Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 460 Zhu Dake ran into a tree

At 8 p.m., Liu Yifei, who had just finished exercising and taken a shower, was curled up on the sofa taking selfies.

After taking a shower, the hot water promotes the dilation of subcutaneous capillaries, giving the skin a healthy, rosy appearance. Combined with the hydration of the stratum corneum, even people with average looks will experience a temporary improvement in their appearance.

Not to mention Consort Liu.

She was actually planning to take a beautiful selfie and send it to her boyfriend via MMS.

If your fiancée looks like this, what time will you be home at night?
The photo had just been sent successfully when the sound of a car engine came from outside the window; the effect was truly immediate.

Her eyes lit up suddenly, and she jumped off the sofa barefoot, her wet hair still damp from being dried, like a fledgling returning to its nest.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't be back until after 10 o'clock?"

"I was supposed to give a brief report on the closing ceremony, but Leader Liu was invited to dinner by several Olympic sponsors, so I slipped away."

Mr. Lu embraced his fragrant girlfriend and naturally pinched her pert little buttocks.

It felt as if my palms had instantly sunk into a soft cloud, and the lingering moisture from my shower, carrying the sweet scent of peaches, rose from my cotton loungewear.

The plump, soft flesh beneath the fabric resembled a latex pillow soaked in sunlight, bouncing in a smooth arc at the base of his thumb before slipping away as Liu Yifei twisted her waist to dodge.

Xiao Liu said irritably, "Don't get into this hooligan habit. What if there are other people at home? It would be so embarrassing if my mom saw us."

"It's no big deal. She gave us nutritional supplements every day before she left. What are you being shy about?"

Liu Yifei gave her boyfriend, who was "inhuman when he's being casual," a charmingly coquettish look, and reached out to loosen his red tie, the same style worn by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

There will be a lot of international and domestic interviews in the next few days, so officials should dress formally and consciously uphold the national image.

Liu Xiaolu's nostrils flared slightly, like a drug-sniffing dog sniffing the washing machine's neck: "What's that smell? It's like smoke, but not quite, and it's mixed with perfume."

"Really?" Lu Kuan raised his arms and sniffed left and right, his expression showing a hint of reminiscence: "Oh, this smells like a cigar."

"The IOC is holding an event in the Olympic Village today, where many national IOC officials are here to exchange ideas about yesterday's opening ceremony."

"Many of the Cuban delegation members brought their own homemade cigars, and the taste was quite unique."

The aroma of cedar or oak barrels produced by the fermentation of cigar tobacco leaves is similar to the dry woody scent of an aged whiskey cellar. After smoking, there is a leathery and cocoa-like aroma that leaves a complex fragrance on clothing.

"Oh, okay!" The virtuous Liu Xiaolu, with a hair tie between her teeth, tied her hair into a bun: "Go take a shower, and come back for some delicious soup later."

"Soup is good, eating less at night makes you feel lighter," Boss Lu laughed. "Why don't you interrogate me about whether I smoke?"

“No need for torture, I’ll test the poison.” Liu Yifei raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, then suddenly reached out and grabbed his white shirt collar, tiptoed and kissed the man on the lips.

She then deliberately rubbed her nose against his stubble, like a little fox that had caught the scent of its prey.

"You must be honest."

The washing machine, already feeling a bit tempted by her charming and cute appearance, smacked its lips and said meaningfully, "Actually, I'm not that hungry right now. How about we exercise first to use up some glycogen? That way, we won't gain weight even if we eat."

"No way!" Liu Yifei refused decisively, rolled up her sleeves and walked towards the kitchen: "Your schedule has been too irregular these past two months, you should take advantage of this free time to adjust it."

“I took Sister Chunru to see Dr. Xia in Gongjian Hutong a few days ago. He prescribed her some calming medicine, and I just happened to ask you about it.”

"Old Xia said that if you don't get enough sleep during the day, you won't be able to sleep well at night. Your reversed day and night schedule is causing all your internal organs to suffer."

Mr. Lu poured himself a cup of tea and leaned against the kitchen wall like a lord, listening to his fiancée's rambling.

Liu Yifei busied herself with ease for a while, then turned around and said with a smile, "I didn't know you were coming back so early. It would probably be more than an hour before you got back. Have an apple to tide you over."

The washing machine sniffed: "What kind of soup is this? Why does it smell like Chinese medicine?"

When Xiao Liu lifted the lid, a refreshing aroma of herbs mixed with the scent of meat wafted out.

The soup is clear and bright like amber, with a few bright red goji berries floating on the surface, and a few pieces of Solomon's seal and lily bulbs sinking to the bottom, along with a few pieces of stewed pigeon meat that are tender and soft.

"I don't know what the soup is called, but it's a medicinal soup to calm the nerves and nourish the brain." Liu Yifei said familiarly, "Old Xia said that the blisters in your mouth and the hot palms and soles of your feet are due to excessive internal heat, and also..."

The girl's eyes were clear and bright, and she casually made up a doctor's advice: "Also, your desires are too strong, which is not a good thing. You should know when to stop."

The washing machine roared, "Nonsense! The advertisement says it all: if it's delicious, eat more!"

"Even if Old Xia is the descendant of an imperial physician, how could he violate human ethics? This soup looks awful. Forget it, just give me a bowl of noodles and slurp it down."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Liu Yifei raised her eyebrows and listed the ingredients as if they were her own treasures: "Pigeon nourishes liver blood, Solomon's seal nourishes yin, Poria strengthens the spleen and calms the mind, and Gastrodia elata unblocks the meridians. It's specially for treating people like you who stay up all night and feel tightness in the back of their head."

"Alright, alright, go take a shower now." Liu Yifei placed her hands on Lu Kuan's lower back, stood on tiptoe, and pushed forward with all her might, like a cat with its fur standing on end pushing against a wall.

She could clearly feel the firm waist muscles under her boyfriend's shirt in her palm. Her fingertips curled up unconsciously, then immediately straightened and continued to exert force.

"After you wash up, steam for a while to relieve your fatigue. I'll call you when the soup is ready, I'll go to the sauna."

Taking a bath is a wonderful thing, especially after the stressful opening ceremony, it allows you to completely relax both physically and mentally.

However, without the beautiful woman who used to blush and be half-coaxed and half-carried into the bathroom to accompany him, being alone was a bit boring.

Lu Kuan rested his head on a warm, damp towel, and after soaking in it for a while, he fell asleep, exhausted.

The preparations for the Olympics after the earthquake were indeed too tough. Apart from him and the ever-vigorous Zhang Yimou who were always present without fail, rain or shine, the other creative team members were all somewhat overwhelmed.

Fortunately, just as Zhuang Xu remarked, he now has a family.

This has nothing to do with social status or wealth.

In this vast world, there is finally a light left on for him, and a pair of hands warming him.

There was also a young girl who "sacrificed herself to feed the tiger" to urge him to exercise and force him to quit smoking. She could also occasionally have a drink with him and not be outdone.

Otherwise, the washing machine in this life might very well sink into a life of wine, flesh, and lust, unable to extricate itself.

. . .

Lu Kuan rested for a while and returned to the living room refreshed. Just then, Liu Yifei, wearing heat-resistant cotton gloves, carefully carried a celadon soup bowl out of the kitchen.

"Can you smell the aroma?" Liu Yifei gently placed the soup bowl down, the lid wobbling slightly, releasing wisps of steam. The fragrance of herbs mixed with the sweetness of pigeon meat filled the air.

"People from Guangdong say, 'We'd rather have no vegetables than no soup.'" The virtuous young woman gently pushed the soup bowl over, her fingertips turning a faint pink from the steam, like newly blossoming cherry blossoms.

"Want to try it? This is my first time making it too. It's basically pigeon soup with some medicinal ingredients added. It should taste pretty good."

Lu Kuan glanced at me dismissively: "It feels like Da Lang has taken some kind of medicine. You wouldn't be trying to poison me to escape your marital obligations, would you?"

Liu Yifei ignored his nonsense, but her beautiful eyes glanced around and watched him take a bite of the hot soup. She raised an eyebrow, impressed by its deliciousness, and then happily served herself a bowl.

The two sat down at the table like an ordinary young couple. Xiao Liu picked up her laptop, clicked on Zhu Dake's Alispace account, and angrily mentioned the latest commentary article:

"Pig... Ke is talking nonsense again, saying you are the ultimate form of patriarchy in the entertainment industry."

The washing machine, who was all talk and no action, was chewing on a few goji berries when it heard this and asked curiously, "It's gotten to this level?"

After glancing at it twice, he clicked his tongue in admiration: "This person is quite talented. He accurately grasped the concept of 'patriarchy' and combined it with the special context of the entertainment industry, ultimately achieving a theoretical sublimation."

"This is a contemporary variant of the Frankfurt School's critique of the culture industry; if Adorno were alive, he would give him a thumbs up."

Liu Xiaolv looked completely bewildered: "I didn't understand a single word."

Boss Lu shook his head with a smile: "You haven't studied film and art theory. It's outdated stuff. Only people like Zhu Dake still treat it like a treasure."

Xiao Liu complained, "Can't you focus on the main point? He's attacking our marriage! It's infuriating!"

"Huh? Then let's deal with him." Boss Lu said casually, watching his girlfriend transform into a ruffled ragdoll cat.

"But you said you wanted to keep him..." Liu Yifei hadn't finished her sentence when her phone on the coffee table suddenly vibrated and traced a semi-circle.

"Why is Lao Tian calling again? He just came to have lunch with me and Zhang Yimou at noon," Lu Kuan answered with a smile.

The static from the receiver mingled with a muffled voice; a lingering smile remained on his lips, but his eyes darkened as if splashed with ink. "Then I'll leave it to you, Teacher Tian. I'll... okay, that's all for now."

Xiao Liu sensed something was wrong: "What's wrong?"

"Xie Jin's eldest son passed away from lung cancer this afternoon. The old director was devastated and was admitted to Ruijin Hospital for treatment."

In most Chinese traditional customs, funerals are attended voluntarily and uninvited, as a sign of respect for the deceased and to comfort the relatives.

Moreover, Xie Jin has a long-term heart condition, and this incident must have taken its toll on him.

Lu Kuan sighed, "Old Tian said he'd go with Principal Zhang and the others to take a look and ask him to help give a gift. I can only leave after the Olympic closing ceremony."

Hearing the bad news also put him in a bad mood: "Xie Jin's wife and Aunt Xu Dawen called me this morning."

"After watching the replay of last night's opening ceremony, Xie Jin couldn't stop thinking about it and insisted on calling her to convey his encouragement, hoping that I would continue down this path."

Liu Yifei put down her spoon and gently placed her fingertips on the back of Lu Kuan's hand.

Her palms were warm, like holding a piece of warm jade, as she gently caressed the back of his hand. Her fingernails gleamed with a faint pearly sheen, tracing gentle arcs under the light.

"I'd heard you talk about Director Xie Jin's family troubles before, but I never expected..."

Lu Kuan nodded helplessly: "How painful it is for an elderly person to bury their child."

Xie Jin had three sons and one daughter. His daughter, Xie Jiaqing, lived abroad for a long time, and his second son died young.

His fourth son, also affectionately known as Ah Si, was his youngest son. Due to oxygen deprivation at birth, he suffered from severe intellectual disability, was unable to take care of himself, and his language and cognitive abilities remained at the toddler stage.

Xie Yan, the eldest son who was the only one to inherit Xie Jin's mantle, inherited his father's artistic talent, but was diagnosed with lung cancer at a young age.

Unexpectedly, he passed away suddenly during this time of national celebration of the Olympics.

In addition to the fact that their eldest son passed away first, Xie Jin and his wife Xu Dawen are also facing the problem of caring for their fourth son, who suffers from intellectual disabilities, after their deaths.

Many children, many deaths; alas!

Upon hearing this news, Xiao Liu was in a rather bad mood.

In fact, she knew that Fan Bingbing's appearance in Shanghai last time was probably related to Xie Jin and his wife.

However, whenever Lu Kuan faced public pressure in the past, Xie Jin was always the first to stand up and speak out in support, so she also respected this highly respected veteran director.

Especially now, as she is about to start a family with Lu Kuan, what surges in her chest is no longer just simple regret, but a deeper sense of empathy.

This sourness, like a green olive stuck in her throat, is a taste only she, who is about to become a wife, can appreciate.

As she stated in her wedding declaration to her fans, marriage meant a great deal to her.

When she started using "we" instead of "I" to think about the future, she could no longer take any farewell that didn't lead to growing old together lightly.

A touch of sadness permeated the cozy little home in Wenyuhe Mansion.

Having witnessed countless deaths, or rather, having already died once himself, Boss Lu turned around and squeezed his girlfriend's hand to comfort her, glancing at Zhu Dake's fallacious theory about staged accidents.

He put the soup bowl aside, gently picked up the computer, quickly browsed through it again, and frowned, saying:
"I don't know how much longer the old man can hold on. Maybe we should just kill this pig to vent our anger."

The mastermind behind the "patriarchy in the entertainment industry" and "power in the film industry," who was criticized by Pig Dung, pondered for a few seconds and decided to live up to that title.

"I originally thought I'd leave a noisy bug around to chirp every now and then, so people wouldn't say I'm too domineering and stifle their opinions."

"It's just bad luck this time. It would be a shame if his decades-long career as a critic didn't come to an end, or his professional life was ruined."

Liu Yifei looked at her boyfriend's profile, her brows furrowed slightly, a cold smile in her eyes, and her jawline appeared particularly sharp due to the slight tension.

Xiao Liu, who knew Zhu Dake as well as she knew her own body, knew that Zhu Dake was in big trouble this time.

"What are you going to do?" Liu Yifei felt like she was asking about the plot of a movie, and that a certain director was about to make a move.

Lu Kuan pondered for a few seconds: "Such intellectuals have always been stubborn and inflexible, the kind of people who could give even the emperor a headache in ancient times."

He tapped the table lightly: "Besides, Zhu Dake has always been good at judging the situation and is adept at assessing the circumstances. Judging from this article today, it's impossible that he didn't seek refuge with a big financial backer."

As for who the big spender is, Boss Lu is too lazy to ask; anyone could be a competitor.

"Let's check his bank statements first and see if there are any overseas transactions."

“Investigate the tax issues as well.” The mastermind smiled warmly: “If he can get past this hurdle, I can finally respect him as a cultured man who is difficult to understand.”

Xiao Liu had no practical experience in corporate taxation, and his knowledge in this area was far inferior to that of the public relations company owner in his previous life.

University professors are a significant target group for public relations efforts and a major area for the distribution of paid online content.

The domestic tradition of respecting teachers and valuing education, along with the establishment of the glorious image of early intellectuals, has made the pronouncements of certain experts and professors seem quite authoritative.

In the 2018 Changchun vaccine incident, the company involved attempted to downplay the severity of the incident by having a professor from a medical university publish a paper in the journal "Dongda Vaccines" stating that "adverse reactions to vaccines are within the normal range."

This includes the three milk powder scandals mentioned earlier, the environmental impact assessment of a certain environmental protection project, and the financial theoretical support before the P2P lending platform collapse, etc.

Professors like Zhu Dake are very busy, busy making so much money, so naturally they think of using crooked methods to evade their civic duties.

Mr. Lu was well aware of their tax pain points and took the opportunity to explain them to his girlfriend:
"The income structure of university professors is very diversified, including lecture fees, review fees, and royalties, which is actually very similar to that of celebrities in the entertainment industry."

"These small, high-frequency incomes are highly susceptible to issues such as payments not being credited to the account or being diverted to other people's accounts."

Mr. Lu recounted the details with great familiarity: "When celebrities make appearances, professors give lectures, lectures, and provide consulting services. Customized corporate training often goes through the bank account under the guise of consulting fees but doesn't issue invoices. They leave with the cash, and nobody can find out what's going on."

"Or you can split your personal income into copyright usage fees and planning service fees, ask relatives and friends to register as individual businesses, and use the 30 yuan quarterly tax exemption for small-scale taxpayers to split the income."

"Alternatively, it is possible to evade taxes by exploiting loopholes in the withholding and payment systems of existing online education and teaching platforms."

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "What if he really is a pure and innocent pig dung?"

"That's a bit troublesome. If we can't punish him with legal means, we'll have to find his mistakes through academic research."

"He is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Institute of Critical Culture, School of Humanities, Tongji University, and also serves as a visiting tutor at Sichuan University, Yunnan University, Xiamen University, and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies."

"Has the process of promotion over the years been transparent? Are there no instances of academic misconduct in the papers published?"

"Is the use of research funds for national-level projects compliant with regulations?"

"Examine his postgraduate studies and job placements to see if there is any 'academic inbreeding' involved?"

Boss Lu had already taken out his phone to arrange the work: "These are all attempts to deny his private morality and completely destroy him through film academic reviews. I will handle this personally."

After thinking for a moment, he first made a phone call to a leader in Shanghai whom he had met last year through negotiations with Disney.

Tax audits? We have it all figured out.

Liu Yifei looked at her boyfriend with her bright phoenix eyes, and once again personally witnessed the logic behind the mastermind's "guillotine" this time.

His experience always seemed to allow him to see through his opponent's weakest point and then strike in the most legal and deadly way.

Like a chess player making a move, precise, meticulous, and leaving no room for error.

Considering that Lu Kuan has intentionally tolerated the voices of these opponents over the years, it further highlights her fiancé's code of conduct.

Do not break the rules, only utilize the rules.

Do not change the general trend, but only follow the trend.

Xiao Liu felt a surge of excitement. This was the first time she had ever hated someone so much, even more so than Song Dazui, who had attacked her for no reason before.

Perhaps it was the tragedy of Xie Jin's family that made the despicable nature of Zhu Dake, this literary traitor, all the more apparent.

Fortunately, after more than twenty years of wanton and reckless behavior, Pig Da Ke is finally going to crash into a tree this time.

(End of this chapter)