Huayu: This director is pretty strong.

Chapter 64 The Wei Family's Medicine Cabinet

White smoke dissipated in the drizzle, obscuring Chen Yan's figure.

Gu Changhe twisted the throttle, and the sidecar motorcycle slid in an arc through the muddy alley, stopping again in front of the tenement building.

Chen Yan dismounted from the motorcycle and reached behind him to grab the brown medicine bottle in his arms.

"Something was left behind."

Chen Yan looked at the iron window on the third floor, which was illuminated by a dim yellow light, and stepped into the stairwell.

Gu Changhe grabbed his sleeve, his voice extremely low.

"That old man holds a grudge; going back now will only bring trouble."

"I forgot something."

Chen Yan pushed his hand away and walked up the wet steps.

The iron gate at the end of the third floor was ajar, and the corridor was filled with a strong smell of alcohol and mildew.

Chen Yan pushed open the door, his leather shoes stepping onto the old cement floor.

Dr. Wei sat in a rattan chair, holding an iron medicine wick in his hand.

The wick was rolled back and forth in the groove, making a rough grinding sound.

"I knew you would come back."

Dr. Wei didn't look up; his eyelids drooped, and shadows were hidden in the creases.

He took a stack of papers out of his white coat pocket and slapped them onto the greasy table.

"Kodak No. 12 is the medicine you wanted. This stuff is the prescription that will save your life."

Chen Yan walked to the table and glanced at the stack of papers.

The first page is a printed statement.

Joint Statement Regarding Actress Lin Qingqiu's Actual Injuries During Filming and the Production Team's Exemption from Liability.

The middle line was deliberately bolded: Admitting to using actors' past injuries for violent filming in order to gain sympathy from European judges.

Chen Yan raised his right hand, his fingertips pressing against the edge of the paper.

"Did Shen Congzhou give it to you?"

"It doesn't matter who gave it to you."

Dr. Wei stopped applying the medicine and stared intently at Chen Yan.

"Sign here and you can take this medicine bottle. Don't sign here, and what you're taking away today isn't medicine, it's a bomb."

He pulled a blue copy of the registration slip from the drawer.

Number: 910722.

"On July 22, 1991, Lin Qingqiu was lying in the emergency room on the second floor."

"Compression fracture of the fourth vertebra, I wrote the diagnosis report."

Dr. Wei grinned, revealing the yellowish tinge from tobacco smoke between his teeth.

"Tell me, if those foreigners in Venice knew that your leading lady's half-dead state had existed for ten years, would they call it art or fraud?"

Chen Yansong unfolded the paper and leaned back against the medicine cabinet.

"The statement is well written."

Chen Yan stared at Dr. Wei's face.

"Did Wei Cheng come up with the term 'gaining sympathy'?"

"He's doing this for your own good."

Dr. Wei pushed the registration slip towards Chen Yan.

"General Manager Shen said that as long as you are willing to back down, the doors of the Shanghai film and television processing plant will be opened to you tomorrow."

"Otherwise, the photos of Lin Qingqiu drinking with guests at the dinner party back then would be sent to the Italian Press tonight."

Chen Yan sneered and slammed his right hand on the table.

"Dr. Wei, after spending most of your life as a factory doctor, is this all you know how to do?"

"You kept a copy of the 1991 diagnosis report without authorization, which is a violation of regulations."

He bent down, his nose less than ten centimeters from Dr. Wei's.

"Have Shen Congzhou send one. Send one, and I'll take one."

"This kind of old, messy history, if shown in Venice, would be more entertaining than the film itself."

Chen Yan straightened up, grabbed the stack of statements, and exerted force with both hands.

hiss-

The white paper was torn in half, and the fragments landed on Dr. Wei's knees.

"I've already bought the medicine. I'll settle the bill later."

Chen Yan picked up the two glass bottles, turned around, and walked out of the room.

"Chen Yan! You'll get that girl killed!"

Dr. Wei shouted from behind, and the wick of the medicine slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

downstairs.

Wu Gang stood guard beside the tricycle, holding a young man in a black raincoat in his hand.

The young man huddled on the back of the motorcycle, his face pale.

"Brother Yan, that bastard's been loitering around the stairwell, he's got something in his bag."

Wu Gang exerted force with his palm, pushing the young man in front of Chen Yan.

Chen Yan snatched a green canvas bag from the other person's arms.

The zipper was pulled open, revealing a sealed plastic bag inside.

One roll of film copy, three developed black and white photographs.

Chen Yan held the corner of the photo and looked at it under the dim streetlights.

The scene shows a simple round table.

White cloth.

Moutai bottle.

Lin Qingqiu huddled in the corner of the chair, next to a man with a shiny bald head.

The man's hand was reaching for her wrist.

The background is blurred, but the light and shadow are sharp.

"Who gave it to you?"

Chen Yan folded the photo and put it in his pocket.

The young man gritted his teeth and remained silent, his eyes darting around nervously.

Wu Gang grabbed the other man's middle finger with his backhand and snapped it downwards.

Lol.

"ah--"

The screams were drowned out by the drizzle.

"Wei Cheng, Brother Wei Cheng asked me to deliver this to Doctor Wei..."

The young man curled up in pain, snot dripping down his raincoat.

"roll."

Chen Yan uttered a single word.

The young man scrambled and crawled into the depths of the alley.

Wu Gang took the medicine bottle from Chen Yan and put it in his side pocket.

"Brother Yan, what if these photos get leaked..."

"Shen Congzhou isn't that stupid. This level of threat can only scare students who haven't seen much of the world."

Chen Yan got on the motorcycle.

"The negative is a copy. He must still have the 'witnesses' from back then."

"He wanted to wait until Lin Qingqiu won the award in Venice before nailing these things to her bones."

Gu Changhe stepped on the engine, and the motorcycle shuddered as it drove out of Yangpu.

Morning Light Film Studio.

Su Wan was holding a stack of editing sheets and waiting.

Seeing Chen Yan return, she quickly went to greet him.

"Did you get the medicine?"

"Got it."

Chen Yan handed the medicine bottle to Gu Changhe.

"Old Gu, take Zhang Yuan to mix the chemicals. We need to develop that sample footage tonight."

Su Wan grabbed Chen Yan's sleeve and pulled him to a sheltered spot.

"Lin Qingqiu is inside. She's not acting right."

A dim table lamp illuminated the lounge inside.

Lin Qingqiu sat on a long bench, her cane resting across her knees.

She was digging her right hand into the nails of her left hand.

"Chen Yan, what did Doctor Wei say to you?"

Lin Qingqiu raised her head, her eyes bloodshot.

Chen Yan took out the photo that had been torn in half from his pocket.

He placed the fragment in front of Lin Qingqiu.

"Who was that man back then?"

Lin Qingqiu glanced at the photo, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"The investor of the dance theater. Wei Cheng took me there."

"He said it was to attract sponsorships and to get me to take the lead role."

Lin Qingqiu closed her eyes, her voice hoarse.

"He touched my leg under the table, and Wei Cheng was sitting opposite him. He was drinking, and he was laughing."

Su Wan turned her face away and braced her right hand against the wall.

"These negatives..."

"Shen Congzhou wanted to make an issue of this."

Chen Yan pulled up a chair and sat opposite Lin Qingqiu.

"He wants to ruin your award. He wants to ruin your integrity."

"I don't want that award anymore."

Lin Qingqiu suddenly opened her eyes, her tone resolute.

"Chen Yan, send the film back. Don't send it to Venice. I don't want them to see it again."

Chen Yan didn't say anything.

He took a small cassette recorder out of his bag.

Snapped.

The red indicator light is flashing.

"Qingqiu. You are no longer a dancer, you are an actress."

"An actor who was trampled into the mud by them, but climbed out on his own."

He looked at Lin Qingqiu's pale face.

Wei Cheng wants you to hide, Shen Congzhou wants you to be afraid.

Do you want to win?

Lin Qingqiu stared intently at the flashing red light.

"How do we win?"

"Go see him. Settle these messy accounts face to face."

Chen Yan turned to look at Su Wan.

"Su Wan, go borrow a digital video camera."

"Zhang Yuan, bring all the reflectors. No film, use digital tape."

He looked at Wu Gang.

"Angkor Wat. Check the back door of that old rehearsal hall at the Shanghai Dance Theatre."

Su Wan hesitated.

"Chen Yan, this is too dangerous. What if Wei Cheng has set a trap over there..."

"The trap has been set. If we don't jump in, he'll always feel like he has our lifeline in his grasp."

Chen Yan looked at Lin Qingqiu.

"Do you dare to go?"

Lin Qingqiu reached out and gripped her cane tightly.

She slowly straightened up, and the support frame around her waist made a creaking sound.

"I'll go."

late at night.

Gu Changhe walked out of the darkroom, carrying a piece of film that was still dripping wet.

"It's washed out."

Chen Yan took the film and looked at it through the dim light bulb.

The scene depicts Lin Qingqiu struggling in the mud; that's the ending of the Venice Film Festival competition film.

He put down the film.

The cell phone on the table suddenly rang.

Chen Yan answered the phone and pressed the speakerphone button.

Is Qingqiu there?

On the other end of the phone, Wei Cheng's voice was thick and slow.

With a smug air of having the opponent completely under control.

"Director Chen, the rain is too heavy."

"Qingqiu must miss that afternoon in 1996."

"I'll be waiting for you in the old rehearsal hall of the Shanghai Dance Theatre."

"Qingqiu, do you still dare to go back to that room?"

Wei Cheng's laughter echoed in the empty factory.

Chen Yan held the phone, his knuckles gently rubbing against the metal casing.

See you in an hour.

Chen Yan hung up the phone.

He walked over to Lin Qingqiu and reached out to straighten the collar of her cheongsam.

"Go and take your throne."

Outside the window in Shanghai, the drizzle turned into a downpour.

Rain pounded on the rusty tin roof.

Lin Qingqiu gripped her crutch tightly and stepped out of the room.

Each step he took was extremely loud.

Wu Gang opened the door of the bread truck.

Chen Yan followed at the back, clutching the recording pen in his hand.

The bread truck started.

The white plumes of smoke were quickly dispersed by the torrential rain.

The outline of the clock tower in the distance was faintly visible through the rain.

Freeze.