Huayu: Starting from retirement, sweeping across the domestic entertainment industry

Chapter 84: Filming Start-up and Trending Topics

July 20th, Qingdao. Sunny weather, slightly salty sea breeze.

The opening ceremony for "A Little Red Flower for You" was scheduled for 10:00 AM at a cultural and creative park rented by the production team.

The venue wasn't large, but it was decorated in a stylish way. The backdrop was a rough draft of a movie poster, with two young figures standing back to back, and a hand-painted red flower above their heads.

When Li Ran arrived at the scene, he was slightly taken aback by the scene before him.

The park entrance was crowded with people, mostly young girls, holding up support items.

Several girls were holding up photos of him from his professional gaming days, wearing IG team jerseys, and laughing merrily.

They screamed as soon as they saw Li Ran get out of the car.

"Li Ran!"

"Go, Burning God!"

……

Li Ran waved to them and ran inside quickly. He didn't dare to linger, afraid of causing a commotion.

The opening ceremony proceeded according to the established procedures.

Director Han Yan, producer, and several lead actors went on stage one by one to burn incense and pray for blessings, and then lifted the red cloth covering the camera.

The process is simple, but full of ritual.

Once the media interview session began, almost all the microphones were pointed at Li Ran.

The initial questions were fairly polite.

"Li Ran, this is your first time playing the male lead in a movie. What are your feelings?"

"It's an honor, but also a bit nerve-wracking," Li Ran said, holding the microphone with a polite smile.

"Director Han is an excellent director, and Hao Cun, Zhu Yuan, Xin Baiqing, Xia Yu, and Yue Yunpeng are all fantastic actors. I will do my best to portray the character Wei Yihang well."

How was it working with Haocun?

Li Ran glanced at Liu Haocun standing next to her; Liu Haocun was flashing her standard business smile at the camera.

"Very good. Haocun is a very talented actor. We worked together very well during the script reading."

Liu Haocun chimed in at the opportune moment: "Teacher Li Ran taught me a lot, and he took good care of me."

The two exchanged a smile, and the sound of camera shutters clicking filled the media area.

But soon, the problem started to take a turn for the worse.

A male reporter wearing glasses held up a microphone, his voice shrill.

"Li Ran, there are rumors that Yi Yangqianxi was originally cast as the male lead in this movie, but you won the role through unfair means. How do you respond to this?"

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Liu Haocun turned his head to look at him, his eyes filled with worry.

Li Ran's smile remained unchanged, and his tone remained calm: "Excuse me, what constitutes improper means? I'm not quite sure."

He paused, then looked directly at the reporter.

"The casting was the director's decision, and I was just the result of a normal audition. If this reporter has any questions, they can verify this with Director Han."

Director Han Yan immediately chimed in, her tone crisp: "Li Ran is an outstanding actor, and our directing team has considered him a top choice from the very beginning."

"His performance during the audition was outstanding, perfectly matching my image of Wei Yihang. So this question is invalid, next one."

The reporter wanted to ask more questions, but was gestured to step back by staff.

Another reporter immediately squeezed forward: "Li Ran, yesterday some netizens photographed Zhou Ye holding that little dog in Hengdian, is it Ta Xue? Are you two dating?"

Li Ran was stunned for a moment.

He had expected to be asked about his love life, but he never imagined it would be about a dog.

He chuckled awkwardly, "This is the start of filming, not a personal interview..."

He paused for a moment, then answered, "But it was indeed snow."

"As netizens probably know, Zhou Ye and I were classmates at the Beijing Film Academy, and I also worked with her on my first film."

"I visited her on set a couple of days ago. She likes walking in the snow, so I let her take care of her for a couple of days. Nothing special."

Before the reporter could press for more details, Li Ran waved her hand with a smile, saying, "Alright, alright, the director will get angry if you keep talking."

Director Han Yan stood next to him, putting on a stern face and making an expression that said, "I'll get angry if you ask me again."

A burst of good-natured laughter rang out, and the atmosphere finally eased a bit.

But the next question immediately followed: "Li Ran, what's your relationship with Zhang Jingyi? Some netizens say you two are a real couple!"

Li Ran sighed helplessly: "This is the start of filming for a movie, it's really not a personal interview..."

He glanced at Director Han Yan beside him, shrugged, and looked completely innocent.

Director Han readily picked up the microphone: "Alright, this interview is now over. Thank you to all the media friends."

Please give our work more attention.

Staff began guiding the media away, and the ceremony ended...

In the evening, we returned to the hotel.

Li Ran had barely lain down when there was a knock on the door.

When the door opened, Liu Haocun stood outside, holding his phone, his expression indescribable.

She walked in and shoved her phone screen in his face: "Seriously, why don't you just deny it? It's trending number one right now!"

Li Ran took the phone and glanced at it.

#Li Ran and Zhou Ye's suspected relationship exposed#

Clicking through, the trending topic is a video posted by an entertainment account with the caption: "Zhou Ye is seen holding a small dog on the Hengdian film set. Some netizens recognized it as Li Ran's Schnauzer, 'Ta Xue'."

"The two previously worked together on 'The Young Dragon,' and were classmates. Did they develop feelings for each other while filming?"

The comments section below was filled with heated arguments.

"I'm totally shipping them! They're such a perfect couple!"

"Waaaaah, my beloved idol is taken, I'm heartbroken..."

"Is this just hype? 'The Young Dragon' is about to air, isn't this just a way to build up buzz?"

"Hilarious! Li Ran's fans were previously criticizing Zhang Jingyi for trying to ride on his coattails, but now that the real Li Ran has come out, what do they have to say?"

"Ta Xue is so cute!"

"Am I the only one with a distorted view? How come anyone can hug this dog for two days straight?"

Fans of the couple Li Ran and Zhang Jingyi were also lamenting in the comments section.

"The upperclassmen and underclassmen are heartbroken..."

"No way, no way, my ship just got started and it's already collapsed?"

Li Ran scrolled down and saw a popular comment that had been upvoted a lot.

"So, Shining God, did you enter the entertainment industry just to find a partner?"

He quietly logged out of Weibo and returned the phone to Liu Haocun.

He said helplessly, "I didn't expect the 'Snow Treading' trend to be so high; I can still be recognized."

Liu Haocun looked at him and suddenly laughed: "You're finished. Now the whole country knows you have a dog."

Li Ran: "..."

Liu Haocun didn't dwell on the issue too much, but instead pulled Li Ran aside to discuss the scenes they would be filming the next day.

After finishing the rehearsal, it was getting late, so she got up and left.

Not long after Liu Haocun left, Li Ran's phone rang. It was a call from her aunt, Long Danni.

Li Ran answered the phone, but before she could even speak, her aunt's voice bombarded her: "Can't you be more careful next time?"

Li Ran chuckled awkwardly, "I didn't expect that even a dog could be recognized."

Long Danni was silent for two seconds, then sighed: "Alright, consider this a warning. Don't take Taxue out casually in the future."

She paused, her tone softening slightly: "But it's alright, 'The Dragon Boy' is about to air, I'll have the public relations department guide it, consider it a promotional warm-up."

"Let netizens guess whatever they want, there's no concrete evidence anyway."

Li Ran nodded: "Okay, I understand."

……

Li Ran put down her phone, leaned against the headboard, and opened WeChat.

The message list has exploded.

The first news item was from Zhou Ye: "[What's going on with the trending topics??]"

I just finished filming, and my assistant showed me her phone; I was completely stunned.

[However... the picture that went viral was actually quite nice, hehe]

Li Ran: [Speechless emoji]

"It's alright, your aunt will handle it. You can focus on filming."

The reply came instantly: 【Okay~】

Then they sent me a ten-second video.