Night had fallen completely. Under the dim streetlights, the two of them strolled and chatted leisurely.
When they arrived in front of a coffee shop in town, Lin Yuan suddenly stopped.
Pointing at an electronic locker by the entrance, he said with a smile, "I prepared a gift for you. It's in that locker."
"Really? What is it?"
"You're not allowed to look. I'll only give it to you if you guess."
Lin Yuan covered Liu Yifei's eyes with both hands and led her to the locker.
His fingertips felt the soft warmth of her skin, as though he were touching the finest jade.
"Is the locker open?"
Her words broke Lin Yuan out of his reverie.
"Yeah, it's open. Go ahead and guess."
"What could it be? What else could it be? Of course, it can only be lilies!"
As Liu Yifei laughed and gave her answer, she pulled Lin Yuan's hands away from her eyes.
"I guessed right after all!"
"How did you know?" Lin Yuan looked somewhat disappointed.
"How could I not smell such a strong lily fragrance? If you wanted to fool me, covering my eyes wasn't enough. You'd have to plug my nose too!"
"Ah, what a miscalculation!"
"It's fine. I really like your gift."
Liu Yifei smiled as she held the bouquet of white lilies, which suited her temperament perfectly.
"You're satisfied?"
"Mm! Very satisfied!"
"That's enough for you?"
"Huh?"
Lin Yuan flashed a wicked grin and punched the locker hard.
Thud!
With the vibration, a platinum strawberry necklace hidden along the upper edge of the locker fell down.
"Since you're already satisfied, I won't give you this one."
"Huh? There really is more!" Liu Yifei cried out in delight.
Smiling, Lin Yuan took down the necklace, opened the clasp, and reached toward her with both hands.
Seeing that Lin Yuan wanted to put it on for her, Liu Yifei cooperatively lifted her long hair, revealing a swanlike neck that was slender and fair.
When his hands lightly touched her neck, the faint warmth made Lin Yuan's hands tremble slightly. He failed several times before finally fastening the clasp.
"It looks beautiful. It suits you," Lin Yuan said with a smile, hiding his embarrassment.
"This must be expensive, right? Did you buy it with the money you earned from The Fast and the Furious?"
Liu Yifei, who had been born into a wealthy family, clearly knew her stuff. This necklace cost at least 5,000 USD—enough to buy a used car in North America.
Lin Yuan, meanwhile, was not well-off. He had only just begun to earn a little money.
He merely smiled without answering, his eyes full of affection as they silently told her that it was worth it.
"A bouquet of flowers would have been enough. I was already so happy! Don't waste money. You earned it by risking your life. Let's return it, okay?"
"I really like hearing you nag."
"Like hell you do!"
"It's fine. I'll earn a lot of money. I'll be very successful. Before long, this little bit of money won't mean anything to me."
"You may have gotten ahead of me for now, but I'll catch up soon!"
"Mm, I believe you. The wind is a little strong outside. Let's go in and have some coffee."
After all, it was already early winter, and the nighttime temperature was somewhat low.
The two of them pushed open the coffee shop door and found a seat.
"I'll go buy us two coffees. You stay right here. Don't move," Lin Yuan said with a smile.
"What? Taking advantage of me?" Celestial Fairy immediately caught on.
After all, she had attended school in China. She knew enough to get that reference.
"How childish! Why do you men love those father-son jokes so much? Do you want me to call you Daddy too?" she said disdainfully.
You even know that? Lin Yuan was somewhat surprised, but a stubborn feeling rose in his heart.
"I wouldn't mind if you called me that at certain moments in the future."
Bet you don't understand that one.
"What do you mean?"
She really didn't understand...
No, Lin Yuan suddenly noticed that her ears had turned red.
This was awkward. He had originally thought Liu Yifei did not understand.
But...
She! Understood! It!
She was merely pretending not to understand out of a young girl's modesty.
Yet her reddened ears ruthlessly gave her away.
What should he do?
Naturally, they could only both pretend to be clueless while knowing perfectly well.
Lin Yuan had thick skin and quickly adjusted his mindset. This was how he saw it:
If a young woman often listened to a certain man's dirty jokes, then there was a high chance that she and that man would become the protagonists of those dirty jokes.
The reverse was true as well. She would be his woman sooner or later anyway, so accidentally making one dirty joke was no big deal!
Thus, Lin Yuan replied with complete confidence, "Kids shouldn't ask about adult matters!"
Celestial Fairy was furious when she heard that answer, but she could not expose him, so her face turned even redder from holding it in.
Just then, someone pushed open the coffee shop door and entered.
When Lin Yuan saw who it was, he waved him over.
The newcomer was Director Cohen. Lin Yuan had arranged to meet him here tonight as well.
"Do you have business to discuss? Then I'll head back first." Liu Yifei stood up, intending to take the opportunity to leave.
But Lin Yuan reached out and pulled her back.
"It won't hurt for you to observe. You'll often meet all kinds of directors in the future too. I'll take you home after we're done."
"Is that appropriate? Won't I disturb you?"
In truth, Liu Yifei was also quite curious about how actors discussed work with directors.
"If it were someone else, I'd think it wasn't appropriate. But you're not someone else."
That answer clearly pleased her. She smiled, sat back down, and said nothing more.
Once Director Cohen had sat down and Lin Yuan had introduced them to each other, they began discussing work directly.
Director Cohen said, "I've gone over your proposal and script revisions with Director Johnston. He's very satisfied."
Lin Yuan was naturally not surprised in the slightest.
He knew exactly what the biggest criticisms of the film would be after its release, so he only needed to make targeted revisions.
Among them, many viewers had been dissatisfied with the plot in which the Tyrannosaurus Rex was killed by the Spinosaurus.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex could be considered the signature of the jurassic film series, with immense popularity.
Director Johnston actually dared to have the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the star of the show, killed by some minor beast?
Most viewers found that impossible to accept.
When the reboot Jurassic World came out more than a decade later, the director had even arranged an Easter egg where the Tyrannosaurus Rex smashed apart a Spinosaurus fossil skeleton the moment it appeared, as though venting the frustration from that old scene.
"I believe that if the film can be revised according to your proposal, it will definitely be a huge hit!" Director Cohen added.
Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, then asked, "Thank you for the affirmation, but it can't all be good news, can it? There are always all kinds of hurdles when you want to get something done."
Director Cohen nodded, and a stream of words came pouring out:
"Yes. The biggest obstacle is that we need additional investment, but Universal Pictures cannot foot the bill for your plan."
"To put it simply, we're out of money."
"So no matter how good your proposal is, it can only be shelved."
"After running the numbers, how much additional investment do you need?" Lin Yuan asked.
"$10 million!"
Before you continue