Chapter 269 Scapegoat (7,000-word update!)

The conflict between Chen Ziyan and He Yingzi dates back to a very long time ago.

However, the conflict between Lu Yanhe and Lang Xia had only just begun.

Strictly speaking, there wasn't really any conflict between the two of them—they never actually had a direct confrontation.

But if two people don't get along, you can sense it without any words or actions.

At first, Lu Yanhe thought it was because their two agents didn't get along, but later Lu Yanhe realized that Lang Xia's dislike for him was entirely personal.

He certainly had no interest in asking Lang Xia why.

Acting in the same production crew and being the same age, various factors could become reasons for conflict.

Moreover, Lu Yanhe could more or less sense the reason.

Whenever the two of them acted opposite each other, when Chen Lingling pointed out problems, Lang Xia's problems often lay in his grasp of the character and the degree of his performance, while his problems were often technical. In short, as the media said, Lu Yanhe had a rhythm in acting that seemed to come naturally, a so-called "talent," so his handling was recognized by Chen Lingling.

There are many people on a film crew. In movies, TV series, and novels, they often become the background figures for the main characters. But in a real film crew, everyone is a person with 24 hours a day – meaning that everyone is a little butterfly, and you never know which butterfly's flapping wings will turn into a tornado on the other side.

It has an element of chance, but it is indeed possible.

This means that the more people in a group, the more the difficulty increases exponentially, rather than simply adding "1+1".

The difference between a conflict between two people and a conflict between ten people is not just a matter of scale.

Chen Lingling was not in charge of the production team; she was only responsible for the quality of the production. Everything else was managed by Huang Cheng.

Almost all of the regular members of this production team are veterans.

Huang Cheng was also relatively reassured.

However, having an old team doesn't mean everything will go smoothly—people change. When you first start out, you may lack ability, but you have a sense of fear and a clear understanding of what you can and cannot do. But as you do more and more, your abilities develop, and you become familiar with things, but you often lose your sense of fear and boundaries, forming your own little clique and doing things that are outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant.

Huang Cheng originally thought that no matter what, this matter was just a behind-the-scenes affair, but it just so happened that something happened on the very day Chen Ziyan and He Yingzi came over.

-

“This outfit—” Lu Yanhe frowned at the stylist, “Could you iron it?”

Today, when it was time to change clothes, Lu Yanhe came to change clothes before getting his makeup and hair done, as was his usual practice, but the clothes he received were a bit wrinkled.

It's not that he only wants to wear brand new clothes. However, the scenes to be filmed today are everyday scenes, and as a prince's personal bodyguard, he should be mindful of this.

Upon hearing Lu Yanhe's words, costume designer He Min took the garment and immediately became furious. She turned to the people behind her and demanded, "What's going on with these clothes? We agreed that every single one would be ironed and stored properly. How did they manage to store these things?!"

The people behind her all lowered their heads, and none of them said a word.

He Min said to Lu Yanhe, "You do your makeup first, and I'll have someone go and get the spare."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said thank you.

Then, half an hour passed, and the clothing team still hadn't delivered any clothes.

This puzzled Lu Yanhe.

At that moment, Chen Ziyan arrived.

"Have you been reading comments online lately?" Chen Ziyan asked with a smile.

Lu Yanhe nodded honestly and said, "I saw it."

"How do you feel when so many people are praising you?"

"I'm just happy," Lu Yanhe said somewhat shyly.

The makeup artists standing behind him all laughed.

The makeup artist is putting a wig on him.

Chen Ziyan said, "The Golden Era did indeed air very well. I didn't expect your performance to receive such great recognition. Director Luo even told me that I can look forward to several prestigious TV drama awards next year, and maybe I can get a nomination."

Lu Yanhe looked surprised and asked, "Sister Ziyan, are you serious? I'll take it seriously. I'll be disappointed if I don't get a nomination."

“That’s a good thing. From now on, you’re a formal actor, and you have to start learning to accept disappointment,” Chen Ziyan said. “For actors, there are always more disappointing moments than happy ones.”

Lu Yanhe immediately put on an incredulous expression and said, "This is too cruel."

Just then, He Min suddenly came over.

Her expression was somewhat serious, which made Lu Yanhe's heart skip a beat when he saw it in the mirror. He guessed that his clothing problem might not be resolved so smoothly.

He Min said, "Yan He, I'm sorry, we only have this one set of clothes for you right now. The other spares have been washed. We need to iron them urgently, so please wait a little longer."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yanhe glanced at the time and said, "I'll start work in an hour. Is that enough time?"

"We'll try our best."

An ordinary garment doesn't take long to iron, but Lu Yanhe's guard uniform consists of three pieces, one inside the other. The outer garment, in particular, was specially made by an embroiderer hired by the production team. The embroidery is very fine, and the fabric cannot be ironed normally, so it takes much longer than regular ironing.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ziyan frowned and asked, "What's wrong with Lu Yanhe's clothes? Take me to see them."

He Min knew Chen Ziyan and was in a dilemma, but he had no choice but to take Chen Ziyan with him.

Chen Ziyan told Lu Yanhe, "I'll be right back."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

Because Chen Ziyan came, Lu Yanhe was not so worried anymore.

This matter will definitely be resolved properly.

His confidence in Chen Ziyan had reached this level.

-

When Liu Biao was summoned to the dressing room, he was completely bewildered, not knowing what had happened. It wasn't until He Min looked at him with a hesitant expression, then glanced at Chen Ziyan, that Liu Biao realized trouble was brewing.

"Assistant Liu, I'm sorry to bother you with this, you're so busy." Chen Ziyan said to Liu Biao.

Liu Biao forced a smile. He could only treat this woman, who had close ties with both Huang Cheng and Chen Lingling, with kindness.

"Ziyan, what's wrong?"

"Xiao Lu's clothes," Chen Ziyan said. "I just found out that Xiao Lu only has one set of many of his costumes. The one he was wearing for filming today had a problem, and there were no spares."

In a film crew, unless it's a particularly precious costume, generally speaking, one or two spare everyday clothes are kept on hand. This way, if an actor gets their clothes dirty or accidentally damages them while filming, they can have spare clothes in an emergency, since getting dirty or damaged is a common occurrence.

Liu Biao immediately explained, "Of course we have spare clothes, but they haven't been delivered yet. We thought that Xiao Lu wouldn't have any action scenes today, so we didn't bring the spare clothes over."

"Oh, I see. It seems the staff member wasn't familiar with the situation," Chen Ziyan said. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted Xiao Lu to be able to appear normally in every scene, instead of wearing these wrinkled clothes that would distract the audience. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

She looked sharply at Liu Biao.

Liu Biao immediately nodded and said, "No, no, don't worry, the problem can definitely be solved."

Chen Ziyan smiled slightly and said, "Then I'll trouble you."

Chen Ziyan didn't wait here to wait for the problem to be solved. As long as Liu Biao gave this attitude, she would just wait and see the result.

After she left, Liu Biao's smile vanished, and he glared angrily at He Min: "Why did this happen? Why did she come here?"

He Min said helplessly, "The staff didn't clean and iron Lu Yanhe's costume in time. When Lu Yanhe put it on today, he raised a problem. Unfortunately, this costume can't be ironed in a short time. Just as I was talking to Lu Yanhe about this problem, Chen Ziyan came over and started nitpicking."

"Fire the person who messed things up," Liu Biao said angrily.

He Min nodded upon hearing this and said, "Okay."

"As for the clothes, how long does it take to iron them?" Liu Biao asked.

He Min said, "It will take at least three hours."

Liu Biao: "I understand. I'll postpone Lu Yanhe's scenes by a few hours so you'll have time to finish them."

He Min nodded.

Liu Biao, seemingly lost in thought, added, "Make sure to handle things cleanly."

"Hmm." He Min sighed, "It's also my fault. I didn't check the clothes I'm going to wear today beforehand, and this mistake happened."

Liu Biao was equally annoyed and said, "If you don't pay more attention, and if this matter goes wrong again and Huang Cheng and the others find out, you will definitely be finished before me."

He Min's face turned ugly.

"knew."

-

He Yingzi talked to Lang Xia, comforting and reassuring him, telling him not to let Lu Yanhe's short-term success affect his mindset and to adjust his mindset.

After their conversation, He Yingzi prepared to go find Huang Cheng.

Lang Xia just told her that his filming schedule has always been terrible, with about four or five hours between two scenes, leaving him to waste time on set. Lu Yanhe, on the other hand, can concentrate a day's worth of filming into one time period, and can go back to the hotel to rest the rest of the time.

Although He Yingzi knew that with Lu Yanhe's current fame and popularity, it was inevitable that the production team would make such an arrangement, she still wanted to communicate with Huang Cheng so that Lang Xia wouldn't have to wait so long on set.

It's actually quite normal for a newcomer to receive this kind of treatment on set. If Lu Yanhe hadn't been there to provide a comparison, Lang Xia probably wouldn't have felt this annoyed by being treated differently.

Of course, He Yingzi couldn't tell Lang Xia that it was because Lu Yanhe was more popular now. With the popularity of "The Golden Era", the production team naturally adjusted his treatment. If she really said that, given Lang Xia's sensitive nature, he would probably be furious inside even if he didn't say it.

At least improve Lang Xia's treatment.

He Yingzi is making this plan.

She went to find Huang Cheng, but Huang Cheng had disappeared and she couldn't find him.

He Yingzi waited on set.

Suddenly, a little girl walked over, her eyes red and swollen, sobbing.

He Yingzi glanced at her in surprise.

Judging from their clothes and appearance, they don't seem to be actors; they're probably staff members.

What did I do wrong to get scolded?

He Yingzi looked at her thoughtfully.

She suddenly fell to the ground again.

He Yingzi was startled and instinctively stood up to help her.

Are you alright?

"I've got something to say!" The girl suddenly burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. "I've been expelled!"

He Yingzi was stunned and looked at her in astonishment.

"Stop howling." He Yingzi was most afraid of encountering people who started howling before saying anything. She was at a loss and regretted not leaving immediately.

trouble.

This is really troublesome.

But it's not easy to just walk away now.

He Yingzi could only help her up and comfort her, saying, "Being fired won't help you cry. You should think about what to do next."

The girl stared at her in disbelief, momentarily forgetting to cry.

When He Yingzi saw the girl like this, she knew that the girl's mind was completely blank and she couldn't think of what to do next.

With a face full of innocent and naive foolishness... He Yingzi sighed and said, "Tell me why you were fired first."

-

Lu Yanhe quickly received a notification that due to adjustments in the on-site filming, his scenes would be moved to the afternoon, and he could rest first.

Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan exchanged a glance.

Because there were makeup team members in the lounge, they didn't say anything more.

Only after the wig was on, the hair and makeup were done, and the makeup team left did Lu Yanhe ask, "Sister Ziyan, my scene was moved to the afternoon. Is it related to my outfit?"

"I guess so." Chen Ziyan nodded. "I guess they can't immediately come up with a piece of clothing that you can wear, so they're trying to buy some time to deal with it."

Lu Yanhe frowned: "Since there are spare clothes, why not just send someone to pick them up? How long will that take?"

"You really think you have spare clothes?" Chen Ziyan smiled, a mocking smile playing on her lips, and said, "I guess this is the only set you have. Maybe you have another set to rotate, and you're using it all the time."

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback. "I remember they said before that we usually have about two spare sets of our everyday clothes."

“You submitted the budget, but didn’t actually make it,” Chen Ziyan explained to him. “That way you can save the cost of making one or two sets of costumes and keep them for yourself. For your kind of period costumes, especially the costumes for your main characters, the cost of making one set can be tens of thousands.”

Lu Yanhe understood instantly.

Lu Yanhe has a total of eight outfits in the play. Normally, about two sets of each outfit would be needed as spares. Since Lu Yanhe also has action scenes to film, even more outfits would be needed. If the costume team only prepares two sets of each outfit, or even more ridiculously, only one set, they could deduct 100,000 yuan just for Lu Yanhe's outfits.

With so many actors in a film crew, and the main characters having even more clothes, it's easy to imagine how much money they could embezzle.

Lu Yanhe frowned and asked, "Sister Ziyan, about this kind of thing..."

"You absolutely mustn't come up with the idea of ​​making this public so everyone knows," Chen Ziyan said immediately.

"ah?"

“This kind of thing happens in every film crew. It’s just a matter of whether it’s exaggerated or not. As long as it’s not like they’re going to price a straw hat at 6,000 yuan, we can just turn a blind eye and not offend anyone easily,” Chen Ziyan said. “I’ve already warned them. They won’t cause any more trouble with your clothes. That’s fine.”

Lu Yanhe was speechless and said, "Isn't this just stealing money?"

"Everyone wants to make money. You're an actor, so you can openly earn a lot of money. But the costume department doesn't have that kind of pricing power. It's not that they cut corners on your clothes; it's just that based on experience, they can effectively control the wastage rate and earn a little extra production cost. It's really nothing. Of course, I'm not saying that what they do is right. Of course it's wrong, but every production crew does it this way. There's no way to stop it. Do you think the production company doesn't know? As long as the accounts are clean and there are no major problems, everyone will turn a blind eye."

Lu Yanhe remained silent.

Chen Ziyan patted his shoulder.

-

After listening to the girl named Shen Yufang recount the reasons for her expulsion, He Yingzi's eyes immediately started darting around.

She had no idea that this matter was related to Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan.

Costume design is something that happens in every film crew; it's nothing unusual.

If He Yingzi had simply heard about this, she wouldn't have had any thoughts; she would only say that Shen Yufang was unlucky. But this matter involved Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan—

He Yingzi immediately started making plans in her mind.

"Xiaofang, are you really going to just let yourself be kicked out like this?"

"Sister, what can I do?" Shen Yufang looked at her blankly.

He Yingzi shook her head and said, "What can you do? Ask me, but I don't know either. You have to find someone who can make the decision."

"The person in charge?" Shen Yufang still looked bewildered.

He Yingzi said, "That's right. Since it was the head of your clothing department who fired you, who can you turn to?"

Before Shen Yufang could figure it out, He Yingzi smiled and said, "I've been chatting with you for so long, I have to go now, bye-bye."

Upon hearing that she was leaving, Shen Yufang immediately showed a reluctant expression, "Sister, I still don't know your name."

He Yingzi: "What's the use of knowing my name? You just need to know the name of the person whose words carry weight. Okay, I'm leaving."

He Yingzi left after she finished speaking.

As Shen Yufang watched He Yingzi's departing figure, she thought to herself, "Why isn't my boss a sister like that?"

The image of He Min telling her to leave flashed through her mind; his cold attitude seemed devoid of any warmth.

A person whose words carry weight...

In this film crew, who has the most influential voice?

As Shen Yufang walked forward with her head down, pondering this question, she turned a corner and bumped into producer Huang Cheng.

"Mr. Huang, Mr. Huang." Shen Yufang saw Huang Cheng and instinctively shrank her neck like a quail, calling out.

Huang Cheng nodded and hurried forward.

Shen Yufang suddenly thought of something and turned around.

"President Huang!" She called out without thinking as she watched Huang Cheng's hurried departure.

Huang Cheng stopped and turned to look at her, a look of confusion on his face.

"What's wrong?"

-

During the extra few hours of free time, Lu Yanhe took out his laptop and reviewed the manuscripts for the fifth issue of "Jump Up".

The fourth phase will be launched soon.

The manuscripts for the fifth issue have all been collected. This speed means that "Jump Up" is becoming more and more familiar with its operation, unlike the previous issues which were rushed.

In the fifth issue of the magazine, Liu Jiazhen's serialized novel will come to an end, and his full-length novel will be available for purchase at the end of January, which means that readers will be able to see the physical book of the full-length novel first.

The original plan was for Liu Jiazhen's novel to be serialized in six installments, with a total of seven installments. However, it will now end two installments early because the physical book will be released at the end of January.

Starting from the fourth installment, Chen Siqi increased the word count of her serialized work, from 20,000 words to 40,000 words.

Xu Xiaoyin was initially worried that Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi would mind this—after all, publishing the physical book first would definitely affect readers who were following the serialization's purchase of the fifth issue.

But Chen Siqi didn't mind at all.

“It doesn’t matter. In fact, if it weren’t for ensuring that the magazine’s readers could finish reading the story, not publishing the last two chapters in the magazine would have been more helpful for the sales of Liu Jiazhen’s novel,” Chen Siqi said. “I hope that Liu Jiazhen’s next novel can also be serialized in our magazine.”

Chen Siqi wanted to do something: to make her novel, which was serialized in "Jump Up," a bestseller and a great start. In this way, she hoped that top writers would be willing to serialize their novels in "Jump Up."

In the fifth episode, Chen Siqi also previewed the next episode's serialized novel. She invited the famous online novelist Baduanjin to serialize a new work of 300,000 words, "I'm Not an Immortal," in "Jump Up."

Chen Siqi visited Baduanjin three times before successfully persuading him to write a 300,000-word novel specifically for "Jump Up"—compared to his other novels that often exceed one million words, this novel can clearly only be considered a short story.

“The readers of ‘Jump Up’ are all artsy types, they probably can’t accept my novel style, right?” Ba Duan Jin’s first reaction was to refuse, he didn’t want to write it.

In fact, putting aside the issue of style, for Baduanjin, writing 300,000 words on an online platform would definitely earn him several zeros more money than serializing 300,000 words in "Jump Up".

Chen Siqi said this at the time: "Although Jump Up is positioned as an arts and literature magazine, our first requirement for novels is that they are good. We are not making a pure literature magazine. We want to make a magazine that everyone likes to read. And the story you wrote has fully proved one thing: everyone likes to read it."

"Besides, Mr. Baduan, there are many online novelists, but you are the first one we want to invite. This is because our entire editorial team are your readers, and we all agree that your writing style will appeal to our magazine readers." Chen Siqi directly addressed his concerns. "You are already a top-tier author in the online novel world. Readers of online novels, even if they haven't read your works, have certainly heard of you. However, many readers of 'Jump Up' are unfamiliar with you. 'Jump Up' can serve as such a window. Moreover, as you know, because Lu Yanhe is the editor-in-chief, many people from film and television companies, the entertainment industry, and other related fields read our magazine. Your previous works, due to their grand scale and length, have not yet been successfully adapted into film or television series. A novel of 300,000 words is the most suitable for film and television adaptation. You are a master storyteller and a master of rhythm in your style. Let more people read your stories. This is the confidence we have in inviting you."

-

After hearing Chen Siqi's story about how she managed to win over Baduanjin, Lu Yanhe was filled with admiration for her.

"Is his signing platform okay?" Lu Yanhe asked.

“Teacher Baduan’s contract is quite flexible; he negotiated with the platform himself,” Chen Siqi said. “So, starting from the sixth issue, each issue will be 30,000 words long, and it will be serialized up to the fifteenth issue, for a total of ten issues.”

Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised and said, "That's quite a big leap."

"Yes, but as you know, not only are the readers of 'Jump Up' a potential readership for Mr. Baduan, but Mr. Baduan's readers are also a potential readership for 'Jump Up'," Chen Siqi said. "Moreover, when he writes fantasy novels, he often incorporates many of our myths and legends as well as Buddhist and Taoist culture. Several of his classic novels have a very rigorous novel structure and a clear and elegant writing style, which are suitable for serialization in magazines."

Lu Yanhe naturally supported Chen Siqi's decision.

"Um."

He noticed that the back cover of the fifth issue featured the cover of Liu Jiazhen's novel, dedicating an entire page to promoting the physical book.

Chen Siqi said, "From now on, all novels serialized in our magazine will receive this treatment when they are published. We can't say anything else, but we must ensure that novels serialized here will receive our maximum promotional support."

Lu Yanhe understood Chen Siqi's intention: to encourage more writers to serialize their work in "Jump Up".

-

After Lu Yanhe finished reading all the manuscripts and gave Chen Siqi his feedback, he checked the time and realized it was noon, time for lunch.

Chen Ziyan has already left.

Lu Yanhe asked Zou Dong, "Brother Dong, has the costume team contacted us? How are the clothes coming along?"

Zou Dong shook his head and said, "They haven't contacted me yet, so it probably hasn't been resolved."

Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised, thinking to himself, "Three hours have passed, no matter how difficult it was, it should have been resolved by now, right?"

Just then, Chen Wenwen knocked on the door to bring them lunch.

"Thank you." Lu Yanhe asked, "Wenwen, do you have Teacher He Min's contact information?"

Chen Wenwen shook her head, "No."

"All right."

"She was just called away by General Manager Huang. Are you looking for her?" Chen Wenwen asked.

Lu Yanhe nodded.

Chen Wenwen said, "I'll tell her assistant."

"Thank you for your help."

Chen Wenwen shook her head: "What's the trouble? I'll be going now."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

The boxed meals were specially ordered by the film crew from outside restaurants.

Lu Yanhe and Zou Dong were treated differently, and the difference could be seen from the food they ate.

However, Lu Yanhe and Zou Dong always ate together and never separated.

Not long after they started eating, Lu Yanhe's phone suddenly rang.

He looked down and saw that it was Huang Cheng calling.

"Hello, Mr. Huang?"

"Yan He, I have a question for you, is it convenient?" Huang Cheng's tone was unreadable.

Lu Yanhe: "Sure, what's up?"

"Was there a problem with your costume this morning?"

Lu Yanhe paused for a second, recalling what Chen Ziyan had said.

"It's not really a problem, the clothes are just a bit wrinkled, so I asked the costume team to iron them for me again," Lu Yanhe said.

Huang Cheng: "Okay, I understand, thank you."

"Hmm." Lu Yanhe didn't say anything more.

The clothes that should have been ironed and delivered still haven't arrived.

Huang Cheng hung up the phone.

Lu Yanhe silently picked up his chopsticks, but hesitated to eat.

Why did Huang Cheng suddenly ask him this question?

What was discovered in Huangcheng?

Did he call to get some testimony from him?

However, he offered no testimony whatsoever. What Chen Ziyan said was merely her speculation and suspicion.

The facts are exactly what he just said.

To Lu Yanhe's surprise, a young girl named Shen Yufang suddenly went online and publicly criticized the Phoenix TV crew and him.

"Why should I be the scapegoat?" she asked angrily.

(End of this chapter)