It's just that they have money.

Halfway through the meal, Pingping called.

Fang Chen answered the phone. The voice on the other end wasn't loud, but the silence on the table made every word clear.

"Chenchen, are you coming home for dinner tonight?"

"I'm eating out right now."

Xiang Pingping said "oh," paused for a moment, and then asked a question that Fang Chen hadn't expected.

"Was Xiao Xu with you today?"

"No, I'm with my friends."

Xiang Pingping said "oh" again, her voice noticeably lower by half a tone than before, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Okay, you go ahead with your work."

It's over.

Zhao Xiaole put down her chopsticks, revealing a subtle expression that was somewhere between gossip and concern.

Fang Chen didn't say anything, but picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks.

Zhao Xiaole wisely didn't say anything more, but the smile on her lips remained.

After finishing their meal, Zhao Xiaole paid the bill.

The four of them walked out of the restaurant, and the night breeze hit them in the face. The wind at the end of June was no longer cold, but warm, like an invisible hand gently pushing their backs.

Zhao Xiaole tossed the car keys in his hand twice and caught them.

"How about we go sing karaoke tonight?"

None of the three raised any objections.

Fang Chen didn't care. He had only come out to hang out with Zhao Xiaole to avoid his mother's nagging.

The car started and drove out of the parking lot.

Zhu Zilan didn't look at her phone or out the window. She sat there staring at the road ahead, as if she was thinking about something. She thought for a long time before deciding to speak.

"I'm organizing an art exhibition opening next Saturday at the Jiangcheng Art Museum. Are you interested in coming?"

Fang Chen gripped the steering wheel, not answering immediately.

"It's not the kind of obscure contemporary art." Zhu Zilan's tone was more relaxed than before, as if she were explaining or inviting, "There are a few installations that are quite interesting, you should be able to understand them."

The light from the streetlights swept in through the car window, falling on Zhu Zilan's face and illuminating her profile softly.

She didn't look at Fang Chen, her gaze fixed on the road ahead, waiting for his reply.

"Okay. What time?"

Zhu Zilan seemed surprised that he agreed so readily, and paused for a moment before saying, "The opening ceremony is at three o'clock this afternoon. Call me when you arrive."

Fang Chen agreed and didn't say anything more.

The next morning, before Fang Chen even got out of bed, Gao Jie called.

"Mr. Fang, I've drafted Director Zhang's contract and sent it to your email. Take a look, and if there are no problems, I'll print it out."

Fang Chen leaned against the headboard and rubbed his eyes.

"No need to look at it, you can decide. The fee will be double that of other actors of the same level in the industry, and the credits will be listed as 'no joint credits,' just him alone."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Mr. Fang, this offer is significantly higher than the market price he can currently obtain."

Gao Jie's tone carried a hint of probing, not a question, but a confirmation of whether Fang Chen was serious.

"I know."

Gao Jie didn't ask any more questions.

"Okay, then I'll arrange for him to come and sign."

At 2 p.m., Zhang Siyuan arrived at the office of Firefly Pictures.

He was wearing a dark jacket today, which was more formal than when we last met, but the collar of the jacket wasn't turned up properly, and one side was drooping, as if he had just casually put it on before leaving the house. He glanced at himself in the mirror but didn't look closely.

Gao Jie handed him the contract, which he took and flipped through page by page. When he got to the page about payment, he paused.

When I turned to the page with the signature, my hand paused for a moment.

Then he closed the contract and didn't turn the page again.

Zhang Siyuan lowered his head, opened the contract to the back cover, picked up a pen, and signed it. After signing, he put down the pen, stood up, and bowed.

"Manager Fang only instructed us to make sure the filming was done well."

Zhang Siyuan's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only said one word.

"it is good."

Fang Chen received photos of the second batch of sample gift boxes from Xu Wen, but he hadn't had a chance to look at them yet.

Click to enlarge the image. The box features a red and gold color scheme, gold foil stamping on the surface, and flocking lining. Each blueberry is nestled in an individual groove, the curvature of which perfectly supports the bottom of the fruit, preventing it from wobbling when the box is opened.

Fang Chen zoomed in on the photo and saw that the color of the velvet was a shade darker than last time. He couldn't touch the actual product, but he could tell from the sheen in the picture that the texture had improved.

He sent a message to Xuwen: "It feels like it's comparable to all the gift boxes of mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Let's make a thousand boxes first."

Xu Wen quickly replied, "A thousand boxes? Will they sell out?"

After all, mooncakes can be stored for a long time, while blueberries are fruit, and not so much.

"It's not for sale, it's for giving away."

"Who should I give it to?"

"The person who should be given this gift."

Fang Chen put his phone aside and didn't explain further.

Zhao Xiaole's father, Zhao Taiye, was among the first to receive his share.

Fang Chen had Xu Wen send four gift boxes to Hengdian via cold chain express, with Zhao Xiaole listed as the sender.

On the afternoon of the day the package was signed for, Zhao Xiaole saw Zhao Taiye's WeChat Moments.

The nine-square grid features a picture of an open gift box in the center. The box is red and gold with black velvet lining, and blueberries are nestled inside, like jewels displayed in a museum showcase.

The surrounding eight images are all detail shots.

The box features a gold-stamped logo, a textured velvet fabric, and the powdery coating on the blueberries has a matte sheen under the light.

The caption read only one line: "A gift from my son; the packaging is better than some jewelry boxes I've ever seen."

Zhao Xiaole sent a screenshot and added a voice message below it.

Fang Chen clicked on the call, and the laughter on the other end almost shattered the receiver.

"Brother Chen, look, my dad beat you up! You couldn't get into his circle even if you spent a million!"

Fang Chen didn't reply, but zoomed in on the screenshot and saw that there were already several comments.

Where did you buy it?

"How much"

Fang Chen saved the screenshot and sent it to Xu Wen.

"Send another fifty boxes to Zhao Taiye in Zhao Xiaole's name and ask him to help deliver them."

Perhaps because Fang Chen didn't reply, Zhao Xiaole sent a text message: "Brother Chen, do you think this is nothing?"

Fang Chen was typing when another message came in.

"Just you wait, within three days someone will definitely come asking."

Fang Chen deleted the words he had only typed halfway through.

"Alright."

Later that afternoon, Zhao Xiaole sent another screenshot.

This time it wasn't on WeChat Moments, it was a private message conversation.

The person who sent the message had a landscape photo as their profile picture, and their name was covered up with an emoji by Zhao Xiaole.

Zhao Xiaole took a screenshot of the chat history and circled one of the other party's sentences in red.

"Hey bro, where did you buy these blueberries? Order me twenty boxes as gifts."

Fang Chen looked at the screenshot with some surprise.

Zhao Taiye truly lives up to his reputation as a top-notch producer; someone has already taken the initiative to ask him about it so quickly.

Zhao Xiaole posted a voice message below the screenshot, her smugness barely concealed: "Brother Chen, look! What did I tell you? Less than three days? It's only been half a day!"

"Your dad is awesome."

"I'm awesome too."

Fang Chen didn't reply to him. Instead, he switched to another app and sent Xu Wen a message: "Regarding the gift boxes, we'll take orders as soon as someone asks. No need to stock up. We'll only make them when someone asks."