Chapter 811 I'm speechless.
Although no names were mentioned, everyone knew who was being referred to.
There was no open satire or condemnation, but everyone could see the sarcasm and dissatisfaction between the lines.
Coupled with the heated "questioning" by Liu Zefan's fans in Lu Yanhe's Weibo comment section, this matter immediately sparked a lot of discussion.
To everyone's surprise, the first party to respond was Linghe's official company account.
In the comments section, it asked: If this Weibo post is about Lu Yanhe, I'll tag the boss for you. If not, please clarify to avoid... accidental harm?
This was at Chen Ziyan's behest.
Because she couldn't contact Lu Yanhe at the moment, Chen Ziyan gave this reply in order to control the direction of public opinion in a timely manner.
Nobody knows the specifics yet.
The reason Lu Yanhe couldn't be contacted was that after he finished his phone call with Liu Zefan, he went swimming and splashed around in the water, completely unaware of the loud ringing of his phone in the cabinet.
-
"Sister Xia, what are you doing?!" Liu Zefan angrily called Li Xia. "Yan He just finished talking to me on the phone and we explained what happened. Why are you making me so angry?"
Li Xia said, "They're really bullying us, aren't they? My source has already replied to me that the so-called 'exposé' was done by someone hired by Lu Yanhe. They're deliberately using you to elevate their own position."
"Impossible!" Liu Zefan simply didn't believe it. "Even if he were that kind of person, would he need me to elevate his position? What aspect of his standing isn't high enough that he needs me to help him rise?"
Li Xia: "You don't believe me?"
"Sister Xia, I really want to believe you, but tell me, how can I believe you?" Liu Zefan roared angrily, "This doesn't make any sense at all!"
"What logic does it conform to? What logic does it need to conform to?"
"Even putting everything else aside, just the fact that 'Squid Game 2' is about to start filming, tell me, why would he do this?" Liu Zefan said. "In the phone call just now, he also told me to do well in this drama, and that I would be working with him on other projects later! Tell me, why is he messing with me? Is he crazy or mentally ill?"
Li Xia: "..."
She was at a loss for words.
Liu Zefan's words left her speechless.
Liu Zefan added, "My fans went to his comment section to cause trouble, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he came to communicate with me, made things clear, and even told me that he, Li Zhibai, and Yan Liang would not come forward to respond to this matter and prevent it from escalating. But you! Why didn't you tell me before doing this?"
Li Xia said, "I... I was also doing this for—"
She actually knew she had acted impulsively.
But why act impulsively?
Li Xia couldn't say because Liu Zefan's collaboration with Lu Yanhe was too frequent, and because she had less and less control over Liu Zefan's career. This was because Shi Huo's overseas agency business was growing rapidly, and even Jiang Jun had signed with Shi Huo. Since Meng Li left, she only had Liu Zefan as her sole A-list star, and she needed to firmly control him. Therefore—
In that moment of unexpected twist of fate, even though she had her doubts about whether her source of information was correct, she still had a legitimate reason to criticize Lu Yanhe on behalf of Liu Zefan.
Does your relationship really need to be that good?
You don't need to cooperate so frequently, do you?
Can't there be a little more gap and crack between you two?
Liu Zefan said, "Sister Xia, please delete your Weibo post."
"Delete it?" Li Xia said. "Wouldn't that make us look too guilty?"
Liu Zefan asked, "Don't you feel guilty?"
Alarm bells rang in Li Xia's mind.
-
After getting out of the pool, Lu Yanhe dried himself off, took his phone from the locker, and went into the sauna.
My phone is full of missed call notifications and unread messages.
There were Chen Ziyan's, Liu Zefan's, and others'.
Then, he saw what had happened after he finished his phone call with Liu Zefan.
"..."
Li Xia has deleted her Weibo posts.
The online discussion continues to escalate.
Liu Zefan called him twice and sent him a message, explaining the whole story.
Lu Yanhe noticed the keywords and forwarded them to Chen Ziyan.
Two minutes later, Chen Ziyan called back.
"Sister Ziyan, I was just swimming."
Chen Ziyan: "It's okay, things are under control. I saw the message you forwarded to me earlier. Don't you also think that if Li Xia didn't lie, then there's something wrong with Li Xia's source?"
“Yes,” Lu Yanhe said. “Actually, this matter has nothing to do with us. However, it is obvious that someone did not know that the leaked information was about Li Zhibai and Yan Liang, not me, and then deliberately framed me.”
"It's so that I can use Liu Zefan's hand to bite you."
“Probably,” Lu Yanhe said. “Although many people dislike me, I think only those people would cause trouble without fully understanding the situation. What do you think?”
“My judgment is the same as yours,” Chen Ziyan said. “Normally, even the most ruthless and dirty opponents would do this if they knew the situation well, to avoid accidentally hurting themselves. Unless they’re an idiot, but given your situation, what idiot would do that? Using Liu Zefan would only annoy you, it wouldn’t have any real impact. Who would do something like that?”
"Um."
"I'll go touch it," Chen Ziyan said.
Lu Yanhe agreed.
Chen Ziyan then asked, "What about Liu Zefan?"
"I believe Liu Zefan didn't lie, so let's leave it at that for now and let the online discussion die down."
“Hmm,” Chen Ziyan said, “Liu Zefan is a good kid, but I don’t believe his manager doesn’t have her own ulterior motives. She’s not that innocent.”
“I also felt that her handling of Meng Li’s situation in ‘The Days of Youth’ really annoyed me.” Lu Yanhe said helplessly, “But Liu Zefan was someone she mentored, which is a pity.”
"I suspect Liu Zefan pulled some strings behind the scenes for her to delete the Weibo post so quickly. Otherwise, given her personality, she wouldn't have done it so fast. We haven't even made any real moves yet, so she wouldn't have admitted defeat prematurely."
“Yes,” Lu Yanhe said. “Ze Fan also said that he will explain the situation on Weibo later.”
"He's stupid; explaining anything at this point is useless."
"I haven't replied to him yet, should I stop him?"
“Let’s just let it go,” Chen Ziyan said. “We don’t even treat our own brothers this way. We’re already being generous by not holding anything against him. If he wants to do something, let him do it.”
“Hmm,” Lu Yanhe said, “Even if it makes public opinion ferment more, at least the attitude has been made, and there’s less room for others to distort it.”
"Agreed."
-
Liu Zefan quickly posted a Weibo message saying: I was seen by Suspicion because of Squid Game. Yan He has never wronged me. On the contrary, I have caused him a lot of trouble. If you really like me and care about me, please ask less unfounded questions and more honest trust.
Immediately, fans commented: "Baby, don't be so kind, okay? Why did you have to say that, while he just cowered like a turtle, not saying a word? You're too kind, waaaaaah..."
Liu Zefan replied directly: True kindness lies in his willingness to stand up and clarify the facts. Everyone would then know that I and my team were the ones misleading people. Therefore, even though my agent was misled by false information and made sarcastic remarks towards Yan He, Yan He didn't say a word. Let me emphasize again, he didn't wrong me; I was the one causing him trouble! Stop crying!
The fan persisted: "Crying loudly, how can you be so dignified?"
Liu Zefan replied again: I'm speechless.
-
"Liu Zefan is truly respectable," Chen Ziyan remarked. "To go to such lengths for him, your protection of him has not been in vain."
Lu Yanhe said, "It's all mutual. I've known him for so long, I can't distrust him just because of some news or other people's actions. If Zhou Ping'an is the one who's helping Ma Zhiyuan fire the gun, you'll see if I don't just wipe him out."
"Hahahaha." Chen Ziyan laughed loudly, "You know what, neither Ma Zhiyuan nor Zhou Ping'an are easy to deal with. Do you know what happened when Ma Zhiyuan got beaten up before?"
"What happened?"
“Ma Zhiyuan spread rumors that Chen Pinhe was hooking up with a young girl that Zhang Yuezhen was recently promoting. It almost got published, but Zhang Yuezhen intercepted the message and immediately sent someone to beat him up.” Chen Ziyan laughed. “Ma Zhiyuan just wouldn’t admit it, saying that Zhang Yuezhen was misled.”
Lu Yanhe: "Ever since Ma Zhiyuan got into trouble, he has been talking nonsense and spreading rumors from time to time. No one knows for sure what he has said, and he probably doesn't even know himself."
“You’re right, that’s why nobody believes him,” Chen Ziyan said. “But can you believe it? Even so, Zhou Ping’an still got him a role.”
"ha?"
"A web movie," Chen Ziyan said, speechless. "Didn't expect that, did you?"
"Didn't expect that?"
"It's a web movie with characters and a story very similar to Ma Zhiyuan's," Chen Ziyan said. "It's obviously just trying to ride on Ma Zhiyuan's popularity and buzz."
Lu Yanhe: "I'm impressed."
"A shameless person is invincible."
"Is this play something Zhou Pingan specially commissioned to be tailor-made for him?" Lu Yanhe said. "Ma Zhiyuan forced Zhou Pingan to help him make a comeback."
“It’s possible, maybe,” Chen Ziyan said. “But don’t think that Zhou Ping’an was really forced into this situation. This guy is getting more and more cunning. With this kind of cooperation, let me tell you, Zhou Ping’an is probably making a lot of kickbacks in the middle.”
"rebate?"
“Yes,” Chen Ziyan said. “It’s just one online movie. No matter what the reputation is like, people will definitely want to take a look. For the platform, that’s a lot of traffic.”
Lu Yanhe: "This is completely just making a living off online traffic."
“Yeah.” Chen Ziyan shrugged. “Now you know why I said Zhou Pingan could make a kickback. This kind of movie, even though Ma Zhiyuan’s market value isn’t great right now, it’s obviously a business deal. Under normal circumstances, which celebrity would agree to damage their image like this? Even if their image is ruined, they wouldn’t do it like this.”
"Unless Zhou Pingan promises Ma Zhiyuan that he will help Ma Zhiyuan get other resources after this online movie."
-
The incident of Ma Zhiyuan being beaten has attracted a lot of attention online.
He was once a top star, and yet he was involved in such a scandal as being assaulted.
However, despite the clamor, few sympathized with Ma Zhiyuan; most were simply enjoying the spectacle.
The main problem is that he has been causing too much trouble in the last two years. Every time he does something, it's basically a scandal. Over time, his image in the public eye has collapsed and become tarnished.
Therefore, when the online movie "Caught in Scandal" was announced, it immediately became a trending topic.
Based on natural trending search data.
While people criticize the movie for using any means to grab attention and generate traffic, they can't help but learn more about it and quietly add it to their watchlist.
Zhou Pingan sent a message to Ma Zhiyuan: Look, I told you, even though this is just an online movie, as long as you act in it, you can return to the public eye as an actor, instead of being the protagonist of a scandal from the past few years.
Ma Zhiyuan: You better keep your word and let this online movie allow me to embark on the path of becoming an actor.
Zhou Ping'an: Since you've agreed to sign a 15-year contract with me, I'll naturally help you find resources.
Ma Zhiyuan did not reply.
Zhou Ping'an smiled slightly.
Just then, his phone rang.
The caller's name is displayed as: Zhang Yuezhen.
-
"Yes, I still won't be able to take three months to rehearse and film with everyone this year's Friends. I'm sorry."
Lu Yanhe said regretfully to Bai Jingnian.
Bai Jingnian nodded and said, "Actually, it would be better to finish filming in a month. Everyone is very busy and it's hard to find the time. In addition, everyone is already very familiar with their roles and relationships, so there is no need to rehearse so many times. Last year was actually very good."
Lu Yanhe: "Thank you."
"Yan He, how many seasons do you plan to make for Friends?" Bai Jingnian asked. "To be honest, although we all love this show very much and are very willing to continue making it, if it weren't for your continued efforts, I think half of the people would have left the series."
Lu Yanhe actually understood why Bai Jingnian said that.
This show, including Friends, has now run for six seasons.
This is already the seventh season.
In China, there has never been a sitcom that has been filmed for so long and maintained such popularity.
Everyone is a bit lost and can't see the end.
And including Bai Jingnian, they have all become top-tier celebrities over the past few years.
Every year, this drama requires them to set aside three months of their schedule, which is very demanding and takes up a lot of their time.
After filming the sixth season, people gradually realized that although the show was still very popular and would continue to bring them a lot of attention and popularity, attracting a steady stream of fans, the boost that a series could provide was very limited when they reached the next level.
This industry really requires you to constantly come up with new roles and works. On the one hand, it's to prove your own appeal, not just the appeal that comes from a particular drama or role. On the other hand, audiences and fans will also get tired of it, just like those variety shows that focus on companionship. They will eventually end after a while.
Lu Yanhe said to Bai Jingnian, "At least until we turn thirty, I never thought about ending this show. Director Bai, to tell you the truth, the show has only achieved two-thirds of what I expected so far. I should have told you before that my expectation for this show is to become the most popular and commercially valuable sitcom in history, and that is, globally."
Bai Jingnian: "You did tell me that, but to be honest, I didn't take it seriously before. It's just too unbelievable."
“I understand, but it is actually being realized step by step now,” Lu Yanhe said.
Bai Jingnian: "However, its performance in overseas awards was not particularly outstanding."
“It doesn’t need awards.” Lu Yanhe shook his head. “It’s still in the stage of climbing uphill and accumulating audiences and fans. It will definitely have a global explosion one day. We can already see that potential.”
Bai Jingnian nodded.
"Actually, when I heard you say that, I was not surprised at all. But strangely enough, I felt that although I rationally think that you are just making a huge promise, emotionally I actually think that it is possible to come true."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
"Because it is achievable," Lu Yanhe said. "Both I and Yan Liang are gradually gaining popularity and recognition overseas. The number of fans and viewers of this drama is also increasing year by year. It gets better with each season, doesn't it?"
Bai Jingnian nodded.
"Look, now I nod unconsciously to whatever you say," Bai Jingnian said with a smile.
Lu Yanhe: "Then I must thank you for your complete trust in me."
Bai Jingnian: "I have absolute trust in you."
"In the future, we will try to keep the actual filming time of 'Friends' within one month. I think it will be easier to coordinate everyone's schedules," said Lu Yanhe. "We will change the filming mode and no longer use the previous mode of rehearsing and filming simultaneously. That's no longer feasible."
Bai Jingnian nodded.
"Actually, as long as you don't call for a halt, even if it's still three months a year, everyone will definitely overcome all difficulties to cooperate."
“I’m also very busy myself, but the last thing I want to happen is for everyone to push themselves because of me,” Lu Yanhe said. “I’m serious.”
Bai Jingnian: "But that's why, as long as you don't call it a day, no one will say no, because they trust you. Of course, we also thank you. If it weren't for you giving us this opportunity, we wouldn't have such busy lives now."
Lu Yanhe laughed loudly.
"Director Bai, I feel like you're criticizing me."
Bai Jingnian: "I'm just complaining about you. You could have been living a peaceful retirement in Beijing and Taiwan, but you were just frustrated and unsuccessful. Now, all the platforms and companies are swarming around you, treating you to good food and drinks, and showering you with nice words and smiles. There's always someone supporting the projects you want to do. Sigh, it's so annoying."
Lu Yanhe smiled and shook his head.
"Besides 'Friends,' what other projects are you working on? 'My Own Swordsman' has been finished filming for quite some time now."
"I previously helped Aurora Studio film a lighthearted urban comedy about college graduates sharing an apartment. It also featured a completely new cast, and it did quite well. It was an A-level production, but it achieved an S-level rating upon airing. It wasn't a blockbuster, but it had a much higher starting point than 'Roommates'." Bai Jingnian smiled. "Have you watched it?"
"I haven't seen it." Lu Yanhe shook his head. "Is it going to develop a series too?"
"I've already approved the second and third installments at the same time, and we'll film them together later," Bai Jingnian said. "But I'll only film these two. If I were to continue filming, I wouldn't be the director; I'd only be a producer. I'm really a bit helpless right now. Every project that comes to me wants to develop it into a seasonal series. Sigh, all the platforms have realized how valuable seasonal series are."
Lu Yanhe said, "Sitcoms are clearly the type of show that can become a dark horse with a small budget. As long as the script is good enough and the performance is accurate enough, even if the initial results are not good, they will accumulate more and more viewers due to word of mouth. But before, everyone was focused on making S+ shows, and no one was willing to do this."
"Now that 'Friends' and 'My Own Swordsman' are so popular, especially with their long-tail effect, which platform wouldn't be envious?"
"So you are the most sought-after of all," Lu Yanhe said.
Bai Jingnian: "I actually have two scripts in preparation, both of which I personally led the team to develop."
"Is it also being broadcast during the Northern Lights?"
"That's not settled yet. My cooperation agreement with Northern Lights has been finalized, so I'm relatively free now," Bai Jingnian said. "Shijin heard the news and has been pestering me, wanting to be the main investor in one of them. They're so generous; the check they gave me was a blank check, and they made me fill in the numbers myself. They're incredibly extravagant."
"Then why don't you take the opportunity to rip them off?"
“Why would I slaughter them?” Bai Jingnian said. “If you’re used to being poor and starving for eight generations, and you go and slaughter the rich, you’ll end up with your own meager flesh being cut off by the rich, and you’ll still be helping them sell it for money.”
Lu Yanhe: "Your awareness now is more than enough."
“The main reason is that it’s unnecessary. It’s not like we can’t make money.” Bai Jingnian said, “Why chase after those lucrative opportunities when we can make money honestly and cleanly? I don’t believe in free lunches. No matter how much someone offers, they will take back ten or a hundred times what they paid.”
Lu Yanhe: "Anyway, your project will definitely not lack investment."
-
"The investment in 'Caught in Scandal' was only 1 million, and Ma Zhiyuan's salary was only 500,000."
Zhou Pingan said to Yang Zhouli, "However, we have invested in the online movie 'Caught in Scandal,' which is expected to bring us at least 3 million yuan in revenue."
Yang Zhouli frowned slightly.
Zhou Pingan continued, "Of course, my purpose in doing this is not for this profit, but to send a signal to the industry."
"Hmm?" Yang Zhouli's furrowed brows relaxed slightly. "What signal?"
Zhou Ping'an: "Even for a star like Ma Zhiyuan whose reputation is already utterly ruined, Shijin has the ability and strength to revive him. President Yang, this is the most representative breakthrough point in Shijin's artist management that has yielded the most tangible results so far."
Yang Zhouli fell into deep thought.
Zhou Pingan continued, "Moreover, because the drama 'Caught in Scandal' has generated a lot of buzz online, the platform is now paying close attention to Ma Zhiyuan's popularity. They even proactively approached me about a variety show, wanting Ma Zhiyuan to be a guest star. This shows that although Ma Zhiyuan's image has collapsed, he hasn't broken the law and hasn't been blacklisted. As long as he has popularity and data, he has room to survive, and he might even make a comeback. Anything is possible."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
