Chapter 143: The Mermaid's Tale (2)

Li Sishi listened carefully to the version of the plot jointly approved by director Le Yun and her master Le Yun, and felt that it was quite different from the version played by Gong Likui in her previous life.

Perhaps because the actress playing the female lead was different, the version starring Gong Likui focused on the mermaid's beautiful and charming appearance. The plot was also simpler, with the main storyline being a love story between a human youth and a mermaid who cross species lines. In addition, there were scenes with the second male and female leads. It was a fantasy romance film with a fresh and beautiful style, emphasizing the word "love" in the latter part.

Furthermore, since Gong Li Kui wasn't a great singer, the film couldn't portray the mermaid's singing ability. So, the script simply cut that storyline and replaced it with a youth comedy romance genre, which is more common in Hong Kong films.

The version she's listening to now focuses more on the "mermaid"—well, she's a... a mermaid with a lot of ideals.

Human activities have led to ocean pollution and environmental degradation. As the most beautiful singer among the new generation of mermaids, the female protagonist goes to the statue of the sea god every year on the night of the festival to sing and pray for the sea god's favor, hoping that the sea god will perform a miracle and restore the polluted sea to its former purity.

Unfortunately, even though the female protagonist is currently the mermaid with the most outstanding singing voice among the mermaids, she is still not as good as her ancestor who was once able to call upon the sea god's favor. Over the years, she has been unable to move the sea god to perform miracles with her singing. Therefore, the mermaids can only quietly swim to polluted areas in the dead of night to work together to deal with marine debris, hoping that through their efforts, the pollution of the ocean will slow down and become less severe.

As for the second male lead, "Feiniao," and the second female lead, "Qiqi," their story, set against this fantastical backdrop, also includes a tale of past and present lives: Feiniao, a descendant of the phoenix, fell in love with Princess Qiqi of a small human kingdom in his previous life. Unfortunately, the king disapproved of this interracial love and deliberately gave Feiniao a test, sending him to the farthest reaches of the world to collect the most dazzling pearls in the world and present them to the king. Only then would the king allow Princess Qiqi, his "precious jewel," to marry a legendary alien.

But this test was actually a ploy by the king to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

When the bird finally reached the ends of the earth and, with the help of the heroine's ancestors, successfully retrieved the mermaid clan's seven-colored pearl, it was shocked to discover that the king had already betrothed Princess Kiki to the prince of the neighboring country while he was away searching for the pearl, all for the gold and silver jewels sent by the neighboring kingdom.

Princess Kiki, in order to resist this...

She was forced into an arranged marriage and hanged herself in a tower the night before her wedding. Her eyes, no longer bright, were fixed on the direction of the kingdom's gate through the tower window, hoping for her lover's return.

Unfortunately, she never got to see her departed lover until the very last moment.

This story from a past life was adapted into one of the troupe's musicals by the reincarnation of Princess Kiki, "Kiki," who was reborn in the modern era. It became one of the more popular new plays in the "Mermaid Melody" troupe.

Of course, Asuka did not let the tragic ending of her previous life repeat itself. Instead, she changed the ending so that Asuka could retrieve the pearl in time and save her beloved princess at the critical moment. In the end, she moved the king and the people and achieved a beautiful and happy ending where lovers were finally united.

The deeper meaning behind Asuka's alteration of the story's ending is that he will continue his relationship with the reincarnated princess in this life, and he is willing to wait no matter how long it takes until the reincarnated princess falls in love with him again. Because he always calls Kiki, who plays "Princess Kiki," "Princess," the people in the troupe also use "Princess" as Kiki's nickname, and they often tease this seemingly well-matched young couple.

It was because Asuka cared about Kiki that, on the night of the Sea God's Festival, when he received news that Kiki had been in a car accident on her way there, he could only ask the male protagonist, King, to help inform one of his "friends" that he had some things to do and needed to leave for a while, and might not be able to come back to see her festival song performance until later.

Everyone in the troupe knew that Asuka liked Kiki, so King readily agreed. Following Asuka's directions, he went to a nearby beach to wait for Asuka's friend to arrive.

Then he saw a beautiful young woman dressed in extremely luxurious clothes swimming out of the sea.

Because today is the annual Sea God Festival in this fishing village, King assumed that the beautiful girl was the priestess chosen by the villagers. He told her that Fei Niao had something come up and might be late to the festival.

The beautiful girl smiled and thanked him for the information. Then she plunged back into the vast sea and swam toward the distant sea god statue, as if their meeting was just a beautiful dream he had had by chance.

But the chanting coming from behind was so ethereal and distant that King, who was just marveling at how difficult the traditional sacrificial ceremony in the fishing village was, couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

Then, he looked back at the distant statue of Poseidon... and then at the statue of Poseidon facing it.

A beautiful young girl singing softly.

As if lured by a spell, he walked step by step into the sea, hoping to hear more clearly the beautiful, seemingly unheard-of song. Even as he finally drowned and sank, he could not wake up from the dream constructed by the song.

Fortunately, the mermaid he regarded as a sacrificial maiden, after failing to call upon the sea god's favor once again, discovered that someone nearby had been attracted by her singing and had walked into the sea to drown, their life hanging by a thread.

The mermaid quickly rescued King and brought him back to shore, but unfortunately, King's breathing was already quite weak. As compensation, she temporarily transferred the mermaid pearl, which contained most of her magic power, to King to maintain his fragile life force.

Then the mermaid made some noise and hid in the shadow of the reef, waiting for the villagers who were worshipping the sea god on the other side of the beach to come and patrol. They discovered the drowning King and rescued him.

What follows is the story of the mermaid coming ashore to retrieve her mermaid pearl. After arriving ashore, with the help of her friend Asuka, she infiltrates a theater troupe under a false identity. During her time learning and living in the troupe, she gradually falls in love with a human and then realizes the "emotional power" missing from her singing.

She eventually returned to the sea to await the arrival of the next night of sacrifice.

Besides the fantastical and beautiful love story that transcends race, this version of the story also subtly alludes to the environmental theme of "humanity and nature" within its seemingly light and refreshing plot.

Even though more and more people are awakening to the need to protect the beautiful ocean together, there are still many people in this world who pretend to be ignorant of the sins they have committed, and some even follow the trail of mermaids to capture the heroine in order to turn her into a rare and valuable magical creature for exhibition and profit.

After her final performance, the mermaid bid farewell to humanity and returned to the sea. This was partly due to her understanding of the power to move the sea god's emotions, but also partly due to her desire for self-preservation.

After the entire movie's plot was explained, everyone began to work diligently on their respective tasks. Among them, the person with the heaviest workload was undoubtedly Li Sishi, who was both the female lead and responsible for most of the movie's original soundtrack.

Before filming the scene where the mermaid appears in the sea, he plunged into the recording studio to record a song—coincidentally, the wordless chanting that the mermaid sang was the very song that Luan Wushan had composed based on her.

After obtaining permission from her as his "source of inspiration" and completing the composition, Wu Shanluan took it to that musician.

Teacher Dai Sir, a godfather-level figure in the music world, submitted his homework; and Teacher Dai Sir recommended the piece to director Yue Yun, giving Wu Shanluan an audition opportunity for the second male lead in the movie.

After many twists and turns, this piece of music, which was inspired by Li Sishi, has miraculously returned to Li Sishi.

"That sounds pretty romantic," Wan Jiamei commented enthusiastically.

The three of them had just finished filming the interior scenes of the theater troupe, and while they still had some time, they came to check on Li Sishi's recording progress.

Perhaps because today is only the first day of filming, it's not good to be too busy or rushed. So the outdoor scene for the night of the festival will only be filmed tomorrow morning, when we will gather to take a boat to the agreed beach and then start filming in the evening. Therefore, the three of them who don't have any recording tasks today are quite "free".

Unlike Wan Jiamei, who was busy listening to gossip, and Cheng Erjian, who was busy taking out his game console to play a few rounds, Wu Shanluan, one of the composers, was very dedicated and came to Li Sishi's side to discuss with her how to make this part of the wordless vocal singing more beautiful and closer to the legendary mermaid voice that is not like the human world.

Before they knew it, it was already dark. After Li Sishi recorded a version that satisfied everyone, everyone packed up, went to a nearby restaurant for dinner, and then went home... Oh, except for Wu Shanluan, who received Cheng Erjian's invitation to play games, the two of them were on the same route.

"Senior brother, don't lead them astray!" Li Sishi reminded him as they got off the bus.

"He's even more ruthless than me when he plays games!" Cheng Erjian replied speechlessly, "You'd be better off worrying about me..."

"Alright, alright, just don't let it interfere with tomorrow's work. Don't stay up too late, it's bad for your health!" Li Sishi waved her hand.

However, even after she repeatedly warned them, both of the game console spirits still had faint bluish-black spots under their eyes when they gathered the next day.

"How long did you guys stay up last night?!"

Li Sishi stared at Cheng Erjian, who was yawning incessantly, with a scrutinizing look.

"Sigh, anyway, let's not talk about it. I was planning to go to bed early, but I was thinking, 'This is the last time, the last time, I'll beat the game soon...' and then I realized it was already six in the morning." Cheng Erjian shrank back guiltily. "Okay, okay, I know I was wrong, but actually, this look is just right for Ah King's confused expression in this scene..."

"Shut up." Li Sishi was too lazy to pay attention to them. "Since we have a long boat ride to the beach, you guys should take the time to rest."

Seeing Li Sishi go and sit with Wan Jiamei, Wu Shanluan from Bao

He took out a bottle of cod liver oil and gave Cheng Erjian a few pills: "Taking some after staying up late is good for your health."

"Thank you... but I feel perfectly fine, I'm in great health!" Cheng Erjian was about to swallow it casually when he remembered something else, "This... shouldn't have any taste, right?"

"No." Wu Shanluan shook his head, then asked somewhat strangely, "Are you particularly sensitive to smells?"

"It's nothing... as long as it doesn't taste like anything." Upon receiving this reply, Cheng Erjian quickly swallowed the few cod liver oil pills.

Although he is in good health and doesn't need this stuff, he'll eat it since the other person meant well.

Anyway, since there's no smell, it won't stop him from filming kissing scenes—yes, the fantasy romance film "The Mermaid Pearl" uses a very old-fashioned mouth-to-mouth delivery method...

He's filmed kissing scenes before, so why does he seem a little nervous today?

Perhaps it's because he previously worked with pretty girls in ordinary relationships, but this time he's working with Li Sishi, who he often jokes around with, to the point that their relationship is almost like that of half-siblings.

As the scene unfolded, Cheng Erjian skillfully "lay prone" on the beach, his soaking white shirt casting shadows in the lamplight, which only added to his alluring, veiled charm.

In addition to selling the looks and figures of the actresses, the male actors' looks and figures are also indispensable in youth romance fantasy movies.

Cheng Erjian himself lives a rather rough life, but he always manages to encounter directors who appreciate his looks and physique. As a result, he has been unable to become the talented actor he dreamed of, and he is often treated like an idol and photographed from various angles...

At this moment, director Le Yun signaled the cameraman to shoot the drowning beauty from several angles before beckoning Li Sishi, who was dragging a heavy fish tail weighing dozens of kilograms, to come up: "Come on, kiss him! Kiss him for a long time! We'll be doing the mermaid pearl transmission effect in post-production... In short, the longer the better!"

Struggling to suppress the urge to laugh, Li Sishi slowly lowered her head and saw the "salted fish" lying among the corpses in front of her with a bright red face that looked like it had been ripened.

Fortunately, the light source next to him was a warm color scheme of red, orange, and yellow, so his bright red face wasn't too noticeable, and they could continue taking pictures.

It shouldn't be to the point that both of them have to eat a NG (no good) dish.

So Li Sishi gently pressed her lips, which appeared slightly paler in comparison, against the light.

This is simply a mouth-to-mouth kiss, much easier than the kissing scenes she filmed before—[argument/contest]

Let's just take one to avoid embarrassing our senior brother. After all, apart from being a bit manly when playing games, he's as thin-skinned as a teenage girl at other times...

Upon hearing the director's "Cut" and "Goodtake," Li Sishi hurriedly tried to get up, but the force she used to support her was accidentally a little too strong, causing Cheng Erjian, who was lying there like a corpse, to immediately open his eyes with a yelp and look at her with an accusing expression.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, it was an accident..." Li Sishi apologized repeatedly when she realized that she had pressed down on his shoulder to help him sit up, and that her hand had accidentally pressed against the pen in his shirt pocket.

"Come on, you didn't do it on purpose." He grimaced as he sat up, took the pen he'd forgotten to take, and then tugged at his collar to look at the red mark below his collarbone where the pen had pressed against his skin. It was a little red, but nothing serious; it just hurt so much that he couldn't help it...

"Whoosh!" Li Sishi leaned over and blew on it, startling him so much he almost jumped up. "What are you doing?!"

“Hey, we usually do this too.” Li Sishi looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Looking at those questioning eyes flickering in the lamplight, Cheng Erjian suppressed his racing heart and recalled how, when the two of them playfully teased each other, they would sometimes blow on each other's wounds like soothing a child.

Then they continue to hurt each other...

But the previous preconditions were not like they are now...

The thought of this made his chest pound even more erratically, and he felt a slight, dull ache in his chest.

Oh dear, did staying up all night really cause some kind of problem?!