Chapter 718 Lu Yanhe, who can discuss the Dao (9600 words)

Lu Yanhe looked completely bewildered.

what is going on?

"Didn't I say that I'm awesome now and nobody will bother me?"

He asked Chen Ziyan.

Chen Ziyan was also at a loss for words. After hesitating for a long time, she finally uttered two words.

"Little devils are hard to deal with."

Lu Yanhe asked, "So, what's going on now? Even though he explained, people online are saying I'm unhappy that my senior brother is the lead actor and I'm the second lead, and that I'm also unhappy that my senior brother's salary is higher than mine, so I'm deliberately not cooperating with the promotion of 'Burning Fire.' Longyan is the victim, and I—"

Chen Ziyan: "You don't need to worry about Yongzhou. He will clarify this matter during the upcoming roadshow. I have also made arrangements on my side."

Lu Yanhe asked curiously, "Sister Ziyan, what have you arranged?"

Chen Ziyan said, "Now that Zhang Yang has stepped down, things are much easier. We've been saving face by not doing anything to maintain appearances and harmony, but that's no longer necessary."

Lu Yanhe was somewhat puzzled.

He soon learned about Chen Ziyan's arrangements.

An unnamed staff member from Longyan revealed to the media that the deterioration of Lu Yanhe's relationship with Longyan occurred during the promotion of the Jose Film Festival. During a media interview, Lu Yanhe was asked about other works (actually, the questions were compared to *Burning Fire*, not just unrelated questions). Longyan's publicity team was dissatisfied with his answer, believing he shouldn't have mentioned other films during the promotional schedule for *Burning Fire*. Lu Yanhe became angry. Frankly, the Jose Film Festival schedule wasn't part of the contract, and Lu Yanhe's participation didn't require Longyan to pay for his trip. Moreover, the Jose Film Festival provided some promotional resources because of his participation. Longyan shouldn't have complained about Lu Yanhe over such a small matter.

Once this matter was mentioned, the blame immediately fell on Zhang Yang.

Wasn't that Zhang Yang who went to the Jose Film Festival to promote "Burning Fire"?

Longyan has reported on it, and there are even photos.

Subsequently, netizens followed the clues and found the interview. They also discovered that after that interview, Lu Yanhe did not appear in the promotional activities for "Burning Fire" again until this release. Lu Yanhe attended the premiere, cooperated with overseas promotion, forwarded Weibo posts, recorded interview programs, etc., and it seemed that there was no problem with Longyan and he was still doing promotion.

After that, Lu Yanhe never showed up again.

Some people say that Lu Yanhe is clearly angry, so he only completes the promotional schedule stipulated in the contract and refuses to participate in any other events.

Some industry insiders also said: Zhang Yang from Longyan must have lost his mind. So much time has passed since the incident, and Lu Yanhe's side has not mentioned Jose's matter at all, maintaining a superficial harmony and not making any response. Instead, he jumped out and stirred up trouble. Now look what happened.

The box office performance of "Burning Fire" was not significantly affected and remained within the normal range.

Later, during a roadshow, Shang Yongzhou answered this question when a reporter asked him about the dispute over billing order.

"There will be no dispute over billing order between Yan He and me. If there is, it will be me asking him to choose the top billing and him asking me to choose the top billing. Neither of us wants to be the top billing." Shang Yongzhou explained to Lu Yanhe very firmly. "I think it would be very unprofessional for any media to think that Lu Yanhe is someone who cares about billing order. Is billing order important for an actor like him?"

Immediately, someone else asked a question.

"Is it true that Yan He is not participating in the roadshow for 'Burning Fire' because of a suspected conflict with Longyan?"

The host immediately interrupted.

However, at this moment, director Wanrenhai raised the microphone.

“We are not involved and cannot answer, but is there a problem with Yan He not being able to participate in the roadshow?” Wanrenhai said, “The rest of us are not dead, so only Yan He can do the roadshow. He has been filming all year and will soon join another film crew. He is one of the best actors I know to work with and who can best protect a film. After working with him on ‘Burning Fire,’ I have a deep feeling that my first reaction to whatever he does is that he must have his reasons, and I fully support him.”

Shang Yongzhou and Wanrenhai's responses caused an uproar on social media.

At the same time, the official Weibo account of "Burning Fire" began to be criticized by many of Lu Yanhe's fans for "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs".

The most terrifying thing happened: Lu Yanhe's fans did the opposite and made the hashtag #LuYanhe'sFireBurningSoldAtTheBoxOfficeSuccessfully# trend on social media.

Unsuspecting members of the public clicked in and, upon seeing the article, felt sorry for Lu Yanhe.

—Without Lu Yanhe joining the project, would they have dared to invest such a large production budget in "Burning Fire"?

—Isn't the fact that "Burning Fire" was able to be released in nine places at the same time because Lu Yanhe's international box office performance in recent years has attracted the interest of international film distributors?

—The overseas promotion mainly focuses on Lu Yanhe. It's not that I dislike Shang Yongzhou, but to be honest, Shang Yongzhou's popularity overseas is really not high. Moreover, his audience is mainly for art films. Saying that Lu Yanhe can carry the overseas box office is an exaggeration. You really don't understand Lu Yanhe's box office appeal after "The Mist", especially his appeal to the Asian community.

—If you're so capable, then Longyan should stop promoting Lu Yanhe and stop using him as a publicity stunt.

—Lu Yanhe has really been quite dignified, not saying anything until now. His conflict with Longyan Propaganda was just a trigger. There's a lot more you don't know. Longyan operates on typical businessman logic. They know Lu Yanhe is a good person, so they keep pressing him, thinking he'll definitely back down. Now they realize they've shot themselves in the foot, and Lu Yanhe is no longer willing to give in.

Suddenly, after "Burning Fire" reached 2.4 billion yuan at the box office, the decline in box office revenue exceeded expectations, like a floodgate being opened.

-

People should always put their eggs in multiple baskets.

In the past few days, no matter how Longyan tried to find Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan through various means, Lu Yanhe simply did not respond or pay any attention.

The box office of "Burning Fire" was being affected by negative public opinion, and its already slow-moving box office showed signs of prematurely losing momentum. The level of trouble that Longyan felt at this moment was beyond their imagination.

The current box office performance of "Burning Fire" is secondary; the key issue is that it's a series, a trilogy, with two more parts to come, yet Lu Yanhe's contract hasn't been finalized yet.

The person in charge of this contract became Lu Yanhe's executive agent, Wang Biao.

This person, however, was completely unyielding; no matter how much public relations effort they put in, he refused to divulge a single word.

They neither said they would sign nor said they would sign; they just left it hanging, without initiating negotiations.

This caused Longyan great distress.

Unfortunately, Lu Yanhe is about to join the cast of another film in Longyan, "Dingfeng No. 1".

Wang Biao kept saying—

"Yan He is currently focused on preparing for the new play and has no time to consider participating in the subsequent filming of 'Burning Fire'. Everything will be discussed after the filming of 'Dingfeng No. 1' is completed."

Mrs. Huang was furious with this young man.

-

Before becoming Lu Yanhe's assistant, Wang Biao was someone who tried to support himself by becoming an online streamer.

Lu Yanhe's first interaction with him was when he was very familiar with him, holding up his phone and bumping into him, and then he became a "guest" in his live broadcast room.

Lu Yanhe had no doubt about Wang Biao's ability to argue and make trouble for people.

People in Longyan had no chance to meet Lu Yanhe until he joined the cast of "Dingfeng No. 1". Because it was a production of their own company, they finally had a chance.

Of course, although there are several of them, in reality, there is only one key person, and that is Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang looked embarrassed.

Lu Yanhe nodded to them and said, "I had my agent tell you that I don't want to talk about 'Burning Fire' until 'Dingfeng No. 1' is finished filming."

"Mr. Lu, I'm here to apologize to you," Zhang Yang said.

Lu Yanhe raised his eyebrows slightly, the movement so subtle it was almost imperceptible.

Zhang Yang solemnly stated, "Because of my misstatement, I caused a great deal of negative public opinion, which had a significant impact on the box office of 'Burning Fire' and also negatively affected your image. I am deeply sorry."

Lu Yanhe looked at him noncommittally.

Seeing this, Zhang Yang continued, "I also feel very guilty and hope I can do something to make up for it."

Lu Yanhe gently shook his head.

“Mr. Zhang, throughout the entire collaboration with Longyan, I was only an actor. Therefore, I was only fulfilling my duties as an actor,” he said. “The role of publicity in the film is actually irrelevant to me, and you don’t need to apologize to me.”

Zhang Yang forced a smile and continued, "President Lu, we—"

“Mr. Zhang, as I said, I’m an actor, not some kind of manager.” Lu Yanhe interrupted directly, glancing at the people around Zhang Yang, and said with a slight smile, “When you go back to apologize to Mr. Huang and the others, I suggest you don’t make such a big fuss. Now I need to go discuss the script with the director. Goodbye.”

-

“Longyan is a very large company. Zhang Yang is an old hand who has been with General Manager Huang and Mrs. Huang since the early days. He has a long history in Longyan, especially in charge of the company’s publicity and public relations. He is a powerful figure. He doesn’t deal with you directly, but he became the fuse for your anger towards Longyan. General Manager Huang and Mrs. Huang may not necessarily pursue him for this matter. Of course, now that he has apologized, it must be because there was a lot of pressure on him from within Longyan.”

Chen Ziyan analyzed it for a while.

“You actually grasped one point very well. If he sincerely came to apologize to you, he shouldn’t have brought others with him. It’s just a gesture, a gesture he’s showing to the people of Longyan. He apologized, he took action, and you see, he insists it was a misunderstanding and doesn’t admit that he was targeting you, so he doesn’t leave any potential problems for himself.”

Lu Yanhe: "Over time, I became the one who wouldn't let go of a misunderstanding?"

“That’s not the point. The point is that you’ve made it clear to Longyan that you want to cooperate in the future,” Chen Ziyan said. “Longyan is also certain that you have a mutually beneficial relationship with them. In China, there are only a handful of companies that can produce a big-budget film like ‘Burning Fire.’ You’ve gained the upper hand now because of the sequel contract, and they’re under your control. But if you want to make ‘Windbreaker No. 1’ and cooperate with Liu Bige, okay, Longyan is someone you can’t bypass.”

“You’re right,” Lu Yanhe said. “They know I’m deliberately not lowering my stance. I also know in my heart that I won’t give up the ‘Burning Fire’ series. Both sides are aware of certain bottom lines. So, above those bottom lines, our current game is more like going through the motions.”

Chen Ziyan: "They may be using all of your actions as leverage in negotiations for the sequel movie contract, and that's the key point."

Lu Yanhe: "It's hard for 'Burning Fire' to break 3 billion yuan at the box office now, but the box office of more than 2 billion yuan has already exceeded expectations. It's obviously a big profit. In addition, with the overseas box office performance of 'Burning Fire', they probably think that I really want to ask for a higher salary than my senior brother, so they used the dispute over the order of billing to warn me?"

“Perhaps,” Chen Ziyan said. “However, if they think we can still accept the same conditions as the first movie for the sequel, then they are being too confident. We have inadvertently made them realize your importance to the ‘Burning Fire’ series through this incident.”

Lu Yanhe said, "Actually, the reason why 'Burning Fire' is not doing well at the box office is not necessarily entirely due to this incident. Such special effects blockbusters often reach a turning point in box office performance, which is when they experience an avalanche-like decline."

“The problem is that no one dares to say that,” Chen Ziyan said. “Especially, you are undoubtedly the number one selling point of ‘Burning Fire’ at the overseas box office. The film distributors bought the film because of you. Now, with a box office of more than 30 million US dollars, plus the several markets that have not yet been released, it may directly break the overseas box office record of Chinese films in the past five years, exceeding 50 million US dollars. This is also a major source of income for Longyan.”

Lu Yanhe asked, "Sister Ziyan, what price are you planning to quote me for the sequel to 'Burning Fire'?"

Chen Ziyan said, "My salary is one million less than Shang Yongzhou's, but I get to enjoy 10% of the overseas revenue."

Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Ziyan in surprise.

10%?

Isn't this a bit of an exaggeration?

He received a salary of 12 million yuan for his first film, and now that the box office has exceeded 2 billion yuan, according to the contract, Longyan needs to pay Lu Yanhe an additional 5 million yuan as a bonus. However, Lu Yanhe did not receive any profit share.

Shang Yongzhou received 20 million for his role in the first film.

In the sequel, Shang Yongzhou's salary is unlikely to decrease; it will only be higher than 20 million.

Now, that means Lu Yanhe's salary is very likely to be over 20 million, plus a 10% share of overseas revenue—

“You’re worth the price,” Chen Ziyan said. “Without you, the overseas box office of the movie ‘Burning Fire’ would be reduced by a zero. I dare to say this to their faces, even if I slam my fist on the table, and they wouldn’t dare to argue.”

Lu Yanhe was thinking about his salary in Hollywood.

“Think about it, your salary in Hollywood has already reached the level of five million US dollars. If you star in a movie like the sequel to ‘The Mist,’ it will even approach ten million US dollars. Even if Longyan pays you an even higher salary, you are worth it.”

Currently, Lu Yanhe is delaying in commenting on the sequel's contract. In Long Yan's eyes, this may not necessarily be due to his dissatisfaction with Long Yan's previous actions, but rather his dissatisfaction with the contract terms, and he is waiting for Long Yan to make a new offer.

If that's the case, then Zhang Yang's apologetic gesture becomes understandable.

For Longyan, a film with box office numbers like "Burning Fire" would generate around one billion yuan in revenue. Even after accounting for costs, it would still be a huge profit.

In particular, once this series is developed as an IP, there is a huge gold mine waiting to be mined, from merchandise to licensing.

From Longyan's perspective, were Lu Yanhe's series of actions merely for Zhang Yang's sake?

impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

"Alright, let them learn a lesson: their mistakes will have to be paid for with the highest price. Only when their hearts bleed will they learn their lesson and dare not do such underhanded things again."

Chen Ziyan said, "Let's keep them hanging on. Anyway, they're the ones who're anxious, not us."

-

"Are you alright?" Liu Bige asked Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe nodded.

"There's nothing wrong with it."

Liu Bige sighed.

"Longyan handled this matter very poorly."

They believed that what could sway Lu Yanhe was core interests, so they didn't care at all how Lu Yanhe would react to their attitude.

Lu Yanhe shook his head.

"fine."

Fortunately, although "Dingfeng No. 1" was a film invested and produced by Longyan, the crew was Liu Bige's crew.

Lu Yanhe was familiar with most of them.

During this period, Lu Yanhe was working on the script while dealing with the "Burning Fire" project, and he often felt like the CPU in his brain was about to burn out.

There are too many things to think about every day.

However, it seems that every time he films a movie, the things he experiences in real life and the changes in his emotions seem to reflect the characters he plays and the plot, giving his performance a divine boost.

Because, coincidentally, this is also the state of his character in the movie.

The environment he faced, the matters he dealt with, and the interpersonal relationships around him were all complex and intertwined. He remained calm and composed, yet he was under immense pressure, almost constantly under intense anxiety, without letting anyone see it.

In contrast, Teacher Wen Shengming seems much more normal.

He moved in and out of the film set with ease, just like clocking in for work, greeting everyone gently. He was not at all pretentious, nor did he exude any sense of pressure.

Lu Yanhe could clearly see that Wen Shengming's oppressive aura was selective!

Seeing this, he gritted his teeth even more.

day.

Knowing that Wen Shengming's provocations would help his performance, Lu Yanhe now allows his emotions to be stimulated by Wen Shengming.

This feeling is actually quite strange. Even though he knows that Wen Shengming is doing it on purpose, he not only "enjoys it" but also has a rebellious mentality of "if you're so capable, then go even further."

However, this was merely a "war" between him and Wen Shengming.

Apart from Liu Bige, no one else in the crew actually noticed.

The cast of "Dingfeng No. 1" is quite large.

This film can be described as an ensemble piece.

Similarly, it's easy to imagine that the cast of a drama starring Lu Yanhe and Wen Shengming, and directed by Liu Bige, would be incredibly attractive to many well-known actors, even for roles with only two lines of screen time.

This significance is similar to that of the actors who participated in the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Journey to the West".

You weren't the main character; you were just a minor role. But the play became a classic, and so did your character.

People may not know you, but if they hear that you acted in this movie, they will think more highly of you.

If "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Journey to the West" are classics that have stood the test of time, then "Dingfeng No. 1" is a classic that was predetermined by others.

This time, Longyan put a lot of its own "connections" into the film.

These are all actors who have long-term cooperative relationships with Longyan.

Of course, the "connections" who managed to get into "Dingfeng No. 1" were different from the connections sent in by the coal bosses.

At least from these names, there's nothing wrong with Lu Yanhe; they're all good actors with talent.

-

It's not necessarily a good thing if a film crew consists entirely of well-known actors, especially for the crew members themselves.

Even if an actor adopts a humble and approachable attitude, like Lu Yanhe, there are still barriers between them and the ordinary staff.

It's impossible for everyone to move Lu Yanhe's scenes to the morning or evening just because he's easy to talk to, leaving him to wait for several hours in between.

It's impossible for anyone to simply ignore Wen Shengming's case just because he's a big shot who's easy to deal with.

Their presence means more work for the production crew. The more well-known actors like them there are, the greater the workload for the production crew.

To give just one example, film crews arrange transportation even more frequently.

When a well-known actor comes to act, even if it's just for a few scenes, they still need to be given the treatment they deserve. You can't expect them to take a shuttle bus and get on the set with a bunch of staff at the same time.

For Lu Yanhe, filming a movie often means meeting many new people.

In his line of work, the circle is often quite closed off.

Even though you're meeting new people, they're also part of the same social circle. You just keep going around in circles within that circle.

However, Lu Yanhe is in a slightly better position.

He has many identities and knows many people from different circles.

As a popular celebrity, no matter how many people you know, you can't really have a normal, everyday social life.

In recent years, or rather, almost since graduating from university, he has never made a truly close friend.

There's really nothing we can do about it.

Fortunately, he had a group of high school classmates, including Li Zhibai, Yan Liang, and Chen Ziyan.

He has no shortage of true friends.

This is the most fortunate thing.

But that's also where the problem lies—

Lu Yanhe didn't know if it was because of the influence of this role that he subconsciously became wary and guarded towards everyone, or if his own personality had changed and he gradually lost interest and enthusiasm for getting to know new people.

Facing a new film crew and meeting new people, Lu Yanhe is currently not very enthusiastic.

Feeling listless.

-

The script reading session will last for four days.

Except for the first meeting, when Lu Yanhe tried his best to get into a good mood and greet everyone, after that, he felt like his emotions were being pulled down by a lead weight.

Miao Yue, as the screenwriter, also participated in the script reading session.

Even though they were his college classmates, he became less talkative. During breaks, he would mostly sit alone, not looking at the script, but checking his phone and listening to music with his headphones on.

Everyone seemed to be in sync, and no one bothered him.

People who come to greet him usually do so before or after the script reading session begins. Otherwise, during the long process, Lu Yanhe is almost completely absorbed in his own world.

He soon realized that he was probably influenced by this character.

This character is inherently a "lone wolf," and becomes even more "isolated" because he has to monitor the deputy stationmaster.

The more he learned about the script and the character, the more he was subtly influenced.

The intelligence station may seem like just an office, but no one who works there knows if there's a hidden agenda beneath the surface.

Everyone knows secrets specific to their job, which are forbidden by work regulations. To avoid suspicion, they rarely interact with each other, or if they do, they do so discreetly.

On the surface, they are polite to each other, but in reality, they are wary of each other.

When a person is in an environment where there is absolutely no one they can trust, they will become a different person.

Or rather, it means losing a lot of "human things".

For example, outward emotions, such as pleasant emotions.

-

One morning, when Lu Yanhe was washing his face, he was startled by his reflection in the mirror. His eyes had completely changed; they were devoid of any youthful vigor and instead appeared as still as stagnant water.

how so?

Shouldn't this be normal?

He wasn't playing an "old fox"; he was playing a young man. He was just playing a rather aloof, solitary, and introverted young man. How could he have such a "world-weary and unperturbed" look in his eyes?

Lu Yanhe scooped up some cold water, splashed it on his face, and then rubbed his face.

A refreshing, invigorating sensation spread throughout my body.

I can't let myself continue to dwell on my previous emotions.

-

The spy film "Dingfeng No. 1" is very similar to "The Lives of Others".

In the end, Lu Yanhe, the "villain" who finally found the evidence, arrested and executed Wen Shengming, and was promoted, was torn by the events that happened during the surveillance process. He ultimately betrayed the intelligence station and chose to be an upright person and walk the right path.

However, this movie differs from "The Lives of Others" in that, at the end, the truth about the "Dingfeng No. 1" surveillance operation is revealed: Wen Shengming's "spy" identity was actually fabricated by the station chief as part of a political struggle to bring Wen Shengming down.

All the evidence against Wen Shengming as an "underground party member" was actually fabricated and framed by the station chief.

This was an "internal struggle within an intelligence station" that didn't involve any real "underground party" members.

The materials fabricated and framed by the station chief were false, but the stimulation, shock, and awakening they brought to Lu Yanhe were real. It showed how a young man gained spiritual awakening and redemption from "internal strife" and chose to embark on the right path.

-

“People awaken because of progress, and they progress because of awakening,” Miao Yue said. “Essentially, ‘Dingfeng No. 1’ is a mainstream film, but I wanted it to tell some things that past spy films hadn’t told. So, it was revised several times and finally became the current version.”

Lu Yanhe understood.

In typical spy films, especially those with a patriotic theme, there's always a hidden righteous hero among a group of villains, and then, good triumphs over evil.

"Dingfeng No. 1" builds on this foundation, using "political struggle" as a starting point to create a fictional image of a "righteous person." However, the very existence of this fictional image of a "righteous person" gradually molds a person who is initially numb and only wants to protect himself into a "righteous person."

In a sense, the essence of its story is about a person who sees a beam of light disguised as the sun in the darkness, and following that light, he actually walks towards the sun.

The irony of "disguise" and the purity of "chasing the light" create a stark contrast, making the irony even more ironic and the purity even more precious.

-

"So, you know exactly what you want. You're just repeatedly hiding what you want. This isn't the look of someone who hasn't awakened."

Lu Yanhe looked at himself in the mirror and said softly.

"You are cautious, even timid, creating an image that keeps strangers at bay, just to keep your distance from these people in the intelligence station."

“You haven’t experienced many things, and you don’t have the decisiveness to kill. Your heart is full of hesitation and unease. You are not unaware that the country is broken and the land is in ruins. You have just put yourself in a shell, blinded yourself, and do not see the suffering and hardship, do not see the land. You have no robes on your body, and you only seek to protect yourself in this world.”

"You monitor the deputy station chief and report his activities to the station chief on time. From the station chief, you also learn why the deputy station chief has so many strange behaviors. However, as you gradually learn more about the deputy station chief, a wavering begins to appear deep in your heart. You start to think about a question: Why is he doing this?"

...

Wang Biao suddenly felt nervous.

Because in the last two days, he has started to hear Lu Yanhe talking to himself.

Not once or twice, not just for a short while, but over and over again, as if hypnotizing myself.

Lu Yanhe had never prepared for a role in this way before.

Wang Biao had no choice but to tell Chen Ziyan about the situation immediately.

Chen Ziyan also arrived at the film set immediately. She didn't say anything else, only that she had come to check on things.

Lu Yanhe didn't say anything, did his own thing, and didn't hide anything.

Then, Chen Ziyan noticed that Lu Yanhe had started to consciously change his walking posture.

Lu Yanhe's walking posture has become less dashing.

He prepared a pair of glasses for himself and would wear them from time to time.

Liu Bige asked him if he wanted to wear glasses in the movie.

Lu Yanhe shook his head and said, "I just want to change my personal habits."

There are subtle differences in the eyes of people who wear glasses and those who don't.

Lu Yanhe is now a very photogenic and star-like person. His eyes are always bright and powerful. Even when he plays a character with dull eyes, he still has a cinematic feel to his performance.

He tried to eliminate his cinematic presence and become "just another face in the crowd."

At this moment, he was especially grateful to "Dingfeng No. 1" for giving them half a month to prepare, read the script, take history classes, and listen to the people invited by the crew talk about the social background and customs of that time.

Lu Yanhe had ample time to both transform himself physically and to refine his performance through understanding.

He would only check his phone for a short while after returning to the hotel each day to reply to messages; the rest of the time, he left his phone with Wang Biao.

Little by little, Lu Yanhe's changes were visible to the naked eye; he had almost become a different person.

His back is slightly hunched, he walks with a slight tilt to one side, and there are subtle changes in the angle of his eyes when he looks at people and in his micro-expressions.

Liu Bige said to Wen Shengming, "Teacher Wen, you see, this is why I was unwilling to discuss the specific character development with him from the very beginning."

Wen Shengming: "Do you think his current change seems a bit deliberate? The audience is too familiar with him. They are so familiar with his reactions that they are already 95% natural. But in the eyes of the audience, because he is different from before, only 70% of his naturalness remains."

While others marveled at Lu Yanhe's transformation of him, Wen Shengming was dissatisfied.

He always felt that it was unrealistic for an actor to completely transform into another person in terms of appearance and personal habits, especially a superstar, an actor that everyone knows. This would definitely break the audience's immersion in the story.

Liu Bige smiled and said, "Teacher Wen, you can believe me. He must have thought of all that you said. He has never been an emotional actor. His current state is just a step in his transformation process."

Wen Shengming: "We've gone in the wrong direction."

“Perhaps it’s not that we’re going in the wrong direction, but that we’re arriving at the same destination by different paths,” Liu Bige said softly.

Wen Shengming remained skeptical and continued to observe.

Then, the day arrived when the machine was turned on.

The first scene after filming began was not a major scene, but rather a scene depicting a large-scale coordination process.

It is a panoramic shot of the intelligence station in the movie.

The station manager and deputy station manager do not need to appear in this set of shots.

However, Wen Shengming still came to the scene.

He wasn't just there to watch; he was there to support the actors.

The deputy stationmaster was sitting in his office.

Lu Yanhe walked over.

His back was no longer hunched, his gait was no longer tilted, and he no longer wore glasses. At first glance, he had returned to the original Lu Yanhe.

However, upon closer inspection, although his back was no longer hunched and he walked with a slight tilt, the rhythm of his walk and the amplitude of his arm swings had changed, and his steps were no longer as firm and powerful.

At first glance, he was Lu Yanhe.

At first glance, he wasn't the same Lu Yanhe.

Everyone around could see that Lu Yanhe was different again, but this time they couldn't quite put their finger on what exactly was different about him.

They could only see that Lu Yanhe's changes occurred in subtle ways, making his body language appear as normal as possible, yet with a hint of "pretending to be normal" restraint.

Wen Shengming, however, understood.

Lu Yanhe first transformed himself into someone else entirely—even though he was too famous and too familiar to the audience, it was a forced imitation that could never be natural or ingrained. Then, he abandoned it all and returned to his body, Lu Yanhe. However, by this time, some things had already "remained" within him.

Lu Yanhe wanted this "residue" precisely because it was a "residue," which ironically became "naturalness that shouldn't be natural."

This "residual" element also creates a difference between him and the audience. At first glance, the audience feels that he is Lu Yanhe, but upon second glance, they feel that "there is something different about him," which serves as the starting point for establishing the difference between this character and Lu Yanhe.

The character thus presents a state where "the audience can identify with and believe in the non-Lu Yanhe".

—Lu Yanhe is not an emotional actor.

—Different paths, same destination.

As Wen Shengming suddenly realized, he understood that Liu Bige was right.

This left Wen Shengming feeling bewildered at that moment.

Does an actor, so young, not only have the ability to construct a character with reason and emotion, but also the capacity to objectively consider the interaction between the character and the actor himself, Lu Yanhe, and the resulting presentation?

Before this, no matter how talented Lu Yanhe was, how much he was praised, or how outstanding his performance in the movie was, to Wen Shengming:

—You're a Best Actor? I've named countless Best Actor winners.

For Wen Shengming, his level of understanding has reached the point where he believes that "it is not difficult for an actor to play a role well, but it is difficult to have a true understanding of the acting profession."

Only at this moment did he truly feel a sense of "being able to discuss philosophy" with Lu Yanhe on an equal footing.

(End of this chapter)