Chapter 70. Do I even need to praise the lead actor? Old Master Jing…
The audience laughed. Fang Xingu's appearance here was indeed "unexpected but reasonable," but it sounded hilarious coming from Fang Xingu himself.
Fang Xingu angrily looked at the stage, only to see that the other main creators also looked surprised. Only Jing Yitong was still smiling at him. Fang Xingu glared at Jing Yitong, this big liar, and strongly suspected that the man was doing it on purpose.
Jing Yitong blinked innocently at him, and then, quite infuriatingly, had a staff member bring him a microphone.
Fang Xin let out a breath, resignedly took the microphone, bowed slightly to the media and audience behind him, and greeted them: "Hello everyone."
Many people behind him hadn't been able to see clearly whether it was Fang Xingu or not, but as soon as Fang Xingu spoke, everyone recognized his voice, and a cheer of "Wow!" immediately erupted from behind.
Someone jokingly asked, "What brings Teacher Fang here?"
“Well, does this even need an explanation? A teacher who wishes to remain anonymous invited me here,” Fang Xingu cleared his throat. Seeing that someone still wanted to ask him questions, he quickly added, “Today is the premiere of ‘Water Eats Sand,’ and I hope everyone’s focus will return to the film itself.”
Hearing him say that, many of the media outlets that had been itching to ask questions finally calmed down. The reporter who had asked the question thought for a moment and then asked, "What does Professor Fang think of this movie?"
Fang Xingu carefully replied, "I'm neither a film critic nor a professional in the industry, so I can only speak from the perspective of an audience member: I really like this movie."
The reporter pressed further: "What was Teacher Jing saying to you during the movie screening? Teacher Fang, would you mind sharing that with us?"
Fang Xingu thought for a moment and realized that he couldn't remember what Jing Yitong had rambled on about just now, which showed how perfunctory his previous answer had been.
He replied, "He just asked me for my opinion on the movie. I can't quite remember what we talked about... Professor Jing was too long-winded. I was watching the movie seriously, and he kept bothering me. I didn't have time to chat with him."
Jing Yitong couldn't help but interject, "Am I long-winded?"
Squeaks of suppressed laughter filled the theater, and even the reporter couldn't help but smile, trying to sound serious as a peacemaker: "This shows that Teacher Fang highly approves of Teacher Jing's new film."
Fang Xin nodded repeatedly.
Jing Yitong hummed twice and asked Fang Xingu, "Then please, Teacher Fang, give us a detailed evaluation of our film."
Fang Xin glanced at him, "Why are you adding more scenes for me?" Jing Yitong, however, looked at him with a smile.
Fang Xin deliberately said, "The overall soundtrack blends very well with the plot and characters. I noticed that Wei Qin's name appeared in the music production of the end credits. It is indeed a masterpiece. There are also several new songwriters, such as Feng He and Tong Mengyu. Several of the interludes are also very well done."
Starting from one's own expertise, praising senior colleagues and offering a few words of guidance to newcomers is always a safe bet.
Jing Yitong was very dissatisfied with his answer: "Is it just a musical evaluation?"
Fang Xingu knew what Jing Yitong meant, but deliberately didn't answer in the same way. He raised an eyebrow and continued, "The plot is also very rich and full, and the logic is naturally sound. The director's cinematography is also very realistic..."
Jing Yitong: ...
Jing Yitong listened to Fang Xin's praise of almost everyone in the crew except himself, and became anxious: "Don't you have any comments on the lead actors?"
As soon as he said that, the whole room burst into good-natured laughter: "Hahaha!"
Fang Xingu couldn't help but laugh. After getting his revenge, and seeing that he had amused Jing Yitong enough, he said seriously, "Does the lead actor need my praise? Teacher Jing has already won me over with his acting skills."
Jing Yitong then revealed an expression that said, "That's more like it."
The premiere concluded perfectly, and that evening, the media reporters and moviegoers who attended the premiere began posting film reviews online. The overwhelmingly positive reviews made netizens eagerly anticipate the movie.
Some people also posted videos and photos of Fang Xingu appearing at the premiere, which gave the CP fans another dose of good news. For a time, the entire internet was filled with the three keywords: Jing Yitong, Fang Xingu, and Tong Xinyuan.
However, a small incident occurred just before the film's release. During this period, Jing Yitong's acquaintances in the industry helped to promote "Water Eats Sand," but Fang Xingu did not respond at all.
Fang Xingu's seemingly inaction was interpreted by the toxic fans as a signal that their relationship was merely superficial and that they were too lazy to even promote each other online.
However, the CP fans refuted this with reason and evidence, arguing that Fang Xingu had already gone to offline promotions, so why would he care about one online promotion? The attention that Fang Xingu brought to "Water Devouring Sand" by attending the premiere was greater than the combined effect of other artists' online promotions.
The CP fans and toxic solo stans were arguing fiercely, and just when everyone assumed Fang Xingu would no longer promote "Water Devouring Sand," Fang Xingu made a move—
If a child is quiet, they're definitely up to no good.
He quietly accomplished something big, secretly booking 10,000 screenings of "Water Devours Sand" online.
Everyone was stunned. Many people took out their calculators in disbelief to calculate how much it would cost to book 10,000 cloud screenings, and then they were too scared to say a word.
Holy crap, Fang Xin has gone mad.
Fang Xin and Jing Yi seemed to have created a catfish effect, finally revitalizing the stagnant entertainment industry.
The internet was buzzing with excitement, and even casual viewers were incredibly excited about "Water Eats Sand." Although some suspected that the production company was just buying hype, the fact that "Water Eats Sand" saw its pre-sale box office soar, eventually even breaking pre-sale records, was undeniable.
In late March, "Water Eats Sand" was released as scheduled, and eagerly awaiting audiences flocked to the cinemas.
This film, which was delayed for more than half a year before its release, received rave reviews as soon as it was shown. No matter the era, audiences will love such a sincere and high-quality work, and its box office performance has been soaring.
Amidst the turmoil of the world, Fang Xin and Jing Yitong returned to Jiangcheng once again.
Jing Yitong was going to do a roadshow in several cities around Jiangcheng in the past few days, so he took the opportunity to go home. Fang Xingu had a music video project to shoot in Jiangcheng, so he went home to see Wang Jinxu.
Moreover, Fang Xin's recording work was nearing completion, but unsurprisingly, it got stuck on "Silent Voice".
He felt he might be obsessed, insisting on replicating the feeling he had when singing "The World Is So Big." To achieve this, he meticulously reviewed every detail of the original recording, exhausting himself and not achieving particularly good results.
Taking advantage of this opportunity to go home, Fang Xin wanted to ask Wang Jinxu for advice again.
Wang Jinxu has lost a lot of weight. Although she is undergoing chemotherapy, she doesn't look sick at all. She walks briskly every day and speaks with great energy when she scolds Fang Xin. People who don't know her would never guess that she has cancer.
Seeing Wang Jinxu's condition, Fang Xingu was relieved.
In the Fang family's old house in Jiangcheng, Jing Yitong came to borrow the piano to practice. Seeing that Fang Xingu looked a little listless, he asked, "Why do you look like this every day these past two days? Is the recording not going well?"
Fang Xin, an old friend, leaned to one side and said, "Yes, it's the song 'Silence Has a Voice' that I sang on your birthday. I can't recreate the emotions I felt that day no matter what I do now."
Jing Yitong asked in confusion, "Why do we have to replicate the emotions of that day? I remember you sang very well on New Year's Eve too."
"After all, it's a song about unrequited love. I feel that the emotion I sang on your birthday was closer to the feeling I wanted."
Jing Yitong wasn't that perceptive about music. He only knew that both times he heard "Silence Has a Voice," it was very beautiful. Moreover, "The World Is So Big" hadn't even aired its final episode yet. Jing Yitong hadn't recorded Fang Xin's performance on the Affogato, so he couldn't compare the two performances at all.
Curious, he asked Fang Xingu for the video of his first performance to compare with his New Year's Eve concert. He quickly came to a different conclusion from Fang Xingu: "But I prefer your second performance."
Fang Xin tilted his head: "Why?"
Jing Yitong handed the phone back to Fang Xingu: "When you played the instrumental version of 'Silence Has a Voice' for me before, I felt that the song was rather depressing. I guess when you sang it for the first time, you were more inclined to express it that way. But when you sang it for the second time, your singing style was warmer."
This song is originally about unrequited love. The first way of singing it made me feel that it was a relationship that ended without a trace, which made me feel heavy-hearted. But the second way of singing it made me feel that it was an unrequited love with hope.
Fang Xingu was somewhat lost in thought. He knew that everyone had different preferences when it came to music. He himself had previously preferred the first singing style, but now, after Jing Yitong said the same thing, he was wavering.
After all, this song was originally sung for Jing Yitong. If even Jing Yitong himself prefers the second one, then what was the point of his previous insistence?
He suddenly remembered what Wang Jinxu had told him before the New Year: Who says a song can only have one way of expression? Or rather, who says a song can only have two ways of expression?
He could easily combine these two ways of expressing himself.
Although he hadn't figured out how to sing "Silence Has a Voice" yet, at this moment, Fang Xin Gu suddenly had a breakthrough: "Teacher Jing is right!"
Jing Yitong laughed and said, "Alright, can you smile now? You've been looking gloomy for days."
Fang Xin raised the corners of his mouth, and as Jing Yi had wished, she rewarded him with a smile.
The next day, Jing Yi went to Shanghai for a promotional tour, while Fang Xin went with the music video filming team to the canal bank in Jiangcheng.
Today they are preparing to shoot the music video for "Parallel Parallelism". The content of this music video was designed by Fang Xin Gu in advance. There is a very important shot that he insisted on being filmed on the canal in Jiangcheng.
Everything in the album production was based on Fang Xingu's opinions, so the filming team followed Fang Xingu to Jiangcheng.
Fang Xingu hummed the lyrics as he scouted the location along the riverbank, telling the guest actor Jiang Huishan about his ideas, and even demonstrating it himself: "It's a very simple shot. First, he walks along the riverbank with his back to the camera, and then smiles and looks back at the camera. It's best to portray a bit of a student's temperament, but not too lively."
Jiang Huishan, who was acting alongside him, laughed and said, "Why didn't you just film this simple scene yourself? Why did you need to find me as a 'stand-in'?"
Fang Xingu explained: "It's not a stand-in. You're playing an abstract will, but I'm the main character in this music video. This will can't be played by the main character; it has to be expressed by another person."
Jiang Huishan tried hard to digest Fang Xingu's abstract concept, but ultimately failed. Fortunately, although he couldn't understand Fang Xingu's words, he could still understand what kind of visuals and shots Fang Xingu wanted.
The filming crew quickly got to work, each performing their assigned tasks. Jiang Huishan originally thought that such a simple shot would be easy to get right in three or four takes, but Fang Xin kept making him reshoot over twenty times without success, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on what the problem was.
Jiang Huishan wasn't angry. He had known Fang Xingu for several years and knew that the other party wasn't deliberately making things difficult for him. He was just a little helpless: "Xingu, are you sure you know what kind of visuals and effects you want?"
Fang Xingu paused for a moment, then muttered, "I know."
Jiang Huishan laughed. "You don't look like you know anything."
He said, "Why don't you rest for a bit first, and then think about it?"
Fang Xingu nodded and called a pause, letting everyone take a break. He then took his phone and sat down on a bench. He opened his phone's cloud photo album and found a video that had been saved for ten years.
In the video, Jing Yitong, wearing a white shirt school uniform, is walking along the canal bank. At that time, Jing Yitong was not as composed as he is now. His light steps were accompanied by a lively undulation, and he was talking to himself.
At that time, Fang Xingu followed behind Jing Yitong, making "uh-huh" noises and secretly taking pictures.
At some point, Fang Xingu suddenly stopped and remained in place. Jing Yitong did not notice that Fang Xingu had fallen behind. He continued walking forward, still muttering to himself.
After a while, Jing Yitong, who had walked further and further away, realized that he had not received a reply from Fang Xingu. He turned around, looking at Fang Xingu, who was lagging behind, with surprise and amusement, and ran towards him.
At that moment, the sunlight fell on Jing Yitong, making his youthful vigor shine brightly, and his whole person radiated a dazzling light.
Fang Xingu watched the video several times, thinking to himself, how could he not know what kind of visuals and effects he wanted? After all, the original version was stored on his phone.
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Author's Note: Jiang Huishan: ...Didn't you say I wasn't a stand-in? [Clown]
Jing Yitong: Sorry, it seems this cameo role in the music video is definitely mine. [Sunglasses]
Fang Xin Gu: [Hands clasped in prayer]
Jiang Huishan: ...Am I also part of your play? [Angry]
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