Abstract Art Award Winner

Chapter 222 The Park Socialite

Han Jianu really likes Zhou Le.

Of course, it's the kind of liking that comes from genuine appreciation.

Watching Zhou Le act always gives me the feeling of watching an older generation.

It's that kind of dedication and understanding of acting.

Although Emperor Entertainment Group was brought in to produce this drama, Han Jianu ultimately had the final say in casting.

After all, this was the play that Han Sanping originally wanted to make, and then he asked Liu Haoliang to write the script.

Han Sanping is Han Jianu's father.

"Sis, thank you so much this time."

To express his gratitude, Zhou Le even went home to get a bag.

This bag was bought by Yu Shuxin before, because Zhou Le inevitably has to socialize with people when he is out, so Yu Shuxin prepared some gifts for Zhou Le.

Later, Zhou Le also got the money reimbursed.

"Sis, here's a little gift for you."

As soon as Zhou Le entered the room, he handed the bag to Han Jianu.

"What is this for?"

"It doesn't mean anything, it's just a token of my appreciation. Actually, I don't know much about this kind of thing, so I asked Shuxin to recommend someone for me."

Han Jianu knew the bag was a limited edition even before she held it in her hands.

"This is quite expensive."

"Whether it's expensive or not doesn't matter to us, it's the thought that counts."

In the end, Han Jianu accepted it.

After they sat down, they chatted about the movie for a while.

“Zhou Le, actually, when they first brought out this script, you were the first person I thought of. You’ll be playing two characters, one good and one evil, who will be exchanging hormones. I think you’re the most suitable for this role. Once your role is finalized, we’ll start preparing. You should also keep your hair long; we’ll give you a mullet hairstyle.”

Zhou Le: "What is a mullet head?"

Han Jianu found a photo online.

"This hairstyle is kind of interesting, it even looks kind of cool."

"That's right, I came up with this hairstyle myself. Just give it your best. To be honest, you've been acting for so long and your acting skills are obvious to all. I really want to get you a Best Actor award."

"Thank you, sister. But as for becoming a movie star, I can only do my best and I don't dare to think about it. After all, sometimes the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. So I always set very low goals for myself."

"That's not wrong."

We chatted for a while longer until all the dishes were served.

Zhou Le then brought up the script.

"Sis, were you involved in writing this script?"

Han Jianu shook her head: "No, the script was arranged by my dad with Director Liu. I was preparing for 'Dying to Survive' at the time. What's wrong with that? Did you think the script was bad?"

"It's not bad either." Zhou Le thought for a moment about how to phrase it. "The setting and background feel very well done, including the fact that the story is told through the lens of a criminal gang, which makes it very immersive and intriguing."

The subject matter alone is very impactful, and some of the violent scenes are indeed very enjoyable to watch. However, there were many similar films in Hong Kong before, and it can be said that for a long time, this kind of police and gangster film was the mainstream of Hong Kong films.

So I feel that Zhang Xun's character is too evenly distributed, which makes the police seem somewhat incompetent. That's one aspect. Another aspect is that it feels a bit like an imitation of the dual-hero narrative of Hong Kong films and comics.

However, this approach feels somewhat weak here; it would be better to use a method similar to "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." Finally, this characterization lacks psychological depth.

Zhou Le tried to explain in a more tactful way.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be good to be too blunt.

Han Jianu thought about it carefully after hearing it.

"If that's the case, then the script needs to be rewritten."

Zhou Le smiled and said, "Sis, I was just saying. I think the tricks of having your ear bitten off and the monkey stealing peaches are still very realistic."

"Let me think about it. What you said actually makes sense, but..."

"Don't tell anyone I told you!" Zhou Le quickly said.

"Haha, you're afraid of offending people?"

"Of course I'm afraid. I've already offended a lot of people. If it's inconvenient, then there's no need to change it. Just act it out as it is."

Han Jianu waved her hand: "It's okay, let me think about it. I'll talk to my dad about it when I get back. I feel that it would be better if it were revised according to your suggestion. But you are quite talented in this area."

"No, no," Zhou Le quickly denied.

"I feel that it was written by Director Liu himself. It's a bit like being too close to the forest to see the trees, a case of being blinded by one's own involvement. I used to be like that too."

"You're not being humble anymore? I'll tell Director Liu right away."

"Sis! Stop it, or I'll have to go have a heart-to-heart talk with Director Liu tonight."

The next day, Zhou Le received a message from Han Jianu saying that she planned to revise the script again, and that she would bring the director and screenwriter to talk to Ning Hao again later.

After all, Ning Hao is very good at this.

"There's one more thing. There's a role I'd like to cast Zhou Ye in. She's the girl who plays the villain really well. She'll play your wife in the movie."

Zhou Le: "The female lead?"

"Yes, the female lead."

"I'll contact her right away. Her filming should be almost finished by now."

"It's alright, there's no rush. You can have your agent negotiate the salary and sign the contract later. This movie will take at least two months to prepare. It's good that you haven't cut your hair yet. You can just trim it during this time. Don't make it too short, or you'll have to wear a wig later."

"Row."

Zhou Le immediately contacted Zhou Ye.

"Xiao Ye, a police thriller, female lead, it stars me and Wang Qianyuan, do you want to act in it?"

Zhou Le spoke concisely and to the point.

"play!"

Zhou Ye did not hesitate.

"Okay, are you done on your end?"

Filming will wrap up within three days.

"Come to Beijing after filming to talk about the character."

"Okay, Brother Le!"

After agreeing, Zhou Ye asked about the specifics of the role.

"I played my wife in the movie, and we later had a son. I also played a ruthless bandit, the kind who is heartless and insane. The character looks weak on the outside, but she is actually very strong inside. You also have to cut your hair short for the movie."

"No problem, I like this role. See you in a few days, Brother Le."

Zhou Ye has now completely figured it out.

What's wrong with being a villain?

"How charismatic are villains?"

After the release of "Better Days", although everyone thought Wei Lai was bad, they also liked the character.

It's fair to say that, if we disregard all fan biases, Zhou Ye's character is the one who truly stands out in this film.

"I'm going to play the wife of a ruthless bandit this time, and just thinking about it is exciting!"

"And I'll be officially filming with Brother Lok, they'll all be so envious of me!"

Zhou Ye is very much looking forward to this role.

Actually, she felt that she was a woman, and that it would be more exciting for her to play the role of Zhou Le if she were a man.

Either don't be bad at all, or be bad to the extreme!
"Brother Le, if we team up for two weeks, I guarantee the movie will be a box office smash!"

"necessary."

"But you should also study Wang Qianyuan's movies with good acting skills. His acting skills are good enough to be included in the Beijing Film Academy's teaching materials!"

"Okay, Brother Le."

"Wolf Warrior" and "Ne Zha" will have to wait before they are shown at film festivals and for awards.

During this interim period, "Ace vs Ace" was also released.

After learning that Zhou Le would appear in the latest episode, many people began to look forward to it.

After all, Shen Teng, Zhou Le, and Guo Qiling are all involved. Everyone wants to see what kind of antics they can pull off.

However, when the program aired...

After the audience poured in.

Before long, someone broke through the defenses.

Hua Chenyu's fans noticed that Zhou Le, Guo Qiling, and others didn't give him any face on the show.

"What are you doing? Did you eat gunpowder? Going on TV to start a fight? You're really something."

"What did Hua Hua do to offend you?"

However, it was obvious to the fans that something was off.

Because Zhou Le is not the kind of person who would cause trouble for no reason. If he simply harbored malice towards popular celebrities, then why would he be friends with Lu Han, Wang Junkai, Yi Yangqianxi, and others?

It's even less likely that he just likes to seek attention online and blindly follow the trend of criticizing others. The reason why those people who have been exposed were targeted by Zhou Le is because there are traceable evidence that they were targeting Zhou Le.

At the very beginning of the show, some viewers had already spoiled the ending by commenting on the live chat, revealing that Zhou Le would fall off his head later.

So some fans who didn't understand the meaning patiently continued reading, only to find later that it wasn't Zhou Le who was targeting them.

Rather, it's simply that Hua Chenyu has low emotional intelligence and Zhou Le has low character.

Regarding the controversial points mentioned above, the director didn't cut them out at all and showed them all.

Most people who enjoy the fun just fan the flames in the bullet comments. Since sending bullet comments is different from sending comments in the comment section, and bullet comments don't even show usernames, people are even more unrestrained.

After everyone finished arguing, Zhou Le was delighted when he saw the number of views for this episode.

It far surpassed the other issues.

Although Zhou Le was trending again because of this, he didn't care. For Zhou Le, trending is as common as eating or taking a dump.

The next day arrived, and Zhou Le got up in the morning, sat on the toilet to defecate, and continued to watch the drama on his phone, only to find that after a whole night, he hadn't even made a peep at the top of the trending topics.

Hua Chenyu, Xiao Zhan, and Wang Yibo were all trending at the top of the search rankings, and further down the list, you could even see Cai Xukun.

After searching for a while, I found that it was just these few fan groups arguing with each other. Although Yang Zi, Wang Junkai and Yi Yangqianxi were involved, it was obvious that the first two did not have any new works recently, so they did not want to create hype in this regard.

Meanwhile, Yi Yangqianxi has just filmed a movie on the theme of school bullying, and is now calling on everyone to remain restrained and calm, not to respond to others, and not to attack others.

“It’s really wonderful.”

Zhou Le felt as if he were witnessing the online forum wars of many years ago.

It's a pity that spamming isn't popular anymore; if it were, it would definitely be even more exciting.

After using the toilet, Zhou Le reached for the flush button and suddenly realized that he hadn't noticed before that the toilet flush knob had other functions.

One of them is called Fuxi.

"what is this?"

Zhou Le tried it out casually, and immediately felt a jet of warm water spray onto his body.

There was no one else in the room, but Zhou Le felt his face turn red in that instant.

"What kind of weird function is this?"

"Has technology advanced to this point? Even going to the toilet is now fully automated?"

He had heard of such things before, but had never tried them himself.

"I never thought I'd be insulted by a toilet."

Zhou Le racked his brains for most of the day, and then he discovered that the air inside was being blown in to dry the product.

"It's really amazing."

After finishing, Zhou Le sighed, pulled up his pants, shook his head, and walked out of the bathroom.

However, I checked the time and found that it was still early, so I searched online and discovered that there was a park nearby.

So Zhou Le changed into his workout clothes and went out to run in the park.

For a long time now, Zhou Le has been working out at the gym and hasn't had the chance to enjoy the fresh air of nature in the mornings.

The park isn't very big; a complete loop is about one kilometer.

Zhou Le ran five laps and then walked one lap.

Because he was wearing a hat, and most of the people who came to exercise in the morning were middle-aged and elderly, he was not recognized.

After he finished walking, he planned to go to the gym equipment area to warm up.

Before they even got there, they could hear cheers and shouts coming from the other side.

"it is good!"

"Brilliant!"

"Let me try it!"

Zhou Le followed the sound and found about twenty elderly men exercising there.

Some people were swinging around with stone weights that looked to weigh dozens of kilograms.

Some elderly men even put their hands and feet on the universal ab wheel, moving it up and down, opening and closing it.

Some people bang their heads against the bar, while others make windmills on the horizontal bar.

Zhou Le was shocked!

He had seen it online before, but at the time he thought it was just a way to make videos and bring together these people for demonstrations.

But now he swears to God that he simply picked a small park on the map to go for a run, and ended up encountering Ragnarok.

Those old men were all shirtless, with very strong muscles. If you covered their faces, you would never guess that they were middle-aged or elderly people in their fifties or sixties.

But Zhou Le's greatest quality is that he is not shy and likes to make friends. Seeing this, he quickly walked over.

The first person he targeted was an old man playing with stone locks.

"Brother, how much does this stone weight weigh? You're handling it like it's some kind of magic staff. Is it hollow?"

When the old man saw the young man come up to greet him, he immediately put down the stone lock and said proudly, "Mine is solid, each weighs forty pounds. Why don't you try it?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to lift it."

At this moment, another old man with a full head of white hair next to him laughed and said, "Why don't you give it a try? You look quite tall and strong, surely you can lift forty pounds?"

Zhou Le then went up and tried it, and found that it was indeed very heavy.

Forty pounds, a full weight. This weight was actually acceptable to Zhou Le, so he picked it up and tossed it back and forth between his left and right hands.

"Not bad, young man. You can handle this. You're much better than those young people who can't lift a finger."

The old men in the park are all competitive. They usually do their own thing, each with their own activities, and they brag and show off to each other. When a young person comes along, they always try to find a sense of superiority in the young man.

"Try mine."

The old man next to me who was using a universal ab wheel said.

This was the first time Zhou Le had ever seen something like this.

"This thing seems pretty dangerous. If you can't control your strength, you might knock out your teeth."

"It's okay, I'll help you."

So Zhou Le went up and tried it again, immediately demonstrating to the old man what it meant to master something with ease.

Seeing this, the other old men also became interested and asked Zhou Le to try their projects one by one. Zhou Le tried them one by one, and apart from banging his head against a tree and hanging from a rope by his neck, he could handle the others.

They even played shuttlecock with the older men and women not far away.

After more than an hour, Zhou Le was able to clearly call out everyone's names.

Brother Jianguo, Sister Mei, Brother Qiang, Uncle Liu, Aunt Song, and so on.

If Zhou Le hadn't run fast, they would have dragged him to meet their daughter and granddaughter.

"Wow, that's amazing! Do you live around here?"

"Yes, I'm here on a business trip, so I'm staying at a hotel nearby."

"You're staying at a hotel? That's a shame. I was thinking if you stayed nearby, you could come over often in the mornings and we could train together."

"It's alright, sir. I'll be here for a while, and I'll come over to hang out with you guys when I'm free."

"Haha, okay then."

As the old man spoke, he casually posted the video he had just taken to Douyin (TikTok).

"We just got a young man here, he's really good. Look at him, he's wielding that 40-pound stone weight with such skill!"

(End of this chapter)