Chapter 324

Lu Yan He had never gone through a script with a group of actors like this, substituting into character perspectives, reading lines, and talking about what he saw and what happened.

He had participated in script readings before, but the atmosphere on those occasions was more like a meeting.

At night, Lu Yan He lay in bed, with fragments of the script flashing through his mind.

He dreamed at night that he was holding Chen Siqi and running in the city at night.

It was a desolate city, with ashes falling slowly at the end of the night.

Lu Yan He woke up in the middle of the night, sitting on the bed, his mind blank, with a sense of exhaustion as if his spirit was depleted.

Fortunately, there were no scenes for him in the morning.

Otherwise, he felt he might have a headache today.

Why he suddenly felt like he had a serious illness, Lu Yan He really didn't know the reason.

But he knew that all of this stemmed from going through the script again with everyone yesterday. He vaguely felt that he had moved closer to the world where Meng Bai was.

At eight o'clock, Chen Siqi suddenly sent him a message: Have you left yet?

Lu Yan He heard the phone vibrate, opened his eyes, took a look, was stunned, and then remembered that he had an appointment with Chen Siqi to meet Xu Xiaoyin this morning.

He needed to communicate some things with Xu Xiaoyin.

He sat up, rubbed his head, and said: I forgot, I'm still in bed, I'll be there right away.

Chen Siqi: You're still in bed at eight o'clock? Are you not feeling well?

Lu Yan He said: No, just didn't sleep well yesterday, woke up in the middle of the night, couldn't fall back asleep for a long time, very sleepy.

Chen Siqi: Then I'll go talk to Sister Xiaoyin by myself. You catch up on your sleep, just come over to have lunch with us at noon. It doesn't matter what I say about other things, it's more appropriate for you to bring up Xu Mingyue's matter, she is your senior.

Lu Yan He originally wanted to struggle to go over, but Chen Siqi sent another message: Don't force yourself to come over, it's not like you have to accompany me, get some good rest.

Lu Yan He was indeed sleepy, so he gave up, lay back down, replied with a "good" word, put the phone aside, and fell into a deep sleep again.

"Why didn't Yan He come today?" Xu Xiaoyin asked.

Chen Siqi said: "He didn't sleep well last night and slept in this morning. I told him not to come, to rest first, and then rush over to have lunch with us at noon."

Xu Xiaoyin nodded and asked: "He's filming recently, right?"

"Yes," Chen Siqi nodded, "He said it's a situation he has never encountered before. I originally thought acting in this film would be relatively easy and not that tiring."

Xu Xiaoyin laughed, "Looking at the films Yan He acts in, except for *Friends* which he wrote himself, they are all roles full of bitterness and deep hatred. I estimate there isn't any film that is truly easy to shoot. Just looking at the films he acts in, you know it's not easy for him to act."

Chen Siqi handed the plan in her hand to Xu Xiaoyin and said: "Sister Xiaoyin, this is a supplement we plan to make, please report it to the publishing house."

Xu Xiaoyin received it and nodded, "Okay, no big problem. Now the sales of *Jump Up* are very stable. If you make a supplement, the publishing house will give the green light."

"We plan to publish this supplement first and then put it on the shelves electronically. We have also communicated with the Ye Mai website," Chen Siqi said.

Xu Xiaoyin was stunned, and then her eyes lit up.

The Jiang Yin Publishing House has always hoped that the sales of the magazine *Jump Up* could continue to increase. However, *Jump Up* seems to have reached a bottleneck period. The sales of recent issues haven't had much growth, always maintaining around 80,000 copies. In fact, it's not that the readers of *Jump Up* haven't increased, but that most of the readers attracted by the online popularity and dissemination of *Jump Up* still choose to read this magazine during the three-day free period on the Ye Mai website, or purchase the electronic version.

The audience for paper books seems to have reached its limit.

Jiang Yin Publishing House has been trying to get *Jump Up* to cancel the three-day free period on the Ye Mai website... of course, this is basically impossible.

The cooperation framework agreed upon from the beginning was like this.

Canceling the three-day free period of *Jump Up* on the Ye Mai website would cause the Ye Mai website to lose hundreds of thousands or even millions of user traffic every month.

*Jump Up* is now the most stable channel for the Ye Mai website to attract new users.

Even *City Travel Notes*, which Lu Yan He participated in, doesn't have as good a traffic-attracting effect as *Jump Up*.

Analyzing the reason, it is because several novel serializations in *Jump Up* have consolidated fixed readers, and every issue has different stars and celebrities invited to write columns or accept interviews, which will attract a portion of new readers.

*City Travel Notes* follows the path of literary youth, and its popularization is not as good as *Jump Up*.

Therefore, Chen Siqi had the idea of making a supplement.

This idea emerged from the success of the Summer Special and Winter Special.

The Summer Special and Winter Special were still at normal publication times, just turning that issue into a special issue.

A supplement is a separate thematic plan outside of regular publication, a work outside of regular publication.

Chen Siqi wants to make a supplement, firstly because there are a lot of manuscripts for *Jump Up* now, and the layout of twelve issues a year cannot effectively digest them. Secondly, because everyone wants to do some innovative things, but *Jump Up* was founded not long ago, and they don't dare to take risks in the regular issue, so they had the idea of wanting to do innovative columns in the supplement.

This idea also received Lu Yan He's support.

Lu Yan He has always felt that online novels are very developed in China now, but short and medium-length novels do not have broad soil, which is actually a pity.

Especially for films, most of the time long novels are not suitable for adaptation into films, but short and punchy short stories are more suitable.

Some novels that do not fit the tone of *Jump Up* can be published through supplements.

The copyright agency that cooperates with *Jump Up* has been pushing some short story adaptations.

Because of Lu Yan He, the magazine *Jump Up* is also very much watched by the film and television circle, having unique advantages.

However, because neither Lu Yan He nor Chen Siqi is willing to sell cheaply, so far, only the adaptation of Li Zhibai's short story has been negotiated.

Chen Siqi asked again: "How is the reprinting of Miao Yue's *Late Spring* going?"

Xu Xiaoyin nodded and said: "It has successfully passed the topic selection meeting, and we are looking for a designer to design a new cover."

"That's good," Chen Siqi smiled, "There will be more and more stand-alone books we plan in the future."

Xu Xiaoyin said: "The book market is sluggish now, but if the books of writers pushed by your *Jump Up* series can sell well, every book will definitely be given the green light."

"With *Jump Up* doing the promotion, it shouldn't be unsalable," Chen Siqi said, "And you are also very professional editors. We do the front end, you handle the back end. Sister Xiaoyin, we will definitely be able to push out a batch of new writers."

Chen Siqi and Lu Yan He established Jump Up Culture Media Co., Ltd., and slowly signed a batch of writers who often contributed to *Jump Up*. Basically, they were all new writers. For well-known writers who had already signed with Jiang Yin Publishing House like Liu Jiazhen and Ming Yin, Chen Siqi didn't have any ideas about them, just signed long-term contribution agreements separately and advanced their manuscript fees.

Miao Yue was signed to them because of special circumstances, and she was also the only writer there who had published two books and was no longer a new writer.

Xu Xiaoyin has always been very satisfied with Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi's approach in this regard. They are very clear that their focus is on making magazines, not on publishing brokerage. Establishing a company and signing new authors is also to better support a batch of new people and help everyone operate and incubate copyrights.

For authors like Liu Jiazhen whose copyrights could not be handed over to *Jump Up*, Chen Siqi did not lower his treatment because of this, and gave him enough face in all aspects.

And for new authors signed by Chen Siqi and the others, when they want to push stand-alone books, they will also prioritize cooperation with Jiang Yin.

For example, the reprinting of Miao Yue's *Late Spring*.

Because of Lu Yan He's starring role, there must be many publishing houses willing to do the reprinting of *Late Spring*.

Chen Siqi went directly to Xu Xiaoyin.

At noon, Lu Yan He rushed to the restaurant with sleepy eyes and said to Xu Xiaoyin: "Sister Xiaoyin, sorry, my state is a bit terrible."

Xu Xiaoyin saw that Lu Yan He even had dark circles under his eyes and showed a look of astonishment.

She rarely saw Lu Yan He like this.

"What kind of torture have you suffered in the film crew," she couldn't help but sigh.

Lu Yan He shook his head, smiled bitterly, and waved his hand, "It's not the torture of the film crew, it's my own problem."

Xu Xiaoyin said: "For the film *Nineteen Years of Crime Records*, Ruyi finally decided to find Chen Ziliang to act in it, not Li Zhibai and Yan Liang. I heard the news and thought I had to tell you immediately."

"Ah?" Lu Yan He showed a look of surprise, "Chen Ziliang? He's coming to act?"

Is Ruyi crazy?

Xu Xiaoyin nodded, "Originally their first choice was you, but after you refused, they started contacting others."

"They actually didn't look down on Li Zhibai and Yan Liang, and chose Chen Ziliang?" Lu Yan He was still very incredulous.

Xu Xiaoyin: "Chen Ziliang signed his film and television contract to Ruyi, so Ruyi gave him this greeting gift."

Lu Yan He: "..."

Xu Xiaoyin: "And, although he hasn't acted much, he is a big star after all."

"A big star with a stinking reputation," Lu Yan He added immediately.

Xu Xiaoyin smiled, "It's a pity, I really hoped this film could be acted by you."

"I decided to act in *Friends* at that time, so I gave up *Nineteen Years*. Actually, it was also because I didn't have time to act in *Nineteen Years*, otherwise I would definitely have acted in it. *Nineteen Years* couldn't accommodate my time," Lu Yan He said, "The role they found for me was only the second male lead."

"Yeah, it's really a pity," Xu Xiaoyin nodded, "If it weren't for you, I don't know when this novel would have been known. Maybe it would have been dormant like this, unknown."

Lu Yan He asked: "Does Brother Jiazhen have any new work?"

"He is preparing, but hasn't decided what to write. *Nineteen Years* and *Silent Spiral* are both very successful, which puts a lot of pressure on him, and he doesn't dare to easily start writing the next book," Xu Xiaoyin said.

Lu Yan He said: "If Brother Jiazhen can't think of a good story for the time being, why not write a column first, write about his life."

Chen Siqi said: "We went to ask for a manuscript, but he kept saying he wouldn't write prose and didn't agree."

Lu Yan He said to Xu Xiaoyin: "Brother Jiazhen is a person who is very good at telling stories. His telling of his own life must also be very interesting. The daily life of a suspense crime novel writer, I think many people must be interested."

Xu Xiaoyin said: "Then I'll go talk to him again to see if I can persuade him."

"Okay," Lu Yan He smiled, "Actually, Sister Xiaoyin, there is one more thing we need to discuss with you."

"Hmm?" Xu Xiaoyin was stunned, somewhat surprised. She thought everything for today had already been said.

"We hope that Senior Mingyue can work full-time here after graduation," Lu Yan He said, "Siqi's work here is very busy, and there are more and more things to connect. Senior Mingyue used to intern at Jiang Yin and represented Jiang Yin to connect with us. In the future, there will be more and more things we need to connect with Jiang Yin, daily magazine publication, supplements, and even the stand-alone books of writers, etc. We need someone who is very familiar with Jiang Yin to be responsible for this. It just so happens that Senior Mingyue is very familiar with us and Jiang Yin, and is the most suitable candidate. So, we want to discuss this matter with you."

"Poaching my people," Xu Xiaoyin couldn't help but smile when she heard this, but didn't feel surprised.

She actually already had a premonition.

"Xu Mingyue is only interning at our Jiang Yin. If she wants to work at your place, of course she can. The decision is in her own hands."

"She doesn't want this decision of hers to affect the cooperation between our two sides, and is even more afraid of making you feel disappointed in her. She has always regarded you as a master."

Xu Xiaoyin: "How could that be? She is overthinking. Now *Jump Up* is the most important book list of our Jiang Yin Publishing House. If she can go there and represent *Jump Up* to connect with us, of course we are also very happy."

Lu Yan He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Xu Xiaoyin say this, "Then thank you so much, Sister Xiaoyin."

After finishing lunch with Xu Xiaoyin, Chen Siqi paid the bill and said goodbye to her at the restaurant entrance.

Chen Siqi looked at Lu Yan He and asked: "Where are you going?"

Lu Yan He said: "I'm going to the film crew."

Zou Dong had already followed. He was eating nearby just now, waiting for Lu Yan He.

Chen Siqi asked: "Is it convenient for me to go to the place where you are filming?"

"Yes, it's fine."

"Then I'll go with you. I'm flying back to Jiangguang tonight," Chen Siqi said, "I'll go see the place where you film."

"Okay."

Lu Yan He brought Chen Siqi to the film set. The staff members were stunned when they saw the girl appearing beside Lu Yan He, curious about her identity.

People find it hard to avoid vulgarity. When they see a girl appearing beside a boy, they will suspect whether she is his girlfriend.

Especially a popular star like Lu Yan He.

Some substitute photographers were squatting on the periphery of the film crew—ever since they started filming here, more and more people knew Lu Yan He was filming here, so more and more people would gather here, including substitute photographers who wanted to photograph Lu Yan He.

Chen Siqi followed behind Lu Yan He, her expression calm.

Someone excitedly asked if that was Lu Yan He's girlfriend?

Someone calmly replied, "Don't get excited, that's just Chen Siqi, a high school classmate who runs a magazine with Lu Yan He."

Chen Siqi couldn't help but smile when she heard their discussion.

She walked into the campus with Lu Yan He.

Chen Siqi asked: "Do you film most of your scenes here?"

Lu Yan He said: "This is the main scene, there are other shooting scenes."

Chen Siqi nodded and said: "Here... it looks quite aged. Didn't expect Yuming to have such an old school."

"It's no longer a school, it's a tutoring school, just like in the play," Lu Yan He said, "At that time, Liu Bige took a fancy to its oldness."

The news that Lu Yan He brought a girl to the film set didn't even wait for Lu Yan He to find the main force, Kong Fan and the others had already heard about it.

One by one, they stood in the corridor and looked out.

Chen Siqi looked up at the top, saw several heads poking out from the corridor above, smiled, and asked: "They are the actors who act in this play with you, right?"

"Yes."

"They all seem to like you very much."

"Routine operation," Lu Yan He curled his lips slightly and said to Chen Siqi.

"Pretending, if there's no affair between those two, count me blind," Chen Ziliang exited the search interface with disdain—five minutes ago, he searched for Lu Yan He, and as a result, he saw a video of someone filming Lu Yan He bringing Chen Siqi into the film set.

There were quite a few people in the comment section saying that wasn't Lu Yan He's girlfriend, just another editor-in-chief of *Jump Up*, Chen Siqi.

Very serious.

Chen Ziliang sneered.

His agent Yan Wei asked him what he was saying.

Chen Ziliang was too lazy to say more, just said "nothing," and asked again: "Is the contract for *Nineteen Years* finished?"

"The legal department has already finished the contract, preparing to sign," Yan Wei looked back at Chen Ziliang sitting in the back and said, "This time you signed the film and television contract to Ruyi, President Mo is not very happy. Make an appointment, have a meal with President Mo, and say some soft words."

"What's there to say? I've been singing for so many years, has he earned less?" Chen Ziliang's face was full of disgust, "Greedy, let me keep the film and television contract at Xinghe. Does Xinghe have any film and television resources that can be given to me?"

Yan Wei: "The reason is this reason, but not many people will willingly give up benefits because of the reason. You still need President Mo to support you at Xinghe, don't make the relationship with him stiff."

Chen Ziliang was silent for a long time before responding.

During this period, Chen Ziliang's situation was very bad.

The feedback on the new song was very average. Except for the music variety show, almost no good cooperation came to find him. This was especially reflected in business invitations, and the quality of brands plummeted.

Chen Ziliang's music style is not suitable for film and television OSTs.

If it weren't for his status being in jeopardy, he wouldn't want to transform into an actor at this time.

"Actually, Ruyi really values you. I heard that Li Zhibai and Yan Liang both had people fighting for this role for them, but in the end, Ruyi gave it to you," Yan Wei said.

"The production side of *Nineteen Years* had always wanted to find Lu Yan He to act in this role. It was Lu Yan He who stopped acting, so it was sent to me," Chen Ziliang's eyes were filled with disgust, not knowing who it was for, "Didn't expect that one day I would also eat the leftovers Lu Yan He didn't want."

Yan Wei was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

Chen Ziliang said: "Yan Wei, do you think I'm going to be out of date?"

Yan Wei: "Of course not!"

Chen Ziliang looked at the street scene passing by outside the car window, fell silent, and said no more.

When he asked this question, he actually already knew the answer.

He himself knew what the answer was.

Yan Wei said: "Temporary gains and losses don't count for anything. Didn't Lu Yan He also experience several years of bottoming out before? You have strength, you don't need to belittle yourself because of temporary gains and losses."

Chen Ziliang didn't speak.