Chapter 627: Big hit, the whole world is running! (130,000-word update!)

Originally, without this Weibo post from Lu Yan He, the "inside information" Chen Ziyan had arranged earlier lacked any corroborating evidence, making it hard for people to believe. But once Lu Yan He posted this, the nature of the situation seemed to truly change.

This Weibo post from Lu Yan He was clearly an expression of dissatisfaction with the Golden Tripod Awards.

Everyone was saying that he had used public opinion to force the Golden Tripod Awards to set a precedent for him, creating a separate award for sitcoms.

He stated directly that this had nothing to do with him; these were not the awards he had submitted for.

In an instant, a huge uproar ensued.

While the Golden Tripod Awards and Huang Lian had yet to respond, someone asked in Lu Yan He's comment section: "Then, will you be attending this year's Golden Tripod Awards ceremony?"

Lu Yan He: "The categories I submitted for didn't get nominated, so why would I go? To act as a mascot?"

This response was even more sarcastic.

Was it Lu Yan He using public opinion to coerce the Golden Tripod Awards into giving him an award, or was it the Golden Tripod Awards, unable to withstand the pressure of public opinion, creating this award to push Lu Yan He to the front as a mascot?

Lu Yan He was very angry, and his outburst on Weibo suddenly reminded many people of past events.

Lu Yan He was not someone who would just take things lying down. He was a good person, and if you cursed at him to his face, he might just smile and act like it didn't matter. But if you truly stepped over his bottom line, begging for mercy or pleading would be useless.

His attitude clearly showed he felt he had been set up.

Neither Yuehu Station nor the other nominees had offered any response yet.

They had neither publicly responded to whether they accepted the award like Lu Yan He, nor had they contacted him privately to communicate.

Yin Xincheng and Zhan Yun replied to his decision in their group chat with a few hug and thumbs-up emojis.

Other than that, they said nothing.

Lu Yan He didn't want to talk to them about this, either.

This matter wasn't something they could decide for themselves; Yin Xincheng and Zhan Yun both had agents and teams behind them.

By three o'clock in the afternoon, Lu Yan He had already been picked up and was on his way to continue the roadshow for *Love Letter*.

When Lu Yan He arrived at the cinema, he met up with Chen Bige, Zhang Ruozhi, and the others.

Chen Bige hugged Lu Yan He and patted his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I felt much better after throwing a tantrum," Lu Yan He laughed. "Don't worry, I won't let myself be stifled."

Chen Bige smiled.

She nodded. "That's good. When I first saw the results, I thought the Golden Tripod Awards had discussed it with you beforehand. I was wondering how Sister Ziyan could agree to such a poorly-received approach. I didn't expect them to make the changes on their own. Huang Lian is doing this to deliberately disgust you."

Lu Yan He nodded. "Yes, he must be doing it to disgust me. He couldn't avoid giving me a nomination, but he didn't want to give me one, so he pulled this stunt."

Chen Bige: "What a shameless person."

The two talked for a while.

Zhang Ruozhi stood by and listened.

She seemed to want to say something, but said nothing at all.

She was a very smart girl, and precisely because of that, she wouldn't rashly open her mouth to say meaningless nonsense before she understood the situation.

Lu Yan He, conversely, noticed Zhang Ruozhi's unease and nervousness.

"It's okay, this has nothing to do with you," Lu Yan He said to Zhang Ruozhi with a smile. "*Love Letter* is doing very well now, and you've become famous overnight. If you feel uncomfortable, just tell your agent or me. If you feel it's inconvenient, the sisters you know are all very kind people, and they would be very happy to talk to you."

Zhang Ruozhi gave a soft "Mm."

At the roadshow, the audience was still very enthusiastic about their appearance, unaffected by Lu Yan He's situation.

Just as Lu Yan He had said before, the audience's feedback on the film *Love Letter* was excellent. It was a good film that the audience felt was "more sophisticated than popcorn movies," but not so artistic that the audience felt it was too highbrow to understand.

There were many young boys and girls at the scene with red-rimmed eyes.

One girl even confessed her love to the boy beside her in public.

For a moment, Lu Yan He felt a bit awkward, fearing the boy might not actually like the girl and would reject her.

Fortunately, since they had come to see the movie together, they were likely interested in each other, and the boy hugged the girl.

Chen Bige cheered them on excitedly.

Lu Yan He laughed.

"You're even more excited than they are."

Chen Bige: "I just love watching scenes like this."

"Are you looking forward to a scene like this yourself?"

"Are you asking if I'm looking forward to someone confessing to me in public?" Chen Bige asked.

Lu Yan He nodded.

"If it's someone I don't like, I'll politely decline. If it's someone I like, I'll beat him up," Chen Bige said without hesitation. "He wouldn't even know what kind of environment I like."

Lu Yan He: "..."

Lu Yan He asked: "So, do you have a partner now, or...?"

Chen Bige: "How could I not have a partner? It's just that when things aren't stable yet, I won't bring them for you to meet."

Lu Yan He nodded with a smile.

The host on the side heard the two's private conversation, eyes wide, but had to pretend they hadn't heard anything.

Afraid of giving it away.

Could you two please be careful?

This is a public occasion, this is on stage!

There are so many microphones nearby!

After the afternoon roadshow ended, they had dinner with the accompanying roadshow team.

Lu Yan He had organized it to express his gratitude to the roadshow team.

Throughout this journey, the creators were tired, but the accompanying partners were also tired.

"The roadshow in Yuming ends here. We have the high-speed train at 8:30 tonight and will arrive in Jinkou at 9:30. We'll run the Jinkou roadshow tomorrow, which has four stops. After Teacher Wan Xin finishes work today, she will also rush to Jinkou to meet us tomorrow. Teacher Li Songfan is still on set and can't get away, so the Maowei side has arranged a live link."

Wang Biao briefed Lu Yan He on tomorrow's schedule.

Lu Yan He nodded.

This film meant a lot to him, so it was no surprise he was running the whole tour, but the fact that Chen Bige was also willing to accompany him on the roadshow touched Lu Yan He quite a bit.

The agreement Chen Bige signed with them only required her to cooperate with two promotional events.

Of course, Chen Bige was taking a box office cut from *Love Letter*; the better the performance, the more she would earn. But this was definitely not the reason an actress of her level would be willing to run the entire roadshow. It could only mean that for various reasons, Chen Bige also hoped to make this film as successful as possible; she loved this film just as much.

On the high-speed train to Jinkou, Wang Biao was scrolling through his phone when he suddenly let out a "Wow."

Lu Yan He asked: "What's wrong?"

Wang Biao said: "The Blue Ribbon Awards issued an announcement saying that starting from the year after next, they will divide the Best TV Series, Best Screenwriter, and Best Director awards into two categories: Drama and Comedy."

"Huh?"

"That means *Friends* will still compete for the same award as everyone else this year, but starting from the year after next, *Friends* can be submitted for the Comedy category?" Wang Biao was somewhat shocked. "Damn, with Blue Ribbon doing this, aren't they directly standing up for you, Little Brother Lu?"

"When a regular award wants to make changes, they should issue an announcement in advance so that everyone can distinguish their submissions from the start," Lu Yan He said. "Whether they are standing up for me, I don't know, but after Wen Yang took over as the director of Blue Ribbon, he was attacked from all sides due to the change of judges and the reform of the award mechanism. Looking at it now, Huang Lian must have exerted influence behind the scenes. If Wen Yang doesn't fight back now, he won't be able to hold onto his position."

This announcement from Blue Ribbon pushed the Golden Tripod Awards and Huang Lian directly into the spotlight.

The questioning voices against them grew even louder.

Lu Yan He didn't care about Huang Lian's reaction.

His mind was now entirely on *Love Letter*.

On the second day of *Love Letter*'s release, Saturday, the box office rose by 10 million from the first day, reaching 210 million, with the total box office breaking 400 million.

In just two days, the box office had broken everyone's initial expectations for *Love Letter*.

It could be said that with the early promotional marketing, *Love Letter* successfully broke out through social topics and became the first choice for young people to watch movies.

Especially the first choice for couples.

A girl was interviewed outside the cinema and said: "A friend recommended it to me and told me to bring my boyfriend to watch it. She said we always fight, and after watching this movie, we might cherish each other more."

The reporter asked: "Do you think your friend is right?"

The girl hugged her boyfriend's arm, smiling shyly, and nodded.

The third day, Sunday.

*Friends* director Bai Jingnian took the five main actors—Wen Minglan, Yin Xincheng, Zhan Yun, Yan Liang, and Bai Jin—to watch *Love Letter* together, took a group photo at the cinema entrance, and checked in on their social media.

Someone at the scene asked if they would go to receive the award, but they didn't respond, just smiling and changing the subject.

"*Love Letter* is a very good movie, everyone should not miss it."

"*Love Letter* will be a movie that the people from *Friends* watch together," Yin Xincheng said confidently. "It's not just a choice for couples; it's also a choice for good friends to watch a movie together."

Bai Jin said: "I hope Yan He can write a role for Zhang Ruozhi in the new season of *Friends* so she can guest star. She is so cute, I love her so much."

The topic popularity was off the charts.

The daily box office declined normally, reaching 160 million.

The fourth day, Monday, once the workday arrived, the daily box office fell to only 70 million. However, the discussion about this film on the internet was forming a wave. Every major self-media outlet related to film and television was discussing this film without exception.

Some controversy also appeared on the internet. For example, this film still couldn't avoid the trope of two women fighting for one man—although such controversy was also criticized by many people.

The fifth day, Tuesday, Maowei once again launched a double-ticket discount service to stimulate ticket purchases, and the box office remained at 68 million, with the decline almost negligible.

The Golden Tripod Awards seemed determined to play dead to the end, never responding to the controversy on the internet regarding the previous sitcom category award.

Yuehu Station President Xu Senjin called Lu Yan He to congratulate him on the box office performance of *Love Letter* and also asked if he had decided that he would definitely not attend the Golden Tripod Awards ceremony this year to receive the award.

Lu Yan He gave him a definite answer.

Xu Senjin said: "We might still have no way to truly not send someone to represent the crew to receive the award. After all, we both have pressure from above."

"I understand, President. It's fine, this matter is my own business."

Lu Yan He knew that in the adult world, not everyone could be willful and loyal.

The real world of martial arts was always about being unable to act as one wishes, which is why the protagonists of novels have to be swift in their grudges and gratitude.

However, Xu Senjin also said: "But, Yan He, you did this very satisfyingly. We won't let you be isolated and lose face."

Lu Yan He didn't know how Xu Senjin planned to handle this, but the fact that Xu Senjin could give him this attitude under such circumstances was enough for Lu Yan He.

The sixth day, Wednesday.

Zhang Ruozhi appeared on the North Aurora Video interview program *Zhixing* hosted by Peng Zhixing. As a newcomer who had become famous overnight, she accepted an exclusive interview for the first time. This episode had over 15 million views and gained three natural hot searches.

Zhang Ruozhi was truly popular.

The daily box office continued to decline normally, with a total of 56 million for the day.

The seventh day, Thursday.

Chen Bige appeared on a live interview on Yuehu Station to talk about her acting career.

Lu Yan He and Li Songfan had an online conversation, talking about the rarely discussed topic of "male actors and romance films."

The daily box office continued to decline normally, at 52 million, holding the 50 million mark.

Thus, after seven days of release, *Love Letter*'s box office exceeded 800 million, breaking the first-week box office record for domestic art films and romance-themed films.

The total box office was aiming for one billion.

"Generally speaking, films with room for textual discussion often face the problem of not being liked enough by the sinking market. This is something all film parties know, so sometimes, we often see some very straightforward emotional venting in some films. It's not that everyone doesn't know how to express it in a high-end way, but for a larger market, they will give up more high-end expressions."

"The most popular line this summer is 'How are you? I'm fine.' Such a simple and straightforward line achieved both refined and popular appreciation in such a film."

"I really like a viewer's comment. He said that when he heard the heroine shout this sentence over and over again, he didn't know why, but he was very moved."

"When more and more analysis, dissection, and parsing appear in our lives in this era, we seem to have forgotten that being moved is a natural outpouring. Good films and good lines often make you feel good without knowing why, but you just feel good."

Lin Yu smiled slightly.

"I am very proud that my high school classmate Lu Yan He made the film *Love Letter*, allowing me to say generously on this program without avoiding suspicion: Go watch it."

After recording this program for Yuehu Station, Lin Yu thanked everyone in the production team, said a few words about their hard work, and left the studio.

Chen Qin was waiting for her in the car.

"You don't have any other work later, right?" Chen Qin asked.

Lin Yu shook her head.

"No, let's go."

Chen Qin nodded, suddenly feeling a bit nervous at this moment.

Lin Yu noticed it.

She smiled: "It's okay, it's just a simple meal, why are you so serious?"

Chen Qin smiled helplessly.

"Every time I go to your house for dinner, I get nervous," he said. "Your dad looks at me like a policeman looking at a criminal every time."

Lin Yu held Chen Qin's hand. "It's okay, he actually likes you very much."

"Really?" Chen Qin looked completely disbelieving. He hadn't felt any liking from Lin Yu's father before.

Lin Yu: "Really, he just doesn't say it out loud, fearing you'll get arrogant. In the past, they were worried that I would fall in love early and affect my grades. Now they feel that it's good that the person I like is a high school classmate."

"Why?" Chen Qin was puzzled.

"They always feel that the entertainment industry is mixed and full of dangers. Although my work is in the magazine, I often deal with the entertainment industry, so, you know," Lin Yu said helplessly. "They are also afraid that I will be busy with work and not get married."

Chen Qin laughed.

"Then I can rest assured."

Lin Yu: "What are you doing at Linghe now?"

"Mainly following Xu Tianming to do copyright operations," Chen Qin said. "Many businesses can be done with the IPs in Yan He's hands. Like this time, *Love Letter*'s box office exploded, and many places came to talk about authorization."

"Authorization for what? Peripheral development?"

"That's the next step. Apart from the co-branded products with Hans Coffee, we haven't done any other peripheral development cooperation for *Love Letter*. It's mainly some broadcast authorization. Now the domestic copyright environment is becoming more and more standardized. If various places want to broadcast *Love Letter*, as long as it involves commercial use, they must get authorization from us. Including a Qianxingcheng Mall, they are talking to us, wanting to get a one-year mall broadcast right from us. They want to play this movie on the large screen in the square outside the mall."

Lin Yu was a bit puzzled: "There is such commercial authorization?"

"Yes, there are all kinds of them. Although they are not large amounts of income, maybe just small cooperations of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, but they add up," Chen Qin said. "Including now, apart from cinemas, many private cinemas are also under the constraints of copyright law and must get commercial authorization from us before they can use it for external profit. Xu Tianming is doing some larger projects, and I am currently handling these small projects."

"This should be quite mentally exhausting, right?" Lin Yu asked. "It sounds like you have to deal with quite a few places."

"Yes," Chen Qin nodded. "But I'm okay, because these IPs of Linghe are all very popular shows. In most cases, others come to us for cooperation, so I don't need to run the business. Xu Tianming let me do it because I understand the law. These detailed businesses didn't have mature cooperation cases in the industry before, so letting me do it can also keep an eye on the cooperation agreement terms. If the company's current cooperation law firm handles these small cooperations, there is no profit."

Lin Yu nodded.

"It sounds like you are opening up a new revenue chain for movies," Lin Yu said.

"Actually, it's not called opening up. Many foreign movies, because the industry is very mature, have long systematized and industrialized this set. But our domestic film's real commercial development has been less than thirty years. Cinemas and box office are the main body, and they are built crazily, but other supporting industries are not so mature. They will always be built up in the future. We are just because we have many good IPs, so we can occupy the initiative and be the first to eat crabs in China."

Chen Qin is very satisfied with his work at Linghe now.

Maybe it's also because when he joined the company, there were very few people, and he had to stand on his own as soon as he came up, so he didn't have time to experience the various stages of a novice. He had to go up if he couldn't, and actual combat accelerated his growth process.

Chen Qin himself is a person with a relatively gentle, cheerful personality, and not so strong enterprising spirit.

He has been like this since high school.

But it seems that it is precisely because of this personality of his that he is quite comfortable in this job that does not require him to take the initiative to run business. And he is not the kind of person who looks at people with high eyes and high noses, so when dealing with various partners, he can give the other party a very comfortable feeling. He will not look down on others because the other party may only be a small project of tens of thousands, nor will he not pay attention because the other party is a small company or a small platform.

Xu Tianming also valued his personality, so he put him in this job position.

In the second week of release, because two heavy-weight films entered the market, the screening of *Love Letter* was cut in half.

Of course, even if the screening was not cut in half, its audience number would inevitably decrease significantly.

Lu Yan He, Chen Bige, and the others were still conscientiously running roadshows all over the country.

One is to hold the screening of the cinema, and the other is to continue to contribute new promotional materials to the publicity team, so that the popularity of this film can be maintained and not disappear from everyone's sight so quickly.

Once no one discusses *Love Letter*, the audience who take the initiative to walk into the cinema to watch it may be almost non-existent.

With the efforts of all parties, the box office of *Love Letter* in the second week still remained at the level of 360 million, and the total box office reached the vicinity of 1.2 billion.

However, after two weeks of release, the main potential of *Love Letter*'s box office has been squeezed out. According to the estimation of the data model, it can get at most 200 to 300 million more box office later, and the box office will reach the end.

It can be said that *Love Letter* is the film with the highest return rate in Chinese films in the past five years.

The production cost is more than 10 million—

Although this figure is very abnormal, Lu Yan He and Chen Bige did not collect remuneration according to the market price, all of them took dividends. This 10 million, the bulk was spent on production.

The publicity and marketing budget is as high as 72 million—

Whether it is the program "How are you? I'm fine" and later promotion, or the investment flow of short video platforms and the layout of major offline locations, plus the advertising fees of major media, and the labor fees of the creators and the expenses of the roadshow team after a roadshow. *Love Letter* performed a textbook performance of classic dynamic addition of publicity funds.

And this cost of less than 100 million, plus distribution costs, in the end, it is possible to get a box office of 1.4-1.5 billion, which does not count other income such as video platforms, overseas copyright income, etc.

In the words of a financial institution, *Love Letter* made a fortune.

At that time, the production funds of this film were basically collected by Lu Yan He himself and those around him.

Everyone made a fortune.

At this moment, Lu Yan He had great doubts about himself.

Because he sincerely believed that the box office of this film would be at most 300 million.

"..."

Film is also a marketing science.

He deeply realized this point from this case.

As long as you can make the audience want to watch your film, no matter how small the cost of your film is, they still want to watch it.

And if the audience doesn't want to watch your film, even if you find the Four Heavenly Kings to star in it and invest hundreds of millions, it will still not be welcomed.

And Lu Yan He can't stop at this time.

Because *Love Letter* is going to be released overseas soon.

After Lu Yan He, Chen Bige, and the others finished their domestic promotional itinerary, the entire crew, under the invitation of overseas distributors, started the promotion in six countries: South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Australia.

They clearly found different distributors in different countries, but they seemed to have discussed it and put the release time together.

Under coordination, Lu Yan He only ran these few places.

At the end of August, *Chinese Paladin* started filming.

Although his scenes were few, he couldn't join the crew too late.

After running these places, if there are other overseas promotional itineraries for *Love Letter* later, only Chen Bige can lead the team.

This is the first time Lu Yan He has participated in overseas promotion on such a large scale.

*The Mist* also counts, but at that time Lu Yan He only ran a few places, and it was not a continuous run. After all, before the film was released, Lu Yan He was not the protagonist of the film. His popularity worldwide was opened after the film was released.

Regarding the box office performance of *Love Letter* overseas, Lu Yan He is still looking forward to it. After all, it won an award at the Hexi Film Festival, which makes it not an ordinary Chinese film. Coupled with the protagonists of this film, Lu Yan He and Chen Bige, it can be said to be one of the strongest lineups in Chinese films.

On the day their entire crew arrived in South Korea, as soon as they got off the plane, the security team arranged for him by Darren Wilson directly connected with Lu Yan He's team.

Lu Yan He did not trust the docking service in South Korea.

This is the benefit of signing an international brokerage company, and the services in all aspects are in place. Of course, this requires Lu Yan He to sign a check to pay for it. In fact, for these services, Lu Yan He is very willing to sign a check to pay for it. After all, it involves his own safety issues, and the key is to be reliable.

And after Lu Yan He arrived in South Korea, there were quite a few people who wanted to come to receive him. From TVN executives to the faction of Zhong Benshuo in South Korea, not to mention the distributor in South Korea itself.

Lu Yan He did not accept any of them, only agreed to have a simple meal with the main creators of the crew and a director he liked very much in South Korea.

In fact, the promotion in South Korea was relatively the smoothest.

When Lu Yan He was in the UK, when he was interviewed by a TV station, the host was quite troublesome and actually asked about the Golden Tripod Awards, wanting Lu Yan He to talk about his views on the current situation of Chinese film and television awards in the live broadcast.

Lu Yan He almost turned black.

I haven't encountered this situation when I came to the UK before.

Apart from these small episodes, the whole promotional trip was relatively smooth.

When the overseas markets opened one by one and achieved good box office results, Lu Yan He breathed a sigh of relief.

With the Hexi Film Festival award, and Lu Yan He, a star actor who became popular globally in the first half of the year with *The Mist*, except for the United States, which has not been released yet, the first weekend box office of the major markets where *Love Letter* has just finished promotion has exceeded six figures in US dollars, and the total box office is expected to exceed seven figures.

For a foreign language film like *Love Letter*, this is a very good result.

Especially in South Korea, the film *Love Letter* has become a hot topic on their internet, and many Hallyu stars have watched this film and recommended it on social media.

Xu, TVN wants to buy the Korean drama adaptation rights of *Love Letter* again.

Lu Yan He said, let them take the adaptation of *Rouge* and see how it is adapted.

If it is adapted well, continue to authorize it. If it is not adapted well, he does not want them to ruin the story of *Love Letter*.

Lu Yan He's last stop of overseas promotion, the United States, the premiere was still set in Los Angeles.

Here, Green Valley held a grand premiere for *Love Letter*.

Lu Yan He also knew when he arrived here that Green Valley invited more than 20 media outlets and also invited Arne Bogut and Lily Williams, who had worked with him on *The Mist*, to stand for him. Not only that, at the premiere, there was also Derien Dillon, who had just filmed *Hurricane 2* with Lu Yan He, who recorded a VCR for him.

Green Valley is planning to let *Love Letter* be released in 800 cinemas first. If the release results are good, expand the scope of cinemas. If the results are average, it will not cause too much loss.

This is a very powerful number of cinemas.

Lu Yan He felt the sincerity from Green Valley.

He felt that it was probably because the previous *Road to Glory* achieved results beyond their expectations in the North American awards season, which fed back to the box office, allowing that film, which was not very good in terms of plot, to get millions of dollars in box office in North America, making them have expectations for *Love Letter*.

Although Green Valley's high hopes for *Love Letter* were still on the income of home entertainment.

When Lu Yan He completed the promotional itinerary and returned to China, when he landed, Yuming had already fallen into the night.

He received news from Green Valley that on the first day of *Love Letter*'s release, 800 cinemas harvested 764,000 US dollars in box office, with an average of about 1,000 per field, which is not too good but not bad.

Especially for Green Valley, they paid 6 million US dollars for the North American distribution rights of *Love Letter*.

This opening result makes *Love Letter*'s box office performance in North America expected to fall to more than 5 million, which is an unexpected joy.

But as Lu Yan He said, the reputation of *Love Letter* among North American media and film critics is not very good.

The criticism that surprised Lu Yan He the most was that they felt that Lu Yan He wrote, directed, and acted in this work himself, but only let himself play such a simple role in it, which was very disappointing.

Schmidt Lowrie of Green Valley said: "The media and film critics in North America have high expectations for you, so they are dissatisfied."

Lu Yan He was not surprised.

Things like life and death, philosophical thoughts, and Eastern cultural background in *Love Letter* are probably difficult for them in Europe and the United States to truly realize the feelings in them.

However, in any case, the release of *Love Letter* can be directly described as a "great success".

In Hollywood, although the box office of *Love Letter* in North America is neither successful nor failed, for people in Hollywood, the box office of these foreign language films is generally not measured by their own set of calculation rules.

*Variety* magazine bluntly stated that Lu Yan He's first self-written and self-directed *Love Letter* was a great success worldwide, with a film shot for only a few million US dollars, the global box office has exceeded 200 million US dollars, and it is very likely to exceed 300 million US dollars, etc.

This magazine's preference for Lu Yan He is still obvious enough.

In Hollywood, box office success is always king.

You can see many people criticizing a big production that failed at the box office, but you can hardly see large-scale criticism of a work that succeeded at the box office.

Even if it is the Oscars.

This is different from China. In China, there is a kind of copper-smelling contempt that the higher your box office, the lower your artistry.

Under the report of *Variety*, Lu Yan He did not appear to have any "box office failure". On the contrary, he was a great success again.

"Now several film and television companies in China are asking whether we have any plans to produce a drama version ourselves. If not, they want to buy the drama production rights of *Love Letter* and develop a drama version."

Xu Tianming said to Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He: "The movie has just come out. Is it too fast to talk about producing a drama version now?"

Xu Tianming: "They are not going to start production immediately, they just want to grab the production rights as soon as possible. From script creation to casting, to filming and post-production, it won't come out in a year or two."

"Did North Aurora and Icefield come to talk?" Lu Yan He asked.

Xu Tianming nodded and said: "They are the two most active companies, including Yuehu Station, but the price offered by Yuehu Station is not on the same order of magnitude as North Aurora and Icefield. I suggest not considering Yuehu Station for the time being."

"The story of *Love Letter* is not suitable for broadcast on TV stations when adapted into a TV series. It is normal for them to offer a low price. Coming to strive for it is just to express an attitude," Lu Yan He said. "Did Maxine and HP come to ask?"

"They are more interested in remaking it into films in other languages," Xu said. "Especially Maxine, Zhong Benshuo's side is very active in the intention to remake the Korean version of *Love Letter*."

Lu Yan He: "The movie version will not consider authorization for remakes within three years."

Although Xu Tianming was a little surprised, he nodded at the first time.

"However, can I ask why?" Xu Tianming asked.

Lu Yan He said: "I hope this film is unique in everyone's heart, which requires time to precipitate."

Xu Tianming nodded.

"How did you consider the matter of Chasing Light Animation wanting to produce the animated version of *My Own Swordsman*?" He asked again.

Lu Yan He said: "I am actually willing to make an animated version, but I have seen the animated works made by Chasing Light Animation before. To be honest, I am not very satisfied. It has always made fighting works before. Can it do this kind of daily comedy well? The style is too different."

Xu: "However, Chasing Light Animation is already the top animation production company in China."

Lu Yan He: "The show hasn't finished broadcasting yet. By the way, is the second season of *My Own Swordsman* about to start broadcasting?"

"Yes," Xu Tianming nodded.

Lu Yan He: "In this way, you ask them if they can make a few original drafts for us first. I want to see what style they are prepared to make. In addition, what are their plans for this animated work? How do they want to adapt it? The four words *My Own Swordsman* have a heavy weight in the hearts of the audience. I don't want them to treat *My Own Swordsman* as a fast-moving consumer good of a big IP, just to make a quick profit."

Xu: "They are still very sincere. They actually reported a production plan to me before. They hope to be able to make an extra episode based on *My Own Swordsman* first, telling the story of these main characters before coming to Tongfu Inn. Of course, it will still maintain the style of martial arts comedy."

Lu Yan He said: "Why don't we make an appointment with them? I want to hear their thoughts in person."

Xu: "Okay, I will make an appointment with them."

Lu Yan He originally wanted to rest for two days before joining the crew.

*Chinese Paladin* has already started filming, and joining the crew a few days late will not affect the shooting progress—

Anyway, his scenes are not that many.

Moreover, the time arranged by the crew for him to join the crew is still a few days away. He can rest justifiably.

However, Yan Liang and Li Zhibai are both in the crew, and Chen Siqi also took people to Malaysia for a business trip to talk about the publication plan of *Jump Up* there.

Lu Yan He thought about it, packed his things, and went to the crew of *Chinese Paladin*.

Being alone is also quite boring.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the crew of *Chinese Paladin* and hadn't walked into the hotel gate, a phone call suddenly came to his mobile phone.

It showed the name "Huang Lian".

Lu Yan He didn't even remember when he saved Huang Lian's number.

They seemed to have never contacted each other.

Although he didn't know what he was calling for at this time, but—

Lu Yan He directly rejected the call and blacklisted the phone at the first time.

He told Chen Ziyan about this.

After Chen Ziyan learned about Lu Yan He's reaction, she laughed and said: "You are right not to answer. He can do the thing of setting up a separate award, which shows that this person has broken the bottom line. Who knows what kind of pit he is calling you for."

Lu Yan He: "I didn't think so much. I just felt that I don't care about him. I didn't get along with Jingtai before. At that time, I didn't have enough strength, no background, and no background, so I could only endure it first. Now I am not afraid of him. What can he do to me? I don't care about him."

Chen Ziyan: "I estimate that Huang Lian will contact you through some people later. Now the public opinion situation of the Golden Tripod Awards and him is not very good. *Love Letter* has occupied the top of the global film box office list for two consecutive weeks. Now it is released in several places overseas, and the box office performance is excellent. As far as I know, the General Administration is very surprised by the performance of *Love Letter* globally. They will not let you be affected by such things as the Golden Tripod Awards. To be honest, when you were interviewed by the BBC in the UK, they mentioned the Golden Tripod Awards, which still made some people in China a little afraid. If this matter really becomes a scandal fermented by international media, many people will be affected."

Lu Yan He: "So you mean, the above exerted pressure on Huang Lian, Huang Lian couldn't hold it, and wanted to make peace with me?"

"There is such a possibility," Chen Ziyan said. "On the other hand, don't forget that you have a different status in the entertainment industry and in the hearts of many people, representing something. How could everyone be willing to see you being retaliated by Huang Lian like this because of the Blue Ribbon Awards? If even you can achieve such results and can be easily manipulated by Huang Lian, others will feel that their lips are cold and their teeth are cold. Therefore, even in this industry, many people are supporting you with their strength without us knowing."

Lu Yan He nodded, he understood.

"In any case, come on," Chen Ziyan said with a smile. "Your *Love Letter* has achieved such good results, not only with awards, but also representing the large-scale release of Chinese films in so many places around the world. This is your greatest confidence in not answering Huang Lian's phone."

Lu Yan He said: "Then next, *Those Years We Chased Together* is a real commercial film. Although its style is completely different from *Love Letter*, it must be a similar subject in the eyes of many people. If the box office of *Those Years* does not catch up with *Love Letter*, will it be sung down?"

"This is actually something I want to discuss with you," Chen Ziyan said. "Do you want to continue to star in *Those Years*?"

At the beginning, writing the script of *Those Years* was the same as *Love Letter*, because a script that could be filmed immediately was needed. At that time, *Love Letter* was chosen, so *Those Years* was shelved. At that time, Lu Yan He had the intention of starring himself, but now it seems that for him, *Those Years* is not a necessary option.

Lu Yan He said: "To be honest, I am inclined to want to act."

He likes this movie.

The male protagonist of *Those Years* is a completely different type from Huai Jingshu in *Love Letter*.

It is also a type that Lu Yan He has never played.

Moreover, he really wants to play a character completely different from himself.

Lu Yan He feels that the best part of the character Ke Jingteng is that he is a real high school student image on the big screen. Including *Love Letter*, as long as it is the male protagonist of youth-themed films, there is no one like Ke Jingteng, as if a boy was caught from a high school and presented a real texture like a documentary. Noisy, immature, loving simply and directly, with a straight intestine to the end, but it is definitely the most popular person in the class (or because he always teases people, so he is the most annoying to girls).

If Shen Jiayi is the white moonlight, Ke Jingteng is the ordinary boy looking up at the moonlight in every white moonlight story. But fortunately, this movie is not the kind of youth love story of licking dogs chasing goddesses.

"If you want to act, then act," Chen Ziyan smiled. "I originally wanted to say, why don't you stop acting and find someone else to act. I feel that the role of Ke Jingteng, in fact, as long as it is a male actor with qualified acting skills, can be controlled."

"Well, but it is still quite difficult to act as a classic. You have to completely put down the star halo and can't have a trace of acting," Lu Yan He said. "Either find a pure newcomer who has never acted to act, or I will act."

"You have a deep obsession with this role," Chen Ziyan smiled. "Then do you have any thoughts on the role of Shen Jiayi?"

"Shen Jiayi?" Lu Yan He shook his head. "Not for the time being."

"Do you know why I suggest you don't act?" Chen Ziyan said. "This story is ultimately about a boy liking a girl and chasing the girl for a long time. Although it is not a licking dog, but a girl who makes you Lu Yan He constantly pursue and like, who do you find to act, can the audience accept it? This involves the problem of whether you are in the play or not. The two of you are just acting skills to the sky. The audience always has preconceived prejudices, unless you find Chen Siqi to act, then everyone is OK, can accept it, but your ending is that the heroine married someone else."

"..." Lu Yan He was like a head-on blow.

He realized that what Chen Ziyan said was actually right.

People cannot talk about dreams apart from reality.

Another important reason why *Those Years* can be popular is that when the movie was released, the male and female protagonists were basically "unknown" newcomers, which is when an actor has the strongest sense of substitution for the audience.

A blank sheet of paper, without any "prejudice".

Lu Yan He is going to play Ke Jingteng now, so who will play Shen Jiayi?

Among the actresses of the same age as Lu Yan He, who can play a girl who has been liked and pursued by Lu Yan He for so many years and is recognized by the audience?

Looking around, there is no such person.

Maybe Yan Lingyu can after *Chinese Paladin*, if her Linger can reach the height of the original work.

But Lu Yan He cannot keep *Those Years* from filming and wait until *Chinese Paladin* starts broadcasting.

Moreover, Yan Lingyu after playing Linger may reach the height of being liked by Lu Yan He for so many years in the hearts of the audience. However, Yan Lingyu's image and temperament can play Linger, but she cannot play Shen Jiayi.

Shen Jiayi is a pure, very student-era good student type girl. She likes Ke Jingteng, which is a look that can surprise the audience but will not be questioned.

Think about it, change to the look of the fairy sister, you say she actually likes boys like Ke Jingteng?

At a certain moment, it actually feels awkward.

The appearance of the fairy sister does not have the affinity of that classmate.

But Yan Lingyu is this style.

Cold, beautiful, can be trained to play the simple and cute kind of Linger who does not eat human fireworks, but cannot convince you that she can be your classmate in class.

Lu Yan He has always felt that the foundation of any youth love movie's success is definitely not how good the story is, but casting.

Whether the male and female protagonists can convince the audience and whether they can make the audience substitute is crucial.

That actress who played Shen Jiayi is really a pity. She was originally the best successor to the actress of Lin Yichen, although she might not be able to reach the top, she has their unique audience edge track.

Pulled far away, pull it back.

Melancholy.

Lu Yan He has realized rationally that he may really not be suitable for filming *Those Years*.

So, when Li Zhibai and Yan Liang saw Lu Yan He, they happened to encounter Lu Yan He's depressed and regretful state of being unable to give up *Those Years*.

"What's wrong with you?" Li Zhibai threw him a bottle of yogurt, still iced.

Lu Yan He shook his head. "Don't want to say."

Li Zhibai: "You say it."

"What is the difficulty? You say it, let's see if we can help," Yan Liang said.

"No, it's just a script I wrote before. I originally wanted to act myself, but now I suddenly find that I may not be able to act," Lu Yan He sighed.

"Which script?" Li Zhibai asked.

The scripts written by Lu Yan He, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang have basically been read at the first time.

"*Those Years*."

"You can't act? Then let me act," Li Zhibai said immediately.

"You just acted in *Can't Even Fake Death*, and then acted in a romance-themed movie?"

"*Can't Even Fake Death* is an urban background, which is different from *Those Years*," Li Zhibai said. "I wouldn't have opened my mouth if you were going to act. Since you are not acting, I want to act."

"You..." Lu Yan He really wanted to say, you are not suitable.

But after Li Zhibai's image overlapped with Ke Jingteng, Lu Yan He couldn't say the three words "not suitable" no matter what.

Li Zhibai pointed to Yan Liang and said: "You wouldn't say he is more suitable than me, right? He is too unsuitable."

Lu Yan He and Yan Liang could not deny this point.

Yan Liang's image is too upright. Let him play a boy like Ke Jingteng, which is not suitable in all aspects.

About *Those Years*, Lu Yan He pressed it for the time being.

Although Li Zhibai wanted to act, Lu Yan He still wanted to let himself struggle.

Maybe an actress who can act with him will pop up.

Anyway, it can't be started recently.

In the evening, they had dinner together, and Yan Liang said: "You just arrived, and I have to leave for a few days."

"Ah? Where are you going?"

"*Flowing Light* is about to start broadcasting, in two days, I have to go to cooperate with the drama promotion, and I have to leave for five days," Yan Liang said. "It was coordinated before joining the crew. Fortunately, your drama has many roles, and our shooting dates are still better coordinated."

Lu Yan He: "*Flowing Light* is about to start broadcasting? The God of War is about to appear."

"Don't be cold to me, I am nervous now, I don't know if the audience will buy it," Yan Liang sighed. "Your and Li Zhibai's plays are all exploded, making me so stressed, others are staring at me."

Lu Yan He: "It's okay, your drama is not a parachute. Look at your promotion, it started from the end of June, and it has been done for more than a month. The results will definitely not be bad. And what are you nervous about? Zhang Lan is the one who carries the drama in this drama."

Yan Liang: "When calculating the results, who cares if you are the first or second? You are the male lead. If the results are poor, it only shows that you can't carry the drama."

"No," Li Zhibai said. "You don't think about it. This drama is what the three of us think your character setting is good, and you acted so hard and seriously. The audience may not like it so much, but it will definitely not be disliked."

Yan Liang sighed long.

"Anxiety, anxiety when I wasn't popular before, thinking about when I could be popular every day, and now I am anxious when I am popular. I don't know when the results will not be as good as before, and I will go downhill."

"Don't worry, no matter if you go uphill or downhill, we are with you," Li Zhibai patted Yan Liang's shoulder. "Don't be forced to talk, drink!"