Xiao He originally thought he was overthinking it, but as everyone chatted and interacted, he noticed this guy always had to prove his presence. Even though it was the male and female leads explaining their parts, he deliberately butted in, upsetting the atmosphere and leaving Xiao He, the male lead, nowhere to settle.
Xiao He: ...
Damn! Are you their boyfriend?
Are you the male lead?
What does this have to do with you?
Finally, Xiao He could no longer tolerate it. He slowly looked toward Zhao Qinyuan, his gaze cold and sinister, the corner of his mouth lifting into a hypocritical smile with a hint of chill: "Little Zhao, doing a good job acting should be the top priority, right?"
As he spoke, Xiao He casually placed his hand on Zhao Qinyuan's shoulder, patting it in a patronizing, senior-like manner.
Zhao Qinyuan felt as if a cold venomous snake had settled on his shoulder, suddenly pressing against his cheek and hissing its tongue, sending a chill racing up from his chest that made his scalp tingle.
People used to say Xiao He wasn't a good person and that his roles were acting according to nature, but Zhao Qinyuan didn't believe it, thinking it was all a marketing tactic by Xiao He's team.
After meeting him on set, Zhao Qinyuan thought, as expected. Although Xiao He looked fierce with extremely sharp eyes, his speech and behavior were normal and his personality somewhat mild, so Zhao Qinyuan wasn't overly afraid of him.
But when their eyes met this time, Zhao Qinyuan suddenly realized the warmth and friendliness that used to be in those eyes had completely vanished, replaced by a coldness he had never seen before, almost filling the dark pupils entirely.
The smile on Zhao Qinyuan's face froze instantly.
—It was a warning, and a threat.
"Little Zhao? What's wrong with him? Is he sick? Why did his face just go so white?"
Deng Lei's worried voice reached them, and Zhao Qinyuan finally came to his senses.
"Sorry, sorry, I spaced out."
Zhao Qinyuan could only apologize repeatedly. When he looked at Xiao He again, his gaze had cleared considerably, and he no longer dared to try any tricks.
Xiao He nonchalantly withdrew his gaze.
Looks like I can't be too restrained these days, or some people will keep thinking they can bully me.
I wanted to interact with everyone as a normal person, but some people just don't appreciate it.
Fine then, I won't pretend anymore.
It's better if you stay scared of me, better if you all avoid me when you see me...
Practice proves the truth; Xiao He's aura really did suppress a bunch of bizarre characters, and the effect was excellent.
During the subsequent shooting, Zhao Qinyuan behaved obediently like a rabbit, not even trying to provoke Yuan Sitong.
Yuan Sitong, noticing this, was very surprised. She had originally wanted to discuss the matter with Xiao He, but after seeing the cold face he wore off-set, she also dared not approach him, returning to the obedient state she had during Corner Also.
In the blink of an eye, National Day arrived...
...
Actually, this National Day had nothing to do with Xiao He.
At present, Xiao He's remaining projects were only two: the TV series Corner Also (seasons one and two) and the film No Bait.
Some time ago Xiao He learned that Corner Also season one had already finished production and had entered late-stage work for season two.
The preliminary plan was to schedule Corner Also season one for the next winter holiday slot, meaning December or January–February next year.
After all, Corner Also is a comic adaptation drama, and its audience skews younger, so the broadcast time must be when students have the most free time.
As for No Bait, it had just finished filming not long ago, so its release would be at least mid-next year.
Although Xiao He had no releases during National Day, people he knew did!
Among them, his closest contacts Pu Rong and Liu Zehang both had works releasing during National Day.
After Thief Catcher, Pu Rong received many offers, but luck kept eluding him. His TV works were decent but never exploded, his film efforts were limited and underperformed, while Xiao He had already started working with big directors; Pu Rong seemed to be treading water.
Luckily, Pu Rong had a good attitude. Besides sometimes urging Lin Yipeng to hurry up and produce Thief Catcher 2, he spent his days at his own martial arts school or accepted invitations to be martial director on sets.
Then, a martial arts fight clip that recently went viral across the internet had Pu Rong as the fight coordinator.
Pu Rong could only laugh helplessly at himself and posted on Moments, joking: "My side gig has surpassed my main job, I really have no solution."
It was humorous to say, but also genuinely a bit sad.
This National Day he also appeared as a villain, playing a crime boss nicknamed "The Indestructible Little Qiang," matching blows with the protagonist throughout the plot.
Because his role wasn't the lead, Xiao He didn't make a big show promoting Pu Rong; after forwarding the news, he privately bought several film screenings and gave tickets to his own fans for free to show support.
In the end, after the National Day slot, the film with Pu Rong ranked second at the box office, which was pretty good, and his villain role was impressive, allowing him to catch his breath and avoid being completely pushed out of the film circle.
Of course, Xiao He wasn't playing favorites; he also arranged screenings to help Liu Zehang, spreading the support evenly.
However, Liu Zehang's film was an art-house piece. Although he starred as the lead, its audience was not broad. Fortunately they were not aiming for box office, so even though the National Day period was lively, his film's ticket sales were not very high.
Liu Zehang was content, and that was enough.
After all, that art film had already been submitted overseas and had won some awards. He had primarily taken the role for the awards.
So overall, this National Day slot was one where everyone gained something. People Xiao He knew posted celebrations and reports in Moments, and Xiao He went through and liked each update, feeling genuinely happy for them.
Besides that, Xiao He noticed two other things.
The first was that He Jinnian officially withdrew from the spotlight.
Although He Jinnian had been stepping back and stopping bookings since the beginning of the year, it wasn't until the end of the year that he finalized all his engagements and posted a blog to say goodbye to his fans.
Many fans had guessed this would happen, but when they really learned the news, they couldn't accept it. They cried, and conspiracy theories ran rampant, even dragging in He Jinnian's manager He Wenming and at last connecting it to Linghui Entertainment.
Fortunately, the company had prepared for this public opinion crisis, so after the announcement the situation was quickly controlled, and no outrageous rumors exploded.
He Jinnian's transformation also signaled that the large project in his hands was about to officially launch.
A big, money-burning boiler was about to be lit.
Xiao He sighed, feeling a bit of pain, but he wouldn't change the investments he'd already promised.
Luckily, these kinds of projects usually take a long time to prepare, so for the moment Xiao He only needed to provide funding, not personnel, which spared him many headaches.
The second thing was, of course, Director Zhuang's The Phantom Thief Alliance.
At the start of this year, Zhuang Hongyi's The Phantom Thief Alliance was widely praised and did very well at the box office; anyone could see a sequel was coming.
After adjustments in the first half of the year, The Phantom Thief Alliance 2 was already in preparation.
Xiao He guessed Director Zhuang's invitation would arrive by the end of the year at the latest.