Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

The dim lighting in the small restaurant shone on the two people, casting their shadows on the mottled wall.

One was by the window, and the other was by the door.

They were very close, yet not touching.

Liu Yifei picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks.

"Eat more, you've lost weight," she said.

"You've lost weight too."

"Filming is tiring."

"Don't film if you're tired."

"If I don't film, will you support me?"

She said this in a very casual tone, as if she were joking.

But after she finished speaking, she fell silent, seemingly regretting it a little.

The chopsticks were suspended in mid-air; I didn't know whether to pick them up or pull them back.

Lu Chen looked at her, unsure whether she was testing him or just joking.

"Raise," he said.

Just one word.

The subject, object, and all modifiers and explanations have been omitted.

Liu Yifei finally put down her chopsticks, picked up a piece of fish, and put it in her mouth.

She chewed slowly, her eyes lowered, not daring to look at him.

But her ears turned red, from her earlobes all the way to the tips, looking like two clouds dyed by the sunset in the dim light.

His lips were always upturned, looking as cunning and adorable as a little mouse that had stolen some sesame oil.

Lu Chen returned to the hotel that evening and turned on his computer.

In his US stock account, Google shares were valued at $113, and his 25,000 shares had a paper profit of $700,000.

Tencent's stock price is HK$4.80, and 400,000 shares would yield a floating profit of HK$440,000.

NetEase's stock price is 21.5 yuan, and 10,000 shares would yield a floating profit of 25,000 US dollars.

Netflix shares are priced at $23, and 5,000 shares would yield a paper profit of $36,000.

He added all these figures together, and his total assets had exceeded 30 million RMB.

From 6.37 million to 30 million, it increased nearly fivefold in three months.

He turned off his computer and picked up his phone.

It was a message from Liu Yifei: "I have a scene tomorrow morning, do you want to come watch?"

He replied, "What time?"

"Six o'clock."

"So early?"

"Makeup takes two hours."

He thought for a moment and replied with a single word: "Come."

She sent a smiley face.

Goodnight, Lu Chen.

Goodnight, Ling'er.

Lu Chen closed his eyes; Hengdian outside the window was quiet.

The Qin Palace in the distance was lit up, like a sleeping ancient city.

When Lu Chen returned to Beijing from Hengdian, Wang Yan was waiting for him in the office, with a thick contract spread out on the table.

After two months of protracted negotiations, the final clause of the official cooperation agreement for Hunan TV's "Super Girl" was finally finalized yesterday.

Coordinates Music has acquired the exclusive agency rights for ringback tones and wireless value-added services for all contestants' songs, with a revenue share of 25%, for a period of three years.

"Signed." Wang Yan pushed the contract forward.

"President Ouyang is urging us to send people, saying that we must see a detailed plan by the end of December."

Lu Chen opened the contract and read through it clause by clause.

The terms are basically the same as what he discussed two months ago.

"Sign it. Also, inform Xing Aina to put her current work aside and start working full-time on the competition format planning for 'Super Girl' from next week."

"Xing Aina? Isn't she a screenwriter?"

"If she can write a script, she can write the competition format. The competition format is the script, the contestants are the characters, and the audience is the judges."

Wang Yan wrote it down in his notebook and then turned to the next page.

"There's one more thing. We received news from Baidu's investment banking that, in the preliminary allocation of IPO shares, we can get a maximum of three million US dollars. That's two million less than the five million we were talking about before."

Lu Chen frowned. "Why?"

"Because of the tight quota, Goldman Sachs prioritizes its large clients."

"Think of a way. I don't want three million, I want five million."

"How can we figure out a solution?"

Lu Chen remained silent for a moment.

"Find the CEO. In exchange for Emperor Entertainment sharing a portion of its share in Baidu, I'll give Emperor Entertainment priority in the overseas distribution rights for 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy'."

"Are you sure, Brother Lu?"

"OK. Make the call."

In December, BJ had its first snowfall.

Lu Chen stood by the office window, watching the snowflakes fall one by one, landing in every corner of the city.

In his US stock account, Google's stock price had risen to $120, and his 25,000 shares had a floating profit of $875,000.

He used this unrealized profit as collateral to borrow a margin loan from Interactive Brokers, and together with the cash reserves in his domestic account, he raised five million US dollars.

Baidu's IPO funding has been secured.

Meanwhile, the filming of "Chinese Paladin" entered its most intense phase.

Lu Chen flies to Hengdian every Tuesday and rushes back to Beijing on Thursday night.

Wang Yan calculated that over three months, his total flight mileage could circle the Earth.

"Aren't you tired?" Wang Yan asked him.

"tired."

"Then why do you have to go?"

Lu Chen didn't answer the question, but the answer surfaced on its own, like a fish at the bottom of the water.

Because in Hengdian, in that small restaurant, there would be someone who would order good food for him and pour him a glass of water, filling it to about eight-tenths full.

She would text him at night to ask if he had arrived yet, and she would smile at him across the crowd during breaks on set.

These things are worthless, but to him, they are more valuable than the numbers in his stock account.

In early December, Lu Chen spent a full week in Hengdian.

Because of his participation in the Golden Horse Awards, Lu Chen specially concentrated the filming of Ling'er's scenes, and Liu Yifei's filming time exceeded twelve hours every day.

She stood in the cold wind of the Qin Palace all day in her thin costume, and her lips were purple when she finished work.

Lu Chen draped his military overcoat over her shoulders, his eyes filled with heartache.

"Aren't you cold?" She looked up, her nose red.

"It's not cold."

"You're lying. Your hands are cold."

She took his hand and stuffed both of them into the pockets of his military coat.

The pocket was warm, warmed by his body heat and hers.

"This way I won't be cold," she said.

Lu Chen didn't speak. His hand remained in her palm, and he didn't pull it away.

The two stood on the steps of the Qin Palace, with a sky full of stars overhead.

In the distance, other film crews were shooting night scenes, their lights illuminating the night sky.

"Lu Chen".

"Um."

"What do you think Li Xiaoyao will do if Ling'er dies in the end?"

"I will survive."

"Won't he be in pain?"

"Yes. But pain can't put food on the table."

She turned her head and glanced at him.

"You are so cruel."

"I'm just telling the truth."

She pulled her hand out of his pocket, turned to face him, and looked up into his eyes.

"Then tell me the truth, how do you feel about me?"

Lu Chen's Adam's apple bobbed.

The night breeze blew by, and her hair flew onto his face.

"I can't explain it," he said.

Why?

"Because once it's spoken, it's no longer a feeling, it's a decision."

She paused for a moment, then laughed and bumped him with her shoulder.

"Then don't say anything. Let me know when you've made a decision."

Faced with the girl's first direct attack, Lu Chen could only retreat.