The wealthy military officer spoils his wife excessively

Stealing a moment from his busy schedule, while hiding in Lu Zheng's office, he frowned and sighed, "How can it be like a ball, getting fat or thin so easily?"

After saying that, his hands roamed all over her body. She had indeed lost a lot of weight, and her figure had suddenly sagged.

Suwen struggled and jumped from his arms onto the sofa: "In public, watch your image. Last time your secretary saw the teeth marks, do you want someone to catch you in the act again?"

Suwen relayed Yezi's words to Lu Zheng, who immediately grinned like a sly wolf and nodded thoughtfully at her: "It seems that gossip can sometimes be taken with a grain of truth. At least some of it is true, like... you conquered me with your rough bedroom skills."

"Pah! You get all worked up just because I said you're fat." That's utterly shameless!

Lu Zheng put down the documents in his hand, walked to the sofa, sat down, and picked her up to place her on his lap. Su Wen blushed and panted, shifted slightly, pointed to the door, and whispered, "Is the door locked? Don't let anyone see us."

"Don't worry, they won't dare to come in during my office hours unless I call an internal line."

He comforted her while gently pecking her forehead.

Both were extremely busy people, and they rarely saw each other. It was only then that she mustered the courage to openly meet him at the company. A few days later, she was flying to Venice to attend the film festival with the crew. This was the most important red carpet event of her life, and her first time appearing on the international stage; she couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Even more embarrassing was that this was her first time traveling abroad.

"Is everything ready? Passport, visa, and remember to bring some commonly used medicines just in case. Buying medicine is the most troublesome thing when you don't speak the language in a foreign country. Have you tried on your dress yet? You have to look your best before your first time with foreigners. You can't let our Chinese girls down."

"You're so long-winded, like an old woman." She pinched his chin, then gave him a quick kiss back.

Sometimes, having a girlfriend younger than yourself feels no different from having a daughter. But he's happy to spoil her like that, and he's even pleased when she complains about him.

He said with some emotion, "I used to hate this kind of conventional life. Born into this family with a good material foundation, in order to consolidate this city, I had to suppress my own nature and conform to everyone's expectations. Life became thin and boring, turning into one goal after another. When you achieve one, there is always another one waiting for you."

Suwen nodded, indicating that she understood his feelings. The poor have their joys, and the rich have their sorrows. No one is necessarily living an easier life than anyone else.

He stroked Suwen's hair, looked down at her, his eyes deep and dark: "But now I'm willing to put myself on this track and fight for it. I can finally understand a little bit of what the ancients meant when they said, 'I'd rather struggle for ten years in exchange for three years of her innocence.' These words are indeed a proverb that inspires people to fight desperately. To protect something, you must first have enough ability yourself. Don't say women are useless; such a petite and dependent woman inspires men to fight tooth and nail."

Was his statement a veiled compliment to women, or was he referring to her?

Su Wen didn't know how to respond, looking at his beautiful eyes with a blank expression, seemingly understanding but not quite. Lu Zheng, however, cupped her cheek in his hand and pinched her face.

"Susu, you can be completely oblivious to social niceties, you can be reckless, live life your own way, live like a proud peacock, live with the most natural and simple character. Be as the wind blows, as the rain falls. Impulsive, lazy, reckless, emotional, joking, even indifferent to everything, that's all fine. I won't let you ever suffer a painful defeat, or be worn down by reality and become hardened. At least I will do everything in my power to ensure that day never comes. As long as I'm here, you can continue to be willful, innocent, and never grow up. Even without any survival skills, you can still live freely and unrestrainedly in your own way."

This is probably the most powerful way a man can win a woman's heart.

Lu Zheng gently rubbed her hair: "I don't want to see you become a mature and indifferent individual, reserved and restrained like those women with their formulaic flirting methods, formulaic dressing patterns, and formulaic dating routes."

His tone was extremely gentle, yet it possessed a captivating power.

This is almost fatal.

After her parents' divorce, her life was turned upside down, filled with hardship and displacement. Beijing might not be the final destination, but merely a transit point in her life. Faced with the harshness of reality, she experienced the coldness of human relationships and once fantasized about a peaceful life where a man would eventually smile, reach out his hand to her, and take her away.

Lu Zheng's words were incredibly appealing. It's human nature to want to attach oneself to or worship something powerful, and this powerful figure was even willing to lower himself to act as a protector. Besides, she never denied that she liked this person in power.

From the naive and unrestrained age of eighteen, she let her rebellious spirit dominate her young body, tirelessly squandering her youthful vitality. At that time, her encounter with Lu Zheng was more like that of a runaway child who found a kindred spirit, and they became inseparable, deeply devoted to each other. Their later reunion, however, carried a hint of power and fame. She was unsure if her feelings for him were unwavering; longing, dependence, joy, and a fluttering heart—this man embodied too many of her emotions.

If he proposed to be the end of her life's journey, she thought she wouldn't mind stopping for him.

The trip to Shuicheng was taken very seriously by everyone from the director to every lead actor in the crew. Director Wei, needless to say, had just returned to China two years prior with a Golden Lion award, a feat that solidified his reputation in the directing world and brought international acclaim to Chinese-language films. Although the film received mixed reviews afterward, it's undeniable that Director Wei brought honor to the Chinese film industry, and more broadly, to the entire nation.

As the opening film of this film festival, their film has attracted a lot of attention from home and abroad, including professional film critics and casual viewers. Everyone is waiting to see what kind of effect this so-called art film, which cost hundreds of millions to make, can have.

Suwen dared not be careless with the dress this time. Yezi personally escorted her to the designer to try it on, but she still couldn't resist Yezi's anger.

"How did you get so thin in just a few days?" Ye Zi stared at her, questioning her resentfully, "Why didn't Xiao Ai send you your current measurements?"

This has nothing to do with Xiao Ai. The scandal was so intense recently that Xiao Ai was busy helping her out and didn't remember to take her measurements.

When Suwen was filming with Director Wei's crew, she dared to eat and drink to her heart's content. But as soon as filming was over, she immediately went back to not daring to drink much water and even skimming the oil off a vegetable leaf.

Suwen pouted: "It's all because you scared me. You said the next movie was filmed with a high-definition camera, and that you could see every single hair on my face. That made me work so hard to lose weight."

"Let's see if we can change it?"

The designer lamented, "The dresses are all custom-made to the customer's measurements. Changing them would require a major overhaul, and there's definitely no time to do it."

Suwen sighed and said, "Then let's just go to any store and see if they have anything suitable." If we can't get a custom-made one, we can always buy ready-made clothes, right?

Ye Zi scratched her head anxiously: "Ready-to-wear? What if you wear the same thing as someone else? Then all the headlines will be laughing at you!"

Suwen also got anxious: "If all else fails, I'll just wear a cheongsam. When I was in Shanghai, Teacher Chen took me to an old tailor to have two cheongsams made. Cheongsams are all fitted, so even if you're thin, you can wear them."

"You're twenty-two, not fifty-two, why are you wearing a cheongsam!" Ye Zi glared at her.

"Otherwise, how could I find suitable clothes in such a short time?" Suwen simply shrugged. Anyway, she was wearing a cheongsam in the movie, and the cheongsam is a national treasure of China. There was nothing wrong with wearing it to walk the red carpet for foreigners. Since filming this movie, Suwen realized that she had fallen in love with cheongsams. Before, she found it tiring to fasten each button, and she had to hold her waist and puff out her chest when walking. However, after wearing it for a while, it improved her temperament. People in the crew also praised her for having the elegant charm of an old Shanghai woman when wearing a cheongsam.

Imagine a Beijing girl traveling thousands of miles to learn about Shanghai culture, wearing a cheongsam and speaking Shanghainese—that in itself is an encouragement.

When the custom-made cheongsam arrived by air, Suwen wore it and walked around the company for a bit. Yezi nodded in approval and told someone to quickly iron it and hang it up.

To boost her profile, Yanbei sponsored her entire outfit, even taking out the pigeon-egg diamond ring that had been put away in a safe after filming and putting it back on her head. Later, a gossip magazine estimated the value of Suwen's red carpet outfit that day, and the jewelry from head to toe was worth at least 100 million yuan.

For this trip to Venice, besides the screenwriter, cinematographer, and post-production team, Director Wei only brought four actors: Su Wen, Xue Shaofeng, Teacher Chen, and a well-known Taiwanese singer. The group became a small tour group, and with the accompanying domestic media, they basically chartered a plane to go there.

Two years ago, director Wei won a Golden Lion trophy. This time, he returned to Venice, and the local media naturally made a big fuss about it. In the previous trailer, the emerging actress Nie Suwen, who was shrouded in mystery, also became a topic of their attention.

Two years ago, director Wei brought Zhang Ziyi to win the Golden Lion Award. Two years later, will director Wei create another international movie star?

The day after the film crew arrived in Venice, local newspapers published a series of photos of director Wei and several lead actors touring the city. In the photos, Su Wen was wearing a Burberry black trench coat, her long, black hair loosely draped over her shoulders, her smile carefree and generous. Facing the paparazzi, she didn't have the expressionless face of other international stars; instead, she was relaxed and at ease, seemingly accustomed to the camera, or perhaps born for it. Under the tranquil night sky of Venice, this Asian woman with black eyes and yellow skin attracted the attention of almost everyone.