Chapter 313: 306 Chapter 313: 306 Zheng Tan knew before arriving that Mr. Jiao had told him to play dumb when necessary.

What did “when necessary” mean?

For instance, if he didn’t want to shoot something, work with someone, wasn’t comfortable with the location, felt unwell, or had a sudden urge to pee, he could play dumb. Pretending not to know how to act or just rolling around on the spot would suffice. After all, who could expect too much from a cat? The production team certainly couldn’t. Let Xiao Guo’s ample staff deal with the headaches, Zheng Tan was sure that Xiao Guo and Mr. Jiao must have their own private agreements, and he’d bet his life on it.

However, this was for his benefit. Zheng Tan understood that being smart was fine, but appearing too clever could arouse suspicion. To avoid unnecessary trouble, sometimes it was safer to seem a little dumb.

There were many scenes Zheng Tan wouldn’t normally shoot, but this time he made an exception and endured. After all, documentaries were different from commercials. This one required a lot of manpower and resources. If Zheng Tan took on the job, he needed to be responsible for it. Besides, those scenes were quite ordinary for cats, and it wouldn’t be justified to refuse to perform.

Zheng Tan felt uncomfortable with the “makeup” on him, and he needed touch-ups now and then. Especially his eyebrows and whiskers, which needed reapplying if they were rubbed off even a little—after all, Zheng Tan’s whiskers were black, while those of the cat in the pictures were white.

Fortunately, Zheng Tan was quite efficient, so the shooting ended up taking much less time than Yang Yi had planned.

The production team thought filming with the cat would take a long time, but the cat turned out to be very cooperative. They believed that the cat’s intelligence was certainly a factor. However, more importantly, it was thanks to the team sent by Xiao Guo who was said to be professionals in caring for cats. During their downtime, the production team members even exchanged experiences with the team members sent by Xiao Guo. Little did they know, the team from Xiao Guo’s side could barely keep a straight face. There were certain truths they dared not divulge, having signed several contracts. They responded exactly as Xiao Guo had instructed them.

Now, Zheng Tan had no idea how well he was performing. He could only gauge whether he was meeting the standards by Yang Yi’s expressions. He would have to wait until the final production was completed to see the actual effect. The elderly man acting alongside Zheng Tan looked somewhat like Yang Yi’s grandfather from the side, of course, also in makeup, striving for resemblance. With some cinematic techniques added, Zheng Tan believed that the final product should satisfy Yang Yi.

In the process, Zheng Tan also encountered some things that were commonly used in that era, such as stove ash as cat litter, which almost every household burning coal found convenient. There were also handmade cat flaps, which people in the courtyard houses made for the sneaky little creatures that constantly came and went, creating a hole about half a foot square with a cloth curtain. Even the flaps for fatter, larger cats were made bigger. There weren’t any high-tech gadgets around then, but those things were well utilized at that time.

Apart from Zheng Tan, Da Mi and Xiao Mi also made cameo appearances, as Yang Yi wanted to film some scenes of the cats being active and playful in their everyday lives.

Xiao Mi especially pleased Yang Yi, as the little fellow could become instantly high even by itself, as if it suffered from a split personality, kicking and scratching at itself and biting its own paws. It ran back and forth swiftly on the narrow walls, and after playing to its heart’s content, it would arch its S-shaped tail, point its chrysanthemum towards the sunset, stretch in a butt-sticking-out pose, and then start demanding food.

Everyone had a good laugh during the shoot. Zhao Le’s mom even came to the set in person, not the least embarrassed by her cat’s disgraceful behavior. On the contrary, she thought a cat should act this way. Zheng Tan could tell that she held Xiao Mi in high regard; the cat seemed to be just to her liking.

As for Da Mi, though not stage-shy, she was too calm and serene compared to Xiao Mi. Perched on the high wall, she just wouldn’t move. Yang Yi didn’t know what to do since it was Fang Shaokang who had specifically requested for this cat’s appearance. Something had to be shot, right?

“Are these two really siblings?” one of the crew members asked. He was referring to Xiao Mi and Da Mi.

“Da Mi is a girl!” Fang Mengmeng, with her sharp ears, corrected him immediately upon hearing this.

“Oh, a girl, quite demure,” the crew member chuckled. He didn’t know much about cats and couldn’t determine the gender by the patterns on a cat. After a laugh, he looked at Fang Mengmeng and said, “Then could you get your Da Mi to give us a gentle smile?”

A gentle smile?

Could cats even do that?

After teasing below the wall for a while, Da Mi finally moved. She tapped her front paws in place twice, arched her back, and looked down from above. Eventually, she managed a chilling “smile.”

All members of the production team watching: “…”

Jesus, that’s terrifying!

A few of them even scratched their arms involuntarily, feeling goosebumps all over.

Fang Mengmeng didn’t think much of it, though, because Da Mi only acted naturally around people she was familiar with. Otherwise, she would either appear emotionless or make that kind of expression—and it was even worse when she was in a bad mood. Fang Shaokang had a profound understanding of this.

Now, Da Mi probably felt there were too many unfamiliar people below the wall, and the atmosphere was a bit somber. Unlike Xiao Mi, she wasn’t as lively and didn’t usually reach out her paws in public. Even after much teasing from Fang Mengmeng, Da Mi hadn’t extended her paws, so they could only guess her mood from her facial expressions. Of course, what just happened might not have been a smile from Da Mi, just a change around her face and mouth that resembled smiling. But that was as far as things could go.

“Alright, that shot just now was good. Every cat is different, and we need to capture both quality and unique characteristics,” Yang Yi was quite satisfied. At least he had captured something new and had something to report back to Fang Shaokang.

By the time this segment ended, Xiao Mi had been taken away by Zhao Le’s mother. Before leaving, Zheng Tan overheard Zhao Le’s mother chatting with someone nearby about Da Mi, expressing with a tone of relief that it was good they had gotten Xiao Mi back; if they had dealt with one like Da Mi, it probably would have been frustrating.

As for Da Mi, Fang Mengmeng felt even more fortunate that she had chosen Da Mi back then. Xiao Mi was too troublesome, but her own Da Mi was obedient.

Maybe some people say that others’ cats always seem better, but even if they praise someone else’s cat, in the heart of a cat owner, their own cat will always rank first, whether it’s a mischievous one or a quiet one. They love their own cats no matter what.

This documentary was not just about the things of Yang Yi’s grandpa; the filming crew also went to interview some other people. Although the later interviews had nothing to do with Zheng Tan, he still couldn’t leave, as some scenes might need to be reshot. Zheng Tan had to stay a bit longer, just in case, so he followed them to see the subjects of those interviews.

The first one they visited was an elderly author’s home, where both the old man and his wife were present.

The interviews were more life-oriented, and the filming took place in the elderly couple’s home. With their children often away, the couple had adopted a cat, and now they had a white domestic cat. When it saw Zheng Tan, the cat was very curious but also vigilant, always hiding around the old man and his wife, watching Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan wandered around the room, and the cat showed no reaction, just stretching its neck out to watch him, until Zheng Tan approached its cat bed and got close to its food bowl. That’s when the cat’s fur exploded, and it charged over, arching its back and swiping its paws at Zheng Tan while growling lowly.

“Ah, don’t worry, that Black Cat won’t fight,” Yang Yi reassured the somewhat concerned old lady, and then asked the elderly couple when they could start.

After Zheng Tan left its food bowl and cat bed, the cat immediately ran back to the old man and his wife’s side.

The elderly couple had been through countless interviews, so they were able to respond calmly to this one. The director didn’t intentionally ask them to act differently,
The filming included the old lady reading and cooking, the old man writing, listening to the radio, and the cat’s reactions to all these activities.

When the old man was writing, the cat would jump on the desk and cause a mess, walking all over his manuscript. It couldn’t be pushed away; if he tried, it would simply lie down on the papers. Only when the old lady called for it would it lazily get up.

The old man wasn’t annoyed but instead chuckled and used the end of his pen to scratch the chin of the cat sprawled on his manuscript. “This fellow is arrogant. The moment I sit here, it comes over to bully me… My partner? She doesn’t say anything about it, instead she tells me to write something to praise it…”
Looking at the old man, there wasn’t a hint of grievance or annoyance for being bullied; on the contrary, he was very cheerful.

The old man remarked that scholars in Beijing were fond of keeping cats, and he named a few writers of his generation as examples.

In literary circles, Beijing’s cats are somewhat like pampered young masters, though many have transitioned from mousing caretakers responsible for their keep to playful pets in high-rise apartments. But deep down, they haven’t lost a bit of their lordly nature. They don’t care whether they’re facing a literary master or an ordinary citizen.

What are Chuhua’s cats like? Zheng Tan thought of the several cats he had known, and on reflection, it seemed that each one he was familiar with was quite unique, perhaps also embodying the characteristics typical of Chuhua’s cats.

Besides the current cat, the elderly couple also reminisced about the cats they had kept before. The old lady even brought out a photo album to show everyone.

During the interview, the two seniors often became immersed in their memories, sometimes sitting in contemplative silence, seemingly forgetting there were people around filming the interview. There were several moments of silence. However, neither Yang Yi nor the rest of the filming crew stopped recording or interrupted, nor did they show any signs of impatience on their faces.

Zheng Tan had been informed by Charlie about this situation before coming here, probably a reminder from Yang Yi. After each silent moment, the elderly spoke more vividly, authentically, and down-to-earth. When the old lady talked about their previous cat, her eyes reddened several times. That cat had been with the couple for more than a decade and had died a natural death.

The filming crew then went to interview a master of traditional Chinese painting. During the interview, the old man brought out a painting full of cat paw prints. When he had been painting fish, his cat had jumped onto the desk and caused a mess, leaving ink prints everywhere. The artist later touched up the painting and then framed it, keeping it as a collectible. When guests come over and talk about related topics, he proudly shows them the painting, claiming his cat has quite the artistic talent.

Zheng Tan followed them and saw the painting too, and indeed, it had a certain charm to it, unworthy of an artist of such prestige. As in the movie about Tang Bohu that was released in the past, he turned decay into a miracle.

The cinematographer was adept at capturing details that would bring the entire film to life and fill it with soul.

Throughout the shooting process, the cat owners interviewed included artists, educators, visits to several famous schools in Beijing, libraries, and also some ordinary households. Zheng Tan followed them through streets and alleys, different backgrounds, cat owners of all types, and cats with assorted temperaments. Combined with professional production and polishing, Zheng Tan believed this would be a good film, regardless of what others thought, he considered it to be very good.

According to the filming crew, after production, this film will likely be sent to participate in competitions, but the production won’t finish until next year, as it’s already the end of this year. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep