Chapter 37: Two Trees Make a Forest
After buying the house, the first thing Liu Zhou did was to call his parents and tell them.

My parents didn't say anything about it. They also knew that Liu Zhou made a lot of money writing novels.

They were quite relieved to see that Liu Zhou did not spend the money he earned indiscriminately but chose to buy a house.

In fact, even if Liu Zhou didn't buy it himself, they were prepared to buy him a house in Beijing.

My son chose to study at the Central Academy of Drama and will most likely work in Beijing in the future. After all, Beijing is the center of art, literature and entertainment.

Having his own house makes it convenient for his son to rest, and it is also more convenient for them to visit his son in Beijing.

Liu Zhou thought that the matter was over, but unexpectedly, the next day, Liu Zhou's mother came to the capital.

My mother came to Beijing to help him clean up the house. She was busy for three days, cleaning it inside and out, and also prepared some daily necessities for him.

Liu Zhou took a day off and took his mother to visit the capital.

After his mother went back, Liu Zhou looked at the house, which had become more lively, and smiled.

On the weekend, Liu Zhou invited some classmates including Liu Ye, Qin Hao, Zeng Li, Yuan Quan, Huang Xiaoming, as well as Jia Zhangke and Yu Liwei to have a dinner at his newly bought house.

Liu Zhou had already told them about this matter. Jia Zhangke had also been released from confinement. The editing of "Xiao Wu" had been completed, and some work such as dubbing, subtitles, and translation remained. Yu Liwei had also returned to Beijing from Hong Kong.

On Sunday, early in the morning, Liu Zhou took Liu Ye and Qin Hao to buy ingredients, preparing to have an open-air barbecue and hot pot in the front yard.

So when Liu Zhou invited his friends to his courtyard, they saw that the ingredients had already been laid out.

The first to arrive were Jia Zhangke and Yu Liwei. They brought a bottle of red wine and smiled and congratulated Liu Zhou on moving into his new home.

Zeng Li and Yuan Quan arrived next, but they came as a group of three, including their senior brother Xia Yu.

Xia Yu started pursuing Yuan Quan since last semester.

Although Yuan Quan has not agreed yet, he has developed a certain liking for Xia Yu.

So today, when Xia Yu learned that Yuan Quan was coming over for a dinner, he begged to come along. Yuan Quan had no choice but to let him come along.

Xia Yu was obviously a social expert. When he saw Liu Zhou, he immediately said:
"Junior brother, you are really good. You bought a yard like this at the foot of the imperial city. You are much better than me."

Liu Zhou was of course also welcoming of Xia Yu's arrival, and replied with a smile:

"I was lucky enough to make some money from writing, so I bought a place to live."

"I just remembered that my junior brother is also a best-selling author. Talent is indeed the greatest wealth."

"Brother, please stop praising me. You have already won the International Film Award. Many people cannot achieve this in their entire lives. I wonder how many people envy you."

"Haha." Xia Yu walked closer to Liu Zhou and whispered, "Junior brother, please help me. Say more good things for me in the future."

"no problem."

"That's quite open-minded. Junior brother, I'm determined to make you my friend."

"What are you whispering about?" Yuan Quan walked over and asked.

"Nothing, I just want to ask my junior brother how to write. I think I can also become a writer and publish a book."

"You're still publishing a book, so you should read it thoroughly first."

"Why do you look down on people?"

"I'm not looking down on you, I just hope you can know yourself."

"Just wait and see. I will definitely write a book for you to read in the future."

Liu Zhou could see that Yuan Quan was obviously also interested in Xia Yu, and when they quarreled, they were like a pair of bickering lovers.

After Huang Xiaoming arrived, Liu Zhou introduced everyone to each other.

In fact, almost everyone knows Liu Zhou’s classmates and Huang Xiaoming, but the ones who may be less familiar are Jia Zhangke and Yu Liwei.

Yu Liwei and the others didn’t know, but when it came to Jia Zhangke, everyone else knew.

After all, his short film winning the award caused a sensation on the campuses of Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama.

They didn't expect that Liu Zhou actually knew Jia Zhangke.

Only Liu Ye knew what was going on. He came to Liu Zhou and said:
"Are you really investing in them to make a movie?"

"Yes, and the film has been completed and is currently in post-production."

"So fast."

"It wasn't very fast. I followed the group throughout the summer vacation, and I was exhausted at that time."

"Why don't you ask me to come with you?"

"What are you doing? There's no role for you to play. Are you going to be a minor character? Teacher Chang Li said you are not allowed to be minor characters."

"Even if I don't have a role to play, I can still experience the atmosphere of the crew."

"It wasn't a good experience. The crew was in a small county town in Shanxi Province, and the crew had a very hard life."

Seeing that he wanted to say more, Liu Zhou quickly interrupted him:

"Don't think about it, just help me entertain them."

The weather in Beijing in September is just right, not too cold nor too hot. It is very relaxing for a group of people to have a barbecue or hotpot in the yard.

Jia Zhangke especially felt this way, mainly because he had been stuck in the editing room for too long.

Seeing Liu Zhou coming over, Jia Zhangke said with a smile:

"Junior brother, I didn't expect you to have the money to buy such a nice courtyard house. If I had known earlier, I would have asked you for more investment."

"I can't ask for more. I'm penniless now after buying this yard."

"You're crying poor again. As long as your novels are still selling, you'll have a steady stream of money. I'll have to ask you, a wealthy man, to invest in my next movie."

"It may not be my turn next time. When you become famous, you will kick me out."

"That's right. Lao Jia is the kind of person who can do such a thing. Maybe not only you as an investor, but also me as a photographer will be kicked out by him."

"Ha ha!"

After saying that, the three of them couldn't help but laugh. "Brother, which film festival are you going to send the film to?"

"Berlin! This film festival is a little more friendly to newcomers and a little more artistic."

“Is there a channel?”

"Old Yu is currently busy with this matter in Hong Kong, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

Liu Zhou looked at Yu Liwei, and when he saw him nod, he felt relieved.

"Let me see the finished film. After all, I contributed to it."

"Of course, and I'll prepare a surprise for you!"

"As long as it's not a shock."

It was a rare day to relax like this, so they stayed there until it was almost dark before going back.

Yuan Quan and Xia Yu went to see a movie, while Jia Zhangke and Yu Liwei were a little drunk and went back first.

The remaining few people helped Liu Zhou clean up and left one by one, and finally only Zeng Li was left.

Zeng Li took out a small box, handed it to Liu Zhou, and said:
"Liu Zhou, congratulations on moving into a new house. This is a gift for you."

"Thank you."

Liu Zhou opened the box and saw that it was a Longines mechanical watch.

"This is a bit too expensive. I can't accept it."

Although Longines watches are not as good as some high-end luxury watches, even the cheapest one costs several thousand dollars.

A few thousand dollars at this time is not a small amount of money.

"I've already bought it, how can I not accept it?"

"Where did you get so much money?"

“I made money by shooting commercials.”

Although students in the acting class at the Central Academy of Drama cannot go out to film, as sophomores, there is a benefit that freshmen do not have, which is that they can take on commercials.

Nowadays, there is no such thing as advertising spokespersons for newcomers who are not famous. Many of them just serve as background boards.

But even if you just act as a background board, the income is considerable, usually you can get several hundred or even one or two thousand yuan at a time.

Especially girls, they have much more opportunities than boys.

So for people majoring in acting, they generally don’t lack money.

Li Bingbing once said that he earned more than 100,000 yuan by shooting commercials during his college years and he was not short of money at all.

In fact, in the 1990s, shooting commercials was also a business card. There were many people in the entertainment industry who started acting because they were spotted by directors after shooting commercials.

Like Zhou Gongzi, although she is not very famous yet, she was chosen by the director because of the calendar she shot and starred in her first movie.

There are also people like Gao Yuanyuan, who was discovered because of an advertisement and starred in the movie "Love Spicy Hotpot", thus entering the film and television industry.

In later generations, there were people like Guo Biting, who also became famous because of advertisements and then entered the entertainment industry.

"Okay, don't give me such a precious gift next time. I'm afraid I can't afford it. Haha." Liu Zhou joked.

"You don't have to pay it back!"

Seeing Zeng Li's sincere look, Liu Zhou put away his smile and said seriously:
"Li Zi, I have been lying flat for a long time. Now I have this opportunity. I hope I can make a name for myself in the future.

I understand your feelings, but I'm afraid that if I accept your feelings, I will neglect you because I'm busy with work and we will end up breaking up.

Instead of this, why don’t we just be classmates and friends? "

"I don't want to. I just want to ask you a question. Do you like me a little bit in your heart?"

"Have!"

Liu Zhou's heart is not made of stone. How could he be indifferent to Zeng Li's kindness to him?

"But, I... wuwu..."

Before Liu Zhou could finish his words, Zeng Li covered his mouth.

Liu Zhou was surprised at first, but when he felt the softness of her lips, all hesitation disappeared and he responded immediately.

They separated only when they were almost out of breath.

Liu Zhou panted and laughed:
"Now that you have stamped it, you have to be responsible for me!"

"Okay, I'll take care of you for life!"

After saying that, Liu Zhou couldn't help but hug Zeng Li into his arms.

"You're always so shy when I see you usually, but why are you so brave today? You even forced a kiss on me."

"I don't know where I got the courage from." Zeng Li's face had turned red at this time.

"Lizi, I will become a big director in the future, and then make you the most famous actor in the entire Chinese-speaking world!"

"Well, I believe you!"

"Let me take you back to the dormitory first."

Liu Zhou also wanted to let Zeng Li sleep here, but it was just a thought.

On the way back to school, the two of them were a little silent, probably because they had just confirmed their relationship. Only their tightly held hands showed their relationship.

PS: You should have seen in the previous video that Zeng Li will be the heroine. I chose her not because I followed the trend, but because I really think she is very beautiful and I like her more.

This time I have the opportunity to write an article about Chinese entertainment, which can fulfill my fantasy.

I am a single guy and have been single for a long time. The last time I was in love was when I was in college, so I don’t have much experience in relationships.

Therefore, I am not good at writing about emotional content, so please be gentle with your criticism when writing.

(End of this chapter)