Global Film Emperor

Chapter 356 Going Home
"Next stop: Lühua Station. Passengers getting off, please take your belongings with you, return your tray tables to their original positions, and disembark in an orderly manner. Please be mindful of the gaps in the platform when disembarking to avoid the risk of a stampede."

Lu Hua's small town only got high-speed rail in the last two years. When he returned to the capital, he started scrambling for tickets and then boarded the train back home. It only took him four and a half hours to get back to his hometown. He didn't tell anyone along the way. His friends in the capital didn't know he was coming or leaving. He just slept all the way to England and back to China.

After all, I'm not young anymore, and I don't have the same energy as when I was younger. Back when I was an extra in Hengdian, I would film three or four nights in a row, only getting three or four hours of sleep before having to get up to rush to work in the afternoon. Although I was tired, I could recover my energy quickly if I slept for a longer period of time. Now, although I get a lot of sleep, I still can't get over the time difference. I walked out of the newly built high-speed rail station, feeling a bit listless, pulling my suitcase.

Wearing a white mask, he stood on the street and reached out to flag down a car. It wasn't that he was faking it; it was just that too many people in this city could recognize him. His year-long break hadn't affected his fame at all. Whenever he showed his face, a group of people would still flock over and take pictures of him endlessly with their phones. Although he was very friendly to his fans, he couldn't escape living under the spotlight even off-screen, so some disguise was still appropriate.

Many taxis passed by on the road, but they were all carrying passengers. Occasionally, a driver who wanted to pick up passengers would stop, but it wasn't on his way, so he could only shake his head in disappointment and leave, leaving Lu Ze alone to continue gazing into the distance.

"Drip drip..."

A Tesla next to him kept honking, making his eardrums itch. He scratched his ear and frowned as he looked at the inconsiderate car. Just as he was about to look at the person's face through the car window, the window slowly rolled down, revealing a fair-skinned oval face wearing sunglasses.

How did you know I had my train today?

"I asked Auntie. She knows when you're coming back. You just got a new car last month. Isn't it nice? Hurry up and get in the car. The traffic police are urging me to get back."

Seeing the traffic police ahead gesturing, Lu Ze rubbed his fingers on the red paint of the car but didn't touch any dust. He didn't know if she really cherished the car or if she had washed it before picking him up. He didn't dare to ask and could only quickly pack his suitcase and get into the high-tech electric car.

But they hadn't gone far when a fair hand reached out in front of him, gently beckoning with her fingers. Seeing that Lu Ze didn't move, she took advantage of the red light to look Lu Ze up and down.

"Bring it here."

"what?"

"The movie's already been filmed, I should at least see it, right? Isn't it a videotape? What? I don't get a copy?"

It's not that I'm worried about Gao Peiling being petty; the main issue is that he actually kissed her during filming. A large part of the reason why many people can't accept dating actors is because of kissing scenes and bed scenes, which are very damaging to relationships. Even actors themselves can't always accept kissing scenes with their spouses.

So Lu Ze was like a child, dodging Gao Peiling's gaze. When he realized he couldn't avoid it, he awkwardly gave the small hands in front of him a high five.

"Oh...you mean the videotape? I was on my flight back to China on the day it was released. There was a rule before the release that you couldn't take any discs out of the country, so I didn't have time to get it. It's not that I forgot to bring it for you, it's just that I didn't have enough time, and the airfare was quite expensive. That particular flight was on sale, and I didn't have much spare cash, so I didn't wait any longer..."

The lie was rather unsophisticated, and Lu Ze knew it perfectly well. Even if he was poor, he could still afford the difference of more than a thousand yuan in airfare, but there was no other way. What other excuse could he find?

He didn't believe Gao Peiling would believe his nonsense, but he really didn't bring the CD back. Even if she didn't believe him, she couldn't see it, right?

"Are you sure? Did you really forget to bring it? Or did you never intend to show it to me in the first place?"

"How could that be? I really forgot to bring it. How much space can a CD take up? If all else fails, we can wait two months to watch the online version, which will be available online by then."

"Okay, then forget it."

She was a smart woman and didn't press the matter, which relieved Lu Ze. He suddenly felt thirsty and saw a half-empty bottle of water on the car armrest. There were no awkwardness between them, so he unscrewed it and took a sip. However, her next words almost made him spit out the water. "Anyway, I already had a friend buy it for me. It was expedited and is already on its way to China. It'll arrive in a couple of days. Want to... take a look together?"

"Um... okay, no problem..."

An awkward but polite reply followed, and the two remained silent for the rest of the journey. The city center of Lühua was only so big, and after more than ten minutes, the car stopped in front of the bar. Gao Peiling didn't stay long because she had work at her tutoring class. She left immediately after Lu Ze got out of the car, without blaming him for leaving earlier.

For her, it was good that Lu Ze was back. She was no longer afraid of Lu Ze making such an attempt, but she was afraid that he would be stubborn and stay in England and not come back. In the past two months, even though Lu Ze had given her a guarantee that he would definitely return to China, she still hadn't had a good night's sleep. Now that life was back on track, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She promised that the two of them would have dinner together that night. After she left, the first thing Lu Ze did was go to Da Hai's house to get the cripple. He also missed the little guy very much.

The cripple was doing well at Dahai's place. Its fur was shiny and smooth, very clean, and had a faint shampoo scent. It had also grown quite a bit bigger. Dahai often gave it extra food. However, when it saw Lu Ze, it threw a tantrum, hiding in its cat cage and staring at him. No matter how much Lu Ze called out to it, it wouldn't move.

How ferocious a cat with forehead wrinkles can be is not much more than just thinking about it; it's terrifying enough. It's like a bully among cats, with a thuggish look that doesn't resemble a female cat at all.

No matter how unpleasant its appearance is, it cannot be denied that it is a "girl" and naturally has the right to be spoiled and willful. After Lu Ze coaxed and hugged it, it finally calmed down. However, it just wouldn't go into the cage and insisted on being hugged by Lu Ze, as if it wanted to make up for all the hugs that Lu Ze owed it over the past two months.

When the person and the cat returned home and the pub door was opened, it immediately darted inside and paced back and forth in the room, as if patrolling its territory for any unauthorized intruders.

After two months away, the bar would have accumulated some dust. Even if Gao Peilin had the key to the bar, you can't expect a rich young lady to come and clean it regularly, can you?
This doesn't prove that Gao Peiling is lazy. After all, her parents have a long-term nanny, and her rented apartment is regularly cleaned by a housekeeper. She doesn't need to waste a lot of time doing housework. This kind of thing can be solved with money. She can use the few hours she spends doing housework each day to work and earn half a month's salary from a nanny in those few hours.

But Lu Ze was different. After filming "The Effect" was completed, he returned to unemployment. His time was not as valuable as Gao Peiling's, so he had to do the dust removal work himself.

With a white towel tied around his head and his hands working without stopping, if Lu Ze were wearing a wool vest, he would look exactly like an old shepherd from northern Shaanxi singing a folk song.

Many regular customers, seeing the restaurant open, walked to the door, shielded their eyes with their hands, and peered inside. Seeing Lu Ze cleaning, they came in and helped with the cleaning.

Many hands make light work. What would have taken Lu Ze several hours to do was quickly and thoroughly cleaned with the help of five or six people. Everyone sat back down at the table, turned on the TV, and chatted while watching.

The conversation immediately turned to Lu Ze, asking him about anecdotes from his time filming in England. Most of them, being young people from a small town, had never been abroad, so hearing about his experiences from this big star was already very interesting for them. However, a few fans were quite disappointed to hear that Lu Ze had spent two months in Liverpool but hadn't been to any games.

Three hours later, after seeing off the last guest who had arrived in the afternoon, it was already dusk. He threw the empty wine bottle into the suitcase, turned on the neon light by the window, and the atmosphere of the small bar became warm and cozy. Lu Ze returned to the bedroom, opened his suitcase, and took out the "Vladimir Horowitz" 1987 German original vinyl record that he had found in England.

The record player played a retro yet unique melody that echoed through the tavern. Even the cripple seemed to be engrossed in it. Only then did Lu Ze remember to push open the door and turn the sign hanging on the door to the front. It read:

It is currently open for business.

"..."

(End of this chapter)