I Really Didn’t Want to Be Famous - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Young Man, Why Didn’t You Call Me?

Translator: Lordbluefire

Editor: Lordbluefire

Shen Lianjie had everything Lu Yuan dreamed of.

Family background, status, identity, authority, and…

Beautiful girls.

This world was unfair. Some people had everything since their birth and could enjoy life, but the others had to suffer for more than half of their lives, yet they were still in desperate financial straits. Their lives were extremely frugal, and their lives were concluded sloppily.

Shen Lianjie and Lu Yuan were two different types of people.

The sounds of the piano rang out again from the first floor. This music piece produced an elegant and light melody.

Naturally, the pianist wasn’t Zhou Yao. She was substituted by a bespectacled young woman.

Zhou Yao had already left the coffeehouse with complicated emotions. It was clear that she wasn’t in a good mood.

Maybe, that could be considered a beautiful understanding but no matter what, she was slightly upset by Lu Yuan’s words.

Humans would always crave the approval of experts. She also craved for his recognition. When she started asking Lu Yuan to give her an evaluation, she already showed how much she craved for it.

Sadly, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

She didn’t obtain recognition from Lu Yuan. But luckily, despite being depressed, she also felt enlightened.

She felt that Lu Yuan was right.

She was indeed… still not up to the mark.

“Director Lu, it’s an honor to meet you at last.”

“Director Shen, it’s an honor to meet you at last.”

This was the first time Lu Yuan formally met Shen Lianjie. Regardless of how much jealousy he felt toward Shen Lianjie in his heart, he still maintained a smile as passionate as the spring wind on his face.

He was so fake that he was like a pimp collecting money from a customer.

Shen Lianjie was also smiling, but his smile was much more sincere than Lu Yuan.

One could see that his acting skill was superior to Lu Yuan.

After Shen Lianjie glanced at Lu Yuan’s dressing, he roughly knew Lu Yuan’s level. After he politely exchanged a few greetings, he no longer glanced at Lu Yuan.

From his perspective, Lu Yuan was just an insignificant character.

He wouldn’t take him seriously.

In fact, even his words ‘Director Lu’ and ‘honored to meet’ were just perfunctory.

A movie with merely an $800,000 investment, a ‘blocked’ male idol as the lead, and a nameless director…what sort of wave could they cause?

It was a problem whether it could be screened in the end or not. There was no need to mention anything about whether this movie could trump his.

Hence, it was impossible for Lu Yuan to be an existence that he would pay attention to.

Lu Yuan knew that Shen Lianjie only had a disregard for him, but his emotions were very calm. There were no waves at all.

The two of them were irrelevant parallel lines originally. Even if their paths crossed, it would only be for a brief duration.

In the future, the distance between them would grow further and further apart. The paths they took would also be completely different.

Hence, it was enough to only say some perfunctory words.

By doing so, everyone would have face.

Like this, things weren’t bad at all.

Quietly drinking coffee while occasionally listening to the piano piece, Lu Yuan felt that this wasn’t bad at all. He continued to ponder over the decoration and design of his future restaurant.

“If you need money, why don’t you come and help me out? There’s a lot of work needed for the latter phase of [Capital City]. You are Liu Tingting’s friend, so I can trust you.” Shen Lianjie didn’t bother with Lu Yuan. He ordered a kopi luwak and sipped it as he calmly looked at Fatty Wei.

“I’m living very well, there’s no need for such a big-name director like you to care about it. As to whether you can trust me or not, it doesn’t have anything to do with anybody. This is especially so for those irrelevant people!” A sense of loathing could be seen in the depths of Fatty Wei’s eyes, as well as a trace of pain.

He was doing his best not to look at the elegant girl beside Shen Lianjie, treating this girl like thin air. His fists were clenched tightly to the point of trembling.

‘Youth is always beautiful and falling out of love is always painful.

Youthfulness has disappeared.

Some people have disappeared as well.

They would never come back.’

He suddenly felt extremely emotional with regard to Lu Yuan’s [Old Boy].

After that, he decided to let go.

“Wuji, stop messing around. I know I was in the wrong for some things, but you cannot succumb to despair! You cannot treat your dreams and ambitions as food. Because of our past, I decided to ask Director Shen to help you…”

“Succumb to despair? When did I ever do that? What qualifications do you have to evaluate me?” Fatty Wei took in a deep breath. Despite his bloodshot eyes, his smile was still one of carefreeness when he looked at Liu Tingting.

“By filming such a movie, are you not doing so?!” Liu Tingting stared at Fatty Wei, unwilling to show any weakness.

“What do you mean by ‘such a movie’, have you seen the script before?” The smile on Fatty Wei’s face completely disappeared. It was replaced by a trace of gloominess.

“Although I’ve not seen the script before, a movie with only $800,000 in funding won’t be a good movie! You are too idealized, which is also the reason why I left you. It’s impossible for you to have any achievements in your entire lifetime. Back then, I was truly blinded!” Liu Tingting hugged her chest with her hands. Her tone became harsh and filled with criticism.

“Oh, you mean the reason why you left me wasn’t because you saw his resources and wealth? Oh, maybe it was his handsome appearance and glib tongue?” Fatty Wei couldn’t bear it anymore and he stood up.

That pride of his was provoked. His chest heaved up and down unceasingly, and his emotions were akin to waves.

“Wuji, don’t be angry. Today, I arranged for us to meet for coffee, and I don’t have any intentions of quarreling with you. I just want to give you an opportunity.” Shen Lianjie was initially drowning but after that, he gradually regained his calmness and revealed a gentleman-like smile that resembled the spring wind!

“I accepted your invitation today because I also wanted to give you an opportunity. Our production crews lack a driver. Your driving skill isn’t bad, and I feel that you are very suitable. How about coming to help me out?” Fatty Wei stared at Shen Lianjie. He suppressed the flames of anger in his heart as he smiled mockingly.

“You…” Shen Lianjie’s gaze became gloomy. His smile also disappeared.

“Brother Shen, I already said your good intentions won’t be appreciated. Some people simply don’t have good insight and also don’t know how to grab hold of opportunities. Let’s leave.” Liu Tingting glanced at Fatty Wei with some anger in her eyes.

“Hehe! Opportunity?” Fatty Wei coldly laughed. He was about to go full outburst, yet he didn’t expect that Lu Yuan would suddenly kick him.

“Everyone, I feel that since we are drinking coffee, we should just drink it harmoniously. It isn’t good to spoil the friendly atmosphere.” Lu Yuan revealed a radiant smile. His tone of voice was calm as he finished the blue mountain coffee. His mood seemed very mild, and he was so relaxed that he even lit up a cigarette in the passing.

All his actions looked so natural.

“Correct. It’s still this friend of yours who has foresight. Brother Shen, let’s leave. I heard that Teacher Chen is in Hengdian for these few days. How about visiting him? After all, something like a good soundtrack requires a lot of effort. We shouldn’t waste our time on any Tom, Dick, or Harry.” Liu Tingting stood up and shook her head in disgust. She couldn’t stand Fatty Wei’s attitude and the smell of smoke from Lu Yuan.

(A low-class person with no quality.)

She cursed inside.

“Mn, Director Lu. You guys take your time to drink, just order what you want and put it on my tab.” Shen Lianjie stood up and nodded at Lu Yuan. He appeared to be full of warmth and that spring-like smile was still on his face. In fact, he acted so elegantly that he also made Liu Tingting hug his arm, making him look like a cultured person.

“Take care, I won’t send you off!” Fatty Wei also lit up a cigarette and coldly replied.

“Mn, you guys slowly drink. It’ll be my treat.”

“Mn, alright.” Lu Yuan smiled radiantly as he watched their departing backs. He wasn’t angered or moody at all.

And at this moment…

“Oh yes! I will tell you this. Whenever your [Capital City] is screened, my [Buried] will start screening too!” said Fatty Wei suddenly.

“Oh? I wish you good luck!”

“Bang!”

After the two left, Fatty Wei finished his coffee in a single gulp before ruthlessly slamming the cup onto the table. He looked extremely angry.

“A`Yuan, why did you stop me earlier?”

“I didn’t.”

“Why didn’t you let me curse that girl properly?”

“You are a man, are you really going to argue incessantly with a woman? Didn’t you see that Shen Lianjie was the one dictating everything from the start?”

“You…you have no idea. That woman, she…she…”

“Indeed, I have no idea. But don’t you feel that Shen Lianjie is a master at posturing? He was completely at ease as though he was watching a comedy show play out.”

“So what?”

“If this was a confrontation. You would have lost, and so miserably at that. At the very least, in terms of being cultured.”

“At this time, why would I still care about being cultured? I…”

“Alright, why are you so angry? We are all people with culture. Do you understand? You might be ridiculed now, so you should just remember this and smack his face harshly in the future. The more you are mocked, the heavier your smack would be!”

“Right, I want to smack his face! Wrong, pui! A`Yuan, you are less cultured than me! I thought we agreed not to smoke here?”

“Nonsense, I’ve always been very cultured. Right now, I don’t believe you don’t want to order some of the most expensive coffees. We will drink what we can and pour away those we can’t. After that, we will place everything on Shen Lianjie’s tab. We will order so much until he began to doubt his life.”

“What? I didn’t have such a thought!”

“Waitress, get him 20 cups of kopi luwak…”

“20 cups? When did I ever think of…wait a minute…you are saying…?”

“I didn’t say anything. I’m a very cultured and elegant person; hence, I have to drink the most expensive drink. Since someone wants to posture before us, we naturally have to collect some interest!”

“Damn! I want 40 cups!”

Their gazes matched, filled with understanding. But at this moment, the sounds of hurried footsteps rang out from outside.

“Ah? Teacher Chen? What are you doing here? I originally still wanted to visit you…”

“Oh, Little Shen? It has been a long time since we met.”

“Yes. Teacher Chen, are you free tonight? I wish to treat you…”

“Oh, I’m a little busy tonight. I have to meet someone.”

“Ah? Who is it?”

“A young man overflowing with talent.”

“Eh, in that case how about I accompany you?”

“Sure.”

Fatty Wei and Lu Yuan had a nasty smile on their faces. Just when they were prepared to call for the waitress, the curtain to their private room was drawn open.

“Young man, didn’t I leave behind my number and tell you to call me? Why didn’t you do so?”

“???”

When Lu Yuan saw the old man who suddenly entered, the smile on his face froze.

(Who is this old man?)

(What’s the meaning of this.)

Shen Lianjie was startled…

(What’s going on?)

Fatty Wei was also dumbfounded.

???