Chapter 263: The Songs in the Spring Festival Gala

Wei Hongming, 35 years old, has had an acting career of 11 years.

In these eleven years, he has acted in both modern dramas and period dramas, all as a supporting actor, but he has left an impression with roles in several TV series, making himself a familiar face to the audience.

When auditioning for the role of Jiu Jianxian, Wei Hongming was a bit excited.

But after the audition was successful, Luo Mo gave him the complete script for the role of Jiu Jianxian directly, and he quickly went from being a bit excited to being incredibly excited!

He read the script and felt that this character was very charismatic, the kind that could attract fans.

This character has profound magic power, and his personality is maverick and unique. That sense of being carefree, unrestrained, rebellious, and even a bit crazy—if it could be acted out, the effect would definitely be great.

Most importantly, it wasn't even these things.

The most important thing is—he dies!

Yes, this character dies in the end!

Death can often bring greater regret to the audience.

In fact, Jiu Jianxian really does have a bit of a "plot-mandated death" feel; I didn't think much of it when watching it as a child, but looking back on it now, it feels a bit forced.

Wei Hongming is a man with a good eye, and he firmly believes that the role of Jiu Jianxian might allow his career to climb to a peak!

Therefore, he put a lot of effort into his performance, and he felt he had already grasped it to a certain degree.

However, the newcomer director in front of him was just stubbornly unsatisfied.

He didn't know that it was because Luo Mo had a benchmark in his heart, and he would make comparisons within his own mind.

Even Guan Fei, watching from the side, felt that after filming so many takes, several of them were completely up to standard, and the quality was absolutely top-notch.

He also didn't understand what exactly Luo Mo wanted in the end.

Regarding Director Luo's requirement for him to put on headphones and listen to the soundtrack for fifteen minutes, while also relieving the discomfort caused by being on wires, Wei Hongming was puzzled.

He knew that Luo Mo was a "musical genius," the strongest Newcomer in history to sweep the Golden Melody Awards, and the hottest Singer this year.

He himself had actually listened to many of Luo Mo's songs and had downloaded several on his phone.

But Wei Hongming didn't think that listening to a soundtrack could help him interpret a character.

Isn't that nonsense!

But it was break time anyway, and the director is the king on set, so Wei Hongming obediently followed instructions.

What's more, given Luo Mo's status in the music industry, him being willing to let you listen to the soundtrack he produced ahead of time is something that gives you a lot of Face, isn't it?

The music started in the headphones, and he followed Luo Mo's instructions to turn the volume up quite high.

Then, he looked down at his lines and the storyboards.

The overall music was very impassioned, the rhythm was of the intense kind, and most importantly, the emotional rendering was very powerful.

As he listened, he imagined in his head how he should act in this scene, and it was actually... very evocative!

Men, perhaps, all have a bit of "chuunibyou" in their bones.

It's just that for some it's strong, and for others it's faint.

Wei Hongming has also been filming for so many years, and he watches every drama he acts in when it airs.

But this soundtrack still shocked him.

"Compared to this, the soundtracks in those previous dramas that had basically nothing to do with the theme are simply a pile of shit!"

"Legend of Sword and Fairy" is not a particularly transcendent name, but after listening to the music, it really makes one feel that this piece was born for the sword!

Paired with the visuals of sword dancing and the sword-based Immortal Technique, it would absolutely be incredibly evocative.

As he listened, he felt his fingers were a bit out of control, and he couldn't help but want to dance them a few times.

After all, he had already played Jiu Jianxian and had performed the Sword Control Technique; his immersion was the most intense on the entire set, besides Luo Mo!

For some people with low resonance to music, this might be a bit of an exaggeration.

But because of his own particularity, it can be said that everything happening was not an exaggeration at all!

Don't forget the listeners' evaluation of this piece on Earth: "After my dog at home heard it, it wanted to ride me onto the battlefield!"

"Listening to it makes me think of the days practicing sword at Mount Shu."

The fifteen minutes passed in a flash, and Wei Hongming, who was a bit lost in it, suddenly felt the sunlight dim.

He looked up and saw that Luo Mo had already walked in front of him.

"How is it?" Luo Mo asked.

"Director Luo, I think I've... found a bit of that feeling you were talking about." Wei Hongming didn't dare to be too absolute, because Luo Mo's Requirement was truly too high.

"Then shall we try?" Luo Mo said.

Wei Hongming nodded.

The scene being filmed was still the previous one.

Jiu Jianxian was to descend from the sky amidst loud laughter and lie down leaning on his sword.

Guan Fei carried a small stool and trotted over, then sat down to observe the details carefully.

As a result, after one take, he couldn't help but marvel.

"I can't say what's different, it just feels like the whole person's temperament is suddenly right!" Guan Fei exclaimed in his heart.

After the acting was finished, Luo Mo went to look at this take, then nodded with satisfaction and said, "This take is a pass!"

Wei Hongming immediately breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a weight lifted, and gained more confidence for the subsequent performance.

Guan Fei came over at this time and said, "What kind of soundtrack is so magical? Let me listen to it too!"

Luo Mo looked at him and said, "Go listen to it on Penguin after it airs; I'll earn a bit more in download money."

Guan Fei: "???"

………

………

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was mid-December.

The filming progress of *Sword Fairy* is quite good, but it will likely be impossible for the entire cast to wrap up before the New Year.

During this process, quite a few people have come to the set to visit.

All the members of the Aurora Girls have visited, except for Jiang Ningxi and Shen Yinuo; the other four in the girl group turned into a "sycophant squad," fussing over Luo Mo and even taking the initiative to hold an umbrella to shade him from the sun, only to be decisively rejected by Luo Mo, who wanted to bask in the warm winter sun.

Having four beautiful girls of different styles fawn over him like this made the men on set incredibly envious.

"If Director Luo were naturally flirtatious, he would probably be living a life like an immortal."

"Yeah, with Director Luo's looks and talent, who knows how many people would want to throw themselves into his arms."

Xu Chujing also came to visit the set once.

She only came to the *Sword Fairy* set that one time; at other times, the two of them mostly met up at *Classic of China*.

After meeting her, Luo Mo realized why he had felt something was missing from his life recently.

—He was missing a little game called *Feeding the Heavenly Queen*!

Gradually turning a "Cat Demon" into a "house Cat"—that's quite interesting, isn't it?

There are many freelance photographers and paparazzi lurking around Luo Mo's set.

For these people, if they can snap a high-quality candid photo, they can make quite a bit of money.

After all, *Sword Fairy* is very popular right now, and candid photos are guaranteed to spark heated discussions online.

But what this group didn't expect was that just taking pictures of these visitors would be enough to create some small to medium-sized news stories.

And with the appearance of Xu Chujing, this group was driven into a frenzy!

"Xu Chujing is here to visit the set!"

"Crazy, just crazy! Aren't these two afraid of rumors?"

"Afraid of what? The fans of both sides are dying for them to be together!"

"Besides, how do you know it's a set visit? What if she's here for a cameo?"

Xu Chujing appeared on set openly and generously, rather than in that fully disguised, sneaky mode, which actually made people feel there was less of a secret affair going on.

This time, just like before, Xu Chujing brought a bunch of food for the people on set.

Luo Mo sat at the same table as Xu Chujing, accompanied by Ding Xiaoyu and Guan Fei. Shen Yinuo was not on set today; she had to attend an event with the girl group.

The *Cat Demon* quartet had thus gathered.

"How is the filming progress?" the Heavenly Queen asked with concern.

"Brother Fei, you tell her." Luo Mo gave Guan Fei a look.

Guan Fei immediately received the signal.

The two have been together every day recently, and they have already developed a bit of that "partners in crime" vibe.

He understood what Luo Mo meant: he was to praise him vigorously, praise him to the heavens!

Guan Fei started bragging, giving him plenty of Face; by the end, even Luo Mo felt it was too fake.

Xu Chujing listened with a smile, very attentively.

Ding Xiaoyu sat to the side, eating in small bites without a word, occasionally stealing glances at Luo Mo and Xu Chujing.

On the internet, their CP Fan base is huge; how could Ding Xiaoyu not know?

Including the few times she faced the media, reporters had even asked her this question, asking if she had ever thought about which female celebrity in the industry she would want as her master's wife.

Ding Xiaoyu had been stunned by the question.

Luo Mo seemed to suddenly think of something and said to Xu Chujing, "How about... you sing a song for our *Sword Fairy*?"

"That depends on whether I like it or not," Xu Chujing said with a smile at Luo Mo.

For songs like *Sigh of the Carefree* or *June's Rain*, Luo Mo will definitely sing them himself.

As for *Always Very Quiet*, it depends on Shen Yinuo's later performance; if she performs well, he can give her this song as a reward.

The opening theme, *Killing Wolf*, could be tried by Xu Chujing.

Her vocal range is very wide; she can perfectly display low, middle, and high notes.

Chen Shanqi is slightly weaker in the high notes; she could also sing *Killing Wolf*, but it would likely lack a bit of momentum.

"I'll send it to you when the time comes. If you don't like it, then I don't know which female Singer in Xinyu this song will go to," Luo Mo said with a smile.

Xu Chujing raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, but she didn't say much else.

After a while, she only asked, "Did you forget that you still have a song for the Spring Festival Gala to prepare? You're actually still thinking about songs for the show."

The Spring Festival Gala rehearsals start next week; that is a more pressing matter.

Luo Mo didn't answer, but instead asked her back, "What about you? Have you decided what you're going to sing?"

"Still struggling with it," Xu Chujing said.

"I actually have a song here," Luo Mo looked at Xu Chujing.

A song of immense weight, one with extraordinary significance for the Spring Festival Gala.

"For me to sing?" Xu Chujing asked, puzzled.

I was just asking you what song you were singing and if you were ready. How did you turn around and arrange one for me?

Luo Mo nodded and said, "However, it depends on how Director Qian arranges the performance order. If he is willing to let you perform last, I will help you prepare it."

"Hmm?" Once these words were out, even Xu Chujing was shocked.

Does this mean... he wants me to sing the closing song of the Spring Festival Gala?

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(End of chapter)