Chapter Twenty-Two: Whispered Warmth

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Promotion.
Mainly autograph sessions and fan meetings. He participated in two live radio shows and recorded two programs for TVB—the results were almost immediately impressive.

Lin Jianlu is tall with handsome, strong features, and carries an inexplicable sharpness about him. Even just printed on posters and album covers, he draws attention. When his MV first aired in Hong Kong, the song was good, and he was handsome, yet he hadn’t even come to promote it himself. “Cold to the Core” instantly became a hit.

Now that he’s here in person, three consecutive autograph sessions were packed to capacity. The crowds were even more overwhelming than in Taiwan, at one point requiring police to maintain order to prevent chaos.

What surprised people was that at the fan meetings, the audience was nearly evenly split between men and women, not dominated overwhelmingly by female fans as was expected. This showed that Lin Jianlu was popular even among male fans, not just relying on female fans as some had worried.

After every song, regardless of gender, fans screamed and shouted excitedly. The atmosphere was so lively that as soon as the performance ended, Zhang Aijia couldn’t help but say to Lin Jianlu, “I think you could hold a concert right now!”

In short, the response was overwhelmingly positive.

Following this, Lin Jianlu’s daily schedule began appearing on the front pages of numerous Hong Kong newspapers, with many tabloids even giving him top headlines.

On April 11, the MV for “Ten Years” officially began filming.

Thus, Lin Jianlu met the “perfectionist” Wang Jing.

Old habits die hard, though—in fact, the filming pace was still very fast. But with more time and a bigger budget, Wang Jing was more demanding about the sets and actors’ performances, often willing to discard takes after multiple retakes. For example, a kissing scene was shot eleven times before it was approved, and by the last takes, Liang Yongqi’s face was noticeably redder.

Lin Jianlu quietly asked Wang Jing about it, and Wang Jing winked, “No big deal! A few rolls of film aren’t as important as picking up girls. This tall girl is really pretty! We’re all friends here, no need to thank me!” Lin Jianlu couldn’t help but laugh and feel a little exasperated.

But Wang Jing himself had indeed started to have some thoughts—this was the first time since he had crossed over that the idea of “marrying Fei Yuan Bing Tian and living a good life with the five of us” had wavered slightly in his mind.

Not a joke, nor a trivial thought, he was genuinely beginning to seriously consider whether he should start a romantic relationship first—Liang Yongqi was really beautiful! Her personality was great too, not just seemingly pure on the surface, but genuinely innocent!

What if he couldn’t win Fei Yuan Bing Tian in the future?

Waiting and waiting only to be left empty-handed, and meanwhile, the beauty here already had a partner—thanks to what?

After much thought, he decided not to plan this for now—he was starting to feel homesick, wanted to return to the capital, and now that he was financially free, he intended to finish this round of promotion methodically and then go home.

Liang Yongqi was tempting, but after all, not as tempting as the sauce-braised pork from Tianfu Hao.

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What if he really got involved here, would he have to stay and date here?

Unexpectedly, the day after the MV wrapped, Liang Yongqi proactively called Lin Jianlu’s phone. “Brother Lu, are you free today? You probably haven’t gone shopping around Hong Kong yet. Want to go shopping? I’ll accompany you. Plus, I can keep teaching you Cantonese.”

Lin Jianlu waved over Lin Xilei, signaling her to bring the new schedule. After a quick glance, he replied, “I’m busy in the morning. I have to attend an event later—a commercial gig, making money! Lunch is on me?”

“Alright! But I’m paying!”

So at 11:30 a.m., they met at a Western restaurant inside a building.

Zhang Aijia had returned to Taiwan, but Ge Fuhong was staying here for a long time. The Hong Kong promotions were nearly done, and after discussing it with Ge Fuhong, Lin Jianlu planned to take on a few commercial events here before going to Southeast Asia. Today was the first.

He opened a brand’s commercial fashion show by performing and walking the runway, lasting about ten minutes total, earning 200,000 Hong Kong dollars. After a 10% agent commission, he still pocketed 180,000 Hong Kong dollars—he was really popular now!

Hong Kong is a tiny place with a highly developed entertainment industry, but with the population size, selling 25,000 copies of an album is considered gold, 50,000 copies platinum. Even the Four Heavenly Kings and the legendary music battle between Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung ten years ago only managed sales of around 600,000 copies—about one-tenth of Hong Kong’s total population. Even for the Four Heavenly Kings, surpassing 100,000 copies was very difficult.

For example, Wang Fei, who rose to the top in ’93, holds the record for highest album sales in Hong Kong with “double platinum,” which means over 100,000 copies but apparently not over 150,000, or it would have been called “triple platinum.”

As a newcomer, Lin Jianlu’s “Cold to the Core” sold over 240,000 copies in just one month, with a real chance of breaking 500,000 copies—enough to rival Jacky Cheung’s classic “Goodbye Kiss.”

Moreover, almost none of the Four Heavenly Kings dared to walk the runway due to their height limitations!

More precisely, male stars in Hong Kong rarely walk the runway, no matter how handsome, because it would expose their shortcomings—but Lin Jianlu had no problem at all.

The brand was interested in his handsome yet rugged image. Ge Fuhong, his longtime agent, negotiated a high price right away. After the show, pleased with the outcome, the brand’s promoter scheduled a tea meeting with Ge Fuhong while Lin Jianlu was out having a date with Liang Yongqi.

It was a French suit brand with markets in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. The name was hard to pronounce but sounded like “Fui Long” in Cantonese.

No matter that, the date was more important.

“That’s not it. People mainly watched the film because of Liu Dehua! But the director shot the story well, so the box office did well. I just got to enjoy the cake! Mostly because Sister Ge is so strong, and I’m a newcomer!”

“Hmm, it’s going to be a Cantonese album. The company is still gathering songs for me.”

“No worries. If I ever make a Mandarin album, I’ll definitely ask you for songs! Or if the company gets lyrics without melodies, I’ll have you compose for me!”

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“No, no, say it with me: mou ah! Mou... Ah, you’re doing it on purpose!”

“Recent movies? Yes, there’s one. ‘Young and Dangerous’ is still showing, hasn’t finished screening yet. That movie is really popular, everyone in Hong Kong is talking about it. Want to go watch it together?”

Of course, he wanted to go!

In his previous life, by the time Lin Jianlu grew up enough to understand and love films, “Young and Dangerous” had long passed its prime. But the film had influenced a whole generation and had many fans online. Later, in university, Lin Jianlu watched all the “Young and Dangerous” movies he could find in one sitting.

Now, he actually had a chance to see it in a theater again—he definitely wanted to go.

So during lunch, he called Ge Fuhong to ask where the movie was still playing. After eating, the two chatted and laughed as they took a taxi to the cinema, discreetly covering half their faces, bought tickets, and entered the screening room.

According to Liang Yongqi, Lin Jianlu learned that this was actually a manga adaptation. The original manga of the same name had been released in late January. The movie was about to finish its run but had already made over 20 million in box office revenue.

Even near the end of its run, there were still around a dozen people in the theater. No wonder it stayed in cinemas for over two months—the film market was in a traditional off-season now.

The movie wasn’t particularly good or bad; for Lin Jianlu, it was more like revisiting old memories.

Liang Yongqi had probably seen it before, frequently leaning over to whisper explanations about character relationships and many well-known Hong Kong gang rules.

Her whispers were soft and warm, her breath fragrant.

It was tough for her—this clearly wasn’t the type of film she loved, yet she accompanied him through the whole thing. Although, it was hard to say whether she was really watching the movie or watching him, as she often turned her head to stare blankly at him. But she was indeed keeping him company!

When the movie ended and they came out, she seemed to feel she had taken up too much of Lin Jianlu’s time and felt shy to suggest dinner. During a short walk, she couldn’t help but ask, “I often see your assistant on set. She’s so pretty... Does she follow you around every day?”

“Huh? Oh, no. She’s actually one of Sister Ge’s artists. She doesn’t have other work at the moment, so she’s temporarily my assistant. She’s an actress.”

“Oh... no wonder! She’s so pretty!”

Lin Jianlu stopped and turned to look at her, unable to help but smile.

She suddenly blushed.