Chapter 697: For the Forgotten Memories
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Lu Yiyun was operating the automated dog was.h.i.+ng machine as the elfins and the others were watching from the side. The s.p.a.ce for the pet bath area had always been cramped, so much so that the waters could not even be drained properly. Suddenly, a message alert rang from Zhang Zian’s phone, and he then squeezed his way out of the pet bath area.
Zian unlocked his phone to take a look. The message came from the Dog Warrior group chat that had been silent for a very long time—someone had @him.
Currently, all the crew members were in various places; some were celebrating the New Year at home, while some others had joined a film crew for a new movie. Other than during New Year’s Eve when the group was lively for a few hours due to the giving out of red packets, it had been some time since anyone had said anything.
Executive Producer Nie Yuan had sent the following message: “Members of the following staffs, please prepare your pa.s.sports and Germany visas immediately in order to partic.i.p.ate in the premiere of Dog Warriors at the Berlin Film Festival and to attend the award ceremony segment. Based on the situation, I will be leading the group with Director Feng a.s.sisting me as the co-leader. Everyone that is mentioned—people and dogs—is required to attend. If there are reasons for any absence, kindly message me privately with your reason and explanations.
@Director
@a.s.sistant Producer
@a.s.sistant Director
@Male Lead
@Supporting Male Actor Number 1
@Supporting Male Actor Number 2
@Dog Lead (Requires the company of its trainer)”
The WeChat group became lively again, as everyone was looking forward to the Berlin Film Festival.
Previously, when signing the performing arts contract, there was a clause where Party B (Actor) had to proactively cooperate with Party A (Film crew) for any promoting or advertis.e.m.e.nt, including, but also not limited to, the premiere, meet-and-greet, and press conference, so on so forth. As for any costs incurred, Party A will be responsible for all necessary expenditures. Signing the contract meant that you agreed with these clauses. Zhang Zian, who personally felt that he was not law-ignorant, would definitely abide by the contract.
The way Nie Yuan phrased his words, however, it felt like Zian himself was Famous’s entourage…
Zian was in possession of a pa.s.sport—he had it done before he went to America—but for the visa, he would have to make a trip to the consulate. Aside from that, he also had to process the boarding procedures for Famous. Unlike Richard, it was obvious that Famous was unable to use the same excuse of “research purposes” to be in the pa.s.senger compartment. Keeping Famous in the phone and only letting it out when Zian stepped foot in Germany was not an option, either, as it might arouse some suspicions. Since Famous was one of the leading actors, there would be a lot of eyes on him, and he would especially attract the attention of the reporters.
Zian couldn’t say for sure if there would be any Western reporters looking for a big scoop that would try to dig out which flight Famous was on. If the reporter was unable to find any boarding details, though…
“Famous,” Zian gestured to Famous, calling Famous up to the second floor before explaining the situation to it. The main part of the explanation was to let Famous know that it was unable to enter the pa.s.senger compartment and would have to be placed in the pet cargo hold.
Before the start of the Spring Festival, a few local airline companies introduced a pet transportation cabin service which allowed some pets to tag along with their owners in the cabin until they reach their destination, but not all pets were included. The pet—including its cage––must not exceed five kilograms of weight, which would mean that most adult dogs, and some adult cats, were excluded from this service—such as, for example, an orange-colored cat named Fina…
This service was directed at domestic cats and dogs; other kinds of animals were not included in the service.
Famous’s weight was way over five kilograms. It was definite that Famous would not be allowed into the cabin, so he would have to be placed in the pet cargo hold.
Zhang Zian explained all of these reasons to Famous just in case it had any thoughts or opinions against this. Zhang Zian thought it might feel insulted since it was not an ordinary dog, but was actually an elfin.
Famous listened to Zian’s explanation, but it did not care much about the arrangement.
“It’s fine,” Famous said proudly and generously. “I’m an actor, so I have to be conscientious and I don’t mind being placed in a pet cargo hold. If my job required me to lie on top of the plane to fly there, I would do so, too.”
Zhang Zian paused. The control tower staff would definitely not permit the plane from taking off then.
“Oh, right. Where did you mention we would be heading to?” Famous asked.
“Germany, Berlin. That should be considered your hometown, right?” Zhang Zian asked.
“Germany…” Famous turned its head to look at the far west, and within its eyes drifted emotions that Famous itself was unable to describe. There was a period of time when Famous thought that it was Rin Tin Tin—thought that it came from the German Battlefield—but now Famous knew that it wasn’t. It might just be an ordinary German Shepherd, pa.s.sing through various places before drifting to America, where its true hometown was. Famous no longer remembered.
“I’m an actor; it is not important where my hometown is at,” Famous said. “If necessary, my home could be anywhere.”
Zhang Zian nodded. “On this trip to Berlin, it is certain that many people will be aware of you—they might have heard your name and you might even get a new film contract.”
Famous gave it some thought before shaking its head. “A new film contract might happen, but I would not want to accept any and every c.r.a.p movie, like those family comedies or reality shows on television. Those films can be left for the ordinary dogs—I would not lower myself to take on those characters. I have already taken on way too many of those characters in the past.”
Zhang Zian knew what it said was true; having Famous act as a character at home with its tongue out and acting cute was no different from using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It was also an insult to Famous’s acting capabilities.
Famous highlighted, “So you must definitely keep a close eye on the script. If it looks like a shoddy script that challenges how low the audiences IQ can go, just push it off for me. I would rather stay at home than act.”
“Then what kind of script are you more inclined towards?” Zhang Zian asked. “Give me a rough idea so that I will be able to know.”
Famous gave it some thought and said, “It has to have some kind of meaning, even if it isn’t thought-provoking. At the very least it should not be something like a popcorn flick, where the audience forgets it right after finis.h.i.+ng the movie.”
“Sure, no problem,” Zhang Zian readily promised.
“Oh, one more thing.” Famous was just about to head downstairs when it stopped. “I heard from Richard that you had donated the money you received from the sale of the kitten a few days back?”
Richard, that blabbermouth…
Zhang Zian had decided that he would not only put Richard up tonight, but he would also tie up Richard’s mouth.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t much,” Zian admitted.
“Why?” Famous asked in all seriousness. “A few thousand United States dollars seems negligible to the research of cancer, even as a memorial for Kathy. There must be some other methods, right?”
Zhang Zian did not expect Famous to ask such a question. Giving a moment of thought to the question, Zian answered, “You are right if you put it that way, but every year there are 1.4 million people in the world dying from lung cancer—that would be an average of three people a minute. Just with this short conversation of ours that took a few minutes, there are already over ten people who have pa.s.sed away from lung cancer. A few thousand U.S. dollars, even if it is only able to bring forward the time for overcoming lung cancer by a minute, is equivalent to saving the life of three people. So even if it is insignificant, I believe that there is no other method that is much more suitable to this as a memorial for Kathy.”
“Is that so? I feel the same, too. As for the preparations before leaving the country, you must have a lot of things to do, right? I will head down first.” Finis.h.i.+ng what it wanted to say, Famous headed downstairs.
In its heart, though, that wish to be an angel still existed—no matter where its hometown was at, and no matter if it was Famous or Rin Tin Tin.