Chapter 234: Leaving America

The Los Angeles night was deep and heavy. Zhou Huimin had already fallen fast asleep on the hotel's big bed. Xiang Fei stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the "HOLLYWOOD" sign on the distant Hollywood Hills, his thoughts a tangled mess.

The phone screen suddenly lit up. Caller ID: Leonardo.

"Hey, Aiven!" A voice bursting with energy came through the phone—Leonardo's. "Wanna come out for a spin? I just got my hands on a brand-new Ferrari."

Xiang Fei glanced at his sleeping wife, lowering his voice: "No, Leo. We've got an early flight tomorrow."

"Come on! Los Angeles nightlife is just getting started!"

"Next time," Xiang Fei said with a smile.

No sooner had he hung up than the phone rang again. This time it was an unknown number.

"Yo! Aiven!" A voice thick with hip-hop flavor came through. "Puff Daddy here! There's an awesome party tonight, you gotta come!"

Xiang Fei's mouth twitched. Memories from his past life surged up instantly—this rap mogul's later scandals were each more explosive than the last: drugs, sex scandals, tax problems...

"Thanks, Daddy, but I need to pack." Xiang Fei refused decisively.

"Man, you're so boring!" The sound of blaring music and women's laughter came through the phone. "This is a party celebrating your Oscar win!"

"Definitely next time." Xiang Fei hung up quickly, casually switching his phone to airplane mode.

The next morning, the VIP corridor of Los Angeles International Airport.

Han Shanping was shaking hands and saying goodbye to the American distributors who had come to see him off, while Hong Jinbao was surrounded by fans who recognized him, asking for autographs. Zhou Xingxing stood quietly to one side wearing sunglasses, a gauze patch still stuck to his forehead.

"Does it still hurt?" Li Bingbing carefully helped him adjust the gauze.

"Just a scratch," Zhou Xingxing grinned. "Back in the day filming 'Infernal Affairs,' I fell even harder."

Xiang Fei walked over with his arm around Zhou Huimin, just in time to see Li Bingbing blushing as she handed Zhou Xingxing water, while the comedy superstar's ears had gone red.

"Tsk," Xiang Fei nudged his wife with his elbow. "Looks like someone's about to get off the market."

Zhou Huimin followed his gaze and couldn't help laughing out loud: "Since Xingzai broke up with A-Juan, it's been ages since I've seen him this shy around a girl."

In first class, Li Bingbing insisted on sitting next to Zhou Xingxing to take care of him. When the flight attendant brought champagne, Zhou Xingxing was so nervous he nearly knocked the glass over.

"Um... have you watched any movies lately?" Zhou Xingxing stammered, scrambling for a topic.

Li Bingbing blinked. "I've watched everything you've been in! I watched 'God of Gamblers' over a dozen times!"

"Really?" Zhou Xingxing's eyes lit up. "My favorite part is the 'Third Uncle' bit..."

"What are you doing, making such a ruckus!" Li Bingbing picked up the line, and the two exchanged a smile.

In the row ahead, Xiang Fei and Zhou Huimin wordlessly pricked up their ears to eavesdrop, their shoulders shaking as they held back laughter.

After the plane leveled off, the flight attendant brought that day's international newspapers.

The front page of The Hollywood Reporter was unmistakably a photo of Xiang Fei holding two Oscar statuettes, with the headline: "History Maker: Xiang Fei Completes the Grand Slam of the Four Major International Film Festivals!"

The South China Morning Post devoted a full page to analysis: "Xiang Fei Sweeps Europe's Three Major Film Festivals + the Oscars—Has the Golden Age Arrived for Chinese-Language Cinema?"

Han Shanping excitedly flipped through the papers: "Xiangjiang, Taiwan, the mainland, Korea, Japan... everyone's covering it!"

Hong Jinbao took a swig of champagne: "This old man's life has been worth it! Oscar Best Actor!"