Chapter 247: No Telling the Truth

The two of them still chatted about everything as usual, always with endless topics, and bullshitted along the way.

Liu Tianxian stayed with Fang Hong for the whole day, got off work with him in the afternoon, and went home together.

It was still her first time accompanying this man to and from work; it felt like a kind of truth hidden within the ordinary.

And she saw that Fang Hong really was very busy — film and television, Best Special Effects were fine, didn't need him to worry much, as long as projects kept moving forward.

But the game and Animation Department matters were truly a lot.

The animation was just planning the storyline and such that gave Fang Hong headaches; the characters were already designed and only needed to be produced, and how the visuals were presented also needed his oversight.

After all, Fang Hong had seen the original footage; as for how to achieve the desired effect, the department heads could rack their own brains.

And the game required holding a global esports Grand Finals — participating teams, competition format, prizes, rules, referees, staff, security personnel, a huge pile of matters.

The entire plan needed his personal review.

There were also the venue, computer equipment, network equipment — these had to be ensured for a stable competition.

Interruptions, pauses — none of these were allowed!

Putting on an event was not that simple.

In addition there were the Propaganda Department plans and issuing the event announcement — these needed to attract viewers; besides promotion on Bilibili, fortunately the game itself already had very high popularity.

They had already planned the spring and summer qualifiers and such, copying the foreign model, and had accumulated some experience.

It had attracted many people to watch the competition.

Otherwise this game wouldn't have exploded to the top these past two months, and revenue wouldn't have broken past ninety-something million in just two months.

And holding an offline competition, the cost per session was around three million.

Of course, tickets were sold for the event — tickets could be bought on Rabbit Ticket or offline.

Not charging tickets wouldn't recoup the cost.

And for this Grand Finals, the budget was set at twenty million, with the prize money calculated separately.

Tickets ranged from 188 to 788, purchasable on Rabbit Ticket or offline.

There would still be ticket subsidies, ranging from 50 to 100.

This subsidy wasn't as exaggerated as for movies — movies had tens of millions of viewers; for a competition, getting a few thousand people to come watch was already good, and the subsidy would be settled with at most a few hundred thousand.

The ticket subsidy was mainly to prevent no one showing up, to draw them in! And the finals were split into three sessions, meaning they could collect money three times, plus the livestream buzz boosting the game's popularity — they wouldn't lose money!

Recently Fang Hong had been busy with this matter; what he needed to do was plug the gaps, the rest naturally had people to execute.

After all, there were plenty of event planning companies to take it on!

The next day Liu Tianxian didn't go to Fang Hong's workplace, but made a date with Xu Liyun to go shopping.

It wasn't yet time to enter the Now You See Me crew; she had read the script, and her role was simple — the hard part was acting opposite someone like Duan Yihong.

Liu Tianxian still drove that red Ferrari; when she arrived at the spot, she saw Jiang Shuying talking with Xu Liyun at the door.

"Not chatting with you anymore, I'm heading off first." Xu Liyun saw the familiar car and waved at Jiang Shuying.

Then she got into Liu Tianxian's car.

Jiang Shuying watched, said nothing, and confirmed that Liu Tianxian's relationship with the Principal was no simple matter.

So what? She was a small figure who could do nothing; causing trouble would just offend people — she couldn't afford to provoke them.

Watching the car drive off, she also got in her car and left.

Liu Tianxian, in the driver's seat, asked casually: "Auntie, does that person come find you often?"

"Yes, she often comes to chat with me." Xu Liyun looked left and right, found the seatbelt, and tugged it twice without it coming out.

She wasn't very good at using it, a bit clumsy! Liu Tianxian glanced over, reached out one hand to help pull it, then buckled it in.

"This girl is quite nice, comes whenever she has time, and even buys me things — I feel bad accepting them." Xu Liyun said, looking troubled.

"That is true, accepting other people's things isn't right, you owe them a favor." Liu Tianxian said.

"Exactly." Xu Liyun agreed.

If not for this, she wouldn't have asked her son to help get her a role — she really couldn't bring herself to refuse.

Liu Tianxian looked at the road ahead and asked again: "Does she live in BJ?"

"No, I heard she lives in Shanghai. I asked her what she came to BJ to do, and she said to study, but she doesn't stay long — stays a while then goes back, then comes again. Anyway, every time she comes she visits me." Xu Liyun recounted.

"Oh!" Liu Tianxian murmured.

She roughly understood the situation — either she came for resources, or she came for Fang Hong.

Only Fang Hong had never given a response, and Xu Liyun was soft-hearted — if she couldn't get the person, getting resources was fine too; that was the situation.

This kind of thing was very common in the entertainment circle — as long as you were good at socializing and seizing opportunities, it was fine.

"Feifei, where are we going?" Xu Liyun said.

"To Guomao, to buy you some things, and buy some things for Fang Hong too." Liu Tianxian said.

Things Liu Tianxian bought, Xu Liyun could accept without feeling awkward — no other reason, her son could accept them shamelessly.

If anyone had to pay it back, it would be her son.

Just as Liu Tianxian was out shopping, Fang Hong also received news from The Purge: Anarchy.

This film's box office had smoothly broken 105 million dollars in three weeks; at this trend, breaking 110 million dollars was already a given.

That meant he could currently take about 26 million, equivalent to 180 million.

Fang Hong made a phone call to Yu Xian, who was far away in the United States.

"Ahhhh!"

The moment the call connected, he heard that soulful moaning from the other end — a sound that could make anyone's blood boil.

Fang Hong had just heard it and instantly felt something was off!

"Holy crap, what are you doing?"

"Not doing anything!"

Yu Xian lay atop a smooth-skinned blonde woman, one hand holding a phone, the other covering her mouth, whispering: "Baby, don't scream!"

After speaking, he licked her cheek, his body still moving slowly.

He couldn't stop—if he stopped, he'd go soft in a moment!

"You think I'm an idiot, huh?" Fang Hong's tone was irritated.

"Why so angry?" Yu Xian panted.

"Doing something this shameful? Of course I'm furious—I'm exploding!" Fang Hong was furious.

Damn it, Yu Xian had already fucked a woman first! Though he knew it, understood it, he pretended not to see it when it wasn't in front of him—but now, right before his eyes, his heart was wildly unbalanced! It was he who started dating first, he who got a girlfriend first—how could he be one step behind?

"We're all men. Why are you so worked up? Like you're still a virgin? Calm down," Yu Xian soothed.

This struck Fang Hong's sore spot—he could only suppress his anger, refusing to let Yu Xian laugh at him.

"I'm upset because you're doing this in broad daylight! I'm embarrassed for you!"

"What the hell? It's 10 p. m. here— isn't doing this at 10 p. m. perfectly normal?" Yu Xian said.

Fang Hong was left speechless.

"Ah!"

The woman on the other end screamed again, clearly still moving.

"Call me back after you're done," Fang Hong couldn't take it anymore—he hung up.

If this kept up, he'd explode.

"So easily broken?"

Yu Xian tossed the phone aside, stared at the sharply defined, slender beauty before him, and kept working hard.

Anyone familiar with Hollywood actresses would recognize her—this woman was Dakota Johnson, the female lead in Fifty Shades of Grey.

She was only 23 now, at her most beautiful, most alluring, most captivating moment.

She was a model by training, having appeared only in a few minor supporting roles in films and TV shows.

It was perfectly normal for Yu Xian to bring her on as the female lead.

Sleeping with Hollywood actresses meant nothing to her.

Yu Xian grew more enthusiastic: "Baby, am I making you feel good? Lie to me—don't tell the truth."

"Not good!" Dakota Johnson moaned.

"Good girl—I'll hire you for the next film."

"."

Fang Hong waited a long time but received no call from Yu Xian—was he really this persistent? He thought back: Yu Xian used to be so shy, blushed at the sight of a woman, needed him to drag him into a massage parlor. Now, after just two or three years in the United States, how had such a good kid turned into this?

Sigh— the more he thought, the worse he felt.

"Ding-ding-ding!"

The phone rang—he thought it was Yu Xian calling—but the screen showed: Liu.

"Hello, what?" Fang Hong said.

On the other end, Liu Tianxian frowned: "Why are you so rude?"

"Someone just pissed me off—I'm still upset," Fang Hong explained.

"Be more patient with subordinates. Don't always get angry," Liu Tianxian assumed it was a work issue.

It was indeed frustrating when things went wrong—he'd heard him curse before, though never to their face, only behind their backs.

To their faces, he still respected their dignity. "Mm," Fang Hong didn't explain: "Why are you calling now? What's up?"

"I'm shopping with your mom—we saw a watch I liked, but I don't know if you prefer mechanical or digital," Liu Tianxian held the phone, gazing through the counter glass at the exquisite timepiece.

Someone outside took photos with their phone—she acted as if nothing happened.

Xu Liyun stood beside her.

"I like them all—just pick whichever you like," Fang Hong said.

"Alright, go ahead and busy yourself."

"Wait."

Liu Tianxian didn't hang up.

"Say something nice—cheer me up," Fang Hong said.

"What nice thing should I say?" Liu Tianxian was confused.

"Just say anything—something nice," Fang Hong was still upset from Yu Xian.

"How can I suddenly say something nice?" Liu Tianxian was baffled.

"Just say two words—'ah, ah' would do."

"Are you crazy?"

Liu Tianxian hung up. In public, he wanted her to moan? Did she have no dignity? She couldn't understand what this man was thinking. It was hard—Fang Hong had to take deep breaths and try to calm himself.

Soon after, the phone rang again—this time it was Yu Xian calling—he answered immediately.

"What do you want?" Yu Xian's voice was normal now, no longer breathless.

"First, how come it took you so long?" Fang Hong was curious—it had been half an hour already!

And he'd been going even before he called!

"Long? That was my shortest yet," Yu Xian said coolly.

Fang Hong instantly didn't want to speak to him—someone who bragged without even trying.

In truth, Yu Xian had finished not long after hanging up—he'd taken a shower and dawdled before calling back.

At that moment, Yu Xian was on the other end, covering his mouth, silently laughing—ecstatic!

"I called to ask you to check if the novel 'Incredibly Beautiful Pain' has had its copyright bought by someone else," Fang Hong got to the point.

"'The Fault in Our Stars'? That sounds familiar." Yu Xian thought.

"It's been hugely popular in Europe and America lately—you should've heard of it," Fang Hong said.

He'd come across the information online; the novel had sold massively worldwide before being published in China.

And the film adaptation of this novel is 'The Fault in Our Stars'! If he hadn't seen the novel's title, he wouldn't have remembered—it was also why he'd ordered Chen Zhixi to conduct a copyright sweep a year ago.

It's easy to miss things sometimes!

For instance, 'The Fault in Our Stars' could've had its film adaptation rights bought by someone else.

"Now that you mention it, I remember—this novel really did sell big in Europe and America," Yu Xian said. He moved in cultural circles and kept tabs on such things.

"Then contact the author and buy the adaptation rights outright—price doesn't matter," Fang Hong gave him full authority.

"Got it!"

Yu Xian teased: "You called just for this? You could've just sent a text. I'm busy—lots of women are waiting for me to spend the night with them."

"You'd better never return to China—I'm afraid I'll be unable to hold back and kill you."

(End of Chapter)