Chapter 590 Stuck in the mire and too lazy to bother

Chen Ziyan: "What are you thinking about?"

Lu Yanhe: "I'm afraid that if you hand over all your work to others, you can easily get rid of my job as your manager."

Chen Ziyan: "I can't say I don't have this idea, but it's just a precaution. In the short term, I don't plan to change my career plan. I've been happy and have gained a lot from working with you."

Hearing Chen Ziyan say this, Lu Yanhe breathed a sigh of relief.

“Life is full of unexpected events. You can’t expect me to work for you like an ox for the rest of my life, without getting sick or having any accidents,” Chen Ziyan said. “Although I’m not married or have children yet, what if I do in the future? Pregnancy and raising children will take up so much time and energy to take care of your affairs.”

Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Ziyan in shock and asked, "You're not in a relationship, are you, Sister Ziyan!"

Chen Ziyan: "Get out of here, what are you thinking? Nothing of the sort. I said, it's all about being prepared!"

Lu Yanhe laughed loudly.

"Sister Ziyan, if you're in a relationship, go for it, get married, and have children," Lu Yanhe said.

Chen Ziyan: "Thank you so much for thinking of me, but you don't need to worry about my private life."

Lu Yanhe actually knew very little about Chen Ziyan's world outside of work. Almost every time Lu Yanhe interacted with Chen Ziyan, the conversation revolved around work or his life. Despite knowing her for so long, Lu Yanhe knew nothing about Chen Ziyan's family life, nor what kind of social circle or friends she had outside of work.

However, this also seems to be Chen Ziyan's intention to avoid sharing her private life with others.

Lu Yanhe noticed this, so he usually paid attention and didn't ask Chen Ziyan these things.

-

With the Jose Film Festival just around the corner, Lu Yanhe has been receiving a steady stream of invitations to the premieres of the films that will be participating in the festival.

Finally, in addition to accepting the invitation to the premiere of the film "Even Faking Death Is Not Allowed", Lu Yanhe also accepted the invitation to the premieres of a Japanese film and a Spanish film.

Darren Wilson of Williams' agency facilitated the negotiations for both films.

The producers of these two films knew Darren Wilson and had a very good relationship with him.

Lu Yanhe will be involved in almost the entire process of attending the Jose Film Festival this time.

Without filming commitments, he has a lot of free time.

The screening schedules for the films nominated for the main competition at the Jose Film Festival have also been released.

The premiere of "Love Letter" was on the fifth day of the film festival, a very good slot. Generally speaking, film scheduling heavily relies on the star power of the film's cast and crew. Films with big stars and high media attention are often placed in the first week, while films with less prominent casts and crews are relegated to later slots. This is also because of limited funding; many media outlets don't actually stay for the entire film festival, and many even leave after filming the opening ceremony.

"Love Letter" is on the fifth day, and "Even Faking Death Is Not Allowed" is on the sixth day.

The premiere dates were all quite good.

However, Lu Yanhe did not expect that he would suddenly receive an invitation from Zeng Qiao before he was about to leave for the Jose Film Festival.

An action movie starring him is scheduled for release during the May Day holiday.

The recent box office performance, excluding "Someone Under the Bed," has been quite sluggish, with other films performing only moderately well. Seven films are scheduled for release during the May Day holiday, all starring A-list celebrities. This means that several films are certain to fail at the box office and will inevitably be box office disasters.

This situation has led to exceptionally fierce competition among films released during the May Day holiday.

The battle begins with the publicity and promotion.

That's why Zeng Qiao contacted Lu Yanhe at the last minute, asking him to support his film.

Lu Yanhe attended a special screening of "Thunder" for his friends—a screening organized by the film's publicity department for the film's main cast and crew's friends.

At this screening, Lu Yanhe, as a friend of Zeng Qiao, will share his thoughts on the film after watching it.

To put it simply, the goal is to attract audiences to the cinema by leveraging the opinions of these celebrities regarding the film.

Lu Yanhe met Zeng Qiao on the set of "Phoenix Terrace" and they started working together. Later, they collaborated again on "The Silent River" and had a very good relationship.

Many of the main creators of "Phoenix Terrace" and "The Silent River" were also present at this event, which shows that Zeng Qiao is usually well-liked.

After watching "Thunder," Lu Yanhe encountered an awkward problem: he felt the film was rather mediocre and not particularly enjoyable. Of course, it had its merits. The action scenes were quite exciting, but the story and character designs were outdated.

Of course, Lu Yanhe couldn't tell the truth yet; this was a place for people to say nice things.

Lu Yanhe couldn't go against his conscience and praise the film excessively, so he focused on praising the action scenes and also gave a serious compliment to Zeng Qiao's performance in the film.

Zeng Qiao put in a lot of effort in the movie; you can tell he put a lot of work into it.

He performed many of the action scenes himself—without using a stunt double extensively, which shows his sincerity.

As a result, something terrible happened.

When a well-known film critic, Lu Shan, was invited to stand up and comment, Lu Shan openly looked at Lu Yanhe and questioned him: "After watching this movie, you actually think it's a good movie and deserves so much praise?"

Lu Yanhe knew this film critic.

He is usually a film critic known for his sharp opinions.

However, Lu Yanhe had never dealt with him before and did not know why he would suddenly attack him in such a situation.

However, for a fleeting moment, Lu Yanhe felt strangely guilty.

Because he didn't really think the movie was that good; it was mediocre.

The scene erupted in uproar.

Lu Shan continued, "I really didn't expect that in this day and age, I could still see such an old-fashioned and clichéd action film. It has almost no innovation compared to previous action films. It's just a vulgar work that piles up big scenes and big stars."

Lu Yanhe: "..."

On stage, the main creators all looked rather embarrassed and extremely somber.

The host had no choice but to step in and smooth things over.

"Teacher Lu is indeed a very strict teacher," the host said with a smile.

Lu Shan turned to the host and said, "Don't interrupt me, I haven't finished speaking yet."

The host represents the stance of the film's producers.

He was aware of this, so after Lu Shan pointed it out to him, he didn't forcefully end the conversation but instead made a gesture for him to speak.

Lu Shan: "Actually, I shouldn't have said this today, but to be honest, I really can't stand how film companies are always making these kinds of movies that fool the audience. Can't they make more innovative and adventurous films?"

Lu Shan's words were very sharp, even harsh.

If Lu Shan's first words made Lu Yanhe feel a little guilty, Lu Shan's subsequent remarks were simply unbelievable. Lu Yanhe also felt that Lu Shan was deliberately trying to cause trouble.

Lu Yanhe glanced at Zeng Qiao with a stern expression.

The film "Thunder" is a subject that Lu Yanhe has never dared to touch in all the film projects he has participated in.

Why?

Because "Thunder" is a genre that emphasizes action design, editing style, visual effects, and directing ability, these are not areas where young people like Lu Yanhe, whose film theory far exceeds their practical experience, are good at.

He has been accumulating industry resources and increasing his understanding and experience in post-production and cost control.

The more familiar you are with this industry, the clearer you become that if you don't understand it, you'll be easily fooled.

For the same production, you know how to cut costs and increase revenue; you can reduce the cost by half and still achieve the same quality.

In film production, labor costs are one aspect, but the on-set production loss rate and scrap rate are also key factors in cost control, not to mention the integration of on-set shooting plans with post-production.

But precisely because of this, although Lu Yanhe felt that "Thunder" was mediocre and not surprising enough, it was enough to show the audience his sincerity.

His praise was not unfounded. Whether it was the design of the action scenes or Zeng Qiao's dedication as an actor, it allowed the audience to see the attitude of the film itself.

Lu Shan delivered a lengthy speech about his views on what makes a good action movie before finally sitting down.

The atmosphere became inexplicably awkward, with a slight silence.

The host smiled and continued to professionally try to liven up the atmosphere again.

He said, "Professor Lu Shan truly has a wealth of knowledge about film history and theory. We sincerely accept both praise and criticism. Um, Yan He raised his hand—"

As soon as he spoke, everyone looked in Lu Yanhe's direction.

Lu Yanhe was sitting in the audience, raising his hand high, indicating that he wanted to speak.

Someone immediately brought a microphone over.

Lu Yanhe stood up, took the microphone, said thank you, and then smiled and said, "It's rare to hear criticism at an advance screening of a film; it's quite refreshing."

He took a deep breath.

"I had already expressed my thoughts on the film and shouldn't have said anything more, but Professor Lu just asked me how I could praise this film and also shared his aesthetic views on film. I feel that I might need to respond."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "First, what do I need to respond to? Was my praise of this movie just sincere, or was it just politeness? I want to say that it was sincere. I came to watch this movie today at Zeng Qiao's invitation, but we are all speaking on our own, and we are responsible for our own words."

"Secondly, how exactly should we evaluate the film 'Thunder'?" Lu Yanhe said, "If you ask me to evaluate this film from a very high standard, it is indeed not good enough, but that kind of evaluation is unfair. To give a simple example, if we use a standard of 90 points to evaluate all students, then more than half of the students would be poor students. Because the best are always the fewest. For movies, my evaluation standard is the same. This is not an art film; it is an action film. Are action films simple, brutal, and exciting? If it were that simple, I wouldn't have been an actor for so long without ever officially filming an action movie."

"Why did I praise the action scenes of the movie 'Thunder' and find them surprising? It's simple: it does a good job in that aspect. For action movie fans, there are many surprises in this movie. I must admit that I am not an action movie fan, and of course, I don't think Mr. Lu is either. Mr. Lu just analyzed why he thought 'Thunder' was vulgar from the perspectives of characters, story, and directing techniques, but he didn't evaluate the core of the movie, action, from the perspective of action design and action scenes. So, I have this guess, and I apologize if I am wrong, Mr. Lu."

"For me, I am just an audience member who works in the industry. I am not a participant in this film and do not know the production story behind it. I was invited to watch this film, and based on speaking the truth, I actually have a task, which is to tell the audience who have not yet seen this film in theaters what they can see from this film."

"So, am I supposed to tell the audience that this film explores the complexities of human nature? And lacks any spiritual depth? Or, well, this film is vulgar because it's formulaic. Let me be blunt: please, which action film isn't formulaic? How many formulaic action-effects blockbusters does Hollywood make every year? Does that affect their global box office success? Does it affect audiences who like this kind of subject matter and style from continuing to enjoy it?"

Lu Yanhe shrugged and smiled.

“I respect everything Professor Lu said. However, although movies belong to all audiences, we must realize that different genres have different audiences, and different audiences have different needs. Apart from a very few classic films that can break boundaries and win the favor of the vast majority of audiences, it is already not easy for us to make our audience like our films.”

After Lu Yanhe finished speaking, the entire audience suddenly erupted in applause.

The main creators on stage also relaxed.

This little incident subsequently sparked heated discussions online.

In fact, many people still feel that Lu Yanhe is wrong. They believe that Lu Yanhe is making excuses, as this is clearly a discussion about whether a film is good or bad. While Lu Shan's words were somewhat excessive, he wasn't lying; he was telling the truth.

Lu Yanhe remained silent and hesitant.

He genuinely couldn't say that he thought "Thunder" was excellent and worth watching. Moreover, if it weren't for Lu Shan's remarks on set, which made him feel that Lu Shan was being very targeted and even deliberately trying to attract attention, he wouldn't have given such a long speech.

Under these circumstances, "Thunder" was released on April 30th.

It grossed over 37 million yuan on its opening day, ranking first on the daily box office chart.

Because of this box office performance, it still managed to retain 17% of the screenings on May 1st, when four other movies were released.

However, the film did receive only lukewarm reviews from audiences.

It's not to the point that many people call it a terrible movie or regret watching it.

However, many people took screenshots of Lu Yanhe's remarks about supporting the film and used them to express their disappointment with him.

Many people say they watched this movie because of Lu Yanhe's recommendation, and they never expected that Lu Yanhe would recommend such a movie.

This was a Waterloo that even Lu Yanhe himself hadn't anticipated.

His team could only do their best to reduce the negative impact of public opinion on him.

-

Chen Ziyan said, "You should attend fewer of these movie screenings where you're just there to support your friends. It's too sensitive. What other people say is fine, but it seems like everything you say will be blown out of proportion. And in those situations, even if you're watching a mediocre film, you'll have to say a few words of praise, which will be spread by the film company and make some viewers who don't like the film think it's your fault."

Lu Yanhe felt quite uncomfortable.

On the one hand, emotionally, he felt it was only natural to help a friend get a role and give them a shout-out. However, on the other hand, he also knew in his heart that the controversy caused by "Thunder" could not be entirely blamed on Lu Shan. He could not set aside personal feelings to speak the truth, and he himself had to bear the consequences.

In other words, forwarding or promoting is fine; it can help "increase exposure." But try not to say things that you yourself are unsure about, avoiding the main issues.

“But, Sister Ziyan, I haven’t figured it out myself. If I also feel that a movie shouldn’t be publicly recommended if it’s not good enough, then there aren’t many movies that I genuinely want to recommend.” Lu Yanhe expressed his confusion. “But rationally, I really think I’m right, which is why I said that—does a movie that only scores six or seven points not deserve to be recommended? If it has its highlights, or if it’s truly a movie worth watching for a certain segment of the audience, can’t I still recommend it?”

If Lu Yanhe hadn't been so conflicted, he would have simply learned his lesson and never done such a thing again.

Chen Ziyan said, "Yan He, regarding this situation, I only have eight words for you: 'Being in a position means being unable to control one's own destiny.' Now that you've become one of the representative figures of Chinese-language cinema, the most influential and charismatic filmmaker, you should cherish your reputation even more, especially the words you speak. You never know who will take your words as gospel, because they trust you completely. You and Zeng Qiao have a good relationship, so you can help him promote it, OK, but don't endorse it lightly, especially when you yourself realize that the film isn't that good. It has its merits, OK, I admit it. Will the production company use your statements truthfully? No, they will use you as promotional material, widely promoting: 'Lu Yanhe supports Thunder.'"

Lu Yanhe let out a long sigh of relief, the scales in his heart slowly tipping, and he knew how he should handle these matters in the future.

That evening, "Thunder," which had already grossed over 200 million yuan at the box office, released a celebratory poster.

Meanwhile, related terms such as "Thunder" being bad also became trending topics.

-

Lu Yanhe's team did a great job, trying their best to reduce the buzz surrounding Lu Yanhe in this matter and instead promote his upcoming trip to Jose.

They tried to use the Jose Film Festival and the film "Love Letter" to divert attention from Lu Yanhe's role in this matter.

However, it seems that Lu Shan is not going to let go of this opportunity to establish his golden image so easily.

He took screenshots of many online messages criticizing the movie "Thunder" and Lu Yanhe, and posted them on a nine-grid Weibo post, saying: "The audience's eyes are still discerning."

Lu Yanhe's fans were indignant and left comments: "It's as if the movie 'Thunder' is Lu Yanhe's fault."

Lu Shan replied confidently: If it weren't for his recommendation, so many people wouldn't have gone to see this movie. He's killing the motivation of those who still want to go to the cinema to go back next time!

Lu Yanhe always thought he was good at arguing, especially when it came to retorting, but at this moment, he found himself tongue-tied and unable to utter a single word in response.

Chen Ziyan also said that we should ignore Lu Shan and let him do whatever he wants.

However, Lu Yanhe ignored him, but Zeng Qiao couldn't stand it anymore.

He posted on Weibo late at night: I'm sorry, it was I who invited Lu Yanhe to the screening of "Thunder", which dragged him into this dispute for no reason. The matter has escalated to this point, and I feel very indebted to him. If any viewers who watched "Thunder" because of Yanhe's recommendation are disappointed, please send a screenshot of your ticket purchase and order number to my studio's email address, and I will arrange a full refund.

Five minutes later, he posted another Weibo post: Yan He was just trying to support me, so he picked out a few good points from the movie and praised them. Lu Shan's film "Human Joy" is currently the box office champion during the May Day holiday. Our "Thunder" can no longer pose a threat to "Human Joy". Therefore, Lu Shan doesn't need to belittle "Thunder" to ensure that its box office will surpass "Human Joy". Anyway, it's just a vulgar formulaic film and not worth Lu Shan wasting his precious time paying attention to.

-

Zeng Qiao is feeling really terrible right now.

He used to act in TV dramas, so it was rare for him to play the male lead in a big-budget production like "Thunder." The box office results were not bad. Although the audience's word-of-mouth was not as good as expected, it was not a bad movie that everyone was criticizing. In fact, because the action scenes were really good, it sparked a wave of movie-watching among people who love action movies, so its box office performance was not too affected by public opinion.

Originally, "Thunder" could have been the film that allowed him to establish himself in the film industry.

Who knew that because of this movie, Lu Yanhe would become the one who was criticized the most.

How could Zeng Qiao bear it?

He would rather the audience criticize him than Lu Yanhe be criticized.

At this moment, his disgust and hatred for Lu Shan reached its peak, but because he still had some rationality, he did not directly curse him on the Internet.

If he weren't a celebrity, he would have actually started swearing.

This guy is a real bastard and a real scoundrel.

Logically and emotionally, Lu Yanhe neither exaggerated the facts to praise "Thunder" nor did he come to help promote it. However, he was made to look like a sinner in the industry by Lu Shan's muddy waters.

Zeng Qiao was so angry that he resorted to sarcastic remarks.

It was only later, when the producer of "Thunder" discovered that Lu Shan had invested in "Human Joy".

When they found out about this, they gave the publicity staff who had contacted Lu Shan to come and watch the movie a severe scolding.

To be honest, "All's Well, Ends Well" didn't receive particularly good reviews from audiences, but because it was the only comedy film in the May Day holiday lineup, it had the advantage of being a family-friendly film.

At this moment, Zeng Qiao had no other thoughts but guilt towards Lu Yanhe.

That's why he thought of giving refunds to viewers who didn't like "Thunder".

He'd still back out of the most troublesome and costly project!

-

Lu Yanhe never expected Zeng Qiao to do this.

Chen Ziyan was also stunned.

In all these years, I've never seen an actor refund money on such a large scale.

Zeng Qiao's posting of two articles late at night became the most talked-about event the following day.

What surprised everyone even more was that Zeng Qiao Studio compiled a list of refund requests received the following evening and issued a statement: a total of 927 refund requests were received from viewers, with a total refund of 38,934 yuan.

Zeng Qiao forwarded this statement from her studio and directly tagged Lu Shan:

I refunded the money to viewers who regretted watching "Thunder". As an investor in "All's Well, Ends Well", have you refunded the money to viewers who regretted watching "All's Well, Ends Well"?

Attached image:

First image: "A Happy Event in the Human World" (叶脉网 rating: 6.3).

The second image: "Thunder" Yemai.com rating: 6.1.

The third picture: It's 0.2 points higher. The audience's eyes are really sharp!

Lu Shan suddenly lost his voice and never appeared again.

-

After several days of painful reflection, Lu Yanhe felt it was time for him to speak out.

The situation has changed, and if Lu Yanhe remains silent, he feels he will lose even more of the audience's trust.

After discussing it with Chen Ziyan and his team, he posted the following:

I apologize to my friends who trusted me. Although I never intended to trick people into going to the cinema, my comments focusing only on the strengths and omitting the weaknesses did lead many viewers to watch a film they might not have liked, based on their trust in me. I hope Brother Qiao won't feel guilty or upset. I take responsibility for my words. I didn't offer those praises based on our relationship; I simply refrained from mentioning anything I disliked about "Thunder" because of our connection. Of course, this objectively resulted in "avoiding the main issues," which is my own fault. I will be more careful with my words in the future.

-

The attitudes and stances of Zeng Qiao and Lu Yanhe towards this matter eased the displeasure of the audience who had been stirred up by Lu Shan and were fiercely criticizing Lu Yanhe.

The main reason is that many people didn't expect to receive a refund so quickly.

Lu Yanhe's apology, after calming down, also made many people start to think about one thing—

Put yourself in their shoes. In this life, who hasn't said things to support or flatter someone for the sake of personal relationships or saving face?

Emotions come quickly and go quickly.

If Zeng Qiao and Lu Yanhe were to deny everything or stubbornly refuse to admit their mistakes, people would probably be even more furious.

However, neither of them did it that way.

On second thought, Lu Yanhe didn't even create a show that disappointed everyone, yet these past few days have been like a celebration because he commented that the action scenes in "Thunder" were good, and he was heavily attacked for saying that he was lying through his teeth—clearly, "Thunder" is just as Lu Shan said, extremely mediocre, with no innovation compared to other action shows, and still the same old formula.

Looking back now, no one really said this movie was that good; they just said the action scenes were good.

The action scenes in "Thunder" are really good.

Chen Ziyan quickly noticed the shift in public sentiment towards Lu Yanhe online.

She immediately arranged for public relations personnel to take a public relations action: analyze each of Lu Shan's statements point by point, how they cleverly misinterpreted Lu Yanhe's original words, and how they flattered him.

By the time the May Day holiday was over, public opinion had turned against Lu Shan.

When Lu Yanhe saw Lu Shan being criticized and condemned by many people under the onslaught of public opinion, he felt no guilt whatsoever, unlike his feelings towards the audience.

Lu Shan's words and deeds left him with only one thought at this moment: He deserved it.

Lu Shan, like a turtle hiding its head, suddenly fell silent and pretended to be dead.

At this time, someone from the film company of "A Happy Event in the Human World" suddenly came to Chen Ziyan, asking them to be lenient and let Lu Shan go.

Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes back.

When Lu Shan stood on the moral high ground and stirred up everyone's emotions to attack Lu Yanhe, why didn't they stop Lu Shan?

Chen Ziyan was too lazy to pay attention.

-

I recommend the older book, "I Became the Leading Lady of a Scandal Overnight".

(End of this chapter)