Prototypes from Shenzhen's twenty-year-olds convinced Luo Yonghao the next generation will be fine
The past two years made Luo Yonghao pessimistic about the environment. But after visiting Shenzhen and seeing hardware prototypes from entrepreneurs in their early twenties, he believes solid industrial foundations will carry the next generation. His optimism has returned.
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The source is abstract—the film must make the man real
Shuang Xuetao explains the radical rewrite: in the novel, Li Mingqi is assembled by others' searches—less a doer than a fantasist sustained by delusion, with few real events and much of the story unwritten. But film requires a protagonist constantly present, visibly acting. So they rewrote him as an engineering-trained man who actually builds a rocket that flies, making the character concrete.
— Shuang XuetaoWhat audiences need to believe is harder than mastering a dialect
On set, Jiang Qiming and Shuang Xuetao debated late into the night: how does Li Mingqi's mad ambition connect to his lived life? A novel answers this with a metaphor; film must build it through Jiang Qiming's behavior and speech, moment by moment. The goal: make audiences believe he is unhinged yet understand him, follow him willingly. Shuang Xuetao calls this the role's central difficulty.
— Shuang XuetaoSixteen hours of shooting to perfect one gesture of climbing
The Soviet advisors scene: foreigners, translator, friend, Jiang Qiming, and an actual aircraft prop—a micro-theater in cold steel, filmed continuously for over a dozen hours. Mid-shoot, Shuang Xuetao called an engineer to verify height details. Jiang Qiming kept feeling they needed one more push. Working it out on set, they found the gesture of gradual ascent.
— Jiang QimingThe young hardware makers in Shenzhen rebuilt his faith in the next generation
Luo Yonghao says the past two years made him often pessimistic about the environment. But visiting Shenzhen and seeing hardware startups founded by people in their early twenties changed everything. Their ambitions are grand, their prototypes already built—things he never dared imagine in his youth in 1972. He now believes in the next generation again: a cohort this spirited cannot fail by their thirties and forties.
— Luo YonghaoHis frustration stems from standards set impossibly high
Shuang Xuetao says his frustration is not a matter of talent but of standards set far higher than competence—if he were content to be a second-rate writer, or a dutiful product manager, life would be smooth. But he demands more, so he stumbles, the same as the man building the aircraft in the story.
— Shuang XuetaoExactly five years was how long he could bear the banking work
When Shuang Xuetao quit his bank credit job in 2012, he had exactly five years of tenure. Not because writing income exceeded his salary—it was far below—and he endured two more years of meager income after resigning. He quit not for literary dreams but because the job had become impossible. Writing was a small hole carved through stifling days, a place to breathe.
— Shuang XuetaoA debut author brings risk to a publisher, not opportunity
Shuang Xuetao analyzes literary publishing's contraction: a debut writer is risk to a publisher, not opportunity, while publishing a classic is stable business. So as the market shrinks, publishers take fewer risks. He recalls when literary magazines thrived twenty years ago and publishers bet on new voices. Today, debuts have fewer publishing outlets despite no decline in writing quality.
— Shuang XuetaoFame did not make him handsome—it made people see his face
Luo Yonghao says when he first met Jiang Qiming and watched his series, he did not think him handsome, only vividly distinctive. Jiang Qiming himself says he did not hear the word 'handsome' applied to him until after the series aired, when someone told him directly—before that, never. Luo Yonghao emphasizes this cannot be read as mere flattery from fame: many accomplished, award-winning actors never hear the word. What happened to Jiang Qiming is rare.
— Luo YonghaoIn their own words · checked verbatim
Discussing ideals in the abstract is void speaking to void. He's made the man real, reaching for the void.
就是如果我们在一个很虚的部分 来讨论一个理想 我就感觉是一个 以空对空的一个东西 现在就让他变成以实来对空
Shuang Xuetao7:12
Look at their spirit, what they've managed to build—they can't not succeed by forty. It's impossible. So I grew hopeful again.
但是一看就觉得 他们精神头这么足 能鼓到这么吓人的东西 他们到三四十岁的时候 就一定好不起来 我觉得不可能 所以我就慢慢又乐观了
Luo Yonghao54:50
If I were content being a decent product manager—whether starting something or working for someone—it'd be fine. But I want something higher, so frustration comes.
我如果甘于做一个称职的产品经历 那就可能挺好的 不管是自己创业去打工 但我要描的比那个高很多 所以有时候就会有挫折
Shuang Xuetao1:39:15
A debut author brings risk to a publisher, not opportunity. But a classic is stability itself.
一个新作家带给出版社 更多的是风险而不是机遇 但他出一个经典作品 那个东西就是很稳定嘛
Shuang Xuetao2:09:35
I can scroll Douyin for five hours. You get fragments, and each one delivers instant gratification.
我为什么能连刷五个小时抖音 你得到了一堆碎片 然后他每一个都满足了你的及时刺激
Luo Yonghao2:12:42
This definitely can't be read as simply 'he got famous so people think he's handsome.' That's impossible—I'm certain it's impossible. Many accomplished actors never hear that word their whole lives, even if they've won every award.
这个事肯定不能被庸俗的解读成 是因为红了 大家觉得帅 这不可能我认为这是不可能的 有很多实力派演员终生 拿了无数的影帝也没人说他帅
Luo Yonghao2:18:51
Figures
| Jiang Qiming's stage performances per year | 200+ | 2:01:24 |
| Soviet advisors scene shooting duration | over a dozen hours | 41:40 |
| Shuang Xuetao's banking tenure before resignation | exactly 5 years (resigned 2012) | 1:45:16 |
| Publication date of Moses on the Plain | first half of 2015 | 2:05:29 |
| New author manuscripts reviewed as literary prize judge | 80–90 works | 2:12:42 |
Glossary
- Peaky Blinders
- British period crime drama about post-WWI Birmingham gangsters, known for stylized violence and charismatic antiheroes
How to listen
Viewers of Northeast-set cinema and dialect drama, entrepreneurs navigating creative setback and reinvention, and anyone wondering how fame changes the way an actor's face is perceived.
Around 42:40: gossip about kissing scenes and on-set laughter. Low information density; safe to skip.