Page 20

As Huaxia TV's promotional clips kept bombarding the airwaves, viewers across the country had their appetites thoroughly whetted by the Exchanging Lives production team. They desperately wanted to know what kind of child this little hero who had outwitted human traffickers was—his living environment, his parents and family, his schooling, and how he had seen through the traffickers and dared to confront seven or eight criminals.

At ten that evening, accompanied by a gentle, rhythmic musical score, a rich baritone began an emotional narration. His voice carried both compassion and strength, instantly capturing the ears of viewers nationwide. Those who had initially only wanted to see the little hero were drawn in by the program's content as well, shocked by the Wei family's wealth and by Lu Family Village's poverty and backwardness. They saw with their own eyes how the children of Lu Family Village had to walk three hours every day just to attend school. They saw the muddy, potholed dirt road between the school and the village, the single row of low buildings at Lu Family Village Primary School, the battered desks and chairs in the classrooms, and the playground full of mud and puddles. Compared with the first-rate facilities of Yanjing University Affiliated Middle School, the vast gap between rich and poor made it seem as though children living under the same sky inhabited two different worlds.

While city children still worried and felt pressured by their heavy schoolwork, the children of Lu Family Village had no choice but to help their families with farm work and household chores after studying. The crushing pressure of life had worn away their innocence and willfulness.

Just as the viewers before their televisions were sighing over how poor children grew up early, the screen shifted. The production crew, having left Lu Family Village, had already arrived at the railway station.

Viewers across the country perked up at once, widening their eyes and focusing intently. They saw Lu Heng sitting in the waiting hall with his backpack in his arms, watching the passersby. They saw the old waiting hall of J City Railway Station and all kinds of travelers. Then they saw Lu Heng, who had been sitting idly in his chair, suddenly spring up as if pricked by a needle and race through the station looking for someone.

Then came the scene from the trailer. Outside the railway station, Lu Heng saw through the human traffickers' crime and demanded that the police be called. The traffickers threatened him, one of the criminals pulled out a crude homemade gun, and Lu Heng seized the opportunity to swing someone up and smash them into the man...

The traffickers' brutality and arrogance, Lu Heng's quick wits and calmness, and the fight, which was even more thrilling and intense than a Hong Kong martial arts gunfight film, had viewers crying out again and again. Only when the police stepped in did everyone finally relax completely. Yet most viewers still did not understand how Lu Heng had determined that those people were human traffickers.

Fortunately, the production team promptly cut to an interview. Little hero Lu Heng sat before the camera and explained his reasoning for identifying the traffickers once more, and the viewers in front of their televisions finally understood. They clicked their tongues in amazement at Lu Heng's careful, meticulous mind...

Then the scene shifted again, beginning to show some everyday incidents after the two leads had swapped families. There was Wei Linxuan's first day of life in Lu Family Village, as well as all sorts of events after Lu Heng arrived in Beijing and was brought home by the Wei family.

The personal appearance of Huaxia Imperial Entertainment's boss, the meticulously prepared delicacies, and Fang Yuqing—the screen goddess from twenty years ago—suddenly appearing before the camera all left viewers dumbfounded. Then, after Lu Heng ate until he was stuffed, Wei Jiayi dragged him out for a walk. The lifelike grass-woven bird he made by climbing a tree to pick leaves in order to coax her, along with his wonderful vocal imitation performance, made viewers realize once again that the little hero was not only skilled in a fight, but also possessed so many talents...

* * * * * *

"...Old Fang, don't stay cooped up in the study every day fiddling with that lousy script of yours! Come out and watch some television once in a while. Exchanging Lives was especially good tonight, much better than Shi Dian Talks Gossip. Come watch it too."

Fang Kaizhi tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose and looked helplessly at his wife, who had pushed open the door and entered.

"How could I possibly be in the mood to watch television..."

As Fang Kaizhi spoke, he sighed again.

He picked up the thick stack of scripts spread across the desk. Even if he stared at the words hard enough to bore flowers into them, he still could not make the characters step out of the script and into his camera.

As one of Huaxia's most renowned fifth-generation directors, Fang Kaizhi had been directing for over twenty years and had made many top stars who won Best Actor and Best Actress awards. Yet now, he still had to worry over casting.

The new film he was preparing already had funding, a crew, its male and female leads, and important supporting roles in place. But he could not find one—more precisely, two—suitable child actors.

The people recommended by the casting director and some of the investors either did not have the right look or lacked sufficient opera training. They were always just a little short of what he wanted.

The film was about to start shooting, yet the actors were still not in place. He could not possibly settle against his conscience, could he?

At that thought, Fang Kaizhi rubbed his chin with a miserable expression. Seeing him like that, his wife Sun Shumei could not help rolling her eyes.

"Worrying won't solve the problem. Isn't there still the casting director? If it really comes to it, have him visit opera academies in other cities. I refuse to believe that they can't find just two child actors who can sing opera—"

Before Sun Shumei could finish, an excerpt from Empty City Stratagem, sung in a rich, clear, perfectly articulated voice, suddenly came from the television, which had been playing commercials.

It was an unaccompanied performance. Though some notes were slightly immature and unpolished, the overall rendition was brimming with charm. Fang Kaizhi's ears twitched. He instinctively rose and walked into the living room, his gaze falling upon Lu Heng on the television, who was striking a pose and singing Peking Opera with every move performed precisely and properly.

"Who is that?"

"That's Lu Heng, the little hero who acted bravely and helped the police crack a major trafficking case. He's such a good, capable child."

Sun Shumei, another doting granny fan who had been thoroughly won over by Lu Heng, smiled as she pointed at the person on television and enthusiastically recommended him to her husband. "This is the program I was just telling you about. This child is incredible. He took on seven or eight armed traffickers by himself, can make grass-woven birds and perform vocal imitations, and I never expected him to sing Peking Opera so well too. He really is versatile. It would be a shame if he didn't enter the entertainment industry."

As she spoke, the old lady suddenly thought of something and gave Fang Kaizhi a push. "Hey, aren't you worrying about not being able to find actors? Take a look and see whether he might work?"