Chapter 709 Lu Yanhe's Methods of Action (4400 words updated, second update)

Playing the role of an Asian ghost again, Lu Yanhe was basically in the zone from the start. Moreover, because he had been away from the role for a while, the slight sense of unfamiliarity he had created a subtle connection with the "ten years later" setting in the film.

On his first day on set, Lu Yanhe greeted everyone in the crew, many of whom were old acquaintances.

Wang Biao also brought in a truckload of snack gift packs endorsed by Lu Yanhe. Instead of distributing them to each person individually, he placed them in the coffee corner of the photography studio for everyone to take themselves.

We entered a large, partitioned room where the film crew had arranged long, rectangular tables in a U-shape.

There are many brand-name items displayed on it.

Lu Yanhe found his place in the center.

Everyone should read the script here first.

He arrived neither too early nor too late; some people had already arrived.

Wang Jiaqi is chatting with Jason Porter.

The former leaned on the table with one hand with ease and naturalness, her body curves gracefully, effortlessly exuding her feminine charm.

Jason Porter is a former athlete with a fit physique, but surprisingly, he has a certain air of professionalism.

As soon as Lu Yanhe appeared, Wang Jiaqi, who had once dined with him, waved enthusiastically.

"Hey, Yanhe!"

Lu Yanhe smiled at her and walked over.

"Long time no see." He greeted Wang Jiaqi, then looked at Jason Porter, "You're Jason, right?"

“Yes, hi!” Jason Porter stared wide-eyed with excitement, as if he had seen a long-admired idol.

Lu Yanhe asked, "I know you used to be a diver. Are you familiar with Chinese divers?"

“I’m friends with Song Shiliang and Che Nan,” Jason Porter said.

Song Shiliang and Che Nan are both athletes on the Chinese diving team.

Lu Yanhe: "Next time you come to China and have dinner with them, could you invite me along? I'd like to get to know them too."

Jason Porter nodded without hesitation.

While we were talking, Murken Sorge arrived, followed by the screenwriter, assistant director, producer...

Everyone greeted each other and exchanged pleasantries.

When people greeted Lu Yanhe, they mostly congratulated him on winning the Best Actor award at the Situ Film Festival.

Jason Porter looked annoyed when he heard everyone congratulating him.

Because he did not offer his congratulations.

Wang Jiaqi glanced at him and smiled gently.

-

The appointed time arrived, but neither Ryan Waters nor Erin Wallace showed up.

Lu Yanhe raised an eyebrow.

D19's producer, Sin Na-lin, immediately sent someone to invite them over.

Muken gave Lu Yanhe a helpless look that said, "See?"

Previously, Murken Sorge had hinted to Lu Yanhe that getting the actors for this film wouldn't be easy.

Lu Yanhe didn't say anything else. He took out his laptop from his bag, put on his headphones, and suddenly started typing in front of everyone.

Those around were stunned by what they saw.

He typed for ten minutes, but Ryan Waters and Erin Wallace still hadn't shown up.

Seeing this, Xin Nalin got up and went herself.

Lu Yanhe continued typing without any distraction.

He wasn't actually writing a new work, but rather revising a script he had already written.

In this environment, he can only pretend to be sophisticated; he can't truly focus on creating without distractions.

Then, ten minutes later, Ryan Waters finally appeared, accompanied by Sinnerlin.

Lu Yanhe thought he would apologize first, but to his surprise, as soon as he arrived at the scene, he looked around and immediately shrugged, "So not everyone has arrived yet."

After he said that, no one said anything.

Lu Yanhe was surprised, and even found it somewhat amusing.

What's wrong?

Since not everyone has arrived yet, does that mean your lateness doesn't count as "lateness"?

Lu Yanhe raised an eyebrow slightly.

Ryan Waters walked along, greeting people he knew as he went.

"Muken, you've gotten so fat! Have you stopped exercising lately?"

"Your Majesty, you are still so beautiful."

...

His demeanor exuded a playboy-like relaxedness.

Then, until he sat down, he didn't mention once that he was late.

About five minutes later, Eileen Wallace finally arrived.

She greeted everyone warmly.

"I'm so sorry, everyone, for keeping you waiting. Something came up that I need to deal with urgently."

Erin Wallace wore super short denim shorts, revealing a pair of long, straight legs without an ounce of excess fat.

Her appearance immediately drew everyone's attention.

Lu Yanhe glanced at it a few times and then put it back.

Xin Nalin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then we can begin, our sequel to *The Mist*—"

"Excuse me for interrupting." Lu Yanhe suddenly raised his hand.

Everyone present was stunned.

Wang Biao, who was sitting behind Lu Yanhe, was startled, thinking that Lu Yanhe was going to say something about Ryan Waters and Eileen Wallace being late.

However, Lu Yanhe just smiled and said in a gentle tone, "I was revising the script and started a live stream. I'll turn it off for a bit."

That one sentence left everyone present completely bewildered.

"Live broadcast?" Ryan Waters looked over in surprise.

Xin Nalin looked at Lu Yanhe, at a loss for what to do.

Lu Yanhe smiled, "Don't be nervous, I've muted my microphone. The live stream will only show me, so—"

His gaze lingered on Ryan Waters and Eileen Wallace for a second each before he continued, "They can't see you, they can't hear you, and of course, they won't know what's going on here. Relax, I'm not going to secretly broadcast your footage without your knowledge."

The tense atmosphere immediately eased.

Ryan Waters and Eileen Wallace, however, did not look so good at this moment. They no longer had the relaxed feeling they had when they came in, as if nothing had happened.

Lu Yanhe closed his laptop and tapped his fingers on the table.

“The start time has already been delayed by half an hour, so let’s get started quickly,” Lu Yanhe said. “I can’t work overtime today, so I have to leave when it’s time.”

He gave a helpless, apologetic, and kind smile.

-

"Brother Lu, you really startled me. I thought you were going to lose your temper right there."

After the first script reading session, Wang Biao said, following behind Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe: "How could I be such an impatient person?"

“In that environment, everyone had the same idea,” Wang Biao said. “When you interrupted Xin Nalin, I saw that Director Mu Ken’s expression changed.”

Lu Yanhe: "That means he doesn't understand me well enough either."

"However, when you said you were doing a live stream, everyone's expressions were priceless." Wang Biao looked completely amused. "They were all stunned."

“It doesn’t seem right to express my dissatisfaction directly when they’re late for the first time; it would make me seem like I’m being petty. But the attitude they had when they arrived was just too much for me to bear.” Lu Yanhe sighed. “Although I’m supposed to cultivate my character, I can’t really do it, so I’ll just let it go. Why should I cultivate my character for them, for the people who make me angry? That’s not cultivating my character; it’s making myself sick.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Biao beamed with joy.

-

Lu Yanhe is not someone to be trifled with; he has a short temper.

This is the personal image that was established as a "show of force" even before the sequel to "The Mist" officially started filming.

Lu Yanhe didn't care whether his image was bad or not.

On set, he and Muken were probably the only two people who dared to express their dissatisfaction with Ryan Waters and Erin Wallace in this way.

As a director, Muken cannot easily have a direct conflict with his actors, and he cannot express his dissatisfaction with someone being late from the outset.

Therefore, in reality, the only one capable of doing this is Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe's seniority and status in Hollywood may not be as deep or as high as those of Ryan Waters and Erin Wallace, who are genuine actors who have made their way in Hollywood.

However, Lu Yanhe is the core character of this movie, the protagonist, and not someone they dare to mess with easily.

Lu Yanhe's roots are indeed not in Hollywood, but the thing is, he's popular in the US too. Not only does he have the support of the Asian community, but he also gave Edward a push during awards season. Not everyone has that kind of ability.

Moreover, as a screenwriter, he collaborated with Parameter and Midoriya, and upon arriving in the United States, the CEO of D19 personally dined with him.

All signs made Ryan Waters and Eileen Wallace hesitant to underestimate Lu Yanhe.

After this incident, neither of them reacted at the time, nor did they make any move afterward.

This means they actually tolerated it.

Otherwise, if they were dissatisfied, they would definitely pass on their message to Lu Yanhe through the production team or his agent.

-

The second script reading was held the following day.

This time, no one was late.

The entire script reading session was highly efficient.

Putting aside the issue of being late, Ryan Worst and Erin Wallace truly deserve their Oscar nominations. Although they haven't officially started acting yet, Lu Yanhe could sense their professionalism just from their lines at the script reading session.

This time, after the script reading session ended, Xin Nalin called out to Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised, wondering why Xin Nalin had asked him to stop.

The costume designer who had a falling out with Lu Yanhe during the first collaboration was Xin Nalin's boyfriend.

Although Xin Nalin ultimately chose to fire the costume designer, it's hard to say that she didn't harbor resentment and anger towards Lu Yanhe.

Anyway, Lu Yanhe and she had already collaborated on a movie, and they basically didn't interact much and rarely had private contact.

Even though she was a producer sent by D19 and held considerable power.

Lu Yanhe doesn't need to please her.

She didn't need to please Lu Yanhe.

As long as both sides can work together peacefully, that's fine.

Lu Yanhe looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Xin Nalin said, "Lu, I think I have to apologize to you about what happened yesterday."

Lu Yanhe glanced at Xin Nalin with some surprise.

To be honest, this was beyond his expectations.

"Um?"

Shin Na-lin: "Yesterday, Rien and Eileen were late, and we didn't call them over in time, making you wait for thirty minutes. As the producer, I feel very sorry."

"They weren't late today, that's good."

Shin Na-lin said, "If this happens again, I will try to coordinate and communicate with them."

“You already coordinated and communicated with them yesterday.” Lu Yanhe nodded. “I hope my unintentional mistake didn’t cause anyone to overthink it.”

“Of course not.” Cinna Lin immediately shook her head.

"That's good." Lu Yanhe said, "If there's nothing else, I'll go back and rest first. I need to start filming soon and I need some time alone to organize my thoughts."

“Okay.” Xin Nalin nodded immediately. “See you tomorrow.”

Lu Yanhe nodded goodbye to her and left.

-

Wang Biao asked, "Brother Lu, was it just my imagination? Or was she not actually apologizing sincerely?"

Lu Yanhe smiled and shook his head. "She's reminding me that she's the producer, and that if I interfere in some things, I'm undermining her authority."

"You're sick," Wang Biao cursed without hesitation.

Lu Yanhe: "Everyone has their own sense of territory."

“But she didn’t fulfill her responsibilities and affected others.” Wang Biao rolled his eyes. “She’s really something. Before anyone else has even said anything, she’s already whining.”

Lu Yanhe: "It's nothing."

-

domestic.

The editorial department of "Jump Up".

People from Jiangyin Publishing House came over today, and we talked to them about the publishing plans for the next quarter.

Now, Jump Up magazine releases an average of four to five individual books by authors every month, including novels and short story collections.

Thanks to the continuous exposure of "Jump Up" and the authors' popularity and readership built up over a long period of promotion on the "Jump Up" media platform, the standalone books released by "Jump Up" never have to worry about low sales or not being able to sell.

It's rare to see a new literary book enter the national bestseller list every month.

After finishing their business, Xu Xiaoyin talked to everyone about the situation in the publishing industry, saying that a prudent person had previously approached their publishing house, wanting to acquire it.

Chen Siqi was somewhat surprised when she heard this.

"Has Shi Jin set his sights on you again?"

"Yes, thankfully, we declined and did not agree to the acquisition."

Because it essentially monopolized the "Jump Up" book list and published the "Jump Up" magazine, Jiangyin Publishing House's performance in recent years has been unusually high, showing positive growth year after year, in this era of declining print media. Therefore, it is not under any financial pressure for the time being.

Chen Siqi said, "Shi Jin is currently acquiring companies and organizations related to the cultural and entertainment industry everywhere."

“Yes,” Xu Xiaoyin said. “After we refused, we heard that they approached Kunlun Publishing House again.”

"Isn't that the publishing house that published Yu Jiang's novels before? They've collaborated a lot."

“Yes.” Xu Xiaoyin nodded. “However, Yu Jiang’s focus has now shifted to the film and television industry, and he hasn’t published a novel in a long time.”

Chen Siqi: "It seems that her company, Love Like a God Film and Television, has released a few productions over the years, right?"

"Yes," Xu Xiaoyin nodded, "and they're working on a new web series now."

"She really knows how to cause trouble."

Has your relationship with her improved at all?

Chen Siqi shook her head directly and denied it, "No, I've basically had no contact with her, except for occasionally cursing her on Weibo."

Xu Xiaoyin smiled.

“She’s discovered the secret to generating buzz. Every time she argues with you, she’ll trend on social media with you,” Xu Xiaoyin said. “And once she’s trending, her books will sell more, and her films and TV shows will get some exposure too.”

"So, this kind of person is very cunning, so it's best to avoid dealing with her. Just scold her a few times, and let her try to ride the wave of popularity if she wants to. Anyway, over the years, everyone has become clearer about what kind of person she really is. She thought she was gaining popularity, but she didn't realize that she had also exposed her true nature."

Chen Siqi: "I'm more concerned about Shijin's acquisition of Kunlun Publishing House. If that's true, it means they're going to make some big moves in the publishing industry."

She realized it instantly.

"Won't they try to poach our authors?"

-

I recommend the older entertainment novel "I Became the Scandalous Female Lead Overnight" and the new fantasy novel "The Demon-Slaying Sword".

(End of this chapter)