[Be careful during your next project]
Xia Ruyun woke up to a strange and... befuddling message from Li Feiling. As her eyes wandered downward and kept reading though, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth fell into a frown.
[Your next project is one funded and pretty much run by Chu Changfeng. Just be aware of this. He’s keeping it hidden, but be on guard. I know I’ve told you a lot about him, but I’m sure there’s worse things he’s done that neither of us know about]
[also, by the way, i’m going to be the antagonist female lead (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ so see you soon!]
Stunned as if a heavenly tribulation’s lightning bolt had crashed down onto her head, Xia Ruyun sat in her bed for a couple minutes while her half-groggy, still-asleep brain began stumbling forward to process the new influx of information. What? Who? My new job? Li Feiling’s joining? Chu Changfeng is funding? What... what did I walk into...
With the sun’s morning rays leaking into the room—from the crack she had left in her curtains—she blinked her eyes. Lucidity returned to her bit by bit as her eyes flickered to life. Even after the gift of consciousness had returned to her though, she laid back down as listlessness filled every cell of her body.
She... had no real idea about what to do now.
The contract is already signed, so nothing’s changing on that front. Plus, Li Feiling’s joining so it can’t be that bad...
Another long sigh left her lips. Her delicate hand slipped out from under the blankets and wandered back over to the phone. After swiping through the lock screen, her boredom drew her to the video streaming apps, yet, in a moment of extreme heroism, she opened her messaging app to sort through the unread messages.
First came a couple greetings from Wu Linjie. [Hope you’re still doing well!]
[I’ve joined a new variety show recently for young actors to demonstrate their acting prowess! Tune in if you can with Teacher Li! I hope to make you two proud! We’ll also be doing some group athletic challenges!]
Without too much to say, Xia Ruyun sent back a couple of thumbs-up and good luck stickers before ending off with a [I’ll tune in and pass the message on to Li Feiling. Best of luck]
Next came Gao Qian. The message didn’t consist of much beyond logistical information. [Turns out they’re further along than what they initially presented. They’ve hammered out a storyline and are finalizing the script. I’ve sent over the story outline, so take a read when you can to familiarize yourself.]
[As for scheduling, shooting will start next week, and a cast-wide script reading will happen at the end of this week. They’re really rushing it, I'm not exactly clear on the reason why either, but just keep your head down and do your part, it will turn out fine. They’ll be passing out the finalized script during the reading, so just be ready for that. Beginning of shooting won’t be too intensive either, so that people can memorize their parts.]
Xia Ruyun pursed her lips and squinted her eyes. She couldn’t quite think of a great way to reply to the behemoth of a message, and, in the end, just sent over a simple [Okay, will read, thanks for updating me on everything.]
Seeing no other unread messages, she reopened her message log with Li Feiling. Her eyes scanned over the content a couple more times as her fingers paused over the screen. With nothing coming to her mind as a response to Li Feiling’s last message, she decided to build some social momentum by answering the first two. [Thanks for letting me know]
[I’ll be careful during the next project]
[Chu Changfeng is crazy though, his social media accounts are so popular, how does he hide it all so well? Those stories you told weren’t anything to scoff at]
Her fingers flowed across the keyboard, and without realizing it, she typed out and sent a response to the last message as well. [What a surprise! I’m really looking forward to working with you again <3 Hoping for another pleasurable collaboration]
Following up her message with a stream of cute stickers, she couldn’t help but have a handful of laughs slip out. Pressing a hand against her mouth, she traced the smile on her lips with her fingertips while her heart leapt from the burgeoning joy bubbling up within her. As she rolled in bed, she—without a second thought—spoke out loud to an old stuffed animal sitting on the shelf. “I’m really excited to work with Li Feiling again. I’ll work hard to make sure I’m not a burden on her! I can’t spend too much time with her in public either... I’m sure she doesn’t want to be embroiled in all the drama surrounding me after all...”
Still energetic after her uncharacteristic joyous outburst about Li Feiling to an old stuffed animal, she hiked herself out of bed and meandered into the bathroom. The sound of the sink running filled her apartment as she ran through her morning routine, and, after ten minutes or so, she reappeared in front of her desk with her hair tied back.
Clenching her fists and pumping herself up once more, she took a few deep breaths before reopening her chat history with Gao Qian and downloading the story outline and script draft.
I wonder what kind of gruesome fate I’m going to have this time?
Though... I’m actually quite happy to be on the losing side opposing the male lead for once in my life, if the information about it being Chu Changfeng are true.
With natural sunlight filling the room and casting its gentle beams onto Xia Ruyun’s face, she got into the zone easier than a butterfly flapping its wings. Picturesque as she read through the documents, the sporadic sound of her clicking and typing as she annotated her script punctured the heater’s rhythmic hum.
Interesting... this could... be quite fun actually.
Right off the bat, Xia Ruyun couldn’t help but comment on the name. “The Dragon’s Maw”? What kind of pretentious name is this?
If anything though, she had to admit it did fit the atmosphere and the energy of the show. The male lead, Jiang Jinlong, played by Chu Changfeng, has an average background where he comes from a middle-class family. He, however, has a dragon's mindset as the show calls it. Here, the supernatural comes in where it manifests behind him like some sort of superpower. He, however, had dreamt of turning the world upside down and entered business after graduating from the top university in the world as valedictorian, and used this ‘power’ to climb to the top of the world.
So, this is the background...
I can’t even keep a straight face with this part alone. It feels so wish-fulfillment-y. The trashiness is so bad it loops around to being good!
He just... takes himself so seriously.
The lack of romance is... unique though. I guess there’s a real emphasis on the supernatural dragon mindset thing. He has to be alone at the top, the cool lone wolf... well... dragon in this case.
The role she had though, was the childhood friend who had followed him to the top and was his secretary. She, however, during their time at different universities, became a secret spy for the female lead and antagonist of the story, Zeng Xiaojing.
The story, therefore, starts after Jiang Jinlong had made it to the top of the world. Here, her character would participate in some corporate espionage, giving the documents over to Zeng Xiaojing.
As the antagonist, Zeng Xiaojing would then go on to spark the start of the story by exposing a number of hidden scandals in the company causing it to collapse. From here, the show would trace Jiang Jinlong’s rise back to power—to be greater than before. All the while, his ascent is made possible by his unshakeable dragon-like mindset.
Xia Ruyun traced the keyboard’s edge with her fingers as she flipped through the rest for a brief skim through. She paused, however, as she reached the antagonist’s background:
The antagonist, herself, shares a long history with the main character: love interest, turned rival, turned bitter enemy. As the primary antagonist, Zeng Xiaojing has a supernatural power of her own, a phoenix, rebirthing itself constantly to pester the main character.
Li Feiling gets to play the charismatic villain... it could be fun, especially considering how ... honestly half-trashy the premise is.
Hopefully, the execution is good...
Even if it's campy, it could be a beloved TV series, it's built with face-slapping, dramatic twists... and... well, hot people moments.