Chapter 44: Transition

Liu Shishi walked away with a blushing face. Shen Yan shrugged and continued eating his boxed lunch...

Brother Yan was no novice...

Nor was Liu Shishi.

In fact, if one dug deep enough, her past scandals could also be uncovered...

However, they were probably just rumors, considering her mother would always come to stay and look after her for a period of time during every shoot.

As for the current stage of their relationship, it fell somewhere short of romance, yet remained above friendship...

Sooner or later, it would undergo a mutation!

It had already mutated. Shishi possessed a strong sense of possession over Shen Yan and would text him regardless of whether there was anything important...

Moreover, she had taken the initiative to keep her distance from Yuan Hong—the two of them used to be very intimate, with Yuan Hong grabbing her hands at the drop of a hat...

Yet on the set of *The Legend of Kublai Khan* (Note: *A Weaver on the Horizon*), Liu Shishi rarely sought out Yuan Hong. As soon as a scene wrapped, she would run over to chat idly with Shen Yan.

She also paid close attention to Shen Yan. Whenever he was rehearsing scenes with other actors, she would always edge closer...

Except when it came to Zheng Peipei...

That's right, Zheng Peipei's character was truly impeccable. Although she didn't have many scenes, every single day she was present, she would treat the entire crew to drinks.

The entire crew, mind you, including the lighting technicians, script supervisors, and background extras!

She didn't own a house and had always rented apartments to live in, and she had even made a will to donate her organs!

She was indeed truly worthy of the title of a martial arts heroine.

Actually, many veteran actors were quite generous. Wu Mengda and Zhang Guoli both treated the crew's extras to food. Especially Wu Mengda, who every day after finishing work would say "Thank you for your hard work everyone" before leaving, treating everyone to afternoon tea pastries...

Even someone like that could eventually have a falling out with Stephen Chow!

Master Xing really was a piece of trash when it came to how he treated people...

The Hengdian leg of *A Weaver on the Horizon* concluded, and the production then relocated to Xiangshan...

Shen Yan didn't follow the crew immediately; instead, he went to the neighboring set of *The Legend of Crazy Monk* and filmed for two days!

Then he racked his brains trying to come up with a song...

As for the original soundtrack of *A Weaver on the Horizon* from his past memory... he had zero impression of it.

The songs from *Chinese Paladin 1*, such as *Shattering Wolves* and *Rain in June*; *Chinese Paladin 3*'s *This Life Will Never Change*; and *Scarlet Heart*'s *A Single Persistent Thought* and *Three Inches of Heaven* were all tracks that soared in popularity across the entire country alongside the hit broadcasts of their respective dramas...

Actually, the musical score for the original version of *A Weaver on the Horizon* was also handled by Mak Chun Hung, while the theme song was Kelly Chen's *Always Believe*...

Kelly Chen was truly a pampered socialite of Hong Kong. Having starred in forty or fifty films, she had never been nominated for any acting awards.

She debuted relying on an image resembling a combination of Brigitte Lin and Faye Wong, her singing skills were mediocre, and she danced like a robot...

Naturally, Shen Yan had never heard this song, *Always Believe*!

In fact, in the early days, record labels would often bring pre-recorded albums or newly cultivated singers to approach the producers of upcoming dramas seeking cooperation. Using the television series as a bridge, they would intertwine artist promotion, drama promotion, and record promotion to achieve greater commercial benefits.

For instance, the music for Chiung Yao's dramas was mostly entrusted to producers and singers from Taiwan's UFO Records.

Chinese Entertainment (Tangren) executed this industrial chain very well. For *Chinese Paladin*, they cooperated with HIM International Music. The opening theme *Shattering Wolves* was performed by JS, the insert song *Always So Quiet* by Ah Sang, and the ending theme *Finally Understand* by Power Station—all of whom were signed artists of HIM International Music at that time.

In addition to that, Tangren loved having their lead actors lend their voices.

The leading actor Hu Ge simultaneously performed his character's insert songs *Free and Unfettered Sigh* and *Rain in June*, which played frequently in scenes featuring Li Xiaoyao in *Chinese Paladin*.

The explosive success of *Chinese Paladin* smoothly turned Hu Ge into a singer with representative hits, leading him to sign with EMI Records the following year.

This was Taiwan's conventional star-making logic: pushing the drama and the song forward simultaneously, superimposing multiple media formats at once to cultivate a "star" with composite commercial value.

However, later on, people stopped paying so much attention to soundtracks!

After all, songs really didn't make much money.

As for whether the song Shen Yan sang could be selected for the OST of *A Weaver on the Horizon*, it was probably quite difficult. Tangren had presumably already reached an agreement with Kelly Chen's agency, Go East Entertainment!

However, when Shen Yan chatted with Ji Xiang about it, Ji Xiang simply said, "It doesn't matter. As long as you can write it, I have a way to arrange it into the television series... Even if it can't be the OST, it can still be used as an insert song or the ending theme!"

Then he would just give it his all. He played a bit of the violin, and then a melody popped into his mind: *A pot of clear wine, a body covered in dust; a single thought of return to spend the rest of life without regret~*

*"Unwilling to be tainted by right and wrong, yet how could things turn out contrary to expectations; the flower in my heart has withered, and time will never return..."*

*Untainted*, that's the one!

Xiangshan Film and Television City...

Compared to Hengdian, he felt that Hengdian had more imperial palace architecture, while Xiangshan featured more natural scenery...

At least, that was what Shen Yan thought!

Well, compared to the scale of Hengdian, Xiangshan was quite a bit inferior.

Hengdian World Studios was the largest film and television shooting base in the world, boasting multiple shooting sets spanning different historical periods, including Guangzhou Street, Hong Kong Street, the Ming and Qing Imperial Palace, the Emperor Qin's Palace, and Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival...

At this stage, the Xiangshan Film and Television City only had the Return of the Condor Heroes City—while the Spring and Autumn/Warring States City was still under development!

The Spring and Autumn/Warring States City was built specifically for Chen Kaige's film *Sacrifice*...

And *Sacrifice* wouldn't start filming until March of next year...

In addition to that, the Republic of China City and the Tang City hadn't been built yet!

*A Weaver on the Horizon* had a few war scenes, seeing as Lin Mufei was a general after all, and a pro-war faction member at that...

The Condor Heroes City was very suitable for location shooting—the Condor Heroes City built by Zhang Jizhong back in the day encompassed eight major scenic areas including an ancient battlefield, a workshop district, a village street district, the Returning Cloud Manor, the Tomb of the Living Dead, the Lu Family Manor, Xiangyang City, and Mongolian yurts...

Furthermore, the plot where Fang Ning and Huang Qiao'er lived in seclusion in the Butterfly Valley was also filmed in Xiangshan!

It went like this: to save Huang Qiao'er, Fang Ning had both his legs broken by Zhao Zhe...

Fang's mother forced Qiao'er to marry Fang Ning and take care of his daily life. Fang Ning was unwilling; he didn't want to become a burden to Qiao'er, so he tried to drive Qiao'er away through beating and scolding. Behind the hurt lay an even greater torment, yet Qiao'er did her utmost to smooth away Fang Ning's anxiety, self-blame, and inferiority complex.

Qiao'er faced all kinds of challenges and difficulties at the Fang family. On one hand, she had to deal with the crisis at the Dafang Dyeing House, and on the other hand, she had to handle the complicated emotional entanglement with Fang Ning.

Just as Qiao'er was preparing to hold her wedding with Fang Ning, Lin Mufei, who was presumed dead, suddenly appeared and took Qiao'er away...

That's right, he took Qiao'er away!

Shen Yan really... had a hard time swallowing this plot development!

Big brother, it's a wedding, for crying out loud! You just snatched away my bride?

Doesn't I, Fang Ning, have any pride to uphold?

Fine, Qiao'er only married Fang Ning to repay a debt of gratitude......

It's tragic romance after all!

What could possibly be a more agonizing scene than a wedding ceremony?

Both Chiung Yao and Jin Yong had used this trope...

Oh, Shen Yan was just feeling annoyed; he hadn't actually voiced it out.

As the saying goes, who was he to speak up anyway...

He wasn't an idiot; how could he possibly raise objections...

Arriving in Xiangshan, it was already 7:00 PM. Shen Yan first reported to the director's unit to cancel his leave, and then prepared to take a stroll around the film city.

To be precise, he planned to head over to the seaside for a spin—the film city wasn't right by the sea, but rather on a small plain in Xinqiao Town, several thousand meters away from the coast. Taking a car, it would only take a few minutes!

After thinking about it, he simply dialed Shishi's number.