Chapter 40 Director Zhang Oversees the Process

Once the two bowls of duck blood vermicelli soup were finished, Actress Ni Ni's reserve completely vanished.

This girl had a touch of the refreshing frankness characteristic of Nanjing girls in her bones; she didn't put on airs and spoke directly.

Director Jiang Ning rested her chin on one hand, listening as she vividly recounted the complaints about the body training imposed by Director Zhang Yimou's team, which was so strict it was almost abnormal.

Having spent over a decade struggling in the Vanity Fair of her past life, Director Jiang was most skilled at "listening" and "comforting."

Especially when facing beautiful actresses, those meticulous habits of consideration had long been engraved in her DNA.

She listened with extreme focus, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on Actress Ni Ni's face.

Those naturally captivating fox-like eyes curved slightly, carrying undisguised appreciation.

When Actress Ni Ni reached an exciting part, her chopsticks accidentally knocked over the vinegar dish at the corner of the table.

The dark balsamic vinegar flowed along the tabletop toward the hem of her clothes.

"Oh!" Actress Ni Ni exclaimed, scrambling to find a tissue.

A fair, slender hand reached out before her.

Director Jiang Ning extracted a few tissues with extreme naturalness, not only quickly folding them and placing them under the flowing vinegar but even leaning forward to gently pinch the hem of Actress Ni Ni's oversized T-shirt with her other hand, lifting it slightly.

The distance between the two was instantly closed.

Director Jiang Ning's fingertips were slightly cool, inadvertently brushing against the fabric at Actress Ni Ni's waist.

She lowered her eyes, her thick eyelashes casting a shadow beneath them, her tone gentle.

"Be careful, this vinegar won't wash out if it gets on your clothes."

After doing all this, Director Jiang Ning casually crumpled the used tissues into a ball and threw them into the trash can, then looked up at Actress Ni Ni.

"Are you okay?"

This was entirely an instinctive protective gesture developed in her past life.

But now, the one performing these actions was a nineteen-year-old top-tier wealthy beauty with a face that could topple nations.

This composure and consideration beyond her age, paired with that highly aggressive, cold, and glamorous face, created an extremely lethal chemical reaction.

Actress Ni Ni felt a fire ignite at the roots of her ears.

Her heart pounded violently in her chest, and even her breathing missed a beat.

She stared blankly at Director Jiang Ning's face, which was within arm's reach; that faint scent of fir mixed with the smoky atmosphere of the shop was surprisingly pleasant.

Even though they were both girls, the casual "boyfriend energy" on Director Jiang Ning was simply enough to make one's scalp tingle.

"No... nothing." Actress Ni Ni stuttered, quickly shifting back half an inch, trying to hide her burning cheeks. "Thank you."

Director Jiang Ning smiled indifferently, just about to tease her a little more, when the phone on the table suddenly vibrated.

The caller ID showed an unfamiliar Beijing number.

Director Jiang Ning swiped to answer.

"Hello, who is this?" Director Jiang Ning held the phone to her ear.

A deep, extremely familiar voice with a slight Northwest accent came from the other end of the line: "Is this Director Jiang Ning? This is Director Zhang Yimou."

Director Jiang Ning's hand holding the chopsticks paused abruptly.

She instinctively looked up at Actress Ni Ni opposite her, then quickly adjusted her posture, her originally lazy back straightening up a bit.

Having spent so long in the circle in her past life, she was more than familiar with the voice of this national treasure director.

It was just that she never expected Director Zhang Yimou to call her personally.

After all, although she had made a strong impression on the set these past few days, her direct interactions with Director Zhang Yimou regarding work were few and far between.

"Director Zhang, you're looking for me?" Director Jiang Ning's tone instantly switched to that of a very respectful junior.

"Are you out and about right now?" Director Zhang Yimou heard the bustling noise of the city on her end.

"I heard from your Professor Wang Hongwei that you've made a pretty good film and the rough cut is already done. Do you have it with you? If it's convenient, bring it over for me to see."

The amount of information contained in this sentence was too large; it exploded directly in Director Jiang Ning's mind.

She had never mentioned filming her assignment on set, let alone the rough cut.

The only explanation was that Professor Wang Hongwei, far away in Beijing, was not only keeping an eye on her progress at all times but had even personally lowered his pride to get in touch with Director Zhang Yimou, who was far away in Nanjing.

Who was Professor Wang Hongwei? He was the anchor of the Beijing Film Academy's Directing Department, famous for being strict and protective of his reputation.

He would never promote a bad film to Director Zhang Yimou just because of the Jiang family's capital background.

He did this purely because he valued Director Jiang Ning's talent and wanted to take advantage of this golden opportunity while she was in Nanjing to have the country's top film master personally oversee her work!

An indescribable warmth instantly surged into Director Jiang Ning's chest.

In her past life, she had seen enough deceit and interest exchanges in the Vanity Fair.

The purest teacher-student inheritance among this group of old filmmakers, that kind of all-out effort to lift up a promising talent, struck her right in the heart.

"I have it! The computer is at the hotel. Director Zhang, where are you right now? I'll come over immediately."

Director Jiang Ning took a deep breath, suppressing her surging emotions, and answered resolutely.

"I'm in the conference Room at the production base. This afternoon's rain just disrupted the schedule, so I have a free slot. Come over directly."

Hanging up the phone, the laziness and casual air on Director Jiang Ning instantly vanished completely.

She stood up and grabbed the canvas bag placed to the side.

"Actress Ni Ni, I'm sorry, Director Zhang is looking for me, so I have to head off first. Let's meet up again when there's another chance."

She turned her head and naturally instructed Assistant Tang Ying beside her: "Sister Tang, please trouble yourself to call Old Chen and have him drive the car to the entrance of the alley. We're going back to the hotel immediately."

"Ah? Oh, oh, okay!" Actress Ni Ni was currently gasping from the boiling tea she had gulped down earlier to ease the awkwardness.

Seeing Director Jiang Ning's swift and decisive manner, she quickly grabbed a tissue to cover her mouth and waved at her indistinctly.

"Business is important, hurry off and get busy!"

Director Jiang Ning nodded at her, said no more polite words, turned around, and walked out of the shop with long strides.

Half an hour later, Director Jiang Ning, holding the MacBook Pro, knocked on the door of the conference Room.

There was no one else in the Room; only Director Zhang Yimou was sitting by the coffee table, holding a cigarette in his hand, with several unread on-site storyboard sheets piled on the table.

"Director Zhang." Director Jiang Ning walked over and placed the computer on the coffee table.

"Professor Wang Hongwei praised your film to the skies on the phone, saying the script structure is rare and the editing logic is vicious."

Director Zhang Yimou stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and leaned forward.

"Open it and let me see."

Director Jiang Ning didn't waste words; she clicked on the player and pressed the spacebar.

The screen lit up.

Without any unnecessary buildup, it went straight to the ticking sound of a clock's hands moving.

Song Shishi's face, pressed into cold, hard lines by the high-angle top lighting, and Zhu Yilong's eyes, which were desperately restrained yet still revealed panic, switched back and forth in the extremely fragmented Shot-reverse-shot.

A thirty-one-minute rough cut.

The entire Room was so quiet that one could only hear the movie's original soundtrack and the two people's breathing.

At first, Director Zhang Yimou just leaned on the sofa, watching the screen with the examining posture of an elder.

But by the fifth minute, when Song Shishi first tore open Zhu Yilong's car accident lie with fragmented lines, Director Zhang Yimou's body instinctively sat up straight.

By the twentieth minute, when the logical chain of the double twist began to tighten, and the light and shadow in the Room completely turned into a cold tone along with the characters' psychology, Director Zhang Yimou's brows were already tightly knitted together, his gaze locked firmly onto the screen, not even touching the tea that had gone cold by his hand.

Until the last three minutes.

Accompanied by a heavy knocking on the door, Song Shishi slowly pulled off her wig across the street, wiped off the special effects makeup, and her tears burst forth.

The visual low-angle shot and high-angle shot formed the ultimate power reversal.

The image froze, screen black.

The Room fell into a dead silence that lasted for half a minute.