A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 53 Gap
Lin Jianlu's scenes actually only consist of a few segments.

I was taking wedding photos for a couple in front of a shopping mall when I first met Xu Jinglei. Then I secretly took photos of them across the street, as they crossed the street and I smelled her perfume. After that, the two of them stood on an overpass and I took photos of them repeatedly.

In the darkroom where the photos were being developed, the two tried to kiss, but they couldn't manage to.

In the final scene, because Xu Jinglei left without saying goodbye, Lin Jianlu also decided to leave. He hailed a taxi and left in front of the photo studio, but the camera didn't move. A taxi stopped, Xu Jinglei got out, and then she came back...

I don't even know if the entire clip included is more than five minutes long, and there's basically no dialogue in the scenes. The whole thing is just the two of them talking about how they met through a voice-over.

Oh, right, the latest change is that Zhang Yang has decided to include Zhao Chuan's cameo in this segment. Zhao Chuan will play the owner of a small coffee shop, with about one or two shots, around ten seconds. In this scene, both Lin Jianlu and Xu Jinglei will appear, but they don't know each other.

With such a short plot, Zhang Yang actually said he would try his best to finish filming it in a week!
This made Lin Jianlu suddenly miss Wang Jing, or even Zhang Aijia, because neither of them were that slow!
But there was nothing I could do; since I had already agreed, I had no choice but to patiently wait it out.

However, before Lin Jianlu could fully immerse herself in the plot, while eating her lunchbox, she suddenly received a call that Rolling Stone's group had arrived—Xue Zhongding had brought two cars to the airport, carrying six people.

Li Zongsheng, Zhou Huajian, Zhao Chuan, Chen Shuhua, Su Huilun.

Everyone Zhang Yang called out came without exception.

In addition, there was Lao Duan, who said he also wanted to come and take a look.

So that afternoon, they filmed Zhao Chuan's scene—it was a brief, ten-second interlude where they didn't actually meet.

Wow, that's so stream-of-consciousness.

In the entire afternoon, only two scenes were filmed. Zhao Chuan's scene counted as one, and the other was of Lin Jianlu and Xu Jinglei standing side by side on the pedestrian overpass. There was also a brief, light rain shower, which Zhang Yang also captured in the shot.

And then... OK, we made great progress today, let's wrap this up!

…………

That evening, Lin Jianlu treated everyone to dinner.

We're having a welcome party for the people from Taiwan; anyone in the entire crew who wants to go is welcome.

There are quite a few actors, and even more crew members; it's worth booking an entire restaurant.

As the crew packed up their equipment and finished filming, Lin Jianlu, who hadn't had much time to talk to the Rolling Stone crew all afternoon, finally had a chance to go over and greet her friends one last time.

When they first arrived, it was quite hot and humid. It rained for a while, which made it a bit better, but it didn't matter. Although they didn't lack opportunities to shoot music videos or make cameo appearances in front of the camera, they still found it quite rare to see Lin Jianlu filming in person, so they all followed along the set to watch the excitement.

Su Huilun wore a bright red dress, which was both youthful and sexy.

Chen Shuhua wore a white shirt and tight jeans. Compared to when she left Taiwan, her hair seemed to have grown longer—it's really strange. She's a 38-year-old spinster, so she's definitely not young anymore, but she really doesn't look old at all. She looks like she's only in her late twenties.

After a brief chat, we set off together for the restaurant.

Friends from Taiwan joined the main crew members and actors at a large table to eat, drink, and chat. Lin Jianlu sat with Li Zongsheng on one side and Su Huilun on the other. Su Huilun was the main one, chattering away and sharing the interesting stories from her promotional trip.

Chen Shuhua, on the other hand, always appears exceptionally quiet and reserved in front of outsiders.

Lin Jianlu then took the initiative to ask her about applying for a Taiwan Compatriot Certificate.

She obtained her first Taiwan Compatriot Permit in 92, valid for three months, when she was going to Shanghai for a Rolling Stones concert. Later, she also performed at the closing ceremony of the 93 East Asian Games and obtained another three-month permit. After that, she never had the opportunity to come to the mainland again. It wasn't until she heard the song "Cold to the End" and suddenly wanted to come to the mainland that she discovered that both of her Taiwan Compatriot Permits had long been invalid.

But later Lin Jianlu went to Taiwan, and her impulse to come to the mainland disappeared. This time, when she wanted to come, only Zhou Huajian and Li Zongsheng in their group had Taiwan Compatriot Certificates. The others had to go to Hong Kong to apply for them. Fortunately, everything went smoothly and they all got them on the same day.

They all applied for five-year terms this time.

"That's great! Come visit whenever you're free. Food and lodging are included." Before Chen Shuhua could speak, Zhao Chuan interrupted, "Oh, does that include us? Or just Shuhua?"

This tactic is all too familiar: "It doesn't include you!"

So everyone burst into laughter.

Su Huilun hurriedly raised her hand, "I want to come, I want to come!" Then she brazenly put her arm around Lin Jianlu's shoulder and hugged her neck, "After I finish filming your scenes this time, I'm not going back with them, I want to travel! You take me to climb the Great Wall and see the Forbidden City!"

Without hesitation, Lin Jianlu replied casually while peeling salted peanuts, "Don't even think about it! In this sweltering heat, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall? Forget it! Go by yourself if you want, I'm not going to accompany you!"

Su Huilun refused, gripping Lin Jianlu's neck tightly. "How could you be like this! Are you going or not?"

"No way! In this weather, both the Forbidden City and the Great Wall are unbearably hot! It's like asking for trouble!"

As the manager of Rolling Stone in the capital, Xue Zhongding, or Zhang Peiren, the boss of Moyan who also came to join in the fun, should naturally have agreed to this job first. But if it were Zhou Huajian or Zhao Chuan, they would definitely have spoken up. However, since it was Su Huilun or Chen Shuhua who made the request, they pretended not to hear.

Su Huilun got so angry that she started pestering him relentlessly.

In the end, Lin Jianlu had no choice but to agree to accompany them to climb the Great Wall—provided it was a cloudy day.

…………

Xu Jinglei stared at the person opposite her with a look of surprise.

At the other end of the long table that had been put together, Lin Jianlu chatted and joked with a group of superstars from Taiwan. Not only Li Zongsheng, Zhou Huajian, and Zhao Chuan, but also the two female singers, Su Huilun and Chen Shuhua, were clearly on good terms with him. They even whispered to each other and got very close!
Su Huilun could even intimately put her arm around his neck!

No hesitation whatsoever!

This shows that their relationship is extremely close.

Lin Jianlu appeared remarkably composed in front of these people, and even seemed to hold a very high status!
This made Xu Jinglei recall the reports she had read before.

Previously, Xu Jinglei only knew that this person named Lin Jianlu was not only very popular in mainland China, but also extremely popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and was even hailed as a new king. Of course, he was constantly involved in scandals, but before today, Xu Jinglei didn't really have a concrete understanding of him. Of course, she had listened to the cassette tape of "Cold to the End" and liked it, but the fact that the song was good had nothing to do with her understanding of him as a person.

Her boyfriend is Wang Shuo!
Since ten years ago, Wang Shuo has been one of the most well-known cultural figures in China. In recent years, the domestic film and television industry has been developing rapidly. In this process, the so-called Beijing circle has far surpassed all other small circles in China in terms of strength and influence. And Wang Shuo is the number one figure at the very core of this Beijing circle!
Since she got involved with Wang Shuo, and even started dating him, to be honest, there are very few people in the domestic entertainment industry that Xu Jinglei can look up to!

Zhang Yang had previously introduced her to film a music video for Lin Jianlu. It wouldn't have mattered much if she had just done it, but she was in a bad mood those two days and declined the offer. It was no big deal!
It's just shooting a music video; other girls would kill for it, but she never took it seriously!

Lin Jianlu's music video is the same!
However, it seems now that he is truly famous and has a significant presence in the entertainment industry...

The people sitting next to him are all superstars from Hong Kong and Taiwan!

Even someone as arrogant as Wang Shuo, despite his disdain for the so-called "actors" in Hong Kong and Taiwan, privately admitted that in terms of commercialization, making money, marketing, comprehensive management of literary and artistic works, and influence, the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment industry was indeed thirty years ahead of the mainland!

He also acknowledges the extremely high status of these Hong Kong and Taiwan superstars!
If he is like this, what about others?
Besides, Xu Jinglei!
In mainland China, people like Pu Cunxin, Liu Jie, Xu Fan, and Xu Jinglei would already be considered celebrities. They work in either the film or television industry. Liu Jie is also a spokesperson and releases albums. Compared to ordinary workers and laborers these days, these artists, actors, celebrities, and singers not only have high social status and high income, but they also have a great sense of pride.

But that was only discussed within the context of mainland China.

When people encounter celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan, they immediately feel several levels of inferiority without even realizing it.

What's more, the people sitting at the same table now are the most popular and hottest Rolling Stone superstars in recent years, whether in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or mainland China.

They were influential figures in Hong Kong and Taiwan!

Lin Jianlu sat among them, occasionally exchanging banter with Li Zongsheng, joking with Zhou Huajian, and bickering with Zhao Chuan. She even put her arm around Su Huilun's shoulder and whispered to Chen Shuhua...

(End of this chapter)