Chapter 113: A Short Separation Surpasses a New Honeymoon

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"Bencao Gangmu," as one of Cheng Chen's new album's lead tracks, is also a song with profound depth.

Although its music video shoot wasn't as complex as the narrative-driven ones for his earlier songs, it posed a significant challenge for Cheng Chen.

Because it's a fast-paced song with intense dance moves that left Cheng Chen utterly exhausted.

Although he had already hired a dance instructor before recording it.

But judging by the current shooting progress, Cheng Chen's learning was clearly a failure.

Grunting and panting, he endured a week of continuous shooting before finally ending this inhumane torture.

Immediately after, Cheng Chen contacted Yan Danchen and sent her the remaining four scripts.

The first to be filmed was "Yan Hua Yi Leng," adapted from "Luoyang Jia Lan Ji."

It's said that shortly after its upload, this song was directly banned.

The reasons for the ban were widely debated, with wild rumors circulating online at the time.

Some claimed listeners had committed suicide after hearing it, or fallen into deep depression, feeling the melody endlessly spinning in their heads.

Combined with its overly sentimental melody, it supposedly induced inexplicable sadness and suicidal thoughts—but such rumors were absurd.

Cheng Chen clearly remembered that around 2010, online news suddenly exploded with claims like "Banned Song," "Top Ten Global Banned Songs," and "Ten Songs That Make You Heartbroken."

Some even posted threads claiming certain songs carried the lives of dozens or even thousands of people, and that nearly everyone who heard the original version had been brainwashed into suicide.

Then they'd link to a file with a warning: "Original version—do not click if mentally immature."

Cheng Chen always skipped these rumors outright—if a song truly carried so many lives, how could it still circulate online?

Nonsense!

In fact, "Yan Hua Yi Leng" wasn't fully banned or prohibited from performance—only its online version was temporarily blocked.

At the time, relevant authorities, aiming to protect the copyright holder's rights and prevent moral decay, required all downloaded songs to be approved before being uploaded.

"Yan Hua Yi Leng" had been uploaded online without approval, so authorities blocked unapproved songs to curb piracy.

Later, the music company submitted the official version for approval, and the ban was lifted.

Because Zhou Dong's fans were overly concerned and thought he was being targeted, rumors spread that listening to this song made people want to kill themselves.

…

Yan Danchen always gave Cheng Chen ample time; when she heard he'd start shooting the MV, she immediately came from Sha City.

As the saying goes, a short separation surpasses a new honeymoon—the two hadn't seen each other since confirming their relationship.

Over the past few months, though they never stopped calling and texting, it was all like scratching through clothing—ineffective.

Besides, without meeting in person, they couldn't…

At Cheng Chen's home.

"Mmm…"

Yan Danchen, wrapped in a towel, bent over to pick up her scattered clothes one by one.

Cheng Chen, propping his head on his hand, watched her leisurely.

"It's all your fault—you dragged me here the moment we met. What if reporters see us…"

"My dear Chen-jie, you were just as…."

"Shut up."

Yan Danchen's face flushed crimson, as if dripping blood; she cut him off and silently put on her clothes.

Cheng Chen watched her with amusement—they weren't even doing this for the first time.

In Sha City, they were intimately familiar with each other, yet every time afterward, her shy demeanor stirred in him a strange thrill.

"Ah!"

Just as Cheng Chen was thinking of rising again, Yan Danchen suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"I came in a rush and forgot to bring the clay pot for boiling the herbal medicine…"

Yan Danchen said anxiously.

Hearing this, Cheng Chen rolled his eyes and sighed:

"Yan Danchen, Chen-jie,

Just ask yourselves—after what I just did, do I even need to drink that stuff…?"

Yan Danchen thought for a moment, then spat:

"Disgusting!"

They lingered a while longer, until Cheng Chen finally chose "get up" over "drink the herbal medicine."

This MV shoot wouldn't take long—most of it required post-production effects—and Cheng Chen had no intention of copying Zhou Dong's "Yan Hua Yi Leng" storyline.

Instead, he filmed "Luoyang Jia Lan Ji."

Cheng Chen played a general ordered to garrison Luoyang Cheng; Yan Danchen played the devoted woman waiting endlessly for his return.

I have to say, Yan Danchen's ancient costume look was absolutely stunning.

She had a dignified, elegant face, gentle eyes, graceful posture, warm yet cool—a classic Eastern beauty.

Dressed in plain robes, she stood always on the city wall, full of hope, waiting for her beloved to return.

Even Cheng Chen, who knew her so well, couldn't help but admire her sincerely.

Though they were intimately familiar, this was their first time performing together on stage.

No wonder she won awards right after debut—her acting completely crushed Gao Yuanyuan.

Not that Gao Yuanyuan's acting was terrible—after all, she'd studied hard and even received Cheng Chen's personal coaching.

But acting is either innate talent or accumulated over years of practice.

Unfortunately, Damiyuan didn't meet either of these two points—her talent was average, and continuous commercial performances and advertisements drained her of far too much time.

That left her with barely any time to learn for film and television, so it's understandable she couldn't keep up with Yan Danchen.

After all, she didn't rely solely on acting for her livelihood.

Cheng Chen and Yan Danchen spent their days filming on set and their nights discussing scripts; time flew by swiftly.

In "The Fireworks Are Cold," Yan Danchen portrayed a woman waiting faithfully.

In "Wukong," she played the Bai Gu Jing, the woman deeply loved by Cheng Chen's Wukong.

For this version of the MV, Cheng Chen emphasized portraying the mighty yet helplessly flawed Wukong.

To this end, he deliberately added a romantic subplot to match the lyrics: "Who says I'm extraordinary? Who makes my love and hate so hard to choose?"

In "Not a Hero," she was the wealthy young lady Cheng Chen rescued while wandering the Jianghu with righteousness and freedom; after growing weary of the Jianghu's feuds, the two retired together into the mountains.

The MV for "Not a Hero" was one of the few endings in Cheng Chen's album with a happy conclusion.

You can't have all knives—give the audience some sugar too!

In "Love in the Three Kingdoms," Yan Danchen portrayed a woman waiting at home for her husband's triumphant return—unlike in "The Fireworks Are Cold."

This time, Cheng Chen played only an unnamed soldier, following his general on campaigns north and south.

As the weather grew colder, he wrote a letter asking his newlywed wife to weave him a winter coat.

Soon the army returned; his wife joyfully awaited her husband in the city, but in the end, she received only news of his death in battle.

The winter coat had just been started—but the husband who would wear it was already reduced to dust and bones…

In this MV, Cheng Chen used temporal contrast: on one side, the brutality of war.

On the other, the soldier's memories of tender moments with his newlywed wife, dreaming of life after the war…

It's said that when Tank was playing a Three Kingdoms video game, he suddenly had a thought:

"When people mention the Three Kingdoms era, they always focus on those famous heroes and beauties! But what about the ordinary soldiers of that time?

What about the nameless young lives swept into the chaos of war, forced to leave their homes and loved ones? Don't they have voices too?"

So he composed "Love in the Three Kingdoms" from the perspective of an ordinary person.

Cheng Chen had no intention of deviating from his original creative intent—only to re-create the story's extension.

He amplified the soldier's personal emotions and the horror of war, creating a stark contrast that delivered the greatest impact.

The four MVs progressed quickly; the top-tier production team wasn't hired for nothing.

When all the MVs were fully shot and wrapped, Cheng Chen's new album "Huayou Wanjian" was also completely produced.

The next step was to contact production companies for cassette and disc manufacturing.

Drawing from past experiences, Wang Tianxiao chose to produce in massive quantities, coordinating with multiple factories for joint production.

Unsold copies? Impossible—with Cheng Chen's current popularity, demand would far exceed supply.

Rather than letting scalpers profit, it was better to flood the market with stock from the outset.

Of course, this "flooding" involved heavy speculation—Wang Tianxiao poured as much money as possible into album production while ensuring Tianhai Records' daily operations.

He really did his best!

Meanwhile, Tianhai Records was also urgently promoting the new album.

To support the promotion, Cheng Chen was busy nonstop—even after finishing the MVs, he only took two brief days off.

Those two days, he spent with Yan Danchen.

Yeah, the kind where you don't even step outside…

By early May, rumors about Cheng Chen's new album were spreading everywhere.

All kinds of gossip overwhelmed people, and at this moment, Cheng Chen had quietly traveled south to Gang Sheng.

…

The movie "Kung Fu" had a production cost of 170 million RMB, funded and distributed by Huayi Brothers and Columbia Pictures.

Due to the exorbitant production cost, Columbia Pictures constantly urged Zhou Xingchi to cut expenses, even threatening to withdraw funding if costs weren't reduced.

But Zhou Xingchi outright refused their demands; seeing his firm stance, they had no choice but to increase their investment further.

Ultimately, the film was released in 56 countries and earned 800 million RMB at the box office…

For this trip, Cheng Chen carefully recalled all the details of "Kung Fu," weighing which role he should audition for.

Honestly, at Zhou Xingchi's level, actors can't just choose whatever role they want—or even think they should play.

Not even Cheng Chen, a Heavenly King from the Mainland, or even the former Four Heavenly Kings, could demand any role they wished in his films.

He'll tell you: you'll play what he says you'll play—how about the role of Jiang Bao?

Worried it'll damage your image? Fine—then don't audition at all!

That's the best-case scenario. If he thinks you're unsuitable? Then just go back where you came from.

But despite all that, Cheng Chen still carefully recalled the characters in "Kung Fu."

He wanted to find a role that matched him closely for "strategic targeting."

To this end, he even retraced the entire plot in his mind.

In the end, he chose the role of Chen Ge, the Axe Gang boss portrayed by Chen Guokun.

Chen Ge appeared throughout the film as a sickly, weak figure.

But no one without ability could possibly rise to become the Axe Gang's boss.

Chen Ge's rise to power as the Axe Gang's leader must have involved extraordinary capability.

He was a man who lived by his wits, with immense ambition.

To realize his ambition, Chen Ge systematically organized the entire Axe Gang, most visibly demonstrated by the gang's standardized uniforms.

Of course, this might also be a stylistic choice by the director for dramatic effect.

To the Axe Gang, Chen Ge was unquestionably the direct core of leadership.

The fact that the Axe Gang collapsed not long after Huo Yun Xie Shen took out Chen Ge proves this point directly.

And it is impossible to maintain an organization by relying solely on overwhelming personal force like Huo Yun Xie Shen's.

Personal martial prowess cannot solve every problem; the best way to solve problems is to use your brain.

And looking at the film as a whole, the comedic beats that Chen Ge's character carries and shoulders are also very densely packed.

Of course, how well the film ultimately performs still comes down to the actors.

Take Chen Guokun, who plays Chen Ge — relatively speaking, he's also quite outstanding.

Because Chen Guokun looks a lot like Li Xiaolong, it was precisely that resemblance that gave Chen Guokun his chance to walk the path of film and television.

Thanks to that face, he landed quite a few roles — for example, in Shaolin Soccer, Chen Guokun played "Ghost Shadow Grappler," the goalkeeper with that distinctive style.

Although Chen Guokun didn't have many scenes in the film, his resemblance to Li Xiaolong drew a lot of viewers' attention.

And the moment Chen Guokun truly became known to audiences — or rather, the highlight of his acting career — was precisely when he began playing Li Xiaolong.

In 2008, Chen Guokun starred in The Legend of Li Xiaolong, which aired on CCTV.

The Legend of Li Xiaolong caused a sensation that year, and the Li Xiaolong Chen Guokun portrayed left a deep impression on audiences.

It was precisely this drama that pushed Chen Guokun to a new peak in his film and television career.

After that, although he played quite a few roles both big and small, having a peak also means there's a slope going down.

He didn't keep riding the wave; his works appeared on screen less and less.

Until later, news of him endorsing a certain brand of ceramic tiles sparked a small buzz online.

In the promotional photo, Chen Guokun struck Li Xiaolong's classic pose.

The caption read "The Grandmaster of Ceramic Tiles" — and honestly, that ad copy really does catch the eye.

……

When Cheng Chen arrived in Gang Sheng, it was already around one in the morning.

He hadn't brought an assistant with him, so he checked into a hotel at random.

Before going to sleep, he still made sure to keep reviewing the character biography and personal notes on the role of "Chen Ge" that he'd hastily prepared on the plane.

Even though he had a good memory, certain flashes of insight felt more reassuring once jotted down in a notebook.

The next day, Cheng Chen followed the address Lai Shuiqing had given him and found Zhou Xingchi's company.

After the admin staff led Cheng Chen to the door of Zhou Xingchi's office, Cheng Chen took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and walked in……

……