He plays Feng Yuxiu, and his girlfriend is a fairy-like beauty.

Chapter 63: Invitations galore!

A few days later, Zhang Yuan sent a document to Ye Mo's email address.

Ye Mo was eating instant noodles when he opened the app.

With the fork in his mouth, he scrolled down two pages with the mouse, and the fork almost fell into the bowl.

It's not a contract, it's a trending topic report.

Zhang Yuan compiled a table of data since the release of "Brotherhood of Blades," including line graphs, trending search rankings, discussion volume percentages, and keyword clouds for bullet comments—each item was marked with a different color.

Ding Xiu, Jiaqian Ge, very smooth.

The search volume for the three keywords actually increased on the third day after the premiere, like an oil well that couldn't be extinguished once it was set on fire.

Ye Mo turned to the last page, where Zhang Yuan had written a note in red: "Your online discussion volume has surpassed Nie Yuan's for five consecutive days. A supporting character has outperformed the protagonist in terms of data. The last time this happened in the industry was ten years ago."

He was staring at the line of red text when the phone rang.

Lu Yang.

"Director Lu."

"Ye Mo, I need to tell you something." Lu Yang's voice was hoarse, as if his throat had been rubbed with sandpaper.

He's been running around doing promotional tours these past few days and his voice is hoarse, but underneath that hoarseness is an irrepressible excitement: "The box office has surpassed 200 million! The investors had a meeting with me today, and they were all smiles."

Ye Mo pushed the instant noodle bowl aside.

"Two hundred million? And it's only been a few days?"

"The first week isn't over yet. At this rate, the total box office is definitely going up." Lu Yang paused. "The investors asked me to tell you—the 'Add Money Bro' meme is all over the internet right now. The marketing team has counted that there are eleven trending topics with 'Add Money' in them. Eleven, and the movie has only been out for a week."

"Director Lu, the film's success is all thanks to you!"

"Don't give me that. I'm telling the investors the truth—you single-handedly carried at least 30% of this film's success. Of the 30 million investment, the role of Ding Xiu was the most worthwhile investment." Lu Yang's voice suddenly became serious. "Ye Mo, I'm serious. No matter what film you're making in the future, you can come to my movies anytime. I'm not just being polite."

Ye Mo held his phone and remained silent for a second.

"Director Lu, I'll remember what you said."

After hanging up the phone, my WeChat rang again.

Zhang Yuan sent a long message.

"The list of offers I've received these past few days includes four TV dramas, six movies, three variety shows, and seven endorsements. I've rejected them all. Come to my office when you have time to sign an agency agreement."

Ye Mo replied with an "okay".

I went to Zhang Yuan's office anyway.

In an inconspicuous office building near the China World Trade Center, the corridor is so narrow that two people have to walk sideways to pass each other.

Zhang Yuan placed a stack of printed invitation lists on the table, each with a price marked on it in highlighter.

The highest salary offered was for a TV drama script, with the male lead receiving eight million.

A twelve-episode urban romance drama.

Ye Mo turned one page and put it down.

Zhang Yuan looked at him and pushed up her glasses.

"Reject everything?"

"I'll turn them all down. I'm joining the cast of 'Infernal Affairs' next month, and that clashes with every other schedule."

"Variety shows can be adjusted."

"I'm not accepting variety shows anymore. Accepting variety shows now would be a waste of my popularity. I need to convert Ding Xiu's popularity into something else, not monetize it."

Of course, the main reason is that Ye Mo looks down on these variety shows.

He'd only take on a phenomenal variety show like Running Man; otherwise, forget about it!

"Many people wouldn't say something like that." Zhang Yuan turned her phone over so the screen was facing up. "I received three more calls this morning. One is for a supporting role in a period drama, with a salary of eight million. Another is for a sports brand endorsement, with a salary of five million a year. And the last is for a variety show appearance, with a salary of two hundred per episode. I've written them all down. I'll do it according to your requirements."

Ye Mo scrolled down a few pages.

"Sister Zhang, tell me the truth—is this level of invitation because of my recent popularity?"

"Yes."

"Has the heat died down?"

Zhang Yuan took off her glasses and wiped the lenses with the corner of her clothes.

"Once the hype dies down, none of these calls will ring again. Do you know how many artists in the industry would never get the number of offers you're getting this week?" She put her glasses back on. "You're pushing away meat that's been offered to you."

"It's not a recommendation, it's a selection." Ye Mo closed the folder. "Liu Weiqiang's film was my first leading role, the last peak of Hong Kong films—that might be an exaggeration, but if I played the role of Chen Yongren well, I wouldn't be playing the leading man in urban romance dramas anymore."

Zhang Yuan looked at him for three seconds.

Then she put the highlighter down.

"Okay, you're the boss, but you need to think this through—right now you're the focus of the entire internet. If you don't take the job, people will say you're throwing your weight around. And after the hype dies down in a few days, people will say you're finished. Can you handle that?"

Ye Mo stood up and put the eight million script on the table.

"I have to bear it even if I can't. The path I chose was never going to lead to a downturn."

Zhang Yuan didn't say anything more, opened the drawer, pulled out an agency agreement, and pushed it in front of him.

Ye Mo signed the document and put down his pen.

---

The day I received the notification to join the production team.

Ye Mo was pulling his suitcase out from under the bed.

The flight information sent by A-Qiang is for a direct flight from Beijing to Hong Kong, departing the day after tomorrow morning.

The filming period is expected to last two and a half months, and there may be a few location shoots in Macau in between.

He had already received the complete script, a thick stack of pages, the corners of which were frayed from being turned so many times.

He opened the box, threw in a few T-shirts, and then took out two more—Hong Kong summers are humid, and cotton shirts take longer to dry than quick-drying ones.

As I was squatting on the ground struggling with my suitcase, the door lock clicked.

He turned his head.

A hand reached through the crack in the door, carrying a plastic bag containing two cups of milk tea.

Then came the whole person—Liu Yifei slipped in, his hair pinned down by a baseball cap, and his mask hanging on one ear, swaying back and forth.

She wasn't wearing sportswear today; instead, she wore a floral dress, as if she had grabbed it on a whim when she decided to go out.

"How did you get in?"

"The key is under the carpet, did you think I forgot?" She put the milk tea on the coffee table, bent down and kicked off her shoes with a smooth, effortless motion, as if she were returning to her own home. "Aren't you leaving the day after tomorrow? I've come to see you off."

Ye Mo leaned against the bedroom door frame, watching her.

Where's your mom?

"Brand event, from 3 pm to 8 pm, five hours." Liu Yifei walked up to him, put her hands behind her back, looked up at him, and smiled triumphantly. "I've calculated it, enough for me to get a nap before you leave."

"Just going to sleep?"

"Then what else do you want to do?"

Ye Mo did not answer.

He reached out and pulled her close, looking down at her.

The floral dress had a faint smell of laundry detergent, mixed with the familiar scent of her shower gel.

Her hair was tied in a low ponytail, with a few stray strands falling behind her ears, and she wore a pair of very small pearl stud earrings on her earlobes.

This was the first time he had noticed the earrings.

"Two months." Liu Yifei's voice was much lower than before, no longer joking around. "By the time I got back, it was almost Chinese New Year in Yanjing."

She rested her head on his chest.

Through the floral dress and the T-shirt, their body heat slowly mingled together.

"You said you were leaving when Feng Yuxiu finished filming, you left when Ding Xiu finished filming, and you left when A-Jie finished filming." She counted them off one by one, poking him in the chest with each name she mentioned. "This time it's another two months."

"So you risked coming to see me off."

"It's not an adventure, it's that I can't bear to part with you." She looked up, her eyes glistening with tears, but she didn't let them fall. She leaned back against his chest. "When can I see you off at the airport without wearing a mask, without us walking one in front of the other?"

Ye Mo gathered her ponytail in front of her shoulder.

"That day will come."

"You've said that several times," she muttered sullenly, then answered herself, "I know, now is not the time. There are many more films after Infernal Affairs. You need to move up. I'll wait for you."

The following time passed quickly.

The two of them spent the whole afternoon lounging on the sofa.

The milk tea went from iced to room temperature, the TV was on but no one was watching, the curtains were drawn, and sunlight streamed in through the fabric, cutting into thin lines.

Liu Yifei leaned on his shoulder and flipped through the script, stopping at the page where Chen Yongren said to Huang Zhicheng on the rooftop, "Can I still choose?"

He watched for a while without saying anything.

Then close the script.

It's nothing.

She closed her eyes after she finished speaking.

Ye Mo pulled the blanket over her.

---

The next morning, when she left, she took off the pair of pearl earrings and placed them on the coffee table.

"I'll leave it here, and put it back on for me when I get back."

Before Ye Mo could speak, the door had already closed.

The footsteps in the corridor gradually faded away.

The pair of earrings on the coffee table gleamed softly in the morning light.

He put the earrings into the innermost compartment of his suitcase.