Reborn as the Villain's Wife, I Shine in 80s

In October 1980, "Desire" was preparing to begin filming. The lead and supporting actors had already been selected by the director at the film studio. Other minor roles were being filled gradually, just waiting for the production to start.

In truth, though this was a parallel timeline, the actual flow of time wasn’t the same. For instance, in his previous life, Li Yibai was born in 1990, but here time had shifted backward. He only had a vague understanding of "Desire," having just heard of the title and seen brief introductions. Luckily, his golden finger pieced together the entire version of "Desire" based on those fleeting memories. This was the strength of his golden finger. However, without deep knowledge or firsthand experience of the show, he couldn’t form a truly authentic impression. Therefore, he had no choice but to leave the casting decisions to the director. If he had seen the actors in person, he might have used his memory to select the actors and strive to make it faithful to the original while appropriately improving upon it. But without that experience, he didn’t have the foundation to make those choices.

He was powerless.

** Time Rewinds.

In contrast to the smooth preparations for Desire, the launch of "Lushan Love" faced major challenges.

Find the newest release on novel·fire.net

Making a movie was never as simple as it seemed.

Zhao Chun had a team. His team included people skilled in cinematography, music, set design, and so forth. He essentially had no shortage of photographers, directors, art designers, lighting crew, editors, and script supervisors.

As for funding, they’d cobbled together some resources and rented a house to serve as a temporary workspace for the early stages of production.

Props, costumes, filming in Lushan, and actor payments could be addressed in the next phase.

First and foremost, they needed actors; without actors, how could a movie be made? The cast of "Lushan Love" was relatively small, with only seven speaking roles and several extras.

Besides the lead actor and actress, some other speaking roles—like the male lead’s mother and the female lead’s father—were older characters and thus harder to cast. Zhao Chun planned to find some extras nearby Lushan to fill those roles.

The most critical task was finding the lead actor and actress, the absolute focal point of the movie! Yet, throughout the entire school, Zhao Chun had been unable to find anyone suitable for the leads.

Casting as a director requires finding someone that "clicks," and it was proving to be a nightmare. Zhao Chun was so frustrated he felt like smoking and drinking. He slammed the table and yelled, "Not one! Not a single person is satisfactory!"

"Boss, calm down." Yao Yu cringed internally, muttering under his breath. You’re dissatisfied with everyone, but those people probably wouldn’t even want to join our ragtag production crew. How much could we even afford to pay them?

Chen Wan suggested, "Boss, why don’t we head to the streets to take a look?"

"We might find someone who looks the part on the streets, but there’s no guarantee they’ve studied acting. If they can’t act, it’s still no good." Zhao Chun paced slowly, his panda eyes starting to gleam. "How about this? We hold a nationwide casting call and let them come to us." Let those who want to act approach them instead of the other way around. Besides, the area had more than one film academy—students from other schools might see the announcement and try out.

"Will... will anyone show up for the casting call?" Yao Yu was so surprised his jaw nearly dropped. Though he was secretly thrilled at the idea, the excitement also made him anxious.

"Why wouldn’t they?" Chen Wan said while checking her appearance in a mirror. "Our crew is bound to become famous someday. Whoever doesn’t come will regret it later!"

The casting call idea spread like wildfire, and Zhao Chun immediately began issuing commands with eager eyes and an air of arrogance. "Alright, Yao Yu, Chen Wan, tonight write up a casting announcement and print out copies. Tomorrow, you and Ah Ming will go out and distribute them. Do plenty of promotion. I’ll contact the newspaper office and pull some strings to get the call published. That way more people will see it."

In the business world, relationships are everything. Zhao Chun gritted his teeth, realizing he’d have to head home for this one. A true man knows when to bend and kneel; when the situation calls for it, you just have to swallow your pride.

Yao Yu and Chen Wan exchanged glances and nodded excitedly, "We’ll do whatever you say, boss!"

"Remember," Zhao Chun furrowed his brows, "write the payment amount high."

"How high?" The two froze.

"Five hundred."

"What?! That’s way too much!" Yao Yu gasped, almost tearing up, "Do we even have that kind of money?"

Zhao Chun shot him a sidelong glance. "If the pay isn’t attractive, who’ll show up? Lure them in first, we can negotiate later."

Oh~ So that’s the plan~~ Yao Yu gazed at him in admiration.

"Using high pay to grab attention. Let’s just see who shows up for the call; after all, in the end, only the lead actor and actress will be selected, and the final decisions are ours to make."

"Boss, you’re brilliant!" Chen Wan gave him a thumbs up.

Raising his chin proudly, Zhao Chun felt tears well up inside. He would have to go plead with his grandfather.

When he returned, he couldn’t avoid another round of scolding.

Old Master Zhao was lounging on the sofa, leisurely sipping brewed Longjing tea as he gazed at his hesitant grandson, sneering, "Weren’t you the one who said you’d forge your own path in the world? Weren’t you the one who said you wouldn’t ask the family for help? So, what now? The last time you wanted me to help get the script approved at the film studio, and this time you want me to help get it published in the newspaper? I thought you had skills. Turns out, all you’ve got is enthusiasm for asking favors!"

"Grandpa." Zhao Chun blushed from the criticism but decided to swallow his pride for the sake of the movie. Flashing his clear, puppy-like eyes, he flattered, "Since I’ve asked for help once, you should’ve expected there’d be a second time. I can only turn to you because you’re so wise and capable. If not, I’d have long gone to find someone else."

Old Master Zhao stared at him in shock—this spineless kid had suddenly grown a thicker skin. He’d been honest and straightforward his whole life, but now...! This, this was excellent! Finally, he’d figured things out!

"Alright, seeing as you’ve made some progress, I’ll help. As long as it’s not murder or arson, this little matter isn’t worth being stingy over. Just make sure you produce something worthwhile. Don’t embarrass me in the future, got it?"

Had he... agreed? Zhao Chun had been bracing for a round of scolding but hadn’t expected his grandfather to be so generous this time. Confused, he blinked, scratched his head, and listened to the lecture in a daze.

"..." He pursed his lips weakly, so stunned he was at a loss for words, "Grand... Grandpa..."

"Do you know why I agreed to help you?" The old man tapped his cane.

Zhao Chun quickly shook his head.

"I just said you’re starting to demonstrate the flexibility of a true Zhao family member, but now you’ve gone back to being a fool! Figure it out on your own!" Old Master Zhao sighed. "Anyhow, your script isn’t bad. It actually fits the current climate quite well. You should be grateful to whoever wrote it."

The person who wrote the script, huh? Zhao Chun lowered his gaze. Darn it! He still didn’t know who that person was. He was completely in the dark!

"Oh, by the way, I heard from a friend recently that Jinghuai got married. Did you know about that?" Old Master Zhao asked.

Zhao Chun’s head shot up, his eyes wide in disbelief, "Impossible!"