Chapter 306 Lu Yanhe's Attitude (8,000 words update)

Even someone as thick-skinned as Li Zhibai was depressed for several days after receiving criticism for his performance on the Spring Festival Gala.

However, Li Zhibai's period of depression was short-lived.

After appearing on the Spring Festival Gala, there are several other related galas to perform at.

There was also a Lantern Festival gala that they wanted to invite Lu Yanhe to, but he didn't go because he didn't have enough time to prepare.

After the Lantern Festival, Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan went to keep their appointment with Lin Desheng.

They went to Lin Desheng's office to talk.

Just as Chen Ziyan guessed, Lin Desheng wanted to discuss a strategic cooperation agreement with Lu Yanhe.

"It's actually escalated to a strategic cooperation..." Chen Ziyan muttered to herself when she heard Lin Desheng say those four words. Lu Yanhe is all alone now; at most, he can write a script or act in a play. What kind of strategic cooperation is this?

As a result, Lin Desheng's opening remarks shocked both Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan.

“Don’t you have a film production company?” he said. “We’ll invest.”

Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan were silent for a while, then looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Our production company has nothing; it's just an empty shell," Lu Yanhe finally admitted frankly. "It's just to facilitate my participation in some projects where I starred or wrote the script."

"Don't you plan to do your own projects in the future?" Lin Desheng asked.

This question struck a chord with both of them.

While Lu Yanhe himself didn't have many well-developed concepts and ideas, Chen Ziyan had them for a long time.

Especially after learning that Lu Yanhe could write screenplays.

Lin Desheng said, "When Northern Lights invests in your production company, the film and television projects you produce will be given priority to Northern Lights Video. Our first cooperation agreement is for three series, one of which will be a sitcom. For these three series, we can provide a production budget of at least A-level resources. If the evaluation is approved, we can even provide an S+ level budget. The copyright is in your hands. We are only investing, not letting you produce."

Lin Desheng's offer was extremely generous.

Chen Ziyan tentatively asked, "So, Mr. Lin, how much capital do you intend to invest, and how many shares?"

Lin Desheng smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, it won't be more than 50%. I have no intention of swallowing your company whole. You yourself said that this company actually has nothing yet. The most valuable thing is the two of you."

Chen Ziyan felt a little relieved.

"If that's the case, then we can have a proper talk."

Lu Yanhe didn't know much about companies or equity, and in the end, it almost all became negotiations between Chen Ziyan and Lin Desheng, leaving Lu Yanhe with no chance to get a word in edgewise.

All he knew was that Lin Desheng had high hopes for him, and even for his production company. On the other hand, the prerequisite for their collaboration was that Lu Yanhe would serve as the screenwriter or lead actor, providing three dramas for Aurora.

Currently, Aurora Video is considered one of the top video websites in China, but there are still many competitors.

The four major platforms are developing in parallel, with similar numbers of users and daily active users, showing no significant differences.

In this situation, major video websites are fiercely competing for high-quality content.

When creators like Lu Yanhe emerge, almost every major platform will extend an olive branch.

Among them, the Northern Lights video was the most sincere, and it was the only one where the boss himself came forward to negotiate.

Therefore, Chen Ziyan accepted the invitation from the Northern Lights first.

The conditions offered by Lin Desheng also surprised them.

Many people come to Lu Yanhe with high salaries for film or television works, offering him opportunities to collaborate.

Only Lin Desheng was interested not in the immediate future, but in the long term, and wanted to establish a long-term partnership with Lu Yanhe.

-

After leaving Lin Desheng's office, Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan went back together. Chen Ziyan asked, "Yanhe, what do you think of the cooperation proposed by President Lin?"

Lu Yanhe said, "I don't quite understand the company's equity structure."

"Putting all that aside for now, if we really want to discuss cooperation with him and make this cooperation a reality, we will definitely clarify each point one by one. It's not something that just the two of us can handle. The key question is, are you willing to have such a long-term cooperation with Aurora Video?" Chen Ziyan asked.

Lu Yanhe pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "This has great advantages."

“That’s right.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “The advantage of this is that we can have more say in our own projects, instead of being controlled like in Friends.”

“However, correspondingly, the risks we face will also increase,” Chen Ziyan said. “This is a big step. If we want to take this step, our situation in this industry will be completely different. Your current agency contract is still with Xingyu, which will also be a constraint. Many people in the company have already expressed their opinions about the fact that you earned a lot of money from ‘Friends’. After all, the company does not enjoy any benefits from this part of the revenue; they can only enjoy a share of your earnings from your acting work. Now that you are going to have this kind of framework cooperation with Aurora Video, how to split the revenue will be another matter of wrangling.”

If Chen Ziyan had known that Lu Yanhe's career would develop so rapidly and so dramatically, she might not have let Lu Yanhe sign a five-year contract with Xingyu Entertainment.

In fact, for a young man like Lu Yanhe, a five-year contract is already very short.

Lu Yanhe understood what Chen Ziyan meant.

"Then let's leave it at that for now?" Lu Yanhe said.

Chen Ziyan: "However, President Lin's suggestion did remind me that the scripts you write should not be bought out by others all at once. Take 'Friends' for example. If the copyright is in your hands, even if you don't participate in any subsequent productions, as long as they continue to develop this series, they must obtain the copyright from you and pay royalties."

Lu Yanhe: "Friends is not an original story of mine. It was proposed by director Bai Jingnian. The copyright could not be given to me. To be honest, being able to get 8% of the revenue from this show is beyond my expectations. It is an unexpected surprise, and I am very satisfied."

Chen Ziyan: "I know, what I mean is that you can keep the copyrights for the scripts you wrote later, such as 'Lost in Thailand,' 'Raise the Red Lantern,' 'Rouge,' and 'The Squid Game.' Many people think that the majority of a film's revenue comes from theatrical box office, but that's not actually the case, especially for low- to mid-budget films. Copyright is the main source of income. Otherwise, so many films would have gone bankrupt long ago if they relied solely on theatrical box office. If you only work as a screenwriter, the script will most likely be bought by the film company. Now that we run our own production company, we can work with other companies and find experienced teams to do the work, while still keeping the copyrights in our own hands."

Lu Yanhe said, "For example, if we were to produce our own 'Squid Game,' would we need to ask Aurora Video for production funding and a team?"

“That’s right,” Chen Ziyan said. “President Lin actually offered us a very tempting cake.”

Lu Yanhe understood what Chen Ziyan meant.

“Now that Friends is a hit, your value has skyrocketed, but almost no company is willing to offer such terms,” Chen Ziyan said. “President Lin’s proposal is indeed the most generous—in fact, I’m a little puzzled as to why he would offer such generous terms.”

Lu Yanhe shook his head.

If Chen Ziyan couldn't understand it, he couldn't understand it even more.

-

When Friends aired its seventh episode, the show's ratings peaked at over 3%, sparking intense discussion within the industry.

With the sitcom becoming increasingly popular, and its momentum only growing stronger, the discussion and attention within the industry surrounding the show has reached an unprecedented level.

Even the Spring Festival Gala and the Lunar New Year did not affect its viewership.

Its influence among young people has reached a high level in recent years.

TVB Beijing is excited about the outstanding performance of "Friends," but it is also starting to worry about which show can take over after the eighth episode of "Friends" airs and support TVB Beijing's overall ratings.

Other television stations breathed a sigh of relief at that moment.

The former regrets why "Friends" only had eight episodes.

The latter is relieved that "Friends" only had eight episodes.

The popularity of the lead actors lasted for two months. Although the novelty of their instant fame had worn off, they were still the focus of everyone's attention.

Gossip about them appears in the comment sections of various online forums, online communities, and even marketing accounts.

Putting aside the gossip, this drama has brought quite a stir to the industry.

An eight-episode sitcom, a weekly broadcast format with only one episode per week, the boost to ratings from exclusive TV broadcasts, and the rise of several actors from "Friends"—all these factors have led platforms that have traditionally favored large-scale, big-budget mega-series with 30-40 episodes to begin considering the possibility of replicating "Friends."

The main reason is that the production cost of a sitcom is really low—compared to those big projects that cost hundreds of millions, Friends' total production cost was no more than 40 million, making it a classic example of achieving big results with small investment.

To replicate its success, we must study the reasons for its success.

After analyzing it from various angles—market, publicity strategy, broadcasting method, content production—the more we studied and discussed it, the more we realized that the success of this drama, no matter how we analyzed it, seemed to be inseparable from Lu Yanhe.

A drama that was abandoned by the TV station before it aired was revived by the marketing and promotion of a few topics related to Lu Yanhe. If it weren't for Lu Yanhe starring as the only A-list star among the six main actors, who carried the ratings of the first episode, and if it weren't for Lu Yanhe writing an excellent script that made the characters and plot of each episode generate several topics that were widely discussed online, this drama would not have become so popular.

It might flop on the very night of its premiere.

This conclusion was difficult for everyone to accept at first.

Everyone knows how important celebrities are to a TV series, and this is a consensus within the industry.

However, it's almost impossible to find a celebrity who is indispensable to a project.

Because there are always substitutes.

Even the most top-tier and popular stars can be replaced; at most, the broadcast effect will be slightly worse, but it won't completely collapse.

However, in the hugely popular sitcom "Friends," they couldn't see the possibility of Lu Yanhe being replaced by someone else.

In this context, his suitability for a particular role is secondary.

-

The news that Lin Desheng, the CEO of Northern Lights Video, personally talked with Lu Yanhe in his office for nearly an hour gradually spread throughout the industry.

This kind of thing can't be kept secret forever.

It wasn't that many eyes were fixed on Lu Yanhe, but rather that many eyes were fixed on Lin Desheng's office.

Or rather, Lin Desheng chose his office as the meeting place with this purpose in mind.

He didn't mind letting others know that he was in contact with Lu Yanhe.

After this news came out, other business partners who wanted to meet with Lu Yanhe but couldn't realized that they had underestimated the industry's evaluation of Lu Yanhe.

The TV series "Friends" has elevated Lu Yanhe to a very special position.

In China, there doesn't seem to be an actor like him, a popular actor who can truly write a blockbuster comedy on his own.

Then, invitations were sent to Chen Ziyan and Lu Yanhe again, like snowflakes falling from the sky.

Formal, informal, dinner, or banquet.

On the night the final episode of Friends aired, it lived up to expectations by achieving an average viewership rating of over 3, setting an incredible viewership record for the eight-episode sitcom and becoming one of the highest-rated TV series of the year.

It only has eight episodes.

“I received a very interesting invitation,” Chen Ziyan told Lu Yanhe.

"What?" Lu Yanhe had received too many invitations lately, and he didn't know what Chen Ziyan meant by "interesting".

Chen Ziyan winked at Lu Yanhe and said, "It's an invitation to the celebration banquet for 'Friends'."

"A victory celebration banquet?" Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised.

Chen Ziyan nodded, "Beijing and Taiwan are going to hold a celebration banquet for 'Friends'."

Lu Yanhe laughed.

He now understood why Chen Ziyan had that expression and tone.

With Friends doing so well, a celebration party will definitely be held.

But now an awkward thing is about to happen.

If a celebration banquet is to be held, Lu Yanhe, the biggest contributor to the drama, has a huge conflict with Beijing TV because of previous events. Under such circumstances, if Lu Yanhe refuses to attend, the celebration banquet will be much less impressive.

Chen Ziyan asked, "Are you going to participate?"

Lu Yanhe asked, "Sister Ziyan, do you think I should participate?"

"Who do you think sent me the invitation?" Chen Ziyan didn't answer the question, but instead posed a question to Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe shook his head, indicating that he did not know.

Chen Ziyan said, "She is the director of their public relations department."

"Oh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback and asked, "In charge of public relations between Beijing and Taiwan?"

“That’s right,” Chen Ziyan said. “Although they spoke very sincerely and expressed their strong desire for you to be able to attend the celebration banquet, this is their attitude. Xu Bin was rebuffed by you last time, and no high-level leader will apologize to you again.”

"Then let's not go," Lu Yanhe said directly.

"Are you still going to the 'Seventeen Floors'?" Chen Ziyan asked.

“I signed the contract, so I have to cooperate with the publicity. How can I not go?” Lu Yanhe smiled. “The reason I can so confidently refuse to cooperate with the publicity schedule of ‘Friends’ is because I have already done my publicity work. No matter what, it meets the requirements of the contract. Besides, ‘Friends’ is ‘Friends’ and ‘The Seventeenth Floor’ is ‘The Seventeenth Floor’. One is handled by Xu Bin and the other by Jiang Lan.”

Chen Ziyan: "If you do that, you'll be openly slapping Xu Bin in the face."

"If this is considered a slap in the face, what else can I say?" Lu Yanhe shrugged. "He got such a popular drama filmed for him, so he's the one who benefits."

Chen Ziyan: "That's true. Jiang Lan is incredibly jealous. She's told me several times that she wished she were in charge of this project, saying that if it were her, all those unpleasant things wouldn't have happened before."

“It’s not that bad. I’ve figured it out now. In the hands of these people who hold great power, no matter how famous we are, we’re just artists who can be manipulated or bullied at will,” Lu Yanhe said. “If they had any respect for us, they wouldn’t have done those things again and again. They never informed us in advance.”

Chen Ziyan understood what Lu Yanhe was talking about.

“It’s fine if you don’t go to the celebration banquet. You’re leaving for Xitu’er the next day anyway, so just say you need to prepare for your trip there and decline,” Chen Ziyan said. “Just don’t completely slap your face. Everyone knows what your real reason for not going is anyway.”

Lu Yanhe laughed.

He nodded.

-

With the conclusion of "Friends", Lu Yanhe now has three TV series that have been released to the audience.

The three characters are: a gentle and sunny college student who dies tragically while protecting his girlfriend; a bodyguard burdened with a deep-seated hatred and a resilient and patient nature; and a rough-around-the-edges, kind-hearted, and simple-minded rookie actor.

These are three completely different characters. Although the first two are only supporting characters, they are still supporting characters who have left a deep impression on the audience.

Chen Shu, a guest film critic for Tomorrow Daily, posted an update right after Friends finished airing:

There's something I'm hesitant to say. Saying it might seem like I'm overpraising Lu Yanhe, but not saying it feels like people's attention to him has moved beyond just his acting career, and many other things about him have been overlooked. After much deliberation, I've decided to speak up. A young actor who's only been acting for less than two years already has three memorable and beloved roles. Lu Yanhe's transition from idol to actor has been unprecedentedly successful. His film, *Three Mountains*, has even been nominated for the Xituer Film Festival. He seems to have a magical knack for bringing good fortune to his projects; whether he's a lead, supporting actor, or even a cameo, any film he's in is both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. It's no small feat. I've heard many people in the industry discussing him lately, and I especially want to say that I hope our industry can properly protect this exceptionally talented actor.

Initially, not many people paid attention to what Chen Shu said.

Until a newly registered account posted a status update, the content of which was: Beijing and Taiwan are suspected of deleting Lu Yanhe's scenes and shots in "The Seventeenth Floor".

This post was seen by people searching for keywords, which caused surprise and anger among many of Lu Yanhe's fans.

—Where did this news come from?

—Are you deliberately spreading fake news?

—How could such a thing be true? Blogger, please stop spreading rumors.

—Lu Yanhe is the male lead in "The Seventeenth Floor," and his starring role in "Friends" has just broken viewership records. Under these circumstances, how could Beijing TV possibly cut Lu Yanhe's scenes? Do they have a problem with viewership ratings?

...

However, there's no smoke without fire, and when someone suddenly comes out and says something like that, it inevitably sparks a lot of discussion.

Amidst this controversy, the celebration party for Friends was held.

Many loyal viewers managed to snag tickets to the event and were invited to attend.

In addition to the audience, many media outlets were also present.

However, Lu Yanhe did not appear at the victory celebration banquet. This scene sparked a lot of discussion.

Why didn't Lu Yanhe appear at the celebration party for "Friends"?

This even became a topic of discussion and trended on social media.

The "historical conflicts" that Beijing and Taiwan had previously deliberately suppressed have been brought up again.

In the internet age, the most fortunate, and also the most unfortunate, thing is that you can't silence everyone forever. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what your background is, it's useless. Talk is the hardest thing to stop, especially when it comes to something that's already widely known.

The things that Beijing TV did to Lu Yanhe, especially the "cold treatment" style of publicity before the premiere of "Friends," have been compiled by many people and posted online, telling everyone how Lu Yanhe and Beijing TV really fell out.

Many people have also pointed out that Lu Yanhe has consistently failed to cooperate with the propaganda efforts of Beijing and Taiwan.

There was a lot of discussion at the celebration party for "Friends".

Even when the main creators were speaking, the discussions never stopped.

Many people online even asked why Lu Yanhe wasn't invited to the celebration banquet.

Including Lu Yanhe's fans.

Lu Yanhe's fans were unaware that he refused to go on his own. They thought that Lu Yanhe was being targeted by Beijing TV and therefore was not invited. They began to list all the excessive things that Beijing TV had done to Lu Yanhe on various parts of the internet.

This is especially true for fans of the show "Friends." Many had been eagerly anticipating a second season of "Friends," but Yuk Eom-ha stated from the beginning that he would not appear in the second season, which greatly disappointed many fans.

They certainly don't want to replace Jiang Kele with a different actor.

In the final episode of Friends, Jiang Kele received a notification from a film crew offering him a role, but he would need to go to the set to film for four months. So, the others held a farewell party for Jiang Kele and saw him off.

This also marks a temporary end to Lu Yanhe's portrayal of this character.

Since he has made it clear that he will not participate in the second season, he should give his character a dignified exit.

In this way, no matter who Jingtai finds to write the second season, they won't have to worry about Lu Yanhe not being able to act in it anymore.

This wasn't Lu Yanhe's concern for Beijing and Taiwan, but rather his requirement for the integrity and continuity of a story.

Jiang Kele's departure was not abrupt. In the second episode, he accidentally wandered onto the film set and made a cameo appearance, which paved the way for him to become an actor. In the final episode, Jiang Kele chose to leave. Although it was sad, it was in line with the character's actions and was not a forced turning point.

Nevertheless, fans of the show, especially those who hoped the six-member group could continue filming a second season together, still cannot accept the fact that Lu Yanhe will not be in the second season.

They all called for Lu Yanhe's return, demanding that Beijing and Taiwan apologize to Lu Yanhe and show the necessary sincerity to bring him back to "Friends".

After the celebration banquet, reporters surrounded the cast and crew, asking why Lu Yanhe hadn't attended the event, their opinions on the conflict between Lu Yanhe and Jingtai, and whether Lu Yanhe would really not return for the second season. Everyone avoided the questions and left in a hurry.

Their attitude, when posted online by the media, fueled speculation and discussion about Lu Yanhe's relationship with Beijing and Taiwan.

-

"We finally managed to quell the controversy, so why are people starting to talk about it again?"

"Have you spoken to Lu Yanhe? Will they respond to this?"

"Tell Chen Ziyan, if they really intend to break ties with us, then let's see who has the stronger hand!"

...

Within Beijing and Taiwan, the sudden and escalating criticism has dampened the positive atmosphere created by "Friends".

Many people are busy making threats to others, but those familiar with this environment know that no matter how fierce their threats are, they can't actually do anything to Lu Yanhe.

These people are used to putting on an air of importance when things go wrong, but when it comes to actually doing something, none of them will be the first to step forward.

In any case, no matter what happens, it won't affect their jobs or income.

At worst, we can just bury our heads in the sand like before and keep doing it until the storm passes.

-

In an office, Xu Bin, the deputy director in charge of the Friends project, was sitting in front of Shen Tailin, discussing the controversy caused by Lu Yanhe's absence from the celebration party.

"I tried to clean up the mess that Li Tai made, but Lu Yanhe is a stubborn and inflexible young man who refused to accept the olive branch I offered. I said everything I could, and told him to name his conditions, but he wouldn't listen to reason."

Xu Bin sighed as he spoke.

"Besides, his manager is that girl Chen Ziyan, so I don't dare to use any really tough tactics."

Shen Tailin: "Chen Ziyan is a girl who knows what's important and what's urgent. Why don't you talk to her directly? Have you talked to her yet?"

"She and Lu Yanhe are in cahoots."

"That means your apology wasn't quite right."

"As for Chentai, I've done everything I could."

"Tsui Tai, do you think there should be a second season of Friends?"

“Of course we should open it! How can we not open it?” Xu Bin said immediately.

Shen Tailin then asked, "Without Lu Yanhe, could the second season have achieved the same results?"

Xu Bin: "It's hard to say, but I will find the best screenwriter to write the script for the second season. Lu Yanhe didn't deliberately embarrass us. He still wrote a dignified departure for himself in the last episode, and we don't even need to change the actors."

"So you know, he didn't mean to embarrass us." Shen Tailin smiled. "You said this young man is young and stubborn, and he wouldn't accept your kindness. Which young man isn't proud? There are a million ways to say it. Saying it from a superior position is one way, saying it sincerely is another. If you tell him to make any demands, I would say that he won't think you're being generous, but rather that you're insulting him."

"Am I insulting him by doing this?"

Why did he stop cooperating with you later?

"this--"

"Because you used him as a target before, and even considered giving up on the show 'Friends' because of these controversies, am I right?" Shen Tailin asked.

"Sigh, I really misjudged the situation back then."

Shen Tailin nodded. "It's one thing to misjudge, but he managed to revive 'Friends' all by his own efforts. Even I know how big the buzz surrounding 'Friends' was those two days. Do you know that at least ten large companies and platforms were offering him money to collaborate? I ask you, did anyone offer money to collaborate with Bai Jingnian? After 'Friends,' are those advertisers who suddenly wanted to grab advertising space still as enthusiastic about us?"

Xu Bin remained silent.

“You actually understand everything, it’s just a matter of whether you take it to heart or not.” Shen Tailin sighed. “We fired the first shot in the ratings recovery with Friends, but the person who fired that shot won’t fire on us anymore. Tell me, how many people will laugh at you behind your back?”

Xu Bin remained silent.

"Don't ruin your good hand," Shen Tailin said. "If you give away the opportunity that was rightfully yours, you can't blame anyone else."

When Xu Bin came out of Shen Tailin's office, his back was covered in sweat.

It's only February, still late winter.

Shen Tailin's reprimand just now shattered his aloof attitude that "Li Tai's crime has nothing to do with me."

Xu Bin messaged Chen Ziyan: Ziyan, are you free tonight? Shall we find some time to have a proper chat?

Lu Yanhe, who was once again thrust into the spotlight for missing the celebration banquet, appeared at the airport the next day.

When asked by reporters waiting at the airport why he was absent, he smiled and said, "I had to prepare for the Citium Film Festival. I had other preparations to do yesterday, so I declined. They had invited me."

Lu Yanhe said, "Friends is a very warm production team. If I have the time, how could I not go? In any case, it is a very precious work to me."

"But you're not planning to return for the second season, are you?" The reporter was somewhat disappointed and dejected.

Lu Yanhe said, "Friends will always be Friends. I've just left, but I'll always be in that story, with everyone."

After he finished speaking, he smiled and waved to the reporters.

“I’m going in now, bye-bye. We’ll talk again when I get back from Situ,” he said.

He took two steps forward, then suddenly remembered something, turned around, looked at the reporters, and said with a smile, "I really won't be returning to the Friends series. I can't go back on my word. But maybe I can return in another way in the future. Friends is more than just a TV series. It's all unknown. Let's all look forward to it together."

I'm a little tired today, I'm going to sleep now.

(End of this chapter)