Chapter 95: Like a Bad Girl

In the afternoon, Liu Tianxian stayed for dinner.

The happiest person at this meal was Xu Liyun; eating with her son was boring, too monotonous, but eating with Liu Tianxian made her much happier and she talked far more.

After dinner, Fang Hong walked with Liu Tianxian to aid digestion.

"Take me to see your study," Liu Tianxian suggested.

"I don't have a study—just a bedroom that doubles as my study, office, and bedroom," Fang Hong said.

"You're surprisingly simple-minded. Still, let me take a look."

They went upstairs into a bedroom—it was quite large, with only a bed, a small wardrobe, and a desk; it was indeed simple.

There wasn't even a bookshelf, yet Liu Tianxian still wanted to see what books he read.

"The books I read are all on the desk," Fang Hong said, as if he knew what she was thinking.

Liu Tianxian looked over—the stack of books wasn't tall, only a few volumes. She walked over and idly picked up the top one.

"Sun Tzu's Art of War!"

Liu Tianxian read it aloud, then turned to Fang Hong behind her: "No wonder you like scheming and deceit—you're fond of books like this!"

"If I truly liked scheming and deceit, I'd have won you over long ago," Fang Hong said, stepping closer.

"What can I do? I'm just hard to get!"

When Liu Tianxian was in a good mood, she was very casual—but it depended on who she was with!

"In the entertainment industry, women who are hard to get are usually morally upright," Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian chuckled lightly, turned, and tapped his head with the book: "You're such a smooth talker."

She put the book down and picked up another—this one was The Power of Now. She flipped the page: "How many girls' feelings have you tricked?"

"If I can't even trick you, who else could I trick?" Fang Hong said.

"So you're saying I'm easy to trick?" Liu Tianxian deliberately tried to trap him with words.

Just moments ago he said she was hard to get, now he says she's easy to trick!

"It depends on who's doing the tricking—if both parties are willing, and one is happy to be deceived, like you tricking me—I'd be willing," Fang Hong said.

"Good insight. Keep it up."

Liu Tianxian turned, holding up the book: "I'm taking this book as your gift to me."

"I haven't finished reading it yet!" Fang Hong said.

"When I'm done, I'll lend you an identical copy."

Liu Tianxian looked at the man before her: "But for now, don't contact me again."

"Why?" Fang Hong was confused.

Things were going well—what now?

"I need to get away and clear my head. I don't want to be disturbed."

Saying this, Liu Tianxian walked toward the door.

Lately she'd been cyberbullied and realized she still cared—she wanted to go out, to strengthen her mind.

When she returned, she'd face life again!

Fang Hong turned to watch her back, saying nothing. If she wanted to distance herself from the world, no one could stop her.

The insights they'd discussed were merely guidance and comfort—Liu Tianxian had to grow strong on her own.

Going downstairs, Liu Tianxian greeted Xu Liyun: "Auntie, I'm leaving now."

"Alright, go slowly. Let Xiao Hong drive you home," Xu Liyun said, seeing her off.

"No need—I drove myself here."

Liu Tianxian waved at the little wolf dog: "Heizi, goodbye."

The little wolf dog ignored her completely!

That day, Fang Hong was driving with Yu Xian.

Fang Hong noticed Yu Xian's head bowed, looking utterly dejected, and comforted him: "Don't be so down. From now on, call me Brother—I'm your mother now. We're family."

"Aren't you just taking advantage of me?" Yu Xian said.

"I'm the Principal! How many people want to be my son? I refuse them all—do you think I'd take advantage of you?" Fang Hong spoke with authority.

"If you're so awesome, why were you blacklisted?" Yu Xian prodded his sore spot.

"Just wait—you'll see. One day, every female star in the entertainment industry will call me 'Dry Dad.' Right now you call me Brother—think how many dry nieces you'll have later. You're getting a bargain," Fang Hong said while driving.

He was just nonsense-talking to lighten the mood.

He had no family left—during the New Year, he couldn't let him be so gloomy; he needed to cheer up.

"Which tone is 'dry'?"

Yu Xian's spirits had lifted considerably from Fang Hong's words. Driving was a shared passion among men.

"Whatever tone you want it to be," Fang Hong said.

"What about the United States? Can you still enjoy the 'dry' daughter experience? You promised to take me to date foreign girls."

Since returning from Chongqing, Yu Xian's personality had become more open—he used to be quiet and reserved.

Now he couldn't stop talking about driving.

Because he'd met more people—directing meant daily interaction with so many—that his personality had loosened up a lot.

Mostly because he'd never truly enjoyed himself—he was always restless!

"Over there it's even simpler—just throw money at it. With enough money, you can enjoy the decadence of capitalism."

Fang Hong continued: "And you won't face moral condemnation, because such things are normal there—taken for granted."

This made Yu Xian feel envious: "But I have no money."

"No money? No problem—go earn it. Over there you earn U. S. dollars—it's much easier than making money here," Fang Hong said.

Given his foresight, making money over there is truly easy, because the creative conditions there are relaxed.

Films that can't be made domestically can basically be made over there.

Of course, as long as it doesn't involve ideology!

Besides, Fang Hong never intended to mess with ideology—he only wanted to make money; patriotism and national sentiment were responsibilities to shoulder once he had the ability, not something he should be thinking about now!

As they chatted, the car quickly arrived at the Villa; Yu Xian stared at the luxurious Villa, his eyes wide open.

"Fuck, you've sunk this low." Yu Xian was genuinely envious.

Not only do you drive a Porsche, you're living in a big Villa now.

"It's rented—for my mom." Fang Hong didn't hide it.

The Porsche is understandable—it's just a few million, needed for business—but the Villa is a bit excessive.

A makeshift crew, communal meals—most of all, avoid unfairness!

Like Dongzi enjoying himself in the United States while urging his brothers back home to struggle, the brothers at home would feel resentful.

"Really?" Yu Xian didn't believe it.

"How much money I've made, others don't know—don't you know? How could I afford a Villa?" Fang Hong shot back.

Yu Xian thought it over: indeed, they'd only received payment for one film, *Those Years*, and all the rest remained unpaid; those funds had been reinvested.

That one film, *To Our Youth*, barely brought in ten million; look at this Villa—it's worth more than several hundred million, probably over a billion.

This is Beijing—the prime district!

"Come on, let me take you to meet Mom." Fang Hong put an arm around his shoulder and walked into the Villa.

"Fuck, you're taking advantage of me again." Yu Xian grumbled.

As they stepped inside, the little wolf dog rushed out, barking fiercely at Yu Xian: "Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Yu Xian was even more cowardly than Liu Tianxian; seeing the little wolf dog, he bolted back outside.

"Heizi, shut up." Fang Hong pointed at it.

Sure enough, after his stern command, the little wolf dog fell silent and stopped growling.

"Fuck, why the hell do you keep something like this at home!" Yu Xian was still shaken—only when he saw it was just a little wolf dog did he relax.

He hadn't seen clearly earlier—just a dark blur shooting out. "Guard dog. Afraid of a dog? Look at your pitiful courage." Fang Hong sneered.

"Who said I'm afraid?"

Yu Xian mustered his courage and re-entered the house, eyes fixed on the little wolf dog—this time, the dog didn't bark at him.

Xu Liyun heard the commotion and came out to check; seeing guests, she warmly welcomed them: "Come in, come in—this dog doesn't bite."

He didn't mention it had just bitten him—after all, the visitor was a kind-hearted woman.

"This is my mom. This is Yu Xian." Fang Hong introduced them.

Saying he'd find Yu Xian a mom was just a joke.

"Auntie, Happy New Year!" Yu Xian bowed politely.

"Good, good. You two chat—I'll go cook something for you." Xu Liyun was warmly attentive to all guests.

This made Yu Xian's cold heart feel a touch of home's warmth—cooking for him, tidying up his room!

No one had treated him so well in a long time; actually, taking on an adoptive mom wasn't such a bad idea.

Yu Xian would stay at Fang Hong's place for now—he'd had nowhere else to live, just a hotel before.

After the New Year, Fang Hong would send him to the United States.

Fang Hong was going too—he feared Yu Xian, alone in a foreign land, would struggle to get started, so he'd go to set things up for him.

Mainly just get the initial phase smooth; after that, it'd be fine.

Yutu Company resumes work on the seventh day of the New Year; Yu Xian will continue finishing the post-production editing of *To Our Youth*.

He's been handling the post-production for over a month already; once he wraps it up, they can depart.

After this film's editing is complete, Chen Zhixi will naturally take it to China Film Group to finalize distribution arrangements.

During this time, Fang Hong will brief Chen Zhixi on what comes next—since he'll be gone for months, the company needs her to hold the reins.

Meng Jun will also help keep an eye on things; no need to notify anyone else—those people aren't important.

In the coming days, Yutu will simply proceed step by step: shoot *Beijing Meets Seattle*, while preparing for *The Perfect Girl*.

Once everything's ready, he'll return.

Right now, Yutu can only afford to shoot one film at a time, and even that's low-budget—any film with slightly larger investment is impossible.

A big-budget film would severely slow down Yutu's development pace.

Because funding gets tied up, personnel get tied up—this delay lasts months!

So they can only wait until Fang Hong returns from the United States and sets up the "blood transfusion station," then they can shoot big films.

As long as the United States keeps pumping continuous funding into Yutu, he won't fear—he can go all out.

He can afford to gamble—and he dares to!

Of course, Chen Zhixi doesn't know this plan, and neither does Meng Jun.

They only know Fang Hong is going to the United States with Yu Xian to make a film; what film, whether it will fail or succeed—they have no idea.

Fang Hong always has his own mind—he never listens to others' opinions.

Sometimes he doesn't even listen to Liu Tianxian!

Only when they see the steady flow of funds from over there will they understand Fang Hong's intentions—and realize his backing.

The director of *Beijing Meets Seattle* is Xue Xiaolu; she's an Academy professor—no one can touch her, unless Huayi wants to quit the industry.

Huayi can only influence those who wear shoes—that is, those with fame and fortune. If someone's fame and fortune are thin, they can't be controlled, because that person doesn't care about them and doesn't rely on their resources.

The female lead is Hao Lei, roughly the same age as Zhang Songwen—perfectly suited.

Hao Lei comes from the art-house film scene; her resume shows TV work in the Northeast circle, films in the Shanghai circle—she has no connection with Beijing's circle.

This girl is straightforward; she doesn't care whether you blacklist her or not—if the script suits her, she'll reply and take it.

It was agreed: whoever replies first gets the female lead. Fang Hong keeps his word—he won't haggle.

The producer is still Chen Zhixi, the cinematographer is Liu Yin, the art director is Li Anran—still the same core team.

Fang Hong is no longer serving as producer; he's only the Producer, and his name is still: Principal!

In a small conference room, Xue Xiaolu, Hao Lei, Zhang Songwen, Liu Yin, Li Anran, and other key creative team members met.

The scripts had all been distributed; this was already the second revised version, and a third revision was still needed, since Xue Xiaolu had also contributed to the writing.

What was called a meeting was just casual chatting to get to know each other.

Fang Hong said to Hao Lei: "Thank you, Teacher Hao, for agreeing to act in our film."

Hao Lei's figure wasn't as full or as feminine as it would later become; she hadn't given birth yet and was still quite slim.

"To be honest, did you only come to me because no one else would take the role?" Hao Lei's pouty mouth spoke bluntly.

But as she spoke, she smiled, so no one took offense—they assumed she was joking.

"Yes!" Fang Hong admitted outright.

This statement left the behind-the-scenes staff stunned; it made them look down on themselves.

But it wasn't over—Fang Hong added: "This proves Teacher Hao has good taste—you know this is a great script and a great team."

"Hahaha!"

Hao Lei laughed so hard her gums showed: "You said it perfectly."

This remark praised her, elevated the Rabbit Team, and subtly mocked the rivals for lacking vision and scope.

The behind-the-scenes staff exchanged glances—thank goodness the Principal hadn't lost his mind.

Xue Xiaolu added: "When Xiao Jiao handed me the script, I was immediately interested, because I'd wanted to write exactly this kind of story. I never expected someone else had already written it—and now they're letting me direct it. It's like fulfilling one of my dreams."

She had short hair and a round face, radiating a gentle aura—looking at her was like looking at a kind elementary school teacher.

"I've seen the films Teacher Xue directed. Honestly, this script's style suits you perfectly—I'm confident entrusting it to you," Fang Hong said.

He felt no shame for copying others' work; any script not yet released was his script.

Whether or not he took credit didn't matter—it was his anyway.

Of course, now he didn't even list himself as screenwriter; anyone who contributed got credited.

As General Manager, he didn't snatch the small rewards from his team; giving credit where due brought greater benefits.

"If the box office flops, don't blame me," Xue Xiaolu joked.

"How could we blame you? Our job is to present the story through imagery. Whether it's good or not is up to the audience to judge," Fang Hong said, showing high awareness.

Of course, this also put pressure on Xue Xiaolu—Fang Hong wouldn't say whether she did well or not; he left that to the audience.

"True," Xue Xiaolu said.

"Then I leave it in your hands—may filming proceed smoothly."

Fang Hong chatted with them for a while, and the main creative team was now confirmed—waiting only for preparations to finish before setting a shooting date.

This film wouldn't go abroad like the original—it would be shot only in Beijing and Shanghai.

Shanghai has European-American-style architecture; suitable filming locations could be found with some exploration. Going abroad was too troublesome and too expensive.

Fang Hong visited the game department again—the game team was developing steadily, his philosophy and ideas already transmitted.

He'd also given them notes; this game was just a copy—no real difficulty.

The only challenges were hero balance, programming development, and hiring.

Time passed quickly; before long, Lantern Festival had passed, and Yu Xian had stayed at Fang Hong's home for ten days to half a month.

During this time, Liu Tianxian said she wouldn't contact Fang Hong—and she didn't, acting like a heartless woman.

(End of chapter)