Lu Chen flew to Wumeng to visit a film set.
The person he was visiting was, of course, his girlfriend, Chen Fei'er. She was currently filming the long-form historical TV drama The Flourishing Dynasty's Long Ballad, produced by CCTV, on the Mongolian Great Steppe. She had already been there for several days, and according to reports, the conditions were quite harsh.
The Flourishing Dynasty's Long Ballad was CCTV's major drama production for 2017, with enormous investment and a powerful cast lineup. Naturally, the filming schedule was very long, and most scenes were shot on location.
This had always been one of the defining characteristics of large-scale CCTV productions over the decades: grand settings and massive visuals. Especially when it came to military and war-related scenes, the amount of manpower mobilized was enough to leave even Hollywood stunned.
For an important role like the one played by Chen Fei'er, spending dozens of days filming on the Mongolian Great Steppe or in the Gobi Desert was perfectly normal.
After arriving in Wumeng City, the provincial capital of Mongolia Province, Lu Chen and Zhang Xiaofang exited the airport and picked up the off-road vehicle that Capital City Workshop had arranged to rent in advance. Then they drove toward the filming location more than seven hundred kilometers away.
With a total area of over 2.7 million square kilometers, Mongolia Province was the largest province in China. Outer Mongolia had once split away and declared independence in the early twentieth century, before returning to the embrace of the motherland during the 1970s.
After leaving Wumeng City, the surrounding terrain quickly became broad and open. Rolling hills and lush green grasslands became the most important scenery along the route. By the time they had driven more than three hundred kilometers along the highway and arrived at Bato City, night had already fallen.
The two spent the night in Bato City, filled the off-road vehicle with fuel, and then continued northwestward the next day.
Beyond Bato City lay the vast and boundless Mongolian Great Steppe. There were basically no proper roads in the area, and without satellite navigation guidance, it was very easy to lose one's way and never find the route back.
But driving a powerful off-road vehicle across the great grasslands was absolutely an exhilarating experience. With the roof opened, basking in the sunlight and wind while racing freely across the plains, one's mood seemed to drift away like dandelions carried by the breeze.
Even so, this was Lu Chen's first visit to Mongolia Province. Along the way, he switched places with Zhang Xiaofang and took over the driving himself, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of boundless heaven and earth opening before him.
They had departed from Bato City at eight in the morning, and by around two in the afternoon, they found Shuiquanwei, where the CCTV The Flourishing Dynasty's Long Ballad crew was stationed.
Shuiquanwei was a large local Mongol settlement situated beside Small Mirror Lake, with a population of over ten thousand.
For generations, the Mongols had "lived by following water and grass," leading a nomadic lifestyle. But in modern times, with the continuous growth of the population and the expansion of animal husbandry, the conflict between survival and the environment had become increasingly severe. In order to protect the grassland ecosystem, many Mongols had begun settling down permanently.
Shuiquanwei was precisely such a settlement, a grassland town of sorts. It was also a local tourist attraction, and because its facilities and conditions were comparatively good, it became the base camp for the CCTV The Flourishing Dynasty's Long Ballad crew.
From far away, Lu Chen could already see the ovoo standing atop the high slope, along with the colorful banners fluttering in the wind.
The ovoo served both as a landmark on the grasslands and as a site of shamanic worship for the herdsmen. It told Lu Chen that, after traveling thousands of kilometers from south to north, he had finally reached his destination.
Shuiquanwei covered a large area. At its center stood rows of spacious buildings and single-story houses with white walls and gray-blue tiled roofs. Around the town, many beautiful yurts were scattered across the surrounding grasslands, while cattle and sheep could be seen grazing freely everywhere.
In the distance lay the sparkling waters of Small Mirror Lake. A group of fine horses grazed by the lakeside, chasing and frolicking with one another. The scenery truly resembled a painting, breathtakingly beautiful.
After asking some local residents for directions, Lu Chen easily found the film crew's encampment.
It was a standalone compound, and parked at the entrance was a utility vehicle with the words "The Flourishing Dynasty's Long Ballad Film Crew" painted on its body. There was no doubt they had found the right place.
There were staff members staying behind in the compound, and when Lu Chen went in to ask for information, one of them recognized him immediately at first glance.
"You're Lu Chen?"
The CCTV crew staff member looked pleasantly surprised. "What brings you all the way here? Don't tell me you're joining our production? I haven't received any notice about that!"
Lu Chen was not listed among the cast members of The Flourishing Dynasty's Long Ballad, but for a major production with such a powerful lineup, it was perfectly normal for actors to be added or removed temporarily. It was nothing worth making a fuss over.
Lu Chen smiled and replied, "I'm here to visit the set."
"Visiting the set?" The staff member was momentarily speechless.
It was perfectly normal for actors and entertainers to visit friends working on productions, but this was the very heart of the Mongolian Great Steppe, hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest city.
The crew member considered himself fairly experienced in the industry, yet he had truly never seen many people like Lu Chen.
Then realization suddenly dawned on him. "You came to see Chen Fei'er, didn't you?"
Wasn't Chen Fei'er Lu Chen's girlfriend? The relationship between the two of them was really something else!
The staff member sighed emotionally and enviously at the same time before saying, "Miss Chen and the crew are filming over at the hunting grounds. They probably won't be back for the next couple of days. It's more than a hundred kilometers away from Shuiquanwei."
Without hesitation, Lu Chen answered, "Then I'll just drive there myself. A hundred kilometers isn't far."
After all, they had already traveled several thousand kilometers to get here, what was another hundred or so?
The staff member grinned and asked, "Don't tell me you came here without informing Miss Chen first?"
Lu Chen nodded somewhat embarrassedly.
This time, he really had not told Chen Fei'er in advance that he was coming to visit the set. His goal was to give her a surprise.
While he had been in Hong Kong, the two of them spoke on the phone every single day. He knew Chen Fei'er had been working extremely hard filming, while he himself had nearly gotten caught up in a scandal. Although it was only a misunderstanding and had already been cleared up, he still felt somewhat guilty inside.
So, before A Chinese Ghost Story officially began filming, Lu Chen had hurried over to visit her.
For couples in the entertainment industry, staying together for a long time was difficult. If they wanted their relationship to remain fresh and unchanged, both sides needed to maintain it carefully. Even though their relationship had always been very good, that did not mean it could be taken for granted without effort and care.
"I knew it!"
The other man slapped his thigh. "I just knew that was the case. That's seriously romantic!"
"How about this? I'll go with you. I need to deliver some supplies there anyway. That way you won't get lost and waste time taking wrong turns."
Lu Chen was surprised. "Wouldn't that delay your work?"
The staff member laughed. "It's no problem. There are other people staying behind here. I just need to let them know."
Lu Chen said gratefully, "Then thank you so much!"
"No need to be polite."
The man waved his hand and chuckled mischievously. "Just give me an autographed photo. My little sister's a fan of yours!"
Lu Chen laughed. "Then later give me your sister's address. I'll have Capital City Workshop mail her a signed limited-edition album."
"That's fantastic!"
And so, under the guidance of this crew staff member, Lu Chen and Zhang Xiaofang once again drove off toward the hunting grounds more than a hundred kilometers away.
Traveling tirelessly across the long road, all for the chance to meet the person he loved.
(End of Chapter)
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