Chapter 278

Wang Zhong is an emotional person.

People who are not emotional cannot be directors.

Wang Zhong is also a person with artistic pursuit and aesthetics.

Otherwise, how could he have been in the literary film field for more than ten years?

Wang Zhong has seen many people who are great at acting and talented. For Lu Yan He, he also had high expectations, knowing that Lu Yan He is a person who can act—but, at this moment, Wang Zhong was still shocked.

It wasn't that Lu Yan He's acting skills were so superb, nor that Lu Yan He showed a performance that made "every pore shocked," but that Lu Yan He could give the feeling he wanted from receiving the script to entering the state in just a few hours, without even a single filming.

This speed.

Wang Zhong was prepared to film all night today, or even work until tomorrow morning.

Wang Zhong is a director who likes to take actors to find feelings and states in specific filming.

So, you failed the first take and the second take, Wang Zhong didn't care. He didn't expect the first take and the second take to be usable from the beginning.

However, now, the scene of Lu Yan He sitting in the temple was already in the play.

He walked around the three people, looking at the three of them like goods. His eyes were not vicious, but gloomy, with cold light like a poisonous snake.

"Cut!" Wang Zhong shouted.

Wang Lu sighed in a low voice: "I suddenly don't know how to act, feeling like I've been hit by dimensionality reduction."

The candlelight and firelight reflected on their faces, which was particularly scary.

Lu Yan He watched her squatting on the ground, hugging herself and crying silently. A look of surprise appeared in his eyes, and then slowly returned to his usual appearance.

Lu Yan He's motionless body reacted. He raised his eyelids slightly and glanced at the three of them, seeing the three of them freezing like quails, shivering, and the three of them also looked at him in panic, as if they didn't expect to meet such a person in this temple.

The corner of Lu Yan He's mouth was suddenly pulled out of a strange arc like a marionette.

After taking a step back, his eyes fell on Wang Lu, his pupils suddenly enlarged, and his eyes changed suddenly, as if seeing a ghost.

Sometimes suppressed low, sometimes high-pitched like a bird, sometimes rustling like a cricket, sometimes wide-eyed, mouth half-open, but no sound was made, as if still, a line of tears flowed down suddenly...

His voice was trembling because of fear.

In fact, including Sui Fangran, the three of them had the same mood.

This scene was filmed intermittently for three hours, and a total of seven takes were filmed.

The wind is strong.

Wang Zhong's expression was very serious.

Wang Zhong didn't stop the machine, because Lu Yan He was better than the last one, deeper into the soul than the last one.

He greedily wanted to know if Lu Yan He's next take would be better.

The eighth take began.

He said fiercely, laughed gloomily, and took a step back.

This had not appeared in the previous seven shootings.

Chen Jiang glanced at him, wanted to say something, but didn't say anything.

Seven takes, except for the first and second takes because Chen Jiang and the others didn't enter the state, resulting in completely unusable, from the third take, each one was actually quite good.

He acted this fortune teller into a strange dream feeling, and even the tone and tone of speaking changed.

The three people in the temple had pale faces, and there was a bit of green in the pale.

Three young people rushed in from the outside where the wind and rain were blowing.

He walked over slowly, squatted down, and stroked her shoulder.

She was scared silly just now, and at this moment, the energy slowed down, and the tears couldn't be controlled at all.

Sui Fangran suddenly saw this smile in the dim light environment, forgetting that she was acting, and was terrified, with instinctive, physiological reaction-like fear on her face.

"Ah—ah—" Lu Yan He suddenly made a fearful roar. He seemed to be looking at three evil ghosts who wanted to eat him, staggering back out of the temple, and then turned around to run out, his feet kicked directly on the threshold, he staggered, fell to the ground, he didn't stop for a moment, crawled forward, and rushed into the rain curtain.

"I'm talking nonsense?" Lu Yan He seemed to have been provoked by something, his emotions suddenly rose, the originally indifferent, almost emotionless voice suddenly rose, like a peak rising from the ground, he rushed to Sui Fangran, almost face to face with Sui Fangran, Sui Fangran's two legs began to tremble, she was almost scared to cry, Lu Yan He tilted his head slightly, and suddenly appeared irritable and fierce in his expression, as if he had been greatly insulted, "I never talk nonsense! You guys, if you don't find me to calculate a hexagram and find a way to crack it for you, you guys, one by one, will die!"

"Who are you?" Chen Jiang gathered his courage and asked.

Still didn't pass.

The three people in the temple were motionless, without any reaction.

Lu Yan He maintained a high level of performance in each take, or rather, he was always in the state of that character and never came out.

Lu Yan He is very tall. At this moment, he was slightly hunched over, and at the same time, he was limping, but he had to look at the three of them coldly with a pair of eyes that had almost no soul from bottom to top.

"Fortune teller, you, you, you don't talk nonsense, how can we have any bloody energy!" The only girl Sui Fangran's face turned white and said in a low voice.

Lu Yan He stood up and walked slowly toward the three of them.

Lu Yan He walked back slowly. When he walked to the temple door, Sui Fangran suddenly squatted down, hugged herself with both hands, and tears flowed from her eyes.

In the temple, there were only a few of them, and all the staff were outside the temple.

At this moment, there were only a few of them.

The sound of rain is very loud, that is artificial rain outside the temple.

One of his legs was a bit lame.

"Me? I'm just a fortune teller." After he finished speaking, he coughed, "Where did you three come from? Full of bloody energy, dark forehead, red light on the body, have you already seen blood?"

Not to mention Chen Jiang, Sui Fangran, and Wang Lu, all the shooting crew were scared by Lu Yan He's almost crazy performance.

"Sorry."

Sui Fangran looked up at Lu Yan He with tearful eyes and said aggrievedly: "You scared me to death!"

Lu Yan He smiled awkwardly.

At this moment, he also pulled out of the cold, crazy, and completely selfless state just now.

Wang Zhong walked over.

He sighed heavily and said a sentence he didn't expect himself.

"Thank you for your hard work."

He looked at Lu Yan He with complex eyes and said half a sentence.

Lu Yan He asked: "Director, is the acting okay? Do you want another take?"

Wang Zhong's mouth overflowed with a bitter smile, looking at Sui Fangran and the three who seemed to have suffered a heavy blow, shook his head, and said: "Passed, let's go down the mountain."

Getting off work so early, the crew staff didn't cheer.

At this moment, the atmosphere at the scene was inexplicably strange.

It was already 12 o'clock in the morning—or rather, just after midnight.

There were still three or four hours before Wang Zhong expected to finish work.

This scene can be filmed so fast, all on Lu Yan He alone.

He sat beside Lu Yan He, turning his head to look at him from time to time. At this time, Lu Yan He seemed to have recovered from the state just now, completely without the state just now, but when he turned his head, Sui Fangran and the three of them were still sitting in their seats, blank, wandering out of the object, obviously not recovered.

"Yan He." Wang Zhong shouted.

Lu Yan He looked up, "Director."

"You... how did you design your character?" Wang Zhong couldn't help but ask.

Lu Yan He said: "I was thinking about how he would become like the script, so I designed a very miserable past for him, including that he had to live in this temple alone, not because of the destruction of his family, but because he was born strange. You told me it was the famine era, he inherited his father's business, but what I designed for myself was that he was born strange, so he was excluded by his family. He has been in an environment that is not liked and treated since he was a child, suffered a lot of cold eyes, insults, and exclusion, and his mental state is not normal. He wants love but can't get it, blocks his heart, and doesn't know how to communicate with people normally, which led to him being expelled by his family. More and more strange things happened to him. While accepting his fate-like miserable life, he couldn't help but want to help people turn bad into good. He is an abnormal person with a trace of instinctive kindness under the gloomy and indifferent appearance, who doesn't know too much ethics and morality."

Wang Zhong looked at Lu Yan He in disbelief and asked: "You mean, you want to calculate hexagrams for these three young people because you want to help them solve the disasters on them?"

"Yes, otherwise, why would he suddenly calculate hexagrams for them?" Lu Yan He said, "Standing from your perspective, his behavior can be understood no matter what, because he is a strange existence himself, but for me, I need a motive. The motive I designed for myself is that he saw the bloody disaster on the three people and wanted to lift the disaster for them, so he started calculating hexagrams. As a result, after calculating, he found that it completely exceeded his bearing range. He was on the verge of collapse and fled by instinct."

After Lu Yan He explained this, Wang Zhong suddenly understood his performance just now. It can only be said that it is unexpected and reasonable. Terrible.

Wang Zhong came back to his senses, seeing that several actors were not in a good state, so he asked someone to find a night snack shop that was still open.

In this situation, you have to eat something hot together to get rid of the shadow.

Wang Zhong didn't know how to describe his mood until this moment.

Lu Yan He, this person, is too scary.

The night snack that opened after zero o'clock is mostly barbecue.

Wang Zhong took them to eat barbecue.

After a journey, everyone's state was better.

Lu Yan He came out of the play very quickly, but Sui Fangran and the others didn't.

He knew that his acting method was estimated to have really scared Sui Fangran, because before each take, Lu Yan He didn't say hello to them, how he would act, they didn't know, and every time it was a bit different, making them unable to prepare psychologically.

"I toast you, Fangran, just now it was acting, for the most real effect, I didn't say hello to you in advance how to act, please forgive me." Also didn't drink, Lu Yan He used drinks instead of wine.

Sui Fangran took a deep breath, shook her head, and said: "I finally saw what real acting is today. I have always claimed to be very good at acting, very good at acting. Today I was completely led by you, completely trapped in the state you created. I am still a bit stunned now, really scared me, Yan He, you are awesome."

Lu Yan He couldn't laugh or cry.

Chen Jiang and Wang Lu also nodded, "A scene, dried the three of us, you are really awesome."

Lu Yan He scratched his head and said: "Add friends first, don't play with me because of this scene today."

He took out his mobile phone and added friends with them.

After eating a barbecue, Lu Yan He went back to the hotel with them. Early the next morning, Lu Yan He returned to Yuming.

Lu Yan He had just arrived in the hotel room for a while, and Wang Zhong sent a message to Lu Yan He: Yan He, I always forgot to tell you, thank you for coming to help, you came as soon as you said.

Lu Yan He replied: If you look for me to film in the future, as long as I have time, I will definitely come.

When returning to the dormitory, Yuming had entered summer overnight.

Mao Jiayang was exercising in the dormitory, bought two dumbbells, and lifted them from time to time.

When Lu Yan He came back, he was lifting this.

"You are back!" Mao Jiayang knew he went to film.

Lu Yan He nodded and asked: "Are they all not here?"

Mao Jiayang put down the dumbbells and said: "Zhou Mukai, that guy, basically accompanies his girlfriend on weekends, and Xiao Jing went to work part-time."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Very normal.

Mao Jiayang suddenly said: "Yan He, are you more familiar with Wang Xiao of the Youth Association?"

"Quite familiar, what's the matter?" Lu Yan He asked.

Mao Jiayang said: "I want to join the Youth Association. I heard that he is responsible. Can you help me tell him? I missed their recruitment. I didn't think about joining any student association at that time."

"Okay, no problem, but why did you suddenly think of joining this?" Lu Yan He asked curiously.

Mao Jiayang rarely showed a smile that was not very embarrassed, and the smile was still a bit shy. He said: "I fell in love with a girl, she is in the Youth Association."

Lu Yan He's eyes widened instantly.

"OK, understand, I must help with this favor." Lu Yan He said solemnly.

Solemnity ended in one second. Immediately, Lu Yan He asked gossip: "What is the name of the girl you like? Maybe I know her, I am also in the Youth Association."

Mao Jiayang said: "I haven't caught up with people yet, don't ask."

"Okay." Lu Yan He only cared about laughing and didn't pester.

He looked at Mao Jiayang and laughed.

Mao Jiayang: "What are you laughing at."

Lu Yan He nodded and said: "Well, I laugh that Xiao Jing is a licking dog."

Mao Jiayang: "..."

Just right, at this time, Xiao Jing opened the door and came in.

He saw Lu Yan He and said "Yo!" "Back?!"

Mao Jiayang raised his hand and pointed at Lu Yan He and said: "Xiao Jing, Lu Yan He laughed at you for being a licking dog!"

Lu Yan He looked at Mao Jiayang in disbelief, "Mao Jiayang, you are really a dog!"

Xiao Jing's eyes could kill people looking at these two people.

On the second day of returning, Lu Yan He remembered his experience of filming *Sanshan*, and afterwards, he felt that he acted really well.

That day, I don't know what happened, there was a feeling of light appearing and God's attachment.

Clearly when acting in *Golden Age* and *Phoenix Terrace*, he often had a sense of panic about not knowing how to act. Why was he extra confident when acting in *Sanshan*?

A kind of inexplicable confidence.

At that time, he didn't feel there was a problem. After acting, he felt that he was really too confident at that time—a bit abnormal.

What happened?

Lu Yan He told He Shuyi about his situation. He Shuyi smiled and said: "That shows that you have slowly passed a novice's uneasy period. After filming two plays, and before going to guest star in this role, you made sufficient preparations, the pressure is not great, so you have such a confident performance. It's a good thing, how is the lens filmed? Are the directors satisfied?"

Lu Yan He shook his head awkwardly and said: "They all said it seemed to be a bit scared by me."

"Scared?"

"I don't know how to say it. When the movie is on, you will know." Lu Yan He found that acting is really not something that can be explained clearly with a mouth. The best way is to watch, watch with your own eyes.

As Lu Yan He's acting guidance, He Shuyi's fee is very high. In the past, Chen Ziyan and Lu Yan He would invite her to do separate one-on-one guidance when they took an important play. Now Lu Yan He's ability to make money has soared, and he is no longer so frugal, and will regularly invite He Shuyi to give him guidance.

He Shuyi is also a teacher who is very worthy of this price.

One class costs tens of thousands, but one class has the effect of one class—she can accurately pick out the problems of Lu Yan He's acting and give very effective guidance opinions.

This time, Lu Yan He was nominated for the Red River Awards for *Golden Age*, and He Shuyi also benefited.

After all, the outside world doesn't know, but the circle knows that Lu Yan He's acting guidance teacher is He Shuyi.

People looking for He Shuyi have also increased immediately.

He Shuyi smiled and sighed: "Famous disciples hold up high teachers. You are so popular, many people come to me, hoping that I can also guide them to a big award nomination, but they don't know that it is your own understanding that is high enough to understand, otherwise, no matter how well I speak, what is the use? When you invited me, you never said you wanted to get a big award nomination for yourself."

Lu Yan He smiled and said: "Teacher He, why don't you run an acting class."

"I don't have such vigorous energy. Making a little money, living easily and happily, is better than anything." He Shuyi said.

Lu Yan He nodded.

Chen Ziyan has a very important dinner today. The purpose of this dinner is for the Tianxing Award. Unexpectedly, halfway through the meal, a big shot who has a pivotal position in the domestic entertainment industry suddenly mentioned Lu Yan He.

This person is called Lu Yanzhong. He entered the literary and art troupe when he was a teenager, and has been mixing in the system since then. Until he was forty, he came out of the system and established several entertainment companies, not only doing artist brokerage, but also including multiple links in this industrial chain, such as commercial performances, etc. Before the arrival of the Internet era, offline commercial performances were the most profitable work for artists. The line he held could be ranked in the top five in the country at that time, and his power can be seen from this.

The arrival of the Internet era did not knock him down on the beach. Behind major domestic Internet platforms, there are almost

To build the Tianxing Awards, if we can pull in this big shot who has a hand in artists, performances, platforms, and investment, only then can this award stand firm.

Qin Zhikun, Chen Hongyu, and Jiang Lan were all there too.

And the fact that Lu Yanzhong could be invited out today was entirely thanks to Chen Ziyan.

Everything had been going well, but right at the end, Lu Yanzhong suddenly brought up Lu Yan He.

"I met with Wang Zhong a couple of days ago, and he mentioned an actor you're managing to me," Lu Yanzhong said to Chen Ziyan. "Lu Yan He."

Chen Ziyan showed a look of surprise and said with a smile, "Little Lu just recently went to make a guest appearance in a project of Director Wang Zhong's."

"So that's how it is. Wang Zhong is a man with high standards; it's rare to see him praise a young actor like this after all these years," Lu Yanzhong said. "Introduce me to him sometime too, Ziyan."

Chen Ziyan nodded with a smile and said, "Alright, Mr. Lu, I'll arrange it right away."

Lu Yanzhong only mentioned it that one time, and afterwards, he never brought up Lu Yan He again.

Compared to this meal, which lasted about two and a half hours, the segment where Lu Yan He was mentioned lasted no more than ten seconds, yet it left Chen Ziyan pondering back and forth for over an hour after the dinner ended.

Why would someone like Lu Yanzhong be interested in meeting a minor actor? Even if he were praised by Wang Zhong as being peerless, it still wouldn't be enough to give Lu Yanzhong such an idea.

Chen Ziyan could almost conclude that Lu Yanzhong must have some other reason for wanting to see Lu Yan He, only that for now, no one knew what that reason was.

Since there was nothing else unusual about Lu Yan He, it was hard for Chen Ziyan not to associate it with that previous incident involving him.

Could it be that Lu Yanzhong knows Lu Yan He?

Lu Yanzhong was quite supportive of the Tianxing Awards, which made the group breathe a sigh of relief.

After seeing him to his car and sending him off safely, the group sat back down.

During this period, they had invested most of their energy into this matter, and now, the model was finally taking shape.

"I really didn't expect Lu Yanzhong to be so willing to serve as an honorary advisor for our Tianxing Awards committee," Chen Hongyu said.

Qin Zhikun asked, "Why do you say that?"

"He is notoriously cautious. When you ask him for many things, even just inviting him to attend a gala, he almost never makes a decision on the spot," Chen Hongyu said. "He relented after just one dinner today; Ziyan's influence is truly strong enough."

Chen Ziyan snapped back to reality and waved her hand. "What influence do I have? It's just that the Tianxing Awards and 'Idol Era' are the trend of the times; no one is unwilling to be the first to eat the crab."

It could be said that Chen Ziyan hadn't done anything else during this period but build momentum.

Building up the momentum for the Tianxing Awards and 'Idol Era', letting everyone know what this meant, and making everyone want to be the first to board this ship rather than coming back later to buy a ticket—that was the work Chen Ziyan was doing. And thanks to her connections in the industry, this momentum was built very quickly.

To others, what was the most valuable thing about Chen Ziyan? She had used her experiences over the past years to imprint two profound words in many people's hearts: vision.

Jiang Lan looked at Chen Ziyan, smiled, and said, "The fact that Lu Yanzhong values Lu Yan He so much shows Ziyan's vision. With Ziyan working on this with us, no one will question the prospects of 'Idol Era' and the Tianxing Awards."

"Lu Yan He truly has a talent for acting," Chen Hongyu said immediately. "Originally, when his 'Young Days' aired on our Bingyuan Video, our backend big data showed that Lu Yan He had the highest favorability among the younger generation of artists. Our backend data shows that as long as a video contains the keyword 'Lu Yan He,' the proportion of non-fan groups clicking to play is very high, significantly higher than other artists. With such public appeal and good acting skills, it's no wonder he became popular so quickly."

Jiang Lan smiled and said, "One of our S+ grade major dramas has invited Lu Yan He to be the male lead; it's also Lu Yan He's first drama as a male lead."

Chen Hongyu's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Is it 'Seventeen Layers'?"

"You're quite well-informed," Jiang Lan said, not surprised at all, but instead smiling brightly. She was clearly very happy about this matter. "We have always wanted to make high-quality short dramas. 'Seventeen Layers' is one of our attempts. Ziyan picked it out from many scripts at a glance back then."

Chen Hongyu clicked his tongue twice. "No wonder you guys still refuse to sell this drama even now, keeping it in your hands."

Jiang Lan said, "It's not that we are deliberately holding onto it. For a twelve-episode short drama, if you still price it according to the traditional number of episodes, that would be too much of a loss. It's better not to sell it. We have full confidence in this drama; it will be a hit."

Chen Hongyu said, "There has never been a precedent for this kind of extreme survival-themed drama to become a massive hit. Who would dare spend a large sum of money to buy it? Being able to sign Lu Yan He as the male lead is certainly a bargaining chip, but it's impossible for it to have treatment that exceeds the market level."

Jiang Lan looked at Chen Hongyu with full confidence. "Then let's just wait and see. Once this drama finishes filming, you'll know."

Chen Hongyu looked at Chen Ziyan in disbelief and asked, "This drama hasn't even started filming yet, why does Station Chief Jiang act as if it's certain to be a massive hit? She definitely won't tell me. Ziyan, tell me, what's going on?"

Chen Ziyan shook her head, looking innocent, and said, "I don't know either."

Chen Hongyu: "..."

Jiang Lan immediately laughed.

She said, "Old Chen, stop asking. Although your video platform has developed very well over the years, benefiting from the development of the internet and snatching away more than half of the users from our traditional television stations, ginger is still spicier when it's old. When it comes to truly making dramas, you still have to look to us."

Chen Hongyu never expected that Jiang Lan would be so "arrogant."

What kind of capital did she have to make her so "arrogant"?

The four of them dispersed, appearing to leave separately.

Half an hour later, however, Chen Ziyan and Jiang Lan appeared at the same time in another place—a private club.

Someone led them to a private room.

The environment here had a sense of low-key luxury; the light in the hallway was dim, and the carpet was soft and thick, so that when people walked on it, they made almost no sound of footsteps.

Chen Ziyan glanced at Jiang Lan and said, "You said so much to Chen Hongyu just now to let him release the signal?"

The arrogance on Jiang Lan's face was no longer visible. She took a deep breath, nodded, and said, "For the drama 'Seventeen Layers,' there are still people in the station trying to make it fail. You know, some people can't stand that I've risen quickly these past few years and have been attacking me. Even though the overall viewership ratings of television stations are declining, they specifically target me by using the collective drop in my drama's viewership ratings to fire at me. Everyone knows this is the trend of the times, but this is hard evidence of my poor performance. I must produce something that leaves them speechless."

"You know, the drama 'Seventeen Layers' encountered many difficulties from the very beginning of its incubation and nearly failed several times. That you could see potential in 'Seventeen Layers' was a timely rain for me, and after Lu Yan He received a Honghe Award nomination, it saved 'Seventeen Layers' once. After all, it is the first male lead drama of Lu Yan He's life, and the station also thinks highly of Lu Yan He," Jiang Lan said. "Now, there is still a force that wants to prevent 'Seventeen Layers' from being filmed."

Chen Ziyan said, "Choosing such a subject matter is very risky."

Jiang Lan nodded and said, "It is indeed very risky, but I am not afraid of risks. For those who create content, who could be afraid of creating risky content? If you want to bite off a piece of fat meat, you have to be prepared to break your teeth."

Chen Ziyan looked at Jiang Lan and smiled.

"So many years have passed, and you are still so fierce, refusing to bow your head or admit defeat."

"If I were willing to bow my head and admit defeat, how could I have reached my current position?" Jiang Lan laughed at herself, looked at Chen Ziyan again, and sighed with emotion, "I am very glad that you are still staying here and haven't left."

Chen Ziyan said, "If I'm not mistaken, you want to make 'Seventeen Layers' into a seasonal drama, right? Twelve episodes, and it's an extreme survival theme."

Jiang Lan nodded, her eyes showing some determination. "Creating a trump card and holding it firmly in your own hands—that is the royal way to establish oneself."

Chen Ziyan nodded.

Jiang Lan's promotion at the Beijing Station was fast; fast meant her strength and ability, but it also meant that the suppression and attacks she had suffered would never be few.

It was not surprising that Jiang Lan had such thoughts.

They waited in the private room for about ten minutes before another person arrived.

The person who came was Chen Bige, a super first-tier star and top-tier celebrity whom Chen Ziyan had once personally managed.

"Ziyan—" As soon as Chen Bige entered, she hugged Chen Ziyan with a face full of affection, her closeness and enthusiastic posture as if she were still Chen Ziyan's artist. "It's been a long time!"

Chen Ziyan looked at her with a smile and said, "Don't be too harsh on maintaining your figure; there's no meat left at all."

Chen Bige shook her head with a smile and said, "Not at all, I've actually gained a little weight recently."

Jiang Lan also hugged Chen Bige.

"Station Chief Lan, I have already read the script you revised; it's much better this time," Chen Bige said. "It's really been a long time since I acted in a television drama; I'm quite nervous."

Jiang Lan: "If you're still nervous, other actresses shouldn't even bother trying."

Chen Bige shook her head and said, "I've been acting in movies for the past few years; perhaps television audiences don't remember me anymore."

"That's an exaggeration, Best Actress," Chen Ziyan teased with a smile. "Your national popularity is at a level where even if you left for ten years, this circle wouldn't forget you."

Chen Bige waved her hand with a smile, then looked at the two of them and said, "When Ziyan first introduced me to the drama 'Seventeen Layers,' I was quite hesitant because I had never acted in this type of drama, nor had I ever acted in an action drama. There are quite a few action scenes this time, and I've been doing strength training recently, so my physical stamina has finally improved a bit."

"I was wondering why you looked even thinner," Chen Ziyan said. "Your spirit of self-discipline is worth learning from for all actors."

Chen Bige asked, "Where is my little junior brother?"

"Yan He?" Chen Ziyan shook her head and said, "He's at school attending classes. Don't go around calling him 'little junior brother' with Shang Yongzhou; it's nonsense."

Chen Bige clicked her tongue and said, "Finally, a top student from Zhenhua has emerged, and you won't even let me build a connection with him. Ziyan, you really only listen to the new people laugh and ignore the old people cry."

Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes at her, speechless.

Jiang Lan watched this scene and thought to herself that Chen Ziyan was the only agent who could maintain such a relationship after parting ways with the artists she had managed.

Lu Yan He's return to 'City Travelogue' was arranged to be a trending topic by Xin Zixing.

The viewership of the recent episodes of 'City Travelogue' had been declining day by day. It couldn't be said that the quality had become worse—in fact, the word-of-mouth was still okay—but data like viewership was dropping for real, and each episode also lacked those topics that sparked widespread popularity outside the circle.

It was clear that the previous topics weren't all created by Lu Yan He, but even if they had nothing to do with Lu Yan He, they still emerged during the episodes that Lu Yan He recorded.

If things continued like this, Xin Zixing didn't know how many more episodes 'City Travelogue' could make.

Seeing such data performance, the senior management at Ye Mai Network, who had initially insisted on making 'City Travelogue' shed Lu Yan He's traces, stopped talking and no longer opposed Xin Zixing's insistence on inviting Lu Yan He back.

Many people ran to Lu Yan He's comment section to cheer, saying that he had finally returned to 'City Travelogue,' saying that the episodes before him were very boring and unwatchable, and there were also people asking why he was absent from the recording and asking if he would be a permanent guest in the future.

Lu Yan He replied to a few people:

1. I was filming before, and then school started, so I was very busy and couldn't participate in the recording of every episode.

2. 'City Travelogue' is a program with great geographical and cultural significance. Whether he is a permanent guest or not does not affect the quality of the program itself. In fact, even for the episodes he didn't participate in, he watched them, and Xin Zixing's team did a great job with the program.

3. If he has time and Xin Zixing's team invites him, he will definitely participate because he has very deep feelings for this program.

These replies from Lu Yan He answered many fans' doubts.

Xin Zixing was also very moved when she saw these replies from Lu Yan He; she didn't expect Lu Yan He to speak up for them like this.

She suddenly realized that Lu Yan He might not have even noticed that Ye Mai Network had previously thought about excluding him from 'City Travelogue.'

In May, Lu Yan He had a rare, relatively leisurely weekend.

There were no filming tasks, and no course papers to write.

Because of the filming requirements for 'Seventeen Layers,' he also began to learn various skills with the action coordinator arranged by the crew, such as wall climbing, rock climbing, and so on.

Lu Yan He finally found out who the female lead of 'Seventeen Layers' was.

He saw it online.

A marketing account said that the female lead of 'Seventeen Layers' was Chen Bige, who hadn't acted in a television drama for many years.

At first, many people felt that this news was very unreliable.

After all, Chen Bige really hadn't acted in a television drama for many years.

Many people even doubted whether Chen Bige would still act in television dramas.

Then, three days later, 'Seventeen Layers' officially announced the male and female leads: Chen Bige and Lu Yan He. The entire entertainment industry was shocked by this news.

Chen Bige's return to television dramas, Lu Yan He's first male lead drama.

The attention sparked by these two gimmicks made 'Seventeen Layers' an overnight sensation that everyone was paying attention to.

"Oh my, my little junior brother! We've finally met!"

When meeting Chen Bige for the first time, Lu Yan He was still thinking about how to greet this top-tier actress, but as soon as she came up, she got hands-on, cupping Lu Yan He's face in both hands and pinching it.

Lu Yan He widened his eyes in surprise, not expecting Chen Bige to be like this.

In daily filming, Chen Bige was the definition of a goddess—noble, cold, and glamorous. In front of the camera, Chen Bige also had an atmospheric and approachable side, but it was definitely not like this—like some inexplicable big sister, pinching Lu Yan He's face while laughing.

Chen Ziyan looked at Chen Bige, speechless, and said, "Calm down. It's the first time you've met; don't leave a bad impression on Little Lu."

Chen Bige let go of her hands but looked relaxed, saying, "How could that be? A woman as beautiful and cute as me—what man wouldn't love her? Right, Little Lu?"

Chen Bige gave Lu Yan He a flirtatious wink.

Lu Yan He blushed in embarrassment.

"Yan He, sit down. Don't mind her; she's a bit crazy," Chen Ziyan said, directly roasting the actress she had previously managed. "Don't be nervous just because of her fame and the image she's created, and let her push you around. If you get pushed around like this, don't blame me for not warning you."

Lu Yan He didn't know how to respond.

Chen Bige laughed out loud and said, "Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Sit."

Lu Yan He sat down.

"Little Lu, let me ask you, does Ziyan ever mention me to you?" Chen Bige asked immediately.

"Huh?" Lu Yan He was stunned.

"So she really doesn't," Chen Bige immediately glared at Chen Ziyan. "I said you definitely don't care about me anymore, and you denied it. Look at Little Lu; his reaction can't lie!"

Seeing this, Lu Yan He immediately said, "No, no, Sister Ziyan mentions you often."

"Don't try to cover for me. I wouldn't mention her; mentioning her is just trouble," Chen Ziyan said bluntly. "The first artist I managed was also the most troublesome one. The first thing I did every morning when I opened my eyes was look at my phone to see what mess I had to clean up for her."

Chen Bige: "... It's not that exaggerated."

Chen Ziyan: "Heh."