Although Xiao He's reaction was rather lukewarm and he didn't reveal much information, this did [N O V E L I G H T] not dampen Yuan Sitong's enthusiasm at all.
She got more and more excited as she talked, as if she were really there. Her eyes no longer showed the sleepiness she had just woken up, but only the excitement and joy of about to get a piece of juicy gossip.
Xiao He didn't know what to say about Yuan Sitong.
He said that the king of lateness would never obediently get up early or even arrive at the scene ahead of time.
Now that I see it, it's clear they had ulterior motives.
Xiao He simply couldn't understand how this young lady could have such perseverance just to gossip.
Why aren't you saying anything?
Yuan Sitong kept asking, and when Xiao He didn't answer her, she muttered to herself, "I originally thought you were a tough character, but I didn't expect you to be a victim—tsk tsk, I was quite afraid of you before... cough cough."
Xiao He glanced at her sideways, subtly releasing a chill: "Hmm? What did you say?"
He knew that Yuan Sitong had always been somewhat intimidated by him, which was one of the main reasons why she only dared to cause trouble for others but not for him when they were on the set of "Yu Ye".
Now, Xiao He also hopes that Yuan Sitong can continue to behave herself, and not act like a spoiled princess towards him during the later filming, nor cause him any trouble.
When the young man exuded coldness, a hint of murderous intent would also be revealed in his eyes, and his icy gaze successfully silenced Yuan Sitong.
The initial sympathy and gossip that had arisen were also frightened away by Xiao He's gaze. Yuan Sitong shrank back and dared not say anything more to Xiao He.
Suddenly, the atmosphere became somewhat tense.
Fortunately, at that moment, another voice broke in—
"Sitong, it's been a long time!"
Xiao He looked up at the sound and saw a young man walking in from outside.
The other person was very handsome, with clean-cut eyebrows and eyes, a straight nose, and starlight in his peach blossom eyes. His expression when looking at Yuan Sitong was focused and affectionate, as if lovers who had not seen each other for many years had finally met at this moment.
Yuan Sitong looked up at the person who had arrived, and the smile on her face faded considerably: "It's you."
"You still remember me? That's so nice."
The young man laughed heartily, and Yuan Sitong's indifference did not embarrass him. Instead, he pulled out the other chair for Yuan Sitong and sat down next to her.
"Hello Brother Xiao, my name is Zhao Qinyuan, and I am an artist from Taidong Entertainment."
Zhao Qinyuan then greeted Xiao He warmly.
Xiao He glanced at Yuan Sitong and Zhao Qinyuan, vaguely sensing the strange aura between the two. With no intention of getting involved, he simply nodded and smiled politely at Zhao Qinyuan.
Before coming to the film crew, Xiao He had already learned about most of the crew members, including Zhao Qinyuan.
Zhao Qinyuan also started his career in idol dramas. He became a sensation with his role as a campus heartthrob in an idol drama. Later, he participated in a work that made Yuan Sitong a hit, playing a devoted male supporting character who couldn't win the heart of the female lead played by Yuan Sitong, and ultimately died saving her.
This work became a huge hit at the time, which helped Yuan Sitong establish herself as a top idol drama actress and successfully create popular on-screen couples with various male characters in the work.
Zhao Qinyuan also took this opportunity to promote himself and Yuan Sitong together, hyping up their on-screen couple and even extending it to their real-life relationship, encouraging fans to create a real-life couple image.
This is also why Yuan Sitong's expression wasn't very enthusiastic when she saw Zhao Qinyuan.
There are essentially two scenarios when it comes to creating a "couple pairing": one is that one party doesn't want to create it, while the other party insists on doing so; the other is that both parties reach an agreement to create a "couple pairing" together.
Clearly, Yuan Sitong and Zhao Qinyuan are currently in a situation where one party is avoiding the topic while the other is trying to piggyback on it.
After all, Yuan Sitong's popularity is significantly higher than Zhao Qinyuan's. If she were to create a CP (couple pairing) with Zhao Qinyuan, it would obviously benefit Zhao Qinyuan more than Yuan Sitong.
Xiao He didn't care whether it was consensual or not, and simply moved to the side to keep a safe distance from them.
Thanks for the invitation, just don't get involved.
After everyone had sat for a while, director Deng Lei came over.
He was accompanied by the film crew's editors and producers.
Everyone's here!
When Deng Lei saw Yuan Sitong, his gaze paused for a moment. He was clearly surprised that this young lady, who was always late, would arrive so early this time. However, his smile became even more genuine: "Then let's begin!"
The reading session began, and the actors sitting on each side introduced themselves.
Xiao He plays the lead role of Song Chenye, Yuan Sitong plays the female lead Huo Wan'er, and Zhao Qinyuan plays the second male lead Liu Zhilin.
In the story, Liu Zhilin is a good brother whom Song Chenye made when he went down the mountain, but he is also the son of Song Chenye's enemy.
After Song Chenye's father passed away, Liu Zhilin's father successfully won the position of martial arts alliance leader in the new martial arts tournament, and Liu Zhilin naturally became the son of the martial arts alliance leader.
From a young age, he honed his unparalleled martial arts skills under the guidance of his father, the leader of the martial arts alliance. As an adult, he roamed the martial arts world, helping the weak and punishing the strong. Over the years, he has made a name for himself in the martial arts world and is respected by people in the martial arts community. He is the most popular successor to the future leader of the martial arts alliance.
His encounter with the protagonist, Song Chenye, was initially free of any ulterior motives or calculations.
In a haunted serial murder case, Liu Zhilin and Song Chenye meet unexpectedly and join forces to investigate, only to be hunted down by the mastermind behind the case.
As a result, the two shared hardships and became good friends.
Unfortunately, the grudges of the elders will ultimately fall on their own shoulders.
Song Chenye has his own path to walk, and Liu Zhilin cannot just stand by and watch his father die.
Friendship forged in adversity will ultimately be ended with a bloody period by the sword of slaughter...
During the reading session, Xiao He also carefully observed the situation of the actors on site.
In fact, the casting for the drama "The Legend of Chasing the Wind" was very clear: it aimed to achieve both high viewership and positive word-of-mouth.
It needs Xiao He and several other veteran martial arts actors to maintain the reputation of their acting skills and uphold the high standards of action scenes in martial arts dramas. It also needs pure traffic actors like Yuan Sitong and Zhao Qinyuan to generate buzz, drive marketing, attract fans to watch the show and generate data, and expand the scope of the discussion.
It's now common practice for many production teams to feature veteran actors with strong acting skills in idol dramas and young, fresh-faced actors in serious dramas.
Xiao He wasn't too surprised.
If "The Legend of Chasing the Wind" airs smoothly and receives unanimous recognition and praise from the audience, then as long as Yuan Sitong and Zhao Qinyuan's acting in the drama is passable and they don't make any major mistakes, and with proper marketing after the broadcast, their acting skills will naturally "improve by leaps and bounds" and they will show some talent.
So even though Xiao He is now the male lead and Yuan Sitong is more like a supporting female lead, Yuan Sitong still has just as many highlights in her acting.
Especially the kind of emotional entanglement and self-hatred between "the lover and the father are mortal enemies" is similar to some of the idol drama heroines she has played before. It can be considered Yuan Sitong's acting comfort zone. As long as Yuan Sitong can handle the role, then when "The Legend of Chasing the Wind" is broadcast later, Xiao He can be said to have indirectly helped Yuan Sitong raise her acting status.
However, Xiao He didn't care much about these things.
Just thinking about Yuan Sitong's acting skills, and Zhao Qinyuan's single-minded focus on creating a CP (couple pairing), and listening to the terrible lines of another actor next to him who couldn't even speak standard Mandarin, Xiao He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
No wonder the production team wanted Shu Han before; they were planning to have him handle two roles.
Unfortunately, Shu Han didn't come; he walked right into the trap.
Never mind, didn't he already know before he came to the film set?
No problem, if the Mandarin isn't standard, there's dubbing; if the acting isn't up to par, there's a stunt double.
Nobody can stop him from playing this role!
