Chapter 835: Long Yan

After concluding his trip to Italy, the first thing Yan Liang did upon returning to the country was to visit the set of *The Boat* to see Lu Yan He.

As it turned out, the moment they met, Yan Liang was stunned.

It wasn't that Lu Yan He's appearance had undergone any drastic change.

He had always been thin, and he hadn't become gaunt. His character's makeup and styling didn't make him look like a completely different person; after all, he was playing an ordinary man.

However, the change in Lu Yan He was present in his temperament and demeanor.

Yan Liang had been driven to the filming location in the village by Zou Dong.

After getting out of the car, he saw a familiar figure sitting under the eaves from a distance, holding a script and reading it silently to himself.

That was, of course, Lu Yan He.

But looking closer, he seemed very different from the usual Lu Yan He.

His gaze, his expression, and the micro-expressions on his face had all undergone a subtle shift.

There was a sense of dullness about him.

It was a feeling Yan Liang often saw on buses and subways—that specific kind of dullness formed after a long day of work, when one is completely drained and the surrounding world feels irrelevant to oneself.

Moreover, what surprised Yan Liang was that there was a sense of yellow earth about Lu Yan He's face. Not the color, but the feeling. It was as if he had formed some sort of geographical connection with this land—

Even his fingertips were rough, stained with the color that only those who work the land possess.

At that moment, Yan Liang couldn't tell if this was the result of the makeup and styling, or a change that occurred once Lu Yan He had entered the state of his character.

It wasn't as if Lu Yan He hadn't been like this before.

Yan Liang walked over and called out to him.

Lu Yan He looked up, saw Yan Liang, and instantly broke into a smile.

The smile was still the familiar one.

Yan Liang let out a sigh of relief.

"We're almost done filming; I estimate we'll wrap up in about a week," Lu Yan He told Yan Liang. "How about you?"

"I'm currently discussing the contract for the *Gold Rush* spin-off movie with Ruyi," Yan Liang said. "After I finish filming *Friends*, I should be joining the crew to shoot the *Gold Rush* movie."

"The script is already out?" Lu Yan He asked, surprised.

"A version was done a while ago, but it wasn't filmed at the time because Teacher Wan Yun didn't want to act in it. Now, the screenwriter is changing the story's setting to Italy," Yan Liang said. "We'll start filming around March or April next year. Teacher Wan Yun's character will be adapted to look like Li Zhibai—much younger—and he'll be acting alongside me."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"That's great," Lu Yan He said. "I've always felt it was a pity not to turn this story into a series, given how popular the first two parts were."

"Teacher Wan Yun didn't want to continue, and I was very busy myself, so many subsequent plans were delayed," Yan Liang said. "It was originally intended to be a series."

The reason Wan Yun didn't want to continue was that filming the first two parts had been very grueling. Although he was one of the two male leads, the attention and benefits he received were far less than Yan Liang's.

Especially since Yan Liang's subsequent works were also massive hits, and his character's dominant role in the series became increasingly apparent.

Wan Yun was not the type of person willing to play second fiddle to a younger junior, so he withdrew after the second part was filmed.

To this day, Lu Yan He still remembered how Yan Liang looked when he turned back after filming the first part, thin as a skeleton. Yan Liang had truly given his all for that drama, and the drama's success was indeed built upon his efforts. Yan Liang himself was not an actor with much "audience appeal," so one could imagine how much effort it took to make him the focal point of the drama and the core protagonist of the IP.

At the time, when the first part of *Gold Rush* went viral, there was a highly discussed topic: the change in Yan Liang's appearance.

Although Yan Liang wasn't very famous at the time, his recognition was high. Most people were familiar with his image, so the comparison photos of his drastic transformation attracted a massive amount of attention to *Gold Rush*.

Such a huge change in physique, as long as it becomes a viral topic, will inevitably attract people to take a look.

Many people think, what does this count as... what does it count as? For example, the photo of Christian Bale, gaunt and skeletal, which is always used to prove his "sacrifice for the role," has almost become his most famous screen image—many people haven't seen that movie, but they have certainly seen that photo. Or take Yuan Shanshan, who was once so blacklisted that people told her to "get out of the entertainment industry," only to make a comeback and save her reputation with her "vest line."

Not everyone can achieve that level.

In fact, very few people can go to such lengths for a role.

It's just easy to say.

Because Yan Liang had no other work scheduled and wasn't in a rush to leave, he stayed on the set of *The Boat* for two days.

He didn't do anything else; he just watched everyone film and act on set.

"It's a pleasure," Yan Liang said. "Watching you guys act is truly a pleasure; it's comfortable."

Lu Yan He said: "The Master basically doesn't call 'cut'; he just lets us act. This filming mode really allows actors to give their all."

Yan Liang nodded. "But watching the filming, your lines are actually very few," Yan Liang said.

"Yes, very few," Lu Yan He nodded. "Originally, if we filmed strictly according to the script, maybe one scene would only take a short segment, but the Master wants us to improvise a bit beyond the script, so that's how it is."

Yan Liang said: "That's really great. Actually, when I film now, very few directors raise questions about my performance. I don't know if it's because the requirements for acting in the dramas I film now are just like that—not needing to be too high."

Lu Yan He said: "To be honest, you are already acting very well. If you want to improve further, you can only go to directors like Wang Zhong or Liu Bige and let them temper you. They are the two directors I've met who are most capable of making actors change their inherent performance styles and be reborn."

Yan Liang: "That kind of opportunity is also hard to come by. Without a suitable role, collaborating just for the sake of collaborating is meaningless. Besides, I mostly take on roles based on market orientation now."

"Being market-oriented doesn't mean you can't pursue performance. Look at Liu Bige; he's that kind of director. He seems to make art-house films, but in reality, every one of his films has great box office results," Lu Yan He said. "Some directors balance art and market in their films, just like *Speed of Life and Death*. Although it is entirely a commercial film aimed at the market, as you've seen, its requirements for every actor are very high; it's not just a simple popcorn movie."

Yan Liang nodded: "I felt that. I didn't mean that commercial films don't need good acting. I meant that the roles I encounter now rarely have that process of needing me to break myself and start over—when I filmed *Gold Rush* and *Dragon Gate Inn* before, those were the times I felt most challenged in my acting."

Lu Yan He: "So, do you want to focus on breakthroughs in your acting now, or?"

"No, I need the success of each work," Yan Liang said very firmly. "I'm just envious, but I know I can't walk that path. Most of what I have today comes from the success of my works, which brought me attention and fans who like me. I'm not the kind of actor whose personal charm outweighs the character's charm."

Lu Yan He: "You are always so self-deprecating."

"You know what I mean," Yan Liang shrugged. "What I just said about acting was just a sigh, not that I want to change the status quo and focus on improving my acting ability. That's not something I can do just because I want to. I can't be that kind of gifted actor, so I can only work hard at filming, make myself the best choice commercially, and use that to collaborate with the best directors and teams, and through them, make myself better and better. That's what I think. *Speed of Life and Death* was actually very satisfying to film; I didn't mean it wasn't good, don't misunderstand."

"I won't misunderstand," Lu Yan He laughed. "I am very fond of this script myself. If you didn't act in it, I would definitely have acted in it myself."

Yan Liang looked at him in surprise.

"Then why didn't you act in it yourself?"

Lu Yan He: "Because I think you are more suitable than me. Your image, your ability to do action scenes, the hormones you exude after shaving your head and going shirtless—I might have to train for a long time to achieve that. And even if I did, it would only be in terms of image; in terms of aura, I still wouldn't be a perfect fit."

After Yan Liang left the set of *The Boat*, he returned to Yuming.

Next, he would be filming the new season of *Friends*. After so many years of filming, he was already familiar with this story and these characters, and no longer needed to analyze and prepare for every scene in detail as he did before.

For experienced actors, many times, on-site improvisation is far better than the results of preparing long in advance.

The better the actor, the more they pursue that sense of naturalness on set.

To Yan Liang's surprise, Long Yan suddenly found him.

Huang Zhongjing contacted him personally, asking to meet him in Long Yan.

Yan Liang didn't actually have many connections with domestic film companies. He mainly focused on filming dramas in the country, and the people he knew were basically from the drama circle.

And his film resources came almost entirely from Lu Yan He, and were mainly focused on Lu Yan He's film resources in Hollywood, which had nothing to do with the domestic market.

Therefore, although Yan Liang had known Huang Zhongjing for a long time and had his contact information, they had almost never contacted each other privately.

Yan Liang went to meet Huang Zhongjing.

Huang Zhongjing stated bluntly that he wanted to collaborate with him and tailor three international film productions for him.

If it weren't for the fact that the person saying this was Huang Zhongjing, Yan Liang would have subconsciously thought, this person is offering such a huge pie right off the bat—could he be a scammer?

Yan Liang pondered for a moment and said: "Mr. Huang, you are suddenly showing such favor to me. May I ask why?"

Huang Zhongjing smiled and said: "To be honest, it's because you are one of the few young actors in the country who has truly achieved success internationally and possesses appeal. Of course, we would also like to establish such a cooperative relationship with Lu Yan He, but he has his own film production company, and his focus will never be on collaborating with us at Long Yan. We at Long Yan also cannot provide what he currently wants, so we cannot reach a cooperation agreement with him like Soren did. However, I believe we have a very deep foundation for cooperation, and we can form a cooperation agreement between us, similar to the one between Yan He and Soren."

Li Zhibai: "Collaborating with Long Yan is not a bad thing, but you need to find a very reliable agent and legal team to help you look through the terms of the agreement carefully."

Yan Liang asked: "It's a bit strange that Long Yan suddenly wants to collaborate with me on these things, suddenly finding me here."

"Because Long Yan saw that Yan He's movies can earn so much overseas revenue, they got tempted, so they found you," Li Zhibai said. "*Flypaper* is a box office hit, *Friends* has given you great popularity, and there is another movie you starred in, *Speed of Life and Death*, preparing for global release. In their eyes, talking to you about cooperation now is actually buying stock in advance, thinking you will become globally famous in the future, so tailoring film projects around you can help them sell movies overseas."

Yan Liang: "You know very well that I'm not actually famous enough to help a movie sell overseas."

"They don't know that," Li Zhibai said. "Besides, as long as they want to expand into the overseas market, finding actors with influence overseas is unavoidable. Currently, their options are limited; there are only so many people."

"Didn't they look for you?" Yan Liang asked.

Li Zhibai said: "They contacted me before, but I said I wouldn't sign a cooperation agreement. If they want me to film, they have to bring the script first. I've always been seen as a troublemaker in their eyes. The script for *Fake Death 2* hasn't been finalized because I haven't agreed to it yet. I guess they would rather not collaborate with me if they can avoid it."

Yan Liang: "Then you are doing the right thing. I don't want to collaborate with them on any mediocre film projects."

"Now they have a need for you, so you can seek greater say in the project," Li Zhibai said. "I want more say in production, but Long Yan won't budge, and we are at a stalemate. For me, if the script for *Fake Death 2* isn't that good, there's no need for me to film it. For them, *Fake Death* is just a movie with a box office of 500-600 million; if filming a sequel is so much trouble, they'd rather put their energy into other projects, so it's been shelved. You are different now. If you propose some conditions, they might not refuse. Just like Yan He's cooperation with Soren, you can consider it carefully. If you have projects you want to do yourself, you can totally use their resources to achieve your goals."

Yan Liang was reminded by Li Zhibai's words and suddenly realized.

Li Zhibai said: "Wait until Yan He wraps up, then discuss it with him properly. He understands this better than we do. This is no small matter, and you don't need to reply to Huang Zhongjing immediately."

Yan Liang gave a hum of agreement. ===== CHAPTER 836 =====