Chapter 421: A New Storm Has Arrived

As everyone knows, what is free is actually the most expensive.

As a genius of lyrics and composition in the industry and a future MusicGodfather, if Luo Mo were willing to produce an album for someone else, it would definitely sell for an astronomical price.

But how could we accept money from Jing?

Listening to Luo Mo's words, Xu Chujing really wanted to kick him out of the house.

In fact, when Luo Mo was idle in the past, he had also thought: "If I were to produce an album for Xu Chujing, which songs should I pick?"

He actually already had ideas in his mind.

Nine o'clock in the evening is Xu Chujing's yoga time.

Luo Mo wanted to watch from the sidelines, but was chased away by Xu Chujing.

"You won't even let me see your yoga pants; you're being too distant," Luo Mo couldn't help but say.

After returning to the living room alone, a frustrated Luo Mo started sending WeChat messages to Guan Fei.

"Working-hard Fei, are you so engrossed in the script?"

"Give me an answer quickly!"

Truth be told, Guan Fei didn't even hear the notification sound for the first WeChat message because he was truly engrossed in reading the script.

It wasn't until the second WeChat notification rang that he "woke up" and picked up his phone to take a look.

The script Luo Mo sent him wasn't long, only fifteen episodes.

Guan Fei had only reached the fourth episode, but he already felt the overall Drama entering its prime, becoming increasingly captivating.

He picked up his phone and called Luo Mo directly.

The first sentence was: "Infinite Flow?"

He was referring to the genre of this drama.

"You could say that," Luo Mo said.

"This kind of drama... the finale is hard to film," Guan Fei said bluntly.

He is an experienced director with a very high standard for filming dramas and is also very keen on the market.

Most genres with big, imaginative concepts are more attractive in the early and middle stages, and their word-of-mouth is more explosive as well.

But when it comes to the ending, the possibility of a botched finale is extremely high; it is easy to fail to tie everything together, which then leads to a sharp decline in reputation.

Guan Fei knows very well that for a drama, especially one with so few episodes, the word-of-mouth of the finale is quite important.

Just like many people love "Raising Books," many viewers also love "Raising Dramas."

Chasing them as they air is too tiring; it's better to let them grow fat before "slaughtering" them!

For those with short episode counts, it is entirely possible to wait until the finale to start binge-watching.

It's just that this drama is a Suspense genre, so the proportion of viewers chasing it as it airs will be higher.

"Brother Fei really knows his stuff," Luo Mo complimented.

In fact, on Earth, when this drama concluded, its reputation was indeed polarized.

Some people felt that such a happy ending was quite good, while many others felt it was a botched finale, thinking that many of the previous plot threads did not correspond with the ending.

The bigger the imagination in the beginning, the more cliché the finale was.

But the script Luo Mo sent to Guan Fei... had undergone some magical modifications!

This could also be considered another small experiment of his.

After thinking for a moment, Luo Mo said: "You can talk to me about it once you've finished the ending."

He wanted to hear Guan Fei's thoughts.

"Sure," Guan Fei readily agreed.

Finally, he added over the phone: "By the way, the title of your drama is quite interesting."

"As the first drama of the Mist Theater, it's quite fitting," Guan Fei said.

"Right? I think so too," Luo Mo said, looking pleased with himself.

From the perspective of suspense, this drama actually isn't very strong.

But that doesn't matter; taking it slow is actually quite good. One drama after another, just gradually strengthening it is fine.

This drama is called "Reset."

Luo Mo's idea is very simple.

Use "Reset" as the beginning of the Mist Theater!

………

………

"Reset," a drama with relatively singular scenes, and even the "Costume, Makeup, and Props" are very singular.

Because the premise is the male and female leads constantly looping on a bus that is about to explode, so... they don't even need to change clothes.

The Actor is ready-made; Ding Xiaoyu playing the female lead Li Shiqing couldn't be more suitable.

As for the second male lead, Officer Zhang, on Earth he was played by Liu Yijun, who is also Xie Yu from "Nirvana in Fire."

Therefore, Luo Mo also intends to pull Zhou Tong in to play the role.

By the way, in this drama, Liu Tao, who played Princess Nihuang on Earth, also made a special appearance.

But after the drama aired, she received a lot of negative reviews from viewers.

Many marketing accounts even published articles saying she was one of the biggest flaws in the entire "Reset."

Luo Mo didn't intend to have Xu Chujing play this role.

Because her appearance and temperament actually don't match at all.

From the character design perspective, this role is supposed to have a sense of being "calculating" and experienced.

Since "Reset" is also produced by Zhengwu Sunshine, it is quite normal for it to continue using some of the crew from "Nirvana in Fire."

In some respects, the entire drama indeed has the style of Zhengwu Sunshine.

For instance, taking the Group Portrait route!

Over the next few days, Luo Mo and Xu Chujing had no work scheduled for the time being.

So, they spent a few days living a "cohabitation life."

It's just that, in Xu Chujing's eyes, this already counted as cohabitation.

But in Luo Mo's eyes, he felt this was at most just sharing a rental!

The new Friday arrived very quickly.

It was time for the update of Nirvana in Fire again.

However, for many viewers, the sense of immersion became somewhat different when watching this drama again.

After all, at this moment, Luo Mo was already truly together with Xu Chujing!

So—when will Mei Zhangsu and Nihuang finally be able to be together openly and honestly?

At this time, Luo Mo and Xu Chujing were also sitting in the living room, watching Nirvana in Fire.

Xu Chujing glanced at Luo Mo and asked, "Have you still not contacted Zhou Tong?"

Over these past few days, Luo Mo had already contacted quite a few Actors.

But he simply hadn't gone to contact Zhou Tong.

"Not yet," Luo Mo said while peeling an orange for her.

"Why?" Xu Chujing asked.

Logically speaking, since everyone's relationship was so good, there was no reason for Luo Mo to delay contacting him like this.

To him, those people from the National Theatre of China were both teachers and friends.

Zhou Tong, Luo Chun, and others had taught Luo Mo a lot in terms of acting.

It could be said that Luo Mo's current skyrocketing acting skills owed a great deal to them.

"I'm waiting for this week's update of Nirvana in Fire," Luo Mo pointed at the big screen and said, "The night scene at the Ning Kingdom Marquis Manor is going to be broadcast this week."

Which meant it was time for Zhou Tong's home field to show off his acting skills!

He wanted to let Zhou Tong taste the sweetness of collaborating with him a little more.

At the same time, it was also time for the morbid entertainment industry to experience another new major earthquake.

"A new storm has already appeared," he continued peeling the orange, humming in his heart.

………

………

This night scene at the Ning Kingdom Marquis Manor basically signaled that the role of Xie Yu, played by Zhou Tong, was coming to an end.

Although he played a villain and many previous events made one's teeth itch with hatred for him, there were also parts that made one feel a bit of sympathy and pity.

Of course, the one who was truly the most miserable was actually the gentle-natured Xiao Jingrui.

Not to mention, the Xie Yu played by Zhou Tong, although a villain, was truly domineering when he needed to be.

When he hit his own son, it was a real hit.

Just then, Xie Bi knelt before him, crying and saying, "Father, Father, please think twice."

"The Xie and Zhuo families have been close for many years; they are closer than kin. No matter what misunderstandings there are, you cannot commit such a Killer act against them!"

Xie Yu looked down at him and said with a snarl, "Useless, how did I raise such a soft-hearted thing as you."

"Get up!"

Xie Bi refused to get up, continuing to kneel and look up at Xie Yu, saying, "Father, who in the world doesn't know the relationship between our two families? Are you not afraid of the world's gossip?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Yu grabbed Xie Bi by the throat and lifted his head up.

"What does the world know!?"

"You listen to me! Only those who are alive have the right to speak."

"Your father is doing this to uphold Righteousness by exterminating his own kin, do you understand?"

He shoved Xie Bi aside and shouted, "Get out!"

In this segment of the Drama, Zhou Tong's acting tension was too strong.

Not only was there acting in his eyes and his voice, but even his bulging veins were acting.

When his Anger reached its peak, his facial muscles even had subtle twitches.

Many times, the audience couldn't understand: why could these experienced Actors control even their facial muscles?

To stop his father, Xie Bi raised his sword, wanting to threaten him with suicide.

Xie Yu looked at him, stepping forward, pressing him step by step.

"You want to commit suicide?"

"Fine, do it then," he said coldly, his footsteps moving forward incessantly.

Under this powerful pressure, Xie Bi held his long sword and retreated continuously.

"I raised you since you were small; do you think I don't know what kind of character you have?" Xie Yu's eyes revealed mockery, his eyes wide open.

"If you really had the guts to slit your own throat..."

He suddenly raised his finger, pointed forcefully at Xie Bi, his tone suddenly rising, and shouted loudly: "Fine! Do it then!"

This shout made many people shiver while watching.

Many viewers were left completely bewildered by this part of the plot.

"Ox, he actually told his own son to commit suicide."

"Damn, this aura is too strong; I'm already starting to get scared."

"Suddenly I feel that when my dad used to hit me, he really didn't hit that hard."

"I feel like I've already been beaten to death by Teacher Zhou."

The charisma of the great villain had already been revealed by him without reservation.

The Story Rhythm of this Xie Mansion banquet scene was extremely tight.

Many viewers watched with bated breath, unable to stop.

When it aired to the confrontation between Marquis Yan, Yan Que, and the Ning Kingdom Marquis Xie Yu, watching these two veteran-level Actors trade acting blows on the stone steps, the audience only felt it was too satisfying!

"Marquis Yan is just too cool!"

"Speechless, he climbed the steps one step at a time, it was explosively cool."

"Yan Que: I'm just walking forward, what can you do to me?"

"So what if you're a 【Pillar of the Nation】? Laozi even dares to blow up the Emperor!"

Many viewers began to reminisce, how long had it been since they had seen such a tense, evenly matched acting duel between Actors?

This kind of scene of trading acting blows, paired with the post-production soundtrack, was simply explosively satisfying!

After the twenty-second episode aired, it arrived at the scene between Xie Yu and the Chang Gongzhu in the ancestral hall.

This scene acted out all the complex emotions between the characters.

Not to mention, seeing that the villain was also a great romantic, many female viewers watched with complicated feelings.

"I'm actually a bit moved, am I sick?"

"It's killing me, I suddenly feel like Teacher Zhou is a bit handsome."

"This scene is also acted so well!"

"No, no, no, the one I'm obsessed with definitely isn't Xie Yu, it must be Zhou Tong!"

When Saturday arrived, it finally reached the scene in the prison, the 【Punishing the Heart】 segment between Mei Zhangsu and Xie Yu.

In the prison, Xie Yu maintained the bearing that a first-rank military marquis should have.

Even though his limbs were bound by chains, he sat cross-legged with a straight back while conversing with others.

It was as if this were not a filthy prison, but his own Hou Mansion.

This kind of setup, in the 【Punishing the Heart】 scene, could bring about a strong contrast between the beginning and the end.

I have to say, the construction of this drama, Nirvana in Fire, is quite ingenious in many places.

Mei Zhangsu spoke out Xie Yu's inner thoughts bit by bit, and even directly guessed the deal between him and Xia Jiang.

When Zhou Tong performed this scene, his gaze had at least three levels of change.

When Luo Mo was editing, he found it incredibly satisfying.

Mei Zhangsu finally chose to sit face-to-face with Xie Yu.

In the dim dungeon, the camera switched back and forth between the two.

Most of Xie Yu's body was hidden in the shadows.

Mei Zhangsu, however, had most of his body illuminated by the faint light from the prison window.

The alternation of light and shadow gave the image more texture.

Mei Zhangsu pointed out Xie Yu's thoughts and schemes one sentence at a time, then told Xie Yu his own method of breaking them one sentence at a time.

He was slowly letting Xie Yu fall into despair.

——【Shrimping the Heart】!

The entire 【Punishing the Heart】 scene ended with Xie Yu rising in Anger, as if possessed by madness.

The explosive power here could be said to have pushed the entire scene to its peak!

What Luo Mo was waiting for was for all of this to finish airing.

The great wind has already risen.

Just Listening to the Wind.

………

……..

Li Yang, the head of the Four Little Dan, after being completely conquered by Nirvana in Fire, decisively chose to…….

——Give up.

Can't beat them, and it's so good to watch, might as well……. binge-watch!

No, no, no, I don't call this defecting to the enemy, I call this infiltrating the enemy's interior.

If this were on Earth, she would Afraid still add: learn from the enemy's strong points to defeat them.

At the same time, she also paid special attention to the various data of Nirvana in Fire.

Among them, what she paid special attention to was the follower growth rate of Tang Shiyu, that high-level green tea.

Among the Four Little Dan, Tang Shiyu could be considered the relatively weaker one.

In terms of popularity, Li Yang was actually a large margin ahead of the other three.

Her Connections and resources in the industry were even better than theirs by far.

However, even though her recently aired Jade Pearl City could be considered a hit drama, her follower growth rate was actually on par with Tang Shiyu, this minor supporting actress!

"How much screen time did Tang Shiyu even have as Qin Bore in Nirvana in Fire?" Li Yang was greatly speechless.

She felt that Qin Bore's screen time wasn't even as much as Prince Jing's mother, Consort Jing!

But even so, as long as she played this femme fatale in a way that touched people's hearts, the audience would still buy it.

The most ridiculous thing was, if Nirvana in Fire hadn't been a hit, then the marketing accounts' articles would definitely have mocked Tang Shiyu in various ways, secretly saying she was debasing herself and lowering her status.

But Nirvana in Fire became a massive hit, and the opportunistic marketing accounts started a new set of rhetoric, all praising Tang Shiyu for knowing how to focus on self-improvement.

These articles made Li Yang's teeth itch!

In the dead of night, she opened her phone Weibo and began to check a ranking list.

On Blue Star, Weibo has a "Follower Growth Power Ranking."

This ranking displays the top ten accounts by single-day follower growth.

The ranking is updated in real-time.

As Li Yang expected, Luo Mo sat high at the top of the list, with Xu Chujing in second.

She had originally intended to skip over them directly and then search for her own name and Tang Shiyu's.

However, when she saw the name in third place on the list, she was shaken to her core and froze instantly.

"Zhou Tong, 693,000 new followers in a single day!?"

"How is this possible!?"

Li Yang was left completely stunned.

One must know that Weibo in these past few years is different from years prior.

A few years ago, it was considered the golden age of Weibo, where gaining followers was relatively easy, and many internet celebrities emerged during that period.

Now, the difficulty of gaining followers on Weibo has increased significantly.

On Earth, many people in charge of marketing have even stated: "On today's Weibo, if you pour money in, it's considered decent if you can gain one real follower for every few yuan!"

Li Yang looked at the ranking and muttered to herself: "Zhou Tong only played a supporting male role."

Yes, just a supporting male role.

But, so what?

A saying is very popular now, called "Effective Participation" and "Ineffective Participation."

Some people play a flesh-and-blood supporting role and instantly explode in popularity.

Some people force themselves to play a handsome man in a period drama, and their Weibo loses tens of thousands of followers every day...

——My lord, the times have changed!

This is the effect Luo Mo wanted.

These past few days, Zhou Tong has been on a stage play tour in Wucheng.

He himself feels as if he is in a dream.

His original intention, like many of his colleagues at the National Theatre of China, was consistent: to treat acting as a profession, to act well, and to work well.

But who would have thought that he would also have a day where he possessed immense traffic!

Nowadays, whenever Zhou Tong posts a Weibo, the comment count is guaranteed to break ten thousand, and the likes are guaranteed to break one hundred thousand!

It is not just him; several other actors at the National Theatre of China are the same, such as the one who played Lord Yan, Yan Que.

One must know that these figures are already comparable to many traffic-driven young idols.

This has left various capital forces in the industry stunned.

The traffic-driven fresh meat we spent huge sums of money to promote don't necessarily have such high real popularity!

In terms of reputation, the difference is even more like heaven and earth!

Many truly capable actors may have been acting for ten or twenty years, yet they cannot even afford to buy a house.

Yet some stars don't even go to the set to act, relying on image-cutting and Body Doubles, simply attaching their own names to earn dozens of times the income with ease.

Luo Mo wants everyone to know the value possessed by solid, capable actors!

This includes their commercial value.

At the same time, he wants to tie all these people to his own warship!

The surge in popularity of the various supporting actors in "Nirvana in Fire" is, for many in the industry, actually equivalent to a signal.

A storm manufactured single-handedly by Luo Mo is about to sweep through the entire industry!

"Traffic-driven fresh meat and capital forces, prepare to welcome the birth of one 'Uncle Circle' Top Traffic after another!"

In the drama, Mei Zhangsu stirs up the winds and clouds.

Outside the drama, is Luo Mo not doing the same?

"It is time," Luo Mo thought to himself.

He sent a WeChat message to Zhou Tong, the content of which was very simple:

"Brother Tong, any interest in collaborating again?"

(PS: Two-in-one, asking for monthly tickets.)

(End of this chapter)