Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 107 Defend the Glory!

Inside the hotel

A dim lamp was on on the bedside table, and Gu Jingyi leaned against the headboard. The 1-meter-tall figure huddled in bed, the script and original novel of "Ashes of Love" resting on his knees.

He had read the original novel many times, and some parts were folded.

The script was densely covered with notes, and some parts were circled and annotated by Gu Jingyi with a marker.

The main plot of "Ashes of Love" was relatively normal at the beginning, and Gu Jingyi did not make many changes from the heaven to the demon world.

The plot of the story of the mortal world is also relatively normal, although some changes have been made compared to the original novel. For example, the second male lead's role has indeed been increased, but the basic focus is still on the male lead.

But after Si Li's death, the plot deviated too much from the original.

In the original novel, Runyu had already known about Sili's death, but the text only mentioned it briefly after Runyu usurped the throne.

In the drama version, Runyu directly gave a highlight, which was praised as the famous scene of "Runyu's mouth cannon" after it was broadcast.

From this point on, the second male lead, Runyu, has his role increased immensely. Scenes never before seen in the novel, such as Runyu recognizing his mother, pleading for her, fighting the Queen Mother, and saving the Dongting clan, all appear in the TV series.

Furthermore, the original novel never features the Empress harshly criticizing Runyu. The TV series, however, features this scene endlessly, solely to portray Runyu's tragic life story. To further empathize with Runyu, they even added a young Xufeng. Xufeng gets into trouble, and Runyu silently bears the brunt of it.

The screenwriter expanded Runyu's plot to provide all the rationale for Runyu's dark transformation. He wanted the audience to follow their own perspectives and feel pity for Runyu.

Although the show's producer, Perfect World, boasts over a dozen screenwriters, the original author, naturally resisted giving Runyu too many scenes, submitting only 36 episodes. However, the producers bloated the series to 43, and ultimately 60.

Xu Feng gave Jin Mi his own life-saving magic weapon to protect her, and Runyu was also given a scene of giving Ni Lin to Jin Mi.

After Jin Mi recognized the Water God as her biological parent, the Queen Mother was about to attack her. It was the token of love Xu Feng gave her that blocked the fatal blow, and then Xu Feng appeared to fight the Queen Mother.

The Water God wanted to kill the Queen of Heaven, but Xu Feng blocked three of his blows for his mother. Run Yu was left alone throughout the whole process, unharmed.

The TV series directly changed it to Xu Feng's appearance, but he was blown away before he could fight with the Queen. It was Runyu who was injured for love and blocked the Queen's attack, while Jin Mi kept crying "Little Fish Fairy".

When Runyu usurped the throne of the Emperor of Heaven on the day of his wedding with the heroine, the hero Xufeng's highlight line "On the day of the Night God's wedding, he did not forget to mobilize troops. Sending people to steal the military order, what a good trick to sneak into Chencang!" was completely deleted by the screenwriter.

After Xu Feng discovered Runyu's conspiracy, he said to Runyu, "Come here, capture Ye Shen and others!"

It was changed to Runyu saying "Come on, capture Vulcan and the others!" when he found Xufeng showing up to snatch the bride.

Runyu's schemes are never mentioned, which only makes Xufeng look reckless and foolish. Later, when the two armies engage in battle, Xufeng's troops are extremely powerful. They defeat Runyu's men, and it's Runyu who instigates the heroine Jinmi to launch a surprise attack on Xufeng.

Xu Feng had never imagined he would be hurt by the person he loved most. The magical weapon he had given her to protect her also became a sharp weapon that hurt him. He could have killed the heroine and everyone else on the scene, but he just disappeared with a look of dejection.

The Emperor of Heaven, who was poisoned by Runyu, was filled with grief when he saw his brothers killing each other. After seeing Xu Feng turned into a point of light, he was willing to sacrifice himself to collect Xu Feng's soul.

When Taiwei, who would do anything to get to the top, sacrificed himself to save his son, the whole drama was elevated.

I can only say that the screenwriter of "Ashes of Love" loves Mr. Luo too much. He had already guessed that if this part was written according to the original novel, after the normal broadcast, the audience would scold Runyu and it would become a hot search.

In order to whitewash him, the plot after he came back from the tribulation continued to add several episodes to reveal Runyu's life story and his motives for turning evil.

During this highlight of "Ashes of Love", Runyu has transformed from a clown who was inferior to the male protagonist Xufeng in intelligence and strategy in the original novel to a strategic hero.

The editor had a brilliant idea. They deleted the lines where Gu Jingyi exposed Runyu's crimes and conspiracy. They also weakened the strength of the people Gu Jingyi brought with him and let Jin Mi launch a surprise attack.

When the show is aired, the audience will all scold the female lead.

Audiences who are addicted to dramas cannot separate the actors from the plot. He remembered that when "Ashes of Love" was broadcast in the previous life, the actors of "Jin Mi" and "Queen of Heaven" were scolded and became trending searches because of "Runyu".

Not only that, the actor’s Weibo comment section was also occupied by “Da Long fans”.

He doesn't care what the reputation will be after the show is broadcast, but no one in this life can steal the spotlight from "Xu Feng"!

Xu Feng in the original novel is the typical "beautiful, strong and miserable" character, not the fake "Runyu"!
After Xu Feng was killed by Jin Mi, he did not die. The phoenix is ​​an immortal bird, and he fell into the demon world.

Starting from scratch, he fought his way to the position of the Lord of the Demon Realm.

It's not like in the TV series that he becomes the lord of the demon world after waking up. Xu Feng's heroic history of overcoming difficulties is directly weakened. It all becomes the "Legend of Runyu". Let's see how he will mobilize the troops after he ascends to the throne.

The "Battle between Heaven and Demon" is not as brutal as in the TV series. Even with the backlash, Xu Feng can easily crush the heaven.

With the TV series making such a dramatic change to the original novel, it's no wonder that "Ashes of Love"'s ratings have been declining. The ratings also showed a trend of "starting high and ending low" near the end of the series.

Even so, "Ashes of Love" became one of the most popular TV series in 2018, alongside "Story of Yanxi Palace".

If Story of Yanxi Palace hadn't been a drama built around Yu Ma's Su Shuang female lead, it wouldn't have produced a top male star. Gu Jingyi wouldn't have taken on the role in A Love of Love. He might as well have let Huace and Huanyu swap resources to land the second male lead, the "affectionate white moonlight" Fuheng.

He drank coffee and made corrections on the script.

Finally, at noon the next day, the suggested revisions to the script were completed.

Gu Jingyi looked at the time and it was already twelve o'clock noon. He set an alarm for four o'clock in the afternoon and fell asleep.

When the alarm rang, Gu Jingyi got out of bed, changed his clothes and prepared to go to the airport.

He had promised to visit Reba on set, and since he was free today, there was no need to put it off until tomorrow.

In May, the cicadas are chirping hoarsely, the trees are languid, and the high sun seems to want to melt everything on the ground.

Gu Jingyi was sitting in the nanny car, and his agent Lin Ze was sitting next to him, holding a briefcase and talking to him about his recent schedule and new plans.

"Jingyi, Milk Foam Sen is going on tour in May. We missed the recording of the group variety show before, and someone has already taken care of you."

Lin Ze flipped through the folder and spoke seriously.

"It doesn't matter. It's normal to have some problems. I'm not a banknote, how can I be loved by everyone? I'm not the only one missing the group variety show. The three members of Yuehua are also recording the Next group variety show. The company should say hello to Yuehua and work together to confuse people."

Gu Jingyi was fiddling with his phone and replying to messages on WeChat, speaking with some disapproval.

"Just so you know, Naipaosen's concert tour is about to begin in early May. How's filming for 'Ashes of Love' going? The Taoyuan studio has said the tour will focus on East China based on your schedule. It's best not to miss it, after all, you're more popular than the entire group right now."

When talking about Gu Jingyi's popularity, Lin Ze's tone suddenly became a little proud.

Gu Jingyi is currently on a strong momentum. The combination of "A Little Thing Called First Love" and "Idol Producer" has made him a "hexagonal warrior" with no shortcomings.

Gu Jingyi’s super topic has always ranked first in the number of sign-ins among male celebrity super topics on Weibo since the broadcast of "Idol Producer" to the "Second Public Performance".

His fans had already set a record of "one million check-ins" and maintained it for a month. It can be said that now when people in the circle mention Gu Jingyi, they no longer use "Jiang Chen" or "Ju C" to describe him.

Instead, people use the term "Purple Star of Domestic Entertainment", which was created specifically for Gu Jingyi, to describe him.

He has both acting skills and good looks. Speaking of popularity and fans' spending power, last month's "Like the Wind" directly broke the domestic entertainment sales record.

Gu Jingyi is the only top star who has both popularity and works after the domestic entertainment industry entered the "traffic era".

No one doubts how long he can hold this position, everyone can see it.

So Lin Ze is also particularly concerned about "Ashes of Love", which is the first work that Gu Jingyi took on after leaving "Idol Trainee".

Whether it will reach a higher level or remain stagnant depends entirely on the quality of this drama.

"Brother Ze, I also want to talk to you about "Ashes of Love" today."

When mentioning "Ashes of Love", Gu Jingyi immediately took out the script and original novel with which he had taken notes from his briefcase.

"The quality of 'Ashes of Love' is unstable, and the character of the male lead Xu Feng is overshadowed by Run Yu."

Lin Ze took it and saw densely packed notes and traces of fluorescent markers.

He didn't reply immediately, but suddenly became quiet and turned the pages silently.

About twenty minutes later, Lin Ze slapped his thigh and said angrily, "Oh my god! Taobao Studio is playing us like we're the real deal! Is this a fairy tale drama with a male lead? They used the early script to trick us into signing the contract, and then later on the second male lead's role took over, stealing the spotlight and weakening the male lead's abilities. Taobao Studio just wants to promote Luo Yunxi, right? They want us to be his role models!"

"Jingyi, do you want to quit?"

Lin Ze held the script in his hand, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

"There's no need to quit. Didn't the Taoyuan studio give me the autonomy to make changes to the script?"

Gu Jingyi knocked on the chair, and immediately thought of a solution.

"Give the script I've revised to the company, and have them negotiate with the 'Ashes of Love' crew. Didn't I ask for a day off yesterday? The Milk Foam Sen tour is only going to start in the next few days anyway. Have the Taoyuan studio inform the crew that I won't be going to the set for a while."

"Let the crew of 'Ashes of Love' think that we would rather pay the penalty than quit the show. Do you think they will take our request seriously?"

After hearing what Gu Jingyi said, Lin Ze's expression also looked better.

Obviously, the answer is yes.

Since Gu Jingyi joined "Ashes of Love", the production team has once again used the strong commercial value of the top star to attract investment. The number of investors for this drama has also increased from a few at the beginning to more than ten after Gu Jingyi joined.

They all came for Gu Jingyi, and "Ashes of Love" went from being initially viewed with dismay after Deng Lun's departure to being a blockbuster hit. Even now, there are still investors eager to invest more, demonstrating the appeal of top stars in the domestic entertainment industry as it enters the "traffic era."

Once the news of Gu Jingyi's resignation is released, those investors and advertisers who signed contracts with Taoyuan Film Studio after Gu Jingyi joined the company will not suffer this loss.

There will definitely be a quarrel with the crew, and it will be a headache for the crew and Taoyuan Film Studio.

Lin Ze reacted quickly. After receiving Gu Jingyi's revision suggestions, he scanned an electronic copy and sent it to the company.

The company also quickly sent it to the crew for negotiations.

After Gu Jingyi got off the plane, he heard Lin Ze say with a smile: "Jingyi, the crew will definitely agree to our requests."

He shook his phone, and a record of more than ten calls from Zhu Ruibing, the director of the "Ashes of Love" crew, jumped into his eyes.

Even when the flight mode was on, all that could be heard from Lin Ze was "the other party is out of service area" and he was repeating this behavior.

The message on WeChat took up an entire page, and the attitude was very sincere and respectful.

"Okay, we will negotiate with the screenwriter. We will definitely make adjustments based on Jing Yiti's requirements, and there will be a satisfactory result."

Gu Jingyi looked up and saw that this sentence was sent by Zhu Ruibing a few minutes ago.

Just after Lin Ze sent the "OK", he received a call from the production team.

"Mr. Lin, I'm Zhu Ruibing, the director of "Ashes of Love." We've already called a meeting, don't worry. Jingyi's suggestions are all good, and we will make good changes."

Lin Ze turned on the loudspeaker directly, and the director's voice came over.

"Really? That's really hard work, Director Zhu. The screenwriters must be working overtime every day lately. We at Huati will take care of their food and coffee. The support car will be sent as soon as possible. I hope Director Zhu will understand. Jingyi is an artist that we at Huati value very much. We are always paying attention to his growth trajectory."

Lin Ze's voice was low, but he used both kindness and authority.

The other party also laughed heartily, "Of course, Jingyi is indeed the most talented artist I have ever seen since I entered the industry."

"Director Zhu, have you been told by the Taoyuan studio? Naipasen is going on tour, and Jingyi's career will focus on touring. So he will be absent from the crew for about two weeks of filming, which may delay the crew's progress..."

Before Lin Ze could finish his words, the other party immediately nodded in agreement: "Of course, of course, Jingyi is progressing very quickly. The Tao Factory executives have also told us about the leave. There will be no delay, no delay."

"Well, thank you Director Zhu for your understanding. However, during this period, if the crew has revised the script, please send it to us for review."

"it is good."

After the call ended, Lin Ze changed his elite image. He shook his head at Gu Jingyi in a cocky manner and said, "Jingyi, was I handsome just now?"

Gu Jingyi smiled and said politely, "Handsome, of course he is handsome."

"Haha, actually, it's because of your popularity and the reputation of Huace. Don't look at how arrogant I was just now. Deng Lun must have mentioned the idea of ​​changing the script. But his popularity is not enough to attract the attention of the crew. Even if Deng Lun terminated his contract and ran away, the most the crew would do is replace him with someone else."

"But you're different. You have a lot more face than Deng Lun. Not only are you popular, but your acting is also great. You're also very low-key on set and never act like a big shot. If you, Jingyi, also terminated your contract and ran away, 'Ashes of Love' would go from S+ to a dead end."

Lin Ze's analysis was very logical, and Gu Jingyi smiled a little.

Indeed, what he said is correct. This is the reality in the circle.

If Gu Jingyi was just a small-time star, he would have to drink the footwash of "Ashes of Love".

The business car has arrived, and Gu Jingyi didn't say much.

He got on a business car and headed to the crew of "One Thousand and One Nights".

(End of this chapter)