Chapter Ninety-Four: Thank You, Director Liu!
The two of them returned to the private room to continue their meal. About an hour later, the gathering came to an end.
It was past ten in the evening.
A dozen or so people walked out of the Little Village Night Banquet and stood together by the roadside.
Liu Guoqiang said, “Let me call for a car!”
“Alright…”
The late autumn air was a bit chilly.
A gust of autumn wind swept by. Wang Fengwan hugged her shoulders. “It’s so cold!”
She was dressed in a vivid red evening gown, her arms bare, a slit at the hem revealing her long legs.
“Jiang Yun, lend me your jacket!”
Jiang Yun, the epitome of a straight man, replied, “If you wear it, what am I supposed to wear?!”
Damn it! Wang Fengwan nearly swore. Was this what people meant by a stereotypical straight man?
“Fine, forget it! No big deal!”
When the car arrived, Jiang Yun was about to get in when Wang Fengwan simply pushed him aside and took the seat herself.
Bang!
She slammed the car door shut.
Jiang Yun had no choice but to take the passenger seat.
Back at the hotel, Jiang Yun had almost sobered up.
He returned to his room and called Li Lulu.
“Boss, how did the shoot go?” Li Lulu’s voice sounded weak.
“Everything went well! Lulu, you sound exhausted. Are you ill?”
“I caught a bit of a cold,” she replied on the other end.
“Have you taken any medicine?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Good, take care of yourself.”
“You too, boss!”
After hanging up, Jiang Yun began updating his novel.
Whoosh!
The user formerly known as Linghu Chong, now called Meng Xinghun, sent ten rockets as a reward.
Whoosh!
Again and again—five waves of rockets in total.
Jiang Yun replied, “Old pal, you’re tipping again!”
Ding!
“Congratulations on your new book! It reads wonderfully so far. May I ask what genre it is?”
Jiang Yun replied, “Xianxia.”
“Xianxia? What’s that?”
Jiang Yun answered, “You can think of xianxia as a kind of wuxia. The core is still the spirit of the hero. The difference is, in xianxia, the characters can fly and perform supernatural feats—it’s full of fantasy and the extraordinary.”
“Oh, I’m not quite sure I understand, but as long as it’s wuxia, that’s great. I love classic martial arts stories!”
Jiang Yun replied, “I won’t let you down!”
After updating his novel, Jiang Yun went to wash up.
Finishing his routine, he lay on the bed. “System, enter simulation training room!”
Ding! The simulation training room is booting.
Simulation training room successfully started!
Buzz!
Jiang Yun’s consciousness appeared in a virtual world, fully clothed.
“Hello, continue with the last lesson.”
Beep! Understood!
“Performing arts is an art form that portrays life, shapes characters, and conveys emotion through singing, instrumental performance, body movement, and facial expression. The main branches are music and dance, though sometimes acrobatics, comic dialogues, and magic are included as well…”
Jiang Yun absorbed the knowledge like a sponge.
After the theory class, he began the practical lesson.
This time was different—he no longer played bit parts with no meaning.
Instead, he engaged in real acting scenes.
The system cloned the cast of “Battle Horses of the Azure Sky,” even replicating Wang Fengwan.
Jiang Yun went back and forth in dialogue with the actors.
After performing, he watched the playback.
The AI of the simulation room marked and highlighted all his mistakes.
“System, exit simulation training room.”
His mind returned to the real world.
“Whew, so tired!” He rubbed his temples, got up for a glass of hot milk, then collapsed on the bed and fell fast asleep.
The next morning, Jiang Yun woke up refreshed.
…
“Director Liu, you should check the trending topics!”
“What about them?”
“They’re full of negative comments about Jiang Yun!”
…
At the same time, at Canghai Manor Company.
“Director Li, the internet is flooded with bad publicity about the boss. Should we start PR?”
“Of course. I’ll call the boss first!”
…
Ring ring ring!
Jiang Yun answered.
“Boss, all the trending topics are negative about you! Take a look—I’ll start PR right away!”
Jiang Yun frowned. Why did he always seem to attract this kind of attention? Why was he trending every other day?
He hung up and opened Weibo.
Shocking! Singer Jiang Yun crosses over into acting!
Jiang Yun frowned—wasn’t this the same trending topic as yesterday?
He scrolled down.
Shocking! Both “Soul Battle Continent” and “Battle Horses of the Azure Sky” begin filming.
Nothing wrong with that.
He kept reading.
Shocking! How can a singer become an actor?
This trending topic was a video interview with a veteran filmmaker.
Jiang Yun clicked play. The man in the video spoke confidently.
“Jiang Yun knows nothing about film! How can a singer act? I believe Jiang Yun is talented, but his talent lies in music and other fields, not film.”
“Acting and singing are two entirely different professions. An actor can sing, but a singer might not be able to act!”
“There are many singers crossing over to acting nowadays, but most of them fail. ‘Battle Horses of the Azure Sky’ has a good script—let’s hope the producer and director don’t lower the quality.”
Jiang Yun’s brows furrowed as he read the comments below, all echoing the same sentiment.
“I’m a fan of the original novel. I hope the director casts a professional actor as Xiao Yan, not Jiang Yun, this amateur. Otherwise, I’ll boycott the show and watch ‘Soul Battle Continent’ instead!”
“I agree—boycott Jiang Yun, boycott ‘Battle Horses of the Azure Sky,’ watch ‘Soul Battle Continent’!”
“Boycott Jiang Yun! Boycott ‘Battle Horses of the Azure Sky’!”
“+1”
“+10086”
Jiang Yun was speechless. It was obvious that the so-called veteran filmmaker had been paid off. Couldn’t the netizens see that? What a bunch of fools!
He was about to use his hacking skills to trace the sudden influx of critical comments and find out who was behind it.
Ring ring ring!
Jiang Yun answered, “Hello, Director Liu!”
“Don’t worry, Jiang Yun! Everything is under control!”
Jiang Yun asked, “Did the producer say anything?”
“Well, he…”
“What’s wrong, Director Liu?”
Liu Guoqiang replied, “He did say something, but it’s already been taken care of. Nothing serious.”
Jiang Yun was silent for a moment. “Director Liu.”
“What is it?”
With sincerity and gravity, Jiang Yun said, “Thank you, Director Liu.”
“Oh, so that’s it? I thought you were going to say something important. When did you become so sentimental?” Liu Guoqiang teased from the other end.
Jiang Yun laughed brightly, “Director Liu, you said everything’s under control. What exactly did you come up with? Tell me!”
“That’s confidential!”
Stirred by curiosity, Jiang Yun pressed, “Come on, tell me.”
“No!”
“Please?”
“Alright, here’s what happened—%@Σ…”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.” What Liu Guoqiang described got Jiang Yun’s blood pumping. He slapped his thigh. “Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”
“Then who’s behind these online comments?”
ps: Thanks to “Gaga-” for the monthly ticket, and to “*Yunyun” for the eleven recommendation votes.