Chapter 681 Lu Yanhe's High Yield Resembles a Sow

"What are your thoughts on these online discussions?"

With the second season of "Friends" about to premiere, Lu Yanhe appeared on Peng Zhixing's talk show "Zhixing" to promote the show.

I don't even know how many times he's been on this show.

This is arguably the interview program he has participated in the most, bar none.

Of course, every time Lu Yanhe came, Peng Zhixing received him with the highest level of hospitality.

Including this time, at the very beginning of the show, Peng Zhixing announced: "Today's guest is my good friend. To welcome him back to 'Zhixing,' every audience member in the audience today will receive a brand new Reken12 phone provided by the show's title sponsor, ReKen Mobile!"

This segment was arranged by the program sponsors long ago, but Peng Zhixing could decide which episode to include it in.

Once the show airs, this will definitely become a hot topic.

After all, no other program can give a cell phone to every one of the hundreds of audience members.

This generates a lot of buzz, just like when a celebrity announces a live stream giveaway of a sports car.

Peng Zhixing meticulously designed the interview.

For example, the online discussions about Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe asked with a smile, "What are you talking about? There's so much talk about me online."

He made a helpless expression.

The audience immediately burst into laughter.

Peng Zhixing gave a wry smile, seemingly speechless, before saying, "For example, some people ask, why do you give so many roles to others instead of acting in them yourself?"

Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "I've explained many things, such as the suitability of the role, the considerations of the film itself, and my own schedule. Of course, putting all that aside, I feel that I've been filming all year round without a break. It's not like I wrote a script for someone else to film while I'm on vacation. Even if it were your donkey, you wouldn't make it run endlessly like that."

"Although I know you can definitely be called a workaholic in the entertainment industry, you always give people a sense of ease and relaxation. So, I'm sorry, even if you say that, I still think you can film more. No matter how many more scenes you film, everyone feels it's not enough."

“Just listen to those kinds of things.” Lu Yanhe shook his head. “If you could see my shows all year round, I don’t believe you wouldn’t get tired of them.”

Peng Zhixing stared in shock.

"You mean everyone's tired of me, the guy who has shows every week?" Peng Zhixing asked with an incredulous expression.

Lu Yanhe laughed loudly.

“You’re not an actor, so of course it doesn’t matter,” Lu Yanhe said. “You’ve always been Peng Zhixing, but I’m supposed to meet everyone with different characters and roles each time. If I appear too frequently, it will affect the trust that people have in the characters I play.”

Peng Zhixing nodded.

“Okay, I’ll accept your answer for now.” He asked, “I’m curious about another question: will you be focusing your work in Hollywood in the future?”

Lu Yanhe thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "I don't think that's accurate. To be more precise, I actually want to collaborate with outstanding directors from all over the world, not just Hollywood. I've always felt that a creator can only broaden their horizons and constantly reflect on and reorganize their views on art and aesthetics by constantly stepping out of their comfort zone and interacting with new people. It's a bit abstract, but to put it simply, the world is so big, and I want to see it."

Peng Zhixing exclaimed "Wow!" in an exaggerated way.

"Here's today's quote: 'The world is so big, I want to go see it.'" He nodded. "But you not only went to see it yourself, you also brought many people with you. How much of a surprise did the Golden Globe nominations for 'Love Letter' and 'Friends' give you this time?"

“I have to say, it’s huge,” Lu Yanhe said. “Although I haven’t seriously participated in the awards season in the United States, I know that it actually requires a lot of effort, time and energy. Every creator who has a chance to win an award has to devote themselves to public relations activities to promote their work. If I had known that it would be like this, I would definitely have dragged everyone to the awards season. Yes, starting next year, I will do that.”

"You don't seem to mind showing everyone that you really want to win the award."

"Why should I care? I just want to win awards," Lu Yanhe said frankly. "Globally, the most influential awards for TV series are the Golden Globes and Emmys. To be honest, they didn't really think much of Chinese-language dramas before. 'Friends' only got a nomination because it was streamed on Maxine, a global streaming service, and gained a lot of popularity. I'm not saying that our works have to win these two awards to be good, but with the right timing, circumstances, and people, even just a nomination would bring the show into a wider audience. For every project of mine, as long as there's a chance to win an award, I want them to win it, because winning awards brings greater attention and recognition."

Peng Zhixing: "The following question is a bit pointed."

"It's nothing, go ahead and ask," Lu Yanhe smiled.

"People say that your only shortcoming as an actor is that you haven't broken any box office records, even though every film you've made has performed very well, which is undeniable, and your return on investment is extremely high. What are your thoughts on this?"

“I also really want to have a film that can sell billions at the box office, but the problem is that I haven’t encountered such a project yet. It’s not something I can have just because I want it.” Lu Yanhe smiled helplessly. “However, I think I’m still so young, so there’s no rush, right? I have decades to create such achievements. Let’s take it slow. I’m only in my twenties. Don’t expect me to stand on the top of the mountain right away.”

The audience erupted in applause.

After learning that they would be able to get a mobile phone, the audience today was incredibly enthusiastic, as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

-

After recording "Zhi Xing", Peng Zhixing and Lu Yanhe went to eat together.

Peng Zhixing said, "This year's 'The Days of Youth' felt a bit lacking because none of you guys were there."

This year, Lu Yanhe and the other two were absent from the recording of "The Days of Youth" because they were filming "Chinese Paladin".

This season of the show will, of course, be filmed as scheduled. In fact, the show's viewership ratings are still quite good, after all, it has already cultivated a large audience. Similarly, because "The Days of Youth" didn't use new regular cast members due to the absence of these three, the show's fans didn't have much resistance.

Everyone knows that the three of them will come back.

Lu Yanhe said, "I'll try to come back to record next year."

Peng Zhixing said with a smile, "We all told Sister Zhenzhen that we shouldn't concentrate the recording from August to October in the future. We should try to find a time slot each year. As long as everyone can find three to five days to make time, we can record once. Otherwise, everyone is very busy, and it will only become more and more difficult to find a time slot in the future."

Lu Yanhe: "That's one way to do it too."

“But this is very inconvenient for them,” Peng Zhixing said. “Zhenzhen’s team also has other programs to do at other times, so they can’t keep waiting for our schedule.”

It's not just artists whose schedules need to be coordinated; everyone else has work too.

“That’s right, her team is currently working with us on ‘Sing My Song’,” Lu Yanhe said. “Do you know when recording will start?”

Peng Zhixing is one of the hosts of this program.

Lu Yanhe personally selected him.

Peng Zhixing said, "Not yet, they are still collecting songs, and they are not very satisfied with the songs they have received so far."

Since the program is about original songs, the quality of the songs received largely determines the quality of the program.

Lu Yanhe highly approves of this approach.

There's no need to rush into the actual production if you're not ready.

When talking about his plans for next year, Peng Zhixing said, "Actually, I really want to add something new to the show 'Zhixing'. On the basis of the original, I want to let 'Zhixing' step out of the recording studio."

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised. "What do you mean?"

Peng Zhixing: "It's not just about moving the interview from indoors to outdoors. I plan to try making a few special issues and interview documentaries for the program 'Zhixing', focusing not just on a particular person, but on a particular theme."

Lu Yanhe realized, "Is that for making a documentary?"

“This doesn’t quite fit the tone of ‘The Journey’ program. ‘The Journey’ was originally created as a promotional program for Aurora Video, but it gradually evolved into a true interview program, mainly featuring people in the entertainment industry,” Peng Zhixing said. “Based on this, I’d like to create some valuable, memorable topics. Do you have any suggestions?”

“I…” Lu Yanhe smiled, “It really depends on what you want to do. Is it documentary or critical? To what extent do you want the program to be discussed and valued? What kind of style do you want it to present? You can only start from your own ideas. But if you’re just tired of doing ‘Journey’ and want to do it in a different format, I don’t think it’s a problem that can be solved by simply changing the format. As long as it’s not a topic you really want to do, it’s just the same old thing in a different guise.

“You’re absolutely right. I feel like I’ve turned interview programs into something routine, and it’s not very interesting anymore,” Peng Zhixing said.

"Is it because of the interviewees?" Lu Yanhe asked. "Perhaps most of your interviewees are not people you are truly interested in, so your attitude towards the interviews themselves has become like a task."

“That’s possible, but I think there’s another very important point. I have to say, there are very few interviewees like you who can express themselves and have something to say,” Peng Zhixing said. “When I chat with you, I’m actually very interested. You’re willing to talk to me, and I’m curious too. But some people, you know, may really be empty-headed and have nothing to say.”

Lu Yanhe was both amused and exasperated.

“Because the initial purpose of ‘The Journey’ was to provide supporting publicity for various projects related to the Northern Lights video series, and to interview the key creators,” he said. “You didn’t choose the interviewees, but you should be in a slightly better position now, right? You have some choice now?”

“Yes, of course, but it’s just so-so.” Peng Zhixing shook his head. “I think the most painful thing about doing interview programs is that, compared to regular program hosts, such as ‘The Birth of an Actor,’ what I need to do is control the flow and take the lead, but I don’t need to think about creating content or meaning. That part is not my responsibility. But with interview programs, the quality of the interview and the content of what the guests say are all under a lot of pressure. I can’t just give up. Actually, I wish I could just give up completely. Anyway, many times even if I rack my brains, I can’t make the quality of some interviews much better.”

“That’s easy to say, but it’s definitely not something you can do.” Lu Yanhe laughed. “I gave up on that idea a long time ago. I used to think about giving up, just like you. I think there’s a saying that’s been around a lot: as long as you do your best in the process, the result doesn’t really matter. Some people take it as motivational talk, but I take it as a way to comfort myself. The problem isn’t the result, it’s not that you didn’t do your best in the process. No matter when you look back afterward, you’ll regret it. I don’t want to have that kind of regret, and you’re the same.”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head,” Peng Zhixing said. “In school, teachers teach us about values ​​and meanings, but once you get to work, you realize that the so-called values ​​and meanings are just shackles you put on yourself. No one else cares about them except yourself.”

“But aren’t those outstanding hosts able to stand out precisely because they are willing to put on this shackle?” Lu Yanhe laughed. “What determines what kind of host you are, in the end, is still these things. This is true for any profession. If you want to refuse to be a screw that can be replaced at any time, you have to have a special thread that is not available on the market.”

Peng Zhixing nodded and said, "Actually, I'm thinking of making a cultural program."

"Um?"

“Just like the ‘City Travelogue’ program you did with Yemai.com at the beginning,” Peng Zhixing said. “But to be honest, this kind of program does not have high commercial value. Another concern of mine is that the things I want to do often do not have high commercial value, unlike ‘Zhixing’, which, no matter what, features celebrities on the show every episode, bringing its own audience.”

“It’s okay, we can manage both,” Lu Yanhe said. “Just like you suggested ‘The Days of Youth,’ we can use the team from ‘The Journey,’ right? During the breaks between recording ‘The Journey,’ if a good topic comes up, we can record an episode. You have a unique advantage; you have a stable program production team. So, after you’ve recorded six or twelve episodes, you can release it as an experiment. It won’t affect your regular work, but it can help you broaden the types of programs you produce.”

Peng Zhixing asked with a smile, "If I told you this now, I think it would be too tiring, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?"

Lu Yanhe smiled at him.

-

Many celebrities, especially those who have reached a certain level, are not that diligent or hardworking.

Generally speaking, there are two types of people in the entertainment industry who work the hardest.

One type is those at the bottom who haven't made a name for themselves yet, and the other type is those in their prime who are in the top tier. If you don't work hard, a bunch of people around you are counting on you to make money for them and are forcing you to work hard.

There are very few top-tier actors like Lu Yanhe and Jiang Yuqian who didn't rise to stardom through capital investment, but instead became workaholics in the entertainment industry because of their own ambition and drive.

In fact, you can tell from the state of the celebrities around them, such as Huang Kairen, Zeng Qiao, and Meng Li, who have been famous for several years, that everyone naturally relaxes when they reach a certain stage.

Since winning the Best Actor award for "Rouge", Huang Kairen has clearly slowed down his career and is rarely seen in public, sometimes only once a month.

-

Of course, Huang Kairen is out now. The second season of "My Own Swordsman" is scheduled to air during the Spring Festival, so he has to do promotional work.

No one expected that Huang Kairen would gain so much weight.

Lu Yanhe stared at him in shock, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Brother Huang, what's wrong with you...?"

Huang Kairen sighed.

"After resting for a while, I accidentally let myself go," he said. "I've recently started exercising again."

Looking at him, Lu Yanhe suddenly understood why Huang Kairen hadn't been coming out lately.

It might not be just because of laziness.

"You're probably going to trend on social media for this," Lu Yanhe said bluntly.

Before winning the Best Actor award, Huang Kairen, even if he didn't rely on his looks, still attracted a large number of female fans with his appearance.

Especially in "Rouge," under Wang Zhong's lens, there were several scenes where Lu Yanhe even felt a striking resemblance to John Lone—

And now... maybe the character Bai Zhantang is just unlucky, because all the actors who have played the role have inevitably gone down the path of gaining weight.

Huang Kai-ren said, "Maybe I should just skip this year's drama promotion? I feel like if I go to public events now and get photographed, I'll probably be ridiculed by everyone, which will actually affect the broadcast of the drama."

Lu Yanhe: "Is it really that serious?"

"After all, Bai Zhantang is a rather dashing and handsome character. Although I didn't gain weight while filming, I couldn't stop people from thinking that way."

"Let the publicity team look into it," Lu Yanhe said. "I don't know much about this, I'm not a professional. If they also think it's better for you not to participate in the publicity now, then you don't have to. You've lost enough weight in a month, right? You can join the publicity team in January, it'll be fine."

Huang Kairen: "More or less, it should be fine."

“It absolutely has to be possible,” Lu Yanhe said. “Put some effort into it, don’t just give up.”

"Sigh, it's really easy to gain weight, but hard to lose it," Huang Kairen said. "I wish I hadn't indulged myself like that."

"I'm really curious, how did you gain so much weight? You must have gained at least 20 pounds, right?"

"More or less." Huang Kairen nodded.

However, before the publicity team for "My Own Swordsman" could decide whether Huang Kairen would participate in the early promotional activities, Huang Kairen was photographed.

The hashtag "Huang Kairen has gained weight" has skyrocketed to the top of trending searches.

As mentioned before, those mocking and lamenting voices are just like the reactions of those people back then when they saw Leonardo DiCaprio smiling broadly as he splashed water on his belly in the sunlight.

Actually, it's not a big deal for celebrities to gain weight.

At most, they'll be ridiculed for a while.

Either lose weight again, or get people to accept this appearance and change course.

However, Huang Kairen's new drama is less than two months away from premiering. If his image issues negatively impact the drama's promotion at this time, it would be quite troublesome.

It's unclear how Huang Kairen's team communicated, but in the end, Huang Kairen himself posted a Weibo message: "Yeah, I've definitely gained weight and become lax. I'll try to lose weight before the second season of 'My Own Swordsman' airs."

The accompanying picture is a photo of him lifting weights in the gym, showing his back.

-

Huang Kairen's matter made Lu Yanhe think of himself.

"Do you think if I gain weight one day, a bunch of people will say they're unfollowing me?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Chen Ziyan shook her head seriously.

“I really can’t judge your situation. Your case is too special,” Chen Ziyan said. “I don’t know whether your fans are career-oriented or looks-oriented. Most people in this world admire strength. As long as you are a big shot in a certain field, not just someone who’s boasting, you’ll always have a group of loyal fans who will praise you to the skies. That’s pretty much your situation right now. Your acting career is too amazing. Too many people are fans of you and like you. They’ve projected themselves into your shoes and want to climb to the top of that pyramid with you.”

Chen Ziyan suddenly remembered something and said, "If it were Li Zhibai, his popularity would probably decline a lot. All those arrogant, cool, rich second-generation attributes of his have to be combined with his face to have the star aura he has now. At his current age, if he gains weight, it will be difficult for him to maintain his current popularity."

Lu Yanhe couldn't help but laugh.

"If Brother Bai had that explosive personality, he'd probably explode if he heard you say that."

“He won’t explode,” Chen Ziyan said. “To be frank, very few celebrities don’t rely on their looks. Even if someone is ugly, they’re ugly in a distinctive way, ugly to the point that they’re not aesthetically pleasing to the audience. Have you ever really seen someone who’s ugly and has no distinctive features, yet is still liked by the audience?”

Lu Yanhe thought to himself, just because this world is useless doesn't mean other worlds are useless.

But there is one thing Lu Yanhe agrees with.

Celebrities rely on their looks to make a living, whether they are beautiful, handsome, or ugly, without exception. However, it is extremely difficult for an ugly person to be recognized, accepted, or even liked by the audience. Therefore, only a few people in the entertainment industry can make it big.

-

The second season of Friends premiered and set a truly terrifying record.

The price per unit for TV commercials reached its highest level in nearly three years, while online pre-roll ads featured 12 brands for a total of 135 seconds.

Of course, for Friends, this incredible achievement doesn't seem so unbelievable.

With the second season of "The Seventeen Floors" preceding it and the second season of "Friends" following it, Lu Yanhe achieved a seamless screen domination for the first time.

Of course, they are not the same TV station.

After the second season of "The Seventeen Floors" finished airing, the ratings of the drama that followed it on Beijing TV plummeted.

The second season of "Friends" achieved a premiere rating of 1.82% on Yuehu TV, almost surpassing CCTV, which has a stronger base of viewers in the internet age.

This series has now entered its fifth year.

How many viewers have they accumulated over the past five years?

Then, after the first episode aired, a lot of negative reviews appeared online.

They criticized the second season of Friends for messing up the relationships between the characters.

Lu Yanhe thought to himself that the original work was full of complicated and tangled relationships between the characters.

He has made many adjustments based on China's national conditions, just to make it more acceptable to everyone.

However, despite the criticism, the second episode aired the following day and saw a slight increase in viewership.

Even more alarming is the broadcast performance on online platforms.

Within 24 hours of its release, more than 20 million people watched the first episode of the second season.

This data is the most accurate data from the backend statistics, the kind that won't be publicly released. The playback data displayed to the public, according to the calculation formula, is close to 100 million, which is too "unrealistic".

Friends Season 2 remains a favorite among young people, while also appealing to the middle-aged and older audiences.

Unfortunately, the title "Let foreigners see Chinese city life" gave the show a kind of "golden shield" in a sense.

Indeed, in the past, most Chinese TV dramas that were able to go overseas were genre dramas and period dramas.

This is the first time a show like Friends, which portrays a young and fashionable lifestyle, has become so popular overseas.

-

Lu Yanhe and his team were filming intensively, and apart from Lu Yanhe, the other five actors basically couldn't rest on their days off either, having to squeeze in appearances and other work whenever they could.

During the show's run, each of them experienced a new peak in commercial value, which their agencies, teams, and even themselves could hardly ignore.

Lu Yanhe didn't go for these gigs because actor income no longer made up the majority of his earnings, and there was no need to exhaust himself trying to make quick money.

He now spends most of his days off watching popular TV dramas from the past year.

After all, next month he will begin to assume the duties of chairman of the jury for the Lingyun Awards in the drama category.

Since he said he would watch every single one of the shortlisted works, he will definitely keep his word.

For many TV series awards, including the three major awards, the judges don't actually have time to watch a series from beginning to end. They usually only watch the important scenes and key episodes to make their judgments.

Otherwise, it's an objective fact that there isn't enough time to read it all.

Lu Yanhe had taken on a thankless task for himself.

Once you accept the assignment, you have to do it.

Fortunately, Lu Yanhe usually watches dramas. He follows many of them from beginning to end. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to finish watching them all now.

To this day, Lu Yanhe has no idea which other judges are besides himself.

Lu Yanhe didn't ask any questions.

That's good; we can watch the work first before discussing it.

In late December, the Lingyun Awards for Drama Series announced the list of judges for its inaugural edition.

Besides Lu Yanhe, the cast also includes director Lian Bei, actors Jiang Yingxue and Liu Teli, screenwriter Cheng Er, critic Yin Zhi, and photographer Xu Hui.

There were seven people in total.

They were all professionals with excellent reputations in the industry.

Chen Hengyi organized the first video conference for everyone.

Lu Yanhe is the youngest of all.

Lu Yanhe was initially a little worried that if these people didn't accept him as the chairman of the judging panel and didn't buy into it, he would have to find a way to keep things under control.

Fortunately, perhaps because Chen Hengyi had communicated with them beforehand, everyone treated him with great politeness and respect during the video conference.

After their first discussion, everyone quickly reached a consensus: the seven of them would vote to determine the winner of each award. In the event of a tie, the winner would be determined by the chairman's vote. They would avoid a tie and try to avoid splitting the awards among themselves—unless a particular show was exceptionally strong, in which case not splitting the awards would result in the show sweeping most of the awards.

They do need to strike a balance.

However, the premise of achieving balance is not to deliberately compromise or divide the spoils.

At the end of the video conference, Lu Yanhe said, "After I took on this job, I basically spent all my time outside of work hours catching up on the well-received TV dramas of the past year, afraid that it would be too late to watch them after the nomination list came out."

Chen Hengyi immediately said, "For every applicant, we will require them to submit a 10 to 15 minute highlight reel, including no more than three episodes with key episode numbers marked, as a reference for the review. Indeed, some TV series are too long, and it is unrealistic to watch them all."

Lu Yanhe said, "I try my best to read all the major nominated works from beginning to end. I just hope that you don't end up with eight or nine nominees for one award."

“Each award will only have five nominees,” Chen Hengyi said with a smile. “There will definitely be no more.”

"That's good." Lu Yanhe made a sigh of relief.

Everyone laughed and chimed in.

-

Being a judge/judge, unless it's a top-tier award, is generally a thankless and arduous task.

Use your industry reputation to endorse this award.

Chen Hengyi was able to assemble such a strong panel of judges for the first edition because he has extensive connections and is well-liked.

Of course, it's also because he's shameless.

Think back to how much effort he put into harassing Lu Yanhe back then...

-

After the video conference ended, Lu Yanhe sent a message to Teacher Liu Teli: Teacher Liu!

Liu Teli: I never thought we'd end up working together here [smiley face].

Lu Yanhe: You should star in the movie "Home Alone"!

Liu Teli: Haven't you found an actor yet?

Lu Yanhe: I searched everywhere but couldn't find a suitable one. If all else fails, I'll have to revise the script and do it myself.

Liu Teli: ?

Lu Yanhe: [Starry-eyed]

Liu Teli: I thought you wanted me to support your work.

Lu Yanhe: I do need your support for my work.

Liu Teli: You're not really going to act yourself if you can't find an actor in the end, are you?

Lu Yanhe: That's basically it, unless you're willing to act in it.

Liu Teli: If I act in "Home Alone", will I get a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor?

Lu Yanhe: Uh, probably not.

Liu Teli: You can't even fool me?

Lu Yanhe: Home Alone isn't a film that can win awards, but it's a film that can captivate the audience. If you're willing to act in it, then it's a film that can captivate a large audience.

Liu Teli: So that's where your deception came from.

Lu Yanhe's invitation to Liu Teli was purely on a whim.

Because he remembered how shameless Chen Hengyi was when he asked him for a favor.

If you want to invite your favorite actors, you should visit them three times.

Lu Yanhe: Teacher Liu, this movie will definitely become a representative work in your acting career, so this is not a lie.

Liu Teli: Let me think about it some more.

Lu Yanhe's eyes lit up instantly.

He immediately called Chen Yin and asked Chen Yin to bring the director to visit Liu Teli again.

Let's press on and take it down in one fell swoop!

-

Three days later, good news came: Liu Teli was willing to act, but hoped to receive a salary of six million.

Lu Yanhe agreed without hesitation.

For Liu Teli's net worth, this salary is not high at all.

Lu Yanhe even offered a box office bonus, saying that if "Home Alone" grossed over 100 million yuan, he would give Liu Teli an additional 5 million yuan in film remuneration.

That shows a great deal of sincerity.

Liu Teli was shocked.

If the box office exceeds 100 million, Liu Teli will receive an additional 5 million yuan bonus?

"Isn't this too high a price?" It wasn't that Chen Yin was unwilling to pay this much, but "Home Alone" was a series. If the first one was paid so much, how would they manage the later ones?

Lu Yanhe said, "Teacher Liu Teli is the only star in 'Home Alone,' and he's the one who can carry the box office. Furthermore, since it's a series, how can we get Liu Teli to continue starring in the sequels? If 'Home Alone' grosses over 100 million yuan, with this production cost, it will be a huge profit. The key is to lay a good foundation for cooperation."

Actors who have reached a certain level generally have a certain mindset.

"I don't want to owe you anything."

Given Lu Yanhe's great sincerity and courtesy shown in the very first part, Liu Teli, with his personality, certainly wouldn't want to owe Lu Yanhe anything.

The chances of him continuing in the sequel are much higher.

Lu Yanhe said to Chen Yin, "If we find another actor to replace Teacher Liu, then that's fine. But look at how long we've been looking, and we still can't find one. What else is there to say? We have to keep him firmly tied to our ship."

Chen Yin thought to himself, "You're the boss, you're in charge."

Lu Yanhe knew that Chen Yin still felt it was unnecessary to give so much.

However, he was very clear about one thing.

First, Home Alone will be a very profitable movie, and a series of movies.

Secondly, Liu Teli is the only star in the film and a film actor recognized by the market.

Before the movie became a real hit, Liu Teli was the one who carried the film.

Third, there's no need to be stingy. Liu Teli took a huge risk by acting in this film—Lu Yanhe knew it would be a success, but in reality, aside from Lu Yanhe being the screenwriter, the project didn't seem to have any marketability. Lu Yanhe was willing to give Liu Teli this bonus on top of the market price to show everyone that he was definitely not someone who only thought about making money for himself and was unwilling to share profits with others.

Lu Yanhe will always remember how he missed out on Baoqiang in the original version of "Lost in Thailand," and how he fell like a shooting star, embarking on a journey of no return.

Then, another piece of good news arrived.

"The Sea, My Pah!" has finally wrapped up filming after many setbacks and reshoots.

This low-budget film, solely funded by Linghe and unrelated to Lu Yanhe, has officially announced its stage of success.

Lu Yanhe happily shared the news on his Weibo account.

Someone commented in the comments section: I don't know any of the characters in this movie, how can it sell at the box office?

Lu Yanhe replied: Who knows? It wasn't really aimed at box office success; it was just to gain experience for my next film.

The person replied: "Using a movie to gain experience? That's way too expensive for gaining experience points. What movie is worth using another movie to gain experience points?"

Lu Yanhe: Of course, it's the movie I wrote the screenplay for.

Linghe originally wanted to create a trending topic about the director of "The Sea, My Pah" directing Lu Yanhe's next film, but before that could be done, the hashtag #LuYanheProlificLikeASow# had already entered the top ten of the trending topics list through natural popularity.

When Lu Yanhe saw this trending topic, he was speechless and choked with emotion.

(End of this chapter)