Chapter 334: A Laughing Banquet
Pulling to the side of the road, I thought about it. First, Mr. Chen just wanted to discuss some general matters. That was easy enough; I could just answer him over the phone. Second, he wanted to discuss developing a business in Boten. That was even better; I could tell him my thoughts in person.
After thinking it over, I called back.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen. We just came down from Taiyi Temple. There's a lot of traffic on the road, so we're parked on the side of the road. Please go ahead."
"Shanhong, Director Lu has completed all the filming at Taiyi Mountain. We'll leave tomorrow. I'm planning a dinner tonight and would like you to join us. Thank you for your support."
So that's what happened. I answered readily, "Okay."
The party is a good thing. Everyone drinks and gets along well. After the party, I can talk to him about my ideas.
After I hung up the phone, I realized something was amiss these past few days. Director Lu had been busy filming, and I'd forgotten about it. Then I realized, oh no, I'd barely been to the Rising Sun Temple. I'd come straight to the Taiyi Temple every day.
Back at Xuri, I sat in my room for a while and called Director Lu, who said, "Come over. I was just looking forward to seeing you."
The entire crew lived on the 12th floor.
I washed my face and went downstairs to meet Director Lu.
There were four actors in Director Lu's room, chatting and laughing together. When I entered, Director Lu introduced me to two men and two women: one played the role of the reborn, one played the role of the reborn's wife, and the other played the role of the village chief. The other actress played one of the three beauties in the village.
I shook hands with them and said thank you for your hard work.
After Director Lu answered my call, he introduced me to them. They all looked at me curiously, and when they shook hands, they all bowed and said, "Hello, Master."
The actor who played the role of Zaisheng said, "Master Wan, please give our crew a fortune telling to see if this drama can win an award." The other three, one pulled me to sit, and another brought me tea.
I sat down, took the tea, and said, "There's no need to test this, you're sure to win a prize."
Everyone laughed and said, you are the judge.
I said, "Yes, I'm a judge. On behalf of millions of viewers, thank you for making such an inspiring and good movie. It's full of positive energy."
Director Lu said, "It's true, please take a test."
I said, "Okay, then I'll give it a try. I heard the final name is 'Love Fills the Sky Village,' is that right?"
Director Lu nodded.
The room suddenly fell silent. Everyone listened attentively.
"I'm not kidding. Let's start with the director. Only with a good director can there be a good movie. Director Lu's surname is Lu, and the character Lu has six strokes, which means "six sixes are auspicious."
Everyone measured it on their palms and said in unison, "Six strokes indeed."
I continued, "The second thing is that the movie has a great title, 'Love Fills the Sky Village.' How many strokes are there in these five characters?"
This aroused everyone's interest, and everyone started to calculate separately. Some people calculated a total of 36 strokes, and some people calculated 39 strokes.
I said, "Baidu, Baidu will tell you everything."
Everyone frantically searched Baidu, and the actress who played the second wife was the first to give the correct stroke count: "37 strokes in total."
Then a chorus of voices rang out: "37 strokes, 37 strokes, 37 strokes..."
I laughed out loud. "No more, no less, 37 strokes. The sum of the two numbers equals 10, which is called perfect. The product of the two numbers equals 21. It's called no matter what, you win the prize anyway."
Everyone laughed.
The actress who plays the reborn wife said, "So this is how fortune telling is done?"
I said, "If not this way, how else can we test it? The director's last name and the movie's title match perfectly. If you change the director or the movie's title, the result won't be the same. But now, they all match."
Director Lu said, "Teacher Wan never makes mistakes. Let's toast him a few more times tonight. Thank you all for your hard work. The subject matter is positive and full of energy. We should have confidence, right?"
The actor who played the role of Shengsheng took the lead in shouting, and everyone shouted together: "Award, award, thank you Director Lu. Award, award, thank you Teacher Wan."
At this time, Secretary Ma called and said that Mr. Chen was going to the banquet hall and asked me where I was. I said, "Just going downstairs."
"Director Lu, and everyone, please go to the fifth floor. The company thanks you for adding a new attraction to Taiyi Temple. We're hosting a dinner on the fifth floor to thank you all."
Director Lu said to the actor playing the role of rebirth, "Please notify all the other rooms."
I accompanied Director Lu downstairs. The waiter was already waiting at the door.
She led us into the largest private room, called the "Meeting Room." Inside, Lao Xiao, General Cao, Head Gu, Qing Ruo, and Chen Xiaoxia were already there. A moment later, General Chen came in and shook hands with everyone.
The first person to come in sat down and exchanged pleasantries. Mr. Chen said to Director Lu, "I'm so sorry, Shanhong and I are busy and can't accompany you every day. Besides, we are two outsiders, and accompanying you will only increase your burden."
Director Lu said, "No, no, Mr. Cao and Mr. Xiao took turns accompanying us, and these ladies also took very good care of us."
Captain Gu patted his chest and said, "And me, I am both an actor and half the owner."
Director Lu said: "Yes, yes, the director's contribution is indelible. He is both an actor and a translator."
The actors entered the private room one after another, and Mr. Chen said, "Take your seats."
The table is large enough to seat twenty people, a perfect full.
Such a big table, even with half of the dishes served, still seemed empty. Everyone drank soup first and chatted with each other in groups of three or four. When almost two-thirds of the dishes were served, Mr. Chen picked up the cup and everyone stood up.
Mr. Chen said, "I usually like to say that the room is full of distinguished guests, but today I want to say it differently: beauties abound, and handsome men fill the table. Look at this table, except for me and Lao Xiao, who isn't handsome and who isn't beautiful?"
Director Lu said, "Mr. Chen is the most handsome." The actors, who had been in the drinking scene for a long time, shouted in unison, "Mr. Chen is handsome, handsome Mr. Chen."
Mr. Chen's emotions grew stronger, and he said, "Today, my only regret is that Mr. Bai had to go back early due to something. So, on behalf of Xuri, I want to thank Mr. Bai, the screenwriter, Director Lu, and everyone present for their concern for Xuri and for traveling all the way here to film. I can't express my gratitude enough."
A gentleman repays a favor, and the future is long. I declare that you are all VIPs at all the attractions under the Xuxia umbrella. Admission is free. Please ask Qingruo to issue the VIP cards. Now, I will drink first as a token of my respect."
Everyone cheered and drank together. Qing Ruo placed VIP cards on each person's table. Captain Gu asked, "Do I have one too?"
Mr. Chen smiled and said, "Whether tourism is booming or not depends entirely on the women's director."
Everyone laughed.
Director Lu stood up and saluted, "Mr. Chen and all the leaders of Xuri, the crew has received meticulous care from Xuri during our filming in Shangzhou. The entire cast and crew express our deepest gratitude. Come, let us all toast to the leaders of Xuri."
After everyone finished drinking, Mr. Chen interrupted, "By the way, where are some of the others?"
Qing Ruo replied, "There are two tables next door."
Next, you toast him, and he toasts you. Where there are beauties, the wine is boiling. I toasted Director Lu, and Director Lu toasted me back.
Director Lu said, "Everyone, please be quiet. I want to toast Teacher Wan three times because he gave me a good fortune."
Everyone urged: "Hurry up and tell me."
Mr. Chen recounted my fortune-telling experience, and then he led the applause, saying, "I wish the crew all the best. May it be a hit."
The atmosphere at the table was very high. After Captain Gu toasted General Chen, he toasted me.
I realized I couldn't just pretend to drink this wine, as I still had to discuss matters with Mr. Chen later, so I whispered in her ear, "Sister, I have things to do tonight. Can we just have a symbolic drink?"
She looked at me lovingly and said softly, "Take care of yourself."
The two clinked their glasses and took a sip. Lao Xiao noticed and said, "How can this be? With me, he drinks three glasses, but with him, he doesn't even finish one."
We had to do it again, and the people at the table wouldn't let us off.
Gu said: "They are preparing to raise a baby and are in the pregnancy stage, so they can't drink alcohol."
Mr. Chen caught on to this and yelled, "Stop, stop, stop! He's trying to conceive, and I didn't even know about it. Reporting to you alone? There's something wrong, absolutely wrong."
Director Lu said: "This is not just an ordinary problem, but a huge problem."
Everyone laughed.
I said, "Just drink it."
Lao Xiao came out to stop him: "You can't drink. Everyone knows you're a sly fellow. You won't get drunk. If you want to drink, Captain Gu will drink for you. You can't drink a single drop. Captain Gu, six glasses!"
Guyu slammed the cup and said, "Six cups is six cups. I'm drinking for my brother. What's there to be afraid of?"
Lao Xiao said, "Yes, sister, sister, there's nothing to be afraid of. It's not like you haven't seen it before."
Those who understood this slang laughed so hard that they slammed their chairs and tables. Those who didn't understand hurriedly asked others what it meant.
The reception is still going on...
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