Chapter 276

Lu Qingzhen picked up her coffee cup, took a sip, and smiled, saying, "Lu Yanhe completely trusts you now."

Chen Ziyan sighed, "Although I expected it to be like this, I still feel somewhat helpless."

"Huh? Helpless? Are you crazy?" Lu Qingzhen looked incredulous. Sometimes, she really didn't understand what Chen Ziyan was thinking.

Chen Ziyan said, "You know I've always been reluctant to get too deeply tied to the artists I manage in terms of interests, so that it won't be easy to untie them later."

“Perhaps no one understands why you always part ways with the artists you personally mentored,” Lu Qingzhen said.

Chen Ziyan: "They've grown to the point where they don't need me anymore, so why should I still be tied to them? Actually, at their level, my role as their manager isn't that significant anymore. You know, in the current state of the entertainment industry in China, the top stars don't really need managers."

Lu Qingzhen: "You're being too absolute and pessimistic about the role of agents."

"I'm just stating a fact," Chen Ziyan said.

Lu Qingzhen sighed, "You know perfectly well that if you wanted, they would all be willing to make you a partner."

Chen Ziyan looked at Lu Qingzhen and said, "You know perfectly well that the one thing I have plenty of is money."

Lu Qingzhen: "...Oh, right, I always forget that."

She paused, looked at Chen Ziyan again, and asked, "So what are you planning to do? You've already agreed to start a film production company with Lu Yanhe."

"It's nothing special. We just need an organization as a production company to facilitate contract signing. Apart from me and Lu Yanhe, there won't be anyone else in this company in the short term," Chen Ziyan said bluntly. "We don't actually intend to run a film production company."

Lu Qingzhen nodded.

“Ziyan, according to you, since Lu Yanhe is so talented, can you guys rely entirely on yourselves in the future? Write, direct, and act in your own shows,” Lu Qingzhen said with a smile.

“It’s not impossible, but Lu Yanhe has a major weakness.” Chen Ziyan sighed. “His personality is too black and white. Friends are friends, enemies are enemies, likes are likes, and dislikes are dislikes. Compared to him, his girlfriend Chen Siqi is much more mature. If he still has this personality after graduation, he will inevitably encounter deception, betrayal, or even being framed.”

“With you by his side keeping an eye on him, I don’t think it will be a problem.” Lu Qingzhen smiled. “Do you know that sometimes you give me the feeling of being your artist’s mother? No matter what your artist does, you handle it all by yourself, without asking anyone else. You probably only manage your son to this extent.”

Chen Ziyan: "This is just my personality."

Lu Qingzhen said, "If you've decided to bring Jia Long into this film, who are you planning to direct? Do you have a target in mind?"

Chen Ziyan said, "Jia Long said he would go and pick someone, and then come back to discuss it with us once he has a candidate in mind."

“Many actors nowadays direct and star in their own films, especially comedians. Why doesn’t Jia Long give it a try?” Lu Qingzhen said. “Doesn’t he already own a comedy production company?”

When Chen Ziyan heard Lu Qingzhen say this, she first looked at her in surprise, and then thought that this idea didn't seem bad.

However, if Jia Long is to direct, the production timeline of this film seems to be stretched even further. It would be much faster to find a director to make the film. Experience can determine too many things, and for an inexperienced new director, many things will require many times more time to pay the price.

Lu Qingzhen: "But no matter what, I think Lu Yanhe will enter the top ranks of mainland actors within a few years."

"It depends on his luck. To enter the TOP ranks, he needs at least one or two big hit leading roles to be considered a true TOP." Chen Ziyan said, then seemed to remember something, and curled her lips, saying, "Don't be like some TOPs who are just popular for show and still dare to call themselves the new generation's new king of talent."

Lu Qingzhen understood almost instantly who Chen Ziyan was talking about.

Are you talking about Li Yuefeng?

Li Yuefeng is a newcomer who emerged three years ago. Last year, he became popular for his role as the second male lead, and at the end of the year, a period drama he starred in became the most popular drama at the time, making him incredibly popular. In February of this year, a modern campus drama aired, which generated a lot of buzz. Because of these consecutive minor hit dramas, he secured collaborations with many big names. Then, a week ago, the argument that "Lu Yanhe is popular, but Li Yuefeng is the real newcomer with real achievements" appeared online. It was said that although Lu Yanhe is popular, his popularity is too mixed, sometimes through magazines, sometimes through film and television dramas, and sometimes through the image of a top student, unlike Li Yuefeng, who diligently focuses on acting.

Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes.

But Li Yuefeng was just so-so, and Chen Ziyan didn't want to do anything about this kind of argument, lest it escalate and actually link Li Yuefeng and Lu Yanhe together.

"That's shameless enough. He's already twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, and he's still comparing himself to a nineteen-year-old," Lu Qingzhen said incisively.

Twenty-six or twenty-seven isn't considered old, but it's much older than nineteen.

"I heard that Li Yuefeng is in talks to play the second male lead in 'True Crossroads,' did you know that?" Lu Qingzhen asked Chen Ziyan.

-

“Actually, Xiao Lu is quite suitable for the second male lead in ‘True Crossroads’,” He Heng said to Jiang Yuqian. “However, I guess his schedule is too full. I heard that he has a male lead role in a TV series and two movies, and he has signed contracts for all of them.”

Jiang Yuqian nodded and asked, "What's with the two movies? Wasn't there only one movie?"

He Heng said, "The script for another film is being written. The script isn't finished yet, but a letter of intent has already been signed."

What kind of movie?

“They’re all art films,” He Heng said. “Only Xiao Lu can take them at this stage. Once he becomes more famous and starts to carry roles, Chen Ziyan won’t let him take them anymore. Poor box office performance has a huge impact on an actor.”

Jiang Yuqian nodded, then, as if remembering something, asked, "Can Li Yuefeng get the second male lead role?"

"He's had several minor hits in a row, so if he's willing to play the second male lead, the production company would be very happy to hire him."

“Then we need to be careful. He’s the kind of person who always puts others down,” Jiang Yuqian said.

He Heng nodded, "Understood."

-

In mid-April, Lu Yanhe received another notice from the Phoenix Terrace production team to go back and reshoot two scenes.

On his way back after filming, Wang Xiao from the Youth Association called him.

"Professor Shi Xia is coming to give a lecture here. Yan He, do you want to come with me to pick him up?"

Lu Yanhe's eyes lit up instantly.

Chen Siqi had been trying every possible means to get Shi Xia's new work published in "Jump Up". However, as one of the top writers in the domestic literary circle, Shi Xia's output has decreased drastically in recent years. Not only has he not published a new novel in five years, but he also only publishes three or four short stories and essays a year at most. These have all been snapped up by the top domestic literary magazines, making it extremely difficult to get his hands on a commercial literary magazine like "Jump Up".

Despite this, Chen Siqi never gave up.

“Since we want to create the top-tier commercial arts magazine, we need to invite all the best writers we cover.” Chen Siqi said at the time, “Being able to get Shi Xia’s new work to premiere here is like opening the door to getting other writers and teachers to join us. Shi Xia has such a high status.”

At the time, Lu Yanhe jokingly said, "We can only publish twelve issues of 'Jump Up' a year. Can we accommodate so many writers and works?"

Chen Siqi said, "We can only publish one issue a month now because there isn't enough content that meets our standards, and it's not rich enough. If we have more and more articles in the future, and we can't even fit them in twelve issues, we can certainly do supplements, or even bi-monthly publications. If that's still not enough, we can even launch a second or third magazine, as long as we have good enough content that people are willing to buy and read."

Lu Yanhe knew that Chen Siqi had high hopes for "Jump Up", but he did not expect her hopes to be this high.

He was surprised.

In such an era, is it possible for "Jump Up" to further develop while ensuring its own survival?

The question only flashed through Lu Yanhe's mind for a second before he gave himself a positive answer.

Don't worry about whether you can do it, just try your best.

So, when he had the opportunity to meet with Teacher Shi Xia, Lu Yanhe immediately agreed.

"Thank you, senior. When is it?" he asked Wang Xiao.

“This Saturday,” Wang Xiao said, “the lecture is on Saturday evening.”

“Okay.” Lu Yanhe readily agreed.

-

Upon hearing that Shi Xia was going to give a lecture at Zhenhua on Saturday, Chen Siqi immediately bought a plane ticket to fly to Yuming on Saturday morning.

“I need to come over. Could you help me make an appointment to enter your school?” Chen Siqi said.

Lu Yanhe had already guessed Chen Siqi's reaction and responded with a smile.

"Teacher Shi is actually a very kind and interesting person."

When Lu Yanhe went to pick up Teacher Shi Xia with Wang Xiao on Saturday, he said to Wang Xiao...

Wang Xiao was surprised and asked, "Have you met Teacher Shi?"

“We previously did a retrospective of Shi Xia’s past works on the program ‘Jump Up,’ and we even asked Shi Xia to write a reflection,” said Lu Yanhe.

“It’s fortunate that we invited you,” Wang Xiao said. “I never expected that Professor Shi Xia would agree to give a lecture at our school this time, even though he has come a few times before. This was facilitated by a publishing house that wanted to reprint his previous works. He used to do a lot of lectures, but he rarely does now.”

“We asked him that question back then, after all, he is one of the few great writers whose novels have sold more than ten million copies,” Lu Yanhe said. “Many people like him, especially his quotes, which are very rare and popular online. At that time, Teacher Shi said that in recent years, many places have sought him out because of his popularity and fame, not because of his actual literary lectures. He is too lazy to do those things.”

Wang Xiao nodded, "No wonder. When we were discussing the lecture with his publisher, they made it very clear that questions asked on the spot must be related to the work and not unrelated to it."

The two arrived at Teacher Shi Xia's building.

Today's car was a seven-seater official vehicle arranged by the Youth Association. Professor Shi Xia was accompanied by a publishing editor and one of his assistants.

"Hello, Teacher Shi, do you still remember me?" Lu Yanhe greeted him warmly first.

“I remember. It’s not like we haven’t seen each other for years. Didn’t we just meet?” Shi Xia smiled.

His hair has turned quite a bit white.

However, he doesn't look old; he still appears to be middle-aged.

Lu Yanhe exchanged only a few pleasantries before falling silent; he didn't want to be a talkative, noisy person.

After Wang Xiao greeted Shi Xia, he fell silent.

When Lu Yanhe was with Wang Xiao, he rarely saw him quiet and not saying a word. This quietness made Lu Yanhe feel somewhat uneasy and uncomfortable.

At this moment, Shi Xia suddenly smiled and teased, "Are you two young people a little reserved in front of me, so you're both not saying anything?"

Wang Xiao immediately chuckled and said, "How about I tell you a stand-up comedy routine?"

"No need for that." Shi Xia smiled and shook her head. "Just don't be shy. I hate it when people feel uncomfortable because of me."

“No way, I’m pretty thick-skinned,” Wang Xiao immediately said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be doing this job in the Youth Association.”

Lu Yanhe smiled brightly, "I'm thinking about how to convince you to submit your new work to the magazine 'Jump Up'."

"Still having this idea?" Shi Xia didn't shy away from the question and even joked with a smile.

Lu Yanhe said, "Then all the magazines that publish novels across the country must be thinking about this, after all, you are Teacher Shi Xia."

Shi Xia laughed twice, but didn't say anything more.

"Xiao Lu, you should be studying at the Faculty of Arts at Zhenhua University now, right?" Shi Xia asked.

"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded.

Shi Xia nodded approvingly and said, "A proper professional."

Lu Yanhe said, "I wouldn't dare to boast like that outside. I'm too bad at it. My basic skills are lacking. I have to go to the library to look up information after almost every class. Otherwise, I don't understand what the teachers are talking about in many places. Compared with my classmates who are full of hidden talents, I am ashamed."

“You’re being too modest. To dare to launch a new magazine at this time and make it so successful is truly impressive. We writers are all paying close attention to your magazine,” Shi Xia said. “I’ve read almost every issue myself.”

Lu Yanhe immediately said, "If we could have the opportunity to publish Professor Shi's new work, that would be even more wonderful."

"Haha." Shi Xia laughed again, then fell silent.

-

Judging from his appearance, many people think that Shi Xia has a particularly simple and honest personality.

But those who know and are familiar with Shi Xia know that his true personality is actually a bit childlike, even a bit like an "old rascal". He doesn't have the demeanor of a "highly respected person", let alone put on airs. The "seriousness" often seen in many "senior figures" is rarely seen in him.

However, Shi Xia wasn't the kind of "old rascal" who would often hang out with young people. He didn't pursue the so-called "youthfulness" in a particularly self-consistent way; he simply rejected the socially accepted concept of maturity.

As a writer who has already reached the top in a practical sense, he does not regard himself as "successful and famous". He continues to write and continues to write tirelessly. In the eyes of outsiders, his output speed has slowed down. In fact, he has not written less, but rather he has pursued higher goals. He does not publish easily until he has written a satisfactory work.

Shi Xia's manuscripts are highly sought after in the magazine and publishing circles, and are extremely valuable.

Shi Xia has also passed the stage where he would be moved by royalties. No matter how high the royalties are, they are just a drop in the ocean compared to the royalties brought by his tens of millions of sales.

In his eyes, Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi were merely juniors. The sudden emergence of "Jump Up" certainly surprised the magazine industry, but that was not enough to justify entrusting his new work to two young people.

(End of this chapter)