thefictionvixens Chapter 60: Liu Yifei Comes to the Door
Chapter 60: Liu Yifei Comes to the Door
July in Beijing was as hot as a steamer. When Liu Yu came out of the airport, a wave of heat hit him.
Three years have passed. From the autumn of 2002 when I entered the gates of Beijing Film Academy to the summer of 2005 when I walked out, more than a thousand days and nights have passed.
He learned about the film production process in class, worked on film sets, wrote scripts, raised funds, directed, and produced films. He also traveled to Berlin, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong.
The corridors of the teaching building were quiet; most students were already on holiday.
Liu Yu's footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. He had returned to school to pick up his graduate school application materials.
He walked to the principal's office door, which was ajar. Through the crack, he could see Principal Zhang sitting behind his desk, wearing reading glasses, holding a document in his hand, and looking down at it.
Liu Yu knocked on the door.
"Come in." Principal Zhang's voice remained the same, unhurried.
Liu Yu pushed open the door and went in, standing in front of the desk.
Principal Zhang raised his head, took off his reading glasses, leaned back in his chair, looked him up and down, and slowly curled the corners of his mouth up.
"Oh, our dashing director is back?"
The tone was teasing, with the last syllable rising in pitch, like someone teasing a child.
Liu Yu was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile.
"Teacher, that's not true. They were just visiting the class out of politeness. I can't just send them away, can I?"
Principal Zhang picked up the thermos on the table, unscrewed the lid, took a sip of water, and looked at him with a smile.
"Even if something does happen, it's okay. They're both single, isn't it normal for young people to date?"
When he said this, his eyes narrowed into slits, just like the expression he had a year ago when he was persuading him to pursue graduate studies in the office.
Liu Yu changed the subject, "Teacher, I'm here to report for duty, so please don't tease me."
Principal Zhang smiled for a while, took out a brown paper envelope from the drawer, placed it on the table, and patted it with his finger.
"Here are your graduate school application materials. Take them back and fill them out. I'll be your advisor. Your three years have been more exciting than most people's. Stay at the university for another two years."
His tone became serious, no longer teasing, "But Liu Yu, let me tell you something. No matter how far you go in the future, don't forget where you came from."
Liu Yu accepted the document bag with both hands and bowed.
"Teacher, I'll never forget it."
......
The air conditioning was on in the company, and the air was quite cold. Liu Yu couldn't help but shiver when he pushed the door open and went in.
The receptionist saw him, stood up, and greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Liu."
Liu Yu nodded, walked through the office area, and headed towards his office.
Several employees passing by were chatting quietly. When they saw him come in, they quickly stopped talking and lowered their heads to pretend to work.
Liu Yu saw Liu Yifei standing in the corridor, wearing a white dress, her hair loose, and a smile on her face.
"Yifei, what brings you here?" Liu Yu asked, somewhat surprised.
Liu Yifei came to the company without prior notice, which is unlike her.
"Yes, I'm looking for you, President Zhong, and Luo Jin." As she spoke, she took an envelope out of her bag and waved it.
Liu Yu led her into Zhong Lifang's office. Zhong Lifang was looking at documents on her computer. When she heard the noise, she looked up, saw Liu Yifei come in, and smiled as she leaned back in her chair.
"Yifei's here. I knew something good was going to happen when I saw how happy you were. Tell me about it."
Liu Yifei took out the contents of the envelope; they were two gold-embossed invitations, exquisitely crafted and with an embossed feel.
She solemnly placed the invitation on Zhong Lifang's desk. "Sister Zhong, I'm here to deliver this invitation to you."
Zhong Lifang picked up an invitation, flipped it open, and raised her eyebrows slightly.
Wow! What a grand gesture! A coming-of-age ceremony at the State Guesthouse!
She turned the invitation to face Liu Yu; it had a line of gold lettering printed on it: "Crystal Princess, Philippines 18".
Liu Yu also picked up his own and looked at it, flipping through it in his hand. Good heavens, what was bound to happen has finally happened.
He had heard about this birthday party countless times, and in his previous life he had seen countless discussions online, with all sorts of opinions.
Some say this was a coming-of-age ceremony held by Liu Yifei's godfather, some say it was to promote her entry into the music industry, and some have said even harsher things, comparing the banquet to the coming-of-age ceremony that Joseph Lau held for Ada Choi.
When Liu Yu read those posts, he felt that some people had a richer imagination than screenwriters, able to string together completely unrelated things into a complete conspiracy chain.
Regardless, the controversy surrounding this banquet is real, and the trouble it brought to Liu Yifei is also real.
"Oh my! Sisi is eighteen! Congratulations!" Zhong Lifang reacted enthusiastically, immediately promising to attend. "Don't worry, I'll definitely be there."
Liu Yu closed the invitation, patted it lightly twice in his hand, looked at Liu Yifei, and had a teasing smile on his lips.
"Tsk tsk, the fairy sister is eighteen years old."
He said this in a relaxed tone, as if he were joking with an old friend.
Liu Yifei's face flushed slightly, a pinkish hue like that of someone who has been exposed to the sun.
"Director Liu, why are you so annoying?" Her voice carried a hint of coquetry.
Liu Yu ignored her and continued to tease her.
"She's truly a lady of high birth; she even held her birthday banquet at the state guesthouse."
Liu Yifei retorted, "I'm not some rich young lady."
She paused, as if organizing her thoughts, "That day is not only my coming-of-age ceremony, but also the press conference for my signing with Sony Music. I will be announcing my entry into the music industry. Many people will be coming, and you all must come too."
Her eyes sparkled as she said this, and her tone carried an expectation for the future.
Liu Yu looked at her and suddenly felt a little dazed.
After receiving their consent that they would be there, Liu Yifei left happily.
.......
The office door closed, Zhong Lifang placed the invitation on the table, leaned back in her chair, stared at the bright red cover for a few seconds, and sighed.
"It's too high-profile." Zhong Lifang's tone changed from warm to worried. "It's probably going to attract even more gossip."
Liu Yu knew what she was referring to.
Since the beginning of this year, there has been a constant stream of negative rumors about Liu Yifei.
From "sugar daddy keeping" to "mother and daughter controlled by a wealthy businessman," from "falsifying academic credentials" to "falsifying age," there are all sorts of versions, each more outrageous than the last.
Some of these fabricated stories are full of holes, and anyone with a discerning eye can tell they're fake, but some people still believe them.
As more people spread the word, the false becomes the true.
Liu Yu found it hard to imagine why they would harbor so much malice towards a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.
Even with his advanced perspective, he felt that the act of splashing dirty water was extremely malicious.
Heaven gave her unparalleled beauty, so it was also destined that she would suffer the hardships that beauty brought.
This is not an arrangement of fate, but the way of human nature.
"Don't listen to Chen Jinfei's nonsense." Liu Yu leaned against his desk, arms crossed. "This birthday party was obviously paid for by Sony, with Chen contributing at most a small portion. Sony values Liu Yifei highly and plans to groom her into a superstar. Didn't you see she signed with Sony headquarters, not a Sony company in China? Chen is a shrewd businessman; he certainly wouldn't let go of such a marketing opportunity."
Zhong Lifang nodded, but didn't respond. She tapped the invitation lightly twice with her fingers.
"What gift do you think we should give?" She suddenly looked up at Liu Yu.
Liu Yu thought for a moment, "Let's just follow the trend and give a gift. The main characters at that banquet are Liu Yifei and Sony, so we don't need to try to steal the spotlight with our gifts. Just give a simple little trinket, nothing too expensive or too cheap."
He paused, straightened up, and said, "If it's too expensive, people will think we're groveling; if it's too cheap, people will think we're stingy. Something in between is best, then nobody can say anything."
"You really know your stuff," Zhong Lifang laughed.
"This isn't research, it's common sense." Liu Yu picked up the invitation on the table, glanced at it again, and put it back. "Is there anything else? If not, I'm leaving."
Zhong Lifang shook her head and continued reading the documents.
Liu Yu opened the door and walked out, loosening his collar as he headed towards his office.
When I passed by the office area, the young women had stopped chatting and were working diligently in front of their computers.
He glanced at it, said nothing, and pushed open the door to his office.
He closed the door, sat down in a chair, picked up the post-production schedule for "The Man from Nowhere" on the table, looked at it again, signed it, and put it aside.
Then she took out a new document from the drawer. The cover had the words "The Witch" written on it. Inside, there was a densely packed plot outline and character biographies.
This is the script prepared for Lu Yang.
Liu Yu doesn't plan to direct this time; he wants to go back to his old profession as a producer.