Chapter 93

Little did Song Haowen know that he had left a not-so-great first impression on Zhong Lizhi. He believed that he had gained the favor of his dream lover from his past life and became a bit too excited.

When He Hu and Zhao Meng escorted him back to the office branch, both Zhu Hongyu and Ren hua were there. Seeing him drunk, they were quite surprised.

After learning the reason for his excessive drinking from He Hu and Zhao Meng, they couldn’t help but snort disdainfully. Although they considered him like a younger brother, not daring to expect a romantic relationship with him, they couldn’t help feeling a tinge of jealousy seeing him drink himself into a mess just because he met a beautiful female star.

Reluctantly, the two women helped Song Haowen lie down on the kang (a traditional Chinese heated bed), took off his shoes, covered him with a quilt, and then left without paying him much attention. They had no intention of staying overnight and headed back to the school dormitory together.

In his dreams, Song Haowen was playing and laughing around with Tian Yuxi, Tian Nana, Zhu Hongyu, Renhua, and Zhong Lizhi. At one moment, he was strolling through the streets of New York with Tian Yuxi, and at another, he was touring different places with Tian Nana to make money.

There were scenes of breaking down engagement proposal in the Land of Paradise with Zhu Hongyu, walking around the campus fighting with a group of hooligans with Ren Hua, and awkwardly shooting intimate scenes with Zhong Lizhi.

The dream continued until Song Haowen was awakened by the urge to urinate. Only then did the dreamy scenes come to an end. After getting up and relieving himself, he realized he was alone at home.

He remembered that Miao Chong, He Hu, and Zhao Meng had come to see him, but he couldn’t recall how he got home and onto the kang.

At this point, it was still dark outside, and Song Haowen had no desire to sleep. He rinsed his head with cold water, pushed aside his worries, and began practicing Tai Chi. As the day dawned, Song Haowen had a few pastries and a cup of hot tea, considering it breakfast, before heading to school.

As the semester was coming to an end, various exams began. For Song Haowen, these exams were a piece of cake, and he passed all of them smoothly without much review.

Before the end of the semester, the class counselor, Teacher Jin, held the last class meeting of the semester.

 He mentioned that many students had spare capacity and could choose between two options: take additional courses to earn more credits and strive for early graduation, or apply for postgraduate studies to obtain a higher academic qualification.

He specifically emphasized Song Haowen, mentioning his solid foundation and proficiency in multiple foreign languages. With the relaxation of admission requirements for postgraduate studies, there was a chance for Song Haowen to apply.

If accepted, he could transition to the first and second year of postgraduate studies during his third and fourth years of undergraduate study, which was a significant opportunity.

Song Haowen, hearing that the school allowed undergraduate students to apply for postgraduate studies, was intrigued. In his past life, he had been a master’s student in Computer Science and Technology at Zhen Dan University and a Ph.D. candidate in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Cambridge in Great Britain.

Now, obtaining a master’s degree in computer science would be effortless. After class, he immediately consulted Teacher Jin about the relevant details for applying for postgraduate studies.

Teacher Jin was pleased to see Song Haowen interested and took him to the academic affairs office to fill out the application form. He chose computer science as his major.

This year, the country was recruiting master’s students for the first time, with only about ten thousand spots available. Computer science, being a relatively popular, still had BASIC programming language as its main course.

More importantly, the faculty in this field was severely lacking. It was only four or five years later that this major gradually became popular. Early graduates in this major from this period were all seen with promising futures.

In the past, the postgraduate entrance exams used to be held in December. However, due to special circumstances this year, they were scheduled for early April in the spring semester, giving Song Haowen only a short three-month review period.

Nevertheless, for Song Haowen, these three months of review were unnecessary. Starting from the winter vacation, he would, as per the contract, be fully engaged in the filming of the “Tai Chi” movie. Not to mention preparing for exams, normal class attendance would be challenging to maintain.

During this winter vacation, both Zhu Hongyu and Ren Hua decided not to go home for the Chinese New Year. Following Song Haowen’s suggestion, they planned to stay in the Taohua Hutong courtyard, accompanied by Mr. Wang and his wife.

They would come to the store to help during the day. As Song Haowen would be busy with the movie, the electrical maintenance work in the business branch would be taken care of by them.

Qian You continued to handle electrical orders, purchases of antiques, and Wang Li continued to manage the daily operations and sales of the business branch. Although their job responsibilities hadn’t changed much, they now had increased autonomy and greater responsibilities.

The work in the music studio was essentially handed over to Su Yan. Around the Chinese New Year, Tian Nana’s performance schedule was particularly tight, leaving little time for her to perform in the theater of the music studio.

Song Haowen, on the other hand, had been taken by the “Tai Chi” film crew to Wudang Mountain to start filming. Fortunately, the music studio had signed a batch of singers who had become popular in the late 80s, including the so-called “Heavenly King” and “Heavenly Queen” like Bing Er.

Although their stage performance might be a bit immature, and they hadn’t encountered good works or faced the restrictions of limited television media, their addition maintained the quality of the theater performances.

Audiences, especially young couples, continued to enjoy the theater as an essential place for dating and deepening their relationships.

Song Haowen went to Wudang Mountain on the first day after the winter vacation. Before leaving, he repeatedly reminded Zhu Hongyu, Ren Hua, Qian Youlai, and Wang Li at the store, as well as Su Yan and Tian Nana in the music studio, to keep the filming of the movie confidential.

Otherwise, if this information leaked to the school, it might be used against him. They all promised to keep it a secret, even from their closest friends.

Director Wang Bolong, female lead Zhong Lizhi, and other crew members had already arrived at Wudang Mountain and started filming. Song Haowen was accompanied by the assistant director Tang Wen and flew from Beijing to Jiangcheng, then took a car to Wudang Mountain.

Arriving at the foot of Wudang Mountain, the landscape was a breathtaking sight. The mountains, covered in a fresh layer of snow, stood tall and majestic. The scenery resembled an ink painting with its red walls, blue tiles, ancient trees, and swirling clouds, exuding a profound sense of antiquity.

At that moment, Song Haowen couldn’t help feeling regret. He felt embarrassed for losing control in front of Zhong Lizhi. However, it was too late for regrets, and he couldn’t help but stand in the courtyard, sighing deeply.

Due to the evening arrival, Song Haoyun and Tang Wen were temporarily arranged to stay at a hotel in the small town at the foot of the mountain, which the crew had pre-booked.

When they arrived, only a few logistics personnel responsible for the crew’s operations were present, while the rest of the cast and crew were accommodated in the palace guest rooms for the convenience of the filming.

 The male members stayed in Yuxu Palace, and the females stayed in Zixiao Palace, with the two palaces not too far apart.

The next day, after having breakfast, guided by a crew member, Song Haoyun and Tang Wen joined the main crew at Yuxu Palace. They met director Wang Bolong, lead actress Zhong Lizhi, and the martial arts instructors from the national team, including Miao Chong, He Hu, and Zhao Meng.

Since the last encounter with Zhong Lizhi at the cocktail party, Song Haowen and Zhong Lizhi hadn’t been in touch, making this reunion a bit unfamiliar. However, Zhong Lizhi, being experienced in handling various situations, concealed her emotions well.

When she saw Song Haoyun, she greeted him warmly with a bright smile, avoiding any awkwardness.

Excited about his first acting experience since his rebirth, Song Haoyun threw himself into the performance. With his extensive knowledge of martial arts from watching numerous wuxia films in his previous life and his exceptional skills, especially in Tai Chi, he had no trouble understanding how to portray the postures, strength, and aesthetics of Tai Chi movements.

His proficiency in martial arts, coupled with his keen reflexes, made his martial arts scenes run smoothly. In fact, many fight scenes were shot according to his suggestions.

Initially concerned that Song Haowen’s lack of acting experience might hinder the filming process, director Wang Bolong was pleasantly surprised.

Scenes involving Song Haowen turned out to be the smoothest. Often, one or two takes were sufficient for him to pass, while the shooting of scenes featuring the famous actress Zhong Lizhi faced challenges.

Being a southerner, she found it challenging to adapt to the freezing weather, and her lack of martial arts skills led to less-than-ideal postures. Many scenes with her had to be reshot numerous times, leaving her shivering and with a rosy complexion, exclaiming for help internally due to the freezing conditions.

One day, when Song Haowen saw that he didn’t have any filming tasks, he greeted Tang Wen, the assistant, and took a male bodyguard from the crew to explore Wudang Mountain. Unconsciously, the two arrived at the back mountain gorge, a place rarely visited by people, especially with the snowy landscape, making it even more desolate.

The gorge walls stood tall, covered in white snow, and the path was treacherous, with biting cold winds. The bodyguard, hailing from a southern urban area and having worked long-term in Hong Kong, had never encountered such harsh and perilous conditions, and he was frightened, unable to proceed.

However, Song Haowen, fearless, wanted to venture into the gorge. Ignoring the bodyguard’s advice, he left him behind and went exploring alone. After about half an hour, he reached the base of a hundred-foot-high frozen waterfall.

The waterfall had turned into an ice sculpture, with a small stream trickling down. Above the waterfall was a clear sky, occasionally adorned with drifting white clouds.

Just as Song Haowen was about to divert his gaze from the waterfall, he suddenly noticed an extremely concealed cave on the cliff face. It was over a hundred meters high from where he stood at the valley floor, and an average person couldn’t climb up.

The half-human-high cave entrance was almost entirely blocked by vines, and the vines were covered in thick ice, occasionally emitting white mist from within, making the entrance appear elusive.

In the summer, the vines would be lush, completely covering the entrance. Even if someone approached, it would be challenging to notice the cave without careful observation.

Having trained in martial arts with profound skills and exceptional physical fitness, climbing and traversing were not difficult for Song Haowen. Driven by curiosity, he climbed to the cave entrance and found it spacious inside.

Filled with mist, the visibility was initially blurred, and he dared not enter recklessly. He found a wrist-thick dry branch nearby, using it as a makeshift weapon to guard against potential snakes or beasts inside the cave. Then, cautiously, he ventured into the cave.

Inside the cave, Song Haowen felt much warmer, and his vision gradually became clearer. The cave had an area of about thirty to forty square meters, with jagged stone walls and an empty interior. Not a single mouse, let alone any signs of human presence.

Slightly lowering his guard, he circled inside the cave, finding nothing. Planning to leave, he tapped the cave walls with the wooden stick, producing a “thud, thud” sound as he walked.