Chapter 2 New Year's Eve 04
Chapter 2 New Year's Eve 04
January 2004, 1, New Year’s Eve
Coal Province, Railway Dormitory
At eight o'clock in the evening, the Spring Festival Gala had just begun. The voices of Zhu Jun and Ni Ping came from the TV. Several hosts stood on the stage, enthusiastically saying all kinds of auspicious words about the "Year of the Monkey".
There was a crackling sound of firecrackers outside, and the night sky was dyed colorful by the fireworks.
Although Longcheng issued the "Regulations on the Prohibition of Fireworks and Firecrackers" as early as 94, everyone still sets off fireworks on their own during the Chinese New Year, and no one really cares.
The sound of firecrackers accompanied by singing and dancing created a festive atmosphere. According to the Zhang family's custom, when the Spring Festival Gala began, it was time to pay New Year's greetings. Sitting on the sofa, Zhang's father took out his newly bought Motorola mobile phone and made the first New Year's greeting call.
In the past, mobile phones were not popular, and everyone greeted each other by landline or leaving messages on pagers. In the past two years, as the popularity of mobile phones has continued to increase and more and more people have mobile phones, everyone has changed to sending New Year greetings by text messages.
But for someone like Zhang's father, he must call to wish them a happy New Year, so that he can show his sincerity.
"Hey, Lao Li, Happy New Year... I hope you are healthy and your family is doing well. Please give them good wishes for me..."
"Mr. Zhang, Happy New Year, Happy New Year. I haven't seen you for a long time. Are you back from abroad? Okay, let's go out and sit together after the New Year..."
Zhang's father is a small leader in the tertiary industry department of the railway. He has many friends, and during times like the New Year, he naturally receives a lot of incoming and outgoing calls.
Each person spoke for a few minutes, which added up to a lot. This took more than an hour, and the New Year's greetings finally came to an end.
Father Zhang put down his cell phone, and Mother Zhang peeled a tangerine and handed it to her husband.
At that time, logistics were not well developed, and there were not many fruits to choose from for the New Year in coal-fired provinces. Mandarin oranges were one of the more popular ones.
Father Zhang took it, broke off a petal and put it in his mouth. It was not very juicy, but very sweet.
"Is Xiaochen still asleep?"
"Well, he has been sleeping since he finished drinking at noon. I just checked and he hasn't woken up yet. It's all your fault. I told him to drink less, but he didn't listen and fed him too much..."
Speaking of this, Zhang's mother looked unhappy, because that was her precious son.
Father Zhang laughed after hearing this: "This kid dared to talk to me Wu Wan at noon. I must teach him a lesson. How can a father drink more than his son? But don't worry, it's okay. It's New Year's Day. It's okay to drink a little. Besides, Xiaochen is already an adult. Drinking is a necessary skill for him to enter the society in the future. He will have to experience these things sooner or later."
"That can't be..."
In the living room, Zhang's mother complained about Zhang's father's carelessness. In the bedroom, Zhang Chen, lying on the bed, was experiencing a dream. To be precise, he was merging with another soul.
His eyes moved rapidly under his tightly closed eyelids, and it was obvious that his cerebral cortex was actively active.
In his dream, he seemed to be looking back on another life of his own.
He finished elementary, junior high and high school at the Railway School for Children of Railway Children. Then he rejected his father's decision to arrange for him to join the railway and applied to the Beijing Film Academy on his own initiative, becoming a member of the 02 directing department.
After graduation, I made my first movie, but it flopped, and then, nothing happened.
Because he was a new director and couldn't get investment, the money for his first film was paid by his family. After the failure, his family was unable to support him to continue creating.
Zhang Chen lost the opportunity to continue directing and had to find a job as a director and editor at a TV station.
After wasting nearly 20 years, he finally got a chance and shot a web movie, which became an instant hit and was considered a masterpiece.
He then continued to delve deeper into the field of online movies, gained some fame, and finally made some name for himself, living the life of revelry every night that he had always dreamed of. However, when he was full of ambition and success, he died inexplicably in a traffic accident.
Crackling~~
There was a loud burst of firecrackers outside, and Zhang Chen slowly opened his eyes.
The memories were completely integrated, and the soul from 2024 disappeared. He could feel the unwillingness of that soul.
Is this my future life?
Perhaps it was because of his unwillingness that he found himself 20 years ago.
Zhang Chen couldn't quite tell whether what had just happened was real or a dream.
He thought of the movie he shot. How should I put it? It was very artistic...
So it is normal to fail.
The movie did not make any splash after its release and was drowned out by a host of blockbusters.
This is the case for those who study directing. Not only is there fierce competition for job opportunities, but in addition to those studying your major, there are also a lot of people studying photography, fine arts, and acting competing for your jobs. Even the cost of trial and error is ridiculously high.
If a movie fails, there will be no second chance.
After all, even the lowest cost of a movie would cost hundreds of thousands or millions, and in Longcheng in 2004, you could buy a second-hand house for tens of thousands of yuan.
This failure directly resulted in him having no chance to make a comeback for more than ten years, until the concept of micro-film became popular.
Micro-movies are short in duration and have relatively low requirements in all aspects. The directing department is a rather diverse field, requiring knowledge of acting, screenwriting, photography, lighting, etc. Zhang Chen took on several roles and finally produced a micro-movie.
This work made him stand out in the micro-film competition.
Later, the concept of online movies emerged. Because of the achievements he made in micro-movies and his connections, Zhang Chen successfully persuaded an investor to invest in his online movie, and he had the opportunity to take up the director's baton again.
After his last failed experience, his idea was simple: the works he shot this time must be commercial enough and must allow investors to make money so that he would have a possibility to continue.
God won't give him a third chance.
His good intentions paid off, this online movie became a hit, and Zhang Chen finally established himself in this industry. After that, he filmed many online movies one after another, and his performance got better and better, and he gradually gained some fame in the online movie circle.
At this time, he had achieved some success and was considered a big name in the online movie circle. Actresses began to come to his room and beg him to teach them their acting skills. Zhang Chen also began to live a life of revelry every night.
Just when everything was going in the right direction, he unexpectedly died in a car accident.
While Zhang Chen was still recalling these things, there was a noise at the door. It was his mother who came in to check.
"Are you awake? If you are, get up and go out to watch the Spring Festival Gala. Zhao Benshan's skit will be on soon."
After saying this, Zhang's mother went out. Zhang Chen sat up in a daze.
The Laobaifen I drank at noon has not been completely metabolized yet, my head is still dizzy, and my stomach is slightly uncomfortable.
Father Zhang also came to the door at this time and said very experiencedly: "Get up and wash your face. I made you some honey water. Just drink it and you'll be fine."
Zhang Chen washed his face obediently, then sat on the sofa and drank honey water. After the hot honey water went into his stomach, he felt a lot better.
The somewhat boring Spring Festival Gala program on TV is still going on, but no one’s attention is actually on it.
During the Chinese New Year, turning on the TV and tuning to CCTV-1 is a minimum respect for the New Year. As for whether to watch it or not, it doesn’t really matter. There are only a few programs that people are interested in anyway, such as Feng Gong’s crosstalk and Zhao Benshan’s sketches.
Zhang Chen walked to the balcony and surrounded himself with colorful lights.
During the Chinese New Year in Mindanao, every household will decorate their balconies with colorful lights. Mindanao is incredibly beautiful at night.
These lights stay on all the time and won't be turned off until after the 15th.
Zhang Chen looked around and it was really beautiful. The entire community had a cyberpunk style.
Cyberpunk?
It seems that this word also appeared in later generations. After integrating his memories, he also knew that only the coal-fired provinces would hang colorful lanterns on the balcony during the Chinese New Year. Decades later, because of this and the habit of taking naps, the coal-fired provinces became a little famous on the Internet.
"Zhao Benshan's skit has begun."
Zhao Benshan is currently the mainstay of the Spring Festival Gala. People in the south cannot say it, but in the north, people have a very high degree of recognition for Lao Zhao. Many people stay up to watch the Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve just to see Zhao Benshan's sketches.
Especially the previous "Selling Crutch" and "Selling Car", which can still make people laugh even after 20 years, which shows Lao Zhao's strength.
The sketch is called "Water Delivery Man". The first scene is Uncle Benshan walking onto the stage carrying a bucket of water. Zhang Chen steals a glance at his parents, and smiles unconsciously appear on Zhang's father and mother's faces.
Uncle Benshan has this kind of charm, as long as he stands on the stage, the audience will start laughing before he even starts telling a joke.
After watching Uncle Benshan’s skits, they no longer had any expectations for the Spring Festival Gala. The Zhang family also did not have the habit of staying up all night, so the whole family just washed up and went to bed.
……
In the dark bedroom, listening to the firecrackers outside, Zhang Chen didn't feel sleepy at all.
With a "click", the flame of the lighter lit up. Amid the flickering of the cigarette butt, Zhang Chen began to think about his future.
Why did that soul find me 20 years later? Because I was unwilling to do so and because I didn’t want to repeat his old path.
As I recall, I never recovered after the failure of my first movie, and it wasn’t until I was in my forties that I started to make some kind of mark.
Now, I will naturally not let all this happen again.
Zhang Ailing said that it is necessary to become famous as early as possible.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with what you said.
The entertainment industry is a circle of fame and fortune. In this circle, fame represents wealth.
If Zhang Chen wants to make a name for himself in life, the first step is to become famous.
How did you become famous? Of course, by making movies.
In his dream, he spent his whole life to figure out what movies the audience liked, and he also knew which movies the audience liked, which was his biggest advantage.
He thought of Zhao Benshan again. This name has become a business card of sketches. When people mention Zhao Benshan, they think of good sketches.
Zhang Chen also wants to be such a person.
However, I still need to think carefully about what to make for the first movie.
In the darkness, the light of the cigarette butt flickered, and the number of cigarette butts in the ashtray gradually increased.
I don’t know how long it was, but the sound of firecrackers outside suddenly became louder. I knew without a doubt that it was the countdown to midnight, and people were lighting firecrackers to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.
In the bedroom, the desk lamp lit up, dispelling the darkness. At this time, Zhang Chen solemnly wrote down the name of the first movie he thought about on the letter paper - "Darkness Invasion".
(End of this chapter)