Chapter 65 Art Imitates Life

The production crew didn't film everything. For instance, the journey to Yu Wei's place was omitted, as it made no sense for them to record it either reasonably or emotionally, nor was there any need to.

In fact, many meaningless footage fragments would end up being edited out during post-production, such as the two hours Yu Wei spent clacking away at his keyboard that afternoon...

The new residence arranged for Yu Wei by his company was located in a luxury residential area in the downtown center, with spacious flat-floor apartments estimated to start at forty million. Yu Wei was only staying there temporarily; he couldn't quite afford to buy one just yet.

For a celebrity, commercial deals and endorsements were undoubtedly the fastest ways to make money, but Yu Wei hadn't directly touched upon those yet. Such opportunities still depended on the reputation of the brands. Previously, a clothing brand with a problematic political stance had tried to approach him, but the company rejected them in a split second.

"A duplex high-rise overlooking the sea and the river, and you still have the nerve to call me a Beijing native?"

Qi Luo'an came from a rather well-to-do family, but upon entering and seeing the eight-meter-high vaulted living room, she couldn't help but gasp in amazement. This place had to be at least over two hundred square meters.

Actually, the company had also scouted a place over four hundred square meters, but Yu Wei didn't dare live there. That kind of place was meant for families with dependents; for a lone wolf like him, living in a space like that was a bit wasteful.

It was safe to say that the company valued him far beyond the ordinary.

"No matter how nice it is, it's not mine."

The main selling point here was the environment—quiet, low-density, and free from disturbance. Quite a few celebrities lived in this neighborhood.

Yu Wei had gone straight to Beijing to record a variety show right after moving in, so he hadn't actually spent many days living here. Fortunately, the studio for *Music Mystery Box* was local, and Qi Luo'an's university wasn't far either; otherwise, he would practically be living a nomadic lifestyle.

"It's so big and empty, aren't you going to scare yourself crying if you wake up to use the bathroom at night...?"

The cameramen were instantly amused by Qi Luo'an's remark. This girl was truly a character. Had she been someone more materialistic, she probably wouldn't have been able to tear her feet away from a luxury mansion, let alone joke around the way she did.

"Yeah, I don't dare get up. I just wet the bed instead."

You talk to people in their own language. Having gotten used to Qi Luo'an's unfocused and casual banter, he had also grown accustomed to talking nonsense without blinking.

Yu Wei casually washed some fruit for them—he had bought it yesterday through a group-buying deal, and it was still fresh...

To be honest, living in a house like this all by oneself lacked any sense of mortal warmth. After living here for a long time, it was hard not to feel a sense of loneliness. Even when burning paper offerings for the dead, people included paper servants; nobody only burned the house itself.

"Let me guess if there's any tissue paper on your bedside table in the bedroom."

"You better behave yourself."

Yu Wei had figured it out: Qi Luo'an had simply come to cyber-stalk him in person, using her appearance on the show as a way to legitimize the stalking process.

There was no helping it; early-twenties female college students were still overflowing with youth and vitality. Once she entered the workforce, she would understand...

Before the show started, several cameramen had already set up their equipment and stood by on standby. Filming celebrities watching themselves on television was the kind of footage that, if handled well, would surely become an iconic variety show moment.

Their eyes no longer held any trace of gossipy curiosity, leaving only a burning desire for promotions and salary raises.

"I heard from Old Qi... cough, I heard from someone else that you sang a new song in this episode, right? Is it that one called *Treading the Waves*?"

Qi Luo'an still didn't want to talk too explicitly about her family background, especially on a show, otherwise she would easily be labeled as a celebrity's child riding on coattails to gain exposure through a variety show.

Gain exposure for what? When she signed up, she hadn't even filled out much information. In the column for character backstory, she had written "Yu Wei's Sole Operations Officer," and just like that, she was selected.

"Yes, but it should be near the end."

While the two of them were chatting idly, the sixth episode of *Dream Transcendence Class* officially began. The recap segment felt somewhat unfamiliar to Yu Wei; apart from Qi Xi, he didn't have deep impressions of anyone else.

The very beginning of this episode featured the selection stage for four classic film and television works. As the bottom-ranked participant from the previous episode, Qi Yunming chose first, and thus, living up to everyone's expectations, he picked *Unfaithful*, the easiest one to film. The helplessness of the other three mentors was written all over their faces.

While watching this segment, Yu Wei specifically kept an eye on Qi Luo'an's expression, but her face remained unchanged, clearly accustomed to her father's habit of giving up and letting things slide.

"Is it good?"

"The show is quite good."

After the four film sets were established, Yu Wei and the other guest stars made their official entrance. Watching himself look around inquisitively on screen, and then glancing at the cameramen beside the sofa, Yu Wei felt a somewhat surreal sense of detachment.

When *Music Mystery Box* finally aired, wouldn't he be able to watch himself on the show watching himself on a previous show...?

The ensuing plot was very familiar to viewers who had watched the online clips. While observing the filming of *Unfaithful*, Yu Wei offered his own opinions and then began rewriting the script.

"The mistress wearing the female lead's clothes, huh? You seem a bit repressed."

Just like the netizens, Qi Luo'an only knew that Yu Wei had altered the script, but she hadn't expected him to make the mistress wear the female lead's clothes. What kind of divine move was that?

Pulling off that kind of romantic play within the plot—what a miraculous rescue, Doctor! Such a revision certainly added plenty of tension, but wasn't the tension a bit too overwhelming?

"If I were truly repressed, you wouldn't be able to leave tonight."

The cameraman suspected he had misheard. Was that something you could just say out loud? This line would definitely have to be edited out later; the impact of this on underage viewers would be immeasurable.

"Hmph."

Qi Luo'an teased back without taking it seriously at all. Should she play along and shout "Somebody help, save my throat"?

She could certainly take a joke, but a moment's thought told her that Yu Wei would never actually do such a thing. Qi Luo'an's judgment of people was accurate; otherwise, she would never have agreed to meet Yu Wei in the first place.

As it turned out, changing the clothing setup wasn't the end of it. With a wave of his hand, Yu Wei proceeded to rewrite the dialogue directly—precisely the scene where large chunks of lines were crossed out in the clips.

When the mistress's line, "Since we're pursuing a thrill, we might as well see it through to the end," appeared in the script, every viewer was left completely dumbfounded.

That couldn't be right. Why was the imagery so vivid?

Didn't they always say art comes from life? Had Yu Wei gone astray?

"May I ask how you came up with this line?"

Qi Luo'an's face actually displayed a hint of doubt and uncertainty. They said a work was a reflection of the author's personality. Logically speaking, shouldn't he be the ultimate straight-arrow male type like Wei Yu in the book? How did he come up with phrasing about pursuing thrills?

"Saw it on the internet."

What Yu Wei said was indeed the truth, so he appeared lighthearted and unconcerned, as if he weren't lying, practically missing only the words "make a mountain out of a molehill" written across his face.

Seeing him act like this, Qi Luo'an secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, before she could finish exhaling that breath, she saw the Yu Wei on television write down something even more explosive.

"You are so slutty."

That line of dialogue was simply something else. Those four simple words directly catapulted a trending topic onto the search lists. A man of art like him was actually capable of writing this kind of line?

Yet, what made it even more effective for the show was that they couldn't possibly think of a single line more fitting for the plot than that one. The phrasing was crude, but the reasoning was sound; anyone who understood the plot even slightly could see the brilliance of these lines.

The original film was a foreign movie, and the dubbed lines were long-winded, lacking the impact and infectiousness contained in those four words.

Still, the remark was indeed too crude...

"Also saw it on the internet, also saw it on the internet."

Sensing that the atmosphere was off, Yu Wei learned to preemptively answer. He could just use the program *Music Mystery Box* to explain; he needed to clear his name—his private life was extremely healthy.

"I believe you."

Anyway, Qi Luo'an didn't believe that someone who couldn't even write a single female character would have any sort of scandalous private life. Art didn't entirely stem from life either.

Had you ever committed adultery yourself before writing about Hong Shixian? Just making baseless assumptions?

Belief was one thing, but she did indeed develop an uncalled-for sense of irritation, especially after seeing those comments speculating about Yu Wei's romantic history.

These people were such gossips!

Fortunately, her mood was soon rescued by a few new posts. Who could understand the feeling of salvation brought by watching the drama unfold online?

"A few keyboard warriors are saying your line discriminates against women, but a few other keyboard warriors are saying this scene advocates for women's freedom of dress."

"?"

Wearing Pinru's clothes also counted as freedom of dress, huh? It really takes magic to defeat magic.