Chapter 621

Regarding the Golden Tripod Awards, Lu Yan He once won Best Supporting Actor for "The Golden Era."

To be honest, this was also the first award Lu Yan He ever won, and it was highly significant.

Therefore, even though the Golden Tripod Awards haven't been "welcoming" to Lu Yan He's works later on—neither "Friends" nor "Squid Game" were nominated, which caused some controversy at the time—Lu Yan He never said anything negative.

Whenever he was invited to attend, he would go if he was free.

"Up to now, the Golden Tripod Awards haven't actually done anything to you. Strictly speaking, it's all hearsay, so don't show anything on your face," Chen Ziyan cautioned Lu Yan He. "Although the current executive committee chairman is Huang Lian, the entire committee certainly isn't run by him alone, and he can't cover the sky with one hand. If you reach your level and still get smeared under such a general trend, that's not something we can control right now."

Lu Yan He understood what Chen Ziyan meant.

"I don't have anything I can do anyway," he said. "I don't know who selected this year's nomination list, nor do I know who to lobby. Let it be, be casual. Whatever they want to do, let them do it. I told my teacher too: I don't care if 'Friends' gets nominated for the Golden Tripod Awards. This year, my goal for 'Friends' is the Golden Globe Awards and the Emmy Awards."

The popularity of "Friends" on overseas streaming media has already earned the show a ticket for nominations. Whether it can successfully enter the nomination list depends on Maxine's PR capabilities.

This was what Maxine promised Lu Yan He when she came to discuss the continued cooperation for "Friends."

However, Lu Yan He didn't know that while he didn't care about the performance of "Friends" at the Golden Tripod Awards, others did.

Yuehu Station is a traditional television station, and Aurora Video is the leading platform among current video platforms that is quietly stabilizing its position as the head. As a TV series jointly produced and made by these two platforms, and a "king of dramas" at that, besides its commercial performance, its achievements in awards are equally important.

Xu Senjin knew that someone behind the Golden Tripod Awards was blowing wind to make Lu Yan He and his "Friends" "disappear" from this year's nomination list, and he was furious.

He didn't hold back, calling Huang Lian directly and asking straight to the point if this was true.

Facing the questioning of a station head of a top-tier major station, Huang Lian didn't dare to be arrogant and denied it flatly, saying there was absolutely no such thing.

Xu Senjin wasn't really there to confirm the truth of the matter.

He bared his fangs and threatened: "Last time we had a meeting at the bureau, it was clearly mentioned that award selections should further consider works that audiences truly love and see, and further consider works that promote Chinese film and television dramas going overseas. Don't be conservative, and don't look at certain types of works with prejudice. Chairman Huang, 'Friends' is a key project registered with the General Administration. If you interfere with this year's Golden Tripod Awards selection because of personal prejudice and private grudges, then you better think about how you're going to explain it to the General Administration."

Huang Lian was so angry he wanted to vomit blood.

You, a dignified head of a top-tier major station, actually called to threaten me?

However, although this approach was simple and crude, it was effective.

Huang Lian was ultimately cautious, and he didn't dare to hold those kinds of briefing meetings so blatantly anymore.

"Zhang Ruozhi's college entrance exam scores are out!"

On the phone, Chen Ziyan's tone was a bit pleasantly surprised.

"How is it? What's the score?" Lu Yan He put down the knife in his hand and asked.

"672 points, ranking in the top three hundred in her province," Chen Ziyan said excitedly. "She's a big academic star just like you."

Lu Yan He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I was most afraid that filming 'Love Letter' would affect her college entrance exam."

"I'm preparing to issue a report of good news," Chen Ziyan said. "Now that her college entrance exam is over, there's no need to worry about public opinion putting pressure on her and affecting her exam. 'Love Letter' is also about to enter the intensive promotion period, so I can push her to the forefront."

Lu Yan He thought about it, and it was true. Zhang Ruozhi had already followed the "Love Letter" crew to film a lot of promotional material for the later stages of "Love Letter," but she hadn't been officially introduced to the public as one of the female leads of "Love Letter."

Up to now, the public only knew that there was only one female lead in "Love Letter," and that was Chen Bige.

Not long after, Shi Huo released a message: Congratulations to the company's signed actor and "Love Letter" lead actress Zhang Ruozhi for her college entrance exam score of 672 points.

This was the first time Shi Huo had promoted Zhang Ruozhi in a high-profile way.

Recently, Shi Huo had announced several newly signed actors, from the previous Thai actress Caina, to the Malaysian-born Chinese boy Huang Feng, and now Zhang Ruozhi.

Caina brought her own popularity and traffic, while Huang Feng was reported on by many official media outlets because of his Chinese heritage. As for Zhang Ruozhi, the sharp-eyed media focused on the words "lead actress of 'Love Letter'."

Before this, there hadn't been a whisper about Zhang Ruozhi.

Even during the Hexi Film Festival, there wasn't a single piece of news about her.

With Shi Huo releasing this news, several Chinese media reporters and film critics who had attended the Hexi Film Festival and watched "Love Letter" and were on good terms with Chen Ziyan immediately came to help build momentum.

Entertainment critic Guan Su Chen posted: Finally, I can openly discuss Zhang Ruozhi. As the other female lead of "Love Letter," she was chosen by Lu Yan He as a high school student to participate in this movie, contributing a completely natural and likable character. But because the young girl had to take the college entrance exam this year, in order to protect her from being affected, the crew begged all of us not to mention her, so she could have a quiet environment to successfully take the exam. Congratulations to Ruozhi, another academic star artist has appeared!

Chen Miao, the lead writer of "Dream Back," also posted: I can predict that after "Love Letter" is released, Lu Yan He will become the "boyfriend" of all young girls, and Zhang Ruozhi will become the "girlfriend" of all boys—one more thing off-topic: Lu Yan He left almost all the acting to the two female leads, and he really just played a male vase, but he knows too well how to turn himself, this male vase, into a rare treasure. All actors should learn from this: whether a character is good or not, and whether it can be classic, doesn't just depend on how much screen time he has, but more on his weight in the script. He gave up all the screen time to the two female leads, and the result is that the more screen time the two female leads have, the more solid his position in this movie becomes. I'm really fed up with the few shows airing recently; they are all ineffective screen time.

Zhang Ruozhi's 672 points being linked to "Love Letter" caused the news and topic to explode like water hitting liquid nitrogen.

The entire internet couldn't help but be curious about who this Zhang Ruozhi really was.

When famous paparazzi Zhou Shuchun saw this news online, for a moment, the scene of those two high school girls he saw while following Lu Yan He in Jiangzhi flashed through his mind.

The radar in his head started spinning immediately.

No way?

He immediately searched for photos of Zhang Ruozhi online.

Sure enough, in this era, if you really want to search for someone's information, it's very easy.

Her classmates had posted a few photos of her taken at school online.

Zhou Shuchun clicked on the photos, zoomed in, and his eyes went dark.

Exclusive!

That was an exclusive he had captured a year ago!

At this moment, Zhou Shuchun found it hard to control the distortion of his expression and the roaring in the depths of his heart.

Zhang Ruozhi could be said to have become famous overnight.

However, when everyone wanted to contact Zhang Ruozhi and learn more about her, she was kept tightly under wraps and didn't appear.

Not only that, her teachers and classmates had been warned in advance not to publicly accept any interviews from reporters about Zhang Ruozhi before the movie was released.

The school was even more so.

On one hand, this was because Zhang Ruozhi was well-liked and her classmates were willing to protect her; on the other hand, it was because He Yunlan and others had contacted the school from government departments.

Chen Ziyan had already brought Zhang Ruozhi to Yuming and privately arranged for people to help her train in advance on how to deal with the media and answer questions, while also finding a stylist to design her look for future movie promotions.

In the entertainment industry, it's hard for newcomers to get ahead, but audiences are also most interested in them.

Newcomers are unknown and a blank slate. As long as they truly enter the public eye, everyone will take a few extra looks at fresh blood.

And the first trending search term for Zhang Ruozhi's operation was: The second artist in the domestic entertainment industry who can replicate Lu Yan He's path to fame has appeared.

"Not necessarily dissatisfied. The company's desire to focus on developing idol artists has actually been talked about for years, but because there was no soil for idol artists in China, it never took off. Jiang Yuqian, Zhang Lan, and the other three top sisters accidentally opened up Star Entertainment's name in the entertainment industry. The sudden rise of Teacher Zhang Zhiwen, plus the achievements of us few in the entertainment industry later, made Star Entertainment's success an accidental one."

The college entrance exam is something that doesn't need any operation and is watched by the whole country.

And the college entrance exam scores of celebrity artists are an even more natural topic.

Those with poor scores are mocked by the masses.

Those with good scores are praised to the heavens.

Why is Lu Yan He's image so good? His inspirational grades and his status as a student at Zhenhua University are the biggest foundations for his national popularity and public favor.

Those voices saying he is too perfect to be liked can only ever be minority voices. In mainstream channels, as long as Lu Yan He doesn't sabotage himself, he will always be the high-quality idol pushed to the very front.

Especially since Lu Yan He studied literature at Zhenhua University, and he is now working as a screenwriter, not having abandoned his major. In fact, his achievements as a screenwriter are even better than his achievements as an actor—

This also makes Zhenhua University always support and protect Lu Yan He. Whether before or after graduation, when Lu Yan He needs it, Zhenhua University will always stand behind him and give him full support.

Because Lu Yan He is a genuine Chinese major student cultivated by Zhenhua University.

This time, Lu Yan He wanted to do the Film Critics International Film Festival and needed a venue, and Zhenhua University coordinated it immediately, arranging everything perfectly.

There are reasons behind this as well.

It's not rare for a university to produce a few artists, but to produce an artist who is politically correct and directly proves the high quality of the school's student cultivation—for so many years, Lu Yan He has been the only one.

It's entirely luck.

Not to mention, Zhenhua University, as a top university in the country, is currently at a stage where it needs to further open up its reputation worldwide and compete with the world's top universities.

Academics are academics, but social influence and reputation are equally critical metrics.

Lu Yan He's achievements in the international film scene are equally beneficial to Zhenhua University's international planning.

Looking at the whole world, any top university relies on the students they cultivate and the reputation built by their alumni generation after generation.

Many people feel that a path to fame like Lu Yan He's might be really hard for anyone to replicate in a short time.

As a result, so quickly, a girl named Zhang Ruozhi popped up.

Although, five years have passed since then.

672 points.

This score, in her province, might not get her into Zhenhua or Yuming, but it can get her into other prestigious schools besides those two.

Recruitment teams from various universities have set out one after another, hoping to snatch Zhang Ruozhi for their own schools.

Facing the sudden surge of fame on the internet, Zhang Ruozhi found it hard to adapt for a while.

Fortunately, at this time, Chen Ziyan had arranged for people to stay by Zhang Ruozhi's side to help her adapt to these things that had never appeared in her world before.

Zhang Ruozhi's mother was at work; otherwise, she would have really wanted to come over.

While hesitating about which university she should attend in the future, Chen Ziyan made a special trip to Jiangzhi to analyze the attractive conditions offered by various universities with her mother.

Zhang Ruozhi's mother hoped that she could attend a university closer to home.

Chen Ziyan came to do the work, hoping that Zhang Ruozhi could attend university in Yuming.

"Her performance in 'Love Letter' is very well-recognized. In fact, other directors have already sent her scripts, wanting to find her to act."

Zhang Ruozhi's mother said: "Yuming is too far from Jiangzhi."

Chen Ziyan asked: "Sister, would you consider changing jobs?"

Zhang's mother showed a hint of confusion.

"In the future, besides studying, Ruozhi will also have quite a bit of acting work, and she will definitely need a team to manage her affairs," Chen Ziyan said. "Leave the professional matters to us, but Ruozhi is still a little girl who has been staying in Jiangzhi until now. Suddenly having to face such a big world, she must be a little nervous and uneasy inside. If you are willing, we are willing to pay you a salary, and you can be responsible for Ruozhi's assistant work. This way, you can also accompany her."

Zhang's mother looked at Chen Ziyan with surprise and asked: "Is that okay?"

Chen Ziyan nodded: "Of course it is. Currently, Ruozhi's work isn't much. After the movie is released, she might get busy. Right now, our company has only arranged one executive agent for her, and other staff members are temporarily transferred to help, not fixed."

"Why can't you arrange fixed staff for her?" Zhang's mother asked.

Chen Ziyan: "Because Ruozhi can't afford this team yet. Of course, the most critical thing is that she doesn't need such a fixed team to serve her right now. When she really reaches that level in the future, we can add more staff. She will be enrolling in university in September. During her studies, even if there is work, it will at most be some small, short-term filming, and the volume won't be large. Then her team would have nothing to do—should they just sit idle? There's no need."

Zhang's mother was a bit dissatisfied and said: "I thought that if Ruozhi signed with your company, she would get very good treatment."

Chen Ziyan looked at Zhang's mother quietly for two seconds before saying: "No company is a charity. If you want to fight for good treatment for Ruozhi, then okay, you can, but if that happens, Ruozhi won't be able to study properly and enjoy her school time. The company doesn't support idlers. You aren't a housewife; you should understand the logic behind this, right?"

Zhang's mother's expression changed.

Chen Ziyan: "You didn't want Ruozhi to film the movie at first because you were afraid it would affect her college entrance exam. You are certainly not a short-sighted person. So, at this stage, you definitely know better than I do what is best for Ruozhi. If you want rewards, you have to pay the price. How to measure the middle value—I am trying to make arrangements from a perspective that sacrifices the least for her. If you feel it needs to be changed, I will go talk to Ruozhi, and we can be open and honest about it. We can handle it professionally; that's fine too."

After Chen Ziyan's words, Zhang's mother stammered several times, wanting to interrupt, but Chen Ziyan didn't leave her any room to speak.

Until she finished, Chen Ziyan paused slightly, signaling that Zhang's mother could speak and say whatever she wanted.

But at this moment, Zhang's mother didn't know what to say instead.

"That agent of yours is too fierce. I'm really afraid you'll be stripped of everything in that company," Zhang's mother complained when she was on the phone with Zhang Ruozhi, unable to hold back.

Zhang Ruozhi was slightly stunned.

"Mom, Sister Ziyan is quite good to me. I have people arranging everything for me here," she said on the phone. "She is also quite concerned about me and asks about my situation every day."

Zhang's mother: "Then why didn't they arrange a fixed agent team for you? I see online that artists' teams all have a dozen people serving them."

"Those are big stars who have been famous for a long time. And even for Lu Yan He, he only has two people around him all year round: one assistant and one bodyguard," Zhang Ruozhi said. "I see that the artists in our company seem to be like this; they don't have people following them everywhere. Instead, some stars from outside come to cooperate with the company, and they all make a big scene, as if they brought a whole class with them."

Zhang's mother said: "That's a display of status, do you understand? The more the company values you, the bigger your display can be. With how you are now, without fixed staff around you, people will laugh at you when you go out."

Zhang Ruozhi: "..."

"Mom, it's not like that." Someone seemed to be calling her on her side. "Mom, my filming is about to start, I have to hang up."

"Hmm, okay, we'll talk later," Zhang's mother said. "You be a bit stronger yourself. You're alone outside, don't let people bully you, you know?"

"No one is bullying me, don't worry," Zhang Ruozhi said. "Everyone is still taking good care of me."

"Zhang Ruozhi's work business must not be interfered with by her mother."

After returning to Yuming, as soon as Chen Ziyan met Lu Qingzhen, she rolled her eyes and said.

Lu Qingzhen laughed and asked: "What's wrong? Your trip over there didn't go smoothly?"

"The school matter was settled, but meeting her mother this time made me angry. She doesn't understand how the entertainment industry works at all, and she was worried in her words that we were mistreating her daughter," Chen Ziyan said. "She can at most be a life assistant. She can't touch work matters at all; her brain is too unclear."

Lu Qingzhen laughed and comforted: "Then just don't let her participate in Zhang Ruozhi's agent team. It sounds like a big trouble."

"Trouble is trouble, but let her mother participate in the early stages. Zhang Ruozhi is just a girl who just graduated from high school, and neither you nor I can keep an eye on her all the time. I'm afraid she'll be fooled or tricked. With her troublesome mother there, at least she won't suffer a big loss," Chen Ziyan said.

Lu Qingzhen: "You really have the heart of a worried mother."

"Shut up," Chen Ziyan said. "Alright, I won't talk to you anymore, I have to go see Lu Yan He."

"You just got back and you're going to see him again? Is there something up?"

"A script came from Hollywood," Chen Ziyan said. "I have to tell him in person, otherwise I'm afraid he'll refuse."

Lu Qingzhen nodded.

"Alright then, good luck, worried mother!"

Chen Ziyan threw an eye-knife at her.

Lu Qingzhen laughed out loud.