Huayu: Reborn in 97, transferring to the Central Academy of Drama's star-studded class

If Jiang Lai were given another chance, he would definitely not answer that call, and even if he did, he would definitely not tell anyone where he was.

Unfortunately, there was no second chance.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhang Ziyi suddenly straighten up, then take his arm and walk towards the other end of the street.

Jiang Lai tried to resist, but the arm held him tightly, almost dragging him along, though the pace was slow and deliberate.

When Zhang Ziyi walked up to Zhou Xun, he stopped and looked her up and down.

She was half a head taller than Zhou Xun, but she could feel the other person's aura instantly rise when she got closer. She slightly raised her chin and silently met the other person's gaze.

Jiang Lai stood next to Zhang Ziyi, feeling particularly superfluous. The three of them formed a delicate triangular position, and the surrounding crowd automatically moved around them.

This atmosphere made Jiang Lai feel very uncomfortable. Just as he was about to say something, Zhang Ziyi immediately tightened his grip on his arm and then reached out his hand.

"Hello, I am Zhang Ziyi."

Zhou Xun looked at her, smiled, and took her hand.

"Hello, Zhou Xun."

Two small hands touched and parted as quickly as dragonflies skimming the water. Their first exchange after looking at each other was understated, yet it carried a certainty of "I know you."

"What a coincidence to run into you here." Zhang Ziyi smiled.

"It is indeed a coincidence," Zhou Xun replied calmly. "New Year's Eve, it's crowded and lively."

"It's the New Year, it's all about having fun and being around people." Zhang Ziyi paused, tilted his head to look at Zhou Xun, and smiled sincerely as if he had met an old friend.

"Want to come together?"

Jiang Lai was startled by these words and abruptly turned to look at her.

Zhang Ziyi still looked at Zhou Xun with a smile.

Zhou Xun lowered her eyes, glanced at the hand Zhang Ziyi was holding onto Jiang Lai's, and then turned her gaze back to Jiang Lai.

I only glanced at it.

Then she laughed.

"OK."

Jiang Lai felt a chill run down his spine.

Zhang Ziyi's smile remained unchanged, but the hand that was holding Jiang Lai's arm tightened its grip.

"Then let's go together." Zhang Ziyi said, turning around naturally and leading Jiang Lai back.

Zhou Xun followed, walking on the outside, separated from Zhang Ziyi by the river.

The three people walked side by side, and none of them spoke.

Liu Ye saw them from afar and waved vigorously, "Jiang'er! Over here! Over here! Where did you run off to?"

As they got closer, Liu Ye noticed that Jiang Lai had someone else with him. After recognizing who it was, he froze for a moment, his eyes widening like copper bells and shooting out lightning-like glints. Ahem, I digress.

Dang Hao and Qin Hao also came over, glancing at Jiang Lai, then at Zhang Ziyi, and then at Zhou Xun, their expressions quite interesting.

Jiang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that nothing he said would be right.

Zhang Ziyi spoke first, "I just met some friends, so we're together."

Liu Ye chuckled twice, "That's great, the more the merrier!"

Dang Hao quickly chimed in to smooth things over, "Yes, yes, come on, let's continue shopping."

A group of people walked forward, with Jiang Lai sandwiched in the middle. Zhang Ziyi was on his left, Zhou Xun was on his right, and a bunch of classmates followed behind him. He felt like a prisoner being escorted away.

Zeng Lai leaned closer and quietly tugged at Zhang Ziyi's clothes. Zhang Ziyi turned her head, glanced at her, smiled, and said nothing.

Because Zhang Ziyi was holding Jiang Lai by the arm, the group was almost led by her. Jiang Lai vaguely felt that something was wrong, because they had returned to the "Century Long Banner".

"This is for citizens to leave their blessings. How about you leave one too?"

Zhang Ziyi pointed to the red cloth, but Jiang Lai followed her finger and saw their names, as well as the little heart that circled their names.

Zhou Xun naturally saw it too, and asked with a smile, "Sure, do you have a pen?"

Zhang Ziyi gently nudged Jiang Lai, who then reluctantly took out his pen.

Zhou Xun took the pen and wrote a few words not too far from the two names.

"There is ample time."

Zhang Ziyi craned his neck to look, his gaze darkening.

The three of them stood together again, and no one said anything more.

In the distance, the crowd began a countdown.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

Everyone was shouting and laughing, but Jiang Lai felt Zhang Ziyi's hand on his arm pinching him hard.

"Four, three, two..."

"one!"

"Happy New Year!"

The sounds of gongs, drums, and firecrackers exploded simultaneously.

Zhang Ziyi stood on tiptoe, hugged Jiang Lai, and kissed him.

Jiang Lai turned his head, looked over Zhang Ziyi's shoulder, and saw Zhou Xun behind him.

She stood still, her hands in her down jacket pockets, her face illuminated by the flickering light of the fireworks.

Seeing him look over, she smiled slightly, then turned and left.

After the New Year, Jiang Lai did not go home, but was forcibly taken to a hotel by Zhang Ziyi, whose face was gloomy.

Zhang Ziyi moved up and down forcefully, sweat dripping onto Jiang Lai's chest.

"Tell me! How did she get here!"

"Uh... oh... be gentle, be gentle, I only said I was in Xidan, I didn't know she was coming over."

"have no idea?"

Zhang Ziyi stopped what she was doing, bent down and bit Jiang Lai's shoulder hard.

"Ouch!! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!"

......

The next day, Jiang Lai went home, clutching his back, feeling completely drained.

The housekeeper, Old Li, was watering the flowers in the yard.

Jiang Lai glanced at it and asked in confusion, "Uncle Li, why are you watering the flowers in the middle of winter?"

Old Li straightened up, put down the kettle in his hand, and said slowly, "This is wintersweet, it only blooms in winter."

Jiang Lai walked closer and took a look. There were indeed a few small yellow flowers hanging on the branches, which were not easily noticed unless you looked carefully.

"Where's my dad? I haven't seen him lately," Jiang Lai asked casually.

"Master has gone out to conduct research, he should be back soon." Old Li said, then picked up the watering can and continued watering the few wintersweet plants.

Jiang Lai didn't ask any more questions. He turned around, went into the house, and went straight to his room, where he fell asleep immediately.

I slept until evening.

Hearing a commotion outside, Jiang Lai turned over and went back to sleep.

A moment later, there was a knock on the door, and Old Li's voice came in: "Young Master, Master is back and wants you to come over."

Jiang Lai responded, scrambled to his feet, rubbed his back, and walked toward the main hall.

Jiang's father was sitting on the sofa when he saw Jiang come in and pointed to the sofa opposite him.

"sit."

Jiang Lai sat down and yawned.

Jiang's father took a sip of tea and slowly began, "You've heard about the bilateral trade, haven't you?"

Jiang Lai nodded. "I've heard about it."

"Han Sanping came to see me some time ago," Jiang's father said, putting down his teacup. "He said he wanted me to establish a cinema chain in China."

Jiang Lai was stunned for a moment, and was about to speak when his father waved his hand and continued, "He said that there are policies supporting this now, and he wants to bring together a few strong private enterprises to do it. I was thinking that this matter is related to your film industry, so I called you over to listen."

Jiang's father picked up the cigarette pack on the table, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff.

"The domestic film market is not doing well now. There are only about a thousand regular cinemas that can show movies, which is far fewer than in the early 1990s. Many cinemas have been converted into dance halls or warehouses, and some have simply been demolished."

"However, the higher authorities do want to promote cinema reform. To put it bluntly, they want to connect distribution and screening, allowing cinemas to schedule films themselves, instead of having to go through layers of approval like before."

Jiang's father paused for a moment, then said, "I recently went out to do research on this matter. You know this industry better. Do you think it's feasible?"

Jiang glanced at him and said, "Dad, you can do this."

Jiang's father flicked off his cigarette ash. "Alright, let's do it."

Jiang Lai scratched his head sheepishly, "Dad, there's actually something else I need your support for."

"What?"

"Didn't I send Ying-jie to the United States...?"