Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

A week later, the script was finalized.

When Lin Yuan sent the complete 32-page script to Du Lei's email, he included a note: "All racing terminology has been labeled, and the racing logic is closed-loop. Please feel free to revise if there are any issues."

After reading it, Du Lei replied: "Three words after reading it—Damn, I want to film it."

Lin Yuan didn't reply to this message because Du Lei called and they talked for a full forty minutes, from the first page to the thirty-second page.

"In the first race on Mount Akina, Takumi was forced by Bunta to run that section. How did you come up with the idea of ​​having Bunta burp before they even set off?"

"That's true. My dad's like that after he drinks."

"...Does your dad burp after drinking, or does he bring you tofu?"

"Neither. He was reading the newspaper after drinking."

"Okay, next one. The downhill duel, the part where Takumi uses the drainage ditch to overtake the GTR around the corner, I marked seven shots, take a look at the camera positions—"

"It's already marked. Page 18 of the script: Camera A shoots from above at the entrance to the canal; Camera B shoots from below at the tire's entry angle; Camera C shoots from the exit of the curve at the vehicle straightening out."

"...You've already finished the storyboard?"

"The storyboard in the script is a rough draft. I'll adjust it based on the actual road conditions on set."

The script is finalized. The core racing storyline is retained—the initial battle on Mount Akina, the downhill duel, the final team battle at the five consecutive hairpin bends, and Kyoichi Sudo's defeat and fall. Two main storylines intertwine: Takumi's self-taught mountain racing prodigy journey, and the bittersweet yet poignant youthful romance between Takumi and Natsuki. Ryosuke Takahashi's elite tactical character and Bunta Fujiwara's restrained paternal love and contrasting legendary driver persona are all meticulously detailed.

A thorough analysis of racing terminology—gear, RPM, apex of the corner, weight transfer, braking point, entry speed—every number is meticulously examined by racing enthusiasts.

The next step is a two-month preparation period.

The cast has been finalized first.

Takumi Fujiwara—Fei Zhao pulled him out of the idol company's pool of newcomers. Nineteen years old, his real name is Chen Yu. He has an ordinary appearance, but his eyes are vacant—not empty in the sense of hollowness, but in the sense of "not caring about anything." On the day of the audition, he was made to drive a section of mountain road (with the instructor in the passenger seat). After getting out of the car, he didn't blush or skip a beat. Du Lei, watching from the side, said, "This guy doesn't know what fear is."

After reviewing his file, Lin Yuan said, "It's not that he doesn't know fear; he's just naturally insensitive. When he's driving, all he sees is the road and the steering wheel; he doesn't think about anything else—this kind of person doesn't need acting skills; he'd look like Takumi just by standing there."

The audition finalized the scene of the final showdown at the starting line. Before the race, Kyoichi Sudo taunted him, "Kid, want to give you the lead?" Takumi, played by Chen Yu, simply replied calmly, "No need to trouble yourself. Please drive faster later. I have something to do." He showed no extra emotion throughout, glanced down at the AE86, and silently got into the car to wait for the race to start.

Lin Yuan said, "That's too much. Takumi is that kind of person—he doesn't compete with anyone; he lets his engine do the talking."

Fujiwara Bunta – a veteran actor brought in from Hong Kong by Fei Zhao, surnamed Huang, has been in the industry for thirty years, playing everything from gangster bosses and down-on-his-luck policemen to street drunkards, but he's never touched a racing theme before. Du Lei has an assistant director friend in Hong Kong, and when he called him, the friend said, "Mr. Huang is on vacation, but send me the script to take a look."

For the audition scene, the chosen scene was the one where Ryosuke visits and exposes Bunta's identity as the racing legend. Teacher Huang was cutting tofu in a tofu shop, his knife skills swift and his hand steady. Ryosuke walked in and cut to the chase: "Nineteen years ago, the fastest in Gunma Prefecture was Fujiwara Bunta of Mount Akina." Teacher Huang remained unfazed, continuing to cut the tofu, each slice neat and precise.

Ryosuke added calmly, "You'd never dream your wife would leave you."

The knife slammed onto the cutting board with a "thud".

There was a three-second silence. Teacher Huang didn't speak, his hands gripping the counter, his shoulders trembling slightly. Then he picked up the knife and resumed cutting the tofu, his tone low but his voice sharp with anger: "I'm sorry, we don't sell what you're looking for here. Please go somewhere else."

Du Lei spoke first: "The only time he lost control was when he threw the knife. But in that one moment, everything a father, a husband, a retired racer had kept hidden for over a decade came out."

Lin Yuan said, "It's him."

Sudo Kyoichi – Du Lei found this action actor from Guangdong. His name is Zhao Duo, he is a little over 1.8 meters tall, and he used to work as a stuntman on film sets. He has a kind of "who do you think you are?" attitude on his face.

During the audition, Kyoichi was chasing Takumi's 86 in his EVO III. Seiji Iwaki, in the passenger seat, pointed ahead and shouted, "Watch out, he's fast at corners!" Zhao Duo, staring at the 86's taillights getting farther and farther away in the rearview mirror, added, his tone both dismissive and serious—"Even if he's fast, he's still an 86."

Du Lei spoke first: "The way he said 'Even at its fastest, it's still 86' wasn't sarcastic; it was confident. Someone who believes in the power of sheer horsepower doesn't genuinely believe an old car can turn the tide."

Lin Yuan didn't speak, but nodded.

Mogi Natsuki—Seventeen audition videos were sent from Tokyo, and Lin Yuan and Du Lei watched them together. The first sixteen were all rejected; they were either too refined, too deliberate, or obviously packaged by an agency. The seventeenth was a nineteen-year-old girl named Xia Jifan, an amateur without an agency. Her audition scene was simple—she was sitting by the pool, kicking her toes in the water, when Takumi walked towards her from a distance. She didn't look at him and said, "You're always late," her tone like a complaint, but a smile played on her lips.

It was very natural, with no trace of acting.

After reading it, Lin Yuan uttered a single word: "Her."

Du Lei watched it twice: "It definitely has that natural, youthful awkwardness. But in the later romantic scenes—when Takumi sees Natsuki getting into someone else's car through the car window—she needs to hold her nerve."

"Let her try it out. Let her try that scene."

The next day, Xia Jifan recorded an audition video—after Takumi discovers the truth and runs away, she stands there, going from bewilderment to shock to collapse, without uttering a single line, only her eyes and breathing.

Lin Yuan finished watching and turned off the video.

"That's her."