In an interview, Zhang Yimou was asked: "What kind of father do you want to be?" ”
Zhang Yimou confessed his guilt to his children: "In the past, the cause was important, the cause was big, and everything could be abandoned, and we must have this spirit of dedication." ”
Host Yang Lan smiled: "You mainly let others give more." ”
Yang Lan's words were not sharp, but they hit the nail on the head.
The reason why Zhang Yimou can work hard with confidence is that his wife Chen Ting is indispensable.
When she was young, Chen Ting was like a gambler in her feelings, using her youth to gamble on Zhang Yimou's deepest love.
And this love of 31 years is doomed to be not easy from the beginning, not to mention that the other party is still a paper is difficult to find Zhang Yimou.
Although Chen Ting came from an ordinary background, she knew what she wanted better than more people, and once she set the goal, she would go all out.
When she was a child, she liked to dance, her parents saved money to send her to dance academy, and when she grew up, her parents could not support her to continue her further dance studies, so she dropped out of school and entered the song and dance troupe, dancing while supporting herself.
While her peers were still struggling with which beautiful dress to wear the next day, Chen Ting was practicing daily and nightly, preparing to apply for film school works.
The pressure of life never dispelled her idea of dancing, and even gave her the determination to stand on a larger stage.
In the exam where the vast ocean only took a scoop, Chen Ting was lucky to be selected, and she officially became a student of Beiying, one step closer to her dream of being an actor.
Watching her daughter have a career and make a university road for herself, Chen Ting's parents are both happy and worried.
They feared that their daughter would run to School alone in Beijing and, if bullied, would not even have anyone to help.
At this time, Zhang Yimou had already won awards at home and abroad and became a recognized well-known director.
Emotionally, he ended his first marriage, completely broke Gong Li's heart, and once again returned to the single stage, Zhang Yimou thought that he might have to spend his life with the film career.
He put his energy into the filming of "No One Can Be Less" and spilled blood on the shooting scene, but he did not expect that two years later, a girl 31 years younger than him suddenly broke into his life.
In 2000, Zhang Yimou was preparing for "Happy Times", and he asked the staff to look for actors at all film schools.
Chen Ting, who had just been a sophomore, learned that Zhang Yimou's works were looking for actors, and thought of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to directly sign up for it.
In fact, Chen Ting also has an idea in the registration, she has seen a lot of Zhang Yimou's works, and she admires his talent very much, if you can see this famous director in person, it is also a good thing.
Zhang Yimou is very strict about the selection of actors, and the interview resolutely does not require actress makeup.
On the day of the interview, Chen Ting took a two-hour bus to the crew, and was startled by the scene as soon as she came in.
The candidates on the scene are more beautiful than one, after hearing that Zhang Yimou filmed new works, they all want to share a piece of the pie, in comparison, Chen Ting does not show anything special, but Zhang Yimou has a pair of eyes that find beauty.
In the rematch stage, Zhang Yimou personally checked the pass and paid attention to Chen Ting at a glance.
Although she does not meet the casting requirements, her eyes are clean enough to make people feel happy.
After returning home, Zhang Yimou was obsessed with Chen Ting and wanted to fall in love with Chen Ting.
Zhang Yimou is 50 years old, and there is no extra time to pursue carefully, directly cutting to the right topic.
That day, he asked Chen Ting to come out, and when he came up, he directly confessed to being a girlfriend.
In the face of everything that suddenly happened, Chen Ting was overwhelmed, and her brain was hot and agreed to Zhang Yimou.
The adoration, bravery, and ignorance of the girl are all reflected in Chen Ting, which is the best appearance of love and the saddest place.
Because she didn't know how terrible and ruthless the man standing in front of her was.
A young man who has been suppressed by the times, from the photographer to the actor to the director, everyone is singing the praises of Zhang Yimou's ability,
But I don't know that I can get up from the lower level, and I can also walk in the clouds, behind Zhang Yimou, in addition to the "crazy diligence", it is inseparable from the support of two women.
When he was young, his classmates' parents earned 30 yuan a month, and Zhang Yimou's parents were as high as 120 yuan, which did not bring a sense of superiority to his life, but made him more inferior.
Even when he was working in the factory, Zhang Yimou could not find a better future because of his birth problems.
And his first wife, Xiao Hua, was the complete opposite of him, his parents were all intellectuals, his roots were red, and he looked beautiful.
From the first time he saw Xiao Hua, Zhang Yimou was deeply attracted.
The two are both middle school classmates and comrades who went to the countryside to join the team, and the so-called well water building platform won the moon first.
Someone was messing around and pursuing Xiao Hua, and he directly beat people away.
He also wrote a blood letter to Xiao Hua to express his strong feelings and moved Xiao Hua, who was ignorant of his feelings, to tears.
Until later, for Zhang Yimou's sentence "You go to college, get to know others, you will change, and you can no longer look up to a countryman like me", Xiao Hua resolutely gave up the opportunity to study at university.
Two years later, the whole country resumed the college entrance examination system, the Beijing Film Academy came to Xi'an to enroll, the whole factory only had one exam quota, Zhang Yimou tried his best to get admitted to the university, but was rejected because of overage.
In desperation, he sought the help of his brother-in-law and handed over his work to a well-known painter who admired Zhang Yimou and then brought in the Minister of Culture for him.
I have to say that Zhang Yimou's works are really good, and the minister personally opened a note and specially approved him to enter The North Film for two years.
Before leaving for Beijing, Zhang Yimou and Xiao Hua received a marriage license, one began to stay in his hometown to take care of children and filial piety to the elderly, and the other began to prepare for the film world.
And what Zhang Yimou said to his wife many years ago also began to confirm that when he entered the university, he filled in the column of marriage or not in the admission registration form, and he did not fill in anything.
A year later, in a letter to his wife, he pointed out that Xiao Hua could not dress up and should learn more to improve his aesthetics.
Xiao Hua looked at her husband's letter and couldn't say it bitterly, she gave up the opportunity to go to college, took care of her in-laws and children at home, so that her husband could work hard with confidence, but she was disliked.
On the other hand, Zhang Yimou mixed well outside and changed from a trainee to an upright college student.
After graduation, he was recommended to Guangxi Film Studio by the dean of the college as the most outstanding graduate.
By chance, he became an actor again, starring in his debut film "Lao Jing" and won three film emperor trophies in one fell swoop: Golden Rooster, Hundred Flowers, and Tokyo International Film Festival.
I have to say that in Zhang Yimou's body, actors who don't want to be directors are not good photographers.
In the spirit of life lies in the toss, Zhang Yimou began to direct "Red Sorghum" again, as soon as the movie was released, actress Gong Li was on fire, and Zhang Yimou also entered the ranks of big directors.
Zhang Yimou and Gong Li perfectly achieve a win-win situation, career and feelings.
You're gone, you've taken my heart away, and when we're together, you're so cute in my arms, we're together with endless words, we can't do endless things...
This time, Xiao Hua finally stopped deceiving herself, and she clearly knew that her husband had changed his mind.
A marriage in name only is doomed to not last long, and despite parental opposition, wife crying, and daughter pleading, the marriage is over.
Just let everyone not think that in the next 8 years, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li went in pairs in the crew and award ceremony, but they did not get married for a long time.
In the end, Gong Li broke the window paper and asked when to get married, but Zhang Yimou said that getting married was just to get a piece of paper.
Once the national audience thought that Zhang Yimou would marry Gong Li, but unfortunately they eventually became emotional passers-by for each other.
Zhang Yimou's daughter once said in an interview:
I still don't understand why a big star like Gong Li, when she was with her father, should be so hostile to my only daughter, and why should she stifle all opportunities for our father-daughter contact?
From Zhang Mo's words, it is not difficult to guess that Zhang Yimou did not want to get married at that time, and should also have various scruples.
And the outside world also rumors that Zhang Yimou's mother did not like Gong Li and resolutely opposed this marriage.
This also makes people wonder, is Chen Ting, who is 31 years younger, a good match in the eyes of the Zhang family?
In fact, when Chen Ting and Zhang Yimou showed their cards to the parents of both sides, they were invariably opposed by the two families.
After Chen Ting became pregnant, Zhang Yimou gave her two choices:
One is to beat up the child after the breakup and continue to school.
The second is to drop out of school, stay with him, and give birth to a child.
Zhang Ting chose the latter, and she returned home with Zhang Yimou and told her parents that this was her boyfriend.
Looking at Zhang Yimou, who was still older than himself, Chen Ting's parents resolutely opposed, but unexpectedly, Chen Ting said: "I am pregnant."
A sentence directly made the mother fall into contemplation, and quickly called her husband to come to her side for consultation.
Zhang Yimou, who does not want to be bound by marriage, said that he is not willing to get married, but he will definitely be responsible for Chen Ting.
The parents of the Chen family were furious after hearing this, but they could not stand their daughter's dead heart, and in desperation, they could only put forward three requests.
One is that Zhang Yimou must marry Chen Ting, and the other is that in order to protect Chen Ting, the third daughter must live with herself in order not to disclose the relationship.
Zhang Yimou knew that he was in a loss, and promised to come down and promise not to disappoint Chen Ting.
However, after Zhang Yimou's mother, Zhang Xiaoyou, learned of it, she firmly opposed it.
On the one hand, Zhang Yimou's mother is very fond of Zhang Yimou's ex-wife Xiao Hua, even after the two divorced, they still matched the two to reunite, and it was difficult to survive Gong Li, and now Chen Ting has come again.
Secondly, in her opinion, Chen Ting is not in love with her son Zhang Yimou, but something else.
The mother-in-law's dislike made Chen Ting feel aggrieved, and Zhang Yimou persuaded after learning about it: "My mother is old, why do you have to meet with her in general, and when the time is long, she understands your personality, and she will not have these thoughts." ”
Hearing Zhang Yimou's words, Chen Ting put her heart back into her stomach.
In 2001, after the birth of their son Zhang Yinan, Chen Ting gave birth to her second son Zhang Yiding and her younger daughter Zhang Yijiao.
The birth of the three children completely filled Chen Ting's time, and the troubles that followed were also more and more.
Because Zhang Yimou was afraid of children's exposure and was not good for their growth, Chen Ting did not even dare to ask for a nanny.
Zhang Yimou is also a notorious workaholic, busy with work, with only four or five hours of rest a day.
In life, he is very low energy, many of the home appliances will not be used, the kitchen has not been to several times, the most state of the day is to hold the script, the maximum for Chen Ting to share is only to hold the child.
If this matter is placed on any woman's body, it will be tossed to the point of collapse long ago, and the contradictions in the family will only increase.
Chen Ting never cried bitterness and tiredness, and even during the birth of the child, after finishing college and graduate school, she picked up the dance major again.
As the children grew up, another problem arose, because the two were not married, and the three children did not have a legal hukou, going to school became a major problem.
After consulting with Zhang Yimou, Chen Ting did not have several opportunities to ask for a permit, but took her children back to her hometown and paid a high tuition fee to study in a private school.
After Zhang Yimou's father died, her mother was taken to live in Beijing, and Chen Ting took care of her mother-in-law regardless of her previous suspicions.
Every day, she specially prepares a variety of pasta for her mother-in-law, serves three meals a day, and even her mother-in-law is seriously ill and hospitalized, she accompanies her in front of the bed for more than 20 days, and Zhang Yimou, as a son, can only visit a few sides in a hurry because of his work.
In the days of getting along, Zhang Yimou's mother began to change her mind about Chen Ting, and with her grandchildren around her knees, the old man's heart knot had long been unraveled.
Chen Ting's concessions and efforts have always been remembered by Zhang Yimou, and in an interview many years later, he said: "It has been difficult for Chen Ting over the years, she has a good character, does not mention various requirements, and there is no worry in all aspects." ”
The approval of the mother-in-law and the touch of Zhang Yimou finally made Chen Ting turn right, although Zhang Yimou has not been officially announced in order to avoid trouble, but for Chen Ting has been satisfied.
She likes to keep a low profile, and she does not want to be too much attention from the outside world as a burden on Zhang Yimou.
Unexpectedly, in 2012, an actress who was fired by Zhang Yimou for not abiding by the rules of the crew exposed Zhang Yimou's super life in a huff.
For a while, public opinions such as "hidden marriage and super birth", "old husband and young wife", "Chen Ting's fame and fortune" and so on followed, and Zhang Yimou defended it for many years in the end, but finally did not defend it.
Under the pressure of public opinion, Zhang Yimou stood up and admitted the fact that he and Chen Ting were married and had children, and paid a huge fine of 7.84 million, and Chen Ting's mother and son finally got to see the light of day.
In order to compensate for his wife's years of hard work, Zhang Yimou gave her a sports car and took them on a tour, appearing under the camera in a bright and upright manner, but there was more and more gossip from the outside world.
The first is the age of the two, the combination of an unknown female student and a well-known director, it is not difficult to think of material needs.
After being exposed to the supernatural incident, some people claimed to be Chen Ting's relatives revealed that Chen Ting could get ten million when she gave birth to a child, and after giving birth to three children, she already had forty or fifty million and two large villas, so her parents did not worry about marriage at all.
In response to the rumors on the Internet, Chen Ting denied it, and in response to the so-called "Zhang Yimou's brother-in-law surnamed Chen's uncle Weibo exposed the news", Chen Ting responded that the news was not true, bluntly saying that the Chen family only had one daughter.
However, with the change of identity, the outside world's attention to Zhang Yimou has also changed from an individual to a whole family, and her every word and deed will be judged by the public.
In 2019, Chen Ting also posted a photo of her husband and daughter on her personal social platform, and wrote in an enclosed text: Thanks to the Longjiang High-speed Traffic Police and Harbin Railway Station, we successfully caught the train and ate dinner.
Netizens said "Privileged? This is also good to show, but also need traffic police escort. "I see who will send me if I can't catch the car" and so on.
Seeing that things were making a big fuss, Chen Ting hurriedly posted a local news to explain.
It turned out that due to the blizzard, a large number of tourists were stranded, except for their families, many stranded tourists were escorted to Harbin by the traffic police, and there was no privilege at all.
Today's Chen Ting, after experiencing the gossip of the outside world and dissolving the dislike of her mother-in-law, her life is getting better and better, but her husband has served as the opening ceremony of the 2021 Winter Olympics.
On February 14, Chen Ting posted that she initially supported her husband to be the general director of the Winter Olympics this time, because of the controversy suffered by her husband at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games, which left her with sequelae.
However, Zhang Yimou, who did not accept defeat, still wanted to challenge again:
He even joked, "If you mess up, let's run away with the whole family", this time I said you forgot? Are you going to do it again? He didn't answer, and I knew it was going to happen again, and it was still in his seventy years.
In the rare years, Zhang Yimou fell into "desperate work", Chen Ting looked in her eyes, pain in her heart, but who made her fall in love with a "crazy person".
Watching her husband work hard, Chen Ting understood that he was fulfilling his regrets, and all she could do was to fully support her.
This time, Zhang Yimou did not engage in the tactics of the sea of people, but drew a perfect end to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
Many foreign countries have also praised it, and netizens have also sighed: "Zhang Yimou still knows the romance of Chinese best." ”
When netizens saw Cheng Ting's article, everyone sang about Zhang Yimou's dedication, but also sympathized with Chen Ting's worries as a wife.
For those who have different views, Chen Ting responded: This article is to share without appeal.
epilogue
Zhang Yimou said: "Our generation will not treat ourselves well. ”
He attributed his dedication and fighting spirit to the pressure of the times.
Because of his birth, Zhang Yimou when he was young was always suppressed everywhere, so he wanted to get ahead even more.
When he grew up, his career also became his top priority, everything had to be compromised, he understood that opportunities were not easy to come by, and he was reluctant to give up any opportunity.
Such a man is destined to have a woman who can solve his problems.
Xiao Hua knows how to be patient, but he is bound by his family, which runs counter to Zhang Yimou, who is devoted to his career.
Gong Li is known as the person who knows Zhang Yimou best, but her professionalism and strong woman appearance are doomed to not return to the family for Zhang Yimou.
Chen Ting seems to be the person who is most out of tune with Zhang Yimou, but she accompanies him through the ups and downs, takes care of his family and filial piety to the elderly, and finally waits until Zhang Yimou is willing to turn back.
The matter of feelings is the most mysterious and uncontrollable, in the final analysis, it is about meeting the right person at the right time.