Chapter 42: Airport + Reyizha = Invincible

Zhou Le was in high spirits this evening.

As they headed toward the parking lot, Meng Ziyi was on his left, and Li Yitong was on his right. Although Lu Wei had brought them along, as the vice president, she couldn't very well support Zhou Le herself. Meng Ziyi was the youngest, and since Zhou Le had helped her block some drinks during the dinner, she had proactively offered to assist him. Li Yitong got along quite well with Meng Ziyi, so naturally, she came to help as well.

As for Yang Xuwen, he was still pondering the meaning behind Zhou Le's parting words, especially since Zhou Le had later thrown out the phrase "break to build anew." To Zhou Le, it had just been random, drunken nonsense, but to Yang Xuwen, it felt like a flash of inspiration that he was desperate to capture.

During the dinner, they had transitioned from baijiu to beer. By the end of the night, no one wanted to take the remaining beer home, so they packed it all up and gave it to Zhou Le.

"We have each other on WeChat. Let's stay in touch if anything comes up," Zhou Le said, waving goodbye before getting into the car. Yang Xuwen helped place the bottles of beer on the back seat. The car was driven by Lu Wei's local driver—they were all her people.

"Zhou Le, do you know why I stopped you from helping Zeng Li block those drinks earlier?"

By this point, the alcohol haze in Zhou Le's eyes had cleared up. Drinking the beer in the back seat had actually sobered him up a bit.

"I have no idea. Please enlighten me, President Lu."

"Because the first two actresses are relatively young and can't hold their liquor very well. It wouldn't look good for them to lose their composure in public. Helping them block drinks earns you their goodwill, which makes it easier to collaborate on promotional pairings later on. But Zeng Li is nearly two full generations older than you, and both she and Jiang Jiajun used to run in the Hong Kong film circles. Stepping in to drink for her in that situation was entirely inappropriate."

"True, it's all just business."

"Precisely, it's all business. But since you understood that, why did you still do it? Offending Jiang Jiajun doesn't bring you any benefits."

"Me? Sigh, I just felt like they've had it pretty tough. Besides, I'm doing fine anyway. I suppose it's just my kind nature."

Lu Wei chuckled. "I certainly didn't see you holding back when it came to asking for money from your manager."

"That's different. Aren't you worried I'll offend Director Jiang, though?"

"What's there to be afraid of? I just happen to have a good relationship with Director Guo. Besides, the entertainment industry is no longer dominated by the Hong Kong faction; it's the era of Daylight Entertainment now. I only need to consider whether you can secure greater benefits."

"President Lu!" Zhou Le's gaze instantly turned deeply affectionate. "You've been so good to me, President Lu. With just a few words, you've enlightened me completely. My admiration for you flows endlessly like the great river..."

"Stop, stop right there. Say what you mean and cut the act."

Zhou Le flashed a cheeky grin. "President Lu truly has eyes like torches; I am deeply impressed."

"Still going? If that's all you wanted to say, don't bother."

Zhou Le paused, then said seriously, "My parents passed away when I was in university, and I've been all alone since. If you don't mind, I'd like to take you as my foster mother. I know the etiquette, and you might not know this, but I am exceptionally good at making traditional cloth shoes..."

Lu Wei: "......"

She had seen shameless people before, but never anyone quite this brazen.

However, Zhou Le's antics weren't actually annoying, especially given how he had proactively stepped up to block the drinks during the dinner. It was obvious that his soft heart had gotten the better of him.

"Get out of here. Don't think I don't know your godfather is Yu Qian. Aren't you afraid people will misunderstand if word gets out?"

"Misunderstand what? Everyone keeps their own separate accounts, but I'm being completely sincere..."

"That won't be necessary. But I must say, your manager really is a match made in heaven for you—one insists on making me reimburse every penny, and the other is shameless enough to book a budget guesthouse just to save money."

"Ah, we're truly poor," Zhou Le sighed, pulling out his phone. "Look, Sister Lu, I'm down to my last five thousand yuan. If my godfather hadn't bailed me out, I'd be sleeping under a bridge right now."

Lu Wei was startled. "Then where did your money go? I remember Wu Jing just gave you five hundred thousand yuan recently. After taxes, you should still have around four hundred thousand, right?"

"Spent it."

"Spent it? On what?"

"I bought a gift for a friend. Back then, she used all her savings to buy me this beaded bracelet, keeping only enough money for a bus ticket home. So, I used all my savings to buy her something in return."

Looking at Zhou Le, Lu Wei was completely at a loss for words. Yet, she increasingly felt that beneath his seemingly unreliable demeanor, he was entirely genuine.

"Sigh, if you've sent it, you've sent it. Just don't squander your money blindly. And if you ever plan on dating in the future, make sure to inform the company beforehand."

"Understood. But I have no such thoughts right now. What's the point of dating? How could romance ever be more important than making money?"

"Fair enough."

Eventually, Lu Wei had the driver drop Zhou Le off at the entrance of the guesthouse complex.

When Zhou Le returned to their rooms, Su Yingxia had just finished showering and was playing on her phone while it charged.

"Brother Le, I thought you weren't coming back tonight."

Zhou Le smiled. "Where else would I go? Alright, get to sleep early."

With that, he set the bag of beer on the table and headed straight for the shower, leaving Su Yingxia alone with the cans of beer.

She had never tasted alcohol before. Although her roommates often claimed that beer tasted just like a sugar-free beverage—essentially nothing more than wheat juice, and that baijiu required at least a pound to feel anything—they had never once let her take even a single sip.

She stared at the beer, suddenly realizing she was a bit thirsty.

Curious, she opened a can and took a small sip.

"Ugh, this is awful."

Then she took another sip.

"Actually, it's not too bad."

Before long, she took out the leftover takeout from earlier and, while eating, slowly sipped away more than half the can.

When Zhou Le emerged from the bathroom, he found Su Yingxia's face flushed red, with an open can of beer on the table. She stared right at him with a glazed expression. When she tried to stand up, she swayed unsteadily, forcing him to rush over and support her.

"You... ugh, drink less next time."

Although Su Yingxia looked quite pretty at this moment, and her intoxicated body leaned softly against him while the pleasant scent of shower gel drifted over him, Zhou Le ultimately decided against any foolish thoughts. Taking advantage of someone who was drunk was pointless.

Instead, he settled her on the sofa and headed back to his own room to sleep.

However, Su Yingxia found herself feeling a bit restless sitting there, so she simply decided to start cleaning up. She swept and mopped the floor, washed the takeout containers until they were spotless, and neatly arranged them on the counter. Once she finished, feeling thirsty again, she finished off the remaining beer. Afterward, she washed all her dirty clothes, including her underwear, and hung them up in the bathroom.

When she finally headed upstairs, she had to cling tightly to the handrail. Without paying attention to which room she was entering, and completely unaware of Zhou Le lying fast asleep on the bed, she pulled the blanket over herself and crashed.

The next morning, when she woke up, she realized to her horror that she had stumbled into the wrong room last night.

Her chest felt a little sore.

Even so, she hurriedly grabbed the clothes draped over Zhou Le and fled barefoot back to her own room.

***

In the taxi, Zhou Le chatted with his assistant about a dream he had, where he was on stage delivering a speech while holding the Best Actor trophy.

Only then did Su Yingxia realize that Brother Le had probably mistaken her for his trophy last night. Naturally, she didn't utter a single word about what happened.

Their destination this morning, however, was the airport.

Right after Zhou Le had gotten out of the car yesterday, Lu Wei had called Su Yingxia, telling her to cancel their train tickets and transferring a few extra thousand yuan so she could buy Zhou Le a first-class flight.

They were heading to Wuxi Shuofang Airport.

Upon arriving at the airport terminal, just as the two of them planned to drop off their luggage, they suddenly noticed a massive crowd gathered ahead.

Zhou Le loved watching a spectacle, so he walked over to take a look.

"Noble Consort Ning?"

Zhou Le recognized her immediately.

It was Reyizha, who possessed a stunning figure. At that moment, she was surrounded by fans taking photos. Due to Zhou Le's height advantage, she subconsciously glanced over toward him.

"Zhou Le?"