Although Xiao He's reaction was rather indifferent and he didn't reveal much information, it didn't dampen Yuan Sitong's enthusiasm at all.
She grew more and more animated as she spoke, as if she were truly on the scene herself. The sleepiness from just waking up had long vanished from her eyes, replaced only by the excitement and eagerness of someone about to get a first-hand taste of a major drama.
Xiao He didn't even know what to say about Yuan Sitong anymore.
He had thought it was strange that the Queen of Tardiness would obediently wake up early and even arrive at the location ahead of time.
Now it was clear—she definitely had other motives.
But Xiao He truly couldn't understand why this young lady, just for the sake of munching on melon seeds, could muster such perseverance.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Yuan Sitong was still pressing him. Seeing that Xiao He wasn't answering her, she started talking to herself: "I originally thought you were definitely a tough character, but I never expected you'd actually be the victim—tsk tsk, and here I was, actually quite afraid of you before... ahem."
Xiao He glanced at her sideways, subtly releasing a chill: "Hmm? What did you say?"
He knew that Yuan Sitong had always been a bit intimidated by him. This was one of the main reasons why, back in the 'Corner Also' production team, she only dared to cause trouble for others but never dared to mess with him.
And now, Xiao He also hoped that Yuan Sitong would continue to maintain this attitude, not throwing any young lady tantrums at him or looking for trouble with him during the upcoming filming.
When the young man exuded coldness, a trace of killing intent would also leak from his eyes. And indeed, his icy glare successfully silenced Yuan Sitong.
The bit of sympathy and gossipy curiosity that had just risen within her was scared off by Xiao He's look. Yuan Sitong shrank her neck, not daring to spout any more nonsense to Xiao He.
Instantly, the atmosphere grew somewhat stiff.
Fortunately, at this moment, another voice chimed in—
"Sitong, long time no see!"
Xiao He looked toward the sound and saw a young man walking in from outside.
The other's appearance was exceptionally handsome, with clean-cut eyebrows and eye contours, a straight nose bridge, and peach blossom eyes that held a starlight. His expression when looking at Yuan Sitong was focused and affectionate, as if long-lost lovers had finally reunited at this moment.
Yuan Sitong looked up at the newcomer, the smile on her face fading considerably: "It's you."
"You still remember me, that's wonderful."
The young man smiled very happily. Yuan Sitong's coldness didn't make him feel awkward at all. Instead, he naturally pulled out the chair on Yuan Sitong's other side and sat down beside her.
"Brother Xiao, hello. My name is Zhao Qinyuan, I'm an artist with Taidong Entertainment."
Zhao Qinyuan then greeted Xiao He warmly.
Xiao He's gaze swept over Yuan Sitong and Zhao Qinyuan, vaguely sensing the strange atmosphere between the two. Having no intention of getting involved, he simply nodded and smiled politely at Zhao Qinyuan.
Before coming to the production team, Xiao He had already familiarized himself with most of the people involved. Naturally, he also knew about this Zhao Qinyuan.
Zhao Qinyuan also came from idol dramas. He debuted and skyrocketed to fame by playing the campus heartthrob in an idol drama. Later, he participated in one of Yuan Sitong's hit works, playing the devoted male supporting character who longed for but could never obtain the female lead played by Yuan Sitong, ultimately dying to save her.
That work was a huge hit at the time. Yuan Sitong successfully solidified her position as a top-tier idol drama actress with it and successfully formed popular CPs with the various male characters from that production.
Zhao Qinyuan also seized this opportunity to engage in bundled marketing with Yuan Sitong, hyping up their on-screen CP, even starting to escalate it to a real-life CP, guiding fans to ship them as a real couple.
This was also the reason why Yuan Sitong's expression wasn't that enthusiastic when she saw Zhao Qinyuan.
When it comes to hyping CPs, there are essentially two situations. One is where one party doesn't want to hype it, but the other party clings on to hype it. The other is where both parties reach an agreement to hype their own CP together.
Clearly, Yuan Sitong and Zhao Qinyuan were currently in a situation where one party was avoiding it, while the other was clinging on to ride the heat.
After all, Yuan Sitong's popularity was clearly higher than Zhao Qinyuan's. If she hyped a CP with Zhao Qinyuan, it was obvious that Zhao Qinyuan would benefit more, not Yuan Sitong.
Xiao He didn't care whether they were mutually willing or not. He simply shifted to the side a bit, maintaining a safe distance from them.
Thanks, but no thanks. Just don't come near me.
Everyone sat for a while longer before director Deng Lei arrived.
Accompanying him were the production team's screenwriter and producer.
"Looks like everyone's here!"
When Deng Lei saw Yuan Sitong, his gaze paused for a moment, clearly not expecting this young lady, known for always being late, to arrive so early this time. However, the smile on his face grew a few degrees more sincere: "Then let's begin!"
The table read began, with the actors from various sides first introducing themselves.
Xiao He played the protagonist Song Chenye, Yuan Sitong played the female lead Huo Wan'er, and Zhao Qinyuan played the second male lead, Liu Zhilin.
In the plot, Liu Zhilin is both the good brother Song Chenye befriends after descending the mountain and the son of Song Chenye's enemy.
After Song Chenye's father passed away, Liu Zhilin's father successfully won the position of Martial Arts Alliance Leader in the new martial arts tournament. Naturally, Liu Zhilin became the son of the Martial Arts Alliance Leader.
He trained under his father, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader, from a young age, mastering exceptional martial arts. As an adult, he traveled the martial world, fighting against the strong and helping the weak. Over the years, he also made a name for himself in the martial world, earning the respect of martial artists. He was the most highly anticipated successor to the position of Martial Arts Alliance Leader.
His initial encounter with the protagonist Song Chenye wasn't mixed with extra schemes or ulterior motives.
During a series of consecutive murders involving ghostly phenomena, Liu Zhilin and Song Chenye unexpectedly met, joined forces to investigate, and were even pursued together by the mastermind behind the case.
Because of this, the two shared an experience of going through hardships together and became good friends.
Unfortunately, the grudges of their elders would ultimately fall upon their respective heads.
Song Chenye had his own path to walk, and Liu Zhilin couldn't just stand by and watch his father die.
The friendship born from shared hardship would ultimately be sealed with a bloody full stop by a sword of slaughter in the end...
During the table read, Xiao He also carefully observed the situation of the actors present.
Actually, the casting for this 'Record of Chasing the Wind' production team was very clear: they aimed to grasp both traffic and reputation.
They needed both Xiao He and several other veteran martial arts actors to stabilize the acting reputation and maintain the high standards for fight scenes in a martial arts drama. They also needed pure traffic actors like Yuan Sitong and Zhao Qinyuan to stir up topics, drive heat marketing, attract fans to watch the drama and work on the data metrics, and expand the topic reach.
Seeing veteran actors with strong acting skills in idol dramas, and seeing fresh-faced young idols in serious dramas, had already become a normal practice for many production teams nowadays.
Xiao He wasn't too surprised.
If 'Record of Chasing the Wind' aired smoothly later, and the broadcast situation was very good, receiving unanimous recognition and praise from the audience, then as long as Yuan Sitong and Zhao Qinyuan's acting in the drama was passable, without any major mistakes, and they did good marketing after the broadcast, then these two's acting skills would naturally also "improve by leaps and bounds," becoming somewhat competent.
So, even though Xiao He was the main male lead now, and Yuan Sitong's female lead role seemed more like a supporting female lead, Yuan Sitong's key acting highlight shots were not reduced at all.
Especially since this kind of emotional entanglement and self-loathing from "lover and father being mortal enemies" shared similarities with some of the idol drama female leads she had played before. It was within Yuan Sitong's acting comfort zone. As long as Yuan Sitong could hold her own in the scenes, then after 'Record of Chasing the Wind' aired, Xiao He would also be helping to lift Yuan Sitong's acting status.
However, Xiao He didn't really care much about these things.
It was just that thinking about Yuan Sitong's acting, and this Zhao Qinyuan's single-minded focus on bundled CP hype, and listening to the terrible lines of another actor nearby who couldn't even speak standard Mandarin properly, Xiao He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
No wonder the production team originally wanted to find Shu Han. They were planning to have Shu Han carry two others.
Too bad Shu Han didn't come. He, on the other hand, had walked right into the trap himself.
Oh well, didn't he know this before joining the production team?
It's fine. If the Mandarin isn't standard, there's dubbing. If the acting isn't qualified, there are stand-ins.
No one can stop him from taking part in this role!