Chapter 484

As time passed, the three major ball sports competitions for first-year students in April were progressing steadily.

Badminton and table tennis matches were also scheduled on regular school days.

Basketball games, however, were held every Saturday without fail.

After the Round of 8 and Round of 4 matches concluded, the date neared the end of April, with the finals of the three major ball sports set for April 30th.

But this matter had little to do with Li Luo and his group; all they needed to do was help maintain order on site as student union members, while the rock club would perform on stage.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

Li Luo wasn't particularly interested in the sports competitions; his recent focus remained firmly on preparing for the TV drama "Little Joy."

For this, he even downloaded WeChat and added director Wang Jun as a friend to facilitate daily communication.

He also rushed to adapt the novel content of "Little Joy" into a screenplay format suitable for filming.

Thanks to his ample short drama screenplay writing experience from his previous life, he was no novice in this area.

Especially since the novel's content itself was based on visual scenes and plotlines from the TV drama in his mind.

The screenplay progress was going quite smoothly.

Director Wang Jun was indeed, as Ying Zhicheng had described, not the type to rule with an iron fist.

Of course, this might also be because Li Luo himself was the financial backer behind the project.

The entire project involved several million in investment, with Li Luo personally contributing five million; even placing a few personal connections in the crew was perfectly normal.

Not to mention he was the original novel's author, with his contract explicitly stating his role as screenwriter—now he was simply taking charge of the screenplay, doing his job properly.

Moreover, to be honest, Wang Jun had read "Little Joy" and found its content highly visual, sometimes even with camera setups already imagined.

For this reason, Wang Jun went to check out Li Luo's other novel, which was completely different in tone, leaning heavily toward traditional online novel tropes.

Its visual impact was nowhere near as strong as "Little Joy."

This was actually a major challenge in many novel-to-screen adaptations.

Because many literary techniques usable in novels未必 still produce similar effects on screen.

Converting textual effects into visual ones required considerable skill.

【Wang Jun】: Teacher Chongran, our "Little Joy" project has been approved. This month I'll begin preparing for casting.

【Wang Jun】: I'll have my assistant send you some documents containing actor databases from Huayue Film and Television and my personal contacts.

【Wang Jun】: I'll also include my own casting suggestions and recommended candidates—if you have any actors you think are suitable, feel free to send them to me, and I'll compile everything.

【Li Luo】: That's fast, isn't it? We've only signed the contract for a little over a month.

【Wang Jun】: Director Ying is pushing hard, and I don't have any other projects on my plate—I'm moving quickly to finish filming this year.

【Li Luo】: Has the filming location been finalized?

【Wang Jun】: We've communicated with Qianjiang University and the First Affiliated High School, and so far it's going smoothly—no major issues expected.

【Wang Jun】: There were some initial difficulties, but fortunately Wenxue Group was very supportive; your "Little Joy" participated in a writing contest with apparent official backing, and after discussions, the First Affiliated High School agreed.

【Wang Jun】: Of course, it probably also helped that the original author is a student there—thanks to you, Teacher Chongran.

【Li Luo】: As long as it's approved, that's all that matters.

【Wang Jun】: School-based scenes will be filmed at the First Affiliated High School.

【Wang Jun】: For home scenes, we'll just rent a few nearby apartments—urban dramas are convenient this way; location scouting isn't difficult.

【Li Luo】: Then I'll leave it to you, Director Wang.

After communicating with Director Wang Jun, Li Luo felt at ease.

If the filming locations for "Little Joy" could be confirmed at the First Affiliated High School, he wouldn't have to worry about whether to take leave when following the crew.

Even better—if the home scenes for the main characters were filmed at Bihai Lanting, it would be even more convenient.

If the female lead weren't Xi Xi and the others, filming in 1502 wouldn't be out of the question.

Thinking this, Li Luo couldn't help smiling, and began to feel genuinely excited.

In his previous life, he had been on sets before, but only for short dramas—he didn't know how TV drama filming would differ.

……

Two days later, Li Luo received the materials sent by Wang Jun's assistant.

It contained a large database, categorizing over a thousand suitable actors by gender, age, and preferred roles.

Among them were some highly recommended actors, matched to roles Wang Jun considered fitting.

Li Luo scanned through them, stored the information in his Memory Palace, and temporarily set it aside.

According to Wang Jun's plan, he intended to contact several well-known actors in early May to check their availability and interest, then schedule two auditions—one in mid-May and another at the end of May.

If Li Luo was interested, he could attend the auditions with them and offer casting suggestions.

After all, he had invested five million—he still wanted to carefully vet the main cast.

If something went wrong and such a great screenplay was wasted, with five million going down the drain, even though Li Luo would never lack that amount in the future, he'd still feel a pang of regret.

That money, if spent, could buy five of Li Guohong's Mercedes SUVs—rotating them weekly, resting on Sundays, with no repeats.

In his previous life, the largest sum Li Luo had ever seen was the七八十万 Xu Youyu invested in his short drama production.

Now, with five million simply handed over, even though he wasn't short on cash, his mindset still felt unprepared.

"After tomorrow's finals, the rock club has to move."

That evening, after finishing his chat with Wang Jun and returning to writing, Ying Chanxi came in after her shower to enjoy Li Luo's hair-drying service and casually mentioned this.

"Has the location been decided?" Li Luo asked. "Where's the activity room moving to?"

"The library, fifth floor—an empty office," Ying Chanxi said, eyes closed, savoring the sensation of Li Luo's fingers threading through her hair. "Next week the school will gradually clear out some equipment from the gym."

"Once that's done, they'll fence it off and tear it down for reconstruction."

"After tomorrow's three major ball sports finals, the student union will also move out some equipment."

"Your rock club can piggyback on that—ask student union members to help move your instruments and gear to the library."

"No wonder you're the president, my lord," Li Luo said with a grin. "You really got the library to approve it?"

"That's right," Ying Chanxi shook her head, then chuckled. "I even applied for the Literature Club too."

"Our Literature Club is at least related to reading; placing it in the library makes perfect sense."

"Now the activity room will be on the fifth floor of the library—so if you, as Literature Club president, still need to go to the Rock Club, won't it be much more convenient?"

Li Luo froze at this, surprised Ying Chanxi had such a sneaky plan—he couldn't help but laugh and sigh.

Whether it was convenient for Li Luo, he didn't know, but it was definitely convenient for Ying Chanxi to inspect the Rock Club.

After all, whenever the Rock Club had events, Li Luo always handed off Literature Club duties directly to Ying Chanxi and the two vice presidents.

Now, whenever Ying Chanxi was at the Literature Club, she could simply walk two steps to check on Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng in the Rock Club.

But…

"We're Gao Er now," Li Luo tapped Ying Chanxi's head. "This semester ends in late June—only two months left."

"Next year we'll be Gao San. We'll hand over club duties during National Day, and there won't be any club activities after that."

Ying Chanxi didn't care. She snorted. "Two months is fine—I've enjoyed it. The gym's being torn down and rebuilt; it won't be ready until after we graduate."

"No need to say that," Li Luo sighed. "I heard they're also rebuilding the dormitory complex. The gym will get an underground passage connecting directly to the dorms across the street, so boarding students won't have to cross the road to get to class."

"Good thing we don't board—otherwise we'd miss the new gym and the new dorms too. What bad luck."

Here, Li Luo and Ying Chanxi grumbled a bit more, then Li Luo changed the subject. "Next month, the cast for 'Little Joy' will hold auditions. There are several sessions—I'm going to check them out."

"When?"

"The exact times aren't set yet. They'll notify us in advance—probably on weekends."

"Can I come too?" Ying Chanxi looked curious. "I've never seen one before."

"Will they pick you as the female lead?" Li Luo smiled.

"No way," Ying Chanxi lifted her chin, then added, "Unless you play the male lead, I'll only consider it reluctantly."

"Then forget it," Li Luo laughed. "Our acting skills are terrible. We've invested five million—can't mess this up."

As they chatted, after Li Luo dried Ying Chanxi's hair, Yan Zhusheng pushed open the door.

The second person came to enjoy the hair-drying service.

Ying Chanxi moved aside, plopped onto Li Luo's bed, and Yan Zhusheng sat down at the desk.

Li Luo couldn't help but laugh at these two so naturally in sync—he picked up the hairdryer again and began drying Yan Zhusheng's waist-length hair.

While enjoying Li Luo's service, Yan Zhusheng glanced at Ying Chanxi on the bed and asked, "Xixi."

"Hm?"

"When are we shooting the kiss scene in the MV?"

Ying Chanxi: "…I'm… still brainstorming. Don't rush me."