Filming resumed. Jing Yu continued playing the piano on camera, flawlessly as before. And after his earlier comments, Yu Youqing quickly adjusted her mindset—no more hesitation.
Over the past few weeks, she had been working closely with a violin coach. Sure, the actual sound of her playing was borderline unlistenable, but if you stripped away the audio and just looked at the visuals, her posture and performance looked quite polished.
And for a youth romance drama, visuals were everything.
Given the tight schedule and her limited time for practice, her violin form would never stand up to professional scrutiny—but realistically, how many viewers in Da Zhou actually understood violin? And out of those, how many had a truly professional eye? And of those rare few… how many would bother nitpicking the violin technique in a fast-paced, emotionally driven romance drama?
Exactly.
So the production marched on.
Inside the concert hall, Jing Yu's powerful and emotionally charged piano filled the air, accompanied by Yu Youqing's violin, which, truthfully, sounded like a mourning wail, complete with occasional ear-piercing screeches.
Still, the script called for the other actors to heap praise on Miyazono Kaoru and Kousei Arima after their "stunning performance," so everyone played along.
This scene took the entire day to film—and would likely require another full day to complete.
It was already late December. After today, there would be fewer than two weeks left until 'Your Lie in 'Your Lie in April's scheduled premiere.
That evening, the crew gathered for a late-night meal.
Yu Youqing walked over to Jing Yu with a tray in her hands.
"Here, I got this for you."
Jing Yu looked down: it was a plate of salad, some sliced fruit, and a small piece of bread.
"I'm not eating that. I want meat," he said, making a move toward the table piled with hearty dishes.
"Hold it right there."
Yu Youqing cut him off just in time.
"You're part of the cast now. Time to start managing your figure."
"Really? Is it that serious?"
"Absolutely. This show's going to film for at least three months. If you don't start watching your diet now, the audience is going to see a hot guy Kousei in Episode 1 and a pudgy Kousei by the finale."
That made Jing Yu pause mid-step.
"I've seen it happen before," Yu Youqing continued.
"One of my senior colleagues didn't watch his diet—three shows over two years. He went from being called a heartthrob to being roasted online as 'Burger Boy.' Okay, to be fair, he was stress-eating after a breakup… but still."
"Oh? Are you implying I'm going to go into a post-breakup binge spiral?" Jing Yu raised a brow playfully.
"Ah—no! I didn't mean that!" Yu Youqing panicked, flustered. She had completely forgotten that it had only been two months since Jing Yu had been dumped by Song Xin.
"Relax. I'm just teasing you," Jing Yu said, amused by her reaction.
"Really?"
"Really."
"I mean, I don't know what you're usually like, but… from what Director Gao says, you used to be kind of a pessimist."
Yu Youqing sipped her herbal tea and chewed on a buckwheat biscuit.
"Ugh, don't believe anything that guy says about me," Jing Yu replied with a smile.
"He lives to trash-talk me."
"So then… you and Song Xin, after the breakup… it didn't hit you that hard?"
"Nope."
"You know…" Yu Youqing tilted her head thoughtfully.
"You're kind of a mystery."
"How so?"
"Everyone in the crew who's known you for a while—Director Gao, the others—they all say the same things about the old you. But the person I see standing here now doesn't match their descriptions at all."
She gathered up their trash—Jing Yu's wrappers and empty cup—and neatly folded the plastic bag before tossing it all out.
"At the very least, none of them knew you had such incredible musical talent. That piece you played during filming today—the piano coaches we hired have played that song too, but none of them could bring out the emotion like you did."
"I really liked it," she added softly.
Jing Yu glanced at her expression.
It didn't look like flattery. She genuinely meant it—her face lit up just recalling the performance.
And even if the skill came from a system panel, it was still a part of him. Complimenting what he'd achieved through the panel was no different from recognizing him directly.
"Well, if you liked it, then keep working hard. Push your acting even further. If 'Your Lie in April' gets good ratings, I'll play piano for you all day long."
"Seriously?" Her eyes immediately lit up with interest.
"Not just piano. Violin too."
"Wait… violin? You can play violin too, Jing Yu?"
"A little."
"A little…" Yu Youqing froze, then grinned in anticipation.
"Ah—I get it. Just like with piano, right? You 'know a little.' My violin teacher's probably going to end up just as devastated as our piano coaches."
Jing Yu's expression turned a little awkward.
That phrase… "I know a little"—was it already becoming twisted in meaning, at least within this crew?
"What a shame you're not a girl," Yu Youqing teased.
"With your face and your 'slightly skilled' violin playing, I wouldn't have had a chance at landing Kaoru's role."
A few days flew by.
The two major concert scenes for Episodes 1 and 2 were completed. The production focus shifted to shooting the school-life scenes between the male and female leads.
Post-production had already begun as well.
But during that phase, Liu Neng from the post team came directly to Jing Yu.
"So… you want me to join the music production team?" Jing Yu asked, surprised.
"Exactly," Liu Neng confirmed.
"Originally, we brought in several well-known musicians from Lancheng to do the music arrangements. But after your impromptu performance on set, our music supervisor hasn't stopped talking about you."
The supervisor in question was Chen Limin, a man in his forties, tall, lean, with slightly long hair. He was the head of all music for 'Your Lie in April' and one of the most respected names in Jin Hui TV's original soundtrack department. Many of the network's classic dramas had featured music directed by his team.
With 'Your Lie in April', there weren't too many chances for him to shine, since most of the music was composed of classical piano pieces native to this world.
However, because this was a music romance drama, the soundtrack held far more weight than in a typical show, along with significantly higher pay.
If 'Your Lie in April' performed well in ratings, it would be another prestigious project under Chen Limin's belt, so he was determined to get every detail perfect.
But everything changed the day he heard Jing Yu play live.
That single performance completely shook him. The music Jing Yu played made even the top-tier professionals he'd hired seem… ordinary.