Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

"Take your time, there's no rush this time," Xu Qingyan turned away and continued to practice arranging music on his computer, speaking to her with his back turned, "Haste makes waste."

There was no sound behind him, and Xu Qingyan thought she had taken a rest, so he stopped using the mouse. He casually pulled out his phone, put it on silent, and habitually checked in on the small group chat of the film crew.

The middle-aged Liu Dehua from the camera crew had also been posting in the group more often, complaining that work had been tough recently; he had joined a crew, only to have the lead actor be temperamental and late.

The associate director was so angry, he cursed a storm, but still had to respectfully call others' assistants "brother."

The group resonated with him and shared a few funny stories from shootings. For example, a newbie accidentally sat in the director's chair and got a scolding that broke through their defenses.

A girl sat on the lens box and was scolded to tears by the cameraman.

The group members chatted about everything under the sun, lamenting that joining the film industry meant endless late nights.

They could run into shoestring crews holding onto resources with an iron fist, employing a bunch of college students and scolding them at the drop of a hat.

Or it could mean having collective meetings until midnight in a little room where everyone was practically inhaling secondhand smoke in a storm.

Those who managed to fight their way through were filled with grand passions, while those who couldn't, like the lighting crew, were always walking the path between personal accident insurance and getting hit.

"Damn it, I've got a night shoot outdoors today, I'm dead. Remember to burn incense for me."

Xu Qingyan was used to hanging around the group, and had quietly picked up some basic knowledge of film crew life, so he promptly dropped a comment.

"A young man who doesn't work hard will end up working in lighting when older."

The messages in the group refreshed quickly, and someone nicknamed "My Wife 100,000 Volt Pikachu" mentioned Xu Qingyan, "Brother Xu, stop it, I'm probably going to get beaten up again today."

"Brother Xu, I'm your die-hard fan, could you get me a signed album of Zhouzhou sauce!"

"Her album was sealed off long ago, and now she only has one song. It's probably better to wait until she releases a full album."

Xu Qingyan continued to chat in the group, not noticing the pair of half-closed eyes staring at him from behind.

"Cough."

A soft cough disrupted Xu Qingyan's rhythm of chatting in the group.

He turned around curiously to look, Pei Muchan had already sat up from the couch, with patches of red on her face. Behind her, the large glass window revealed a sunset, fiery red as the sea.

"Awake?"

"Mhm, I didn't sleep, my head hurts." Pei Muchan's voice was a bit hoarse, with a nasal tone.

It wasn't yet autumn, and as the ancients said, "With the cool breeze comes the chirping of cicadas." Although it was supposed to be the golden autumn of September, it was still several days away from White Dew.

The evening breeze was still sultry, and both were sweating.

Ever since Pei Muchan had recovered from her cold a few days ago, Xu Qingyan made sure to turn off the air conditioning every day at three o'clock; Pei Muchan always came back to an office at room temperature.

"Are you sick?"

"No, just thinking about the MV." She leaned on the couch with a glimpse of seriousness in her eyes, "What do you think if I use the story you told yesterday?"

"Why don't you try it?"

...

It didn't go very well, Xu Qingyan had a furrowed brow all night, which he didn't relax even when he went to pick someone up the next day.

Maybe he could manage writing songs; at least he had grasped the basics of transcribing music. His efficiency had improved a lot recently, and the scores he transcribed, according to Pei Muchan, were getting more and more presentable.

But asking him to write a screenplay was a total shot in the dark.

He might not be able to handle a proper screenplay, and was even less capable of writing a condensed version for a music video. Creating something from nothing wasn't hard, but to condense the story of Immortal Sword... could he do it?

Immortal Sword I, Immortal Sword III, they were completely different versions. In fact, what was filmed didn't really matter. With only three to four minutes, it was enough just to pass, and not many people would care about the content.

Xu Qingyan thought about it all night long, initially confused, then excitedly rubbing his hands in the second half of the night. As daybreak approached, he began to regret it and even wished for death.

"Let's try it; the cart will find its way around the mountain when it gets to it."

Even though he thought Pei Muchan's decision was a bit hasty, every time he considered giving up, a hopeful thought would emerge in his mind.

"What if I actually have what it takes?"

Writing a song to make some money was one thing; not many people cared who actually wrote the song. A few did, but it was mostly industry insiders who were watching.

Although Xu Qingyan did not care about these things, copying a classic good song still gave him a sense of achievement.

This feeling was almost like a childlike thrill of showing off, as if to say, "Look, I have more good stuff here, and not just this one."

Similarly, if he could replicate an excellent film or TV work, that sense of achievement would only be stronger.

After all, compared to a simple song, film and television multiply the sensory impact by countless times. What's expressed is not just sound, but also all aspects of the visual experience.

If a song was like a blank examination paper placed in front of him, allowing him to scribble and paint answers to score high within the general public's music perception,

then film and television was a completely free, three-dimensional world that could accommodate him in shaping some scripts that this world was missing... even more outstanding ones.

This pleasure almost instinctively attracted him, like a devout believer climbing step by step. His desire to conquer reached its peak when Pei Muchan threw out that sentence.

Writing songs and transcribing scores could no longer satisfy him.

Creak!

The car stopped in front of the recording studio, and as soon as he got out, he saw a furtive figure bump into him, which turned out to be Lin Wanzhou.

"Let's go, take my car," she whispered to Xu Qingyan as she got close.

She had just sneaked past Wen Yun, colluding with Qi Ting to cover for her. Already very nervous, she had been lurking around the studio entrance for a long time.

She was taken aback to see Xu Qingyan arrive so brazenly at the doorstep, hitting the brakes with a screech, almost frightening her soul away.

"You're sneaking away..." he said in astonishment.

"Shh! No," Lin Wanzhou shook her head and stubbornly continued, "Let's not take this car, let's just walk over; my car is parked on the other side of the main gate."

Xu Qingyan took in her sneaky appearance and couldn't help feeling somewhat speechless.

"Alright then."

There was a Qianfo Temple in Pucheng District. Xu Qingyan had specifically checked it on Baidu before coming, which was said to have a thousand Buddha statues during the Tang Dynasty. When people worshiped, dignitaries and nobles stretched their caravans for dozens of miles.

However, whether this number was true couldn't be verified, and now only a few dozen remained.

Even so, pilgrims were still coming in an endless stream.

Qianfo Temple was quite far from the district where Lin Wanzhou was located. They drove for almost an hour to get there. If they had gone any farther, they would probably have left Xinghai.

Lin Wanzhou became more talkative after getting into the car, "I was too nervous this morning. Sister Yun seemed to have agreed on the show, and she instructed me to practice singing well today."

"And you still slipped out?"

"No worries, Sister Yun went out again today," Lin Wanzhou said with pursed lips and a smile, looking like a rebellious girl unfettered by parental control.

Yet in this world, apart from Wen Yun, indeed no one else would restrain her. Over the years, it's hard to say how she spent New Year's alone; with Wen Yun?

The car stopped at the foot of the mountain, where parking was exorbitantly expensive.

The road was too crowded, and the scent of burning incense could be detected from afar. The closer they walked to the top, the more people there were, and climbing the steps alone was quite a struggle.

The two of them stumbled into the temple, purely being squeezed in.

Qianfo Temple was originally renamed Pufu Temple, but after the reform and opening up, when the number of pilgrims increased, the name was changed back. Relying on the name of the thousand Buddhas, it became increasingly popular.

The area it covered was vast, including two mountaintops under the temple's jurisdiction.

From the entrance, they climbed stairs all the way to a plaza where a huge incense burner towered into the sky. In an instant, the world seemed small, as if a sword had opened the gates of heaven.

Walking further back led to a path downhill, then climbing up again brought them to the main hall.

Inside was a colossal Buddha statue, majestic and solemn. Radiating dignity, it nodded slightly, its gaze overlooking those who came, as if encompassing all beings in the world.

The two walked at a leisurely pace, and the girl suddenly became a bit scared, hiding behind Xu Qingyan.

"That Buddha statue seems like it can move; wherever I stand, it feels like it's watching me."

"It's an illusion, just don't look then," he said, "Hey, do you want to worship? I see everyone else is doing it; we might as well join in for the experience."

"Yeah, since we're here, we should always pay our respects before leaving," she replied.