Chapter 293 Dugu Qiubai (7,000-word update!)

Sometimes Li Xiao couldn't understand why her boyfriend admired Lu Yanhe so blindly, as if he were on drugs.

She was even a little jealous.

Li Xiao was certain that Mao Jiayang's evaluation of her was definitely not as high as his evaluation of Lu Yanhe.

However, because of her relationship with Mao Jiayang, Li Xiao would occasionally run into Lu Yanhe at close range, and even sit down to eat together.

After meeting Lu Yanhe a few times, Li Xiao began to understand Mao Jiayang's feelings.

Some people are perfect in every way, but because they are perfect, they seem like a fake person, and people just can't like them.

Lu Yanhe is earnest, sunny, unpretentious, and very sincere. Just as Mao Jiayang said, he is a very nice person with strong moral values, making him impossible to dislike.

At first, Li Xiao thought Mao Jiayang was just straightforward and couldn't see the complexity of someone like Lu Yanhe who was in the entertainment industry. She always believed that someone who could achieve such success and status could not be a simple person. But after dealing with Lu Yanhe, Li Xiao felt relieved.

Lu Yanhe never intended to portray himself as a simple person. This was the beginning of Li Xiao's change in opinion of Lu Yanhe. If Lu Yanhe had tried to appear simple, spouting ideals and justice, Li Xiao would have kept her distance. However, he never flaunted his professional knowledge, nor did he lecture or advise them as an "experienced person"—this was precisely what Li Xiao feared most.

Li Xiao majored in journalism.

In an era where people are constantly proclaiming "journalism is dead," Li Xiao often worries about her major and future career path.

Currently, apart from state-run news agencies, journalists have very few good career options. Social media has become mainstream, and professional journalistic knowledge seems less important in this fast-paced and convenient internet age.

During a meal with Lu Yanhe, Li Xiao unconsciously brought up her worries about her major, and immediately regretted it.

When Li Xiao brought up this topic before, she often received comfort or encouragement, but these were all superficial and meaningless. Worst of all, some people would take a condescending stance and offer their own commentary on the news industry. This is what Li Xiao detests most.

She knew that the news industry had changed dramatically since ten years ago, but that didn't mean she could calmly listen to others criticizing what she loved.

But Lu Yanhe's reaction was beyond Li Xiao's expectations.

He nodded earnestly, but didn't rush to reply or talk about news. Instead, he asked seriously, "Was journalism your first choice when you chose it?"

Li Xiao nodded in surprise.

Lu Yanhe said, "Xin Zixing, an editor at Yemai.com, is in charge of the online version of 'Jump Up.' She used to be an editor of a fashion magazine, but the magazine stopped publishing and she went to Yemai.com. She started working on the fashion section of Yemai.com. When she was shooting street photography in Langhua, she suddenly had the idea to make a documentary like 'City Travelogue,' and now she has become the producer of 'City Travelogue.'"

Li Xiao looked at Lu Yanhe with some surprise, wondering why he suddenly brought this up.

Lu Yanhe said with a smile, "I really admire people like you who always choose to do what they love. Doing what you love seems to unleash tremendous energy. She has a lot of things to do and is very busy every day, but I have never heard her complain about being tired."

Perhaps because what Lu Yanhe said was too unexpected for her, Li Xiao showed an embarrassed smile.

"You are also someone who has always chosen to do what you love."

Lu Yanhe shook his head and said, "I start doing something first, and then I slowly begin to like it."

"Um?"

"I didn't become an artist because I liked acting," Lu Yanhe frankly said. "I only gradually came to like it after I started doing it."

“What about ‘Jump Up’?” Li Xiao asked again.

Lu Yanhe smiled, and Li Xiao felt that she could see a hint of shyness in his smile.

Li Xiao thought she must have seen wrong, that it was just her imagination.

How could a big star possibly show shyness in his smile?

Lu Yanhe said, "This magazine... how should I put it? Of course, it's something I wanted to make, but what I really wanted to make this magazine was the people I worked with on it."

“Oh, right, you said that. I remember you said it in an interview because you could work on this magazine with your high school classmates so that you could still stay connected after graduation.” Li Xiao nodded, recalling the interview she had read.

Mao Jiayang turned to look at Li Xiao and asked, "You've also seen Lao Lu's interview?"

“He’s very popular, I occasionally see his posts on social media,” Li Xiao said. “And, as you know, many of my classmates are his fans and often share news related to him.”

Mao Jiayang smiled at Lu Yanhe and said, "That's true. Several of Xiaoxiao's friends have said that they hope to work for you after graduation."

"My place?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.

He wondered, where is he?

Mao Jiayang said, "Didn't 'Jump Up' do a lot of self-media? And they often publish some commentary and interview articles. They really want to do that."

Lu Yanhe realized what was happening. "Oh, that wasn't done by me. It was done by Chen Siqi and the other editors. It has nothing to do with me."

Mao Jiayang said, "I saw in the news that you started your own film and television company?"

"It's just an empty shell. There's no one else here except me and my agent," Lu Yanhe waved his hand. "It's just for the convenience of some work-related matters."

Li Xiao asked, "Was the script for that drama you collaborated on with Beijing TV written by yourself?"

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "To be precise, it was our director Bai Jingnian who wanted to make such a story, so he wrote a concept for the story, with six young people as the main characters, three men and three women. They live, work, and pursue their dreams in a bustling metropolis and become good friends. I wrote a script based on this concept he wrote."

Li Xiao nodded.

"But I still haven't come up with a suitable name," Lu Yanhe said. "I don't know what kind of name would be appropriate."

Li Xiao asked, "Aren't names easy to come up with? I see a lot of names like 'Warm and Sweet' and 'Burning Life' these days."

"The title of a show should definitely be similar to the show's own style. I didn't want to use a pretentious or artsy name because this is a sitcom that tells the most natural and relaxed stories. Ideally, it should be the kind of name that everyone knows is the show as soon as it's mentioned, without too many embellishments," said Lu Yanhe.

Upon hearing this, Li Xiao said, "If the six of you are the main characters, and the story revolves around your lives, work, dreams, and friendships, then let's come up with a name based on these six people."

Li Xiao's words stirred up a thousand waves in Lu Yanhe's mind.

Lu Yanhe remembered a name from a very long time ago.

Another name for Friends—

Friends.

Lu Yanhe didn't want to use "Friends" because the characters weren't old friends at the beginning of the story. The English title is "Friends," which is too common in the Chinese context.

However, this version of Friends is strangely well-suited to it.

The sentence structure comes from the phrase "Three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me," and the phrase "six people walking together" perfectly meets Lu Yanhe's standard of highlighting the theme with minimal embellishment in the name.

-

Lu Yanhe finally settled on the name "Friends".

After the first round of auditions, a total of eighteen actors advanced to the second round of auditions.

This round wasn't an audition, but an interview.

In the first round, they will be asked to perform a short skit to assess their basic qualities. This round will be a simple chat to observe the actors' personalities and qualities.

For the second round of auditions, Yan Liang and Wen Minglan also came.

Lu Yanhe wanted to hear their opinions.

Since six people are starring in this play together, the chemistry between the actors is also very important.

-

When everyone was exchanging opinions, Lu Yanhe realized that everyone had a different perspective and standard for judging actors.

Bai Jingnian was particularly fond of a girl named Bai Jin.

"She's a very pretty girl with a spirited look in her eyes. She's also very cheerful. Her mannerisms and speech are just like Li Lili's."

“But Li Lili is actually a pretty silly girl. The image is indeed very suitable, but I don’t have the kind of silly spirit that Li Lili has.” Hu Siwei has a different opinion. “On the contrary, I think He Qiaotian looks more like Li Lili.”

"He Qiaotian is not as pretty as Bai Jin."

“Both girls are quite pretty, just with different temperaments,” Hu Siwei said. “You like girls like Bai Jin who have a bit of a heroic air about them.”

Bai Jingnian: "He Qiaotian seems to be playing a young girl. Do you think she's the kind of girl who would dare to run away from her wedding?"

Bai Jingnian thought He Qiaotian was too gentle and sweet.

After arguing for a while and failing to convince each other, the two came to ask Lu Yanhe for his opinion.

Lu Yanhe felt that what they both said made a lot of sense.

"Judging from them today, it's probably not very clear what's so special about them. Why don't we have them try on makeup together and see who suits Li Lili better?"

In *Friends*, Lu Yanhe wrote Li Lili based on Rachel from *Friends*. She's a beautiful, but ordinary girl who doesn't rely on her looks to attract attention in real life. Lu Yanhe felt that Bai Jin and He Qiaotian were slightly lacking, but expecting an actor to be 100% a perfect match for the role is unreasonable. That's why Lu Yanhe said, "Maybe we can look at them again."

If Lu Yanhe really had to make a choice, he felt that Bai Jin would be the most suitable to play Zhou Zhixi, the most boyish girl among the three.

Lu Yanhe's character isn't a tomboy, but rather a girl whose words and actions don't particularly emphasize femininity. Zhou Zhixi in "Friends" is distinct from Chen Wanqiu's self-disciplined artistic nature and Li Lili's carelessness. She has her own stubborn personality and seemingly the most worldly and philosophical outlook on life, but in reality, she behaves differently from ordinary people in many ways.

Bai Jin's unique temperament, unlike that of ordinary girls, perfectly matches Zhou Zhixi's.

As for He Qiaotian, Lu Yanhe felt that her image was not suitable for this drama, and that she was more suitable for playing roles with a stronger sense of approachability, such as the younger sister of a main character who would be making a guest appearance.

However, since this was Lu Yanhe's first time participating in casting, he was unsure whether his ideas were correct, so he did not readily express his opinions.

Lu Yanhe doesn't think he has the ability to challenge all the rules here just because he wrote the script or has seen what successful works are like. Just like the song "Remembering," it became a hit after being sung on the show, but when he sang it, he only received good reviews and became a minor sensation. The person who truly made the song a hit was Song Linxin.

If Lu Yanhe thought that simply copying those works would allow him to dominate this world, he was seriously underestimating the normal operating rules of a world. He possessed a gold mine from another dimension, which meant he knew many gold mines that could succeed under specific conditions. He still needed to understand the things within, the reasons for its success, and the reasons why it was loved by everyone.

Before he understands, he should learn first and quietly observe how others do it.

-

While everyone was busy watching the actors, more information about the show "Friends" also began to circulate, especially online.

1. This is a sitcom.

2. This is a sitcom that is planned to be filmed and broadcast simultaneously.

3. This is a sitcom that is planned to air weekly, with one episode per week.

4. During its initial broadcast in Beijing and Taiwan, this drama will be exclusively broadcast on television and will not be available on video websites. It will only be available on video websites after the entire series has finished airing.

...

When the news first started circulating, many people didn't believe it and found it unbelievable.

For no other reason than that this approach is simply unbelievable; no other drama has done this in recent years.

How dare Friends do this?

Especially since it wasn't released simultaneously on video websites, dude, how many people still watch TV these days?

Many people genuinely treat these messages as jokes.

It wasn't until someone working at a video website posted on their social media that the news came to light: "Our website wanted to buy the online streaming rights to Lu Yanhe's drama, but they refused to sell, saying they would only consider streaming it on the video website after the television premiere."

The news was confirmed to be true, leaving many people stunned and unable to understand.

A sitcom that insists on having exclusive broadcast on television in the internet age, or a weekly broadcast?

Are you sure?

Are you kidding me?

If you're not joking, have you got your head stuck in a door?

Zhou Ping'an rushed to the legal department at top speed to ask if Yan Liang's performance contract had been sent out.

The legal representative said innocently, "It was already sent to Beijing and Taiwan this morning."

Zhou Ping'an let out a hysterical "Fuck!"

After Zhou Ping'an left Xingyu's legal department like an angry lion, the man looked bewildered and asked, "What's wrong with him? Wasn't he the one who was urging me to submit the contract before? Why does it seem like I did something wrong even though I prepared the contract?"

His colleague silently turned his computer screen towards him.

The legal representative leaned over to take a look for a while and instantly understood.

"He wants to break the contract?"

"I guess so."

"Uh, I can suddenly understand his feelings now. With this kind of approach, isn't it obvious that the show is going to flop?"

"Haha, it's only broadcast on TV, not online." My colleague shook his head. "Beijing TV has really fooled Lu Yanhe."

How could Chen Ziyan allow such a thing to happen?

The group huddled together and started chatting.

-

Zhou Pingan stormed into Chen Ziyan's office in a rage.

"Did you already know this?"

Chen Ziyan looked up from her computer screen at Zhou Ping'an, her expression calm, and asked, "What do you mean I already knew?"

Zhou Pingan said, "It will be broadcast exclusively on TV, not online."

Chen Ziyan frowned slightly and asked, "So?"

"Do you think I would have agreed to let Yan Liang act in a drama that was only intended to be broadcast exclusively on TV if I had been told in advance? The male lead in a flop is also a flop."

Chen Ziyan: "Zhou Ping'an, after all these years as an agent, have you wasted your time?"

Chen Ziyan showed no cowardice whatsoever, and immediately berated Zhou Ping'an, "What do you mean by a flop? You don't know anything about acting."

Zhou Ping'an: "You guys are going to broadcast this exclusively on TV stations, how can it not be a flop? How many people watch TV these days? With Beijing TV's average rating of 0.4, how many people are watching?"

Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, you look down on a 0.4 rating? I'll tell everyone at every TV station what you said right now. If you're so tough, then stand up for yourself. From now on, none of your artists will be allowed on TV."

Zhou Ping'an was so angry that he cursed, "Is that what I fucking meant?"

"Say one more word to me!" Chen Ziyan shouted angrily.

The two confronted each other in Chen Ziyan's office, their tension palpable, and even those outside could hear the commotion and looked on in surprise.

However, they could only hear some angry shouts, but they couldn't make out what they were arguing about.

The soundproofing is very good.

Zhou Ping'an was so angry not so much because he thought "Friends" was going to flop, but mainly because he felt he had been fooled by Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan.

In fact, how a drama is broadcast has little to do with the actors, nor is it something the actors can decide.

However, if a drama series is to take a path that is clearly unworkable during its pre-production phase, it will certainly affect the final decisions of many actors and even their agents.

Zhou Ping'an didn't even ask that question. Nowadays, TV dramas are either purely online dramas or broadcast simultaneously on TV and online. There are no longer any dramas that are only broadcast on TV and not simultaneously available on video websites.

Video websites are where the majority of a show's revenue comes from.

Who would have thought this sitcom would be so stubborn, it's practically insane.

Zhou Pingan and Chen Ziyan had a fight, but they didn't come to any conclusions.

Of course, Chen Ziyan couldn't possibly argue with him and end up arguing about anything.

The performance contract has already been signed, and there's no way to give Zhou Pingan a chance to back out.

Zhou Ping'an was simply venting his anger and expressing his dissatisfaction.

-

After Zhou Ping'an left, Chen Ziyan's anger disappeared.

Her gaze returned to the computer screen, and she sent a message to Lu Qingzhen, saying: "The various doubts about 'Friends' are not a bad thing. A show is not afraid of controversy and doubt before it airs. What it is afraid of is no one paying attention. Moreover, the fact that this matter was exposed so early can also help solidify the impression in the minds of the audience that the show will only be broadcast on Beijing and Taiwan."

Lu Qingzhen: However, doing this is really a bit risky.

Chen Ziyan: It doesn't matter. With the production cost of "Friends", even if the rating is 0.4, it will still be profitable. Do you think Beijing TV would do a loss-making business? They kept the production cost so low because they knew they would face a lot of pressure.

Lu Qingzhen: But right now, Friends is really generating a lot of buzz, it's almost always trending on social media platforms.

Chen Ziyan: The propaganda departments of Beijing and Taiwan have always been very effective, and this time the topic itself was already quite compelling.

Lu Qingzhen: The publicity from Beijing TV has always been strong, after all, it is a traditional major station. However, such an overwhelming amount of publicity about this topic could easily cause the drama to start strong but end weak. It hasn't even been filmed yet, but the topic is already generating so much buzz.

Chen Ziyan: The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. This drama only has Lu Han as a star, and he can't carry the ratings of a drama. Many big productions keep things secret before they air because they have strict publicity plans. Early exposure would disrupt their plans. But this drama, without constantly building up the hype beforehand, can't rely on Lu Han's fame and his current fans to support the ratings. There are only eight episodes in total, one episode per week. The ratings of the first episode are too important. There is almost no room for trial and error.

Lu Qingzhen understood what Chen Ziyan meant.

Chen Ziyan: Moreover, we have all read the script. This drama may not be liked by all viewers at the beginning, but there are no flaws that will make the audience feel uncomfortable. Therefore, the most important thing is to expand the basic audience.

Lu Qingzhen: Okay, you guys are professionals in this area.

-

In this regard, Chen Ziyan, Hu Siwei, and Bai Jingnian are in agreement.

When the three of them reached a consensus, even though Lu Yanhe himself didn't like this way of creating buzz before filming even started, he obediently kept quiet and acquiesced to their actions.

If the initial questioning was spontaneous, the subsequent discussions revealed that each party had arranged for others to participate.

The discussion covers the prospects of sitcoms in the internet age, whether the weekly broadcast model can gain a foothold, and whether viewership will increase if the show is broadcast exclusively on television.

Lu Yanhe even knew that Chen Ziyan had arranged for someone to pretend to be a hater and start a topic: If "Friends" were to be broadcast exclusively on TV and its ratings were even lower than the average ratings of 0.4 on Beijing TV, wouldn't that be the biggest disaster for TV dramas this year?

This topic has sparked a large number of reposts and discussions.

Despite the apparent lack of confidence in the show, the discussions and buzz surrounding it have actually brought more and more people to the attention of "Friends".

Searches for the names Lu Yanhe, Wen Minglan, and Yan Liang have surged on social media.

Yan Liang's name search volume increased by 270% during this period, which made Zhou Ping'an, who was furious, maintain his outward anger while also taking notice of this unexpected joy.

Yan Liang's social media followers grew much faster.

-

The second season of "The Days of Youth" has premiered, and as a popular variety show that aired last year, the first episode of the second season has achieved even better ratings across the board.

The first season certainly garnered a lot of fans for the show, and the fact that the second season was able to be filmed with the original cast has excited longtime fans.

As a result, in the first episode of the second season of "The Days of Youth", Lu Yanhe was seen creating this sitcom.

Lu Yanhe was writing the later parts of the script on his laptop during the show.

Just then, the PD asked him what he was writing in his notebook while preparing for the interview, and Lu Yanhe replied directly that he was writing a script for a sitcom.

The producer asked, "Why did you want to write a sitcom script?"

Lu Yanhe said, "I didn't create this. The director of this drama, Bai Jingnian, proposed this project plan and outline. I started writing based on his work, but I enjoyed writing it. I really like these characters."

The producer asked, "So what are your expectations for this drama?"

Lu Yanhe said, "Actually, as long as I can make everyone laugh while watching the show, that's enough."

The PD said, "After you won the Golden Tripod Award, many people were actually looking forward to when you would win Best Actor."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Yes."

The PD asked, "Why not take a role that would be more favorable for you to win Best Actor? We have to admit, sitcoms have never been very popular with mainstream awards, right?"

Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised, his eyes widening. "Is this something you can say? Okay, maybe, but it doesn't matter. My manager always tells me one thing: I'm young, and I can try whatever I want to do. Don't be bound by what others say, and don't be bound by the honors you've achieved. I'm very grateful for her encouragement and support, which has allowed me to do things that are not usually seen in the conventional sense for artists."

The PD asked, "So trying means there's a high chance of failure, because it's outside your comfort zone and there's no statistically probabilistic success rate. How do you view this issue?"

Lu Yanhe said with a smile, "Actually, I'm quite looking forward to my failure."

"Hmm? Why do you say that?"

"Actually, many media friends have portrayed me too well, as if I am a person without flaws, a person who can succeed in everything. But that's not the case. It's impossible for anyone to be without flaws, and it's impossible for anyone to succeed in everything. When I failed for the first time, I could do what I wanted to do more easily, because no one would look at everything I was going to do based on the idea that I could succeed in everything I did."

After saying this, Lu Yanhe smiled brightly in front of the camera, not at all like he was just being polite or saying anything to save face.

-

Lu Yanhe's speech in the second season of "The Days of Youth" was screenshotted and widely circulated.

His speech touched many people.

However, some media outlets, eager for a good spectacle, ran headlines such as: "Lu Yanhe, the Unrivaled."

This made Lu Yanhe appear arrogant.

Lu Yanhe was also helpless.

But this episode made Lu Yanhe's image even better—in the words of one netizen, his achievements are not that great, but his image is already this good, and he is so sincere and can maintain a childlike heart in front of the camera, so I could never dislike him.

Because he is sincere, many of the things that were criticized before have now become reasons for people to support him.

What's wrong with him wanting to try writing screenplays?

What's wrong with him wanting to act in sitcoms?

What's wrong with him wanting to do something he's never done before?

So what if we fail?

For Lu Yanhe, the biggest gain this time was that it put his extremely career-driven fans at ease, and they no longer questioned whether his choice was unreliable or not the best choice.

Lu Yanhe couldn't tell the fans who questioned him, "I don't need your support."

Therefore, he was very grateful that they finally understood him.

I wrote so many chapters in the past three days that I got exhausted and even had insomnia last night.

But I received some good news today. My editor told me that I'll be featured on the main cover next month.

Thank you everyone, thank you editor. This book has been recommended every month since it was released. Including next month's big cover recommendation, it seems that it has gone through all the recommendations. All that's missing is an introduction.

Please vote for me with a monthly pass!

(End of this chapter)