Chapter 455: Recording Begins (7,000-word update!)

"How could this happen?" Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised.

Chen Siqi said, "Of course, this has nothing to do with her; it was just a coincidence, which is why people call her a jinx. In reality, while the films she directs haven't been massive box-office hits or huge money-makers, they haven't lost money either. But now, companies are hesitant to work with her. People in this industry are a bit superstitious; for a director who seems to have a studio go bankrupt with every project, unless she can drive massive profits, her past record is a huge obstacle."

Lu Yanhe nodded in understanding.

"As for why she didn't approach Ruyi Films to discuss a sequel, or whether Ruyi Films rejected her, there's no news about that online."

This matter still required consulting Chen Ziyan.

As it turned out, when Chen Ziyan heard about this, her first reaction was: "Could it be that she followed you to the cinema on purpose to manufacture a 'chance encounter'?"

Lu Yanhe was a bit dazed. "Huh?"

Chen Ziyan: "Director Zhou Changying has many stories like that. To get investors to agree, or to persuade an actor to appear in her films, she can be incredibly intrusive, appearing by their side and doing everything possible to create a chance encounter."

Lu Yanhe was astonished.

Chen Ziyan: "Zhou Changying... she must have had a falling out with Ruyi Films again, right?"

"A falling out? Their movie just hit theaters," Lu Yanhe said.

Chen Ziyan: "Zhou Changying's personality is difficult. Basically, no one works with her happily. She is near-paranoid in many respects. Just look at the films she's directed in the past; very few people have ever collaborated with her on a second film."

Lu Yanhe smiled. "Sounds like I don't even need to consider it; I can just reject her directly."

Chen Ziyan: "If you want my advice, I would certainly suggest you don't agree to this investment. The film *Behind the Golden Clothes* is currently seeing mediocre box office results, estimated at around 40 million. Of course, as of now, the word-of-mouth is decent. If they can control the drop-off and stabilize the screenings, it might earn more."

Lu Yanhe: "*Behind the Golden Clothes* should still be profitable, right?"

"According to my estimates, it should be profitable. Although they publicly claimed a production budget as high as 80 million, in reality, it was likely between 10 and 20 million," Chen Ziyan said. "Exaggerating production costs in promotion is a very common tactic."

Lu Yanhe: "Then if Zhou Changying wants to make a sequel, Ruyi Films shouldn't be refusing her."

"That's not necessarily true. I haven't inquired about the rest, but I heard that the investment for *Behind the Golden Clothes* didn't come primarily from Ruyi Films' own capital, but was raised by Zhou Changying herself." Chen Ziyan smiled and said, "Actually, she came to me when she was first making this film, asking if I was willing to invest."

Lu Yanhe said, "Oh?"

"I rejected her," Chen Ziyan said. "To be honest, it's not that I don't trust her, but working with her might lead to all sorts of trouble in the future. She is too paranoid; once she's set on something, ten oxen couldn't pull her back. Anything you say to her is useless. Plus, sometimes she doesn't follow rules or principles."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

Unexpectedly, the next evening, Lu Yanhe received a call from Zheng Huairen at Arctic Light Video.

"Hello, Yanhe."

Lu Yanhe originally thought Zheng Huairen was calling about *My Own Swordsman* or *Squid Game*, but Zheng Huairen asked him: "Are you planning to invest in the sequel to *Behind the Golden Clothes*?"

"Huh? No, I'm not," Lu Yanhe immediately denied. "Why would you ask that?"

Zheng Huairen said: "Right now, the director of *Behind the Golden Clothes*, Zhou Changying, is telling others while fundraising that you are very interested in the sequel project and have already agreed to invest in it."

"What?" Lu Yanhe couldn't believe it. "How could this be?"

"I heard the rumors, and someone came to ask me about it, so I called you specifically to confirm," Zheng Huairen said. "In our industry, there are always plenty of capital holders wanting to get in, but many don't understand the business and are easily swindled. Now that Zhou Changying is using your name as a signboard to solicit investment, while it's unlikely anyone would be easily fooled, you never know who might fall for it."

Lu Yanhe found it inconceivable.

Zhou Changying isn't a rookie director; she's made several films. How could she do something like this?

Lu Yanhe: "Thank you for the heads-up; otherwise, I would have been kept in the dark."

Zheng Huairen: "Although I haven't had much contact with Zhou Changying, I have heard plenty about her. A word of advice: try to keep your distance and minimize contact with her."

Lu Yanhe: "Yeah, I've heard as much. Sigh, you might find this unbelievable. I went to see the movie yesterday and happened to run into her at the cinema. After the film ended, she introduced herself as the director, said she was preparing a sequel, and wanted me to invest. I told her I'd consider it. I didn't expect that just one day later, I'd run into this. I find it strange—why, if her first film was a collaboration with Ruyi Films, would she come to us for the sequel instead of them?"

"Ruyi Films definitely doesn't want to work with her again," Zheng Huairen said. "The reason Ruyi Films collaborated with her and invested in the first place was because the film was originally intended to be a mainstream patriotic project. Ruyi Films was prepared to release it during the National Day slot, but Zhou Changying changed the script later, saying she wanted to downplay the political tone and make a film that could be screened both domestically and internationally. She changed the background to a vague struggle between revolutionary armies and warlords. Ruyi Films was furious, but because the contract clearly stated that the final cut belonged to Zhou Changying, Ruyi Films couldn't change it directly."

Lu Yanhe was shocked.

He had no idea there was such a story behind the film.

It sounded like Zhou Changying had completely scammed Ruyi Films.

"But if Ruyi Films wanted to make a mainstream project, why work with Zhou Changying? Surely there were other directors who could do it?"

"Ruyi Films doesn't have the background for that; not every company can make mainstream patriotic films, but Zhou Changying had the resources," Zheng Huairen said.

Lu Yanhe had an epiphany.

So that's why, despite Zhou Changying's reputation for "scamming film companies," Ruyi Films still dared to work with her—it was for a specific purpose.

Lu Yanhe said: "Mr. Zheng, then I'll trouble you to explain this to your friends. If anyone else asks, please help me clarify."

Zheng Huairen agreed.

Lu Yanhe immediately relayed the content of Zheng Huairen's call to Chen Ziyan.

"That is exactly the kind of thing Zhou Changying would do," Chen Ziyan said, her tone not sounding surprised at all. "She is the type of person who will use any means necessary to achieve her goals."

Lu Yanhe: "What if someone actually believes her and gets swindled into investing in that movie?"

"That has nothing to do with us."

"But Zhou Changying is using my name to swindle others!"

"By common sense, anyone would do like Zheng Huairen's friend and inquire to see if you really invested. If they believe whatever Zhou Changying says, then they deserve to be cheated. Consider it a lesson learned. With that kind of judgment, they shouldn't be in film investment anyway, or they'll lose their shirts."

Lu Yanhe didn't expect Chen Ziyan to say that.

"Do you want to warn others?"

"Mainly because I'm afraid some people might actually get scammed."

"Then you can post a Weibo update, but don't name names. Just say you received a call from a friend asking if you were personally investing in other films, and say you aren't considering it right now," Chen Ziyan said. "Your eye for scripts is already famously good. In this situation, there are certainly others doing what Zhou Changying is doing. Posting a clarification is a good thing."

Seeing that Chen Ziyan agreed, Lu Yanhe immediately edited a post and sent it out.

Unexpectedly, less than ten minutes after he posted it, Xiao Yun called.

"Yanhe, are you talking about that director named Zhou Changying?"

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was stunned.

"She called me this afternoon," Xiao Yun said. "She asked me if I was willing to invest in her new film. I met her once before to discuss a role, but it didn't work out; I just left my contact info."

Lu Yanhe asked: "Did she tell you that I would be investing?"

"She didn't say that to me, but she told me how difficult it was for her to make this film, and how she was bullied by the people at Ruyi Films. She claimed that even though *Behind the Golden Clothes* was profitable, they withheld her bonus. So, she decided to make the sequel herself," Xiao Yun said. "I was actually hesitating whether to help invest."

Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment and said: "Film investment carries high risks. I suggest you look into her past record before making a decision."

Xiao Yun: "I only felt something was wrong after seeing your Weibo post."

Lu Yanhe said: "I clearly didn't agree to invest, yet she told others I would. Using me as a signboard to swindle others really pisses me off."

"She probably knew I knew you, so she didn't dare try that on me," Xiao Yun said. "If she had dared to say that to me, one phone call to you would have cleared it up. She probably uses this to swindle people outside the industry who can't contact you to verify the truth."

Lu Yanhe: "Sigh."

Xiao Yun: "Alright, I get what you mean. See you at the show."

"Okay."

On the day of the recording for the first episode of the fourth season of *Young Days*, Lu Yanhe arrived in the city of Zhaota.

Zhaota is a southern coastal city.

In August, it was best to find a relatively cool place to record, so the production team chose this location.

Although it's in the south, the coastal climate makes it quite comfortable.

Lu Yanhe hadn't seen everyone in a long time, so he was quite excited to meet up again.

It was originally planned that everyone would gather the night before recording.

However, many people couldn't arrive at the hotel until the early hours of the morning, so the plan was scrapped.

It wasn't until the official recording that everyone was finally together.

Although they hadn't seen each other in a long time, the familiar feeling returned immediately, mostly because they chatted online frequently and had never lost touch.

The recording started in the car.

Lu Yanhe was the third person to leave the hotel and get on the bus.

Before him were Peng Zhixing and Yan Liang.

"Brother Zhixing!" Lu Yanhe greeted Peng Zhixing as soon as he got on.

Almost every domestic premiere of Lu Yanhe's films had Peng Zhixing as the host.

Including *Lost on Journey*; because Lu Yanhe didn't have time for the promotional tour, he called many friends to help out, and Peng Zhixing hosted three special screenings, which was a huge help. Moreover, the *Lost on Journey* cast also appeared on Peng Zhixing's talk show for promotion.

As soon as Peng Zhixing saw him, he smiled and offered congratulations: "Congrats! Your new film was shortlisted for the Venice International Film Festival, *Road of Glory*, right?"

Lu Yanhe nodded. "That's right."

Peng Zhixing had already congratulated him, of course; he was intentionally mentioning the film and the event in front of the camera as a way of promoting it.

Lu Yanhe understood his intention.

"I was just asking Yan Liang if you suffered a lot filming this. I heard your movie was shot entirely on location, and many scenes were filmed in very remote, inconvenient places."

"It wasn't exactly 'suffering,' but compared to other films, the conditions were a bit tougher," Lu Yanhe laughed. "But you asked the wrong person."

"Oh?" Peng Zhixing asked, confused. "Why?"

Lu Yanhe said: "He just returned from the deep jungles of Southeast Asia a few months ago. Compared to the film he shot, my filming of *Road of Glory* was like a vacation."

Peng Zhixing looked at Yan Liang in surprise.

"He didn't tell me anything about that."

Yan Liang waved his hand with a smile: "One must be cautious about 'selling misery' these days; it's easy to backfire. Let's not talk about it."

"What's this about being cautious about 'selling misery'?" Xiao Yun, who was always carefree, got on the bus.

She was wearing a baseball cap and dressed in a youthful, pretty style, like a girl walking out of a campus.

Of course, she was at that age.

"Yo, no makeup today?" Peng Zhixing asked with some surprise.

Xiao Yun immediately said proudly: "Of course I'm wearing makeup for the show, but I specifically did a 'no-makeup' look. Pretty, right?"

She struck a pose in the narrow aisle to show off her graceful figure.

The three boys who knew her well immediately gave a tacit "Tsk."

Xiao Yun hummed lightly.

After sitting down, Xiao Yun looked at Lu Yanhe and said: "I finally see you. You're too busy. In July, when they organized the script reading for *My Own Swordsman*, I thought I'd see you, but you never showed up."

Xiao Yun played Guo Furong in *My Own Swordsman*.

In July, Arctic Light Video organized a script reading for the actors, led by Director Bai Jingnian, to go over the script and discuss characters and plot.

"I was filming *Love Letter* at the time," Lu Yanhe said. "I couldn't even attend the promotion and domestic premiere of *Lost on Journey*."

Xiao Yun: "Busy bee. Forget it, it's good you're busy. Write more scripts and give me more roles."

"Be a human, please. A while ago, the doctor said I was under too much pressure and a bit anxious. My agent immediately pushed back a lot of my work. Now that I've finished *Love Letter*, I'm resting," Lu Yanhe said.

Hearing this, Xiao Yun immediately asked: "Then how are you now? Your mental state?"

"You don't need to look at me like I'm about to become a psychiatric patient," Lu Yanhe said speechlessly. "I was just under a lot of pressure because it was my first time directing, but I've adjusted."

Xiao Yun smiled again and said: "That's good."

At this moment, Li Zhibai and Liu Zhiyin got on one after the other.

Li Zhibai was still yawning.

Liu Zhiyin complained from behind: "How many times have you yawned on this trip?"

Li Zhibai said: "I didn't get to the hotel until 2 AM last night; I only slept for five hours."

Liu Zhiyin said: "I didn't get there until 3 AM, and I had to get up at 6 AM for hair and makeup. I only slept for three hours."

Li Zhibai: "..."

Li Zhibai looked back at Liu Zhiyin.

She looked full of energy and spirit, showing no signs of fatigue.

"Did you inject yourself with adrenaline before leaving?" Li Zhibai asked.

Liu Zhiyin: "The moment I thought about recording the show with everyone again, I was so excited I didn't feel sleepy at all!"

Li Zhibai rolled his eyes: "Recording with you is too much pressure."

In the show *Young Days*, there had already been too many such daily interactions.

Complaining about each other, cracking jokes, laughing and giggling.

Qin Zhibai, Song Lin Xin, and Su Xiao were the last to get on the bus.

All nine were present.

The bus instantly exploded with noise, everyone having endless things to say.

It was already the fourth season; the sense of strangeness had long since vanished, replaced by familiarity, and the joy of a long-awaited reunion made the atmosphere even more lively.

Li Zhenzhen shouted "Quiet down" three times with a megaphone, but was ignored.

In the end, Li Zhenzhen had to walk up to each of them with the megaphone to make them settle down for a moment.

Once the bus finally quieted down, Li Zhenzhen returned to her seat, sighed sincerely, and said: "Welcome back to the fourth season of *Young Days*."

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Zhibai was the first to lead the applause and cheers: "Ooooooh—"

A rooster-crowing style of celebration.

"I'm very happy that our group has walked from the first season to the fourth. Some have been absent briefly due to work conflicts, but I am proud to announce that no one has ever left the show!"

Li Zhibai immediately interjected: "That's not true. In the first episode of the first season, Meng Li left."

Li Zhenzhen: "..."

Lu Yanhe saw Li Zhenzhen's hand gripping the megaphone tighten, as if she were struggling with the urge to take action.

Li Zhibai immediately smiled shamelessly: "I was just joking to liven up the atmosphere. Cut it, cut it."

Yan Liang reached out a hand and covered Li Zhibai's mouth.

"Director, please continue. I guarantee Li Zhibai won't be able to speak again."

The others laughed out loud.

Li Zhenzhen then continued: "In three years, everyone has undergone many changes. During the first season, some had just debuted, some had just entered university, and some had just returned from abroad. Three years later, everyone has achieved shining results in their respective fields. I am honored that this show has recorded a fragment of each of your lives every year. I hope this show can continue for a long time and become our 'once-in-a-lifetime' meeting."

Liu Zhiyin made a heart gesture very enthusiastically and said: "It definitely can!"

Xiao Yun also nodded: "That's right, it definitely can!"

"Starting from the first episode, we have retained many previous segments this season, but we have also added new ones. Of course, no matter the segment, the purpose of our show is to observe young people living together and their interpersonal relationships," Li Zhenzhen said with a smile. "Please continue to be your true selves on the show. Whether it's arguing or hugging, whether it's the cold war or falling in love, please trust us. We will do our utmost to protect you while presenting your most authentic state of interaction."

Everyone applauded together.

Why was everyone willing to keep recording this show? Their good relationships were one aspect, but the production team's constant protection and the fact that every appearance on the show further boosted their own acting careers was another important aspect.

For Lu Yanhe, this was almost the only place his fans could see the real side of his life. He rarely participated in other shows and seldom shared his personal life online. His public image was almost entirely constructed by film and television works and media reports.

On this show, people could see Lu Yanhe as a young person—his dorky side, his funny side, and see that he also complains about others, is lazy, and has flaws.

After Li Zhenzhen expressed what the director team wanted to say, the recording of the first episode began.

She began to introduce the guests for the first episode.

"The guests for this episode are very familiar to Yanhe and Yan Liang."

Everyone, of course, already knew that the actors from the *Friends* cast were coming, but they still had to pretend to be surprised and confused in front of the camera.

"Why are they very familiar to Yanhe and Yan Liang?"

"Are they good friends of theirs?"

"Could they be members of the Fengzhi group?"

Everyone discussed it in a hubbub.

Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang also cooperated by looking at the bus door with confused but expectant expressions.

"Who is it?"

When Zhan Yun, Wen Minglan, Bai Jin, and Yin Xincheng appeared, Xiao Yun and the others made shocked expressions of "How is this possible?"

Peng Zhixing said in disbelief: "Is it really them?"

"The *Friends* cast is making their first variety show appearance together on our show?" Xiao Yun asked.

Song Lin Xin covered her mouth.

"Once in a lifetime."

Lu Yanhe watched everyone's reactions and felt the acting was too exaggerated.

It wasn't like they hadn't been on the same stage before; they had appeared together at the Arctic Light Video graduation gala last year.

However, after remembering this, Lu Yanhe immediately realized—

Ah, the last time the *Friends* cast was together was already a year ago.

It had been a long time.

For a massive hit like *Friends*, according to common practice, the leads would appear together under the arrangements of various capital and production teams.

After all, every joint appearance was a huge source of traffic that could be converted into high commercial value.

But because of Lu Yanhe's conflict with Jingtai at the time, he had missed all promotional activities related to Jingtai before the show aired.

After it aired, Lu Yanhe's announcement that he would no longer appear in future sequels of *Friends* made the situation even more severe.

Due to various pressures, they hadn't appeared together for a long time.

Later, with Lu Yanhe's "reconciliation" with Jingtai, the situation changed.

Last year's graduation gala was the first time they were together, and this was the second.

The second season had finished airing a long time ago, and the third season was about to start filming.

However, at this time, in the eyes of the public, the sixth person of *Friends* would always be Lu Yanhe, not Chen Ziliang, and certainly not anyone else.

Li Zhenzhen must have put in a lot of effort to realize the first variety show reunion of the *Friends* cast on *Young Days*.

Lu Yanhe could almost imagine the massive reaction from the huge fan base of *Friends* when this episode aired.

With all personnel assembled, Li Zhenzhen began to announce the main task for the day.

Everyone was to work as hotel staff at the hotel they checked into yesterday and be graded by a jury composed of hotel staff.

Same old rules: divide into five groups of three. The group with the highest score gets priority in choosing their room for the night, and the group with the lowest score chooses last. They didn't know where the house for this season was or what the situation was; it was all an unknown. So, they had to try their best to get a high score to have the initiative later.

Lu Yanhe drew lots and ended up in a group with Xiao Yun and Liu Zhiyin.

After the draw, everyone followed their personal PDs back to their rooms to change into hotel staff uniforms. Here, they also had to receive their secret tasks—a segment proposed by Lu Yanhe: write down their own wishes, submit them to the director team, and draw someone else's wish to help fulfill it as much as possible.

According to the director team's reminder, this wish should ideally be related to their own life and be something others could help fulfill.

Lu Yanhe's wish was: "Start a diary column on the *Jump Up* self-media platform and write at least one diary entry per month."

After he changed into his uniform and finished his interview, the director team had summarized everyone's wishes and came to knock on the door with a box.

The wish Lu Yanhe drew from the box was: "Come be a guest at my concert."

As soon as he saw it, he knew the owner of this wish was either Qin Zhibai or Song Lin Xin.

They were the only two singers here. ===== CHAPTER 456 =====