Director Yan Wu continued, “We have several scenes to shoot tomorrow during the daytime as well, such as the scene where she is thinking about something, changing her outfit, harboring a knife, etc. Those scenes will be shot in our movie studio.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Realizing that Mori Aikko had a hectic schedule, Gun-Ho thought that maybe he wouldn’t be able to spend as much time as he wanted with Mori Aikko during this trip.
‘I will have to stay here longer than I planned. I don’t think I can go back to Korea tomorrow as initially planned. What am I going to tell Young-Eun? I have to e up with a very convincing and understandable excuse…’
Gun-Ho didn’t drink much that evening because he knew by experience that he would feel terribly tired if he drank during a trip. Seukang Li seemed to restrain himself from drinking too much as well because he had to go to work the next morning. Director Yan Wu and Director Woon-Hak Sim also seemed to drink only a few glasses of liquor.
Director Woon-Hak Sim wasn’t very fortable with speaking the Chinese language yet, but he seemed to have any problems municating with Director Yan Wu particularly. They sometimes used Chinese letters to municate, with a piece of paper on the table. Since they were in the same field, they probably didn’t need tons of words to explain something to understand what each other meant.
Seukang Li finally called it a night.
“President Goo flew here from Korea today. It must be a tiring trip. He probably feels exhausted by now. Let’s call it a night, and go home and take a rest.”
Everyone stood up from their seats to leave.
Director Sim said to Gun-Ho, “Mori Aikko will arrive at Pudong Airport around 11 am tomorrow. It will not be me who will pick her up at the airport tomorrow, but Director Yan Wu will go to the airport to pick her up this time with an interpreter.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“I was told that Mori Aikko will be staying in the Grand Central Hotel which you are staying at, sir. Once she checks into the hotel, someone will contact you to let you know.”
“Okay.”
Gun-Ho came back to his hotel.
Lying down on the bed by himself in the hotel room, Gun-Ho couldn’t easily fall asleep. All he could think about was Mori Aikko. Gun-Ho eventually fell asleep around 2 am after watching several different Chinese programs on the TV.
The next day, Gun-Ho woke up after 10 am. He must have been very tired. It was not a long-hour flight from Korea to Shanghai, but it certainly made him exhausted anyway. Also, the fact that he fell asleep very early in the morning must have been attributed to him oversleeping. After washing himself, he walked out of the hotel. He then took a walk in People’s Square.
“I didn’t know People’s Square is right next to the hotel.”
Gun-Ho wanted to have a bowl of oxblood hangover soup for breakfast, but he knew that it would be almost impossible to find a restaurant offering that particular dish in the very area where he was standing.
“I want the hangover soup from Cheongjin Town or Yangpyeong Town…”
At that moment, a small restaurant came into Gun-Ho’s view.
“Huh? I see the letter Zhou (porridge). They must be selling porridge. I will have porridge for breakfast.”
After indulging a bowl of porridge, Gun-Ho came back to the hotel. When Gun-Ho was having his morning coffee while watching the TV, he received a call through the hotel phone. It was Director Yan Wu.
“Mr. Chairman Goo?”
“Yes, this is he.”
“I’m Director Yan Wu. I’m in the lobby with Mori Aikko right now. She is checking into her room.”
“Really? I will be right there.”
Gun-Ho went down to the lobby.
A young woman in a beige trench coat was standing there. She was holding a luggage. It was Mori Aikko. The Mori Aikko who Gun-Ho missed so much.
“Aikko!”
“Oppa!”
Gun-Ho desperately wanted to hug her tight, but he couldn’t do it because they were in a public place where a lot of people could see them. When Gun-Ho was looking around to see how many people were there, Mori Aikko came to Gun-Ho and hugged him.
“How have you been?”
“How are you, Mori Aikko?”
Gun-Ho looked at Mori Aikko’s face. She looked pale for some reason. But her lips were noticeably red.
“You seemed to have lost some weight. Is that because of work?”
“You seemed to have gained some weight, oppa,” Mori Aikko said, and she laughed out loud. She looked so cute. Gun-Ho terribly wanted to kiss her.
After checking-in, Director Yan Wu came to Gun-Ho and Mori Aikko with an interpreter.
“You’ve met already, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Mori Aikko’s room number is Yiqian Sanbai Ling Ba (1308). We have to go back to the film studio for shooting right after dropping her luggage in her room.
“Really? Well, please do so then.”
Mori Aikko and the interpreter took the elevator to go to her room, carrying her luggage while Gun-Ho and Director Yan Wu waited for them at the lobby.
Gun-Ho said to Director Yan Wu, “Since you have been in the movie industry for a long time, I’d like to ask you a question.”
“Huh? What do you want to know, sir?”
“You told me yesterday that you are pretty positive that this movie will succeed. Can I trust your assurance?”
“I can tell you this for sure. First, the story is very good. The author—Ms. Ailing Feng—is a tremendously famous writer in China, and an overwhelming number of her work has succeeded so far. Moreover, China has a history of being attacked by Japan and the Western Powers numerous times, and as a result, a movie that appeals to Chinese people’s patriotism usually succeeds. In addition, because of the element of patriotism in the movie, the government will support us. ”
“Hmm, really?”
“Because of the patriotism that we expressed in the movie, the government will actively support us by maybe pressuring movie distributors to release our movie in an increased number of times, for example. That is why President Baogang Chen mentioned movie distributors to Director Seukang Li yesterday at the restaurant. President Baogang Chen has connections to find a good movie distributor, of course, but he wants to receive active support from the government.”
“Does Director Seukang Li have that kind of power? He is not the only director in the city hall. There must be several people in the director position.”
“A director in Shanghai City can be deemed as a party secretary in a provincial city like a small town. He could well take a party secretary position in a small city as well. Moreover, Director Seukang Li was the leader of the munist Youth League of China.”
“Hmm.”
“Having been a leader of Gong Qing Tuan (munist Youth League of China) in Shanghai City is huge. Moreover, he is now the director of Shanghai’s Bureau of Radio, Film, Television, Media, Arts, and Culture. No one in the industry wants to fall into a position of his disfavor.”
As Gun-Ho was talking with Director Yan Wu at the hotel lobby, Mori Aikko and the interpreter joined them. The interpreter looked curious about Gun-Ho; she often glanced at him. Noticing it, Gun-Ho smiled and extended his hand to the interpreter for a handshake.
“Ni Hao (Hello). I guess you probably studied in Japan.”
“Yes, I did.”
“I’m GH Media’s Dongshi Zhang (Chairman) from Korea.”
The interpreter blushed a bit and gave him a light nod as she was having a handshake with Gun-Ho.
Gun-Ho thought, ‘Usually, Chinese women don’t blush. But this woman blushes, and she knows how to give a light nod like Japanese women. Maybe while she was studying in Japan, she naturally picked up a few cultural behaviors from there.’
At that moment, Director Yan Wu said as he was looking at his watch, “It’s almost time. We have to go now to the film studio.”
Gun-Ho quickly said to Mori Aikko, “Okay, Aikko. I will see you later, maybe tomorrow. I will be staying in this hotel.”
Mori Aikko waved her hand at Gun-Ho with a smile, and she walked out of the hotel.
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