Sitting on the outdoor chairs of a coffee shop in the eastern commercial district was a man with broad shoulders, long legs, and a handsome face. He wore sunglasses, a khaki-colored Thom Browne jacket with matching black casual pants from the same brand, and a pair of gray and white Valentino sneakers on his feet. His temperament was clean and gentle, as if he were not a customer who came to drink coffee, but a celebrity who came to shoot an advertisement. Such a scene was rare in the small county town, and people frequently turned their heads to look at someone so eye-catching. While amazed, they couldn’t help but sigh that it would be perfect if only the dog in his backpack could resemble its owner even a little bit.
Ah Chou had never been to such a place and was excitedly lying against the transparent panel, mouth open, greedily admiring modern civilization.
Quan Zirong came over yawning, and when he inadvertently caught sight of the dog in the bag, his yawn was cut short halfway through.
“What’s going on? I told you to go to the provincial capital to find a girlfriend—how did you bring back a dog?”
He looked up at his close friend. Over a month ago, Chen An had been dejected and dispirited, running away for love. But the Chen An before him now had swept away the gloom of that day, with bright and clear spirits showing at the corners of his eyes and brows.
Sure enough, his bone-scraping therapy, though cruel, had been very effective.
Quan Zirong pulled out his cigarette pack and offered a cigarette to Chen An. Chen An waved his hand and said haughtily, “I quit. My girlfriend doesn’t like it.”
Quan Zirong lit one for himself. “Holy shit, you really got a girlfriend! Truly, if you keep thinking about something, there will be a response. You see, I’ve been checking in with you every day for a while now—how about it, you succeeded in your pursuit, didn’t you? Have you discovered that the world outside is actually quite wonderful? When will you let me meet your girlfriend?”
Chen An said, “No problem. In fact, I came to see you today about my girlfriend’s business.”
Quan Zirong took a drag on his cigarette. “If it’s about my sister-in-law, then it’s my business too. Go ahead and tell me—whatever I can do, I’ll do it. Consider it a meeting gift.”
Chen An said, “Can you rent me that small plaza next to the cinema?”
“Why are you bringing up that crappy cinema of yours again?” Quan Zirong frowned with dissatisfaction. “I’ve told you, don’t keep going on about this—” He paused for a few seconds. “Your so-called girlfriend wouldn’t happen to be Cheng Lele, would it?”
Chen An calmly took a sip of his coffee, but the smile at the corners of his eyes was dazzling. Quan Zirong’s mouth fell open, and he silently mouthed a few curse words before calming down. “Doesn’t Cheng Lele have that bar boyfriend?”
“He’s not her boyfriend.”
“That’s not right. Weren’t the two of them very affectionate? What with the tattoo and the gifts.”
Chen An’s face showed displeasure as he said decisively, “In any case, they’re not.”
Quan Zirong thought of the aggressive WeChat message he had recently sent to Cheng Lele and said with a headache, “Then I wish you success in seeing the moon through the clouds. Let’s continue with the main business.”
Chen An then briefly described a public welfare investment plan based on increasing foot traffic to Star Cinema.
Star Cinema now had improved somewhat compared to when he first took it over, but constrained by the disparate commercial environment and hardware conditions, it was difficult to compete with Ocean Cinema on equal footing. Not long ago, when he went to the haunted house—which was similarly located in a remote area with poor surrounding commercial activity—Chen An discovered that despite the shop owners harvesting customers like leeks with utter ruthlessness, the scene was still crowded with people, indicating that in Taixi, young people still had too few entertainment options.
This gave him some inspiration.
He planned to create a film-related internet-famous cultural attraction near Star Cinema. In that small plaza, he would build a fully transparent film museum with a more lively style, exhibiting projection equipment, film figurines, and posters. The small open space in front could regularly show classic outdoor films. Although the scale was small, it wouldn’t charge admission fees, so it should be able to guarantee foot traffic and create effective synergy with Star Cinema.
Chen An said, “As for the specific attraction development, I’ll find someone experienced in this area to plan it out. Then I’ll send you a detailed business plan, and you can help me build a bridge with the relevant authorities. I can go explain it myself in person.”
After hearing this, Quan Zirong’s headache grew worse. “Chen An, even if you rent it now, you can only rent it for a year or two at most. Plus it’s public welfare in nature, so when demolition comes, there’ll be no compensation money. Cheng Lele doesn’t understand the situation and is making a fuss—why are you joining in this nonsense?”
Chen An frowned. “Are you certain it will be demolished?”
Quan Zirong said, “Nine out of ten chances.”
Ah Chou was getting a bit impatient staying in the bag and began mischievously patting the glass panel. Chen An stood up. “You arrange it for me.”
Quan Zirong said, “Aren’t you an investor? Is there any investor like you who’s single-mindedly doing losing business?”
Chen An said, “No matter how terrible or shabby the cinema is, it’s something my Lele preserved with her blood and sweat, almost like her child. As a stepfather, I’m actually not being very diligent, so if I can make it up to her, I should make it up a little. As for demolition, since there’s still a 10% possibility it won’t be demolished, I’ll just take that gamble.”
Quan Zirong looked up. “You know what happened in the end to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang who sent lychees from a thousand miles away, and King You of Zhou who lit the beacon fires to amuse his consort, right?”
Chen An was displeased. “Quan Zirong, I’ve noticed you have a very deep prejudice against Lele. She’s not like Bao Si or Yang Guifei at all. She’s a career-oriented strong woman—in the future, I’m going to rely on her to be a kept man.”
Quan Zirong made a gesture to leave. “I’m leaving, leaving. If I listen any longer, my ears will bleed.”
After walking two steps, he came back. “You didn’t leash this dog at home but deliberately brought it out to show me, and now you’re talking about children and stepfathers—you came here to show off on purpose, didn’t you?”
Under the intense sunlight, Chen An smiled and said, “Ah, you only just figured that out?” Then, holding up Ah Chou, he said, “Ah Chou, say bye-bye to uncle.”
“Damn.”