Huayu Entertainment: Starting with Exorcising Evil from a Film Queen

Chapter 97 Women Don't Reason, But They Explain Physics (3K)

"We agreed at the wrap party that you owe me this, and today you're paying it back with interest."

Hao Lei withdrew his fingers and deftly unbuttoned his trench coat.

The clothes slipped onto the carpet, revealing a tight-fitting black lace camisole underneath.

Hao Lei grabbed his collar and pulled him back sharply.

"That's unreasonable of you. You clearly said you wouldn't make a fuss about it, but now you're saying you want it back."

Zhang Ze was forced to lower his head, his gaze meeting her defiant eyes.

"Women can be unreasonable sometimes, don't you know that?"

She released her grip, placing her palm against Zhang Ze's chest, feeling his heartbeat through his thin shirt.

Zhang Ze raised his hand and pressed it against the back of her hand, his palm touching something warm.

Hao Lei chuckled, bent his right leg, and pressed his knee against the side of Zhang Ze's thigh.

Zhang Ze grabbed her hand that was wriggling on his chest and leaned close to her ear.

"That interest rate is a bit high."

"Whether it's high or not is up to me to decide."

Hao Lei suddenly looked up, his eyes glazed over.

Without another word, he picked Hao Lei up in his arms.

Hao Lei exclaimed in surprise, wrapping his legs around Zhang Ze's waist and tightly hugging his neck.

Zhang Ze strode towards the bedroom and kicked the door shut.

The bedroom lights were off, only moonlight streamed in through the window.

Hao Lei was thrown onto the bed, panting, his chest heaving violently.

"You talk too much nonsense, are you even a man?"

She raised her chin defiantly.

Hao Lei straddled his seat and instantly gained the upper hand.

"What are you planning to do now?"

Zhang Ze raised his arms and wrapped them around her waist, his fingers digging into the skin on her back.

"Since you're being unreasonable, then I'll have to talk about physics."

After he finished speaking, he used his waist strength and flipped over suddenly.

The roles of offense and defense have reversed.

Hao Lei's long hair was scattered on the pillow, like a tangled mess.

The moon was bright and the stars were few, but the war had not yet ended.

More than an hour later.

Hao Lei lay face down on the bed, his hair disheveled and scattered on the pillow, covered with a thin blanket.

Zhang Ze leaned against the headboard, turning his head to look at her.

"Is this interest rate sufficient?"

Hao Lei rolled his eyes, his voice hoarse.

"It's alright, just barely passing."

Although she was stubborn, the satisfied expression on her face couldn't lie.

"Just passing?" Zhang Ze raised an eyebrow, making a gesture as if to pull back the covers. "Looks like I'll have to do it again."

"Don't!"

Hao Lei was startled and quickly shrank to the side.

"Are you some kind of animal?"

Zhang Ze smiled and chose to let her go.

It turns out that women may not be logical, but they can be logical in their reasoning.

Hao Lei rolled over and lay flat on his back, looking at the ceiling.

Are you confident of winning an award at this year's Cannes Film Festival?

At this moment, Hao Lei finally regained some of his composure and began to discuss serious matters.

"The fact that the film was shortlisted for the main competition means that its quality is not a problem. As for winning an award, that's the judges' business. What I can do is sell the film for a good price."

"I heard a film company approached you with an exorbitant offer, and you turned it down?"

"Yeah, they offered five million, but I turned it down."

Hao Lei turned his head, and his eyes showed a hint of appreciation as he looked at Zhang Ze.

"You've got guts."

She propped herself up, the blanket slipped down, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin.

I love your spirit.

Hao Lei reached out and touched Zhang Ze's face.

"Don't worry, if you really lose money and can't get any more acting jobs, I'll take care of you."

"Then I'll force myself to live off you, but I'm afraid your teeth aren't good."

"roll."

May 13th.

The night sky over Shana was exceptionally bright, and the sea breeze dispelled the daytime heat.

The crossroads in front of the cinema were closed, and a long line of black limousines formed.

Inside the hotel suite, the stylist was making final adjustments to Li Xiaoran's appearance.

She was wearing a deep purple, low-cut evening gown with a large skirt adorned with tiny rhinestones.

This is a style that Zhang Ze personally selected.

This color is difficult to pull off, but on Li Xiaozai's fair skin, it exudes an amazing sense of nobility.

Zhang Ze stood in front of the full-length mirror and put on his bow tie.

He was wearing a classic black double-breasted suit today, with his hair combed back to reveal his full forehead.

Liu Hua pushed the door open and came in, tugging at her slightly tight collar.

"This bow tie is making it hard for me to breathe," Liu Hua complained, still holding a bottle of water. "Brother, are we leaving already?"

"The car is downstairs."

Zhang Ze turned around and helped Liu Hua straighten his bow tie.

"Brother Hua, straighten your back. Today we represent the face of Chinese cinema."

Liu Hua took a deep breath and patted his chest forcefully.

"Don't worry, I won't embarrass you."

Hao Lei walked over from the next room.

She wore a dark green velvet dress and dark red lipstick, exuding a powerful aura.

"Let's go, don't keep the media waiting."

Hao Lei glanced at Zhang Ze, his gaze lingering on him for two seconds.

Li Xiaoran walked over, lifting her skirt, and took Zhang Ze's arm.

"I'm a little nervous." Li Xiaoran's fingers tightened on Zhang Ze's forearm.

"What's there to be nervous about? Just think of it as strolling around Hengdian."

Zhang Ze patted the back of her hand.

The group went downstairs and got into the official limousine.

As arranged beforehand, Liu Hua and Hao Lei rode in the first car, while Zhang Ze and Li Xiaoran rode in the second car.

Outside the car window, there were movie fans holding signs and reporters with long lenses and microphones all along the way.

Although most people were calling out foreign names, the enthusiastic atmosphere was enough to send adrenaline soaring.

The car was very quiet.

Li Xiaoran kept looking out the window, her palms sweaty.

Zhang Ze leaned back in his chair, watching the palm trees rushing past the window.

The motorcade slowly came to a stop at the starting point of the red carpet in front of the cinema palace.

The front door opened.

Liu Hua got out of the car first, and then gentlemanly reached out to help Hao Lei out.

The flash went off instantly.

Immediately afterwards, the second car came to a stop.

The doorman opened the car door.

Zhang Ze stepped out with one leg, his leather shoe landing on the bright red carpet.

He straightened up, turned around, and reached his hand into the car.

Li Xiaoran took his hand and gracefully leaned forward.

The moment the two stood side by side, the sound of camera shutters clicking all around them filled the air.

The media areas on either side of the red carpet were clearly separated.

Near the entrance, a large group of media reporters from China had gathered.

Most of them were listless, either looking down at their phones or huddled together smoking and chatting.

"Why hasn't Lou Ye's crew arrived yet?"

"It should be soon. I heard it's during the final segment of the show."

"This year, the only film we're really looking forward to in China is Lou Ye's 'Spring Fever,' the others aren't anything special."

"It's because the other directors are not up to par. But I heard that Director Jiang Wen is currently filming a new movie, but it seems that it is not finished yet."

A bespectacled domestic reporter yawned and listlessly pointed his camera at the entrance to the red carpet.

Suddenly, his movements froze.

A familiar face appeared in the viewfinder.

"Hey? Isn't that Liu Hua?"

The colleague next to me looked up.

Which Liu Hua?

"Andy Lau who sings 'Forgetful Love Potion'?"

"The guy who played Dao Ge in 'Crazy Stone'!"

"Hey, I thought the King of Pop had come! What's he doing in Cannes? Just here for tourism?"

Before they could reach a conclusion, Hao Lei appeared in the frame.

"Holy crap, Hao Lei's here too!"

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Ze and Li Xiaoran walked over.

This caused an uproar in the domestic media.

"Zhang Ze? The one who played Xu Changqing? Isn't he a TV drama actor? What's he doing here?"

"Li Xiaoran is here too—what kind of combination is this?"

"Could it be a red carpet event sponsored by some brand?"

The reporters looked at each other, completely baffled.

In their minds, although these people are famous in China, they have nothing to do with international film festivals like the Cannes Film Festival.

These days, there isn't much domestic publicity for international film festivals, and these reporters usually just follow domestic news when they come to report on them.

For example, if they find out that a certain director has been nominated for a certain award, they will rush to film the opening ceremony as if they were attending a special event. If the director wins an award, they will go up and interview him. If he doesn't win an award, they will go straight back to their home country.

After all, airfares to travel abroad aren't cheap these days.

Unfortunately, Zhang Ze's film received absolutely no promotion in China. Even when some media outlets noticed it, the scattered reports barely made a ripple.

Therefore, these journalists who just came from China have less understanding of "Like Father, Like Son" than the foreigners who actually attended the film festival.

After all, Zhang Ze had spent a lot of public relations money here.

Just as they were wondering what was going on, a commotion broke out in the foreign media area next door.

"Zhang! Look here!"

"Director Zhang!"

Several French journalists shouted in Chinese, their cameras flashing wildly.

Those foreign journalists were clearly well-prepared; they had done their homework and knew that this was the creative team behind the film "Like Father, Like Son," which was nominated for the main competition.

This film has been generating a lot of buzz in Cannes these past few days. After all, it was made with a huge budget, so naturally, they're paying close attention to it.

Domestic journalists were stunned.

The bespectacled reporter pulled aside a French colleague who was changing cameras and asked him a question in broken English.

"Excuse me, who are they?"

The French journalist gave him a strange look and pointed to the program book in his hand.

"Main Competition, Like Father, Like Son, Zhang Ze.

1

Main competition section.

These words struck the domestic reporter like a hammer blow to the head.

He widened his eyes and snatched the program booklet.

Zhang Ze's photo and the Chinese title of the film, "Like Father, Like Son," were prominently featured in the main competition nomination list.

"Holy crap!"

The bespectacled reporter gasped in surprise.

"Breaking news! Absolutely breaking news!"

"We also have another film from China that's been nominated for the main competition! The director is Zhang Ze!"

This statement instantly ignited a firestorm in the entire Chinese media landscape.

"What? Why didn't we hear anything about this before?"

"Yeah, I've never heard anyone say that!"

"Who cares! This is Zhang Ze's directorial debut! It's going straight to Cannes! Big news!"

The previously listless reporters suddenly became energetic, raising their cameras to capture images of Zhang Ze and his entourage.

But it was too late.

Zhang Ze, leading the film crew, had already passed directly in front of them at a steady pace.

All that's left are a few dashing silhouettes of their backs.