Old Qian nodded, then shook his head, explaining, "I don't have that much power. It was the Restoration Center at the museum that recommended you. Then, combined with the case from a while back, the Police also specifically mentioned your assistance, so the Calligraphy Association submitted your name."
"After comprehensive consideration, the Program Group also decided to have you open the first episode as a special celebrity guest."
Xiao He understood: "So that's how it is."
"The popularity of cultural relics has indeed received great attention recently, and everyone has gained some understanding of this area, so the Program Group is preparing to explain Emperor Chen's calligraphy works in the first episode."
Old Qian continued to explain the situation: "Originally, the Calligraphy Association was planning to have the chairman act as the narrator, but your understanding of Emperor Chen's works is far beyond ours, so he also feels that you are fully capable of taking on this position."
Moreover, this was equivalent to an official endorsement. Xiao He could also publicly reveal another layer of his identity as an important committee member of the China Calligraphy Association, which was a high level of recognition within the industry. If he could also showcase some "talent," then this program would be completely handing Xiao He popularity and fame.
At the same time, it would also significantly boost Xiao He's popularity and fame.
As long as there is an opportunity, it must not be missed!
Not to mention acting directly as a narrator! This would provide even more opportunities to show his face.
"Sounds good. Roughly when will it be? What is the name of the program? I'll have Sister Liu keep an eye on it."
Without any hesitation, Xiao He called Liu Rulan over directly.
Liu Rulan was also pleasantly surprised and immediately chatted with Old Qian about the general situation of the program.
Just as Xiao He's variety show path was moving towards a new stage and blooming brilliantly due to the cultural relic investigation case, good news arrived from the film industry on the other side.
"League of Phantom Thieves 2" and "making the best of a bad situation" had both officially ended their theatrical runs.
Yes, that's right. After being extended several times, "League of Phantom Thieves 2" finally officially ended its run after May Day.
That kid Zhuang Hongyi really pushed "League of Phantom Thieves 2" all the way to May Day, drank a bit of broth, and then had a beautiful finale.
The only regret might be that the final box office for "League of Phantom Thieves 2" remained at 4.7 billion. It lacked the stamina to continue, and even with the extension to May Day, there was no hope of breaking 5 billion.
However, he was still very happy. After all, setting aside the initial costs, every extra day was profit. "League of Phantom Thieves 2" had also basically locked in the box office champion for the year. Zhuang Hongyi's career trajectory was truly enviable.
And "making the best of a bad situation" naturally didn't have such impressive results as "League of Phantom Thieves 2"; the final domestic box office only settled at 1.7 billion.
After all, this was just a remake. Even with Xiao He driving the quality, public appeal, and fan economy, it couldn't save the fact that the Male Lead was Ren Yibai. How many people gave up on the movie because of Ren Yibai will likely remain a permanent mystery.
But on the contrary, the performance of "making the best of a bad situation" abroad was unexpectedly good. Adding everything together, it was actually almost on par with the domestic box office.
This was the second instance, following "Law of the Jungle," where domestic and international box office receipts were basically on par. It's just that last time, the box office for "Law of the Jungle" was mostly contributed by Europe and America, while this time the basic market for "making the best of a bad situation" was in the Asian region.
One can only say that after Ren Yibai honestly carried out the roadshow promotion, it was still very useful. At least these neighboring countries didn't know about the public opinion surrounding him domestically, so after he worked hard and without complaint to promote it, everyone was still very willing to buy tickets to the cinema for Xiao He's name.
Hmm, this last sentence is not wrong.
It was indeed for Xiao He.
Xiao He's "No Bait" had already laid a foundation in this region, and a soul-swapping theme like "making the best of a bad situation" was inherently attractive to the local audience here. So, when Ren Yibai went around promoting abroad for the sake of his important comeback work "making the best of a bad situation," more people only remembered Xiao He.
After all, as the saying goes, once you become famous, your face will gradually become clear amidst the crowd.
To give a simple example, there's a work poster hanging on the side of the road. Before the star becomes famous, when passersby walk by, they at most know it's a poster. The person on it looks familiar, but they can't remember the face at all; they have no impression after seeing it.
But if this star becomes famous, then when passersby walk by, they can subconsciously recognize the other person as a certain star from China with just one glance, and incidentally remember the content on the poster.
And Xiao He is in this state now.
Ren Yibai himself didn't have the same reputation foundation abroad as Xiao He and was a stranger to many people, but he still had to bite the bullet and run to various countries to promote, also to fight for himself and open up the overseas market.
Who would have thought that after he chattered on with his promotion, once everyone looked at the poster, they would immediately have a realization: "Ah! So it's Xiao He's work!"
It's not that Ren Yibai wasn't working hard, but the facts were indeed heartbreaking.
Moreover, the beginning and end of the plot of "making the best of a bad situation" both featured Xiao He's character, so naturally, the face that left a deep impression on many people was mostly Xiao He's.
Consequently, some even thought that Xiao He was the Male Lead, while Ren Yibai was the supporting role.
This really was working hard for nothing, ultimately doing the wedding dress for someone else.
But of course, the fact that "making the best of a bad situation" could reap so much box office abroad doesn't mean Ren Yibai had no credit at all, or perhaps that he didn't benefit at all; it's just that compared to the situation on Xiao He's side, it looked truly bleak.
Ren Yibai, who learned about this, was almost ready to vomit blood. He never imagined that his hard work would end up like this.
Just thinking about it made him almost go crazy with anger.
"No, I already know that no matter what, I can't compare to Xiao He, but the gap shouldn't be this tragic, right?!"
Ren Yibai clutched his chest. Seeing the various summary data provided by his Agent, he felt his heart rate becoming irregular.
If Ren Yibai had previously thought about stepping on Xiao He to climb up, then now, he had long since seen the reality clearly.
It's just that this reality really makes one unable to open their eyes.
Suddenly, fire rose from the bottom of his heart.
Ren Yibai slammed the table and stood up: "Where is the director? Where is the director of 'making the best of a bad situation'? If he hadn't been playing tricks back then, I would have deleted the scenes long ago. How could anyone have misunderstood who was the Male Lead and who was the supporting role? And I felt at the time that this director was biased, specifically changing it to a bullshit ending to force-promote Xiao He. Now look what happened! The popularity was all sucked away by Xiao He, and we didn't earn a single cent!"
It infuriated him! It infuriated him!
That director of "making the best of a bad situation" was also very annoying!
He couldn't deal with Xiao He now, but couldn't he deal with a small director in the company?!
Thus, Ren Yibai rolled up his sleeves and prepared to find someone: "Director, where is Director Zhan? Where is Zhan Min now?!"
Assistant Gao on the side gave a dry laugh and said in a low voice: "Brother Ren, Director Zhan Min has already jumped ship. If you want to find him, it might be a bit difficult."
"What?! When did he jump ship?!"
Ren Yibai was shocked.
"Uh—"
Assistant Gao scratched his head, playing dumb.
If he directly told Brother Ren that Director Zhan had jumped ship to Brother Xiao's company, Linghui Entertainment, he would probably explode, right?
It's better to let him discover it himself...
However, within a few minutes, Ren Yibai found out anyway.
Because—
"Sigh, I'm so anxious. The next work is jointly produced by Linghui and Hanbei, and I don't know if Director Zhan is easy to get along with—"
Zhao Qinyuan, who had successfully become the top star of Hanbei Entertainment, said "worryingly" in front of Ren Yibai.
Ren Yibai's eyes widened, almost cracking: "What?! When did you guys—"
Damn! This group is collaborating, and they didn't include him!
However, the next moment, President Lin's roar came from behind: "Ren Yibai, didn't I tell you to cause less trouble? We are partners with Linghui in the future. You'd better not talk nonsense, otherwise, don't bother going to the celebration banquet for 'making the best of a bad situation'!!!"
Ren Yibai:...Heaven is my witness, who was the one causing trouble just now!!!
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