Chapter 364 focuses on self-confidence.
Li Zhibai has recently encountered problems with several projects, which have been put on hold.
For example, due to script issues, the start of filming for "The Divine Picture" seems to be a long way off.
Another show had a regular guest who had already signed a contract, but the show was canceled because the producer was reported and got into trouble, and was about to be arrested.
Just when things were going really well, things started to go downhill.
Even Zhou Ping'an was wondering if Li Zhibai was having a run of bad luck lately and wasn't suitable for assigning work.
Of course, despite his lingering doubts, Zhou Ping'an still assigned him no shortage of work.
Nonsense, Li Zhibai is incredibly popular right now. This year he has a hit fantasy drama and a variety show like "Idol Era" that keeps him in the spotlight. In the first half of the year, he was ranked number one on the idol rankings, and he was the No. 1 in commercial value, endorsed by hundreds of brands. Under these circumstances, Zhou Ping'an would never let Li Zhibai rest.
Li Zhibai himself didn't think about taking a break.
He doesn't really have much ambition, but he still enjoys working as an artist.
That day, he accepted a job as a guest on a talent show.
First, I need to perform on stage; second, I need to act as a flight judge and exercise the right of a "special revival".
The show is called "Star Style".
The production team also treated him with great respect.
The program was not filmed in Yuming, but the food, clothing, accommodation and transportation were arranged to a very high standard.
Once someone becomes famous, they don't even need to make any requests; someone will arrange everything perfectly for them.
Li Zhibai has enjoyed the treatment of being famous for many years, but his recent surge in popularity has given him a different feeling.
He said in the group chat: I'm recording a show outside today and I'm not going back. If any of you are going back, could you pick up a package for me?
Lu Yanhe: OK, send it to me, I'm here.
Lu Yanhe asked again: What program are you recording?
Li Zhibai: "Star Fan" is a talent show, just like the ones we had back then.
Lu Yanhe: Oh~
Yan Liang: This program.
Li Zhibai: Did you know? They also contacted you.
Yan Liang: I did look into it. I'll be a guest on one of the later episodes, but that's not what I want to talk about.
Li Zhibai: What do you want to say?
Yan Liang: Wasn't the video of Li Xiaobin that went viral on stage during our graduation party, where he performed "Green Apple Paradise"? He also participated in this talent show.
Lu Yanhe: Is he the one who wore his father's suit and his mother burst into tears when she saw it?
Yan Liang: Yes.
Yan Liang: When the news came out that he was going to participate in the show, it caused some discussion. Didn't you see it?
Both Li Zhibai and Lu Yanhe said no.
A while later, Yan Liang sent over a screenshot.
It's a screenshot of the results from his search for "Li Xiaobin".
The above are some of the questions raised about Li Xiaobin's participation in the program.
Was that video he made just a publicity stunt?
—Do you want to debut as a star as soon as you see that you're becoming a little popular?
Why would he participate in this kind of talent show? Does he have any talent?
— I'm starting to doubt the authenticity of that video.
...
Li Zhibai couldn't help but frown.
It can be said that these voices all carried a degree of malice.
As an artist, he is also very familiar with this kind of malicious voice.
However, due to their job, they have no choice but to face such voices all the time, and after facing them so many times, they don't feel so bad anymore.
But Li Xiaobin is just a college student. He has never been an artist before and is not a public figure. Suddenly facing such overwhelming accusations and doubts, he must have gone through a dark period.
Li Zhibai also searched for Li Xiaobin.
The show hasn't aired yet, but the news about Li Xiaobin online is that he participated in "Star Style".
Indeed, many people's attitudes toward this matter are not very positive. This is mainly because the timing is too coincidental. Not long ago, Li Xiaobin's video went viral online, and he became famous as a result. Then, news of his participation in a talent show immediately followed, making people question his motives.
Indeed, there are many such people in reality. Hype and self-promotion have become rampant in recent years.
Li Zhi's 100 Questions: Do you think this is a publicity stunt?
Lu Yanhe said: It doesn't seem like it. I just searched for him online, and several of his classmates spoke up for him on his school's forum. Besides, he doesn't have any management company, and his family situation is all true. He doesn't have the ability to create hype.
Li Zhibai: That's the truth.
Li Zhibai: What if he happens to be among the eliminated contestants? I went to record this show today, and there's a "special revival right." If I revive him, the internet will probably be in an uproar.
Yan Liang: That would definitely cause a huge uproar.
Li Zhibai: If this really happens, do you think I should exercise this right? They have some connections with us, and if I use it, it will seem like I'm showing favoritism.
Yan Liang: Why do you care so much? Just do what you want. Whoever you think deserves to be resurrected, then resurrect them.
Lu Yanhe: I second that.
Li Zhibai: Tsk, you make it sound so easy.
-
Li Xiaobin wasn't very happy after participating in the talent show "Star Style".
Because of the production team's requirements, their phones were confiscated once the show started, making it impossible for them to contact the outside world.
He was unaware of the extent of the online discussion surrounding his participation in the program. Therefore, he genuinely did not experience the "dark period" that Li Zhibai spoke of.
However, participating in a program with so many people, he also received some controversy because of his previous viral videos.
Including those who compete together.
Li Xiaobin himself had heard others talking about him.
The examiners responsible for training and testing them always bring up that video first when they talk about him. Compared to most ordinary people, he has inherent popularity and publicity potential, which naturally means he receives some special treatment.
Although not everyone has participated in competitions, it's like how every class has one or two students who receive special attention from the homeroom teacher when they're in school—those students are either so outstanding that no one can be jealous of them, or they are ostracized by others to some extent.
Li Xiaobin could also vaguely sense the rejection he received from others.
Especially when forming teams, almost no one wants to team up with him.
-
“Li Xiaobin’s situation is indeed quite special.”
When the staff member in charge of receiving Li Zhibai heard Li Zhibai ask him about him, he looked complicated and said, "Well, most of the people who come to participate in this program have not officially debuted, but they have all had trainee experience and have received training in various aspects. Li Xiaobin has none of that. He was selected for this program purely because of the popularity brought by his previous video."
"Isn't this a singing competition?"
"Yes, but 'Idol Era' was too popular. Although we were doing a singing talent show, we couldn't help but lean towards the idol aspect." The staff member said, "Li Xiaobin's overall strength is not very good. Apart from singing, he has zero dance experience. Since forming a team basically requires stage performances, everyone naturally didn't want to team up with him and didn't want to be dragged down."
Li Zhibai suddenly realized what was going on.
It wasn't just simple exclusion; there were other reasons as well.
-
Lu Yanhe picked up the package for Li Zhibai, put it on the table, and then hurriedly left.
Director Wang Zhong suddenly contacted him and asked to meet.
Recently, director Wang Zhong has been preparing for "Rouge," and I've been in contact with him quite a bit, often exchanging messages on our phones.
Lu Yanhe thought it was a problem with the script.
Upon meeting, Wang Zhong said, "Yan He, we can only ask you to save the day now."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was stunned, looking at Wang Zhong helplessly, not understanding what he meant.
Wang Zhong said, "We searched everywhere for the male lead of 'Rouge' but couldn't find anyone. Either they were unsuitable or they refused to act. I discussed it with Bige, and if all else failed, we had no choice but to ask you to play the role."
Lu Yanhe was completely dumbfounded.
"Director, you're not kidding me, are you? Is this appropriate?"
Wang Zhong said, "What do you think about making your makeup look more mature?"
Lu Yanhe didn't dare to respond at all.
He hadn't even considered that possibility.
Wang Zhong said, "Otherwise, we will have to postpone this film. If we can't find suitable actors, filming it will just be a makeshift project."
Lu Yanhe lowered his head in silence, pondering the question.
Wang Zhong: "Actually, in the script, Twelfth Master is not a very old person. Your script does not highlight the characteristic that the two are of similar age. In the old days, it was normal for women in brothels to be older than men who had just entered the brothel."
Lu Yanhe said, "Director, do you think that when I stand next to Sister Bige, we have that feeling of being in love?"
Wang Zhong's expression also became serious.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll find out when you two are together,” Wang Zhong said. “But I’ve always felt that you and Twelfth Master have similar temperaments. At first, I just thought that the age difference between you and Chen Bige was a bit too big, which would cause this problem. My first choice would naturally be to find a male actor who is about the same age as Chen Bige, but I can’t find one now, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Lu Yanhe scratched his head. "How about this, Director? Let's not make a decision yet. Bi Ge and I will put on our character makeup and costumes and shoot a test scene to see how it goes. What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhong agreed.
-
Then, Xin Zixing found out about it.
Xin Zixing was incredibly resourceful; less than two hours later, she called Lu Yanhe to ask if such a thing had happened.
Lu Yanhe said yes.
He couldn't even be bothered to ask Xin Zixing how she knew.
Xin Zixing immediately said, "How about this, Yan He, why don't we turn it into a project we're working on? You're doing a makeup test to see how it goes, so why don't we make a short film about you and Chen Bige with the theme of the Republic of China era?"
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback. "Sister Zixing, our look needs to be kept secret."
“What I mean is, you shouldn’t use the characters’ appearances from the movie for test shoots, but use this instead,” Xin Zixing said. “It will achieve the same effect as you want, and you will also receive feedback from the audience about you and Chen Bige playing lovers. What do you think? You won’t get any feedback from the audience even if you test shoot privately.”
Lu Yanhe was enlightened by Xin Zixing's reminder.
Yes, his biggest concern when collaborating with Chen Bige was whether the audience would accept their pairing.
The test shoot was just for them to get a feel for it, but if they could directly use the Republican era as a theme and have him and Chen Bige film a short film where they play lovers, they could first see how well the audience would accept it.
Lu Yanhe thought Xin Zixing's idea was pretty good.
"I'll go talk to the director and Sister Bige and see if they're willing."
“Okay,” Xin Zixing said. “If there’s anything I can do, just let me know and I’ll contact brands that are willing to sponsor it. I’ll definitely make it into a high-quality short film that won’t lower your standards.”
"good."
After hanging up the phone, Lu Yanhe contacted Wang Zhong and Chen Bige. To his surprise, both of them were quite positive and supportive.
“That’s fine too.” Even Wang Zhong said so. “How about this, I’ll write the script for this short film and I’ll also direct it.”
“Okay.” Lu Yanhe was naturally happy to agree.
So what was originally a test shoot turned into a project for Leaf Vein Network.
Xin Zixing contacted several brands.
Upon learning that the short film starred Lu Yanhe and Chen Bige, many brands flocked to it.
The TV series "The Seventeenth Floor" is currently airing, but the male and female leads have never actually appeared together.
Everyone knew that their first collaboration after "The Seventeenth Floor" would garner a lot of attention, especially since it was Xin Zixing at the helm—the woman who launched "City Travelogue" and has quite a reputation in the industry.
-
Li Zhibai never expected that he would run into Chen Ziliang again during the recording of this program.
Chen Ziliang is also one of today's flight judges.
Of course, Chen Ziliang is no match for him now.
In every aspect, Li Zhibai is now far ahead of Chen Ziliang.
Chen Ziliang himself was also annoyed.
The movie "Nineteen Years of Crime Records" has finished filming. It was a big opportunity that I worked very hard to get, but now it's all a mess.
Chen Ziliang didn't even watch the sample footage. He felt hopeless just from the scenes shot on set and dared not have any hope for the movie anymore.
That's rubbish.
He's trying every possible way to stay in the public eye in order to maintain his popularity.
In the past, the production team would spend a lot of money to get him to participate in shows like "Star Style," but now he is the one who is lowering his fee to fight for the opportunity.
He needs exposure; otherwise, he will gradually fade into obscurity and be forgotten.
Fortunately, there's a second season of Friends.
Chen Ziliang now has high hopes for this drama.
Whether he can turn things around and return to the top seems to depend on this film.
How could he be in a good mood if he encountered Li Zhibai under such circumstances?
Although Li Zhibai is more famous than him now, he is at least a bit older, so he doesn't need to be overly respectful to Li Zhibai.
Even if you asked him to do it, he couldn't.
The two met in the corridor, but neither of them took the initiative to greet each other. They glanced at each other silently, then pretended not to have seen anything and passed by.
-
Chen Ziliang went into the break room, and soon his director came over to go over the script with him.
After explaining the standard procedures, his director suddenly glanced at the other people in the room and said, "Ziliang, I have something else to say to you. Why don't you ask your assistants to leave for a bit?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Ziliang was surprised, but he still nodded and told his assistants to leave first.
The director in charge smiled and said, "Ziliang, there are two people in today's competition that I would like to ask you to take good care of."
Chen Ziliang was taken aback.
"Um?"
-
"Take care of me?" Li Zhibai's expression changed, and his gaze instantly sharpened. "What do you mean?"
The director sitting opposite Li Zhibai was taken aback when he saw the look in Li Zhibai's eyes.
"Yes, Zhibai, it's like this, both of these contestants are players we signed, and everyone still hopes that they can advance."
Li Zhibai frowned deeply and said, "If you want them to advance, then let them perform better than others. Are you giving them preferential treatment?"
"No, it's not..."
"This is out of the question. You don't need to talk to me about it. I will not agree to it," Li Zhibai said firmly.
Seeing Li Zhibai's attitude, the director in charge of him opened his mouth, but ultimately did not say anything more.
He left Li Zhibai's dressing room to find the show's producer.
“Li Zhibai refused very firmly,” he said somewhat uneasily.
He was afraid that the producer would take his anger out on him since he hadn't handled the matter well.
To everyone's surprise, the producer nodded as if he had already anticipated this outcome.
"Given his temperament, it's normal for him to refuse."
"You don't mind?"
"How could I possibly mind? I'm not going to kick him out, am I?" the producer said dismissively. "We practically begged him to come to our show."
The director in charge thought to himself: Then why did you make me go through all that trouble to ask him?
At this moment, Chen Ziliang's director arrived.
"There shouldn't be any problems with Chen Ziliang, right?" the producer asked.
"They nodded very readily," the other person said with a smile.
The producer laughed too.
-
At 11 p.m., Lu Yanhe finished reading his book and saw that Li Zhibai had sent no less than ten messages in the group complaining about the show "Star Fan".
Lu Yanhe only realized after reading it that there were "royal family members" in "Star Fan" who were being protected. Coincidentally, it was because of one of these "royal family members" that Li Xiaobin, who had no background, was eliminated.
Before recording the show, Li Zhibai was wondering whether he should refrain from using his "revival right" to avoid suspicion if Li Xiaobin was eliminated. However, the key issue was that the "royal family" who advanced was not even in the same league as Li Xiaobin in terms of performance quality. Despite this, they were both promoted by a group of judges who were "pretending to be blind," which made Li Zhibai extremely angry.
He couldn't say anything yet.
What can I say?
With so many people in the entire production team, they've basically all been bribed. Is he going to jump out now and bring up the matter of the production team asking him to "guarantee" two people?
Li Zhibai was impulsive, but he wasn't a newcomer who dared to say anything out loud. In the entertainment industry, these kinds of things happened far too often. If Li Zhibai knew something and leaked it all, he would be blacklisted by everyone immediately. Zhou Ping'an didn't need to nag him; he understood this himself.
However, it wouldn't be in Li Zhibai's character to just stand by and watch Li Xiaobin get eliminated.
Therefore, when he finally used his power of resurrection, he resurrected Li Xiaobin without hesitation.
-
"I estimate that when this episode of my show airs, it will attract a lot of attacks from people." Li Zhibai is also quite self-aware, "After all, I didn't avoid suspicion."
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Haven't you had enough people attacking you? Are you afraid of being attacked? As long as you exercise your resurrection power with a clear conscience, let others say what they want."
“That’s right, Yan He is right. Everyone in the country knows about your temper,” Yan Liang said. “According to what you said, that royal’s performance was terrible, but he still advanced. He should be the one who gets criticized.”
Li Zhibai sighed, "Thinking back now, the environment when we participated in the talent show was much fairer than it is now. At least back then, we were just ordinary people without any signed companies, unlike now, where you can count on one hand the number of people like Li Xiaobin who don't have a company backing them up."
Lu Yanhe said, "Those who are meant to stand out will always do so. The entertainment industry has never been a place where artists can gain audience favor through capital games. Audiences either like it or they don't; that's the greatest fairness."
“You’re right.” Li Zhibai picked up his glass. “Let’s clink glasses.”
The three of them chatted and laughed as they ate skewers and drank.
The summer night breeze is gentle, still like a heatwave, but it has eased the heat a bit, making it less unbearable than the daytime.
Li Zhi asked Lu Yanhe, "You'll be joining the production soon, right?"
"Okay." Lu Yanhe nodded. "I'll be joining the crew in two weeks."
"I don't even know what my next project will be," Li Zhibai said, pursing his lips. "The state of 'The Divine Map' makes it seem like it's about to be scrapped."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanhe asked, "Didn't Zhou Ping'an help you find other roles?"
“He’s being selective. He has high standards now. Unless it’s a top-tier production, he won’t accept any roles that aren’t for the lead male character,” Li Zhibai said. “He would rather I take on more commercial performances and record some shows.”
Lu Yanhe: "His approach was correct."
"Um."
Yan Liang: "Actually, I wanted to ask for your opinions. I have two scripts here, but I'm not sure which one to choose."
"Hmm?" Li Zhibai was somewhat surprised. "Did you just receive this notebook?"
"Hmm." Yan Liang nodded. "Actually, I'd really like to act in both scripts. One is a big production, and I'm offered the second male lead role. The female lead is supposed to be Xu Yiren. It's a period detective comedy. The other is a smaller production, a workplace drama with a banking background, but I'm the male lead. Both scripts are very good, and I like both roles. I can't decide which one is better. If I could, I'd like to act in both, but unfortunately, the filming schedules for the two dramas clash, so I can only choose one. If it were you, which one would you choose?"
Without hesitation, Li Zhibai said, "Since you like both scripts, of course you should choose the one with the lead role. The role in the bank script is definitely more important. The period detective script might get you a lot more young female fans. It should be more of a period romance drama, right?"
“Yes.” Yan Liang nodded. “Zhou Ping’an was also worried that the workplace drama with a banking background would lean too much towards serious drama, and that it would focus on the career line. Although the script was good, it might be critically acclaimed but not commercially successful.”
Li Zhibai immediately said, "What are you afraid of? It's good at the box office but not at the box office. Anyway, you have 'Friends' in your hands, so you don't lack exposure at all. Why not take advantage of the sequel to 'Friends' to film some movies that will really let the industry see your strength as an actor?"
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "I also think Li Zhibai makes sense. I agree with him."
He added, "Furthermore, I have another great script that I want you to act in. I don't think popularity or buzz should be the key criteria for you when choosing a role."
Is it the movie you mentioned?
"No, it's the fantasy drama series I mentioned to you before, a true fantasy drama series, not a fantasy romance drama," Lu Yanhe said.
Li Zhibai looked as if he had just realized something.
Yan Liang couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "Yan He, this is really too much! Just how many scripts do you have in the works?"
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "There are many, many more, which is why I dare to say that you should just choose the roles you truly like and act in them. Don't worry about whether a role is critically acclaimed but not commercially successful. The scripts I've prepared for you here are guaranteed to be commercially successful."
"Wow, quite extravagant," Li Zhibai raised an eyebrow. "Now you're really not being polite or humble at all, are you?"
Lu Yanhe lowered his head and smiled faintly.
"The main focus is on self-confidence."
-
Five days later, Wang Zhong produced the script for the short film.
Upon reading Lu Yanhe's script, one can immediately sense the strong influence of Wang Zhong's style.
The story is simple: set in the Republican era, a young man secretly falls in love with the woman next door. Her husband has died in battle, leaving her a widow. Her husband's superior—a ruthless warlord—forces her to marry him as a concubine. In a moment of impulsiveness, the young man elopes with her one night. The woman follows him, spending the night in an old temple, listening to his stories of his unrequited love for her. He tells them until he leans against the wall and falls into a deep sleep. Before dawn, the woman rises, drapes her cloak over the young man, and returns alone to marry the warlord.
There isn't much of a story; it's all about the atmosphere and the mood.
But Lu Yanhe was immediately drawn into the story after reading it.
A story without cause or effect: one night, a young man, to prevent his beloved from being forced to marry a cruel warlord, impulsively elopes with her.
The woman fulfilled the young man's wish, but only considered it a dream. When the dream ended, she still had to go back.
A night of dew, a night of dreams.
No one can abandon everything and leave without a care.
(End of this chapter)
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