Chapter 41 I, Chen Mo, Never Forget My Original Aspiration

Speaking of the novel Love is Not Blind, its creation background is quite fascinating. It originated from a heartbroken woman who recorded her breakup experience on a certain online forum, and these writings struck a widespread chord with readers.

Initially, Love is Not Blind appeared as an internet post. It was written by a heartbroken woman gifted with words, Bai Jingjing, who recorded her breakup experiences and feelings day by day, sharing them with others.

Titled Novels or Guides, the post quickly attracted a massive following. Readers regarded her words as a guidebook for love, and some even wished to have their own stories and names woven into the narrative. Due to its enormous impact, the post became one of the most prominent live broadcasts in the history of the forum.

Teng Huatao was surprised because, despite the novel's internet fame, it was, to be frank, a rather unusual piece of work.

Moreover, it was a relatively female-oriented novel.

Although heartbreaks are gender-neutral, this novel naturally tended to attract more attention from women.

Teng Huatao had first noticed the novel—or rather, the breakup diary—through a white-collar friend.

In fact, he had been following Love is Not Blind for quite some time. The more he read it, the more he felt that the theme of heartbreak had tremendous potential and would undoubtedly command a strong market if adapted into film.

Unfortunately, on one hand, he was busy shooting dramas, and on the other hand, his pockets were rather empty. He was different from Chen Mo.

Although he had directed quite a few television series, he had always merely been a director working for a fixed salary, unlike Chen Mo, who not only directed but also invested his own money.

By the time he got his preparations in order and reached out to Bai Jingjing, he discovered that the novel's rights had already been bought long ago.

Thus, he pulled some strings to get Bai Jingjing to help him contact Chen Mo. Prior to this, he had already chatted with her extensively and won her approval. Regrettably, Bai Jingjing's approval was useless because the adaptation rights had already been sold.

Unwilling to give up, Teng Huatao arranged this meeting.

Chen Mo's blunt refusal caught Teng Huatao somewhat off guard. After all, from his perspective, Chen Mo was an actor who had suddenly directed a television series—and only one at that. Moreover, the scope of Love is Not Blind was simply too small for a TV series; it could only be adapted into a movie. Yet Chen Mo was an idol drama director with only a single credit to his name. Even though Watching the Meteor Shower Together had been quite successful, making a movie was a completely different beast from shooting television series.

Even with his family's influential connections in the industry, directing Love is Not Blind would not be an easy task for him, let alone for Chen Mo.

Therefore, Chen Mo's direct rejection surprised Teng Huatao.

However, he was certainly not going to throw in the towel just yet.

"Director Chen, I truly love the novel Love is Not Blind. I've studied it thoroughly over this period and have come up with many ideas and insights. I believe that the theme of heartbreak resonates with audiences of any age..." Teng Huatao had clearly done his homework before coming. He shared numerous insights about the novel and expounded on how it should be adapted into a film.

Instead of arguing that making movies differed from directing TV shows, he laid out his entire vision without reservation.

Yet, unfortunately, Chen Mo remained entirely unmoved.

Cursing to himself, Chen Mo couldn't be bothered to listen further and directly interrupted him: "Director Teng, I can tell you've put a lot of effort into this work. Let me be blunt: if it were anyone else, I might consider it. But as for you, Director Teng, you needn't say anymore. I will not agree to it."

Chen Mo's words left Teng Huatao completely dumbfounded!

"Director Chen, why? We don't have any bad blood between us, do we? Why can't it be me?" Teng Huatao asked with a bewildered expression.

He had pinned immense hopes on Love is Not Blind. As a director graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, he had always yearned to direct feature films rather than television dramas.

Perhaps this was a common obsession shared by many directors from the academy.

For reasons unknown to him, he felt a special connection to this work, which was why he refused to give up even after knowing that the adaptation rights had already been purchased by someone else.

Yet Chen Mo's response left him completely stupefied, utterly failing to understand why.

"Director Teng has probably read the news about me, hasn't he?" Chen Mo asked with a smile.

"Huh?" Teng Huatao was still somewhat confused, but he nodded anyway.

"Then let me ask you, given how much research you've done on Love is Not Blind, do you already have a leading actor in mind?" Chen Mo asked again.

"Wen Zhang!" Teng Huatao nodded, a sudden realization dawning on him.

"See, that's where the problem lies. Director Teng, I have nothing personal against you, but as you know, I could hardly cast someone in my own film who once wronged me and kicked me when I was down, right? So, Director Teng, let's leave the matter at that, shall we?" The only reason Chen Mo said so much was simply to make things difficult for Wen Zhang. Indeed, he was just that petty.

Teng Huatao understood. He understood completely, and a bitter smile crept onto his face. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, he had a strange intuition that this production held extraordinary significance for him. It wasn't as if he had never directed a movie before; he had done so in the past.

Never before, however, had any project given him such a feeling. He had a gut instinct that this film mattered immensely to him!

Consequently, he couldn't help harboring a trace of resentment toward Wen Zhang. He truly hadn't expected the obstacle to stem from that quarter.

Since Chen Mo had put it so bluntly, no matter how strong his intuition was, he had no choice but to let it go.

Why did Chen Mo bother to meet Teng Huatao in the first place? To be honest, he had projects other than Love is Not Blind lined up that he could direct. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't mind letting them work for him.

Yet who asked him to be Teng Huatao?

In a sense, Teng Huatao could be considered one of Wen Zhang's benefactors, having cast him as the male lead in quite a few successful dramas.

As for Wen Zhang—that old friend from the betrayal alliance—although he hadn't jumped up and down shouting as gleefully as the ringleaders back then, he had still been among those who kicked Chen Mo while he was down. Even though the recent "Internet Defamation Case Number One" had ultimately ended with Wen Zhang coughing up the exorbitant settlement fee demanded by Chen Mo's lawyers with ostentatious wealth, that didn't mean the incident was water under the bridge!

Given the opportunity, Chen Mo naturally wouldn't mind striking back. In fact, his decision to snatch away the very film that had brought Wen Zhang roaring to fame in his previous life was aimed squarely at him. Chen Mo was simply staying true to his original aspirations! Naturally, he could never agree to Teng Huatao's proposal.

Besides, Love is Not Blind was an exceptional project in its own right. For the current Chen Mo, such a low-budget box-office dark horse was the optimal vehicle to complete yet another cross-over leap in his status. How could he possibly hand it over to someone else on a silver platter?

Of course, this wouldn't necessarily cause Teng Huatao and Wen Zhang to have a falling out right away. But one could easily imagine how, when Love is Not Blind premiered and emerged as a massive box-office dark horse, Teng Huatao would feel a thorn stuck permanently in his heart.

That alone was enough for Chen Mo. After all, there was no harm in swinging a stick at the trees just in case—why else would he have agreed to the meeting? He could have simply rejected him outright.

He purely wanted to let Teng Huatao know and foster a specific misconception: that the primary reason he refused to let him direct the film was simply because of his close ties with Wen Zhang. Because of Wen Zhang alone, he had missed out on this picture.

Teng Huatao left in low spirits.

Chen Mo didn't give the matter any further thought; it had merely been a casual side endeavor.

Time slipped by day by day, and filming for Mr. Vampire was nearing its completion. On this day, Zhao Liying called to say she was coming to visit the set.

Chen Mo felt genuinely pleased—and admittedly, rather expectant. After all, since arriving in this world, little Zhao was his first woman, and it had been quite a while since their last encounter. He actually missed her quite a bit.

Well, to put it bluntly, he was simply craving her company.

Must admit, after undergoing the baptism of Watching the Meteor Shower Together, little Zhao had grown increasingly adept at dressing herself.

The moment Chen Mo laid eyes on her, he couldn't help nodding in approval. She wore a black-and-white striped printed waist-cinching dress, a ponytail paired with pristine white sneakers. She looked pure yet playful, stylish without being ostentatious—worlds apart from her tacky outfits of the past.

"How is it? Not bad, right?" Seeing Chen Mo nod, Zhao Liying spun around in front of him with a pleased smile and asked.

"Mm, not bad. This outfit suits you very well. You've definitely improved! You look gorgeous," Chen Mo praised without hesitation with a nod.

"Of course! I carefully picked this out before coming over. As long as I didn't disappoint you, I was actually a bit afraid you'd criticize my taste again," little Zhao said, lifting her chin slightly.

"So, how does it feel to be famous?" Chen Mo asked with a smile.

"Pretty good, hehe." Hearing Chen Mo's words, little Zhao couldn't help blooming with joy. During this period, she had truly tasted the sweetness of stardom.

Having tasted fame, little Zhao now carried herself with noticeably more confidence. Ah, well, she owed it all to his credit.

The two chatted intimately, exchanging laughs, both willing and eager. Little Zhao held a special place in her heart for Chen Mo; he could be considered her true benefactor. Everything she had achieved today was sculpted entirely by his hands. Of course, one couldn't ignore another crucial point: Chen Mo was not only young and exceptionally handsome, but also possessed a slightly venomous tongue. Yet ever since they established an intimate relationship, even that sole flaw of his sharp tongue had vanished. He was practically perfection itself!

At this thought, the gaze she cast toward Chen Mo practically melted with affection.

The crew members were all discreet enough to mind their own business, keeping their distance and refraining from gossiping.

After all, even if they wanted to gossip about the director, they could only do so from afar. Besides, it wasn't even much of a scandal; Chen Mo was a director, young and promising, so having a girlfriend was entirely normal.

There were exceptions to every rule, however.

Right at that moment, the little wealthy heiress was crunching happily on potato chips. She had just discovered a new cucumber flavor that turned out to be quite delicious, and her first instinct was to bring some over to share with her "good friend" Chen Mo.

However, upon seeing Chen Mo and Zhao Liying chatting intimately and laughing, flirting right in front of everyone without a care in the world, she instantly felt that the potato chips lost all their appeal.

She wasn't particularly familiar with Zhao Liying, knowing only that she had been the female lead in Chen Mo's previous drama. Still, weren't the two of them acting far too close?

Even she wasn't that close with Chen Mo. For some inexplicable reason, she suddenly found the cucumber-flavored chips tasting rather sour and bitter.

"Chen Mo, Chen Mo, come try this! These cucumber-flavored chips are delicious, ah—" The little wealthy heiress walked right up, picked up a chip, and thrust it directly toward Chen Mo's mouth, gesturing for him to open up.

Zhao Liying narrowed her eyes at the sight.

Chen Mo and the little wealthy heiress frequently interacted like this during their daily routine, so he reflexively opened his mouth, and she popped the chip right in.

Crunchy, cucumber-flavored—and truth be told, it really was quite tasty.

For reasons unknown, however, the very next second he felt a chilling sensation sweep over him.

Turning his head, he saw that although little Zhao still wore a sweet smile on her face, he could somehow sense a murderous aura radiating from her.