At the beginning, Jin Shizhen had no good feelings towards Liu. He thought that her behavior was unvirtuous of a woman and he spoke harshly to her. However, she always remained silent, but smiled and was considerate and docile when facing him.
Although she was weak, she was quite stubborn. After a while, Jin Shizhen let her go.
As they got along, Jin Shizhen gradually developed feelings for Liu and found her to be extremely beautiful, gentle and charming.
She seemed to know him very well and took care of him meticulously. She was also very aware of some of his subtle habits. The two got along well with each other. Jin Shizhen even felt like he had found a precious item that he had lost for a long time, and slowly fell in love with her.
Their relationship gradually grew warmer, and he found that he was gradually losing his desire to pursue immortality. Instead, he felt that living an ordinary life like his parents, taking the imperial examinations to become an official, marrying Liu, and having children was not bad.
He decided to leave the mountains and return to his life.
When she returned, Liu looked very sad. After knowing his decision, she seemed distraught for several days.
Jin Shizhen was both amused and annoyed by this. They were an engaged couple, legitimately married, and their ages were almost the same. He decided to work hard for Liu, pass the imperial examination, and marry her in a grand ceremony in the future.
However, Liu was quite surprised and did not take his words seriously. She even wanted to keep him in the mountains for the rest of his life.
Jin Shizhen used to yearn for the mountains, hoping to gain immortal fate and opportunities, but now that he has a beloved, he yearns for the mortal world. He rejected Liu's request, saying that as an engaged couple, he wanted to propose to the Liu family openly and did not want to stay here all his life, sneaking around as if he was ashamed to be seen by others.
Liu asked him several times, and he was very determined. He even took the initiative to pick up the books and prepare for the exam next year.
Before he went back, Liu was absent-minded and seemed extremely sad. She tentatively mentioned his views on demons and monsters.
Jin Shizhen was quite firm on this point, believing that demons and monsters should not exist in the world. He did not notice the despair that flashed across Liu's eyes when she heard what he said.
She gradually became thinner, her attitude became indifferent, and there was a hint of despair in her melancholy. Jin Shizhen was immersed in excitement and did not notice Liu's changes at all.
When he was about to leave, Liu, contrary to her usual behavior, tearfully said that before he got married, as long as he was willing to change his mind, he could come here to find her and she would wait for him.
Jin Shizhen didn't take it seriously when he heard this.
After returning to the Jin family, he often missed Liu and occasionally found opportunities to visit Liu to relieve his homesickness.
But for some reason, the personalities of Liu in Heyang County and Liu in the mountains seemed to be different. Jin Shizhen could not find the feeling he had when he was with her in the mountains. There was also a lack of throbbing between the two of them, and there was also a lack of a sense of spiritual connection between him and Liu.
But Jin Shizhen thought that this might be due to the different places.
After all, the mountains are secluded from the world, and Liu is bolder, so it is normal that she can communicate with him and seems to live in his heart.
In the secular world, Liu should be mindful of the opinions of those around her and behave in a more restrained manner.
Jin Shizhen often comforted himself in this way, but every time he met Liu, the feeling of mutual appreciation became weaker. Jin Shizhen simply devoted all his attention to studying, and sure enough, he passed the imperial examination the following year.
The family was very happy and started to arrange his marriage, but for some reason, Jin Shizhen began to doubt Liu from Heyang County and Liu from the mountains. They looked similar, but their personalities were completely different. Except for the face, they didn't look like the same person at all.
The more he thought about it, the more creepy he felt. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Liu, who lived in a house deep in the mountains, had a personality and expression that were somewhat similar to "Miss Mei".
Whenever he thought of this, he would always remember what Liu had said before he returned home. She had said that if he changed his mind before getting married, he could go to the house in the mountains to find her.
As the wedding date drew closer, Jin Shizhen could hardly be happy. He had realized the difference between the two Lius, and he had begun to doubt the 'Liu' in the mountains.
The one he really loves is not his fiancée Liu, but most likely the enchanting 'Miss Mei'.
Jin Shizhen felt a little embarrassed and a little scared that he fell in love with a monster.
He thought that this feeling must be some kind of magic cast by 'Miss Mei' to deliberately confuse him. He hardened his heart and stopped thinking about Liu. Instead, he started preparing for the wedding as his parents had said.
The day before the wedding, he received a piece of letter with a picture on it. A beautiful woman holding plum blossoms was waiting for him. The letter asked: Does our vow still count
The letter had a faint fragrance. Through this thin piece of paper, Jin Shizhen seemed to be able to imagine that "Miss Mei"'s affectionate and silent eyes were waiting for his answer.
What was the covenant between them
She had said at the beginning that she would wait for him to return, but now that the wedding date is approaching, he did not choose her.
On the wedding night, there was laughter and joy outside, but Jin Shizhen felt nervous for some reason.
Sitting in front of him was Liu, who was waiting for him to lift up her red veil, but in a trance he seemed to discover that Miss Mei had come, with a pale face and a mournful expression, and she reached out to touch the red heart mole on his forehead.
When she touched the cinnabar mole between his eyebrows, it burned incredibly. Someone exclaimed, "What's wrong, sir?"
The scarlet mark between his brows was fading, and scenes flashed through his mind, as if he had just woken up from a dream, and many events from his past and present lives came to his mind.
He and she were originally immortals in heaven. Because they secretly fell in love with each other, they agreed to come down to earth and live together for a hundred years.
One was reincarnated as a human, the other became a monster that occupied the mountain. The reincarnated human forgot his past, but the monster still remembered the appointment they made a thousand years ago.
For fear of losing her lover, she placed a drop of her heart's blood on his forehead as a guide between them, so that he would find him easier after his reincarnation.
The color of the cinnabar mole became lighter and lighter, almost invisible. Jin Shizhen was extremely anxious and shouted "Xianyuan" and wanted to go find her.
The "Xianyuan" he had always called her was not the illusory opportunity of becoming an immortal, but her name was Mei Xianyuan. She had been right in front of him, but he pushed her away.
On the wedding night, he rushed back to the house deep in the mountains, but the beauty had disappeared, leaving only the fragrance in the room.
It was still a piece of letter with a faint plum scent. She lost everything for him, but he didn't love her who had lost everything.
Perhaps Mei Xianyuan had anticipated such an outcome early on, so when she transformed, she still held on to a glimmer of hope and wanted to find her lover to whom she had sworn a vow of eternal love, but she had already made the worst plan and transformed herself according to the face of his fiancée Liu, so that even if he understood everything in the future and lost her, he would be able to easily accept Liu as a person and stay with her for the rest of his life, for fear that this fate would ruin his future.
Jiang Se finished reading the story in one breath, and it was already dark.
The desk lamp next to her was on. She took only one sip of the tea that Mo Anqi had prepared for her and put it aside. It was now completely cold.
It is no wonder that Lin Xiwen was so confident and willing to wait for herself based on this story. This story is completely different from Lin Xiwen's previous film "Erlang Shen Quells the Rebellion in the World". It incorporates the delicate emotions that Lin Xiwen is good at into every corner of the script.
Jin Shizhen kept on seeking the "immortal fate", but when the real immortal fate appeared before him, he avoided it as much as possible.
When he later realized who he really liked, he didn't muster up the courage and missed his partner.
In comparison, Mei Xianyuan is more affectionate than him.
When the two fell in love, she resolutely gave up her fairy identity and came down to earth as a demon in order to fulfill her promise with Jin Shizhen, to stay with him for the rest of his life and to achieve a marriage.
But in the end she gave up everything, without her old friends, only endless years of waiting, only to find that Jin Shizhen did not love her who had nothing, and even avoided her as much as possible because of her identity as a fairy. This is the biggest irony of the whole play.
Jiang Se picked up the character outline, and the role that Lin Xiwen wanted to give her was Mei Xianyuan.
From the moment this character's name first appeared in the script, in the eyes of the demons, she was a powerful demon girl, lonely and cold, not fond of interacting with people, only celebrating her birthday once every hundred years, but never accepting anything from others.
On Qiansui's birthday, she made an exception and accepted Jin Shizhen, but she was heartbroken because of it.
The moment she appeared, she was so beautiful without any evil charm, but like a fairy from the world of mortals. Even Jin Shizhen, who was full of prejudice against her, was dazzled and amazed.
But this impression changed when she saw Jin Shizhen. Her eyes were filled with joy, excitement and happiness, like a young girl who had just fallen in love.
Later, she transformed herself into Liu and lived with Jin Shizhen. When she borrowed the identity of "someone else", she probably had already anticipated the final outcome of her and Jin Shizhen. So even though Jin Shizhen's love for her deepened, she was always worried and depressed.
There was room for development in this character, and Jiang Se was really interested in it. Just reading the story outline gave Jiang Se some feeling, and she decided to take on the show.
She stretched herself, and Mo Anqi, who had been sitting in the other corner of the sofa playing with her phone, put down her phone and sighed:
"You finally finished reading it."
Jiang Se was so engrossed in the story that she didn't even notice me looking at her a few times.
"What do you think of Lin Xiwen's movie?"
Jiang Se nodded, watching her eating a piece of cake happily:
"Not bad. Director Lin should have found his feeling this time."
As long as the filming follows the script outline, there are no mistakes, and the actors perform steadily, Lin Xiwen should be able to restore his reputation with "Xianyuan" and put behind him the bad influence brought to him by "Erlang Shen Quells the Rebellion on Earth".
During the filming, Lin Xiwen is very good at handling this kind of plot, so there are no big problems. For this kind of mythological film, as long as you are willing to spend money on the production of post-production special effects, and there are no problems with the script, the leading actors, and the director, there will be almost no problems.
"Have you decided to take on this film?"
Mo Anqi was a little surprised when she heard this, and Jiang Se responded.
The next day, she called Lin Xiwen and told him that she was willing to take on the role of "Xianyuan". Lin Xiwen was extremely happy.
It has been more than two years since the script of the movie "Xianyuan" was handed to Jiang Se. Lin Xiwen used two years to exchange for an opportunity.
Lin Xiwen's happiness was revealed in his trembling voice over the phone. He told Jiang Se that he would formally submit the script to Century Galaxy through the company later, and then negotiate the terms of the contract.
After finishing the business, Lin Xiwen was silent for a while, and then asked:
"Sese, can I ask why you are willing to take on "Xianyuan"?"
After he finished speaking, he seemed to realize that his question was not asked in the right way, and he organized his words again:
"Of course I'm not saying the script is bad."
He originally went to Hou Xiling to ask for the script of this movie, hoping that Hou Xiling would come out of retirement to write another script for him.
However, due to health reasons, Hou Xiling finally rejected his request. However, as the two had worked together before, Hou Xiling introduced one of his early students, who also had excellent writing skills, to write this romantic drama with a mythological color.
The moment Lin Xiwen got the script, he immediately had the idea of inviting Jiang Se after reading it.
He had a feeling that this movie would be good because the script was very good, which was one of the elements for a successful movie. If Jiang Se could be invited, with Jiang Se's improved acting skills in recent years, the box office would definitely not be a problem after "Xianyuan" was released.
But Jiang Se at that time was no longer the same as Jiang Se who had worked with Lin Xiwen in the early years to shoot "Beijing Events". In "Beijing Events", she was still a newcomer, a girl who could be hired with a salary of hundreds of thousands.
By the time Lin Xiwen came up with the idea of inviting Jiang Se to star in the film, Jiang Se had already filmed several movies in a row and his status was rising.
Even after being nominated for the 'Best Actress' award at the French Film Festival for her role in 'Demons', Lin Xiwen was not sure she would take on the film.
Last year, before Jiang Se was about to film Cesare's "Divine Redemption", Lin Xiwen asked her to finish the movie before considering "Xianyuan", but she was actually unsure.
She has participated in movies directed by big directors and with big productions. It is hard to say whether she will be interested in "Xianyuan".
So after Jiang Se finished filming "God's Redemption", Lin Xiwen did not call her to ask about this matter immediately. Unexpectedly, Jiang Se would take the initiative to call her and mention it.
Jiang Se could hear what he meant even before he finished speaking. She was still holding the character outline of "Xianyuan" in her hand. After hearing Lin Xiwen's question, she smiled and said:
"Director Lin, you should understand that good movies know no national boundaries."
It is not the case that foreign films with big investments, big productions and big directors will necessarily produce good films, and domestic films are not necessarily inferior.
"In my opinion, it's not that there is no market for movies about Chinese myths and legends. It's just that there is a lack of good stories and good directors to present them to the audience."
The story of "Xianyuan" is like a cup of tea, with a leisurely charm. After drinking it, you can still feel the fragrance on your lips and teeth, and it is very memorable.
Lin Xiwen acted quickly, and a week later, the company had received the offer for the drama "Xianyuan".
With Jiang Se's initial plea, the discussion soon turned to the issue of film remuneration and other matters.
In terms of investment for "Xianyuan", Lin Xiwen actually approached Nie Dan and persuaded Nie Dan, Xiang Qiuji and others to invest in the film. After the funds were no longer a problem, Xia Chaoqun negotiated a salary of 80 million for Jiang Se and asked for a share of the box office revenue. This price was already slightly higher than Tao Cen. Once the producer decided on the salary, Jiang Se's status in Century Galaxy immediately surpassed Tao Cen, and even became the first among Chinese stars. (To be continued)