Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

The awkwardness only lasted a moment. Yang Che smiled, yawned, and said, "Sorry, Sister Xiaoli, I've been busy all day, and then I listened to your dance class. I'm a little sleepy."

Liu Xiaoli smiled and didn't say anything more: "Then you go to sleep."

Then, like most people in first class, Liu Xiaoli dozed off. After turning off the reading light, the dark environment made her feel more relaxed and at ease.

She found the journey particularly enjoyable and closed her eyes as well.

Then she suddenly opened her eyes. When did he start calling her "Sister Xiaoli"? And he did it so affectionately and naturally.

I glanced at him subconsciously and could vaguely see that he was sleeping quite peacefully, and he looked rather handsome.

Liu Xiaoli quickly looked away, took a deep breath softly and slowly, and then closed her eyes again.

We flew to Los Angeles in silence.

As the plane lurched, the two woke up and smiled at each other, then silently moved their legs, which had somehow touched each other, away at the same time.

Sleeping is unconscious.

"Sister Xiaoli, are you going straight back to Irvine? Are there any buses left?"

"Yes, wherever there are Chinese people, there are cars, and there are people who specialize in doing this."

"Oh, an unlicensed taxi, right?"

"Hehe, yeah, Yang Che, let's exchange contact information."

"Yes, I had completely forgotten about it."

The two then chatted as they got off the plane.

Inevitably, the $600 upgrade fee was brought up again.

Yang Che said, "Consider this a deposit for the dance consultant position. I'm determined to make this movie."

Liu Xiaoli was quite happy: "Thank you. Chatting is fine, but I don't need to be an advisor. I don't plan to go back to China in the next few years. I'll find an ATM after I get off the train."

She was indeed quite happy because she had encountered similar situations many times, where the other person would often end up saying something like, "Treat me to a meal," which would annoy and disgust her.

Yang Che nodded in agreement when he heard her say that.

As they arrived at the exit, Yang Che forced a smile: "Actually, I was thinking that next time I go to New York, you could treat me to a meal at your place. I've been away for so long, I'm going crazy craving Chinese food."

Liu Xiaoli saw sadness and reluctance in his eyes, which touched her heart. She smiled and said, "When you come to New York next time, I'll invite you to my house for dinner."

This is the difference between speaking first and speaking later.

Yang Che then deliberately fell silent.

After withdrawing the money and leaving the terminal, the two waved goodbye to each other. Liu Xiaoli also felt sad and reluctant to part. After all, they had chatted so congenially for the six hours they had traveled together. She couldn't remember the last time she had talked so much at once.

Of course, she also felt relieved, after all, she was not an extroverted person.

Seeing that he didn't turn around, she felt a sense of loss and disappointment.

Yang Che spotted a tall young man holding up a sign for the Four Seasons Hotel.

He's not going to stay in hotels near the airport anymore; wouldn't a five-star hotel on Hollywood Boulevard be better?

It's not like he can't afford to stay. After a while, when the final payment from GG and the profits from "Pigsy" arrive, the money in his account should exceed ten million.

But he didn't plan to stay there, otherwise he would have contacted Laura Linney while in New York.

Yang Che took a few steps, turned around, adjusted his expression, and then strode towards Liu Xiaoli, who was standing on the safety island in the middle of the road.

Liu Xiaoli noticed it too, first looking puzzled, then her whole body froze.

When Yang Che got closer, his expression was a little unnatural, and his tone was nervous but trying to remain calm: "Sister Xiaoli, can I go back to Irvine with you? I have nothing to do in Los Angeles tomorrow."

Liu Xiaoli felt her heart pounding so fast she could hardly breathe. His expression and words were already very direct.

She looked away and forced a smile: "You forgot? I have something to do, I can't stay with you."

Yang Che insisted, "How could it take up your time? I don't need you to keep me company. It doesn't matter to me where I live. I won't bother you, I just want to chat with you a little longer, haha. Anyway, I'll come back here the day after tomorrow at noon, haha."

Liu Xiaoli paused for two seconds before finally saying, "Well... okay then."

Yang Che breathed a sigh of relief; only now could he truly say he had broken through.

For nearly four hours, he was highly focused, and most of the time he was "performing," speaking lines that he had thought through repeatedly.

.........

"Excuse me, may I sit in the front passenger seat? There are two of us, thank you."

At that moment, a middle-aged Chinese man in a gray suit and glasses, sitting in the back seat of a Camry, heard Liu Xiaoli's words. He was extremely unwilling, but the smile on his face was particularly generous and natural.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, haha."

If his face wasn't oily, he would look very refined.

Yang Che smoothed his hair back and said loudly, "Thank you."

The Camry was naturally an unlicensed taxi from the airport to Irvine.

The driver was a man in his mid-thirties from Northeast China, surnamed Zhang. He had a simple and honest smile on his face, but Yang Che felt that he was quite shrewd.

Just like with carpooling in China, the car is always silent at first.

It wasn't until the bespectacled man mentioned stocks, internet stocks, the internet stocks that had made him a fortune, that he realized his plan for this trip back to Irvine was to mortgage his house and invest in them again.

The driver, Lao Zhang, praised him repeatedly for his boldness and said that he knew a friend whose stocks had increased twentyfold overnight.

At this moment, the two of them were just like those people in some small restaurants in China, bragging and boasting.

The bespectacled man was quite pleased with himself. He wanted to turn around and see the reaction of the woman who had captured his heart at first sight, but that would seem too deliberate. So, without realizing it, he turned to the side and gradually raised his voice.

After a brief silence, Yang Che and Liu Xiaoli started talking about what to eat in Irvine and nearby hotels.

During this time, Yang Che also received a call from the hotel, but he hung up, not caring.

Suddenly, the driver, Old Zhang, glanced at the rearview mirror and asked, "Brother, what do you do for a living? Where are you from?"

Yang Che smiled and said, "From Shanxi Province, an artist."

The bespectacled man finally turned around, looking at Liu Xiaoli as he said, "Painting? There's not much of a future in China."

Unfortunately, Liu Xiaoli had her head slightly lowered and was looking at her phone, seemingly sending a text message.

Yang Che still smiled and said, "Yes, we came here to seek refuge with my sister and find a way out."

Liu Xiaoli glanced at him, smiled slightly, and then lowered her head again. She also wanted to hear what nonsense Yang Che was spouting.

"That's right, China, haha... I won't say more, it's hopeless. You're from Shanxi Province? You know that director from Shanxi recently made a movie called 'My Sassy Girl,' right? It did really well at the Asian box office, and even Koreans are talking about it. I'd never heard of him before, so I guess he studied abroad. China definitely can't cultivate talent like that."