After Defying the System, I Became a Genius Director

Apart from his surprise at discovering he was the male lead in the script, Li Xingyu’s strongest impression while reading was how unusual this script was.

This script was definitely unlike typical “horror films.” In fact, Li Xingyu felt calling this script a horror film was somewhat misleading—even the “romance,” “suspense,” and “comedy” elements exceeded the “horror” aspects.

Not only that, but the script’s brevity also exceeded Li Xingyu’s expectations. Typically, scripts would at least specify the filming locations and note the protagonist’s emotions when delivering certain lines, such as “surprised,” “angry,” “sad,” and the like. But this script contained none of these elements! Even some necessary action directions were kept extremely minimal in this script.

For example, it described the male lead “picking up his phone, seeing an accident notification, immediately clicking on it and pausing for a few seconds, quickly scrolling down, and stopping at the notification image.”

Normally, at the very least, it should indicate what photo the male lead saw at that moment and why he stopped scrolling, right?

But this script mentioned nothing about this! It didn’t even describe the male lead’s expression after seeing the notification!

This meant Li Xingyu only understood after quickly reading through the script that the reason the male lead Wu Pu clicked on the accident notification was because the bus line involved in the accident was along the female lead’s daily route, and the reason he stopped scrolling at the notification image was because he saw a photo of his girlfriend covered in blood.

Li Xingyu wasn’t sure what Shao Yichen’s directing style was like, but after reading this script, he could tell that unless Shao Yichen was the type of director who meticulously supervised everything (given the one-week filming schedule, he guessed she wasn’t), the final presentation of this film would be closely tied to the actors’ personal understanding of their characters—if the actors didn’t fully understand the script, the result could even be completely contrary to the intended effect!

But to say the script was shoddily made because of this, Li Xingyu felt would be unfair. Rather, if even a perfunctory work could achieve this level of quality, then the script writer’s talent would truly be astonishing!

Contrary to the seemingly careless script format, the content of this script had many bright spots. Whether it was a flash of inspiration from the director or the result of extensive polishing, this script was quite remarkable in terms of character design, character relationships, pacing, and dialogue. It would be more than adequate not just as a web film script, but even as a theatrical release.

Being selected as the male lead for such a film, Li Xingyu felt some pressure—such a script demanded very high performance standards from the actors. After all, the first batch of viewers, without any guidance, would expect to see a genuine horror film, but the actual content was anything but. In this situation, how to win over the majority of viewers through performance, making them feel they received value or even exceeded value despite not seeing the horror content they expected—the film’s content was one evaluation criterion, while the actors’ performances were another.

Li Xingyu believed that this film script’s quality justified this content deception, and if the final film received poor reviews from audiences, it would be the actors’ fault.

But he didn’t retreat from this challenging performance; instead, he felt excitement and subtle anticipation.

As a junior year student, although he had participated in several productions, his roles had been mere bit parts with no room for expression. Now with an opportunity to play a male lead right in front of him, how could he not seize it?

Moreover, this Senior Sister Shao Yichen had offered him favorable terms—though she might have some misunderstanding about his actual family situation, the money truly helped him in his time of need. If only for the gratitude of being recognized and helped in his time of difficulty, he had no reason not to do his best!

Under Li Xingyu’s calm exterior, a surge of impulse welled up inside him.

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Shao Yichen had no idea how much her script had been misunderstood by this Junior Brother.

If she knew what this Junior Brother was thinking, she would immediately advise him to abandon his thoughts, let himself go, and perform as poorly as possible—that would truly be helping her.

She was currently searching for a filming location.

Of the 100,000 yuan film budget, 60,000 yuan had already been spent on actors’ salaries—although 20,000 yuan of that was what she paid herself—leaving 40,000 yuan. The camera would be borrowed from her mentor, lighting and microphone accessories were completely abandoned without a second thought, and post-production editing would be handled by Shao Yichen herself. Thus, the only remaining expense was the location.

Film sets typically required significant expenditure, but Shao Yichen had limited the filming scene to a single rental apartment from the beginning. Combined with the minimal and portable filming equipment and no need for set design, she only needed to rent an apartment for a week and discuss the relevant matters with the landlord in advance to complete the project.

As for the accident scene and the blood-covered female lead that would appear in the film, Shao Yichen decided to use post-production composite images—after all, these scenes would only appear as a photo in a notification and for a few seconds in the male lead’s flashbacks, so there was no need for elaborate preparations; everything would be kept simple.

Having determined these requirements, Shao Yichen’s remaining task was to find a suitable rental apartment. But after spending a day at real estate agencies, she hadn’t found an appropriate rental. The few suitable places she did find refused her request after hearing she only wanted to rent for a week and use it for filming, even though Shao Yichen promised to keep the apartment as clean as possible and tidy up before returning it.

With just two people in the entire crew, how messy could the room possibly get!

Having no alternative, Shao Yichen planned to look for suitable rentals again the next day.

That evening, Li Xingyu contacted her again, calmly inquiring about some script-related questions. The male lead’s dedication to studying the script made Shao Yichen extremely nervous, so she had to make up some vague responses like “the male lead Wu Pu can be freely interpreted here,” “there’s no special meaning here, just maintain a relaxed posture,” and “as an actor, you can recreate your character,” trying to hint to Li Xingyu: just act however you want! It doesn’t matter if your performance is terrible!

Whether he understood her hints or not, Shao Yichen couldn’t tell.

Before he hung up, Shao Yichen checked the time, estimating that even if university classes were in session, the fourth afternoon period should be ending. Remembering they hadn’t signed a contract yet, she asked if he was on campus and if he could spare some time to sign the contract.

Li Xingyu agreed and arranged to meet at the coffee shop below the university library.

When they met again, Li Xingyu maintained his previous demeanor—a bland expression that might seem displeased to those unfamiliar with his personality.

However, Shao Yichen wasn’t the type to concern herself with others’ moods. She pulled out a contract—system-approved and personally reviewed, absolutely fair and conscientious—and handed it to Li Xingyu: “Junior Brother Li, please check if there are any issues. If not, just sign your name in the bottom right corner. The contract is in triplicate—keep one copy for yourself and return the other two to me for filing.”

Li Xingyu nodded, briefly skimmed through it, picked up a pen to sign his name, and returned the two copies belonging to Shao Yichen. To Shao Yichen’s surprise, he didn’t leave immediately but instead observed her complexion and asked: “Has Senior Sister been busy with filming today? Your face looks quite red, as if you’ve been in the sun for a while.”

Shao Yichen was taken aback, not expecting someone who appeared so cold to be so attentive. She replied: “I was selecting a filming location today, without much success. I checked several places in the sun, but the landlords all backed out in the end.”

Li Xingyu looked somewhat surprised: “Landlords… Isn’t Senior Sister setting up a simple film studio?”

Shao Yichen gave a bitter smile without responding.

How could she afford that money and time! Not to mention renting a warehouse for a studio would cost thousands per day, and set construction would require additional manpower and time—it simply wasn’t realistic.

Li Xingyu seemed to understand something and didn’t pursue the question further. He considered the script content, then spoke again: “Is Senior Sister looking to film on location in a rental apartment?”

Shao Yichen nodded.

“Then I might have a place to recommend,” he said. “Previously when my mother was hospitalized and needed care, the school was too far from the hospital, so I rented an apartment near the hospital where I could rest when nurses were looking after my mother during the day. Since the landlord is someone I know, the price was quite reasonable, and given his personality, he probably wouldn’t mind if a film crew messed things up a bit.”

Shao Yichen’s eyes immediately lit up—this sounded perfect!

As for the possibility of being deceived by Li Xingyu, Shao Yichen had considered it, but she had verified Li Xingyu’s name in the academic affairs system, and the ID photo matched this person. As long as this Junior Brother still wanted to work in the industry and continue being an actor, he probably wouldn’t trick her.

She quickly said: “Could you trouble Junior Brother to contact the landlord? We should arrange a time to see the apartment as soon as possible. Also, I can guarantee we won’t damage anything in the room!”

Li Xingyu nodded and took out his phone to search through his contacts. While searching, he said: “Senior Sister doesn’t need to be so formal. After all, with many crew members, some minor damage would be understandable. I’ve known him since childhood, we’re very familiar, and he won’t mind.”

“No, no, no, there really aren’t many people in the crew,” Shao Yichen hurriedly explained. After thinking for a moment, she realized the actual situation couldn’t be concealed for long—once filming began, the reality would be obvious—so she bit the bullet and quietly told Li Xingyu: “You really don’t need to worry… the entire crew consists of just two people.”

Li Xingyu paused his dialing: “…Two people? What about the cinematographer? The set workers?”

Shao Yichen shook her head mysteriously, pointing to Li Xingyu, then to herself: “Just two people—you, and me.”

Author’s Note: Shao Yichen: ONLY YOU~

Li Xingyu: Is it too late to back out now?

Thanks to the little angels who watered me with nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution:

Microscopic Dust 13 bottles

Dark Knight Team 2 bottles

Thank you everyone for your support, I will continue to work hard!

(For some reason there’s no one-click thank you for nutrient solution, so I’m pretending to be an emotionless thank-you system)

[Small talk group: 348958901]