Chapter 71 He just wanted Jing Yitong to play that role…

Fang Xin watched the video on his phone over and over again, but he still couldn't figure out what went wrong. He had filmed exactly the same video, and even the angle of the sunlight was almost the same, but why couldn't he capture the feeling he wanted?

Seeing him sitting alone on the bench in a daze, Jiang Huishan strolled over with a water glass in hand and sat down next to him: "What exactly did I do that didn't satisfy you, sir?"

Fang Xin pulled at his hair: "I want to know too."

Jiang Huishan's acting skills are actually quite good, otherwise Fang Xingu wouldn't have asked him to make a cameo appearance in the music video. But who knew this situation would occur, leaving Jiang Huishan with no opportunity to showcase his acting skills.

Jiang Huishan glared at him: "Wow, I didn't expect a singer like you to be so demanding on camera?"

Fang Xingu chuckled dryly, "That's right, I have my own ideas."

Jiang Huishan casually said, "Hmph, your current attitude makes me wonder if you're trying to replicate a video you once made, but you just can't seem to find the feeling you had back then."

Fang Xingu was greatly surprised: ...How can this person be so perceptive!

But Fang Xingu, whose truth had been guessed, refused to admit it: "You're overthinking it."

He knew he should show the original video to Jiang Huishan so he could act directly based on it, which would definitely be more effective. However, the main character in the video was Jing Yitong, so Fang Xin couldn't show it to outsiders.

Jiang Huishan observed Fang Xingu's reaction and clearly felt that his facial expression contradicted his answer. Suspiciously, he probed indirectly, "So why did you ask me to make a cameo appearance?"

"...I don't know many actors, and since you've been near Jiangcheng recently, I asked if you were free, and you happened to be available, so that's settled."

“So casual,” Jiang Huishan took a sip of water. “Then shouldn’t you be looking for Brother Jing? He meets all the criteria.”

Fang Xingu thought resentfully that if he had the nerve to tell Jing Yitong, he would have dragged Jing Yitong over to film it long ago. But he couldn't bring himself to say it, and besides, Jing Yitong had been too busy lately, so Fang Xingu was reluctant to add more work to his workload.

Fang Xingu casually made up an excuse to brush it off, and Jiang Huishan didn't ask any more questions, only muttering, "I'm starting to doubt whether I'm doing a good job filming or if it's my problem or yours."

Fang Xingu quickly took the blame: "It's my fault, it's my fault."

After working hard for half a day, this simple shot could not be completed because Fang Xingu was too nitpicky. However, the filming crew did not waste time and moved to other locations to take pictures.

Fang Xin had originally planned to finish filming the music video in one day, but something went wrong and they have to continue tomorrow. He just doesn't know if he can find inspiration tomorrow. If he still can't, they can't just keep dragging it on day after day, can they?

Fortunately, he paid for the music video himself, so he didn't have to worry about anyone pressuring him behind his back.

By 5 p.m., most of the filming had been completed. The rest of the filming crew left first, leaving Fang Xingu alone sitting by the canal, pondering how to film this shot.

The location was remote, with almost no passersby. Occasionally, a ship laden with goods would sail by on the canal, its horn blaring, giving Fang Xingu ample space for contemplation.

After the Spring Equinox, it gets dark later and later. In addition, the weather is very nice today, and it was still bright outside at 5:30.

Just as Fang Xingu was pondering this, he heard the sound of tires rolling over a gravel road behind him. Someone rang a bicycle bell at him. When Fang Xingu turned around, he first saw a white creature rushing towards him.

"Woof!"

Jing Quan Quan buried its head in Fang Xingu's arms, nuzzling him with its furry head and sticking out its tongue as it circled around him.

Fang Xingu exclaimed "Eh?", squatted down and hugged the dog's head, then turned to look at Jing Yitong riding a bicycle towards him, and asked in surprise, "Brother, you're back from the roadshow?"

Jing Yitong stopped his bicycle next to Fang Xingu. Today, he was wearing a short trench coat and his signature half-rimmed glasses, exuding a professional and sharp handsomeness. Sitting on the bicycle, one foot on the ground and the other on the pedal, he looked particularly tall.

Jing Yitong said, "I came back from Shanghai a long time ago. Quan Quan insisted on coming out, so I sent you a message asking if you wanted to come along. But I didn't get a reply for a long time, so I went out to walk the dog first. I didn't expect to run into you on my way home."

Fang Xin was preoccupied with the music video for the entire hour and didn't pay any attention to his phone's notifications. He asked, "Why are you riding a bike when you're out walking the dog?"

Jing Yitong rubbed his neck: "I'm tired after a long day of roadshows. I was worried I wouldn't be able to walk the dog later, so I thought I'd ride a bike to relax. Shall we go home?"

Fang Xingu pulled Quan Quan to her feet: "Let's go back."

Jing Yitong patted the back seat of the bicycle: "Get on, I'll take you home."

Fang Xingu hesitated for a moment: "Uh, can bicycles carry people now?"

Jing Yitong: ...

Jing Yitong: "I won't walk on the main road. I'll take a shortcut and go home through the back door."

Fang Xingu stopped worrying, stretched out his long legs, and climbed onto the back of the bicycle with a smile: "Can you still carry me?"

Jing Yitong started pedaling the bike, answering directly with his actions: "Do you think you're that heavy? You're so skinny."

Fang Xingu chuckled quietly. He was still holding the dog leash. Actually, Jing Quan Quan was a very obedient dog. Usually, when it was disobedient, it was just that it didn't want to listen. For example, when the two of them were riding their bikes, it obediently followed the bikes without suddenly darting or braking.

Fang Xin was so charmed by it that he decided to reward it with a small treat when he got home.

On the way home, Jing Yitong asked, "Weren't you filming a music video today? Why were you sitting there all by yourself just now?"

"We're done for the day. Everyone else has gone back to the hotel."

"Everyone else has left, why aren't you home yet?" Jing Yitong clearly knew Fang Xingu very well and immediately guessed his situation. "Is the filming not going well?"

Fang Xingu immediately deflated: "Sigh, recording the song didn't go smoothly either, and shooting the music video didn't go smoothly either."

Jing Yitong glanced back at Fang Xingu and, seeing that he seemed listless, reached out and affectionately patted his head: "Is there anything I can help with?"

Fang Xingu looked up at Jing Yitong. At that moment, the afterglow of the setting sun pierced through the shade of the trees, dappling Jing Yitong's worried face. Suddenly, Fang Xingu's heart skipped a beat, and he realized that this was the feeling he had been pursuing but had been unable to capture in his photos.

Although this scene was completely different from the video saved in Fang Xingu's phone album, it touched Fang Xingu's heartstrings.

Fang Xingu suddenly laughed. It turned out that it wasn't Jiang Huishan's performance that was wrong, but the person himself.

It turns out he just wanted Jing Yitong to act in that scene.

Fang Xingu certainly wanted to invite Jing Yitong to make a cameo appearance in his music video, but he wasn't sure if it was appropriate. After hesitating for a long time, he still didn't say it. He just put his hand on Jing Yitong's waist, gently pressed his forehead against Jing Yitong's back, and murmured, "I'm fine."

Jing Yitong felt Fang Xingu leaning against his back with dependence. From Fang Xingu's silent silence, he could hear many of his unspoken thoughts.

...Never mind, if Fang Xingu doesn't want to talk about it, he naturally has his own ways of finding out what happened today.

The two returned home, where Jing Yitong parked his bicycle in the Jing family's yard and had dinner delivered to his small building.

On the way back to the house, Jing Yitong quietly found Jiang Huishan's WeChat. He knew that Jiang Huishan had made a cameo appearance in Fang Xin Gu's music video today, so he simply asked him about it.

Jiang Huishan's message arrived quickly. He briefly described what happened today, complaining that Fang Xingu's demands were too high, and asked Jing Yitong to help persuade Fang Xingu, otherwise they might not be able to film the five-minute music video well tomorrow.

Jing Yitong asked what kind of shot it was that made Fang Xingu so picky, and Jiang Huishan quickly recounted the content of the shot.

Jing Yitong looked thoughtfully at the text description sent by Jiang Huishan, and a long-buried memory suddenly surged into his mind—

It seems like Fang Xingu filmed this video for him before?

Fang Xin was completely unaware of this and was still concerned about Jing Yitong's schedule for the day: "Brother, did your roadshow go well today?"

Jing Yitong put away her phone and looked at him silently: "The roadshow went quite smoothly, but there was a little hiccup."

Fang Xin hadn't been online much all day and had no idea what had happened.

Back home, Jing Yitong grabbed Jing Quanquan's dog paws and wiped them for a while, then started telling them about what had happened that day: "Do you remember when I told you before that 'Water Devours Sand' had a different director team? This afternoon, the original director team suddenly posted a message saying that we changed the team at the last minute before filming started, deliberately wasting two months of their time, and even plagiarizing their work."

Fang Xin, who was feeding the dog treats, paused upon hearing this and immediately picked up his phone to search for related information. He then discovered that the matter had indeed caused some ripples online, but the production team had managed the public opinion well, and the matter had not become too big.

Fang Xingu asked, "It sounds quite serious. Have you figured out how to handle it?"

Jing Yitong shook his head: "Jiang Zhou—the director who was replaced—said that the crew deliberately delayed their work by two months. That's definitely impossible, and that's easy to clarify. But as for his claim that the crew plagiarized their team's work, he didn't specify how he plagiarized it. I don't know if anyone in the crew actually took advantage of the situation, so we're in a rather passive position right now and it's not easy to handle. We can only contact Jiang Zhou privately while conducting an internal investigation."

That's true. It's difficult to properly supervise a film crew of several hundred people in every aspect. Moreover, Jiang Zhou hadn't contacted the crew at all from beginning to end. Now that he's suddenly jumping out to cause trouble, he definitely doesn't intend to settle things privately with the crew. Who knows what tricks he's up to?

Fang Xingu: "Jiang Zhou? It seems like I haven't heard that name in many years. So why was he replaced before?"

It's common for actors to be replaced before filming begins, and while it's less common for directors to be replaced, it does happen.

Jing Yitong happened to have also participated in the investment and production of "Water Devours Sand" and knew a lot about it. He frowned and explained, "I kicked Jiang Zhou out. At first, the producer decided to cast him as the director, but I disagreed. After two weeks of negotiation, the producer finally agreed to remove him. Firstly, Jiang Zhou's directing style didn't quite fit with 'Water Devours Sand,' and secondly, he had a very bad reputation. You should have heard of his ex-wife, Shen Shiyun."

Fang Xingu thought for a moment before digging out this once-familiar name from his memory: "She was an actress, right? I remember she used to win a lot of Best Actress awards, but then she committed suicide, I think?"

Jing Yitong nodded: "Yes, it is said that he committed suicide because he suffered from depression after being cheated on in his relationship by a third party... However, the real situation may be more complicated. In fact, this matter is also related to Liang Jiyan."

Upon hearing Liang Jiyan's name, Fang Xingu was even more confused: "How is this related to Sister Jiyan?" Moreover, in this story, it seems that Liang Jiyan can only play the role of a "third party," right?

Jing Yitong rubbed his temples: "I don't know the specifics either. I haven't specifically inquired about it before. But this matter caused quite a stir back then, and Jiang Zhou and Liang Jiyan, who were at the center of public opinion, were also put on hold. They only started to be active again in the last two years."

Fang Xin recalled that a few months ago, when the costume photos for "The World Is So Big" were being taken, Li Wenyu did mention to him that Liang Jiyan was embroiled in a public opinion storm and had not had any works for many years.

However, this happened several years ago. At that time, Fang Xin was still a senior in a boarding school and didn't pay much attention to the entertainment industry. He was so out of touch with the news that he was almost like a caveman. He had only vaguely heard about this matter.

Jing Yitong continued, "When the crew was preparing for the production, I happened to meet the current director, Han Gaocen. Director Han's style was very similar to 'Water Eats Sand,' and Jiang Zhou hadn't made a serious film in a long time, so I wasn't too comfortable with him. Besides, I always felt that getting involved with such a person wouldn't be good, so I insisted on kicking him out. Anyway, I was someone who brought my own investment to the production, and I was also a lead actor that the production company had worked hard to get, so I still had a lot of say."

Fang Xingu chuckled when he heard him start being irreverent again, saying, "We're talking about serious matters, can't you be serious for once?"

Jing Yitong shrugged: "That's the truth."

Fang Xingu couldn't stand his carefree attitude, so he nudged him and said, "This matter sounds like it won't be easy to resolve."

"Yes, it's best if the 'plagiarism' claim is completely unfounded, but if it is true, given Jiang Zhou's aggressive approach, it will probably be difficult to deal with. For now, we can only react to each move as it comes."

Fang Xin: "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not at the moment."

After Jing Yitong finished speaking, he suddenly remembered that on his way home earlier, he had asked Fang Xingu the same question, but Fang Xingu had not accepted his help.

Jing Yitong thought to himself that the two of them were so similar in this respect: neither of them worried about their own affairs, but were anxious about the other's situation.

However, there is currently no place where Fang Xingu can help Jing Yitong, but it's not the same for Fang Xingu.

Jing Yitong recalled the message Jiang Huishan had just sent him and asked Fang Xingu again with a sigh, "On the contrary, I've heard everything from Jiang Huishan. Do you really not need my help?"

Fang Xin Gu hadn't reacted yet, tilting his head in confusion: "What?"

Jing Yitong sighed, cupped Fang Xingu's face in his hands, leaned close to him, and looked directly into Fang Xingu's eyes: "Are you sure you don't need my help? For example, how about I make a cameo appearance in your music video?"

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Author's Note: After we get through this little movie saga, we'll be together with Xinyuan! I'll try to finish writing this week! [Milk Tea]