Filming

After adding him on WeChat, Su Li asked with apparent casualness, "This estate is huge. Was it originally a prince's residence?"

Shi Yunle's assistant looked eager to gossip. "I asked around before. This used to be the General's Manor two hundred years ago. I never expected the director to actually rent it temporarily for filming."

"The General's Manor?" Neither Su Li nor Shi Yunle had expected that.

Su Li asked, "Which general from two hundred years ago?"

The assistant shook his head. "I'm clear on that too. I've only heard his surname was Yin. But I heard a story from some elderly people nearby. Two hundred years ago, General Yin's entire household was mysteriously wiped out."

Shi Yunle was stunned. "Wiped out?"

"Who did it?" Su Li asked.

The assistant lowered his voice. "They said everyone died overnight. Even the general wasn't spared. Some say it was... a ghost."

"A ghost? That legend is a bit too..." Shi Yunle frowned.

"It is pretty bizarre, but the locals all say they can hear ghosts crying inside the estate at night. When this place was developed, it opened as a tourist attraction for a few days, but then something happened. Lots of tourists got lost here. Some weren't found until the next day, and they turned out to be dead."

"Then the place was closed off. But recently, someone thought it was too much of a waste to leave such a huge estate unused, so they let film crews use it."

Goosebumps rose all over Shi Yunle. "Stop talking about it. We still have several days of filming here."

Su Li smiled. "It's just a legend. We'll leave once we're done filming."

Su Li finished his scenes for the morning. He had two more in the afternoon, and during the lunch break, he ate in the Nanny Van.

Zheng Xing had specially arranged for someone to make lunch, all dishes Su Li liked. He had heated it before Su Li's break and prepared chilled fruit as well.

Su Li ate while scrolling through short videos.

"Kiss Everywhere," the song he had given Cheng Sirong, had recently been used as background music in all sorts of short videos, and countless covers had appeared.

It was an absolute smash hit.

That brought emotional energy pouring in. He was now thinking about when to give Chen Zhuo a few songs.

It was no longer for the sake of his own strength. He wanted Yuan to solidify his body as soon as possible.

Discussion of Su Li on Feibo remained intense that day.

The reason was a Feibo post Shi Yunle had just made:

Actor Shi Yunle V: Made a new friend today! [Image]

The picture was a photo of him and Su Li together. Shi Yunle was smiling very happily.

[Fans of both are winning!]

[Why do I always find pictures of Li Bao everywhere except his own Feibo? He never posts anything about his daily life, just promotional stuff.]

[Yunle's grinning so hard his teeth are showing.]

[A crew member said she saw Yunle go up to Su Li and ask for his WeChat. Even his assistant couldn't hold him back.]

[LMAO, why is Yunle like a husky?]

[As a fan, I can confirm this is normal. He's twenty-six and still such a goof. He posted on Feibo before about how much he loves Su Li's lyrics. He definitely went running up to him.]

[For some reason, this picture has goofy loyal dog and bewitching beauty couple vibes.]

[Now that you've put it that way, I'm wide awake.]

[Of course everyone loves our Li Bao!]

Zheng Xing entered the trailer. "Boss, the Headless Female Ghost and I spent ages looking around here just now. We caught a few resentful spirits and locked them all in a small side room out back."

"Did you ask who they were?"

Zheng Xing nodded. "They said they were servants in this General's Manor. There were gardeners, maids, and household servants."

Su Li raised an eyebrow. "So it really was the General's Manor."

"Yes. They also said they were killed by the vicious ghost the general's wife became."

"The general's wife? Interesting."

The first day's filming went smoothly.

On the second day, the current scene featured the female lead, Yang Qi, and Shi Yunle. Su Li's scene was next.

So Su Li stood to the side with his script and watched.

They were filming this scene on a bridge inside the estate, with a lake beneath it.

After speaking with the female lead, the male lead left. The female lead remained alone on the bridge, gazing at the lake and talking sadly to herself.

Both of them performed the scene very well, expressing the emotions just right. Director Tian was about to call cut and offer a few words of praise.

Then Yang Qi screamed and fell off the bridge into the lake!

The crew cried out in alarm, and several people hurried down to rescue her.

Tian Zhang immediately ran onto the bridge and looked down.

This wasn't in the script! Besides, with railings this high, how could she have fallen?

Standing beside Su Li, Zheng Xing immediately said when he saw it, "Boss, just now, that..."

Su Li looked intrigued. "Something's coming out to cause trouble in broad daylight?"

Then he told Zheng Xing, "Let's come back tonight and take a look."

By then, everyone had pulled Yang Qi out. She had choked on some water and was a little dazed.

The crew had brought along a few people who knew first aid, worried that someone might get hurt since the show included fight scenes.

After first aid, Yang Qi regained awareness and could speak. Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt, only frightened, and they hurried her to the hospital.

Tian Zhang frowned. The leading actress had been injured on the second day. No crew wanted something like this to happen.

But he did not want to fall behind schedule. Renting this location cost money, after all. Su Li's next scene would still be filmed, though it was not on the bridge.

They finished a scene.

Su Li's performance improved Director Tian's mood a little.

He had thought Su Li was a good actor at the audition, and he really was excellent. He expressed emotions freely, delivered his lines well, and basically passed every scene in a single take.

He had never expected a popular celebrity who rose to fame through a variety show to have acting skills like these.

Su Li's scene partner was a veteran actor. Smiling, he said to Su Li, "Xiao Su, you have a real talent for acting. You're one of a kind, having skills like these at your age. You must keep acting. Given time, winning Best Actor in television will surely be no problem."

He truly thought Su Li was the most talented young person he had ever seen.

Su Li smiled too. "Thank you for the compliment, Teacher Ye."

Shi Yunle had come over at some point. He told the veteran actor, "Su Li really is a great actor, but I think his songwriting talent is even better!"

The veteran actor knew Shi Yunle well too. They had worked together many times before. He burst out laughing. "Oh, Little Shi, you haven't changed a bit."

Shi Yunle looked bewildered, while his assistant stood to the side with a pounding head.

Tian Zhang now remembered that Su Li could write songs too. The three songs he had written were hugely popular nationwide.

If he had Su Li write a theme song, wouldn't that improve the show's quality and generate an even bigger response?

So he walked over and asked Su Li tentatively, "Su Li, I remember you're very good at songwriting. Could you... write a theme song for this show? Don't worry! You'll be paid separately, and it definitely won't be a small amount!"

Shi Yunle's eyes lit up too, and he looked at Su Li.

Su Li readily agreed. "Sure. Do you have paper and a pen?"

Tian Zhang froze, then asked in surprise, "You can write it right now?"

Su Li nodded. "I can do it now."

Before he even needed to ask, Shi Yunle had somehow fetched paper and a pen and handed them to Su Li.

Su Li began writing and drawing on the paper, occasionally pausing to think.

Hearing that Su Li was going to write a song, the producer, director, assistant director, and many crew members came over to watch.

They all looked at Su Li expectantly.

A little over ten minutes later, Su Li put down the pen and handed the paper to Tian Zhang. "Director Tian, what do you think of this song?"

P.S. The General's Manor was inspired by the game "Paper Bride 2."