In the spring of 1997, when Beijing had heated up to the point where it needed to turn on the air conditioning, Zhao Lijuan wore a fine-knit cardigan and pushed the door open into the bright spring sunshine. She hurried to the destination of her old classmate Liu Fang's crew, with brisk steps along the way, full of hope in her heart.
In fact, Zhao Lijuan doesn't have much work this year, but as a national first-class actor, she doesn't have many opportunities to shine. She hopes that through Liu Fang, she can open a bigger door.
Who knew that as soon as she entered the set, she was targeted by a middle-aged woman - that was Qiong Yao, the queen of emotional literature. Qiong Yao seemed to fall in love with her at first sight, and immediately used various rhetoric to express her idea of wanting Zhao Lijuan to star in a new play.
Zhao Lijuan was at a crossroads in her life, and when she was hesitating, Liu Fang had already pulled her to try on the costume.
Zhao Lijuan is dressed in a costume, with a phoenix crown, bright eyes and bright teeth, and she is gentle and elegant, which is exactly the portrayal of Qiong Yao's concubine. Qiong Yao's eyes lit up, and she praised again and again.
Under Liu Fang's instigation, Zhao Lijuan signed the contract in a daze. After joining the group, she found out that she was only the fourth female number, and she was designed by Qiong Yao to play the supporting role of Concubine Ling.
She couldn't help but feel annoyed, regretting that she had misjudged her judgment in the first place. But after thinking about it, the wood is already in the boat, so I can only puff up my chest and do my best to complete the role, and strive to win Qiong Yao's appreciation through good performance.
What she didn't expect was that this experience of "being fooled" instead achieved her first life peak. She didn't expect that just one supporting role could leave such a deep impression in the minds of the audience.
The super high ratings of the first part of "Huanzhu Gege" directly sent the name "Concubine Ling" to every household. Zhao Lijuan also became popular overnight and became a popular fried chicken.
In 1998, two dramas were carried out at the same time, which made Zhao Lijuan popular. Her years of playing tricks have not yet passed, and now she can finally show her skills in front of the camera, which is the opportunity for her to think about it.
But just when the sun was in full swing, she found out that she was pregnant. As an elderly mother, if you do not reduce the intensity of work, it is extremely detrimental to the fetus. But now that the progress is so fast, she really can't pull out.
Zhao Lijuan had no choice but to have an abortion. She couldn't help but have mixed feelings in her heart, which should have been a good news that made her and her husband ecstatic, but in the end had to end in the loss of life.
When her husband Zhang Mingming heard about it, he was furious and wanted to divorce her for a while. He couldn't understand why Zhao Lijuan could be so ruthless to put her relatives to death.
In fact, Zhao Lijuan was also heartbroken. With tears in her eyes, she begged Zhang Zhizhi for forgiveness, promising that when these two dramas were completed, she would definitely give birth to a child and make amends to him. Zhang Mingming replied indifferently, he really couldn't calm the pain in his heart now.
But in the end, he still gave Zhao Lijuan the space to continue to complete her work, because this was also an opportunity she had gained from years of hard work.
One day, an actor found Zhao Lijuan and cried, saying that he had finished the work, but his salary had not been paid for a long time. He complained that the crew broke their promise, and Zhao Lijuan was furious when he heard it.
She found Dai Chunrong, and the two actresses got together to discuss countermeasures. They decided to take a tough step and put some pressure on the producers to solve the problem.
So, they killed the assistant director Liu Fang violently. Liu Fang was confused, infected by the emotions of the two, and became nervous. Zhao Lijuan and Dai Chunrong complained word by word, claiming that if the problem was not resolved, they would consider a boycott.
Liu Fang realized that they had misunderstood the facts, and hurriedly explained that the actor had read the wrong salary slip, and the finance would be paid on time.
However, the words have been spoken, and their actions at that time must have created a lot of pressure on the crew. In order to express their apologies, Zhao Lijuan and Dai Chunrong worked very hard in their subsequent work.
Once when filming the scene of the queen's broken hair, Dai Chunrong took the initiative to ask to use real hair to perform, hoping to dedicate his heart. Every staff member of the crew was moved and admired these professional and dedicated actors even more.
After Zhao Lijuan starred in "Huanzhu Gege 2", her fame increased significantly, and the drama continued. However, her heart couldn't help but be happy. Because the child who had to give up at the beginning seemed to have become an eternal piece of heart in her heart.
In the past few years, she and her husband have been trying to have another child, but they have also experienced several unfortunate miscarriages during this time.
It wasn't until 1999 that Zhao Lijuan decided to temporarily withdraw from the workplace and raise a baby with peace of mind. Rather than missing her hard-won new life again because of busy filming, she is willing to give up a great opportunity to take over the drama at her peak.
In the past five years, she has lived a simple life, and Zhang Mingming is waiting for the child of their dreams day by day.
In the winter of 2004, 39-year-old Zhao Lijuan finally became pregnant again. Zhang Mingming was so excited that he cried with joy. They have been through so many ups and downs, and this time there is hope.
After Zhao Lijuan gave birth to her daughter, she wanted to continue to try to have a son. But Zhang Mingming knows that his wife's career is just as important. So he began to help Zhao Lijuan find some suitable jobs.
With the help of Zhang Zhizhi's resources, Zhao Lijuan gradually returned to filming in the entertainment industry. Now that her daughter has grown up, Zhao Lijuan's market value as an artist has not diminished at all.
She found a balance between her career and family and spent the best years of her life in peace.
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, Zhao Lijuan is 58 years old. Standing in her life for half a hundred, she looked back at the road when she came, with magnificent waves and ups and downs. She has made sacrifices for her theatrical career, and she has also borne fruit.
Today's Zhao Lijuan is still active in the film and television industry, and she is vigorously exporting her acting work precipitated with age and acting skills.
What did Zhao Lijuan get? She has gained the peak of her career and the recognition of the audience. From playing a supporting actress to becoming a well-deserved powerful actress, she exchanged sweat and perseverance for this process.
Now Zhao Lijuan is no longer a young actor who can only be at the mercy of the director, she can choose her favorite script and role. can be said to be a senior figure in the circle.
Zhao Lijuan also got a happy family. During the difficult times, she chose to give up her instinct as a woman to conceive life, but then she compensated for the full support of her husband.
Now that her daughter has grown up, she enjoys comprehensive companionship. This is unavoidable for many artist families.
Zhao Lijuan has paid the price for her choice, and she will not regret it. Because in the environment of that era, she actually had no better choice. Now 58 years old, she has reaped a fruitful life of career and family, and she has learned to balance the two.
That's the reward of her years of hard work.