The decision to change Su Dingbang’s ending scene was made easily, but it took two days and one night to really finalize the details.

In fact, this plot had always been controversial, including when many readers were reading the original work. Some readers felt that Su Dingbang deserved dying under the gun of the male protagonist when he defected and caused the capture and tragic deaths of many underground party members. But there were also some readers who thought that although Su Dingbang had defected to the enemy side, he still helped the male protagonist a lot in the beginning. Even if he deserved death in the end it should not be at the hands of the male protagonist.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

This debate had continued even after the TV series in the previous life had been broadcast, and professional film critics wrote small essays on the matter. Fortunately, in the previous life, the actor who played the role of Su Dingbang was just a burden that was forced onto the crew by the investors. Naturally, he was not as handsome as Tao Mu, and his acting skills were not even at the level of Tao Mu before rebirth. Compared with a bunch of veteran actors, one could only say that he was only satisfactory, barely having avoided causing the audience to pull out from being immersed in the plot story. As for the character building, there was not much done on his part, Su Dingbang under his acting was just a 2D boring villain.

Because of this, the plot tension that was supposed to fill the scene where he was shot in the head by the male protagonist was relatively weakened.

However, in this life, Tao Mu played this role. First of all, in terms of appearance, Tao Mu’s appearance was definitely worthy of the words “beautiful as the red clouds, the clear skies, cool breeze, and charming moon” described in the books. Secondly, Tao Mu’s acting skills, which could be called a small explosion, could definitely stand up to the complexity of the role of Su Dingbang. How noble and elegant he was in the early stage, and how filthy and like the walking dead in the later stage. Under this strong contrast, it was easy to arouse the audience’s sympathy and sense of substitution.

If the final ending was still to be shot in the head by the male protagonist, then some of the points of contention among the readers would definitely be magnified ten times and a hundred times in the television drama.

So changing the plot to Su Dingbang committing suicide by swallowing opium himself would not only make the character more three-dimensional and complete, but also highlight the brutality and untrustworthiness of the aggressor——defectors and traitors would never end well. This was not only because the people couldn’t forgive betrayers, but also because the aggressor’s wolf-like ambitions were completely inhuman——those not of one’s race, they would never keep their promises to the enemy.

And the death of the entire Su family just proved this.

War was cruel. But more cruel than war was the aggressor. So don’t try to compromise, don’t think that you could survive by being stubborn. If the revolutionaries did not hold onto the determination to give up their lives when necessary, then their fate would undoubtedly be more tragic.

And in that darkest era, many revolutionary martyrs adhered to this determination and belief, endured the grief of their country’s ruin and their families’ demise, fought with flesh and blood for more than ten years, and finally dyed China with the blood of countless people for the sky overhead to be bright again.

In the revised plot, when the male protagonist with a small team desperately sneaked into the enemy’s trap to find Su Dingbang, when Su Dingbang had already determined that the male protagonist was here to kill him for revenge, the male protagonist just said one thing. He said, “When it was learned that you were captured, the organization tried to arrange for your family to evacuate safely.” But the Japanese were faster than them. By the time they tried their best to find out about the Su family, the entire Su family had already been killed by the Japanese.

The Japanese confiscated all the property and wealth of the Su family, and even angered the entire Shanghai Chamber of Commerce for this. Almost half of the members of the chamber of commerce were taken into prison by the Japanese. When a country was on the brink of destruction, even sovereignty could not be guaranteed, so the interests of the people were naturally even more precarious.

After Su Dingbang was forced to defect, he was once unable to face reality. He dared not admit that he was cowardly and weak because he was greedy for life and feared death. He could only place the blame on the underground party, on this revolutionary goal. He deceived himself and thought that if he hadn’t had this experience working for the underground party, he would still be a good son of the Su family, a well-respected and adored student who had returned from abroad, rich and splendid. And definitely never have turned into the awful shell of his former self now.

However, the male protagonist’s words completely shattered his fantasy. When the whole country was in danger there was no escape for any countrymen, even if some people could hide in the French Concession and seem to be doing well and prosperous, this comfortable status quo was nothing but an illusion.

Once the invaders decide to tear off their disguise and aim their guns at the helpless civilians, then everything that followed was an unbearable disaster in life. The only way was to pick up weapons and guns to fight, drive all the invaders out of the Chinese territory, and use the sound of gunfire to make heard the roar of the Chinese nation. Let those brave heroes who shed their blood for the establishment of New China, and those innocent people who died tragically under the butcher knives of the invaders, rest in peace.

However, Su Dingbang could not do any of this. He used to be high-spirited, passionate, and vowed to use his own power to change the fate of the entire country. He was also naive and weak, and finally, when faced with the choice of sacrificing his life, he shrank back cowardly.

The invaders brutally killed the Su family, but he aimed his gun at his comrades in order to survive a half life.

Su Dingbang, who had been numbing himself by smoking opium all day, finally collapsed. He looked at the male protagonist with tears in his eyes, and uttered the last words of his life: “I should be damned.” Then, Su Dingbang took out the opium prepared by the Japanese and committed suicide.

When Tao Mu got the revised script again, he was about to collapse when he looked at the descriptions above.

The key was that the original author of the book, and Screenwriter Fan, who participated in the adaptation of the script, couldn’t understand his feelings at all. Screenwriter Fan dragged Tao Mu to talk about it for more than an hour at the meeting, his face flushed with excitement. Just to explain to him what level this script had risen to after this adaptation——

He completely did not imagine just how much trouble he brought to Tao Mu the actor after adapting the script like this.

“I won’t be able to eat for the next few days. I need to lose weight.” Tao Mu hadn’t recovered from his cold yet, and the fever hadn’t subsided either. He asked Gou Rixin to take away the IV he was connected to as well: “Help me make an arrangement. I want to observe the state of real drug addicts. It’s best I don’t sleep these days either.”

Noticing Gou Rixin’s disapproving look, Tao Mu patted the other person’s shoulder and comforted him, “Don’t be nervous. It’s just these few days, everything will be fine.”

“Just go ahead and walk to an early grave! Your fever hasn’t subsided yet. If you dare to stop the IV infusion, won’t you be afraid of it turning into pneumonia?” Gou Rixin said angrily. However, he couldn’t convince the other, what Tao Mu decided to do, no one could stop him.

In the end, Tao Mu got his way and spent three days in a drug rehab center in H Town. On the one hand, the high fever persisted, and on the other hand, he was so hungry that he was dizzy and sore when he returned to the crew to finish filming the last scene while he was in good form.

In the meantime, Tao Mu also asked the props team to re-customize a set of costumes. The one he wore when he was caught. According to the original style, make it two sizes larger——there was no other way, even if he did not eat for a few days with the hope of looking malnourished it was unlikely he would lose much weight however. So he could only make the costume bigger, and then he would make up for it in terms of body and movement. Trying to create the image of a drug addict.

Probably because they didn’t expect Tao Mu to be able to go this far.

Inside the crew, the director, assistant directors and veteran actors, even the students from Beijing Film, as well as the group extras and stunt doubles hired by the crew were all frightened by the ruthless attitude of this kid Tao Mu——Tao Mu, this person, possessed deep scheming methods, and this was a fact that everyone was aware of. But being ruthless to others and being ruthless to yourself were two entirely different things.

Especially as he was a person who could clearly remain seated in a high position and be a domineering CEO, but still insisted on driving himself to death for such a small cannon fodder role that couldn’t even be considered as an important supporting role. Just for this viciousness, most people would be so afraid that they wouldn’t even be able to say a word when faced with it.

How was this a normal person, he was obviously a lunatic!

Everyone was afraid of lunatics, especially those who were rich and powerful and would do anything to achieve their goals.

What Tao Mu didn’t expect was that it was because of his ruthlessness in willing to torment himself, the actors and staff who had been distracted by some online scolding wars and so-called scoops, and who kept gossiping in secret, all stopped and started to work more diligently. The atmosphere of the entire crew became solemn and took on a new look. Work efficiency and work quality was once again elevated to a higher level.

However, due to the high fever that threw him in a constant muddled state, as well as his one track desire to complete his role perfectly, Tao Mu didn’t pay attention to this at all. When he finished filming in a dizzy state, lying on the set with limbs turned to jelly and feeling only nausea when he moved even his little fingers, and then was forced back into the bed of his hotel room by Li Xiaoheng, who had rushed over by private jet, he still had the mood to ask: “Why does your complexion look so bad? Don’t tell me you caught the cold from me.”

Since he learned from the mouth of his own private doctor that Tao Mu really just had a cold and fever that had lasted a longer time, and aside from some physical symptoms caused by not eating for a few days, there were no other complications. Nor was it like what the Internet exposed “being brought to a drug rehab center for taking drugs”, which had really frightened Li Xiaoheng stiff, so finally he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Why are you such a handful?” Li Xiaoheng flexed his fingers and knocked on Tao Mu’s head lightly: “Not taking shots, not eating medicine, not eating meals, and even going to the drug rehab center to observe the daily life of the patients, just how are you still alive?”

“What do you mean?” Even though the fever muddled his brain, Tao Mu still noticed it very keenly: “…..Someone is stirring up trouble on the Internet?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll fix it.” Li Xiaoheng reached out and touched Tao Mu’s hot forehead and tucked in the blankets for him: “What you have to do now is to drink this bowl of porridge, then have the IV hooked up and the medicine taken, sleep well, and get better as soon as possible.”

As Li Xiaoheng spoke, he helped Tao Mu to sit up against the head of the bed, and picked up a bowl of white porridge on the bedside table: “I had the hotel cook it, it may not taste good. But it will warm your stomach.”

Tao Mu responded and stretched out his slightly trembling hand, wanting to take the porridge bowl from Li Xiaoheng’s hand. Li Xiaoheng frowned: “I’m worried that you will drop the bowl, so let me feed you.”

Tao Mu was slightly startled.

Li Xiaoheng said solemnly: “Either I feed you, or let Gou Rixin come to feed you. But I have asked Gou Rixin to go back to rest. He has been taking care of you for so many days, while also having to worry about things online, but he dared not let you know, holding it all back. It’s been very hard on him. He finally has a break now, so are you sure you want me to call him?”

Tao Mu thought for a while, and said in a low voice, “Sorry for the trouble.”

“No trouble.” Li Xiaoheng glanced at Tao Mu and said warmly, “Although it may not be a good thing to say so. But in fact, I have been looking forward to this for a long time.” Being able to feed you, sleep with you, and accompany you when you are sick. Take care of you by your side.

While speaking, Tao Mu sneezed a few times. Even though he subconsciously covered his mouth, he felt embarrassed that his nose was running: “Hurry and give me the tissues.”

Li Xiaoheng stuffed the tissues into Tao Mu’s hand, watching Tao Mu use several pieces of tissue one after another, and finally lean on the head of the bed with a red nose and a dizzy head. His hair was also tangled from sweating.

“Ah!” Li Xiaoheng suddenly covered his chest.

“What’s the matter?” Tao Mu sniffled and asked with a stuffy nose.

“Remember what I told you before. I like you because your looks are particularly in line with my aesthetics. And that I actually fell in love with you at first sight?” Li Xiaoheng looked at Tao Mu with a warm smile: “Now I suddenly realize that even if you don’t look good, your idol baggage is long gone, you can’t take a bath because of the illness, your hair is tangled, and you have body odor. I still think you are very cute.”

Li Xiaoheng scooped a spoonful of porridge and held it to Tao Mu’s lips: “I really want to feed you. Fatten you up.”

Tao Mu couldn’t take it anymore. He stretched out his hand and hit Li Xiaoheng’s arm, and said with a stern face, “I want to take a bath.”

Li Xiaoheng smiled: “You are still sick. Taking a bath will make the cold worse.”

“If it gets worse, then it gets worse.” Tao Mu said angrily, it was bearable when filming, but outside of filming, he had to pick up his idol baggage. How dare he say that he was ugly, that his hair was clumped in sweat and oil, and that he smelled.

If he could still bear it after that, then how was he still an idol? He must defend his dignity!

Tao Mu threw a great hissy fit, he was still lying on the bed weakly, but he threw off the blankets and was determined to go take a bath. Li Xiaoheng couldn’t stop him no matter what, and while annoyed at himself for bringing it up in the first place, he could only help Tao Mu to the bathroom. He personally washed Tao Mu’s hair, helped him shower off, changed his pajamas, and helped Tao Mu dry his hair before carefully stuffing him back under the blankets.

At this time, Tao Mu was so sleepy that he fell asleep. In the past few days, for filming, he didn’t sleep well, eat well, take medicine, or take a shot. He was really exhausted from all the tossing. If he hadn’t forced himself to film in one breath, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to hold on long ago.

When encountering such a fellow who really knew how to get himself in such trouble, Li Xiaoheng was also no opponent. While flying over to take care of Tao Mu, he called his lawyers to sue the unscrupulous media who broke the news that Tao Mu was arrested for drug addiction. And on the way, he also sued Shen Yu’s fans who have been spreading this fake news and trying to discredit Tao Mu. And then to appease the Tao Mu fans who have been fighting on the front line, but have not been able to get a response from Tao Mu——Tao Mu had been busy filming recently, and he didn’t even have the time to eat, let alone go online. How could he pay attention to those online rumors and gossip mongering and scolding wars.

But while Tao Mu didn’t take it to heart himself, the people around him couldn’t let someone deliberately smear Tao Mu’s name. So sending lawsuits it was. However, what left Li Xiaoheng speechless the most was that Shen Yu would actually call him to apologize for those brain dead fans of his. And this supposed apology didn’t follow the normal route, instead it was crying and babbling away about nonsense on kindness and unkindness. Li Xiaoheng was a busy CEO whose time was worth tens of millions. How could he have the time to accompany an insignificant actor to discuss the script of a dog-blood idol drama, so he just hung up the phone.

Directly afterwards, he began to snipe the stocks of the Shen Group. Sure enough, when Shen Yu called to apologize again, he began to speak human words——usually, rude children existed because their parents did not educate them well. Li Xiaoheng particularly respected the practice of teaching by words and deeds. So there was no problem if he had a generation gap with Shen Yu, so long as he could communicate with his father and brother normally.

Tao Mu, who was sleeping soundly, didn’t know that Li Xiaoheng had already had a secret confrontation with the Shen family. He slept like a log for a day and a night, and woke up hungry the next evening. Li Xiaoheng helped his weak self to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, then to sit down at the dining table where he drank a small pot of white porridge.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

He practically wanted nothing more than to lick the bottom of the pot clean, and only then did he finally feel that he was completely alive again. Then he began to have the time to pay attention to what the hell was going on on the Internet. The news came as a surprise. He saw the bright headlines on the homepage of FlyNews.com——

“An actor surnamed S was injured in a wire accident and was admitted to the hospital. The doctor identified him as not the blood of the family. Was it Mrs. S who was unfaithful, or is there another secret? FlyNews Entertainment, to follow up and report.”

Tao Mu: “???” He just had a much needed rest, what happened!

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“Ahhhhhhhhh——”

In the dark torture prison, the underground party member who was tortured to extract a confession had completely turned into a blood-soaked scarecrow.

The barbed leather whip was dipped in salt water, and slapped at the flesh rhythmically. When the shadow of the whip flew, one could even see the splattering of blood drops.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Bind the person’s legs to a bench and stuff bricks under their feet. As the bricks were piled up, the bound knees were subjected to pressure and force, and eventually couldn’t hold up anymore and break directly. But because there was no external injury, there would be no fatal crisis such as infection.

“…..But these legs are as good as crippled.” The Japanese military officer shook his head regretfully. Looking down condescendingly at Su Dingbang who was so frightened that he went limp and collapsed on the ground.

“Su-san!” The Japanese military officer leaned down slightly and looked at the person in front of him with pity, one who had used to be a handsome and noble young master, but now was like a pool of mud paralyzed at his feet.

He had said before, the violent business of war and fighting, killing and bloodshed were not suitable for these rich children who only knew how to enjoy luxury and have never suffered.

The Japanese military officer leisurely picked up Su Dingbang’s hand, the originally slender and fair palm was covered in sweat and some dirty bloodstains: “I heard that Su-san likes to play the piano. We have a punishment here, which is to fiercely insert sharpened bamboo sticks under the nails. I wonder if these hands will be able to play the piano then?”

The hand caught by the Japanese military officer shook suddenly and clenched tightly into a fist. As if hiding the fingers in the palm of the hand could avoid those terrible things.

A look of contempt flashed in the Japanese military officer’s eyes, oh, weak and cowardly Chinese!

He stood up and walked in front of the underground party member in an unhurried manner: “This gentleman, I admire your will. Our great empire of Japan appreciates a talent like you. As long as you agree to surrender. I swear, you will enjoy the best medical treatment immediately. Prosperity and wealth, or high official status, they are all within easy reach.”

“But if you continue to remain stubborn, then we will be subjected to electrocution next.” The Japanese military officer glanced at the bloody underground party member: “In your current state, if you sit in the electric chair, I’m afraid it will be difficult for you to survive. However, before you die, you will endure the most unbearable pain in the world.”

The pain would be so painful that every time he took a breath, the underground party member would convulse involuntarily. He knew that he couldn’t hold on anymore, and he would definitely not be able to survive the electrocution. His eyes were dulled, and he moved them slightly to look at Su Dingbang, who had been paralyzed on the side even before he was tortured.

This one would definitely defect.

The underground party member’s lips twitched.

“What?” The Japanese military officer moved closer to the underground party member.

“I surrender…..” A faint voice sounded.

There was a hint of disappointment in the Japanese military officer’s eyes. He had wondered just how hard the bones of this Chinese man could be. Turned out to be nothing more than that.

He stood up straight, took the towel his subordinate handed him to wipe his hands, and asked casually, “Name?”

The underground party member did not answer. He was just twitching all over, crying and sobbing, and his lower lip kept trembling. But there was no sound.

He was just too ashamed of his own betrayal.

The Japanese military officer didn’t speak, but waited patiently for the underground party member to calm down and asked again, “Name.”

“…..I…..need…..treatment.” The underground party member swallowed hard, barely breathing.

When the Japanese military officer saw this, he was also afraid that the underground party member would not be able to survive. So he had to order his subordinates to take him to treatment, anyway, it was not like he could escape.

The freed underground party member allowed the Japanese to support him out of the torture room. When passing by the Japanese military officer, everyone was wary that he would suddenly attack, but the underground party member only obediently allowed himself to be taken away. Everyone subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, and it seemed that he was really going to defect.

No one would have thought that when the Japanese was passing by Su Dingbang while carrying the underground party member, the underground party member who had been obedient the whole time suddenly erupted into an attack. After breaking free, he directly threw himself on Su Dingbang’s body, clasping Su Dingbang’s neck with both hands.

“Pull him off!”

However, the strength of the underground party member was too great, and his obsession much deeper. He actually wanted to kill the Japanese more, but he couldn’t let Su Dingbang live. This person’s temperament was too weak, he would definitely betray them. At that time the organization would be at risk.

“Useless trash!” Seeing the group of people kicking and punching, yet still couldn’t pull away the underground party member from Su Dingbang, and Su Dingbang being suffocated to the point of rolling his eyes into the back of his head. The Japanese military officer raised his gun angrily and fired two shots at the underground party member.

The underground party member lying on Su Dingbang’s body froze, and his hands slipped away. Before dying, he looked at Su Dingbang with regret in his eyes, his lips twitchinh. It was a silent apology.

He knew that Su Dingbang was innocent. But when the nation was in danger, he couldn’t allow the survival of an innocent person that would lead to the risk of the organization being exposed.

But he was powerless.

Su Dingbang, who finally escaped death, scrambled to put distance between himself and the underground party member, clutching his throat and coughing violently, sweat and tears streaming down his face. He looked at his comrade-in-arms with horror.

The Japanese military officer put down his gun with special regret: “What an admirable enemy. Send the body to the mass grave to feed the dogs.”

The Japanese military officer took out his handkerchief and wiped his right hand. He walked in front of Su Dingbang with a polite but hideous smile: “Now, it’s your turn.”

“Cut!” The camera fixed on the tense and sinister smile of the Japanese military officer. Zhou Hong shouted ‘cut’ with satisfaction, and the dead underground party member jumped up first, rubbing his hands and legs and putting on his military coat. He couldn’t help it, it was too cold. The ground was cold and damp, and his old bones couldn’t take it.

His arthritic legs had made themselves noticed. So just now he was really feeling pain. All the sweat was real.

Makeup artists and assistants hurriedly entered the set to touch up makeup and send over hot water bottles. Gou Rixin helped Tao Mu get up and put on a military coat for him. But he saw Tao Mu thoughtfully walking to the monitor, watching the playback over and over again.

His expression was not very good.

Even if he had won a best actor award, he could only say that his acting skills were just above the standard. If he were to really talk about impressive acting skills, he might not be able to outperform veteran actors who perform all year round and could often create classic characters. They could even be included in Beijing Film textbooks, but they were just too lazy to publicize all kinds of awards.

Tao Mu’s current situation was similar. His acting skills were indeed above the standard, but that was about it. Even Wen Bao, who was talented and just entered the freshman year, could overwhelm him when he was in his best form, not to mention the veteran actors who have integrated their acting skills down into their bone marrows long ago.

And the most criticized thing about Tao Mu’s acting was that he was too poised. As the saying went, it was too deliberate and too forceful. If this kind of acting was up against an average actor or script, then it was more than enough. But if he came across a cast like “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood”, which had a rating of 1.0 even ten years later, and was known as the most classic Anti-Japanese War drama, a legendary drama that was a milestone in the Anti-Japanese War drama genre, then it was definitely not enough at all.

What was more, the addition of Tao Mu allowed the crew to no longer have the pressure on filming funds. Since there was no worries, some incompetent actors who have been put in by the investors have all been fired. The ones who remained were basically veteran actors who were in the habit of perfecting their skills even when it was already outstanding.

Under such circumstances, Tao Mu’s deliberate acting was like a public execution under a magnifying glass. It was horrible when compared to the acting of the veteran actors. Simply just coming across as awkward and unnatural. Handsome in a very greasy way.

Tao Mu squatted by the monitor and watched the playback repeatedly, Zhou Hong sat next to him with legs crossed, and asked with a smile, “Another take?”

Tao Mu pondered for a moment, then said, “Wait for me for a while.”

Then, Tao Mu walked out of the studio quietly. Zhou Hong thought that Tao Mu just wanted to go to the restroom and didn’t care.

Only Gou Rixin followed. Seeing that Tao Mu was going further and further, actually running to a place where no one was around, took off his military coat, and only stood in the shirt and trousers from the filming out in the winter cold.

“Tao Mu!” Gou Rixin ran over with disapproval and was about to put the coat back on Tao Mu.

“Shh!” Tao Mu motioned to Gou Rixin not to alert others: “Go get me a bottle of mineral water that’s cold.”

“You’re going to die!” Gou Rixin frowned fiercely.

“I’m young and full of energy, I won’t die.” Tao Mu urged Gou Rixin to get a bottle of mineral water and then poured it on his head. When the northwest wind blew by, even his brains hurt from the freezing cold. Tao Mu stood outside for more than half an hour before walking back to the studio with a pale face and trembling limbs.

If the acting skills were not enough, then the physical state must be up to par. To a certain extent, Tao Mu was inspired by Teacher Chen Jianguo, who played the underground party member.

When Tao Mu came in from the outside wrapped in a cold air, the entire studio fell silent. Basically, anyone with eyes could see what Tao Mu wanted to do.

Ruthless!

Several veteran actors looked at each other in dismay but said nothing. The lights and cameras also quickly took their places, and Zhou Hong directly signaled to start shooting.

The same plot, the same scene, this time Tao Mu’s state was perfect, and he was no longer fading into the background.

He looked at the underground party member who had been tortured to the point of being washed in blood. He was so frightened that he didn’t even dare to look, but he still trembled when he heard the screams of his comrade. His face was ashen, which was due to the fear that began to tremble from the bottom of his heart.

When threatened by the Japanese military officer who had a grip on his right hand, he tried his best to retract it, so harshly he tugged that he almost broke away from the Japanese military officer’s restraint. The blue veins of the right hand that had clenched into a fist popped visibly, and even if just from the frequency of the constant shaking, one could see the fear in this person.

The scene of being strangled by the underground party member was even more classic. Teacher Chen Jianguo used his hands to squeeze Su Dingbang’s neck tightly. Tao Mu held Teacher Chen Jianguo’s hand with both hands, and seemed to be trying to pull them off hard, but in fact, he was secretly pressing his thumb to a position on his throat, and he really rolled his eyes from real suffocation. Frightening Teacher Chen Jianguo into trying to use his little finger as a padding. As the two struggled and interacted, one was sweating from anxiety while the other was suffocated blue, both adding to that kind of tension-inducing tug o’ war between life and death.

Finally, after the underground party member was shot and killed, Su Dingbang clutched his neck and crawled out from under the underground party member’s corpse, covering his neck with his hands, kneeling on the ground and coughing violently, and because the indoor temperature on the set was much higher than that outside, and there was an electric hot air conditioner in a place that the camera couldn’t see to keep everyone warm. Tao Mu actually wanted to sneeze under the alternation of hot and cold temperatures. But he couldn’t. So he opened his mouth wide and sniffed fiercely, his eyes were crimson red, the white of eyes bloodshot, tears were rushing out from the corners of his eyes, and even snot was about to come out. He was gasping for breath, trembling uncontrollably all over his body, staring straight at the dead underground party member, retching and speechless.

Zhou Hong really didn’t expect Tao Mu to go out on for awhile, then come back and be able to perform in such a way, as if he had broken the bottleneck in cultivation and was reborn into Nirvana. He could barely hold back his shout of amazement during the filming, taking close-up after close-up, from the close-up of the face to the close-up of the hands, to the close-up of the whole body, and even the curled up heels when hunched over added to the overall explosive feeling of the scene.

Simply wow!

It was as refreshing as drinking a glass of cold beer on a high summer day at noon and as comfortable as eating hotpot on a deep winter night.

When Zhou Hong slapped his thigh and shouted ‘cut’, the entire crew couldn’t help applauding. Tao Mu finally couldn’t hold it in and sneezed seven or eight times in succession. Gou Rixin rushed into the studio holding tissues and a military coat. When Tao Mu blew his nose, he was still shivering from the cold in his bones, and the hand holding the tissues really looked like he had Parkinson’s disease.

He still couldn’t help coughing either.

Teacher Shao Ming, who played the role of the Japanese military officer, quickly came over with his own thermos cup filled with a large helping of indigo woad root, and had Tao Mu take some sips.

“You must have caught a cold.” Teacher Shao Ming reached out and touched Tao Mu’s forehead, it was cold and sweaty.

“It’s alright.” Tao Mu blew his nose without any care for his image, and said with a stuffed nose: “I’ll go back and drink a cup of liquid medicine, I’ll sweat it out with the blanket, and I’ll be fine tomorrow morning.”

But the result was that Tao Mu was not well at all the next morning. Due to a fever of 39.3 degrees celsius, Zhou Hong wanted to give Tao Mu a day off for him to rest. But it was Tao Mu who disagreed.

Insisting that he was in a very good condition now, especially suitable for the scene of being shot to death by the male protagonist.

When wrapped in a military coat to wait for the scene, Tao Mu, who was still blowing his nose constantly, his nose even becoming visibly red, tried to find the silver lining: “I think my current state is very suitable for playing a opium addict. Ai, you say, if noble young master Su Dingbang becomes big drug addict Su Dingbang, and is then shot by the male lead later. Wouldn’t it be particularly dramatic?”

Tao Mu was just talking casually, but Screenwriter Fan, who was passing by, heard it and fell into thought. Immediately, he made a phone call to the original author. After some communication, it was actually decided that yes, they would change the script——

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Su Dingbang, who finally defected to the enemy under torture from the Japanese, almost didn’t survive his injuries. During the treatment, he became addicted to morphine. On the one hand, it was to endure the pain, on the other hand, because he couldn’t get over his guilt, so he started smoking opium to paralyze his senses.

Later, when he was used as bait to lure the male protagonist to appear, Su Dingbang cooperated very willingly under the temptation of opium. However, in the end, the ending where he should have died under the gun of the male protagonist turned into Su Dingbang commiting suicide by swallowing a large quantity of opium after hearing the news that the Su family had been destroyed from the male protagonist.

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Tao Mu forwarded the video he had shot to Guo Yaning. As for how Guo Yaning’s studio planmed to use this video to rub off on his popularity, that was out of Tao Mu’s control.

However, what surprised Tao Mu was that after his dance video was uploaded, Long Tianao found him again, saying that “The Legend of Heroes” wanted to rub off on his popularity with a pre-release promotion. Naturally, the publicity plan was to edit the video when Tao Mu was acting as a stand-in as a behind the scenes sneak peek——

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“Zhao Xin was too embarrassed to call you to tell you about this, so he asked me to beg you. You won’t object, right?” As Long Tianao spoke, before Tao Mu could answer, he suddenly sneered: “Is there an old saying? Clever people may be victims of their own cleverness. You say, that Zhao Xin is such a scheming guy, back then he already promised to let you join the crew as an actor, but just to have the money to film his shoddy movie, he followed along Zhao Keping’s instigations and turned you from an actor into a stand-in, and also have to agree to signing various unequal contracts with Summer Star Entertainment. Now you have transformed into a big boss with money who can bring investment funds to the crew yourself. Just to shoot a TV series, you could casually bring in a 14 million yuan investment. A perfectly good act of kindness turned into this, and he had to ask me to relay even just a word. He missed out on such a potential investor who is generous and amiable. Do you think he regrets it?”

There was also that idiot Zhao Keping, who thought that he had deep scheming and skill, but only found himself to be bitten in the ass by his own cleverness. He went directly from Tao Mu’s reserve agent to someone who offended a capital bigwig.

“These two brothers in distress are also destined for each other. But what kind of friendship do we have? If you can’t get over that thing, I can help you vent any anger.” Long Tianao threw an arm over Tao Mu’s shoulders and sighed in a brotherly manner.

Tao Mu looked at the gloating Long Tianao speechlessly: “Who was the biggest beneficiary of that incident at the time? Could you please not show off after taking undeserved gains?”

“The biggest beneficiary was indeed me.” Long Tianao was frank, speaking as if he had put honey in his mouth: “If it wasn’t for this incident, how could I have known you. If it wasn’t for you it would have been impossible for me to change from a hedonistic rich second generation who everybody looked down on to a program planner with high expectations from the company. So, let us brothers be honest. Tell me directly, if you really can’t swallow that anger, your buddy here will help you teach that blind fool a lesson.”

“Oh, stop!” Tao Mu pushed away classmate Long Aotian, and said, “Everything is business. Don’t always show your second year junior high temper. Everyone is just trying to make a livelihood. It’s not easy for anyone. There is no conflict of interest at all, so why offend that person?”

Tao Mu’s behavior had always adhered to acting when there was profit to be made. Likely only the idle rich second generation like Long Tianao would go out of the way to teach someone a lesson for the sake of face.

Long Tianao smiled and said: “Why is there no benefit? I’m trying to please you here. You are now our most honored business partner of Summer Star Entertainment. Our company employee have offended you before, and as I am the boss, it’s impossible for me to pretend nothing wrong has happened, right?”

“But I also know that with your temper, you’ll definitely not be happy about me making trouble in the name of venting the anger for you. But I’m a stupid person, so I can’t come up with the best of both worlds. So I will just ask your opinion. What do you think? I will follow your lead. Aren’t I a good buddy?”

“Simply put, it’s just to coax me?” Tao Mu gave Long Tianao a knuckle rap on the head. This kind of cheating and tricking thoughts had to be said so openly, did he not mind losing face?

Just as they were talking, Gou Rixin came over with Tao Mu’s cell phone: “Director Chen Yiqian’s phone call.”

Chen Yiqian, wasn’t that the director of “Purple Clouds”?

Tao Mu paused for a moment and then answered the phone: “Hello Director Chen, calling at this time, is there anything you need me for?”

Although the two of them didn’t communicate much, Tao Mu still thought about the kindness of Chen Yiqian recommending him to audition for the cast of “The Legend of Heroes” and spoke good words for him in front of Cheng Baodong. Although Tao Mu’s role in “The Legend of Heroes” was soon replaced by Long Tianao, and his relationship with Cheng Baodong only stayed on a mutually beneficial level. But Tao Mu was still grateful for Chen Yiqian’s willingness to lend a helping hand when he had yet to make it big. At that time, Tao Mu had not yet established FlyNews.com, let alone established a relationship with Xiaoheng Capital. The reason why Chen Yiqian helped him was that he simply thought he was a newcomer who deserved more chances.

It was precisely because of this goodwill that Tao Mu showed great respect for Chen Yiqian. Now Chen Yiqian seemed to have something to ask of him, and so long as it was not too much, Tao Mu would never refuse.

Sure enough, Chen Yiqian was also a very measured person. His thoughts were actually similar to Zhao Xin. They both want to promote their own TV series using Tao Mu’s name——one must know that before “The Legend of Heroes”, Tao Mu was on the crew of “Purple Clouds” and acted as a stand-in for Shen Yu.

“Now the video of Mr. Tao dancing is all over the Internet. So we also edited a version of Mr. Tao’s on-set footage of “Purple Clouds”, and we plan to post it on the Internet for a wave of publicity.” But after all, Tao Mu’s role in the crew was just Shen Yu’s stand-in, and Tao Mu’s relationship with Shen Yu was also a bit awkward. Chen Yiqian couldn’t figure out what Tao Mu was thinking and whether or not he was willing to let the crew promote the TV series using his name?

——After all, after this version of the promotional footage was broadcast, someone would certainly compare Tao Mu and Shen Yu. Especially as one of the two was a self-made business wizard, and the other was a son of a wealthy family. Moreover, both the Shen family and Tao Mu hold shares in Sheng’an Group. Before Yao Sheng’an made a big scandal at the Song family’s ancestral tomb at the beginning of the new year, and before the relevant video came out, it was said that Shen Yu had a lot of criticism about this matter in private, thinking that Tao Mu was too ruthless and did not leave room for forgiving the elderly. And it was only because he was stopped by the Shen family, so he didn’t dare to say anything inappropriate on the social platform.

But even so, Shen Yu’s fans also hate Tao Mu very much. If the “Purple Clouds” crew really used Tao Mu as a stunt double for Shen Yu as a publicity stunt. It was foreseeable that the fans on both sides would definitely tear into each other because of this incident. Chen Yiqian was also worried that Tao Mu would alo take his anger out on the entire crew because of this, so he called Tao Mu in advance to get a hint on Tao Mu’s attitude.

Tao Mu frowned slightly. It was not that he didn’t agree with the way the crew of “Purple Clouds” wanted to rub off on his popularity. In fact, when he became Shen Yu’s stunt double, he expected such a day to come. He was already paid, so how could he still prevent others from normal publicity work? What was more, even if the “Purple Clouds” crew didn’t mention this, Shen Yu’s fans would not forget it when Shen Yu sent so many Weibo posts. When the TV series was released, Shen Yu’s fans would revisit the old story.

So Tao Mu didn’t plan to stop the “Purple Clouds” crew from using this as a gimmick, and didn’t even feel as embarrassed as Chen Yiqian thought. This was just normal work.

“That’s good. That’s good.” Originally it was also written when the contract was signed that Tao Mu would cooperate with the crew to promote it when necessary. However, because of Tao Mu’s status change in just half a year, especially after the number of registered users on FlyNews.com quickly surpassed the 100 million mark, Chen Yiqian actually felt a little flattered by the other’s willingness to perform the contract.

The two chatted a few more words before Chen Yiqian hung up the phone.

Long Tianao was listening the whole time, and couldn’t help frowning and sneering: “I thought this Director Chen was a good man. I didn’t expect him to be so shameless.”

“How is that a way to talk?” Tao Mu squinted at Long Tianao. The appearance of a certain someone shooting off his mouth was really a headache: “I can let the “Legend of Heroes” crew do publicity using my name. Why can’t I agree to the request of the “Purple Clouds” crew? You can’t favor one over the other, right?”

“How can it be the same?” Long Tianao was immediately dissatisfied: “What is the relationship between us? What is the relationship between you and Shen Yu? That Chen Yiqian knew that the two of you were not on good terms, yet he had the cheek to talk to you about this. I can already imagine what will happen to the fans of you two after the promotional footage of the “Purple Clouds” crew is broadcast.”

Tao Mu raised his eyebrows: “Wiil I be afraid?”

“Of course not.” Long Tianao, who had been eating melons on the Internet, clearly knew what attributes Tao Mu’s fans were——apart from that group of airheads who could only go “aaah”, there were also quite a few combat fans. Those were all scolding masters who focus on all kinds of online fights. Besides, Tao Mu’s own combat power was also at the level of being able to fight against Buddha.

If it really turned into a war, it was estimated that the brainless fans of Shen Yu were not enough for Tao Mu to even KO in one round.

Thinking of this, Long Tianao suddenly felt relieved. This was the advantage of your friend possessing combat effectiveness——it sure gave a sense of security, no need at all to feel overly anxious.

When Long Tianao came back to his senses, he found Tao Mu looking at him strangely.

“What’s wrong?” Long Tianao touched his face, puzzled.

“Don’t you have a good relationship with Shen Yu?” Tao Mu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He could remember clearly that Long Tianao played very well with Shen Yu at the time. The two often chat privately on the phone.

“Oh, yeah!” Long Tianao was stunned for a moment, and then said: “I thought Shen Yu was very pleasing to the eye at first. I felt like he was different from ordinary children of rich families. He was very naive, very kind, and very lively, and he got the most imaginative ideas, and spoke very differently than others.”

However, don’t know since when, the two basically have no communication?

Long Tianao recalled carefully, and found that it was after he and CEO Tao got close. The several companies jointly held a talent show, and Long Tianao began to get involved in company affairs, and he had to attend gatherings with friends from the capital. Over time, he didn’t have the energy to contact Shen Yu and the relationship gradually faded. Especially after the incident of the Yao family coming out, Long Tianao really couldn’t figure out why such a kind and innocent person would speak for Yao Shengan. Under these feelings of disappointment, he no longer felt the same heart throbbing from before.

Tao Mu understood, and patted Long Tianao on the shoulder: “Cherish your IQ, don’t go to Shanghai City.”

Long Tianao: “…..” What do you mean?

“Brother Mu, it’s time for your scene!” In the distance, a crew worker called Tao Mu to film.

Tao Mu, who had been standing in the corner waiting for his scene, responded and hurried into the set.

He was going to shoot a scene in which Su Dingbang was tortured and imprisoned, and witness his comrade-in-arms being tortured by the Japanese with his own eyes. Upon seeing the bloody corpses of his comrades who were still alive the day before, Su Dingbang clearly realized that he could not resist such torture, so he defected.

At the shooting venue, the set designer had already set up the scene background. The spooky and airtight prison had only a dim incandescent lamp swaying above. Chen Jianguo, who played a member of the underground party, was tied to a rack, covered and dripping with blood. The makeup teacher also stood by to touch up his makeup.

Teacher Shao Ming, who played the Japanese military officer, was standing a meter away in a Japanese military uniform, and was also getting his makeup touched up. In addition, there were several special actors in charge of carrying out the torture. Tao Mu, who was wearing a white suit, walked to his place, and everyone got into the right mindframe of emotions. The clapper loader in charge of the clapperboard shouted “Action”.

“Su-san, I really didn’t expect that a noble young master like you, who should enjoy the riches and glory of the world, would be bewitched by these traitors and participate in these violent dealings.” The Japanese military officer walked up to Su Dingbang and said regretfully in very stiff Chinese.

Forced by the intimidating aura of the Japanese military officer, Su Dingbang played by Tao Mu couldn’t help but take a small step back, and inadvertently showed an obvious tremble.

Keenly noticing this, the Japanese military officer hooked the corner of his mouth upwards in amusement. Instead of putting pressure on Su Dingbang, he walked up to the underground party member bound on a rack and slowly picked up a red-hot soldering iron from the charcoal basin.

“Under normal circumstances, when we formally entertain guests, we need to order appetizers.” The Japanese military officer said, crooked his neck in a mentally unstable way, and slowly pressed the soldering iron on the chest of the underground party member.

“Ahhhhhhh——” Chen Jianguo, who played the underground party member, shouted loudly. The red-hot iron made a sizzling sound when it came into contact with the flesh, and a pungent smell of burnt flesh permeated the dark underground torture cell. The piercing pain made him struggle subconsciously. He was sweating profusely and his face twisted frightfully, and as the camera moved forward, his whole person appeared to convulse.

Su Dingbang jumped violently, leaning against the wall with a pale face, his body trembling slightly as he looked at the underground party member being put under torture.

“Alright, the appetizers are over.” The Japanese military officer put down the soldering iron, looked back at Su Dingbang, who was too frightened to speak, and smiled slightly: “Now, the main course begins.”

“Cut!” Zhou Hong shouted. Sitting in front of the monitor and watching for a while, he reached out and beckoned Tao Mu: “Come here.”

Zhou Hong motioned to Tao Mu to look at the monitor by himself. In the video playback, he saw that on the small screen, the two veteran actors who played the underground party member and the Japanese military officer were playing off on each other. The interaction between the two and even every micro-expression made the atmosphere more and more tense. In the end, when Teacher Chen Jianguo performed the scene where he struggled painfully from being tortured, it was even more shocking and painful to watch.

Their performance was especially brilliant.

Tao Mu’s expression changed slightly.

The performances of the two teachers were particularly brilliant. In the whole picture, Su Dingbang was originally the third “protagonist”. But even if he watched the video himself, he didn’t notice such a character at all.

Originally, he was supposed to be the main character of this scene, but the result was that Su Dingbang’s existence became just like the other special characters, becoming dispensable and fading into the scenery. The only few close-ups, compared with the two veteran actors who played with ease and fierceness, came off slightly jerky and deliberate. Looking very much out of place.

His acting was suppressed.

The two veteran actors who were still on the set looked at Tao Mu, who was standing in front of the monitor, frowning, and smiled at each other involuntarily.

In real life, Tao Mu was an investor who brought capital into the crew and was a big boss. It was not wrong that everyone treated him respectfully. But if it was in the scene, well, it was each according to his ability.

At the same time, they also wanted to observe Tao Mu’s reaction——this child was fine everywhere. He was pure-hearted, generous, and could handle things, but they didn’t know what his temperament was like.

According to the reaction of the students from Beijing Film, this child was quite burdened by idol baggage. The so-called idol baggage, in the eyes of these old fellows, was just basically having thin skin and placing importance on keeping face.

Then they have to see, when this little guy with a particularly heavy idol baggage was suppressed by old senior actors, could he take back his stage presence with his own skills, or rely on his identity as an investor to have these veteran actors hold back for his sake.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

This was just the first scene, and the major scene that followed had not yet even come. Everyone was just curious and wanted to know which path Tao Mu would choose.

Zhan Bin and Zhan Baoli, who both had no part in this scene, also quietly walked to the corner of the studio.

Tao Mu didn’t notice everyone’s reaction. He just watched the video thoughtfully for a while, then asked the director to take one more shot, two more, three more…..so immersed in the shooting Tao Mu didn’t know that, just when he was concentrating on honing his acting skills, the sky was overturned outside because of the promotional behind the scenes released by the “Purple Clouds” crew.

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