Chapter 423 Is it inevitable?

Liu Zhen and Zhong Benshuo were stunned for a moment, and then Liu Zhen looked at Zhong Benshuo.

Zhong Benshuo said something to Liu Zhen, probably explaining what Lu Yanhe had just said.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhen laughed, pointed at Lu Yanhe with her finger, and said a few words.

Zhong Benshuo also smiled.

"Yan He, don't worry, what happened in this room will definitely not be told."

Zhong Benshuo gave Lu Yanhe a reassuring look, and then, as if to prove to Lu Yanhe that this place was really safe and there was nothing to worry about, he reached out and grabbed the hand of the woman who walked up to him. With a gentle pull, the woman sat on his lap with a smile, one hand softly resting on his shoulder.

Lu Yanhe took a deep breath to calm himself down.

“Mr. Zhong, I love my girlfriend very much, so thank you and Senior Liu for your kindness, but I don’t need it.” Lu Yanhe insisted, then looked at the woman standing in front of him who seemed a little lost, and said to her in English, “I don’t know if you understand English, but if you do, I don’t need you to come and keep me company.”

The woman looked helplessly at Jong Bon-seok and Yoo Jin.

Zhong Benshuo gave Lu Yanhe a deep look, then turned to Liu Zhen and whispered a few words to her.

Liu Zhen's smile paused slightly, then she made a casual gesture and gave the woman a look that said, "You can leave now."

In this environment, Lu Yanhe felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

After the woman left, Liu Zhen smiled and looked at Lu Yanhe.

What followed was just a very ordinary chat, nothing of any real value. It was nothing more than talking about finding a suitable opportunity to film together, to work on projects together, and that Lu Yanhe should feel free to ask Liu Zhen for help if he needed anything, and so on.

Lu Yanhe maintained his social etiquette with a forced smile, not immediately getting up to leave, but inwardly he felt a sense of "respectfully declining" towards Liu Zhen. He didn't really care about a consensual physical relationship; he wasn't some moral saint who couldn't tolerate infidelity. However, he disliked being brought to this kind of setting on their first meeting.

They didn't really understand him, nor did they probe his opinion beforehand. They just brazenly made arrangements for him without any explanation, based on the attitude that "food and sex are human nature."

Lu Yanhe felt disrespected—despite their warm attitude and apparent friendliness, chatting in such a "private and frank" environment on their first meeting.

After staying for ten minutes, Lu Yanhe thanked him and left, citing that he had filming scheduled for the next morning.

Zhong Benshuo didn't expect Lu Yanhe to propose leaving so quickly.

But Lu Yanhe was determined to leave, so Zhong Benshuo had no choice but to see him off.

Lu Yanhe stepped out of the room and said to Zou Dong and Wang Biao, who had been waiting outside, "Let's go."

Zou Dong and Wang Biao immediately saw the dissatisfaction in Lu Yanhe's heart.

Without asking any questions, he nodded and followed.

Zhong Benshuo caught up with him.

"Yan He, are you really not going to play a little longer? Why are you leaving so early?"

Lu Yanhe stopped and said to Zhong Benshuo very seriously, "Mr. Zhong, I hope that next time you will not take me to a place like that without informing me in advance and make arrangements that I am unaware of."

Zhong Benshuo's expression turned somewhat surprised and unpleasant.

Lu Yanhe took a deep breath, nodded to him, and left.

-

Lu Yanhe and the others returned to the hotel, and Chen Ziyan's video conference had also ended.

When Lu Yanhe told Chen Ziyan what had just happened, Chen Ziyan became furious, almost to the point of wanting to roll up her sleeves and give Zhong Benshuo a good scolding.

Lu Yanhe said, "Sister Ziyan, forget it, just avoid contact with him in the future."

Chen Ziyan's face was ashen and she looked terrible.

“I almost fell for his trick! If this kind of thing gets seen and a rumor gets out, your career will be ruined!” Chen Ziyan said. “I’m not kidding. In South Korea, even if someone does drugs, they can still act. But in China, it’s different. Once you get involved in this mess, do you think you can come out clean? You’ll never be able to be a high-quality artist with a clear conscience again. Every day after that, you’ll live in fear of the scandal being exposed. The more successful you are, the more afraid you’ll be, because you know that the ground you’re standing on is unstable and could collapse at any moment.”

Every word Chen Ziyan said was like a hammer blow to Lu Yanhe's heart.

A wave of fear washed over me.

What if my acting career is really ruined because of this? A chill ran down my spine.

Chen Ziyan said, "This was my oversight. Things are very chaotic abroad. In the future, I will not go anywhere I go unless it is a person I trust."

Actually, Zhong Benshuo could hardly be considered a stranger. It was precisely because Zhong Benshuo had arranged this trip so meticulously that Chen Ziyan and the others never expected that Zhong Benshuo would encounter such a situation when he took Lu Yanhe to meet an actress like Liu Zhen that evening.

Lu Yanhe sighed.

"Actually, I felt something was off after I went in, but I thought that since it was Yoo Jin, it shouldn't be like this. I didn't expect..." This is a bit of hindsight, but it is indeed the truth.

Chen Ziyan said, "It's okay. Luckily you held your ground and weren't tempted. Learn from your mistakes. You should rest now. There's filming tomorrow morning."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"good."

After he left, Chen Ziyan's expression, which had just softened a little, darkened again.

We need to make preparations—

If it gets exposed that Lu Yanhe went into that room tonight, there'll be no way to explain it, not even if he jumped into the river. We need to prepare a public relations plan in advance.

Furthermore, she also needs to have a serious discussion with Zhong Benshuo.

This can't just slip by unnoticed. Stop corrupting Yanhe with that junk!

Chen Ziyan has been in the entertainment industry for many years and has seen many people dragged down by such accidents.

Lu Yanhe is still young and easily targeted.

Chen Ziyan sounded a warning to herself.

-

Zhong Benshuo did not show up the next morning. Of course, they didn't expect him to show up either, as the morning's work had nothing to do with Maxine.

Lu Yanhe completed a photoshoot for a South Korean fashion magazine—the cover was purchased for him by his endorsement brand, Math.

This is also Lu Yanhe's first time shooting the cover of a Korean fashion magazine. Male celebrities appear on fashion magazine covers far less often than female celebrities, and Lu Yanhe himself has done even fewer. He mostly works as a spokesperson for brands, promoting them on their behalf.

The magazine shoot wasn't particularly enjoyable for him, as it involved posing in various ways, which wasn't his forte. He was comfortable in front of the camera, but not with posed shots. Fortunately, he had some experience, and with some effort, he managed to finish the shoot.

Jong Bon-seok suddenly appeared just as filming was about to end.

His face still held a bright smile, as if the unpleasantness when Lu Yanhe parted ways with him last night did not exist, or rather, had vanished into thin air.

After Lu Yanhe said goodbye to the photography team, he said in a very exaggerated tone, "As expected of you, even when shooting for a magazine, you have such a cinematic feel! I was watching from afar, and it felt like I was seeing a scene from a movie! Your eyes are full of stories."

After Zhong Benshuo's exaggerated praise, Lu Yanhe could no longer maintain a serious expression.

He looked at Zhong Benshuo and sighed.

“Mr. Zhong, the fan meeting doesn’t start until the afternoon, so you don’t need to come with me in the morning.”

“I’m a huge fan of yours, and I’d love to see you working on this magazine shoot,” Zhong Benshuo said. “After you left yesterday, Brother Liu Zhen praised your acting skills highly, saying that you have top-notch potential among the younger generation of actors and that you will definitely become a superstar in the future.”

Lu Yanhe was never one to accept praise, let alone such lavish praise as from Zhong Benshuo. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, Mr. Zhong, stop praising me. It's nothing. It's getting late, we're getting ready to have lunch. Are you coming with us for lunch, or do you have other plans?"

Zhong Benshuo said, "I've already made arrangements for lunch. I'm here specifically to pick you up and take you to lunch."

"Arrangements? Thank you for your kindness, but we found a hot pot restaurant online that we really want to go to, and we've already planned to eat there," Lu Yanhe said.

Zhong Benshuo: "Huh? I've already booked the restaurant."

"I'm really sorry, you didn't tell us in advance, and we had already made reservations," Lu Yanhe said directly.

At this moment, Chen Ziyan finished talking with the people from the magazine and came over.

"Mr. Zhong is here." Chen Ziyan took advantage of her gender and profession, and at this moment, she didn't hold back at all, directly putting the words "sarcastic" into every pronunciation.

Zhong Benshuo was stunned for a moment before he immediately realized why Chen Ziyan was treating him this way.

He didn't rush to explain anything, he just smiled and pretended to be clueless.

In the end, Zhong Benshuo still shamelessly followed them to the hot pot restaurant, seemingly oblivious to Chen Ziyan's expression, without mentioning what happened the night before, and only trying to find other topics to talk about with them.

Lu Yanhe was ultimately amazed. How could someone be completely unaffected by the other person's cold attitude, and perform a grand opera for hours on end with such gusto?

No wonder they do well at Maxine; they must have some skills.

-

Five hundred people managed to snag tickets to the afternoon fan meeting and attend the event.

Lu Yanhe never expected that five hundred people would come to see him in person in South Korea.

It wasn't until he stood in front of these five hundred fans, seeing almost every one of them holding up a light stick or poster, and hearing their excited, wave-like shouts, that Lu Yanhe felt a sense of reality.

Neither he nor Chen Ziyan had ever cultivated any fan base or trending topics here. It's fair to say that their popularity and fame had essentially grown organically. That's why they were pleasantly surprised by the current situation.

Lu Yanhe was very enthusiastic and grateful to his fans.

One fan said she drove for several hours to get here and was overjoyed to see him in person, which moved her deeply. Lu Yanhe was startled by the phrase "in his lifetime" and shook his head with a smile, saying, "No, no, seeing me isn't something everyone should wish for in their lifetime. That puts a lot of pressure on me. But thank you for liking me."

One fan excitedly expressed that she loved Friends, but was heartbroken to hear that he wouldn't be in the second season, and even cried for a week. Lu Yanhe thought to himself, "Huh?" A week? He could only comfort her, saying, "As an actor, Lu Yanhe, I will continue to have works to accompany everyone in the future. You don't need to cry for a week. You are very beautiful, and swollen eyes from crying will affect your appearance."

The fans sat down, overjoyed.

This face-to-face communication allowed Lu Yanhe to directly experience the point that Zhong Benshuo had been emphasizing.

Streaming media can allow a show to go from a relatively closed environment to the whole world.

When we filmed Friends and The Seventeen Floors, we never imagined that these shows would have such a huge impact in Japan and South Korea, with so many viewers.

Before Lu Yanhe arrived, he still harbored a certain amount of pride. He already had many fans in China and was a big star with a large following. South Korea and Japan weren't his strongholds, so it was good that some people liked him, but it wasn't something he urgently needed to overcome if no one liked or knew him.

However, from the moment he saw the fans who came to pick him up at the airport to this moment, standing on the stage and hearing each fan express their love for him, Lu Yanhe had to admit that he was greedy, even avaricious.

He just wants more people to know him, pay attention to him, like him, and recognize him. This is also a kind of spiritual opium, addictive. His so-called calmness and self-control are just a side effect. In the end, he is not a reclusive hermit. Whether he admits it or not, he is essentially a somewhat vulgar person who still pursues fame and fortune.

Lu Yanhe never expected that standing on the stage of this fan meeting would suddenly give him a deeper understanding of himself.

-

This fan meeting was also streamed live on Maxine.

Zhong Benshuo received data from his colleagues that this fan meeting had nearly 70,000 viewers, with a peak of over 40,000 people watching at the same time.

For an event of this nature, this is a very impressive figure.

As the data model predicted, many users on Maxine are his fans. Seeing his face will prompt them to click and watch. Lu Yanhe's event wasn't featured prominently; instead, emails and reminders were sent to subscribers of "Seventeen Floors" and "Friends" informing them of the live stream of the fan meeting. Additionally, promotion was done on smaller channels and social media. With such limited promotional resources, this level of viewership was achieved.

Looking at the data, Zhong Benshuo became even more convinced that inviting Lu Yanhe was the right decision.

Inviting Lu Yanhe over was quite expensive, from his fee to his and his team's food, clothing, accommodation, and transportation. But it was well worth it. Maintaining a good relationship with Lu Yanhe was secondary; the number of viewers for those two live streams and the resulting publicity would easily recoup the cost.

Zhong Benshuo thought of the magazine that Lu Yanhe had photographed that morning.

Korean fashion magazines have always been quite exclusive, especially when it comes to celebrities from other Asian countries. They either reserve cover spots for their own people or give them to Western magazines. The fashion magazine Lu Yanhe is shooting for today isn't one of the top-tier ones, but it's still a top-tier publication, the kind that's very difficult to get on. But Math just threw money at the editor-in-chief's office, urgently assembled a shooting team, prepared a shooting plan overnight, and jumped the queue for the April issue—and it happened just like that.

What Zhong Benshuo saw in this incident was not anything else, but Math's high regard for Lu Yanhe. The degree to which a brand values ​​a spokesperson is not based on the fancy titles they usually give them or the nice-sounding commercial praise they offer, but on how much money they are willing to spend on that person and what kind of treatment they are willing to give them at crucial moments.

From this perspective, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Lu Yanhe is Math's favored son in the Asian region.

Anyway, according to sources in the fashion industry, Math has never spent this much money on a cover for any of its Korean brand ambassadors.

Zhong Benshuo is determined to further cooperate with Lu Yanhe.

(End of this chapter)