Global Film Emperor

Chapter 548 I Must Go Home for Mid-Autumn Festival
"They're so petty. I've been waiting for over two hours, and they've left me hanging here. I'm starving, and they haven't even offered to provide food. All they've done is pour me a glass of water, not even a cup of coffee. Their secretary told me directly that if I'm hungry, I can go eat first and come back tomorrow. Isn't that disgusting?"

The phone was on speakerphone, the screen still lit, and it was thrown on the bed, hidden in the soft bedding. The speaker was covered by the silk, making Mickey's voice a little distorted. Lu Ze closed the drawer in the dressing room, fastened the steel-band watch to his wrist, and listened to Mickey's complaints without paying attention, replying softly.

"Then you can leave."

"I'm leaving? Then I've waited all this time for nothing. Besides, can you speak a little louder?"

Mickey set off three days ago and has now arrived at Disney headquarters. Unsurprisingly, he was met with a cold shoulder. Ever since Mickey's tough response to Disney reached the ears of the company's top management, the close relationship that the two sides had just formed has instantly cooled down, reaching its lowest point for the first time, and this is only a week into their cooperation.

However, Lu Ze was not worried about the relationship breaking down. The other party was just putting on a show. They couldn't really send Mickey back to where he came from, or directly tear things apart and take it to court. That wouldn't do them any good. They were just dissatisfied with Mickey, the small director, and were putting a little pressure on him. If they really went after Mickey, all the actors working at Universal Brothers would be laid off today.

Disney is simply used to its power, and its pride as a leader is at play. There may be many who rebel against them, but it is very rare for a director who is actually under their control to be self-centered. This is also the reason for their anger.

Even so, they cannot deny their double standards. They are indulgent towards talented people, or those who are capable of making money for them, and they are willing to back down. This is the weakness of capital, an unchangeable gene.

Even if Mickey Mouse doesn't generate profits for them right now, as long as he has that potential, he's someone they can respect and give way to. At least, the Disney executives who invested in Mickey Mouse would definitely do so.

Even if shareholders and executives from other factions want to teach Mickey a lesson, the executives who invested in Mickey, considering their own interests, will block these criticisms and provide Mickey with some assistance, allowing Mickey to earn back his 20 million investment many times over without any scruples.

Most likely, Disney could have guessed Mickey would do this before signing the contract. After all, the easiest thing to find out in a background check is that Mickey is a jerk. You can just ask around at any club bar and find out what Mickey's reputation is. This is no secret in Liverpool. The reason for snubbing Mickey today is simply because they didn't expect this bastard to turn on them so quickly.

Sure enough, not long after talking to Lu Ze, Mickey's secretary informed him of a meeting with senior management. After hanging up, he checked the necessities he needed for the journey, and once everything was in order, he picked up his suitcase and left home. He chatted briefly with the gardener who was helping to look after the flowers, then drove to the place he had arranged to meet Wang Zixuan. The two met up and headed to the airport together to return to China.

……

Flying from the UK to Singapore, with a 14-hour layover in Singapore, I boarded a flight to Beijing. It was a familiar route, and I slept through the journey once again.

For other people who frequently travel around the world, jet lag is always a headache, but Lu Ze has no such problem. After all, whenever he wants to sleep, he can force his brain to enter the system space to study and fall asleep. As for the painful symptoms of middle-aged people such as insomnia and excessive dreaming, Lu Ze has never experienced them in recent years.

Lu Ze slept until they were about to land when Wang Zixuan woke him up. He drew back the curtains and could already see the night view of the capital. Mickey informed Lu Ze that his collaboration with "The Punisher" had been officially confirmed and that the news would be released tomorrow. During the filming of "No One to Hear," he would be revising the script written by Disney screenwriters and hoped that Lu Ze could also help with the adaptation.

Lu Ze readily agreed; for him, this amount of work was nothing. After responding, Mickey didn't reply again, but he didn't care. He then looked at the messages sent by Lu Nan: "Going home for Mid-Autumn Festival?"

"Probably back."

Lu Nan responded quickly, sending a message a few seconds later: "Mom asked me to ask. It's been a few years since you came back for Mid-Autumn Festival. She misses you, but she's too embarrassed to tell you. Also, I want to bring Meng Wenting back for you to see."

Lu Ze typed a few words on the keyboard, then hesitated before deleting them. After several attempts, he still didn't know what to say. In the end, he could only reply with a single word, "Okay," as his response.

He can only go home a handful of times a year. Last year, he was home for less than a month, and the year before that, even less. Although we used to talk on the phone and video chat a lot, it never felt as warm and familiar as going home.

This year, my mother renovated the yard, leveled the water pump, and put in a chair big enough for four people. The yard gate was also replaced with a sheet metal one instead of the old welded steel pipe gate. The old jujube tree in the yard didn't bear fruit last year and died after winter. It was sawed down and put into the woodpile, and it's probably been burned. The jujube tree, which was Lu Ze and Lu Nan's only snack during their childhood, has finally fulfilled its mission after accompanying them as they grew up. Now, the flowers my mother planted are blooming here.

Lu Ze only learned about this a few days ago when his mother posted a video on her WeChat Moments. At first glance, he didn't recognize the courtyard immediately; it just looked familiar. Thinking about this, Lu Ze's initial joy at returning to China gradually turned somber. Unconsciously, home had become a rather distant word.

As for that man named Meng Wenting, I'm sorry, I'm really not interested.

The old saying goes that children from poor families learn to be independent early, and this is true; he is the best example of this. But it is also true that children from poor families cannot live without their families.

They always worry about their elderly parents who have endured hardship, whether they are warm or cold, full or hungry, and how they are doing. Their hearts are always with their family. Whenever something happens, they want to go home to solve the problem for their parents who are severely out of touch with society. It is difficult for them to be like children from wealthy families who can just leave and take a gamble, because they believe that their parents are better than them and can take good care of themselves.

Even if someone like Lu Ze gritted his teeth and left, because he had no choice but to go far away to realize his ideals, a sudden word or event could touch the softest spot in his heart, and he would still be eager to return home, hoping to find a shield for his family.

He wiped his phone screen again and again, trying to remove the fingerprints, but the more he wiped, the dirtier it became. As the announcement came, the plane slowly landed, and the shuttle bus slowly pulled up. His body had landed safely, but his heart was already soaring to a farther place. He helped Wang Zixuan with her luggage and was the first to board the shuttle bus. Looking at the orange lights in his eyes, he saw that the terminal was still bustling with people. He put on his headphones, closed his eyes to rest, and played "Lukang Town." After a long while, he reopened his phone and replied to Lu Nan.

"I will definitely go home for the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"..."

(End of this chapter)