The director of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was in a bind.
When he had secured investments earlier, he had been promised twenty million. Now, his investor had suddenly withdrawn, and with only two months left until the scheduled filming, where was he supposed to find twenty million?
Furthermore, there was an unwritten superstition in the industry: if a show encountered difficulties from the preparation stage, it would likely be plagued with more troubles after filming began.
He, Xun Shaoqiu, wasn't afraid of trouble, but the investors and producers were.
Therefore, he had to keep the news of the withdrawn twenty million a secret, preventing the investors and producers from finding out.
But heaven knew, without the investors and producers, how could he find someone willing to fund twenty million? Rich people didn't have "I'm rich, come find me to invest!" written on their foreheads! Rich people weren't crazy!
Just as Xun Shaoqiu was racking his brain, the assistant director, in charge of recruitment, called him with a conflicted expression.
Seeing the assistant director's number, Xun Shaoqiu assumed 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 Film Academy? Bringing investment to join the crew? And he wants to play which male role?"
After the call, Xun Shaoqiu felt like his whole life was a lie.
"Am I old and out of touch with the younger generation? Twenty million investment, just to play some minor male role?"
As for the excuses like, "My friend thinks this novel is great and admires the director, so he wants to invest," he knew they were just empty pleasantries. If he took them seriously, he'd be foolish.
Hanging up the phone, a calm Xun Shaoqiu sat on his sofa, deep in thought. Finally, all his worries coalesced into one question.
"When can we sign the contract and transfer the funds?"
Liu Chen, who had been on a plane for twelve hours, received the good news from Lai Jielun as soon as he landed.
Liu Chen was about to reply, saying 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.
Hesitating for a moment, Liu Chen couldn't resist the long-term benefits that this TV series would bring. He lowered his head and replied on his phone:
"I can sign the contract on Wednesday evening."
After sending the text, there was no response for a long time. While Liu Chen was anxious, under the protection of Xia Tian and Dong Tian, he smoothly exited the airport and got into the car sent by the local branch.
"Branch company?"
In the car, Liu Chen heard the driver introduce himself as the general manager of the Los Angeles branch. Liu Chen couldn't help but glance at Ren Yu, who was sitting beside him.
He had never mentioned having a branch company in Los Angeles before.
Because Shen Hong had introduced Liu Chen as the founder's significant other, the middle-aged driver, hearing Liu Chen's confusion, was startled. Worried that the "boss's wife" might misunderstand, he quickly explained:
"Perhaps it's because our branch company was only established a few months ago, and the boss hasn't had time to mention it?"
Shen Hong, hearing the general manager of the Los Angeles branch speak, awkwardly covered his face and said:
"Xu Jun, I really doubt your English comprehension skills are as good as your Chinese. How exactly do you manage to snatch market share in Los Angeles for the boss?"
Xu Jun, hearing this from behind, realized his explanation might not have been well-received. He could only chuckle and remain silent.
It was Ren Yu, who had been silent all along, who spoke up:
"Xu Jun is an overseas Chinese. His family has been rooted in Los Angeles for three generations. All matters concerning the branch company have been facilitated by Xu Jun, allowing us to launch our game in the United States so quickly.
"Moreover, he signed a bet agreement with me. If the performance of the US branch reaches a certain scale this year, he will receive a 1% share of the US game revenue in the future."
Liu Chen, hearing Ren Yu's explanation, finally understood why Ren Yu had chosen such a middle-aged man whose Mandarin sounded a bit strange.
Xu Jun, driving, heard Ren Yu introduce him so openly and truly began to regard Liu Chen, sitting in the back seat, as the actual boss's wife.
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, who were protecting Liu Chen, and his suspicions were further confirmed. He tugged at Shen Hong's clothes, who was walking behind him, and asked for advice:
"Brother Shen Hong, is this Miss Liu Chen, a third-generation member of the 'colored' elite?"
The real "red third generation," hearing Shen Hong's question, couldn't help but reflect on why, with her seemingly inferior aura, someone as shrewd as Xu Jun had never suspected her identity.
Feeling a bit annoyed, Shen Hong couldn't resist setting a trap for Xu Jun:
"Yes, Liu Chen's family has a very powerful 'colored' background. If she were to be angered, the boss would truly have to abandon his domestic affairs and develop in the United States."
Hearing this, Xu Jun quickly nodded and then made a gesture of zipping his lips at Shen Hong, indicating his commitment to secrecy.
-
After flying for twelve hours, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon in Los Angeles when they reached the hotel.
Since she had slept for several hours on the plane, and Shen Hong mentioned they had to wait a bit as the room wasn't ready yet, Liu Chen began to pull Ren Yu out. She wanted to make up for her boyfriend, whom she had slightly neglected due to her obsession with her career.
Ren Yu was delighted by this suggestion. He sent a message to Shen Hong on his phone and then set off with Liu Chen, Xia Tian, and Dong Tian.
When Shen Hong finished arguing with Qian Tian and confirmed the room upgrade as compensation, he turned around and found only Xu Jun left in the lobby.
"Brother Xu Jun, where did the boss and the others go?"
Xu Jun retracted his gaze from a beautiful woman in the distance and looked at Shen Hong, saying, "Boss Ren and Miss Liu Chen went out, and they took the car keys with them."
Upon hearing this, Shen Hong immediately started complaining: "Human after having a female companion, no humanity! They brought two bodyguards, bringing me along wouldn't kill them! Oh, I wish I could have a candlelit dinner too!!!"
Ren Yu, whom Shen Hong imagined was having a candlelit dinner, was currently pushing a shopping cart beside Liu Chen. Liu Chen had been standing in front of the snack aisle of 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 stern expressions, the owner behind the surveillance camera would have suspected them of shoplifting.
Otherwise, who could explain why they had been standing in front of the snack aisle for so long?! And why they were picking up every single product to look at it?
Liu Chen stared at the shelf with a serious expression and said:
"Ren Yu, look at the snacks on this shelf. It seems like the sweet and savory snacks have relatively recent packaging dates. For example, for spicy strips, the production date is more than three months ago."
Ren Yu, who thought they were going for a candlelit dinner but was instead directed by Liu Chen to survey a Chinese supermarket, nodded upon hearing this:
"This proves that the sweet and savory snacks on this shelf have faster turnover. Of course, if we visit a few more places, we might be able to figure out the snack sales and flavor preferences of local Chinese supermarkets."
Liu Chen nodded but had no intention of visiting more places.
"Can you give me Xu Jun's phone number? I think it would be faster to get him to connect me with local supermarket suppliers."
Ren Yu nodded: "No problem."
With that, Ren Yu lowered his head and sent Xu Jun's number from his contacts to Liu Chen.
After saving the phone number to her contacts, Liu Chen's mood brightened considerably. She looked up at Ren Yu's handsome face, which showed no signs of complaint, and couldn't help but purse her lips, smiling, and reached out to wrap her arm around his neck.
Ren Yu lowered his head slightly, looking at Liu Chen, who, though appearing a bit tired, had exceptionally bright eyes.
Ren Yu suppressed the ticklish sensation in his chest, like a feather brushing by, and simply let out a low "En?"
Hearing this muffled "En?" and feeling the vibration of the man's vocal cords when he spoke beneath her arm.
Liu Chen couldn't help but grin. Then, feeling playful, she tiptoed, tilted her head up, pulled Ren Yu's head down, and lightly brushed her lips against his.
Her heels, which had just landed on the ground, were now off the ground again.
"Mmm..."
Ren Yu wrapped his arms around Liu Chen's slender waist, making him doubt if she ate enough, 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 next to Liu Chen's face.
Ren Yu didn't want anyone in the world to see the impossibly cute and heart-wrenching face of his beloved at this moment.
This kiss made Liu Chen even forget about buying anything at the supermarket to thank them for the market information.
When they got into the car and had been driving for quite some time, Liu Chen, seeing the red taillights of the car ahead, finally emerged from her daze and began to inquire about dinner arrangements.
"Xu Jun booked a Chinese restaurant. He said it's the best Sichuan cuisine in Los Angeles."
Liu Chen blinked and 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. Without even hesitating, he gave his reason for eating Chinese food:
"After flying for over ten hours, it's best to eat familiar food for the first meal to avoid any stress reactions in your digestive system."
And so...
Liu Chen ate a Chinese meal that was the most incomprehensible in both of her lives combined.
"This... is this, is this Laziji?"
Looking at the plate of Laziji on the table, which clearly had a lot of ketchup added, Liu Chen suddenly had a bad premonition.
She stealthily glanced at Ren Yu's expression beside her. He looked very calm. Could it be that she was just unworldly and that foreign Laziji was supposed to have ketchup?
Thinking this, Liu Chen hesitantly picked up a piece of Laziji coated in ketchup with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
Strange.
This taste was too strange!
What familiar food? This was poisonous! This bizarre texture was worse than eating at KFC!
Perhaps it was because Liu Chen's expression completely revealed her thoughts, or perhaps Ren Yu himself realized the problem after taking a bite.
No one at the table had touched their food much.
Liu Chen and Ren Yu simply found the taste odd. While not entirely unpleasant, it was exceptionally strange to eat, like eating a tomato-flavored eggplant. Even though eggplant tasted good, Liu Chen just wanted to eat tomatoes!
Xia Tian and Dong Tian, for the sake of protecting Liu Chen, were generally cautious when eating out.
Not having eaten enough for dinner, Liu Chen's mood was a bit low on the way back to the hotel. However, despite her low mood, Liu Chen didn't forget to check her email.
Before coming to Los Angeles, Liu Chen had checked the local Swiss bank service points and several investment banks that handled Chinese investment business. Liu Chen planned to use the investment banks as a front for stock market investments.
However, investment banks weren't like restaurants where someone would greet you as soon as you walked in. Moreover, the person Liu Chen wanted to find was someone she had dug up from the depths of her memory – a "golden investor."
The email quickly opened. The investment bank where the "golden investor" worked had replied to Liu Chen an hour ago. It was entirely in English, but thankfully, Liu Chen's English proficiency in this life was decent. After reading the email, she sighed with some frustration.
"What's wrong? Are you hungry?"
Ren Yu, hearing Liu Chen sigh in the passenger seat, and recalling that she had barely touched her food earlier, guessed that Liu Chen was hungry and throwing a tantrum.
Liu Chen shook her head, then realized Ren Yu was driving and couldn't see her shake her head. She spoke again:
"No, it's just that the investment banks I contacted earlier are all too busy to see me."
After saying this, Liu Chen rubbed her chin and asked helplessly:
"Should I send them my bank deposit information to open the door?"
Ren Yu, who was driving, pondered for a moment before offering his suggestion.
"When I was setting up the branch company in Los Angeles, I met a wealth management company. I'll email them later and see if we can meet before we head back."
Liu Chen's eyes widened. She subconsciously wanted to explain that she wasn't looking for a wealth manager...
But then she thought, compared to investment banks, a wealth manager seemed more suitable for what she was looking for. So, she closed her mouth.
In her heart, she felt a bit uneasy, thinking that although she had lived two lifetimes, how could Ren Yu, a young man in his early twenties, understand what she was thinking and what she wanted so clearly?
Upon arriving at the hotel, Liu Chen lost any appetite for the hotel restaurant and just wanted to return to her room and order room service.
When she took out her ID to check in, she was happy to hear about the free room upgrade. However, when the front desk mentioned that the room was booked with two people's IDs, Liu Chen was stunned. To ensure her English listening skills weren't faulty, she repeatedly inquired before turning around to look at Ren Yu, who was standing behind her.
"Ren Yu, they said we booked a room with a king-sized bed, and now it's been upgraded to a honeymoon suite, and there are no standard rooms or other rooms available to switch to."