Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

Lin Ji settled the issues on Zang Shuke’s side first.

In the original novel of Records of the Bai’s Return, Qiu Chengyi was a character people loved to hate. He swore to take revenge on the Bai family because of the grudges of the previous generation, but he was not entirely without love for Bai Mei.

The human heart was not made of stone, and personal emotions were not something that could be entirely controlled by human will.

It was simply that in the map of his life, Bai Mei was not the most important part.

Lin Ji had not participated in Zang Shuke’s audition, but from the recordings Hu Weiyi brought back, the man had a certain spark in his acting. For some reason, however, his understanding of this particular scene was not thorough enough.

Or rather, his performance was either too explosive or too restrained; he did not know how to find the middle ground.

Lin Ji, however, had plenty of patience. While Hu Weiyi went to manage the adjacent set, Lin Ji pulled Chen Cheng and Zang Shuke aside to slowly explain the scene. Actors in a scene together could drive and influence one another; their individual progress was inherently beneficial to the other.

They ground through this scene for nearly two days. Finally, Chen Cheng and Zang Shuke found the right feeling. From Lin Ji’s perspective, it wasn’t that the two were completely hopeless, but rather that they were stuck at an ambiguous point. Once stuck, they simply didn’t know how to move forward.

Once Zang Shuke’s thoughts were cleared and his state for the character of Qiu Chengyi was correct, the chemistry between him and Bai Mei displayed that fated sense of intertwined love and hate even more clearly.

At least in Lin Ji’s view, once the two understood their characters thoroughly, every scene they shared crackled with sparks.

Lin Ji could be considered a witness to Chen Cheng’s growth as an actress. To be honest, if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he almost wouldn’t believe that the Chen Cheng who participated in Code 11 and the one playing Bai Mei were the same person.

She could not only grasp the proper scale for portraying Bai Mei but also thoroughly understood the character’s subtle emotional fluctuations and the changes in her thoughts during different periods.

Although Lin Ji was not the director, the thought of letting Chen Cheng go out and shock people actually crossed his mind.

He and Hu Weiyi often huddled together on set, studying the filming progress while discussing the actors’ performances. As they discussed, they would occasionally burst into laughter.

Although Records of the Bai’s Return was not yet finished and there was still a long time before it would air, Lin Ji and Hu Weiyi already knew what the audience feedback would be. The two of them were immensely satisfied.

* * *

When the filming of Records of the Bai’s Return reached June, it happened to coincide with the Leap Awards ceremony. Lin Ji flew out of town for the event.

Code 11 could be described as one of the most watched series of the entire previous year. At last year’s Classic Awards, Code 11 had swept almost all the awards it was nominated for—except for Best Screenwriter.

The organizers claimed it was because Lin Ji did not attend the ceremony.

At that time, Lin Ji was indeed busy writing the script for Records of the Bai’s Return, but the industry-recognized fact was that without the script Lin Ji created, there would be no success for Code 11.

However, the judges of the Classic Awards were notoriously part of the Ancient Tomb Sect. They had always disliked a sharp, prominent screenwriter like Lin Ji. If the excellence of Code 11 itself hadn’t been impossible to ignore, the show probably would have lost several more awards at that ceremony.

The producer and the director had privately expressed their apologies to Lin Ji.

Code 11 was, after all, a series broadcast on Sunrise TV. Since the two were employed by the station, they couldn’t willfully toss the trophies aside.

Lin Ji had no intention of blaming the producer or director, but he did direct some passive-aggressive remarks toward the award organizers.

I understand. People who have no dramas to film can only serve as experts.

He unceremoniously posted the resumes of these so-called experts. One could see that although each of these experts had intimidating titles—”President of the Association,” “Professor at the National Film Academy,” “Director of the Research Institute”—the last work they had collectively praised had a rating of only 3.4 on television forums.

These experts had not produced a single good drama in their entire lives.

They were not directors, not screenwriters, and not frontline literary and art workers, yet they could stand on high and critique a particular work.

“Little Lin is right!”

“This is also what I’ve always wanted to say. Why didn’t they give Code 11 the Best Screenwriter award? Little Lin might not care, but I do!”

“But thinking about it, if this group of people personally handed out an award, Little Lin probably wouldn’t even want it.”

“+1.”

Lin Ji had been absent from the Classic Awards, but he was willing to give the Leap Awards some face. However, he did not walk the red carpet, going directly to the ceremony venue instead.

Since Records of the Bai’s Return was currently filming, Lin Ji’s attendance at the Leap Awards naturally triggered a wave of discussion about the project.

“I’m still not very optimistic about the Records of the Bai’s Return project. Screenwriter Xu, what do you think?”

In the guest seating of the Leap Awards, Qin Yi, who was seated in the third row, looked toward the Code 11 crew seated in the second row. His eyes couldn’t help but darken.

The look of dissatisfaction in his eyes deepened particularly after Cheng Yuan’s figure appeared.

The entertainment industry was truly a place of extreme snobbery. Before Code 11, Cheng Yuan was just a dragon runner who picked up roles Qin Yi didn’t want. Once, while reading gossip news, Qin Yi discovered that Cheng Yuan had actually played a minor role in one of his own productions.

A small character he could have crushed with one foot in the past now held a status that was vaguely above his own.

Code Falcon had not only suffered low ratings, but it had also caused Qin Yi to lose the reputation he had accumulated over a long time. Fortunately, he was academy-trained from the National Film Academy and had managed to connect with a senior brother screenwriter who had excellent ratings. Only then did he feel like he was slowly recovering.

Even so, Qin Yi still felt the situation was dire.

Code 11 had brought too many benefits to Lin Ji. Qin Yi was now only thankful that Lin Ji had experienced a momentary lapse in judgment and gone to film Records of the Bai’s Return. If Lin Ji produced another hit similar to Code 11, he would definitely become one of the most influential screenwriters in the circle.

As for Records of the Bai’s Return, in Qin Yi’s eyes, it would be one of the graves that buried the famous screenwriter Lin Ji.

After hearing that Lin Ji had taken on Records of the Bai’s Return, Qin Yi felt genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart.

Beside him, Xu Jin smiled slightly, a trace of disdain flickering at the corner of his mouth. “Lin Ji is still too young. Some things can only be understood after hitting one’s head until it bleeds.”

Among the screenwriters classified as “young screenwriters,” there was likely no one who truly liked Lin Ji.

Lin Ji’s brilliance was too dazzling. Whatever he wrote became a hit, to the point where everyone else’s light was completely overshadowed.

Lin Ji was bold enough to take on Records of the Bai’s Return. While this certainly triggered ridicule from his peers, the ridicule was inevitably laced with unstoppable bitterness. A script like Records of the Bai’s Return was something they wouldn’t dare to touch in their entire lives.

Even if Lin Ji was too arrogant, so what?

It was because he had the confidence to be arrogant. Even when the Publicity Department was looking for a screenwriter for Records of the Bai’s Return, they hadn’t approached these well-known young screenwriters and had gone to Lin Ji first.

In Qin Yi’s view, the possibility of Records of the Bai’s Return becoming a hit was too low. The original work plus picky book fans plus a grand worldview made it a type of story that wasn’t currently a popular “cool” work. Moreover, Lin Ji’s previous works that were popular with audiences, whether it was Code 11 or Secretly in Love with You, were not themes with dark or heavy subjects.

Audiences didn’t like watching suffocating plots. Additionally, the casting for Records of the Bai’s Return was very average. Relying solely on Chen Cheng’s traffic alone was not enough to support a large production like Records of the Bai’s Return.

However, Qin Yi only dared to mutter these words privately with Xu Jin; he absolutely did not dare to say them to Lin Ji’s face.

When Lin Ji tore into someone, he showed no mercy to anyone. They, at least, cared about their reputations. There was no point in entangling with him over this matter.

Just as he was thinking this, Lin Ji, who was sitting in the row in front of them, suddenly turned his head. Lin Ji wasn’t familiar with Xu Jin, but he did know Qin Yi. He gave the man a faint smile.

Qin Yi, however, was pinned to the spot by that smile, not daring to move.

Even if he hated Lin Ji to death in his heart, he had been scared witless by Lin Ji’s previous schemes. Whenever Lin Ji smiled at him, he felt that Lin Ji was about to pit him again.

This scene happened to be captured by the live camera.

“A true suppression of the gaze.”

“Is it necessary for Qin Yi to be this cowardly? Lin Ji isn’t even chasing after him, right?”

“LOL, what is with this alpha gaze from Little Lin?”

“Black-bellied Little Lin, LOL. Our Screenwriter Lin’s appearance clearly isn’t fierce at all!”

Lin Ji was truly just showing friendliness.

He felt he was being quite polite. In the third row, Qin Yi was the only face he was somewhat familiar with. If he didn’t greet him, who would he greet?

Cheng Yuan lowered his voice and whispered in Lin Ji’s ear, “Screenwriter Lin, I heard he’s going to sign with Future Entertainment.”

Lin Ji blinked. “There are actually people who voluntarily jump into a fiery pit?”

“Future Entertainment does have more resources,” the producer said. “Even though you… but Future Entertainment isn’t incompetent either.”

Future Entertainment was skilled at using traffic to turn the tide. For the sake of a drama’s attention, platforms would ultimately choose actors with traffic. Once they used a traffic actor from Future Entertainment, it became a matter of course for other actors from the same agency to join the cast.

“Alright, then.”

Records of the Bai’s Return had already started filming anyway, and Chen Cheng’s command over the role of Bai Mei was quite good. There was no need for Lin Ji to keep hounding Future Entertainment. He wasn’t actually as vengeful as others thought.

Although, when Lin Ji revealed this thought, the expressions of Cheng Yuan and the producer both became somewhat complicated.

Lin Ji: “…”

What is that supposed to mean?

* * *

At the Leap Awards, Code 11 still reaped a bountiful harvest. The crew took home several major awards, including Best Director, Best Screenwriter, and Best Actor, which made up for the regret of not winning Best Screenwriter at the Classic Awards.

The audience watching the live broadcast was waiting for Lin Ji to say something shocking, but unfortunately, Lin Ji acted quite low-key, showing no intention of stealing the spotlight at the ceremony.

However, as his figure appeared on the trophy podium, many voices badmouthing Records of the Bai’s Return appeared in the bullet chat.

“Just because Code 11 succeeded doesn’t mean Records of the Bai’s Return will, right?”

“Even now, I still feel that filming Records of the Bai’s Return is a mistake. Isn’t the glory of Code 11 enough for Lin Ji? Why does he have to lay his hands on Records of the Bai’s Return?”

“Don’t forget we also have our Staring Queen, Chen Cheng.”

“…A nightmare…”

Watching the live broadcast, Nie Ou couldn’t help but roll her eyes dozens of times. She was already very depressed that Sister Cheng was locked away on set filming, and this group of people badmouthing the show before it even aired was really…

The current Nie Ou had confidence in both Lin Ji and Chen Cheng. She only felt that Records of the Bai’s Return was being filmed far, far too slowly. Although she searched for information related to the filming online every day, the inside information revealed by the crew was far too little.

Nie Ou watched the live broadcast for a while, and a fleeting bullet chat message caught her attention: [The results of Records of the Bai’s Return might not be bad. The actors are truly miserable, okay?]

NOTES

Alpha: Refers to a person with a dominant, cool, or powerful aura, regardless of gender. 

Staring Queen (瞪眼天后): A derogatory nickname for an actress who lacks skill and only knows how to stare wide-eyed to express emotion.

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