Chapter 487

"Well, they took the initiative to come to me, and you didn't come to me, so I thought you weren't interested, so of course I gave it to them."

What Zheng Huairen didn't say was that before Icefield Video took action, Zheng Huairen and the others really hadn't thought that Lu Yan He's film scripts could be adapted into web series scripts. It was mainly because Lu Yan He had cooperated with Arctic Light Video on dramas before, and he always provided the drama scripts directly; where would they need to find a screenwriter to do the adaptation like Icefield Video.

Now Zheng Huairen was a bit anxious.

Because counting this *Phone*, Icefield Video was going to cooperate with Lu Yan He on four dramas.

As the old employer who cooperated with Lu Yan He on dramas, how could Arctic Light Video stand it.

What made Zheng Huairen even more depressed was, why could Icefield Video buy the adaptation rights for four dramas in one go?

Was their working capital so abundant?

What Zheng Huairen didn't know was that Lu Yan He's cooperation with Icefield Video didn't have expensive copyright fees; in the market, it basically only belonged to the price of first-tier IP, far from reaching the price of those top-tier IPs. Lu Yan He, through this method, gave up the short-term high authorization fees and obtained the profit-sharing rights for the subsequent dramas.

This was different from his cooperation model with Arctic Light Video.

With one authorization agreement after another signed, Linghe Film and Television, a shell company opened by Lu Yan He and Chen Ziyan, actually relied on the adaptation authorization business to bring in tens of millions.

Because there was no legal department and no accountant, these things were all handled by people from Chen Ziyan's high-end brokerage service company.

Chen Ziyan, while looking through the agreements one by one, clicked her tongue and said to Lu Qingzhen: "Look, I've always felt that I make money fast enough, but compared to Yan He, I still can't compare. With these copyrights in his hands, it feels like he's lying directly on a gold mine."

These adaptation authorization agreements weren't just for adapting into dramas.

Like *Rouge*, it was also authorized for stage plays, audio dramas, and comics, while *Lost on Journey* was also authorized for audio dramas and comics, and also carried out business cooperation with a travel agency.

Chen Ziyan said: "Linghe really can't continue to operate as a shell company; at least, there must be someone specifically handling copyright matters."

Lu Qingzhen nodded and said: "This is really true. Yan He's scripts aren't just being adapted domestically; I see TVN is also adapting them."

Chen Ziyan: "Yeah, for others, it's a very difficult thing, but here at Lu Yan He's, it seems to have become very easy. Look at our Chinese-language film and television dramas; how many can be favored by foreign film and television companies and then adapted in a year? But here at Yan He's, one after another."

Lu Qingzhen said: "It's just that *Rouge* is so popular, which I didn't expect."

"Actually, there is a very important reason."

"Hmm?"

"It won an award at the Hexi Film Festival, and the Hexi Film Festival is the only one among the four top international film festivals that has a People's Choice Award," Chen Ziyan said. "I initially thought it was Yan He's good luck, but later I went to look at the award-winning films of the Hexi Film Festival over the past few years and found that they are actually quite popular with production companies in various countries, not just grabbing its distribution rights, but also many companies are grabbing their adaptation rights."

Lu Qingzhen: "Is the Hexi Film Festival so recognized?"

"Mainly because the films that come out of the Hexi Film Festival have very good commercial results," Chen Ziyan said. "This is probably the reason they are recognized."

Lu Qingzhen said: "Ziyan, have you considered that if Linghe accidentally blossoms in the film and television copyright operation, actually you can do more than just Yan He's copyrights? Just like you said, we have so many film and television dramas in China, more than a thousand come out every year, right? Because of Yan He, a large number of partners took the initiative to find us; why don't you act as an agent for some excellent domestic film and television drama works or other IPs?"

Chen Ziyan: "Where is there so much energy? I haven't even found anyone to do my own operations yet."

"Then find them. Now it's not a question of whether to find this person, but that you already intend to find them. Once found, doing copyright operation for Yan He alone is doing it, and doing more is also doing it," Lu Qingzhen said. "In this way, think about it, how big a network can you build? Various film and television production companies, broadcast platforms, domestic and foreign, IP project initiation, these are all resources you hold in your hands, then think about it again, our high-end brokerage service company, isn't what the artists want the highest quality service that can help them break through in their careers?"

Lu Qingzhen's eyes were shining.

In her conception, a vast empire had already been built.

Chen Ziyan fell into deep thought.

Actually, the point Lu Qingzhen mentioned had already been vaguely reflected in Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He wrote *Rouge* for Chen Bige and gave the male lead to Huang Kai. He wrote *Phone* for Jiang Yuqian and gave the other female lead to Wang Jing. He wrote *Squid Game* for Jiang Jun...

The "vast organization" mentioned by Lu Qingzhen had already begun to take shape.

The box office success of *Lost on Journey* and the harvest of awards for *Rouge* will only make Lu Yan He more and more popular in this industry in the future.

In other words, if she really built the "copyright operation" network, she would, as Lu Qingzhen said, be able to directly grasp the most first-hand resources.

She herself is a broker, so of course she knows how valuable such resources are to stars and artists.

Not long after the Feihong Award ceremony ended, the nomination list for the Lingyun Award also came out.

Lu Yan He received the same nominations as the Feihong Award.

This time, the nomination list for the Lingyun Award had the highest overlap rate with the Feihong Award in nearly ten years.

There were differences, for example, *Angry Crow* was not shortlisted for Best Film and Best Director, and the media bombarded the Lingyun Award for looking down on animated films, mocking it quite fiercely.

Also, for example, *The Home I Haven't Returned to in a Long Time* missed the nomination for Best Actress, which shocked everyone. Xu Yiren's fans and the fans of this film directly scolded the Lingyun Award to the top of the hot search list. Xu Yiren still had to grit her teeth and stand out to appease the fans, indicating that she didn't get the nomination this time and would continue to work hard next time.

The award style of the Lingyun Award itself is relatively biased toward art films. This time, some of the vacated spots were basically given to this type of film. Especially *Happy Time*, Ning Xiulian's boyfriend, Gu Zhao, who appeared in *Happy Time*, also won a nomination for Best Supporting Actor based on this film, which also shocked many people.

He belonged to the type that many people thought "didn't deserve a nomination." Because in the film, he was really just "selling meat" and had no acting content.

Someone satirized: How much does the Lingyun Award love *Happy Time*? I guess if I show my face in it and say a few words, I could get a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

The internet was a mess.

Lu Yan He, however, couldn't care less about these things.

He was busy finishing some things for the *Phone* project and had to help Li Zhibai with the drama *Nineteen Years of Crime Records*.

Many film and television companies weren't unwilling to do it; with Li Zhibai as the producer and lead actor, this gimmick was there, and it wasn't a high-risk project like a film, so which film and television company wouldn't want to do it.

But doing it is one thing, and wanting to get better terms is another. They all used the failure of the film version as an excuse, saying the risk was too high, to suppress Li Zhibai's price.

Where had Li Zhibai ever encountered such a thing.

When he was an actor, basically as long as he was willing to act, people would agree to any terms.

Once he didn't want to act in a certain play, but the other party was pestering him to death, Li Zhibai opened a salary of 120 million plus a share of the later broadcast dividends—this was simply an extremely unrealistic condition, but the other party gritted their teeth and agreed. It scared Li Zhibai, and he hurriedly asked Lin Suyang to solve it.

Now, Li Zhibai had to haggle with them over the decimal points that might only involve a few million in profit sharing.

"Business is business. Before, that person was willing to give you a salary of 120 million even if they gritted their teeth, not because they were stupid, but because they had calculated that even so, the money could be earned back. But now they haggle with you over decimal points because for a film and television project, every decimal point might be hundreds of thousands at the smallest, and up to tens of millions at the largest," Lu Yan He said. "They can haggle with us for so long because they are sure that for the *Nineteen Years of Crime Records* project, because of the failure of the film version, everyone definitely has concerns and worries, and they use this to suppress the price and fight for greater profit space for themselves; this is very normal."

Li Zhibai said: "Sigh."

"But this is also something that can't be helped; any project must experience this," Lu Yan He said. "It's also quite interesting; I wasn't responsible for negotiating these things before, but I would follow along and watch, and you observe everyone's micro-expressions and language, and you can really learn things."

Li Zhibai: "I think I need to find a partner who can help me get these things done. I finally know why those big-name directors have a fixed cooperative producer."

"Artists also need a logistics manager to help them solve worldly troubles," Lu Yan He laughed.

"Correct."

Evening, eleven o'clock.

Airport.

Chen Qin stood in the arrival hall, waiting for Linyu to come out.

Linyu went to France for two days to attend a film forum, invited as the chief film critic of *Jump Up*.

Her work focus was now almost entirely on film criticism.

She liked this kind of work content, and *Jump Up* and Lu Yan He also needed her to do this work.

Chen Qin waited for about fifteen minutes, and Linyu came out from inside.

After Linyu saw Chen Qin, a smile appeared on her face.

She hugged Chen Qin.

"Did you wait for me for a long time?" Linyu asked.

Chen Qin shook his head and said: "Not long, let's go."

He took the suitcase from Linyu's hand and said: "Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something before going back?"

Linyu said: "Not hungry, but the school curfew time has passed, so I can only stay in a hotel tonight."

Chen Qin asked: "Then why don't you go straight home?"

They were both from Yuming.

Their homes were both in Yuming.

Linyu said: "It's too late. If I tell my parents I'm going back today, they will definitely wait for me to go back before sleeping. I don't want to disturb them, and I have class early tomorrow morning. If I go home to stay, I have to get up at six tomorrow morning. I still want to sleep a little longer, so I just booked a hotel near the school."

Chen Qin nodded.

"How is your graduation thesis?" Linyu asked.

Chen Qin: "The first draft has been sent to the teacher, and I have an appointment to discuss it in his office next Monday."

Linyu: "Envious."

Chen Qin smiled and asked: "You went to France this time, just you alone? Didn't you bring Li Bi?"

Before, when Linyu went abroad, most of the time it was for film festival activities, so she would team up with Li Bi.

Linyu: "This time it wasn't a film festival, just a film forum; Li Bi wouldn't have anything to do if he went."

"Also true." Chen Qin smiled.

Linyu asked: "By the way, have you thought it through? Do you want to officially join *Jump Up*?"

Over the past few years, Chen Qin had been helping *Jump Up* in an "informal" way, but he didn't have a formal position in *Jump Up* like Linyu and the others.

This of course wasn't because Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi were unwilling to give him a formal position, but because Chen Qin himself hadn't thought it through.

He had always felt that he wouldn't join *Jump Up*. Of course, there was another very important reason: Linyu was already at *Jump Up*, and he felt it was better for the two of them not to work in the same place.

Chen Qin said: "Actually, Yan He called me yesterday."

"Hmm?" Linyu asked, "He's looking for you?"

"Yeah." Chen Qin nodded, "He invited me to join his company, not *Jump Up*, but his film and television production company."

Linyu was enlightened.

"Then what do you think?"

"I... this is of course a good opportunity," Chen Qin said. "He told me that originally his company didn't plan to do physical operations, but the situation has changed, and many of his projects are under this company, so he and his broker are preparing to dig a few people from outside to operate this company. He needs someone he can trust to join this company together."

Linyu pondered for a moment and said: "Linghe does film and television production; it is currently mainly the copyright owner of several of Yan He's films and scripts, and has a large amount of copyright operation business. You studied law, so your past is considered a professional match."

Chen Qin: "Yeah, I thought so too. Actually, he also said that he wanted me to join, not because he hoped I could take on any business in the company immediately."

"He doesn't want to be kept in the dark," Linyu said. "In the past few years, Yan He's career has developed very quickly, which has also expanded his career map. This is even the result of his conscious suppression; otherwise, the map would be even bigger. It's quite good for you to go there; it's almost foreseeable that the company will occupy an absolute core position in Yan He's career map in the future."

Chen Qin: "Actually, I'm also puzzled why he didn't find someone from your *Jump Up* to go there. You have all been tempered by *Jump Up* over the past few years and are all better than me."

"And where are we better than you? I am responsible for film criticism, which is actually a very small circle. Xu Zijun, the content of *Jump Up* magazine is basically under her overall control now. Bai Yu, besides doing editorial work, also focuses on her own writing. Among us few, whoever goes there is starting from scratch and doing it all over again," Linyu said. "Besides, I don't think anyone would want to go there; everyone is working in their favorite and most interested field now, and the environment is good, so who would want to change?"

Chen Qin: "Also true."

Linyu leaned gently on Chen Qin's shoulder, "A bit sleepy."

Chen Qin adjusted his posture so that Linyu could lean more comfortably, "Then you sleep for a while, I'll call you when we arrive."

"Yeah."

Linyu closed her eyes.

Chen Qin looked at the night and scenery flying past outside the car window.

In a flash, many years had passed.

About to graduate from university.

Chen Qin was very surprised when he received Lu Yan He's call yesterday.

Although they were all classmates in the 13th Middle School. However, Chen Qin himself also knew that, unlike Linyu and Li Pengfei, his relationship with Lu Yan He couldn't be called very close. Being able to maintain contact all along was still because of Linyu.

But precisely because of this, Chen Qin's self-esteem made him unable to stay in *Jump Up* shamelessly.

Every time they needed his help, Chen Qin would definitely come to help, but once they suggested he stay, he would refuse in a hurry.

Saying all kinds of reasons with his mouth, but the real reason, he couldn't lie to himself.

Lu Yan He, however, said to him very frankly: "Chen Qin, there aren't many people I can trust around me, just you guys in this circle. If you are willing to come and help me, it will solve my urgent need."

Chen Qin believed that if Lu Yan He really needed anyone's help, everyone would be willing to help him. Lu Yan He calling him, instead of relaying it through Linyu, made Chen Qin very satisfied.

This made Chen Qin feel that Lu Yan He really needed him, not because of Linyu, so he provided him with an opportunity.

People's self-esteem is sometimes really strange.

Chen Qin of course also knew that his self-esteem was too sensitive; in the words of many old social hands, this is not good.

He also knew it wasn't good, but what could be done? He just had this broken personality, and this wasn't something he could change just because he wanted to.

You walk into a crowd of people who are better and more excellent than you, and you also want to be neither humble nor arrogant, but can you do it?

Linghe Film and Television Production Company.

Chen Qin had always known about this company. Actually, he had thought before about whether to take the initiative to contact Lu Yan He and ask if he needed him to do anything. Chen Qin just felt that compared to his classmates, he was too mediocre, but he didn't belittle himself to the point of thinking he couldn't do it. At least he was a serious college student who passed the college entrance examination to a well-known university.

If he didn't go to Yan He's place, he could also go to a law firm and walk a path that many people had walked and flattened. It's just that if it's all working for others, why can't he work for his classmates?

Linghe Film and Television Production Company began to recruit people.

As a shareholder of this company, Chen Ziyan personally interviewed the CEO candidates and saw five people.

Because its positioning wasn't a conventional film and television production company, they couldn't find people according to the conventional film and television production company CEO.

"Generally, at this level, ability and comprehensive quality are definitely not a problem; we have to look at this person's philosophy and see if his values match ours," Chen Ziyan said to Lu Yan He. "Currently, among these five people, Xu Tianming has the most beautiful personal resume; he has the experience of an executive at Long Yan Film and Taling Media, and also has project experience; he understands the business. However, according to the background check, his style is tough, and his personality is extremely strong, so colleague relationships have always been his weakness. His departure from Long Yan Film and Taling Media is also basically related to interpersonal relationships and internal strife."

"Chen Yin is very matched from ability to personality, nothing to say; he is a relatively cautious and conservative person. Our Linghe Film and Television is not at the stage of large-scale development right now, whether it is funds or personnel, it is completely at a starting stage. If he comes to do it, it is quite suitable for him to build the basic structure of the company and lay a foundation. But his shortcomings are also very obvious; he has come up all the way along the administrative line and has no project experience, which doesn't quite match our Linghe's positioning."

Chen Ziyan introduced the situation of the five people to Lu Yan He, each with different advantages and disadvantages.

Lu Yan He asked: "Then who is your best candidate in your heart?"

"You are the boss, you have the final say," Chen Ziyan said.

Lu Yan He: "I am the boss, you are the boss's broker, you have to provide suggestions for the boss."

Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes at Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He chuckled.

Chen Ziyan said: "Before I say my suggestion, I want to hear your thoughts."

Lu Yan He felt that Chen Ziyan was testing him.

Actually, Chen Ziyan had always had this style. From the first day she became his broker, she wasn't the kind of broker who let artists be puppets and listen to arrangements; she was always intentionally or unintentionally exercising his own vision, thinking, and ability, especially judgment ability.

Lu Yan He pondered for a moment and said: "I will out Liu Zhiguang first. His past work resume is mainly film and television production, starting as a production assistant, and he has basically been on the set for the past twenty years. He has no management experience in a company. We don't have a basic company structure here, so if he comes, he doesn't have the experience and ability to build this structure for the company."

Chen Ziyan nodded.

"Li Jing is also a very unsuitable candidate in my view," Lu Yan He said. "In the past fifteen years, he has changed seven companies. Although his position is getting higher and higher, and his experience and representative achievements are also excellent, he is clearly an restless person who is looking for a stepping stone everywhere. We are a small company just starting out, and there isn't much space for him to gild himself. His purpose in coming to us is also not pure. We have nothing here, just a name, and very single copyright resources. With his past work experience, what is he coming here to do? He is someone who likes to find the media to promote himself wherever he goes; coming here, he probably just wants to use these famous copyright resources to continue gilding his resume, and after gilding, he will continue to pat his butt and leave."

Chen Ziyan nodded again.

"Hmm, the remaining three people—"

Lu Yan He took a deep breath, "In terms of personal ability and quality, I would tend toward Xu Tianming. Making Linghe from nothing is a big project; if this person doesn't have the courage, ability, and sufficient experience, he can't do it. As for his shortcomings and defects, actually it's fine. Not handling colleague relationships well... Linghe doesn't have colleagues for him to handle relationships with right now; the first thing he does when he comes here is to help the company recruit troops."

Chen Ziyan smiled.

Lu Yan He asked: "Is my choice consistent with yours?"

Chen Ziyan said: "50%."

"Ah? 50%?" Lu Yan He was stunned.

Chen Ziyan said: "You have already made Xu Tianming very clear, but a person who cuts through the thorns and rushes forward also needs an adjutant who can do logistics well and provide food and grass. I want to talk to Chen Yin to see if he can come to cooperate with Xu Tianming and serve as Xu Tianming's deputy."

Lu Yan He was enlightened.

"People like Chen Yin are often easily ignored in their sense of existence. But his cautious and conservative personality can go all the way along the administrative line to the executive level without project experience or background, which is enough to show his ability," Chen Ziyan said. "It's hard to build a country, and it's hard to guard a country. Letting them build a team together is the best choice I have seen so far."

Lu Yan He was enlightened.

Chen Ziyan asked: "By the way, is your classmate settled?"

Lu Yan He nodded and said: "Chen Qin has already agreed."

"OK, Xu Fanxing will also finish the handover this month and officially join Linghe," Chen Ziyan said. "It's not easy; a small broken shell company is also growing up."

Lu Yan He smiled at Chen Ziyan.

"Never dreamed of it."

"Sister Ziyan, this is specifically sending Xu Fanxing over, right? Because Linghe is your company, so although she said with her mouth that she and you each arranged one of your own people to enter the company, in fact, the person she arranged is also your acquaintance, and also Zijun's sister."

Chen Siqi smiled at Lu Yan He.

"Sister Ziyan does things without leaking."

Lu Yan He sighed, "I actually hope she doesn't have to be so polite with me. If I treated her as an outsider, I wouldn't have given her 20% of the shares back then."

"At that time, no one thought this company would produce such high value because of these copyright operations. Then in Sister Ziyan's eyes, didn't she just pick up a big bargain? Do you think with Sister Ziyan's personality, she would allow herself to take such a big bargain from you?"

"Then her high-end brokerage service company also gave me shares."

"You invested money to buy shares," Chen Siqi, "The nature is different."

Lu Yan He: "Why divide it so clearly."

"People who truly love you and care about you are those who don't want to take advantage of you at all and divide things clearly with you," Chen Siqi said. "But it is also such people who, at critical moments, won't divide things so clearly with you."

Lu Yan He laughed.

"I have to buy the copyright for this sentence of yours and write it into the script," he said.

Chen Siqi: "Okay, you treat me to an ice cream, and I'll authorize it to you."

"It's already November, and you're still eating ice cream?" Lu Yan He asked in surprise.

Chen Siqi: "It's okay to eat one occasionally."

Lu Yan He: "Then you'll have a stomachache again."

Chen Siqi: "No way... but what should I do if I want to eat ice cream now?"

Lu Yan He: "Then buy a small ball; eating a little should be fine."

Chen Siqi laughed.

About five meters away from the two of them, Wang Biao, with Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang, was following Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi.

"If Chen Siqi comes, let's not get close. Little Brother Lu basically spends all his time working. As for life, you guys didn't catch up when he was in class. Now that the school has finished the course, he basically doesn't have to go back to school, so his life is basically his friends like Li Zhibai, Yan Liang, and Li Pengfei, and his girlfriend Chen Siqi."

"These people are the closest and most trusted people in Little Brother Lu's life. They rarely see each other. When they can see each other, we must try our best to let them enjoy a space that won't be disturbed. So, at this time, we should not appear within their line of sight if we can."

Wang Biao, while explaining to Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang, said: "You two are both high-achieving students who graduated from famous schools, but the job of an assistant is basically to help your employer solve any problems. I don't know if you two will feel a big gap."

Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang immediately shook their heads.

"Anyway, if you guys aren't used to it, go tell Sister Ziyan and see what she arranges. I just listen to orders and do things," Wang Biao said. "But one thing, whether you are used to it or not is your business, and whether to stay is also your business, but don't force yourself to do it while you can't accept it in your heart, leading to work problems and affecting Little Brother Lu."

Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang nodded.

"You are both older than me, so you must understand the truth of being responsible for doing things better than me," Wang Biao finally said with a smile. "If I poke a hornet's nest, Little Brother Lu will help me wipe my butt, but you guys just came over. If you poke a hornet's nest, Little Brother Lu might not help you wipe your butt."

Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang: "..."

"Of course, if you two work hard, Little Brother Lu won't treat you badly. You have followed for so long, so you should have your own judgment about what kind of person Little Brother Lu is," Wang Biao said, suddenly realizing something, and said again: "But don't mess around just because he is a good person. I'll say the ugly words first. If I find you messing around and perfunctory, I will directly go to Sister Ziyan to report. Other things are fine, but I won't allow you to affect Little Brother Lu."

"Won't."

"We won't."

Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang both had big heads.

For a "senior" like Wang Biao, Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang really spent a lot of effort to adjust their mentality.

A "senior" who is about to be eighteen but hasn't reached it yet, as the first assistant around Lu Yan He, his personality is not the gentle and easy-to-deal-with kind. However, if you say he deliberately makes things difficult, he doesn't.

In terms of his work ability, he gives Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang a feeling of "knowing the ropes." It's not that his ability is strong, but that he understands everything and every way. When encountering any problem, how to solve it, he has a special plan in his heart. This is a trait rarely presented by people of his age.

But on the other hand, he often says some childish words and makes some childish moves, making Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang cry and laugh.

Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi went to see the newly released film *Star Fate*, a biographical film starring Yu Mengling.

In a cold schedule like November, more than half of the big melee in the market is actually those nominated and award-winning films of the Feihong Award.

*Angry Crow*, *The Home I Haven't Returned to in a Long Time*, *Nine Yin*, *Rouge*, these films that have achieved very good box office results, also entered the cinema for re-screening after winning awards. After two days of million-box office, the daily box office fell directly to six digits.

Films like *The Seventh Record of Floating Life* and *Approaching the Abyss* now only have a daily box office of tens of thousands.

However, probably because *Happy Time* hasn't been launched on video websites yet, the box office of this film actually took a million daily box office for several more days after the Feihong Award results came out.

*Road to Glory* persists in the screening route, but because of the heat of the Feihong Award, its attendance per screening has increased slightly.

*Star Fate* is a rare new film.

Because it stars Yu Mengling, the attention is quite high.

Lu Yan He accompanied Chen Siqi to finish watching this film. As soon as they walked out of the cinema, Chen Siqi whispered: "It's filmed so mediocrely."

"Yeah, it's a pity for Yu Mengling's acting skills. The most touching part of the whole film for me is her performance."

Chen Siqi said: "It seems that Yu Mengling hasn't acted in any particularly popular films either."

"She has always been very focused on acting in serious films," Lu Yan He said.

The film *Fuso* that Yu Mengling won the Best Actress award for before was also an art film.

"However, she basically hasn't acted in supporting roles. I've read her resume; her first film was the lead."

"I heard her family background is quite good. When she wanted to be an actor, her family found many friends, making her path after graduation very smooth," Chen Siqi said. "Because she acted in low-cost art films, her popularity has always been low, but the industry seems to recognize her quite a bit."

Lu Yan He suddenly remembered the "different paths" he told Wang Jing.

Everyone chose a path to walk.

Yu Mengling chose to stick to her own standards.

Actually, it's quite good.

Different paths all lead to the same destination; it just depends on whether you can reach the end.

"We seem to have been photographed just now," Chen Siqi said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Lu Yan He asked, "Where?"

"The black car across the road," Chen Siqi said.

Lu Yan He smiled, "Let them shoot whatever they want."

Being public has this benefit; you don't have to hide it. If you want to shoot, shoot.

Chen Siqi sighed: "Yeah, it's just a pity."

"Pity what?"

"Our 'Power Accumulation Plan' failed," Chen Siqi said.

The director selection plan they organized back then, after months of vigorous tossing, had to helplessly admit a fact: except for the two guaranteed players from Arctic Light Video, they didn't discover any directors with real talent and potential in this activity.

No short film met their internal standards.

"It's okay, failure is failure; there is always failure," Lu Yan He comforted Chen Siqi, "Then let's fulfill the rewards we promised at the end?"

"Yeah, fulfill," Chen Siqi said, "You can't be a person who breaks his word just because you didn't like it."

The "Power Accumulation Plan" didn't succeed, which made Lu Yan He sigh a little. However, failure is the norm, and success is accidental. That he could succeed so many times was already an incredible miracle.

This time Chen Siqi only came back for two days.

Lu Yan He sent Chen Siqi to the airport before asking: "After filming *Love Letter*, can we consider looking at houses?"

Chen Siqi was stunned, "What house?"

"Just... didn't you say you were going to move the *Jump Up* editorial department to Yuming later? Since you are stationed in Yuming, shouldn't we rent a house together?"

Neither of them had paid enough years of social security, so they couldn't buy a house and could only rent.

Lu Yan He had always remembered this.

Chen Siqi realized it after hearing Lu Yan He say this, "Oh, okay, then we'll go see it together."

Lu Yan He scratched his head and asked: "Are you willing to live with me?"

"Willing," Chen Siqi said, "It's just that saying it suddenly made me a bit unresponsive. However, for the house of our *Jump Up* editorial department, I plan to buy it in Lingyang District. It takes an hour and a half one way to drive from the city center. By then, I will definitely spend most of my time there."

To save rent, Chen Siqi bought a house in Lingyang District directly as the office location for *Jump Up*. She couldn't afford the city center, so she went to Lingyang District, where the average price was only 25,000.

Lu Yan He nodded and said: "I know, but you definitely have to come to the city to do things, so you still have to go back and forth often. Renting a house here will be much more convenient for you."

"Hmm, then you won't live with Li Zhibai and Yan Liang anymore?" Chen Siqi asked curiously, "I've always had the feeling that the three of you are going to live together until the end of time."

Lu Yan He said: "Actually, I have one more thing I want to discuss with you. If there is a suitable house in Ziyuanqiao, how about we just rent it in Ziyuanqiao?"

Chen Siqi was stunned.

"We actually live quite comfortably in Ziyuanqiao. This is a university town. Although the rent is very expensive, it is very convenient in all aspects," Lu Yan He said, "Especially when you want to eat at night, no matter how late it is, you can find a restaurant."

Chen Siqi nodded, smiled, and said: "Okay, I'm actually fine with anything."

She asked: "However, the three of you will graduate in June next year, and no one is studying for a master's degree. Are you still planning to continue living in Ziyuanqiao?"

"The three of us have lived here for several years, and our relationship with the neighbors is handled quite well. Moreover, for our kind of work nature, privacy and confidentiality are the first priority. It's rare to have such a place. We have lived here for several years and have never had these problems," Lu Yan He said. "If we change to another place, we have to adapt again."

Chen Siqi: "Then you might as well buy a house in Ziyuanqiao in the future and live in one place until retirement."

Lu Yan He: "Also okay."

Chen Siqi glanced at Lu Yan He and shook her head.

It wasn't a refusal, but a feeling of "I told you so."