December in Beijing had truly entered the cold winter.
The morning sky was hazy with no sun in sight, and even the wind blowing against the face made people shiver.
Xiao He didn't care about maintaining style over comfort. Standing beneath the temporarily built stage outside the courtyard, he first tightened his down jacket, giving the cold wind no chance to sneak attack him.
This morning was the opening ceremony, and the first scene would officially begin filming in the afternoon, so Xiao He basically didn't wear much makeup, just did his hair slightly.
After Xiao He finished preparing, Liu Rulan arrived with Xiao Chen.
The two of them had just gone to arrange the flower baskets sent by the studio.
This was considered a form of social etiquette within the industry—sending flower baskets and auspicious words in the name of the actor personally or the studio during the opening to express their importance to the production team.
Originally, the previous few production teams he participated in didn't have such troublesome openings.
However, each production team had its own style and atmosphere. Liu Rulan had previously inquired about the situation within the team and found that everyone had prepared some "sincerity" of their own, so to avoid standing out, she also prepared some flower baskets for Xiao He, which were quite standard—expressing respect without being too eye-catching.
After everyone arranged the flower baskets and stood in the central open space, others gradually gathered around, most of whom were actors they would collaborate with next, along with some staff members.
On the periphery, some media and reporters stood scattered about.
But perhaps because Xu Youyou's incident yesterday had drawn away most people's attention, not many media reporters came today. Consequently, the entire opening ceremony for the "Corner Also" production team was very simple and low-key—just Yan Shaohan going up to say a few words, then Zhuang Hongyi going up to say a few words, and the ceremony quickly approached its end.
Of course, these media reporters didn't come for nothing. In the end, the production team reserved some time for them to ask questions, which the directors selectively answered.
Thus, the first to bear the brunt in this segment was the matter of Xiao He playing the role of "Yin Qi."
"Director Zhuang, may I ask what considerations led you to have Xiao He play Yin Qi?"
A media reporter was the first to ask.
"Naturally, it's because Xiao He is worthy." Zhuang Hongyi answered decisively and tactfully reminded, "Also, I do not hold the director position in the 'Corner Also' production team. Please do not deviate in your promotions."
Then, one after another, people asked Zhuang Hongyi about his views on Xiao He, and even directly asked Xiao He if he had confidence in playing Yin Qi well, and so on. Fortunately, everyone had mentally prepared for these questions, so answering them wasn't too difficult.
However, the expressions of others were somewhat complex.
Everyone knew that adaptations of comics into dramas would face skepticism from the start and had mentally prepared for it.
But no one expected that this time, Xiao He alone would bear the brunt of most of the doubts in this public opinion storm! This made life relatively easier for others, with less pressure and skepticism.
Although there were fewer opportunities to promote themselves at this time and they didn't attract as much traffic, the advantage was stability!
At times like this, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. They weren't fools, so naturally they wouldn't step forward to attract fire.
So sorry, Xiao He, it's all up to you!
Xiao He didn't know about the complex feelings of others. Standing beside the director, he nodded along.
At this moment, a reporter shifted the focus to Yan Shaohan: "Director Yan, was the audition for 'Corner Also' mainly handled by Director Zhuang? Are you satisfied with the current casting?"
As soon as these words were spoken, people both on and off stage changed their expressions.
Liu Rulan narrowed her eyes, her gaze firmly locked on this troublemaking reporter, and she sneered mockingly.
This question was full of traps! First, it implied that although Yan Shaohan appeared to be the director, he actually had no directorial power, and the production team was basically Zhuang Hongyi's one-man show, with no say even in casting; second, it suggested that Xiao He and several other actors were brought in through capital exchanges arranged by Zhuang Hongyi, meaning they were resource actors inserted by capital.
Although the questions others asked were sharp, they were relatively restrained and didn't deliberately lead people astray, but this person's question clearly had a misleading tendency.
This was very irritating.
Now the worry was whether Yan Shaohan, who might not guard his words, would fail to detect the underlying meaning.
Although an upright person isn't bothered by a crooked shadow, it couldn't withstand someone deliberately trying to cause trouble, which would mean more hassle.
Even the smile on Zhuang Hongyi's face faded slightly.
"Yes, these actors were basically found for me by Director Zhuang."
Sure enough, Yan Shaohan, being guileless, spoke frankly.
Immediately, camera flashes went off several times, and the surrounding media reporters began recording and filming frantically. The lead reporter showed a satisfied smile, even already thinking of the upcoming hot search topics—
[Yan Shaohan Publicly Confirms Resource Actors, "Corner Also" Becomes a Capital Game]
[Inserting Actors Before Filming? Is "Corner Also" Overconfident or Celebrating Prematurely?]
["Corner Also" Production Team Resource Actors]
[Resource Actors Running Rampant, Where is "Corner Also" Heading?]
...
But then, Yan Shaohan suddenly changed his tone: "Mainly because I just graduated and don't know many famous people in the industry! If Teacher Zhuang didn't help me, I probably couldn't even gather the basic main cast, let alone form a production team."
"As for the casting, I'm naturally extremely satisfied. I only had one requirement for Mr. Zhuang, which was that the main cast must all be handsome, have outstanding looks, and meet the average appearance standard of my main cast! So look now—they're all super eye-catching, high-value actors!"
"Especially Ms. Guo Xinya! She's completely my goddess!"
Then Yan Shaohan began to talk nonstop about his inspiration sources and his creative journey—
Everyone on site: ...
Xiao He lowered his head and held his forehead.
Alright, alright. Originally, the biggest point of skepticism about their production team was still on him. Now, good—the next wave of online skepticism definitely wouldn't be focused on him.
—But on this super unreliable Yan Shaohan!
The lead reporter really had no interest in listening to Yan Shaohan's creative ideas. Wearing a polite smile, his mind wandered for a while. Meanwhile, another reporter beside him decisively raised his hand to interrupt Yan Shaohan's "chanting" and continued asking: "So the focus of 'Corner Also's' casting was on the actors' looks? Then how will you ensure the quality of the actors and the work?"
"I think many problems can be overcome."
Yan Shaohan said very sincerely, "Those are things the entire production team needs to work on together. But before anything is conclusive, at least the looks are something everyone can see."
At least they've already won half the battle with their looks!
Everyone: ...Alright, alright, if you put it that way, it's not entirely unreasonable.
The questioning reporter wanted to speak but hesitated, hesitated but wanted to speak, and ultimately didn't know what to say, stammering: "This, this isn't really—"
"Alright, thank you everyone for coming to our opening ceremony."
The reporter's words were interrupted by Zhuang Hongyi. Zhuang Hongyi scanned the crowd, raised the microphone, and said calmly: "The time is almost up. Everyone, come up for a group photo."
Then the topic was awkwardly dropped just like that.
Xiao He could almost foresee how these people would promote their production team when they returned!
Just this seemingly unreliable and super appearance-focused Director Yan alone would be enough for them to create different versions.
This is such a headache...