Chapter 628: A Husband Who Escapes Sudden Misfortune

The weather was clear and pleasant, a light breeze bringing a touch of coolness as trees and grass swayed gently in the wind.

The courtyard's scenery was as beautiful as a painting, filling the heart with serenity.

The few people talking here basked in the sunlight, the atmosphere radiating a deep, immersive calm.

All of them listened to the two speaking without interrupting; whether the deal succeeded or failed, they could not help. Liu Tianxian sliced the peeled apple into pieces, skewered them with toothpicks, and handed them out.

Being cared for like this was quite comforting.

At least Wu Kebo felt comfortable—Principal Fang inviting them to his home to talk proved he meant no harm, treating them as guests, which was better than how most people treated them.

Fang Hong rarely invited anyone to his home to discuss matters—basically never.

"Fine, then let's talk about the mainland cinema prices." Fang Hong got straight to the point; since the other side seemed unwilling to sell Southeast Asia cinemas, he let it go.

He hadn't intended to enter Southeast Asia anyway—too far to manage well, with too many countries, each with its own policies, a hassle.

Generally, Yutu's films released overseas were handed to Universal or Warner, while Southeast Asia went to Yindu—easier that way.

"Principal, I won't haggle with you—3.8 billion. Seventy-six mainland cinemas, five hundred and thirty-one screens—I'm selling the whole package to you." Wu Kebo named his price.

This price wasn't particularly sincere—roughly fifty million per cinema, or 7.15 million per screen—a single theater.

Generally, the cost to build a high-end theater ranges from five to ten million, though some cost even more, tens of millions.

It all depends on infrastructure—if every theater is equipped with top-tier sound systems, full-leather automatic seats, and art-grade décor, the price has no bottom.

This doesn't even factor in location.

They were acquiring, so they couldn't price it as top-tier—no one knew what Orange Sky or Golden Harvest's theaters were like.

"Mr. Wu, could you lower this price a bit?" Liu Tianxian, hearing the price, immediately wanted to negotiate.

She didn't know if it was reasonable, but the first offer always had to be contested—she'd speak first, then her husband would.

Jiang Zhiqiang watched the group silently, listening to their negotiation; this wasn't a secret—anyone could find out the deal once it closed.

Liu Xiaoli's expression was serious—this was her first time involved in a deal worth billions, yet it felt too casual.

Just talking so casually, without even a formal setting!

"This price was already reasonable, but I just ate your apple—now if I don't lower it, I'll feel embarrassed." Wu Kebo held up the apple piece, looking quite reluctant.

"Don't be polite—I invited you to eat, that's only right. Business is business—there's a saying: the marketplace is a battlefield. Treat this like war." Liu Tianxian said.

"Hahaha, Principal, your wife is interesting." Wu Kebo laughed.

The others chuckled along.

"She's just blunt—says what she thinks, no roundabout ways." Fang Hong explained.

"Good, good—I like this personality. No scheming, no backstabbing, it's comfortable. Alright, I'll be direct too—cut another 400 million off, 3.4 billion." Wu Kebo held up four fingers.

Jiang Zhiqiang and Liu Xiaoli exchanged glances—they hadn't expected Liu Tianxian to slash 400 million right away; they thought there'd be a fierce back-and-forth.

This price showed some sincerity—each theater now equaled about 6.4 million, down 750,000 from before.

Remember, five hundred and thirty-one theaters, each reduced by 750,000—that 400 million was a substantial sum.

This wasn't a hundred-billion deal; haggling usually moved in tens or hundreds of millions—suddenly jumping by a billion wasn't common.

Liu Tianxian didn't know if this price was reasonable; she looked toward Fang Hong.

"Since Mr. Wu is so straightforward, I'll be straightforward too—3.4 billion!" Fang Hong extended his hand; when saying the number, his tone grew heavy.

The previous life's transaction price was around 3.387 billion—a few tens of millions difference; he didn't bother haggling, the price was close enough.

Maybe later he could acquire the Southeast Asia cinema assets too.

"Didn't expect the Principal to be so direct—deal done." Wu Kebo shook his hand.

"Deal." Fang Hong said.

The deal was settled this simply.

Details would be handled by their business teams; the CEOs only settled the broad terms—such massive assets required time to receive.

"Alright, that's it—we'll take our leave." Jiang Zhiqiang slapped his thigh and stood up.

"Stay for a meal—we've already bought the groceries." Liu Tianxian rose to urge them to stay.

"No, we have other matters." Wu Kebo said.

"You've come all this way—don't leave without eating, or we'll seem like poor hosts." Liu Tianxian said.

"Next time—we'll definitely come for a meal next time." Jiang Zhiqiang said.

"Then let us see you off!" Liu Tianxian gestured.

Fang Hong followed them out; Liu Xiaoli did not—she didn't see the point in seeing them off; it wasn't her business, she'd just happened to be there.

The four walked out, chatting as they went.

"I didn't know you well before, but I thought you two suited each other." Wu Kebo chatted casually.

"Oh? Why's that?" Fang Hong asked curiously.

"One inside, one outside; one cold, one warm—combined, they create a great chemical reaction." Wu Kebo couldn't quite explain it, but that was the feeling.

Liu Tianxian was inside, the Principal outside; the Principal was cold, Liu Tianxian warm—they complemented each other perfectly.

"There's a saying: a wise wife spares her husband from sudden misfortune; a virtuous wife helps her son stay on the path of glory." Jiang Zhiqiang was quite learned, and what he said made sense.

Liu Tianxian tilted her head back, laughing loudly: "Ee-ee-ee!"

"You've made me feel proud—I feel honored." Fang Hong smiled.

"You deserve to be proud—no one else could even imagine it." Jiang Zhiqiang patted his shoulder.

He remembered, back then, many people tried to introduce their nephews or nieces to Liu Tianxian—all failed; back then, this girl's personality was truly wonderful.

Lively, cheerful, direct—like something from a fairy tale. Now, though more mature, she'd simply become more sensible.

Life, after all, requires growth with age.

"Did you hear that? If you don't cherish her, you'll regret it." Liu Tianxian sounded slightly haughty.

"The Principal isn't bad either—there's another saying: a good husband aids his wife by half." Jiang Zhiqiang said.

The few of them chatted as they walked, punctuated from time to time by bursts of "haha" laughter.

They soon reached the parking area, and Jiang Zhiqiang and Wu Kebo got into a business van.

"Principal, we'll talk in detail later," Wu Kebo said.

"Alright, I'll wait for your message," Fang Hong nodded.

"Principal, Yifei, goodbye," Jiang Zhiqiang waved.

"Goodbye, Boss Jiang, Boss Wu."

Liu Tianxian and Fang Hong also waved.

Watching the business van leave, the two headed back inside. Liu Tianxian said, "Was that price reasonable?"

"It was fairly reasonable, but even if we haggled more, we couldn't bring it down much," Fang Hong said.

"Hehehe, you should've relied on me — I could've haggled it down in one go," Liu Tianxian said smugly.

"It's precisely because you bargained that I had no room left. If you hadn't bargained, I might've gotten it even lower," Fang Hong said.

"Pfft, then why didn't you bargain?" Liu Tianxian didn't believe him.

"I was giving you face, wasn't I? You already drove the price down to that level — if I bargained further, wouldn't that make you lose face? People would say, 'Look at Liu Tianxian, she has no status at home at all.'" Fang Hong said it with perfect seriousness.

"I don't believe it at all. You just said yourself the price was reasonable."

Having said that, Liu Tianxian was about to leap onto his back in one bound.

Fang Hong dodged and ran, letting her grab at empty air.

"You can run, but can you run from the temple? Sooner or later you'll fall into my hands. Behave now and come carry me." Liu Tianxian didn't chase him either, cheerfully threatening him as her fingers cracked with a series of "crack crack" sounds.

"Says who. Tomorrow morning I go to work, tonight we sleep in separate rooms," Fang Hong stopped walking, keeping his distance from her.

"Then I'll tell your mom that your son doesn't want to sleep with me," Liu Tianxian said.

Fang Hong squatted down. Sleeping separately was a very serious matter — Xu Liyun was already pressing them to have a baby.

Liu Tianxian, grinning happily, pounced onto his back in one leap and patted his face: "Not so tough now, is it? That's all you've got."

"Never had any skills to begin with." Fang Hong, with both hands supporting her bottom, walked toward the lawn in the yard.

Heizi, who had been playing with two cats, saw the two of them, lolled his tongue out and ran over, circling around them.

Those two cats were ones Liu Tianxian had brought back from her parents' home.

"Sing me a song — sing 'The Big Sedan Chair.'"

"On my lips I sing yo-ah yo-ah yo, in my heart I'm so happy la-la-li-la-lang"

The singing carried far; inside the house, Liu Xiaoli and the others chatting with Xu Liyun also heard it.

They couldn't help but shake their heads and laugh — these two, still like children.

Time passed quickly. Soon it was mid-August; by this point, the summer season was basically almost over.

Having been in theaters for over a month, the box office of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" was also winding down, with a total of 1.36 billion — it ultimately didn't reach 1.4 billion.

Crossing one billion was already a very good result, over 400 million more than the previous life — perfectly normal, thanks to Jade Rabbit's full-effort promotion.

If not for "Monster Hunt" and the camrip versions, the box office would've been even higher.

But many films nowadays have camrip versions, just with different clarity — when non-professionals do it, it's not that clear.

Meanwhile, same-period films like "Tiny Times 4" and "The Blooming Season" saw corresponding drops in box office.

The former at 387 million, nearly 100 million less than the previous life; the latter at 302 million, seventy or eighty million less than the previous life.

"The Blooming Season" was strong early on, then collapsed terribly in the later run.

Other films didn't drop by much either — there just wasn't much leftover screening slots or box office left for them to begin with.

"Monster Hunt" was still going strong. In about thirty days, its box office had climbed to 2.183 billion. The box office data for 20 days in the previous chapter was calculated wrong.

And it still hadn't been pulled from theaters — they said another 30-day extension, to run for 60 days total.

Anyway, who was watching, nobody knows — the box office was very suspicious, with daily numbers very close together. Anyone with eyes could tell this film was padding its box office. It became famous, after all, since even those above had stepped in.

There was also plenty of complaining online, saying the film was childish and infantile, with a boring plot.

That "Jianbing Man" was also winding down, its total box office already exceeding 1.1 billion — the box office had gone soft.

Now it all depended on "Monster Hunt" standing alone — how high could they ultimately pad it?

To truly surpass "Gravity" would cost a great deal of money, because the further it went, the fewer people watched, and the larger the base that needed padding.

Fang Hong had recently been busy with his team taking over Orange Sky Golden Harvest's theater assets in Neidi. The payment method was 50% upfront — that was 1.7 billion.

The remaining money just needed to be paid off within the year; Orange Sky Golden Harvest needed this money to pay off debts.

(End of this chapter)