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A Trip to China
Author : Jing-Er,
in Chinese
Date :
22 August 2001
Translation :
Martial Arts Movies and TV Series - Wu Jing
Original
Compilation : Jing Wu
Men
Day 5, Part 2 - Dining with Wu Jing
After the filming session ended, the production crew began packing up and Wu
Jing gesticulated that we should board the bus with them. Quite a few production
members had already been seated, and not being at ease, when we stepped into the
bus, we ignored cries from others that there were empty seats in the front, and
squeezed ourselves in the back row.
When Wu Jing boarded the bus, he was puzzled, "Why are you seated so far back?"
"Distance imparts a sense of beauty," someone joked.
We were rather anxious while cruising around in the bus and when it reached a
certain place, Wu Jing alighted and we followed suit. Behaving like a local, the
bespectacled Wu Jing, who was in a pair sleeveless sports tee shirt and shorts,
and with a pair of sandals on his feet, led us towards a restaurant; We were
quite some distance behind, following him disorderedly. Two ladies who were
walking pass stopped abruptly and exclaimed, "Wu Jing!"
As if nothing had happened, Wu Jing continued, and on arriving at the
restaurant, he warmly greeted the staff and without stopping, proceeded to the
second floor. (We discovered later that it seemed that Wu Jing had never been to
this restaurant before.) It could be psychological effect, but we felt there was
some kind of suspicious looks around us. We learned that many locals of Hengdian
recognise Wu Jing and wherever he goes, there are bound to be people who would
be observing him and gossiping. Wu Jing should have long been accustomed to such
a situation, and hence, his nonchalance. However, we weren't and were somewhat
disconcerted.
Once we settled down in the restaurant, Wu Jing began placing orders very
liberally; We were alarmed to see him ordering so many dishes non-stop. At last,
someone uttered, "Wu Jing, it's enough."
Reluctantly, he put down the menu. However, subsequently, he continued placing
orders for drinks, "I can't let you say that I've ill-treated you on your
return."
Well, it was more than enough. Little did Wu Jing realise that we could have
possibly been drowned out by invidious looks of envy on our return, even if he
were to treat us with just a simple bowl of noodles.
Cheerfully, Wu Jing chatted with us. He noted that we were lucky to have arrived
here at the right time. It happened that there wasn't too much work in those few
days and he had a good rest on the previous day.
"If it were yesterday, I might not be able to entertain you. I was rather busy
yesterday. Yesterday, a frand from Hunan came; Are you aware of it? I wasn't
able to take good care of her," said Wu Jing, rather ruefully.
Everyone nodded their head, but none of us uttered a word.
"Why are you so reticent today? C'mon, say something!"
Well, who should speak first? Ninnie, eh? Everyone was looking at her. Then Wu
Jing continued, "How about giving yourselves a self-introduction?"
First was Tina and Wu Jing commented on her resemblance to a fellow junior's
wife, who was married in American recently. And she was called Tina too. Next
was Carry, and Wu Jing probed for a while, "Not alike."
Huh? We didn't catch him.
"Gives me an impression different from Wenzi," said Wu Jing.
Brother, you must have mistaken her for someone else. Following that, I
introduced myself. Again, Wu Jing gazed at me for very long time (At least, it
seemed very long to me.) I was rather discomfited, "Hmmm, any problems?"
"Like me, can't see the eyes when you are smiling," beamed Wu Jing.
"Er ... Well ... Thanks!" Oh, my god! What kind of foolish reply was that? While
I did not behave like a "a little deliriously-darting deer," I didn't know what
to say.
Wu Jing sure had a way with words: He could speak at great length on each topic
so eloquenlty. Once, Xiang tried to add in a few words during his speeches but
did not succeed. Eventually, Wu Jing rested for a while, "Alright ... you ...
open your mouth."
Every time he finished saying something, he would beseeched us with
semi-playfulness. "Why doesn't any of you speak up? Weren't you very active
then?"
Our mind were rather blank and confused, not knowing which part of his talks
should we reply to. We could not but only broke into a foolish smile. I even
told him, "Before coming here, we have told ourselves that we need not say
anything on seeing you. Just listening to you is good enough!"
Wu Jing pondered, "I am so tired. You still want me to carry on?"
And still, he continued talking for the whole night.
Wu Jing was full of enthusiasm and spoke quite a lot - mostly on his shows. We
were astonished to discover that he had such a deep impression of every scene he
did. Wu Jing was especially zealous when talking about filming. Articulating so
passionately, he commented on his views on each of his shows: How he played his
role, the good and bad points, and what he could do to improve on them. He would
also cite examples of specific scenes from specific dramas, remembering them so
lucidly.
We would reminisce the scenes with him, but there were times when we could not
remember which scenes he was referring to. (So, do your homework first before
going to see him!) What surprised me most was his understanding of Jin Yong, Gu
Long, and even Liang Yu-Sheng and Qiong Yao far surpassed what we could imagine.
[Ed: The former three are Chinese martial arts novelists, while the latter a
Chinese writer of romantic stories.]
He asked for our views on him acting as Guo Jing from Jin Yong's Eagle-Shooting
Heroes. We remained silent, looking at each other.
Wu Jing commented, "You don't think I look like him, do you? You feel I possess
more air of wisdom, shrewdness than Guo Jing?"
While I thought what Wu Jing said about himself was a mite ... but these words
were used very felicitously. While everyone shared the same sentiment, Wu Jing
was very confident that he could take on the role of Guo Jing, "Remember the
scene where Guo Jing subdues the Blood Sweating Horse? I believe I can do
better."
We told him we wanted to see him as Yang Guo of The Return of Condor Heroes. He
said he liked Yang Guo too. We also mentioned that Yu Fei-Hong could be Little
Dragon Maiden and Wu Jing remarked that we could go around spreading words on
the web. Even Wu Jing is not unaware of how powerful a medium the web can be as
a tool of propaganda...
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