Shen Huai registered the name and led Ye Cang to the other party's ward. They didn't need a nurse to lead the way, as they seemed to know the way well and had probably been there many times before.
When the two arrived at the ward door, Shen Huai was about to knock when the door suddenly opened from the inside, and a man wearing sunglasses and with a bad complexion appeared in the doorway.
Shen Huai recognized the man as Fu Cheng at a glance and frowned.
Fu Cheng was surprised to see Shen Huai here, and his expression darkened even more. He didn't greet Shen Huai, and with his bodyguards, he brushed past Shen Huai and his companion and left in a hurry.
Shen Huai composed himself and stepped into the ward, only to be met with a pillow flying towards him.
Ye Cang quickly said, "Be careful!"
Shen Huai, however, seemed to have been prepared, and with a quick movement, he grabbed the pillow.
The room was spacious, bright, and fully equipped. The central air conditioning maintained a comfortable temperature, and soft sunlight streamed through the glass onto the carpet. If it weren't for the medical equipment beside the bed, it would have felt like a hotel's presidential suite.
At that moment, an old man with a full head of white hair sat on the bed, his back to the door, and he angrily said, "Get out! Don't bother me!"
Ye Cang was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting that Shen Huai's friend was so different from him, being so irritable and down-to-earth.
Shen Huai smiled and said, "You can still swear? Looks like you've been feeling much better lately?"
The old man paused, then quickly turned around, exclaiming with delight, "Oh! What brings you here! Come, have a seat!"
Shen Huai moved aside slightly: "This is my friend Ye Cang. I brought him along to meet you."
The old man waved his hand: "No need for introductions, I recognize him! He's the celebrity who bet that someone would run naked!"
Ye Cang's smile froze on his face. He clearly had many more impressive deeds to his name, so why did this old man only remember his streaking? Was he really not doing it on purpose?
Shen Huai coughed lightly to suppress his smile, and then introduced Ye Cang: "This is Yi Mian, the founder of Yi Xing Film Company."
Yixing Films was a well-known film company in China more than 20 years ago. However, Yi Mian was stubborn and refused to raise funds. Now, 20 years later, Yixing's younger brothers have grown into big shots in the industry, while Yixing has slowly declined. Now, Fu Cheng, the pillar that Yixing has been promoting, has also left, making Yixing's situation even worse.
Yi Mian was initially quite pleased with himself, but his gaze gradually dimmed later.
Shen Huai pretended not to see anything, led Ye Cang to sit on the sofa in the reception area, and then said to Yi Mian, "I came in a hurry this time and only bought some fruit."
"It's alright, I'm just glad you're here." Yi Mian said, jumping nimbly off the hospital bed. "Come on, let me make you some tea."
There was a complete tea set on the table in the reception area. Yi Mian's technique was extremely skillful. Ye Cang didn't know how to appreciate tea, but he could tell that the tea was very fragrant and even had a sweet aftertaste.
Yi Mian looked at the two of them and smiled, "I thought you were too busy lately to come over."
Shen Huai: "I've been quite busy. I originally planned to come on the 15th."
Yi Mian knew perfectly well why he had come early. After a moment of silence, he said, "I discovered Fu Cheng eight years ago. Whether it's his acting skills or his appearance, he's a rare talent who's well-suited for the big screen. I originally thought that once he had honed his acting skills, I would let him go to a big company so that he would have more opportunities. But I didn't expect... he couldn't resist the urge himself."
Yi Mian chuckled self-deprecatingly, “But it’s all good. The domestic film environment is becoming increasingly unsuitable for small companies to survive. My daughter has been urging me to sell the company and move to the United States, but I couldn’t bear to part with it. Now, it’s time to make a decision.”
Shen Huai had never seen Yi Mian so dejected. Even when he had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment, he still had the mood to joke with himself after he finally woke up.
It seems that Fu Cheng's affair has dealt him a greater blow than he imagined.
The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat somber.
Yi Mian quickly recovered and laughed, "Hey, let's not talk about that. You've come at the right time. Ask the head nurse for leave later and take me out for a walk. I'm so bored staying in the sanatorium all day that I'm practically growing mushrooms."
Shen Huai couldn't bear to refuse him. Fortunately, Yi Mian had been recovering well recently, and Shen Huai seemed very reliable, so the head nurse readily approved the leave, but he had to bring him back before evening.
So Shen Huai rented another car and took Yi Mian and Ye Cang to the outskirts of the city.
There is a film and television city on the outskirts of Yunshui City. Years ago, before the Yunshui City sanatorium was built, Yi Mian boldly invested a huge sum of money to build the Yunshui Film and Television City. The film and television city, which looked very high-end at the time, has become old and crude after more than 20 years of changes. It is far inferior to many newly built small film and television cities, let alone large ones like Shanyang Film and Television City.
Shen Huai pushed Yi Mian in his wheelchair and led him into the film and television city.
He understood Yi Mian's emphasis on Yunshui Film and Television City; otherwise, with so many good health resorts across the country, he wouldn't have stayed in Yunshui all these years.
With a sense of nostalgia, Yi Mian looked at every tree and blade of grass in the film studio, as well as the weathered city walls and palaces. Many of these palaces were built by Yi Mian himself, leading the construction team.
He recounted the difficulties of building the film studio and the interesting stories of filming there after its completion. Before we knew it, we had reached the innermost part of the studio.
Shen Huai was surprised to find that there were still people filming inside in such cold weather, but these people were all quite young and their photography equipment was not professional.
Yi Mian greeted the other person with a smile, and then said to Shen Huai, "His name is Shao Ning. He is a student at a nearby university. He has always loved movies, so during the winter break, he and some classmates tried to make a web series. Don't underestimate them just because they are not very professional. I read the script and found it very interesting!"
Shao Ning's attention was entirely focused on filming, so when he saw Yi Mian, he simply waved and greeted him before resuming his serious directing. However, in the eyes of someone like Shen Huai, who had seen professional directors, Shao Ning seemed rather amateurish.
Yi Mian didn't mind at all, still smiling: "Movies, in the final analysis, are still popular art. They need to tell stories. Look at those big directors nowadays, how beautiful the shots are, how advanced the audiovisual language is, how amazing the special effects are, but the stories are like a pile of shit. How can any audience buy into it!"
"Back when we were making movies, we didn't have such good conditions, and we didn't make much money. But everyone put their efforts into it. Even if the visuals were simple, the story was good. And after all these years, people still remember it!"
Yi Mian became more and more excited as he spoke, "I don't know how many people had their eyes on this land before and wanted me to sell it. It's not that I'm turning down money, but seeing that Shao Ning and the others are still using this place to film movies, I can't bear to part with it..."
Yi Mian talked on and on for a long time without getting a response from Shen Huai, which made him a little strange. He looked up and found that he and Ye Cang were staring blankly at the place where Shao Ning and the others were filming.
What are you looking at?
Yi Mian was a little puzzled. He craned his neck to look in the direction they were looking, but he couldn't figure out anything.
Little did he know that, in the eyes of Shen Huai and Ye Cang, an old man was jumping around in the scene that Shao Ning and the others were filming.
"Idiot! It's been days, and you still can't remember these few lines! Are you a pig brain?! Ugh! You forgot your lines again! I think even a pig brain is smarter than you, you're just a head of tofu pudding!!"
"And you, why are your eyes so wide open! Are you playing Black Cat Detective?! Feelings! You know what feelings are! Your expressions need to change, but not in an exaggerated way!! Shut your mouth!"
"You director! Where did you find this bunch of incompetent fools? Their lines are terrible, their expressions are stiff, they can't even move their eyes. Even a zombie dug out of the ground could act better than you!"
"I'm so angry!!!"