This interview was published on February 24th, which was yesterday.
After its release, it was widely reposted and had an extensive influence on platforms like Weibo.
The comments below had already reached tens of thousands, showing the interview’s broad impact.
“Lu Zhiyao’s acting in this film is undeniably good!”
“Indeed, this film seems to be a hit now. It’s no longer appropriate to call him a ‘box office poison’!”
“When I first saw that Lu Zhiyao was the lead, I almost didn’t want to watch it, but after seeing the beer drinking scene at the beginning, I was shocked and couldn’t believe my eyes!”
“I think Lu Zhiyao has had it tough. Unlike other fresh faces who claim they’re working hard but show no improvement in their acting after a long time, Lu Zhiyao has been silently putting in the effort, and now it’s finally paying off!”
“I’m a fan now! Going to watch it again to study his acting skills!”
“I want to know who this benefactor is. Since he’s already thanked Zha Zhuti before, it shouldn’t be him, right?”
“Could it be Director Zhu Xiaocai?”
“That doesn’t seem right either. If it were the director, he could just thank him directly. Why refer to him as a ‘benefactor’?”
“Not only guided his acting but also his life philosophy… this benefactor is truly remarkable!”
“I just want to know if Lu Zhiyao could win a Best Actor award for his performance in this film. He might not get one at foreign film festivals, but there’s hope for a domestic one, right?”
“Hard to say, this film might be more appreciated by foreign judges.”
…
After browsing through a few comments, Pei Qian’s face darkened, his mouth twitching slightly.
“Normal acting is the most difficult”?
“Play the character as it is”?
Is that what I said?
What I said was: “Just act normally,” and “The main character is just a slacker, it’s best to act like a slacker”!
This Lu Zhiyao not only misinterpreted my meaning, but also gave philosophical significance to my casual remarks…
Lu Zhiyao couldn’t remember exactly what Pei Qian had said at the time. He just filled in the gaps based on his vague memory, which became these two sentences in the interview.
Moreover, this “benefactor” was none other than Pei Qian!
“Lu Zhiyao, oh Lu Zhiyao, I don’t mind you washing away your toxicity, and I don’t care if your acting skills explode, but couldn’t you have picked any time other than during my movie…”
Pei Qian discovered that his worry about “Lu Zhiyao drinking beer” trending had become reality, though the process differed somewhat from what he had imagined.
…
“Knock, knock, knock.”
As Pei Qian was leaning back in his chair, lost in thought, there was suddenly a knocking sound from outside.
Pei Qian was startled: “Delivery? No, I don’t think I’ve bought anything recently.”
Opening the door, he saw it was Ma Yang.
“Why are you here?” Pei Qian was slightly surprised.
It was still early for school to start, and although the company had begun work, He Desheng could handle things at Dream Realization Investment, and Pei Qian was overseeing the main investment projects. So whether Ma Yang was there or not didn’t make much difference.
Pei Qian had originally thought Ma Yang would spend the entire winter break at home before coming to work.
Ma Yang sat down on the sofa, looking concerned: “I heard from He Desheng that you haven’t been to the company for several days, so I wanted to come check on you.”
His gaze swept across the pile of snack bags on the coffee table, which Pei Qian had been eating while staying at home with nothing to do.
Ma Yang’s expression became serious: “Brother Qian, I have to criticize you. You’re the chairman now, you can’t take everything on yourself anymore!”
“Take Dream Realization Investment, for example. I certainly didn’t have much time before because I was preparing for final exams, but you shouldn’t take on all the investment work yourself just because you’re concerned about my studies!”
“Look at yourself now, under so much pressure! Eating all this junk food! It’s too harmful to your health!”
While speaking, Ma Yang grabbed the half-empty bag of potato chips from the table and began crunching them: “Now that the New Year is over and I’m back, I’m ready to share your burden!”
“Brother Qian, give me my assignments!”
Pei Qian wore a sorrowful expression.
I am indeed very troubled now, but it’s not something you can help with…
Oh, Ma, oh, Ma, I used to trust you so much, but how do you explain that 20 million for IOI?
If it weren’t for your unreasonable 20 million investment, would I have taken over the work at Dream Realization Investment? I would have confidently handed it over to you to lose money!
But on second thought, Pei Qian realized he wasn’t really in a position to blame Ma Yang.
Although Ma Yang spent 20 million to buy shares in Finger Company, IOI still hadn’t launched in China…
In contrast, the projects Pei Qian had personally invested in—the Shared Phone Booth, the Study Master App…
Forget it, he didn’t have the face to blame Ma Yang.
After taking over, he seemed to be doing even worse than Ma Yang.
Pei Qian sat down on the sofa, considering whether to give Ma Yang a second chance.
After thinking for a moment, Pei Qian tentatively asked: “Ma Yang, if Dream Realization Investment had another 50 million now, where would you want to invest it?”
Ma Yang had already finished half the bag of chips and was now looking at an unopened bag of shrimp crackers: “50 million…”
“The investment in Finger Company was quite successful last time, so maybe we should continue investing in Finger Company.”
Pei Qian: “…”
Obstinate!
Pei Qian was utterly exasperated: “Ma Yang, stop eating and stand up!”
Ma Yang, who had just grabbed a handful of shrimp crackers, was startled and quickly stood up, but still unconsciously stuffed the crackers into his mouth.
Pei Qian was furious: “Didn’t you eat before coming here?”
Ma Yang nodded: “Yes, how did you know? Should we order takeout now? Do you want fried chicken?”
Pei Qian: “…”
“What was I going to say just now?”
“Right, I’m very dissatisfied with your answer!”
“What’s our investment company called?”
Ma Yang quickly said, “It’s called Dream Realization Investment, Brother Qian!”
Pei Qian nodded: “Then what is the mission of Dream Realization Investment?”
Ma Yang: “Uh… to invest in dreams!”
Pei Qian spoke earnestly: “Does Finger Company look like a company that needs dream investment now? They’re not short of money at all! It’s more important now to invest in dreams that truly need to be realized!”
“For example…”
“Never mind, think about it yourself.”
Pei Qian was about to say “for example, projects like the Shared Phone Booth,” but then realized that the Shared Phone Booth project was already profitable, so he swallowed his words.
Ma Yang fell silent, seemingly deep in thought.
Halfway through his contemplation, he secretly picked up two shrimp crackers, quietly put them in his mouth, and chewed softly.
Pei Qian: “…”
“Alright, go find some dreams. Once you find them, show me, and then we’ll decide how to invest.”
Ma Yang quickly nodded: “Okay, Brother Qian, I’ll help share your burden! Are you sure you don’t want to order takeout?”
Pei Qian was speechless: “What time is it! Go eat at Slackin’ Internet Café yourself. I have things to do.”
“Oh, okay, then I’ll go now, Brother Qian.” Ma Yang turned to leave, but suddenly remembered something and picked up the bag of shrimp crackers from the table.
“These shrimp crackers are quite tasty.”
“I’m off, Brother Qian!”
Watching Ma Yang leave, Pei Qian felt complicated emotions.
“Ma Yang, you need to pull yourself together! I’m counting on you!”
…
…
In the afternoon, at the Tenda Games department.
“In short, after Bao Xu and I leave, GOG matters will be your responsibility.”
“Work quickly on cross-platform connectivity, and hurry up with the skin designs for existing heroes.”
“During this time, if you encounter any sudden issues with your respective work, don’t panic. Think about what Mr. Pei has said, and you’ll find the answer.”
Li Yada was briefing Hu Xianbin and two others on their upcoming tasks.
On March 1st, she and Bao Xu were going abroad for vacation. They had already arranged all preliminary preparations, including visas, flights, accommodations, and itineraries. Of course, the work handover with Hu Xianbin and the other two was also complete.
Today was Friday, their last day at work, and all responsibilities had been thoroughly handed over.
After everything was arranged, Li Yada checked her phone. She had sent Mr. Pei a message earlier saying that the work handover was complete and they were ready for their trip abroad. Mr. Pei had simply replied with two words: “Go ahead.”
Li Yada had been somewhat worried initially, but thinking that with Mr. Pei in charge, there shouldn’t be any major problems. Those two simple words, “Go ahead,” were like a reassurance pill, immediately putting her mind at ease.
Zhang Nan returned to her workstation and found that new concept art had arrived from Ruan Guangjian’s studio. She quickly received it.
Zhang Nan’s job mainly involved hero skins. She had originally been a fashion designer and had many unique ideas for skin design that could be applied to the game.
The concept art that had just arrived was “One-Man Show · Modiste,” which was also the first legendary skin for the hero Modiste.
In the concept art, Modiste was dressed in a Beijing Opera costume, with the appearance of a “hongsheng” (red-faced male role), five strands of long beard exuding dignity, and flags inserted on his back.
As a legendary skin, it would feature custom recall animations, unique voice lines, and special skill effects, definitely making players feel they were getting more than their money’s worth.
This was a skin that connected with the traditional art of Beijing Opera. In the famous scene “One-Man Show,” Guan Yunchang guarded Jingzhou and attended a feast alone, which became a widely circulated tale.
In the employees’ minds, Modiste’s prototype—Mr. Pei had the same magnanimous spirit of despising strong enemies and remaining calm in the face of change. He was exceptionally courageous yet also extremely wise, sharing many similarities with General Guan.
The flags on the skin were originally part of the Beijing Opera costume, but were also perfectly suited to represent the weapons inserted on Modiste’s back, making it fitting.