Chapter 378: So that's how it is

The school gate after school was blocked solid.

Lu Yan He walked out of the crowd, using sunglasses and a hat to provide some cover, avoiding most of the gazes that might have followed him after a hurried glance.

Zou Dong was standing at the school gate waiting for him.

The September sunset, on a clear day without rain, was as gorgeous as a scene one could only see in a movie.

A full, thick twilight color spread out, and many moments of looking up would make one mistake it for a watercolor painting.

Chen Siqi stood in such a twilight, looking at him with a gentle smile.

Seeing her smiling like this, Lu Yan He couldn't help but laugh himself.

Zou Dong looked at the two young people in front of him and silently stepped aside.

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi got into the car.

"When are you going back to Jiangguang?" Lu Yan He asked.

Chen Siqi said, "Tomorrow noon's flight."

Lu Yan He said, "That's perfect. I don't have classes in the third and fourth periods tomorrow morning, so I can take you there."

Chen Siqi: "I'll just call a car myself, there's nothing to send off."

Lu Yan He: "Anyway, I have nothing to do."

Chen Siqi: "Alright then."

Chen Siqi asked: "You don't have anything else this month, right? Can you rest well?"

"Yes, almost. I just need to record the last day of *Young Days*, get together with everyone, and have a meal," Lu Yan He said. "I don't know when I'll be able to recover properly and not have to walk so staggeringly."

Chen Siqi smiled. "That's also quite good. You've exhausted yourself so much before, now you can rest well for a while. You can't run announcements, how good is that."

Lu Yan He said: "You arrange so many things for yourself every day, you're busy enough, and you're talking about me."

Chen Siqi: "I'm not as busy as you."

Lu Yan He was just about to speak when suddenly, his phone rang.

It was a call.

What surprised Lu Yan He even more was that the person calling was actually He Yunlan.

When recording *City Travel Notes*, Lu Yan He met this civil servant working in the Jiangzhi tourism department and received their very warm and thoughtful hospitality.

That was when they exchanged contact information and added each other as friends.

Later, the Jiangzhi episode aired, and the response was very good.

Lu Yan He and He Yunlan would send messages to each other on holidays. Although they didn't contact each other much, it never stopped.

"Brother He." Lu Yan He answered the phone.

He Yunlan said with a smile, "Am I disturbing you?"

"No, it's convenient," Lu Yan He replied.

"Yiyi and I have come to Yuming. I saw the news that you returned from Venice. I don't know if you are in Yuming? If you are, I'd like to invite you to dinner," He Yunlan said. "Tonight."

Lu Yan He was a bit surprised.

This sudden invitation... but, based on his understanding of He Yunlan, He Yunlan certainly didn't intend to invite him at this meal time on purpose; it should have been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"I'm with Siqi—my girlfriend, and we're just about to have dinner," Lu Yan He said. "Brother He, you came to Yuming without telling me earlier, I would have arranged it earlier. Please wait a moment, I'll book a place, ask someone to pick you up, where are you?"

"No need to be so polite, you book the place, send me the address, we'll come over ourselves, no need to pick us up," He Yunlan said. "Besides, it must be blocked on the road at this time, it's convenient for us to take the subway."

Lu Yan He thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then I'll send you the address."

After hanging up, Lu Yan He said to Chen Siqi: "Sorry, I agreed to have dinner with others without your consent."

Chen Siqi was very understanding, knowing that Lu Yan He agreed immediately because the other party was special.

"Who is Brother He?" Chen Siqi asked.

"He Yunlan, I met him when I was filming *City Travel Notes* in Jiangzhi. He works in the Jiangzhi Tourism Bureau. He was the one who facilitated the filming at that time, and I received a lot of care from him there. He and his wife came together, inviting me to dinner," Lu Yan He said. "This is their first time coming to find me, I have to fulfill the duties of a host."

Chen Siqi: "So it's them, I've seen that episode of your show, I know them."

Lu Yan He: "Do you want to go? If you don't want to go, I'll come find you after I finish eating with them."

Chen Siqi: "Go, why wouldn't I want to go?"

She added: "You've already told them you're with me now, preparing to have dinner, if I don't go, wouldn't it seem like I have an opinion about them?"

Lu Yan He: "... Ah, right, I forgot."

Having not seen He Yunlan and Liu Yiyi for a long time, seeing this talented and beautiful young couple again, Lu Yan He's mood was a bit different.

Before, he was a bit envious, now... well, he's not bad either.

"Brother He, Sister-in-law." Lu Yan He was full of smiles, greeting them. "When did you arrive?"

He Yunlan said with a smile: "We also arrived this morning, there are some work matters, because it's an 11 PM flight back tonight, we didn't intend to disturb you."

"How can this be called disturbing, Brother He, you're being too polite. I've always hoped to invite you to Yuming so I can express my feelings," Lu Yan He said. "You must tell me every time you come to Yuming in the future. If you come in the future without telling me, I won't greet you when I go to Yuzhi either."

He Yunlan then showed a helpless smile and said, "I will definitely tell you in the future."

Lu Yan He asked: "Brother He, do you have something to tell me? You didn't intend to contact me at first."

He Yunlan nodded and said: "I also heard by chance that you are preparing a Wu Xia sitcom called *My Own Swordsman*?"

"Yes." This news had long spread on the internet.

Lu Yan He didn't know why He Yunlan suddenly mentioned this to him.

He Yunlan said: "I heard it from a friend in the tourism department. I heard that you are preparing to build a real set, building a Tongfu Inn, right?"

Lu Yan He nodded. "Currently, there is such an idea, what's wrong, Brother He?"

He suddenly thought of something and was stunned. "Brother He, are you—"

He Yunlan nodded. "I hope to build this inn in our Jiangzhi."

Liu Yiyi smiled slightly and added: "The last *City Travel Notes* show opened up quite a bit of fame for Jiangzhi. There are many more tourists every holiday, and the tourism economy of our Jiangzhi has developed a lot. You have been to Jiangzhi and know that the landscape and scenery there are kept very original. The construction in the past two years has also been carried out under the premise of maintaining the original ecology. When Yunlan heard that you were going to build an inn, he was very excited, saying that if this inn could be built in our Jiangzhi, perhaps we could use the east wind of the TV series to let more people know about Jiangzhi."

Lu Yan He realized.

So He Yunlan came for this.

Cooperation between film and television dramas and local cultural tourism is not a new thing, and many local cultural tourism departments even specifically invite film crews to film dramas with local customs as the background.

However, Jiangzhi Cultural Tourism, due to its remote location, inconvenient transportation, and insufficient funds, cannot play this set.

Why did He Yunlan receive the *City Travel Notes* group so solemnly at that time? Because many film crews come to places to film such things, they all collect money from local cultural tourism, but *City Travel Notes* didn't collect a penny. They were seriously understanding the city after understanding it, and came for the city.

This let He Yunlan see the opportunity.

Later facts also proved that this show did make Jiangzhi popular.

Jiangzhi's fame is slowly opening up.

However, Jiangzhi is not the only place doing publicity. Other places are the same. Places with beautiful scenery, places with simple folk customs, places with original ecology... God knows how many places in China are hitting such advertising slogans. And how many people will believe that Jiangzhi is not a "photo-deception" city, or a "video-beautified" city?

He Yunlan has been working hard to promote Jiangzhi to be known by more people through his own strength, promote the tourism economy, and thereby drive the development of the entire city.

There are results, but it is still full of difficulties.

At this time, he suddenly heard this news.

"Many places are grabbing it, wanting to build Tongfu Inn there." This is his friend's original words.

He Yunlan knows that if their Jiangzhi wants to compete with other places, the conditions they put forward are certainly not as good as others.

However, he knows Lu Yan He.

"If it were for my own affairs, I would be too embarrassed to come to you, but this is for Jiangzhi. I want to ask you for help to see if this inn can be built in Jiangzhi," He Yunlan said. "If the film crew can really come to Jiangzhi to film, I will do my best to ensure the filming of this drama." Lu Yan He noticed that although He Yunlan looked very calm, he should still feel uneasy about his request, even a bit embarrassed.

This request is indeed not a good thing.

He Yunlan himself said that if it were other local cultural tourism, they could actually offer better support conditions.

Lu Yan He didn't answer immediately but was silent for a long time.

He was thinking about the feasibility of this matter.

Building Tongfu Inn in Jiangzhi is equivalent to putting this drama in Jiangzhi to film.

However, after filming, Tongfu Inn can stay in Jiangzhi. If the drama becomes popular, it might drive a large group of viewers to Jiangzhi to check in and take photos.

However, *My Own Swordsman* is not just a Tongfu Inn.

What if a Qixia Town is built in Jiangzhi?

This thought flashed through Lu Yan He's mind and was immediately pressed down.

Building an inn is not difficult, but building a small town is not something that can be done with tens of millions.

Lu Yan He came back to his senses and said to He Yunlan: "Brother He, *My Own Swordsman* was written by me, but the development of this drama is with Beijiguang, it's not up to me. Of course, starting from myself, I am certainly very willing to let this drama be filmed in Jiangzhi, and I also like this city very much. I can't give you an accurate answer today, I also have to communicate with the people at Beijiguang Video."

He Yunlan showed gratitude and nodded, saying: "Okay, I also know that this matter is very difficult, but this is a very good opportunity for our Jiangzhi."

Lu Yan He said: "Actually, Brother He, Jiangzhi's scenery is very beautiful. Now that there are so many xianxia dramas, Jiangzhi can completely take the initiative to connect with major film and television crews and invite them to Jiangzhi to film. In this way, everyone will see the beautiful scenery inside through film and television dramas and will also be interested in Jiangzhi."

He Yunlan sighed, shook his head, and said: "I thought about this before, but it's not that simple. Not to mention anything else, I heard from people in other places that many film crews came to their place to film, and finally destroyed the environment into a mess."

Lu Yan He: "Ah?"

"Now these production companies are also smart, knowing that our places want to use the influence of film and television dramas to revitalize local cultural tourism, so they make various demands on us. We do some related management for them, and they find it troublesome, affecting filming, and threatening that they won't come to us to film. I heard these from friends in other places," He Yunlan said. "So, this also made me hesitate to agree. There were film crews who came to ask, and I would hope they could sign an agreement to obey environmental protection-related management, but when they saw so many requirements, they didn't come. Of course, it may also be that they think we want to extort money in disguise, because it wrote a lot about how much compensation to pay if something is destroyed. They have many choices, no need to come to us."

Lu Yan He realized and understood what was going on.

"I know *My Own Swordsman* is your drama, so I had this idea," He Yunlan said. "After all, I know you, and you also understand what my original intention is."

Lu Yan He nodded. "Of course, of course, I also don't want to film a drama and cause a very bad impact on the filming location."

He Yunlan said: "After *City Travel Notes*, there were actually other show groups that came to Jiangzhi, but I never met anyone who respected this place as much as you guys."

Lu Yan He smiled.

"At that time, we were all newcomers, and it was also a new show. Being able to get your reception and care, we were already flattered."

He Yunlan was a bit helpless. "It's a pity that not everyone has a heart of gratitude."

He Yunlan's listless expression seemed to have experienced some unhappy things.

Chen Siqi had been listening all along and didn't interrupt. Only then did she say: "Brother He, does Jiangzhi consider building a film and television shooting base? Yan He told me that you have a lot of natural scenery there, and it is kept very well. If you can build a film and television city in a place suitable for development, it can also be developed as a tourist attraction, just like Langhua now, many people specifically go to their film and television base to check in."

"Building a film and television base needs too much money. We talked about it, but it couldn't be done," He Yunlan said. "It is very difficult to reach a balance if you want to do development under the premise of protecting Jiangzhi's natural environment, but I don't want to ruin Jiangzhi's most precious things for the sake of ten or twenty years of economic development."

Lu Yan He nodded. "Indeed, many places' natural scenery has been over-developed, but Jiangzhi still retains many original states, and there is even a primeval forest, although I haven't been in it. My deepest impression of that place is the green space, shrubs, flowers, blue sky and white clouds all over the mountains and plains, as far as the eye can see, it is a real green ocean."

He Yunlan said: "Like Tongfu Inn, it can be built in our main urban area, and it will not affect other places, and will not destroy the environment. There are still quite a few wastelands in our main urban area that can be developed."

Lu Yan He heard this and said: "No wonder, you can even make homestays in the shape of Tongfu Inn."

He Yunlan nodded: "In short, if Tongfu Inn can be built in our Jiangzhi, and you come to us to film this drama, I will do my best to ensure your entire filming."

Lu Yan He has the heart to help He Yunlan do this.

No way, he doesn't know which other places are competing for this Tongfu Inn, but he has been to Jiangzhi, he has measured the land there with his feet, and he sincerely loves the local customs there. He hopes to make that place better through his own strength.

After dinner, Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi sent them back to the hotel first, before turning to the hotel where Chen Siqi was staying.

Chen Siqi asked: "Will you help them?"

"Yes." Lu Yan He nodded.

Chen Siqi said: "If Beijiguang Video has already made a decision and didn't choose Jiangzhi—well, you also know that in such matters, even Beijiguang has to consider many factors, what will you do?"

"Brother He coming to find me today actually reminded me of one thing. If they are unwilling to use Jiangzhi as the filming location for *My Own Swordsman*, then I have other dramas later, I can put other dramas there to film. When signing a contract with Beijiguang or other platforms, I will sign this requirement into the contract. Only if they agree to this requirement will I cooperate."

Chen Siqi looked at Lu Yan He with some surprise and asked: "Is doing this a bit too much of a sacrifice?"

Lu Yan He blinked with confidence and said: "Only if the drama can't be filmed because of adding this clause is it called a sacrifice. Why would it be a sacrifice if others will agree to the clause?"

Chen Siqi thought for a moment and thought, also, according to Lu Yan He's current situation, which platform would refuse him because of the filming location?

Sometimes, people are just like this, the richer they are, the more money they can earn, the more successful they are, the easier it is to achieve greater success, because everyone will help you, everyone will become your help, and everything you do is smooth sailing.

The next day, Lu Yan He went from the hotel to school for class.

After class, he returned to the hotel, picked up Chen Siqi, and sent her to the airport.

At noon, he met with Jiang Zixin, the producer of *My Own Swordsman*, at Suxin Restaurant and had lunch together.

Chen Ziyan also came.

Lu Yan He specifically invited Chen Ziyan.

This matter needs Chen Ziyan to be able to handle it.

Jiang Zixin originally thought it was to communicate about filming, but she didn't expect Lu Yan He and Chen Ziyan to come for the filming location issue.

This is really something she didn't expect.

She said: "I really can't make the decision on this matter, Ziyan, Yan He, I also have to report to the leaders to see what their opinions are."

Chen Ziyan nodded.

Jiang Zixin said: "Actually, I have something I want to tell you too."

"Hmm?" Lu Yan He asked, "What is it?"

Jiang Zixin said: "Zhang Lan from your company took the initiative to contact us, wanting to play the role of Tong Xiangyu."

Zhang Lan, one of the three "top sisters" who are on par with Jiang Yuqian at Star Entertainment.

And, they are "top sisters" who don't get along.

Even Lu Yan He knows that Zhang Lan tried to grab several dramas from Jiang Yuqian, some succeeded, some didn't. But this is enough for Zhang Lan and Jiang Yuqian to have a big grudge. Before, Zhang Lan also took the initiative to find Lu Yan He, wanting to cooperate with him and ask for a script. Lu Yan He agreed verbally, but because of Jiang Yuqian, he never considered this matter at all.

Lu Yan He didn't expect Zhang Lan to suddenly take a fancy to the role of Tong Xiangyu.

Actually, for a female actor of Zhang Lan's level, there is really no need to act in such a group drama—the projects Zhang Lan usually stars in are also big dramas that are definitely not lower than *My Own Swordsman* in level, and she is a well-deserved big heroine.

Even Jiang Yuqian, after *Golden Age*, had two dramas broadcast with mediocre responses, and her career has been somewhat affected, while Zhang Lan relied on stable output, still stood firm in her position, and vaguely seemed to be about to suppress Jiang Yuqian.

Lu Yan He was indeed grown up, didn't say no at the first time, but asked: "What do you think?"

Jiang Zixin shook her head and said: "Our preliminary judgment is that Zhang Lan doesn't quite match the role of Tong Xiangyu, but she is also from Star Entertainment, so we also want to ask for your opinions."

Chen Ziyan said with a smile: "This role was already agreed upon, leave it to you to decide, we won't interfere."

Jiang Zixin said with a smile: "Yan He is the screenwriter, ask for his opinion, see if Yan He thinks it's suitable."

Lu Yan He was about to speak, but Chen Ziyan interrupted forcefully and said: "Oh, Yan He is the screenwriter, that's right, but when has our drama ever been decided by the screenwriter alone? Yan He has already put forward his suggested candidates for three roles, leave the rest to you to decide. Otherwise, if it spreads out, it seems like the whole drama was decided by our Yan He. Thank God, where does Yan He have such great ability."

She wouldn't let go no matter what. Lu Yan He certainly noticed the trick, guessed that Chen Ziyan had her intentions for saying this, so he didn't speak again.

As soon as lunch was finished, Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes enough for Zou Dong to see in the rearview mirror as soon as she got in the car.

"I don't want to offend people myself, so I want to use your mouth to reject her," Chen Ziyan said angrily. "What a joke."

Lu Yan He said: "It's indeed not suitable."

"Do you think they rejected Zhang Lan because they felt it wasn't suitable?" Chen Ziyan said. "It's purely because she is also from Star Entertainment. *My Own Swordsman* already has you, a person with a core position and influence on this project. If another top sister comes to be the female lead, if you two join forces, Beijiguang will be passive in everything they do, and it will be extremely passive. They will absolutely not let this situation appear. Such a big project cannot be constrained by you and led by the nose. This lineup is impossible from the beginning."

Lu Yan He then realized.

"So that's how it is." ===== CHAPTER 379 =====