Global Film Emperor

Chapter 554 Request
"What's wrong, Dr. Zhang? You weren't afraid of bloody stuff before, but now you're scared?"

"I'm not scared, just a little nervous. It's the first time in my life I've ever seen a celebrity! And it's my brother-in-law! Isn't it normal to tremble a little?"

"Aren't you scared? You're sweating like you've been soaked in water. I've seen plenty of celebrities, dozens of big stars have surrounded me and talked to me, but I've never been like this before."

After placing the cripple on the roof of the car, Lu Nan and Lu Nan took the opportunity to tidy up their things and whispered to each other behind the car. Seeing the sweat dripping down his forehead, Lu Nan couldn't help but laugh.

"Whatever you say goes."

The two of them carried large bags and small packages into the house. Before going inside, they didn't forget to urge Lu Ze to rest. Their appearance was really funny. Lu Ze pretended to agree, but his hands didn't stop working. If his parents would let him start working as soon as he entered the house, Lu Ze would have gnawed on the pig's trotter right now.

As expected, after a few loud words of dissuasion, the courtyard fell silent again, and even Lu Nan did not come out.

After rinsing the pig's trotters twice, Lu Ze carried the basin into the house and handed it to Li Yumei to cook. Lu Ze turned to look at the living room. Compared to talking to him, Zhang Zhicheng was more relaxed when he was with Lu Weiguo. It wasn't because he was afraid of Lu Ze, but because he had visited Lu Weiguo a few times before and was more familiar with him.

Lu Weiguo was a man of few words, and he and Zhang Zhicheng had very little to talk about. They spent most of their time watching TV quietly without exchanging any words. It was clear that Zhang Zhicheng was really hot, as there was some sweat on his forehead, and he was wiping it with a tissue.

It was indeed hot at Lu Ze's house. There was a huge glass sunroom built at the entrance, and even with the glass doors open, the temperature was still much higher than outside. It was normal for outsiders to feel uncomfortable when they came to the house. Lu Ze was about to turn on the air conditioner when he saw this, but Zhang Zhicheng, who had just gotten up, stopped him.

"There's really no need to turn it on. I've checked your leg, Uncle. You can't let it get cold. I'm fine. I'm just a little uncomfortable when I first came in. I'll be fine in a bit."

Lu Ze looked into his eyes, nodded and replied, "If you can't stand the heat, you can rest in my room after dinner. My room has its own air conditioner, and I have some clothes in my closet if you don't have any to change into."

"it is good."

The two sat back down on the sofa. Lu Ze waved his hand and refused the tea that Zhang Zhicheng poured for him. At this time, the broadcast of the game was nearing its end with only a dozen seconds left. The score was still very close and there was no suspense. Lu Ze changed the channel, handed a cigarette to his father, and then offered one to Zhang Zhicheng, who waved his hand and refused.

"Brother, I can't."

"Good habit. Xiaonan said you're going back tonight?"

"Yes, I have a shift tonight..."

The emergency surgery department is very busy at night, and it's difficult to take leave. He's also at the age where he needs to gain seniority. If Lu Ze hadn't gone home, Lu Nan would probably be the only one who came back today. Lu's family understood and didn't insist that he stay. Lu Ze changed the subject, using the same old approach, asking about her family situation. Even though Lu Ze already knew about her, it was their first time meeting, so it wasn't wrong for him to ask again.

As they talked for a while, Zhang Zhicheng relaxed a bit and stopped being as awkward as before. After all, he wasn't the awkward type. His vocabulary gradually expanded, and he began to talk about how his family members liked Lu Nan. Based on his answers, Lu Ze was able to roughly deduce the personalities of his parents and important relatives, as well as their attitudes towards Lu Nan.

After roughly understanding the answer to the question he had learned, Lu Ze gradually steered the conversation in a direction that would make both parties more comfortable, discussing Lu Ze's industry, which is also the most unavoidable topic when ordinary people communicate with public figures.

The industry's operating logic, the well-known capital firms involved, the filming methods of movies and TV dramas, and the gap between actors' personas and their real-life situations—much of this information cannot be obtained through news reports and is known only to those at the top of the industry.

Lu Ze evaded some of Zhang Zhicheng's questions. After all, every industry has its shady dealings that you have to keep quiet about even if you're not involved. Zhang Zhicheng, being in the medical industry, was well aware of this. However, even the gossip he heard was enough for Zhang Zhicheng to enjoy. He was still reflecting on the situation when the food was served, marveling at how much deeper the entertainment industry was than he had imagined. He also admired Lu Ze, a country boy with no background or education, for achieving such a great reputation, even though he was only two years younger than Lu Ze.

Everyone sat down at the table, and Lu Ze was no exception. Even though he couldn't eat or drink, he couldn't be absent from the etiquette. It was clear that the old couple was very happy today. Lu Ze and Zhang Zhicheng didn't drink, but Lu Weiguo filled his own glass and even poured a glass for Li Yumei. After a few sips of wine, Lu Weiguo's face showed a rare smile.

Compared to Lu Ze, the elderly couple were actually more worried about Lu Nan's marriage. After all, Lu Ze's industry... certainly didn't lack eligible girls, and with Lu Ze's own conditions and industry status, he didn't need to pursue anyone at all. On the contrary, countless young and beautiful girls couldn't wait to develop feelings for Lu Ze.

Instead of worrying that Lu Ze won't find a partner, it's better to worry about his personal character. After seeing so much news about the entertainment industry, even if Lu Ze says he's still living alone, his parents won't believe him; they just won't say it.

The elderly couple even held a small meeting at night to discuss what to do if Lu Ze came home one day with a woman and a child, or even several women and several children. This is still Li Yumei's biggest worry. After all, having a child out of wedlock is one of the most despicable acts in the elderly couple's simple values.

The funniest thing is that Li Yumei dreamed that Lu Ze drove a big bus home, with a whole bunch of wives and children on board. She was checking on the children at the door, and there were so many that she couldn't even finish checking them all. She also had to cook for all her daughters-in-law and grandchildren. The daughters-in-law were all well-off and never lifted a finger to cook, leaving Li Yumei in the kitchen. She was practically burning the iron wok while cooking, sweating profusely. And after she finished cooking, the daughters-in-law didn't care about the children and were just playing on their phones. The old lady had to feed them one by one. This dream woke Li Yumei up in a fright.

For this reason, the elderly couple hadn't talked about Lu Ze's marriage for a long time. They would just occasionally emphasize the importance of morality to Lu Ze. As for Lu Nan, they didn't care about the old custom of the older daughter getting married first and the younger one getting married later. They just wanted to focus on their younger daughter's marriage first.

Lu Ze ate only a few bites of eggs before leaving the table. Watching others eat made him hungry, and the smell of meat made him want to vomit. It was a truly torturous experience, so he decided to avoid seeing it. He told the people at the table, especially Zhang Zhicheng, to keep him from overthinking. Then he went to the vegetable garden, picked a few cucumbers, returned to his study to review the script that was about to be filmed, and contacted Wang Zixuan to book his plane ticket. He would stay at home for a few more days before returning to England to start working.

A few days ago, Mickey called, firstly to inform Lu Ze that he had resolved the conflict between Lu Ze's company and Disney, and secondly, that the film crew had started setting up, but there were still some issues with location scouting and storyboarding that required help from others. The Kesha brothers were already in place, and once Lu Ze returned and resolved the issues, filming could begin. Mickey hoped that Lu Ze would return soon.

Because of this urgency, Lu Ze had no choice but to give up his vacation, open the script he hadn't looked at for a while, and quickly get back into the swing of things. He started writing character biographies and filling in the story background, and once he got to work, he naturally forgot about time.

At 4:30 pm, someone knocked on the door. Before Lu Ze could reply, a small head poked in and said to Lu Ze with a smile, "Brother, we're leaving."

"You can stay at home. I'll take you to work tomorrow."

"I can't get up, time is too tight, I have a case scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow." "Okay, wait for me."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ze remained silent for two seconds before going to the corner to adjust the safe's combination. Lu Nan, who hadn't been to this study for a long time, stood at the door and looked around. When she saw the text on the computer, the smile on her face faded slightly, and she gripped the doorknob a little tighter.

"Brother, you've taken on a new role again?"

"Ah."

"Can you come back in the second half of next year? Zhicheng and I went to see him, and they said the second half of next year would be a good time to get married..."

The safe popped open, and what Lu Ze wanted to take was on the first shelf: a large red document bag. He got up, took a puff of the cigarette he had just lit in the ashtray, and then extinguished it. He casually handed the document bag to Lu Nan.

"What? You think I won't come back? Even if you're getting married, I'll swim back. Here you go."

"I do not want."

"Just take it. Why all the nonsense?"

Still speaking in an impatient tone, the file bag was forcefully pushed into Lu Nan's hands. She held the file bag, head down, but did not move aside, still blocking the doorway. However, after a few seconds, she looked up and stared directly into Lu Ze's eyes.

"Can you come back soon? I'll be picking out a wedding dress with you."

Lu Ze tried to recall when the last time the two of them had looked at each other so closely. He forgot, but it was a long, long time ago. He only remembered that back then, those eyes didn't have eyeshadow, eyeliner, or... those faint wrinkles at the corners of their eyes.

"Okay~ I'll do whatever you say. Whenever you tell me to come back, I'll come back. Whatever time you tell me to come back, I'll come back."

"You promised, don't lie to me."

Why would I lie to you about this? Let's go.

Pinch Lu Nan's cheek and shake it gently. Lu Ze chuckled and pushed her shoulder out of the study. His mother was tidying up the gifts the two had brought and took out many of her own gifts for Zhang Zhicheng. The two were pushing each other around fiercely, so Lu Ze had to speak up.

"Zhicheng, take it back. Don't keep passing this around."

Zhang Zhicheng hesitated for a moment, then stopped refusing and took the gifts from Li Yumei. There were too many things and they were too heavy for one person to carry, so Lu Ze reached out and took them, helping him load the gifts into the car.

The two got into the car, and even Lu Weiguo came out to see them off. The old couple kept saying that they should come back often, that they must come back often. Even after leaving the compound, they were still talking about coming back often.

As they were about to depart, Lu Ze stood with his hands behind his back, watching Lu Nan wave goodbye with a smile as the car window rolled down. He couldn't help but wave back to Lu Nan as well.

"Let's go, bro."

"Drive carefully on the road, and drive slowly."

"I know, brother."

"Hmm... Come back often."

……

The house quieted down again. The father sat on the sofa watching TV, and the mother washed the dishes they had just used. Lu Ze checked the time and was about to go back to his study to continue working when he suddenly noticed a red corner stuck to the shoe cabinet door.

Lu Ze paused, turned around and opened the shoe cabinet. As expected, the red file bag was still inside. Lu Ze took it out and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ha, silly girl."

"..."

Suddenly I felt like an old father wanting to marry off his daughter.

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(End of this chapter)