FS-novel Chapter 549: Temporary Script “Go Along with the Mistake” — Switched Lives, the Incompetent Husband!
Chapter 549: Temporary Script “Go Along with the Mistake” — Switched Lives, the Incompetent Husband!
Xiao He could hear Liu Rulan's concern in her voice and smiled helplessly. "Sister Liu, think about it from another angle. This time, we're basically getting a big-budget production for free. Not a bad deal, right?"Since it was a project meant to prop someone up, Xiao He believed the investment wouldn't be low, and the script quality would probably still be decent enough.
"Don't worry too much. Just send the script to me first and let me take a look."
It was about repaying a favor anyway. Even if the other production team ended up cutting all his scenes later, he wouldn't mind. After all, Old Zhong was helping him campaign for awards over there. Spending some time to return a favor wasn't a loss.
"Ah, alright."
Liu Rulan sighed. "Think it over tonight and give me your answer as soon as possible. Then I'll discuss with He Wenming to see how we can adjust your shooting schedule for 'Super Spacetime Confrontation'."
Fortunately, Xiao He was playing the villain in 'Super Spacetime Confrontation', a character who was ruthless and spoke little, with few dialogue-heavy scenes but plenty of action sequences. The production team was also mostly comprised of insiders, so adjusting his schedule wouldn't be a problem at all.
"Okay."
Xiao He remained quite calm.
A few minutes later, Xiao He received the email from Liu Rulan.
Opening the script on his tablet, Xiao He gave it a quick skim.
The script was titled 'Making the Best of a Mistake'. In terms of its core plot hook, it was a "body swap" story.
To be honest, this kind of high-concept plot could be found in many domestic novels.
But when it came to film scripts, it was South Korea that had taken it to the extreme—
An accident causes a killer and an ordinary office drone to swap souls.
The killer's soul ends up in the office drone's body, while the ordinary office drone finds himself inside the killer's body.
From that moment, the gears of their misplaced lives begin to turn.
—Following the usual pattern, the story would typically be told from the perspective of the top-tier killer becoming the office drone. The audience would then watch how he enters the workplace, solves problems using killer methods, bullies the bosses, deals with colleagues, changes the office drone's life, and ultimately embarks on a feel-good novel life.
However, this story's perspective is actually on the ordinary office drone.
The protagonist, Zhu Feng, was originally an ordinary office drone whose life was unsatisfactory, crushed by work and reality.
The first half of his life was lived honestly and dutifully. He didn't even dare to kill a chicken, was submissive and cautious, his edges worn smooth by life, not daring to utter a single complaint. Yet, his days grew increasingly stifling and frustrating.
At work, there were unscrupulous colleagues and shameless bosses who exploited and wasted him in every way, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted. In his personal life, his wife of many years, who was once affectionate, gradually grew cold towards him and developed wandering thoughts, suspected of having an affair.
His life was utterly stagnant, devoid of any hope.
Over countless days and nights, the pent-up frustration and misery within him had nowhere to vent. Even using cigarettes and alcohol to numb his mind, his body began to signal abnormalities, telling him he was no longer young and healthy. The pressures of life even made him afraid to get a physical check-up; he had no right to get sick—
An accident causes Zhu Feng to swap souls with a young killer criminal.
This young killer is a rich second-generation heir who kills purely for pleasure. His daily life is one of debauchery and extravagance, with money and women readily available. His life is practically perfect!
This kind of life was something Zhu Feng never dared to imagine before!
When he tries to return to his own office drone body, he discovers that body suffered a cardiac arrest from excessive drinking, was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, and is now lying unconscious in the ICU.
In other words, he can't go back for the time being, and even if he could, he might end up a vegetable.
For now, he can only make the best of this mistake and become the new master of this body!
After a period of confusion, Zhu Feng falls into ecstatic joy. A young, healthy body, a life with money and power... isn't this a completely new life?!
But at the same time, Zhu Feng accidentally discovers that this body is planning its latest murder, and the target is his former direct superior!
Thinking of the humiliation he suffered at the company, and considering his current identity, Zhu Feng finally grits his teeth and decides to use his current identity to kill his former boss, seeking revenge for his past self.
And so, the story unfolds from there...
Although the script's protagonist is Zhu Feng, the soul has swapped into the killer's body. So, while the office drone appears to be the protagonist, he's actually the second male lead—the role Xiao He would play. The actor playing the killer's body is the true male lead.
Furthermore, while reading the script, Xiao He noticed that this office drone role, while seemingly the "protagonist," actually bears all the frustration and humiliation that needs to be acted out. In contrast, the scenes for the killer's body are all about being cool, domineering, and awesome, a smooth ride of satisfaction all the way. Even the final fight scene ends in a win due to the body's superior physical fitness. So, this script actually reasonably transfers all the awkwardness and humiliation onto the second male lead actor, while the main actor only needs to look cool.
For example, the scenes of the protagonist Zhu Feng before the soul swap depict a slovenly middle-aged man, an office drone with an unsatisfactory life. At work, he's scolded like a dog by his boss, with no human rights to speak of, timid and submissive, swallowing his anger. At home, he's an incompetent husband with no voice, sleeping in separate rooms from his wife, passing his days with cigarettes and alcohol—a completely decadent state.
And all these scenes belong to Xiao He.
After the soul swap, what Xiao He plays is the "vegetable" lying in bed, remaining there from beginning to end. Only at the very end does a plot twist occur, where, in the grand finale, he fights Zhu Feng for his own body in the killer's identity...
This script is indeed, as Liu Rulan said, a proper "foil."
The frustration is Xiao He's; the cool posturing belongs to someone else.
This killer's villain style does carry some of the flavor of Xiao He's early role, Mu Ze—purely enjoying killing, enjoying it as an art.
The plot of 'Making the Best of a Mistake' carries a sense of absurdity similar to an honest person being forced onto a desperate path, causing a huge uproar only to return to the starting point. It combines comedy and dark satire, exploring social issues and human nature. The only pity is the forced happy ending, which, along with some incompatibility from the Korean version of the script being adapted locally, makes the script's style feel somewhat disjointed.
Xiao He guessed that the royal favorite this production team wanted to promote was probably because his own popularity had been too high recently, so they also wanted him to play a protagonist-type villain.
Well, well, this is interesting.
Replicating the personality of his breakthrough role, yet asking him to play a supporting role... This whole thing has a feeling of trying to replace him.
No wonder Liu Rulan was somewhat concerned.
But Xiao He actually found it unexpectedly interesting.
This interplay between inside and outside the script, how could it not be an interesting challenge?
In the plot, Zhu Feng in the killer's body kills the real killer and takes his place. In reality, could this guy have such good luck?
Xiao He pondered this, his fingers occasionally tapping lightly on the tablet, a playful smile finally spreading across his face.
He took out his phone and called Liu Rulan again.
"Hello? You couldn't have already made up your mind, could you?"
Liu Rulan's voice held surprise.
"Mm, I'll take it."
Xiao He's finger slid across the screen, his gaze resting on the name 'Zhu Feng', as he said casually.
"The incompetent husband, the frustrated killer... I've really never played roles like these. I'm a bit curious."
Liu Rulan: "..."
So out of all that script content, you only focused on these two labels?!!