Chapter 61: Wow, Spitting Spit

Checking the time, it was 11:00 PM. Shen Yan said speechlessly, "Why aren't you sleeping yet?"

"I was waiting for you!"

Shen Yan glanced at the computer with a look of utter disgust, "... Weren't you doing a dungeon raid?"

"It's ending soon... My daily stamina hasn't been used up yet!"

"Stamina?"

Shishi explained, "The next dungeon costs 15 stamina..."

"... Fine."

Shen Yan didn't really care. Shishi didn't have many hobbies aside from playing games...

He couldn't very well force her to turn off the computer, could he?

Just as he sat down, his phone rang... It was a call from Ji Xiang...

"Hello... Huace wants to buy *Lotuspleat Pavilion*?"

"... Then did you tell them our conditions?"

"... They agreed? How is that possible? I'm a newcomer, how could they agree to let me play the lead?"

"... Pei Jianxin took a fancy to it? Who is Pei Jianxin?"

"... Zhu Yanpin's executive producer..."

Hearing Zhu Yanpin's name, Shen Yan immediately shook his feet—no, shook his head: "Forget it, let's wait until *Architecture 101* is released and produce it ourselves!"

Then Ji Xiang said, "How are you going to produce it? Which TV station would want it? Why aren't you paying attention to policy at all? Do you know about the Anti-Period-Drama Edict?"

"The Anti-Period-Drama Edict? Another restriction? Ours is wuxia, does that count too?"

"Isn't wuxia a costume drama? Without connections, who dares to shoot a costume drama?"

Fine, the authorities had issued another directive!

It directly restricted costume dramas.

Pausing for a moment, Ji Xiang added, "After Pei Jianxin came to the mainland, he hooked up with Huace. That project *Meteor, Butterfly, Sword* we talked about earlier was put together by him..."

"... The one directed by Li Huaimin?"

"Right!"

"... Let me think about it..."

"Sure, take all the time you want. Anyway, we're in the seller's market right now..."

Hanging up the phone...

Shen Yan searched online for Pei Jianxin. Sure enough, he was Zhu Yanpin's close collaborator, with representative works including *The Avenging Fist*, *Heroic Trio* (Wait, no—*A Kid from Tibet*, *Flying Dagger*, *School Daze*), and the cinematic disaster etched into trash-film history, *One Stone Two Birds*...

In recent years, he had come to the mainland to develop his career and participated in the production of *The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng*...

However, the producer of *The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng* was CCTV's Movie Channel, which didn't pay much attention to Pei Jianxin. Consequently, he turned to Huace to make *Meteor, Butterfly, Sword*...

For this drama, he could be considered dedicated. He brought in screenwriter Li Xiaoping and director Li Huaimin, demanding as much fidelity to the original novel as possible.

To be honest, this version of *Meteor, Butterfly, Sword* turned out quite well, capturing the authentic Guolong flavor. The actors' performances and the action choreography were exceptional, telling a tightly woven, flawless story across thirty episodes...

Returning to the bedroom, Shen Yan was still deep in thought. Shishi put away her computer and asked, "Who was that on the phone?"

Ji Xiang... Huace is interested in *Lotuspleat Pavilion*."

"... Then are you going to sell it?"

"Let's see how sincere they are..." Shen Yan changed the subject: "Does your back still hurt?"

"... Much better..." Shishi leaned her head over, demanding a kiss...

Shen Yan gave her a peck, then said, "Don't push yourself too hard. If you really can't take it, use a body double..."

"I'll let you know if I can't handle it!"

"... Then let's sleep."

"Don't you want to?"

Shen Yan directly grabbed her mischievous, wandering right hand: "We'll do it after your back heals..."

He was very clear about his own capacity...

A fully healthy Shishi was no match for him, let alone a half-crippled one...

If he broke her, the impact wouldn't be good!

......

Filming *The Vigilantes in Masks* was a bit more exhausting than *Weaving Fairy*...

Not only were there many more fight scenes, but more importantly, Ying Wuqiu had a truly massive amount of screen time.

He had antagonistic or interactive scenes with practically everyone...

Moreover, the scenes between Ying Wuqiu and Yan Song... made Shen Yan quite uncomfortable!

Yan Song treated Ying Wuqiu like a dog, trampling him underfoot at will and whipping him...

He would prostrate himself at Yan Song's feet to be trampled upon at will, as humble as a dog without dignity.

To use the evaluation of Yan Song's son, Yan Shifan: "Among all the past Capital Inspection Commanders, you are the most like a dog." Faced with such a naked insult, he would only offer a flattering smile—"A dog is loyal."

Right, Shen Yan had suggested the screenwriter write a few lines of comfort for Yan Shifan toward Ying Wuqiu...

For instance, when Yan Song slapped Ying Wuqiu across the face, Yan Shifan would intervene to stop him: 'Enough! If Li Gexiao were that easy to deal with, we wouldn't have failed to catch him all these years!'

After all, Yan Shifan was the Ming Dynasty's heavyweight champion...

He also wanted to win Ying Wuqiu over...

Right, when Yan Song first met Ying Wuqiu, he was accompanied by two martial arts experts...

Otherwise, being trampled underfoot like that—well, Shen Yan only had one thought: get up and kill him!

This sense of humiliation... was simply extreme!

Even knowing he was acting, Shen Yan still felt his teeth itch with hatred...

However, later on, Yan Song would meet Ying Wuqiu alone...

He knew Ying Wuqiu wouldn't dare...

Ying Wuqiu, originally named Bao Laiying, possessed a personality defined by humility, cowardice, a clinging to life, fear of death, timidity, and incompetence, hailing from the most impoverished peasant background...

If he hadn't encountered Jing Ruyi and her father who had been sentenced to exile, if he hadn't fallen in love with Jing Ruyi, if he hadn't followed her to the capital, and if he hadn't met Li Gexiao, perhaps he would have lived out a plain, ordinary life as a commoner.

Unfortunately, he met them...

But the two of them were not cut from the same cloth!

Ruyi had fallen on hard times, but deep in her bones, she possessed her own self-esteem and resilience. Gentle on the outside yet strong on the inside, she never bowed or scraped before the powerful, which was why she continually sought justice for her father.

Looking at Bao Laiying, conversely, he was born into humble status and could prostrate himself for survival, harboring a slavish mentality that the lowest strata of society could never shake off—to save Ruyi, he was willing to compromise and drink urine, throwing his dignity onto the ground rather than rise in rebellion.

However, Shen Yan couldn't quite stand Wallace Huo...

Acting opposite him, whenever his emotions ran high, he would spit while talking!

Who knows how he even studied acting? Could it have been by watching *Friends*?

Acting opposite him, especially in emotionally intense scenes...

It was agonizing. You could hardly avoid noticing his saliva—it would genuinely spray onto your face!

It broke your immersion instantly...

Fortunately, they didn't have many close-up face-to-face scenes.

Except for the ones involving Ruyi...

That's right, Gina Jin had arrived, and likewise granted only a single week, her scenes had to be filmed back-to-back...

Shen Yan was at his wit's end. Damn it, on their very first meeting, before they even had a chance to exchange a few words, they immediately had to shoot the wedding ceremony scene...

Oh, it was Li Gexiao marrying Jing Ruyi, and they insisted on making Bao Laiying act as the witness!

Out of their minds...

My beloved woman marries you, and you still make me stand there and offer blessings in person?

Adding insult to injury?

No wonder Ying Wuqiu was obsessed with killing Li Gexiao...

Seeing Shen Yan flipping through the script, Shishi asked with burning curiosity, "... Are you memorizing your lines?"

Shen Yan nodded, "Yeah, reinforcing my memory... After all, this passage is quite important!"

"Aren't you blessed with a photographic memory?"

"I just have a relatively good memory. Who told you I have a photographic memory?"

"... You never bring a script onto the set... Everyone says so!"

"... I haven't looked at the script for days, just sharpening the spear before the battle!" Saying this, Shen Yan curiously asked, "Are your scenes done?"

"Not yet... Lately, we've been shooting the scenes about the decisive battle with the Emei Sect..."

Ah, Yan Siniang had grown up in a poor family, and after being abandoned by her parents, she was fortunately taken in by Emei's sect leader, Wugou. This gave her her first taste of care and affection, and from then on she practiced martial arts and grew up happily alongside her fellow disciples—until one day, Wugou spotted the jade pendant on Siniang's body. From that moment on, no matter how hard Siniang tried, Wugou treated her with extreme strictness.

Later, Siniang discovered that Wugou possessed an identical jade pendant to hers, convincing her that Wugou was her biological mother, yet Wugou swore she had never given birth to a daughter...

Shen Yan remembered something and asked, "Is the one playing Wugou Teacher Dai Chunrong?"

"Yes... Do you want to go see her?"

"Of course, let's go together!"