Chapter 422: Abbreviated

Zhou Tong, who was far away in the water town of Wucheng for his stage play tour, had only just returned to his hotel room at this moment.

For the past few days, he had felt a strong sense of unreality.

Now, every time he arrived at a place, he would draw a crowd as soon as he reached the airport.

In the past, when people saw him, they couldn't call out his real name, and he thought this time would also be a group of people calling him: "Xie Yu."

However, amidst the cries of "Xie Yu," voices like "Teacher Zhou" and "Uncle Tong" had frequently been mixed in over the past few days.

Moreover, for every stage play tour, there would be fresh flowers, or even large flower baskets, prepared in advance by fans at the entrance.

Among them, there was no shortage of flower baskets and gifts sent by fellow actors, congratulating him on the successful completion of the stage play tour.

These actors might have collaborated with him before, might have met him at some commercial event, or might have been his classmates from the film academy in the past...

But, most of them were not very close.

In the industry, many people operate on the principle: "Play with whoever is popular."

Many actors and the teams behind them are very sharp; once they saw Zhou Tong's popularity soaring recently thanks to *Nirvana in Fire*, they definitely wanted to come and cozy up to him.

Zhou Tong never cared about the 【Rising Popularity Ranking】 on Weibo; this ranking had nothing to do with people like them.

It was only through a friend's phone call that he learned he had actually been hanging in the top five for the past few days.

This left Zhou Tong with many emotions; every night, he would even sit alone on the hotel sofa, doing nothing, thinking of nothing, and just zoning out for over an hour.

Once, more than a decade ago, Zhou Tong also had the look of a standard "little fresh meat."

It was just that in the film and television industry at that time, "little fresh meat" were not in favor, nor could they carry the banner.

He endured and endured, playing all sorts of supporting roles, working hard to polish his acting skills and improve himself, and then what greeted him was—playing second fiddle to the new generation of "little fresh meat."

Looking at the film and television industry today, how many middle-aged actors can get a script for a lead role?

How many investors are willing to put money into them?

And how many scripts are written for people in their age group?

Even if there are, they are not ones Zhou Tong can access.

For veteran actors like them, there is a great sorrow: "The scripts you like, people don't pay attention to you. The scripts that find you, you almost don't like."

When some roles were being cast, Zhou Tong would also compete for them with a burning heart.

What he got in return was nothing but disappointment time and time again.

This era seems unwilling to give them a chance.

Sometimes, even if you act very well on set, the director will pull you aside to have a heart-to-heart, the subtext being not to act so well.

You act too well, and the lead actor cannot keep up with your performance.

This is not only detrimental to the lead actor's reputation but also to the reputation of the entire drama; when the audience watches it, they will also feel it is not good, not comfortable.

Sometimes Zhou Tong also really wanted to say: "Then why can't we change the lead actor?"

But he knew very well in his heart that if the lead actor wasn't that person, the crew wouldn't even be assembled, and he wouldn't be able to get this job at all.

The investors put up the money for those few traffic stars, not for him.

—"No money, then what the hell are you filming!?"

Even if he acted well, even if he stood out, even if he performed a god-tier scene of explosive acting, the crew and investors would not take those clips out to use for promotion.

Why?

Because those traffic stars are the ones they are determined to protect.

Why do many people still step in to protect these people even when they fall from grace?

Because the capital involved behind them might not be as simple as just a few hundred million.

The giant web woven by money has one thread after another tied to these traffic stars.

People like Zhou Tong are merely "fish that slipped through the net," ready to fall out of the gaps in the giant web at any time.

It is precisely these many messy reasons that make this atmosphere worse and worse, more and more morbid.

But Luo Mo doesn't care.

In fact, the reason why Zhou Tong and the others became popular is also because Luo Mo Studio has been sparing no effort in promoting them.

What is being promoted is not just the label 【Xie Yu】, but also Zhou Tong himself.

"You can't keep up with their acting, but I can." What does Luo Mo have to fear?

To completely outshine veteran actors, he cannot do that yet; there is still a long way to go.

But at least he can handle it.

The result of this is that *Nirvana in Fire* is getting more and more popular, and everyone in it is getting more and more popular.

This kind of thing will produce a chain reaction.

One person going to gain fans versus ten people going to gain fans together—can the effect be the same?

In Luo Mo's giant web, he has woven them all in.

You are not "fish that slipped through the net"; you are part of the foundation of my web.

In the past few days, Zhou Tong has started to be actively contacted by many people.

Among them, there is no shortage of big directors and big screenwriters.

What made Zhou Tong feel disappointed was that when they found him, they didn't bring a script or a role with them.

Because they didn't have any on hand at all.

In this day and age—capital determines creation.

If you write something and no one invests money, isn't that writing in vain?

This made Zhou Tong realize that these directors and screenwriters actually hadn't changed either.

What they had their eyes on was still not him.

It was because he now also had traffic behind him.

They were not there to recruit someone; they were merely establishing a preliminary intent to cooperate with the new "Top Traffic of the Uncle Circle."

After a quick wash in the hotel, Zhou Tong received a WeChat message from Luo Mo: "Brother Tong, any interest in collaborating again?"

Zhou Tong did not reply immediately; instead, he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

He replied with only one sentence: "Do you have a script? Or are the characters written yet?"

As it turned out, Luo Mo's reply was: "We're so familiar with each other, who are you looking down on?"

Looking at this sentence, Zhou Tong crushed the cigarette in his hand and opened the room's window.

The night breeze of the water town blew in.

"After all these years, I'm almost starting to look down on myself," Zhou Tong muttered to himself.

………

……..

Far away in Beijing, Luo Mo soon received Zhou Tong's reply.

He indicated that after he finished performing the stage play tomorrow, he would come to see Luo Mo specifically to discuss the script and the characters.

Furthermore, Zhou Tong stated that while they were close, an audition was still necessary; this was his insistence.

"That works," Luo Mo agreed immediately.

His ambition now was not just to work with veteran actors; he even wanted to sign a few.

Luo Mo Studio had no intention of continuing to sign traffic stars.

When it comes to traffic, can you beat me?

The "Strongest Top Traffic in the Entertainment Industry"—did you think that was a joke?

Even setting Luo Mo aside, the traffic that Ding Xiaoyu possessed was already among the top tier in the industry.

Luo Mo had left the initial preparation work for *Reset* almost entirely to the working-man Guan Fei, letting him handle it.

What he was more focused on now was the grand finale of *King of Love Songs* tomorrow night.

Tong Shu's songs and the songs for Fengge Group had long been prepared.

He would watch the Live Broadcast on time in Beijing.

Well, watching it while "petting the Cat."

On this side, Luo Mo was enjoying success in both love and fame.

On the other side, the two brothers at Pineapple TV were annoyed to death.

Just this afternoon, Luo Mo Studio and Penguin Video jointly released news that *Reset*, the first major drama to air under the "Mist Theater," had already entered the initial preparation stage.

The information that could be announced for the time being was as follows:

【Director】: Luo Mo, Guan Fei.

【Screenwriter】: Luo Mo.

【Producer】: Luo Mo, Guan Fei.

【Male Lead】: Luo Mo.

【Female Lead】: Ding Xiaoyu.

This made Pineapple, which had originally intended to build a Suspense Theater, very uncomfortable.

Clearly, I was first!

Why do I feel: "I am very passive right now!"

Once this list was released, many viewers began to look forward to it, shouting: "My youth has returned."

Luo Mo was finally collaborating with Ding Xiaoyu and Guan Fei again.

Doesn't this feel like a dream return to *Celestial Sword 5 Qixia Zhuan*?

And this time, it was no longer an ancient costume drama.

Luo Mo's "Ancient Costume Trilogy" plan had already concluded, and he had temporarily halted his conquest in that field.

He had turned his attack toward the 【Urban】 genre!

Another collaboration between master and student—so much "Want to Watch"!

Now, Luo Mo's sudden interference was like a giant foot descending from the heavens.

Never mind Pineapple, which had a clashing theme, feeling afraid; all the urban dramas scheduled to air early next year felt their "Dao heart was unstable."

Wang Shisong's two little secretaries were almost unemployed.

He now spent all his energy every day arguing with Wang Shibai and had no stamina left to play water conservancy projects with his secretaries.

From losing fluids to losing employment, it was but a fleeting moment.

The reason Wang Shisong and Wang Shibai were so irritable was that they were currently facing a choice.

As mentioned before, according to Pineapple's original plan, they intended to launch a "Grand Suspense Theater" in one fell swoop after both *Lost Sin* and *Nine Sins* achieved good results and feedback!

Now, the results of *Lost Sin* were passable, and *Nine Sins* was the number one suspense work of the year; logically, it was time to naturally introduce the concept of a "Grand Suspense Theater."

But Luo Mo and Penguin were too "reckless."

Before the drama had even started filming, they were making a big splash with all kinds of publicity, even stating how many hundreds of millions they would invest next year.

Do you understand the concept of gradual progress?

Have you ever heard of taking things one step at a time?

"This makes it look like we are copying them!" The Wang brothers only hated that they had shouted their slogans too late.

No martial virtue, absolutely no martial virtue!

Yet, they just happened to have the confidence and guts to pull off such a big move with zero foundation and zero background.

And yet, you still feel panicked.

"You arrogant brat!"

"This commoner bullies people too much!"

You would shout this while being unable to stop your footsteps from retreating.

Sometimes, Wang Shisong would also think: "How deep is the grudge? Just because of past grievances, must you keep targeting our Pineapple?"

Can this matter not be moved past?

He clearly has never filmed a Suspense drama.

He clearly has never even filmed an urban drama.

Logically speaking, every director and every screenwriter has their own strengths.

Then what about you, Director Luo?

High emotional intelligence: "I know a little bit of everything."

Low emotional intelligence: "I am invincible."

(PS: First update, seeking monthly votes!)

(End of this chapter)