Chapter 675 Dealing with
"Some people in Beijing and Taiwan know about your relationship with Chen Pinhe, but Jiang Lan doesn't."
Chen Ziyan told Lu Yanhe, "Having Chen Pinhe star in the spin-off of 'The Seventeen Floors' is actually an effort by Beijing TV to continue the series' glory. After all, you and Chen Bige have both made it clear that you will no longer participate in the series after filming the third season."
Lu Yanhe: "The most disgusting thing is that I still have no way to tell Jiang Lan, no, we can't let Chen Pinhe act in this drama. I have to have a reason for doing this. In fact, I don't even have a reason. I can't tell her."
Chen Ziyan nodded and said, "However, I don't think this is a big deal. The cooperation between Beijing and Taiwan and Chen Pinhe is something we can't interfere with."
"It's disgusting. It would be fine if they were collaborating on other projects, but the problem is, they want to collaborate on a spin-off of 'The Seventeenth Floor'."
“Because the only thing that Beijing TV can really offer right now is the ‘17 Floors’ series. Although they still hold the rights to ‘Friends,’ the problem is that the two seasons they developed themselves received terrible reviews. Nobody believes they can develop ‘Friends’ series well, so they have no choice but to target ‘17 Floors’,” Chen Ziyan said. “In addition, several key figures from Beijing TV who worked on ‘Friends’ have left, but ‘17 Floors’ are still around.”
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"So we're just going to stand by and watch Chen Pinhe act in it?"
"To be honest, he can act in the spin-off of 'The Seventeenth Floor' if he wants to," Chen Ziyan said. "Nobody knows how this spin-off will be developed. Even if it reaches the level of 'The Seventeenth Floor,' so what?"
Lu Yanhe: "That's what they say."
“So, unless we want more people to know about your relationship with Chen Pinhe, for projects like the spin-off of ‘The Seventeen Floors,’ unless we try to stop him and snatch the project like we did with ‘Doomsday,’ we can’t just tell people directly that we hope they won’t cooperate with Chen Pinhe.” Chen Ziyan shook her head. “In fact, in China, if we say that to people, they might not even listen. Chen Pinhe’s fame, status, and even influence in China are all top-notch.”
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"Yes."
He had to admit it.
Chen Ziyan asked, "So, what do you plan to do?"
“I—” Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment, “I don’t know, it feels like no matter what I do, it’s not quite right.”
“Yes, I think so too.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “I don’t think this level of project is worth our time to get involved.”
Lu Yanhe said, "Let's leave it at that, let's pretend we don't know anything."
“Oh no, we can’t pretend we don’t know anything,” Chen Ziyan said. “Don’t forget what lousy things Jingtai has done. You’ve made it clear that you don’t plan to cooperate with Jingtai in the future. Who knows what they will do? It’s not impossible that they will step on you to promote Chen Pinhe. We need to negotiate the third season’s performance agreement with Jingtai. There are a lot of things we need to work on.”
Lu Yanhe nodded.
“There’s one more thing,” Chen Ziyan smiled slightly, “I don’t intend to let ‘The Seventeen Floors’ go so easily.”
"What do you mean?" Lu Yanhe asked.
Chen Ziyan said, "This is a drama starring Chen Pinhe. It's obviously an S+ level drama. If possible, I would like to send a few actors into it."
"ah?"
"How much money have you made for Beijing TV with your talent and strength? Why can't we use their projects to promote some of our actors?" Chen Ziyan said. "You were so generous and forgiving in acting in the third season, so they should reciprocate. Originally, they were going to announce this spin-off project later, and by the time you acted in the third season, it would be a done deal. We wouldn't have anything to exchange then. But they couldn't wait to announce the project at this time. It's not my style to not let me get a piece of the pie."
Lu Yanhe frowned and said, "But, Sister Ziyan, wouldn't this mean we're cooperating with Beijing and Taiwan again?"
“Yan He, Beijing TV is a top-tier station. With so many artists in our entire Shihuo group, it’s impossible for all of them not to cooperate with Beijing TV,” Chen Ziyan said. “Don’t be afraid to cooperate, but don’t suffer losses. If you don’t cooperate with them, it’s because they’ve cheated you before. But many of our newcomers haven’t become famous yet and need Beijing TV’s resources. In this kind of environment where there are more monks than porridge, I can’t let them all stop cooperating with Beijing TV.”
Lu Yanhe understood what Chen Ziyan meant.
Although he felt a little uncomfortable, he understood that Chen Ziyan was right.
Reasonable.
Chen Ziyan: "Besides, think about it. Even if you stop cooperating with Beijing TV later, how much money did you make for them before? Why should they benefit the most? We didn't lose out later. Also, think about the spin-off of 'The Seventeen Floors.' Chen Pinhe was indeed the lead actor, but how did Li Yuefeng handle the marketing? After 'The Seventeen Floors' aired, you were clearly the male lead, but with Li Yuefeng, it became a dual male lead role. In the end, because of his relationship with Beijing TV, he was the one nominated for Best Actor, not you. If you weren't so powerful, Li Yuefeng would have successfully stolen the show in 'The Seventeen Floors,' becoming the male lead who benefited the most from it. We can do the same to Chen Pinhe as they did to you."
Lu Yanhe suddenly understood, and his eyes lit up.
"You can do that?"
“Yes.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “So, don’t be afraid of any cooperation. Even if we do cooperate, it’s hard to say who will reap the biggest benefits. Chen Pinhe is already at the top. Others can only take advantage of him, not the other way around. In any case, he’s the one who’s disgusted.”
Lu Yanhe immediately perked up.
"That's fine."
-
The second season of "The Seventeen Floors" has seen its ratings steadily rise since its premiere.
Lu Yanhe didn't do much marketing or promotion for himself because it was really unnecessary.
Li Yuefeng, on the other hand, bought up all sorts of press releases at an alarming rate.
However, unlike the first season, this time his press releases did not openly or subtly criticize Lu Yanhe.
Li Yuefeng has a good relationship with Lu Yanhe, and the two are friends. During the promotion of the second season of "The Seventeenth Floor", Li Yuefeng mentioned many times that he and Lu Yanhe have a good relationship.
In the meantime, Lu Yanhe posted a Weibo post saying: Because I was preparing for the second season of "Friends", I didn't have time to participate in the promotion of the second season of "The Seventeen Floors". But it doesn't matter. As long as you have a friend who is willing to mention you wherever you go, you won't miss any promotion.
Below is a nine-grid image, each of which is a screenshot of Li Yuefeng mentioning Lu Yanhe in an interview.
Lu Yanhe posted this Weibo because he saw someone criticizing Li Yuefeng, saying that Lu Yanhe had never publicly stated what his relationship with Li Yuefeng was like, but Li Yuefeng had been showing off his good relationship with Lu Yanhe in various places.
Lu Yanhe felt that he and Li Yuefeng had a really good relationship now, so it was only right for him to stand up and maintain their friendship.
Needless to say, now that the show is in the promotional period, it's only natural for him, as the lead actor in the second season of "The Seventeenth Floor," to create some buzz to promote the show.
His Weibo post unsurprisingly became a trending topic.
However, at this time, a media outlet, from who knows where, learned that the male lead for the TV series "Rouge" was initially intended to be Li Yuefeng, but because Lu Yanhe was not satisfied, he was eventually replaced by Yang Shiyi, who was relatively unknown.
This suddenly made their previous "friendship" seem very fake.
-
"We didn't release this information, and we don't know who did."
Li Yuefeng's agent, Wu Bai, spoke to Chen Ziyan on the phone.
"Sister Ziyan, you should know that releasing this news is also detrimental to Li Yuefeng. It's not like we're the ones hyping this up."
Chen Ziyan: "I know, we don't think you're trying to create a stir. I'm calling you to discuss how to respond to this."
Wu Bai asked, "What are your thoughts?"
Chen Ziyan: "This matter is a fact, and it's not easy to deny it. But if we deny it based on the facts, it will not be good for Yuefeng. Although we all know that there is such a thing as a suitable or unsuitable role, it's not that an actor with high popularity and good acting skills can definitely get a certain role. But others will not understand it that way. Once we admit that the drama initially wanted to cast Yuefeng, but in the end changed to Yang Shiyi, a newcomer, the media will start writing that Li Yuefeng is not as good as a newcomer, and all kinds of smears and attacks will be launched."
“Yes.” Wu Bai sighed. “This is the media environment we have now, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Chen Ziyan said, "I was thinking, why don't we both communicate and acknowledge that we did contact them about this project before, but we didn't continue the discussion because of scheduling conflicts? That would be better for both of us."
“Okay,” Wu Bai said.
The most versatile excuse is that the timing is not right.
However, it is also the reason that least harms both parties.
After the two reached an agreement, Wu Bai suddenly exclaimed, "Sister Ziyan, wait, things have changed."
"ah?"
"Yan Liang just posted on Weibo."
"Huh? What did he post?"
“He said that Lu Yanhe also had many roles that he wanted to play, but because the roles were not suitable, he was not offered them. Does this mean that he and Lu Yanhe can no longer be friends?” Wu Bai said in an incredulous tone.
He didn't seem to quite understand why Yan Liang would post such a Weibo message.
Having become accustomed to these people's shady tactics, Chen Ziyan's heart skipped a beat.
"Wait a minute, we might not need to respond."
-
Just as Chen Ziyan had predicted, shortly after Yan Liang posted his Weibo, Li Zhibai also posted a Weibo: What should I do? He didn't ask me to act in "Rouge" or "Friends". Is our friendship just a sham?
To Lu Yanhe's surprise, Jiang Yuqian also joined in the fun: "Although I have acted in 'Squid Game' and 'Telephone,' and am about to act in 'Doomsday' and 'Red Eye Flight,' I have not been asked to act in 'Rouge,' 'Love Letter,' or 'My Own Swordsman.' My friendship with Lu Yanhe is definitely just a sham."
As a result, after these people made this move, many people who had worked with Lu Yanhe started making jokes about it.
Huang Kairen said: "They didn't cast me in 'Destruction Day,' tsk tsk, that's too plastic."
Zeng Qiao retweeted Huang Kairen's Weibo post: At least you acted in "My Own Swordsman", what about me?
Jia Long retweeted Zeng Qiao's Weibo post: "At least you acted with him in 'The Silent River,' but he never acted with me. He just gave me the script for 'Lost in Thailand.' He's as fake as can be."
Kong Fan (@Lu Yanhe), who filmed "Late Spring" with Lu Yanhe, you cast Yan Lingyu for "Chinese Paladin," and Wang Jing for "Telephone" and "Squid Game." Why do you never cast me and Qingqing? Is our friendship too superficial?
...
More than a dozen actors participated in the "attack" against Lu Yanhe.
For a time, the trending topics list was filled with entries related to Lu Yanhe.
Li Yuefeng: ? ? I was originally planning to use this opportunity to play the victim with Lao Lu and get him to tailor a script for me. What are you all doing here?!
A public relations crisis concerning Lu Yanhe's superficial friendship with his co-stars subsided without much fanfare.
-
"Have you seen how well Lu Yanhe is connected with people in the entertainment industry?"
Zhang Yuezhen took a deep breath and shook her head. "Such a small matter, and so many people have taken the initiative to stand up for him. Ordinary smear campaigns have no effect on him at all."
"It's obvious how this would work," Chen Pinhe said. "He's doing so many projects now, and so many people are making a living off him."
Zhang Yuezhen said, "I told you before that we should start our own company and bring your people together. After all, one person's strength is limited. Even if you win six Best Actor awards, you are still just an actor. No matter how high your status in the industry is, if it is only high on your own, others will at most be polite to you in public, but if something really happens, they will definitely not stand by your side."
Chen Pinhe: "Was it because I didn't want to start a company back then?"
Zhang Yuezhen: "Wasn't it because you didn't believe me back then and weren't willing to work with me on this company?"
Chen Pinhe remained silent.
Zhang Yuezhen: "Now you should know who is really good to you, right? Without your own power, even a young man like Lu Yanhe dares to challenge you."
Chen Pinhe: "So what do you plan to do next?"
“Let’s take it one step at a time,” Zhang Yuezhen said. “First, we’ll make a comeback in China. After the announcement that you would be starring in the spin-off of ‘The Seventeen Floors,’ it immediately attracted the attention of the industry. The number of projects and scripts coming to you has increased several times over. Before, everyone thought you didn’t really want to act anymore. After all, our output has been very low in the past few years. It usually takes a long time to get you to act. Now we want to send a signal to the outside world that you will be making a comeback.”
"I never quit."
“Regardless of your own opinion, it’s an undeniable fact that you’ve rarely appeared in public over the years, with your only notable work being ‘White Pearl’,” Zhang Yuezhen said. “Now, you’re making a full comeback.”
Chen Pinhe looked at Zhang Yuezhen in silence.
Zhang Yuezhen added, "In addition, I plan to start a company and sign some actors. You should be able to see from 'Doomsday' that it's useless to go it alone. No matter how many films you take on, you can only act in a few. You have to have different cards in your hand so that you can have more strategies with different platforms and production companies. You can't always rely on your status in the film industry to get the other party to agree to our demands."
Chen Pinhe said, "You've wanted to get rid of this company for a long time, haven't you?"
“Yes, you actually already knew.” Zhang Yuezhen nodded. “I’ve said before that I hope your career can be even better.”
"But I don't want to end up having to take them with me to every play I'm in."
“Honey, look at Lu Yanhe’s projects. Which one of them didn’t involve people he knows?” Zhang Yuezhen said. “You’re an artist. You want to protect your reputation and don’t want others to think you’re worldly or materialistic. I understand all of that. But the reality is that unless you accept that more and more people can ride roughshod over you and that the projects you’re involved in are being snatched away by others, you have to have more power and influence to protect these things.”
Chen Pinhe looked at Zhang Yuezhen without saying a word for a long time.
Zhang Yuezhen: "Believe me, this company will definitely be more beneficial than harmful to your career. We are husband and wife. No matter what others do, in my heart, you will always be the most important."
Chen Pinhe: "There will definitely be some projects that I will have to act in because of the development of this company, right?"
“Doesn’t Lu Yanhe have any?” Zhang Yuezhen said. “Honey, there’s no way. Unless you tell me now, okay, you won’t compete with these people. That’s fine. You’ve already won so many Best Actor awards. Even if you retire now and never act again, you’ll still be a Best Actor in film history. No one in your generation can surpass your achievements. But if you can’t retire now and are unwilling to give up all of this, and you want to compete, then I can help you compete. However, we can’t compete by risking our lives. Everyone isn’t stupid. Who would be willing to suffer losses just because you’re Chen Pinhe? Who would be willing to give everything for you without expecting anything in return just because they like your acting?”
Zhang Yuezhen grasped Chen Pinhe's hand.
“As long as you’re willing, you can strive to become a Best Actor at one of the four major international film festivals, an Oscar winner, an Emmy winner, or a Golden Globe winner.” Zhang Yue looked at Chen Pinhe with genuine sincerity. “The prerequisite is that you’re willing to believe in me.”
-
Meanwhile, Chen Ziyan was also talking to Lu Yanhe about Chen Pinhe and Zhang Yuezhen.
“Zhang Yuezhen’s family has some connections.” Chen Ziyan shrugged at Lu Yanhe. “Not to mention, she had some skill to snatch Chen Pinhe from so many people back then.”
Lu Yanhe asked, "So, you mean that Zhang Yue is a really tough opponent when we fight Chen Pinhe later?"
“Yes.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “Compared to him, Chen Pinhe is actually easier to deal with. He’s just a bodhisattva in disguise.”
(End of this chapter)
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