Chapter 87

"Gao Dao, Sister Wei, don't see me off—I'm leaving first."

Yan Li bid farewell to Gao Qunshu and Liu Weiwei; Lin Jiachuan, whom he had called ahead, was already waiting downstairs with the car.

Gently pressing the accelerator, Lin Jiachuan, who had only recently gotten his license, drove carefully and asked Yan Li in the backseat.

"Bro, what did Gao Dao say?"

Yan Li came this time mainly to deliver money and build connections, and also to casually inquire about Gao Qunshu's next project.

"Conquest" earned a lot, and there's still plenty of future revenue, but you can't rely solely on this one project—you should still pursue suitable new ventures.

"From the tone of it, it seems unlikely."

Yan Li recalled Gao's试探 responses during their meal and shook his head.

Although Old Gao has good character and didn't break ties over money, the resentment inside him hasn't yet dissolved—he's not willing to collaborate with Yan Li anytime soon.

After all, "Conquest" aired well, and now that he's on the star list, more producers, distributors, and even TV stations will come knocking for collaborations.

"Isn't this cutting the bridge after crossing the river?"

Lin Jiachuan spoke indignantly—he was firmly on Yan Li's side and had once believed that without Yan Li's involvement, "Conquest" wouldn't have become popular.

Gao Qunshu is now eating his fill and kicking out the cook—this is utterly unscrupulous!

But Yan Li knew his own situation: without him, "Conquest" would still likely have become popular.

Of course, his presence made "Conquest" even more popular and helped Old Gao earn more money.

As always, Yan Li helped Gao Qunshu, and Gao Qunshu helped him—neither owed the other anything.

Dwelling on this is pointless; Yan Li does business based on mutual willingness. If Old Gao can't see it now, let it rest—when he eventually comes around, there might still be a chance for collaboration.

After all, Yan Li wasn't boasting—when it came to TV drama distribution, he truly had a unique advantage.

Normal distribution companies could never match his precision and speed in closing contracts, nor his ability to maximize benefits.

Old Gao has tasted the fine bran; once he tries the coarse grain, he'll understand the difference.

Unless every one of his future TV dramas reaches "Conquest" level, with TV stations and distributors fighting to buy them, he'll eventually have to come back to Yan Li.

"Then what about our next project?"

Lin Jiachuan asked, but Yan Li remained calm: "Just take our time finding opportunities—we've got money and fame, so how could we lack projects?"

"Conquest" has built his reputation; with that name, everyone inside and outside the industry must look at him differently.

Even if some TV stations pay slowly, Yan Li can still raise a few million in cash in the short term—enough to make a big difference.

Plus, Yan Li has his intelligence network, allowing him to combine real-world and even future information to assess the true value and prospects of various projects—the day of his full expansion is still ahead.

————

Near the end of March, multiple SARS cases had appeared in Jingcheng, but they hadn't drawn much attention.

Aside from slightly more frequent news reports, ordinary people carried on as usual.

Yan Li took a slight break—unless absolutely necessary, he declined all social engagements and avoided crowded places.

But exceptions existed—for instance, he attended the launch ceremony of "Emperor Wu of Han" at Hu Mei's invitation.

That's right, "Emperor Wu of Han" was about to begin filming.

However, Yan Li had few lines and appeared late—he was expected to join the cast in June to August, and if the production schedule fell behind, it might be even later.

At the launch ceremony, Yan Li also met several lead actors of "Emperor Wu of Han."

Chen Baoguo (Emperor Wu), Jiao Huang (Emperor Jing), Gui Yarei (Empress Dowager Dou), Yang Tongshu (Princess Pingyang), Lin Jing (Wei Zifu), Ma Shaohua (Dou Ying), Lu Shuming (Li Guang)…

The actor Yan Li had auditioned for the role of Wei Qing was Lu Jianmin.

He was an actor from the Beijing Film Studio theater troupe and Yan Li's senior from North Electric, having appeared in many films and TV dramas—though not famous, he was a familiar face to many viewers.

Besides Lu Jianmin, Yan Li also met another North Electric senior; unlike Lu, whom he had never interacted with, this senior Yan Li knew quite well.

Yan Li slapped Du Chun on the shoulder with a bright smile: "Senior, long time no see."

Du Chun awkwardly sidestepped and mumbled a reply.

The seating arrangement placed veteran actors in the center, with several young actors scattered on both sides; seeing Yan Li and Du Chun so "close," Yang Tongshu beside them curiously asked:

"You two know each other?"

"Know each other? We're close."

Yan Li slapped Du Chun again: "We were really tight—I used to go to his dorm all the time… to hang out."

Du Chun's face darkened; Yan Li had visited his dorm a few times, but not to hang out—he had come to block the door and beat him up.

That's right—this Du Chun was the North Electric '99 star二代 senior mentioned earlier, who had tried to steal Dong Xuan away from Yan Li and was subsequently punished by him.

Yan Li had deliberately chosen this guy as the chicken to scare the monkeys, to intimidate others.

He remembered blocking Du Chun's door three or four times, physically confronting him twice; the worst incident involved seven or eight people, nearly beating up Du Chun's roommates.

Afterwards, Yan Li received a major demerit, but he became famous overnight—no one dared to pry into his relationships again, and Du Chun had been avoiding him ever since.

Unexpectedly, Yan Li had graduated from North Electric, Du Chun was about to graduate too, and now they met again on "Emperor Wu of Han."

Yan Li had learned that Du Chun was playing the role of Young Emperor Wu.

Speaking of which, Yan Li truly admired Director Hu Mei—she cast three actors for Emperor Wu: boy, youth, and adult.

Chen Baoguo, the biggest-name actor in "Emperor Wu of Han," didn't appear until episode 22.

Everyone knew that the adult Zhang Wuji in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" was famously the latest-appearing male lead, but he usually showed up by episode ten at most—"Emperor Wu of Han" dared to wait until one-third of the entire series before introducing the main character.

Of course, Hu Mei's confidence came mainly from Jiao Huang.

The first twenty episodes of "Emperor Wu of Han" might as well be called "The Legend of Emperor Jing"—with Jiao Huang and Emperor Jing's story carrying the audience until Chen Baoguo's arrival.

As for Du Chun's portrayal of Young Emperor Wu, he appeared in fewer than ten episodes.

Still, though his screen time was limited, he was the absolute lead in those few episodes and retained significant presence.

For a student who hadn't graduated and had no prior works, landing such an opportunity right out of school was extremely rare.

This was largely thanks to Du Chun's father, Du Zhiguo, who had played Nian Gengyao in "Emperor Yongzheng" and was an old acquaintance of Director Hu Mei—likely having pulled many strings behind the scenes.

"Yan Li, these are all people—you—you're going too far."

Du Chun glanced at Hu Mei and the others nearby, as well as the reporters, and mustered a bit more courage, forcing a cold retort.

"Look at you, I was just trying to catch up with you—you're overthinking."

Seeing Du Chun's bluster masking his fear, Yan Li lost interest and stopped teasing him.

After all, he wasn't a violent maniac; the incident had been so long ago—he didn't need to chase after someone every time he saw them and beat them up again.

If Du Chun had exploded with defiance, fine—but now, seeing this cowardly facade, Yan Li didn't even bother picking a fight with him, lest he earn the reputation of "bullying a colleague."

Setting him aside, Yan Li chatted with Yang Tongshu, Lu Jianmin, and Lin Jing beside him.

Lu Jianmin—he truly didn't know him—but he'd seen the performances of the other two actresses.

Yang Tongshu's current signature role was Fu Shanxiang, the female top scholar in "The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

Lin Jing—he hadn't recognized her at first, but after chatting, he learned she played Ding Minjun in the recently popular "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber."

And this sister was practically a specialist in playing imperial concubines.

In "Capital of Suspicion," she played Consort Wei Yu; in "The Invincible County Magistrate," she played Consort Mei; in "The Hero of Chaos: Lü Buwei," she played Consort Huayang; in "Big-Footed Empress Ma," she played Consort Wu Yujiao.

Yan Li strongly suspected that Hu Mei had cast her as Wei Zifu precisely because of these roles.

Both were born in 1980, both graduates of the Beijing Film Academy, so they got along well and exchanged phone numbers.

Don't misunderstand—Yan Li had no ulterior motive; it was purely from a business perspective.

As the female lead in "Emperor Wu of Han," Lin Jing's popularity would surely surge after the drama aired, yet her current fee was still low.

Yan Li considered that if a suitable opportunity arose later, he could collaborate with Lin Jing—essentially hiring a future star at a low price, a guaranteed profit.

Besides Lin Jing, Yan Li also gave Yang Tongshu his business card, but his attitude wasn't particularly enthusiastic.

Lin Jing had just debuted and played only minor supporting roles—low pay, easy to hire.

Yang Tongshu had appeared in many dramas, including several female second leads and even leads; she already had some fame, so her value-for-money ratio wasn't high.

Yan Li also gave Lu Jianmin a business card—he was, after all, a senior and a future colleague; who knew if they might collaborate someday.

Yan Li handed out business cards to several others around him, but not to Du Chun, who glanced at Yan Li awkwardly. Yan Li returned a polite smile, then slipped the card back into his pant pocket.

Not beating you up is already generous—do you even expect a business card? I wouldn't even throw one at you…

…

At the launch ceremony, the focus was on the director and the major lead actors; Yan Li and the other newcomers were just fillers—just getting to say a few words was already a bonus.

But after the ceremony ended, some media still showed interest in Yan Li and wanted him to share his thoughts.

Yan Li glanced at the journalist's Sina. com press badge, warmly shook his hand.

"Small talk is boring—I'll treat you. Let's find a restaurant and chat over food."

The Sina. com journalist hesitated: "I've got other colleagues with me."

"So what? More people, more fun."

The next day, multiple news articles about the launch ceremony of "Emperor Wu of Han" appeared on Sina. com.

The articles brushed over the launch ceremony itself and focused instead on the actor playing Huo Qubing, lavishing praise upon him.

"【…】 Young actor Yan Li will portray the legendary warrior Huo Qubing… Yan Li stood out among numerous competitors thanks to his profound understanding of history and his rugged, perfectly suited temperament for the role, earning unanimous approval from the directorial team…"

"【…】 According to insiders, Yan Li did extensive preparation to embody the character, reading historical texts such as 'Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of the General Huo and the Cavalry Commander' and 'Book of Han'… Director Hu Mei once remarked to others: 'It's rare to see such a young actor delve so deeply into history!'…"

"【…】 Huo Qubing was enfeoffed as a marquis at seventeen and swept across the northern deserts at twenty-one—his youthful vigor and composed, decisive leadership were extremely hard to balance… Yan Li's classical, rugged masculinity fits the role perfectly…"

"【…】 Playing such a pivotal role, Yan Li admits it's a tremendous challenge, but he has full confidence in himself—he will not disappoint the director or the expectations of the audience…"

【…】

Yan Li browsed the online news, then turned to Lin Jiachuan: "These journalists write well—remember their contact details. We'll need them later."

Lin Jiachuan: "…"

Brother Yan's skin is getting thicker—he doesn't even blush reading articles like this…

(End of Chapter)