Chapter 493: Laughed to Tears (10,000-character update!)

She said: "In the future, if there is any matter like Liu Min's, no matter who it is, refuse it directly. When this company was founded, rules were set: the projects of our few artists cannot become a cake they can intervene in, and engaging in interest exchange is even more forbidden."

Lu Qingzhen: "I thought Liu Min would be an exception here, after all, she won the Silver River Award Best Actress before."

"That was twenty years ago," Chen Ziyan said. "And this has nothing to do with whether she is a Best Actress. No matter who comes, this precedent cannot be opened."

Lu Qingzhen nodded, "Okay, then I know."

Chen Ziyan: "She is really... sigh, but it is understandable that she wants to let the audience remember her again and try every means to make a comeback."

"Why bother today, why bother then? When she was twenty-something and her career was going well, she retired to raise her children. Now she wants to make a comeback, no one remembers her," Lu Qingzhen said. "She can't let go of her face to act from small roles."

"She hasn't acted for nearly twenty years, her acting skills have indeed regressed a lot. I arranged a few auditions for her, and people reflected that she acted very generally. I didn't expect that either," Chen Ziyan shook her head and sighed. "The former Best Actress, now will be disliked by some ordinary crews for poor acting skills."

"This is too normal. That acting skill, acting skill, is a skill when you talk about it," Lu Qingzhen said. "It's always rusty if you don't use it for too long. I think outdated actors are really harder to make a comeback. Besides overcoming the situation of no fame and no attention, they also have to completely walk out of those past halos and smooth out their mentality. This is too difficult."

Chen Ziyan said: "Don't think about taking shows for her to make a comeback. Take some variety shows. With her name as the Silver River Award Best Actress, she can still receive some program invitations. After having popularity slowly, then go to contact the crew."

Lu Qingzhen nodded.

"Cheers!"

In a private room of an antique restaurant, Lu Yan He, Chen Siqi, Lin Yu, Chen Qin, Li Pengfei, and Xu Zijun gathered together, clinking glasses, the atmosphere was particularly enthusiastic.

Only in front of these few people would Lu Yan He completely forget his identity as a star artist.

It's not that they don't talk about entertainment industry things, but in front of them, Lu Yan He can find the feeling of not being popular before and not being surrounded by media lenses.

Lu Yan He was particularly happy that these people could still gather together four years after graduating from high school.

The original intention of founding *Jump Up* magazine was really realized now.

Moreover, the three couples among them did not break up after four years of going to school in different places.

It was really incredible among the incredible.

Lu Yan He knew very well how difficult this was.

And it was also at this time that Lu Yan He suddenly realized that compared to four years ago, that slightly chubby Xu Zijun had lost quite a bit of weight at some point.

It's not that she became a piece of paper, and there was an incredible big change. She lost weight little by little over these four years. Lu Yan He almost didn't notice it in the middle, only feeling that she slowly started to put on makeup and became more confident and better-looking than before.

If it weren't for her sitting next to Li Pengfei today, making Lu Yan He suddenly remember the scene back then, Lu Yan He might have always been unable to react.

"The monthly sales of *Jump Up* physical magazine are now stable at about 160,000-190,000, and the summer and winter special issues can get about 250,000, but basically there is no big change," everyone at this table was related to *Jump Up*, and the common topics were basically centered on this magazine. Chen Siqi also inevitably mentioned the current results. "However, new media is indeed the general trend. The cultural supplement we made was changed into an online cultural course app, and the download volume has exceeded 10 million across all channels so far, and the registered users have reached 1.27 million."

Chen Siqi turned to smile at Lu Yan He. "Your suggestion is indeed very good. Specifically making an app, letting our professors and scholars open courses on it in the form of audio, attracted many people. Our background data shows that the peak usage period of this app is the morning peak, evening peak, and before going to sleep."

As an app with only about 1 million daily active users, it is far from a commercial success. However, its influence and cultural value are unique. Moreover, this is also a successful derivative product of *Jump Up*.

Lu Yan He asked: "Is the program *China in Culture* also preparing to make a second season?"

"Yeah," Chen Siqi said. "We contacted twelve scholars, each scholar uses three 40-minute programs to talk about a theme. This program is now being responsible by Zijun to connect with Sister Zixing and North Star Video."

Xu Zijun nodded and said: "We spent a lot of effort to invite these twelve scholars, all of whom are top scholars in our country."

Lu Yan He was a bit curious and asked: "Are there no other people trying to imitate and replicate similar programs?"

This kind of program has a very low production cost and is rarely replicated.

Chen Siqi said: "Lighthouse Video tried to replicate it, but it was a bloody failure. The viewing volume of each issue was not even 50,000. Later, everyone gave up. This kind of program without celebrities or stars participating is too easy to be niche. Oh, right, many TV stations have looked for us many times later, asking if we have plans to make a sequel, wanting to ask us for copyright, wanting to make a second season. Knowing that we want to do it ourselves, they want to buy the copyright again."

Lu Yan He said: "Then what do you say? Did you give it?"

"North Star doesn't want to," Chen Siqi said. "They want exclusive broadcast."

Lu Yan He said: "Selling this kind of program to TV stations to broadcast together is not a loss. I don't think it will affect the online broadcast data. It may even promote it. After all, the middle-aged and elderly group is the main force of TV station audiences, but not the main force of video platforms."

Chen Siqi spread her hands and said helplessly: "North Star Video would rather increase the procurement price than broadcast with TV stations."

Hearing this, Lu Yan He couldn't help but sigh.

He also understood North Star Video's approach.

For video platforms, they all have a very similar concept, that is, the significance of exclusive broadcast to the platform.

It seems that only exclusive broadcast can attract more audiences to this platform.

This is because of the difference in profit models.

For video platforms, the more users they have, the larger the scale of paying users, and the economic benefits produced are not simple "1+1=2", but exponential growth.

In the online world, the relationship between the number of users and value is like this, they are not additive or subtractive, but multiplicative or divisive.

After eating and drinking a little wine, they were all a little tipsy.

They changed places and went to KTV noisily.

Young people singing in KTV, that is really just singing.

One after another, no one pursues singing beautifully. Most of the time, everyone sings all kinds of songs together.

Then, some people started to be a little tired, couldn't sing, and lay on the sofa.

At this time, KTV entered the special session of love songs and slow songs.

The girls held the microphone.

Lu Yan He, Li Pengfei, and Chen Qin withdrew from this world, left the private room, and went to buy food and drinks for them.

Li Pengfei hooked his arm around Lu Yan He's neck and said: "Just now when eating, listening to you guys babbling about *Jump Up*, it's still quite a pity. If I had done *Jump Up* with you back then, although this matter is not what I am interested in, playing with you guys should still be quite interesting."

"I told you long ago, you didn't believe it back then," Lu Yan He said. "It's not too late for you to join now."

"Forget it, joining at this time," Li Pengfei shook his head, very melancholy. "But what to do after graduation, I really haven't thought about it."

Lu Yan He: "You really haven't thought about what you want to do in the future?"

"Really, didn't I tell you long ago? I really haven't thought about going to work from nine to five in the future," Li Pengfei hissed. "However, thinking about it now, this is actually not right."

Lu Yan He: "Not right?"

Li Pengfei said: "If you don't find a job, just being idle every day is also quite boring. I often feel bored now."

"Do you know how hateful you are when you say this?" Lu Yan He retorted.

Chen Qin said silently on the side: "If I had a sack in my hand now, I would definitely put it on his head."

Lu Yan He: "Look."

Li Pengfei: "I'm closing the mic."

Lu Yan He: "However, I'm serious, Brother Fei, if you haven't thought about what you want to do, just find something you don't dislike and do it, don't wait until the end of the world."

"I don't want to either. I know some friends whose families are quite rich. They really just belong to the kind who haven't worked a day, and they don't do anything every day, they only know how to eat, drink, and play," Li Pengfei hissed. "Actually, I could have gotten happiness from such a life."

"Then why can't you get happiness now? Are you Versailles? I'm really jealous," Chen Qin said.

Li Pengfei: "Who let you guys have your own careers, making me feel like if I don't find a job properly, I'm a stupid and superficial rich second generation, oh my."

He slapped his forehead with a slap.

Lu Yan He and Chen Qin were both shocked by Li Pengfei's sudden "self-slap".

"What's wrong with you?" Lu Yan He looked at him suspiciously and asked.

Li Pengfei babbled: "I don't know if I should sigh, whether I met the wrong people, or met the right people."

Lu Yan He: "..."

Still that Li Pengfei, still that dog-like appearance.

Chen Qin couldn't help it anymore, laughing uncontrollably.

"I'm really convinced," Chen Qin said.

Lu Yan He originally wanted to say something, but hearing Chen Qin say this with a laugh, he smiled instantly and didn't want to say it.

Li Pengfei babbled, let him go.

He had that broken mouth, and it had been like that since high school.

"Hey—Lu Yan He—"

A surprised voice sounded abruptly.

Lu Yan He subconsciously thought he had met a fan.

In this small shop in KTV, Lu Yan He turned his head in surprise, and then found it even more surprising that it was really a case of "life is full of coincidences".

It was actually their high school classmate, Mei Ping.

"Mei Ping!" Lu Yan He looked at the other party very pleasantly, almost didn't recognize her.

"Oh my, Li Pengfei! Chen Qin!" Mei Ping had a very unbelievable and pleasant smile on her face, and patted their three shoulders hard, "What kind of party are you three having here!"

"It's our last winter vacation, aren't we allowed to gather?" Li Pengfei looked at Mei Ping and hummed twice, "You still have the face to say, I heard you are getting married soon?"

Mei Ping was still the same fiery personality as back then, immediately widened her eyes, looked at Li Pengfei in shock, and asked: "How do you know?"

Li Pengfei: "How could I not know? This news must be able to spread, right? When are you getting married, why didn't you send the invitation to us?"

Mei Ping smiled and said: "My wedding is not held in Yuming, so I'm embarrassed to send you an invitation, as if I specially asked you for money."

"Where is your wedding held?"

"Jiangjin," Mei Ping said. "My boyfriend is from Jiangjin."

"Is your boyfriend your classmate?" Li Pengfei asked.

"Yeah, college classmate," Mei Ping nodded. "In Yuming, maybe just hold a simple departure ceremony, just a small scope, some of my relatives and family, so I thought about not telling you, it happens to be July, everyone just graduated and started working, busy."

Li Pengfei: "You are really considerate."

The cynical tone was about to overflow.

Mei Ping clenched her fist to indicate that if Li Pengfei babbled again, she would do it.

Lu Yan He looked at Mei Ping with a smile and said: "Congratulations, you are the first one in our class to get married."

A very happy smile appeared on Mei Ping's face.

"Mainly because he is going to study abroad in September, I don't want to wait for him foolishly, so I told him, either give me an explanation, or we break up," Mei Ping said. "He is going to study abroad for two or three years, I don't want to wait for him like a stone waiting for her husband."

"Oh my, then are you going with him or what?" Li Pengfei asked. "Is it separated in two places like this?"

Mei Ping said: "I won't go with him, I am a person who wants to engage in a career."

"Is your job decided?"

"Decided, Jiangjin Bank," Mei Ping said. "When the time comes, help me save some money so that I can complete the task."

Li Pengfei hissed several times.

"By the way, Lin Yu, Zijun, Bai Yu and others are also here," Lu Yan He said. "Are you here with friends tonight? Go and see them."

Mei Ping was pleasantly surprised, "Really? Send us the private room number, I'll come over later. I've been out for a while, I have to go back and say hello first. I didn't come with friends, tonight we have a gathering organized by Yuming people in our university."

Lu Yan He and the others nodded.

Old classmates reunited after a long time, even if the relationship back then was not very close, this feeling was different.

About half an hour later, Mei Ping came over.

For the scene of girls meeting, Lu Yan He had always had an indescribable "awe".

He really wanted to know why they could chat together as soon as they met, from the ground to the sky, without any estrangement or gap after a long time, just like sitting together eating and chatting last night.

Oh, no, Li Pengfei also had this ability.

Lu Yan He said to Chen Qin: "Only you and I are relatively socially anxious."

Chen Qin looked at him in shock and asked: "Huh?"

Lu Yan He asked: "Don't you have social anxiety?"

"Whether I have social anxiety or not, let's not mention it, why do you say you have social anxiety?" Chen Qin questioned. "No wonder Lin Yu said your positioning of yourself is sometimes too inaccurate."

Lu Yan He: "... Where is it inaccurate?"

Chen Qin: "Self-deprecating."

Wow, isn't this the word Chen Ziyan said about him?

Lu Yan He: "..."

I don't know what the girls said, but in a while, when Mei Ping left, she was already saying "that's settled", and left with a smile.

"What's settled?" Lu Yan He asked Chen Siqi.

Because it was not someone from their class, Chen Siqi was the only one among the girls just now who didn't integrate into the chat so enthusiastically.

Chen Siqi said: "They said that during the New Year, the whole class will organize a gathering together."

Lu Yan He: "Oh, Li Pengfei also said so."

"The atmosphere in your class is quite good, better than our class," Chen Siqi smiled. "We have never gathered since graduation."

Lu Yan He: "Then you integrate into our class, anyway, you have become familiar with this circle of ours."

Chen Siqi: "Then it can only be like this."

At 1:00 AM, they ended and prepared to leave.

"Zijun, don't go back tonight, sleep with me," Chen Siqi greeted.

Xu Zijun lived very far away, and it would take more than an hour to go back now.

Li Pengfei would definitely send her, one way and one return, then it would be even further.

Xu Zijun nodded, "Okay."

ottkΛno￠o

Lu Yan He and Li Pengfei sent them back to the hotel and said goodbye to others at the KTV entrance. 【49

Chen Qin suddenly pointed across the street and reminded Lu Yan He: "There seem to be paparazzi over there; someone is holding a camera."

Lu Yan He looked over and saw two somewhat familiar faces; they were definitely paparazzi.

He raised his hand and made a 'V' sign at them.

"Don't mind them, let's go."

Everyone dispersed.

"Hey—" Li Pengfei suddenly shouted at the two paparazzi across the street, "If you caught us on camera, make sure to Photoshop us!"

Lu Yan He and the others were stunned, then burst into loud laughter.

The paparazzi across the street looked at each other, unable to process what had happened for a long time.

Finally, one of them complained to the person next to him: "What the hell is that!"

"That's a super relaxed star."

"I've never seen a star who treats himself less like a star than him."

"The kind of relaxed vibe only top-tier stars have."

On the internet, the video of Lu Yan He coming out of the KTV after hanging out with his classmates and making a 'V' sign at the paparazzi's lens spread online, making his fans "melt from cuteness" one by one.

That was the exact word they used.

"'Squid Game' is still airing, and the creators are running around non-stop for promotions, yet he's the only one who still has time to hang out with classmates," someone complained.

Someone immediately retorted: "He's a screenwriter; writing an excellent script is fulfilling his primary job. What are you b-ing about? Yan He should go run promotions? If he runs promotions, will there still be exposure for your Brother Zefan? When you come to smear someone, remember to hide your own affiliation first; don't make a fool of yourself."

"The one above is a habitual hater of Zefan; sisters, don't get baited. We Zefan fans are all very grateful that Yan He chose him to act in 'Squid Game'. May the haters' whole family die!"

Just like this colorful world, even if the internet world goes round and round with the same old three things, it still won't stop some people from losing interest in jumping around.

Lu Yan He scrolled through these mediocre messages and became increasingly indifferent to this content.

It basically couldn't cause any ripples in his heart.

This state of mind, like an old monk in meditation, was truly cultivated over time.

When 'Squid Game' aired its sixth episode on Arctic Light Video, the cumulative number of viewers had already exceeded 32 million, breaking the record for the fastest to reach 30 million viewers.

However, unlike many of Lu Yan He's previous highly acclaimed dramas, 'Squid Game' this time drew quite a bit of questioning.

Many people said that although 'Squid Game' was very well-produced, the script was actually a very simple and boring one, and the story had no new ideas. If it weren't for such a configuration making the show, it would have been impossible for it to be this popular.

Quite a few people agreed with this statement.

However, these comments were all within Lu Yan He's expectations. The original version itself wasn't a drama with high acclaim or much praise either.

Being popular was enough.

Jiang Jun, Jiang Yuqian, and Liu Zefan were the three people who reaped the biggest three shares of the dividends from this drama.

Especially Jiang Jun, who became famous almost overnight.

The middle-aged, down-and-out man he played in this drama was called by everyone "acting so it doesn't look fake."

To be praised for acting skills in this type of genre drama, that was truly acting well enough.

Chen Ziyan even said: "In such a hit drama, basically whoever acts in it becomes popular. When you insisted on giving this role to Jiang Jun, did you think it would be this popular today?"

"I did, otherwise I wouldn't have asked Teacher Jiang Jun to act in it," Lu Yan He laughed. "How great, he even came to act as Constable Xing in our 'My Own Swordsman'; now 'My Own Swordsman' also has an all-star cast."

Chen Ziyan: "With your current appeal, you can basically build an all-star cast for every drama."

Lu Yan He: "Several people have come to ask me if there are suitable roles for them in the second season of 'Squid Game'."

Indeed, looking at the first season, in the main character group, except for the male lead, the old man behind the scenes who was the big villain, and the male police officer played by Liu Zefan, everyone else died.

The second season will definitely have many new characters popping up.

Chen Ziyan asked: "What are your thoughts?"

"I don't have any thoughts yet; the script hasn't even been written," Lu Yan He said. "However, for the second season, I definitely still want to make it into this kind of level-challenge mode; it really does need a batch of new contestants."

Chen Ziyan: "Then there will indeed be some new characters coming out. If you organize auditions by then, the entire entertainment industry will probably break their heads trying to get in."

Lu Yan He: "Let's write the script first; we'll talk about other things after the script is written."

Chen Ziyan: "If the roles of Jiang Jun and Liu Zefan are both to return, what about Jiang Yuqian? Her character is dead."

Lu Yan He: "Let me think about it. I also don't want to use a twin trope to keep Sister Yuqian for the second season; that's very melodramatic."

"That's true," Chen Ziyan nodded.

"There's also no need to force which character must stay," Lu Yan He said. "It's better to consider it from the perspective of how to write the story well; I won't consider other things for now."

"That is the right way," Chen Ziyan nodded in agreement.

Chen Ziyan: "The production company of 'Angry Crow' contacted me. They said Lang Xia is very interested in the story of 'Squid Game' and asked if it's possible to get a license; they want to develop an original animated story under this worldview."

Lu Yan He was a bit surprised upon hearing this.

"Really? That's fine, of course it's fine," Lu Yan He nodded.

Chen Ziyan: "Mm, I also think this is a very good collaboration. Their ability to produce animation is second to none in the country."

Lu Yan He: "I really like the animation 'Angry Crow'. Do they want to develop it into an animated movie or an animated series?"

"They haven't decided yet either," Chen Ziyan said. "I hope they can develop it into an animated movie; I think this story is actually very suitable for developing into a movie series."

"Maybe one day someone will want to develop it into a movie, but it definitely won't be now," Lu Yan He said with a smile. "It's quite good. For a story, some people want to adapt it into comics, some want to adapt it into animation, and some want to do other developments. These collaborations can extend the lifeline of this story and also allow it to be seen by more people."

Chen Ziyan: "Your works are indeed very popular in this regard. However, I understand why 'Squid Game' is so popular; the subject matter destined it to be popular. I really didn't expect that 'Rouge'—a somewhat literary love story—would also be so popular; even Thailand wants to remake it."

"Ah?" Lu Yan He showed a look of surprise.

"Didn't expect it, right? Neither did I," Chen Ziyan shrugged her shoulders. "When Xu Tianming and Chen Yin brought back this news, I was very surprised too."

Lu Yan He: "Does this story have unique charm, or is the influence of the audience award at the Hexi Film Festival large enough? This makes me want to send all my movies to the Hexi Film Festival."

"If you send a movie like 'Road to Glory' to the Hexi Film Festival, that would be cannon fodder," Chen Ziyan laughed. "The Hexi Film Festival dislikes these kinds of movies that are a bit dull and have a slow story pace the most."

Truly, different film festivals nurture different movies.

Chen Ziyan: "However, you wouldn't believe it, the Hexi Film Festival has been asking me about the progress of your 'Love Letter'; they still want to pull 'Love Letter' over there for its premiere."

Lu Yan He wasn't surprised at all that the Hexi Film Festival was very concerned about 'Love Letter'.

The positioning of the Hexi Film Festival itself is popular feature films; the subject matter of 'Love Letter', as well as such a cast, is simply tailor-made for the Hexi Film Festival.

Besides this, there is another very important reason.

'Love Letter' is Lu Yan He's first directorial work.

In fact, the first work of an actor transitioning to a director, as long as it's not that kind of blatant commercial blockbuster, is basically very welcomed by top international film festivals.

Many people haven't noticed this point. In fact, if you go and flip through the works of those more famous actors who directed for the first time and look at their resumes, you can discover it.

Lu Yan He knew that for a movie with the theme and core of 'Love Letter', even if it were forced to go to a film festival like Xitu'er, there would be almost no hope of winning an award; it could only find its largest audience at the Hexi Film Festival.

Lu Yan He said: "'Love Letter' was aimed at the Hexi Film Festival from the start."

Lu Yan He was certainly willing for the Hexi Film Festival to be interested in this movie.

Chen Ziyan said: "However, it's also very strange. With your resume at international film festivals, you should have entered their field of vision by now. How come no film festival has invited you to be a judge yet?"

Lu Yan He: "Me? A judge? I'm so young, who would invite me to be a judge."

Chen Ziyan: "Then don't underestimate yourself; you are young, but you have enough works."

She took a deep breath, pondered for a moment with some confusion, and proposed her own guess: "Could it be that they don't have your contact information and can't reach you?"

Lu Yan He doesn't have an agency overseas; it's indeed tough for those people overseas to contact him.

Chen Ziyan's thought wasn't nonsense either.

"Don't think about it. Even if they asked me to be a judge now, I might not have the time. Look at my schedule for next year; it feels like it can completely count as my busiest year," Lu Yan He said.

"It's okay, you used to be able to film four movies a year while studying. Now you don't even have to attend classes, so you have more time," Chen Ziyan said. "I will coordinate the time well for you."

Lu Yan He: "Sister Ziyan, you wouldn't be planning to arrange other work for me on top of the current foundation, would you?"

"There is no such plan for now, but it's not excluded," Chen Ziyan said. "I have my eye on a project and want to grab it for you; I just don't know if I can grab it successfully."

Lu Yan He was a bit surprised.

It's not that he's bragging, but is there any project in the country now that he needs to grab? Almost all the movie scripts on the market now, as long as there is a lead role suitable for him, will pass through him. Every film company lists him as a member of the first tier of their collaboration list.

"An overseas project?" Lu Yan He asked.

That was all he could think of.

"No, it's a domestic project," Chen Ziyan said. "But the people behind it have a big background; even if it's you, you might not be the first sequence they consider."

Lu Yan He asked: "What kind of project is it?"

"The new film by Director Gongjiang, who has won the Best Director award at the Xitu'er International Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival," Chen Ziyan said.

Once this name was spoken from Chen Ziyan's mouth, Lu Yan He immediately understood why Chen Ziyan valued this movie project so much, and why she said even he needed to go grab it.

Let's put it this way: perhaps every country has one or two great directors who are world-renowned and are already recognized as being written into world film history before they even die.

Gongjiang is one such director.

He has only directed seven movies in total; among them, he has won the highest award at the four major international film festivals once, the Best Director award twice, and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film once.

Such a legendary director, in the country, there is only one of him.

For his new movie, it is indeed as Chen Ziyan said: no top movie star can say they can definitely act in it.

Let alone a young actor like Lu Yan He who hasn't been in the industry for many years and whose achievements, no matter how high, don't count for much in front of Gongjiang.

In fact, there are few classic movies recognized in this world that are grand narratives. Gongjiang is the kind of director who detests grand narratives and focuses on grand themes like life and destiny.

"When a director like him chooses actors, he doesn't look at your box office appeal or popularity at all," Chen Ziyan said. "And almost no one can influence his thoughts; everything depends on his own thoughts alone."

Lu Yan He asked: "What kind of movie is he preparing to film? Is there any news out now?"

"None at all," Chen Ziyan shook her head. "This news was told to me by Shang Yongzhou. He received a call from the assistant director who has worked with Gongjiang for many years, saying that Gongjiang wanted to meet with him and mentioned the new project."

Lu Yan He hesitated for a moment upon hearing this and said: "Then in this situation, are we supposed to take the initiative to fight for it? Since he hasn't held public auditions—"

"Of course not by rashly showing up and saying we want to participate," Chen Ziyan waved her hand. "Just don't worry about this matter for now; I will follow up on this matter, and I'll tell you when there is news."

Lu Yan He: "You suddenly threw a bomb at me; I'm going to keep thinking about this matter."

"Nonsense, as long as they are an actor, who wouldn't think about it after knowing this," Chen Ziyan said. "That's Gongjiang!"

Lu Yan He: "I've been in the industry for so long, and I've never even seen him."

"He lives in seclusion; ordinary people can't see him either."

If there were a chance to act in a movie by Director Gongjiang, Lu Yan He would really put down everything on his hands and go all out to act.

Lu Yan He discovered that he still had some filters for great directors.

"How vulgar," he complained to himself.

However, that's how it is to be an actor.

He thought to himself, if he were an actor in his original time and space, he would also have filters for directors like Wong Kar-wai or Park Chan-wook.

He admitted that he just had a bit of a literary youth disease.

When the disease flares up, five billion in box office can't compare to the punctuation marks left by one of their movies in his acting career.

'Squid Game' aired episode after episode.

Snow fell layer after layer.

Perhaps because of the news about Director Gongjiang filming a new movie, Lu Yan He was a bit excited at night and had no sleepiness, so he hadn't fallen asleep by 1:00 AM. He simply got out of bed, opened his laptop, and started writing a script.

He didn't bother with the scripts he hadn't finished before, but instead wrote 'New Dragon Gate Inn'.

? ￠o

The version of 'New Dragon Gate Inn' starring Tony Leung, Brigitte Lin, and Maggie Cheung is one of the best Wu Xia movies in Lu Yan He's mind. In his heart, it is even better than 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'.

'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' is good, but it is ultimately not the pure Chinese-style Wu Xia in his heart.

'New Dragon Gate Inn' is the Chinese-style Wu Xia rooted in traditional Chinese culture that is in Lu Yan He's mind.

Writing until the middle of the night, Yan Liang suddenly came to knock on the door.

Lu Yan He woke up as if from a dream and looked back at him.

"You haven't slept yet?" Yan Liang got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and saw light leaking from the crack of Lu Yan He's room door, so he knocked on the door, his eyes bleary with sleep.

"I'm excited," Lu Yan He said. "Writing a script."

Yan Liang nodded, didn't ask further, and yawned, "I'm going back to sleep."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Reminded by Yan Liang, he realized it was already this late at night, and the world was so quiet that the snowflakes were falling with a rustling sound.

Lu Yan He shook his head, stretched, and continued to stare at the screen with concentration, typing on the keyboard.

His fingertips danced on the keyboard.

Until the sentence "They rode their horses forward, dust kicked up amidst the sound of hooves, and in a blur, their figures disappeared into the depths of the vast, boundless desert" was written, Lu Yan He slumped back against the chair, feeling relieved.

It was already 6:10 AM.

The sky hadn't brightened yet.

Lu Yan He rubbed his wrists, turned his neck, and heard a crisp "click" sound.

He had long wanted to write the script for 'New Dragon Gate Inn' but hadn't written it; he didn't expect that on this night, he would suddenly feel like he had been injected with adrenaline and finish it in one go.

Lu Yan He felt his eyes were very dry, but he wasn't sleepy at all.

On the contrary, he was very excited.

He had a feeling of wanting to share this story with someone immediately.

He got up and went out to wash his face.

Specifically washed with cold water.

The water was bone-chillingly cold.

But splashing the water on his face made him feel an extraordinary sense of comfort.

Yan Liang had also gotten up.

He had the habit of morning running, but it was snowing today, so he couldn't run.

"You didn't sleep all night, did you?" Yan Liang looked at Lu Yan He, who was sitting in the living room eating an apple, and asked.

Lu Yan He ate the apple with a crunching sound.

He nodded: "Didn't sleep. Want to go eat noodles?"

Yan Liang nodded.

He looked at Lu Yan He in disbelief, "I'm so impressed. You didn't sleep all night, yet you look even more energetic than me."

Lu Yan He laughed.

"Yan Liang, I wrote a super awesome script."

Yan Liang looked at him with some surprise, "What script?"

Lu Yan He said: "Wait until I print it out. I should install a printer in my room."

Yan Liang nodded, "I also want to get a treadmill over here."

Lu Yan He's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly: "Then let's go buy one after we finish breakfast."

Yan Liang said: "In this cold weather, they might not necessarily open so early."

Lu Yan He pursed his lips, looking a bit disappointed.

"Did you brush your teeth?"

"I... didn't sleep."

"You don't need to brush your teeth if you didn't sleep?" Yan Liang looked at Lu Yan He in surprise.

Lu Yan He: "Oh, right, I need to brush."

Yan Liang: "... You just gave me the feeling that you are Li Zhibai."

"Must have been infected by him; my brain isn't working well either," Lu Yan He unceremoniously shirked the responsibility.

Yan Liang: "You hurry back to catch up on sleep after you finish breakfast later."

"I'm not sleepy at all."

"Do you believe that if you lie down, you will fall asleep in less than a minute?"

"Impossible!" Lu Yan He shouted.

Yan Liang: "You go in and lie down now. If you lie down for a minute and don't fall asleep, I'll take your surname."

"Fine, Lu Liang, you wait to change your surname," Lu Yan He said and went right away.

One minute later, Yan Liang stood at the door of his room, looking at Lu Yan He lying on the bed.

The latter had his eyes closed and had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Seeing this scene, Yan Liang was so angry he laughed.

He took out his phone, took a photo of Lu Yan He sleeping soundly on the bed, and posted it on Weibo, saying: This person didn't sleep all night, wrote a script, was so excited that he widened his eyes and said he was very energetic and couldn't sleep, and even said he wanted to go downstairs with me to eat noodles. I bet with him that he would fall asleep in less than a minute once his head hit the pillow. He stared with wide, energetic eyes and said it was impossible. Now the minute is up, what else can I say? Facts speak louder than words.