Chapter 306: Lu Yan He's Attitude (8,000-word update)

Regarding the criticism he received on the Spring Festival Gala, even someone as thick-skinned as Li Zhibai felt depressed for several days.

However, Li Zhibai didn't stay depressed for long.

After appearing on the Spring Festival Gala, there were several other accompanying galas to attend.

Originally, there was a Lantern Festival Gala that also wanted to invite Lu Yan He, but Lu Yan He didn't go because of insufficient preparation time.

After the Lantern Festival, Lu Yan He went to keep the appointment with Lin Desheng with Chen Ziyan.

They talked in Lin Desheng's office.

Just as Chen Ziyan guessed, Lin Desheng wanted to talk to Lu Yan He about a strategic cooperation agreement.

It actually rose to strategic cooperation... Chen Ziyan muttered in her heart when she heard Lin Desheng say these four words. Lu Yan He is just one person now, at most writing a script or acting in a show, what kind of strategic cooperation is there to talk about.

As a result, as soon as Lin Desheng opened his mouth, both Lu Yan He and Chen Ziyan were shocked.

"Don't you have a film and television production company?" He said, "We will inject capital."

Lu Yan He and Chen Ziyan were silent for a while, looking at each other.

"This production company of ours has nothing; it's just an empty shell," Lu Yan He finally said the truth, "It's just for the convenience of participating in some projects I star in or write."

"Don't you plan to do projects yourself in the future?" Lin Desheng asked.

This question went straight to the hearts of the two of them.

If Lu Yan He himself didn't have many formed concepts and ideas, Chen Ziyan had them long ago.

Especially after knowing that Lu Yan He could write scripts.

Lin Desheng said: "Arctic Light will invest in this production company of yours. The film and television drama projects you produce will be prioritized to Arctic Light Video. Our first cooperation agreement is for three dramas, one of which must be a sitcom. For these three dramas, we can provide a production budget of at least A-level resources. If the evaluation passes, we can even provide an S-level budget. The copyright is in your hands; we only invest, not let you undertake the production."

Lin Desheng's conditions were very generous.

Chen Ziyan asked tentatively: "Then how much capital does Lin Zong want to invest, and how many shares?"

Lin Desheng smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry, no matter how high it is, it won't exceed 50%. I don't intend to swallow this company of yours in one bite. You said it yourself, this company actually has nothing yet. The most valuable things are the two of you."

Chen Ziyan felt a little relieved.

"If that's the case, then we can talk about it properly."

Lu Yan He didn't know much about companies, equity, etc. Later, it almost became a negotiation between Chen Ziyan and Lin Desheng, and Lu Yan He couldn't get a word in.

He only knew that on the one hand, Lin Desheng was very optimistic about him, and even this production company under his name. On the other hand, the premise of their cooperation was that Lu Yan He would serve as a screenwriter or lead actor, providing three dramas for Arctic Light.

The current Arctic Light Video is one of the top arrays among domestic video websites, but there are still many competitors.

The four major platforms are driving side by side, and the number of users and daily activity are about the same, without a huge difference.

Under these circumstances, major video websites are fighting very seriously for high-quality content.

Once a creator like Lu Yan He appears, almost all major platforms will throw out olive branches.

And Arctic Light Video is the one with the most sincerity, the only one where the boss comes out to talk.

Therefore, Chen Ziyan prioritized accepting Arctic Light's invitation.

The conditions given by Lin Desheng also exceeded their expectations.

Many people came to Lu Yan He, all bringing high salaries or manuscript fees to cooperate with him.

Only Lin Desheng didn't look at the present, but at a very long period in the future, wanting to cooperate directly with Lu Yan He for a long time.

Leaving Lin Desheng's office, Lu Yan He went back with Chen Ziyan, and Chen Ziyan said: "Yan He, what do you think of the cooperation proposed by Lin Zong?"

Lu Yan He said: "I don't quite understand the equity of the company."

"Setting aside these for now, these things, if we really want to talk about cooperation and land this cooperation, will definitely be clarified item by item, and it's not something only the two of us can handle. The key question is, are you willing to cooperate with Arctic Light Video for such a long time?" Chen Ziyan asked.

Lu Yan He thought for a while, nodded, and said: "The benefits are great."

"That's right," Chen Ziyan nodded. "The benefit is that we can have greater say in our own projects, and won't be constrained by others like *Friends*."

"However, correspondingly, the risks we face will also become greater," Chen Ziyan said. "This is a big step. If we want to take this step, our situation in this industry will be completely different. Your current brokerage contract is still with Star Entertainment, which will also be a constraint. Because you earned a large share from *Friends*, many people in the company have opinions. After all, the company cannot enjoy any benefits from this part of the share; they can only enjoy the share of your acting work income. Now you want to have such a framework cooperation with Arctic Light Video, how to divide the share is a matter of wrangling."

If Chen Ziyan knew that Lu Yan He's development would be so rapid and fierce, she might not have let Lu Yan He sign a five-year contract with Star Entertainment.

In fact, for a young man like Lu Yan He, the five-year contract period is already very short.

Lu Yan He understood Chen Ziyan's meaning.

"Then forget it for now?" Lu Yan He said.

Chen Ziyan: "However, Lin Zong's proposal reminded me that the script you wrote shouldn't be bought out by others at once. Just like *Friends*, if the copyright is in your hands, even if you don't participate in any production later, as long as they continue to develop this series, they must get the copyright from you and pay royalties."

Lu Yan He: "*Friends* is not a story I created. It was proposed by Director Bai Jingnian. The copyright cannot be given to me. To be honest, being able to get an 8% revenue share of this show is already beyond my expectations, an unexpected joy, and I am very content."

Chen Ziyan: "I know. My meaning is that the copyrights of the scripts you wrote later, *Lost on Journey*, *Raise the Red Lantern*, *Rouge*, and *Squid Game*, can all be held in your own hands. Many people think that the bulk of a film's revenue is at the box office, but actually it's not like that, especially for low-to-medium cost films, copyright is the bulk of the income. Otherwise, so many films would have gone bankrupt just relying on the box office. If you only act as a screenwriter, the script will likely be bought by a film company. Now that we have our own production company, it's another matter what we do, we can completely find other companies to cooperate, find mature teams to do it, and the final copyright can still be retained in our own hands."

Lu Yan He said: "For example, we produce *Squid Game* ourselves, and ask Arctic Light Video for production funds and teams?"

"That's right," Chen Ziyan said. "Lin Zong actually threw a very tempting cake to us."

Lu Yan He understood Chen Ziyan's meaning.

"Now *Friends* is popular, and your market value is rising, but almost no one is willing to give such conditions," Chen Ziyan said. "Lin Zong's proposal is indeed the most generous—actually, I am a bit puzzled, why he would propose such generous conditions."

Lu Yan He shook his head.

Things Chen Ziyan couldn't figure out, he couldn't figure out even more.

When *Friends* aired to the seventh episode, the peak viewership rating broke 3%, causing a fierce discussion in the industry.

With the popularity of this sitcom, and the momentum is getting hotter and hotter, the industry's discussion and attention to this show have also reached an unprecedented level.

Even the Spring Festival Gala and the New Year did not affect its ratings.

Its influence among young people has reached a height in recent years.

Beijing TV is excited about this excellent result of *Friends*, but also began to worry, after the eighth episode of *Friends* finishes airing, which show can take over and support Beijing TV's viewership market.

Other TV stations breathed a sigh of relief at this moment.

The former is regretting why *Friends* only filmed eight episodes.

The latter is rejoicing that *Friends* only filmed eight episodes.

The popularity of several lead actors lasted for two months. The freshness of just becoming popular has passed a lot, but it is still the focus of everyone's attention.

Gossip about them appeared in various online forums, tieba, and even the comment sections of marketing accounts.

Setting aside gossip, this show has brought no small stimulation to the industry.

A sitcom with only eight episodes, a weekly broadcast mode of only one episode a week, the help of exclusive TV station broadcast to ratings, the rise of several actors in *Friends*, all these have made platforms that have always preferred super big dramas with large volume and large scenes think about the possibility of replicating *Friends*.

The main thing is that the production cost of a sitcom is really too low—compared to those big projects that cost hundreds of millions, the total production cost of *Friends* is no more than 40 million, which is a classic case of winning small with big.

To replicate success, one must study the reasons for its success.

Analyzing, discussing, from the market, from the publicity strategy, from the broadcast mode, from content production... Finally, the more they study, the more they discuss, the more they realize that the success of this show, no matter from which aspect, seems to be inseparable from Lu Yan He.

A show that was abandoned by the TV station before airing, if it weren't for the topic marketing and publicity about Lu Yan He that brought the publicity back to life, if it weren't for Lu Yan He starring, as the only first-tier star among the six leads to take on the ratings of the first episode, if it weren't for Lu Yan He writing an excellent script, allowing every episode's characters and plot to form several topics widely discussed on the internet, this show couldn't be so popular.

It might have flopped on the night of the premiere.

This conclusion made it difficult for everyone to accept for a while.

Everyone knows how important stars are to a TV series, and there is a consensus in the industry.

However, it is almost non-existent that a star is indispensable to a project.

Because there are always substitutes.

No matter how top-tier or popular a star is, they can be replaced. At most, the broadcast effect is slightly worse, not completely collapsed.

But in the hit sitcom *Friends*, they couldn't see the possibility of Lu Yan He being replaced by others.

In this, his adaptability to a character is secondary.

The news that Arctic Light Video boss Lin Desheng talked to Lu Yan He in his office for nearly an hour slowly spread in the industry.

Such things certainly cannot be hidden.

It's not how many eyes are staring at Lu Yan He, but how many eyes are staring at Lin Desheng's office.

Or rather, Lin Desheng set the meeting place in his office, which itself had this purpose.

He doesn't mind letting others know that he is in contact with Lu Yan He.

After this news spread, other partners who wanted to meet Lu Yan He but couldn't make an appointment realized that they had underestimated the industry's evaluation of Lu Yan He before.

A *Friends* has raised Lu Yan He to an extremely special position.

In China, it seems that there is no actor of his type, a popular actor who can independently write a hit sitcom.

Thus, the invitations sent to Chen Ziyan and Lu Yan He flew like snowflakes again.

Formal, informal, dinner, or banquet.

On the night the last episode of *Friends* aired, it lived up to expectations and broke 3% in viewership, setting an incredible viewership record for this eight-episode sitcom, becoming one of the highest-rated TV series of the year.

And it only had eight episodes.

"I received a very interesting invitation," Chen Ziyan said to Lu Yan He.

"What?" Lu Yan He received too many invitations during this period, and he didn't know what Chen Ziyan meant by interesting.

Chen Ziyan blinked at Lu Yan He and said: "It's the invitation for the *Friends* celebration banquet."

"Celebration banquet?" Lu Yan He was somewhat surprised.

Chen Ziyan nodded: "Beijing TV wants to hold a celebration banquet for *Friends*."

Lu Yan He laughed.

He knew why Chen Ziyan had this expression and tone.

*Friends* aired so well, a celebration banquet would definitely be held.

But now an embarrassing thing is coming.

If a celebration banquet is held, the biggest contributor to this show, Lu Yan He, has had a huge conflict with Beijing TV because of previous things. In this situation, if Lu Yan He refuses to attend, this celebration banquet will be much less impressive.

Chen Ziyan asked: "Are you going to attend?"

Lu Yan He asked: "Sister Ziyan, do you think I should attend?"

"Who do you think sent me the invitation?" Chen Ziyan didn't answer this question, but threw a question to Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

Chen Ziyan said: "It's the director of their public relations department."

"Oh?" Lu Yan He was taken aback and asked: "Responsible for Beijing TV's public relations affairs?"

"That's right," Chen Ziyan said. "Although it was said very sincerely, and expressed the idea that they very much hope you can find time to attend the celebration banquet, this is their attitude. Last time Xu Bin hit a soft nail here, and there will be no senior leaders coming to express apologies to you in the future."

"Then don't go," Lu Yan He said directly.

"Then are you still going to *Seventeen Layers* later?" Chen Ziyan asked.

"Signed a contract, must cooperate with publicity, how can I not go," Lu Yan He smiled. "*Friends* I can refuse their publicity schedule so righteously because I have already done my publicity, no matter how you say it, it meets the contract requirements. And *Friends* is *Friends*, *Seventeen Layers* is *Seventeen Layers*. One is responsible by Xu Bin, and one is responsible by Jiang Lan."

Chen Ziyan: "Then if you do this, you might be openly slapping Xu Bin in the face."

"If this is considered slapping in the face, what else can I say," Lu Yan He shrugged his shoulders. "Filmed such a popular show for him, no matter how you say it, he is the one taking advantage."

Chen Ziyan: "That's true. Jiang Lan doesn't know how jealous she is. She has told me several times that if it were her, she would definitely not have caused those unpleasant things before."

"That's not necessarily true. I see it clearly now. In the hands of these people who hold power, no matter how popular we are, we are just artists who can be manipulated or bullied at will," Lu Yan He said. "If they had a little respect for us, they wouldn't have done such things again and again. They never informed us in advance."

Chen Ziyan understood what Lu Yan He was talking about.

"Then it's okay not to go to the celebration banquet. It just so happens that you are leaving for Xitu'er the next day, so just refuse on the grounds that you need to prepare for the Xitu'er trip," Chen Ziyan said. "Don't give no face at all. Anyway, everyone knows what the real reason for you not going is."

Lu Yan He laughed.

He nodded.

With the conclusion of *Friends*, so far, Lu Yan He has had three TV series meet the audience.

Three characters: one is a gentle and sunny college student who died tragically to protect his girlfriend, one is a guard who bears a blood feud and is forbearing and resilient, and one is a rough-line, honest-smiling, simple-minded and interesting rookie actor.

These are three completely different characters, although the first two are only supporting roles, they are also supporting roles that have left a deep impression in the hearts of the audience.

Chen Shu, a special film critic of *Tomorrow Daily*, posted a dynamic after *Friends* finished airing:

There is something I don't know whether to say or not. If I say it, it seems a bit like killing Lu Yan He with praise, but if I don't say it, I feel that everyone's attention to Lu Yan He is no longer just the identity of an actor, and many things have been ignored by everyone. After thinking about it, I decided to say it. A young actor who has been acting for less than two years already has three characters that are memorable and liked by the audience. Lu Yan He's transformation from idol to actor is unprecedentedly successful. And the movie *Three Mountains* he participated in has already been shortlisted for the Xitu'er Film Festival. He seems to have a kind of metaphysics of "prospering the show." Whether starring or supporting, or guest starring, the shows he joins are all acclaimed and popular. It's not easy. Recently, I heard many people in the industry discussing him, and I especially want to say that I hope our industry can protect this talented actor well.

What Chen Shu said, not many people paid attention to it at first.

Until a newly registered small account posted a dynamic, but the content was: Beijing TV is suspected of deleting Lu Yan He's scenes and shots in *Seventeen Layers*.

This dynamic was seen by people searching for keywords, causing surprise and anger among many of Lu Yan He's fans.

—Where did this news come from?

—Are you deliberately saying fake news?

—How could such a thing be true? Blogger, don't spread rumors.

—Lu Yan He is the male lead of *Seventeen Layers*, and the *Friends* he starred in just broke the viewership record. In this situation, how could Beijing TV delete Lu Yan He's shots? Are they going against the ratings?

However, there is no smoke without fire. Suddenly someone popped up to say such things, which ultimately caused a lot of discussion.

Amidst this controversy, the *Friends* celebration banquet was held.

Many loyal viewers grabbed tickets to the scene and were also invited to attend.

Besides the audience, there were also many media at the scene.

However, Lu Yan He did not appear at the celebration banquet. This scene exploded the topic.

Why didn't Lu Yan He appear at the *Friends* celebration banquet?

This even became a topic, climbing to the hot search.

And the "historical contradiction" that Beijing TV had deliberately suppressed was also turned over again.

In the internet era, the luckiest and most unfortunate thing is that you can never block everyone's mouth. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what background you have, it's useless. The mouth of the public is the hardest to block, let alone such things that have long been known by many people.

The few things Beijing TV did to Lu Yan He, especially the "cold treatment" publicity before *Friends* aired, were all organized by many people and posted on the internet, telling everyone how Lu Yan He and Beijing TV fell out.

And the fact that Lu Yan He never cooperated with Beijing TV's publicity was also pointed out by many people.

At the scene of the *Friends* celebration, there was much discussion.

Including when several main creators spoke, this discussion did not stop.

Many people on the internet even asked, why wasn't Lu Yan He invited to the celebration banquet?

Including Lu Yan He's fans.

Lu Yan He's fans didn't know that it was he himself who refused to go, thinking that Lu Yan He was targeted by Beijing TV, so he wasn't invited, and began to count the excessive things Beijing TV did to Lu Yan He in every corner of the internet.

And the drama fans of *Friends* are even more so. Many people have been looking forward to the second season of *Friends*, but Lu Yan He said from the beginning that he would not appear in the second season, which made many drama fans very disappointed.

They don't want to change an actor to play Jiang Kele.

And in the last episode of *Friends*, Jiang Kele received a notice from a crew, providing him with a role, but he needed to go to the crew to film for four months, so others saw Jiang Kele off and sent him away.

This is also Lu Yan He drawing a temporary period for his role.

Since he has made it clear that he will not participate in the second season, then give his character a decent departure.

This way, no matter who Beijing TV finds to write the second season later, they don't need to consider the problem that Lu Yan He can't act.

This is not for Beijing TV's sake, but his requirement for the integrity and continuity of a story.

Jiang Kele's departure is not abrupt. In the second episode, he accidentally entered the filming set and guest-starred in a shot by mistake, opening this path to becoming an actor. By the last episode, Jiang Kele chose to leave, although it made people feel sad, it also conformed to the character's logic of action, not a forced turn.

Even so, drama fans, especially those who hope that the six-person group can continue to film the second season together, still couldn't accept that there was no Lu Yan He in the second season.

They all called for Lu Yan He's return, demanding Beijing TV to apologize to Lu Yan He and show necessary sincerity to let Lu Yan He return to *Friends*.

After the celebration banquet ended, media reporters surrounded the creators in the back, asking why Lu Yan He didn't come to today's celebration, asking their views on the contradiction between Lu Yan He and Beijing TV, asking if Lu Yan He really wouldn't return to the second season, all kinds of questions, everyone avoided talking and left in a hurry.

Their attitude was posted on the internet by the media, making everyone's speculation and discussion about the relationship between Lu Yan He and Beijing TV even more rampant.

"It was hard to suppress the popularity, why did people start discussing it again?"

"Has Lu Yan He been contacted? Will they respond to this?"

"Tell Chen Ziyan, if they really intend to tear their faces with us, then try it and see whose wrist is harder!"

Inside Beijing TV, because of this suddenly intensified accusation, the good atmosphere brought by *Friends* was affected.

Many people are busy saying harsh words to others, but those familiar with this environment will know that no matter how fierce they say harsh words, they can't really do anything to Lu Yan He.

These people are accustomed to showing an attitude of how to do what when something happens, but when they really need to do something, no one will be the bird that sticks its head out.

Anyway, no matter what happens, it can't affect their rice bowls and income.

At worst, act like an ostrich again, until the limelight passes.

In an office, Xu Bin, the vice station head responsible for the *Friends* project, is sitting in front of Shen Tailin, communicating with him about the storm caused by Lu Yan He's absence from the celebration.

"The trouble caused by Station Head Li, I also tried to wipe his butt, but this young man Lu Yan He, his temperament is stubborn, hard, and he refuses to accept the olive branch I handed over. I said everything I should say, let him mention conditions, but he is impervious to oil and salt."

Xu Bin sighed as he said.

"What's more, the agent behind him is that girl Chen Ziyan, and I dare not really use some hard wrist."

Shen Tailin: "That girl Chen Ziyan knows the importance of things in her heart. Why not talk to her directly? Have you talked?"

"She and Lu Yan He are in the same boat."

"That means your apology hasn't reached the point yet."

"Station Head Shen, I have already done what I can do."

"Station Head Xu, then you say, should *Friends* open the second season later?"

"Open, of course, must open, how can it not open." Xu Bin said immediately.

Shen Tailin asked again: "Then without Lu Yan He, can the second season still have the current results?"

Xu Bin: "This is hard to say, but I will find the best screenwriter to write the script for the second season. Lu Yan He didn't deliberately embarrass us either, and still wrote a decent departure for himself in the last episode, so we don't even need to change actors."

"So you also know that he didn't deliberately embarrass us," Shen Tailin smiled, "You say this young man is young, stubborn, and refuses to accept your kindness. Which young man doesn't have high spirits? There are thousands of ways to say things. Saying it condescendingly is one way, and saying it earnestly is another. You say let him mention requirements at will. If you ask me, people won't think you are generous, but will think you are insulting him."

"Is doing this still insulting him?"

"Why did he stop cooperating with you later?"

"This—"

"Because you used him as a target outside before, and even because of these storms, you were ready to give up *Friends*. I didn't say it wrong, right?" Shen Tailin asked.

"Sigh, in that situation, my judgment was indeed wrong."

Shen Tailin nodded, "Judgment error is fine, but people relied on their own strength to save *Friends* again. Even I know how great the momentum of *Friends* was in those two days. Do you know that at least ten large companies and large platforms went to invite him to cooperate with money? I ask you, is there anyone holding money to invite Bai Jingnian to cooperate? After *Friends*, are those advertisers who suddenly wanted to grab advertising positions still so enthusiastic about us?"

Xu Bin was silent.

"You actually understand, it just depends on whether you take it to heart," Shen Tailin sighed, "We relied on *Friends* to fire the first shot of the warming of ratings, but the person who fired the shot will not fire in our place in the future. You say, how many people will watch your joke behind your back?"

Xu Bin remained silent.

"Don't ruin your good hand of cards," Shen Tailin said, "When the time comes, the opportunity that originally belonged to you is handed over by yourself, and no one can blame anyone."

When Xu Bin came out of Shen Tailin's office, his back was already sweating.

It's only February, still late winter.

The knocking Shen Tailin gave him just now knocked away his attitude of "Station Head Li committed a crime, it has nothing to do with me."

Xu Bin sent a message to Chen Ziyan: Ziyan, are you free tonight? Shall we find a time to talk properly? -

Lu Yan He, who was pushed to the forefront again because of his absence from the celebration banquet, appeared at the airport the next day.

He was asked by reporters guarding the airport why he was absent. He smiled and said: "Because I have to prepare for the Xitu'er Film Festival, and there was other preparatory work to do yesterday, so I declined. They invited me."

Lu Yan He said: "*Friends* is a very warm crew. If I have time, how could I not go? No matter what, it is a very precious work for me."

"But you don't plan to return to the second season, right?" The reporters were all disappointed and lost.

Lu Yan He said: "*Friends* will always be *Friends*. I just left, but I will always be in that story, together with everyone."

After he finished speaking, he smiled and waved at the reporters.

"I'm going in, bye-bye, let's talk again when I come back from Xitu'er," he said.

After walking two steps forward, he suddenly remembered something, turned his head, looked at the reporters, and said with a smile: "I really won't return to the *Friends* drama series again. I can't break my word. However, maybe I can return in another way in the future. *Friends* is not just a TV series, these are all unknowns. Why don't we keep looking forward to it together?" ===== CHAPTER 307 =====