The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 345: Normal Mind

It's normal for Xu Jiuyang to think this way; so far, the timeline has deviated too much from his previous life.

Too many women who should have entered the entertainment industry have switched to other careers, such as writers, screenwriters, secretaries, assistants, and so on.

This unhealthy trend even reached across the ocean, and even Anne Hathaway couldn't escape it.

Although Scarlett Johansson's "The Princess Diaries" is also worth watching.

Therefore, if the big-budget film studio system is truly transplanted here, the importance of the director will naturally decrease—as long as the producer's aesthetic sense is up to par—then training a few female directors who are merely tools is perfectly acceptable.

When giving Guo Zhenni advice before, Xu Jiuyang had a similar thought: wouldn't it be interesting to write, adapt, direct, and act in his own work?

He would naturally refuse to do it himself, as it would be too much trouble. However, it's a different story to ask someone else to do it, especially a pretty girl.

“Sex really is power,” Xu Jiuyang sighed.

And then... that was it. No matter how well you plan for the future, you have to be down-to-earth. Right now, let's focus on making "Falling" well first.
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"Your father is saying this because he cares about you, so don't take it to heart."

"Yes, I know, I really didn't do a good job this time."

"Then take it to heart and try to make it up to them next time."

As Zhang Jing called "cut," the two on set relaxed, nodded to each other, and went to the rest area together.

"Sister Tao is amazing! She captured that subtle sense of falsehood perfectly; I could feel it completely." Xu Jiuyang gave Yin Tao a thumbs up.

"You're not bad either, you have the same fake feeling, very much like a couple on the surface," Yin Tao replied with a grin.

The two exchanged compliments for a while, then continued discussing the script, waiting for the next scene.

In "Falling", Yin Tao plays the second female lead, who is the younger sister of Deng Chao, the second male lead, and the girl who married the male lead in the original version.

Woody Allen's "Match Point" focuses primarily on the protagonist's luck, amplifying his evil and highlighting his good fortune. Naturally, the characters of that British upper-class family appear somewhat stereotypical.

His reputation precedes him, so film critics won't care about such minor flaws. But if he were to copy it all and put it on mainland China, those film critics would definitely not let it go.

That's why Xu Jiuyang set the tone of everyone being a villain, so that he could both pass domestic censorship and satisfy Westerners' potential desire to see "barbarian infighting".

However, he and Li Xue argued for several days about how to portray the second female lead.

It's very simple. Li Xue thought that to highlight the male protagonist's evil, she might as well portray the daughter as innocent and kind, but she was implicated by her parents. In the end, because her husband was arrested for murder and the family went bankrupt due to falsifying accounts, she died in childbirth.

This is typical female-oriented thinking: there must be a pure and innocent female lead. In other words, the female lead is positioned to be just as bad as the greedy male lead, except that she's not very bright. Plus, since she's played by Fan Bingbing, who knows, she might end up with the innocent and innocent image.

The solution to this situation is quite simple: just pin him down on the bed and give him a few rounds of slapping.

Of course, she was made to experience many times the feeling of being pulled down from the top of the mountain just when she was about to reach it.

However, Xu Jiuyang still absorbed some of her suggestions, such as hiding the evil side of the second female lead first, giving the audience the impression that this daughter is the only slightly kind one in the whole family, and then revealing later that all those seemingly kind actions in the beginning were just an act, that she had already seen that the family situation was not good, and that she wanted to use the male lead to plot a division of the family in order to sever ties.

Yes, this part definitely did not reference Lee Yoon-hyung.

In short, under this setting, the second female lead's acting needs to be more subtle. It needs to appear fake, but not too fake, so that the audience cannot make an accurate judgment.

This is why Xu Jiuyang cautiously expressed his opposition when Fan Bingbing decided to cast Yin Tao in the role.

Yin Tao has both looks and acting skills, but in her previous life, she hadn't acted in many movies, and movie acting is ultimately different from television acting. In addition, at that time, the director had already cast Zhang Jing, so even though "Falling" was intended to test the big-screen system, he still felt it was somewhat unreliable.

However, Fan Bingbing insisted: "If I don't use actresses from my own company, am I supposed to use Li Yunxin's or Angela's?"

What you said makes so much sense, I'm speechless. But have you forgotten that besides testing the big-screen format, this film is also going to be submitted to Cannes?

"Don't worry, if it really delays filming, I'll just replace the actor. Besides, Angela and I will do our best to ensure that this film meets the minimum acceptable standard," she concluded.

Since that's the case, Xu Jiuyang didn't say much more. He didn't expect that Yin Tao would play this role so well.

"It's very simple. I've been in this industry for quite a while now. Although I haven't suffered any losses thanks to my boss, I've still seen a lot of shady things. So when I perform, I just put on that perfunctory attitude." That's what Yin Tao said.

You all call your boss "boss" now? Didn't you used to call her "General Manager Fan"? Oh, no, Sister Yuanyuan, Guo Zhenni still calls her "teacher".

Despite his mind being filled with all sorts of chaotic thoughts, Xu Jiuyang still chimed in, "Me too. I always have to deal with a lot of people, so I have no choice but to be insincere."

"Is that so?" Yin Tao suddenly laughed, his smile bright and cheerful. "Is it a lot of people to deal with, or a lot of women, Jiu Yang?"

This woman… Xu Jiuyang raised an eyebrow: “What does Sister Taozi mean by that?”

He pretended not to understand, trying to test the waters, but the other person didn't take the bait at all and said bluntly, "I want to sleep with you."

"I knew it..." Xu Jiuyang couldn't help but sigh inwardly. How could he have asked such a stupid question? Which of the women surrounding him didn't want to sleep with him?

"Sister Peach, you're being too blunt," he said with a hint of helplessness.

"There's no other way. If we don't be more direct, we'll miss the last train. It's only been a few days since filming started, and you've already slept with the director," Yin Tao said with a sigh.

Xu Jiuyang immediately coughed a few times, and asked somewhat guiltily, "Does everyone already know?"

"I don't think so," Yin Tao said with a smile. "My boss is the lead actor."

"Was this also ordered by your boss?" Xu Jiuyang couldn't help but ask.

"It was partly my boss's orders, and partly my own curiosity," Yin Tao confessed. "Yang Xue said that sleeping with you is the greatest pleasure in the world, and I wanted to try it."

"Is that all she told you?" Xu Jiuyang asked, puzzled.

Yin Tao clearly misunderstood him, and her face turned slightly red. She said in a voice barely above a whisper, "If you... if you want to, it's not impossible."

"Huh?" Xu Jiuyang didn't quite understand.

"But... at most it's Xiaoxue." She raised her voice again, and her face turned even redder.

Several seconds later, the person finally realized what was happening and immediately coughed, "Well... there's no need for that."

Although women had thrown themselves at him in both his lives, few were as bold as her. After all... there were certain things about her that made it obvious she would put away her handkerchief before sleeping.

However, considering that she is an artist under Fan Bingbing's management, it seems to make sense.

Given that, what else is he worried about? He should take these things in stride.

(End of this chapter)