Jiang Wen and the crew of “Return,” and Ning Hao and the crew of “Beijing, Hello!” appeared in succession.
Among this group, Fan Bingbing became the second focal point.
News of her falling out with Huayi had already spread recently, and everyone was curious about where she would go next.
“Bingbing, are you joining Qingying Studio?”
“I’d love to, it just depends on whether Boss Shen is willing to take me in.”
“Aren’t you afraid you won’t have any roles if you join Qingying?”
“No roles? Once you’ve seen ‘My People, My Country,’ you’ll see countless investors lining up to cooperate with Boss Shen! Besides, even if Boss Shen doesn’t let me act, I can still sing. Surely you wouldn’t question Shen Qing’s songwriting ability, right?”
The reporter thought to themselves: I’m questioning your singing ability, okay QAQ~
Additionally.
Jiang Wu, Hu Jun, Zhang Jiayi, and Kara Wai also received considerable attention.
After all the actors and directors had walked, Shen Qing, accompanied by Zhang Liangying, and well-wishers He Jiong, Wang Fei, Na Ying, Huang Zheng, as well as some people from Taihe Rye Music, jointly walked the red carpet.
…
At ten in the morning, the lights in the cinema dimmed.
The premiere began.
The clamor inside the cinema turned into anticipation. Feng Xiaogang, Gao Yuanyuan, Jing Tian, Fan Bingbing, Zhang Liangying, Huang Bo, and Ning Hao all looked particularly nervous.
They seemed even more nervous than when they first watched the film…
This must be anticipation!
They were well aware of the film’s quality; it was undoubtedly excellent. But the more confident they were in the film, the higher their damn expectations became.
They, more than Shen Qing, wanted the movie to be a hit, ideally like his second album “Wish,” breaking the domestic album sales ceiling and setting a new historical record.
If that happened, the status of everyone involved in this main theme film would immediately soar by several levels.
In the future, if anyone asked about their representative works, they could proudly say, “I acted in ‘My People, My Country’,” instead of damn “Apple” or “Baby Project,” nor “Phone” or the MV for “What I Miss.”
This was very important to them.
For an artist, how many representative works could they have in a lifetime?
As for Shen Qing, he appeared exceptionally calm at this moment, just like he was in the summer of 2005, sitting in the audience watching Zhang Liangying compete.
The big screen lit up…
After the dragon logo, a line of text appeared.
— Producer: Qingying Studio
Subsequently.
A red five-star flag appeared.
The red flag, the golden movie title, and the blue and white sky, when combined, evoked a feeling of tears welling up.
Especially when Zhang Liangying’s rendition of “My People, My Country” began to play, her ethereal, delicate, and highly narrative voice quickly drew the audience into a “red” atmosphere.
“Wow, I’m getting goosebumps right now.”
“Me too, Zhang Liangying’s singing combined with these visuals makes me want to cry…”
“What a beautiful scene.”
“Shen Qing did the opening! Shen Qing truly is a stylist; the use of visuals and colors is amazing.”
“…”
The opening of “The Eve” was particularly elegant. White Xuan paper was spread out, and a brush appeared, writing: The People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949.
This scene once again heightened the audience’s anticipation.
The more than 200 people in the cinema could be described as staring intently.
The plot hadn’t even begun, and they were already captivated. Only the “main theme” genre could achieve this.
After these scenes, the story of “The Eve” officially began.
…
The day before the ceremony, many spies were arrested.
Minister Luo: “The nation’s responsibility, no matter how careful, something still happened right under our noses. Announce it: tomorrow is the ceremony, the entire two-kilometer radius around the square will be sealed off…”
At three in the afternoon, the entire square was under martial law.
But Beijing was bustling with activity.
Several shots swept across the streets, showing figures rushing about, everyone busy preparing for tomorrow’s Founding Ceremony.
This scene of a nation rebuilding brought tears to the eyes.
A new China was about to be born in their hands. It was hard to imagine how passionate the participants in that era must have been!
But at this moment, the electric flagpole malfunctioned, instantly heightening the tension.
The audience’s emotions were like riding a roller coaster…
What could be done?
Only 16 hours remained until the Founding Ceremony.
When the protagonist Huang Bo uttered the line, “I can’t guarantee with 100% certainty that the flagpole won’t have problems,” the audience’s hearts clenched.
It was a very strange feeling…
Even though many people knew that the flag-raising ceremony at the Founding Ceremony went smoothly, they were still moved by the current plot.
Perhaps everyone wanted to know the story behind the flag-raising ceremony.
The protagonist played by Huang Bo, Lin Zhiyuan, had a historical prototype. He was the person in charge of the electric flag-raising at the Founding Ceremony and later became the deputy director of the Beijing Urban Design Institute.
This small story was adapted from his experiences.
The scene shifted, beginning to recall events from September 15th, which was half a month before the Founding Ceremony.
At that time, Lin Zhiyuan had built a flagpole one-third the size and a third of the wiring to conduct a simulation test of the plan.
There were two difficulties.
First, how to ensure that the Chairman could smoothly press the flag-raising button?
This issue required ensuring the circuit from the TAM city gate to the flagpole was unobstructed and unbroken.
This was not too complicated, as long as there was no human sabotage.
Second, how to ensure the knob in front of the Chairman had no issues, and also, how to let the Chairman know how to turn the knob.
After reviewing his identity and resume, Lin Zhiyuan was ultimately placed behind the Chairman to teach him how to turn the knob.
Second, how to ensure the flag automatically stopped upon reaching the top?
It should be noted that New China at this period was poor and blank, with no automatic flag-raising device, so it had to be designed from scratch.
It was easy to make the flag rise; only a motor, bearings, and pulleys were needed.
But stopping precisely at the top was difficult.
Lin Zhiyuan welded a small steel ball to the top of the flagpole, and a steel needle to the top of the flag. When the flag rose to the top, the steel needle touched the small steel ball, causing a short circuit, thus cutting off power and stopping the flag’s ascent.
They tested it repeatedly at the test site with no major issues. They also tested it four times at TAM Square, all successfully passing.
However, a problem occurred during the test at 0:00 on October 1st…
Due to the long welding time of the steel ball, it had rusted from rainwater erosion. The force of the flagpole’s ascent directly caused the welding point of the blocking ball to break, and the flag got tangled in the pulley.
Lin Zhiyuan’s first thought was: It’s over!
With only 6 hours left until the final inspection, if it failed, they would have to raise the flag manually. Even if the higher-ups didn’t blame him, he would blame himself for the rest of his life.
What to do?
At this point, Huang Xiaoming, playing the assistant Liang Changshou, said, “The batch of steel balls we have are rusted to varying degrees, and the welding points have become very fragile. The emergency solution is to add silicon, chromium, and nickel to turn it into steel…”
But at this time, all departments were poor and extremely busy, and no one could solve these issues for them.
Liang Changshou climbed to the rooftop and shouted through a megaphone, “Fellow villagers, we urgently need alloys of silicon, chromium, and nickel. Does anyone have an electronic tube radio, cupronickel, or other related metals… For the flag-raising ceremony of the Founding Ceremony, please help us…”
Meanwhile, Lin Zhiyuan and Du Xinghan, a security officer for the Fourth Field Army’s old commander, sat in a room encouraging each other.
Du Xinghan: “I reported the situation to the old commander of the Fourth Field Army. They are now sending a battalion of soldiers to search the entire city for the silicon and nickel you need, Old Lin. Don’t give up; there are always more solutions than difficulties, aren’t there?”
Wang Qianyuan delivered this dialogue with tears welling up. He put himself in the shoes of those in that era and couldn’t help but be moved, how could he not be moved to tears?!
