This director is vindictive.

Chapter 421 Tell your story, begin your performance!
The casting for the male and female leads is not yet fully completed, after all, the original version of "The Last Transfer in the Northern Desert of the Tang Dynasty" had two male leads.

There's also a deserter character who is actually one of the male leads with the most screen time.

The onlookers, having already enjoyed two rounds of gossip, are now eagerly awaiting more.

However, to their surprise, after Chen Mo selected the veteran Zhang Yi and the Western Region businesswoman Tong Liya, he seemed to have suddenly stopped.

Everyone was so satisfied with the gossip that after several days of silence, many bored netizens couldn't sit still any longer.

So everyone flocked to Chen Mo's Weibo to urge him on.

"Wait, why did the co-creation casting call stop after only selecting two actors? We're still waiting to continue to the next round, Chen Mo, what are you doing?"

"Chen Mo, are you even capable? You've been fed the melons for the first two rounds and suddenly you're cutting off supplies? Are you still going to play the deserter? Even the donkeys in the production team wouldn't dare to rest like this!"

"Could it be that the deserter was already pre-selected? After all, the first two rounds were too risky and backfired (doge). I suggest publicly executing the third male lead; we want to see real bloodshed!"

"I bet five cents this is intentional! Let the netizens taste the sweetness first, then whet their appetites. Old Chen has learned those fan circle tricks now, hasn't he? Hurry up and don't force me to kneel down and beg you!"

"Zhang Yi and Yaya have already officially announced their relationship, while the deserter is still struggling to find a partner? The other side has already finished casting for extras, Director Chen's efficiency is getting utterly crushed (eating melon.jpg)"

"If no new poll is opened within three days, I'll edit the cyberbullying scenes from 'Caught in the Web' into a parody video, titled 'Chen Mo's Ambition as the King of Pigeons' @ChenMo"

In fact, it's not just netizens who are looking forward to the drama; many celebrities in the industry are also eagerly anticipating it, seeing how successful and popular the first two episodes were.

After all, even the landlords didn't have any surplus grain!
Everyone is waiting for Chen Mo to generate a surge in traffic and make a killing.

As for Chen Mo? To put it dramatically, he simply felt it was getting a bit boring.

"Netizens say even the donkeys in the production team wouldn't dare to rest like this, so why doesn't Chen the donkey in the production team start casting for the third installment of the deserter role? Didn't you already plan it out before?" Zhang Yuqi asked curiously.

“Don’t you think that continuing with the third round of casting, following the same methods as before, is a bit redundant? As the saying goes, things shouldn’t happen more than three times. I feel like it’s getting a bit boring, isn’t it?” Chen Mo said, stroking his chin.

“Netizens don’t think so, but you’re not really planning to back out, are you?” Zhang Yuqi stared at Chen Mo with wide eyes, looking astonished.

Chen Mo waved his hand and said, "Of course not, otherwise they would tear me apart!"

In fact, Chen Mo knew that at this point, he no longer had a choice.

Although it wouldn't be a big deal if he just canceled, at most it would cause a media frenzy, but Chen Mo really didn't intend to cancel!
"I just think, shouldn't we try something new or something? Do you have any good ideas?" Chen Mo asked Zhang Yuqi.

Zhang Yuqi plopped down on Chen Mo's lap and chuckled, "I actually have an idea!"

Chen Mo quickly reached out to support her, afraid that the fierce woman might accidentally fall.

She's a mother now, yet she's still so reckless.

"Tell me about it!" Chen Mo said with a smile, also feeling a bit curious.

"You see, netizens don't actually like watching those award-winning actors seriously campaigning for votes. What they want to see is the side of them that they don't show in public. For example, why did our previous 'playing it off' become so popular? I think it's because very few celebrities do that, so openly playing it off!"

“Everyone always shows how hard they work, which creates a contrast and makes them popular!” Zhang Yuqi analyzed seriously.

Chen Mo looked at her with a puzzled expression: "No, you came up with all of these yourself?"

Chen Mo was genuinely puzzled; did these tiger women have such abilities?
"Hey, Chen Mo, what do you mean? What, can't I think of these things?" Zhang Yuqi glared angrily at Chen Mo upon hearing his words.

"No, no, it was just a bit of a surprise." Chen Mo readily admitted defeat.

"Okay, these are analyses from bloggers online, alright?" Zhang Yuqi finally admitted.

Chen Mo breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it was still the same fierce woman he knew. If Fan Binbin or Yang Mi had said this, he probably wouldn't have doubted it. But Zhang Yuqi, it's not that she lacks intelligence, but she simply doesn't think about such things.

"Are you even listening to me? You keep interrupting me!" Zhang Yuqi said indignantly.

"Listen, listen, come on, tell me your brilliant insights!" Chen Mo quickly raised his hands in surrender.

“That’s more like it. Look, the next character we’re going to choose is a deserter, right? This character gives off a very sleazy vibe as soon as he appears, isn’t he?” Zhang Yuqi asked.

Chen Mo paused for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "Right?"

Goodness, you really know how to use adjectives. What do you mean by "sleazy"?
However, upon closer reflection, it seems, perhaps, maybe, there really is a bit of that.

"You don't want Huang Bo and his gang to compete to see who's more sleazy, do you?" Chen Mo looked at Zhang Yuqi with a bewildered expression.

"No, that's not it! My inspiration comes from those talent shows. You see, those singer talent shows used to often have contestants tell their stories, which eventually turned into a competition of who had the most miserable experiences. That's become a staple of talent shows!"
"But don't you think it would be more interesting if you had those candidates compete to see who had the worst misery?" Zhang Yuqi explained.

Chen Mo asked, somewhat taken aback, "Comparing who's more miserable? No, how do you even compare?" "Just make it up! Everyone knows it's fake anyway, so just keep making things up! It's for entertaining the masses!" Zhang Yuqi said nonchalantly.

Chen Mo shook his head: "Don't come up with any nonsense. How do you expect them to make up a story? Orphans with no car or house? Father dead, mother insane, siblings lost? All that's left? Don't be ridiculous!"

If Huang Bo and his team were to fabricate such a story, they would be a fool to do so.

"Ah," Zhang Yuqi thought, and it seemed that it really might not work.

"Well, that's all I can think of. If you don't need it, I don't have any other ideas." Zhang Yuqi simply ignored it.

Chen Mo certainly didn't have high hopes for her either.

However, Zhang Yuqi's idea is not entirely without merit.

If a "suffering contest" is allowed, why can't there be a "misery contest"?
Of course, the kind of "misery contest" that Chen Mo envisioned wasn't the kind Zhang Yuqi described, where people would make up all sorts of stories that would make their parents so angry they'd come over and beat them up. So, it definitely couldn't be played like that.

Chen Mo's idea was to start from the role.

Let them all directly cosplay as deserters, and then have them act it out, competing to see "who plays the most pathetic deserter!"

However, this kind of approach definitely needs to be discussed with the actors beforehand.

Chen Mo's shortlisted candidates are Huang Bo, Lei Jiayin, Shen Teng, and Ge Si, the actor who played the deserter in the original version!

Actually, the casting lineup is quite similar to that of the first version of "The Veteran of the Tang Dynasty," with three Best Actor winners paired with one original actor.

Chen Mo first notified Ge Si, who had been eagerly anticipating the result because of Zhou Bo's excellent example.

After all, he and Zhou Bo are actually quite similar in some ways. Although they usually play many roles, most of them are minor supporting roles.

Although Zhou Bo didn't win the role in this casting event, he became a real sensation and has now landed a role as the second male lead in a TV series.

Moreover, its popularity has skyrocketed.

This opportunity was extremely important to him.

Therefore, he had been waiting for Chen Mo's summons for a long time.

So while everyone was urging Chen Mo, he was the most impatient one. After all, if Chen Mo really gave up, his chance would be practically gone.

"Director Chen, hello, hello! I'm ready to answer your call anytime, haha!" Ge Si said eagerly over the phone.

"Teacher Ge, it's like this, the casting method this time is a bit special, so I need to let you know first," Chen Mo said on the phone.

"Director Chen, please don't call me 'teacher.' In front of you, how could I be a teacher? You can just call me by my name, or you can call me Lao Si!" Ge Si said quickly when he heard Chen Mo call him Teacher Ge.

Actually, Chen Mo didn't want to shout like that, but what can he do when it's a common practice in the industry?

"Alright, then I'll call you Fourth Brother! Here's the thing, this time we've chosen the role of Lu Shisi, the deserter. In a way, Lu Shisi is actually quite pitiful. He escaped death, but on this road, he has no identity, or rather, he dares not reveal his identity! To the Tang army, he is a deserter!"

He looked like a beggar when he appeared, as if he had been starving for a long time.

With no money and no identity, all that's left is to survive!
So, I was thinking of having you guys compete to see who can portray Lu Shisi more tragically! You understand what I mean, right?" Chen Mo explained.

"Does Director Chen mean that we should appear in front of the public as Lu Shisi, and then act out Lu Shisi's tragic fate? Let's see who suffers the most?" Lao Si asked.

Chen Mo smiled and said, "That's right, that's how it is! Of course, you can figure out the specific method yourselves, how about it? No problem, right?"

“No problem, Director Chen’s casting method is absolutely brilliant, I think netizens will love it!” Ge Si said quickly after hearing Chen Mo’s words.

"Alright, you're in!" Chen Mo said with a smile.

"Thank you, Director Chen! Thank you, Director Chen!" Ge Si said hurriedly.

After hanging up the phone, he jumped up and cheered loudly.

He had been waiting for this opportunity for far too long.

Of course, he didn't really expect to stand out and achieve a comeback. Although he didn't know who the other candidates were, judging from the casting of the first round, three film and television emperors were paired with one original character, so he estimated that the other candidates this time would definitely be far superior to him. But at this moment, he just hoped that the other party would become more and more famous, because he wasn't aiming for the role area at the moment, but wanted to take this opportunity to promote himself!

However, Zhou Bo should be more experienced in this area, so he immediately called Zhou Bo to ask for his advice.

(End of this chapter)