Huayu 2015, the Artist of Light and Shadow

……

September is a harvest season for most people.

Zhang Ruonan was successfully admitted to Hangzhou Dianzi University.

She was worried that she might face discrimination at school because of her adult undergraduate degree.

But clearly, she was overthinking it.

Even because of her cute appearance and sweet smile, she quickly became friends with her classmates and became the class's darling.

In fact, the whole school knows that there is a super cute girl among the freshmen.

"Xiao Nan, do you want to have dinner together later?"

Among them were some overconfident male students who wanted to take their relationship with Zhang Ruonan further.

But Zhang Ruonan refused without hesitation: "No need, I'm going to my boyfriend's house for dinner later."

a bolt from the blue.

She's so cute, and she already has a boyfriend right after starting school, and she even goes to his house for dinner?

This left many male students feeling disheartened.

"It's Friday, my brother's coming home for dinner tonight. I need to hurry to the fruit shop and see if they have any fresh coconuts."

To Zhang Ruonan, the male classmates at school were like sand on the school playground—not worth her time or effort.

Besides studying the script and figuring out the character, the most important thing she's done since the start of the semester has been to win over Lu Yunzhou's mother like crazy.

He would buy fruit from time to time, and in the evening he would go to Lu Yunzhou's mother's place to watch TV with her. He was even more attentive to her than he was to his own mother.

……

"Xiao Nan is here. Come in quickly."

Zhang Ruonan carried coconuts and went to the door in high spirits.

As soon as the doorbell rang, Lu Yunzhou's mother came to open the door.

As she opened the door, Mom asked, somewhat puzzled, "Did you forget your access card? Why do you need to ring the doorbell?"

Lu Yunzhou's mother had already given the access card to Zhang Ruonan so that Zhang Ruonan could visit from time to time.

But today, Zhang Ruonan deliberately rang the doorbell, hoping that Lu Yunzhou would come to open the door and see the coconuts she had brought him.

Unfortunately, Lu Yunzhou stayed in his room, constantly on the phone.

……

In Lu Yunzhou's room.

"Brother Xiaochuan, can you help me think of a way to gag Old Honey?"

"I'm really getting annoyed by her."

Lu Yunzhou received a call from Tang Yan.

Filming for "A Chinese Odyssey Part Three" has wrapped up for a while now, and Tang Yan is currently in Shanghai for some fashion events.

Meanwhile, in order to collaborate with the public service short film "Super Cleaner" and to cultivate an elegant and intellectual image for Teacher Tang, Tang Yan held some public service activities in September.

At these charity events, she always dressed like a professional woman, and even wore some hair extensions to cover her almost bald forehead.

Aside from her increasingly thinning hair, Tang Yan has actually been in a good mood ever since the short film was shortlisted for the Busan International Film Festival and the preparations for the "Death Is Coming" project have become increasingly perfect.

but--

Just two days ago, a large number of press releases suddenly appeared online, frantically criticizing Tang Yan and praising Yang Mi.

—[Tang Yan snatches Yang Mi's resources for the second time!]

—[Tang Yan replaces Yang Mi in "The Bounty Hunters"!]

—[Tang Yan beat Yang Mi to win the female lead role with her acting skills, immediately sparking a massive online war between their fans!]

—[Tang Yan steals her best friend's resources, further damaging her public image!]

Lu Yunzhou looked at the press releases Tang Yan sent him, and his mood was similar to Tang Yan's, with a sense of magical realism.

Is Tang Yan trying to steal Yang Mi's resources for the second time?

What the hell is this?

Wait a minute, "Bounty Hunters," where did this terrible movie come from?

To be honest, Lu Yunzhou considers himself a passionate movie lover, whether in this time or another.

He felt that he had watched almost every movie available on the market.

However, Tang Yan always manages to bring him some surprises.

He had never heard of the previous movie, "A Chinese Odyssey Part Three," but on set, both Wu Jing and Wang Yibo brought him a lot of joy.

This time, "Bounty Hunters" also touched on his blind spots in knowledge.

He believes the movie should be quite interesting.

But Tang Yan didn't find this situation particularly interesting; she was only filled with resentment: "Little Boat Bro, you be the judge. When did I ever steal my friend's resources?"

"This film, 'The Bounty Hunters,' was a collaboration between me and Chung Han-liang, with a South Korean director. The producer is Hwang Pak-ming."

"What does Yang Mi have to do with Huang Baiming? How did it become me stealing her resources?"

"And a while ago, Yu Zheng complained online that actors wearing colored contact lenses looked lifeless and like dead people... Was he talking about me?"

"Why are all the netizens dragging me out again and repeatedly hurling insults at me?"

Tang Yan didn't want to answer who Yu Zheng was referring to, since it couldn't possibly be her.

Among the actresses born in 85, who has lifeless eyes and looks like a dead person?

Everyone knows the truth.

However, Tang Yan had no conflict with the other party. In fact, she had a good relationship with many people in Tangren Company, so of course she wouldn't speak ill of them.

But some people insisted on dumping this dirty water on her head.

This made her a little upset.

"Sister Tangtang, this isn't a battle of egos, it's a battle of the top stars. It's about fashion resources and brand endorsements, so everyone's using their own unique skills."

"Constant tolerance is meaningless."

Lu Yunzhou had been in this circle for a while and understood why Yang Mi was constantly trying to put Tang Yan down.

It's all about real money.

Sisterly affection means nothing in the face of real money.

In terms of acting skills, Yang Mi and Tang Yan are evenly matched.

But now, with his support as a director, Tang Yan's future acting opportunities will be better.

Therefore, Yang Mi started to panic and could only take advantage of the fact that she hadn't yet developed herself to desperately crush Tang Yan and steal Tang Yan's fashion resources and brand endorsements.

Both Yang Mi and Dilraba are born red carpet stars.

Who says you don't need acting skills on the red carpet?

Tang Yan simply couldn't pull off that flamboyant pose, while Yang Mi and Reba were quite convincing, at least 80% as good as Fan Bingbing.

Although Lu Yunzhou was used to Yang Mi's various attempts to put Tang Yan down, he also understood that he had to help Tang Yan.

Whether from the perspective of friendship or from the perspective of company interests.

He is now deeply tied to Tang Yan.

We absolutely cannot stand by and watch Tang Yan be trampled on.

"Sister Tangtang, I understand what you're thinking after talking to me for so long. Just tell me, how do you want me to help you?"

Tang Yan would never let Lu Yunzhou help her argue online.

Lu Yunzhou lets his works speak for themselves.

And this is precisely the kind of solid foundation that Tang Yan lacks most.

"Brother Xiao Chuan, then I'll tell you the truth."

Tang Yan chuckled, knowing that Lu Yunzhou had seen through her little scheme.

She didn't mind.

After all, Ji Rujing had told her that Lu Yunzhou was the strategist of their entire team, a man of high intelligence, and that there was no need to play mind games with him.

I can't outsmart him at all.

"Brother Xiao Chuan, this is what I think. The TV series 'The Day Is Coming' will only take two months to film at most, and one month for post-production. It can be broadcast at the end of the year."

"Can we start preparing for the next project?"

Tang Yan has filmed many TV dramas, some of which became hits, while many others flopped, but none of them have affected her core fanbase.

Her battle with Yang Mi for top-tier fame has now reached a fever pitch.

Yang Mi has entered the film industry and has the "Tiny Times" series as her representative work.

She has to keep up too.

Otherwise, in the eyes of netizens, she would be considered to have lost to Yang Mi.

As Lu Yunzhou said, the battle between top celebrities is no child's play. Once one side makes concessions, it means giving up their status, fashion resources, and brand endorsements to the other side.

The losses amounted to hundreds of millions.

Seeing that Lu Yunzhou remained silent, seemingly lost in thought, Tang Yan continued, "Little Boat Brother, youth movies are really popular lately."

"The Left Ear, a film that grossed 4.86 million yuan, was just so-so to me. If you had directed it, I believe it would have been more artistic and captured the innocent and painful feeling of youth."

"Gardenia in Blossom, a July release, its quality speaks for itself, right? It grossed 3.78 million. If you had directed it, I believe it would have been even better."

Tang Yan's skill had a rather long cast time, but it was completed eventually. At this moment, she finally revealed her true intentions, saying, "I've been bored lately and read a novel called 'My Girlfriend of Ten Years is Getting Married.' I've already asked Sister Ji to buy the film and television adaptation rights."

"After we finish filming 'The Day Is Coming,' how about we make a coming-of-age movie?"

Youth films are perfect for new directors entering the film market. Plus, the investment isn't high, so Tang Yan can definitely afford it.

What level are those directors who make youth films?

Tang Yan didn't comment, but he was definitely not as good as Lu Yunzhou.

After watching those youth movies, Tang Yan couldn't help but ask those directors, "Do you even understand the techniques of lighting and shadow?"

A bunch of random shots, and they actually managed to trick the audience into crying?

This market is a mixed bag; anyone can make money here.

If Lu Yunzhou were to direct a film of this genre, it would be absolutely phenomenal.

Lu Yunzhou remained silent for a long time, neither agreeing nor refusing, but said seriously, "Let's finish this project first. There's no money in the company's account, so there's no point in saying anything."

Not refusing means agreeing!

This filled Tang Yan with anticipation.

"By the way, Little Boat Bro, we're going to Busan next week. What are the chances of our short film winning an award?"

Speaking of this, Tang Yan suddenly felt a little uneasy.

It would be very embarrassing if I didn't win an award.

Although a nomination is already a good achievement, she'd already made all that boasting. She could imagine how Yang Mi would smear her if she didn't win.

It's one thing to step on her, she's used to it.

However, given Yang Mi's personality, Lu Yunzhou will likely suffer as well.

She didn't want to see that happen.

"Don't worry. Our short film has an 80% or higher chance of winning an award." Unlike Tang Yan's anxiety, Lu Yunzhou was full of confidence.

"So tall? Why?"

Tang Yan couldn't help but ask a question out of curiosity.

Honestly, she didn't know where Lu Yunzhou got his confidence from.

Lu Yunzhou said unhurriedly, "We all live in a cave, thinking that shadows are the whole world, until the light breaks in."

"This quote comes from Plato's Republic, and it is the true theme of our short film, Super Cleaner."

"Teacher Tang, you are that child's light. That child is his mother's light. And his mother is the light of all humanity..."

"I believe those judges should be able to tell."

These theories of light and shadow touched upon areas where Tang Yan had no knowledge.

Just as Lu Yunzhou couldn't understand the bad films she made, she also couldn't understand Lu Yunzhou's spiritual world and his narrative about the art of light and shadow.

But this damn style is just so captivating.

Even though she couldn't see Lu Yunzhou's face through the phone, Tang Yan felt that Lu Yunzhou was incredibly handsome at that moment.

At that moment, an absurd idea popped into her head: "I must find an opportunity to let my old friend meet my little boatman."

"I want to seduce my sweetheart, but then make her unable to have me, ideally driving her crazy with frustration!"