Abstract Art Award Winner

After listening to Reba's story, Zhou Le couldn't help but sigh that life is indeed all about timing and luck.

Jin Chen had a terrible time back when Tangren was embroiled in controversy. She was isolated and couldn't earn much money, to the point that she was almost forgotten in the Chinese entertainment industry. But things are gradually getting better now.

Not to mention the constant stream of film offers, there's also a surge in online discussions about him.

Regardless of whether he actually did it or how much, Jin Chen became famous simply by dancing.

"Sigh, I hope that after I fade into obscurity, I will have the opportunity to make a comeback."

Zhou Le casually put away the red stockings and said with a smile.

"You? You think you're finished? With your momentum, as long as you don't make any fundamental mistakes, you're definitely not finished. I've seen those movie reviews before; in the entertainment industry, every era has its iconic figures."

In the early days of the Republic of China era, there were Zhou Xuan, Li Xianglan, and Hu Die, who were pioneers of that era. Later, in the 1950s and 60s, there was director Xie Xian, actress Lin Dai, and the original "Jade Girl" You Min.

In the 70s, Bruce Lee became a groundbreaking global cultural icon, and Sam Hui and Teresa Teng were also legendary singers whose songs are still great to listen to today.

Even after forty or fifty years, their names are still very well-known.

Then came Cheng Long, Zhou Runfa, Zhang Guorong, and the prototypes of the Four Heavenly Kings, as well as Tan Yongling and Zhang Xueyou.

In Taiwan, this would be represented by actors like Brigitte Lin, Chin Han, and Charlie Chin, as well as music icons like Lo Ta-yu and Lee Tsung-sheng.

I still remember that my mom's favorite singer back then was Fei Xiang, so I can still sing his song to this day.

On the mainland side, there's Liu Xiaoqing and Liu Xiao Ling Tong as Sun Wukong. However, I remember that Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao were the most popular sketch comedy performers back then, though they don't appear much anymore. But when you mention their names, who wouldn't give them a thumbs up?

In the 90s, there were the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong, along with the King of Comedy Stephen Chow, the Queen of Asian Pop Faye Wong, and Brigitte Lin, whom I still admire very much.

Moreover, among the directors from that era, Wong Ka-wai, Tsui Hark, and Johnnie To are still very active today, and no one says they're washed up.

Needless to say, in Taiwan, the Little Tigers, Emil Chau, and Chang Hsin-che are absolute top stars in the music industry right now, and tickets for their concerts are impossible to buy.

When we went to film festivals and other events, we would meet actors like Gong Li, Jiang Wen, and Ge You. We would all respectfully address them as "senior" upon meeting them.
Moreover, Jiang Wen and Ge Youren are still active now, not to mention Zhao Benshan. In your North, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they are household names. They even bring up memes online. Anyone who doesn't know how much a bowl of Scottish braised noodles costs might be a walking 50.

Then came Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, Sun Yanzi, and Zhang Ziyi, who were incredibly popular. Who hadn't heard their songs? And then there were Li Yuchun and Zhang Liangying, some of the earliest idols in China.

You should be very familiar with this, especially Li Yuchun. In every event, she always sits in the very center, the C position. And she even managed to carve out a piece of meat from the mouth of K-pop idols.

Even though Li Yuchun has a lot of criticism, it must be admitted that he was a once-in-a-generation idol in China at that time.

Ten years later, there were even more idols. Back then, the Korean wave was at its peak. I had just entered the industry when EXO was formed. Compared to their fame, I was just a nobody. But at that time, TFBOYS was the only boy group in China that could compete with them.

While they may not be as competitive internationally, SM Entertainment started its strategic planning back in the 90s, and their commercialization is more mature, resulting in better products. However, domestically, only those three companies can truly rival them.

At this point, Zhou Le couldn't help but add, "But that's also because it's something that's native to us."

"Yes, but there's nothing we can do. Having one like that is already quite good. Then there were the four returning members, namely Lu Han and the others. Of course, I know you have a good relationship with him. Actually, I've also worked with him before. They were among the earlier ones."

Later on, Yang Yang and others were also quite good, and the middle-aged actors like Huang Bo, Xu Zheng, Wu Jing, Shen Teng, and Deng Chao were all symbols of that era. But starting in 18 and 19, although Wu Yifan was also a top star at the time, you had already risen to fame by then.

Now, tell me, who in the entertainment industry has more popularity than you? Back in the TFBOYS days, two out of the three members had a good relationship with you; among the four members who returned from overseas, Lu Han, who had the biggest name, was also your friend; among those who came out of talent shows, Cai Xukun was in a league of his own, but I remember that you also had a very good relationship with Cai Xukun, right?

Let's talk about Huang Bo, Xu Zheng, and Wu Jing. Aren't they all your best buddies? The best comedian right now is Deyun Society, and you are the godson of Deyun Society's Queen of Crosstalk. The young master of Deyun Society is still working under you.

If you're comparing yourself to online celebrities, while they may be very successful at selling products, that's only because you're unwilling to work in that field. If you were to actually sell products, you would be far superior to them.

And aren't all those top streamers and esports personalities your friends too? As for the rap scene, I don't know much about it, but I've heard that the successful ones are all considered "bros" by you, right?

Zhou Le hadn't noticed this before. After all, when they were friends, working together, eating together, or filming variety shows, they would just chat and talk about future developments.

But now that Dilraba has said that, Zhou Le thinks about it and it seems to make sense.

No matter which circle you're in, you have your own top-tier friends, and they're not just ordinary top-tier friends, they're the kind of people who are in a class of their own.

Leaving aside those internet celebrities and live streamers, even in the rap scene, which has the lowest profile in the entertainment industry, doesn't GAI still call him Teacher Zhou when he sees him? When they hang out in private, he also invites Brother Le, even though he is older than Brother Le.

"Sigh, it seems that's really the case."

Dilraba nodded: "So right now, whether it's the internet or anywhere else, you're in a league of your own. Next to you are Cai Xukun, Xiao Zhan, and Wang Yibo. In terms of commercial value and personal popularity, no one can compare to you."

"Hey, that's something to be proud of. You've been bragging about me for so long, it's making me a little embarrassed."

As a result of Zhou Le's words, Dilraba blushed.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean you've been bragging for ages? Aren't we just having a chat?"

"Yeah, I was just talking about chatting and bragging, what else did you think?"

"Oh, I thought it was the 'blowing' in 'blowing a trumpet'."

After saying it, he realized it was all the same thing, so he simply threw the other red stocking in his hand into Zhou Le's arms and turned his head to continue packing other things.

Although her assistant usually helps tidy up the house, now that the house is in a mess after the "battle," she can't very well ask her assistant to clean it up, and Dilraba can't bring herself to do it.

After packing up, Zhou Le was about to leave. Although he had finished filming all the movies he was currently working on and didn't have any commercial projects to take on in the short term, he was seeing more and more friends as the year drew to a close.

Everyone is running around, participating in all sorts of activities, but now that they've come to Beijing, how can they not find Zhou Le to meet up, chat, have a meal, and drink some wine?

So after Zhou Le left, he ate out with people every day for the next few days.

After lunch and drinks, there are still more gatherings in the evening. As soon as you sober up, you're pulled into the next one.

After dinner, they had to find another place to eat, and then go to a nightclub. They stayed out until three or four in the morning before going home, and in the morning, those people couldn't wait to drag Zhou Le out for breakfast.

But these are all friends, and since they've made the trip and taken the time to get together, Zhou Le couldn't very well refuse.

On the night of the 28th, Zhou Le was dragged to a nightclub by Da Peng to drink again.

Anyway, they've had enough fun, and they're just here for the excitement. The people they've invited are all from the same circle, and even if they're not particularly high-ranking, they're at least at the seventh or eighth tier.

One must maintain one's integrity in such a place.

"Le'er, isn't this ridiculous? You hang out in nightclubs every day and still claim to be virtuous. Only your brother knows you. If it were anyone else, they would laugh at you for ages. Nobody would believe you if you told them."

"Hey, Peng, you really know me. We can have fun, but we don't have to go too far in public like this. If you want some excitement, let's all sing and drink together."

Da Peng glanced over at the girls over there who were also playing with dice.

Since someone's paying, it's not a loss to even sit down at such a high-end gathering with a famous director and absolute top-tier celebrities.

Even if some of them had some ideas, their phones would be confiscated when they came in, so it was useless for them to think about it. There are all sorts of scandalous rumors about the two of them now, but since no one can produce concrete evidence, it doesn't matter.

Moreover, given Zhou Le's cautious nature, he would never give anyone a chance to definitively prove his innocence.

Even when you come to a place like this, everyone does their own thing. Zhou Le usually sits on one side by himself. If anyone wants to sit with him, they can sit here for a while. If they don't want to, they can go play over there.

Call it a spoilsport or being antisocial, but at least Zhou Le has the right to do so now, and even if he does, no one will look down on him.

Those who are close to them know this, so they never force them or blame them.

"Of course I know you. You officially entered the entertainment industry by filming my movies. Now I go out and brag to everyone that I took your 'first time' in the entertainment industry."

"Damn, what you're saying is really disgusting. What do you mean by 'first time'? My first time is still here, okay?"

"Haha, okay, is your first time today still going well?"

"Humph."

The two chatted like this, occasionally clinking glasses in the distance, taking a sip of wine, and then getting down to business.

"Le'er, speaking of which, I'm doing a little better in the directing industry now. The movie 'Jianbing Man' really hurt me back then, but now I'm doing cameo appearances in movies and directing, so at least I've regained some reputation. So now, besides doing cameo appearances, I'm also thinking about making a few more films."

At this point, Zhou Le also became interested. Leaving aside "Sewing Machine Band," Da Peng has also made several films in the last year or two; they're not particularly good, but they're not bad either, at least they haven't lost money.

The recent film market has been both good and bad; to sum it up in one sentence, some are starving while others are drowning in wealth, except for those involved in money laundering, of course.

In this environment, simply breaking even is already considered doing right by the investors.

"How about we talk about it? I'll see if there's anyone I can act in. It's hard to say about other people's films, but we definitely have to support yours, Peng Ge."

That's what Da Peng meant. Nowadays, when directors are preparing for a movie, whenever they get to the casting stage, they have to think about whether there's a role for Zhou Le.

If there is any availability, we will contact Zhou Le as soon as possible to ask if he is available and if he would be willing to perform.

Da Peng felt quite relieved to hear this, at least Zhou Le, who had now surpassed him, still remembered him as a friend.

Not to mention before, even if Zhou Le did well as an actor, he was still lacking in directing. But now that Zhou Le has become a director himself, his momentum has clearly picked up immediately.

"I just finished filming a movie called 'Good Fortune and Auspiciousness'. Next, I have a comedy drama to film, but the male lead has already been cast as Brother Bo. The second lead hasn't been decided yet. It's a dance-related movie."

There are many options, but we need an actor who's an amazing dancer, preferably a top-tier one. Yue, are you in? If you are, I'll reserve a spot for you and put you on the promotional poster as one of the two male leads. And if you want the lead role, I can talk to Brother Bo about that, and I'll mention it in my name, not yours.”

Zhou Le has never acted in a movie related to dancing before. Even if he racked his brains, Zhou Le only remembered that there was a movie called "Dance Gate" and another movie whose title he didn't remember, but he remembered the scene: in a square in the pouring rain, two men started dancing for some reason, and a woman next to them said, "Stop fighting, if you want to fight, go to the dance studio."

So he didn't agree immediately after hearing this, mainly because times have changed. If the main focus is dance, it would be better to create a martial arts or combat sport.

"Brother Peng, do you have any other candidates for the role?"

“There are other candidates, but they are still below you in terms of priority. Others include Zhang Yixing, Yi Yangqianxi, Wang Yibo, and Lu Han. They are all very good dancers and are top-tier celebrities. Although they are not as handsome as you, they are still quite good compared to the others.”

Zhou Le nodded; he had a pretty good relationship with these people.

"Brother Peng, are there any other options? I really can't say. Ideally, it would be something that doesn't need to be filmed next year, but rather the year after or the year after that. The main problem is that my schedule might be difficult to adjust next year. I can only free up one or two months at most to join a production, which I don't think will be enough. But it might be a bit better later on."

Zhou Le didn't say it explicitly, but Da Peng could tell that Zhou Le really didn't have any ideas about this kind of play.

"There are more to come, it's a hot topic, there's been news about this kind of thing all the time in recent years. We've already reached an agreement with Ruyi Entertainment, and it's expected to start filming in 22. Anyway, it's on their film slate."

And I think this kind of plot is indeed quite suitable for you. It's about a girl who is falsely accused, and then the protagonist and a few people around her help to dispel the rumors. It's similar to a true story adaptation, with some artistic embellishment. The prototype is an experience that happened this year where a girl was secretly filmed while picking up a package and then falsely accused.

After listening, Zhou Le thought for a moment and said, "This sounds pretty good, but Peng Ge, you should play the male lead in this kind of subject matter, right?"

This question stumped Dapeng.

"It's okay. If you come, I'll definitely give you a role in Number One. I don't care, since I'm the director now anyway."

Zhou Le laughed: "Brother Peng, why are we being so polite with each other? This drama is really good. When you're preparing for it, call me. I don't need to be the male lead, I'll take any other role. The amount of screen time doesn't matter. The main thing is that we haven't worked together in a long time, and I really want to work with you again."

It's really difficult for Da Peng to arrange this role, because based on appearance alone, the role that would suit Zhou Le would be at least number seven or eight, but Zhou Le's status isn't high enough, so there are still vacancies for actresses.

"Le'er, if you don't get the lead role in this drama, you'll be stuck in the back row for a long time. But I can really help you get a female role. To be honest, I'm very confident about this drama. Just tell me who you want to play the female lead, and I can arrange it for you. The salary is negotiable, since there are investors behind it."

And don't worry, the female lead in this drama plays my younger sister; there's no romantic pairing or anything like that, and I don't have any romantic storylines myself. (End of Chapter)