44. The Coffin

                                    

                                          
Dou Zhi Yuan who was standing in front of Qi Le An wore a plain white t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans, he looked as approachable as a suburban neighborhood. Only the white teeth he showed when he was smiling could attract people's eyes. However, Dou Zhi Yuan often avoided making eye contact with people, few people could see his smile.
                          
But Qi Le An clearly remembered this Mr. Dou would appear confidently at meet-and-greet activities in various cities a few years later, and countless fans would line up for hours in advance to meet him.
                          
Dou Zhi Yuan's writing had not only become a phenomenal online fiction, but he had also adapted the fiction into a screenplay himself. When Qi Le An died in his last life, Dou Zhi Yuan's first season of online drama had just ended, his work had won popular acclaim and great hits at the same time.
                          
Of course, a writer was not enough to make Qi Le An remember this person so vividly. Dou Zhi Yuan had also made an independent film before his fiction became popular.
                          
Qi Le An still remembered that the movie was called "The Coffin". Although the name was terrifying, it was a real suspense crime movie. The director of "Funeral Coffin" was new, and the screenwriter was also a newcomer in the industry. In an interview, Dou Zhi Yuan once said that he had received the help and encouragement of the director at the most desperate time in his life to creating the film "The Coffin".
                          
"The Coffin" first appeared in a Greater China film competition. The extremely low cost made it not as glamorous as other films, but this inconspicuous work had won the praise of all the judges when it was shown! Before the contest was even finished, several producers had their eyes on the movie and decided to play it in the cinemas.
                          
The movie became a hit as soon as it was screened. Three months later, Dou won the best screenplay at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, and two months later, he was nominated for the Venice Film Festival.
                          
Qi Le An's heart kept pounding as he thought of that. According to the trajectory of time, the director was still a college student who had just graduated, and he had not yet met Dou Zhi Yuan. But at this point, Dou Zhi Yuan should already have finished the story of "The Coffin".
                          
‘So, can I somehow be part of it?’
                          
"Qi Ge? Are you all right?"
                          
Dou Zhi Yuan saw that Qi Le An hadn't spoken for a long time, so he asked timidly for fear that he might be responsible for the silence.
                          
Qi Le An came to his senses and hurriedly said: "Don't call me Qi Ge, I am young and inexperienced. Please just call me Le An if you don’t mind."
                          
Dou Zhi Yuan has become accustomed to referring to everyone as “Ge” or “Jie” on the set, so he felt so touched when Qi Le An said that!
                          
His group leader had fired him without even allowing him to explain since he hit Qi Le An, oblivious of the fact that the reason why he bumped into Qi Le An was that he was asked to take care of some boxes that he was not even responsible for.
                          
Although Dou Zhi Yuan was mild and timid by nature, the blood-stained tissue on Qi Le An’s arm had been lingering in his mind. He mulled it over and decided he should apologize to Qi Le An face to face anyway before he left.
                          
He originally thought that all actors considered themselves superior, but he didn't expect Qi Le An to be so... so approachable and friendly.
                          
"What do you do on the set, Dou Ge?" Qi Le An asked.
                          
"I worked in the props team." Dou Zhi Yuan smiled bitterly.
                          
Qi Le An heard the embarrassment in these words, he asked in doubt: "Worked"