My Artist Is Reborn - Chapter 36
Chapter 36 – “Legendary Movie Queen” Gu Mei
Early in the morning, Ye Cang was dug up from his bed by Shen Huai and took shower still in a daze. Xue Chengge had come with his breakfast.
After breakfast, the three men rushed to the airport. Because they were afraid of being recognized, Ye Cang was fully armed, with mask, hat and sunglasses, and even Xue Chengge followed suit.
After boarding the plane, Ye Cang took off his sunglasses, pulled the hat down, hugged his arm and went to sleep.
Xue Chengge, on the contrary, was more excited than the owner of his upcoming commercial: “This is the first time that I will see the shooting of advertisement with my own eyes!” And to Shen Huai, ” Brother Shen, what’s this advertisement is like? Is it super cool?”
Shen Huai answered hesitantly at the thought of the ad script he received last night.
Xue Chengge wanted to ask something else but Shen Huai took a look at Ye Cang, who had already fallen asleep, and stopped him. Only then did Xue Chengge notice that Ye Cang had fallen asleep, covering his mouth and saying no more.
Shen Huai looked at Ye Can’t and frowned, sighed softly, reached out to take the mask off his face, and covered him with a blanket.
Ye Cang slept until the plane landed and woke up refreshed.
Shen Huai saw him wake up and closed the magazine in his hand. His clothes were still clean and without any wrinkles. He didn’t look like a man who had been flying for two hours.
Among the three, only Xue Chengge looked dispirited, and the excitement of watching Ye Cang shooting an advertisement was gone at the moment.
They sent people to wait for them in the airport early, they picked them up and immediately left for their destination.
Golden Gate Theatre is located in central area of Dongjiang City, and was built in the early years of the Republic of China. It has survived the artillery attack during the war and is still well preserved and in use.
In the modern city full of tall buildings, the Golden Gate Theatre was like a piece of forgotten history, the architectural style is the combination of China and the West, and the mottled external walls which had the traces left by the erosion of the years. Evergreen trees were planted on both sides of the theater, isolating this small patch of heaven and earth from the disturbance of the city.
When they walked in, the dim light in the corridor, the gorgeous western style decoration, and the Republic of China movie posters hanging on both sides seemed to take people through a hundred years in an instant, returning to that era of lights and bewilderment.
The theatre staff on side said, “The first film of the legendary film queen Gu Mei was released in the Golden Gate Theatre.”
Everyone’s eyes followed his guidance and looked at the old photos on the wall. The photos were in black and white, and their clarity was not high, but that did not affect the beauty of the woman in the photos at all.
She curled her hair in the popular style at that time, the ripple curly hairstyle, and her cheongsam outlined her slender body. She leaned on her cheek lazily on the bench, slender eyebrows, Phoenix eyes that haunted souls, and beautiful red lips lifted in a smile.
Even if it’s just a static picture, that amazing beauty is enough to overthrow all living creatures.
Her original stage name was Chu Mei, but when she was making her first film, the owner of the film company was amazed by her beauty and renamed her Gu Mei. As a result, her beauty captivated the whole country of China.
Despite her beauty, the most commendable thing about her is her acting skills. From the silent film era to audio film era, she was at that time the most popular female star in China.
Of course, if it was only for beauty and acting skills, it would be impossible for future generations to call her “Legendary Queen.”
Gu Mei became popular during the time when Japan was invading China that made the whole country fall into stormy war. At that time, the Japanese commander-in-chief was infatuated with her beauty and was very tolerant of her. Gu Mei used his identity to protect the anti-Japanese soldiers, delivering medicines for them, and even investing all her savings to anti-Japanese war.
At that time, the Chinese people did not understand her, insulted her as being a traitor for her own glory and even boycotted her movies, but she never defended herself. It was not until her identity was exposed and she was assassinated by the Japanese army that she finally cleared her name.
After her death, the American Film Association described her as “a pearl left by God in the East.”
Her life was full of ups and downs, which can indeed be called “Legend.”
After they heard Gu Mei’s life story, the filming venue also became ready.
The director explained the idea of shooting: “… Junior Ye, in this advertisement, you will walk slowly in the theatre, and then time travel to the Republic of China. You will meet a lady of the Republic of China, this will be our heroine. You and she will fall into a love that will span across time and space. Before you leave, she wants to make you stay. You take our drink from your pocket and give it to her. After she takes a sip, she travels to modern times and meets you again, this drink is your token of love!”
Ye Cang: “…”
Director: “How is it? Is there any problem?”
Ye Cang: “… No, no problem.”
Although he wants to complain about this advertising plot line, but after thinking about it, he is a layman and will not be able to guide the professionals.
The director was satisfied: “Okay, let’s start.” But after he turned his head he couldn’t find the actress who played the leading role.
He frowned and said, “Where’s Xiaoyu? Where has she gone?” Xiaoyu is an actress who plays the leading role in the ad and is also one of the actors in this theatre.
The deputy director came running sweating: “I just saw her here. Soon after, Mrs. Gong disappeared.”
The director’s face suddenly looked awkward: “Then why don’t you go and find her? What if this affects the shoot progress?”
The staff dispersed to find her.
Ye Cang and others were idle, so they helped others to find her.
The Golden Gate Theater is not small and has many rooms, so it is hard to find people.
Ye Cang walked with Shen Huai. He wanted to put his hand on Shen Huai’s shoulder, but Shen Huai gave him a cold glance, which made him freeze instantly.
Shen Huai withdrew his eyes and said, “Go over there and have a look.”
Ye Cang retreated his hand and took a few steps to catch up: “Do you feel a little cold?”
As soon as he said this, Shen Huai also felt some abnormal low temperature. He thought about it and said, “Maybe the temperature of the air conditioner is set too low. I’ll ask the staff to adjust it later…”
Before he had finished, Ye Cang suddenly grabbed him, “…Isn’t it that?”
Shen Huai looked in the direction of his pointing finger and saw a woman in a dark red cheongsam standing next to the stained glass window in the corridor.
The light in the corridor was a little dim, and the sun through the stained glass was shattered into beautiful fragments and fell at her feet. She stood there quietly, just like an old photo from the Republic of China, beautiful and soul-stirring, not like a real person.
Ye Cang frowned and said, “Ah, this actress looks like Gu Mei.”
As soon as Shen Huai wanted to say something, he saw the woman coming towards them. For a moment, it seemed as if the photograph had suddenly come alive.
She stood not far from them. “Are you looking at me?”
The voice, like cold spring weather, instantly brought them back to their senses.
Ye Cang hesitated and asked, “Are you an actress who plays the heroine?”
She seemed stunned for a moment, and then smiled: “Yes.”
She was already beautiful, but now that her smile came out, it was like a finishing touch, lighting up her whole face. Even someone as indifferent as Shen Huai could not help but show a stunned look.
This woman is not young, but her kind of beauty spans across the years. She not only looked like Gu Mei on the poster, but she also had a similar temperament.
Absent-minded people would feel that she was the legendary movie Queen who come back to live with brilliant style and laughs.
When they found her, they were relieved. Shen Huai said, “Let’s hurry to the shooting location, otherwise the director will have to wait.”
The woman smiled and said, “OK.”
The three of them walked towards the location. All the way, the woman kept asking them questions and seemed interested in them, but her questions were skillful and did not make people feel offended.
Ye Cang had unconsciously responded with a lot of words, a little depressed he couldn’t help saying: “You have been asking us, but you have not told us your name?”
“I’m Chu Mei Bo.”
“Chu Mei Bo?” Ye Cang was somewhat puzzled and muttered, “How do I remember the director saying you were called Xiaoyu?”
Chu Mei Bo smiled, but did not speak.
Ye Cang estimated that it might be the stage name, so he did not think much about it. He just wondered, “How long will it be before we arrive? When we got here, it did not take us so long?”
Shen Huai’s face changed slightly, he grabbed him and they both retreated a few steps.
Chu Mei Bo saw the situation, and also stopped: “Why are you not going?”
Shen Huai calmly said, “We have walked this road twice – it’s not the way to the shooting location.”
Ye Cang looked at him in surprise, then he reacted and looked at Chu Mei Bo standing opposite them.
Shen Huai said slowly, “You are not an actress in this theatre, Chu Mei Bo. Maybe I should call you…”
“Gu Mei.”
Chu Mei Bo, who had her identity discovered did not panic, her beautiful smile only deepened : “I have been found out?”
Ye Cang also responded and looked at Chu Mei Bo in shock.
Chu Mei Bo looked at the two men who were on guard, instead of rashly approaching them she said, “Don’t be nervous, I have no malice towards you, I am just a little curious, you can see me, and …”
She turned her eyes to Ye Cang. “If I remember correctly, thirty years ago, your name was Lu Yang.”
As soon as these words came out, Shen Huai and Ye Cang were stunned.
At this time, Chu Mei Bo was finally unable to maintain her calmness, and she could not help but take half a step forward eagerly.
“I want to know, how on earth did you come back to life?”
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