Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 131 Rejoining the Group
After a run-up on the runway, the plane took off. Its silver-gray wings parted the clouds, weaving through the sea of ​​clouds.

Gu Jingyi folded a corner of page 37 of the script and wrote annotations on the side with the tip of his pen.

"Jingyi, you haven't even had a chance to enjoy your new AirPods yet. Why did you give them away so easily? Now you're on the plane without headphones to listen to music. It's such a long journey, how boring!"

Lin Ze, that jerk, started babbling again; he'd been wanting to tease Gu Jingyi for a long time.

His own artist has such great luck with women, it makes this single guy incredibly envious.

"It's alright. If you really can't sit still, you can take a look at your Kindle. Didn't you bring it with you? I haven't seen you using it."

Lin Ze placed his Kindle on his lap, played with it for a while, but then became restless.

"Jingyi, when did you two become so close? Didn't you say she was your sister's friend before? Tsk tsk tsk. Sure enough, my intuition was right from the start."

"There's no such thing as pure friendship between men and women; it's all just a facade. From the very beginning, things weren't that simple between you two."

The plane pierced through the clouds, and the leather seats in first class trembled slightly with the increase in altitude. Gu Jingyi held the bottom of a champagne glass, and condensation droplets trickled down his hand.

"That's strange, why aren't you refuting me?"

Seeing that Gu Jingyi had no reaction, Lin Ze also lacked interest.

"You already guessed it, what's there to refute?"

Gu Jingyi took off his gold-rimmed glasses and pressed his thumb against his reddened nose. After relaxing his eyelids for a while, he slowly said, "Although we're not boyfriend and girlfriend yet, it'll be soon. It's only a matter of time, no need to fuss."

"But compared to that, how's the adaptation going on the production team?" The sunset glow outside the porthole swept across the corner of his eye. It cast flowing dark lines on the inner pages of the script, making the annotations circled by Gu Jingyi even more conspicuous.

The script he's currently reading has only reached the part where Jinmi recognizes her family, and the Water God and the Heavenly Empress, enemies, are extremely hostile to each other.

However, this version adheres more closely to the original story advocated by Gu Jingyi. After Jinmi is brought out by the Water God, the Heavenly Empress punishes her. Xu Feng, before even reaching the arena, hears the commotion and immediately senses something is wrong. He leaps forward and stands in front of Jinmi, engaging the Heavenly Empress in a magical duel.

The Water God was both shocked and enraged by the Heavenly Queen's reaction. Taking advantage of her momentary lapse in attention, he appeared on the battlefield and launched an attack, intending to kill her.

Xu Feng, showing great filial piety, shielded the Empress from three blows. Run Yu watched the whole thing from the sidelines, observing Xu Feng's incredible display of skill.

This scene is completely different from the initial scene in "Ashes of Love." In the previous version, it was Empress Tu Yao who attacked Jin Mi. Xu Feng rushed to the scene but was swatted out of the ring by the Empress's attack. Xu Feng was eliminated, while Run Yu heroically saved Jin Mi and was injured in the process.

Gu Jingyi's portrayal of Xu Feng, the strongest character in the entire series, earns him the nickname "God of War." It's utterly illogical that he would be swatted away by the Empress's fully formed attack like a mosquito.

It's fine for the production team to want to promote Luo Yunxi, but it's highly problematic to try to use him to climb to the top.

Gu Jingyi quickly flipped through the script again. Later, when Runyu usurped the throne, Xufeng exposed Runyu's conspiracy, and the lines changed from Luo Yunxi's "Guards, seize the God of Fire" to "Guards, seize the God of Night."

It's also different from the original version, which completely portrayed Xu Feng as a naive and reckless man. He arrives with his subordinates right after Run Yu's famous verbal sparring scene.

When Xu Feng's strength on paper far surpassed Run Yu's, he uttered the cowardly statement, "You have always been smarter than me, and your achievements and schemes are all above mine. I can't understand why my brother would choose this path of no return?"

It's no wonder the original author of the novel publicly criticized the production team on Weibo; in the original novel, Xu Feng completely overwhelms Run Yu. Run Yu is portrayed as a clown in the novel, while Xu Feng is far more intelligent and cunning than him.

Anyone would be furious if their hard work was wasted like this by capital.

The current script for "Ashes of Love" is set just before the war between the Heavenly Demons and the Demons, and adds a new growth storyline for Xu Feng after he falls into demonic possession.

Xu Feng didn't become the Demon Lord overnight. After he woke up, although he was still suppressed by his bloodline, he easily defeated a group of useless people in the Demon Realm.

This growth storyline also enriches Xu Feng's character design, making his combat power more concretely manifested.

Gu Jingyi only took a little over two weeks off for his tour, so the fact that the script for "Ashes of Love" has been revised to this extent shows how difficult those screenwriters have been during these days.

As long as the result is good, that's fine. The plot after Gu Jingyi made his suggestion is much better than that damn "Runyu Biography".

The production team didn't need to make many changes afterward; the battle between the Heavenly Demons and the Heavenly Demons simply involved returning the spotlight that Runyu had stolen to Xufeng.

After his transformation, Xu Feng spread his wings and carried Jin Mi during the war between the Heavenly Demons, exuding domineering power amidst the cries of "Demon Lord."

This is also a famous scene that fans of "Ashes of Love" talked about with great interest after the show aired.

Deng Lun was able to leave a lasting impression despite his limited acting roles, mainly because he was handsome.

If it were Gu Jingyi, who is even more handsome than him, the effect would only be more outstanding.

In short, Gu Jingyi was very confident in his optimized script. Even though the ratings for the previous version of "Ashes of Love" plummeted later on, it still propelled the handsome, single-eyelid actor Lunzi from a third-tier star to a top-tier celebrity.

If it were Gu Jingyi, whose popularity was already significantly lower, the explosive success of "A Love So Beautiful" and "Idol Producer" would only amplify the effect. His "fully powered Xu Feng" would easily crush the "weakened Xu Feng" of the previous life.

Gu Jingyi wants both the character's appeal and popularity.

Looking at the revised script, Gu Jingyi felt better and better.

He had already envisioned an even greater success after the show aired, based on the script.

The fake "beautiful, strong, and tragic" Runyu, the real "beautiful, strong, and tragic" Xufeng.

Character design is really important, especially when the actor is quite good-looking.

In later generations, Kenjiro was able to break through the ranks as a third male lead and rise from a second-tier star to a top star.

The character Xu Feng naturally possesses the protagonist's aura, coupled with Gu Jingyi's outstanding acting skills and appearance. With the added bonus of being "beautiful, strong, and tragic," Gu Jingyi will once again leave other top stars in his dust.

However, Lin Ze was somewhat worried, "Jingyi, I know you're striving for perfection. But if you change the script like this, the entire crew will have to cooperate with you. In 'Ashes of Love,' they would film one set before moving on to another. If you change it like this, all the actors who finished filming the Heavenly Realm sets will have to reshoot."

"Furthermore, 'Ashes of Love' has been rushing to air during the winter break. You've increased the workload for the production team, and I'm worried that this might affect your reputation."

"Public opinion?" Gu Jingyi smiled indifferently. "Why would you think that? I didn't offer any unreasonable reasons. I initially agreed to help Tao Factory because they gave me some advisory authority, didn't they?"

"Besides, they all know very well who revitalized this show, don't they? Relax, the staff won't have so many thoughts, and neither will the actors. Yang Zi and I have a good relationship. The other supporting actors are all veteran actors; they will only be interested in the optimized script."

"The only person I've offended is Luo Yunxi."

As the biggest beneficiary of the original script, Luo Yunxi definitely has feelings for Gu Jingyi.

However, Gu Jingyi didn't care; he was there to film a movie, not to make friends.

After shedding the glow of his roles, Luo Yunxi's career development in the following years was mediocre. If it weren't for the boost from "The Long Moon and the Bright Sun," he would have been virtually unknown.

Seeing that Gu Jingyi understood, Lin Ze didn't say anything more.

Luo Yunxi is an artist from a small company. He has no background and won the role of Runyu, the second male lead, solely through his own abilities.

His company was also on the verge of bankruptcy, and the boss went to take the civil service exam.

The reason why Runyu's role was expanded so much was because of the internal strife within the Perfect World.

Deng Lun's agent, Gong Yuhan, is in competition with other high-ranking officials; people are all driven by profit.

Weakening Xu Feng would allow them to suppress Gong Yuhan and gain more benefits for themselves in the internal strife.

Even if it's one of their own artists, other executives at Perfect World won't show any leniency.

As one of the top film and television companies, Perfect World has a lot of good IPs in its hands.

Luo Yunxi was simply lucky to have encountered this special opportunity.

You can say Luo Yunxi is thin, or that he is not tall.

But his looks were still quite good, at least before he became so thin he looked unrecognizable.

The top management at Perfect World also had the idea of ​​getting Luo Yunxi to switch jobs, which is why they favored him so much.

After conducting a background check, Gu Jingyi understood why Deng Lun had run away.

The claim that he was more optimistic about "One Thousand and One Nights" with Dilraba was just a pretext; the real reason was that he didn't want to become a victim of internal power struggles among the company's top executives.

After Gu Jingyi joined the cast, Luo Yunxi lost his usefulness in the eyes of Perfect World's top management. The S-rated performance of "Ashes of Love" wasn't unfounded; Perfect World truly invested heavily in the special effects. The sets were also specially constructed, including the Heavenly Realm, the Human Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Flower Realm.

This level of artistry alone surpasses most historical dramas.

When Deng Lun withdrew, it meant that the internal strife that extended to "Ashes of Love" had come to an end.

With such a large investment, the company's shareholders are eager to make money after the show airs.

Shareholders' returns follow the financial statements; if "Ashes of Love" does well, they will receive a large dividend.

In this situation, it's impossible to say that Gu Jingyi only intended to optimize the script.

Even if he acts like a diva on set, just like the gentle male singer, Wanmei will just smile and forgive Gu Jingyi.

This is what top-tier talent looks like; Gu Jingyi's involvement alone brought countless sponsors with money to sponsor the production team.

The company's strong ability to attract investment directly enabled Perfect Zijin to recoup most of its assets.

Back on set, no one expressed any dissatisfaction with Gu Jingyi's shift from a "short vacation" to a "long vacation."

"Teacher Gu is back!"

As soon as Gu Jingyi appeared on set, a sharp-eyed staff member called out to her.

Director Zhu, who was still giving Luo Yunxi acting instructions, also became restless. When he saw Gu Jingyi arrive, he went up to him very attentively.

"Jingyi is back. Let's stop filming here for now. Everyone, let's wrap up and go have a welcome dinner for Gu Jingyi."

"Director Zhu, you're too kind."

After the welcome banquet, the entire crew returned to the filming location.

The filming location was a celestial realm built by the production team, with a magnificent and luxurious set.

Ashes of Love is a production with ambitious goals, boasting an entire world-building team. This well-developed world-building, combined with a top-notch art team, resulted in scenes far more exquisite than those of other dramas.

Unlike "A Certain Sword and Fairy Tale," Ashes of Love did not only build 30% of the special effects, making up for the rest with "five-cent special effects."

70% of the filming for Ashes of Love was done on location, with the remaining 30% being special effects.

With such a high level of attention, it's no wonder that he was so powerful even when the script faltered in the later stages of his previous life.

Gu Jingyi is filming the scene where he gets hurt for love. He is now standing in the newly built Heavenly Palace.

The set design looked quite grand, and the use of dry ice created an ethereal atmosphere.

However, the surrounding environment was still largely a green screen, and the actors had to rely on their imagination to complete the filming. This part of the green screen was then added in post-production with special effects.

The director and props team have basically finished setting everything up. "Are you ready? Let's begin."

"3, 2, 1"

"Action!"

When Tu Yao saw the Phoenix Feather, she suspected that Jin Mi was attacking her. Xu Feng used the Phoenix Feather to block the attack.

"You shameless woman, how long are you going to keep deceiving my son Xu Feng?"

Zhou Haimei's expression turned fierce as she questioned Jinmi.

"It was given to me by the phoenix! I don't know anything about it."

"Shut up! Don't mention my son's name!"

Enraged, Tu Yao attacked again.

Jinmi closed her eyes, waiting for the attack to land.

The next second, however, I felt a gust of wind beside me.

Gu Jingyi, suspended by wires, stood in front of him as a shield.

He blocked the attack, his face turning pale.

"Phoenix!!!"

Yang Zi's acting was still quite good; her mournful voice made the diva realize something was wrong.

She quickly composed herself, looking at Gu Jingyi with disbelief: "Xu Feng?"

"Cut! This take is good!"

"That's a wrap for today. Everyone should go home and get some rest. You've all worked hard filming all day."

Yang Zi suddenly appeared behind Gu Jingyi and patted him on the shoulder.

"We've finished filming, what are you standing there for?"

She really didn't hold back that time, but it also pulled Gu Jingyi out of his emotional state.

Be gentle!

"No, a gentler approach isn't as effective," Yang Zi said, now practically becoming brothers with Gu Jingyi. Although she had indeed harbored feelings for Gu Jingyi before, she had no intention of pursuing the relationship after sensing his subtle rejection.

Yang Zi also invested a small amount in the drama "Ashes of Love". She wants "Ashes of Love" to be a huge hit more than anyone else, and she just wants to make money.

"Jingyi, your acting is pretty good."

Zhou Haimei gave him a thumbs up, acknowledging his acting skills.

"And what about my acting skills?"

Yang Zi also started asking questions, and Zhou Haimei smiled and said, "You two are both outstanding actors of the younger generation, there's nothing more to say."

Yang Zi was amused and laughed heartily, creating a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere on set.

After chatting for a while, Gu Jingyi returned to his resting place.

This time, he didn't stay at the hotel booked by the film crew, and preferred to have Lin Ze drive to the property he had purchased.

The security in upscale residential areas is usually quite good, which makes Gu Jingyi feel a little more at ease.

Back on set, no one asked Gu Jingyi about the illegitimate child; the atmosphere was even better than before.

What relieved him even more was that no one deliberately "took special care" of him in that cautious manner.

Everyone was very respectful and tacitly protected him.

How's the film crew doing?

Gu Jingyi's phone vibrated, and he glanced at it to see that it was a message from Liu Haojian.

Everyone is nice; no one is trying to reopen old wounds.
Gu Jingyi tapped his finger lightly and sent it.

I'm asking you.

The message popped up again quickly, from the same person.

As Gu Jingyi looked at the message, a slight smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.

(End of this chapter)