Chapter 108: Movie Face

Chapter 108: Movie Face

Halfway through selecting scripts, Lu Xu took some time to attend a fashion event hosted by Brand C.

Brand C had been pursuing Lu Xu for a long time. After Brand M withdrew from the competition, it was Brand C's turn to negotiate a collaboration with Lu Xu's team. However, Xu Wen and Feiyang Entertainment had different views on the domestic-level title Brand C offered.

Luxury brands are often stingy with titles, and few are as generous as Brand G. Brand C was only willing to offer Lu Xu a domestic-level title, and not even the top-tier one. Naturally, Xu Wen wouldn't concede on this.

If Brand C wanted to collaborate with Lu Xu, they needed to show genuine sincerity.

This negotiation dragged on for years, and it wasn't until Lu Xu won the Best Actor in a Television Series award at the Star Awards that Brand C finally compromised, granting him the title of spokesperson.

The reason the collaboration wasn't canceled was that Brand C was even more stingy with titles for other celebrities. As a result, Brand C maintained its high-end image, avoiding the wholesale distribution of ambassador titles.

At this Brand C event, Lu Xu encountered Qi Di, the male third lead of the 5 billion yuan box office movie.

Qi Di's appearance wasn't particularly striking, but he had what directors praised as a "movie face," which was completely different from Lu Xu's style, who gained fame through TV dramas.

Although both were actors, Lu Xu had few interactions with the rising stars of the movie world. He rarely attended movie-related events, and at the Star Awards, the highest honor in the television industry, few emerging actors from the movie scene made appearances.

Whether by design or tradition, audiences generally perceived actors focused on movies as more prestigious.

Qi Di clearly thought the same.

At the Brand C event, Lu Xu didn't know many celebrities well, with Wei Yi being the only acquaintance. This was because Lu Xu had acted in fewer youth and idol dramas, limiting his opportunities to meet peers.

Fortunately, most of the celebrities at the event were merely acquaintances, so Lu Xu didn't need to engage deeply—keeping it casual was sufficient.

No matter who he met, Lu Xu only needed to maintain an appropriate attitude.

But when he encountered Qi Di backstage, just as Lu Xu was about to greet him, Qi Di lifted his head haughtily, ignored Lu Xu's gaze, and walked away with his assistant.

During the group photo shoot at the event, the photographer had already arranged the positions. Lu Xu was in the center, with Qi Di standing beside him, about an arm's length apart.

But it was visibly clear that Qi Di was getting closer, extending his arm and even blocking Lu Xu's normal shot. Reluctantly, Lu Xu had to step forward slightly to showcase his wristwatch and the brooch on his suit.

As Lu Xu moved forward, Qi Di followed suit.

Since everyone at the shoot was looking at the camera at that moment, Lu Xu couldn't turn his gaze toward Qi Di.

Later, Lu Xu saw the photos from the Brand C event.

Originally, Lu Xu was supposed to occupy the center spot alone, but in the photo, he and Qi Di stood side by side, almost as if they were dual centers.

Lu Xu: "..."

It felt like being back in Verse.

However, Qi Di acted boldly and confidently, so Lu Xu wasn't sure if it was intentional.

The Brand C event was a public event, and Qi Di's behavior naturally caught people's attention.

"Was that on purpose? Lu Xu is the spokesperson—shouldn't the spokesperson take the center?"

"If it wasn't intentional at first, the way he moved when Lu Xu did makes it seem deliberate."

"It's fine to vye for attention, but don't obstruct the product showcase. Brand C invited celebrities to the event, not to watch petty disputes."

Lu Xu's fans expressed their views, which Qi Di's fans promptly rebutted—

"Don't be obsessed with the center stage, okay? You're so fixated on that spot, no wonder Lu Xu, who comes from an idol group, can't compare to a real actor."

"Seriously? Isn't Qi Di worthy of the center stage? With a box office record of over 7 billion yuan, he's the top actor of his generation. Does C-brand stipulate that the brand ambassador must stand in the center?"

Lu Xu's fans: "..."

At a brand event, shouldn't the brand ambassador naturally take the center?

In filmmaking, it's standard for the director to be at the center. Would Qi Di dare to compete for the center stage with the director of "How Much Do You Know"?

...

During Lu Xu's participation in the C-brand event, the daily box office of "Deception" silently overtook that of "Homebound Train," climbing to the top of the daily chart.

Although the Spring Festival holiday had passed, and the buzz around various films was gradually fading, the daily box office of "Deception" still broke the 100 million mark, approaching 1.5 billion.

Yan Huan watched a GIF of a participant appearing on the homepage of various marketers, becoming a classic scene in the movie "Deception."

As the box office of "Deception" gradually rose, the presence of Yan Huan's character also gained prominence. He was charming yet unpredictable, making it hard to discern his true thoughts, and was the wildcard in the game.

Many audience members were appealed to by Lu Xu's face and willingly bought tickets to the cinema.

"Can you blame me? Movies are full of unattractive faces these days. I just want to see a beautiful face, is that too much to ask?"

A certain audience member's reason received countless likes.

The demand is simple: no more unattractive faces.

...

Undoubtedly, Lu Xu is currently at the height of his fame.

The moment Qi Di stole the scene immediately brought both of them to the top of the search rankings.

From the video dynamics, it was clear that Qi Di, who was originally on the side, kept squeezing Lu Xu's space, but Qi Di's fans kept arguing, with a simple reason—Qi Di has already made a name for himself in the film industry, why would he vie for space with Lu Xu, who has just ventured into the film industry?

In terms of backing and connections, the current Qi Di and Lu Xu simply can't compete.

He is the young actor championed by Liu Rennong, the top film director in the industry, and his management deal is signed directly under Liu Rennong.

While he may lack popularity, Qi Di's film resources are something Lu Xu can't compare to.

It's no exaggeration to say that as long as "How Much Do You Know" exists, Qi Di has a legacy to boast about.

The box office of "How Much Do You Know" broke the 5 billion record, and since then, very few films have achieved the same success. Like this year's Spring Festival box office, which was touted as the most crowded in history, but the season champion "Homebound Train" fell short of the 3 billion mark.

The best opportunity has passed, and the total box office of "Homebound Train" might break 3 billion, but surpassing "How Much Do You Know" is almost impossible.

Regarding the scene-stealing incident, Qi Di's talent agency issued a noncommittal statement, implying that the shooting scene was crowded, and the angle of the GIF provider was biased.

This was the official statement, but privately, Qi Di's manager sarcastically remarked, "Lu Xu himself didn't say anything, so why are his fans speaking up?"

"Isn't it said that Lu Xu is very good at retorting? I see his fans are quite active too."

Qi Di's manager, after entering the industry, has been responsible for artists at Liu Rennong's studio, and he hasn't suffered any hardships in the entertainment industry. As for those tasks of bowing and scraping for resources, he doesn't need to do them at all.

It can be said that whatever style Qi Di has among stars, his manager has the same style among managers.

The reporters on the beat took this question to interview Lu Xu.

After the roadshow of "Deception" ended, Lu Xu had been working on the script at home. Reporters had been camping out at his house for several days, assuming they’d find nothing, but on this day, one reporter first spotted Shao Yao waiting on a bike downstairs at Lu Xu's residence.

Sure enough, not long after, Lu Xu also appeared.

Lu Xu is the kind of celebrity with not much gossip around him. He doesn’t hang out at bars or clubs, making it tough to dig up anything useful even after staking out for ten days or half a month.

When nothing’s going on, it's fine, but when something does, it's hard to find him.

As soon as Shao Yao showed up, the reporters knew that the two were about to round up some friends and head out.

There seems to be an unspoken understanding between the two and their fans. In fact, Lu Xu goes out quite often, and getting spotted on his bike is a common occurrence, but in such situations, fans rarely bother them.

Before they could start biking, the reporters quickly stopped Lu Xu.

The statements from Qi Di's agency and manager were naturally spiced up and passed on to Lu Xu by the reporters—though they weren’t sure whether Lu Xu would suddenly snap or consider Liu Rennong's status in the film industry and let it slide.

You can’t change who you are, and Qi Di's arrogance is not a first-time occurrence.

Previously, when Zhang Che attended a certain film awards ceremony, Qi Di gave him the cold shoulder. Afterwards, Zhang Che even went out of his way to cover for Qi Di, saying there were too many people that day, and Qi Di had greeted him, but he just didn’t notice.

This explanation might fool the fans, but it certainly doesn’t fool these veteran reporters who are used to industry drama.

However, since Zhang Che himself was willing, others couldn’t say much, only marveling at Qi Di’s powerful connections, who doesn’t care about anyone’s reputation.

Zhang Che has so many fans, yet Lu Xu dares to call him out, but when it comes to Qi Di, he won’t even go near him.

While Lu Xu was pondering, a reporter's microphone kept pushing forward, almost blocking Lu Xu's face.

He was afraid he wouldn’t hear Lu Xu's accurate response.

"Oh, that matter," Lu Xu suddenly seemed to remember, a smirk playing on his lips.

This made all the reporters look at him, their eyes filled with curiosity.

Lu Xu composed himself, suppressing his smile, and after a while, he said, "I don’t mean to criticize anyone, I just want to ask, does that really look good?"

The reporters didn’t react immediately.

It wasn’t until Lu Xu moved his bike to the roadside and got on it that one reporter finally caught on, "Lu Xu’s mouth is really sharp!"

Lu Xu was clearly asking Qi Di, standing next to him, if he thought he looked good?

Who hasn’t seen the photos from the C-brand event? To be honest, even though Qi Di struck so many poses and hogged the spotlight from Lu Xu, in that photo alone, Lu Xu still drew more attention.

The Qi Di next to him, to put it bluntly, was...

"Never mind, I won’t say it, I’m not good at speaking nicely."

"A showbiz figure from neighboring Korea once said, let the good-looking kids stand in the middle, and it will make the not-so-good-looking kids also look good." (Note)

If Lu Xu, the spokesperson, stood in the middle, the C-brand event photo could have been very harmonious, but Qi Di forced his way in, and the whole picture fell apart in an instant.

To be honest, Qi Di's looks are just average.

The so-called "film face" that big directors talk about, they didn’t understand it either, only feeling that the other actors working with Qi Di weren’t worse-looking than him, maybe they are all "film faces"?

Thus, his forcing his way next to Lu Xu, the effect achieved...

Let’s just ask Qi Di himself, does that really look good?

Author's note:

Update~ The note should be something said by Lee Soo-man from Korea.