Chapter 147: I Don't Hate! Not Even a Little!

ps:
Thanks again to brother Long Shao and brother hzwangdd for their tips, and thanks to Tianmeng and Little Scholar in the Mortal World for the monthly tickets. Thank you very much! The Black Car has three chapters today, hoping for everyone's support, released all at once. Thank you!

Actually, Wu Xiang didn't need to ask at all, because he was very familiar with this place; he knew exactly where to find the person he was looking for.

Wu Xiang flagged down a car and brought Gao Yuanyuan and Yan Ni to the county seat of Yuixian, which was a bit more bustling. Wu Xiang looked around and found a spot where several old men were playing chess, walking their birds, or doing physical exercises outside. He randomly approached an elderly grandfather.

"Grandpa, what are you up to?"

"Me? Walking the bird, of course." The old man felt that the young man asking this question was rather silly. My action is so obvious, didn't you see it?

Indeed, the man was holding a birdcage in his hand.

"Want a smoke?" Wu Xiang had no idea what the grandfather was thinking; if he had known, that cigarette definitely wouldn't have been offered.

Wu Xiang didn't smoke. As a reborn person who had made a grand resolution, he naturally had to take good care of his body. Health is the capital of revolution, after all. Smoking—quit it!

This cigarette had been pocketed from someone else before leaving, so giving it away caused him zero heartache.

"Not bad, you kid know how to handle things. What are you doing bringing two pretty lasses along?" The grandfather smiled broadly, staring intently at the pretty girls.

Both Gao Yuanyuan and Yan Ni felt a bit embarrassed. What is up with this old man? Lacking the dignity of his age!

"Nothing major. We're just here to shoot a film. As you probably know, making a film requires experiencing local life. I reckon you're around sixty, old timer? Do you still remember stories from the War of Resistance?" Wu Xiang first needed to inquire about the old man's age; otherwise, if the man wasn't old enough and hadn't lived through that era, it would be useless.

"Hahaha. You youngster have bad eyesight!" Based on the grandfather's earlier observation, this guy Wu Xiang hadn't even noticed such a big birdcage, leading the grandfather to naturally draw a conclusion. But this conclusion made the grandfather very happy, and he laughed in his standard Hebei accent, "I'm seventy-five this year!"

"Oh! Grandpa, you look really young, I couldn't tell at all!" Actually, Wu Xiang's previous guess about this grandfather's age was at least eighty. He couldn't very well find a fifty-something to ask about the War of Resistance, but he knew that saying this would make the old man happy.

Once happy, the grandfather became chatty, "If you want to hear stories, come, come, find a place to sit, and I'll tell you!" The grandfather got up to look for a spot.

Alright, that settled it. Sometimes, knowing how to speak makes getting things done so much easier.

However, the two pretty lasses, Gao Yuanyuan and Yan Ni, were currently looking at Wu Xiang with extremely disdainful gazes. The implication was: you are utterly unscrupulous for hoodwinking an old man like that.

Yan Ni even spat out a Shaanxi dialect phrase at Wu Xiang, "Oh my dear mother! You're wicked to the core!"

"People are happy, what's wicked about that?" There was no way Wu Xiang would admit it. Right, everyone was happy, and he got his task accomplished. Sure, he used a few tricks, but if everyone ended up happy, what was the problem?

"You're just wicked! The soles of your feet are rotting with pus!" Gao Yuanyuan was definitely not going to let this opportunity slip by.

"You guys..." Wu Xiang was furious. This was basically eating your fill and then cursing the cook!

However, if they were going to dwell on the matter of hoodwinking the old man, it would turn into a debate tournament. Fortunately, the main storyteller, the grandfather, had zero interest in a debate; he was interested in telling stories.

"Are you going to listen or not?!" The old man was getting impatient, so what were they waiting for? Time for stories.

"Coming! Coming!" Fine, no point arguing with these women, listening to the story took priority.

As for the filming, right now it was all detail-oriented action sequences and art set design—specifically the tragic aftermath of the battlefield. Ning Hao, Wu Yue, and Hao Yi could handle those things; otherwise, Wu Xiang wouldn't have bothered coming along to accompany the two women in experiencing local life.

Actually, Wu Xiang had long known that the old men around here loved telling stories. Being idle, they had plenty of time.

"Back in the 31st year of the Republic, the times back then... don't even mention it. My family were landlords, and at that time I remember even we couldn't get enough good food to eat. Even so, those Japanese devils frequently came to loot things! ...Those damn Japanese devils, they weren't human! Carrying long rifles with bayonets so damn long—hell, their height wasn't even as tall as the rifle! They'd gesture, shout a couple of words, *sla sla*... wanting chickens. There weren't many chickens to begin with, and the hens still had to lay eggs. We couldn't just hand them over..."

You have to admit, the old man told the story quite well, occasionally eliciting bursts of delicate laughter from the two beauties Gao Yuanyuan and Yan Ni.

To Wu Xiang, listening to this was nothing special. In fact, when he came to this place to shoot a film before his rebirth, the times were better than this, and these old men particularly loved telling stories since they had nothing better to do anyway. Wu Xiang used to come listen often and would play a couple of rounds of chess with them when free.

Listening and listening, it lost its novelty for Wu Xiang, so he wanted to head back.

"I've got things to do. You two stay here and experience life; this old man has plenty of stories, so you two better study hard." Wu Xiang acted just like a superior officer about to make his exit.

"Where are you going?! Who said you could leave? Squat down!" By now, Gao Yuanyuan basically understood what kind of person Wu Xiang was, so speaking to him had returned completely to a natural state. The feeling of interacting with someone filming a commercial was gone; it felt very genuine.

"Hold on, what kind of attitude is this? I'm the director, and the investor too. Can't you show a little respect?" Wu Xiang thought to himself: You're just a pretty face cast as the female lead in my movie, otherwise would I tolerate this?

"A director like you... I really, I've never seen one! Who leaves their female comrades abandoned out here in the freezing cold, and then heads back by himself?" Gao Yuanyuan was angry at Wu Xiang's lack of comradeship.

"I'm busy." Wu Xiang had his reasons.

At this moment, the old man grew a bit annoyed, "What are you two doing?! Not listening anymore? If you're not listening, I won't tell!"

"Don't be like that." Yan Ni wanted to listen. The old man had just reached the later parts of the story, like how he was struggled against after the founding of the nation.

"Yeah, good grandpa, please tell us." Gao Yuanyuan immediately launched her charm offensive.

Wu Xiang wore a dark expression. Women change their minds way too fast, sigh~

"Not telling! Not telling! Telling this made my throat dry." This old man was no ordinary person; he knew he couldn't lecture for free.

The gaze arrived, and Wu Xiang felt it vividly. It came from Gao Yuanyuan and Yan Ni, and the meaning was crystal clear.

"Fine!" Wu Xiang let out a long sigh. Off to buy water he went. "Grandpa, what do you want to drink?"

"Ice Red Tea, make it the Master Kong brand!" This old man knew his brands.

"..." Wu Xiang was speechless, but he had no choice and hurried toward the convenience store.

Before long, Wu Xiang brought the water back. Upon returning, he found the old man chatting and laughing merrily with the two beauties.

Wu Xiang felt deeply depressed, "Look at your age, how can you still..." Alright, Wu Xiang was definitely overthinking.

"Is the water here?!" Without a word of explanation, Gao Yuanyuan snatched all the bottles of water straight from Wu Xiang's hands like a bandit.

Of course he couldn't have bought just one bottle; that would have shown a complete lack of tact.

Just then, Yan Ni took a sip of water and asked, "Grandpa, back when you were struggled against so miserably back then, do you resent our country, our Party at all?"

Wu Xiang thought to himself: *This part has very little to do with our plot.*

Really, Wu Xiang had zero desire to film the later plot points of the novel *Drawing Swords*. There was a reason for this. Even the original classic TV series *Drawing Swords* hadn't filmed that part—not because the plot was sensitive, but because filming it would have ruined the drama.

As the saying goes, the screenwriter of the original TV series wasn't Du Liang, but Jiang Qitao. This gentleman was formidable; at the time, he was far more impressive than Du Liang. He was a prominent figure among military writers, with representative works like *The Sound of Hoofbeats Fading*, *Red Cherry*, *Red Lover*, and later the TV series *Emperor Han Wu*, all scripted by him.

And he hadn't written that section either!

Because that later section conflicted with the earlier plot of *Drawing Swords*. The plot development was fine, and the character traits followed that development fine too, but the *feeling* of the plot had a problem!

The beginning had a fast pace, full of tension, fighting the Japanese devils energetically. Then, suddenly, it hits you with a super sharp turn. Even though the characters' spirits still involved "drawing swords," all sorts of suppression, torment, and thoroughly agonizing elements emerged.

That simply wouldn't do. A book could be written that way, but a television series couldn't be filmed that way.

Hasn't it been said before? A book's ending should be a tragedy to maximize its impact on people's hearts, whereas a television series must cater to the masses—it needs to take a page from writer Qiong Yao.

Moreover, actually speaking of this novel, before the TV series came out, the book had zero fame whatsoever. Even after Du Liang's *Blood Romance* was released, this book still didn't sell well. It wasn't until the TV series aired that the book skyrocketed in popularity.

Therefore, the true author of this television drama was not Du Liang, but Jiang Qitao.

Wu Xiang had analyzed it too: it wasn't that the section couldn't be filmed, but filming it would result in the front and back halves of the drama clashing awkwardly. That word—"clashing"—was extremely fitting. If you make the audience feel the awkward dissonance, the audience will clash with you!

Unless Wu Xiang was a complete moron, he would never commit such a mistake!

At this moment, the grandfather's answer came out.

"Back then I was struggled against so miserably, but let me tell you, children, little lasses, I didn't resent our Party at all back then! Not at all! I only resented myself for having a bad family background. If I had been a poor peasant, I wouldn't have been struggled against!"

This answer was somewhat unexpected. Gao Yuanyuan followed up with a question, "Grandpa, that was back then, but what about now? We all know now that things were wrong back then, so do you still not resent it?"

"I don't resent it! I really don't! You don't believe me? Do you think that because I used to be a landowning family, and after the nation was founded our land and property were all confiscated and redistributed, I would feel resentful? I don't resent it at all! And now that our Party has admitted those times were wrong, I resent it even less!" The grandfather finished and laughed heartily.

"..." Gao Yuanyuan and Yan Ni were simply unable to comprehend.

"Let me tell you why." The grandfather began a new story.