The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 438 Still a Meeting

"So, what we need is a serial killer like Li Xiaoyao?"

"His acting was indeed excellent. The perverted and twisted scene when he killed someone was truly vivid. I wonder if he was like that when he killed Caiyi."

"How did such a despicable and shameless person get chosen to play Li Xiaoyao?"

At the end of July, many game forums started posting similar messages in the Legend of Sword and Fairy section, which could be summarized in one sentence: The male lead of the TV series version of Legend of Sword and Fairy is an idiot, so the TV series will also be an idiot TV series.

To prove this point, they went so far as to exaggerate and spread all sorts of bizarre rumors in online communities, truly embodying the principle of "taking things out of context"—excerpt from "Don't Take Things Out of Context."

And then, some people actually believed it. As the internet continues to expand, all sorts of novices have started to enter the field, and it's normal to be fooled when there's a lack of information.

After all, many people can spend a few dollars to go online, but are unlikely to spend 20 dollars to go to the cinema to watch a movie.

So when someone posted that an actor's performance in "Falling" was so despicable that playing Li Xiaoyao would only ruin the "Chinese Paladin" brand, many netizens agreed without hesitation.

Although there were dissenting voices, the point remains: not everyone goes to the cinema to watch a movie, so they naturally have no way of knowing the specifics of "Falling" and can be easily misled.

"Luckily there are pirated versions." Xu Jiuyang chuckled as he browsed the website, his feelings somewhat complicated.

Although we mobilized an online army after communicating with Sister Xiaoli, it could only disrupt the issue and muddy the waters as much as possible, but it could not completely prevent the expected decline in the reputation of the TV series.

In fact, most public relations work like this: preventing a decline in reputation is the most crucial thing. As long as this is achieved, everything else is fine.

Building a good reputation requires gradual accumulation, but it can collapse with just one news item or even a piece of gossip or rumor, especially when you don't have time to react.

That's when piracy came into play. When online trolls started posting pirated screenshots of movies, some of the exaggerated claims were exposed, such as "the perversion and distortion during the murders."

He could tolerate other things, but not this. Xu Jiuyang believed that he could win the Best Actor award at Cannes this year, not only because the male actors in the competing films were relatively mediocre and Angela had used money, but also because of his own understated acting style.

Although the male protagonist Xu Liang is a scumbag, he is a very cunning one. If it weren't for the problems with his wife's family, he might have been able to get away with the murder. Therefore, there are not many scenes with intense emotional fluctuations from beginning to end.

Even after killing the female protagonist, his regret due to his remaining conscience and his fear of being discovered by the police were all conveyed through subtle facial expressions.

Therefore, the claim of "perversion and twistedness during the murder" simply doesn't exist. How could they slander themselves like that?!

If they couldn't refute it, that would be one thing, but now that we have an online army, we're going to drown them in flames.

What's that saying again? "Once power is in hand, orders are issued."

Of course, you can't say that to other people.

"I've also poured a lot of effort into 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy,' so of course I can't let them rewrite it," Xu Jiuyang said to Sister Xiaoli.

The ratings are not important. As long as the show airs at this time and generates buzz, especially online, it will inevitably leave its mark on the times.

As for the depth of the imprint, it depends on the actor's performance and how well it integrates with the plot.

So what he cares about is reputation.

Given the production quality of this TV series' costumes, props, and special effects, with a little online regulation, it shouldn't be a problem. After all, the vast majority of TV drama viewers don't play games. Besides, Sister Xiaoli has already secured a broadcast date; it will air in early October on Tomato TV and BT TV. Although they are local channels, it's still quite good, and it will definitely spread quickly.

Seeing that the online public opinion was under control, Xu Jiuyang put it aside and went to attend the preparatory meeting for "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

"Hello, Teacher Wang, I am Xu Jiuyang. It's a pleasure to work with you." Xu Jiuyang shook hands with Wang Luoyong and then sat down.

"You flatter me, Mr. Xu. You are so young, truly a promising young man," Wang Luoyong said politely.

After all, for someone like him, who went abroad in the 80s, spent more than ten years without making a name for himself, and even took pride in his role in "Miss Saigon," only to have to come back and work hard again, the Cannes Best Actor award is an incredible honor.

Unfortunately, Fan Bingbing and the others interfered too much with the actresses, so Xu Jiuyang was somewhat embarrassed to interfere with the male actors, not to mention that Zhang Dahuzi had also tried his best to persuade him.

“Mr. Xu, just tell me what you need, especially regarding male actors.” Zhang Jizhong said this to him in a very humble tone.

Xu Jiuyang is somewhat responsive to persuasion, and Wang Luoyong's impression of him during this meeting was acceptable, so let's leave it at that for now.

The same applies to others—mainly because of Zhang Dahuzi's version of "The Return of the Condor Heroes" in the previous generation; very few male actors from that version became famous. Apart from Huang Xiaoming being ridiculed for being greasy and Wang Luoyong being mocked for being short-statured, the others are basically unknown.
Oh, and there's Gao Hu too.

Although Xu Jiuyang intervened in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and got Wu Jing to play Xu Zhu, Gao Hu still managed to get in and land the role of Huo Du.

Forget it, let's ignore it for now. We can't convict someone for something they didn't do, otherwise Zhang Mo should be the first one to be dealt with. But Zhang Mo is going to be used against the Central Academy of Drama.

Leaving that aside, there's not much to say about the preparatory meeting. It was no different from the previous two meetings, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils." Everyone just sat together to get to know each other and talk about the filming date.

There are two interesting things. First, the filming is scheduled to start in October, which is later than the previous two TV series. Consequently, the wrap-up date will also be postponed to the beginning of next year.

Xu Jiuyang had no objection to this. Did Zhang Jizhong dare to refuse to let him go back for the New Year? He could just have someone talk to him, or Li Yunxin would find someone to talk to him.

Indeed, although Li Yunxin did not say it explicitly, Xu Jiuyang was certain from their conversations that she would definitely go back with him on New Year's Eve next year.

As for whether or not to go to South Korea for New Year's Day, it is still uncertain. If possible, Xu Jiuyang would rather not go.

Another thing is that even though his reputation for sleeping with everyone on set is already widely known in the industry, male actors still come up to him trying to get close to him.

Gao Hu, Wang Ning, Zhao Jintao, and others—none of the slightly younger ones were left out. You know, during the previous meeting, Wang Luyao, Chen Zihan, Yan Danchen, and the others didn't hide their gazes at him.

Well, they can't compare to Li Yunxin and Angela after all. Plus, with the title of Cannes Best Actor, especially the youngest Cannes Best Actor, they still have a lot of prestige in China.

This touched him inexplicably; it seemed like it had been a long time since he'd had men around him. If he didn't have plans for the evening, he would have actually treated these guys to a meal.

pity--

“What are you afraid of? We all know you’re not gay. If you want to go out with them, then go ahead.” On the way back, Liu Qianqian cupped her face in her hands and blinked as she spoke.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s normal to have a nightlife,” Yang Mi in the passenger seat chimed in.

Then someone gave them a few hard knocks on the head without any hesitation.

(End of this chapter)