Chapter 615

"I suddenly feel quite regretful," Chen Ziyan said.

Zou Dong and Wang Biao pushed their luggage carts ahead, while Lu Yan He and Chen Ziyan walked behind.

The airport was crowded, so Lu Yan He had to wear sunglasses and a fisherman's hat to conceal himself and avoid being recognized, which could cause a commotion.

Lu Yan He no longer naïvely believed that leaving the country meant he wasn't a celebrity anymore.

It must be acknowledged that the streaming popularity of several dramas, along with the global release of The Mist, greatly increased his overseas fame.

Especially The Mist—

the reason Chen Ziyan had insisted Lu Yan He take the commercial film was fully demonstrated.

The global promotional campaign and box office success of this film genuinely placed Lu Yan He in front of people's eyes many times, causing many who didn't know him to remember him.

Lu Yan He asked, "What are you regretful about?"

"This film didn't make you the lead," Chen Ziyan said. "Otherwise, I would have done everything in my power to use this film to win you Best Actor."

Lu Yan He: "It's truly regrettable—Huang Tianlin's cinematic language is exceptional."

"The key is, he didn't shoot these visuals with especially high-end equipment, and his budget for this film wasn't high at all—he relied entirely on coordination among departments, yet achieved this level of visual texture. Once the film is released and the production budget is revealed, it will shock many people."

"He didn't burn money, but he burned time," Lu Yan He shook his head. "My scenes in this film would've taken three or five days to shoot at another set—he made me shoot for eleven days. But filming his work, even if it takes extra time, is worth it."

Chen Ziyan nodded. "Perhaps, he really could become Malaysia's cinematic ambassador to the world."

"I'm very curious to see what the final cut of Tropical Rainy Season will look like," Lu Yan He said.

"I talked at length with Yuan Hai—he also recognized the value of Tropical Rainy Season. He's a man with foresight; so far, he hasn't sold the overseas distribution rights for Tropical Rainy Season." Chen Ziyan said. "He wants to find a powerful company that can help Tropical Rainy Season compete for awards."

"Huh?" Lu Yan He was surprised. "Do you need a distribution company to back a film to enter the Big Four international film festivals?"

"Sometimes, but international film festivals usually have their own selectors and submission channels, so it's not always necessary to rely on a powerful studio," Chen Ziyan said. "For Tropical Rainy Season—Huang Tianlin's first film received such strong acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival, and this is his second feature with you in the cast—it's already within the selection radar of international festivals. There's no need to rely on other distributors. I think what he means are the more influential award seasons in Europe and North America."

Hearing this, Lu Yan He thought for a moment and said, "Ziyan, could you introduce him to Green Valley Pictures in the United States?"

Green Valley previously handled the North American distribution of The Road to Glory and helped Lu Yan He campaign for Best Supporting Actor during the award season. Although he didn't secure any major nominations, they genuinely secured him numerous smaller nominations, making him known to European and American media and critics.

Green Valley also acquired the North American distribution rights for The Love Letter for six million U. S. dollars this year.

They will decide whether to campaign for awards based on audience response after release.

Both collaborations went smoothly, so Lu Yan He suggested this to Chen Ziyan.

Chen Ziyan nodded. "I've already recommended him. I gave him the contact details—let them figure it out themselves. We didn't participate in producing or behind-the-scenes work on Tropical Rainy Season, so we shouldn't interfere proactively. But I did suggest to him that we handle the film's distribution in China."

Lu Yan He was surprised: "Handle distribution? Do we have distribution channels?"

"We don't, but our partner company does," Chen Ziyan said. "Although this is a Malaysian film and ineligible for domestic awards, your involvement has drawn significant attention. I want to ensure it's properly distributed—not sold to some mediocre company that'll ruin it."

"Did he agree?"

"He wants you to deeply participate in the film's promotion," Chen Ziyan smiled. "He's not willing to give up anything."

"That's normal," Lu Yan He nodded. "Deep participation in promotion? I think this film is worth it—I'm willing."

Chen Ziyan: "I'm letting you know in advance—Huang Tianlin's contract in China will be signed with our company, Shi Huo. I'm inclined toward you deepening your collaboration with him. I believe working together will be mutually beneficial."

"I agree," Lu Yan He nodded.

"You really don't mind how he treats you?" Chen Ziyan asked.

"If you interpret his attitude as 'saying no but acting yes,' you might find it easier to accept," Lu Yan He smiled. "If he truly disliked me, looked down on me, or didn't want to work with me, I wouldn't force myself on him. It's just a feeling. This might sound shameless, but since the first time I met him, I've always thought of him as a child throwing a tantrum."

"Then don't say that to his face later—he'd explode if he heard it," Chen Ziyan laughed.

"You've only known him for two days—you already know his personality?"

"I just met him, but I've known him for longer than two days. And after talking so much with Yuan Hai, I've learned a bit about Huang Tianlin's personality—he's a very sensitive person, keenly aware of whether others respect or look down on him," Chen Ziyan said. "Yuan Hai told me yesterday: Huang Tianlin gradually stopped competing with you because he realized you didn't look down on him as a new director—you actually respected him."

Lu Yan He: "Yuan Hai really understands him. On my first day, he warned me, terrified I'd clash with Huang Tianlin."

Chen Ziyan: "Huang Tianlin was lucky to meet someone with your 'bun personality.' If it were someone stronger-willed, like Bi Ge, he probably wouldn't have stayed past a few days."

Lu Yan He: "As long as it doesn't involve core principles, a 'bun personality' works fine."

"As long as you're at peace with yourself," Chen Ziyan said. "Everyone has different personalities—no need to force yourself into one mold. But don't pretend to be passive on the surface while seething inside, or outwardly resist while inwardly regretting not yielding."

"Yes, my life coach," Lu Yan He smiled.

Chen Ziyan looked at Lu Yan He's smile and, for a moment, sighed: "Time flies—you've already graduated for a year."

"Yeah, I'm almost twenty-four."

It's been nearly six years since I came to this world.

Lu Yan He turned to look at the bustling airport.

Sometimes, Lu Yan He felt that airports were truly the place in the world where you felt time the least.

Day or night, people constantly came and went—you could see all kinds of people here.

But here, you never felt lonely or lost, because everyone who came here had a flight that would take them to where they wanted to go.

You had a place to return to.

On June 14, several entertainment news stories were released in succession and drew attention.

First, Lu Yan He returned to China after finishing Tropical Rainy Season; a large crowd of fans gathered at the airport, and Lu Yan He again urged people not to come to meet him.

Second, Star Entertainment announced it would renew contracts with its signed artists Li Zhibai and Yan Liang, and establish separate studios for them to explore new agency models.

Third, Meng Li appeared on the set of Director, Please Guide Me with a gloomy expression after breaking up with her boyfriend, whom she had dated for months—apparently deeply heartbroken.

…

This time, when Lu Yan He returned, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang both happened to have no work schedules.

Soon after Lu Yan He returned to Zi Yuan Bridge, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang also came back one after the other.

"You're finally back," Li Zhibai smiled.

Lu Yan He was sitting on the living room carpet, eating a freshly delivered takeout meal.

"Why are you eating now? Didn't you have lunch?" Yan Liang asked.

"I didn't want to eat airplane food, so I waited until I got back," Lu Yan He said. "I missed this taste so much."

"What are you eating?" Li Zhibai asked, walking over and seeing it was a cold dish.

He didn't care about hygiene—just reached out, grabbed a piece of beef, and ate it.

"Wash your hands," Yan Liang said, looking disgusted.

Lu Yan He laughed. "Don't go infecting me with bacteria later."

Li Zhibai ignored him: "It's delicious. Give me some too—I'm hungry."

Without waiting for Lu Yan He's reply, he went straight to the kitchen to get bowls and chopsticks.

"Yan Liang, do you want some?"

"No," Yan Liang said. "Eat less yourself. You finally built up some muscle—don't turn it all into fat."

Li Zhibai: "Come on, Old Lu just got back today—can we just forget about fat and muscle for once?"

Yan Liang gave an exasperated look.

Hearing their familiar bickering, Lu Yan He laughed.

"Have you two been watching your weight lately?"

"Watch our weight? Yan Liang's gone insane—he drags me to the gym whenever he's off work, or forces me into stunt training." Li Zhibai pulled up his T-shirt, revealing a lean, muscular torso with six-pack abs. "Look at these abs—damn, even I think I'm hot."

Lu Yan He: "..."

Yan Liang said: "It's to be in peak condition for shooting 'Immortal Sword Legend.'"

Lu Yan He: "Good thing I play a scholar in it, haha."

His character, Liu Jinyuan, didn't demand much in terms of physique or vitality.

He just needed to whiten his sun-tanned skin over the next two months.

Li Zhibai: "I seriously suspect you deliberately saved the easiest role for yourself."

Lu Yan He: "Who's the Screenwriter? If you've got the guts, write yourself a role that doesn't require this much effort."

Li Zhibai: "So hateful—what an ugly face."

Saying that, he scooped nearly half the cold dish into his own bowl.

Lu Yan He: "..."

Yan Liang laughed. "That face is still uglier on you."

Li Zhibai: "Shut up."

The three of them rarely got together like this.

Lu Yan He then asked about Li Zhibai and Yan Liang's contract renewals with Star Entertainment.

"We negotiated together," Li Zhibai said. "Simply put—we're bound together. Either both our demands are met and we both renew, or neither of us does."

Yan Liang: "After your contract with Star Entertainment expires, you and I are the only two male actors left who can still affect the company's stock price. If one stays and one leaves, Star Entertainment can handle it. But if we both leave, the stock will definitely crash and hurt market confidence in the company. Once we realized this, we teamed up to negotiate."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Young male actors who truly have platform approval, can carry a drama, and are backed by advertisers willing to invest—there are barely enough to count on two hands. Li Zhibai and Yan Liang are two of them.

If Star Entertainment loses both, it will quickly shake investor confidence in the short term.

So negotiating separately versus negotiating together gives completely different leverage.

Li Zhibai said: "Now we have first choice on all top-tier film and TV projects Star Entertainment participates in."

Lu Yan He: "You should've had first choice all along."

"But they'd rather give it to other actors in the company," Yan Liang said. "In their eyes, we can get roles outside on our own—we don't need company resources to support us—so they'd rather cultivate others."

"If that's their logic, why even sign with them? Just go solo," Lu Yan He muttered.

In reality, nearly all of Li Zhibai's and Yan Liang's recent hit dramas weren't initially hyped big productions. Li Zhibai himself was criticized for always playing idol dramas—popular, sure, but lowbrow, never mind that. Even Yan Liang, with two acclaimed hits like 'The Gold Rush' and 'The Summit,' was never expected to succeed at launch. After all, the latter was outright rejected by Ma Zhiyuan—it only blew up after airing.

But an actor can't keep chasing dark horse projects forever.

Especially actors at their level—dark horses are just garnish. The norm should be big-budget, high-profile, highly anticipated projects with 'Drama King potential.'

Such projects usually involve multiple investors. For example, Lu Yan He's past roles in 'Phoenix Terrace' and 'The Golden Age' were exactly this kind. In such cases, lead actor selections are always influenced by competing investor factions.

Yet over the past few years, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang never participated in any top-tier project Star Entertainment was involved in—they always did outside dramas.

Whether they ultimately choose to act in them is one thing—but at least they must have the right to choose.

Otherwise, when they work hard to become popular and take an outside role, the outside capital still credits Star Entertainment for the favor—and will later have to repay Star Entertainment—

Because their agency is Star Entertainment. That's the industry's rule: no one sees it as your personal choice. Even if the company played zero role in your decision, to outsiders, it still looks like your company supported them.

That debt must be repaid.

Yet Star Entertainment's chosen newcomers, using opportunities swapped from them, land those roles—while they themselves get no say in projects their own company is involved in. What a joke.

Lu Yan He smiled at Li Zhibai.

"So this time, when you negotiated with the company, you dealt with Zhou Ping'an a lot—can you actually talk to him now?"

Li Zhibai: "What's stopping me from talking to him?"

"Fine," Lu Yan He nodded, not calling out Li Zhibai's stubborn pride—he'd once cursed Zhou Ping'an every time he mentioned him. "By the way, has Ma Zhiyuan retired?"

"He's doing live-stream product sales," Yan Liang said. "Zhou Ping'an wanted him to do vertical short dramas—the super melodramatic kind—but he flat-out refused, then contacted a live-stream platform himself and went into product sales."

"Did Zhou Ping'an allow him to do it?"

"Zhou Ping'an doesn't care about him anymore—just had the company's legal team check the contract to make sure he got every penny he was owed, and ignored everything else," Yan Liang said. "Zhou Ping'an picked two new trainees from the company and is pushing them as actors."

"He's currently managing you, Meng Li, and Cheng Hai—Cheng Hai's finally showing some promise, right? Why isn't he satisfied?" Lu Yan He asked, puzzled. "Why not first truly push Cheng Hai to the top?"

"He's probably afraid Yan Liang will leave someday, and Cheng Hai might never make it—so while things are good now, he's quickly training new talent," Li Zhibai said. "Everyone says it: he let go of Lu Yan He, then Ma Zhiyuan, who faded; then he let Li Zhibai go, who went elsewhere; now Yan Liang's risen... He's the luckiest guy alive. He's tasted the sweetness—more people in his hands means even if a few leave, some will still remain."

Lu Yan He and Yan Liang couldn't help laughing.

"But honestly, Zhou Ping'an's luck is insane—I even think it's unfair," Li Zhibai sighed. "How does he always have someone new to replace the last? He's never been without a hot star. Look at Meng Li—of course, they're a perfect match. Since she joined him, they've been hyping her romance rumors, putting her on every Variety show—after finishing the dating show, she's now going on 'Director, Please Guide Me.' She's on trending every day—she's never left the hot search."

Lu Yan He joked: "Maybe he saved the world in his last life."

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