“He Tiantong?” Wen Long was very surprised. How come this person was here?
An Yinong quickly walked over and stretched out his hand to grab Xie Jiu’s sleeve. Xie Jiu’s brewing anger was dispersed by this hand: “You came alone? It’s too dangerous.”
“No, the bodyguard is behind me, I’m just looking for you in a hurry.”
After comforting Xie Jiu, An Yinong looked at the pale Wen Long: “Long time no see, were you threatening Uncle Jiu with me just now? I didn’t expect that after so many days of not seeing you, you have not changed. You used me as a shield back then, and today you used me as a weapon to hurt someone important to me. Do you hate me so much?”
“You misunderstood, I…”
“Stop, I don’t want to know your opinions and thoughts. Just stop using me as an excuse.” He turned to Xie Jiu again, his expression softened instantly, “Uncle Jiu, the chef has made a super delicious pork belly soup today. Let’s go back.”
The sharp thorns on Xie Jiu’s body slowly retracted, and there was no more hostility in his eyes: “What you like must be delicious.”
Uncle Wu, who was leaning on a cane and had white hair, looked at Xie Jiu and then at An Yinong. He seemed to understand something.
In the past year, Xie Jiu’s style had changed a lot. He was gentler and more humane. Many people speculated on the reason. Some people even talked about the Hong Kong media saying that Xie Jiu must be in love. Everyone sneered. Xie Jiu, who would call the police and report sexual harassment as soon as he saw a naked beauty, would fall in love? And for money?
Now thinking about it, maybe what the Hong Kong media said was the truth.
Uncle Wu still had a question in his mind, He Tiantong, was it that He Tiantong?
He still clearly remembered how the Crocodile Gang kidnapped the He family’s grandson last year and how said gang was inexplicably destroyed in the end, not for anything else, but because his grandson went to jail for this incident.
But this was a very good thing. His grandson, who had been bent on mixing in the dark side of society, had finally come to his senses and wanted to do business. Uncle Wu could not wait to burn a stick of incense for He’s little grandson.
“Xie Jiu’s vision is as good as ever. He either doesn’t choose or chooses the best one.” He looked at Wen Long who was gritting his teeth, “This is not good. He has high aspirations but doesn’t even consider whether he has the ability to do it.”
Wen Long watched the two of them leave. He knew that he had angered Xie Jiu, and that this would definitely be Bao Yuyi’s revenge. In that case… let’s just break up.
Xie Jiu was so lucky, everything he had was what Wen Long dreamed of. Wen Long felt jealousy burning in his heart: Why could he get so much, when he was obviously just the son of a prostitute with an unknown father!
“He Tiantong, do you know who Xie Jiu is? His mother was a prostitute who was beaten to death by her clients. And Xie Jiu is trying to compete with dogs for food. Who on the street doesn’t know this?”
Xie Jiu’s fingers tightened suddenly, but they were gently surrounded by another soft hand.
“Oh, thank you for telling me about his past.” An Yinong smiled brightly, “Now I like his mother and everything about his past, including this street.”
After the sun disappeared below the horizon, thousands of lights appeared on the tall city buildings. These lights flickered due to electrical problems, just like the twinkling stars on earth.
A Xiang Restaurant had not closed yet, but there were no customers.
Uncle Wu took out some money and said, “For your father’s sake, take the money and leave here. I’m afraid I won’t be able to help but beat you to death.” If Uncle Wu was still young, he might really do this.
The people in the walled city were the forgotten ones in this prosperous city, so they were more united than those outside. Even those who were mixed up in society attached great importance to the word “righteousness”.
Uncle Wu looked down on Wen Long’s character. It was not easy for Xie Jiu to come here, and he also provided Wen Long with money for living and training. Wen Long was repaying kindness with enmity.
“I, your Grandpa Wu, have lived for decades. What do I know? You have no capital, no resources, and nothing. Why don’t you go out and fight for it? Now you can only stand here and envy others. What are you? I tell you, if you are like this, you will never have any success in your life!”
After cursing, he thought of Wen Long’s father again. He was a man of iron will, so how could he give birth to such a useless son?
“Before Xie Jiu makes a move, let’s go quickly and take the boat tonight.”
Wen Long came over, but he did not take Uncle Wu’s money. Instead, he looked at the place where An Yinong and Xie Jiu had just stood.
If An Yinong had refuted or scolded him, Wen Long would not feel so bad. But that was exactly what Wen Long dreamed of, not caring about gender, body, or past, just because this person liked it. This kind of “like” was like a nail piercing Wenlong’s heart.
“I will come back again, and by then, I won’t be the loser I am now.”
The car drove to An Yinong’s small villa, and he escorted Xie Jiu inside. Granny Lian came over to ask if they wanted to have dinner, and saw An Yinong bringing Xie Jiu to the second floor.
“Young Master is seventeen years old this year, and it’s time for him to date.” Granny Lian shook her head, “Why are you so anxious? Men in love are really the same no matter how old they are.”
An Yinong took him to his room and gently stroked Xie Jiu’s brow. The system that had just “announced the good news” to him that the regret value was over 60 was thrown aside.
“Here we are, dear, stop frowning.” His fingertips seemed to have magic, and when they touched the frowning brows, Xie Jiu’s brows relaxed. Xie Jiu reached out and hugged him, feeling the warmth of his beloved, because the cold night brought back memories was warmed.
After going through so many relationships, Xie Jiu was no longer the poor boy who was bullied by others. He never thought that his past was anything to be ashamed of, except in front of An Yinong.
“I didn’t want you to know this.”
Xie Jiu knew that An Yinong was not the kind of person who would mind these things, but even if there was a one in a million chance that he would “care”, he wanted to completely eliminate this tiny probability.
Hong Kong was a strange place, with new and old ideas alternating, the poor could become rich overnight, but they still maintained their “class nobility”, so even though Xie Jiu from the city struggled to this extent, he was still secretly despised by many people.
However, An Yinong said he liked everything about him, loved his past, and the land where he grew up.
Xie Jiu hugged him tightly, not wanting him to see the greed in his eyes: he was rescued once in the sea, and now it was the second time. He would tightly hold on to this driftwood, and any other rotten fish and shrimp who dared to look at it for a second should be completely destroyed.
A cruel smile appeared on his face, but he quickly disguised it as vulnerability and lowered his voice: “Thank you, Tiantong, for accepting me.”
If An Yinong could like him a little more and feel a little more sorry for him, let alone that expression, it would not be impossible for him to cry.
“You didn’t want me to know. Do you have no confidence in me? Or do you have no confidence in yourself?” An Yinong was indeed distressed. He stretched out his hand and brushed the thin scar on his eyebrow. “My lover is so handsome, so powerful, and so charming. Why should he worry about this kind of situation?”
“You think I’m attractive? An old man who’s so much older than you?” Xie Jiu smiled with melancholy, “You’re still young. When you grow up and enter society, you’ll find that there are many outstanding people of the same age around you.”
“What old man? He is obviously mature, steady and elegant. He is like a piece of celadon that has been tempered by time. Compared with Uncle Jiu, those people are just industrial vases that are still hot and wholesaled from factories. I have a very picky eye. How can I be interested in anything that is not a treasure handed down from generation to generation? You are that treasure handed down from generation to generation, you know that?”
As he spoke, An Yinong stood on tiptoe and kissed him. After the kiss, he asked, “Do you feel more confident?”
“…Kiss me again?”
For a long time after that day, Xie Jiu was in high spirits, and his subordinates, who were always scolded, were flattered. Hong Kong’s major newspapers and tabloids were all speculating on his recent new moves, such as acquiring a mineral resource or obtaining a patent for a new drug. No one speculated that he was in love.
Xie Jiu in love? Impossible, absolutely impossible.
At this time, An Yinong’s publishing house branch had already opened in China, but except for the works of the already famous “Yinong” and “Gu Pan”, other translated novels and comics were temporarily unable to enter local bookstores in China.
People from other publishing houses were a little anxious.
“You can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry. I will find a way.” An Yinong said this, and the others could only wait.
By this time, the new issue of Superstar had already been published in the magazine.
Although it was rushed to completion, the quality did not decline. The plot at this time entered the stage where the heroine was chosen as the second female lead because of her suitable image. As a result, the “rich daughter and big star” with a political family background came to cause trouble again, but was solved piecemeal by the heroine.
At this time, the male cat protagonist had not been exposed yet, so the female protagonist just treated him as an ordinary kitten, talking and complaining to him. In the process of getting along, the cat male protagonist gradually discovered that some things he saw were actually different from what he understood.
The innocent and cute little cousin (the wealthy daughter and a big star) whom he took good care of was not innocent and cute at all. He thought the scheming heroine… was indeed scheming, but even with such tricks, she was still very cute.
The heroine was good at dealing with people and handling relationships, but this was not a natural talent and required a lot of effort to get these opportunities. It was indeed very scheming, but not the kind of manipulation that involved selling one’s body and personality. Instead, it was about playing mahjong with people, doing community service, and fishing based on their preferences…
The male protagonist cat began to feel sorry for the girl and reflected on himself: because he was a rich young man with great talent, he had been cast as the male lead in a big director’s film as soon as he entered the entertainment industry, and he had basically not encountered any setbacks. He had no idea how difficult it was for ordinary people to get ahead.
It could be said that if the heroine was not smart enough, she would have been eaten to the bone.
“You’re done. I feel heartbroken and curious. This is the beginning of my heart-throb.” An Yinong poked the face of the cat protagonist on the paper.
When he was drawing “Superstar”, he was very excited throughout the whole process, focusing on both plot and emotion. But when it came to “House of Resentment”, it was a different style. There were some emotional scenes in “House of Resentment”, but they belonged to the supporting characters or cannon fodder. The protagonist was a big jerk who got angry at the slightest disagreement.
“Long hair, phoenix eyes, long legs…” Today the male protagonist changed into a robe-style Tang suit, which was still form-fitting, and he also added a green thumb ring. The protagonist was set to be a very handsome man, strong and unbridled, with a classical flavor.
“… This is my aesthetic.” This persistence has not changed in several worlds. An Yinong felt that if Xie Jiu didn’t look like this, but had the character of Wen Long, he might have fallen in love with someone else.
Mr. Xie next door saw the latest version of “The House of Resentment” and he was thoughtful.
“Do you think long hair suits me?” he asked the parrot.
“Chiu?”
With the movie rights of “Monster City” hanging around, Na Hai’s film and television company actually contacted An Yinong, and it seems that they really want the movie rights of “Monster City”.
An Yinong told them that at that price, it was unlikely that the film copyright would be sold to them. However, they could compromise by selling the filming rights for ten years, and only their company could shoot the film during these ten years.
After several discussions, the other party finally agreed to extend the exclusive filming rights to 20 years. An Yinong then realized that it was a well-known director who took a fancy to this comic book, which was why they were so persistent in negotiating the copyright. Soon a representative from the film and television company came, and he met An Yinong at the restaurant at the port.
After some business greetings, An Yinong told the representative about Monster City.
“I wonder if Mr. Frison knows that another character in Monster City, the owner of ‘The House of Resentment’, has been serializing his own comic, and it’s getting very good reviews.”
An Yinong took a sip of black tea and said: “Monster City is not a separate story. In the world view, there are single hero lines and group hero lines.”
“You mean?”
“If this one works, maybe there could be a series of movies, a… monster universe?”
“Monster Universe?”
Seeing that the representative was somewhat interested, An Yinong continued, “You know better than me how much money a movie series makes. Your company has always been very ‘proactive’ in making special effects movies. It can be more than a one-time deal between us, what do you think?”
After meeting twice more, the film company decided to buy the filming rights for twenty years.
When talking about publicity, An Yinong took the opportunity to make a small request, hoping that they could do him a small favor and allow some of their publishing house’s books to be sold in various bookstores.
“There are some oriental elements in Monster City, and these books can help our potential audience understand the story. The more people see it and discuss it, the more people will be willing to spend money to buy movie tickets.”
“Dear Mr. He, I have to admit that you are an excellent businessman, but I appreciate this kind of excellence. It’s a pleasure to work with you.”
“It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
WhiteMoon x BlackSun 