Chapter 523: The Scent of Vinegar

Ruan Lin was curious about Li Luo.

Before meeting Li Luo in person, Ruan Lin had already heard of Li Luo's name.

But it was only from the show "Singer" she had watched; because of Yuan Wanqing's new album, she had heard the name "Chongran," though she didn't particularly care.

Most people don't pay special attention to the creator of a song—just knowing who sang it is already enough.

After that, she learned from her own mother that the work she was about to audition for had an original author also named Chongran.

After looking into it further, she realized this Chongran seemed to be the same person who wrote songs for Yuan Wanqing.

And…

He was someone her own age.

It was said that besides the novel "Little Joy," which had sold its rights, Chongran was also serializing an extremely long Online Novel with outstanding results.

Since the end of "Singer" last October, nearly a year has passed, yet the entertainment circle still occasionally produced hit songs.

If you carefully examined the origins of these songs, Chongran's name inevitably appeared.

But compared to the earlier feat of writing all nine songs on Yuan Wanqing's new album, Chongran had become much more low-key since then, and hadn't done anything particularly eye-catching.

Yet through Ruan Lin's deliberate deep dive, she still uncovered Chongran's astonishing details.

Such achievements, even for a twenty-something young person, would still be understandable.

But in a teenager like Li Luo, who hadn't even turned eighteen yet, they seemed utterly absurd.

With this curious mindset, after the set began filming, Ruan Lin seized moments of free time, clutching her crumpled script, and sat beside Li Luo, cautiously asking.

Li Luo didn't overthink it; seeing her truly open the script and ask several questions about the plot, he assumed she was sincerely seeking advice.

So after a moment's thought, he said: "Qiao Yingzi's mother has a strong need for control, nitpicking over her daughter's studies, refusing to rest until she gets first place, and also disagreeing with her on university choices."

"But as a single mother, she truly worked hard to hold the family together, devoting herself entirely to her daughter's upbringing plan."

"That is, her intentions were good, and Qiao Yingzi knew her mother loved her."

"But this kind of love was suffocating, utterly unlike the life she longed for or the university she dreamed of."

"Yet her love and understanding for her mother prevented her from voicing these inner thoughts directly."

"Mm-hmm." Ruan Lin nodded thoughtfully, seriously pulling out a pen and jotting down Li Luo's insights on her script, "Then, Teacher Chongran, do you think there's anything I should improve in today's scenes?"

"Today's scenes are all simple—nothing much to say." Li Luo shook his head. "Relax when you shoot. You're a Gao Zhongsheng—just show the natural energy of a high schooler. Only the later scenes with intense conflicts need more thought."

After his Online Novel flopped in his past life, Li Luo entered the Short Drama industry.

Though he flopped badly there too, he gathered plenty of experience and lessons.

But Short Drama emphasizes brevity, speed, and impact—it doesn't fully align with TV drama shooting logic.

Li Luo could only offer Ruan Lin targeted advice based on the content and visuals of "Little Joy" he'd watched in his past life.

But the actual control of filming still rested with Director Wang Jun.

As long as the script was finalized and Director Wang Jun was progressing normally without major revisions, Li Luo didn't want to interfere excessively in Wang Jun's filming work.

He was still on summer break, and besides writing and spending time with the three girls at home, he had nothing else to do—so he came to the set to soak in and learn TV drama production experience.

"How's it feel?"

In the afternoon, after another portion of filming wrapped and they took a break, Director Wang Jun strolled over to Li Luo, plopped down beside him, and grinned at the young man.

Li Luo nodded: "It's interesting. Very novel."

"Today's scenes are all simple," Wang Jun pulled out a cigarette, gestured toward Li Luo, and when Li Luo nodded, lit it with a lighter and took a slow drag. "You don't smoke, right?"

"Mm." Li Luo glanced at the cigarette in Wang Jun's mouth, instinctively feeling a faint urge—but quickly suppressed it.

After his Short Drama flopped in his past life, he picked up smoking under pressure, smoking for several years.

Later, when Lin Xiuhong fell ill, Li Luo forced himself to quit—every bit saved mattered.

After his rebirth, he had no intention of touching it again.

Yet seeing Wang Jun smoke inside the studio still stirred up memories in Li Luo.

"For the later, more important scenes," Li Luo looked at Wang Jun and asked curiously, "When will they likely be scheduled?"

"I prefer to first use simple scenes to build chemistry among the actors," Wang Jun took another drag, lowering his gaze as he considered, "Once the feeling's right, then we'll schedule the more emotionally intense scenes. The veteran actors are fine, but those kids are still green—they need time to reach the right emotional state."

"If those scenes I mentioned earlier are scheduled, please have someone notify me in advance," Li Luo said. "I'd like to watch on set."

"Sure, no problem," Wang Jun grinned. "Your script really suits me—I'll film it exactly as you wrote it."

"Then I'm counting on you, Director Wang," Li Luo extended his hand and shook Wang Jun's. "Looking forward to a good collaboration."

"Looking forward to a good collaboration."

…

"So this is what a studio is like?"

On August 10, Xu Youyu followed Li Luo to the industrial park north of Yuhang City, entering the studio base leased by the "Little Joy" production team.

Although his next book wouldn't continue in the entertainment genre, out of curiosity about the industry, Xu Youyu took time off to come along with Li Luo and take a look.

"This is the actors' makeup room and dressing room," Li Luo led her in, speaking with ease. "Prop room, storage, over there is the meeting room and editing room, and behind is the monitoring room."

After passing through these rooms, Li Luo brought Xu Youyu to the set, where the view suddenly opened up.

Xu Youyu looked up at the green screens and various cameras and lighting equipment, her eyes filled with awe.

Finally, her gaze landed on the interior set just built to the left.

"Is this the main character's home?" Xu Youyu blinked; having read "Little Joy," she quickly realized, "They only built a kitchen and half the living room?"

"The rest will be handled with green screen and post-production effects," Li Luo explained beside her. "The audience's focus stays on the characters—their attention to the surroundings is scattered, so a bit of special effects is enough."

"So that's how they shoot," Xu Youyu's eyes sparkled, and she eagerly wandered around the set.

Seeing her so interested, Li Luo let her roam while he sat in his usual spot, preparing to watch the next scene. Just then, Ruan Lin, having finished her morning shoot, walked over, still clutching her script, and came to Li Luo's side to humbly seek advice.

After Li Luo finished sharing his insights on certain plot points, he noticed Xu Youyu had returned from the set and was sitting on his other side, smiling at him.

Ruan Lin was called away for retakes and hurriedly excused herself; Li Luo looked at Xu Youyu's smile and felt a chill: "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Nothing much." Xu Youyu chuckled twice, stood up, and walked behind Li Luo, pressing her hands hard against his neck to knead it. "Our Chongran teacher~ is really hardworking and diligent~ You look so handsome when you're focused on work~"

Li Luo: "... You're probably overthinking this."

"I haven't even said what I'm thinking—how can you be so sure I'm overthinking?" Xu Youyu sneered, but her grip didn't loosen at all.

"I'm the worm in your belly. I know exactly what you're thinking." Li Luo said with a bold face.

"Is that so?" Xu Youyu slightly eased her pressure. "Then tell me—what do you think I'm thinking right now?"

"Three isn't enough? One more, and I'll strangle you right now." Li Luo ventured cautiously.

"Pfft…"

Not a single word, not a single syllable, not a single line, not a single content—everything's visible!

Xu Youyu burst out laughing, draped her arms over his shoulders, and rested her head against the back of his neck, shaking with mirth.

Then she buried her face in his neck and muttered softly, "You really can say that out loud?"

"Only when I'm alone with Youyu-jie do I dare say such things," Li Luo whispered. "I'm already greedy enough—but I'm also deeply content."

"Hmph." Xu Youyu finally let go and sat back down in the empty seat beside Li Luo. "You take all the advantages and still act all innocent. You've gotten every benefit."

Li Luo coughed once, and the topic was temporarily dropped.

By noon, the crew distributed boxed meals. Driven by curiosity, Xu Youyu joined Li Luo in picking up a regular boxed meal to experience the crew's daily lunch.

After receiving her own boxed meal, Ruan Lin came over to Li Luo, her gaze landing on Xu Youyu—equally beautiful, and even more shapely than her—and asked softly:

"Chongran teacher, who is this…?"

"She's my female…"

"I'm his senior," Xu Youyu interrupted with a smile. "I've always been curious about how a film set operates, so I asked him to bring me along for a look."

"I see," Ruan Lin nodded in understanding, then smiled politely. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me—I'm always free when I'm not filming."

"Great, thank you."

…

In the afternoon, Xu Youyu stayed a while longer, then took her leave to go to driving school.

She was still working hard on her third driving test, determined to pass her license before school started—time was tight.

Li Luo, meanwhile, stayed until just after four in the afternoon, bid farewell to Director Wang, and returned to Bihai Lanting.

Later that afternoon, after finishing her third driving test, Xu Youyu came home and, over dinner, happily shared the day's events with her two best friends.

The next day, there was a scene between Qiao Yingzi and her mother—Li Luo wanted to watch it closely, so he prepared to return to the studio. Ying Chanxi immediately said she liked the character Qiao Yingzi and wanted to come along.

Li Luo didn't think twice—he brought her.

Thus, Ying Chanxi followed Li Luo everywhere, never lagging behind.

Ruan Lin noticed another girl beside Li Luo and her eyes grew suspicious. She asked curiously about Ying Chanxi's identity.

"Me?" Ying Chanxi glanced at Li Luo and grinned. "I'm his little sister."

Two more days passed.

Li Luo returned to the studio again.

This time, it was Yan Zhusheng's turn.

"Those theme songs and insert songs you wrote for the drama," Yan Zhusheng said seriously. "I think watching the actors perform live will help me sing with the right emotion."

Considering Yan Zhusheng's lack of emotional experience in singing, Li Luo found her reasoning sound and nodded in agreement, taking her to the studio.

When Ruan Lin saw another beautiful girl beside Li Luo, she was utterly stunned.

"Chongran teacher, who is this one…?"

"I'm his little sister," Yan Zhusheng blinked.

Ruan Lin felt something was off, but couldn't quite place it—she vaguely remembered seeing this girl at the crew's first group dinner, when she'd mentioned she'd be singing the drama's theme song.

"She's here looking for musical inspiration," Li Luo offered a brief explanation.

Ruan Lin nodded, thinking: two girls are his sisters, one's his senior—even if none of them are romantic partners, the pressure was mounting.

She was confident in her own looks, but before Yan Zhusheng and the other two, she had no real confidence left.

So when she came again with her script to ask Li Luo for advice, Yan Zhusheng's direct soul-question left her speechless.

"So… do you like my brother?" Yan Zhusheng sat beside Li Luo, tilting her head to look at Ruan Lin.

In that instant, Ruan Lin froze.

Fortunately, as an actress, her improvisation was decent. She forced a smile: "Chongran teacher is amazing—he's helped me a lot on set. I'm truly grateful to him."

"So you don't like him?" Yan Zhusheng asked again.

"I-I didn't mean that…" Ruan Lin waved her hands frantically.

"If it's about filming scenes," Yan Zhusheng ignored her reply and pressed on, "you should ask the director. It's not Li Luo who's filming—why do you keep coming to him?"

"He's the original author… and also the screenwriter…" Ruan Lin stammered under Yan Zhusheng's relentless questions.

Li Luo now felt both amused and exasperated—he finally understood what Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng had been doing these past two visits.

After this, unless it was a crucial scene, Li Luo would still come to the set—but only if he brought Ying Chanxi and the others along. Otherwise, he'd stop visiting casually.

When August 20 arrived, Xu Youyu came home beaming, threw her arms around Li Luo, and cheered: "I passed my third driving test! Take me to buy a car~"

(End of Chapter)