The screenwriter, initially yawning, perked up upon hearing Xu Qiao’s words.
He turned to Jiang Wen and, receiving a nod, tapped his forehead. “Director Jiang, even though this isn’t a major production, I’ve gone through the source material multiple times,and I’m committed to staying true to the story. I haven’t made any unnecessary changes——”
“It’s just too much respect for the original,” Jiang Wen interrupted.
The spacious set fell into a silence once again.
The screenwriter paused, suddenly understanding, and revealed an “I get it” smile. “I understand, Director Jiang, you feel the plot is too bland. It needs some explosive, controversial scenes to stir up discussions, right?”
As for what kind of explosive and controversial scenes, the screenwriter’s mind instantly flashed numerous scenes that would defy common sense and bordered on vulgarity.
Jiang Wen’s expression darkened. “What are you thinking? I want you to give Xu Qiao more scenes.”
More scenes? Xu Qiao sipped from his thermos, moistening his throat.
Regardless of Jiang Wen’s intentions, adding scenes wasn’t a bad thing for Xu Qiao. However, with the filming reaching its conclusion, why did Jiang Wen want to give him more scenes at this time?
Jiang Wen flipped through the script and nudged it in Xu Qiao’s direction.
Xu Qiao noticed numerous notes on the script, corners filled with scribbles, lots of crossed-out and rewritten parts, revealing Jiang Wen’s traces of careful consideration.
Even for a small web series, Jiang Wen wasn’t driven by a money-grabbing motive. He aimed to utilize his capabilities and produce the best within the budget constraints.
Jiang Wen’s gaze scanned Xu Qiao, then shifted to the screenwriter. “Jin’er’s character is too cliche. I need you to enrich this character. Perfect his past, refine the ‘bad’ motives.”
After a pause, Jiang Wen continued, “There’s no unfounded hatred in the world, no baseless villainy. We didn’t consider it before, and the source material didn’t mention it. Why is Jin’er so bad? Why did he suddenly fall for Chunyu Yuan?”
The screenwriter hesitated. “We can’t perfect everyone’s motives.”
“True, we can’t. I just need you to enrich Jin’er’s motives.” Jiang Wen clasped his hands together. “I want you to enhance the script, lay out this character’s past, twisted psyche, and thoughts completely in front of the audience, creating a character they’ll hate, love, and pity all at once.”
Jiang Wen concluded, “Intensify the charm of the character, understand?”
For a moment, the set fell somewhat silent, the screenwriter digesting his words, looking somewhat uneasy.
Changing the script like this was, of course, risky.
“Chatting About” was one of the original author’s earliest works. It clearly fell short compared to the maturity and depth of the author’s current works.
This feeling was particularly evident, especially in the treatment of the characters.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
What I wrote was a light and sweet novel. What? You’re asking about the villain’s motives and inner journey? I don’t care about that. As long as readers enjoy it, that’s all that matters. Sometimes, cliched characters can stimulate the audience more.
Black is black, white is white. I don’t care about the gray areas of human nature, or what shapes a character.
I don’t want to delve into his past, his struggles, his unknown pitiful and tragic side.
What I want is whether this character can provoke readers’ disgust and criticism, whether he better highlights the charm and abilities of the protagonist, whether he makes the protagonist’s image more upright…
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It could be said that Jin’er was a plot-driving tool, a mindless character labeled as the “villain.”
Engaging in wrongdoing, creating obstacles for the male and female leads, then being trampled under their feet, becoming a stepping stone in their careers and love life — this was the fate of a tool.
Being completely bad made no sense, falling in love with the male lead without any reason made no sense.
He was detestable, lowly, a pitiful creature in the romantic and professional paths of the male and female leads.
A pitiful creature deserving of disdainful mockery.
Jiang Wen, at this moment, aimed to enrich this character, provide him with reasonable motives, and increase his role, to some extent, altering the original plot. Whether the audience accepted it was uncertain.
A significant portion of the web series audience came from original readers. The drastic changes to Jin’er, the villain, might face backlash and resistance from fans of the book.
Not to mention the unnecessary expenses it brought.
It could be said that the risk was substantial.
Jiang Wen looked at Xu Qiao. This was a risky decision. Yet, Xu Qiao gave him a feeling that perhaps after the script changes, “Chatting About” might radiate a different vitality.
The screenwriter furrowed his brow, occasionally glancing at Xu Qiao, who was sitting quietly on the side. He understood. It was Xu Qiao’s exceptional acting that sparked such thoughts in Jiang Wen.
“Now, let’s discuss how to make the changes.” Jiang Wen fixed his gaze on Xu Qiao. “Xu Qiao, you should have the deepest understanding of this character. Why do you think he fell in love with Chunyu Yuan at first sight?”
In the book, it only mentioned that Jin’er fell in love with Chunyu Yuan at first sight, whether due to Chunyu Yuan’s handsome appearance, youthful spirit, or something else — the book didn’t specify.
Now, Jiang Wen wanted a more emotionally resonant and reasonable explanation.
Xu Qiao’s slender fingers caressed the thermos cup in his palm. He lowered his gaze, noticing the floating wolfberries inside the thermos. Seeing the blurred reflection of his own face, his thoughts drifted back to a long, long time ago.
Back then, in the book “I’m a Cross-Dressing Big Boss in the Brothel,” he also wore a fluttering red dress, dancing on a specially crafted golden lotus leaf on the water’s surface. The water reflected his fluttering long sleeves and light veil, attracting countless greedy gazes.
After the dance, the beauty on the lotus leaf, half-exposed, was perspiring with fragrant sweat. Before he could flash his accustomed ambiguous smile, a man hurriedly approached, lips tightly pressed, and took off his own robe to drape it over him.
“I’ll sponsor you for a month, just stop dancing.” That deep voice seemed to echo faintly in his ears.
If Xu Qiao wanted to delve deeper into his memories, a blank space emerged. Trying to push forward, his head felt like it was being pricked by needles, unbearable and painful, preventing any further recollection.
He couldn’t remember the man’s face, and even the name eluded him.
The stirring sensation, he couldn’t recall what it felt like.
Xu Qiao heard his ethereal voice saying, “So many wanted to undress me, but only you offered me clothes…”
“Clap clap,” two sounds startled Xu Qiao. He looked up to see Jiang Wen applauding, giving him a thumbs up.
“This reason works well.” Jiang Wen nodded repeatedly, noting the line in the script. “Jin’er grew up in the brothel, many lusting after his body, wanting to undress him. Only Chunyu Yuan, upon their first meeting, draped a piece of clothing over him.”
The screenwriter added, “Jin’er is delicate in his thoughts, and such a small gesture moved him, making him fall in love with Chunyu Yuan. This reason is acceptable.”
Jiang Wen nodded at Xu Qiao. “In the scene where you first meet Si Cheng, add another shot — the moment he drapes a coat over you.”
Xu Qiao smiled perfunctorily, adjusted the down jacket draped over him, suddenly feeling a heavy chill all around.
Every time he finished a mission, he would forget the appearance of everyone in the previous world, and memories of interactions became as blurry as those faces. Except for the skills and knowledge he retained as rewards for completing the will of the world after years of learning within the books.
This was, to some extent, the will of the world protecting him. A normal person, retaining memories and emotions from one world to another, would only fall into madness.
It was just one dream after another. He didn’t even know if the people in the dream were real or not.
Xu Qiao rubbed his slightly throbbing temples and, along with the screenwriter, continued discussing with Jiang Wen.
This discussion extended into the late night.
After the script changes, the crew enthusiastically dove back into filming.
With the additional scenes shot, Xu Qiao’s role officially approached its conclusion. After performing the final climax, he would be done shooting.
The last scene was crucial, and Jiang Wen had his team prepared early.
At this point, Jin’er, driven by his admiration for Chunyu Yuan, failed in various attempts to harm Guan Nianyan. Overwhelmed by immense hatred and his inherent twisted nature, he grew increasingly insane. Not only did he relentlessly pursue and torment the female lead, but in the process, he also unjustly killed many innocent people.
Chunyu Yuan was yet to discover Jin’er’s identity. While trying to unveil the black-clad person with formidable martial arts skills entangling them, his disdain for Jin’er, who was always closely associated with Drunken Joy Pavilion, grew day by day.
One day, amidst the struggle with the black-clad person, Chunyu Yuan used his sword to lift the mask, but before he could see the face underneath, the black-clad person slipped away effortlessly.
That fleeting glimpse made Chunyu Yuan feel a sense of familiarity. He had a guess but hesitated to believe. Was the admired, delicate, and enchanting young attendant from Drunken Joy Pavilion the ruthless black-clad person?
In the evening, to confirm his suspicion, Chunyu Yuan visited Drunken Joy Pavilion, spending a hefty sum to hire Jin’er for the night.
Inside Jin’er’s room, the two looked at each other in silence.
With all the lighting props in place and several cameras facing them, after the clapperboard sound from the script supervisor, the shooting began.
Xu Qiao, still dressed in a light red robe with a silk sash around his waist, looked at Si Cheng, who sat silently at the table. He pursed his lips, smiled, and walked over. His slender fingers rested on Si Cheng’s shoulder. “Ah Yuan…”
A bone-chilling sound.
Si Cheng frowned, brushing away his hand.
Xu Qiao, unbothered with his coldness, showed an intimate expression. He poured a glass of wine for him, a teasing smile on his face. “This is your first time coming to my room.”
Si Cheng stared at Xu Qiao expressionless, his voice cold as he asked, “Where were you this afternoon?”
“This afternoon?” Xu Qiao lowered his crow feather-like eyelashes, chuckled softly, placed the wine jug down, his voice low, husky, and somewhat complaining. “Naturally, in bed. That person has no understanding of tenderness, gripping Jin’er’s hands and tossing him around. All Jin’er could see was the red silk swaying above, swaying and swaying—”
“Enough!” Si Cheng couldn’t tolerate such vulgar language, pushing Xu Qiao away.
Xu Qiao was pushed to the ground, and while he winced in pain, his face, though pained, still carried a smile — a smile hiding a thick layer of undispellable sorrow.
Seeing this, Si Cheng felt a strange flutter in his heart, a mix of guilt and self-reproach. Subconsciously, he reached out to help him. In that moment, he knew he was in for another scolding.
In the script, Chunyu Yuan merely coldly observed Jin’er falling to the ground.
Before Jiang Wen could start scolding, Si Cheng helped Xu Qiao up, his hand hanging by his side, looking at him pitifully. “Director, I’m sorry.”
The apology was swift. Jiang Wen snorted and waved his hand, signaling them to redo the scene.
After this scene, Chunyu Yuan had confirmed Jin’er’s identity, and Jin’er, realizing there was no possibility between them, harbored thoughts of death.
In the final scene, highly valued by Jiang Wen, they didn’t rush to film. After checking the weather forecast for several days, they finally got a snowstorm. Overnight, Jiang Wen called back the crew and set up the scene in the snow.
The dazzling red silk danced wildly, enveloping the entire world in grandeur. In the snow, Jin’er would perform one last dance for Chunyu Yuan, drinking poisoned wine and meeting his demise.
Thank you for the update ☺️
So..the one who didnt want him undressed is the su smth from crew from next door?🤔
I don’t think so. They talked about the development of the drama story they’re shooting.
yeah i know, but still it’s kinda suspicion for me.. like who know.. maybe not only mc could transmigrated 🤔
Thank you for the chapter 💝
I got so invested in the show, lol. Ty for the chapter! 🫶
Jin’er is too miserable (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)
Can’t wait to see the reaction.
Maybe the ML from this world was also a transmigrator in books like the MC and that’s how they met before.
Thank you for the update!
Thanks for the chapter! ML alert from that book!
Erasing memories sounds ultra suspicious.