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.
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.
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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