Chapter 108: Recording the Variety Show
After the wrap of "Blood Mist", the official recording of the "Don't Look Back in the Dark" variety show was also put on the agenda.
The permanent guests were already set: Liu Qingling, Yang Ji, and Rong Yu. Among the previous young masters, only Lei Miao and Wei Shu had time to come and play. There were also three guest stars, responsible for product endorsements and promoting upcoming new dramas.
One slot was originally meant for Shu Liubai from Huansheng Entertainment, but it clashed with Shu Liubai's schedule, which couldn't be adjusted. Yin Chengjue couldn't think of any other suitable artist from Huansheng for this spot, so, on Qin Linlin's suggestion, he had to step in himself.
Recording a show with Rong Yu meant he could appear openly in the same program as Rong Yu, so Yin Chengjue had no complaints about it.
Moreover, the memory of Rong Yu single-handedly dominating the trial recording was still fresh in his mind, making Yin Chengjue quite eager to try it himself.
Following the settings and schedule Qin Linlin had prepared earlier, the group arrived at the remote mountain villa she had rented. Under the arrangement of the villa's elderly butler, they checked into the rooms the villa owner had permitted for their use.
This time, Qin Linlin did not keep their character personas mysterious. Instead, she gave each person their own character setting and background story in advance for them to memorize, so they could perform them a bit during the formal filming.
Among them, Liu Qingling was assigned the role of the butler.
Qin Linlin had Liu Qingling first follow the villa's elderly butler to learn, familiarize himself with the areas of the villa open for their recording, and imitate the old butler's mannerisms, striving to portray the most realistic butler image.
Yin Chengjue drew the character of the eldest son of the villa owner's first wife, while Rong Yu happened to draw the role of the youngest son of the villa owner's first wife. Yang Ji drew the servant role, Lei Miao drew the lawyer role, and Wei Shu drew the distant cousin role. The female artist Ling Ting, endorsing Qin's waterproof cosmeceuticals, drew the illegitimate daughter role. The male artist Guan Haifeng, endorsing Lei's newly released seasonal mobile phone, drew the illegitimate son role. The female artist Wei Lu, endorsing Xiao's smart learning tablet, drew the adopted daughter role.
Yin Chengjue had previously discussed the plot with Qin Linlin and knew the general direction of the story. However, because Qin Linlin later went back to organize the plot synopsis herself, Yin Chengjue only knew what events would happen, but not the causes behind these events or who the murderer was.
To prevent Yin Chengjue from spoiling the plot, Qin Linlin made an agreement with him: he could only reveal his story after finding key evidence; otherwise, even if he knew, he had to pretend not to.
In Qin Linlin's words: "The show needs to create an effect, just like a relationship needs a sense of ritual. It's not that a relationship without ritual isn't a relationship, but having a sense of ritual makes most people in love feel valued by the other party."
Listening to Qin Linlin's roundabout explanation, Yin Chengjue gradually understood—she was telling him to take this opportunity to get closer to Rong Yu.
Yin Chengjue glanced at Rong Yu, who was diligently memorizing his character background.
Qin Linlin cleared her throat softly: "I specifically requested fewer rooms to be opened, so the old butler arranged for you two to share the same room. Tell me, how will you thank me?"
Yin Chengjue thought: What's the big deal about sharing a room? We've been living together for over half a year.
But seeing the young woman's expression seeking praise, Yin Chengjue sincerely thanked her, mentally noting this favor.
As Rong Yu's manager, Sally also came along this time, holding three scripts in her hand: one was a film adaptation of the short story "The Chase" under the same title, one was a web series adaptation of the BL supernatural novel "Trials of the Celestial Clan" with dual male leads, and one was a major male lead infinite flow series adaptation of the long novel "The Sorcerer's Decree".
If judged solely by the popularity of the original works, "The Sorcerer's Decree" was undoubtedly the highest. Even landing a role as the third or fourth male lead would be quite advantageous.
In comparison, choosing "Trials of the Celestial Clan" presented its own challenges. While the genre followed the trend with supernatural elements and, as a BL adaptation, came with a built-in fanbase, acting in a BL dual male lead drama carried specific risks. Specifically, playing one of the two leads would inevitably lead to being used for CP marketing, particularly real-person CP marketing. Sally pointed out the inevitable outcome: once the drama finished airing and the hype died down, the casual drama fans would disperse, and the dedicated solo fans would retreat to their own circles. This would leave the CP fans in a difficult position, with nowhere to direct their fervor.
Although the popularity of "Trials of the Celestial Clan" could somewhat compete with "The Sorcerer's Decree", Sally concluded that in terms of subsequent public relations, being part of the supporting male cast of "The Sorcerer's Decree" would be a significantly easier path.
"If we're going to audition for 'Trials of the Celestial Clan', it's best to choose a role without any CP pairing, not even a problematic 'heretical CP' one. But that's obviously quite impossible. So my suggestion is... pass." As she spoke, Sally pulled out the "Trials of the Celestial Clan" script and placed it to the side.
Yin Chengjue: "..." Then why did you even bring it out?
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