Chapter 161: Watching Island Nation Movies with Da Yizi

"Where do you plan to hold it?"

Chen Yixue asked concernedly.

"Right at Gongti."

Xu Yuexin lifted a piece of lamb with his chopsticks and said.

Gongti's venue is spacious and well located; it is currently the best place in the whole Jingcheng to hold concerts.

Even in later eras when venues proliferated, many top stars still hold concerts at Gongti.

The first concert after the 1980 reform and opening was held here.

Now Xu Yuexin has also set his sights on this.

"The venue should be hard to book, right?"

Chen Yixue reflexively replied, "Should I go find the former Cultural Troupe leaders?"

"They still know some people in the relevant field."

"No need, you just have to sing well."

Xu Yuexin confidently said, "Let's have vegetables."

The principle of Xu Yuexin's collaboration with Da Yizi is that Da Yizi only needs to sing well.

He handles everything else.

After finishing hot pot, Xu Yuexin suggested watching a movie, and Da Yizi agreed.

The two walked to the cinema and spent five mao to buy two tickets for "Lushan Love".

Two years ago, a regular movie ticket cost five fen each; with economic development and price liberalization, they generally rose to one mao.

Films that set the price at two mao five, like "Lushan Love", are rare.

The reason is that "Lushan Love" was made too well and became extremely popular after release.

When it premiered last year, "Lushan Love" achieved box office revenue exceeding one hundred million within just one week.

If adjusted by price ratios, that's equivalent to over ten billion in later eras.

Xu Yuexin and Da Yizi entered the screening room with their tickets and saw it packed to the brim.

They found adjacent seats, sat down, and shortly after the lights in the theater dimmed and the movie began.

As the title suggests, it is a romance about young Geng Hua, from a revolutionary family, and Zhou Jun, the daughter of a Kuomintang general, who meet, get to know each other, and fall in love on Lushan.

Their love faces many twists and heavy pressure, tugging at people's heartstrings.

When the plot reached a critical point, Xu Yuexin saw many viewers craning their necks, eyes wide, staring intently at the screen.

"Lushan Love" was indeed well made, and since the special period began, the film industry has been unable to produce romance films.

Audience demand kept accumulating until "Lushan Love" satisfied everyone.

Seeing Da Yizi stare without blinking, Xu Yuexin took her hand and gently brushed the back of it.

Da Yizi moved her hand, trying to pull it away, but her main focus remained on the screen.

Until the movie reached its ending, where the male and female pork knuckles happily tied the knot, Da Yizi finally came to herself.

Da Yizi still couldn't accept being hand‑held by Xu Yuexin in public.

It's different from yesterday at the subway station; now there are people all around.

"Don't go too far."

Da Yizi, worried others might hear, whispered, "Let go."

"You see other couples, don't they all hold hands?"

Xu Yuexin pointed at the nearby couples secretly holding hands and said.

"You and I aren't a couple."

"If you don't let go, I'll shout."

Da Yizi showed displeasure, threatening Xu Yuexin.

"This... Xue Xue, if you shout, I'll have to go in."

Xu Yuexin was not scared at all; instead he smiled calmly, "I guess you don't want to see Qiao Qiao sad, right?"

Da Yizi was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Shameless."

After a long silence, Da Yizi glared at Xu Yuexin unhappily and said.

She had thought that after such a long time apart, Xu Yuexin would have changed a bit.

But he was still the same.

He even learned to threaten!

When the movie ended, Xu Yuexin and Da Yizi left the cinema and strolled together on the street.

"Let's eat at home tonight."

Xu Yuexin said to Da Yizi, "Let's go buy some groceries."

After speaking, he took Da Yizi to the market and bought half a rooster, plus eggplant, tomatoes, and the like.

Although supplies became more abundant after reform and opening, buying a hen was still hard because they needed to keep them for laying eggs.

Hens appeared in bulk at markets only after large‑scale poultry farms rose.

Back home, Xu Yuexin cooked, gradually completing three dishes: spicy chicken, steamed eggplant, and tomato egg soup.

Da Yizi served the rice, placed the dishes on the table, and the two sat face‑to‑face to eat.

"Didn't you book a boat last time? How did it turn out?"

During the meal, Da Yizi asked Xu Yuexin with concern.

"It's not a ship; it's a container."

"Mm-hmm, have those containers been resold?"

"They've been turned out, earning over seventy million."

When Da Yizi asked about this, Xu Yuexin felt immensely pleased and said, "My net worth has now surpassed a hundred million."

"Surpassed a hundred million?"

Da Yizi's beautiful eyes flickered slightly as she said.

These days the term "billionaire" is still rarely encountered; newspapers, when introducing top foreign tycoons, usually use "millionaire" instead.

She found it a bit hard to imagine how much a hundred million would look like piled before her eyes.

"That's right, I've surpassed a hundred million."

Xu Yuexin confirmed to Da Yizi.

"Impressive."

"With that much money, there must be countless things you can do," Da Yizi sighed admiringly, then shifted tone, "From now on, you'll leave me alone, okay?"

"That won't do; without you, what's the point of having money?"

"Don't speak carelessly; there are so many meaningful things in life."

"They're all waiting for you to do them."

"Having you by my side while doing those meaningful things—wouldn't that be even better?"

Xu Yuexin slightly lifted the corner of his mouth, raised an eyebrow at Da Yizi, and said.

"Only children face multiple‑choice questions."

"Adults just want it all!" Da Yizi was left speechless by his remark, quickly turning her face away: "No way, I don't want to be possessed by you."

"Is this something Da Yizi wants or not?" Xu Yuexin said with a silent smile.

After dinner, Xu Yuexin and Da Yizi sat together on the sofa to watch TV.

When the TV was turned on, Xu Yuexin noticed a new video recorder added beneath the TV cabinet.

"When did you buy the video recorder?"

Xu Yuexin turned his face and asked Da Yizi beside him.

"Bought it last week, but unfortunately there are no good discs."

"Perfect timing, I brought back a batch of Cassette Tapes from Japan; do you want to watch?"

"Sure, bring them over quickly."

Da Yizi's interest sparked the moment she heard Xu Yuexin had brought the Cassette Tapes back, and she said eagerly.

Xu Yuexin returned to the secondary bedroom, opened his suitcase, took out a large stack of plastic boxes containing Cassette Tapes, and carried them to the living room.

"Let's watch a TV drama first."

Xu Yuexin carefully opened the plastic box, took out a Cassette Tape, and set it aside to prevent dust from settling on it.

"What's it called?"

"It's called *Blood Doubt*—the 'blood' of blood and the 'doubt' of doubt."

Xu Yuexin replied, turned on the video recorder, and inserted the Cassette Tape.

*Blood Doubt* was the first Japanese TV drama introduced domestically after the reforms, starring Shankou Baihui, and once caused a sensation across the country.

*Blood Doubt* was officially introduced in 1984; today Xu Yuexin and Da Yizi are getting an early preview.

In the plot, the heroine Xingzi tragically contracts leukemia, while the male lead Guangfu is her half‑brother from the same father, and their romance is steeped in tragedy from the start.

Don't think these plot points are common in later dramas; back then they were a groundbreaking innovation.

Calling *Blood Doubt* the forefather of this genre wouldn't be an exaggeration.

After the Cassette Tape was inserted, a color picture appeared on the TV screen.

Da Yizi's beautiful eyes stared at the screen, with much of her attention on the subtitles.

The discs brought back from Japan, of course, are in Japanese.

She has to read the Chinese characters in the subtitles together to grasp the general meaning.

Seizing the moment while Da Yizi was fully engrossed in the drama, Xu Yuexin quietly slipped his arm around her fragrant shoulder.

Da Yizi was wearing a silk shirt today; its fabric felt especially pleasant to the touch.

As the distance between them closed, Xu Yuexin could clearly smell the alluring fragrance on her.

Da Yizi was completely absorbed by the plot; when Xu Yuexin embraced her, she merely nudged his hand away, showing little reaction.

Only when Xu Yuexin's large hand slid down her shoulder, ready for further advance, did she push his hand away: "Are you still going to let me watch TV?"

Da Yizi's tone wasn't very happy, but her gaze remained fixed on the TV.

"You watch then."

Xu Yuexin pretended to be casual, saying, and stayed beside Da Yizi.

On the screen, the drama kept progressing, and time passed.

After finishing the first episode, Xu Yuexin stepped forward to change the Cassette Tape and play the second episode.

*Blood Doubt* runs fifty minutes per episode, and Da Yizi remained fully focused from start to finish, never distracted.

Not until late at night, after Xu Yuexin finished the sixth episode and patted her fragrant shoulder, did she come to herself.

"It's getting late."

Xu Yuexin reminded.

Da Yizi's mind was wholly on the plot; she had no intention of going back to sleep.

"Hmm... one more episode."

Da Yizi shook her head, saying, and walked forward to change the Cassette Tape herself.

She hadn't taken two steps before letting out an "aiyo" and seemed about to tumble onto the coffee table.

Xu Yuexin, quick‑eyed and swift‑handed, stepped forward, scooped Da Yizi into his arms, helped her back onto the sofa, and began massaging her beautiful legs beneath her long skirt.

"You've been sitting too long; your legs are numb."

Da Yizi pushed Xu Yuexin's hand away and said, "You go change the Cassette Tape; I'll massage them myself."

"I think you're getting pretty addicted."

Xu Yuexin teased, "Will you have to skip meals tomorrow just to keep watching?"

"It's not as bad as you say."

Da Yizi said apologetically, "But the drama is indeed well‑made."

"Just one more episode and then I'll sleep."

Fine. At Da Yizi's insistence, Xu Yuexin got up, swapped in the Cassette Tape of episode seven, and watched another fifty minutes with her.

When the ending theme "Thank You, My Lover" began to play, it was already the early hours of the morning.

Xu Yuexin went to turn off the TV, removed the Cassette Tape, shut down the VCR, and prepared to sleep.

But Da Yizi was still a bit unsatisfied; the sparkle in her eyes remained fixed on the plot.

"Alas, Sachiko and Mitsuo are such a pity."

"They were so in love, yet they were siblings, and Sachiko even got leukemia."

Da Yizi's gaze was full of regret as she said, "Why can't there be a slightly better ending?"

Xu Yuexin let out a few mutters of "um… ah…" without giving a proper reply.

He was truly sleepy.

"Why aren't you moved at all after watching it?"

Da Yizi glanced at Xu Yuexin, tapped his back with the back of her hand.

(End of Chapter)