Chapter 883: Trip to New York

However, Lu Yan He truly did not expect that Darren Wilson would show not a shred of the stern father persona in front of Vanessa, nor even the strategic confidence he usually displayed as a top Hollywood agent.

Lu Yan He also realized that the reason Vanessa could act so "willful and reckless" in front of Darren Wilson was precisely because she knew this very well.

Throughout the entire dinner, Vanessa curiously asked Lu Yan He about his past experiences filming movies, including whether he had "blurred the lines between acting and reality" with Yan Lingyu in the film *Late Spring* and had actually fallen for her.

Lu Yan He was astonished.

No one had ever asked him this question before; Vanessa was the first.

Lu Yan He was left between laughter and tears, explaining that he had not.

Vanessa, on the contrary, showed a look of disappointment; she seemed to have really hoped to hear an affirmative answer from Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He had even prepared himself for Vanessa to ask how he and Chen Siqi got together, but by the end of the dinner, Vanessa never asked.

Vanessa said to Lu Yan He, "You are one of my favorite stars. I never thought before that I would like a Chinese star this much."

"Thank you."

"Actually, the reason I was interested in you at the beginning was because he put most of his energy into you." Vanessa gestured with her eyes toward Darren, who was paying the bill. At this moment, she and Lu Yan He were standing to the side, waiting for Darren. Vanessa said, "Every time I looked for him, he never refused me, except for one time. That time you came to the United States, he said he had an appointment to meet you and couldn't see me. You have to know, as long as I want to see him, no matter who he has an appointment with, he will cancel it."

"Is that so?" Lu Yan He didn't know what to say, so he could only respond like that.

Vanessa suddenly remembered something and asked, "Do you think I can be an actor?"

"Hmm?" Lu Yan He looked at her in surprise.

Vanessa held her chin up proudly. "I'm very pretty, right?"

"Yes, you are very pretty." Lu Yan He nodded in acknowledgment. "However, having a pretty face isn't enough to be an actor. On this point, your father is a professional agent; you'd be better off asking for his opinion."

"I don't want him to know," Vanessa said. "Including my mom, I don't want her to know either."

"Why?"

"Because my mom hates actresses very much." Vanessa winked at Lu Yan He. "His current wife is an actress, you know that, right?"

Lu Yan He: "..."

He said: "I'm not very clear about your father's family relationships. In fact, I only found out today that your father was divorced."

"Alright," Vanessa said. "In short, that actress pried him away, making my mom despise Hollywood and actresses ever since."

Lu Yan He smiled without a word.

Vanessa: "Although I think the one she should despise the most is my dad."

Lu Yan He still smiled without a word.

"Why are you always so nervous, as if I were a paparazzi reporter digging into your private life?" Vanessa asked.

Lu Yan He: "You are very pretty, and I already have a girlfriend. You should know that. If you were really my fan, under normal circumstances, I shouldn't be having this dinner with you, even though your dad is here too."

Vanessa shrugged her shoulders. "Are you Chinese men all this... conservative?"

Lu Yan He: "I think this shouldn't be called conservative."

Vanessa: "To be honest, I'm only interested in you in the movies. Having dinner with you in person tonight didn't make me feel you are more charming than in the movies."

"Of course." Lu Yan He laughed. "The moment an actor is most charming should be in the movies."

"Then if I want to be an actor, is there any way to keep it from them?" Vanessa asked. "I want to try."

"I don't have experience in this regard." Lu Yan He shook his head. "Besides, Vanessa, if you want to be an actor, hiding it from them is not a good solution. Actors make a living with their faces; you can't hide it from them forever."

"But at least I can avoid being stopped by them at the beginning," Vanessa said.

At this time, Darren came over.

Lu Yan He felt a sense of relief in his heart.

Vanessa suddenly said, "Remember what you promised me."

Darren looked at Lu Yan He with suspicion.

"What did you promise her?"

Lu Yan He knew that Vanessa was talking about not telling her parents about this.

Lu Yan He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Promised to keep a secret for her."

Darren immediately looked at his daughter. "Hey, baby, you can tell Daddy your secret."

Vanessa rolled her eyes directly at him.

Darren: "..."

The next day, Darren called Lu Yan He to thank him.

He was even somewhat excited.

He said that when Vanessa left today, she even kissed him on the cheek.

For the first time ever.

She hadn't done that in eight hundred years.

The gratitude Darren expressed to Lu Yan He over the phone felt overwhelming to Lu Yan He.

It was a bit exaggerated.

But precisely because of this exaggeration, Lu Yan He realized to what extent a father could go for his child.

The difference between love and lack thereof can be so vast.

Lu Yan He was immensely grateful for one thing: before coming to this world, before becoming Lu Yan He, he had a family that was ordinary but happy. Therefore, whenever he encountered the pain brought by such differences, he would not be completely crushed—

But perhaps it was also because of this that, even though he felt Darren's handling of this matter was somewhat absurd, he also absurdly agreed to Darren's request.

"When you become a father, you will know why I did this." Darren sighed. "In the past, I would never have been so humble in front of anyone. Seriously, Lu, you should learn from my lesson. Chen Siqi is a good girl; you should cherish her well."

"Of course, I will, Darren." Lu Yan He heard the regret and remorse in Darren's words.

Filming in New York, he should have been focused on staying with the crew.

However, the crew's working time was at most ten hours a day.

Therefore, Lu Yan He often had plenty of time to meet friends here, chat, and even attend parties held by some friends.

Regarding this, Lu Yan He did not resist.

He was enjoying such times more and more.

Sometimes, he would chat about recent events with old friends he had known before, and sometimes he could meet new friends.

What kind of person he was, his friends actually already knew very well, so if it were that kind of chaotic party, friends wouldn't invite him.

And Lu Yan He had always felt that to truly understand a city and the circle of an industry, one must be in such private gatherings to see a more real side.

Lu Yan He discovered that when eating with different friends, everyone would chat about gossip in the industry, and then branch out from gossip to other things. Sometimes it turned into discussions about movies and art, and sometimes it simply pulled out some unknown past events.

This was exactly the same as when he was in the country.

Darren also often invited him to dinner, introducing him to some Hollywood veterans.

Darren knew that these connections were very important and useful to Lu Yan He.

If Lu Yan He wanted Linghe to gain a foothold in Hollywood, getting to know these connections was indispensable. A strong dragon does not suppress the local snake; this principle holds true everywhere.

Anyone who has recently learned about the gossip behind the *Blossoms Shanghai* crew knows that even a top director like Wong Kar-wai, when going north to film a TV series, is seen as "lowering his status" in our eyes, but in reality, he still needs to "concede" a few points to the "local snake" screenwriter.

Besides the dinners organized by Darren, another person who often organized dinners for Lu Yan He was Hua Ruzhen.

The dinners they organized were often small-scale, just two or three people.

And the people Darren invited were generally producers, screenwriters, cinematographers, actors, and others who truly entered the film production process, while the people Hua Ruzhen invited were often people from peripheral industries such as investors, advertising companies, and media.

For Lu Yan He, of course, they were all worth knowing.

In fact, Lu Yan He often brought Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang along to such dinners.

As the persons in charge of Linghe in Europe and America, Wan Qingqing and Song Jiang were now also active in the European and American film and television industries, and knowing these people would be of more practical help.

I updated less yesterday because I drank alcohol at night, and the weather suddenly changed. I didn't change my quilt in time, and as a result, I slept groggily for twelve hours. When I got up, my nose was running.

I even asked for leave this morning and need to recuperate.

I wrote a little at noon and posted it first; there will be more later. ===== CHAPTER 884 =====