A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 139 Cricket
The next morning, the two beauties looked radiant. Lin Jianlu went out for a run as usual and then practiced boxing when she came back. However, when Lin Xilei got up and opened the door, she looked listless.

After taking a shower, Lin Jianlu, with Xu Qing and Lin Qingxia not around, cautiously approached, her face flushed, and pleaded, "Brother, how about I go stay at a hotel instead!"

Lin Jianlu glanced at her, thought for a moment, and said, "How about I just book you a plane ticket and you go back to Taiwan first? I'll go there on the 13th, and we'll meet there!"—Lin Xilei thought about it again and realized that made sense; there were only two or three days left. "Never mind! I'll wait for you for two days! You can't be that vigorous every night, can you?"

Lin Jianlu replied, "That's hard to say!"

During breakfast, the two beautiful women were chatting and laughing again.

When asked what Lin Jianlu planned to do today, Lin Jianlu had no plans, so Xu Qing also cancelled her original plans and stayed home with her instead of going anywhere.

Let's sit down together, have some tea, and chat.

Liu Xiaoli arrived after breakfast today. Lin Xilei was really afraid of this chaotic scene, so she secretly begged Liu Xiaoli to take her out for a walk. After asking Lin Jianlu, the two of them went out together.

As soon as she stepped outside, Lin Xilei breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Xiaoli turned to look at her, "What's wrong?"

Actually, although they had known each other for quite some time, their relationship had never been particularly close, and it was still the same even now. But Lin Xilei had been holding back her discomfort all night, and now that she finally had someone to talk to, she couldn't hold it in any longer—it was okay to tell her, since they were both assistants and there was no fear of leaks.

"Xiaoli, those three of them were up for two hours straight! I could hear them all over there!"

"Huh? The three of them?"

"Oh, no, no, don't misunderstand! It was first in the master bedroom, with Miss Xu Qing, and then Brother Lu went to the east wing, with Brigitte Lin. Ah... it was so painful! I listened for two hours!"

Liu Xiaoli was shocked. "Really? Just like that...the two of them didn't even have a fight?"

However, Lin Xilei was even more surprised than she was by these words. "What's there to argue about? Everyone knows Lu Ge has a ton of girlfriends! They're all there voluntarily! Why are we arguing?"

Liu Xiaoli's worldview and philosophy of life were shaken for a moment, and she was speechless.

Seeing her expression, Lin Xilei paused for a moment, but then instantly understood. "You don't do that in mainland China, do you? There are many people there who secretly keep mistresses, and quite a few even live together as a family of three, do business together, raise children together, and so on. It's very common in Taiwan! It's the same in Hong Kong, you didn't know? Hong Kong used to allow legal concubinage! It seems like it was abolished not too long ago!"

"Of course, most people don't have the ability to support two women, and even those who do can't handle their wives! But even if they can't handle their wives, there are plenty of men who still insist on keeping mistresses outside!"

Liu Xiaoli hesitated for a long time before saying, "But those two... are both big stars!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xilei immediately became smug, almost mimicking Lin Jianlu's disdainful tone, "What kind of big stars are they!... Sister Xiaoli, you're also Brother Lu's assistant, you'll understand later! Don't even mention that Miss Xu Qing, I don't know how much she earns filming in mainland China, probably one or two million RMB a year? Anyway, at her peak, Brigitte Lin only earned three to five million Hong Kong dollars a year at most! That includes endorsements and appearances, which normally don't earn that much! What do those big stars have to compare with my Brother Lu! My Brother Lu earned over ten million US dollars in half a year! The King of Asia!"

"In the entire Chinese entertainment industry, when it comes to making money, my Lu Ge is definitely number one this year! And this is just the beginning. Next, Lu Ge is going to release an English album and start earning real dollars! Tell me, what do these female celebrities have to compare with my Lu Ge? No matter who they are, being with my Lu Ge is considered hooking up with him!"

Liu Xiaoli was stunned and speechless.

Seeing her expression, Lin Xilei asked, "Hey, Xiaoli, how much does Brother Lu pay you a month?" Liu Xiaoli hesitated for a moment, then held up two fingers. Lin Xilei immediately understood. "Twenty thousand?" Seeing Liu Xiaoli nod, she said, "Then we're about the same! Except I get paid in Hong Kong dollars!"

Six months ago, Lin Xilei wouldn't have known much about mainland China. But in the past six months, by following Lin Jianlu, whether through casual conversations or firsthand observation, she had gained a basic understanding of many things about the mainland. Therefore, she knew that Lin Jianlu's offer of HK$20,000 a month was quite high for an assistant, indicating that she was being treated like one of her own. But offering Liu Xiaoli, a mainland girl, RMB20,000 was definitely an effort to win her over—many people in the mainland only earn RMB10,000 a year!
"He's so good to you! ...But don't worry, he doesn't sleep with his assistant!"

Liu Xiaoli blushed instantly and asked awkwardly, "What do you mean?"

Lin Xilei shrugged. "What else could it mean! It means exactly that! He doesn't sleep with his assistant! Otherwise, do you think I only make 20,000 Hong Kong dollars a month? I worked hard for more than half a year to finally earn 20,000 Hong Kong dollars! If he were willing to sleep with his assistant, I would be living in a big house now and making 1 million NT dollars a month for living expenses!"

She was referring to Chen Shuhua and Su Huilun. Of course, she guessed Liu Xiaoli wouldn't know this; she'd only overheard Lin Jianlu talking to Chen Shuhua, so she didn't intend to mention anything specific—maintaining such a luxurious villa was a considerable expense in itself, not to mention supporting two wives. Therefore, from the moment Lin Jianlu bought the villa, he established a rule: all household expenses were his responsibility. In addition, he gave Chen Shuhua and Su Huilun one million NT dollars each each month for their expenses. No nonsense; even the wealthiest woman, even the most love-driven woman, wouldn't resent receiving money.

Twelve million NT dollars a year isn't a huge amount, but it's definitely not a small sum either. Before "Lemon-tree" became a hit, Su Huilun worked so hard, releasing several albums a year, and with sales totaling four to five hundred thousand to six hundred thousand copies, that's roughly how much royalties she earned.

"Think about it, my Lu Ge is so handsome and talented, he'd be willing to date me even without money! What's more, he's giving me money, lots and lots of money! Why would you be jealous?"

Liu Xiaoli was speechless for a moment, unable to answer.

But then she thought about it again and couldn't help but feel a little panicked—Lin Xilei said that she had worked hard for half a year before finally receiving a salary of 20,000 Hong Kong dollars. In the past six months, she had followed him around and handled all kinds of things, and she had obviously put in a lot of effort, but it seemed like she hadn't put in much effort at all.

I used to be his backup dancer and went out to perform twice. The first time, I traveled around for almost a month and earned HKD 20,000 plus RMB 100,000 in performance fees, which was an absolute astronomical sum. The second time, I went out a few times, but only performed six shows in total, and I was given another HKD 6,000. Then I was considered to have changed jobs and was now earning RMB 20,000 every month!
That's way too much!
The key point is that I don't think I've done anything for him!
Previously, Liu Xiaoli considered herself to be quite worldly. As a dancer, she had not only performed her own solo dances but also won major awards and was awarded the title of National First-Class Performer. Her husband's family was not an ordinary family either, and she had never felt the lack of money in her daily life. However, she was paid 20,000 yuan a month with almost nothing to do, and she was also given extra money for going out to perform!

Too many! Too many! Too many!
Liu Xiaoli had already felt that the money was a bit too much and had tried to refuse, meaning that two or three thousand yuan a month would be very good. She only accepted it after he insisted on giving it to her!

Now, talking to Lin Xilei makes my heart race again!
Taking so much money from others...

Moreover, she was planning to snatch her daughter away and then rely on him to arrange for her to attend school in the capital—the more she thought about it, the more her face flushed and her heart raced, so much so that she didn't even hear what Lin Xilei said next.

"Ah? What did you say?"

"Shouldn't we take a taxi? We can't exactly walk there, can we?"

"Oh, okay, I'll take a taxi!"

"Hey, Xiaoli, something's not right! Wow, did you already sleep with him?"

"No! Absolutely not!"

…………

The three people who stayed at home, especially Lin Jianlu, had no idea that her two most trusted assistants had started gossiping about her as soon as they left the house, making her sound so terrible.

He's actually in a very good mood now.

As the three of them sat together drinking tea and chatting, apart from a slight awkwardness at the beginning, the atmosphere became more and more harmonious. Brigitte Lin was an old hand at this, and even if she didn't know how when she first debuted, she was now quite adept at handling any situation. Although Hsu Ching had a bit of a princess-like temper, she was actually straightforward. In addition, the fact that Lin Chien-lu's womanizing man persona was established early on meant that her jealousy wasn't too great.

Moreover, both of them are actors, and both are famous actors.

They are all known for their good looks.

As we chatted, we surprisingly found we had a lot in common.

Brigitte Lin is free-spirited, and Hsu Ching is magnanimous; they can get along very well.

So later on, Lin Jianlu rarely interrupted. She just drank her tea and listened to the two of them chatting animatedly across from her. Although they were more than ten years apart, they also had more than ten years of experience in the world of martial arts. Lin Qingxia had encountered almost all the problems that Xu Qing had encountered! So they talked about them one by one, each explaining how they had solved them. Both of them were quite eloquent and spoke vividly. Every now and then, the tea room would erupt in their laughter.

It would be better if we weren't interrupted.

Unfortunately, before ten o'clock, Zhang Aijia suddenly called, furious, "Big brother! You really are my brother! Doesn't Lao Ge care about you? You went to New York to record a video, and in those ten days, you were chasing girls? Two at a time? I'm speechless!"

(End of this chapter)