I Want to Be a Good Person

"Yin Zhiping? Wouldn't he be from Guo Jing's generation?"

Shen Qi wondered if he had heard wrong.

By the original novel's timeline, Yin Zhiping was a year older than Yang Kang and Guo Jing.

Guo Jing and Yang Kang met at eighteen, and the events that followed took about two years. That meant Yang Kang had gotten Mu Nianci pregnant when he was around twenty.

By that reckoning, Yin Zhiping was at least twenty years older than Yang Guo.

Little Dragon Maiden was five years older than Yang Guo.

So Yin Zhiping had to be at least fifteen years older than Little Dragon Maiden.

At the start of the story, Little Dragon Maiden had just turned eighteen.

That put Yin Zhiping well into his thirties.

But Shen Qi was only twenty-three!

"Oh, that doesn't matter. Just think about whether you want to audition, okay?"

Shu Chang had never even considered that.

If the director said it worked, it worked. Who would bother calculating Yin Zhiping's age?

Was that the point?

The point was what kind of person Yin Zhiping was and what he had done.

Some actresses shot to fame playing Little Dragon Maiden. Some actors broke into the top tier as Yang Guo. Others raised their profiles with roles like Guo Xiang or Guo Fu.

But few people got a career boost from playing Yin Zhiping.

In The Return of the Condor Heroes, Little Dragon Maiden had long been beloved as the pure, otherworldly heroine.

And yet Yin Zhiping had violated her!

That scene was a thorn in the hearts of almost every reader and viewer.

Every remake of The Return of the Condor Heroes had to sacrifice a Yin Zhiping.

The prettier Little Dragon Maiden's actress was, the worse the actor playing Yin Zhiping got cursed.

They would hate Yin Zhiping for the rest of their lives—and hate even more that they weren't him!

"I'll go. Why wouldn't I?"

Shen Qi struggled with it for only a few seconds before deciding.

He still remembered watching Carman Lee's version of The Return of the Condor Heroes and hating Yin Zhiping so much he wanted to climb into the television and beat him up.

He had never imagined that, years later, fate's boomerang would come straight back and smack him in the forehead.

Just days ago, he had joked with Zhang Yi that Legend of the White Snake was really a snake-horror movie, laughing at Xu Xian for not even leaving snakes alone.

Now it was his turn to audition for the "Dragon Rider."

He had finally become the very thing he hated most.

But faced with reality, what choice did he have?

His career was already in such a sorry state. He was hardly in a position to be picky.

At worst, he could follow Hou Tianlai's example and become a screen "women-whipping hero." Maybe he would even earn the title of "National First-Class Third-Rate Actor."

Failing that, he could learn from Pal Sinn. Pal Sinn was doing just fine.

And Lawrence Ng had even gotten to play Zhang Wuji!

What was impossible anymore?

"Actually, this role is pretty risky. If you can wait a little longer, I'll try to find you something else."

Shu Chang felt guilty, afraid her good intentions might do more harm than good.

"It's fine. I need to get my foot in the door first. I can worry about developing my career once I've found a place in the industry."

Shen Qi took it in stride.

Mainly because he had the Magic Book.

The road ahead might not be smooth, but his potential far exceeded that of most people.

No matter how much impact the role of Yin Zhiping had, it would be no more than an unusual sight along his climb to the top.

"Then prepare yourself. Don't let the role get to you. Remember—the audience will be cursing Yin Zhiping, not you. Afterward, you need to take a positive, cheerful role as soon as possible and break that impression of you."

Shu Chang sounded resigned.

If she could really have found Shen Qi a good role, she would never have suggested Yin Zhiping.

"When did you get so fussy? It's only been a few days..."

Shen Qi did not think Shu Chang was setting him up. Hearing the apology that kept creeping into her voice, he teased her on purpose.

"You... Hmph..." Shu Chang finally relaxed. "Oh, right. The leads have been settled. An Xiaoqian is playing Little Dragon Maiden, and Huang Xiaoming is playing Yang Guo..."

Ever since casting for The Return of the Condor Heroes had been announced in May, the choices for Little Dragon Maiden and Yang Guo had drawn constant attention and debate.

Cecilia Cheung, Jiang Qinqin, Jun Ji-hyun, Zhou Xun, and An Xiaoqian had all been popular candidates for Little Dragon Maiden.

There were even rumors that Liu Xiaoqing was under consideration.

Uh...

That would have made people say:

"Auntie, you're looking remarkably spry for your age!"

In fact, Zhou Xun had initially been the favorite.

In one interview, she had openly said she would play Little Dragon Maiden. She had even begun studying the script and working out the character.

Yet the role ultimately went to An Xiaoqian.

Some said Zhang Jizhong had strung Zhou Xun along and used her to generate publicity.

In truth, Little Dragon Maiden had been earmarked from the start for An Xiaoqian, who had played Wang Yuyan in Zhang Jizhong's version of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

It was the same route Idy Chan and Carman Lee had taken.

As for casting Yang Guo, that had been even more surreal.

Zhang Jizhong had first set his sights on Nicholas Tse, but Nicholas Tse made outrageous demands: all forty episodes had to be shot in thirty days, and his pay had to be at least 300,000 yuan per episode.

That was simply absurd!

The producers promptly passed on Nicholas Tse.

But his exit did nothing to settle the casting dispute. The battle between Huang Xiaoming and Nie Yuan only grew fiercer.

Judging by their standing in film and television at the time, Nie Yuan seemed to have the stronger momentum.

He had already starred in quite a few costume dramas, earning the nickname "the number-one young leading man in costume dramas" from audiences.

Huang Xiaoming, meanwhile, had only The Prince of Han to his name.

Of course, they were both counted among the four leading young actors of the new generation, so the gap was hardly huge.

It was still anyone's game.

Nie Yuan even had his jaw shaved down to better fit the role. His face was on the broad side, especially around the cheeks, which differed from Yang Guo's description in the book.

At a press conference, Huang Xiaoming said there was too much going on behind the scenes with the Yang Guo casting and that he no longer expected to get the role.

He fought back by publicly playing the underdog.

To strengthen his chances, Nie Yuan even signed with the drama's investor, China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Audio-Visual Publishing House.

In the end, though, he was still eliminated.

Then came claims that Huang Xiaoming had given Zhang Jizhong a million yuan.

And that he had "handed over" his own acting fee to Zhang Jizhong as well.

After filling Shen Qi in on the The Return of the Condor Heroes production, Shu Chang could not help adding:

"Honestly, I think you'd make a pretty good Yang Guo..."

"No way!"

Shen Qi almost laughed out loud.

"No harm in dreaming, right? Haha. You can do it!"

Shu Chang knew it was impossible too.

Zhang Jizhong had always been good at generating publicity. He sought out A-list stars even when he was merely chasing buzz; there was no chance he would cast a complete unknown as the male lead.

Not even if Shen Qi were his own son!

After hanging up, Shen Qi sat in a daze for a while.

Truthfully, if he were not in such a hurry, he could have taken things slowly and built his career step by step.

With his special advantage, he could steadily improve his acting while waiting for the right opportunity. Within five years, he might land a major supporting role—or even a lead or second lead.

If he found a good talent agency, that might happen within three years.

But time would not wait!

His family had already been struggling. They had scraped together everything they had and gone deep into debt to put him through school.

They had hoped he would make something of himself after university.

Who could have guessed he would be fired less than a year into his job?

If he failed to get anywhere, money would not be the only problem. His family would feel too ashamed to face people.

Of course, playing Yin Zhiping was rather embarrassing too.

When he returned from the call, they shot the scene where everyone fooled Ji Wuming after he lost his memory.

Perhaps because something was weighing on his mind, Shen Qi botched two takes in a row.

Director Shang Jing's eyes were almost red with frustration.

Shen Qi quietly used a page of Sha Yi's performance records. Only then did he steady himself and get into character.

The next two days went smoothly enough.

They also shot some of Ji Wubing's scenes.

During that time, a new actress joined the cast: Ni Hongjie.

Like most people, Shen Qi knew Ni Hongjie from Tingmei's underwear commercial.

The camera had lingered for several seconds in a very particular place, stirring countless teenage hormones. Whether any of those viewers had learned how to use the product was something only they knew.

Now that he was meeting her in person, Shen Qi felt awkward staring at her.

Especially anywhere below the neck.

Damn his imagination!

But Shen Qi soon had no time to dwell on the details of the underwear commercial.

He began playing two roles.

The challenge of playing two roles was making the second character feel distinct.

The worst outcome would be for viewers to see no difference between them.

Fortunately, this character contrasted with Ji Wuming in several ways.

Shen Qi had done plenty of homework.

Shang Jing also walked him through the scenes.

For simple scenes, he relied on his own skills. For slightly harder ones, he counted on the director. For the hardest, he used the Magic Book.

That way, his acting did not seem wildly inconsistent.

Everyone knew by now that he had not studied acting professionally.

It was only natural that there were things he did not know.

As long as he was willing to learn...

Plenty of people were eager to learn. Some only put on a show of it, while others meant it.

But not everyone who wanted to learn was welcomed.

The key was whether they could actually be taught!

A director needed to see progress. Otherwise, every lesson would only make him angrier.

Shen Qi was different.

Every time Shang Jing taught him, he saw progress.

Even when the lesson was difficult.

Shen Qi was hopelessly clumsy most of the time, but whenever Shang Jing was on the verge of losing patience, Shen Qi would suddenly have a flash of brilliance.

He would deliver something beyond Shang Jing's expectations.

Hell, did I teach him that?

Since when was I this good at coaching actors?

The sense of accomplishment was immense!

In just a few days, Shen Qi had not only become part of the cast; he had also impressed the director and producer.

Before long, it was time for Shen Qi's final scene.

In it, a Thunderclap Bomb would blow up in his face.

His face had to be covered in black soot.

The makeup artist took some black gunk and smeared it straight onto his face.

Even she felt as if she was committing a sin.

If Shen Qi wanted, she could come to his room that night and comfort him.

"Ji, you're really putting your looks on the line for this role!"

Sha Yi sounded a little too pleased with himself.

Shen Qi looked at himself in the mirror and could only sigh:

"Old Bai, weren't we childhood friends?"

"I didn't have a choice before. Now I want to be a good person..."

Sha Yi mimicked Andy Lau's delivery.