Huayu: Starting with mentoring female stars

Chen Zhou looked at Tian Xiwei with tenderness in his eyes, "Tian-mei, it's been a long time."

"Brother Chen, you're finally back!" Tian Xiwei ran up to him and jumped onto his back, not caring whether Chen Zhou was eating or not.

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhou's mother laughed and said:

"This child has always been clingy to you since he was little."

"She's been nagging you the whole time you were gone."

"Yes, people who don't know better would think Xiaowei is your younger sister," Chen Zhou's father added.

"Brother Chen, you have to treat me to something delicious when you come back this time, and you have to take me out to have fun, otherwise I'll get angry and ignore you," Tian Xi said in a cute way.

"Okay, whatever you say," Chen Zhou said.

Then, two more people stood at the door: Tian Xiwei's father and her mother.

"Xiao Zhou, you're back," Tian Xiwei's father said as he walked in.

"Uncle and Auntie, it's been a long time." Chen Zhou greeted them politely.

The two families were already familiar with each other, so there was no need for formalities, and everyone sat down together.

"Xiao Zhou, I've heard about your story. You're now the youngest director in the country to have a box office gross of over 100 million yuan."

"When I heard the news, I was really shocked. You've really got guts, kid."

Tian Xiwei's father said with a smile.

"Thank you for your concern, Uncle," Chen Zhou replied.

"Sigh." Tian Xiwei's father sighed heavily.

He addressed Chen Zhou, saying:

"When you were admitted to Beijing Film Academy, everyone around you said, 'Tell your parents not to waste their money, you can't possibly become a director.'"

"They spent money, but it was all for nothing. They even said that your family couldn't produce that kind of material. Such nasty things happened all the time."

"Moreover, back then, when they learned that your father insisted on supporting you to become a director, those people would pretend not to see your parents whenever they saw them on the street, for fear that your parents would ask them for money."

"Now that you've made something of yourself, you must take good care of your parents."

"Don't worry, Uncle, I know what I'm doing," Chen Zhou said.

In fact, Chen Zhou's father and mother never mentioned these things to him.

But it's actually quite predictable. To outsiders, it's ridiculous that a rural family would go to such lengths to support a director's son.

"On another note, your parents are really low-key."

"If it were me, and I had a child like you, I would definitely make a big fuss about it and show it off to everyone."

"But your parents never told anyone, so people still think that you are doing very poorly out there."

Tian Xiwei's father preached.

As Tian Xiwei's father finished speaking, Chen Zhou's mother also said, "We don't care about those things. As long as Xiaozhou is doing well, that's enough for us."

Hearing these words, Chen Zhou felt a mix of emotions.

"Mom and Dad, after the movie leaves theaters, I'll get a considerable sum of money. I've calculated it, and it should be several million. Then you can just relax and enjoy your retirement."

Upon hearing the phrase "several million," Chen Zhou's parents and Tian Xiwei's parents widened their eyes, their faces filled with disbelief.

It's worth noting that for an average worker in Chongqing, earning 2000 yuan a month is considered a pretty good salary.

So several million is undoubtedly an astronomical figure for them, something they really don't even dare to dream of.

"Xiao Zhou, you're not kidding us, are you? Several million..." Chen Zhou's father's voice trembled.

"Of course I'm not joking. My investor is Mr. Liu Dehua, and the contract I signed with him is a profit-sharing contract, which means I get 15% of the profits," Chen Zhou said.

Chen Zhou's parents couldn't understand this kind of thing at all.

At this moment, the only word that lingered in their minds was "millions".

"Great! Your parents are really lucky to be with you!" Tian Xiwei's father said with envy.

Tian Xiwei's mother added, "It seems that our Xiaowei has good taste. She's been saying in private that her brother Chen Zhou is an amazing person."

"Of course!" Tian Xiwei echoed.

"Ahem." Tian Xiwei's father suddenly coughed twice. "Um, Xiaozhou, do you think our Xiaowei is suitable to be an actress?"

"It suits her well." Chen Zhou looked at Tian Xiwei and gave his answer directly.

"Really? In that case, if there's a chance in the future, could you mentor Xiaowei?" Tian Xiwei's father asked.

"If it doesn't interfere with her studies, I'll arrange a role for her if the opportunity arises," Chen Zhou said readily.

"In that case, thank you very much." Tian Xiwei's father was overjoyed.

And so, the two families continued chatting, mostly about everyday things.

The next day, which was the morning of New Year's Eve.

Several cars stopped at the entrance of the village.

Immediately after that, a guy dressed in cadre attire got out of the car.

And other people carrying cameras or holding interview microphones.

The person in charge of welcoming them was the village chief.

Upon seeing this, the surrounding villagers all turned to look.

"Village chief, who are they?" a villager asked.

"The person standing next to me is a district official from our TL district, and the rest of the people are all reporters from Chongqing TV," the village chief explained.

Hearing this, everyone around was very surprised.

District officials personally brought TV reporters over; that's quite a show of force!

"Village chief, has something happened?" a villager asked.

"They've all come looking for Chen Zhou. That kid Chen Zhou is back. I can't talk to you now, everyone's in a hurry to find him." The village chief led the way for the district officials.

"Looking for Chen Zhou? Could Chen Zhou have gotten into some trouble outside? Otherwise, why would the village chief look so anxious?"

"He probably got into trouble. He probably went astray in the big city. This kind of thing is very common."

"If that's the case, are there police cars following behind?"

"Let's go to Chen Zhou's house first and see what's going on."

The surrounding villagers couldn't contain their curiosity and followed the village chief toward Chen Zhou.

Soon, with the arrival of district officials and television reporters, more and more people went to Chen Zhou's place, all wanting to see what was going on.

At this moment, Chen Zhou was at home.

Driven by Tian Xiwei's curiosity, he told her about acting.

This girl definitely has a very strong interest in being an actress.

A while later.

The village chief led everyone to Chen Zhou's house.

Hearing the commotion outside, Chen Zhou's parents both went out, completely unaware of what had happened.

Chen Zhou, however, remained calm and leisurely as he stepped out of his house and asked the village chief, "Village chief, what's going on?"

The village chief stepped forward, pulled Chen Zhou in front of the city officials, and solemnly introduced him: "This is a district official from our TL district, and the others are reporters from our CQ city television station. They've come specifically to interview you!"

Hearing this, Chen Zhou's parents finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had thought something bad had happened after making such a big fuss.

scare someone to death.

When the others heard that the city officials wanted to interview Chen Zhou, they were all utterly shocked.

"Didn't someone just say that Chen Zhou had committed a crime and that city officials were personally leading people to arrest him? How come it's turned into an interview now?"

Someone in the crowd said.

"Hello Director Chen, you are much younger than I imagined, and very handsome," the city official greeted him.

"Hello, Secretary." Chen Zhou replied.

The city official smiled and said, "I never imagined that our little Tongliang could produce a director whose films gross over 100 million yuan. You've really brought honor to Tongliang!"