Huayu: This director is pretty strong.

Chapter 45 To Venice

"It's Chen Yan's time now."

Chen Yan left those words behind, shoved the lawyer aside with his shoulder, and his leather shoes made a rapid thud on the terrazzo floor of the laboratory building.

The Lu family lawyer stumbled, and the lawyer's letter in his hand was blown over by the wind and fell onto the damp steps.

"Mr. Chen! This is illegal occupation!"

The lawyer called out from behind, his voice a little hoarse.

Chen Yan didn't stop; he pushed open the heavy, soundproof oak door with his right hand.

"Old Zhang, take Wu Gang and the others to computer room number two."

Chen Yan didn't even turn his head. "Those blocking the way, just throw them out."

Zhang Yuan responded and closed the door behind him, his tall figure blocking the view from the corridor.

The interior of the laboratory building was filled with the acrid smell of developer, a unique odor of this old building.

Yan Huaizhong walked down the steps, leaning on his cane.

The old man was wearing a navy blue Zhongshan suit today, with the top button fastened.

Two uniformed security guards followed behind him, carrying heavy wrenches and crowbars.

"I'm back."

Yan Huaizhong stopped in front of Chen Yan, his gaze falling on Chen Yan's mud-splattered trouser legs.

"You're back, Teacher Yan."

Chen Yan said.

Yan Huaizhong raised his cane and pointed out the window.

That's the direction of the Hemingway Art Center; several school staff members are setting up a long ladder.

The workers wielded hammers, chiseling off the gold lettering nailed to the wall one by one.

The character "海" (sea) landed on the marble base with a dull thud and broke in two.

"They withdrew?"

Chen Yan asked.

"It's not just that they withdrew."

Yan Huaizhong turned around and gestured for Chen Yan to follow. "The ministry just approved the document. From now on, this place will be called the Beijing Film Academy Experimental Film Base."

He paused for a moment, rubbing the head of his cane with his right hand.

"The official documents for the position have been issued, and this old man will have to stay on the front line for a few more years."

Chen Yan nodded and walked towards the editing room at the end of the corridor.

"Lu Haiming has recruited a lot of people in Tianjin. Besides the murder case, there is also evidence of money laundering over the past few years."

Yan Huaizhong lowered his voice, "You did the right thing by protecting that tape."

Two security guards quickly walked out the door and began setting up a cordon in front of the lawyer.

The red police tape was pulled back, and the lawyer was stopped ten meters away, only able to keep shouting into his phone.

Chen Yan entered the computer room, where Su Wan was already sitting down in front of the Moviola editing table.

She was organizing a thick stack of film canisters, her fingers wrapped in protective medical tape.

"Chen Yan, international call."

Su Wan handed over a black telephone receiver.

A rapid static came through the receiver, accompanied by Vincent's broken English with a Parisian accent.

"Chen! You're a madman!"

Vincent's voice sounded almost like a roar, "All the judges on Boulevard Saint-Michel have watched the live stream and now they're all looking for me!"

Chen Yan tucked the receiver over his shoulder, pulled open a film canister with his right hand, and took out the negatives inside.

"Vincent, you should negotiate a good price."

Chen Yan said.

"It's settled! Three million US dollars! This is a pre-sale contract for the full copyright!"

Vincent was panting heavily on the other end of the line.

"Marc, the selector at the Venice Film Festival, said that as long as you cut out 'Thunder,' a spot in the competition section will be reserved for you."

Chen Yan fixed the negative to the spindle of the editing table and turned the handle.

The film's sprocket holes made a soft clicking sound as the black film slid across the plate.

"Vincent, I want a spot for the opening film."

Chen Yan's voice was very calm.

"No problem! The check for three million US dollars has already been sent to Hong Kong, and you can cash it directly."

Chen Yan hung up the phone and looked at Su Wan.

Su Wan put down the scissors in her hand, her gaze lingering on the pre-sale amount on the screen for a second.

"More than three million US dollars."

Su Wan's voice was a little hoarse, "Chen Yan, I just had Sister Lin take care of the debt my father owed."

"Is it cleaned up?"

Chen Yan asked.

Su Wan took out a receipt from her pocket, which was stamped with a red seal indicating the transfer of debt.

In front of Chen Yan, she tore the receipt into several pieces and threw them into the waste bin next to her.

"Lu Haiming's lawyer was just at the door, wanting that fake contract."

Su Wan walked to the window and looked outside.

The workers on the ladder have already chiseled out the last "heart" character.

All that's left on the entire wall is a row of deep and shallow dents.

Chen Yan took out a cigarette from his pocket, put it in his mouth, but didn't light it.

"Let them make a scene."

Chen Yan said, "Lu Haiming can't get out of here. All his so-called empires are now ownerless."

He turned around and waved to Zhang Yuan.

"Old Zhang, install that set of explosion cameras we brought back from Tianjin. I want to 'rebuild' that clock tower again."

Zhang Yuan was stunned. "Didn't it just explode? Why is it being covered again?"

"That was real death."

Chen Yan walked to the huge sketch of the photography studio and pointed his finger at the model.

"But in the movie, what I wanted was the sense of sacredness that death brings."

He grabbed a red marker and drew a circle on the top of the clock tower in the design.

"For this part, I used slow motion to make sure that every brick that breaks apart has its own rhythm."

Wu Gang pushed open the door and came in, carrying a bag of sesame seed cakes.

He placed the sesame seed cake on the workbench, limped over to Chen Yan, and unfurled a thick roll of blueprints.

"Director Chen, I've contacted the action crew in Yanjing. They're all old buddies who were ousted by Lu Haiming back then."

Wu Gang patted the blueprints, his palm covered in black ash.

"They said they didn't want money, they just wanted to see Lu Haiming's building collapse again in the movie, and they would bring their own food."

Chen Yan looked at the blueprints, which were marked with precise blasting points and stress structures.

"Angkor, go to the shed and keep an eye on it. I need to see the clock tower's frame within a week."

Wu Gang nodded, picked up the empty bag, and walked out of the room. Although he limped, he walked very steadily.

The editing room fell silent again, with only the hum of the spinning film reels.

Su Wan sat on the wooden chair to the side, leaning back with her eyes slightly closed.

"Tired?"

Chen Yan asked.

"Not tired."

Su Wan opened her eyes. "I just feel that the sunlight has been a bit dazzling these past few days."

Chen Yan walked behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Su Wan grabbed Chen Yan's fingers with her other hand, with great force, her nails digging into Chen Yan's skin.

Chen Yan leaned down, his forehead touching her temples.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of shampoo and the acetic acid smell of old film.

"Chen Yan, what would we be doing now if we hadn't gone to Cannes?"

Su Wan asked.

"There is no such assumption."

Chen Yan released his grip and walked back to the editing table. "We were destined to be here."

He pulled the handle, and the image froze on the frame where Liang Qinian was holding the red hair clip.

Liang Qinian's face appeared deeply lined under the strong light, and his eyes revealed a kind of serene relief, like still water rippling gently.

Chen Yan picked up the slicing knife and pressed it down.

"Click."

An excess piece of film was cut off and fell onto the cold floor.

late at night.

Almost all the lights in the laboratory building were turned off.

Chen Yan leaned back on the sofa in the editing room, with a cold lunchbox in front of him.

Su Wan was asleep on the small bed next to him, draped in his black woolen overcoat.

A slight scraping sound came from under the door.

A blue envelope was slipped under the door and bumped against the tip of Chen Yan's leather shoes.

Chen Yan opened his eyes.

He didn't get up, but stared at the envelope for a few seconds.

The envelope had no sender's address, only four handwritten characters written in ballpoint pen: "To be opened by Chen Yan."

He bent down to pick up the envelope and tore off the sealing wax.

There was no letter paper inside.

There was only a small piece of cardboard, about the size of a palm, with rough edges, as if it had been casually torn from some packaging box.

One side of the paper has a familiar red background with the dragon logo of Chinese-language films printed on it.

However, a huge "X" was carved out in the middle of the dragon logo by a hard object, so deep that it almost cut through the back of the paper.

Chen Yan turned the piece of paper over.

A line of messy penmanship was written on the back:

"Lu Haiming is just a bricklayer, don't come to Shanghai."

The last horizontal stroke of the character was very long, slanted towards the edge of the paper.

Chen Yan's fingers traced the words "Shanghai" for a moment.

The ink wasn't completely dry yet, and when it rubbed onto his fingertips, it left a light black mark.

He got up and walked to the window.

Downstairs in the open space, the pile of gold lettering that had been chiseled off the wall had not yet been cleared away.

The remaining half of the character "海" (sea) gleamed with an unsettling pale white under the moonlight.

Chen Yan took out a lighter.

Blue flames engulfed the edges of the paper, and the flames spread rapidly.

The ashes fell on the windowsill and were blown into the darkness by the night wind.

He walked back to the editing table and turned on the spotlight switch.

A strong light shines on the film, projecting the first shot of the movie.

That was Chen Yan's own shadow, superimposed on the outline of the ruins.

Chen Yan picked up the editing blade and aimed it at the next section of film.

The image freezes at this moment, and Chen Yan's eyes appear particularly cold and desolate in the darkness.