Chapter 0299: A Joke

A man said to himself, I want to see you!

Zhao Fusheng nearly threw his phone away, but he managed to calm down and asked curiously, "Who is this?"

"Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Jiang Wen, and I'm a director."

The person on the other end of the line identified himself, then chuckled and said, "I saw that little story you wrote. I really like it, and I want to turn it into a film."

"Huh?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned, realizing what was going on.

When he was bored in the hotel, he recalled a film he had seen called *Devils on the Doorstep* and casually wrote a story outline.

But after writing it, he remembered that the film seemed to be adapted from a novel and was apparently a banned film, so he threw away the paper with the outline.

He hadn't expected Wang Zhonglei to have such a hobby.

Zhao Fusheng had a deep impression of Jiang Wen, a man who excelled both as an actor and a director. He remembered reading an interview with him where he told the reporter, "Film should be wine, even if it's just a sip, it has to be wine. Many of the things we shoot are grapes, very fresh grapes, still frosted. We should turn grapes into wine, not just settle for making glass after glass of fresh grape juice."

Thus, his films often polarized audiences in terms of both reputation and box office.

And now, this guy had his eye on *Devils on the Doorstep*.

"Planner Zhao, where are you now?" Jiang Wen asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was startled and replied casually, "My home is in Ninghai, I'm in Ninghai. What's up?"

"How about this: I'll fly over today, and we can talk face to face. Is that okay?" Jiang Wen said eagerly.

He genuinely liked this story. In his opinion, if it were made into a film, it would be brilliant.

This guy was also an impatient type.

Zhao Fusheng nodded helplessly: "Alright, come on over."

After all, the man was a director and a well-known actor, a figure in the entertainment industry. Zhao Fusheng didn't want to offend him, especially since Wang Zhonglei had personally called him, clearly hoping for a discussion. For Zhao Fusheng, he didn't mind collaborating with Jiang Wen, but the problem was that he couldn't remember the specific details of the film, only a general outline.

*Devils on the Doorstep* is set in a remote village called Guatai near the Shanhaiguan Pass at the end of the Anti-Japanese War. One night, villager Ma Dasan is in bed with the village's pretty young widow, Yu'er, when someone knocks on the door. He drops two sacks containing prisoners into Ma Dasan's house—one is a Japanese officer, Hanaya Kosaburo, and the other is a translator, Dong Hanchen. The man promised to retrieve them in eight days, but then there was no news...

After the two prisoners had been kept in the village for a while, the villagers discussed executing them to avoid trouble. The Japanese soldier Hanaya Kosaburo initially resolved to die for his country and asked the translator to teach him some curse words so that Ma Dasan would kill him. But the translator, to save his own skin, taught him flattering phrases instead. So Hanaya fiercely said, 'Brother and sister-in-law, Happy New Year! You are my master, I am your son!'

After several failed attempts to execute them, the villagers decided that the two were fated to live and continued to hold them secretly in the village.

Six months later, Hanaya Kosaburo decided to repay Ma Dasan and the villagers for sparing his life. He proposed a deal: the villagers would return him and the translator to the gendarmerie, and in exchange, the Japanese army would provide two cartloads of grain. At Ma Dasan's urging, after some discussion, the villagers accepted Hanaya's terms and signed an agreement.

Everyone escorted the two prisoners back to the gendarmerie. When they arrived at the Japanese gendarmerie headquarters and were negotiating with the Japanese, chaos suddenly erupted: the village donkey that had pulled their cart went into heat, leaped up, and mounted a Japanese gendarmerie horse in public...

Although the Japanese gendarmerie captain felt it was an insult to the spirit of bushido, he still agreed to honor the agreement and led his troops to deliver the grain to Guatai. When the grain arrived, the Japanese gathered the entire village, young and old, to drink and celebrate, sharing food and drink. But halfway through the celebration, the Japanese suddenly began a frenzied massacre of the villagers, turning the entire village into a bloody slaughterhouse. Then they set fire to the mountain village, reducing it to ashes.

In this catastrophe, only Ma Dasan and the pregnant Yu'er survived. Soon, the army arrived. They first publicly tried and executed the translator Dong Hanchen, then took over most of the Japanese prisoners, including Hanaya's unit.

One rainy day, Ma Dasan disguised himself as a tobacco peddler, rushed into the Japanese prisoner camp with a sharp axe, and hacked at everyone he saw, killing and wounding several Japanese. He was eventually captured by Nationalist soldiers and sentenced to death.

The judge was the same Nationalist officer who had sentenced Dong Hanchen a few days earlier. He ruled that Ma Dasan's actions violated the recently issued international treaty, the Potsdam Proclamation. On the day of the sentencing, many people gathered to watch. As the officer was speaking, a pig crawled under the crotch of a soldier maintaining order and flipped him over, causing the onlookers to burst into laughter.

Then Ma Dasan was beheaded in front of the indifferent crowd, with the executioner being none other than Hanaya Kosaburo, who had once lived with them day and night.

The baseness of human nature is fully realized in this film, or rather, the director presents a scene that is too real.

And now the problem was that Jiang Wen was going to make this film.

Zhao Fusheng remembered clearly that in the original timeline, after making this film, the guy was banned from filmmaking for five years. So no matter what, Zhao Fusheng definitely wouldn't board Jiang Wen's ship.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng tightened his grip on the phone, considering how to persuade Jiang Wen.

He spent the whole day thinking about it. When Fan Baobao came back in the afternoon and mentioned going out again tomorrow, Zhao Fusheng answered absentmindedly, completely out of it.

"What's he thinking about?" Fan Baobao wondered, but she didn't ask further.

In her mind, Zhao Fusheng was probably thinking about the advertising campaign and had no time for her.

Little did she know, Zhao Fusheng was indeed thinking about something, but it was about Jiang Wen.

The next morning, as soon as Zhao Fusheng came downstairs, he saw Fan Baobao sitting on the sofa staring at him.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked curiously, walking to the fridge to grab a bottle of water and taking a sip. He liked cold water; it had been his habit for years.

"Get ready, we're leaving now," Fan Baobao said, standing up.

Zhao Fusheng looked confused: "Where to?"

Clearly, he had no idea what she meant by leaving.

"I told you yesterday, today is our college reunion," Fan Baobao blinked. "You didn't forget, did you?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled awkwardly and silently rubbed his head. To be honest, he really hadn't remembered what Fan Baobao had told him yesterday; his mind had been full of how to persuade Jiang Wen not to make *Devils on the Doorstep*, and he hadn't thought about anything else.

And from the look of things, if he said he wasn't going, Fan Baobao would blow up in no time.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: "How could I? I was just thinking about something else."

"What?" Fan Baobao looked at him suspiciously. After all these years together, she knew him too well; whenever he lied, he couldn't help looking left and right.

"Nothing, just a story I wrote earlier. A director from Beijing took a liking to it and wants to make a film," Zhao Fusheng told the truth.

"A director from Beijing wants to make a film based on your story?" Fan Baobao was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help laughing: "Hahahaha, that's the funniest joke I've ever heard."

Zhao Fusheng's expression stiffened instantly: "Is it that funny?"

"Yes," the straightforward girl Fan Baobao nodded immediately, and quite emphatically.

Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt he really should strangle this girl.

"Can't you be a little more tactful? A girl laughing 'hahaha' all day—don't you know what restraint and subtlety mean?" Zhao Fusheng said helplessly to Fan Baobao.

But after saying that, he felt something was off.

Fan Baobao looked at Zhao Fusheng strangely. After he said that, he actually blushed. What was going on?

"What's wrong with you?" Fan Baobao asked, puzzled. "Is it just because I laughed a bit loudly? Don't worry, I'll be restrained and subtle from now on, okay?"

Zhao Fusheng coughed dryly, deciding not to dwell on this issue any longer. Otherwise, if Fan Baobao caught on, today might easily become his death day.

After all, he had witnessed her going berserk more than once.

"Wait for me. I'll wash up, and then we'll go," Zhao Fusheng said to Fan Baobao.

He didn't know when Jiang Wen would arrive in Ninghai, but from Beijing, it would be at least noon or afternoon. Besides, he didn't think Jiang Wen would come that quickly; it was just a film script, nothing too dramatic.

Fan Baobao nodded: "Get ready, no rush. We're meeting at eleven."

Then she gritted her teeth and said to Zhao Fusheng, "You better behave today. If you mess up, I guarantee you won't have a good time!"

Frowning, Zhao Fusheng walked toward the bathroom, silently guessing that this reunion meal wasn't going to be easy.

Ten to one, this was another Hongmen Banquet.