Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Chapter 108: Which six should I choose? (Please subscribe)

This is certainly not a selection of concubines.

It's impossible for Huang Wenbin to actually choose actresses based on his own preferences.

The key is that the actress must fit the character in the script.

When he wrote this novel, he referenced some entertainment gossip he had heard before his transmigration.

Huang Wenbin found it quite interesting, and wrote it down after he traveled through time. This was a clever trick he used in his early days to get his manuscript approved.

If you submit several articles to a magazine at once, one or two will surely be selected.

As it turned out, this tactic was indeed effective.

Huang Wenbin never expected that a director would take a liking to "The Heart-Shaped Stone" and adapt it into a pure love story.

Huang Wenbin returned to the guesthouse with the script for "Heart-Shaped Stone".

With two or three months to go before the official preparations for the production, he could indeed take his time to select the female lead.

However, he first needs to go through the personalities and roles of the female leads in this version.

The timeline in the script is actually about a year before Japan's surrender, at which point the protagonist, Lu Haochen, is already a movie star in Shanghai.

Then, at a dance, he unexpectedly met his first love.

The two were quite taken aback, so they chose a time to pour out their hearts to each other, which triggered the male protagonist's memories.

Lu Haochen was originally just a cowherd. His story with Ding Sitian, a girl from the same village, can be described as childhood sweethearts.

The name Ding Sitian was stolen by Huang Wenbin from the novel "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

When the two reached sixteen or seventeen years old, both sets of parents had no objections and were planning to find an auspicious day to get things done.

In those days, most children in the countryside got married and had children at this age.

Unfortunately, the day before the wedding, the Kuomintang (KMT) went to the countryside to conscript men and abducted the male protagonist.

He then went from one warlord to another. Because he could sing and was handsome, one of the warlords put him in a theater, where he met a famous opera singer. The two relied on each other for comfort and support.

During this time, Lu Haochen also rescued a few people from the warlords.

However, this woman couldn't endure hardship, and later abandoned Lu Haochen to become a warlord's concubine.

She had only been a concubine for a few days when the warlord was wiped out, and she disappeared without a trace.

Lu Haochen was taken to Shanghai and served almost half a year in prison before being released.

When he was desperate, one of the people he had saved years before recommended him to become an actor at Boss Wang's film company in Shanghai, and he unexpectedly became an overnight sensation.

During this period, he was also misled by the bright lights and bustling world, had an affair with Boss Wang's wife Xiao Liu, had an ambiguous relationship with Consul Muto's daughter Junko Muto, and also had a close relationship with Zhuang Xiaoman of the Wang Jingwei regime's Special Higher Police.

The names of Junko Muto and Xiaoman Zhuang were borrowed from "The Invisible Guardian," while the character Xiao Liu was taken from "The Wasted Times," originally played by Zhang Ziyi.

However, in Huang Wenbin's original script, both of them were also actors, but their personalities were preserved.

Unexpectedly, director Xie Jin has filled in the gaps in the characters' personalities. It has to be said that director Xie is truly a genius; he was able to fill in the gaps in the characters' personalities even without having seen the original version.

No wonder they came from that era.

He spent a lot of time and energy on several women, until this ball at the Mutō Mansion, where he unexpectedly met his first love.

Director Xie Jin was not a time traveler, so he did not write the extremely exciting climax scene in "The Muteng Mansion".

Instead, she wrote about a tragic love triangle.

Lu Haochen's first love has already married someone else, and her husband is a high-ranking official in the Wang Jingwei regime.

Shortly after, Japan surrendered unconditionally, high-ranking officials of the Wang Jingwei regime were purged, and his first love disappeared without a trace.

Lu Haochen returned to his old profession and started making movies again, but he was already past his prime.

At this time, the most famous female celebrity was Fan Lengyue. She was outgoing, generous, and extremely ambitious.

Fan Lengyue took the initiative to help Lu Haochen, and the two naturally got together.

However, Fan Lengyue's overly assertive personality suffocated Lu Haochen in the relationship. Moreover, she took him to banquets hosted by high-ranking officials every day, gradually leading him to become addicted to this luxurious and decadent lifestyle and lose himself.

Soon, a million soldiers crossed the river. Fan Lengyue planned to escape to Taiwan with Lu Haochen.

Lu Haochen flatly refused.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Lu Haochen was assigned to a farm where he worked and performed cultural programs at the same time.

His fame gradually grew again, and he was finally spotted by a director from the Shanghai Film Studio, who invited him to be the male lead in a movie.

To his surprise, the script was written by his first love, who had become a famous writer and screenwriter.

She wrote a screenplay about a childhood sweetheart couple who were happily together and never separated.

Then, she took out a heart-shaped stone and handed it to Lu Haochen.

Polishing heart-shaped stones is a unique skill of the male protagonist, Lu Haochen, and also his way of passing the time and fighting loneliness.

Whenever he met someone he cherished, he would give them a piece of his own. In that chaotic era of war, it served as a memento and a token of recognition.

Upon seeing the stone, Lu Haochen knew what the other party meant.

After going through many hardships, the two finally embraced and vowed never to be separated again in this life.

As for the other women, they all survived and each gave an account of their lives.

The story is actually not complicated, and compared with Aunt Qiong Yao's romance dramas, it is even less dramatic and relatively bland.

Look at "Romance in the Rain," how many melodramatic stories unfolded in such a short period of time.

Huang Wenbin quite likes the current version, as it has both romance and a microcosm of the times, and the ending is still beautiful.

After reviewing the story, Huang Wenbin tried to find suitable actresses for these female characters.

First was my first love, Ding Sitian. She was very beautiful and initially very innocent, with a kind of girl-next-door charm.

This character is set to appear a total of three times.

He was only fifteen or sixteen years old when he first appeared on screen.

When she made her second appearance, she was in her twenties.

When he made his third appearance, he was in his thirties.

Therefore, if the same actor is to be cast, the best casting range is around twenty years old. They can play a slightly younger role or wear makeup to look older.

Who would be a suitable actor in their early twenties?

Fang Shu seems like a good candidate. She should be a little over 22 years old this year, in the prime of her youth, and she's also a professionally trained actress, so she should have some acting skills.

Huang Wenbin wrote down her name first.

Then, he thought of another person, Dong Zhizi.

Dong Zhizi, like him, was born in 1960 and is only twenty years old this year. She is from Shanghai and studies dance. Although she has not yet debuted, she should be able to find someone if you want to.

He knew this actress because of the TV series "Little Dragon Man," in which there was a dragon girl, and she played that role.

Of course, it can also be split into two actors: one actor for the 15-16 age group and another actor for the latter two age groups.

Therefore, Huang Wenbin wrote down Narenhua's name as well.

Hmm, I wonder how old Lin Daiyu is now, and where she is?

He Qing, who has acted in all four classic novels, must be around sixteen years old now, right?

Huang Wenbin knew too little; the number of suitable actresses that came to mind was not as many as he had imagined.

Never mind, next one.

The character's name is Hua Xihong, and she is a female lead in the opera troupe, with some fame.

The first name that came to Huang Wenbin's mind was Wei Huili, who happened to be a Peking Opera singer and also intended to act in movies.

That's her. There's no need to think about anyone else, because he doesn't know any other actresses who can sing opera.

Then there's Boss Wang's wife, Xiao Liu, Junko Muto, and Xiaoman Zhuang.

When Huang Wenbin thought of the role of Xiao Liu, he thought of Pan Hong and Gong Xue.

They were of a suitable age and were all actors from the Shanghai Film Studio.

The only question is whether they will agree to act in it.

Huang Wenbin put the question aside, since all he needed to do was write down the actors suitable for the roles, and how to invite them was the Shanghai Film Studio's business.

Huang Wenbin hesitated a bit about the role of Junko Muto. Should he go to Japan and find a girl to play the part?

The key point is that he has absolutely no connections in Japan, and he can't remember anyone right now.

If it were thirty or forty years later, he might remember Aoi-sensei, Hata-sensei, Kaede-sensei, and so on.

Of course, it doesn't have to be a Japanese actress; domestic actresses can also do it, or Li Xiuming could give it a try?

This same problem will also be left for Shanghai Film Studio to solve.

Then there's Zhuang Xiaoman, a character who isn't the same as the one in "The Invisible Guardian".

Huang Wenbin was just having a bad quirk and casually picked up the name.

The character is indeed somewhat assertive, but she doesn't interfere with the male protagonist's actions. Rather, she dislikes being restricted, which is the root cause of their eventual breakup.

When asked about this character, Huang Wenbin thought of Zhu Lin, the Queen of the Women's Kingdom, and Li Jianqun.

As for the big star Fan Lengyue, the only choice is Liu Xiaoqing.

The character is based on Fan Bayi, and her life trajectory has many similarities with Liu Xiaoqing's, including subtle correspondences in their turning points in life.

However, after paying the fine and going to jail, Liu Xiaoqing was able to continue acting after her release, but she was already caught up in the "Yatou" craze and couldn't get out.

Fan Bayi was blacklisted and could only occasionally post one or two videos on foreign websites and act in foreign movies.

It would be a waste not to cast Liu Xiaoqing in this role.

Huang Wenbin wrote until late at night, and his eyes were dry and sore from staying up so long.

He spent a few more days refining the actor recommendation form.

This is just a preliminary list, and it will definitely need to be revised later.

It's hard to say whether he'll meet someone more suitable during this time.

Xie Jin also invited Huang Wenbin to his home, where he stayed for half a day.

In the evening, Director Xie Jin planned to clean the guest room and let him stay one more night before leaving.

Seeing the state of his home, Huang Wenbin couldn't bear to disturb him or tire him out, so he took his leave.

He rode a Forever brand bicycle through the streets.

It was getting late, but it wasn't dark yet.

There were actually quite a few pedestrians on the road, including workers who had just finished their shifts.

Not long after I started riding, I suddenly saw a strange scene at a corner.

There seems to be something strange in the woods not far ahead.

"What are you doing?"

Huang Wenbin sensed something was wrong, immediately rang his bicycle bell, and shouted, "The police are coming!"

Upon hearing this, two figures quickly darted out of the woods.

Huang Wenbin put down his bicycle and walked closer, only to find a young woman lying there.

These days, the public security situation is really chaotic.

This was no place to linger, so he stepped forward and nudged the girl, saying, "Wake up."

The girl slowly woke up, a bewildered look on her pretty face: "Who are you? How did I get here?"

Looking at this face, Huang Wenbin felt like he had seen it somewhere before, but after thinking about it carefully, he couldn't quite place it.

When he glanced down and saw her broad chest, he suddenly thought of someone.

"Are you Lizhi?"

Huang Wenbin asked uncertainly.

Lizhi regained some of her senses and asked warily, "How do you know my name? Was it you who just said that to me—"

"No," Huang Wenbin quickly explained, "I saw someone dragging you into the woods, so I chased them away. I came to check if you were alright."

"I didn't—ouch, it hurts!"

Lizhi touched the back of her head, only to find her hands covered in blood: "I was walking just now when someone hit me on the head."

"We have to go to the hospital right away!" Huang Wenbin was also shocked when he saw the blood on his hand.

Ignoring the proper boundaries between men and women, he stepped forward and helped her up: "Can you walk?"

"I can, but I have a headache," Li Meiren replied.

Huang Wenbin said, "Hang in there, I'll take you to the hospital."

After helping her onto the back of his bicycle, Huang Wenbin told her to hold on tight to his waist, and then pedaled furiously all the way to the nearby hospital.

For some reason, Li Zhi, who was holding Huang Wenbin's waist, suddenly smiled inexplicably.