owlsbooks Chapter 49 The Tide
Chapter 49 The Tide
After dropping Chen Sheng off at his lodgings, it was already dark.
The two simply went straight home. Along the way, the senior student kept asking the same question from before, and Tang She finally agreed to her request to play Xiao Tu.
The two returned home, and Tang She, who had been feeling extremely tired lately, collapsed onto the sofa and involuntarily sighed:
"Senior, your acting was so realistic!"
Ren Wei burst out laughing when she saw his frightened expression.
She instantly reverted to her previous languid yet dangerous agent persona, walked up to him, and lifted his chin.
"What? You're allowed to have a face that could launch a male lead career right away, but I'm not allowed to have acting skills that could win an Best Actress award?"
Ren Wei raised an eyebrow and sat down next to him triumphantly.
"The drama club begged me to join several times in college, but I refused. However, this time, I'm determined to take this role!"
Tang She sighed helplessly.
He originally thought that making an "interactive film and game with the theme of the War of Resistance Against Japan" was already risky enough, but who would have thought that his senior would actually pull him, a complete newcomer with no acting skills, into the crew.
There's basically no chance of breaking even now.
With the cast finalized, filming officially began the following day.
The filming progressed at an astonishing speed.
In less than a day, they produced a trailer.
That evening, Tangren Games' official account released a trailer for the new game without any prior warning across the entire internet.
The Invisible Guardian.
At this moment, Hao Zheng, who was live streaming at home, was bragging to his viewers when he spotted the large red text that was being spammed in the chat.
"Hey Hao, stop bragging! Check out D-site! Your dad's released a new trailer!"
"Breaking news! Sugar Man has gone mad this time; they've actually made a live-action film/game based on the War of Resistance against Japan!"
"The most outrageous thing is the casting! Holy crap, Lao Hao, you have to go see it, I'm completely stunned after watching it!"
Hao Zheng was stunned for a moment, then his spirits lifted, and he immediately opened his browser and searched for Tangren Games.
"Guys, are lead planner Tang She and CEO Ren up to something new again? An interactive film/game set during the War of Resistance Against Japan? Isn't that a bit too big of a leap?"
Hao Zheng muttered to himself as he clicked on the official video titled "The Invisible Guardian".
The old-fashioned, heavy music from a gramophone slowly begins, and the scene depicts the old Shanghai Bund in black and white, shrouded in drizzle.
The camera pans to a pair of gleaming leather shoes crunching through the rain. Then, a young man in a black wool coat and top hat appears in the frame. His eyes are deep, restrained, and even carry a poignant loneliness.
"Holy crap?!"
Hao Zheng almost spat out the mouthful of water he had just drunk onto the screen, and pointed at the screen and shouted.
"Isn't that Tang She?! That handsome, roguish lead planner from Tangren Games?! How did he end up playing the male lead, Xiao Tu?!"
The live chat was instantly flooded with "???" and "Holy crap!"
"Using public funds to chase celebrities? No, this is using public funds to become the star of the show!"
"To be honest, with a face like that of the lead planner, who else but him would play the male lead? All those young heartthrobs in the Chinese entertainment industry would have to step aside!"
"Help, that look is killing me! The pain and determination lurking in the darkness are so intense, it's incredibly immersive!"
"Hey upstairs, can you tone it down? Brother Hao has said it so many times, we don't have many female viewers in our live stream, so please stop being so gay, okay?"
Before netizens could recover from the shock of "the lead planner personally acting in the scene," the appearance of the next character pushed the barrage to a new climax.
At the lavish and superficial party, the lights were bright and the wine was abundant. The camera zoomed in, revealing a woman in a dark blue, form-fitting cheongsam, swirling a glass of red wine, leaning against a desk in the Kuomintang Military Intelligence Bureau office.
She leaned slightly forward, her red lips parted slightly, and spoke in a low, teasing voice towards the direction off-camera, in the direction of the male lead:
"Little brother, in this chaotic world, you can't judge a book by its cover."
That languid gaze held a deadly danger, like a black rose blooming on a blade.
In the live stream, Hao Zheng's mouse slammed onto the table with a thud, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets:
"Ren...President Ren?! Ren Wei, the chairwoman of Tangren Media?! She plays a female agent in the Wang Jingwei regime?!"
The comment sections and live streams across the entire internet were completely paralyzed, and netizens' opinions exploded like a tsunami!
"This is insane! This company is completely insane! Other companies run businesses to make money, but Tangren Games runs a company so that the boss and lead planner can use company funds to date and put on acting shows, right?!"
"I thought she was a pampered young lady in a plaid shirt, but after changing into a cheongsam, she turned into a wicked woman who's going to kill me! Mr. Ren, please banish me mercilessly!!"
Meanwhile, hardcore gamers and story-driven fans engaged in heated discussions about the "War of Resistance Against Japan" theme:
"Everyone, calm down. Jokes aside, did you notice the subject matter? The War of Resistance Against Japan, espionage, and live-action interactive games. Right now, all the interactive games on the market are just cheesy dating simulators or poorly made horror movies. Tangren actually dared to touch such a heavy historical subject. They're incredibly bold."
"I'm speechless. Can't game companies just focus on making good games? Are they really trying to start a relationship? If you can't, then do it. If you can't, then stop forcing a game label on yourself and calling it a game, okay?"
Next up was Fang Min, played by Lin Wan.
Her eyes were filled with tears, her face full of disbelief, as if she had heard something unbelievable, and she kept backing away.
"But the story we're telling now isn't the truth either."
Hao Zheng, who was watching the video, was also completely bewildered.
"Is there anything else about Wan'er?"
"???"
"No, why is Wan'er joining in their nonsense too?"
"Wan'er said the other day that she recently landed a big job, so this is it?"
"I have to say, Wan'er is the cutest person in the world!"
"Brother Hao, tell me the truth, did you play a traitorous leader in it?"
The comments section remains highly polarized, with those who like it praising it and those who dislike it continuing to criticize it.
……
Binhai City, inside an office building.
Tang She slumped in his office chair, watching the trailer on D-site surpass three million views in just two hours, with comments like "Looking forward to a masterpiece," "The boss lady is so beautiful," and "The lead planner is so handsome," and he fell into deep thought.
Is the proprietress referring to herself or her senior?
Just then, the office door was pushed open. Ren Wei, wearing her familiar canvas shoes and holding two cups of milk tea, walked in cheerfully.
"Junior brother! Have you seen the comments online?"
Ren Wei's eyes sparkled as she placed the milk tea on the table and excitedly patted Tang She on the shoulder.
"Netizens have such good taste! They're all praising our chemistry as a couple, and saying they'll definitely buy the game as soon as it's released!"
Looking at his senior's touched smile, Tang She silently took a sip of his milk tea.