Chapter 68: I am extremely furious right now!

At the stairwell, Ji Yu looked at Xu Daxi, who was sitting there crying, walked over, and sat down to comfort her.

"Don't cry, let me teach you a trick!"

Xu Daxi looked up at him and then watched Ji Yu do a handstand right in front of her.

At that moment, Ji Yu desperately wished he could pose like the Nike logo, just to make things a little less awkward.

After getting into the handstand, he smiled and said, "When you want to cry, just do a handstand, and that way your tears won't fall."

Having delivered that line, Ji Yu felt as though his existence had been elevated.

His hanging heart had finally stopped beating, and his soul had ascended to the heavens!

The most difficult scene of this drama was finally over!

Xu Daxi wiped away her tears, and the way she looked at Ji Yu completely changed.

Ji Yu stared back at her, and he had to admit that Xu Daxi's acting skills were actually quite decent.

She was clearly a rebellious delinquent girl, yet she managed to project the vibe of a resilient, innocent little flower.

Especially with the makeup artist having applied blush to her cheeks, her flushed little face looked pitiful and endearing.

Had she not exposed the tattoo on the back of her hand when she raised her arm to wipe her tears, Ji Yu might have actually believed she was a pure and innocent flower.

"Cut! OK. Wrap it up, head to the rooftop!"

At the director's command, the crew members rushed toward the rooftop.

Ten minutes later, Ji Yu sat on the edge of the rooftop, playing the role of the hesitant and melancholic boy.

Huaze Lei was truly melancholic, harboring a secret crush on Tengtang Jing, longing for his unattainable white moonlight.

Meteor Garden truly served as an essential reference material for later generations of female-oriented web novels.

Almost every element found in female-oriented web novels could be traced back to Meteor Garden.

The overbearing male lead, the grass-roots female lead, the deeply affectionate second male lead, the wealthy female supporting role, the pure and wealthy white moonlight, the vicious mother-in-law...

The configuration was complete, and every trope was fully maximized!

On the first day of filming, there weren't many scenes, and work wrapped up by six o'clock in the evening.

Today was just meant to let everyone get familiar with the environment, before ramping up the work intensity later on.

As they were wrapping up, Zai Zai complained to Wu Jianhao, "We waited all day, and only shot a few shots."

"Yeah, it's so boring, and it feels so silly."

Ji Yu glanced at them and said, "It's going to get much more tiring later on."

Wu Jianhao asked doubtfully, "Really? Our scenes are very simple."

Ji Yu smiled and said, "But you guys are the sidekicks. Whenever Daoming Si has a shot, you all have to stand behind him."

Wu Jianhao and Zai Zai fell silent, leaving them with no room to argue.

Yan Chengxu also ran over to share some insider news.

"It's just been confirmed that it will air in the late-night time slot next Monday."

"We're broadcasting while filming? And will anyone even watch in the late-night slot?" Wu Jianhao asked despondently.

He had originally participated in a handsome-guy pageant to become a model, only to be roped in by Angie Chai to act in this cheesy show, and now it was even relegated to the late-night slot.

Zai Zai, being a local, understood the situation quite well and helplessly explained, "Taiwanese television favors serious social dramas. Comedic shows like this can only air in the late-night slots."

Ji Yu was well aware of this; back in the eighties and nineties, the Taiwan New Wave cinema movement had been massive on a large scale.

Hou Xiaoxian, Edward Yang, and others primarily focused on realistic themes, driving the entire Taiwanese film and television industry to adopt that same style.

The lighthearted historical comedy Prime Minister Liu Luoguo had also sparked a massive craze in Taiwan back then.

The production team had managed to rake in over ten million from Taiwan alone in 1996 using that show!

This showed just how starved the local Taiwanese television market was for entertaining dramas and films.

Hou Xiaoxian and Edward Yang even remarked later on that they were the ones who had killed off the Taiwanese film and television industry.

Precisely because of this reason, the locally produced Meteor Garden was able to stand out completely unopposed!

Such a situation was more or less the same across all of Asia.

South Korea had idol dramas, and last year's Autumn in My Heart had been a huge hit, but that was a tearjerker melodrama, while lighthearted comedies were virtually nonexistent.

The explosive success of Meteor Garden owed a massive debt to the signs of the times!

Realizing now that the show would be broadcast while filming, Ji Yu felt a weight lift from his heart.

Under such circumstances, it would be very difficult for Angie Chai to try to suppress him.

It wasn't as if they had a mortal feud; she wouldn't make such a huge fuss over nothing.

Once the crew wrapped up for the day, Yan Chengxu and the others invited everyone to go out for a drink at a bar.

"Let's go, let's go drink and pick up girls tonight!"

Zai Zai looked at Yan Chengxu excitedly and asked, "Can you drive your Mazda out? You'll definitely pull some chicks with that!"

"Mazdas always get stuck in traffic jams," Ji Yu said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the others couldn't help bursting into laughter.

Xu Daxi also ran over, saying she wanted to come along and would bring a few friends as well.

Ji Yu didn't really want to go; he preferred to go back and watch television.

Taiwanese girls were far too open, and what kind of decent people could Xu Daxi's friends possibly be?

He certainly didn't want his first time here to be a one-night stand.

Taiwanese girls simply weren't worth it!

Yan Chengxu, being sensitive and observant, noticed Ji Yu's hesitation and asked, "Do you have something to attend to?"

Ji Yu nodded and replied, "My drama is about to air on CTV, so I need to go back to watch it, and I also need to call my boss to discuss work matters."

Upon hearing this, the others all thought Ji Yu was terribly boring.

A young man not going to a bar to hit on girls, but choosing to go home to watch TV instead!

Xu Daxi looked at Ji Yu, who was wearing a black shirt, and recalled the fantasy scenario she had just imagined in her mind.

After a moment of internal struggle, she said, "I just remembered I have something to do as well, so I won't go either."

Yan Chengxu and the others felt even more disappointed.

However, the F3 members still dashed off to chase after girls anyway.

When Ji Yu hailed a cab to return to the hotel, Xu Daxi squeezed into the car right along with him.

"What time does your drama air?"

"Around half-past seven."

"Prime time! I'm so envious of you."

Xu Daxi looked at Ji Yu with a hint of admiration.

Ji Yu silently shifted a bit to the side and changed the subject by asking, "Are you catching a free ride home?"

"No way, I want to watch TV with you."

"Uh... what about your bald boyfriend?"

"We broke up over a month ago."

"Oh."

Ji Yu felt a subtle sense of repulsion and didn't really want to engage with her, but Xu Daxi was exceptionally proactive and enthusiastic.

She had a very simple goal in mind: she wanted to see whether Ji Yu's drama would explode in popularity in Taiwan.

If it became a hit, she could ride on his coattails to gain exposure and stir up romantic scandal rumors.

By then, they could promote the narrative that they had fallen in love on set, and the production team would likely help promote it as well.

Of course, the primary reason was simply that Ji Yu happened to hit all her particular fetishes right on the head.

Arrest me! Punish me severely!

Ji Yu hadn't expected Xu Daxi to be so persistent, clinging to him without leaving and following him all the way back to the hotel.

"Your room is so clean," Xu Daxi said, looking around Ji Yu's room, feeling even more satisfied.

This environment wasn't bad at all; they could have a really good time tonight.

She skillfully located the remote control, turned on the television, sat down on the edge of the bed, kicked off her shoes, and swung her slender white legs back and forth.

Ji Yu didn't sit near her. Standing at a distance, he said, "I need to go outside to make a phone call. Why don't you go back to your own room to watch?"

"It's fine, I'll wait for you."

"......"

How was it that this person couldn't be chased away? Remembering that they still had to work together for quite some time, Ji Yu found it difficult to just curse her out directly.

He went outside to find a phone where he could make long-distance calls to the mainland.

He needed to update Old Cai about Angie Chai's attempt to lock him into a long-term contract.

Signing a contract was fine, for a maximum of three years, and it couldn't include unreasonable restrictions or penalty clauses.

At most, he would sign for the sequel rights or a commercial management agreement.

Ji Yu spent half an hour discussing things with Old Cai before returning to his room.

Upon returning, he discovered that Xu Daxi was using his bathroom to take a shower!

And she had just finished and was stepping out!

Wearing Ji Yu's shirt, Xu Daxi feigned shyness and said, "Why didn't you knock?"

"Is it possible that this is my room?"

She awkwardly turned around, ran over to the bed, grabbed the blanket to cover herself, and then crawled underneath it.

"You... stop looking!"

While speaking in such a conservative and bashful manner, she left one of her legs exposed outside the covers—what a seductive little minx!

Using his towel, wearing his clothes, and putting on this sultry act?!

A sudden surge of anger flared up in Ji Yu's chest!

"My temper is running really high right now!"