128. The Censor Team

When the first ray of light shone on the earth at dawn, Director Guan waved the trumpet in his hand and shouted, “We’re done. Everyone go back and rest for a while. See you at noon.”

There were five or six hours left. Everyone rushed to pack their things to catch up on sleep before noon.

Qi Le An and Wei Chang Feng got into the car. Qi Le An rubbed his hands and said, “It’s so cold!”

Gary quietly turned up the heating in the car, and Wei Chang Feng held Qi Le An’s hands in his palm and warmed them, saying, “Have some hot water?”

Qi Le An yawned. Seeing that there were no outsiders around, he lazily leaned in Wei Chang Feng’s arms.

Chen Shan saw this from the rearview mirror, feeling frustrated.

They got back to the house before 6 o’clock. Wei Chang Feng advised Qi Le An to take a shower first. After Qi Le An took a hot shower, he got into bed. Wei Chang Feng brought him a bowl of tofu and said, “Eat something before you sleep.”

Qi Le An’s eyes lit up. He sat on the bed like a paralyzed patient and finished the tofu. He asked, “Wei Sama, are you sleepy?”

Wei Chang Feng shook his head.

Qi Le An was not sleepy either. He knew that he had night scenes to shoot, so he took a nap in the daytime yesterday.

“Take a nap, or you can’t make it at night,” Wei Chang Feng said.

Qi Le An yawned and said, “Okay… I’ll take a nap.”

The shooting started at midday, and he had to get up at ten o’clock to get ready. It was a nap.

Wei Chang Feng simmered with laughter. He threw the container into the bin and drew down the curtains. He turned off the lights and lay beside Qi Le An.

Qi Le An turned over and held Wei Chang Feng’s arm.

The two of them did not expect that the outside world had turned upside down after waking up.

At the house next door.

Guan Kai took a deep breath, but in the end, he couldn’t bear it anymore, shouting at the producer beside him, “What do you mean? We are not allowed to shoot? Back then, you came to me and begged me to direct this movie.”

The producer put the file bag on his head and said, “Director Guan, don’t be angry! I just like to pause it for a while. The news came out suddenly. There was no sign at all!”

Associate Director sat aside, reading the documents with the iPad in his hand.

Just an hour ago, the State Administration for Film and Television suddenly issued a red document called Notice on Strengthening Censorship on Film and Television Projects, saying that films and televisions were to be purified and censorship on sensitive themes was to be strengthened.

“Our movie is not sensitive at all. Besides, the theme has been approved. No matter what, we can’t stop.” Director Guan exploded, roaring angrily at the producer.

The producer was baffled, saying, “What we are filming is very sensitive. Director Guan, you mentioned politics in the movie.”

Guan Kai took a deep breath, and Associate Director interrupted him in time, “Calm down.”

Guan Kai swallowed his words.

He sat on the sofa angrily. The producer looked at the director and Associate Director, and finally said to Associate Director, “Assistant Director… What do you think?”

Associate Director handed the iPad to Guan Kai and said, “Take a look first.”

The director tossed the iPad aside without even looking at it.

Associate Director sighed helplessly and said to the producer, “The shooting this afternoon will be paused temporarily. Call everyone over for a meeting.”

The production Supervisor had been listening intently and said quickly, “I’ll go inform them.”

Associate Director nodded and said to Guan Kai, “Director, Guan, we have to stop filming for half a day…”

Guan Kai was gloomy, but he did not object Associate Director’s arrangement.

When Qi Le An and Wei Chang Feng were woken up by the alarm clock, they saw the messages from their agents.

Qi Le An sat on the bed, wrapped in a quilt, and gasped at the news, “Stop shooting? Is there any problem? ”

Wei Chang Feng shook his head as he put on his clothes, “The details are not known yet. A document has been issued. Take a look at this.”

Wei Chang Feng, who was half-dressed, threw the phone to Qi Le An.

Qi Le An took Wei Chang Feng’s phone to read the screenshot, sighing, “There actually is such a document.”

In his memory, the State Administration for Film and Television had issued several documents in his last life, but it was regarding internet movies and web series. Movies to be shown in cinemas like Blue, which enjoyed preferential treatment from the cooperation with Hong Kong was not targeted.

But when he read the document carefully, he saw “the shooting of sensitive themes will be reviewed and scrutinized”. Qi Le a had a bad feeling.

Sensitive themes…Didn’t Blue fall into this category?

Wei Chang Feng got dressed and said to Qi Le An, “Let’s go to see Director Guan. As long as our movie is not taken as a major target, there’s no problem.”

Qi Le An nodded. He threw his phone aside and got up to put on his clothes.

When they arrived at the house next door, the main crew members had just finished their meeting. Seeing that everyone’s expressions were serious, Qi Le An suddenly became nervous.

Wei Chang Feng pinched Qi Le An’s hand, and they went upstairs.

Director Guan was smoking by the window, while Associate Director was in discussion with the producer. Wei Chang Feng went up to them and asked, “How is it?”

The producer said helplessly, “We received a call in the middle of the meeting, telling us that the censor team is arriving this afternoon.”

Wei Chang Feng was surprised, “So fast?”

The producer sighed and said, “Yeah. They are nearby, so they come here first.”

Qi Le An listened to the conversation. Wei Chang Feng thought about it and asked, “Who is coming?”

The producer shook his head in depression. “They didn’t tell us who would come…They just said they would arrive at two o’clock in the afternoon.”

After he spoke, the producer left with the file bag. Associate Director went to the window and said something to Guan Kai. Guan Kai stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and stood up, coming over to meet them.

Qi Le An couldn’t help saying at the sight of Guan Kai’s gloomy face, “Director Guan, don’t be too upset… Maybe they will just come to take a look and leave?”

Director Guan sighed and looked at Qi Le An with an expression, as if saying, “you’re still too young.”

Qi Le An was lost for words.

The censor team didn’t even tell their names, which indicated their hostility. Guan Kai knew very well that they were getting in big trouble.

Blue was a cooperation work between Mainland, Hongkong, and Taiwan. Everything went well in the initial stage. The shooting in City B had received many preferential treatments and subsidies. Although the movie could not be shown in the cinemas, the shooting had been allowed to proceed.

Guan Kai got angry with the producer, but he knew that pausing the filming was the safest way.

For the first time in his acting career, Qi Le An had encountered such a situation, so he was bewildered.

It was supposed to be a happy thing that they paused the shooting and took a rest, but no one in the crew was happy. Those who knew what was going on had a gloomy look on their face, and those who were kept in the dark vaguely felt that something was wrong.

What they had dreaded happened. At two o’clock in the afternoon, the censor team arrived.

The producer was responsible for receiving them, and Director Guan and Associate Director accompanied him. Wei Chang Feng and Qi Le An were also asked to accompany.

The censor team consisted of five people, who were led by a scrawny man in his forties. The man had a monkey’s face and seemed hard to please. The only woman in the team was over thirty, and her eyes lit up when she saw Wei Chang Feng. However, when she was just about to say something, the leader glared at her, and she fell silent in embarrassment.

“Mr. Mo!” The producer approached the leader with a flattering smile. He extended a cigarette. “Long time no see!”

Mr. Mo raised his chin and didn’t take the cigarette from the producer.

The producer’s face stiffened, and he quietly withdrew the cigarette, saying, “I’m very sorry, but I forgot that you don’t smoke. Mr. Mo, please give us any instructions.”

At this moment, Wei Chang Feng whispered in Qi Le An’s ear and explained, “This man is Mo Wenyuan, famous for his nastiness.”

Nasty people were more difficult to deal with than big shots.

As he spoke, Mo Wenyuan’s eyes turned to Wei Chang Feng, who greeted him with a polite smile. Mo Wenyuan snorted coldly and said arrogantly, “Take out your script!”

Qi Le An saw the veins on Director Guan’s forehead bulge.

The producer quickly said, “Mr. Mo, our movie has been approved. There is no problem with the script.”

Mo Wenyuan wouldn’t listen to him, saying, “Hand over the shooting script as well. We come here to review the scripts. If there was no problem, such a red document would not have been issued.”

Guan Kai finally couldn’t bear with it and said, “The shooting scripts are confidential!”

Mo Wenyuan paused and finally looked at Guan Kai with disdain. “Are you Guan Kai? That is why you shoot such a theme.”

Guan Kai immediately exploded and shouted, “What do you mean? I can sue you anytime!”

Mo Wenyuan looked at Guan Kai like he was looking at a plague, saying, “Gay… It’s shameless of you to forbid people to talk about it after you’ve done it.”

Mo Wenyuan looked at Qi Le An and Wei Chang Feng, saying in a strange tone, “Someone is willing to act in such a movie.”

People in Hong Kong were open-minded and tolerant of homosexuality. Guan Kai won his fame in his youth, and he had come out of the closet a long time ago, so no one dared to laugh at him for many years. However, Mo Wenyuan came with a strong background, which made Guan Kai swallow his anger.

Seeing Guan Kai’s anger, the assistant director whispered to him, “Why don’t you go take a rest and let me handle this here?”

Guan Kai didn’t want to be disgusted, so he nodded and left. However, Mo Wenyuan labeled him as arrogant.

Before the censor team settled down, the crew felt their hostility. Wei Chang Feng said to Qi Le An, “Xiao An, go and stay with Director Guan.”

Qi Le An hesitated, but Wei Chang Feng gave him an encouraging look. Qi Le An sighed and went to chase Director Guan.

The reception room of the censor team was temporarily set up in the house where the director’s team was located. Guan Kai had nowhere to go. He wanted to go to the staff’s house, but Qi Le An caught up with him and took him to the house where he and Wei Chang Feng stayed.

As soon as Guan Kai entered the door, he couldn’t help cursing, “What is he? How dare he talk to me like this? ”

Qi Le An took a glass of water and handed it to Guan Kai, “Director Guan… calm down.”

Guan Kai took the water and sipped. He stared at Qi Le An with a complicated look.

Qi Le An felt his hair stand on end, asking uneasily, “What’s wrong?”