The weekend drama Autumn in My Heart, co-invested and co-produced by Lu Chen Workshop, Chen Fei'er Workshop, and Qiande Brothers Film, officially began shooting on November 17.
After attending the opening ceremony on the 17th, Lu Chen returned to Capital City with Chen Fei'er, then left the city on the morning of the 23rd to return to Jinling. By then, they had already shot for six days and completed the first two episodes.
Relying on a mature modern film production system, TV dramas today shoot very fast. Weekend dramas commonly shoot two episodes in six or seven days; some low-budget web dramas even manage one episode a day, a speed unimaginable in the past.
However, despite the efficiency, Lu Chen still felt uneasy about completing two episodes of Autumn in My Heart in just six days.
Could such a short timeframe deliver the quality he wanted?
Haunted by memories from the dream world, Lu Chen boarded the high-speed train back to Jinling with a nervous heart. He couldn't wait to watch the rough cuts, what the industry calls the "raw footage."
Modern film production has long abandoned film reels and now uses high-spec, high-quality digital cameras. "Raw footage" refers to unedited video from shooting, before post-production processes such as dubbing, music scoring, and special effects, essentially a half-finished product.
Only after post-production processing does the "raw footage" become the "final cut" ready for market release.
Yet watching the raw footage allows one to gauge the quality of the shoot, the director's and actors' level, and the entire film crew's professionalism.
After viewing the first two episodes' raw footage, Lu Chen's doubts vanished!
Director Fang Hui lived up to her reputation in the show business community, crafting a very tasteful opening for Autumn in My Heart.
Using the ancient city of Jinling as the backdrop, the show vividly portrayed the male lead's youth, blending the complex emotions between non-biological siblings with a tragic, fated story, laying a solid foundation for the entire series, and compelling viewers to want to see more.
At a hospital, two babies were born on the same day. Because of a child named Yin Junxi, the identity tags of the two babies got swapped.
One baby, born into a wealthy family, ended up with a single mother; the other, originally from a single-parent household, was raised in a happy, affluent family.
The story unfolds from here.
Unwittingly, the two switched babies live in their respective families for fourteen years. Then, after a traffic accident involving Yin Enxi, Professor Yin discovers the daughter he has raised for fourteen years doesn't share his blood type!
Upon investigation, it was revealed that a hospital error had swapped the two newborns. After discussing with Mrs. Yin, they planned to pretend nothing happened , but fate had other plans.
Professor Yin's biological daughter, Cui Xinai, had lived a harsh life in the single-parent family. Once she learned she was actually wealthy, she decided to leave the single mother who raised her and move in with the rich Yin family.
Cui Xinai, jealous of Yin Enxi, schemes to make Enxi suffer the hardships she once endured. Knowing she must return to her biological mother, Enxi reluctantly watches her beloved foster parents and brother immigrate to America...
…
When Lu Chen arrived in Jinling, shooting for the third episode had begun. According to the script, he would make his first appearance near the end of this episode. The raw footage of the first two episodes had passed review and entered post-production.
With minimal special effects, post-production editing would proceed quickly.
When writing the Autumn in My Heart script, Lu Chen didn't copy the dream world memories exactly. He made suitable adjustments to the plot and settings to better fit reality.
Additionally, he was tasked with writing a fitting theme song for Autumn in My Heart!
Lu Chen's upcoming workload was about to get very busy.
So, he rented a long-term business suite at a hotel near the filming studio, planning to stay there until all 20 episodes were completed.
At an average pace of two episodes per week, he expected to stay there about two months!
Li Feiyu also came along; Lu Chen rented him a separate room.
The hotel expenses were included in the production costs, clearly stipulated in the contract, so there was no need to save on that.
On the afternoon of the 23rd, Chen Fei'er also arrived in Jinling.
Compared to Lu Chen, this Heavenly Queen of the music scene's daily schedule was usually packed, but she had canceled many pre-scheduled activities to come early for Autumn in My Heart's shooting.
From a cost-benefit perspective, her earnings from this drama likely wouldn't compensate for the losses from dropped events.
However, Chen Fei'er was very happy, because for the next two months, she would be with Lu Chen.
They stayed at the same hotel, with her room right next to his.
Since she knew she'd be staying in Jinling for a long time, Chen Fei'er arrived heavily loaded, with several assistants and bodyguards in tow, three cars just for the convoy alone.
By the time she settled into the hotel, it was already dark.
But instead of rushing to dinner, she first knocked on Lu Chen's door.
As soon as Lu Chen opened it, the lovely woman swept in like a fragrant breeze into his arms.
He quickly embraced Chen Fei'er and deftly shut the door behind him, not wanting anyone to see and cause gossip.
Of course, ordinary people wouldn't be here, the hotel, having hosted countless celebrities, had excellent security, and no invasive reporters could sneak in to disturb them.
Still, better safe than sorry.
They were still in the secret, sneaky stage of their relationship and couldn't go public just yet.
Chen Fei'er wrapped her arms around Lu Chen's waist, tilted her head up with a playful smile and asked, "Have you missed me these days?"
As a mature woman, once her heart was opened, she was bold and passionate, like the midday sun radiating a dazzling light impossible to look away from.
Lu Chen felt his heart melting and said, "Of course I have!"
He leaned down to kiss her red lips, their boundary had long been crossed.
But Chen Fei'er giggled and turned her head away, blocking him, teasing, "And you still dare say you missed me? Pray tell, who was it you sang love duets with so publicly, all lovey-dovey with another girl?"
Lu Chen gave a wry smile.
Lin Zhijie really wasn't wrong, Chen Fei'er was definitely jealous.
He explained, "I treat Xiaochu like a little sister, didn't you already know that?"
Chen Fei'er scoffed, "You treat Xiaochu like a sister, but Xiaochu doesn't see you as a brother. You think I don't know?"
She softly hummed, "I really want to ask, do you really have feelings for me?"
It was a line from You're a Song Within My Heart, sung with perfect pitch and tone.
Chen Fei'er glared at him, "You wrote that, didn't you?"
That night at the MSN Platinum Celebration, she had been invited warmly by Flying Stone Records.
Chen Fei'er didn't go, partly because she had other commitments, partly because it wasn't quite appropriate given her status.
She only saw the celebration video later on her blog.
Of course, Chen Fei'er knew there was no affair between Lu Chen and Mu Xiaochu, but watching them sing a heartfelt duet on stage with that song made her heart sting with jealousy.
She held it in until now, finally letting it out.
Fortunately, she hadn't watched the Whale TV live stream, otherwise, she would have exploded.
Many fans were loudly calling for Lu Chen and Mu Xiaochu to be together, with hardly anyone mentioning her name.
Stripped of her Heavenly Queen / days later persona, Chen Fei'er was just like any ordinary woman.
When you like someone, you want to keep them all to yourself, no sharing allowed.
Lu Chen didn't try to explain; he just kissed her, silencing her complaints.
This time he succeeded.
Chen Fei'er was caught off guard, murmuring softly as she resisted, but she was no match for his strength and gave in, soon matching his passion eagerly.
They kissed deeply for several minutes before Lu Chen reluctantly let go.
Chen Fei'er's cheeks were flushed, her whole body relaxed.
Seeing Lu Chen looking rather pleased with himself, she teasingly scolded, "Don't think you can just forget about it now. You owe me a duet love song too, I want to put it on my new album!"
So far, Chen Fei'er's new album had enough songs, three written by Lu Chen and nine by other renowned songwriters, all high quality and stylistically sound.
If it weren't for shooting Autumn in My Heart, she could have started recording the album already.
Adding another male-female duet now would certainly disrupt those plans.
But she didn't care, she was that willful!
Lu Chen smiled, "No problem. I was just thinking of writing the theme song for Autumn in My Heart."
Chen Fei'er's eyes lit up instantly, "Great idea! Got any inspiration yet?"
Lu Chen said, "Already do. But first, I want to discuss it with you to see if it fits."
A theme song for a TV play isn't necessarily crucial, but a good one can add a lot of color to the show and be a strong promotional asset.
Many classic TV theme songs are still sung today!
The idea was a sudden one, partly to please Chen Fei'er, but also an objective necessity.
Most importantly, it would be an excellent marketing point.
The only question was which male-female duet would suit Autumn in My Heart best.
He had quite a few duet love songs in his memory.
Chen Fei'er was thrilled.
She starred alongside Lu Chen in the drama, sang the theme song with him, and included it on her album.
Their relationship would naturally become incredibly close.
(The end of this chapter)
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