Setting out again

Just as Qin Feng expected, after returning to China, Lu Yan’s schedule was full and he was overwhelmed by various announcements.

After more than two years of debut, he won the Best Supporting Actor and Best Newcomer awards at the Baicao Awards in the previous year, and this year he won the Best Actor award at such an important international film festival as Cannes. Such an achievement was quite eye-catching in the Chinese film industry, if not the first in history.

In the face of such achievements, all the previous voices that slandered Lu Yan disappeared for a while. This period of time can be said to be the time when Lu Yan was at his peak.

The re-release of “Sniper” had been a box office hit, which was a world of difference from the previous release. In addition, with the copyright for overseas release, it was no longer a question of losing money, but a question of how much profit could be made. No one would think that the money was too much. Even if one does not care about the small amount of money, one would be very satisfied with such a return. 

Now everyone knew that Young Master He was the investor of this movie. When people in and out of the circle meet him, in addition to the usual compliments, they also remember to praise him for his good vision and for making a lot of money by investing in a random movie. Young Master He was in a good mood, and the people under him lived a more comfortable life. So when Young Master He invited Lu Yan to the Golden Palace for a drink, those people were particularly cordial and respectful to Lu Yan.

As a result, several of Lu Yan’s previous works were also uploaded to the homepages of major video websites, all labeled as “Cannes Best Actor’s Masterpieces”, and the click rates soared. The biggest beneficiary was “The Bureau”, which was just released this year. The domestic box office was already good, and now with such publicity, the overseas copyright was selling better than ever before. Gao Xizhe was so happy that he called and praised him, “Lu Yan, you really are my lucky star.”

The only TV series he had taken part in before, “When the Wind Rises”, had also begun to be rebroadcast on major satellite TV stations, and the ratings were no less than when it was first broadcasted.

Even the sales of the new album, which was just released not long ago, have once again reached a climax.

Lu Yan himself was calm at the time when he was in high spirits. To him, this was a foreseeable result, but his fans were different. 

Maybe it was because they were suppressed too much by the haters before, and now with the facts to back them up, the fans felt that they could stand up straight and speak louder. For a while, whether it was the Weibo homepage or major forums, in short, the places that were previously visited by haters were now visited by fans. The main title of the post must be “Congratulations to the male god for winning the Cannes Best Actor Award”. After clicking in, the content was varied, anyway, there was no lack of crazy excitement, and by the way, Lu Yan’s various excellent qualities were popularized.

The haters dared not show up for the time being, and the occasional mocking voices were quickly suppressed. Passersbies initially said that although they did not understand the situation, they still congratulated him. However, after being spammed with comments too many times, they became impatient and some of the more explosive-tempered ones turned directly into haters. Therefore, even a high-quality male god like Lu Yan couldn’t please everyone, and the rebellious psychology common in the world also played a big role in it.

Finally, some rational fans persuaded most of the fans to return to the official forum, saying that in order not to bring bad things to the idol, they should keep a low profile in public places and go back to their own turf and do whatever they want. Only then did the situation gradually calm down.

For Lu Yan, past achievements were the past, and the future was what he was working towards now. After returning from Cannes, in addition to being busy with various announcements, Lu Yan had put more energy into selecting his next work.

Now that he had won the title of Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, his worth had changed in an instant, and he naturally had more room to choose scripts.

When it came to choosing a script, Lu Yan still focused more on the script and the role. If the script and the role were good enough, the price was not a problem. Otherwise, even if the price was high, he was not willing to take it.

Having just won the Best Actor award, he needed more good works to prove his ability. There were also a lot of people waiting to laugh at him, so he naturally didn’t want to slap himself in the face. However, good scripts and good roles were often hard to come by, and there was nothing he could do if he didn’t come across the right one.

Since he couldn’t find any movies that satisfied him, Qin Feng started to pay attention to TV series, and finally found one that satisfied him. 

“This is a good script – “Almighty Detective”. Although the name is a bit vulgar, the content is great. This kind of criminal drama has been popular in the past two years. You should take a look at it first.”

Lu Yan took the script and started reading. He read very quickly, almost reading ten lines at a glance, but he did not just flip through the pages hastily, but read every word. 

“Almighty Detective” would be filmed in the form of a unit series. Each story was about six episodes, consisting of different cases, each of which was independent but interrelated. As the name suggested, this was a criminal police drama, and naturally it was based on various cases. The protagonist was a private detective, with two assistants, a man and a woman, who used his flexible mind and excellent reasoning ability to solve cases that even the police were unable to solve.

Unlike the serious and dark style of general crime dramas, the tone of this TV series was quite bright. Although the four cases that had been written were all bizarre, they didn’t give people a sense of oppression. What was rare was that the logic was quite rigorous. Even Lu Yan, a mystery fan, could not find any major problems.

The reason why the tone seemed so bright was that the protagonist was different from the image of a righteous man with deep hatred and deep vengeance in ordinary crime dramas. Instead, he was humorous, suave, optimistic and capable, and could easily subdue even the most vicious gangsters.

The “almightiness” of the almighty detective was not only physical, but more importantly mental. One of the protagonist’s most important abilities was instant memory. As long as he wanted, he could remember everything he had seen. Coupled with his meticulous observation and rigorous logical reasoning ability, all crimes couldn’t escape his detection. Such a protagonist was simply impeccable. To use the popular term on the Internet nowadays, he was all kinds of Su.

Lu Yan closed the script and smiled, “It’s quite interesting. Although the subject matter is very common, the content is quite novel. For a TV series, such a protagonist will be very popular.”

Qin Feng agreed, “Not bad. And if you look at the script, the emotional scenes are also very interesting. The heroine is a forensic doctor, who is capable at work but confused in life. After the hero meets the heroine, he changes from a playboy to a loyal knight, saving the heroine from all kinds of dangers. Such a plot will be very popular with female audiences. “

Lu Yan said cheerfully, “Then take it. Once this drama is finished, it will definitely be a hit.”

Qin Feng nodded, “I agree. By the way, the heroine of this drama is Xia Ying.”

Lu Yan suddenly realized and said, “The queen of criminal dramas.”

The efficiency of TV series was always very high. Soon, the news that Lu Yan took over the role in “Almighty Detective” and joined hands with the “Queen of criminal dramas” Xia Ying to fight crime was released. Although it was a modern drama so there was no need for makeup photos, a few promotional photos were still taken. In the photos, Lu Yan was wearing a silver-gray long trench coat with a romantic and confident smile on his face. He looked suave and handsome. Xia Ying was wearing a forensic gown and looked cool, like a queen. The picture was very harmonious.

The TV series had not even started filming yet, but fans were already following it enthusiastically.

Xia Ying was also a well-known actress. Most of the TV series she had filmed were crime dramas, in which she played various types of heroines, either mature or cute, capable or confused, cold or affectionate. Gradually, she had gained the title of “Queen of Criminal Dramas”, and most of her fans were crime drama fans.

This time the two collaborated, and fans of both sides also began to interact in a friendly manner. The most obvious thing was that members of their respective forums visited each other. Even before the filming of the TV series began, the “Full-time Detective Bar” had already been established.

Before going to the crew, Lu Yan unexpectedly met a visitor.

Apparently, the other party called Starry Sky and claimed that he wanted to meet with Lu Yan. Because the other party had a special identity and was a senior in the literary and art circles, and was considered half an insider, the company gave him face and transferred the call to Lu Yan’s agent Qin Feng. Qin Feng agreed first, made an appointment, and notified Lu Yan.

Lu Yan was confused at first, as he did not know this senior in the literary and artistic circles, and did not know why the other party wanted to see him. However, it was always right to respect the seniors, so at the appointed time, Lu Yan arrived at the agreed place in advance to wait, dressed very formally, and expressed his full sincerity.

The other party arrived at the appointed time, and as soon as he saw Lu Yan, he asked straight to the point, “Your violin teacher is called Wang Chong? Did he play the violin at the National Theatre?”

Lu Yan was stunned for a moment, “Yes, how did you know? Do you know him?”

The other party sighed and said, “We haven’t seen each other for almost 30 years. How is he now?”

Lu Yan looked a little sad, “The teacher passed away ten years ago.”

The old man was stunned for a moment, with a sad expression on his face. After a long moment, he sighed and said, “Actually, I have already guessed it, but I just don’t want to admit it. How did he die?”

Lu Yan thought for a moment and said, “At that time, the teacher had a serious illness and died before he could recover.”

“His health has never been very good. I wish I had found him earlier. But he was too stubborn. He refused to contact us old friends until his death. He had to handle everything on his own.” The old man looked nostalgic and sad.

Lu Yan thought for a moment and asked, “It sounds like the senior and the teacher have known each other for a long time.”

The old man nodded and said, “We were once together in the National Theatre, and we had a good relationship at that time. Later, something happened and he was wronged, so he left the National Theatre unjustly. I was performing in another city at that time, and when I rushed back, he was gone. For so many years, I have been trying to find him, but I never expected… “

Lu Yan did not ask about those past events in detail. They were probably some unpleasant past events. He did not like to expose other people’s scars, and being too curious would be impolite.

The old man sighed and said, “Thank you so much for telling me about him today. It finally puts my mind at ease after all these years.”

“You’re welcome. If the teacher knew that he had a friend like you who had been thinking about him for so many years, he would definitely feel very gratified.” Lu Yan said sincerely.

“Since you are his student, and he has probably only accepted you as his student over the years, I would like to ask you for a favor. Is it possible?”

“Please go ahead.”