Chapter 0781: Filming Begins

"Man is a reed that thinks." This sentence comes from Pascal's "Knowing a Reed That Thinks." As one of the classic works of modern European philosophical prose, this essay teaches us a truth: what makes man noble is precisely his awareness of his own fragility. To think from a position of smallness and humility is the entire dignity of being human.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, Gao Qun's choice was perfectly fine. Compromise is not a derogatory term, especially when a man chooses to compromise for his family and career. In Zhao Fusheng's eyes, if it were him, he would make the same choice. If someone threatened him with the lives of his parents or lover, he would undoubtedly choose to cooperate without hesitation.

Idealism is beautiful, but having experienced many things in later times, Zhao Fusheng could not bring himself to sacrifice the self. Sorry, he couldn't do it.

In a country where even Yue Fei cannot be considered a national hero, well, Zhao Fusheng felt it was better to take care of himself.

With the male lead confirmed, the formation of the crew naturally sped up. Half a month later, just as Dong Chenxi had requested, the crew for "Conquest" was assembled, and the opening ceremony was officially held.

"Um, dare you change your outfit? Li Mei is rebellious, but not like this." Zhao Fusheng looked helplessly at Fan Baobao. Because filming started today, Fan Baobao had suddenly taken it upon herself to dress up.

But the problem was, who knew what she was thinking? She had actually put on a smoky eye makeup, the kind Avril Lavigne often wore, looking rather worldly, like a little witch.

"What's wrong with it? She's willing to be a mistress to someone like Liu Huaqiang, so she must be a rebellious person..." Fan Baobao argued confidently.

Zhao Fusheng rolled his eyes: "Miss, can you please read the script properly? She's a tragic character. At first, she's instigated by her sister, and later she develops a bit of Stockholm syndrome. If you dare to show up like this in the play, believe me, Director Gao will scold you to death."

Zhao Fusheng was not the kind of chauvinistic straight man. He had no prejudice against women wearing makeup. In his view, makeup was a form of grooming. Everyone who wants to become beautiful and lovely can use makeup as a means.

After all, when God created people, there would inevitably be some deviations. Some people are beautiful, while others really need some help.

If makeup could be used to boost some people's confidence and change their destiny, that was fine.

So Zhao Fusheng looked down on many men who criticized makeup. After all, men shave and keep themselves clean, so why should women be opposed to wearing makeup?

In short, dressing up beautifully is a sign of respect for others.

However, Fan Baobao's way of deepening the director's impression of her had gone slightly off track, and Zhao Fusheng had to correct her no matter what.

Otherwise, if she really showed up like that to see the director, Gao Qun would probably explode on the spot.

"Is it really not good-looking?" Fan Baobao blinked her big eyes and asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled and shook his head: "It's not that it's not good-looking; it's that it doesn't fit the character. The Li Mei you're playing is a person with inner conflict and contradiction. She was married off by her sister to a disabled son of a bank vice president for profit. Later, she meets Liu Huaqiang, and with her sister's tacit approval, she gets together with him and develops feelings. But when she wants to leave, she dares not because of Liu Huaqiang's threats. A typical Stockholm syndrome patient. Do you understand what that means?"

"I know. After you mentioned it last time, I read some books." Fan Baobao smiled triumphantly.

Stockholm syndrome, also known as Stockholm effect or hostage syndrome, refers to a psychological phenomenon where hostages develop positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes even helping them. This emotion causes the victim to develop affection, dependence, or even assistance toward the perpetrator.

Hostages develop a psychological dependence on their captors. Their lives are in the captors' hands, and they are grateful to be allowed to live. They share the captors' fate, treating the captors' future as their own and the captors' safety as theirs. Thus, they adopt a "we against them" attitude, seeing the rescuers as enemies.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, Li Mei was such a person.

So he had always hoped Fan Baobao would read more about this topic to understand the thoughts of such individuals.

Fan Baobao had obviously done her homework, but she had gone a bit off in understanding the word "rebellious" in the character.

"Go fix your makeup. I'll wait for you." Zhao Fusheng waved his hand at Fan Baobao.

Fan Baobao nodded quickly, knowing time was tight, and hurried back to the restroom to redo her makeup.

At noon, the two arrived at the crew. Today's opening ceremony was just a formality. The actual formal filming would take place in Hebei Province, specifically in Shijiazhuang, where the story's prototype occurred. Gao Qun and Ye Jing had already smoothed things out through their connections, so the crew could film with confidence.

After all, this TV series was also considered a promotion of the main theme, especially highlighting the bravery and justice of our public security organs. There was no reason for the authorities not to support such a theme.

The opening ceremony was actually very simple: everyone worshipped the gods together, then casually shot one scene, and then dispersed.

As the producer, Zhao Fusheng naturally had to follow the crew to Shijiazhuang, while Fan Baobao would delay a few days and join the crew with the lead actress Jiang Shan.

There was no help for it; the show couldn't afford any big-name stars. Those who could participate were second-tier, third-tier, or even unknown actors, so the budget naturally had to be saved wherever possible.

It must be said that Gao Qun had some skill in becoming a famous director. After the large crew entered Shijiazhuang, there was no chaos at all. Everyone completed their tasks methodically, and no one wandered off.

"Director Gao's coordination ability is quite good."

Zhao Fusheng stood in a corner and said to Ye Jing beside him. This guy had come along purely out of curiosity.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Ye Jing nodded: "Yeah, this director is really impressive."

But a moment later, the two looked at each other, staring at the filming location, and suddenly didn't know what to say.