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墨書 Inktalez
On the second afternoon, just back from the hotel to Sweet Potato Films, Li Hong had barely settled into his chair when Charlie walked into his office with a beaming smile.
Having just dealt with the Celebration Party arranged by the company, Li Hong felt utterly exhausted and mumbled, "What is it?"
"Boss, the Green Hat Director just called. The movie is almost finished, and he told me we can start promoting it."
Li Hong was taken aback. "Huh?"
Hadn't they only been filming for a few dozen hours?
Although he had instructed Lu Mao to just throw something together, was it really okay to rush it like this?
"Where's Lu Mao? I need to check on him." Li Hong felt he should supervise the situation.
Even if it was just practice material, it couldn't be too sloppy.
"He's in the editing room. I'll take you there."
With that, Charlie led the increasingly anxious Li Hong to the adjacent editing room, where they found Lu Mao dozing off.
"What the hell? Are you just going to sleep in the editing room?" Li Hong was furious.
He had thought Lu Mao was busy editing film reels, but instead, he was napping!
Lu Mao rubbed his sleepy eyes and said, "Oh, Boss. I was up all night editing yesterday, so I'm just catching up on some sleep now."
Hearing this made Li Hong feel a bit better.
"Is the final cut ready? Has it come out yet?" Li Hong pressed on.
Lu Mao tousled his messy hair and replied with a look of distress, "Not yet. We still need to work on some special effects in post-production, and we haven't had time to get to it."
“Special Effects? What Special Effects?”
“It’s our company’s lg!” Lu Mao replied casually.
“…”
“There won’t be any special effects for the whole film, right?” Li Hong asked anxiously.
Lu Mao nodded and said helplessly, “I wanted to add more, but we ran out of money. We can’t even afford three cents’ worth of Special Effects, so we’ll have to make do.”
Well, since Lu Mao was short on cash, Li Hong felt embarrassed to comment further.
This was still the responsibility of the boss, after all, so there wasn’t much to say.
“Alright then, if there are no special effects, let’s just see the main footage,” Li Hong urged.
After working hard for so long, he was really looking forward to it.
Lu Mao turned on the projector in the editing room and inserted the master tape.
There was no opening scene; it went straight into the film.
With a flurry of activity, the title “I Am Red Riding Hood, I Love the Big Bad Wolf” appeared in the center of the screen.
Then, the scene shifted to a character dressed like a middle-aged woman—an Eastern Maiden portraying Little Red Riding Hood—hopping onto the screen.
The screen went black, and the words 【Lu Mao's Work】 appeared prominently.
Then, the main feature began!
Eastern Maiden hopped along like an oversized child, making her way to her grandmother's house.
Roshifu, playing the role of the grandmother, had "I am Grandma" written in large letters across her pale face with a thick marker.
Li Hong casually pressed pause, pointing at Roshifu's face and asking, "What is this?"
Before Lu Mao could respond, Soulmate, who had unexpectedly entered the editing room, explained, "The production team couldn't afford makeup, so they had to make do with this."
Chewing gum, Lu Mao nodded in agreement.
Makeup is really expensive!
Seeing the two of them so unconcerned, Li Hong felt a bit bewildered. This was truly a makeshift job!
It was one thing not to be able to afford makeup, but could they at least write the words nicely?
The handwriting was so crooked that it was hard to take it seriously!
Since the film wasn't finished yet, Li Hong suppressed the urge to complain and hit play again.
The scene continued with Roshifu standing in front of a block house that was only as tall as her legs, smiling broadly as she said, "Oh, Little Red Riding Hood has arrived! Come here, let Grandma see if your cup size has grown. I just bought some papaya today to help you out."
"Grandma, that's so annoying! You know I'm only an A cup!" Eastern Maiden stammered through her lines.
And just like that, she stomped her foot on the ground like those leading ladies in idol dramas.
Then, the block house behind Roshifu suddenly collapsed into a pile of rubble.
The atmosphere became incredibly awkward...
“……”
“Sorry, I need to use the restroom! Ugh…” Charlie covered his mouth and quickly left the editing room.
Li Hong felt numb, as if he had lost all sensation.
“Wow, I didn’t expect Eastern Maiden to act so well,” Soulmate said, clapping enthusiastically.
Li Hong turned around, his gaze vacant as he asked, “Where did you see any acting?”
Soulmate rubbed his chin and explained seriously, “It’s simple. It’s in their expressions and movements. I can feel that every gesture they make carries the essence of their characters, as if they’re not acting at all but are real people.”
“I like how you can spout nonsense with such seriousness,” Li Hong replied calmly.
“I’ll only agree with you on one point: they’re definitely not acting. As for what they are doing, I have no idea.”
As the two spoke, the scene continued to unfold.
The love story between Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf was discovered by Grandma.
“You think the Big Bad Wolf wants to marry Little Red Riding Hood? What a delusion!” Roshifu said angrily to Soulmate.
Eastern Maiden timidly interjected, “Grandma, it’s more like a toad wanting to eat goose meat!”
“Is there really a difference?” Roshifu shot a glare at Eastern Maiden before turning back to the bewildered Soulmate. “I’ll give you five hundred thousand; just leave Little Red Riding Hood.”
“Deal!” Soulmate exclaimed, his eyes sparkling as he held two packs of cheap cigarettes.
Now it was Roshifu’s turn to be stunned.
Roshifu faced the camera and exclaimed, "Lu Dao, he's not following the script!"
The camera shook for a moment before Lu Mao's booming voice echoed, "Soulmate, if you can't remember your lines, you can just leave."
In front of the camera, Soulmate blushed deeply and kept bowing apologetically.
...
After reviewing the script again, Soulmate finally managed to continue the scene.
"You will never tear us apart! No car, no house, only a lovesick wolf!"
Roshifu pointed at the newly built villa behind him (Soul Sphere had interrupted the shot by stacking blocks), sneering as he asked, "Do you have that? Without the Lego Villa or an Audi Twin Diamond sedan, do you still dare to come and marry Red Riding Hood?"
Under the wolf mask, Soulmate's expression was filled with despair.
He couldn't afford Lego or an Audi Twin Diamond. The only thing he could offer Red Riding Hood was his sincere heart.
Yet even that heartfelt offering was ruthlessly dismissed by his grandmother.
"Gray..." Seeing Soulmate walk away dejectedly, Eastern Maiden's face was streaked with tears as she tried to rush out and stop him.
However, Roshifu's portrayal of the grandmother firmly grabbed her hand; she couldn't shake it off and could only watch helplessly as Soulmate walked away in sorrow.
In front of the villa, only Eastern Maiden's desperate cries remained: "Gray... don't leave me! Gray..."
"As long as I'm alive, there will be no chance between you two!" Roshifu sneered and dragged Red Riding Hood into the villa.
Then, the villa began to collapse as usual...
At that moment, the interlude began to play, and the soulful face of Soulmate appeared on the screen, softly singing:
"…In this foreign land without you,
Only the cold wind accompanies my wandering.
I fear my longing
Cannot cross this ocean.
Don't promise me forever, forever, forever;
Forever is not the dawn I seek.
Your love for me is enough,
Even if in the end, love has run aground…"
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