"They haven't made any fuss at all?"
This was what surprised Xiao He the most.
The three great virtues of the domestic entertainment industry: playing the victim, tearing each other apart, and switching to live-stream sales.
Now that "Thief Catcher" had snatched away their summer season heat, these people were actually being so well-behaved without making any moves?
Based on Xiao He's understanding of these people, in previous situations like this, they would have already jumped out to attack "Thief Catcher." Otherwise, they would have bought water armies to massively intervene. At the very least, there should have been some action, but Xiao He never imagined they would remain this calm until now.
This seemed somewhat unreasonable...
Liu Rulan had actually anticipated this: "They don't dare."
Xiao He: "Huh?"
Xiao He dragged his chair in front of Liu Rulan, looking at her with great suspicion: "Do you know something?"
"Mhmm."
"About Director Lin? I noticed you acting strangely last time too."
"Aiya, I've been busy with backend work all night and haven't had time to drink any water—" Liu Rulan played with her nails, starting to beat around the bush.
Xiao He very understandingly offered water: "For my dear Sister Liu, you've worked hard today! Sister Liu is both beautiful and kind-hearted, you'll definitely tell your little brother, right?"
Liu Rulan picked up the water glass and took a sip, moistening her throat. She deliberately coughed lightly before finally speaking slowly under Xiao He's expectant gaze: "You know who the representative figures of China's fifth-generation directors are, right?"
The 5th generation directors refer to groups of directors from different periods who possess the creative characteristics and styles of their era.
For example, the fifth-generation directors Liu Rulan mentioned generally emerged in the 1980s. Their films mostly carried the historical cultural connotations and era background of that time, such as "Sorghum Uniquely Red" and "Black Earth." Just hearing the names tells you they're works from that era.
Among these representative figures, several are still active in the public eye today. Even though Xiao He never formally studied film history, he could name several people—
After Xiao He finished counting the people he knew on his fingers, Liu Rulan finally put down her water glass and said unhurriedly: "Lin Jiexiu—you mentioned this director earlier, so you must know something about him, right?"
Xiao He nodded: "I've seen his film 'The One Who Never Returns' and several other award-winning works, but I don't know much about his personal life."
Compared to other major directors still active in the frontline, Lin Jiexiu was somewhat of an exception.
He had works and talent no less impressive than other directors, and had won many awards domestically and internationally that proved his capabilities. But over a decade ago, he paused his directing career, returned to school, and became a teacher.
Even so, he never left the public eye because most of the students he taught became pillars of the director community—more outstanding and distinguished than students nominally guided by other directors.
Some even jokingly said that most of China's eighth-generation directors would probably be Lin Jiexiu's students. This wasn't an exaggeration but reflected reality.
Especially among Shanghai-based directors—if you randomly picked one to ask, they'd likely be students taught by Lin Jiexiu.
If they weren't Lin Jiexiu's students, then they were probably students of Lin Jiexiu's students. And these students weren't necessarily all in directing; they might have gone deep into other areas of the industry, spread across every corner of the field.
As Liu Rulan spoke, Xiao He's eyes widened: "So, Lin Yipeng is Lin Jiexiu's son?"
Liu Rulan nodded: "Even though he changed his name, it's probably correct. I heard long ago that Director Lin had a son born in his later years who remained very mysterious and never appeared in the industry. At the time, I went through great effort to add him as a friend and asked if he had any interest in acting, but never got a response."
Despite this, Liu Rulan persistently sent holiday greeting messages to these important figures every festival, just to make herself familiar and maintain superficial relationships.
Xiao He broke into a sweat: "Sister Liu, you actually had such ideas?"
Trying to recruit someone's son to become an actor... ahem, that's really having vision.
He just never imagined Lin Yipeng had such an impressive background. No wonder Lin Yipeng knew everything so quickly.
Turns out from major directors down to inconspicuous production assistants and logistics staff... the industry was full of his connections!
"You don't understand anything. Lin Yipeng's family also has people working in the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, in quite high positions that directly oversee us." Liu Rulan patted Xiao He's shoulder with profound meaning: "You simply don't understand the joy of being carried by these young masters and misses."
Directors who emerged from that era couldn't possibly be from ordinary families—they all had connections everywhere. Some even had red backgrounds, with three generations of officials in their family. Never mind founding the nation—their families might predate the nation itself. Naturally, their descendants could enter the industry and be spoon-fed success.
"Qin Yuezhang, you know him, right? From the Beijing circle. Although average-looking with just passable acting skills, his resources are incredibly good. Whatever he wants to film, he just waves his hand and gets it—no restrictions on genre or subject matter. Even if he performs poorly, countless fans dote on him and defend his honor. His agent shows off on social media every day—I really want to block him."
Xiao He didn't know Qin Yuezhang, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the gossip: "It can be like that?"
Liu Rulan shrugged: "Exactly like that. If you're interested, go look at the comments section on his posts. It's like they're possessed—calling him 'young master' every day, with fans calling themselves 'old servants.' Clearly the Qing dynasty has fallen, yet they rush to become slaves to unattractive men. It's absolutely bewildering to watch."
"And they don't allow other celebrities or fans to use the 'young master' title, saying Qin Yuezhang is the only true 'young master' in the entire industry, the only one qualified to be called that."
Xiao He: "..."
Fans are truly terrifying creatures.
—Oh right, except for his own fans.
"So, our production team is being carried by Director Lin this time?"
"Perhaps that's part of the reason, but definitely not the main one." Liu Rulan shook her head. "I only deduced Young Director Lin's identity based on contact information I kept from before. Others probably don't know yet. Thief Catcher itself has quality content—there's no situation where Young Director Lin used his identity to help manipulate ratings or anything. So I suspect he's just using his identity to safeguard Thief Catcher and prevent others from causing trouble."
Of course, from the perspective of filming, direction, and screenplay, it wouldn't be wrong to say they were being carried by Lin Yipeng.
"Young Director Lin's talent really completely inherited from his father..." Liu Rulan sighed with emotion. "This is actually a rare example of successful succession in the industry."
It was really strange when you thought about it. Many famous directors and actors emerged from that era, but very few of their descendants successfully followed in their footsteps. Especially among directors—their children either chose acting or went into completely different industries without getting involved in directing-related work. Even those who wanted to inherit their fathers' positions, after being supported for years, remained obscure, far from reaching audience recognition.
That Lin Yipeng managed to break through on his own was truly impressive.
Xiao He also expressed agreement: "Indeed—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the phone on the desk rang.
Xiao He glanced at it and found it was exactly the person they were discussing—Lin Yipeng.
"You answer the call first."
Liu Rulan gestured and walked out of the room.
"Hello, Director Lin."
Xiao He answered the phone, his tone normal without any change despite knowing Lin Yipeng's background. He even joked: "Are you calling to tell me news about Thief Catcher 2?"
Lin Yipeng was silent for a long moment, then laughed bitterly: "Sorry, but I actually wanted to tell you that a second season will probably be very difficult to make."