Chapter 26: As Long As You Are Confident

"Hero" has sent Li Xiaoran an audition invitation, but what role could they possibly be offering her?

Cao Yang quickly mulled it over. She was a freshly minted Berlin Film Festival Best Actress winner; they wouldn't ask her to play a bit part. There were only a few female roles in the entire film, and Maggie Cheung was already locked in—there was no room for competition there.

The only role left to contend for was the one held by "International Zhang."

At last year's Berlin Film Festival, the Director’s *The Road Home* won the Jury Grand Prix. During the awards ceremony, International Zhang had followed the director onto the stage wearing a red belly band. The director himself looked stunned; it was incredibly awkward.

It was a Jury Grand Prix, so what was a lead actress doing up there?

What for? For the headlines. Didn't you see that the next day's news was entirely about the red belly band?

The director definitely had his reservations about her.

However, one could not deny that recently, among all the actresses in the country, none had the momentum of International Zhang—not even Gong Li.

With *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* receiving ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song, Best Costume Design, and Best Foreign Language Film, "International Zhang," as one of the leads, had truly become "International" Zhang.

*Hero* was a commercial film. Well, the director might have felt a bit ashamed about transitioning to commercial filmmaking and insisted it was an "industrial film."

Fine, whether it was a commercial film or an industrial film, the goal was the box office.

It was likely the producers who wanted to capitalize on International Zhang's popularity, while the director had his own internal hurdle, hence sending an audition invitation to Li Xiaoran as well.

"Do you know which role you're auditioning for?"

Li Xiaoran squinted, suddenly perking up, and boasted, "I don't know. They've kept it very tight-lipped. But my agent pulled a lot of strings to find out that I'm competing against International Zhang. Hehe..."

Looking at her smug little expression, she must have been thinking: *Who would have thought I’d be able to compete with International Zhang for a role now?*

Cao Yang didn't want to bring her down, so he said tactfully, "Your movie hasn't even been released yet, and International Zhang is at the peak of her popularity this year."

In this era, when making a thirty-million-dollar film in China, how could they possibly focus solely on the domestic market?

Even for the director, even if he had some personal grievances, at most he would do exactly what he was doing now: send an invitation to Li Xiaoran to stir things up for International Zhang.

Although Li Xiaoran's status had risen, her name recognition was still streets behind International Zhang's.

As long as International Zhang played the game and whispered a few sweet words to the director, Li Xiaoran wouldn't stand a chance.

Capital would not let the director indulge his whims, and the director himself would surely compromise.

Cao Yang moved his hands from one "peak" to the other and comforted her, "This is the director's first foray into the commercial field. If this were an art-house film, you would definitely be his first choice."

Li Xiaoran snorted and turned away, not forgetting to nudge Cao Yang with her hip. "I knew it. It must be that woman of yours causing trouble behind the scenes, not wanting to see me steal the spotlight."

*Good grief, here we go again.*

*You’ve really fallen in love with this dynamic, haven't you?*

Feeling the shapely hips squirming under the covers, Cao Yang fell into deep thought. *Didn't you say you didn't want to? Didn't you say you couldn't? You’re lying there arched on your side with your hips swaying like that—you’re really testing my patience.*

It seemed the ancestors were right: there are no plowed fields that can't be ruined, only exhausted oxen.

The next day, Cao Yang returned to school and went straight to Old Situ's office.

He shared the ideas he had discussed with Old Tian the previous day. Old Situ nodded after listening and said, "You can set the background in Hong Kong, but when you film, you’d better hire a few Hong Kong actors to prevent those people from finding trouble during the censorship process and claiming you're trying to fool them."

Cao Yang agreed deeply and reminded himself that even if he didn't film in Hong Kong, every detail should be as authentic as possible.

When the time came, the police stations, costumes, and correctional facilities of Hong Kong would need to be replicated as accurately as possible to avoid criticism.

After leaving Old Situ’s office, attending class? Not a chance. Cao Yang went straight to find Hou Keming.

He was met with a closed door—Old Hou was out.

He made a call, and shortly after, Old Hou arrived, explaining as he opened the door, "I was at a regular meeting at the Beijing Film Studio."

Cao Yang handed the revised script to Hou Keming and said, "There were a few plot points that wouldn't pass domestic censorship, so I set the location in Hong Kong."

Hou Keming was surprised. He glanced at the script; the title, *Empty House*, didn't give much away. He read as he asked, "You're going to film in Hong Kong?"

Cao Yang had ultimately decided not to change the title to *3-Iron*; the Chinese title felt too silly, and the average domestic audience wouldn't understand the reference anyway. *Empty House* was fine for now, and he could call it *3-Iron* abroad.

"No, just the setting is in Hong Kong. I’m still filming domestically."

"Then you’d better find two Hong Kong actors to make the censorship easier."

Hou Keming read quickly. Setting it in Hong Kong removed many taboos. As long as the core principles were sound, and he oversaw it personally, getting it past censorship shouldn't be difficult.

"Yeah, I plan to give a Hong Kong actor a major supporting role and a minor one. We'll see about the rest, but finding at least two is a given."

He had originally wanted Old Tian to play the abusive husband, but Old Tian had protested yesterday. He would reconsider, and if it really didn't work out, he'd give the role to a Hong Kong actor.

Still, Cao Yang leaned toward having Old Tian play it.

After about half an hour, Hou Keming finished reading the script. He was surprised: the leads barely had any dialogue?

That was truly absurd.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "It would indeed be hard to pass censorship domestically. Your approach is correct; instead of making two versions, you chose to set it in Hong Kong."

In truth, Hou Keming didn't understand the second half of the script. How could the protagonist turn invisible? Was this a myth or a ghost story?

If it were anyone else, he would have started berating them, but this was Cao Yang, a university student who had just won two Berlin Silver Bears.

Thinking about it, it was only right that these art-house types were hard to understand—they were playing with avant-garde art. With that mindset, it was easier to accept. Whatever, as long as it helped him... or rather, the school, win an award.

"Do you have any specific Hong Kong actors in mind? What kind are you looking for?"

Hou Keming needed to be clear on this to draft the budget. He couldn't go for anyone too outrageous; the "Four Heavenly Kings," Stephen Chow, or Tony Leung were definitely out of the question.

Cao Yang thought for a moment. "No matter how many Hong Kong actors we hire, keep their total salary around 300,000. Anything more isn't cost-effective. We aren't relying on them to drive the box office, and they aren't the main draw, so there's no need."

"Agreed," Hou Keming decided.

"I want to take this film to this year's Venice Film Festival."

Hou Keming stood up instantly, his energy surging. He stared intensely at Cao Yang and asked only one thing: "Are you confident?"

"The female perspective, domestic abuse, loneliness, dignity, and a touch of religious undertone... this type of genre film has an advantage. As long as the school cooperates, the main competition section shouldn't be a problem. As for winning an award, that's highly contingent on chance, but the odds aren't small."

Hou Keming slapped the table, declaring, "As long as you have confidence, I will represent the school and fully support you. Don't worry about the script; I will keep an eye on it personally to ensure you get your permit before filming begins."