The mountain road coiled and twisted. Zhang Haolin drove for half an hour before finally arriving at the destination for this documentary, a small courtyard built in a remote mountain area.
The owner of the courtyard was surnamed Zhang, named Zhang Bo, the protagonist of this documentary and inheritor of Dongxing Fist.
The history of Dongxing Fist could be traced back more than 300 years ago. The founder was a merchant who traveled extensively for business.
Because the roads were not very safe for merchants, that businessman created a set of boxing for protecting the safety of the trade convoys.
With the merchant’s extensive travels, the reputation of his business and boxing continued to grow. That businessman was righteous in character. He earnestly taught anyone who came to him to learn.
Therefore, the reputation of this boxing continued to spread and circulated widely among the people.
History is not so important. There are several thousand boxing styles with some reputation in China. Adding domestic and foreign styles together, there are tens of thousands.
The reason Dongxing Fist could become the representative boxing of Y City was not just because of its many practitioners in Y City. More importantly, the interviewee this time, Zhang Bo, won the bronze medal in the World Wushu Championships last year, pushing this boxing style onto the world stage.
After turning off the car engine, Zhang Haolin immediately went up and knocked on the door.
Li Yihai smiled and explained that they should first take Song Jixing, who was filming, to see the shooting location and get acquainted with the protagonist this time.
Song Jixing nodded and followed everyone out of the car.
Song Jixing was participating in the filming of the documentary in the capacity of an interviewer. Her role was similar to a field reporter introducing the venue. Someone would write words for her and she just needed to read from the script.
Even without snow in winter, it was still damp and cold in the mountains.
The cold air pressed in tightly from all directions. The visible vapor from exhaled breaths turned white.
Hearing the noise outside, Zhang Bo enthusiastically came out to welcome them, "Honored guests have arrived! Please come in. There is a stove inside to warm up!"
Before coming, Song Jixing had read Zhang Bo’s profile introduction.
Zhang Bo, male, 35 years old, martial arts hobbyist, main occupation was intangible cultural heritage wood carving.
The Zhang family were carpenters. After graduating from university, Zhang Bo took over his father’s business and became a carpenter.
The college graduate who came out from the mountains went back into the mountains again. Because of this, Zhang Bo's family was ridiculed by villagers for some time until Zhang Bo won the world competition ranking. After being interviewed repeatedly by city leaders and journalists, there was less gossip around Zhang Bo.
Zhang Bo learned wood carving skills from his father and martial arts from his grandfather. Before becoming famous, Zhang Bo was just an ordinary carpenter in the village.
Ten years of hard study brought fame overnight.
Unfortunately, after succeeding, the elders of the Zhang family had passed away and were not there to share in this joy.
These were the things Song Jixing learned from reading Zhang Bo's previous interview transcripts.
Looking at the middle-aged man in front of her with a generous smile, Song Jixing felt there was still some gap compared to last year's interview transcripts.
The photos in the interview transcript were too heavily edited. They made Zhang Bo look like a man in his twenties, energetic and handsome.
But considering the actual situation, there was a gap of twenty years.
However, that was not a problem. People made a living by their own ability.
As Zhang Bo said, in the center of the main hall was a brick fire pit with burning wood crackling inside, the crimson firelight particularly bright in the slightly dark room.
The fire pit looked quite old. The beams and originally white walls were smoked black from years of use, looking somewhat dirty.
"Please sit, warm yourself by the fire. I'll pour tea for everyone." Zhang Bo warmly welcomed everyone to sit down, then picked up the iron kettle by the stove to pour tea into the mugs nearby.
"The tea is grown in my own fields. We have the custom in the mountains of adding a little brown sugar and ginger to the tea to warm up. Don't mind it!"
Zhang Bo then handed out the mugs to everyone.
The Zhang family's courtyard looked quite dated, and the furnishings inside were even older.
The bright new cartoon mugs looked completely out of place in this house. It was clear these were specially prepared by Zhang Bo for entertaining guests.
Zhang Bo himself was using an old thermal mug.
Following the shooting details, Mr. Zhang chatted animatedly with Zhang Bo and pointed out several key points.
Song Jixing listened quietly on the side, and in the process heard the conversation outside.
It was a faint, hoarse voice that was hard to determine male or female.
"Another car has come looking for him!"
"Can he get on TV again this time? I want to get on too!"
"Haven't you been on before? It should be my turn now!"
Song Jixing released her perception and saw two yellow warblers whispering on a bare treetop.
They had a touch of spirit energy but no cultivation level.
It was quite normal to have some animals with awakened intelligence in the mountains.
"It's a bit cold. Why don't we go back first?"
"Go back to do what? Let's just find a place to get warm by a fire somewhere. We can even get some peanuts to eat. Let's go!"
Then came the sound of flapping wings.
The two birds adapted quite well, not just finding places to get warm by fires, but also going to find peanuts to eat.
After chatting inside for a while, there were sounds outside again.
"Ah Bo! You have guests? I've brought the chicken over!" A woman's voice rang out.
Zhang Bo immediately stood up and explained to those inside, "My sister is here! Not much good food in the mountains, so I'll stew a chicken for everyone today!"
Hearing this, Zhang Haolin immediately smiled and thanked her, "Thank you, thank you! You shouldn't have troubled yourself to cook for us!"
"You've come from afar, of course you're honored guests. It's only right."
The homegrown chicken stewed by the farmer was very fragrant. With the flatbread stuck to the edges of the pot and the rice cooked with the chicken broth, Song Jixing had two bowls of rice and three pieces of flatbread.
Zhang Bo's sister was named Zhang Hong. She was a little older than Zhang Bo and a very down-to-earth country woman. Seeing that everyone had just about finished the dishes, she kept asking if they were full and if she should make something more.
The few compliments on her cooking made her very embarrassed. She shyly went back out clutching her apron.
People get sleepy after eating. The Zhang family did not have space to accommodate guests, so the crew had rented courtyards in the village in advance to settle in.
Before leaving, Zhang Haolin seemed to remember something. He slapped his thigh and went to open the trunk, taking out a box.
"I brought a little gift for you. I forgot about it when we came in."
"You're already here. Why bring gifts!"
"Take it, don't be polite!"
After handing over the gift, Zhang Haolin drove for another two minutes until arriving at the place arranged for them, following Zhang Hong's directions.
When the car pulled up, there were still many people opening the courtyard gates to look at the lively scene outside.
On the eaves, Song Jixing again saw the two yellow warblers.
Today's weather was not very good. It was gloomy, and together with the abandoned old houses in the village, the atmosphere was somewhat creepy.
Considering there were female staff on this trip, the crew had specially rented two courtyards, about a hundred meters apart.
Zhang Haolin was particularly concerned and asked Song Jixing, "Little Song, will you be afraid staying here alone?"
