Chapter 508: Advancing by Retreating (140,000-word update!)

Wu Bai and Wang Biao are not of the same generation.

The two are a generation apart.

However, in the entertainment industry, just like star artists' seniority is often ranked behind their popularity most of the time, the status of staff members is often related to who they are around.

Lu Yan He's assistant, even if he is a child who is not yet twenty, is looked up to wherever he goes.

Wu Bai couldn't call him "Little Wang", but could only affectionately call him "Little Biao".

Wang Biao came under Lu Yan He's instructions.

He couldn't tell Wu Bai directly that they found those two proxy photographers, chatted with them directly, and discovered that someone was deliberately targeting Li Yuefeng, but he couldn't let Wu Bai and Li Yuefeng be kept in the dark and not know the situation.

Not to mention anything else, Li Yuefeng having an accident is not a good thing for *Burning Fire*.

Not to mention, Lu Yan He and Li Yuefeng also acted in *Seventeen Layers* together, and will act in the second season of *Seventeen Layers* together later. In a sense, he and Li Yuefeng are also a community of interests.

So, Wang Biao came over.

He asked: "Little Brother Lu is a bit curious, what is going on with Li Yuefeng's matter? Why is it clearly determined that it is the proxy photographer's own responsibility, but now it is made to seem like it is Li Yuefeng's responsibility? So he asked me to come and ask, Brother Wu Bai, did Li Yuefeng offend anyone?"

Wang Biao threw out a whole bunch of words directly.

Without any gradual probing—

Because Lu Yan He said that if his speech was gradual, it would clearly show that there was a ghost.

What style Wang Biao usually speaks, the whole crew knows.

Sure enough, Wu Bai didn't feel confused about these doubts of Wang Biao. He explained: "I don't know what the situation is yet, I have already asked someone to understand, thank you Yan He for your concern."

"Little Brother Lu is of course concerned. Now filming *Burning Fire* together, and will film the second season of *Seventeen Layers* together in the future. If Li Yuefeng is always entangled in scandals, it is not good for these two crews," Wang Biao clearly stated his attitude for coming over, letting Wu Bai not think too much. "Actually, most people on the internet are on Li Yuefeng's side. I don't understand, why do the family members of those two proxy photographers still want to do this? Do they think that if they hold a banner, they can get some money from you?"

Wu Bai thought, he had indeed considered whether to spend money to avoid disaster.

However, no one knew how big the appetite of those people was, so Wu Bai didn't choose this method easily.

Wu Bai smiled, "After staying in this line for a long time, you will see all kinds of people, it's not strange."

His tone was still quite relaxed, and he didn't seem to take this little thing to heart.

Wang Biao thought, your heart is really big enough.

"Anyway, I only know that if something is abnormal, there must be a demon. Doing things without seeing benefits, why bother," Wang Biao pouted. "Maybe it's that your Li Yuefeng offended someone, so he is deliberately making waves with this matter to mess with Li Yuefeng."

Wang Biao thought, he had already said this clearly enough. If Wu Bai still didn't take it to heart, he could only send an anonymous letter later.

Wu Bai looked at Wang Biao suspiciously.

His eyes were suspicious, and Wang Biao breathed a sigh of relief.

Goal achieved.

Wang Biao shrugged his shoulders, "I won't talk to you anymore. It looks like you don't know anything. Little Brother Lu even wanted to ask if there is anything he can help with."

After Wang Biao finished speaking, he turned and left.

Wu Bai looked at Wang Biao's back, always feeling that Wang Biao was a bit strange.

Wu Bai returned to Li Yuefeng's dressing room.

Li Yuefeng asked him: "Brother Bai, what did Wang Biao do looking for you?"

"Said Lu Yan He is concerned about this matter, so he asked him to come and ask," Wu Bai said. "However, what he said was a bit strange, asking several times if you offended anyone, and saying if someone is deliberately making things difficult for you."

Li Yuefeng heard this and suddenly realized, slapped his thigh: "I said so! Maybe it is like this."

Wu Bai squinted at him.

"No, Brother Bai, otherwise you tell me, those two proxy photographers, they hit my car themselves, I haven't asked them for repair fees yet, they are entangled like this, do they think I will satisfy their requirements?" Li Yuefeng said. "They have been doing this, what is the motive? Thinking about it, isn't it that someone is inciting them to do so behind the scenes."

Li Yuefeng, who was entangled by this matter, was quite affected in acting.

Lu Yan He acted in a scene with him, Li Yuefeng forgot his lines twice, and didn't catch Lu Yan He's scene once. A scene was acted stumbling, and he didn't know how he acted. Maybe a freshman in his first year of university would act better than him.

Lu Yan He was a bit irritable and looked at Wan Renhai.

Wan Renhai was also annoyed, and seeing Lu Yan He's look, he called a stop to the filming.

Li Yuefeng also knew it was his own problem, and he apologized to Lu Yan He for the first time, saying: "Sorry, the state is not good today, didn't act well."

Lu Yan He nodded and said: "It's okay, you slow down first, take a break, adjust your state."

He turned and walked towards his chair.

Wang Biao handed him his water cup.

Wan Renhai called Li Yuefeng over.

"Yuefeng, your state is not right," Wan Renhai even lowered his voice and said to him, "You have to concentrate."

Li Yuefeng lowered his head in frustration, "Director, I also realized that my concentration is not enough, but I am really annoyed, I can't control the annoyance."

Wan Renhai: "Why don't you take a break for two days."

Wan Renhai also had no way to deal with Li Yuefeng.

Li Yuefeng's acting is actually not bad, but he is really not in a state now, and it can even be described as rotten.

Acting like this, what he ruins is not only his own part, but also the energy of the opponent actor.

Li Yuefeng said: "Director, I—"

Wan Renhai: "This is actually a very simple scene, but for such a very simple scene, you have made so many low-level mistakes. This is not your ability problem, I know, so you take a break for two days first and adjust your state."

Li Yuefeng sighed in frustration.

"Okay then."

Wan Renhai would rather move other scenes to the front to shoot than accompany Li Yuefeng to waste time here.

An actor who cannot guarantee concentration, filming over and over again is just a waste of time.

This is not an exaggeration at all.

Just like a child who wants to recite a text, he reads it over and over again, but doesn't use his brain, just follows his mouth, he just follows it all morning, and he can't recite this text.

Li Yuefeng left the set.

Wan Renhai found Lu Yan He and filmed Lu Yan He's part first.

"Shoot my scene first?" Lu Yan He was a bit surprised.

Wan Renhai nodded, "I don't know when Li Yuefeng's state will be better. If he can recover immediately, then wait for him to come back and shoot this scene again. But if he can't find his state, then let him grind it over and over again, don't waste your energy."

Wan Renhai was thinking for Lu Yan He.

Although it is a scene between two people, it doesn't mean that the two people have to shoot at the same time.

You can shoot A today and B tomorrow, and then cut their shots together through editing, as if they were shooting this scene at the same time.

Especially when actors can't coordinate their time, the crew will adopt this method.

However, Lu Yan He didn't expect that this movie would be shot like this.

Lu Yan He didn't expect that an actor like Li Yuefeng who has already become famous and has quite a lot of filming experience would also be affected by the outside world, leading to such a big slip in his acting state.

Li Yuefeng's state problem affects not only Lu Yan He.

Coordinator Li Quanling is the one who suffered deeply.

Because originally, because Li Yuefeng joined the set, he had already arranged Li Yuefeng into the later filming announcement. Now he was told that Li Yuefeng's scenes for these two days should not be arranged first, the director didn't want to shoot, and Li Quanling had to change it again.

I don't know how many brain cells will die.

Lu Yan He didn't know when this matter would be properly resolved.

Li Yuefeng himself was actually depressed enough.

"The emotional state of actors is easily affected, I know this too, but it is rare to see such a Waterloo in performance quality directly affecting Li Yuefeng like this."

Xiao Yun complained to Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He laughed.

Xiao Yun asked: "Do you have no time to record *Young Days* this year again?"

Lu Yan He shook his head and said: "I don't know for the time being, because the filming time for *Mist* and the second season of *Seventeen Layers* hasn't been set, I have to prioritize the filming of the two plays."

"Understand," Xiao Yun nodded. "However, you didn't record the whole process with everyone last year, everyone was still quite disappointed. It was hard to have a chance to reunite."

Lu Yan He: "I also want to record the program with everyone, but these two years are very unfortunate, I was in the crew at that time. If I wasn't in the crew, I would definitely go to record the program with you."

Xiao Yun: "Of course, we all know this."

Lu Yan He asked: "After you broke up with your ex-boyfriend, you didn't fall in love with anyone else?"

"No, let's fight for a career first," Xiao Yun was a bit melancholy. "I feel that if I don't grasp these few years, maybe I will be eliminated. The competition for actresses is too fierce."

"You have already won the Best Supporting Actress award from the Directors Association, and you are still worried about being eliminated?" Lu Yan He was very surprised. "Among the actresses in the same age group as you, not many have won mainstream awards, right?"

"It's not the three major awards, it's useless, it just looks good in my award record when major media do inventory," Xiao Yun said. "Mainly... I sometimes feel that my acting is really not good. I have actually worked very hard to improve myself, and I have acted with all my strength in every play, but the final effect is just like that, not very good. I am doubting myself, whether I am suitable for being an actor."

Actually, Xiao Yun is quite good at acting, but judging from the few times he cooperated with Xiao Yun, he probably knew where Xiao Yun felt her acting was not good.

She acts too academically, with rules and regulations, so she loses a lot of aura. Everyone will feel that she acts quite well, but she can't leave any memory points.

So far, the role that has left a relatively deep impression on the audience is the one she played in *Phoenix Terrace* replacing Zhen Hongyu.

Since then, Xiao Yun has acted in several plays, but none of them left a deep impression on everyone.

The work she is best known for is actually the program *Young Days*.

Lu Yan He said: "What are you anxious about? You just graduated from university, and you have received such professional training, your acting is very good, it's just hard to meet a role that suits you. When you meet one, just like in *Phoenix Terrace*, you will be noticed immediately."

Xiao Yun: "I really don't want to hear you say these."

"Why?" Lu Yan He asked.

Xiao Yun: "Because you saying these will make me feel jealous."

She looked at Lu Yan He seriously.

"I'm not joking with you, I'm really jealous when I see you acting now."

"Then I'm not Lu Yan He, nor Shang Yongzhou. My state is affected, I can't act well, isn't this very normal?"

Li Yuefeng drank some wine at night, sat in his room, and complained to his friends on the phone.

"I don't want to run into this kind of thing either, but who can be fine after running into this kind of thing? Can Lu Yan He?" Li Yuefeng cursed, "I don't know how Wu Bai did it either. I'm really convinced. It's been two days, the heat on the internet hasn't gone down yet, and some people ran to my comment section to lead the rhythm."

"Sigh, brother, I sympathize with you very much, but you should stop thinking about these broken things first, you should relax well."

Li Yuefeng: "Relax? How can I relax now?"

"Do whatever you can to make you stop thinking about these things."

Li Yuefeng was very speechless and said: "What you said is really nonsense, I'm really convinced."

"What nonsense, let me tell you, don't care about anything now, find a few women to accompany you to play, your mood will be better immediately."

"You think I'm you?"

"If you have the ability, don't look for them."

Li Yuefeng didn't have this idea originally, but after his friend said so, his mind became active again.

When Wu Bai went downstairs to get takeout, he happened to run into Li Yuefeng, who was fully armed, in the corridor.

Late at night, he was wearing a hat and a mask, with his head down, looking like he was going out.

But in fact, his face couldn't be seen, and Wu Bai's familiarity with him was enough for him to recognize him at a glance.

Wu Bai stopped him.

"What are you going to do?" Wu Bai asked.

Li Yuefeng didn't expect that he would be caught by Wu Bai as soon as he went out.

However, he was no longer the kind of small artist who would be managed by his agent in everything.

He said: "I'm going out for a walk to relax."

Wu Bai: "You don't bring your assistant, and you don't bring your bodyguard. What if you are recognized, what should you do?"

Li Yuefeng said: "I called Tiger Brother, he is waiting for me downstairs."

Tiger Brother is his bodyguard.

Wu Bai nodded.

He also knew that Li Yuefeng's state and mood were affected, and he couldn't even film normally, so it was good to go out for a walk.

Wu Bai said: "Go, come back early. Also, don't worry about the proxy photographer's side, it has all been solved just now."

Li Yuefeng was anxious to get rid of Wu Bai, and at this moment, hearing his words, he stopped his steps again.

"Really?"

"Really," Wu Bai smiled. "There is indeed someone making trouble behind the scenes, Wang Biao guessed right."

"Who?"

"Lang Xia's agent," Wu Bai's smile faded, "He Yingzi."

At this moment, the fire rushed up in an instant.

Li Yuefeng clenched his fists and looked at Wu Bai angrily.

"Why do they want to do this?" Li Yuefeng asked.

"Deliberately stepping on you, letting you be entangled in negative news," Wu Bai said. "He Yingzi's old means. Seeing such a thing happen, she wanted to borrow some strength."

Li Yuefeng asked Wu Bai in surprise: "Does she not even have any actual purpose?"

"I haven't talked to her either, it's impossible to determine what she thinks. However, we have no interest conflicts with her or Lang Xia recently, and I don't see any actual purpose," Wu Bai said. "He Yingzi, she is usually a person who will move stones as long as she can fall into the well. I have no thoughts about her intentions, but you can look forward to it, waiting for her to eat her own bitter fruit tomorrow."

Li Yuefeng looked at Wu Bai in surprise and asked: "What are you going to do?"

Wu Bai: "Release the call recording between her and that proxy photographer, let everyone see what she did behind the scenes."

Li Yuefeng: "... You got the call recording?"

"Yes," Wu Bai nodded. "She can give money, I can also give money. Proxy photographers want money anyway, just smash it, see who smashes more."

Li Yuefeng asked with some worry: "That proxy photographer won't take the money you gave and go to He Yingzi again? Eating from both sides?"

Wu Bai: "No matter if he eats from both sides, anyway, the evidence I want has been obtained. For this matter, you just play the image of a victim well."

Li Yuefeng: "I am a victim originally, where do I need to play!"

He was a bit angry.

Li Yuefeng was really annoyed.

He suddenly remembered something and asked again: "You say, Brother Bai, did Lu Yan He know about this long ago?"

"Hmm?"

"Otherwise, why would Wang Biao suddenly come to find you and remind you twice that someone might be messing with you behind the scenes?" Li Yuefeng frowned slightly, "I remember his relationship with Lang Xia is not very good."

Wu Bai: "Who knows, anyway, even if we ask, people won't admit it. If people really know and take the initiative to remind us, it also shows that people have done a good deed."

Li Yuefeng: "We don't even know what the situation is, he already knows. Don't you think his speed is a bit too fast?"

Wu Bai was stunned, looked at Li Yuefeng, and asked: "What do you want to say?"

Li Yuefeng said: "I just envy Lu Yan He's team a bit. If they really knew so much earlier than us, and he had to remind us, we thought of someone messing with us behind the scenes, which shows that their team is much more capable than my team."

Wu Bai: "Damn, are you satirizing me?"

Li Yuefeng pouted: "Who let you be so slow this time? I've been scolded for a few days?"

"What does it matter if those clowns scold you? Most people support you and think you are not wrong. Why should I suppress this heat that was picked up for nothing?" Wu Bai said, "We just don't make a sound, don't act, honestly keep quiet, then the public will always be on our side. We are the ones who didn't make a mistake. Let them make trouble. The more fierce they make trouble, the more they scold you, the more people will sympathize with you and support you. When the victim is most likely to arouse other people's sympathy, you still blame me for letting you be scolded for a few days?"

Li Yuefeng: "... You are telling me at this time that you deliberately let those few people scold me?"

"Otherwise?" Wu Bai asked back, "Are those few clowns leading the rhythm hard to deal with? Putting them there to jump, isn't it just to let them attract firepower?"

"I'm convinced," Li Yuefeng gave Wu Bai a thumbs up, "You are awesome."

Wu Bai didn't understand either, whether Li Yuefeng really turned the corner and understood his intention, or continued to mock him.

Li Yuefeng's brain, a bunch of little cleverness, no big cleverness.

Wu Bai really didn't dare to overestimate his IQ.

Lu Yan He had just finished taking a shower and came out of the bathroom when he heard his phone ringing.

I don't know who called at this time.

Lu Yan He walked over, picked up his phone and looked, stunned. He didn't expect it to be Li Yuefeng.

He answered the phone incredulously and asked: "Are you looking for me?"

"Looking for you," Li Yuefeng's tone was filled with a silly bird-like joy, which shocked Lu Yan He, "Are you in the hotel? Which hotel are you staying in? Let's go for a drink together."

Lu Yan He: "... It's so late, I have to film tomorrow—"

"You must accompany me for a drink today," Li Yuefeng interrupted Lu Yan He unquestioningly.

Lu Yan He was stunned.

What the hell?

What happened to Li Yuefeng?

Drunk?

Li Yuefeng said: "Stop pretending, I know you actually still treat me as a friend, right? Knowing someone is moving hands and feet behind the scenes to mess with me, you still let Wang Biao secretly come to remind my agent."

Lu Yan He: "..."

He suddenly realized.

It turns out this is the reason why Li Yuefeng is abnormal tonight.

Lu Yan He was so troubled by Li Yuefeng's posture that he couldn't refuse, and finally decided to go to the appointment—he wouldn't admit that he actually wanted to know who was messing with Li Yuefeng behind the scenes.

"Lang Xia? He Yingzi? Are you sure?"

This is really an answer Lu Yan He never thought of.

In Lu Yan He's view, no matter what, these actors who are filming a movie, at least before this play is released, should be people in the same trench, right?

Otherwise, in such an environment, if anyone has a problem, the movie will be affected. The movie can't be filmed, can't be released, isn't everyone affected? Harming others and not benefiting oneself.

However, Li Yuefeng said firmly, "Wait, evidence will be released tomorrow."

Lu Yan He looked at his determined appearance and believed two points in his heart—at least he could be sure that it was not Li Yuefeng guessing randomly.

Li Yuefeng suddenly grabbed Lu Yan He's hand and looked at Lu Yan He affectionately.

Lu Yan He was scared and stupid, and his speech stuttered.

"You, you—"

Li Yuefeng said: "I always thought you didn't treat me as a friend before. I wanted to play a role in your play, and you let me audition with others, and compete. I was very unhappy, but today I know, you still have loyalty, enough meaning!"

After he finished speaking, he let go of Lu Yan He's hand, and Lu Yan He breathed a sigh of relief quietly.

Li Yuefeng raised his glass, signaling to toast with Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He had to raise his glass and clink with Li Yuefeng.

As a result, Li Yuefeng gulped, and suddenly drank a glass of wine in one breath.

"I finished drinking, you do as you please," Li Yuefeng said very heroically, "Lu Yan He, although you are more popular than me, and more capable than me, I admit this, but I really annoyed you before. I am most annoyed by you guys who are more popular than me. However, from today on, I accept it. You treat me as a friend, and I treat you as a friend."

Lu Yan He: "..."

Disillusionment.

This is a night of disillusionment, and also an unexpected night.

Lu Yan He looked at Li Yuefeng, who was obviously drunk, smiled silently, and said: "Are you... still angry with me for letting you audition?"

"Otherwise? At least we have already filmed *Seventeen Layers*, right? Don't you know what it's like to act? Am I the kind of paralyzed actor whose acting skills can't be taken out?" Li Yuefeng patted his chest, "You let me audition, of course I think you look down on me."

Lu Yan He: "... Isn't this just a very normal procedure? Many roles I acted in were obtained through auditions."

Li Yuefeng: "Fart, you are too dishonest. You act now, where are there any plays that need auditions? Did you audition for *Burning Fire*?"

Lu Yan He: "Said wrong, not audition, try acting. You can accept this, right? *Late Spring*, *Road to Glory*, I have tried acting in these. This has nothing to do with whether the acting is good or not, it depends on the suitability of the role. Of course I know your acting is no problem, but you have acted in so many plays, you must also know that if a role meets a very suitable actor, then no matter how mature the actor's acting is, they can't compare to him."

Li Yuefeng frowned, "Damn, you actually try acting?"

What Lu Yan He didn't say was actually that many acting trials were proposed by himself. Try acting a segment first to see the effect. Standing from the perspective of the producer, it is indeed just like what Li Yuefeng said. People didn't propose the idea of letting him audition or try acting at all, including the Hollywood movie *Mist*—Hollywood is really the place with the most mature audition system in the world's film and television industry. The director found him and didn't say let him participate in the audition.

However, Lu Yan He himself still hopes to have such a link—this is like script reading, like rehearsal. The better the pre-work is done, the smoother the filming will be. Because many problems are solved before filming. And why are many plays rotten? Is it because the production staff is not working hard enough on the set? No, it's because the production staff has too many problems and contradictions to solve on the set, and they are overwhelmed.

"Forget it, forget it, I won't argue with you," Li Yuefeng waved his hand, "Next time your play, let me audition if you want to audition. However, keep it secret. What if I tried and you still don't use me, then I, a dignified first-line actor, will lose my face to the gutter."

Lu Yan He couldn't laugh or cry.

"Okay, I know."

Li Yuefeng sighed.

"Really envy you."

"Ah?"

"Can act, and can write," Li Yuefeng said, "If I could write scripts, I wouldn't be like you, giving scripts to others to act. Damn, those scripts would all be mine."

Lu Yan He: "..."

Lu Yan He said: "Even if you can't write scripts, you shouldn't be short of scripts looking for you, right?"

"Not short is not short, however, not so many good scripts will come to the door," Li Yuefeng said. "Like *Burning Fire*, the script is confidential before you officially sign the contract, and they won't show you the full volume. Generally, scripts that come to the door actively, unless people are aimed at you to play the male lead, otherwise, they are generally not big productions in the conventional sense."

"You don't have to act in big productions for every play. It's also good to intersperse one or two plays with types and styles different from what you usually take, and try to take risks," Lu Yan He said.

He didn't expect that he would one day say such things to Li Yuefeng.

Li Yuefeng: "Oh my, you are really standing and talking without back pain. In this day and age, who dares to fail? If one play fails, you will fall directly to the bottom, as if you have been abandoned by the market. I also want to try acting in art films, but in the current situation, art films lose money nine out of ten times—then if everyone doesn't count the loss of art films on my head, I am also willing to try, but how can they? As long as it is a film I act in, others don't care if you are a commercial film or an art film. As long as the box office is average, taking two or three thousand, others will say, look, this Li Yuefeng, still a first-line actor, the box office of a movie is only two or three thousand, too trashy."

Li Yuefeng's words are indeed very realistic.

Lu Yan He was thoughtful.

"Then this market environment didn't give us any room for tolerance to try works that might fail, so how can we have the courage to shoot some plays that don't quite conform to the market mainstream," Li Yuefeng said.

Li Yuefeng's words made Lu Yan He think of himself.

Everything he has now is actually built on the foundation that he has never failed in any work.

And he has blossomed in both movies and TV shows, grasping both commerce and awards, giving the industry an illusion that he has no shortcomings. Therefore, now is almost the best time for him to do projects. No matter what project he does, everyone thinks he will succeed.

But once a failure occurs, perhaps the market's trust in him like a filter will disintegrate.

What he wants to shoot, maybe it won't be as smooth as it is now.

Li Yuefeng asked: "What are you preparing to shoot for your next play?"

Lu Yan He: "My next play is going to the United States to act, I took on a Hollywood movie."

Li Yuefeng couldn't quite understand and said: "Why are you going to Hollywood to act in movies now? It's not ten years ago, our domestic market is big enough."

Lu Yan He said: "The script is interesting, and I don't want to be conservative."

"Will you often go to Hollywood to act in movies in the future?"

"I don't know this either," Lu Yan He said. "Look at the script, I don't have a plan to shift my work focus to Hollywood."

Li Yuefeng: "Oh, that's good."

This night, in the end, Li Yuefeng was so drunk that he couldn't walk, and it was Zou Dong who brought him back, first sent him to the hotel, and handed him to Wu Bai, before Lu Yan He returned to his hotel.

Early the next morning, as soon as Lu Yan He arrived at the set, Li Yuefeng suddenly appeared and patted him on the shoulder from behind.

"Morning."

Li Yuefeng was energetic, not looking like he drank too much yesterday at all.

Lu Yan He looked at him in surprise.

"Didn't the director let you rest for two days?"

"I feel my state is back, so I told the coordinator that I can continue to shoot."

Lu Yan He asked: "Then today's announcement, it seems there is no filming plan for you."

Li Yuefeng said: "It's okay, I'll come to the scene to watch you act."

Lu Yan He didn't understand why Li Yuefeng was suddenly so active.

At this time, Coordinator Li Quanling came over with two dark circles under his eyes.

He looked at Li Yuefeng helplessly and said: "Don't call me in the middle of the night again, telling me you can act. It's impossible to change the announcement for the next day in the middle of the night!"

Li Yuefeng immediately apologized with a smile and said: "Sorry, Brother Quanling, I drank too much yesterday, sorry for the disturbance."

Li Quanling breathed a heavy sigh and left.

Lu Yan He: "..."

The scene this morning was another scene that happened in the sorcerer academy.

Seven or eight actors appeared in one scene.

There was indeed no role for Li Yuefeng in this scene.

However, he persisted in staying on the set, chatting with this one, and chatting with that one.

When Lu Yan He was rehearsing with everyone, Xiao Yun whispered: "What's wrong with Li Yuefeng? Why do I feel he is suddenly excited?"

Lu Yan He: "Don't know."

Lang Xia said disdainfully: "Maybe he was hit too hard, and things will develop in the opposite direction when they reach the extreme."

Lu Yan He didn't pick up the conversation.

This is a dialogue-heavy scene, basically composed of character dialogue.

In other words, for this group of mature actors, it is not difficult to act.

The preparation time was long, from light to the adjustment of the camera movement, to the cooperation between actors and the camera, as well as the rehearsal on the scene, it took about an hour and a half.

The official filming was only half an hour.

After filming three times, Wan Renhai let this shot pass.

After that, the scene had to be changed.

Every time the scene is changed, it is the most chaotic time on the set.

Wang Biao had already taken his things with Wan Qingqing and was ready to go back to the lounge to rest first.

Over there, a young actor playing their classmate suddenly held his mobile phone and said "ah" in surprise. Several people began to whisper to each other. This phenomenon spread very quickly, from a few people to more than ten people, and then most people's faces showed a touch of shock and incredulity.

Lang Xia found that the eyes focused on him suddenly became many.

He looked at others inexplicably, but no matter who his eyes looked at, the other party's eyes would immediately avoid, avoiding eye contact with him.

This scene made Lang Xia a bit annoyed.

Because this scene happened, Lang Xia could basically determine that something not very good related to himself must have happened, but he didn't know what happened now, a bit of blind annoyance.

Until his agent walked through the crowd and came to him with a face as dark as water.

"He Yingzi's face is really black enough," Wang Biao said gloatingly.

They had already left the set and returned to the lounge.

In fact, Wang Biao wanted to stay and watch the excitement, but Lu Yan He didn't have this idea.

Lu Yan He: "I don't know if that scene can still be filmed later."

Wang Biao: "That depends on whether Lang Xia can be a bit thicker-skinned than Li Yuefeng. If he is thicker-skinned, then maybe he can continue to film."

He tutted, "Substituting in, I don't know how they will film in the same crew later. This face is torn directly."

If the face wasn't torn, even if there was hatred, the two of them would see each other every day, and they could still endure it, acting together with different hearts but the same face.

Torn the face, with the crew watching, can the two still pretend nothing happened and continue filming?

This difficulty is directly doubled.

Of course, in the big world, there are all kinds of situations. There are even divorced couples who can continue to film together, acting as deeply loving couples in the play.

Wu Bai found a familiar marketing account and released the behind-the-scenes truth of Li Yuefeng being entangled by proxy photographers and being asked for medical expenses by proxy photographer family members at the studio entrance in an exclusive way.

A call recording was released, and it was carefully attached with subtitles, plus the name and identity of the speaker, so that everyone could clearly know who these two people were.

Then, Lang Xia and Lang Xia's agent He Yingzi rushed onto the hot search at rocket speed.

The *Burning Fire* crew was of course more shocked than others.

Working in the entertainment industry for a long time, it is extremely rare to have two parties in front of you like this.

This is the real eating melon on the front line, not through the second hand.

And just as Lu Yan He expected, the play... couldn't be filmed.

A scene was temporarily changed to be filmed, and Li Yuefeng and Lang Xia didn't appear.

Lan Mingting also disappeared, presumably to reconcile the contradictions between the two sides.

For a time, the *Burning Fire* set became inexplicably... surging with undercurrents.

In fact, this has nothing to do with others. Lang Xia and Li Yuefeng's matter, plus the two of them's teams, even if they fight to the sky, it has nothing to do with others.

However, people are like this. If something happens around them, they will also surge with a "sense of participation", discussing this matter, all quietly, softly, carefully, in a cautious posture of "let's not add fuel to the fire for this matter", but in fact, they are chattering and adding fuel to the fire, the so-called pushing the waves.

Xiao Yun, who loves excitement, especially loves eating melons, was excited for these two days as if she saw her idol, her eyes shining, as long as she was on the set, what she discussed with people was not the script, not the role, but the latest gossip news.

--How will Lang Xia and Li Yuefeng solve this matter?

Lu Yan He is actually a person who loves eating melons, but this time he didn't eat it happily.

He was worried that this matter would affect the filming of the movie *Burning Fire*.

Wan Renhai was obviously the same.

The next day, Li Yuefeng still appeared on the scene.

He came to film, and on the announcement, he had two scenes today.

And Lang Xia didn't appear.

If Li Yuefeng two days ago was in a bad state, frequently forgetting lines, not to mention giving higher performance quality, today's Li Yuefeng was like opening a hang, acting as if he had divine help, and his state took off.

Lu Yan He felt a sense of stimulation of being "shown" by him when acting with him.

If you meet a good opponent actor when acting, you will be stimulated to have a better reaction.

Lu Yan He felt such stimulation from Li Yuefeng here.

He was very surprised.

Others at the scene saw Li Yuefeng's state and also whispered to each other. Mainly because the difference before and after was too big, one underground, one sky.

And what made many people not expect was that Li Yuefeng's relationship with Lu Yan He suddenly became close for some reason.

Before, the two of them were also quite familiar, and they would chat and laugh on the set, but there was still a gap from the word "close".

Now, after a scene was filmed, Li Yuefeng would even put

Those who observed more closely discovered that Lu Yan He's attitude hadn't actually changed much; it was mainly Li Yuefeng who had become closer to him.

Even Xiao Yun asked Lu Yan He in bewilderment: "What's going on between you and Li Yuefeng? Did you lend him money or save his life, for him to be this close to you now?"

Lu Yan He: "Uh, it's a long story."

Xiao Yun said: "After what happened this time, I realized that Li Yuefeng has been able to stay so popular these past few years because his agent is truly indispensable."

"Oh? What did his agent do?"

"You know, before this incident happened, his agent gave every staff member on the crew a small gift." Xiao Yun's tone was filled with admiration.

This was the first time Lu Yan He had heard about this.

"What did he give them?"

"It wasn't actually a very expensive gift; it was just a pair of headphones from an electronics brand that Li Yuefeng endorses, retailing for 168 a pair," Xiao Yun said. "At the time, everyone thought Wu Bai was very generous. But then, the news broke about Lang Xia and his agent plotting against Li Yuefeng behind his back, and everyone realized that this was a hope for everyone to support Li Yuefeng in this matter. Actually, this situation didn't require the crew staff to say anything, as it was a done deal. Wu Bai probably just hoped that at this critical juncture, no one on the crew would stand out and say anything bad about Li Yuefeng."

Lu Yan He suddenly realized.

However, to be fair, the agents behind the actors in this crew were none of them simple characters.

Not to mention Chen Ziyan.

Lang Xia's agent, He Yingzi, was Chen Ziyan's former rival, and Wu Bai—

He was also a very formidable agent. Being able to bring Li Yuefeng up and keep him standing tall, always maintaining his status as a first-tier star, was enough to demonstrate his ability.

Not to mention the others.

This was a phenomenon that would inevitably exist behind any big production.

Only the top people in the industry could join such a big production, and the agents were no exception.

Lu Yan He was curious about how He Yingzi would resolve this matter.

Of course, compared to how He Yingzi would resolve it, Lu Yan He was more curious about why He Yingzi had been on a phone call that someone else had recorded.

It felt like such a low-level mistake shouldn't have happened to someone like He Yingzi.

He Yingzi's solution didn't keep Lu Yan He waiting too long; that same evening, she recorded a video publicly apologizing to Li Yuefeng.

"I am very sorry. Because of a personal grudge between myself and Wu Bai, I attempted to disgust Li Yuefeng regarding the matter of the paparazzi. I actually knew that this incident was not Li Yuefeng's fault, and Li Yuefeng did not need to bear any legal responsibility. Therefore, I found that injured paparazzo and had him go cause trouble for Li Yuefeng, purely for the sake of revenge and to vent my anger."

He Yingzi stood sincerely in front of the camera.

"This matter actually has nothing to do with the conflicts between artists that everyone is discussing. Lang Xia was completely unaware of this matter throughout. And I have no issues with Li Yuefeng himself; I was targeting Wu Bai. Here, I also solemnly apologize to Mr. Li Yuefeng, because you are the most outstanding artist under Wu Bai, so I chose to cause trouble for you, attempting to achieve the goal of disgusting Wu Bai, which also caused you to be condemned and insulted."

After watching this apology video, Lu Yan He was confused, realizing he didn't understand it at all.

He even had to seek help from Chen Ziyan to ask her about it.

"Did He Yingzi once have a personal grudge with Wu Bai?"

"Among agents, who hasn't had a personal grudge?" Chen Ziyan said. "Don't be fooled by He Yingzi; she is retreating to advance, letting Lang Xia off the hook. As an agent, she doesn't need to rely on her public image to make a living. With the evidence against the other party being ironclad, she just takes everything upon herself, allowing Lang Xia to walk away unscathed."

Lu Yan He suddenly understood.

He thought as much.

That He Yingzi, she was ruthless enough.

Chen Ziyan added: "The most ruthless part of He Yingzi's move is that when she apologized, she planted another thorn between Wu Bai and Li Yuefeng."

"Ah?"

"Don't you understand? She did that on purpose! She was deliberately sowing discord!" Wu Bai rolled his eyes at Li Yuefeng, speechless.

Li Yuefeng actually believed He Yingzi's words, thinking that she had done it because she had a personal grudge against him.

He had no damn personal grudge with her; was it worth going to such lengths?

Li Yuefeng said: "He Yingzi apologized to me in public."

"That's because she only had one path to take: apologizing," Wu Bai said irritably. "The recording was laid out there. If she didn't apologize, then Lang Xia would also be the villain who plotted against you behind your back. Would he still be able to be an artist in the future? How would he survive? She let Lang Xia walk away unscathed, and she herself didn't want to be the villain, so she gave a vague, empty excuse about a personal grudge, making this matter seem like a private feud between the two of us."

Li Yuefeng remained half-believing.

Wu Bai let out a long sigh.

"Suit yourself, believe it or not."

Li Yuefeng then smiled and said: "Oh, Brother Bai, why are you getting so anxious? I didn't say I didn't believe you. Even if she did use such underhanded tactics because of you, I would definitely still stand on your side. How could I be swayed by her? My relationship with you isn't something that can be swayed so easily."

Wu Bai: "Anyway, I've resolved this matter for you. You just focus on filming with peace of mind. I'm tired, I'm going back to rest."

Li Yuefeng could see that Wu Bai was genuinely angry.

He immediately put on a cheeky face, hooked his arm around his neck, and said: "What rest? Shouldn't we celebrate? Come on, come on, I'll treat you to a drink. You've worked hard these past few days; thanks to you, otherwise I would have been screwed long ago."

Wu Bai looked at Li Yuefeng's cheeky expression, sighed, and in the end, couldn't bring himself to stay angry to the very end.

Lang Xia also returned to the crew safe and sound.

On the surface, this matter had nothing to do with him.

It was his agent's behavior behind his back.

However, how many people believed this, no one knew.

Everyone certainly claimed to believe it.

When Lang Xia and Li Yuefeng met on set, they didn't fight, but they didn't acknowledge each other either, like strangers.

Lang Xia's situation suddenly became awkward.

Lu Yan He had already been like a stranger to him, and now with Li Yuefeng added to the mix, Lang Xia could only spend most of his time on set by himself.

This atmosphere made the filming site always feel a bit awkward.

But for some reason, in this atmosphere, everyone's acting state actually improved significantly.

Wan Renhai was also amazed.

And while so many things were happening on the crew, with many people "participating" intensely in the gossip, only Shang Yongzhou focused solely on his own scenes every day, leaving as soon as he finished, and basically not interacting much with the other actors on the crew.

This was Shang Yongzhou's way of acting; Lu Yan He was used to it.

Whenever he acted, once he entered a character, he would try his best to stay in that character's state for that period, especially when interacting with other actors.

And the character he was playing, burdened with a mission of revenge, bitter and deep-seated in hatred, also lived a solitary life most of the time after becoming a teacher at the academy.

To maintain this state and feeling, Shang Yongzhou deliberately kept his distance from everyone.

Including Lu Yan He.

Because Lu Yan He was also very much at odds with him in the story at the beginning.

On this point, Lu Yan He admired Shang Yongzhou very much.

He truly respected the profession of an actor and was using a spirit of acting that was rare nowadays to face his role with all his might.

Of course, Shang Yongzhou's approach also made some people secretly grumble, wondering if Shang Yongzhou was a bit too cold and aloof, being so distant from others, which felt arrogant.

Whenever Lu Yan He heard others say this, he would help explain things for Shang Yongzhou.

In short, after the incident with Li Yuefeng and Lang Xia, the crew entered a period of calm filming.

Every actor was very invested in their role, completely different from the first two weeks when filming started.

This day, Lu Yan He finished work relatively early, wrapping up at four in the afternoon, as the next two scenes were both Shang Yongzhou's.

As Lu Yan He was preparing to head back, Xu Ping suddenly came over carrying two boxes.

"Teacher Lu!" he called out to stop him.

Lu Yan He turned around, looking somewhat surprised.

Xu Ping was all smiles, saying: "I haven't had a chance to properly thank you for helping me come up with a plan that morning; thank you so much."

Lu Yan He realized, shaking his head, "It was a small matter. I was also afraid of escalating the conflict; you handled it very well."

Xu Ping lifted the boxes in his hands.

It was clearly a gift.

A look of refusal had already appeared on Lu Yan He's face.

Xu Ping said: "These aren't anything expensive, Teacher Lu, don't be in such a rush to refuse. It didn't cost much. My wife's family has a farm, and when they heard you did me a huge favor, they insisted I bring these over to express their gratitude. Please accept them."

Hearing this, Lu Yan He finally felt relieved enough to say "Oh," and asked: "What is it?"

Xu Ping said: "Some deer antler, matsutake mushrooms, peach gum, and things like that."

Lu Yan He: "You're too kind, thank you."

He took them into his hands.

Xu Ping: "Oh, what's this? Compared to the help you gave me, this is really just a small token of appreciation. Thank you!"

Lu Yan He waved his hand.

"Then you go back and rest early, Teacher Lu. If there's anything you need, contact me anytime," Xu Ping said with a smile. "Within the scope of my duties, as long as you need it, I will definitely get it done."

Lu Yan He nodded, "Alright, go ahead and get busy, thank you."

As soon as Xu Ping left, Zou Dong stepped forward and took the two large boxes from Lu Yan He's hands.

"They're quite heavy," Zou Dong said.

Lu Yan He let out a happy sigh of relief.

"It's a good thing. Although this matter caused quite a stir, from the current perspective, it should be said that there were no casualties. Oh, wait, no, those two paparazzi broke their bones."

Zou Dong: "If there are paparazzi who try to cut off our car like that again in the future, I really wouldn't know what to do."

Lu Yan He said: "Just drive as you should. You see, this time, everyone actually knows it was the paparazzi's fault."

¤co

Zou Dong: "It's lucky they didn't have a major accident. If the paparazzi had been sent flying and hit something sharp, it might not have been as simple as just broken bones."

Lu Yan He: "Brother Dong, don't worry. As long as we didn't intentionally want to hurt them, if something like this really happens, we'll just face it and resolve it actively."

"I'm just..." Zou Dong hesitated for a moment, then said it directly, "I'm just seeing that you were worried about those two injured paparazzi this time. With your personality, if you accidentally hurt someone later on, even if it wasn't your fault, you might still blame yourself."

"Brother Dong, I'm just a bit sentimental, but I won't lose my rationality," Lu Yan He smiled helplessly.

As the actors arrived on set one after another, the pressure of Lu Yan He's daily filming finally wasn't as great.

In March, he might have had a scene every morning, afternoon, and evening, but by early April, he was much more relaxed, with one or two scenes a day, allowing him to refine his craft, and he could even have 1-2 days without scenes to rest every week.

In early April, Zhao Yuan brought the rough cut of "Love Letter" to the "Burning Fire" crew to show Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He specifically invited Director Shang Yongzhou and Wan Renhai to watch it together, asking them to offer their opinions.

Lu Yan He also gave his feedback to Zhao Yuan based on his impression of what "Love Letter" should look like.

"Did Li Fenglei not come this time?" After finishing the business, Lu Yan He asked about the young editor at the dinner table.

Zhao Yuan looked at him with some surprise when he heard Lu Yan He take the initiative to mention Li Fenglei.

"He had something to take care of at home, so he went back," Zhao Yuan said with a smile. "Director Little Lu is so concerned about him?"

Lu Yan He: "I saw that you came all this way yourself today, and I feel bad about it. I am already very fortunate and satisfied to have you serve as the editor for 'Love Letter.' Because I'm filming, I can't go over to your place to watch it, so I had to ask you to send it over for me to see; it's not right to make you run the errand yourself."

Only then did the smile on Zhao Yuan's face become genuinely bright.

"What's this, Director Little Lu? To tell you the truth, this movie 'Love Letter' will become a classic," Zhao Yuan said. "Although we haven't started color grading, dubbing, or scoring yet, I've seen too much footage. As soon as I saw the current state of this movie, I knew it would be a success."

Shang Yongzhou also nodded and said: "It's indeed good. Yan He, I didn't expect you to be so steady in your first time as a director."

"I actually think the temperament of 'Love Letter' is quite similar to Yan He's own temperament," Wan Renhai laughed, then added, "Calm, profound, and yet beneath this appearance, it gives me a sufficient sense of youthful adolescence. This quality is very rare."

"Then I have a bit more confidence," Lu Yan He said. "I was always very worried; it's my first time as a director, I was really worried about messing it up."

Wan Renhai: "That little girl in the movie will also become an overnight sensation after the movie is released. Should I hurry up and sign two movie contracts with her before she gets famous?"

Lu Yan He said with a smile: "She's still in high school, and I don't even know if she'll be an actor in the future. It took a lot of effort to convince her to film 'Love Letter' in the first place."

If Chen Ziyan hadn't handled Zhang Ruozhi's mother, Zhang Ruozhi definitely wouldn't have been able to act.

"She has a face naturally favored by the camera; it would be a pity if she didn't become an actor," Wan Renhai's evaluation of Zhang Ruozhi was extremely high.

"Then I hope that after this movie is released, it will spark some interest in her for the acting profession."

Zhang Ruozhi was signed to Chen Ziyan and Lu Yan He's company, but she wasn't being managed as an artist right now.

They had reached a consensus with Zhang Ruozhi and her family that before the college entrance exam, everything related to show business would have nothing to do with Zhang Ruozhi.

Therefore, although he could see Wan Renhai's great interest in Zhang Ruozhi, Lu Yan He didn't break this rule just because it was a good opportunity.

Lu Yan He changed the subject.

"By the way, Director, after you finish filming the first part of 'Burning Fire,' will you immediately start preparing for the second part?" Lu Yan He casually threw back a question.

"I have another movie on hand that has been in preparation for a long time. After finishing 'Burning Fire,' I will film that one first," Wan Renhai said. "The post-production of 'Burning Fire' will take a year or two, so it won't be released that quickly. Before it's released, Long Yan won't officially push forward with the second part."

Although "Burning Fire" had a plan for a trilogy development and every actor had signed an intention contract for the trilogy, if the box office of the first part wasn't good, they definitely wouldn't develop a second part.

After all, a movie with several hundred million in production costs couldn't afford to be thrown down the drain.

Lu Yan He nodded.