Chapter 84: Doesn't Look Like Acting, Suggest a Thorough Investigation

"Long time no see, Zhou Yi."

At the discussion meeting for the filming of the music video "Love Me or Her," Zhou Xun, who had not seen Zhou Yi since a brief gathering of mainland artists on the Treasure Island last year, appeared before him wearing a simple and elegant fleece coat, smiling and greeting him.

"Long time no see, Sister Zhou Xun."

Because the weather had not completely warmed up, Zhou Yi, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, looked up immediately upon hearing the voice, stood up, and teased: "Your grand arrival brings glory to my humble home."

"Your mouth is so sweet; how many girls have you deceived?"

After taking off her fleece coat and handing it to her assistant, Zhou Xun greeted several MV directors, assistants, and relevant Warner Bros. staff before sitting in the female lead's seat reserved for her.

"You can't wrong an innocent person like that, Sister. I am a solid, pure-hearted male college student; I haven't even held a girl's hand since I was born."

After protesting his innocence with a smile in his eyes, Zhou Yi gave a signal to the MV director sent by Warner Bros., who then proactively handed a completed storyboard draft to Zhou Xun.

"You are indeed a college student, but as for being pure-hearted..."

Zhou Xun, who had opened the storyboard and taken a careful look, smiled: "It's you who wrote this song; I don't think you've never even held a girl's hand."

"It is precisely because I have never been in love that I can write the fantasy love song that touches the heart the most."

Zhou Yi explained the concept between creation and reality with a serious face; it wasn't particularly funny, but Zhou Xun couldn't stop laughing after looking at him once.

"The script for this MV, could it be adapted from your own personal experiences?"

Pointing to the general plot summary on the first page of the storyboard, Zhou Xun teased with interest: "The big background is actually a career setback on the Treasure Island?"

Zhou Yi shrugged indifferently: "This is called immersion; half-true and half-false can resonate more with the audience. Besides, I also find this operation disgusting; putting it in the background to whip the corpse isn't an overstatement."

In the original MV by Tao Zhe, the male lead flew back and forth between the Treasure Island and Shanghai due to work; while he already had a white rose girlfriend on the Treasure Island, he met another red rose that made his heart flutter in Shanghai, thus singing along with the lyrics.

In Zhou Yi's version, the plot direction did not change, but the location and the big background secretly included some personal agenda.

For instance, the text date before the MV started was exactly the day he was publicly ostracized by the Treasure Island side. Thus, anyone seeing the description of "career setback and returning to the mainland to develop" would understand what happened.

The character played by Zhou Xun was Zhou Yi's white rose girlfriend on the Treasure Island, while the one played by Fan Bingbin was the red rose he met in the Imperial Capital.

Zhou Xun's natural sense of fragility, supported by her acting skills, could well hold the position of the white rose; this was also the reason Zhou Jianhui suggested letting her play this role.

And as the red rose representing beauty and charm, Fan Bingbin's looks and figure were also able to hold the weight; what was needed was the feeling representing desire.

Of course, due to time constraints, most of the scenes for the white rose and the red rose were completed in the Imperial Capital; after all, there were not many outdoor scenes, and some areas requiring filming on the Treasure Island could be added in post-production after the main body was finished.

"Before coming, my agent told me she heard that some of my scenes in this MV include bed scenes. Originally, I was curious how a single MV could have so many bed scenes; now I understand, it turns out it's just scenes of lying in bed under a blanket."

Pointing to the latter half of the storyboard in her hand, Zhou Xun, with a mocking expression, looked extremely playful.

Zhou Yi spun the notebook with one hand, heard this, lifted his head proudly, and his voice was loud enough to deafen the deaf: "Sister, just say if this is a bed scene or not."

Bed scene, bed scene, isn't that just scenes on the bed?

Zhou Xun, who was originally teasing, seeing his manner and tone, laughed even more uncontrollably.

When Fan Bingbin arrived at the MV filming site accompanied by her assistant, what came into view was a harmonious scene full of laughter.

"Sorry, Zhou Yi, there was some traffic on the road."

Although she was not late, Fan Bingbin, well-versed in workplace ways, immediately lowered her posture and then greeted Zhou Xun, the director, and others.

"You've arrived just in time; familiarize yourself with the script and storyboard. The first scene later will be the two of you, the female leads, meeting while eating at the same table."

Speaking, Zhou Yi handed the storyboard over.

Filming this kind of MV is much like filming a TV drama; for the sake of time, they shoot by scene rather than by plot progression.

"Mm, okay."

Fan Bingbin, showing a smiling face, flipped through the draft while heading to the makeup room to prepare for makeup and changing clothes.

The plot of "Love Me or Her" is very simple; actually, it is just a man wavering between two women, ending with an open ending.

First, the male lead played by Zhou Yi and the white rose played by Zhou Xun eat in the room like an old married couple, then after a loving embrace, the male lead goes to work.

At the company, he received a thunderbolt; because the boss's business was going badly on the Treasure Island side, Zhou Yi, this trusted employee, could only be sent by the boss to the Imperial Capital first to open up a new market.

After bidding farewell to the white rose Zhou Xun, Zhou Yi, back in the Imperial Capital, soon met the red rose Fan Bingbin, wearing a red sweater, while carrying luggage to rent a room.

After traveling back and forth between the Treasure Island and the Imperial Capital many times, the male lead Zhou Yi gradually grew tired of this exhaustion, gradually became cold towards the white rose girlfriend on the Treasure Island, and instead became very close with the newly met red rose Fan Bingbin in the Imperial Capital.

Sensing the crisis, the white rose Zhou Xun came to the Imperial Capital to meet her boyfriend; during a dinner party she accompanied her boyfriend to, she met the red rose Fan Bingbin who actively approached her.

But the male lead covered it up very well, and finally managed to get away with it.

After returning to the Treasure Island, the white rose and the male lead were like sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams; the male lead missed the red rose in the Imperial Capital every time, and then cheated again and again.

Until finally discovered, leaving a sky shot with no directional meaning, and saying a sentence: "Marry me."

Because Zhou Xun's schedule was limited, this time they prioritized filming the scenes where she and Fan Bingbin appeared together.

After the male lead, female lead, and the third party all finished changing costumes, Zhou Yi, who always appeared with a bare face in such urban MVs, began his skilled scumbag-style performance in front of the camera.

That look of deep affection even when looking at a dog almost made Zhou Xun unable to act properly.

And when filming a scene where Zhou Yi held a teacup, drank tea, stood by the window, and flirted with the red rose Fan Bingbin, Zhou Yi, who had no filming experience at all and relied entirely on his natural self, didn't have a single problem.

Filmed four times, forgot the lines three times, but stubbornly relied on instinct to recite one set of scumbag quotes after another.

Fan Bingbin, whose brain couldn't keep up, had several NGs because she failed to avoid Zhou Yi's lips leaning in during the flirting scenes in time.

"Sorry, sorry, my fault, my fault."

After several NGs, Fan Bingbin herself couldn't hold it back anymore and kept apologizing: "I didn't react in time."

Zhou Xun, watching from the side, finally saw through the true colors of this man who claimed to be a pure-hearted college student, and teased with a smile: "Zhou Yi, others act, but aren't you just acting as yourself?"

"You recite those lines so fluently; how many young girls have you said them to?"

(End of this chapter)