Volume Two: Shadows of the Past, Chapter Ninety-Six: Laughter in the Vast Sea

Chen Jing brought Ling Ruohan into the small grove, though certainly not for any unspeakable activities.

Since it was nighttime, and even though the entire surrounding set was illuminated by bright lights, Chen Jing preferred not to take Ling Ruohan too far away. Walking about ten meters away from the film set, Chen Jing came to a halt, turned to Ling Ruohan, and asked, "Sister Ruohan, have you truly grasped the character of Ren Yingying?"

"Huh?" Ling Ruohan looked at Chen Jing with a blank, uncomprehending expression. "Isn't this character simply the saintess of the Sun Moon Divine Cult, and... well, someone who is in love with the male protagonist, Linghu Chong?"

As expected, Ling Ruohan had not yet fully understood the character she was going to portray. Chen Jing shook his head helplessly and explained, "Sister Ruohan, what you mentioned is only a literal understanding of the description of Ren Yingying. However, to truly bring a character to life, one needs to thoroughly read and understand the character's life and background. Only when you completely integrate the character into your own understanding can you perform the role well.

"Ren Yingying is indeed the saintess of the Sun Moon Divine Cult, but it is not as simple as the literal meaning implies. To understand it on a deeper level, she is a saintess whose father has gone missing, whose beloved Sun Moon Divine Cult has been usurped, and who is being hunted down, forced to lead a group of loyal followers on the run. If you think about it this way, can you imagine what kind of state of mind she must be in?

"And it is true that she loves the protagonist, Linghu Chong. But you cannot simply think of her as merely liking Linghu Chong. Compared to her beloved Linghu Chong, the position of the Sun Moon Divine Cult is far more important in her heart. Therefore, for the sake of her beliefs, she is destined to be unable to be with the one she loves. In other words, facing such a dilemma, her inner self is bound to be filled with endless entanglement and conflict most of the time."

Ling Ruohan listened quietly as Chen Jing carefully analyzed the character of Ren Yingying for her, sinking into deep thought. She knew very well that she had always struggled to grasp the essence of acting, and she genuinely wanted to improve her acting skills. After all, she did not want to drag down Chen Jing's filming progress. She had come to Chen Jing's crew to help him, not to be a burden.

Seeing that Ling Ruohan was able to take his words to heart, Chen Jing felt a sense of relief. This showed that Ling Ruohan sincerely wanted to play the role well, rather than just using his set to satisfy a whim of experiencing what it was like to be an actress.

After a moment, Chen Jing continued, "In the scene we just shot, the role you are playing is a woman longing for her beloved far away, while simultaneously pondering a way out for the followers who have loyally followed her. Think about it, how would Ren Yingying behave under such circumstances?"

Ling Ruohan nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. Let me practice the scene here for a bit, okay? Once I feel I'm ready, I'll come find you."

Knowing that Ling Ruohan needed time to digest the character, Chen Jing nodded in agreement and walked away.

Following that, Chen Jing and the crew shot a few more setup shots. After a good half-hour or so, Ling Ruohan finally emerged from the grove.

Walking up to Chen Jing and director Wang Shumin, Ling Ruohan said with absolute confidence, "Director, I'm ready. Let's shoot my scenes now."

Wang Shumin glanced at Chen Jing. Seeing that Chen Jing nodded in approval, she didn't raise any objections. To be honest, if it weren't for her personal friendship with Ling Ruohan and the fact that she was a reigning Heavenly Queen of the music industry, Wang Shumin would have strongly opposed Chen Jing casting Ling Ruohan as Ren Yingying. There was no other reason than the fact that Ling Ruohan simply could not act.

In Wang Shumin's eyes, it wasn't just a matter of Ling Ruohan having poor acting skills; she practically had no acting skills at all. Wang Shumin had already noticed this when Chen Jing and Ling Ruohan collaborated on shooting a music video previously. Back then, the music video didn't require much acting, so Wang Shumin hadn't said anything. But now they were making a movie, which naturally couldn't be compared to filming a music video—acting skills were paramount.

Nevertheless, Wang Shumin figured that since Ling Ruohan was a music superstar, her participation would undoubtedly bring a massive amount of popularity and buzz to the movie. Poor acting was somewhat acceptable under those circumstances; she could just be treated as a vase decorating the set, as long as her performance was barely passable.

Wang Shumin had assumed that Chen Jing thought the same way, but after filming started, she realized she was entirely mistaken.

Chen Jing's performance standards for Ling Ruohan were identical to his demands for everyone else. Judging by the countless retakes of Ling Ruohan's scenes earlier, Chen Jing actually intended to train her and bring her acting up to par. This inevitably made Wang Shumin secretly doubt whether Chen Jing could really pull off such a feat.

"The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, Scene 8, Take 5, ready! Action!"

Ren Yingying and a group of cult followers sat around a campfire, playing music and singing together.

"Altar Master..." Blue Phoenix walked in, called out to Ren Yingying, and then slowly shook her head.

Seeing Blue Phoenix shake her head, Ren Yingying wore a look of disappointment, accidentally snapping a string on her guqin.

"Altar Master, I've scouted over the mountains. I couldn't hear the insects chirping, nor could I hear the sound of horse hooves. It seems Linghu Chong and the others aren't coming today."

Ren Yingying stood up to leave, speaking as she walked, "Blue Phoenix..."

"Altar Master, understood. We keep waiting."

"As long as you understand..."

This time, the filming went remarkably smoothly, and Chen Jing did not yell cut once.

Watching Ling Ruohan's flawless performance in the monitor, Wang Shumin could not help but feel a deep sense of astonishment.

Was this really Ling Ruohan's acting? Didn't she just fail take after take a moment ago? How did she suddenly seem to have an epiphany?

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Wang Shumin turned to Chen Jing and asked, "What on earth did you say to Ruohan just now? How did her acting change so drastically?"

Chen Jing wasn't overly surprised by the transformation in Ling Ruohan's performance. He kept his eyes fixed intently on the monitor and replied without turning his head, "I didn't say anything special. I just carefully analyzed the character of Ren Yingying with her." At this, Chen Jing glanced at Wang Shumin and continued, "Sister Ruohan simply lacked a thorough understanding of her character. Her acting foundation is actually fine; she's a professional singer and performing artist, after all. There's no reason why her acting skills wouldn't pass muster."

After hearing Chen Jing's explanation, Wang Shumin thought about it and realized it made sense. After all, being a music diva who frequently had to deal with concerts, music videos, and the like meant she was constantly exposed to performative arts. It turned out Chen Jing had simply seen through the issue more clearly.

The actress playing Blue Phoenix was Cheng Xiaoyue, a second-tier actress signed with Jingrun. When she heard that Chen Jing was casting for his next film, Cheng Xiaoyue immediately rushed to audition and ultimately secured the role of Blue Phoenix through her exceptional acting ability.

With Ling Ruohan no longer breaking character during her scenes, the movie's filming progress accelerated rapidly.

Pointing at Cheng Xiaoyue on the monitor, Wang Shumin said to Chen Jing, "This young lady has quite decent acting skills."

Chen Jing nodded as he watched the screen and replied, "Yes. During the auditions, it was precisely because of her superb acting that I decided to cast her as Blue Phoenix."

"I hadn't noticed this actress before."

Chen Jing said indifferently, "That's normal. It's not like actors with actual acting skills are guaranteed to become famous. On the contrary, it's often the ones without acting skills who end up wildly popular."

Wang Shumin naturally understood that Chen Jing was referring to the current state of the film and television industry, which was flooded with superficial, untalented idols. Yet, regarding this phenomenon, Wang Shumin had nothing to say; she couldn't change the status quo, so since she couldn't change it, she could only adapt to it.

Realizing her thoughts were wandering, Wang Shumin shook her head and asked Chen Jing, "Right didn't you say the most crucial element of this movie is its theme song? What about the theme song? Have you finished it yet?"

"Almost finished. But I don't want to use a pre-recorded track; I want to play and sing it live on set tomorrow. I feel a live performance might have an even better feel to it," Chen Jing said with a wide grin. "The key to this movie lies entirely in this song. You could say this song embodies the core philosophy of the entire film."

Wang Shumin looked at Chen Jing in surprise and asked with eager anticipation, "Oh? Is it really that magical? Then I'll just have to see what song you sing tomorrow." Wang Shumin had immense faith in Chen Jing's musical talent. Since Chen Jing could guarantee it with such confidence, there was likely no doubt about its quality, heightening her expectations even further.

Instances of a single song making a movie successful were countless, and furthermore, outstanding musical accompaniment was indispensable for any film aiming to become a hit.

The next day, filming on the set was temporarily suspended, and the entire crew gathered to watch the performance prepared for them.

In an open area of the set, Chen Jing was busy arranging musical instruments alongside a group of musicians, giving them various instructions.

Watching the scene unfold before her, Xie Shuxia couldn't help but turn to Cheng Xiaoyue and ask, "What is Chen Jing planning to do?" Since both of them were employees of Jingrun, Xie Shuxia had formed a closer relationship with Cheng Xiaoyue, whom she had crossed paths with prior to joining the crew.

Cheng Xiaoyue explained, "It looks like he's going to perform the movie's theme song live. You know, the director's status as a superstar singer is far more famous than his reputation as a filmmaker." As she mentioned Chen Jing's status as a singer, Cheng Xiaoyue couldn't help breaking into a smile.

As a second-tier actress who had struggled and fought her way up in Jingrun for several years, Cheng Xiaoyue understood far better than most how crucial opportunities were to an actor. Therefore, aside from recognizing the cinematic potential of Chen Jing's film, she had agreed to take on the role primarily because of Chen Jing himself.

Xie Shuxia nodded thoughtfully. She was naturally aware of Chen Jing's background, but precisely because she knew, she found it difficult to wrap her head around him. How could someone who was such an extraordinarily talented singer be so passionately interested in directing films? And to top it off, he actually directed them quite well. She honestly didn't know whether to say he was naturally gifted or simply wasting his talent.

Over on the other side, Chen Jing finally finished making all the arrangements. "Alright everyone, in a moment, just play according to this rhythm." He then turned to Ling Ruohan and Xue Yue, saying, "Ruohan, Xue Yue, remember both of you will start singing together from the second stanza. That's it, does anyone have any questions?"

The group replied in unison, "No questions!" Ling Ruohan and Xue Yue happened to be part of the accompanying musical troupe. After all, both were professional singers, and Chen Jing needed a specific blend of female vocals, making the two of them the ideal choices.

"Great, then let's get ready to begin. One, two, three, music!"

At Chen Jing's command, the traditional musicians struck their instruments. Instantly, a vicissitudinous and desolate musical accompaniment echoed across the film set.

Chen Jing immediately began to sing in his clear voice, "A single laugh at the vast sea, turbulent waves wash both shores, drifting and sinking with the currents as I remember this present day..."

Hearing Chen Jing and the others perform, everyone on the crew was dumbfounded.

Xie Shuxia's jaw dropped wide open, and she stammered to Cheng Xiaoyue, "Is this... is this the theme song of the movie?"

However, Cheng Xiaoyue was staring fixatedly at Chen Jing as he sang, completely oblivious to Xie Shuxia speaking to her.

The musical accompaniment continued. When the second stanza arrived and Ling Ruohan and Xue Yue joined in singing together, the effect was even more breathtaking.

"Heaven laughs,
The chaotic tides of the world,
Who loses and who wins, only the heavens know.
Rivers and mountains laugh,
Mist and rain afar,
How much of the mortal world's mundane affairs can the surging waves wash away..."

Ling Ruohan's highly recognizable voice, combined with Xue Yue's exceptionally elegant vocals, blended together harmoniously to captivate everyone listening, leaving them utterly entranced.

As the song came to an end, enthusiastic applause erupted across the set.

Unable to restrain herself, Wang Shumin hurried over to Chen Jing and asked, "Is this what you called the theme song?"

Chen Jing smiled and nodded. "Yes. What do you think, not bad, right?"

With great excitement, Wang Shumin exclaimed, "It's fantastic! Not only does this song sound amazing—though I'm not a professional and can't judge its technical merits—I feel it fits our movie to absolute perfection. I dare say there could never be another song more suited to this film than this one."

"Heh, I think so too." The last time Chen Jing watched this version of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, he had been deeply drawn in by its theme song. In his previous life, "A Laugh in the Sea" was revered as a cinematic classic, featured across numerous martial arts films.

Wang Shumin glanced over the musical arrangement and asked with a hint of bewilderment, "A Laugh in the Sea—is that the title of this song? Why didn't you just call it The Smiling, Proud Wanderer?"

Faced with Wang Shumin's question, Chen Jing was momentarily taken aback. Actually, he had also felt that naming the song after the movie might have been more appropriate. However, after a brief moment of thought, Chen Jing shook his head and replied, "No, let's call it A Laugh in the Sea." He felt it was better to respect the original creator's work and leave it unchanged.

Wang Shumin replied indifferently, "Alright, whatever you like." Besides, she had only brought it up casually, and since Chen Jing was the composer, he surely had his own reasons for the title.

The performance didn't end there. Chen Jing had everyone play "A Laugh in the Sea" one more time, but this time, he and Ling Ruohan sang it in Cantonese. This treated those present to a completely different stylistic version. Some felt the Cantonese version sounded better, while those who didn't understand Cantonese naturally preferred the Mandarin version. Different strokes for different folks, as the proverb goes.

(Tribute: Sam Hui's "A Laugh in the Sea")