A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 179 White and Beautiful
At the end of July, not long after Lin Jianlu returned to Hong Kong, relatives came to visit her family.

Lin Qingxia's sister and brother-in-law, along with their child, were accommodated in her own house by Lin Qingxia. The elders were quite old, and Lin Qingxia was reluctant to let them travel such a long distance, but she couldn't stop her sister, who insisted on coming to keep her company during the children's summer vacation.

She is 43 years old this year and this is her first pregnancy, so she is definitely considered an older and high-risk mother. Therefore, her family was very worried about her. However, after arriving and seeing her condition, her sister was obviously relieved. She lives in a luxurious villa on the hillside, with four or five servants to take care of her. She takes walks in her own home every day, which is enough for her. She can eat and sleep well, the baby is very active in her belly, and her mental state is also very good.

When she first arrived, her sister seemed to be carrying some resentment, criticism, scrutiny, and hostility. It wasn't obvious, but Lin Jianlu could sense it, somewhat similar to the feeling she had when Chen Shuhua's mother first visited.

She was probably both relieved that her older sister had finally managed to "get married" and even had a child, which meant she had someone to rely on for the rest of her life. However, she was also quite dissatisfied with this "marriage" and had some complaints. No matter how handsome, famous, or rich Lin Jianlu was, his womanizing was well-known.

From a normal perspective, they are not a good match.

However, after a day or two, she gradually accepted her excessively young "brother-in-law".

Handsome, tall and imposing, intelligent and decisive, insightful, with a wide range of knowledge, and also with extremely high emotional intelligence, witty and humorous speech. Considering how famous and rich he is, apart from being a womanizer, there is really nothing to criticize. As for the fact that the two are 22 years apart in age, it is hard to say that Brigitte Lin was at a disadvantage.

The awkward thing is that the couple got married and had children relatively early, and now their first child is already fifteen years old—but later on, they still called him "brother-in-law".

Both of them are from Taiwan and studied in America together, but they eventually settled back in Taiwan. The younger sister works for an import and export company, while the brother-in-law teaches at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan.

They are all intellectuals, and clearly not the kind of intellectuals who work in isolation.

They didn't have high expectations for Lin Jianlu, a celebrity who supposedly didn't even graduate high school and had served in the army for a few years. But once they started talking about him, they were genuinely shocked.

It's unbelievable that someone like him understands such a cutting-edge new technology as the internet!

Not only did he understand, he even encouraged the couple to take out their savings and buy shares in a company called "Yahoo" on the US stock market. The couple were not outdated and knew a lot about the latest internet trends. They even had a home computer and were familiar with Yahoo, the famous internet company. However, they were still somewhat skeptical of Lin Jianlu's suggestion.

Lin Qingxia later advised, "Don't give them these suggestions. What if they buy the wrong thing and lose money? Should I compensate them?"—So she gave up on the idea.

…………

I secretly went out on a date.

It's not exactly a secret; nowadays, Lin Jianlu hardly hides his pursuit of women from those around him anymore—the women are at most speechless, and don't even have any objections.

Even the most jealous Liang Yongqi no longer has the same fighting spirit she had for Lin Qingxia when Lin Jianlu slept with Guan Zhilin. Now, Lin Jianlu's desire to pick up girls is practically an open secret.

He loves this, and those women outside also love him, madly in love with him. There's nothing you can do about it, you can't stop them.

Hong Kong media previously reported that Lam Kin-yuet, the current de facto head of Lai Sun Group, once pursued Wong Cho-yin aggressively, but failed miserably. He couldn't even give her a house worth tens of millions because she wouldn't accept it. According to a friend of Lam Kin-yuet, Wong Cho-yin has been snatched away by someone else. It is said that Lam Kin-yuet was furious and vowed while drinking that one day he would "make that kid pay!" - The name of the person who snatched her away was not mentioned, but in Hong Kong, a few hints are close to revealing the truth.

He's incredibly popular, handsome, and a womanizer—in America, he's a sensation! Who else could it be?!

It's definitely Jackie Chan!
Emmmmm...

When reporters tried to corner Wang Zuxian, he remained silent and avoided them.

Nowadays, the Hong Kong media is not as cautious as it was a few months ago when reporting on scandals and gossip involving Lin Jianlu, especially the negative ones. They can only give vague hints because they can't get any concrete evidence from the parties involved. But Leung Wing-ki and Brigitte Lin both understand what they mean.

Lin Qingxia must have asked Wang Zuxian what they talked about, but Lin Jianlu has no idea.

Wang Zuxian would probably admit it frankly.

She and Wang Zuxian are best friends. If this kind of thing, where your home is stolen by your best friend, happened to someone else, they might be furious. But for Lin Qingxia, who has a very good mindset now, and for Lin Jianlu, it is just normal.

Neither of them mentioned it, so they probably didn't have a falling out.

Lin Qingxia never asked anything. In terms of position and status, no matter how much Liang Yongqi considers herself the "official wife," she is very weak in front of Lin Jianlu and has nothing to say.

If you can't stand it, just quit.

However, they actually misunderstood—it was Zhou Huimin.

Before leaving Hong Kong for America, she called, and Lin Jianlu couldn't resist going out for tea with her. They chatted for a full two hours. After Lin Jianlu went to America, her calls kept coming back, relentlessly, far more intensely than any of Lin Jianlu's previous girlfriends or lovers. She would talk until her phone ran out of battery, at least an hour each time.

She said she had a big fight with Ni Zhen and they broke up again. She vowed that she would never get back together with him this time. Now, when she sees Ni Zhen, she "only feels disgust and revulsion".

She said that she had given up hope and released two Japanese albums, which made her realize that it would be difficult to succeed in the Japanese entertainment industry. She had decided to retire, but Ni Zhen kept harassing her. She had no better choice, so she decided to marry him, but on the condition that he leave Hong Kong. She was not surprised that Ni Zhen would cheat on her ten times a year if she stayed in Hong Kong. However, backstage at that Happy Valley performance, she actually met Lin Jianlu. "The moment I saw you, I was really moved. My heart was pounding. I couldn't control myself!"

"You were looking at me then, and I knew you liked me too, liked me at first sight, right? Words may lie, but eyes don't! I know you like me too!"

"I don't know the consequences, and I can't imagine what will happen, but I just love you so much, so much. You have no idea how happy I was when you agreed to come out for tea with me last time! You are obviously a womanizer, even more so than him, but for some reason, I just don't find your womanizing annoying."

“His words were so awful, so disgusting, I couldn’t help but cry several times. But every time I think about being able to talk to you on the phone, I feel so happy again, and all the bad things seem to disappear instantly.”

"Ah Lu, I love you so much! I love you so much!"

"Pfft... I don't know if it counts as lust at first sight! Anyway, I just feel... you look like the prince charming I've always dreamed of since I was a child! Tall, handsome, and so majestic and strong, you might be very domineering, but for some reason, I just feel like I would really like it if you were a little domineering towards me!"

"I'm a posthumous child, you know. My father passed away when I was born, and I grew up with my mother. I've always longed for a tall and handsome father to protect me. Later, as I grew up, I started hoping to date a tall and handsome boyfriend... Pfft, no way! I don't want you to be my dad!"

"You're so mean! How can you do this? I love you so much, yet you want to be someone else's father!"

"Can I call you brother? I really like the title 'brother.' It feels like there's both familial and romantic love in it. Just thinking about being able to call you brother and be with you makes me feel so safe and secure. It gives me a sense of peace and security in my life and work!"

"I just regret that I'm so much older than you. If I could have met you and fallen in love with you earlier, that would have been the greatest happiness in the world. I would have felt like a princess!"

"Of course, it's not too late now. I'm so glad that I had the chance to meet you before I left Hong Kong and settled in Canada with him. You don't understand, brother, for me, this is really, really lucky! It's luckier than all the luck I've ever had in the past combined!"

"I'm telling the truth, please don't laugh at me! That day when I came back from Happy Valley, I stared at the CD you signed for me for a long time, and I even thought about having a baby with you... Um, don't laugh at me! I knew you would laugh at me, but... that's really what I thought!"

"Is Qingxia really pregnant? Is it your child? Oh, I'm so envious of her! She got together with you last year when you first came to Hong Kong, right? I'm starting to understand her now. She must have fallen in love with you too, so she really wants to have a child with you!"

"Brother, I'm up! Have you had dinner yet? Oh! I don't have anything to do. I'm planning to go shopping today. I really want to buy some new clothes, definitely prettier than all my old clothes, so that when you come back and see me, you'll think I'm so pretty..."

Yes, now I see it, and it is indeed very beautiful.

It was a white dress with red stripes, very pretty, with a princess-like feel, even a bit ethereal.

Now we need to make a correction. In Lin Jianlu's mind, the women with the best fashion sense are no longer just Chen Shuhua and Rosamund Kwan; we need to add her to the list.

When Lin Jianlu entered the Italian restaurant, she almost immediately stood up and waved.

So I went over, got closer, and hugged her.

She was practically glowing from head to toe—her skin was so white it seemed to glow, her face was so radiant, and her eyes were brimming with bright light.

Eating and chatting.

Her tone was much more restrained than when she spoke on the phone.

She appeared exceptionally happy yet strangely shy—a girlish bashfulness almost unseen in girls her age. And it didn't feel out of place at all.

...It has always been difficult for people to truly connect with each other.

But in some situations, it's inexplicably easy—for example, when one party is willing to hit and the other is willing to be hit.

It's unclear whether paparazzi were taking photos, but Lin Jianlu doesn't care anymore. Dealing with the media is the responsibility of his agent and the brand. He will certainly be very careful, but he won't do nothing just because he's afraid of being photographed by paparazzi.

However, he dared not go to Zhou Huimin's house.

He still has this basic level of caution.

So he asked her, "How about coming back to the hotel with me?"—His long-term hotel room was signed last September for a year. Later, he bought a big villa and basically stopped living there, but the contract was still in effect and the money had already been paid. It was like this now, only occasionally useful.

She was a little shy, but after all, she was no longer a little girl, and after hesitating for a moment, she nodded.

Peel it open, and it's white and beautiful.

Her skin had a slightly rosy glow.

Lin Jianlu's current relationships are becoming increasingly simple, and the question of who pursues whom has basically disappeared. It's mostly mutual affection, so he makes his move—in fact, it's mostly the girls who are pursuing him.

Not satisfied with the first round, he rested for a while and then, as usual, went for a second round.

Vivian Chow was no exception, and practically no one was. She was completely stunned and couldn't recover for a long time. In fact, Lin Jianlu has learned a little lesson from his experience with women: the most beautiful women are usually controlled by a powerful figure or an older man from their very first relationship. They may have had several relationships and been with several men, but they've generally never had a truly good relationship. Brigitte Lin, Rosamund Kwan, Xu Qing, Chen Hong, and Vivian Chow are all examples of this.

It is said that Joseph Lau once complained to the media that he loved them so much and spent so much money on them, but none of them ever truly loved him—probably because they had nothing else to offer besides money.

One thing that might slightly contradict many people's perceptions is that, based on humanity's most basic animalistic instincts, it has always been men who are more emotionally driven. However, this emotional drive is not simply the one-on-one monogamy that modern society demands of men—it's about possessing more reproductive resources and procreating, which is a male's genetic instinct.

Most men, even though they love many, want them all and are unwilling to lose any of them.

On the contrary, women's love often takes sharp turns and drifts wildly.

In most cases, they are more likely to submit to the next victor or the stronger one—that is also a survival instinct ingrained in their genes.

…………

This marks the end of the recording for Leung Wing-ki's new album.

She's been very well-behaved for the past six months, and even more so during recording sessions, a complete opposite of Wang Fei. She has no opinions about music; she just does whatever Lin Jianlu says and sings however Lin Jianlu tells her to. She lacks creativity, but her basic vocal skills are fine, and her pitch is excellent. Her voice isn't particularly distinctive, but it has a steady, storytelling quality, and it's not so bad that it can't be taught.

In Lin Jianlu's opinion, she belongs to the type of person who can become famous with a good song, but she is quite selective about the songs she sings.

She can't sing big songs.

However, handling small romantic relationships is not a big problem.

I had already given her five songs before: "Short Hair", "Coward", "When Love Is Near", "Warm", and a duet, "Little Dimples". Since I was going to make a whole album for her and help her, the "official wife", to save face in front of all the people of Hong Kong, I gave her five more songs: "Meeting Love", "Holding Hands", "Loving You Is Not Just for Two or Three Days", "Notes", and "Don't Want to Grow Up".

For the song "Short Hair," she even cut her hair short again, and has been sporting this look for the past month or so. She's a rising star in Hong Kong who's gained popularity in the last two years, known as "Tall Girl," and is considered quite famous. Since getting involved with Lin Jianlu, she's become even more famous, frequently appearing in Lin Jianlu's sensational news and often becoming the center of attention. This has led to her being strongly associated with the most popular names in Hong Kong, such as Lin Jianlu, Rosamund Kwan, and Brigitte Lin. As a result, she has a very prominent reputation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, traditionally strong areas of Hong Kong pop culture, and her fame is arguably the highest among young artists around twenty years old!
Last year, a newcomer with an incredibly strong background debuted in Hong Kong: Nicholas Tse, son of renowned Hong Kong artist Patrick Tse. He officially signed with Yinghuang Entertainment at the age of 16 and debuted under their protection, which caused quite a stir at the time. This May, the young man's first album was released, which also caused a sensation.

Normally speaking, his popularity is already at the peak of a young artist in his early twenties.

However, compared to Gigi Leung's current popularity, attention, and fame, he is far behind. When interviewed, given Yinghuang Entertainment's reputation and fearsome image, and Xie Xian's status in the entertainment industry, he had to respectfully address her as "Sister Gigi," saying that he was very well taken care of. Well, as I said before, among the younger generation, from those in their late twenties to those who have just debuted, Gigi Leung is the big sister, and she's very domineering.

But she was as docile as a kitten in front of Lin Jianlu.

A year ago, she would provoke Brigitte Lin out of jealousy, but in just one year, she has become so shameless that she can now stand shoulder to shoulder with Rosamund Kwan.

The recording is progressing very quickly.

When I left Hong Kong for America, I only had three songs left, which I had already practiced thoroughly. This time, when I came back and started recording again, with a little guidance and fine-tuning, it was almost done.

In the early 2000s, it was a record company, but now it can almost be considered Leung Wing-ki's exclusive store.

This company belongs to the big boss behind Ge Fuhong, Qiu, and distributes music through EMI Records. It has previously signed singers such as Takeshi Kaneshiro, Anita Yuen, and Yang Caini—all of whom are Ge Fuhong's artists. Especially among the female artists, it's not hard to guess that, including Liang Yongqi, they are all high-quality imitations of Zhou Huimin.

They all follow the innocent and pure image route.

Ge Fuhong loves to promote girls like this.

But frankly speaking, despite having excellent equipment and musicians, this company has almost never successfully launched any truly big-name singers.

The previously signed singers all terminated their contracts in 95 and 96, with Yang Caini going even further, reportedly retiring from the industry altogether. Now, only Liang Yongqi remains. However, the Hong Kong entertainment industry seems to be gradually figuring out the connections between Ge Fuhong and Lin Jianlu. Recently, many people have been contacting Ge Fuhong and even flattering Liang Yongqi, all hoping to sign her for the millennium. Among them are quite a few second-tier singers.

Ge Fuhong didn't mention it; it was Liang Yongqi who told her.

Ge Fuhong certainly wanted to sign, but she understood perfectly well what the other party was after by showing such goodwill and wanting to sign with a small and declining record company like theirs. So she didn't dare to agree at all. Right now, she was just secretly trying to win over Liang Yongqi and urging her to help her test the waters.

Lin Jianlu pretended not to understand—it was fine with his own woman, but he wouldn't bother promoting someone else like Ge Fuhong. He no longer coveted the small royalties he earned from producing other people's Chinese albums.

The upper limit is too low.

"Chasing the Light" was such a hit that during the traditional peak season for releasing albums in the Chinese music scene from last year to this winter and spring, it sold the most copies in the entire Chinese music scene, but it only sold less than 300 million copies. When I went to Taiwan to settle accounts with Rock Records, I calculated that the sales volume was 260 million copies, but the royalties were less than 400 million US dollars!

That's far too little.

Of course, as I said before, my own woman is the exception.

Well, of course, but now it seems there's going to be another exception.

During her first encounter with Vivian Chow at the racecourse, Ge Fuhong sensed something was amiss. After Lin Jianlu left the stage, she began relentlessly probing him. Later, when Lin Jianlu and Vivian Chow secretly went out for tea together, they were photographed by paparazzi. Ge Fuhong bought the photos for 10,000 yuan, ensuring they didn't appear in the newspapers and remain unknown to the outside world. However, based on Ge Fuhong's understanding of Lin Jianlu, she was almost certain. Therefore, she quickly and decisively launched her offensive towards her ideal man.

She must have made some kind of promise to the goddess. Anyway, Lin Jianlu had received a call from Zhou Huimin in New York before, and they talked about this. She was quite interested and didn't want to retire, so she said she was willing to try going to the millennium again—but Lin Jianlu rejected her.

She can choose Ge Fuhong for the manager contract, but she can forget about the record deal.

There are plenty of record companies. As a second-tier singer, Vivian Chow could go to EMI, Warner, UFO Records, or even Rock Records or Sony Columbia. Wherever she went, they would be happy to pick up a "Jade Girl" for free—her looks are there, and her past achievements aren't bad either. She's guaranteed to make money.

Is it really necessary to put Leung Wing-ki and Chow Wai-man in the same company?

Their public personas are already highly similar. If the men behind them also overlap, they're even in the same company now—what, are you afraid they won't fight each other?
Let's get this Leung Wing-ki album sorted out first.

It took two and a half days to record the last three songs, and everyone was very happy.

This can be seen as Lin Jianlu bringing a conclusion to his work in the Chinese music scene during this period.

***
I've slowed down, huh? I've been updating at high speed for 43 days, writing 51 words. If I don't slow down, I'll be done for.

I haven't left the house for many days in a row. All I do is eat, sleep, and write. I'm almost exhausted.

(End of this chapter)