Chapter 327: Public?

As *Late Spring* was nearing the end of filming, Jia Long suddenly came to visit the set.

His appearance caused a stir of excitement throughout the *Late Spring* crew.

Jia Long is one of the hottest movie stars at the moment, having almost become a representative figure of a certain style, and is one of the most bankable film stars.

Such an actor is a dazzling presence for any filmmaker.

No one expected that Lu Yan He would be so familiar with Jia Long, with a relationship good enough for the other to come and visit the set.

Lu Yan He knew what they were thinking the moment he saw their expressions.

He couldn't explain it either—no, no, no, he wasn't actually that close to Jia Long; he just happened to have a film script he was collaborating on with him.

Jia Long had actually come to communicate with Lu Yan He about the film *Lost on Journey*.

But after observing the filming on set and seeing the performances of several people, he was greatly surprised.

Before coming, Jia Long hadn't imagined that the young actors in this film could act so well.

After chatting with Liu Bige and learning about the general theme of the film, he was even more shocked. Because he discovered that this was a purely arthouse film path, the kind without any compromise.

After Lu Yan He finished work, Jia Long left the set with him to eat at a nearby restaurant.

Jia Long even asked in surprise how he came to take on this film.

"I've seen *Friends* and *Lost on Journey* that you wrote; those are story themes that audiences quite like."

Lu Yan He immediately understood what Jia Long meant.

Jia Long felt that since the stories Lu Yan He wrote were all in that vein, it showed that Lu Yan He himself preferred stories that were more grounded in life and lighter, rather than the kind of film Liu Bige was shooting.

It wasn't that Jia Long looked down on such films, but rather that he felt it didn't quite fit Lu Yan He—at least, it didn't align with the aesthetic preferences he had presented.

Lu Yan He didn't answer, but instead asked: "Jia Laoshi, if a film with this kind of theme came to you, would you act in it?"

Jia Long laughed and said: "Would this old face of mine still play a teenager? The audience would feel uncomfortable just looking at it."

Of course, he knew that the "film with this kind of theme" Lu Yan He referred to didn't mean protagonists of that age; he was just joking.

"I would be very cautious," Jia Long said. "Unless it really moved me and made me want to act in it, I wouldn't dare to."

The word "dare" already revealed a lot of information.

The current film market has already placed Jia Long in this position—if a film he stars in doesn't break one billion, it's a failure.

Under these circumstances, if he wants to take on a film that doesn't have maximizing box office as its primary goal, there are layers of resistance: partners, investors, people around him, and so on.

Because one box office failure means casting a shadow over a box office myth, which in turn casts a shadow over all subsequent projects for this box office myth.

Back when *Lost on Journey* wasn't favored and couldn't get the conditions Jia Long wanted, there were reasons related to this.

It wasn't that people thought *Lost on Journey* couldn't make money, but that it couldn't make the money they expected, and the return on investment ratio was too low.

Lu Yan He basically hasn't experienced many situations where he is "not the master of his own fate," yet he can still more or less empathize with Jia Long's difficulties.

He still remembers seeing *Searchlight*, starring Jia Long, at the Xitu'er International Film Festival; that was actually a film that wanted to explore art, yet it was still wrapped in the mold of a black comedy and underwent many commercial treatments.

"Alright, I won't talk to you about these things. I came over today actually to talk to you about *Lost on Journey*," Jia Long told him. "Polaris Video is willing to give me the conditions I want, but there is one stipulation: they hope to obtain the series development rights for this script."

Lu Yan He was stunned.

"Ah?"

Jia Long said: "They want to develop *Lost on Journey* into a series, making it a series of road comedies."

At this moment, Lu Yan He didn't know how to describe his feelings.

This feeling... it was as if his secret had been pried into by someone.

Why does *Lost on Journey* have such a high status in film history? First, because the film quality itself is solid; second, because its sequel, *Lost in Thailand*, won the championship in Chinese-language film history, leading Chinese-language films into the era of one billion in box office. Not only that, although the subsequent *Lost in Hong Kong* had a terrible reputation, it still raked in over a billion in box office, with astonishing national popularity and appeal.

Lu Yan He wanted to write *Lost on Journey* first because it was simple and had strong textuality; just writing it into a script made people feel it was brilliant. Second, because it could continue to be written afterward.

He didn't expect the people at Polaris Video to have such sharp eyes, seeing at a glance that this film could be developed into a series.

Seeing Lu Yan He's hesitant expression, Jia Long thought Lu Yan He was unwilling and asked: "Are you unwilling?"

The copyright of this script is in Lu Yan He's hands.

If Lu Yan He is unwilling, then it's really hard to say.

Lu Yan He: "No, it's not that I'm unwilling. However, I also have similar thoughts about *Lost on Journey* and already have ideas for a sequel."

Jia Long showed a surprised expression.

Lu Yan He said: "Jia Laoshi, I want to write the scripts for the first and second parts of *Lost on Journey* myself. As for the subsequent series films, if they want to develop them, of course they can, but I won't participate in the specific script creation. I can authorize them to shoot the sequels."

Jia Long breathed a sigh of relief. "It's great that you're willing. I finally found a company willing to agree to my conditions and give us the investment to produce this film."

Lu Yan He said: "Jia Laoshi, do you want to be a director yourself?"

"What?" Jia Long was stunned.

Lu Yan He said: "Have you found a suitable director?"

Jia Long hesitated for a moment. "That's true, I haven't yet. However, I might still not be suitable to be a director; I don't have thoughts in that regard."

This instead made Lu Yan He somewhat surprised.

He asked Jia Long if he wanted to be a director mainly because, in the previous series of *Lost on Journey*, that bald lead actor became a director later on.

Lu Yan He also knew that, in fact, many actors have the idea of becoming a director.

Only by being a director can one control the entire film and shoot it according to one's own ideas.

For an actor like Jia Long, to reach this level, if he says he doesn't want to be a director, it is indeed something Lu Yan He cannot understand for a moment.

Jia Long explained: "Being a director is too much of a headache. I just want to manage my own acting affairs well."

Lu Yan He nodded in understanding.

If that's the case, then it's understandable.

Jia Long smiled and said: "Let's look for a director slowly, no rush. Now that we've finally secured the investment, we can start building the team later."

Lu Yan He nodded.

When Polaris Video learned that the screenwriter of *Lost on Journey* was actually Lu Yan He, they were all a bit bewildered.

Polaris Video itself was already negotiating a cooperation agreement with Lu Yan He, valuing his talent as a sitcom screenwriter and his appeal as an actor.

They didn't expect that the script favored by the investment department was also written by Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He's affairs had always been personally monitored by Lin Desheng. For this reason, this matter was quickly reported to Lin Desheng.

Lin Desheng was also stunned by this news.

He knew this kid Lu Yan He could stir things up, but he didn't expect him to be able to stir things up so much.

Quietly, he had actually come up with another film script, and what's more, he had already connected with Jia Long long ago.

Lin Desheng personally went to the *Late Spring* set to see Lu Yan He.

As the helmsman of Polaris Video, unlike many executives, Lin Desheng places great importance on face-to-face communication with creators.

Lu Yan He was not an exception; as long as it was a creator Lin Desheng valued, he would make time to meet and chat.

When Lin Desheng arrived at the *Late Spring* set, unlike Jia Long, he was not a public figure after all, so few in the crew recognized him.

But Liu Bige specifically stopped filming to receive him, which made the crew realize that this person's background was not simple. Upon inquiring and learning that he was the boss of Polaris Video, they all cast sidelong glances, even more shocked by Lu Yan He's connections.

How to put it, some people are very popular, popular to the point of being unrivaled for a time, and everyone who sees them has to avoid their sharp edge.

But this is only temporary. Those who have been struggling in this circle for a long time naturally know that popularity is one aspect of strength, but on the other hand, it depends on what circle you are in and what kind of people you usually associate with.

Everyone knows Lu Yan He's momentum is strong right now. However, no matter how strong the momentum is, he is just a young actor in his early twenties. Although many crown him with the name of a genius and pursue him to the extreme, when has the entertainment industry ever lacked such high-profile newcomers?

For the people in the *Late Spring* crew, Lu Yan He trending on hot searches every few days is not as shocking as Jia Long and Lin Desheng coming to visit Lu Yan He one after another.

To use a worn-out phrase, it's called "those who know, know."

In fact, what exactly do they know? There's no way to say it clearly.

Lin Desheng chatted with Liu Bige for about fifteen minutes. Knowing that the latter had already signed with Long Yan Films, he felt somewhat regretful, but also said: "If there are opportunities for cooperation in the future, let's have a good chat."

Liu Bige nodded.

Facing such a big shot from a video website, although Liu Bige is a film director, he didn't dare to underestimate or treat him poorly—

Just looking at the development of those streaming media abroad, maybe in the future, streaming media will become the biggest playback platform for films.

Of course, Liu Bige wanted to leave a good impression on Lin Desheng.

Furthermore, Long Yan Films is also on the production end, not the channel end.

As one of the largest video platforms in the country, Polaris Video is a presence that cannot be offended by anyone who makes content.

After Lin Desheng finished chatting with Liu Bige, he went to his lounge with Lu Yan He.

"They gave me the *Lost on Journey* script and told me you wrote it, which really gave me a fright," Lin Desheng said with a smile, shaking his head. "No wonder in the cooperation framework you communicated with our Polaris Video, you specified long-form video series works, not film and television works."

Lu Yan He's mouth curled up subtly, also somewhat shyly, and he said: "It's my first time writing a film script, and I didn't know how it was written, so I agreed with Jia Laoshi to not disclose my screenwriter identity at first."

Lin Desheng said: "Now that you have *Friends* in hand, could anyone still question your ability as a screenwriter?"

"There is still a difference between TV series and films, after all," Lu Yan He explained with a smile. "But I didn't expect this script to go around in circles and still find Polaris."

Lin Desheng also laughed, laughing very happily, and said: "This shows that we are indeed destined."

He asked: "This film... you don't seem to have prepared a role for yourself? Or do you want to break through and challenge yourself by playing that rural young man Niu Geng?"

Lu Yan He said: "I won't challenge myself; my image is very unsuitable. I just plan to make a cameo as that college student role."

Lin Desheng was somewhat surprised. "Usually, when actors become screenwriters, they write protagonists for themselves. You actually didn't do that? Why?"

Lu Yan He said: "Because there is no protagonist suitable for me in this story. If I were to write a protagonist according to my image, no matter who I replaced, there wouldn't be the kind of contrast effect presented in the current script. This story needs a shrewd successful person and a simple, ordinary farmer to collide and produce so many laughs and reflections in such a background."

A sense of praise and appreciation grew in Lin Desheng's eyes as he looked at Lu Yan He.

Because of his work, Lin Desheng often has to deal with all kinds of young people, and over the course of a year, he gets to know quite a few talented young people.

He has seen talented young people—not to say as many as crucian carp in the river, but definitely many more than many people think. However, to have such a clear understanding at this age—especially the more talented the young person, the rarer it is. Generally speaking, the more talented a person is, the harder it is to have a clear understanding of themselves. This is a helpless but common fact. The so-called "genius disease."

Lin Desheng said to Lu Yan He: "Yan He, you proposed that actors are actors, screenwriters are screenwriters, each discussed on its own merits. This is no problem. But I still want to make it clear to you in person: I want to sign this cooperation framework with you, first, because I want long-term cooperation with you; second, I hope you can create an evergreen series for Polaris Video that can last at least three years or more. I won't talk nonsense to you. Current video platforms are all burning money to grab market share, basically doing loss-making business. But why, under such circumstances, is everyone still continuously pouring money into it to burn? Because everyone knows that behind this lies a huge market and profit. A big hit work, popular for a while, or half a year, brings a surge of audience and cash flow to the platform, and then there is no then. No one knows where the next big hit work is or when it will come. For a platform, this lacks sustainability."

"In my opinion, the biggest advantage of *Friends* is not that it exploded and pulled the ratings of a traditional TV station like Jingtai to the point of resurrection. The key lies in the fact that such a model, broadcasting one episode a week, only eight episodes a season—if written according to such a framework, it could even be written for three seasons, five seasons. For a platform, it means an evergreen tree that can bring stable, visible returns."

Hearing Lin Desheng say this, Lu Yan He thought to himself, Lin Zong, then you really underestimated it.

Its prototype was properly filmed for more than a dozen seasons, popular from the TV era to the internet era, and continued to dig for gold in the streaming era. It is the most representative sitcom.

However, of course, he couldn't tell Lin Desheng at this time that *Friends* could be filmed for so long and be popular for so long. Besides, he had nothing to do with the sequel to *Friends* anymore.

Lin Desheng said: "I hope you can bring such a work to Polaris."

"Lin Zong, to be honest, I am indeed preparing another sitcom," Lu Yan He said. "However, it is very different from *Friends*." Lin Desheng looked at him with some surprise.

"In my mind, it covers a wider range of audiences than *Friends*," Lu Yan He said. "Of course, I am willing to cooperate with Polaris on this sitcom, but I hope it is not just as a web drama, exclusively broadcast on Polaris."

"You hope it adopts the broadcast model of *Friends*?" Lin Desheng's expression changed immediately.

*Friends* has not been sold to any online platform to this day and is still exclusively broadcast on Jingtai.

Major video websites are green with envy.

Lu Yan He shook his head: "Of course not. *Friends* was broadcast on Jingtai like that because it was meant to save ratings from the beginning. I mean, TV first, then online. It is exclusively broadcast on TV at night, and launched on Polaris at noon the next day."

"Why do you want to do this? Do you think the number of viewers on video platforms is not enough now?"

"No, it's because this sitcom... I hope it can truly be liked by audiences from eighty years old down to ten years old. The users of video platforms cannot cover such a wide audience," Lu Yan He said. "I know that saying this now, you will definitely think I am overestimating my capabilities, but I am writing this script with such ambition. I believe it can be done."

Lin Desheng was silent.

"Moreover, Lin Zong, this drama will not affect the performance of the video platform because of the TV broadcast. There will definitely be many people willing to revisit it over and over again, just like *Friends*," Lu Yan He said.

"Then can you briefly tell me, what is the story of this new sitcom you created?"

Seeing Lin Desheng loosen up, Lu Yan He also breathed a sigh of relief. "It's called *My Own Swordsman*, a costume, non-traditional Wu Xia sitcom. The story develops in a place called Tongfu Inn..."

He Lan habitually searched for information about Lu Yan He online.

Even though he had become her junior, she could often see Lu Yan He on campus, and she had Lu Yan He's contact information and could contact him directly.

However, He Lan had developed the habit of searching for Lu Yan He online from time to time.

Sometimes she could also find a lot of interesting content.

Of course, the main thing is that He Lan, as Lu Yan He's number one fan, feels she has the obligation to help Lu Yan He monitor various public opinion situations and do a good job of clarification and explanation.

This has also become her greatest pleasure outside of her busy study life.

This day, a netizen who is also a fan of Lu Yan He suddenly sent her a URL, saying: Lanlan, this is a forum I accidentally discovered. Many people expose some scoops in this forum. Someone mentioned Yan He today, take a look.

He Lan asked "Is it a rumor?" first, before opening the URL.

Before the URL was even opened, the other party replied: Doesn't look like it.

This is an online forum called "Chunya." The page setting is very rough, not at all like the website forums made now, more like the kind of thing made ten or twenty years ago.

As a result, a pop-up window suddenly jumped out, showing that she must register to view the relevant content.

She had to register first, and then she saw the content of this post.

【Scoop】 Polaris Video boss Lin Desheng went to the *Late Spring* set today to see Lu Yan He. They talked in Lu Yan He's lounge for nearly two hours before coming out. I don't know what they were talking about. There were rumors before that Polaris Video was going to cooperate with Lu Yan He, and now it seems to be a done deal.

For such a piece of news, the bottom shows "Remaining content requires 1 Ya coin to read."

He Lan was stunned. Following the recharge prompt, she clicked in and found that one yuan can buy ten Ya coins.

It's not very expensive, but... He Lan had never seen such a forum before. You actually have to pay to see a scoop post!

If it were usual, He Lan would directly think this is a scam website, but based on the previous content, He Lan felt it didn't look like a scam, didn't look like it was made up.

Anyway, it's not expensive.

He Lan recharged one yuan first.

Chose to purchase.

The remaining content was displayed:

—I have some guesses. Of course, these are not random guesses, but summarized based on some information I know, but don't blame me if I guess wrong in the end. Guess one: Polaris Video should want to cooperate with Lu Yan He on a new sitcom. I heard that Lu Yan He is creating a new sitcom, but there is no news about what type it is. And everyone knows that the king bomb thrown by *Friends* at the beginning of the year made every platform green with envy. It is normal for Polaris Video to be interested. Guess two: I know Polaris might want to talk to Lu Yan He about a long-term cooperation framework. Polaris Video is the platform that likes to sign long-term cooperation framework agreements with creators they favor. I heard people say that Lin Zong privately expressed his appreciation for Lu Yan He. Actually, maybe many people don't know that Lin Zong once went to Lu Yan He's brokerage company, Star Entertainment, before. At that time, Lu Yan He was also invited to have a conversation with Lin Zong. At that time, Lin Zong liked Lu Yan He quite a bit, but Lu Yan He wasn't very popular then, and not many people paid attention to him.

After reading this long paragraph, He Lan felt more and more that this person must know something and was not spreading rumors.

She immediately took a screenshot at the first opportunity, preparing to send it to Lu Yan He.

As a result, this forum, which looked incomparably rough, sensitively prompted: The backend does not allow screenshots.

??

He Lan thought to herself, what's the use of you not allowing screenshots? In this era of developed equipment, if you don't let me take a screenshot, can't I take a photo?

She immediately logged into this forum via her laptop, opened the corresponding page, took a photo with her phone, sent the photo to Lu Yan He, and then explained the basic situation to him.

He Lan did these things not for anything else, but just hoped that if there was any information, Lu Yan He would know it at the first opportunity, so as not to fall into a passive position later. However, He Lan couldn't tell what would happen with this information, only knowing that it must have been posted by an insider.

She suddenly became curious about this website called "Chunya."

After exiting the post about Lu Yan He's scoop, she excitedly browsed around this forum.

Browsing this way, she found, wow! There really are a lot of scoops!

Someone said there is an actress in the circle who promotes herself as never having been in a relationship, is single, but actually has a marital history. There are countless guesses under the post, but the person who broke the news refuses to say the real name no matter what.

Someone said there is an actor who looks incredibly loving with his girlfriend, but he plays very wildly in private, just pretending to be a good man in front of the camera. His girlfriend has already had two abortions for him.

He Lan became addicted to browsing.

Mainly because these scoops don't look like they were made up—the most wicked thing about this "Chunya" forum appeared: every account is followed by a "credibility" percentage.

In short, every piece of news released by every account will be tracked by someone for a long time. Once it is exposed to be true, or stamped and certified by the forum official, it will be counted as a true scoop. Conversely, if it is verified to be fake, credibility will be deducted. Of course, there are also many messages that are "temporarily unknown whether true or false." This part of the news is temporarily not included in the statistics.

A very ordinary calculation rule, but it gave the users who broke the news the three words "credibility." When "credibility" exceeds 70%, the scoops broken by this user are easily considered true scoops by everyone.

He Lan suddenly browsed a scoop from five days ago, which said "Lu Yan He is not single."

Just such a sentence.

But this ID called "Wooden Man" has 100% credibility.

He Lan's heart skipped a beat.

She clicked into "Wooden Man's" homepage, wanting to see other scoops from this person, but it showed that her level was too low to view "Wooden Man's" homepage.

This made He Lan furious.

She took a photo of this scoop again and sent it to Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He hadn't replied.

He was filming, and his phone was handed to Zou Dong to manage.

The scene to be filmed tonight was the scene where he ran out of the house because his parents were arguing about divorce, and ran into Yan Lingyu who had also run out of the house.

In the film, this is actually considered a small climax.

Liu Bige said: "I want to make this scene a breathing point for the whole film. Your meeting, running away, etc., must be warm, romantic, and exciting. For this whole section, I want the feeling of finally seeing freedom after holding it in for a long time."

He spoke in a very mysterious way. This time, not only did Yan Lingyu not understand clearly, but Lu Yan He was also confused.

Liu Bige: "It's okay, let's shoot first. I can't explain it clearly either."

He is becoming more and more willful on set now.

Liu Bige had already told them to be prepared to shoot all night tonight.

"I want that exhaustion and excitement of you truly not sleeping all night, that feeling and state."

Lu Yan He and Yan Lingyu were already used to these requirements of Liu Bige.

Even if they didn't fully understand, it didn't matter; just act first.

This scene didn't have shots of the other few people, but Kong Fan, He Qingqing, and others all came to watch.

Everyone really wanted to see how this scene was filmed.

Lu Yan He had fully witnessed how grinding Liu Bige could be, but this night, he was still ground by Liu Bige to the point of wanting to quit and leave.

It wasn't that he couldn't continue filming, but for a scene where he ran across the street, Liu Bige made him run about twenty times. When he finally said it passed, Lu Yan He asked him how different his movements were in this last take that made him feel it could pass.

A scene without lines and not much acting actually had to be filmed more than twenty times.

As a result, Liu Bige's answer made Lu Yan He want to flip the table even more.

Liu Bige said: "I just wanted the state where your forehead and nose were sweating in this last take, your cheeks and nose tip were flushed, your eyes were somewhat tired, and the breath you exhaled was white."

Lu Yan He: "..."

Filming with Liu Bige, you really will be tossed to the point of having no temper.

By the early morning, Kong Fan and the others couldn't hold on and went back to sleep.

But Lu Yan He and the others still had to stick to the set and continue filming.

Filming him seeing Yan Lingyu, seeing Yan Lingyu in a mess and injured, Liu Bige reshot about twenty more times. For an hour, he just wanted a close-up of Lu Yan He's eyes.

But this time Lu Yan He really had nothing to say.

When he finally raised his eyes in the lens and saw Yan Lingyu at that moment, the deep and heavy look in his eyes in the night, intertwined with surprise, heartache, and the forbearance of sympathy—Liu Bige waited for this look for an hour, but it was worth it.

Even Yan Lingyu said this last look was good.

This is not something that can be controlled by technology; it is really grinding take by take, to find the most subtle critical point of eye emotion.

Filming until four in the morning, Lu Yan He saw Yan Lingyu sitting on the side waiting for the scene, her eyelids almost unable to lift. He took the initiative to say: "Director, do we still need to continue filming today? I feel that if we continue filming, I won't be able to concentrate."

Hearing Lu Yan He say this, Liu Bige, who was exceptionally energetic and excited, turned his head to look around. Everyone was actually very sleepy.

He said: "Then let's call it a day, and continue filming tomorrow."

The staff all cast grateful glances at Lu Yan He one after another.

Only then did Lu Yan He see the message He Lan sent him.

Regarding the first piece of news about Lin Desheng, Lu Yan He didn't feel anything. He didn't feel the need to keep his cooperation with Polaris secret.

But the second piece of news saying he was not single stunned him.

This person spoke so decisively, which made Lu Yan He somewhat surprised.

Especially the long introduction about the "Chunya" forum sent by He Lan, knowing that this ID "Wooden Man" has 100% "credibility," in the eyes of forum users, this news can almost be confirmed as 100% true.

This forced Lu Yan He to face a question: should he disclose his relationship with Chen Siqi?

Not disclosing it is because he doesn't want Chen Siqi to be hurt because of this. But it seems it can't be hidden either, and he didn't intend to hide this matter. Why be so half-hidden? Might as well just disclose it.

This thought popped up in Lu Yan He's mind and could no longer be waved away.

Before Lu Yan He fell asleep, his mind was still considering the feasibility of this matter.

Lu Yan He slept until noon before waking up.

After waking up, his back ached. He, who doesn't usually stay up late, felt very unaccustomed to staying up late a little bit, as if he couldn't wake up.

He brushed his teeth and washed his face with drooping eyelids, picked up his phone, and found a message from Chen Ziyan saying she would come to pick him up at two in the afternoon.

There was something to meet and talk about.

Lu Yan He looked at the time; it was already twelve-thirty at noon.

He hadn't even eaten lunch yet. ===== CHAPTER 328 =====