Chapter 537: A New Chapter (10,000-character update!)

"In this place, I want to delete the line 'What the hell' and change it to an expression to express this meaning. I think it will be more effective."

Wen Minglan made a suggestion for one of her lines and immediately gave the expression she had envisioned.

Indeed, when she made this "What the hell" expression, its shock and incredulity were more effective than her saying it with her mouth.

Lu Yan He, sitting opposite, laughed.

"If this line is deleted, Yin Xincheng's next line won't be easy to follow," Yan Liang suggested. "His next line is to explain why he suddenly wants to be a father."

Wen Minglan pondered for a moment.

Lu Yan He suddenly thought of something and said: "Just change this whole segment."

"Change it?" The others looked at Lu Yan He in shock.

"When I was writing the script, I also felt that the reaction of everyone here wasn't strong enough. At that time, I thought that everyone could make up for it through performance, but Minglan's opinion just now made me realize that this is actually a rhythm problem."

Lu Yan He said while saying, "First of all, this is the first episode of our return season. Throwing such a bombshell right from the start, the audience will only be more shocked than us. Of course, we also have to thank the third season for messing up your relationships. Xincheng suddenly becoming a father isn't too sudden."

In "Friends," a very important plot is that the honest and kind Wen Fan, played by Yin Xincheng, suddenly becomes a father. A girlfriend he had a one-night stand with suddenly appeared and told him she was pregnant. In this season, this matter is the core plot line of the character Wen Fan.

In this plot line, the reason Lu Yan He retained this setting is that he likes the original version of "Friends." In this plot line, every immature person tries their best to think about problems maturely and takes corresponding responsibility, showing the highlights of each of their characters.

Of course, the point that the girlfriend is a lesbian cannot be put in and was deleted. Lu Yan He set the girlfriend who was pregnant but unwilling to marry Wen Fan in this script as a very hardworking and independent woman.

They will raise this child together without getting married.

This will still be a relatively serious and heavy topic for a sitcom, but Lu Yan He still handled it with comedy as always. Dilute contradictions and conflicts, just focus on contradictions, troubles, and problems to create different comedy effects, and finally let them reach a consensus and solve the troubles one by one.

This also means that in this season, Wen Fan, played by Yin Xincheng, has become the core character of the six of them.

Of course, in terms of scenes, the six of them are always about the same, and no one has significantly more than anyone else.

"Let's have three reactions," Lu Yan He proposed his solution. "After Xincheng comes in and announces that he might be a father, we are all talking about our own things, laughing and talking, and completely ignoring him. At this time, Minglan, you still have to look at him and then complain that he is dressed too rustic."

"Xincheng emphasizes with some depression at this time that he is going to be a father. At this time, our lively chatting atmosphere stops for a second. We must look at him in unison, and then, the next second, we don't believe what he said at all and return to the laughing and talking appearance just now."

"Xincheng is more anxious at this time, and seeing that we don't believe it, he explodes with anxiety and emphasizes for the third time that he is going to be a father! Asking why we don't care at all about what he said," Lu Yan He said. "At this time, only then did each of us really listen to this sentence, and it was like exploding a pot. Everyone's face was an expression of having seen a ghost."

Lu Yan He said: "Let's do it three times like this, and the effect of this shock will be almost achieved."

"From disbelief at the beginning to 'What the hell' at the end," Wen Minglan nodded. "This is good, there is a transition. Otherwise, I feel this reaction is too fast, and it is indeed very difficult to get into the mood."

"Yes," Yan Liang nodded. "This effect is good."

Lu Yan He held his laptop and said: "You guys rest for a while, give me ten minutes, I'll change the script."

His speed was very fast, and he immediately typed out a paragraph based on what he just said.

Printed it on the spot and distributed it to everyone.

Then, according to everyone's situation of going through the lines, fine-tune the sentences.

Bai Jingnian looked at this scene and turned to smile at Hu Siwei, whispering: "I direct this play, I can't be more relaxed. I don't have to manage anything, they all handle it all."

"How good, how easy," Hu Siwei also laughed and said, "Look at them. When filming the first season, they didn't understand what a sitcom was. Now they are all very clear, and they are very familiar with the roles they play and the rhythm. You only need to control the rhythm when filming on the spot."

Bai Jingnian nodded.

"Sometimes you have to admit that the same story, written by different screenwriters, is different," Bai Jingnian said. "Young man suddenly becomes a father, this plot is written by Lu Yan He, and it doesn't make people feel dog-blood. I am really convinced. When I heard you tell me that 'Friends' had such a plot, I was still hanging my heart, worried that it was too dog-blood."

"Still that sentence, the audience summarized it very well. Yan He writes 'Friends' and never takes dog-blood as the main line of plot development, only takes dog-blood as a lead-in. The main core is still the reaction of each person in this dog-blood event. This is the essence of sitcom. Unlike that Gao Bohua, it all became characters messing around and tearing each other apart. At first, I didn't know how Lu Yan He was going to follow it. Fortunately, he is really smart, doesn't follow it at all, and just uses the return of his own character to force all the characters back on track."

In the first episode of "Friends," Lu Yan He's character returns. Everyone doesn't want Lu Yan He to find out that so many changes have happened after he left. So, one minute for each character, a total of five minutes, they quickly cut the "injustice" left by the previous season, and then welcomed Lu Yan He back at the station in the appearance when Lu Yan He left.

The design of this opening also made Hu Siwei and Bai Jingnian thumbs up in admiration.

Reasonable and reasonable, and directly cut a knife, saying goodbye to the nightmare-like third season.

Then, in the second episode, using the plot line of Wen Fan suddenly becoming a father, it didn't let these characters completely disconnect from the second and third seasons—hmm, it still left a very profound and far-reaching influence.

From the platform to the main creators, everyone is very satisfied with such a plot arrangement.

To put it bluntly, Lu Yan He doesn't want to design a very reasonable logic to round out this story.

Everyone knows that the third season of this story is already a disaster and cannot be rounded back.

So, Lu Yan He can give a proper reason to let it be boxed up five minutes after it starts broadcasting, letting these people start a new story, which is enough.

And on this basis, Lu Yan He also extended a line and developed this line into one of the main lines of this season, making the character relationships of the six of them twist into a rope again, while also having to face new changes. This is almost an amazing attitude of "continuation."

Lu Yan He thought to himself, he really doesn't count as continuation.

Because the original version has the plot of "Ross suddenly becoming a father."

This is also a very critical plot.

It's just that used here, it happens to be able to solve some legacy problems.

Reading the script with everyone while rehearsing, and officially filming on Thursday.

Lu Yan He is very glad that he didn't choose to squeeze time and film three episodes a week.

If it were rushing time, the creation of this drama might not be able to be changed into the way it is filmed now.

From the situation of filming on the spot, the effect is indeed much better.

After filming the first two episodes this week, it will officially start broadcasting next Friday and Saturday.

On Friday night, filming ended, and Hu Siwei organized everyone to have dinner and have a drink.

"Filming is smoother than expected," Hu Siwei laughed very happily at the dinner table. "It's still better to do suitable things with suitable people. I really didn't expect that we would have a day to gather together again. It's great. Thank you all. Three years later, we can still gather here without missing anyone."

"Cheers!"

Everyone's face was full of smiles.

Yin Xincheng was particularly excited.

"I really thought this drama was going to rot like this," his eyes were red. "The day the third season finished broadcasting, I took my friends out to drink, drank all night, and felt so uncomfortable. Do you understand my mood? This is my first play, and Wen Fan is the first character I played. As a result, it was messed up by them in the third season. Siwei brother, you know, for my character, how many times did I argue with them? They wrote Wen Fan as a playboy, messing around everywhere. I didn't agree, and they didn't care about my opinion at all."

Yan Liang hugged Yin Xincheng's shoulder and said: "It's okay, it's all in the past now. Look, we have all returned to our respective tracks. 'Friends,' this name is really good. It's really 'Friends' now."

Zhan Yun also laughed very happily.

Lu Yan He looked at the smile on her face, that kind of silly big girl-like smile, really a bit like Jennifer Aniston.

At that time, Lu Yan He also decided to use her to play the role of Li Lili because of this smile.

Really, a few years of time, tossing and turning, tossing and turning, gathering here again, is completely different from the first time we met.

"No matter what, I believe this drama will become a representative work for each of us. It is unique

"Okay, but this time you cannot leave halfway through again." Yin Xincheng was truly drunk; he stood up, came behind Lu Yan He, draped his entire body over his back, hooked his arm around his neck, and whispered in his ear, "You are the key reason why every one of us, after experiencing the trauma of the third season, still returned without hesitation to *Friends*... no, wait, it's called *Friends* now."

Lu Yan He patted him with a smile and said, "I know, that won't happen this time."

This time, the contract he signed with the production team had firmly placed the initiative in his own hands, so the things that happened before would not occur again.

Yin Xincheng stood up and swayed twice. Lu Yan He thought he was unsteady and about to fall, but he ended up going behind Bai Jingnian and draping himself over him instead.

"Director, you aren't allowed to leave again either. You don't know that Gao Bohua, he really is a massive idiot," Yin Xincheng said loudly.

Seeing Yin Xincheng like this, Lu Yan He knew he must be drunk.

He stood up with a smile and helped Yin Xincheng up from the director.

"Xincheng, aren't you worried that being as sturdy as you are, you'll snap the director's shoulders?"

Yin Xincheng was startled and straightened his body.

"I'm sorry, Director!"

Bai Jingnian also stood up with a smile and patted Yin Xincheng's face.

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving either."

Yin Xincheng smiled happily.

Bai Bai didn't know when she had taken out her phone and was recording a video.

Zhan Yun and Wen Minglan huddled beside her, watching the footage on the phone, laughing in a heap.

"However, you probably don't know, do you?"

In the gap, Lu Yan He and Zhan Yun bumped into each other at the restroom entrance, and Zhan Yun asked with a smile.

Lu Yan He was a bit surprised, "What should I know?"

Zhan Yun: "Before Yin Xincheng came to film *Friends*, he had a very unpleasant falling out with his agent, and his agency had suspended his work for almost two months."

Lu Yan He couldn't help but frown.

"Why is that?"

"They wanted to take away the passwords to Yin Xincheng's social media accounts, and they also wanted Yin Xincheng to break up with his girlfriend."

"Huh?" Lu Yan He was shocked, "What era is this? How can such things still happen?"

"It wasn't to keep him in a single persona; it was because they wanted Yin Xincheng to go on a dating variety show. To go on a dating show, one must be single. The production team offered a high price, and the agent was very tempted, so they told Yin Xincheng to break up first and then get back together after the show was over," Zhan Yun laughed, "Have you never heard of such a thing? Isn't it mind-boggling?"

Lu Yan He nodded.

"Indeed, very mind-boggling."

"The third season of *Friends* flopped very badly, and at the time, everyone thought there wouldn't be a follow-up. Xincheng acted in other dramas, but they never made a splash, so his agency wanted to make money quickly while he still had some fame and popularity," Zhan Yun sighed softly, "The fact that you all could return and reboot *Friends* has a very different meaning for Xincheng; he was almost about to retire from the industry."

Lu Yan He frowned.

"With such a big thing happening, why didn't he tell us? Did he only tell you?"

Lu Yan He was certain that Yin Xincheng definitely hadn't told Yan Liang or Wen Minglan either, otherwise, they would have certainly told him.

Zhan Yun: "He didn't tell me; his girlfriend told me. His girlfriend is a friend of mine, so I only then learned what kind of pressure he was facing a while ago. His personality is too similar to Wen Fan's—gentle and honest. When encountering such things, he never thought to seek our help."

Although Yan Liang and Wen Minglan both became further famous through other dramas outside of this one, in reality, the character most liked by the audience in *Friends* was Li Lili, played by Zhan Yun. Zhan Yun was also the actor who reaped the most benefits from this drama.

The other dramas she starred in over these few years had decent results; even if they didn't reach the heights of *Friends*, they all aired well and were considered effective productions. At the same time, she participated in two commercial blockbusters as a supporting lead. Although her screen time wasn't much, she was, after all, a named lead, so it was impossible to leave her out when calculating box office statistics.

Zhan Yun meant that, in fact, if Yin Xincheng needed it, no matter who he asked for help, there were people capable of giving him a hand.

Lu Yan He was very happy to see this group of people from *Friends* being able to unite together.

He asked: "Then have his conflicts with his agency been resolved now?"

"After learning that *Friends* was being rebooted and we had all returned, his agency immediately changed his agent and apologized to him, saying that it was all the previous agent's problem and the company was unaware," Zhan Yun shrugged speechlessly, "Now you know how ridiculous this whole thing is."

The salary *Friends* paid Yin Xincheng for one season, not counting the two new episodes Lu Yan He planned to add, exceeded eight figures, which was simply incomparable to that dating show.

This is the kind of salary a lead actor in a massive hit series can get.

Of course, if he left *Friends*, Yin Xincheng's salary would drop by a zero immediately.

This is just like how some actors can only command extremely high salaries when acting in a specific type of film; for other genres and subjects, it's not just a salary cut in half, but a degree of losing a zero entirely.

Therefore, Yin Xincheng quickly became the apple of his agency's eye again.

As long as the influence of a massive hit series remains, the revenue a lead actor brings to the company is extremely considerable.

The reason Yin Xincheng was suspended from work for two months by the company for non-compliance was precisely because, under the circumstances at the time, suspending him for two months wouldn't cause the company any losses.

Lu Yan He said: "Then when the contract expires, I think Yin Xincheng should terminate his contract with his company and switch to a new one."

Zhan Yun nodded.

"What about you? I heard you took on another romantic comedy film?"

"Yes, *Thirty Days*, a remake of a Korean film," Zhan Yun said, "I think it's a genre that suits me better."

Zhan Yun's own temperament is that of a beautiful, sweet girl who is a bit silly and cute.

She is indeed suited to act in romantic comedies.

Lu Yan He looked at the smile on her face and the title *Thirty Days*, and a film suddenly popped into his mind.

Ah, how could he have forgotten this film?!

*Love is Not Blind*, a dark horse production, the breakout masterpiece of Bai Xue.

In Chinese-language cinema, there aren't many classics among "chick flicks" and romantic comedies, but *Love is Not Blind* can definitely be considered a peak among them.

In this track, it set a benchmark that left everyone else in the dust.

Invite Zhan Yun to act in it?

Not quite.

That spunky, spirited feeling of Huang Xiaoxian is something a silly, sweet girl can't pull off.

Lu Yan He suddenly thought that this film would actually be very suitable for Jiang Yuqian to act in.

Zhan Yun, standing opposite Lu Yan He, looked at his suddenly glowing eyes and vaguely felt that something she might have been able to obtain no longer belonged to her.

After the *Friends* crew finished their first week of filming, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The post-production editing for this drama is actually very simple and doesn't require much effort.

Over the two days of the weekend, Bai Jingnian and Hu Siwei took the editor and edited the first and second episodes right in the machine room.

It remained the same style and tone as the first season.

Hu Siwei pulled everyone in the machine room to take a group selfie and posted it to his social media:

*Friends* episodes one and two, editing complete, see you next week!

"This model of yours, filming while airing, is really cool," Huang Kai said to Lu Yan He over the phone, "I heard your script is even being adjusted at any time."

"Yes," Lu Yan He said, "Sitcoms are like this; everything is based on the final effect on set. Sometimes, when I write the script, I think it's great, but once it's performed, the flavor isn't right, and it has to be changed on the spot. We are very lucky here that everyone is already very familiar with the style of this drama and very familiar with their respective roles; sitting together, we can come up with a lot of good ideas."

Huang Kai: "I am very much looking forward to seeing the rebooted version of *Friends*. I hope my hotel room can receive the Yuehu Channel. Oh! Yan He, believe me, there must be many people complaining about why, in such an internet age, you still insist on having such a high-profile drama broadcast exclusively on television and giving the television station a 24-hour exclusive window."

Lu Yan He: "The official explanation is to maintain the fine traditions of the first season. In reality, firstly, the copyright for this drama was obtained by the Yuehu Channel, and we must give the Yuehu Channel such a window period. Secondly... to be honest, nowadays everything can be done by one person online, but the opportunity to sit on the sofa and watch TV with the whole family seems to be getting fewer and fewer. Of course, I'm not doing this to promote family relationships; I just want to challenge the difficulty. Let's see if, in this era of declining television, our drama can recreate the glory of the first season."

Huang Kai: "Alright, you have the qualifications to say that."

Lu Yan He: "Actually, there is one more point."

"Hmm?"

"The pacing of *Friends* is very fast. I hope everyone can focus their attention entirely on this drama. Moreover, the internet now provides too many choices—bullet comments, double speed, fast-forwarding... I'm not saying such choices are a bad thing, but at least for *Friends*, I hope everyone can simply and purely watch the drama."

Huang Kai laughed.

"That is indeed a characteristic of television."

"Brother Huang, how is the filming of your *Hitting the Nail on the Head* going?"

"It's almost wrapped up," Huang Kai said, "Judging from the filming situation on set, I'm quite looking forward to this film. Everyone is very serious. Just as you said, everyone can actually see that if this film is shot well, it will be a very black-humored crime film."

Lu Yan He: "Looking forward to this film."

On Sunday, Lu Yan He went on Peng Zhixing's talk show.

"Do you know how many people are looking forward to the premiere of this drama?" Peng Zhixing asked with a smile.

Lu Yan He waved his hands with a smile and said, "I dare not imagine. I must be honest, Brother Zhixing, I don't know how many people are still waiting for me after returning to this drama three years later."

Peng Zhixing: "Oh come on, Lu Yan He, the way you say that is truly hypocritical."

The two of them pointed at each other and laughed loudly.

In the recording studio, everyone was laughing.

Peng Zhixing pressed his hand down and said, "Alright, no more joking. Yan He, I'm very glad you are willing to make my show the first stop for the promotion of *Friends*."

"You are also very hypocritical. For almost all my works, as long as it's a promotional trip I'm participating in, the first stop has been your show," Lu Yan He immediately countered.

Peng Zhixing could only make a "begging for mercy" gesture, "Fine, fine, fine, I'm hypocritical too."

"Back to the topic," Peng Zhixing said, "I believe many people have the same feeling as I do: feeling excited, moved, and most importantly, incredulous when knowing you would really return to this story. Can you share with us why you chose to return to *Friends*? I know you have a large number of projects being pushed forward, and you are clearly already very busy, including many films to shoot. Under these circumstances, you still chose to return; how did you consider this matter?"

"Because of this group of people," Lu Yan He said without hesitation, "For me, if a project keeps going, and I keep participating, like *Young Days*, like *Friends*—it's called *Friends* now—like *Seventeen Layers*, it must be because the people doing this together make me like it. Therefore, I am willing to keep doing it with everyone."

"We all know that returning at this time is not such a good opportunity. I can't say that what you are cleaning up is a mess, but after all, three seasons have already been filmed; whether it's good or bad, it has already happened and is presented there. You cannot turn a blind eye to it," Peng Zhixing said, "Drawing a picture on a blank sheet of paper versus drawing on a sheet that is already very messy—the difficulty is not on the same order of magnitude."

"I dare not say I found a very good way to solve this problem, but judging from the discussions and reactions of all our main creators, I think everyone can watch the premiere first and see how well we solved this problem. I personally think it was solved quite well," Lu Yan He said, then immediately waved his hands, "But I'm very afraid of jinxing it. If everyone feels dissatisfied, please be gentle. Regardless, I am very grateful that everyone is willing to continue supporting us and willing to continue believing in the story created by this group of us."

"Will *Friends* be the final season, or a brand new beginning?" Peng Zhixing asked.

"That depends on whether this season satisfies the audience," Lu Yan He said, "I can only say that this group of us is full of feelings for this story and this group of people; otherwise, we wouldn't have gathered again to film *Friends*."

"I heard that because *Friends* is adopting a filming-while-airing model this time, you are unable to attend even though *Squid Game* was shortlisted for the Golden Globe Awards?"

"Yes."

"That is somewhat of a pity."

"Director Yao Yuan, Sister Yuqian, and Teacher Jiang Jun will all attend, so it won't be a pity," Lu Yan He said with a smile, "I hope they can win the awards."

"*Squid Game* being nominated for the Golden Globe Awards can be said to have created history for Chinese-language dramas."

"This actually cannot be called creating history. On one hand, we Chinese-language dramas don't have the convention or habit of applying for the Golden Globe Awards. This time, *Squid Game* received a nomination because Maxine applied for the Golden Globe Awards for it. On the other hand, there are also reasons of the times. Before the rise of streaming media, the exchange between dramas of various countries was relatively small, including film awards. That is also because streaming media has risen in recent years, and suddenly dramas of all countries and languages have arrived on the same platform to compete, so various awards have also made corresponding adjustments accordingly."

Lu Yan He explained sincerely.

"*Squid Game* being nominated for the Golden Globe Awards is really not a history-making event; it just became the first drama to stand at the forefront in such an era," Lu Yan He said, "Look, *Gold Rush* is also very popular overseas, and a sequel will be filmed later. Perhaps the sequel will be even more popular. Once the influence is there, it is equally possible for it to enter the vision of the Golden Globe Awards and the Emmy Awards."

"Yan He, you don't seem to shy away from discussing these foreign awards. In fact, there is also a voice saying that those foreign awards don't count for much, and we don't need to overly elevate their status and gold content. How do you view this matter?"

"For things like awards, whether they are recognized or not, how authoritative they are, or whether they are actually full of water—this is not for me to decide, nor for you to decide," Lu Yan He said, "Of course, I cannot say that foreign awards are very ordinary or watery, because I have to admit that there are many awards I want to win. If I want to win them while saying those awards aren't much, then I would be too hypocritical."

"However, on the other hand, such a statement actually has its logic. I actually know why such a statement comes out: it's because many times, we value foreign awards too much, and by comparison, we feel that the gold content of domestic awards is not that high. Of course, I don't think that foreign ones have much higher gold content than domestic ones. In fact, there are equally many news exposures, water, and public relations operations. Moreover, we all know that those awards mainly focus on their local works; we all know these things."

"But there is one point: domestic awards are actually only aimed at domestic film and television works, but some foreign awards, such as the Golden Globe Awards, the Emmy Awards, the Academy Awards, and the awards of the four major international film festivals, we must admit, especially in recent years, they indeed have a global vision to include works with relatively large influence on a global scale."

"Then, as a Chinese actor, I want to introduce to everyone in the world with my work, 'Hmm, this work I starred in and wrote is very good, I really recommend you take a look,'" Lu Yan He smiled at Peng Zhixing, "Should I just stay in my shell and compete for domestic awards, or do I need to take them to compete for those overseas awards?"

Peng Zhixing nodded and said, "Of course, I understand what you mean."

Lu Yan He: "But it must be emphasized that it's not that only Chinese film and television works that have won those awards are the best, and those that haven't are not. That is not a standard system either."

"Just now you told us a lot about your views on foreign awards. In fact, one can fully feel that you have many ideas about the international market. I am curious, does this include *Friends*?"

"It does," Lu Yan He nodded, "Actually, we also received a set of data from Maxine. This Chinese-language drama of ours has accumulated quite a few fans all over the world over these years. I also hope that *Friends* will have more and more viewers around the world."

After the program recording ended, Peng Zhixing asked Lu Yan He.

"Yan He, is there anything in the content you said on the show that needs to be cut?"

Lu Yan He thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "No, I shouldn't have said anything inappropriate, right? Brother Zhixing, you can just look and cut it."

"Alright," Peng Zhixing nodded.

Peng Zhixing's talk show will do a *Friends* series, and Lu Yan He is the first one.

Later, there will be separate interviews with other main creators.

"The program will go online on Wednesday," Peng Zhixing said.

Recording the show on Sunday and having all the post-production ready to go online by Wednesday—even if this is a talk show with low post-production difficulty, this time is really tight.

In addition to Peng Zhixing's talk show, Lu Yan He and the others also participated in the recording of an indoor game show on the Yuehu Channel as a warm-up for the drama.

The promotional video was played in a loop six times a day.

All major promotional channels were at the highest level of promotion. For no other reason, it was still the same promotional strategy as the first season: the main focus was on the exclusive broadcast on the Yuehu Channel at 8 o'clock, spreading this information to every corner like a virus.

This was also the advice given by Chen Siqi and the others.

For a series like *Friends* that has already gone through the previous three seasons, there is no need for overly innovative promotional methods.

It only needs intensive, large-scale promotion so that its audience knows when it starts airing; that is enough.

The fans it accumulated in the first three seasons are already numerous enough.

If the reputation of the third season hadn't been so terrible, the promotional expenses for *Friends* could have even been saved by half, because the promotion wouldn't need to be so overwhelming.

On the Friday of the second week, after everyone from *Friends* finished filming the content for the third and fourth episodes, they agreed to watch the premiere together.

At 6:30, everyone posted a photo of them gathered together laughing happily, reminding everyone to watch the premiere at 8 o'clock.

The promotional strategy for this drama was "again and again," tireless, viral dissemination.

Don't forget to watch.

You must watch.

Make sure to remember to watch!

Finally, once 8 o'clock arrived, it started airing on time.

"The third season was really too terrible; it felt as uncomfortable as being fed a lump of shit."

As a former loyal fan of *Friends*, 26-year-old Li Zhiang now has a deep hatred for *Friends*.

A friend asked him if he would watch the premiere of *Friends*, and he swore he wouldn't.

Three years ago, after graduating from university and in the first year of starting work, he happened to encounter the premiere of *Friends*.

At that time, he was renting a house alone in Yuming. Because he was not from Yuming and didn't go to university in Yuming, for the first half-year he arrived, he was basically by himself after getting off work.

It was during that period that Li Zhiang encountered the premiere of *Friends*.

To be honest, he couldn't even remember how many times he had watched *Friends*.

For a long time, *Friends* was not available on online video platforms and only aired on the Jing Channel. He kept the TV on all year round, just left on the Jing Channel, and whenever it aired *Friends*, he would sit down and watch for a while.

This feeling is actually quite bizarre.

Because this drama wasn't that brilliant or full of ups and downs.

But the six people gathered together, talking about various things in their lives and work—chaotic and noisy, yet having the warmth of love and friendship.

Li Zhiang had to admit that he relied on this drama to dispel his loneliness for a long time.

When watching this drama, he had an illusion that he also possessed such friendship.

Who knew, in the second season, as soon as Lu Yan He left and Chen Ziliang arrived, content that he didn't like so much suddenly appeared.

Actually, it was still okay; as long as he didn't watch the parts where Chen Ziliang appeared, he still liked watching the other parts.

He thought, how could they not learn a lesson from the third season?

Even if Lu Yan He didn't return, couldn't they at least not find another unsuitable actor and force an unsuitable character into this series?

However, who could have imagined that the third season would be even worse.

It wasn't just that a terrible character was inserted; almost every character had magical developments that made people want to flip the table.

Especially seeing Wen Fan, such a gentle and good person, inexplicably turn into a playboy who attracted women.

Without exaggeration, Li Zhiang truly had a feeling of nausea as if he had eaten shit.

Heartbroken and discouraged.

Even when news later came out that Lu Yan He would return, Bai Jingnian would return, and all the original cast would return, Li Zhiang didn't want to watch it anymore.

He had already made up his mind not to eat shit a second time. Even if they praised it to the skies, he didn't want to watch this drama again. As a result, on the way to work, in the office, in his social circle, and even when going to the cinema to watch a movie, he could see news related to this drama everywhere.

One moment it was Lu Yan He having greater ambition and prospects for this drama, hoping to gain the love of the whole world.

One moment it was Bai Jingnian claiming that Lu Yan He wrote a script opening that made all the main creators applaud, which both rounded off the mess left by the third season and created a brand new beginning for *Friends*.

One moment there was Yin Xincheng mentioning in an interview that he had a very big identity transformation in this season.

Another moment it was Zhan Yun saying that after she finished filming *Friends*, she would join the crew of the romantic comedy film *Thirty Days*, and in the future, her focus would be more on filming movies, while for TV dramas, she would only leave time for the *Friends* series.

Everyone was creating promotional topics for *Friends* in various ways.

Li Zhiang had already made up his mind that no matter what, he wouldn't watch it.

But news related to this drama came every day, bit by bit, never stopping, just like a persistent, nagging ghost, whispering in your ear every day:

—Take a look, it won't hurt to look.

—Are you really not going to watch? You liked the first season so much, and now they have all returned.

—Lu Yan He even said it himself: this time he's back, and unless the audience doesn't like it, he won't leave.

—This is the only drama this year that is filmed while airing; don't you want to see what it's like?

—Lu Yan He is serving as the screenwriter; don't you want to know how he rounded off this story?

Thus, on Friday night, at 8 o'clock, Li Zhiang finally turned on the TV and subconsciously tuned to the Jing Channel. Once he looked, what the hell? What is airing?

The next second, he realized, oh, this drama had already moved to the Yuehu Channel.

He tuned to the Yuehu Channel again.

The opening theme had just finished playing.

The first shot appeared.

Lu Yan He appeared on the screen, carrying a backpack, with a suitcase beside him, standing at the station, sending a message to someone on his phone.

—I'm back.

Li Zhiang curled his lips and crossed his arms over his chest.

This matter won't be settled just because you're back.

He thought to himself, as soon as I don't want to watch it, I'll change the channel immediately.

Holding this thought, Li Zhiang watched until ten minutes later, when the commercials aired.

Li Zhiang woke up as if from a dream.

Huh? The first half of the first episode is already over?

Li Zhiang: "..."

At this very moment, he really didn't want to admit that he had been drawn in once again.

Especially seeing those old characters, after learning that Lu Yan He was coming back, all of them were greatly shocked, and their first reaction was to cover up the absurd things they had done in the previous season, one after another cutting off their past, as if they had suddenly awakened.

Especially Wen Fan, played by Yin Xincheng, who decided to break up with his several ambiguous partners, and then the scene appeared where he was splashed with water three times in a row by three women.

At that part, Li Zhiang really felt it was deserved and funny at the same time.

Then, these people, one by one, "turned over a new leaf," gathered at the station, waiting to welcome Lu Yan He back.

For such a transition, Li Zhiang wouldn't say how satisfied he was, but he did indeed accept it in his heart.

Lu Yan He did indeed manage to round it off.

It could be foreseen that as soon as the second half started, it would be a new chapter.