Global Film Emperor

Chapter 392 The First Day Back in Lü Hua

"Boom... boom..."

It was a beautiful day, with a ray of sunlight filtering through the thin gauze curtains, casting dappled patterns on the blankets. It should have been a peaceful morning, but someone fast asleep was awakened by the noise of their upstairs neighbor moving things. They rubbed their eyes, smacked their dry lips, and finally reached out to pet the black cat stretching lazily beside them.

He returned to China. With many friends seeing him off, he boarded a plane in Berlin bound for China and arrived home at 3:30 pm Beijing time. As for when he fell asleep, he couldn't remember.

The wall clock clearly showed him the time: 8:30 in the morning. Although he was still physically and mentally exhausted and could have fallen asleep immediately, the long sleep duration had caused his head to start to ache slightly. In addition, the bedding, which he hadn't slept in for almost half a year, did smell quite bad.

He closed his eyes again, rolled around on the bed a couple of times, his buttocks were a little itchy, so he reached out and scratched them. He sat up, leaned against the headboard, lit a cigarette, and smiled at the cripple who was enjoying his massage with his eyes closed.

"Good morning."

……

Breakfast was not plentiful. Before leaving the country, Lu Ze had already cleaned up all the food at home. Now, all that was left was half a bag of toast that he ate when he took the high-speed train back to Lühua.

The lady who runs the supermarket next door is still incredibly charming. Her XXXL cheongsam is as sexy and alluring as ever, and the stockings covering her thighs leave a noticeable mark, making one worry about blood circulation in her thighs. She should stop wearing stockings and risking amputation.

When Lu Ze arrived, she was initially polite and reserved, but then suddenly became very enthusiastic. She only bought two packs of King King instant noodles and two packets of instant noodles. She even offered Lu Ze a discount, but he refused. He only asked for two eggs, which he casually put in his pocket. He thanked the wealthy woman who owned four chain supermarkets, went out, turned left, and went back inside.

The vinyl records in the shop were covered in dust. I wiped a Yue Opera record produced in 1965 clean, gently placed it on the record player, wound it up by hand, and the record began to turn. The stylus followed the trajectory of the record, playing out the beautiful and nostalgic singing.

"After fifteen years, he has finally spoken the truth,"

"So it turns out the Yang family generals just changed their names."

"He longs for his hometown and his family, but they cannot be reunited."

"I will step forward to pay my respects."

The eggs the proprietress gave were good; the yolks were golden and puffed up in the hot oil, forming layers of egg flowers. She added some diced ham and spread it on a large bowl of instant noodles. The cripple seemed to be attracted by the aroma, staring intently at the bowl, wanting to come over and lick it, but Lu Ze pushed him aside.

He ate a bowl of noodles with a not-so-authentic side dish of stir-fried vegetables, finishing it all. He even ate the leftover toast with the soup. He was really hungry, and only after everything was in his stomach did he let out a long, satisfied burp.

"It's open...? Brother Lu? You're back from abroad? Eating? This opera is quite charming."

Men with a rather bulky build really aren't suited to wearing white clothes. Not only do they make you look fatter, but the clothes also accentuate your flesh, making you look like a young punk. This guy spent a long time imitating Sun Wukong in front of the glass before finally pushing the door open and greeting Lu Ze.

Dahai has gotten quite a bit fatter than he did a few years ago. Lu Ze hadn't seen him for a while, and for a moment he didn't even recognize his face, which was distorted by the fat.

On the contrary, when the cripple saw him, he immediately turned around and jumped off the table, walked to the farthest point and turned his back to him, revealing an indescribable disgust. He had stayed at Dahai's house for two months before, and although he was fed and cared for, the cripple just couldn't stand him.

Lu Ze also realized this, so when filming "Rebirth" this time, he didn't ask Da Hai to take care of the cripple anymore, but instead boarded him in a professional pet store.

"Hmm, have you eaten yet? How about eating something here? But I have to say something you won't like to hear first: you've gained weight again. You should lose some weight and exercise more."

“I’m worried too. When I try to have sex with a girl, she complains that I’m too heavy. But there’s nothing I can do. I gain two pounds just by drinking water. I don’t like to do any serious exercise anymore.”

I heard that Dahai used to be on the provincial Sanda team and won several awards. Lu Ze had also seen photos of him when he was young. He was 1.85 meters tall, weighed over 180 kilograms, had a muscular body, and a well-proportioned and beautiful physique. If an athlete like him can't control his eating after retiring, he can get fat as fast as an air balloon. In just a few years, he will look like a completely different person.

That's the end of the topic. Anyone who is overweight doesn't like others talking about their body shape. It's fine to mention it briefly as a friend and to show concern. It's their choice to be what they are, and they definitely won't like to hear more. So Lu Ze stopped talking and instead glanced at his phone, asking a question in puzzlement.

"It's Wednesday today, why didn't you go to work?"

"Don't even mention it, I quit."

"Isn't your job pretty good?"

"My boss got into trouble and was fired. The new guy is an idiot. He just took office and started causing trouble for the employees who used to hang out with the old boss. Before he torments me, I'd better get out of here so I don't lose my temper and get beaten up again." He was a little annoyed when he talked about his job at Lu Hua's high-paying highway construction team. He got up and opened the refrigerator. It hadn't been plugged in for several months, so even if he put alcohol in it, it still had a slightly unpleasant smell. He frowned, took out a bottle of beer, and chugged half of it in one go.

"Check the expiration date before you drink it. It might be expired. I haven't been open for a few months, so I can't remember exactly. I'll get another batch in a couple of days, and this batch will be completely replaced. Take your pick, whatever you want to drink, and take it if it's not expired."

There were some vacuum-packed snacks on the bar. Lu Ze tossed two bags of peanuts on the table and didn't try to dissuade him from drinking so early in the morning. Anyone could tell he was angry. Let him have a little; the kid has a high alcohol tolerance, he wouldn't be drunk even after a case of beer.

Lu Ze's words surprised Yu Dahai. He looked around the small tavern, popped two peanuts into his mouth, and chewed them vigorously.

"Hey Lu, you're planning to open a shop? You've already started making movies again. Putting aside how much profit this shop will make, even if business isn't good, you can still make a living. But you only come back to China once every year or two to stay for two or three months... what's the point of opening it?"

That's the gist of the matter, but Lu Ze felt there was something more to what the kid was saying. He glanced at him casually and saw him holding the beer bottle neck and rolling it around on the table to examine the logo. Lu Ze found his submissive demeanor a bit amusing.

"What? Planning to start a business?"

"Ha, yes... I've been thinking about that. My family has a house that was demolished and we have some money on hand, but it's too hard to find a job that I like. It's not good to just sit around and do nothing. So I was thinking about seeing if I could do something."

This was Yu Dahai's spur-of-the-moment decision, not something he had been eyeing for a long time. If he hadn't gone out for a stroll today to see if there were any shops for sale nearby, and happened to see Lu Ze's tavern open, he wouldn't have even considered this place.

In addition, Lu Ze's career has returned to normal. Logically speaking, Lu Ze should not continue this small business that he originally intended to make a living from. Doing this small business again would be too embarrassing for a big star.

Since the two of them had a good relationship, he figured that if Lu Ze wanted to sell, he could just take over and continue running the bar. He had a lot of friends, and it wasn't fashionable to go to a friend's bar and not pay these days; if you did that, you'd be bombarded with criticism. So, he expected the profitability to be pretty good, and it was understandable that he was tempted.

Even though he wanted to take over the business Lu Ze didn't want, he was still a little embarrassed. Secondly, he was afraid of offending Lu Ze. Although the two of them were chatting and laughing and seemed very amicable, that was because Lu Ze was not arrogant. If a conflict really broke out, his meager resources wouldn't even be enough for Lu Ze to count on his fingers. It was quite a feat for a strong and powerful man to adopt such a humble and submissive demeanor.

He had already planned it out. If Lu Ze really made a move, he wouldn't take advantage of Lu Ze in the slightest. He would even have to raise the price a bit. Regardless of whether Lu Ze would be interested or not, he would at least leave a good impression and avoid hurting the relationship.

However... Lu Ze could not do as he wished.

“Dahai, this is actually quite difficult. I'm not young anymore, I'm in my late thirties, so I don't plan to keep wandering around. Once I finish my work, I have to go home. My parents are still in Lühua. I have a younger sister, but she'll get married sooner or later, and we don't know where she'll settle down. I have to take care of my parents in their old age. You know, I can't just hang around in front of them all day, can I? I have to find something to do. It doesn't matter how much money I make, we don't live off that. If you're talking about investing in a big business, someone like me who didn't even go to college really doesn't know what kind of projects to invest in, especially since Lühua's economy isn't doing very well to begin with, right?”

"Yes... Brother Lu."

"Brother, I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me. When I had some money before, I couldn't learn how to invest. All the money I saved was managed in trusts, with guaranteed returns. Now, it's even less likely that I'll learn how to invest. So, I'll still have to keep this bar running. I can afford to lose two or three hundred thousand a year. I'll just treat it as a game. I admire your desire to start a business. You're bolder than me and dare to try. But this bar... I really can't let you have your way."

After all, Yu Dahai had helped him take care of the cripple, so he owed him a favor. Otherwise, Lu Ze wouldn't have wasted his breath. He had said some nice things, and the other person understood his meaning, so Lu Ze didn't say anything more. He opened a bottle of soda water and drank with Yu Dahai until Yu Dahai finished the bottle and got up to leave. Lu Ze gave him a lot of wine and saw him to the door.

It seems he won't be coming back, and his friends won't be gathering here anymore. For Lu Ze, there's really no regret, since the two weren't that close; they were just friends outside the entertainment circle who occasionally had a drink together.

Secondly, too many passersby have left their mark on his life and then disappeared into the sea of ​​people, so he no longer feels any unease about losing friends.

They're on different levels, and their contact will eventually break down. Before any conflicts of interest arise, ending this somewhat impure friendship is a good choice for him.

As for them not coming back, it will indeed affect the store's customer base, but it doesn't matter. As he said, he can afford to lose money. It's just for fun, as long as he has something to do.

Now that he's had a good night's sleep and has eaten a quick breakfast, he doesn't plan to clean the shop for the time being. Having not been home for the past six months, his primary task is to go home to see his parents and eat some hometown food to relieve the greasiness of British cuisine.

"Let's go, you lame man."

The pet carrier was opened, and the big, fat cat quietly crawled inside. The roller shutter slowly closed; he was going to go on a shopping spree at the department store.

"..."

I'm sorry, I fell asleep while writing last night. Today I spent the whole day discussing the division of property with my family. After all, both my grandparents have passed away. My grandmother's passing was too sudden, and we haven't finalized her will yet. This is the issue that's been bothering me lately. I wish all the elders in your families a long and healthy life.



(End of this chapter)