Gu Ran held her phone, swallowing nervously despite herself.
This kind of thing was something Ji Shiyu wouldn't eat; he would just throw it away.
Gu Ran hesitated for three seconds: "Then leave the food at the door and go."
"Otherwise I won't take it."
Ji Shiyu: "..."
He was silent for a moment, then replied: "Okay."
Gu Ran buzzed open the building's main door for Ji Shiyu. Soon after, she heard faint rustling sounds outside her apartment door.
She waited until the sounds stopped before opening her own door, seeing that Ji Shiyu had left a bag of food at her doorstep.
Gu Ran brought the food inside. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling of having her fate grasped by the throat.
She suddenly remembered a past autumn when they went to Bei Yi. The two of them accompanied Ji Heyuan eating crabs. As she ate, the area around her lips started to itch, and finally her mouth swelled up.
The doctor in Bei Yi checked and said it was an allergy, nothing serious, not even requiring medicine. But later, throughout the entire journey, Ji Shiyu kept staring at her slightly swollen lips, a faint, almost imperceptible smile hanging on his face.
When she looked in a mirror and saw her lips looking like she'd had fillers, her pride utterly shattered, she simply leaned over and stole a kiss, saying she wanted to pass the allergy on to him.
She had only stolen one kiss, but then Ji Shiyu ended up cupping the back of her head and kissing her deeply, with Xu Hui and the driver right in front of them, his face not red nor his heart racing.
...
Gu Ran shook her head, dispelling those memories.
She opened the food container, greeted by the enticing aroma of chili peppers.
Gu Ran peeled crayfish while watching TV, during which she had a phone call with Ding Ze to discuss her work schedule for the next couple of days.
Since appearing on "Celebrity Charge Forward," her visibility had skyrocketed, with many people becoming fans because of her performance on the show.
Recently, Gu Ran's biggest realization was that people could actually recognize her when she went shopping. At first, she thought those people turning to look at her were just admiring a beautiful woman—after all, she had always had a high rate of turning heads while shopping—until someone hurried up to her, eagerly asking, "Ran Ran, can we take a photo together?"
Facing fans asking for photos, Gu Ran felt a strange mix of "so this day has finally come" and "actually, I'm pretty amazing that people can recognize me on the street."
On the phone, Ding Ze said many shows and events had been approaching the company recently.
Gu Ran kept nodding in agreement. Although she had been attacked by Pei Yue's fans during her last show appearance, in the end, both the process and the outcome resulted in her overwhelming victory. After thinking it over, she felt she shouldn't let herself be held back by a group of obsessive fans of one idol. Her own fans were much more impressive than those obsessive fans. She couldn't limit herself to Cat's Paw forever because of this incident; she would only be shortchanging herself.
Ding Ze also sent Gu Ran the renewal contract from the "Holy Spirit Jianghu" game company.
Previously, the "Holy Spirit Jianghu" game had been a huge success, with Gu Ran's cosplay posters everywhere on subways and bus stops. Recently, the game company was about to launch a sequel, "Holy Spirit Jianghu 2," with updated main character storylines and game graphics.
The game company had no hesitation in choosing Gu Ran again as the promotional ambassador for "Holy Spirit Jianghu 2." Because the first game had earned a lot, the investment for "Holy Spirit Jianghu 2" was even larger, with increased costs for early-stage promotion. It wasn't just about shooting promotional posters; they also planned to film a storyline promotional advertisement.
After reading the contract, Gu Ran specifically looked into what this storyline promotional ad entailed.
Many games adapted from novels had them. They were about one to two minutes long, featuring simple character storylines that recreated classic scenes from the book. They basically required no acting skills and could be considered a deluxe, upgraded version of dynamic cosplay.
Because the total runtime was short, the game companies were willing to spend money, with some CG special effects even comparable to Hollywood blockbusters.
Ding Ze sent the promotional video shooting script to Gu Ran.
Gu Ran opened it. The title was "Mobile Game 'Holy Spirit Jianghu 2' - Xing Yao Character Storyline Promotional Advertisement."
Total runtime: one and a half minutes. Below were the shooting location plans and several storyboard scripts.
Gu Ran hadn't read the original "Holy Spirit Jianghu" novel in its entirety. She skimmed the storyboard scripts. The main character was Xing Yao, the supporting characters were nameless extras A, B, C, and D, and the other named character was the male lead of "Holy Spirit Jianghu," Lin Xing.
Gu Ran: [??? There's a male lead too?]
[Who's playing the male lead? A big star? Lu Lincheng or Gu Nan'an?]
[Although I really like them, I can't act!]
Ding Ze: [...]
Faced with the names of the two famous film emperors, "Lu Lincheng" and "Gu Nan'an," his eyebrow twitched, and he couldn't help but marvel at Gu Ran's rich imagination.
[You're overthinking it.]
It's just a game promotional video. The only endorser is Gu Ran. How could they possibly get Lu Lincheng or Gu Nan'an to play the male lead?
[Take a closer look at the storyboard scripts.]
So Gu Ran carefully read the storyboard scripts again.
The entire video was shot from Xing Yao's perspective as a memory. The male lead, Lin Xing, as the sole object of Xing Yao's infatuation, was naturally an indispensable character. However, since this was Xing Yao's personal storyline promotional video, Lin Xing appeared only as a background element throughout, not even needing to show his face.
...She really had overthought it.
Although it was just a one-and-a-half-minute game character promotional video, Gu Ran still found the original "Holy Spirit Jianghu" novel to read.
She spent three whole days and nights reading the over-two-million-word epic, finally finishing it with dark circles under her eyes.
After finishing, she felt a mix of melancholy and emotion.
The author had set up a red rose/white rose dynamic in the book; besides Xing Yao, there was another female lead.
A major reason why the character Xing Yao stood out so far ahead in popularity among all the characters in the original work, garnering so many fans, was largely because of how tragic she was.
She had a secret crush on the male lead, but the male lead only had eyes for another, white moonlight-type female lead. Xing Yao had to hide her secret love, appearing optimistic and lively on the surface while suffering inwardly. She helped the male lead and the other female lead level up and fight monsters all the way, ultimately dying for the male lead, pierced by ten thousand arrows, her spirit scattering to ashes.
Gu Ran pondered the novel's themes of "secret crush," "white moonlight," and "red rose/white rose" again. As she pondered, she realized it seemed to correspond to something, and suddenly her face darkened.
Damn scumbag! She closed the book, mentally cursing this male lead Lin Xing vehemently.
Just as Gu Ran was mentally cursing the scumbag who played with the red rose/white moonlight trope, her phone on the table rang.
Gu Ran answered. Ji Shiyu asked if she wanted to try today's chef-made boiled beef, which was very tender, and tiramisu, which was very sweet. He could bring them over later.
Gu Ran, at this moment, felt uncomfortable even breathing: "Go away!"
...
The filming for the "Holy Spirit Jianghu 2" promotional video was scheduled at a large indoor studio.
Part of the set was built with props in the studio, while the remaining background was all green screen. It was said the game company had specially hired a top-tier movie post-production team for the CG special effects this time.
Gu Ran finished her makeup and styling and went to change into her costume.
The costumes for "Spirit Realm 2" were somewhat different from those in the first installment. Although both adhered to the original work's description of purple robes, golden ornaments, and a red floral forehead decoration, the style in the first one was completely comic-book cosplay. By "Spirit Realm 2," the costume designer's outfits were distinctly more classically ancient in style, shedding the modern feel of the previous comic adaptation. The headpieces and clothing had a great texture, very much in the xianxia spirit.
After changing, Gu Ran came out and met her partner for this shoot, who was playing the male lead, Lin Xing.
Since the focus of the shoot was on her, and the male lead was essentially a faceless background prop throughout, the director had found a film student looking to earn some extra money.
The partner's name was Tang Song. He was very tall, with strong eyebrows, bright eyes, and quite handsome features—a very orthodox, classically trained look.
Tang Song had also changed into the male lead's costume. Seeing Gu Ran, he took the initiative to greet her. As Gu Ran was the lead, Tang Song's attitude was extremely respectful.
Gu Ran also nodded and smiled at Tang Song in a friendly manner.
Ding Ze had gone to the restroom. When he returned and saw Gu Ran already in costume, he was momentarily stunned, unable to hide the amazement in his eyes.
The game company must have had ancestors' graves smoking with good fortune to have encountered Gu Ran just as she was emerging and secured her to embody this character.
Tang Song, as a film student, couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Gu, have you ever considered developing a career in film and television?"
"Huh?" Gu Ran was taken aback for a moment before realizing this "Teacher Gu" seemed to be addressing her.
"No," she shook her head, answering with complete honesty, "I don't know how to act."
Shooting these kinds of game promotional videos that required beauty rather than acting skill was fine. Sometimes when she watched dramas, she'd see actresses who were quite pretty but whose features would go all over the place and whose aura would vanish completely once they started acting. If she were to do it, she feared she'd end up the same way.
Ding Ze felt quite emotional, even somewhat moved, hearing this.
Even an outsider who didn't act had such clear self-awareness, so why didn't those insiders receiving sky-high paychecks, who churned out terrible dramas poisoning the audience's eyes every day, have it?
After changing and finishing her styling, Gu Ran looked down at the scene script again. Over there, props, sets, and lighting were all ready.
The game's storyline promotional video had no on-set dialogue; they only filmed the visuals, with corresponding voice-overs added in post-production.
Gu Ran finished filming the first shot of her looking back over her shoulder alone, then filmed the second one with Tang Song.
This was a classic scene from the book. Before the main party embarked on their monster-fighting, leveling-up journey, Xing Yao sees Lin Xing, the male lead she had always looked up to since childhood. Calling out "Brother Lin Xing," she runs over with innocent naivety and throws herself into his arms, acting intimate and acting spoiled. At that time, she didn't yet know that her childhood friend, Brother Lin Xing, had already begun to develop feelings for another girl.
This shot focused on capturing the moment Xing Yao runs over and hugs the male lead.
Gu Ran initially thought it would just be a matter of running over and hugging him, but the director called for a cut.
He said her expression and body language both lacked feeling.
Even though it was just a game promotional video, since they were recreating a classic scene, it couldn't be too jarringly out of character.
Also, she and Tang Song hugged too much like strangers, keeping so much distance between them as if afraid of touching the other person—it was obvious they weren't familiar.
In the novel, the two were childhood sweethearts.
Gu Ran thought to herself, we aren't familiar, puffed out her cheeks slightly, and realized promotional videos were much harder than promotional posters.
Tang Song had sensed Gu Ran's awkwardness during the shoot. Since Gu Ran wasn't familiar with him and kept her distance, he didn't feel right forcefully pulling her closer.
The director stood in front of Gu Ran, seeming to have noticed something. "Feeling shy?" he asked.
He looked at Gu Ran. "What's there to be shy about? It's just a hug."
"Relax, let's try again. Xiao Tang, you guide her a bit."
Tang Song nodded in agreement. "Okay."
Gu Ran had no choice but to take a deep breath and try a couple more times, striving to put herself in Xing Yao's mindset of seeing her childhood sweetheart brother. After getting into character, her performance improved significantly compared to before. Her movements and expression were less stiff as she ran over with delight and threw herself into her partner's arms.
Ding Ze watched the two people holding each other tightly in the frame and felt a sense of relief inside. He heard some assistants whispering behind him, "They look so good together."
Ding Ze then looked down and flipped through the shot script in his hand. The large scenes with extras were scheduled for tomorrow. Today was mostly Gu Ran's solo shots, and there was still a scene later where she kisses his forehead.
He thought that given Gu Ran's current state, it should be fine.
Just as Ding Ze was flipping through the script, he received a phone call.
It was from the CEO's special assistant, Xu Hui.
Xu Hui was usually respectful in front of Ji Shiyu, but to others, he was the chief special assistant—cold-faced and unfeeling, with many people trying to flatter him.
It was the weekend. Xu Hui informed Ding Ze over the phone that he would be coming over with the CEO later to visit Miss Gu on set.
"Okay, okay," Ding Ze hurriedly agreed. Looking up, he saw Gu Ran and her partner still holding each other as directed by the director, who was now even asking them to spin around a couple of times while holding the pose.
"..."
Ding Ze suddenly remembered there was also a kissing scene in the script he had just reviewed.
He immediately shuddered and blurted out to the CEO's special assistant in a commanding tone, "Don't come! Do not come!"
