Chapter 319 Showing Goodwill and Sincerity
No one is perfect.
When people know each other for a long time, conflicts are inevitable, especially when both sides are confident and unwilling to back down.
But in reality, how many conflicts are truly irreconcilable?
When Lu Yanhe and Wang Chong sat at the same table, neither of them mentioned the unspoken animosity between them.
Regardless, Lu Yanhe is a junior, and also a junior who has benefited from Wang Zhong's film.
At the dinner table, he acted like a "junior".
Lu Yanhe took the initiative to toast Director Wang Zhong with a glass of wine.
Wang Chong agreed.
Lu Yanhe said, "The director looks like he's been working really hard lately."
Wang nodded and said, "For me, the promotional period for a movie is the most arduous."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
Some things seem to have simply been put on hold.
"Once bitten, twice shy. I must be more careful when choosing partners in the future," Wang Zhong said.
Lu Yanhe nodded.
He knew that Wang Chong was referring to Sanhe.
Wang Zhong suddenly remembered the movie Lu Yanhe was currently filming.
"How was your film 'Late Spring'? I heard it was directed by a young man who returned from France."
“Hmm.” Lu Yanhe nodded and smiled. “He’s a very meticulous person, but working with him is a very different experience.”
Wang Zhong asked, "When will you finish filming this movie? If I have time, I'd like to go and take a look."
"Filming is expected to continue until the end of April or the beginning of May."
“That’s fine. After ‘Three Mountains’ is released and I’ve finished my promotional tour, I’ll go visit the set,” Wang Zhong said to Lu Yanhe.
This was Wang Zhong's way of showing goodwill to Lu Yanhe; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to visit the set.
Lu Yanhe smiled and said okay.
Wang Zhong then asked, "I heard that you are writing your own movie scripts. Although I have written few scripts, I have read a lot. If you need my help, you can let me know."
Is this another gesture of goodwill?
Lu Yanhe realized that although Wang Zhong was already a well-established director of considerable age, he was different from other people.
Once Director Wang Zhong realizes that he has wronged others, he will try to make amends.
Lu Yanhe felt a mix of amusement and exasperation, but he still nodded.
"I have indeed written a few scripts. I'll send them to you later, and you can take a look at them."
Wang nodded.
Seeing that the two of them seemed to be making up, Chen Ling and Chen Ziyan both breathed a sigh of relief.
From Chen Ling's perspective, he naturally hoped that Wang Zhong could maintain a good relationship with a rising star like Lu Yanhe.
From Chen Ziyan's perspective, she naturally hoped that Lu Yanhe could continue to collaborate with Wang Zhong. A newly crowned Best Director at the Cité International Film Festival, Wang Zhong's future works would undoubtedly be frequent guests at top film festivals. Lu Yanhe's path as an actor wasn't about being unable to bypass Wang Zhong, but rather, given the opportunity to work alongside him, why should they part ways over such a trivial matter?
The scene of Wang Zhong having dinner with Lu Yanhe was captured by paparazzi who were following them.
The paparazzi were quite disappointed because they didn't capture any more juicy scenes.
However, every little bit captured is a good thing.
So the paparazzi still managed to sell the photos.
News of Lu Yanhe having dinner with Wang Chong was posted online. People are quite interested in Lu Yanhe's latest activities, as he hasn't been in the news for a long time.
"It seems that Director Wang Zhong's previous angry rebuttal to netizens did not affect his mood."
"How could what netizens say affect his mood? He's already won Best Director at the Citium Film Festival, why would he care about us?"
"Wasn't Wang Zhong being sarcastic and sarcastic towards everyone before? How come he's suddenly having dinner with Lu Yanhe again?"
"That's right, anyway, our Xiao Lu can't carry the box office."
...
Lu Yanhe hadn't expected that so many people would have opinions about Director Wang Zhong online.
It seems that Director Wang Zhong's previous outburst at netizens left a very bad impression on everyone.
From an outsider's perspective, Lu Yanhe also felt that the netizens' anger was not without reason.
This incident also served as a reminder to Lu Yanhe: never assume that you are creating a work that many people cannot understand.
It's not about making your work popular or accessible to the general public, but about avoiding creating a sense of superiority.
Director Wang Zhong's use of this discriminatory sense of superiority to incite public outrage is precisely what made many people feel this way.
In fact, based on Lu Yanhe's understanding of Director Wang Zhong, he did not mean that.
That's all that's being said.
It has to be said that Director Wang Zhong was furious with Sanhe's publicity methods, and then he saw some comments on the internet, which ignited his anger.
-
The reputation of "Three Mountains" was in a precarious state before its release.
When Chen Jiang and his group were interviewed by reporters, they were asked for their opinion on director Wang Zhong's angry rebuttal to netizens.
None of them had experience giving interviews, and they didn't know what to say. They stammered and avoided eye contact, which made them seem guilty.
People's perception was more negative.
This situation was completely beyond Sanhe's expectations.
A perfectly good movie that was supposed to be a critical success was showing signs of its reputation collapsing before its release.
However, because of the unpleasantness with Wang Zhong in the early stages, no matter what Sanhe says or does, he cannot get Wang Zhong to compromise any further.
Wang Zhong simply followed the previously scheduled promotional schedule, introducing the film's production process and related content to everyone.
Wang Zhong clearly refused to cooperate, and Sanhe couldn't do anything about it.
With no other option, Sanhe could only try to change the reputation of "Three Mountains" by using Lu Yanhe.
They intensified their efforts to promote Lu Yanhe's superb acting skills in "Three Mountains".
The way they were doing it was a bit like when Beijing and Taiwan were promoting "Friends"—that promotional video that was taken down after being ridiculed by the public after being broadcast four times.
After discussing it with Chen Ziyan, Lu Yanhe decided that Chen Ziyan would speak out through her own account: "After ruining Director Wang's mentality, he's now trying to elevate Yanhe to a pedestal, haha."
Chen Ziyan is Lu Yanhe's agent, and many people know her social media accounts.
Her statement immediately sparked confusion and speculation among many people.
What's going on?
Someone asked in the comments section what Chen Ziyan meant.
Chen Ziyan replied: "Yan He only appeared for ten minutes in 'Three Mountains,' it was a cameo. His acting skills were indeed praised by many people, but it wasn't to this extent. The director was a bit angry at the time and even argued with netizens because the publicity team he's currently working with is willing to say anything for the sake of early hype and box office, which infuriated him. Now that the publicity team sees that the director is disliked by everyone, they want to use Yan He to salvage the film's audience reputation. I strongly objected to this, but they insisted on their own way, so I can only make it clear first, so as not to deceive everyone, Yan He is not the lead actor in this film!"
Chen Ziyan's statement was almost a direct accusation against the publicity team of "Three Mountains".
In this digital age, you can find almost any information online, let alone the promotional materials for a movie.
There's a lot of information conveyed in those words.
However, after attracting everyone's attention, Chen Ziyan stopped responding.
At this point, Chen Ziyan felt it was inappropriate to say anything more.
When it comes to life and work, we should not only look at the present, but also at the future.
Chen Ziyan didn't want to leave other partners with the impression that she was "aggressive" or "unwilling to stop".
All we need to do is let everyone know that Lu Yanhe and Director Wang were both scammed by this publicity company called Sanhe.
-
Chen Ling has been holding his breath for a while now.
If it weren't for the fact that Sanhe itself was the largest investor in "Three Mountains", he would have wanted to shut them down and find a different publicity and distribution company long ago.
They only show Wang Zhong respect openly or covertly because they are the biggest investor and promoter.
Chen Ling has worked with Wang Zhong for many years and has dealt with many film companies, but this is the first company to go to such lengths as Sanhe and completely disregard Wang Zhong's ideas.
Chen Ziyan suddenly launched an attack and quickly explained what Director Wang Zhong had said before, which gave Chen Ling a great sense of satisfaction.
Chen Ling said to Wang Zhong, "Chen Ziyan still has the same temper as before. If you really piss her off, she won't play the game of swallowing her anger with you."
Wang Zhong smiled and said, "Ziyan has always been like this. She's decisive and straightforward. When we approached her to ask if Lu Yanhe could make a cameo appearance, she agreed immediately without asking any questions. By the way, remember to take some money from my share and transfer it to them. They've helped us so much, and Sanhe and the others refused to give them a bonus. We can't treat them unfairly."
"Okay, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on it. Let's wait a bit, no rush, let's wait until the movie is released," Chen Ling said. "Let's see how it performs at the box office. If it does well and can get over 50 million, we'll add a little more and give it to you then."
Wang Zhong: "They're not short of money, the key is our attitude. We shouldn't let them feel disheartened."
“I understand, but they just spoke up for us online. If we send money now, it will seem like we’re colluding with them.” Chen Ling patted Wang Zhong on the shoulder. “Leave these things to me. We’ve been partners for so long, trust me, I’ll handle it perfectly. Just focus on the filming, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
Wang nodded and smiled.
"Thanks to you for always being there for me."
"What can I do? I just love your movies." Chen Ling smiled. "What are you planning to film next? Any ideas?"
"After 'Three Mountains' is released and the promotional tour is over, I will go home and rest for a while before considering it again."
"Mm." Chen Ling nodded.
Wang Zhong added, "Those kids from Chenjiang are caught between us and Sanhe, they're probably having a hard time. Please take good care of them in the future."
"Don't worry, we have to take care of the people from our show," Chen Ling said. "The three of them know what's going on, but they don't have the confidence to break ties with Sanhe like Lu Yanhe does. They know exactly what's going on."
-
On the set of "Late Spring", Lu Yanhe, Kong Fan, Yan Lingyu and a few others sat on the ground by the playground.
Liu Bige was talking about something else with the others; they were waiting for their turn to act.
He Qingqing inquired about the matter that was causing such a stir online.
Lu Yanhe explained briefly: "Actually, the production of 'Three Mountains' encountered a rather unethical publicity company. The publicity tactics they used made my agent very angry, and of course, I was also very angry."
He Qingqing looked incredulous and said, "Director Wang Zhong won Best Director at the Xituer Film Festival, and it's you again. How can they do this?"
“I used to think, like you, that someone of Director Wang Zhong’s stature wouldn’t encounter this kind of thing again. But after working on many film crews, I’ve found that’s not the case at all,” Lu Yanhe said. “The reason Sanhe can disregard Director Wang Zhong’s thoughts is because they are also the biggest investor in this film. He won Best Director at the Xituer Film Festival, which gives him status and honor, but it doesn’t mean much to a company like Sanhe. They’re clearly just after making money. If Director Wang Zhong’s last film had grossed over a billion yuan, Sanhe probably wouldn’t have this attitude.”
Upon hearing this, He Qingqing's face showed resentment.
“That’s going too far,” she said.
Lu Yanhe smiled.
Yan Lingyu asked, "But why would they push you out without consulting you?"
“Ultimately, it’s because they don’t care,” Lu Yanhe said. “I’m a popular star, but I’m not so popular that they’re afraid to mess with me. If I’m willing to cooperate with them, they’ll treat me better. If I’m not willing, they won’t care. They treat me as a tool and use me to the fullest extent.”
“If even you can encounter something like this, won’t we encounter even more in the future?” He Qingqing said with a pessimistic expression.
Lu Yanhe laughed and said, "Don't be so pessimistic. Under normal circumstances, everyone will still follow the rules of this industry and do things according to the normal rules, otherwise it would have been in chaos long ago. It's just that sometimes you will inevitably encounter this situation."
Kong Fan immediately said, "I think you've encountered this quite a few times, once in 'Friends' and again in 'Three Mountains'."
Lu Yanhe: "I was just unlucky with 'Friends,' but actually I didn't suffer any losses. On the contrary, I learned a lot. So when I encountered the Sanhe incident this time, I was quite calm and didn't think it was a big deal. Putting aside these two dramas, I've actually been quite lucky. The first drama was 'The Golden Era,' and the second was 'Phoenix Terrace,' both with good directors and good teams. I basically didn't encounter any disgusting things like this."
Kong Fan said with some envy, "I also want to act in their plays."
He Qingqing laughed twice and said, "Who wouldn't want to act?"
Lu Yanhe joked, "Don't worry, maybe you'll become famous overnight once the movie 'Late Spring' is released."
Wang Jing, who had been mostly silent, whispered, "But didn't the director say that this movie wouldn't do very well at the box office?"
Lu Yanhe said, "A low box office doesn't mean the film won't be successful. 'Three Mountains' certainly won't have a high box office either, but look, this film has already given Chen Jiang, Sui Fangran, and Wang Lu representative works, and many people in the entertainment industry recognize them. 'Late Spring' is the same. Based on my experience on set, I think this film might actually receive a good response. Many people judge a film's success or failure by its box office performance. In fact, films like 'Three Mountains' and 'Late Spring' weren't initially aimed at box office success. 'Three Mountains' had already made a profit through the sale of its copyrights at the Xituer Film Festival; the domestic theatrical box office was only a small part of it."
The others looked enlightened after hearing what Lu Yanhe said.
At this moment, Liu Bige came over and said, "We're about to film the next scene. Go run a couple of laps and work up a sweat."
Lu Yanhe and the others nodded and, following Liu Bige's instructions, started running around the playground.
This scene isn't a physical education class... They're a group of students who came for tutoring, so it's not like they need to have a physical education class.
It was simply because they offended the teacher and were punished, which led to this whole scene.
Kong Fan ran in front, with Lu Yanhe following behind.
Having not run in a long time, Lu Yanhe was soon out of breath and could no longer run.
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(End of this chapter)
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