FLME Ch54

Yu Wen showed the netizen comments to Xie Heyu. Teacher Xie thought for a moment and said, “It can be done, but the tricky part is authorization, and…”

“And what?”

“What do the netizens mean by a happy ending? Resurrection or daily life?”

This question stumped Yu Wen again. He scrolled through the comments for a while, and there was a variety of opinions but no consensus.

Xie Heyu then said, “I’ll discuss it with Xie Jiamao. If it doesn’t work, we can try anthropomorphism. We’ll talk about the script later.”

After a month of updates, Immortal Sect finally reached its finale. This low-budget web drama, featuring a new director and lesser-known actors, performed spectacularly during the summer season, unexpectedly becoming a breakout hit of the year. Recently, Yu Wen noticed in the group chat that the director seemed to be preparing to air it on satellite TV.

After the finale, the official account released a compilation of behind-the-scenes footage from the filming period, posting everything in one go. In the footage, everyone was running around in costume, carefree and adorable, with no pretensions, slightly healing the hearts of viewers who were hurt by the intense plot.

Especially Yu Wen and Jian Heng, the two of them together were simply a source of joy.

“Xiao Yu, what are you doing?”

“Taking a dump.”

“…I’m filming behind-the-scenes footage.”

“Using the bathroom.”

Yu Wen loved to laugh, and in the behind-the-scenes footage, his smile was especially sweet. His character, Chu Laoliu, was a spirited young swordsman. He intentionally toned it down while acting, but off-camera in the behind-the-scenes footage, he was relaxed and natural. Whenever Jian Heng called him, he would hop over, his eyes curving into a pure, captivating smile.

The behind-the-scenes content could be summarized into two parts: “Jian Heng and Yu Wen’s Acting Extraordinaire Compilation” and “Xiao Yu’s Beauty Attack Compilation.”

So far, even though Yu Wen had appeared quite a bit on screen, his time in the industry was short, and he didn’t have many works. Fans didn’t have much content to fawn over. This behind-the-scenes footage was a timely solution to that, and soon the internet was flooded with adorable avatars clipped from the footage, expanding his popularity a little more.

With the Immortal Sect finale just wrapped, the second filming notice for Battle Royale arrived. This episode’s shoot was delayed more than expected because the filming location was on a school campus. The production team spent a long time negotiating but eventually decided there was no need to disturb the students’ study time. So, they temporarily changed the second episode’s setting to an abandoned high school.

While the set was being hastily built, Director Miao’s new drama was holding audition trials the day before the shoot, in the same city. So Yu Wen dropped by.

Recently, Yu Wen’s popularity had been rising rapidly, to the point where even Director Miao was surprised. Before the show aired, Yu Wen’s self-awareness was correct—he wasn’t qualified for Director Miao’s drama and needed to audition. But after the show aired, things were different.

As soon as they got in the car, Yi Ming said to him, “Director Miao wants you to play the second male lead. Why don’t you take it? The second male lead is a positive character, while Song Mingzhu is the antagonist.”

Yu Wen brought her a cup of milk tea along the way. After handing it over, he said, “I like Song Mingzhu. I want to play him.”

Xie Heyu had something to take care of today, so he couldn’t accompany him. Ever since Xie Heyu became his manager, Yu Wen rarely had to attend an event alone.

Uncle asked if he was home, saying he had something big planned. Upon learning that he was, but Xie Heyu wasn’t, Uncle was particularly outraged and scolded his irresponsible manager on his behalf.

Then he cheerfully added that when Xie Heyu returned tonight, they should give him a big “surprise.”

Yu Wen couldn’t stop laughing. Although Xie Jialin didn’t say it outright, knowing Uncle’s mischievous nature, it was clear that Teacher Xie was in for quite a rough time tonight.

Zhou and Zhong wanted to accompany him, but Yu Wen didn’t see the need—it was just a screen test. So he gave his two assistants the day off and hitched a ride with Yi Ming, who was heading the same way.

Yi Ming clicked her tongue, “Song Mingzhu isn’t easy to play. I’m not even confident.”

After saying that, Yi Ming sneaked a glance at the agent in the front seat and, with a pop, pierced the milk tea lid.

As an actress, Yi Ming had to maintain her figure and hadn’t had milk tea in a long time. She felt very grateful to Yu Wen…

“Yi Ming!”

Yi Ming shuddered and loudly protested, “I didn’t drink it, I didn’t drink it! I just wanted to smell it! Heaven help me! Yu Wen can vouch for me—I didn’t take a single sip!”

The agent shot a cold look through the rearview mirror.

Yu Wen was momentarily dazed, then he also yelled loudly, “She didn’t drink it! She didn’t drink it! It was Xiao Yu who grabbed the wrong one! Xiao Yu was supposed to bring her a bottle of mineral water!”

He quickly pulled out a bottle of mineral water from his bag, turned around, and handed it to Yi Ming. Yi Ming returned the pierced milk tea to him, the whole exchange smooth and practiced, as if they’d rehearsed it countless times.

Yi Ming laughed, “Hahaha, Xiao Yu, you’re really something…”

Yu Wen replied, “Such a beautiful misunderstanding…”

The agent glared at Yi Ming, then turned to Yu Wen, smiling kindly, “Xiao Yu, your second senior is prone to gaining weight. Even drinking water can make her gain. Be good, don’t give her any snacks to eat, okay?”

Yu Wen nodded quickly.

Once the agent turned away, Yu Wen and Yi Ming exchanged glances, both tearing up with laughter.

Too scary…

When Battle Royale premiered, Director Miao gave up on the audition and directly invited Yu Wen to play the second male lead in the new drama.

Though this felt like a promotion, Miao Yifei had watched Yu Wen’s performances in two simultaneously airing shows. An actor who was both raw and brimming with potential was a rare find for any director.

He looked forward to seeing Yu Wen polished from a rough stone into a gem in his camera.

But Yu Wen refused. He wanted to play Song Mingzhu.

The new drama was called Moon Harbor, set in the Republican era. To avoid any real-life controversy, it was an alternate history with no real-life prototypes.

It was a time of constant conflict and turmoil. In Shanghai, there were two powerful families, the Fu and the Song families, who had severed ties over an old feud from their parents’ generation more than ten years ago. The character Yu Wen wanted to play, Song Mingzhu, had the most complicated background—he was the product of a marriage alliance between the two families. After the two families fell out, his mother, pregnant with him, returned to the Fu family.

Song Mingzhu’s life could be divided into three stages. The first stage was before he turned twelve, when his mother raised him in the basement of a small Western-style house. Aside from his mother and a mute wet nurse, he had no contact with anyone. The second stage was from age twelve to eighteen, when the Fu family discovered him and brought him back to the main house, allowing him to live a normal life. The third stage was after he turned eighteen, when his nominal father took him back to the Song family and renamed him Song Mingzhu.

A few sentences could summarize Song Mingzhu’s turbulent life.

Song Mingzhu had a subtle emotional connection with the male lead, which in modern terms might be called “forbidden love,” though it was one-sided.

The Fu family’s matriarch took him out of the basement on a winter day. The ten-year-old boy was scrawny, dressed in thin clothes, with dry, red-cracked skin, but his black eyes were warm and clear, and he smiled at everyone, a smile that was incredibly gentle.

Everyone in the Fu family adored him. As the male lead, Fu Mingshen, under his mother’s guidance, took care of him as best he could. But having grown up involved in family affairs, Fu Mingshen was mature and suspicious beyond his years. He knew this cousin was different from normal people.

How normal could a child who had lived in a basement for twelve years be?

Whether it was Song Mingzhu’s impressive acting or his ability to conceal himself, only Fu Mingshen saw through him in the entire Fu family.

At the funeral of the Fu family’s matriarch, Song Mingzhu didn’t cry or cause a scene, but tears streamed down his face, silently crying as if his heart was breaking.

Fu Mingshen, however, said to him, “Stop crying, you’re not sad.”

It wasn’t mockery, nor an accusation, just a statement.

That, too, was a winter day. The snow fell as heavily as it had the day the Fu matriarch had taken him out of the basement. Song Mingzhu stood in the snow, quiet for a long time. Before he could show a look of confusion, Fu Mingshen calmly said, “Mingzhu, you’re not like us.”

“Different, how are we different?”

Later, Song Mingzhu thought for a long time but still couldn’t figure it out.

He was taken back to the Song family and renamed Song Mingzhu, missing the chance to ask Fu Mingshen directly. After that, they had less contact, but this sentence became an obsession for Song Mingzhu.

He thought, he needed to become more powerful. When the day came that he could stand on equal footing with Fu Mingshen, he would stand in front of him, look him straight in the eyes, and ask the question that had haunted him in his dreams for so many years.

“Brother, how am I different from you?”

Song Mingzhu had a hazy sense of good and evil, unclear about right and wrong, and a muddled understanding of love and hate.

Although he was a villain, he wasn’t bad enough to be purely evil, nor was he good enough to be truly kind.

He knew that he had to pretend to be normal in order to secure the resources to survive, but who could have guessed that once he put on the mask, he could never take it off again? No one noticed anything wrong with him, and no one could save him.

Although he was only the third male lead in terms of screen time, this character had a complex richness. If the actor wasn’t chosen well, the entire show would fall apart.

So, Song Mingzhu had to audition. Even if the actor was an award-winning star, director Miao Yifei wouldn’t hand over the role without seeing him audition.

There were many artists participating in the audition, and this was already the third round. So far, there were only two candidates left, each with their own shortcomings.

In Director Miao’s productions, the leading cast is usually decided before the script is even finished. Many experienced and skilled actors vie for a spot. The female lead, Yi Ming, is a top-tier actress, and the male lead recently won the Best Actor award. He was also present today to help with the auditions. There were even a few reporters outside. A seemingly small audition had garnered such significant attention.

Once inside, Yu Wen was surprised to see an old acquaintance in the room.

The production company for “Moon Harbor” was Huiteng Group, and this film was one of Huiteng’s key projects for next year. The prince of the company personally came to oversee the audition. Though he didn’t intervene much, he needed to have a general understanding of the actors’ overall abilities.

Yu Wen was currently very popular. If it weren’t for the special nature of Song Mingzhu’s role, with his status, he could have gotten the role directly. Feng Chengzhou didn’t expect Yu Wen to personally attend the audition and raised an eyebrow in surprise, nodding slightly in greeting.

The two didn’t exchange much. When Director Miao saw Yu Wen enter, the frown he had worn all day finally gave way to a smile.

He asked Yu Wen which scene he wanted to try.

Yu Wen: “I can choose?”

Yi Ming explained with a smile, “The original audition scenes are fairly simple. When someone does well, the director lets them try a few more scenes. The fact that he’s letting you choose means he has high expectations for you.”

Director Miao didn’t say anything, just smiled and looked at him.

Yu Wen hesitated for a moment, then pointed to a few scenes in the script, saying, “You choose.”

He had read the script several times and was determined to play Song Mingzhu. He surely had his own interpretation of the character. At times like this, it wasn’t just about showing off acting skills—having an accurate interpretation was even more important.

Director Miao’s eyes lit up. The scenes he pointed out all seemed bland on the surface but were actually pivotal moments of conflict for the character. “Alright, we’ll go with this one. I’ll find an actor to play your mother.”

The scene was of Song Mingzhu visiting his mother in a western-style mansion. It was right after Fu Mingshen had said to him, “We are different,” so Song Mingzhu’s emotions were extremely complex. If even a subtle moment was handled poorly, the audience might not understand the character.

After confirming the scene, Director Miao scanned the room, looking for someone to play Song Mingzhu’s mother. Today’s audition was for a male role, so there weren’t many female actors present. After scanning the room twice, his gaze landed on Yi Ming.

Yi Ming, who had been sneaking snacks from the table: “…”

Why are you looking at me?

She quietly stuffed the small cookie into her pocket. Director Miao said, “Xiao Ming, help out with this scene.”

After hearing about the scene, Yi Ming turned to Yu Wen with a smile and said lovingly, “Come here, darling. Mommy loves you.”

Yu Wen: “…”

Total downgrade.

The scene started with Fu Wanrong sitting in a wheelchair while Song Mingzhu fed her medicine.

The woman was already in very poor health, emaciated and dazed. A failed marriage had destroyed her. She hated Song Mingzhu’s father, and because of that, she mistreated Song Mingzhu. But Song Mingzhu didn’t hate her. He just pitied her.

“Mom, it’s snowing outside. It’s cold. You should wear more clothes, so you don’t get sick.”

Yu Wen’s voice was gentle, his lips slightly curved upward, showing a habitual shy and bashful expression.

He spoke to Fu Wanrong about recent trivial matters, his tone steady and rhythmic, with a certain charm.

Yu Wen’s delivery had improved greatly, and Yi Ming was pleased. After all, this was her first student, and one with a bit of mysticism about him. If he became more popular next year, the two of them could walk the red carpet overseas and enjoy international fame together! Just thinking about it made her happy!

The director and screenwriter were watching intently, and the room was silent.

“Not long ago, the First Lady passed away. I was very sad.”

He stirred the medicine at the bottom of the bowl, and the spoon clinked against the bowl, producing a crisp sound.

“Everyone said she loved me, just like she loved Brother Mingshen. But Aunt Liu also loves her daughter. She tells her daughter to wear more clothes and tucks her in at night. The First Lady never told me to wear more clothes or tucked me in at night.”

“Mom, is love in this world really different?”

Fu Wanrong couldn’t respond to him. The woman’s mind was in shambles, to the point where she couldn’t even recognize people.

Like a child, she avoided the bitter medicine. Song Mingzhu patiently wiped the saliva from her mouth and said, “Mom told me you love me. So, when you locked me in the small room and said you didn’t want to see me, that was a form of love too. Love in this world is truly strange, but I like it. Mom, I like the way you love me.”

He carefully fed her the rest of the medicine. The director watched intently. It was hard to simply judge whether Yu Wen’s acting was good or bad because he lacked technique. But he naturally exuded a certain magnetism. As long as he fully immersed himself, the result was convincing.

The scene was almost over, meant to depict Song Mingzhu’s process of confusion and self-convincing. Just as the director was about to call “cut,” Yu Wen added one more line:

“Mom, when you die, I will be sad.”

…Well done.

This added line, filled with neurosis, not only tied the previous parts together but also fully revealed Song Mingzhu’s character.

Director Miao was excited. If earlier he had only been hopeful for Yu Wen, now he felt that Yu Wen could even play the male lead.

He turned to discuss with the screenwriter for a bit and then had Yu Wen try two more scenes.

After the third scene ended, Director Miao’s expression could no longer be described as just satisfied. He took a deep breath, rubbed his face, and told Yu Wen and the others to wait for a while. Then, he called the screenwriters and went into the next room.

“Moon Harbor” was adapted from a short novel, with a lot of additional content. Song Mingzhu’s character was part of the original, and he was undoubtedly the second male lead.

In the initial expansion, the writing team had treated Song Mingzhu as the second male lead, but the additional content was extremely challenging to perform—requiring an actor of Best Actor caliber. What Best Actor would lower himself to play a second lead? In the end, they had to simplify the role, which led to the current version.

But now, there was Yu Wen.

In terms of appearance, voice, and demeanor… Yu Wen was practically Song Mingzhu himself.

The director wanted to change Song Mingzhu back to the second male lead.

Yu Wen sat down, and Yi Ming handed him two packs of cookies. Just as he opened the plastic packaging, they heard a commotion from the next room.

“He can do it! The character of Song Mingzhu needs to be portrayed as a second lead…”

“This is the third version already. If you want changes, do it yourself—”

“Didn’t you see just now? He’s perfect for Song Mingzhu…”

“Boss, it’s not about whether he’s good or not. This would require a major rewrite…”

The sound was faint and unclear, but several media reporters waiting outside caught the scent and rushed over, their eyes gleaming, just waiting for the moment the door would open so they could get the inside scoop.

Yi Ming was stunned for two seconds. “The director and the screenwriter are arguing? What are they arguing about…”

Yu Wen didn’t understand either. Before he could respond, Yi Ming’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she said excitedly, “Second Master really didn’t misjudge you! Xiao Yu, following you really brings good gossip!”

…Really?

“Come on! Let’s go watch the drama!”