Huayu: The Unbelievable Matching Mechanism of Jay Chou's Love Songs

The music classroom at the filming location was quite large. Director Tsai Yueh-hsun and his crew listened to one audition song after another, but their expressions were full of helplessness...

This is the scene that Chai Zhiping, the core producer, saw when she came in.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Is something not going well?"

"this……"

Director Cai Yuexun hesitated for a moment, then finally gave a wry smile and said, "Our budget is too small, so it's really difficult to make things go smoothly."

The total production budget for "Meteor Garden" was only NT$1600 million, while the average budget for Taiwanese dramas at the same time was over NT$3000 million. Their budget was only a little over half of others. As a result, the male lead Dao Ming Si's suit was specially bought from a clothing wholesale market, and the crew had to eat the cheapest boxed lunches later on...

With a tight budget to begin with, it's impossible to spend too much money on the OST; you get what you pay for.

Chai Zhiping was not surprised by this, and simply nodded before saying, "I'll figure out the funding later. Let's listen to the next musician's song first."

Director Cai didn't see anything wrong with it, so he nodded and told the staff to call the next musician in.

As the person specifically requested by producer Chai Zhiping to cut in line, Feng Zheng did indeed attract the attention of many crew members present when he entered, thanks to his appearance.

Director Cai glanced at Chai Zhiping, then smiled knowingly and teased Feng Zheng, saying:

"Handsome guy, you've wandered onto the wrong set, haven't you?"

This doesn't look like a voice audition, it looks like a film audition!

"What?"

Feng Zheng scratched his head. He had waited all afternoon, longer than his mother Dao Ming Si waited for Shan Cai in the rain for 4 hours. If he said he had gone to the wrong set and waited for nothing, he would be guilty of a classic case of blasphemy.

Chai Zhiping smiled and waved to Feng Zheng, saying, "He's just joking with you. Don't mind him. Let us hear your work."

Upon hearing this, Feng Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and followed the staff toward the musical instruments.

While he was making preparations, director Tsai Yueh-hsun leaned close to Chai Chih-ping and whispered, "Where did you find this person? From a barbecue stand or a modeling agency?"

The "Taiwanese Idol Formula" pioneered by Kemi Ruizhi is newcomers + strong IPs + youthful narratives, which mainly focuses on the freshness of amateur actors. Therefore, producer Chai Zhiping never sets any thresholds in terms of "casting". For example, Zhu Xiaotian was discovered by her when she went out for barbecue at a barbecue stall, and Zhou Yumin was chosen by her when he accompanied a friend to an audition.

Among F4, apart from Yan Chengxu, the other three are basically ordinary people. The fact that someone could pick him at a glance is enough to show their discerning eye.

Cai Yuexun wasn't stupid. No sooner had Chai Zhiping entered than Feng Zheng, such a handsome guy, walked in. Chai Zhiping's eyes lit up when she saw Feng Zheng. Cai Yuexun would never believe that she wasn't there for him!

"Don't misunderstand," Chai Zhiping waved her hand and laughed, "I really saw this in the corridor where you were choosing songs. I just let him come in early."

Cai Yuexun clearly didn't believe this explanation, so he didn't keep him in suspense and went straight to the point: "Which role do you want him to play?"

The four male leads of "Meteor Garden" were carefully selected from three or four hundred handsome men. It wouldn't be easy to replace any of them, right?

Yan Chengxu's Dao Ming Si, Zhou Yumin's Hua Ze Lei, and Wu Jianhao's Mei Zuo all seem to have their character designs finalized, as does Zhu Xiaotian...

Eh?

It seems that Zhu Xiaotian isn't someone who can't be replaced!

"Ximen?" Cai Yuexun's eyes lit up, and he asked Chai Zhiping with a smile.

Chai Zhiping nodded frantically without any hesitation. It would be a real shame not to use Feng Zheng, who has such good looks and temperament. And if she had to replace any of the four male leads in "Meteor Garden", she would replace Zhu Xiaotian without hesitation!

"It's not necessarily a bad thing!" Cai Yuexun thought about it and actually felt that Feng Zheng was more worthwhile than Zhu Xiaotian.

As for whether it fits the character's persona...

What a weak character design!

What kind of drama is "Meteor Garden"?

Idol drama!

No need for acting skills or a persona, as long as he's handsome and good-looking, who cares if his persona is appropriate!

While Feng Zheng was preparing, the two chattered away, seemingly having already decided on Feng Zheng, and at the same time, they seemed to have forgotten that Feng Zheng had come for the OST.

It wasn't until Feng Zheng's side was ready and the staff came to inform them that they snapped out of their heated discussion.

"Okay, let's begin." Chai Zhiping nodded.

In fact, at that time, Chai Zhiping and Cai Yuexun didn't have much expectation for the song Feng Zheng prepared. After all, in their opinion, Feng Zheng's appearance was already so outstanding that he was good enough to star in "Meteor Garden", so his talent shouldn't be too strong.

God is fair; when He opens a door, He closes a window. This is an ironclad law.

These days, almost every young person wants to make music. For example, they have already decided on Wu Jianhao for "Mei Zuo". This guy came back from America wanting to release an album.

Unfortunately, some people are destined to be unrelated to music.

At this moment, the two of them couldn't wait for Feng Zheng to finish singing so they could talk to him about whether he wanted to act in "Meteor Garden".

There was a piano and a guitar in the room, but surprisingly, Feng Zheng sat in front of the drum set.

He took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, grabbed the drumsticks, and gently and easily produced a soft drumbeat...

"Boom boom boom..."

He sang softly as he hit the target:

……

"The gentle starry sky should move you."

"I'm behind you, creating a sky for you."

"I won't let you be sad, I'll help you get rid of your loneliness."

"Give me the weight of your dreams!"

……

In my mind, drumming is something that's exciting and energetic, but also very noisy.

Surprisingly, Feng Zheng's drumming gave people a soothing feeling; it truly felt like he was providing gentle accompaniment...

Not only did he play the drums gently, but his voice was also soft and magnetic. Coupled with his very handsome appearance today, he almost instantly attracted the attention of Chai Zhiping, Cai Yuexun, and the rest of the main creative team present.

"oh!"

Chai Zhiping's eyes lit up, and she exchanged a glance with Cai Yuexun. Both of them could see the surprise in each other's eyes.

Good heavens! We were just saying that God had opened a door for Feng Zheng and wouldn't open a window, but now it seems that both the door and the window are open. Where is the howling north wind coming from, and where is he going?

Who would have thought that someone so handsome would also be such a talented person!

This is interesting, this is really interesting!

……

"I'll hold your hand, follow me..."

"So what if the wind is strong!"

"You have me..."

"I'll never get lost again!"

Feng Zheng frowned slightly, gradually increasing the force of his drumbeats and suddenly raising the volume, starting to go up a key.

He sang:

"I'll go with you to see the meteor shower falling on this earth!"

Let your tears fall on my shoulder!

"I want you to believe that my love is only for you, and I'm brave enough to be brave for you!"

"You will see where happiness lies!"

……