Chapter 83: Official Partnership Jewelry

Chapter 83: Official Partnership Jewelry

Mu Qian struggled to find the words to describe how well Lu Xu performed in this scene.

He could only say that, just like during the audition for Wu Shen, Lu Xu effectively conveyed emotions, striking a chord with the audience.

This showcases both his acting skills and innate talent.

Clearly, Lu Xu has fully grasped the character of Huang Luning.

Jin Mu discussed the script for "The Year I Was 18" with Mu Qian before writing it. Since Jin Mu is already middle-aged, he conceived a plot about a middle-aged man returning to the past. However, returning to the past doesn't mean getting promoted, marrying a beautiful woman, and reaching the pinnacle of life. That kind of wish-fulfillment story isn't Jin Mu's strength.

The script is more about warmth, depicting the social changes Huang Luning experienced from age 18 to 40, and his efforts to make his home warmer. It’s just about making his ordinary and incomplete life a bit more complete.

Huang Luning may seem ordinary, but characters like him are rare in today's TV drama market.

Last year, "The Son of Heaven" faced its biggest competitor at the Starlight Award, "We Live in an Ordinary Era," a story about ordinary people. Director Ou Qingchun is very skilled at portraying ordinary people, but he typically portrays characters with specific identities, like construction workers or mountain guardians. In contrast, Huang Luning's character is the most common ordinary person in daily life.

A vague, everyday person.

Nowadays, directors and scriptwriters don't really like to portray such ordinary people.

Of course, audiences aren't particularly drawn to them either.

It's precisely because such characters are so common that they're challenging to portray because actors' real lives are far removed from them.

In comparison, Ou Qingchun's dramas might be easier to perform in.

With specific professions, actors can easily find a real-life model to emulate. By following real-life figures, actors can gradually master the techniques of performance.

...

"You’ve never played a role like this before, right?" Han Xiao asked Lu Xu.

He plays Huang Luning's father in the drama.

Lu Xu nodded: "Not before."

In a previous life, Lu Xu had taken on similar roles, but they weren't 100% like Huang Luning.

In this scene, Han Xiao and Lu Xu sit around a stove, eating sweet potatoes, waiting for a bus by the roadside. The wind howls, and each sweet potato costs 2.5 yuan. They’re too hot to eat at first, so they blow on them to cool them down, but after taking a bite, the wind doesn't seem as cold anymore.

Sweet potatoes aren't expensive, and young Huang Luning didn't think much of them. But just as he was about to buy one, his father said he didn't want any.

In the past, Huang Luning thought his father didn't like sweet potatoes, but after returning to the past, he understood that his father hesitated to spend the 2.5 yuan.

Just like how his parents rarely ate out, they’d never buy a one-yuan bottle of water, always carrying a water bottle and towel instead, carefully considering the use of every yuan.

After getting the sweet potato, Huang Luning split it in half and offered one piece to his father.

"I don't want it."

After a while, the half sweet potato was still in Huang Luning's hand, so his father reluctantly accepted it.

The father and son ate the sweet potatoes in the wind. Huang Luning wore a down jacket, while his father had only an old cotton coat. Yet, he and his mother never considered buying new clothes for themselves. Anything good at home was always given to Huang Luning first.

After eating the sweet potato, Huang Luning's father instinctively reached for a cigarette but remembered he had quit.

Han Xiao, Lu Xu’s co-star, is also a seasoned actor. He is different from Cheng Yun, another veteran actor. Although both mainly play supporting roles, Han Xiao is more adept at portraying everyday characters. When he plays such roles, there is no trace of acting.

For example, in this scene, Huang's father, who hadn't smoked, gave his son an awkward smile: "I forgot I quit smoking. Smoking too much is bad, not good for your health."

After that, he lowered his head in embarrassment.

This small part of the scene was slightly different from what Jin Mu had written in the script, as it was suggested by Han Xiao.

Huang's father quit smoking partly to save money and also because affordable cigarettes were becoming scarce in stores.

Everyone is concerned about appearances; they prefer to smoke high-quality cigarettes. When meeting friends, they hand out cigarettes, and if you’re seen smoking a pack of cheap cigarettes, people know you're not doing well.

But if you smoke someone else's cigarettes, you’re expected to return the favor the next time you meet, so it's better to just say you've quit smoking.

In the script, Huang Luning has memories related to cigarettes. When he was young, his father smoked Yuxi and Suyan cigarettes, later it was Hongtashan and Yunyan, and eventually, even the cigarette packs vanished from the house.

Just like his mother once mentioned returning to their hometown to build a yard and plant a peach or loquat tree at the entrance, but gradually stopped mentioning it.

These are the small details in "The Year I Was 18." To Lu Xu, Jin Mu's script appears casual but is actually meticulous, with many interconnected parts hidden within. However, others who read his script might think his writing is unrewarding, as these are details that audiences easily overlook.

Han Xiao captured Huang's father's awkwardness and discomfort, and in this scene, Lu Xu, portraying Huang Luning, didn’t address it or keep staring at his father, instead feigning ignorance.

There's a saying that love always feels like owing something.

Parents don't want their vulnerable side to be seen.

...

While filming, Han Xiao remarked to Mu Qian with a sigh: "Lu Xu is truly exceptional."

He and Zhou Lin, who plays Huang's mother in the drama, are regulars in numerous film crews, often cast as middle-aged couples in life dramas. Naturally, they frequently collaborate with young actors.

Han Xiao and Zhou Lin have seen all kinds of young actors, both popular and not, in the industry. It’s rare to find someone who is both talented and hardworking, rarer than a panda.

There are thousands of pandas.

Lu Xu is both serious and talented.

Every time he acts with Lu Xu, Lu Xu naturally keeps up, even making Han Xiao feel as though he’s not acting with a young actor but with an old colleague he's worked with for years.

Especially in the portrayal of Huang Luning's mental shifts, Han Xiao even felt that if he were to play the role, his performance would likely be on par with Lu Xu’s.

Mu Qian is also very satisfied with Lu Xu.

There are some things he can't say to actors like Han Xiao, but he doesn't hide them from Jin Mu: "Lu Xu has been unfairly criticized recently. Just because he acted in a movie, does he think he's on a plane?"

"What has Lu Xu done to deserve this?"

During the days without filming, Mu Qian observed all kinds of gossip online and naturally figured out the source of the conflict between Lu Xu and Zhang Che.

It started with the Starlight Award, where Lu Xu, who was nominated, comforted Zhang Che, who wasn't.

Later, "The Empress" and "The Path of Bones" were released at the same time, and Zhang Che's agency targeted "The Path of Bones" for "The Empress."

In Mu Qian's view, Lu Xu did nothing wrong.

As for Zhang Zhizhen's words, they might fool outsiders, but insiders can see that Zhang Zhizhen was just eyeing Lu Xu's popularity, trying to lure more fans into the cinema.

Lu Xu just didn't fall for it.

Now is no longer the 80s or 90s; Zhang Zhizhen's golden era has long passed.

But such a director still yearns for the glory of the past, longing to return to the days when he could call the shots.

In Mu Qian's view, the film market is becoming increasingly unpopular with audiences precisely because some who should have retired long ago are still hanging on, leaving no opportunities for newcomers to break through.

Mu Qian has been busy filming "The Year I Was 18" recently, so he has no time, and it wouldn't do the crew any good to criticize Zhang Zhizhen at this moment.

Mu Qian doesn't believe that the movie "The Swordsman" can be a box office hit.

If Zhang Zhizhen could win the audience with the plot, he wouldn't have first reached out to Lu Xu and then gone to Zhang Che after being rejected by Lu Xu.

...

Lu Xu is steadily filming in the crew of "The Year I Was 18," while Zhang Che's side is buzzing with activity.

The covers of three major magazines and the endorsement of M brand have made Zhang Che quite proud recently, acting like he's the top dog.

Since he joined the crew of "The Swordsman," there has been a steady stream of press releases—sometimes leaked set photos, sometimes his character's look, sometimes a stunt double coming out to talk about how beautiful the shooting locations are, and sometimes he and Zhang Zhizhen praising each other to the skies.

Zhang Che doesn't even get depressed at midnight anymore.

Xu Wen couldn't help but comment, "Is this supposed to be a movie or a reality show? I remember Zhang Zhizhen wasn't like this before."

He once worked with an actress who collaborated with Zhang Zhizhen, though that was a long time ago.

Back then, Zhang Zhizhen was tight on the script and the actors, sometimes even finishing a film without the actors themselves knowing who they had worked with—scenes with no interaction were intentionally filmed separately.

"Maybe to cut down on promotion costs?" Lu Xu speculated. "This way, they don't need to promote, and the audience will naturally know about 'The Swordsman.'"

"Maybe."

Although Lu Xu hasn't paid attention to the details of "The Swordsman" filming, he can't escape the various leaks about it popping up in front of him.

Naturally, there are plenty of jabs at him.

Lu Xu himself isn't afraid of Zhang Zhizhen and wouldn't hesitate to call him out for lying, but a senior executive from Feiyang Entertainment specifically talked to him about it once.

On one hand, Zhang Zhizhen had mentored several artists from Feiyang Entertainment in the past, so it would put Feiyang in a tough spot if Lu Xu directly attacked him.

On the other hand, Zhang Zhizhen is a seasoned director, and even if Lu Xu refuted him, more people would believe Zhang Zhizhen than Lu Xu.

"Can you hold off until 'The Swordsman' is out before saying anything?"

Considering Lu Xu was indeed wronged, Feiyang Entertainment revised his contract, giving him a slightly bigger cut.

As for Zhang Che—

Since Zhang Che's fans have recently set their sights on the world, he no longer cares about domestic awards (especially TV awards), and his fans have been slamming the Starlight Award, having previously hinted that the nominations were rigged, deliberately given to Lu Xu, who is signed under Feiyang Entertainment.

The members of the Starlight Award committee are not deaf; they naturally hear these comments.

It's well known that judges of domestic prestigious awards are... pretty petty.

This assessment is quite objective, as directors, scriptwriters, and actors must stay on good terms with the judges to have a chance at winning awards.

In other words, the Starlight Award committee is used to being on their high horse and usually can't tolerate criticism, let alone Zhang Che's fans directly challenging them.

The nomination list for the previous year has already been announced, so the Starlight Award committee can't do much about it.

This year, Zhang Che doesn't have any series in the running, so the blow of not getting a nomination naturally won't fall on him.

But the Starlight Award did not sit idly by.

Didn’t Zhang Che look down on the Starlight Award?

Then—whether by accident or design—M brand was left off the official jewelry partnership list for this year's Starlight Award.

Last year, M brand was still among the partners, but this year it was unexpectedly excluded.

As M brand’s spokesperson, Zhang Che was naturally barred from the Starlight Award red carpet—whereas in previous years, M brand was a regular guest on the Starlight Award red carpet.

This year, the Starlight Award chose C brand as its jewelry partner.

Industry insiders naturally read between the lines. Although the Starlight Award nomination list had not yet been announced, celebrities planning to attend the ceremony or who had standout roles in last year’s shows quietly asked their teams to source jewelry from other brands.

M brand was slow to catch on at first, since the Starlight Award only partners with one or two jewelry brands, and being excluded is normal—perhaps C brand's PR was more effective this year.

However, the list had already been announced, and the stars who’d borrowed jewelry early in past years didn’t lift a finger this time. Even M brand, slow as it was, began to sense something was off.