Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Liu Zhonghe and the bespectacled man, who had just turned and walked away without regard for their dignity, were now standing in front of the Mercedes-Benz W14 in the middle, smiling obsequiously at a middle-aged man with a square face—that was Fan Zeping.

Fan Zeping noticed that Yang Che had just left the terminal and, without even having a chance to greet Liu Zhonghe, immediately came over with a smile.

"Haha, brother, I'm late, please don't mind. Your wife is even more beautiful now."

He even gave a thumbs up as he spoke.

Yang Che, who had been all smiles, instantly turned green. Fan Bingbing's eyes widened in shock, Li Yue's face turned pale, and Zhou Liren immediately looked at Yang Yuanchao, who was facing Zhou Zheng and looking at the boss with a puzzled expression.

Fan Zeping, somewhat bewildered, began to mutter to himself, looking at the middle-aged man who resembled his brother: "This must be Brother Yang, right? I'm Yang Che's friend, Fan Zeping. Haha, let's keep to ourselves."

Yang Yuanchao quickly said, "Hello, President Fan. Yang Che told me that without your appreciation, he wouldn't be where he is today, but we've never had the chance to meet."

"Haha, I would like to visit you, but I'm afraid my brother will overthink it and think I'm using our parents to blackmail him, haha."

Yang Che's face turned even greener. He felt that Lao Fan must have done this, since people can't imagine things they haven't seen before.

The others, however, were infected by Lao Fan's hearty laughter and joined in with their own laughter, including Liu Zhonghe and the bespectacled man who had come over.

At this moment, they had completely lost all malice and amusement; their smiles were incredibly warm and obsequious.

Clearly, as natives, they knew the background of Fan Zeping, the producer of "My Sassy Girl".

When Liu Zhonghe heard Fan Zeping laugh and say the words "sister-in-law," he felt a chill run down his spine.

At this moment, two airport security guards and a traffic policeman walked over.

"Gentlemen, this is not the place for a meeting. Please leave now."

Yang Che quickly said, "Sorry, I'll be right there. Dad, you drive home yourself, I'll be back in a bit. Bingbing, you come with me to President Fan's car. Brother Fan, please sit in the passenger seat. Xiao Zhou, Xiao Yue, you two get in the car behind us."

Old Fan's eyes gleamed with admiration: "Let's go."

Yang Yuanchao opened his mouth, then nodded and walked towards the parking lot, where his Santana was parked.

As for Liu Zhonghe and the bespectacled man, they got into the Iveco van that had arrived without saying a word, their heads down.

After getting into the Mercedes-Benz, Fan Zeping complained, "Look at you, you didn't even say hello? If Chen Ting hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known you were back. Even if you don't acknowledge me as your brother Fan, I'm still the producer of this movie, right?"

Yang Che held the chubby boy's hand and smiled wryly: "It's my fault. I was planning to contact you this afternoon. I didn't think it through."

Fan Zeping's tone was still unpleasant: "I know you're having dinner with your family, is it alright if I pick you up?"

"Wrong, wrong, really wrong."

Fan Bingbing then spoke up: "Brother Fan, don't blame him. He went home for dinner and didn't even take me with him."

Yang Che lifted their clasped hands: "I'm taking you back, aren't I?"

Fan Bingbing's eyes widened immediately. She knew that her boyfriend's parents knew about Gao Yuanyuan, after all, they had taken a close-up photo of the two of them with them when they left home that morning.

Fan Zeping touched his upper lip, then turned around with a warm smile: "Hey bro, you haven't told your family about Bingbing's beautiful and sensible girlfriend? That's not good. Brother Tao is very satisfied with you."

"That's exactly what I was going to say."

"Well, it seems I was too talkative."

The topic was dropped immediately. Fan Zeping mentioned that a Mr. Fang, who had attended the film premiere, had been arrested the day before yesterday, and that he was thinking of buying Mr. Fang's mine and coal washing plant.

"If I bring him over, he can still leave some money for his parents and children. If I don't, his spendthrift wife will squander it all sooner or later."

Yang Che wasn't interested in Lao Fan's "righteous act," but he was interested in why Lao Fang had gone in.

The story goes that Boss Fang had a dispute with his former partner. After the lawsuit, the former partner won the case, but Boss Fang refused to comply with the judgment at the instigation of his wife. So the partner asked the court to enforce the judgment, and the court sent 22 court officers to one of Boss Fang's coking coal shipping stations.

Boss Fang had long ago taken over the iron drums operating at the shipping station, and everyone in the village, from the village chief to the villagers, had benefited from his kindness. Again, at his wife's urging, he shouted and summoned over three hundred villagers, who then beat up twenty-two police officers, nine of whom were seriously injured and unconscious.

Yang Che was stunned: "You can turn the villagers into your own private army, but you can't control your wife?"

"You can tell me."

As they were talking, the Mercedes-Benz arrived at the bus company's residential area and drove right up to the building, following closely behind Yang Yuanchao's Santana.

Then Lao Fan got out of the car, shook hands with Lao Yang, exchanged a few pleasantries, and left. The family had lunch together, so he naturally didn't join in. The evening was his time to shine.

After seeing Lao Fan off, Fan Bingbing belatedly realized what was happening, and her face turned pale with nervousness. She really didn't have the composure of a boyfriend; he chatted with her parents like friends.

Yang Yuanchao was also very awkward, his eyes filled with questions and confusion as he looked at his son.

Just then, a very fashionable (layanjing) auntie with her hair styled in a high perm appeared at the building entrance. Seeing Yang Che, she exclaimed with delight, "Oh, Xiao Che's back? Hey, hey, hey, you're that, that *lock...!"

"Aunt Liu, please go out. This is Fan Bingbing, my friend, here to promote the movie."

"Yes, yes, Fan Bingbing, oh my, so beautiful."

Fan Bingbing's expression instantly returned to its friendly demeanor as she responded. That's professionalism.

Just then, the window of the middle unit on the third floor opened, and... it was another woman with permed hair, Yang Che's mother, Wang Weiqing.

They had obviously heard the commotion downstairs, but they didn't say anything.

"Liu E, let's talk later."

Yang Yuanchao reached out and took his son's suitcase, then went into the building first.

Yang Che reached out and took Fan Bingbing's, smiled at Aunt Liu, and quickly followed.

Fan Bingbing lowered her head slightly, her hands clasped together. She was really nervous and unprepared, but also very happy. She thought: at least she got something in return.

Thinking of this, I am very grateful to Fan Zeping.

Back home, Yang Che, who had initially felt that everything was under control, suddenly became nervous.

"Mom, this is Fan Bingbing, my girlfriend."

"Hello, Auntie. Hello, Uncle."

Wang Weiqing had already received a call from her husband. Although there was some confusion in her eyes, her smile was genuine. Who wouldn't want their son's girlfriend to be beautiful?

"Hello, please sit down. This... braised pork noodles, is it to your liking? Yang Che, that kid, he keeps everything from you..."

"I like the food, Auntie. I really enjoy noodles."

"Bingbing, do you want to come to my room and take a look?"

"Okay, okay."

The elderly couple didn't stop them.