The director of "Zhen Huan Zhuan" was in a bind.
He had promised the investors twenty million yuan when he was seeking funding. Now, that investor had suddenly withdrawn their capital, and with only two months left until the planned start of filming, where was he going to find that twenty million?
Moreover, there was an unwritten superstition in the industry: if a show encountered setbacks from the preparation stage, it was bound to have no end of troubles after filming began.
He, Xun Shaoqiu, wasn't afraid of trouble, but the investors and production companies were.
Therefore, he had to keep the news of the withdrawn twenty million a secret, unable to let the investors and production companies know.
But heaven knew, without those two parties, how could he find someone who could afford twenty million? Rich people didn't have "I'm rich, invest in me!" written on their faces!
Just as Xun Shaoqiu was racking his brain, the assistant director, who was in charge of recruitment, called him with a conflicted expression.
Seeing the assistant director's number, Xun Shaoqiu thought he was calling about finding money. He frowned, took a deep breath, and then answered the ringing phone.
"Hello?"
"What? You're not being scammed, are you?"
"Who is this actor you're talking about? A freshman from the Beijing Film Academy? Bringing capital to join the crew? Which male role do they want to play?"
After the call, Xun Shaoqiu was filled with doubt about life.
"Am I getting old? Can't keep up with the ideas of today's young people? Twenty million investment, and they only want to play some minor male role?"
As for phrases like "My friend thinks this novel is great and admires the director, so they want to invest," he recognized them as empty social pleasantries. Taking them seriously would be foolish.
After hanging up, the calmer Xun Shaoqiu sat on his sofa, deep in thought. Finally, all his unspoken words boiled down to one question.
"When are we signing the contract and making the payment?"
Liu Chen, who had been lying on the plane for twelve hours, received the good news from Lai Jielun as soon as he disembarked.
Liu Chen was about to reply that he would sign the contract upon his return, but then he thought about the thirty million yuan in his Swiss bank account and the 4539 lottery tickets he had accumulated over the past few days.
After some hesitation, Liu Chen couldn't resist the long-term benefits that this television series would bring. He lowered his head and replied on his phone:
"We can sign the contract on Wednesday evening."
After sending the message, there was no reply from the other side for a long time. While feeling anxious, Liu Chen, protected by the summer and winter flanking him, smoothly exited the airport and got into the car sent by the local branch.
"Branch office?"
Sitting in the car, Liu Chen heard the driver introduce himself as the general manager of the Los Angeles branch and couldn't help but glance at Ren Yu, who was sitting beside him.
He had never mentioned having a branch office in Los Angeles.
Because Shen Hong introduced Liu Chen as the founder's significant other, the middle-aged driver, upon hearing Liu Chen's confusion, was startled and, fearing that the boss's significant other might misunderstand, quickly explained:
"Perhaps it's because our branch office was only established a few months ago, and the boss hasn't had time to mention it?"
Shen Hong heard the general manager of the Los Angeles branch office speak and could only cover her face awkwardly and say:
"Xu Jun, I really doubt your English expression ability if it's the same as your Chinese. How on earth do you manage to snatch market share in Los Angeles for the boss?"
Hearing the words from behind him, Xu Jun realized that his explanation might not have been very good. At that moment, he could only chuckle and remain silent.
It was Ren Yu, who had been silent all along, who finally spoke:
"Xu Jun is an overseas Chinese. His family has been rooted in Los Angeles for three generations. All matters concerning the branch office were facilitated by Xu Jun, which allowed us to launch our games in the United States so quickly.
"Furthermore, he signed a performance-based agreement with me. If the performance of the US branch office reaches a certain scale this year, he will receive a 1% dividend from the US game revenue in the future."
Liu Chen, hearing Ren Yu explain this, finally understood why Ren Yu had chosen such a middle-aged man whose Mandarin was a bit odd.
Xu Jun, driving the car, listened as Ren Yu introduced him without any reservations. Only then did he truly regard Liu Chen in the back seat as the actual boss's significant other.
After all, it wasn't unheard of for Chinese bosses opening companies in Los Angeles to bring different wives each time!
When they arrived at the hotel, Xu Jun saw Xia Tian and Dong Tian protecting Liu Chen from behind and further confirmed his guess. He tugged on Shen Hong's clothes, who was walking beside him, and asked for guidance:
"Brother Shen Hong, Miss Liu Chen, is she one of those 'colorful' third-generation individuals?"
The genuine third-generation individual, hearing Shen Hong's question, couldn't help but reflect. Was her demeanor so lacking that someone as shrewd as Xu Jun had never suspected her identity?
Feeling dejected, Shen Hong couldn't resist setting a trap for Xu Jun:
"Yes, Liu Chen's family has a very powerful 'colorful' background. If she gets angry, the boss will truly have to abandon his domestic affairs and develop in the United States."
Hearing this, Xu Jun quickly nodded and then made a zipping motion across his lips towards Shen Hong, indicating that he would keep it a secret.
-
After flying for twelve hours, it was only 4 PM Los Angeles time when they arrived at the hotel.
Since they had slept for several hours on the plane, when they got to the hotel, Shen Hong said they had to wait a bit as the room wasn't ready yet. Liu Chen then started pulling Ren Yu out, wanting to compensate her boyfriend for neglecting him slightly due to her obsession with her career.
Ren Yu was pleased with this idea. He sent a message to Shen Hong and then set off with Liu Chen, Xia Tian, and Dong Tian.
When Shen Hong and Qian Tian had argued for a while and confirmed the room upgrade as compensation, they turned around and found only Xu Jun left in the lobby.
"Brother Xu Jun, where are the boss and the others?"
Xu Jun withdrew his gaze from a beautiful woman in the distance and looked at Shen Hong, saying, "Boss Ren and Miss Liu Chen have gone out. They took the car keys with them."
Hearing this, Shen Hong immediately began to complain: "Heartless once they have a partner! They brought two bodyguards anyway, so bringing me along wouldn't kill them! Sigh, I wish I could have a candlelight dinner too!!!"
Ren Yu, who Shen Hong was referring to as having a candlelight dinner, was currently pushing a shopping cart alongside Liu Chen. Liu Chen had been standing in front of the snack aisle in this Chinese supermarket for over ten minutes.
In fact, if Liu Chen and Ren Yu hadn't been dressed impeccably, and if Xia Tian and Dong Tian hadn't maintained such serious expressions, the owner behind the surveillance camera would have suspected them of shoplifting.
Otherwise, who could explain why they were standing in front of the snack aisle for so long?! And perversely examining every single product?
Liu Chen looked at the shelf with a serious expression and said:
"Ren Yu, look at the snacks on this shelf. It seems to be mostly savory and sweet types, and the dates on the packaging are relatively close. For things like spicy strips, the production dates are more than three months ago."
Ren Yu, who thought they were going for a candlelight dinner but was actually being directed by Liu Chen to investigate a Chinese supermarket, nodded upon hearing this:
"This proves that the savory and sweet snacks in this supermarket sell faster. Of course, if we visit a few more places, we might be able to determine the snack sales and flavor preferences of local Chinese supermarkets."
Liu Chen nodded but had no intention of visiting any more places.
"Can you give me Xu Jun's phone number? I think it would be faster to get introductions to local supermarket suppliers through him."
Ren Yu nodded: "No problem."
After speaking, Ren Yu lowered his head and sent Xu Jun's number from his contacts list to Liu Chen.
After saving the phone number to his contacts, Liu Chen's mood brightened considerably. He looked up at Ren Yu's handsome face, which showed no sign of complaint, and couldn't help but purse his lips, smile, and wrap his arm around Ren Yu's neck.
Ren Yu lowered his head slightly, looking at Liu Chen, who, though appearing a little tired, had exceptionally bright eyes.
Ren Yu suppressed the ticklish sensation in his chest, like a feather brushing past, and softly asked, "Hmm?"
Hearing this muffled "Hmm?" and feeling the slight tremor of his vocal cords vibrate through his arm as the man spoke.
Liu Chen couldn't help but grin. Then, feeling playful, he stood on his tiptoes, tilted his head back, hooked Ren Yu's head to bring him closer, and lightly brushed his lips against Ren Yu's.
His heels, which had just touched the ground, were now lifted off the ground again.
"Mmmph..."
Ren Yu hugged Liu Chen's slender waist, which made him wonder if she had been eating properly, and lowered his head to deepen the kiss initiated by the little rascal. Of course, before kissing, Ren Yu reached for a family-sized bag of potato chips from the snack shelf behind Liu Chen and held it up to block Liu Chen's face.
Ren Yu didn't want anyone in the world to see the heart-wrenchingly cute face of the person he adored at that moment.
This kiss was so passionate that Liu Chen even forgot to buy anything at the supermarket to repay them for the market information they had provided.
After getting into the car and driving for a while, Liu Chen, staring at the red taillights of the car ahead, finally shook off his dazed state and began to inquire about dinner arrangements.
"Xu Jun booked a Chinese restaurant for us. He said it's the best S-cuisine in Los Angeles."
Hearing this, Liu Chen blinked, then turned to look at Ren Yu, who was driving attentively:
"Why are we eating Chinese food after flying for over ten hours?"
However, Ren Yu seemed to have anticipated Liu Chen's reaction and, without hesitation, provided the reason for eating Chinese food:
"After flying for more than ten hours, it's best to eat something familiar for the first meal to avoid any stress reaction in your stomach."
And so...
Liu Chen ate the most incomprehensible Chinese meal of his two lifetimes combined.
"This... is this, is this Laziji (spicy diced chicken)???"
Looking at the plate of Laziji on the table, which clearly had a lot of ketchup added, Liu Chen suddenly had a bad feeling.
He secretly glanced at Ren Yu's expression beside him. He was still calm. Could it be that he, Liu Chen, had seen too little of the world, and in foreign countries, Laziji was supposed to have ketchup?
Thinking this, Liu Chen tentatively picked up a piece of chicken coated in ketchup with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
Strange.
The taste was too strange!
What familiar food? This was downright poisonous! This inexplicable texture was worse than eating at KFC!
Perhaps it was because Liu Chen's expression completely revealed his thoughts, or perhaps Ren Yu himself discovered the problem after taking a bite.
No one at the table had touched much of the food.
Liu Chen and Ren Yu found the taste strange; it wasn't exactly bad, but it was unpleasantly peculiar, like eating a tomato flavored with eggplant? Although eggplant tasted good, Liu Chen only wanted to eat a tomato!
Xia Tian and Dong Tian, on the other hand, were generally cautious when eating out because their primary duty was to protect Liu Chen.
Not having eaten enough for dinner, Liu Chen's mood was a bit low on the way back to the hotel. However, despite being down, Liu Chen didn't forget to check his email. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Before coming to Los Angeles, Liu Chen had checked the local Swiss bank service points and also researched a few investment banks that dealt with Chinese investments. Liu Chen planned to use the name of an investment bank to invest in the stock market.
However, investment banks were not like restaurants; you couldn't just walk in and expect to be served. Moreover, the person Liu Chen wanted to find was someone he had dug up from the depths of his memory – a so-called star investor.
The email opened quickly. The investment bank of the star investor he had contacted an hour ago had replied. It was all in English, and thankfully, Liu Chen's English level in this lifetime was pretty good. After reading the email, he felt a bit dejected and couldn't help but sigh.
"What's wrong? Are you hungry?"
Ren Yu, hearing Liu Chen sigh from the passenger seat, and thinking that she had barely touched her food earlier, guessed that Liu Chen was hungry and throwing a tantrum.
Liu Chen shook his head. Then, realizing that Ren Yu couldn't see him shaking his head while driving, he said again:
"No, it's the investment banks I contacted before; they're all too busy to see me."
After saying this, Liu Chen stroked his chin and asked helplessly, "Should I send them my bank balance to knock on their door?"
Ren Yu, driving, heard this and pondered for a moment before offering his suggestion.
"When we were opening the branch office in Los Angeles, we encountered a wealth management company. I'll email them later and see if we can arrange a meeting before we head back."
Liu Chen's eyes widened, and he instinctively wanted to explain that he wasn't looking for a wealth manager...
But then he thought that, compared to investment banks, a wealth manager seemed more suitable for what he wanted. So, he closed his mouth again.
In his heart, however, he felt a bit unsettled. He felt that even though he had lived two lifetimes, why could this young man, Ren Yu, in his early twenties, understand his thoughts and desires so clearly?
Upon arriving at the hotel, Liu Chen lost the mood to eat at the hotel restaurant and just wanted to return to his room and order room service later.
When he pulled out his ID to check in, he was delighted to hear that he was getting a free room upgrade. However, when the receptionist said that the room was booked under two people's names, Liu Chen was stunned. To ensure his English listening skills weren't faulty, he repeatedly asked before turning around to look at Ren Yu, who was standing behind him.
"Ren Yu, they said we booked a king-sized room together, and it's now upgraded to a honeymoon suite. And there are no standard rooms or other available rooms to switch to."
Hearing Liu Chen's words, Ren Yu feigned calmness and nodded:
"In that case, there's nothing we can do. Let's check in, shall we?"