A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 68 Showing Off

After lunch, Lin Jianlu disappeared, returned to his building, locked his old bicycle, got into his BMW, and in no time transformed from a street urchin into a promising young man and a rising star.

I went to Moyan Records first.

Before noon, Lao Xue called to say he had received this issue of Time magazine—actually, a few days earlier, before it was even on the market, Zhang Aijia had already received a sample copy, but it wasn't worth sending it all the way back.

He'd been on many other magazine covers and in interviews, and Ge Fuhong had collected them all—as a memento and a mark of his work achievements. But Lin Jianlu didn't think they were worth collecting. As for *Time* magazine, it did have some symbolic significance, and he himself was quite interested in seeing it.

As I said before, people of this era generally believe in this, and that's why it's important.

He is the third Chinese artist to grace the cover of Time magazine, following Zhang Qiang and Gong Li, and the first male artist and singer to do so—a truly impressive achievement!

As soon as I parked my car downstairs at the company and went inside, I immediately sensed something was wrong.

Liu Xiaoli was actually staying at the front desk.

Seeing Lin Jianlu looking over, she stood up, smiled, and said with undeniable gentleness, "Good afternoon, Mr. Lin!"

Lin Jianlu walked over and looked her up and down in her little suit uniform—a beauty is a beauty, and this little suit made her mother-in-law look even more elegant and dignified.

To be honest, Liu Yifei in her thirties in her previous life was no match for Liu Xiaoli in her thirties now.

"How did you..."

She explained somewhat embarrassedly, "Manager Xue from Rolling Stone talked to me and said that since all of us backup dancers have Sundays off, and the company also needs a receptionist on Sundays, he asked if I would be willing to work part-time. I'm currently alone in the capital, and I don't really have much to do on Sundays, so I agreed."

"Oh……"

Lin Jianlu instantly understood: Old Xue, oh Old Xue!

Okay, giving your mother-in-law more money isn't a bad thing, but, "If that's the case, won't you be unable to rest every day? How much does he pay you?"

Liu Xiaoli raised her hand again, embarrassed, to smooth the stray hairs from her forehead. "Only one day a week, two hundred yuan!"

Wow! Lao Xue is really generous!

After thinking for a moment, he turned back, about to leave, and tapped on the front desk. "You should talk to him about it. It's such a good job, why do you want to do it part-time? Can't you do it full-time? It's six thousand yuan a month!"

"Uh... I'm sorry, if you feel this will affect my work, then I'll do it right away..."

She had only interacted with Lin Jianlu twice and wasn't quite used to his speaking style, mistaking this for dissatisfaction—Lin Jianlu waved his hand, interrupting her before she could finish, "We're not working for him as a receptionist anymore. You can go back to dancing, and you'll be in charge of the team leader from now on. Besides your salary... I'll personally give you an extra two thousand yuan a month. Go back, take a good rest. It's just a few dollars; if you need anything, just ask me. I can't say for sure about other things, but you definitely won't lack money! Go home and rest!"

Liu Xiaoli opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Lin Jianlu had already turned around and pressed the elevator button.

…………

Yes, I've got it.

The cover features two large, parallel words.

Asia's King of Singers!

Oriental Jackson!
Just admiring myself, this guy is freaking handsome!

"Alright, five books, I'll take them all! You can buy the rest yourself!"

Although I don't take pride in appearing on the covers of foreign magazines, in this day and age, it does add a lot of points. Once you're on the cover, it proves that you've really reached that level of fame.

So making money became even easier!

So... well, I'll put one copy in the car, one at home, and one in the rented apartment!

Oh, and I also need to give my wife a copy. While I'm at it, I'll put on a disdainful look and repeat what I just said to Lao Zhang and Lao Xue, putting on that same arrogant act again: "It's just an Asian version, it's boring!"

Wow, perfect!

"Oh, by the way, Lao Xue, your flattery was a bit off! Be careful next time! I told her to back down. You can go ask Li Xiaoran and Liu Dan if they're happy about it. They're young and beautiful, how great!"

Go downstairs.

When they got off the elevator on the first floor, Liu Xiaoli was still standing there. When she saw Lin Jianlu come out, she looked embarrassed.

Lin Jianlu walked over, pulled out a copy of Time magazine, and placed it on the table. "This is for you! Take a good look, this young man is so damn handsome!"

Even though she wasn't familiar with Lin Jianlu's personality, the handsome, domineering face on the cover with its eagle-like gaze, and the blatant self-praise, still made Liu Xiaoli burst out laughing.

"Thank you...!"

Lin Jianlu was about to leave, but then turned back and subconsciously touched his back pocket. "Wait for me!" he said. Then he quickly went out the door and returned a short while later with a wallet in his hand. He opened it in front of her and found a bulging stack of RMB notes inside. He pulled them all out, counted out five, and handed the rest over.

Liu Xiaoli was surprised. She looked down at the money, then looked up at Lin Jianlu.

"After you've counted out how many, give me an IOU!"

"This this……"

"Hey, you left with nothing, huh? I understand! Otherwise, why would you, a national first-class actor, come to me looking for work? Take this, use it to tide you over! Rent a place, eat well! After I'm done with these next few days, and you've all practiced enough, I'll take you out to make some money!" She hesitated for a moment, but finally took it, her eyes slightly red. "Thank you!"

Lin Jianlu waved her hand and left, not forgetting to throw out a parting remark before she went out: "Remember to write an IOU!"

…………

There's a cat in the building across the street, walking on the electrical wires.

Gao Yuanyuan was staring intently at it, but for some reason, she suddenly lost focus.

A shy yet proud smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

Yes, young girls experiencing the sweetness of love for the first time are generally more prone to this—and hers is far sweeter than that of the average young girl.

"Yuanyuan, I'm calling you, dinner's ready! ...What are you daydreaming about?"

It wasn't until her brother called out that she suddenly came to her senses. When she turned around to look for it again, she found that the kitten was long gone. She was startled and used her hands to support herself on the table to search the ground downstairs.

Thankfully, there wasn't any on the ground.

"Hurry up... Oh, how could you bear to change into this dress?"

Her brother was about to leave, but then he turned back—for some reason, his sister didn't come home this summer. When she came back after filming that movie, he vaguely felt that she had changed a bit.

He had been to that film crew. As an older brother, how could he let his younger sister stay there for a month or two without checking things out first?

It was a very serious film crew, full of big-name stars like Pu Cunxin and Xu Jinglei. The film was even state-funded, produced by Xi'an Film Studio! Only after confirming this did I dare to let my sister join the crew.

Perhaps it was the filming experience on set this past month that taught my sister something!

"Oh? It's nothing! I like it! It's over three hundred!"

She actually lied about this. She told her family that she bought the dress with the salary she received from the film crew, and that she even paid her parents 400 yuan less because of it. But in reality, she just kept the 400 yuan for herself. In the end, Lin Jianlu paid for the dress for her—she regarded it as a token of their love and cherished it very much.

I dressed up specifically for someone today.

I bought it before and showed it to him after I put it on; he liked it very much.

So she ate lunch. After lunch, she took out her backpack, which she had already packed, and looked up at the clock every few minutes.

Her parents chatted as usual, and her brother went back to his room, but she couldn't leave early because she would be out in the sun.

Finally, when it was almost time, she said goodbye to her parents and brother, listened patiently to their instructions for a few more minutes, slung her bag over her shoulder, and went out.

Once outside, they were cheerful, almost running all the way.

Soon, his BMW was spotted not far from the bus stop.

She glanced around, left and right, front and back, and seeing no one she recognized, she happily opened the passenger door and climbed inside.

Someone is reading a magazine.

"Oh, you're here? Hey, this dress, as expected of my choice, it's beautiful!" As he spoke, he casually tossed the magazine onto the central armrest, and coincidentally, his face was right on the cover. Gao Yuanyuan saw it immediately and was about to proudly protest, "I clearly chose it myself!", but then she exclaimed, "Oh! What magazine? You're on the cover? And it's in English!"

We need to quickly introduce it and highlight it: "Time Magazine, the most famous magazine in America!"

"Wow, this magazine is amazing! I remember now, someone in my class bought it, but it definitely wasn't this issue. Right, Time! Wow, the person on the cover! Impressive!"

"Hey, it's just an Asian version, not that interesting!"

"Huh? The Asian version? Does that mean it's bad?"

Hey... this girl is really...

Look at what Xue Zhongding, the founder of the magazine, said: "The Asian edition is already very strong! The US edition has to consider sales. After all, a magazine is a magazine. It needs to sell products and make money. The cover should of course be Western, especially American, figures. People from other places, unless they are super political figures, will not be able to get on the cover of the US edition!"

Look at that, now that's what you call a straight man!

Lin Jianlu was stumped by this silly girl, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn't very well take it back herself at this point, so she could only explain somewhat awkwardly, "I'm the third person in the country to be featured in the Asian edition, but I'm the first male to be featured!"

"Wow! That's already amazing!"

Ah, this time it tastes right.

Lin Jianlu, beaming with pride, said, "Shall I take you straight to school? How about I treat you to a nice meal tonight?"

Upon hearing this, she fell into thought. At first, she seemed somewhat hopeful, but she quickly became discouraged, her little face looking miserable. "No way! I'm going to be a senior in high school, I need to study hard!"

"Oh, that's great! Study hard and make progress every day! Oh, by the way, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going out to work in the next couple of days! I won't be back for a long time!"

"Let's go get a good meal first!"

"Hahaha! Alright, buckle up!"

(End of this chapter)