The constant online chatter didn't affect Xiao He at all.
To support the promotional campaign for "Starry Radiance," he would be joining several key creators from the production team to appear on Hunan TV's "Daily Happiness" for promotion.
"Daily Happiness" was a variety entertainment program on Hunan TV, primarily featuring games, singing and dancing, and interviews. It had accompanied many viewers through their growth and had an extremely broad audience.
This long-running variety show was considered a golden platform for drama promotions. Many new series and even films loved coming here for promotion to increase their work's exposure and topic heat.
Xiao He had also grown up watching this variety show and never imagined that one day he would actually come here, even standing on this stage to promote his own work.
He felt quite excited.
However, when he saw Su Shengxi, Xiao He wasn't so happy anymore.
Those coming to record the program this time were mainly Zhang Mo, Su Shengxi, Yi Man'er, and Xiao He.
Originally according to billing order, there should have been a third male lead ahead of Xiao He - the older actor who played the leader of Li Shuo and Meng Zetian in the drama.
But that actor was indeed somewhat older and couldn't really participate in these activities for younger people, so Wen Hongyuan didn't force him to join the promotional run, instead directly letting several slightly younger people who had topic heat come together for this program.
Of course, the unpleasantness between Xiao He and Su Shengxi was also widely known. Now that everyone was meeting again, there was inevitably some awkwardness.
Yi Man'er was still wearing a light purple cheongsam that fit her character persona from the drama, carrying herself with elegant composure, while casually waving a small folding fan in her hand. When she saw Xiao He, she was the first to smile and came over to greet him: "Xiao He, long time no see."
Xiao He also proactively walked over: "Sister Man'er, long time no see! How have you been recently? What have you been busy with?"
"Oh, just finished with a production crew recently, currently taking a break," Yi Man'er said.
Originally, Yi Man'er had also planned to audition for Feng Zhengyang's movie, but an old friend she knew encountered some trouble and urgently needed Yi Man'er to save the situation, so she ultimately didn't participate in that audition.
But fortunately she missed that audition, otherwise she would have really stepped in shit.
"What about you? How did you get so much darker?" Yi Man'er looked Xiao He up and down, "You seem more solidly built than before too."
Xiao He explained: "I was filming in Haishi before, so I got tanned a bit."
"So that's why, I remember now - I saw your hot search topic before," Yi Man'er understood, "I think it was Director Ren's project, right?"
"Yes," Xiao He nodded.
While Xiao He and Yi Man'er were talking, Zhang Mo and Su Shengxi also came over.
Actually, when Zhang Mo saw Xiao He, he wanted to come greet him directly, but Yi Man'er beat him to it. Seeing Su Shengxi standing alone, he hesitated briefly but still decided to bring Su Shengxi along.
There was no other way - the disharmony within the production crew was now almost universally known, but the surface relationships still needed to be maintained. After all, "Starry Radiance" still needed to air, and they couldn't give others opportunities to stir up public opinion.
"Little Xiao, long time no see."
"Hello, Mr.Xiao."
Just from the forms of address, you could tell who was close and who was distant.
But no one showed it outwardly. Xiao He also smiled and greeted Zhang Mo and Su Shengxi, not displaying any displeasure on his face.
Yi Man'er opened her fan to cover the lower half of her face, the smile in her eyes fading considerably.
Fortunately, everyone present were actors. Even though they had their own different thoughts internally, they barely maintained a lively atmosphere until the program crew came over to confirm the upcoming program flow with them.
The person who came over was precisely the host of "Daily Happiness," Qiu Hua.
Qiu Hua was a veteran-level host at Hunan TV. Having hosted programs for many years, he was highly experienced and had extremely high emotional intelligence. Even when not recording the program, his attitude remained gentle and humble, speaking in an organized manner that made people feel very comfortable.
Since the others had all participated in this program before, with only Xiao He being a first-timer, Qiu Hua paid special attention to Xiao He's feelings and chatted with him a bit more.
Xiao He had to admit that Teacher Qiu himself was truly a very charming person. Such charm would captivate people regardless of gender or age.
Working with someone like this was really very pleasant.
After chatting for a while longer, Qiu Hua went to the other side to begin preparation work before recording.
Yi Man'er came over to Xiao He again, looking quite displeased.
Xiao He glanced at her: "What's wrong?"
"It's that guy again," Yi Man'er pouted, "I'm his CP in the drama, so we'll be paired together for games later."
In "Starry Radiance," the emotional weight was actually quite light, mainly focusing on one relationship line between female lead Qiu Rongyue and second male lead Bai Mingchuan. However, due to the family-country background, they ultimately didn't end up together, though they were pretty much the official pairing. Meanwhile, the male lead Li Shuo remained single throughout, staying alone from start to finish.
Although such a drama wouldn't go so far as to ship couples, during promotions they would inevitably become partners for activities together.
Actually, it was all work - in the past, Yi Man'er wouldn't have cared, but what she hated most about Su Shengxi was that he wouldn't restrain his obsessive fans.
And ever since Su Shengxi and Xu Youyou's relationship was exposed, those obsessive fans had become even more obsessive.
They watched Yi Man'er every day, scolding her, afraid she would become either the wife or the mistress.
Yi Man'er really felt like laughing in anger.
It was just acting - their usual interactions were limited to colleague relationships.
What incredible ability did she possess, to blind such a pair of eyes and fall for such a tasteless and incompetent waste?
Did they think Yi Man'er was collecting trash in the domestic entertainment industry?
That she would take any garbage?
Xu Youyou was blind, and they blamed her for it?
Yi Man'er grew angrier the more she thought about it, but could only hold her breath, not daring to directly confront those obsessive fans before the drama aired, lest it affect their series broadcast.
Xiao He roughly understood the situation and comforted Yi Man'er with great sympathy: "It's fine, it's fine, just treat it like you're bringing a little waste through the levels. Show your momentum and state - anyone with eyes can see exactly who looks down on whom."
Yi Man'er took a deep breath, then smiled radiantly, half-serious and half-joking: "I'll try my best not to hit him on stage."
Xiao He also chuckled lightly: "Then Sister Man'er, you'll have to hold on tight, otherwise I might not be able to resist going up to hit him too."
"What's this about hitting..."
Zhang Mo came over just in time to hear this.
Yi Man'er shrugged: "Xiao He and I are plotting to put a sack over that guy's head later. Teacher Zhang, want to join?"
Zhang Mo was from the same company as Yi Man'er and naturally knew about her situation. Hearing Yi Man'er's words, he smiled quite helplessly: "You young people these days are really full of energy."
Yi Man'er crossed her arms, quite bluntly exposing him: "Mr.Zhang, your usual internet surfing speed is faster than ours, and now you're playing dumb?"
Zhang Mo played the fool: "Oh dear, when people get older, their hearing really doesn't work well."
Yi Man'er counted on her fingers: "Come to think of it, that seems about right - after all, Mr.Zhang is twenty years older than Xiao He."
Xiao He: ...
Zhang Mo covered his chest: ?
Zhang Mo really felt for a moment like he had instantly aged several years, even his heart beginning to ache faintly.