Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Gentle Li Mengya, Serialization of a New Book
Jiang Yun began filming. After finishing each set of scenes, he would walk over to Li Mengya and ask how she was doing. Li Mengya would nod or shake her head in reply.
Li Mengya sat quietly on the set, watching Jiang Yun perform with great effort.
“Cut! Jiang Yun, what’s going on with you? Sometimes you’re in top form, sometimes you’re not. When you take it seriously, you nail it in one take. When you don’t, you can NG a dozen times!”
Seeing Jiang Yun being scolded, Li Mengya pursed her lips and tried not to laugh.
Liu Guoqiang glanced at the sky; a fiery red spread across the west, and the sun was nearly set.
“We’ll wrap after the last scene!”
“The conflict between Xiao Yan and Galleo—come on, let’s get the lighting up!”
The actor playing Galleo—Ren Xing—was also a young newcomer. These small-time actors played less important roles just to get their faces known, including that Zhou Cai.
“Alright, lighting ready, stand-ins ready.”
“Action!”
Galleo struck a pose.
“Cut!”
Galleo stepped aside, Ye Xiaohe came on, struck the same pose.
“Action!”
Jiang Yun punched, Ye Xiaohe punched back. Filmed in slow motion, their fists collided slowly.
“Boom!”
Liu Guoqiang stared at the monitor: “This spot, add special effects in post.”
The crew carefully took notes.
Behind Ye Xiaohe, wires were pulled taut. Ye Xiaohe leaped up. One actor in the air poised to smash down, the other on the ground ready to burst upwards.
“Boom!”
“This spot needs effects too!”
The crew silently recorded.
Jiang Yun and Ye Xiaohe continued their choreographed fight.
Ye Xiaohe was defeated and fell to the ground.
“Cut!”
The crew rushed in, unhooked Ye Xiaohe’s wires, Ren Xing came onstage, lying down in Ye Xiaohe’s pose.
“Action!”
Jiang Yun, holding a long staff, walked up to Ren Xing, raised it. “Die, trash!”
“Boom!”
An experienced veteran, already prepared, launched an attack. The veteran played Galleo’s father, Galebie, and didn’t use a stand-in.
Jiang Yun punched, and the two began their exchange.
The veteran, about forty, named Wang Kang, matched Jiang Yun blow for blow.
Suddenly, Wang Kang slipped—he made a mistake and fell toward Jiang Yun.
Jiang Yun’s fist was already thrown, too late to pull back. Because of the mistake, his punch shifted from the chest to the face.
Jiang Yun’s fist landed squarely on Wang Kang’s face.
Wang Kang clutched his jaw and howled, hopping in place.
“Cut!”
Liu Guoqiang hurried to Wang Kang, “Are you alright?”
Wang Kang’s cheek had swollen up, as if he had a candy stuffed in it.
Wang Kang mumbled, “I’m fine, it's alright!”
“Whew—” Liu Guoqiang breathed a sigh of relief and joked, “Perfect—no need for makeup now!”
Jiang Yun stood awkwardly as Liu Guoqiang shot him a glare.
Jiang Yun approached Wang Kang, “Mr. Wang, do you need an ice pack?”
Wang Kang shook his head.
“Alright, let’s continue! Wang Kang, can you go on?”
Wang Kang nodded, “I can!”
“Action!”
Jiang Yun and Wang Kang continued their choreographed fight, but Jiang Yun’s strength was much lighter this time.
Finally, Xiao Yan’s father, Xiao Zhan, played by Jin Hua, entered.
The scene ended.
“OK! That’s a wrap! We’re done!”
“Woohoo! Finally wrapped!”
“A whole day’s work!”
The crew cheered.
Jiang Yun walked up to Li Mengya: “Wait for me, I’ll go take off my makeup!”
Li Mengya nodded, “Alright.”
Twenty minutes later, Jiang Yun, dressed in his own clothes, came to Li Mengya: “How was it? Did you get impatient waiting?”
“It’s fine.” Li Mengya shook her head.
After wrapping up, Jiang Yun went to Liu Guoqiang, “Director, are there any rooms left at the hotel?”
“There are!”
“Great, arrange a room for me, I want Li Mengya to stay.”
“You can just ask the logistics crew for that!”
“Li Mengya isn’t part of the crew, isn’t it a bit inappropriate? I thought I should check with you first,” Jiang Yun explained.
Liu Guoqiang pointed at Jiang Yun with his script, “You! You’re just too polite!”
Jiang Yun rubbed his nose, “Not at all.”
“No one’s ever told you that you’re too nice to people? Always so courteous with everyone.”
“Let’s not talk about that!” Jiang Yun changed the subject.
Liu Guoqiang took out his phone and called logistics. “Hello? Arrange a hotel room!”
“Alright!”
All afternoon, Li Mengya had sat quietly in her chair.
Jiang Yun walked over, “Let’s go!”
Li Mengya stood up, “All done?”
“Yeah!”
They walked out of the set.
“Your room is ready!”
“No need, I’ll fly home soon.”
“Go home tomorrow. It’s so late, I don’t feel comfortable with you traveling alone.”
Li Mengya hesitated.
“It’s already arranged, and it’s free—might as well stay!”
“Alright then!”
Jiang Yun rolled his eyes. So Li Mengya was a little greedy after all! Hearing it was free, she changed her mind instantly.
“What’s with that look? Why so strange, like you’re looking at a miser?”
“You’re a little money-grubber, you heard ‘free’ and changed your mind in a flash!”
Li Mengya was embarrassed: “I’m just not willing to waste your kindness, since you went to the trouble to arrange it!”
“Alright then!”
Jiang Yun and Li Mengya walked side by side to the exit.
A Mercedes S500 stopped in front of Jiang Yun: “Mr. Jiang Yun, please get in, I’ll take you both to the hotel.”
Jiang Yun nodded, opened the door, and got in with Li Mengya.
The driver started the car and left the set.
Back at the hotel, Jiang Yun led Li Mengya to a room, “You’ll stay here tonight.”
Li Mengya nodded, “Okay.”
“If you need anything, message me.”
Li Mengya nodded.
Jiang Yun returned to his own room.
He opened his laptop and started updating today’s novel.
“Perfect World” had over three hundred chapters now, doing fairly well, though reader feedback wasn’t great.
“This book has over three hundred chapters already, it’s pretty ordinary!”
“Is Jiang Yun running out of inspiration?”
Jiang Yun read the comments and replied one by one.
“This book has a long prelude, because the author wants to create a unique character. Someone unmatched in his era, slaughtering so fiercely that none dare claim supremacy—a character like that!”
After replying, Jiang Yun opened the Green Sword website and started updating “New Meteor, Butterfly, Sword.”
In the last chapter of the day, Jiang Yun wrote “The End.” The serialization of “New Meteor, Butterfly, Sword” was finished.
“Whoosh!”
“Once known as Linghu Chong, now called Meng Xinghun” tipped ten rockets.
“Whoosh!”
“Once known as Linghu Chong, now called Meng Xinghun” tipped ten rockets.
“Whoosh!”
…
Goodness, this Linghu Chong tipped five waves of rockets.
Jiang Yun was stunned.
Jiang Yun replied to Linghu Chong: “Thank you for your support, but please don’t tip blindly!”
“Beep!”
“Author, will you serialize a new book?”
Jiang Yun pondered—which book should he serialize next? “Smiling Proud Wanderer” and “New Meteor, Butterfly, Sword” had represented two peaks in his past life; the other books were good, but lacked their iconic status.
After thinking, Jiang Yun replied: “Yes! ‘Zhu Xian, Azure Cloud’!”
“System, redeem ‘Zhu Xian, Azure Cloud’!”
“Ding! Congratulations, host, redemption successful. 100,000 popularity points deducted. Current popularity: 5,003,086!”
His popularity had increased again.
“Ring ring!”
Jiang Yun’s phone rang.
He answered, “Who is it?”
“It’s me, Zheng He!”
“Editor Zheng, what’s up?”
“Just now, did you finish ‘New Meteor, Butterfly, Sword’?!”
“Yes, it’s done.”
“Any new books?”
“Yes, I’m uploading now.”
“Okay, upload it and I’ll approve it,” Zheng He said on the other end.
“Alright.”
“That’s settled.”
“Okay!”
Jiang Yun hung up and started uploading “Zhu Xian, Azure Cloud.”
“Whew—finally uploaded!”
After finishing, Jiang Yun ordered take-out.
He went to Li Mengya’s room, and they ate together. Afterwards, Jiang Yun returned to his own room.
At ten o’clock, Jiang Yun lay in bed.
“System, open personal panel!”
“Beep!”
Host: Jiang Yun.
Singing: S-level (can support a grand concert)
Acting: C-level (can play minor roles)
Directing: D-level (can direct low-budget films)
Skills: Special Forces physique, master chef, piano mastery, S-level hand speed, clear logic, martial arts expertise, permanent hacker services.
Songs: “Words Are Deceitful,” “Across the Sea to See You,” “Rice Fragrance,” “Heartbroken Pacific,” “Getting Rich,” “One Night in Summer Capital,” “Blue Porcelain,” “Flying Free,” “Little Apple,” “Brightest Star in the Night Sky,” “The Moon on the Fifteenth,” “You Say I’m Your Superhero,” “Huo Yuanjia,” “Chrysanthemum Remains,” “Orchid Pavilion Prelude,” “Dispelling Sorrow,” “Someone Like Me,” “Special Love for a Special You”
Piano pieces: “Canon,” “Dream Wedding,” “Night’s Piano Music”
Novels: “Battle Horses Over the Sky,” “Perfect World,” “Smiling Proud Wanderer,” “New Meteor, Butterfly, Sword,” “Zhu Xian, Azure Cloud”
Items: S-level Acting Experience Card ×2, One-time Hacker Experience Card ×1 (expired).
Popularity: 5,003,086.
Acting at C-level was still a bit lacking.
Jiang Yun thought to himself, “System, enter simulation training room!”
“Ding! Virtual training room starting…”
Jiang Yun closed his eyes and entered the simulation.
He began acting as a minor character.
Then took theory classes.
The simulation AI explained acting tips one by one.
Jiang Yun trained for four hours straight.
He exited the simulation training room.
“System, open personal panel!”
“Beep!”
Host: Jiang Yun.
…
Jiang Yun saw his points had dropped by 400,000, but his acting had risen to C+ level. He nodded in satisfaction.
It was now 2 a.m.; Jiang Yun fell into bed and went straight to sleep.
He slept until dawn…
ps: This chapter contains 3,020 words.