Abstract Art Award Winner

For Zhou Le, acting and making movies is his job, but variety shows are more like his life.

At least on these variety shows, I am very free and can be completely myself, but once I enter a film or television work, I must become the character.

So for Zhou Le, variety shows like "Five Ha" are essentially free team building activities. He can go out to eat, drink, and shop, and in return, he can only cooperate in completing some corporate culture-related tasks.

Just like in Feng Xiaogang's movie "The Dream Factory," there was a rich boss who got tired of eating lavish meals and wanted to live a hard life for a few days.

Although it was forgotten for two months afterward.

When he went to pick him up again, he was almost like a weasel. But this also reflects his mindset. For Zhou Le, filming is just work, and he can relax in other aspects.

Even attending a film festival or shooting a commercial are rare moments of leisure for Zhou Le.

From a psychological perspective, this is called changing your mood.

From a geographical perspective, this is called changing environments.

So I was extremely relaxed and happy last week at Wuha.

Because Zhou Le, Deng Chao, and Chen He were willing to go all out, they boldly declared that if they couldn't use the toilet, they would find a convenient place to relieve themselves.

It's purely to prevent any further spending, not even a single penny.

"Who goes to sleep in the bedroom?"

"That's right, nobody sleeps in the bedroom. I usually sleep on the floor at home."

"Haha, then your sister-in-law really dotes on you."

“I’m different. I like to sleep on the sofa on the yacht. It’s just for one night. The prefabricated houses I used to live in were much worse than this.”

Finally, the director had no choice but to say that if they could buy at least one room, he would open the toilet seat for them, and if they could buy two rooms, he would give them an extra box of toilet paper.

"That's so stingy, so stingy."

Despite saying that, the deal was finalized in the end. Two rooms were booked, and all the bathroom facilities were unlocked.

After that, they slept in separate rooms. Deng Chao and Chen He, the two oldest, shared a room, while Zhou Le shared a room with Lu Han.

There's a reason for this distribution, though they didn't say it outright, everyone here is smart enough to know perfectly well.

If we're talking about the most entertaining member of the current quartet, it's definitely Zhou Le.

Next up are Deng Chao and Chen He.

In the end, it was Lu Han who got the prize. Although Lu Han is indeed quite interesting in private, his ability to create jokes on the show is not as strong as the others.

By placing them together with Zhou Le, it's reasonable to give them more screen time in post-production.

After checking into the room, they started talking about tomorrow's filming.

“Our next destination is Zhoushan. You will make money there tomorrow, but you can’t rely on your own reputation. If anyone recognizes you and calls out your names, you will be fined one yuan every time.”

"What? You'll be charged a dollar just for calling my name? We're always on the street, how are we supposed to not be recognized? Or like this, if someone calls me Chen He, will you deduct my money or theirs?"

Deng Chao asked.

Suddenly, Chen He's smile froze.

“Brother Chao, that’s not very interesting. If you say that, I’ll tell you I’ll wear a sign on my chest with four big characters that say ‘I’m Deng Chao.’”

"No, I was just asking, just in case someone doesn't recognize it and calls it by the wrong name?"

Director: "In this situation, Chen He's pay will be deducted."

Chen He: "???"

But Zhou Le thought for a moment: "Should I use his full name or something else?"

"If I were to use you as an example, firstly, I wouldn't call you Zhou Le. But if someone calls you Brother Zhou, Brother Le, or Le'er, that wouldn't work either. These are all ways of addressing you."

"That's going to be a bit difficult, don't you think? Brother Chao, Brother He, Brother Lu?" Zhou Le said with a smile.

Chen He quickly chimed in, "Yeah, that makes it hard to make money, don't you guys think? Chao Ge, Xiao Lu, Le'er."

“That’s right, I’ll get a recorder and play your names on repeat.” Deng Chao naturally wasn’t going to be outdone. Although he wasn’t continuing the game, he still made sure the conversation didn’t fall flat.

"Fine, fine, so you guys play it this way? When I make some money, I'll hire people to follow you around and call out your names."

Lu Han thought for a while and finally came up with a good topic.

After chatting for a while, Deng Chao suddenly remembered that Huang Bo seemed to be participating in an event in Zhoushan recently, so he thought about whether he could bring Huang Bo over as well.

I made the call on the spot.

However, Huang Bo is very shrewd, and under normal circumstances, you can't fool him. They only chatted for a few minutes, but Zhou Le felt that Huang Bo had already guessed most of the truth.

This is a variable outside the script. If Huang Bo really comes, he will definitely have to pay the appearance fee. Of course, he is not here for the variety show, but for his friend. Even if he pays the appearance fee, he can at least get a 50% discount.

The last few people simply couldn't keep talking anymore.

Fortunately, Zhou Le stepped in and quickly stabilized the situation, eventually persuading Huang Bo to agree to the matter.

After we finished talking, we went straight back to our room to sleep.

The next day, they arrived in Zhoushan and began working to earn money.

In fact, if it were another variety show, Zhou Le would have had more freedom to choose, but in this variety show, although Zhou Le had many ways to make money, he still followed the crowd.

They did all sorts of odd jobs, and Zhou Le had the most grassroots work experience here. Plus, he was strong, so he worked quickly and efficiently.

While working, he chatted with the shop owner, and they quickly hit it off.

The shop owner warmly invited them to have lunch together, but they had to decline because the production team had its own arrangements.

Next, I'll make some money while I'm out shopping.

Moreover, since there are many attractions in Zhoushan, Guo Qiling, as the guide, explained them in great detail.

He can readily cite various famous anecdotes.

Zhou Le happily filmed the variety show with the others for a few days. After filming wrapped, they had a meal together and then went their separate ways.

After all, they are not idle people in the industry. Even though Lu Han's resources have greatly decreased, she can still get business opportunities every now and then.

As soon as this ended, Zhou Le went straight back to Beijing.

The initial scenes were filmed here, including some sites of revolutionary activities, Taoranting Park, Peking University's Red Building, and so on.

After filming here, we went to Huzhou Film City, and finally went to Shanghai to film some more scenes.

"Our initial shooting time was six months, but if all goes well, it could be brought forward," said director Zhang Yongxin.

Although this is an official project, it is still filmed by people. Zhou Le and Yu Hewei had other scenes to film in September and October, so director Zhang Yongxin specially adjusted their filming schedule.

However, to Zhou Le's surprise, after joining the crew, Zhou Ye also joined the crew through an audition.

Because a female role hadn't been cast during the audition, Su Yingxia introduced Zhou Ye to her after hearing the news. The director was very satisfied after the audition and immediately cast him.

"Brother Le, we're in the same film crew again."

Zhou Ye seemed very happy, partly because he was able to participate in such a big project, but mainly because he was able to film with Zhou Le.

"Yes, otherwise I would have felt that you were capable of great things when I first saw you. You earned this role entirely on your own, but it is a good opportunity for you."

"You can learn from the senior actors on set. I'll also take you out to eat with them when I have time; this will help you build your network in the industry."

"Sure, but Brother Le, I saw online that there's a pretty famous food stall around here. Shall we go try it sometime?"

"Okay, where is it?"

"It's only about ten kilometers by car, but you have to go at a specific time, otherwise either they'll have sold out, or you'll go too early and they won't have set up their stalls yet."

Zhou Le: "."

"You mean around ten kilometers?"

"It's alright, it's only about ten kilometers, and it only takes twenty or thirty minutes to drive there."

"Well, I didn't know you were so obsessed with food."

"Of course! Isn't the point of living to eat? I'm always dieting and exercising, so when I finally come across something delicious, I have to try it. Otherwise, how can I justify all the hard work I've put into maintaining my figure?"

"That's so true. Where's that food stall? If you're going, take me with you. I can drive."

Just then, Yu Hewei walked over and overheard their conversation.

But the conversation then drifted to Yu Hewei's abstract and absurd videos on Bilibili.

“I think those are quite interesting, like continuing to play music and then dancing. Sometimes when I go to an event, many fans see me and ask me to perform another piece on the spot.”

To keep up with the times, I've started surfing the internet frequently now.

Zhou Le: "."

"Brother, with your internet surfing skills, he's not really keeping up with the times."

Yu Hewei touched his face, feeling that he did indeed reveal his age, but he now knew that if he wanted to become famous on the Internet, he had to learn all sorts of things that young people learn.

After thinking for a moment, he pointed to a charm on Zhou Ye's small bag: "I know this little person of yours. I've seen him online before. His name is Loopy, right?"

"Teacher Yu really knows! This is indeed called Loopy."

"But where is your Loopy character from? Is it from abroad?"

Zhou Le looked at it and then replied, "This one is from Liaocheng, Shandong."

"That's pretty good, they've created such an IP, but why aren't they promoting it?"

As soon as Yu Hewei finished speaking, he met Zhou Ye's questioning gaze.

"Isn't this from South Korea?"

Yu Hewei: "???"

"Didn't you say you were from Shandong? How come it's South Korea now?"

Zhou Le said matter-of-factly, "Because Lu P is Liaocheng."

Yu Hewei: "???"

"Am I really getting old? I didn't even realize it for a moment."

Zhou Ye wasn't much better off: "I guess I'm getting old too. I didn't even realize it at first."

Yu Hewei was deeply disappointed. He thought he understood young people well enough, but now it seemed that he still knew far too little about Zhou Le.

At least if you give it to him, he won't come up with an answer like Lu P is Liaocheng.

"Oh, outsiders say you're abstract, and seeing you today, it's true. This is just too abstract. Could a normal brain come up with such an answer?"

Zhou Le shrugged: "You can't say that. I think the world is like a giant elephant, and my abstract thinking is a way of spurring the world on."

"Awesome! The topic suddenly became philosophical. Back in our early days, you would be called a ray of sunshine, always able to say something interesting that made everyone happy."

Zhou Le thought for a moment and said, "But if we use 'pistachio' to describe someone as interesting nowadays, that would be quite abstract."

But it's clear that Yu Hewei can't surpass Zhou Le in abstraction when it comes to the topic of abstraction.

So he changed the subject to the food stalls.

"Well, generally speaking, although food stalls are delicious, we should try to eat less of them. This is not to preach, but mainly because we don't know the source of some of the ingredients on food stalls. Although we don't know the source of many ingredients on restaurants either, it's still better to eat healthier."

"As expected of Teacher Yu, this is a truly healthy lifestyle."

"It's alright, considering you're getting older. And I think you can do it too. If you're not healthy and disciplined, you can't maintain such a good figure. In comparison, I learned a lot about health preservation from my grandmother. Sometimes I feel that her lifestyle is similar to yours."

Zhou Le: "???"

"Does our grandma drink heavily too?"

"Oh, no, but my grandmother did drink it before."

Zhou Le sometimes enjoys chatting with older people because they are very experienced and share many things that he has never experienced.

Sometimes, chatting feels exhausting. Although Zhou Le is past the age of gaining recognition by writing jokes, it's still painful to occasionally say something witty that others don't understand.
"However, Zhou Le, I don't recall ever seeing you say you're abstract in public. It seems like it's always been others who have labeled you that way."

Zhou Le smiled and said, "How can you say something like this yourself? It's like the 'Happy Fruit' or the 'Comedy Girl' from a few years ago. Others can say it, but it feels too weird to say it yourself."

Who would call themselves a comedic, abstract person? I find it really embarrassing.

"Indeed, but are you working on Douyin now? I remember seeing clips of your live streams online before. Do you think I should open an account to promote myself?"

"Sure, it's just for fun anyway. It's better to open your own account than to have someone else register it first."

"Okay, I'll figure out how to post videos when I have an account. But what kind of video do you think would fit the website's style?"

Zhou Le didn't even hesitate: "In my opinion, we should just release a message saying 'Keep the music playing, keep dancing.'" (End of Chapter)