Lu Beichuan was very patient. “Daddy, too, wants to see a paper plane made by Zhouzhou. Zhouzhou make one for Daddy, eh?”

Zhouzhou looked into Lu Beichuan’s eyes and said, intimidated, “But… but didn’t Daddy say I am not allowed to make paper planes anymore?”

Lu Beichuan showed Zhouzhou both sides of the piece of paper. “Look, there’s nothing printed on either side of this piece of paper, right?”

Zhouzhou nodded.

“Then it is alright.” He then placed another piece of paper in front of Zhouzhou. “Look at this one. This has words printed on both sides of it, right?”

Zhouzhou nodded.

“Then you can’t make it into paper planes, do you understand?”

Zhouzhou looked back and forth between the two sheets of paper and suddenly got it. He grabbed the piece of paper that was blank and said, “This one has no words on it. I can make it into a plane!”

“That’s right, no words.” Lu Beichuan held both of his hands and taught him patiently how to fold a very beautiful plane. “Look, this one is made by Zhouzhou.”

Looking at the beautiful paper plane laying there in front of him, Zhouzhou shouted, “Zhouzhou is awesome!”

“That’s right. Zhouzhou is awesome. This paper plane is so pretty, what say you give that to Daddy?”

Zhouzhou handed the paper plane over to Lu Beichuan generously. He had a big smile on him, very different from his cautiousness from not too long ago. “This one is for Daddy!”

Lu Beichuan took the plane.

Zhouzhou looked carefully over at Lu Beichuan and said in a low voice, “Then… don’t be mad any more, Daddy? You will like Zhouzhou again?”

Lu Beichuan wrapped his arms around Zhouzhou and planted a kiss on his forehead.

Zhouzhou shuddered. Mommy had kissed him, grandma had kissed him, even grandpa had kissed him before, but Daddy never did.

This was a new level of intimacy between him and Lu Beichuan. “Daddy?”

“Daddy always likes Zhouzhou,” said Lu Beichuan. “You are Daddy’s son. Daddy will love Zhouzhou forever.”

Zhouzhou pouted and refused to let go of Lu Beichuan. His eyes teared up and he looked at him in an accusatory way. “It hurt so much when you spanked me yesterday, Daddy. Zhouzhou was all red.”

Lu Beichuan didn’t believe in spoiling children, but looking at Zhouzhou, he felt that perhaps Mother Lu was right. Zhouzhou was only 2 years old, it was okay to spoil him a little.

“Daddy is sorry that he spanked you yesterday. He will never do that again, okay?”

“Okay!”

Lu Beichuan carried Zhouzhou into his own room and Zhouzhou held onto him all night long. Ye Zhen was so mad that she gave him a smack on Zhouzhou’s butt and called him ungrateful.

Of course, the paper plane that Zhouzhou had given to Lu Beichuan stayed on Lu Beichuan’s bookshelf, always.

***

The harsh winter came and went quickly, and everybody changed into their spring clothing. Zhouzhou had turned 3 years old. With his backpack on his back, he was taken by Ye Zhen and Mother Lu to the international kindergarten that their entire family had spent a lot of time picking out.

Zhouzhou had no concept about kindergarten. All he knew was that there were many children his age that he could play with.

As such, he stepped into the kindergarten holding onto the teacher’s hand in a valiant and gallant manner. Nevertheless, when he turned around, he saw his mother and grandmother still standing outside of the kindergarten.

“Mommy, Grandma, c’mon in!” He waved hopingly at the two of them. Nevertheless, he saw that his mother and grandmother remained outside of the entrance.

He looked up at the teacher, baffled. “Why aren’t Mommy and Grandma coming inside?”

His teacher squatted down to look him in the eyes and explained to him, “Zhouzhou, your mommy and grandma won’t be staying here with you. They will be back in the afternoon to pick you up. You will stay here and play with all the other kids here. Do you understand? There are many kids here at the kindergarten!”

Zhouzhou took a look at the kindergarten that was bustling with noises, then at Ye Zhen and Mother Lu outside of the kindergarten entrance and kicked a pebble with his foot.

Seeing him like that, the teacher was worried all over again.

All children, when they first came to the kindergarten, would always cry their eyes out when they parted with their parents. The first few days were always difficult.

This teacher had worked with many children before and had an idea that kids from family like Zhouzhou’s were very doted on and were particularly difficult to work with.

She was about to comfort him a little more when laughter came from the direction of the classrooms. Zhouzhou’s eyes beamed. He bounced. Grabbing onto the teacher's hand, he couldn’t wait to run toward the classrooms. He said to her excitedly, “Teacher, teacher. Let’s hurry up!”

Ye Zhen and Mother Lu were still standing by the front door with their teary eyes. This was Zhouzhou’s first day attending kindergarten, and his first time being away from his family. They figured he would cry and fuss. Mother Lu even had her comforting words prepared.

Little did she know, she hadn’t even had the chance to wipe her tears away before the unconscientious Zhouzhou grabbed the teacher’s hand and started running toward the classrooms, having not a care toward the two of them still standing by the entrance.

Mother Lu wiped her tears away as she smiled and said, “This little unconscientious thing!”

Ye Zhen smiled helplessly. This child…

That being said, Ye Zhen and Mother Lu were very relieved that Zhouzhou was able to adapt into a new environment so well.

April came quickly after March.

The first showing of Ye Zhen’s first movie was right around the corner. Chaoxun Entertainment paid a lot of attention to this. This was, after all, their first attempt at breaking into the entertainment circle. Whether they were successful or not would depend on the box office and word of mouth.

Naturally, the advertisements for Shen Weiyin’s The Ultimate Battle were also seen all over the place.

The amazing fight scenes, the incredible weapons and vehicles, and the mention of twists in the movie plot in the trailers perfectly piqued the audiences’ curiosity.

Many audiences were impressed the moment they saw the trailer and couldn’t wait till the day the movie was in theaters.

The media were invited to watch the movie a week before it was in theaters. All of the media that were invited wrote long reviews and raved about The Ultimate Battle. They praised it as the future of domestic films and that both its post-production effects and overall 3D effects were among the top in the industry.

According to the media, their special effects were almost as good as Hollywood’s.

With that from the media, the anticipation from the audiences went up even more.

On the other hand, the media were invited to Qinhuai’s Riverbank 4 days prior. The media who had attended the event remained silent afterward. There were neither praises nor criticisms, as though the entire event had never taken place.

That was a strange sight. Naturally, this attracted quite a bit of attention. Many mocked that Qinhuai's Riverbank was so bad that the media refused to even talk about it. They told others to not waste their money.

Many agreed with that tune.

April 29, both Qinhuai's Riverbank and The Ultimate Battle were in theaters on the same day.

Naturally, The Ultimate Battle, with its advertisement and anticipation from its fans, had its tickets sold out on the first midnight showing. Many netizens streamed the movie on Weibo and many waited online to see it.

Compared to The Ultimate Battle, Qinhuai's Riverbank’s box office was pitiful, having almost no viewers at their midnight showing. The few who had bought tickets only did that for the sake of seeing exactly how awful the movie was.

The Ultimate Battle’s box office exceeded 100 million yuan on day one.

Qinhuai's Riverbank brought in a measly 5 million yuan.

Even after an entire day, The Ultimate Battle’s box office crushed that of Qinhuai's Riverbank's.

When Director Ning Yang found out about their box office on day one, he gave Ye Zhen a call immediately and expressed how sorry he was to have disappointed the Lu Corporation after their investment and nurturing.

Ye Zhen, on the other hand, scrolled through Weibo and said with a smile, “Director Ning, you are jumping to conclusions too quickly. Why don’t you take a look at Weibo first?”

Ning Yang was taken aback a little and immediately opened up Weibo.

The box offices of the two movies were a stark contrast as was their reviews from their viewers.

Many of those who had seen The Ultimate Battle ranted that the movie was garbage. They said that all of its essence was included in the trailer, and the entire movie made no sense. The supporting characters had great acting, but the director’s reputation in the field had been ruined by this movie.

Many of the netizens angrily scolded the film critics who had raved about this movie. They said the critics only raved about the movie because they were paid to do so and wasted their time and money.

They were as disappointed as they were hopeful for the movie.

At the same time, some film critics on Qinhuai's Riverbank began to surface.

Many of the fans, who went to watch the movie only to see how bad it was, said they cried so much that they had gone through two bags of tissues, and they apologized for bashing the movie in the past.

Many of the film critics that were invited to watch the movie ahead of time explained why they didn’t write about it sooner.

“I finished writing my review within 30 minutes after I had finished watching the movie. However, Ms. Ye, the producer, insisted that I remain silent until the release of the movie. As such, I had never said a word about it. It had been four days since I had finished the movie now, and I continued to feel emotional about it. I can’t believe that this was a movie made by a young director and a young producer. I am very grateful that they brought this movie to us. Thank you.”

More negative criticism on The Ultimate Battle and positive ones on Qinhuai's Riverbank’s continued to mount.

Many felt that the positive reviews were nothing but water army hired by Ye Zhen, but there were also those who walked into a theater with doubts in their mind. As such, the box office began growing out of control.

Audiences are not idiots. Nobody wanted to spend their money to watch a movie that was nothing but a big waste of time.

The Ultimate Battle had a massive amount of advertisement at the early stage and their showy scenes rivaled those from Hollywood. Those from the media raved about it after the first viewing, and they were short of saying that this movie had set a new milestone for domestic films. These advertisements had drummed up the audiences’ expectations for this movie. Nevertheless, when they actually stepped foot inside of the theaters, they were presented with just a mediocre movie, meeting barely half of the audiences’ expectations. This made them feel very discontent.

They had nothing good to say about the move after the huge letdown.

Contrarily, Qinhuai's Riverbank only had normal advertisements before the show date, and none from the media talked about it ahead of them. That and with the water army talking down about the movie made the audiences have no expectation at all when they went to see the movie. In fact, many went to see how bad it really was.

Many internet influencers posted a few messages on Weibo some 10 or so minutes before the start of the movie, and then nothing else until the two-hour movie was over.

“OMG!!!!! I was so wrong!!!!!! I am kneeling down to the director!!!!!! Couldn’t you have said something beforehand so I could at least bring some tissues with me?! I’m a guy and this was the first time I cried like a dog at a theater. That was so embarrassing!! What an amazing movie! Qinhuai's Riverbank was truly great. I felt that I had still come out ahead even after my investment of money, time, and tears! A friendly reminder: Bring enough tissues with you!!!”

After the launch, reviews on Qinhuai's Riverbank came pouring in on the internet, all of them positive. Its rating on a specific social network site had already reached 9.1.

Naturally, they were still those who were skeptical and didn’t care for the movie.

On the launch date of the movie, the box office for The Ultimate Battle exceeded 100 million yuan. That of Qinhuai's Riverbank only reached 5 million yuan.

Day two, The Ultimate Battle’s daily box office was 50 million and Qinhuai's Riverbank’s was 30 million.

On day three, the first day of the long weekend, The Ultimate Battle’s daily box office was 35 million when Qinhuai's Riverbank's was 90 million.

On the fourth day, The Ultimate Battle’s daily box office was 40 million and Qinhuai's Riverbank’s was 150 million.

While The Ultimate Battle’s box office continued to decline, Qinhuai's Riverbank’s, on the other hand, had completely flipped to the other end and became the biggest dark horse.

Positive reviews on Qinhuai's Riverbank came flooding in. Attentive netizens raved about every detail from the story plot to post-production and from lighting to costumes. It was said that the production team was a considerate one and that Chaoxun Entertainment was a considerate company. For sure they were willing to spend money on these details.

Both the box offices and reviews of Qinhuai's Riverbank had flipped 180 degrees toward the end.

As the box offices and word of mouth for The Ultimate Battle continued to decline, many fans found it difficult to remain silent any further. They started buying tickets and went back to the movies 3 ~ 4 times and hired as many water armies as they could afford. They were able to up the rating on the specific social network site from 6.7 to 8.0 and filled the screen with fake positive reviews in order to bring up their rating. That, however, did not do much good.

Many comments from before stating that Qinhuai's Riverbank would be crushed by The Ultimate Battle were dug back out by the netizens. There were reasonable ones who had apologized but then there were also those who maintained that they were right. Those who maintained their positions were bashed repeatedly until they were silenced.

The Ultimate Battle ended with declining box office. For a director that was renowned domestically and internationally and a well-known cast, this was a flop.

Qinhuai's Riverbank’s box office past 100 million. As a young director’s very first work and a cast that nobody had heard of, this was certainly the first underdog this year.

Ning Yang vomited a few times during the celebratory dinner of Qinhuai's Riverbank,

He toasted every one in turn order. He was still drinking when he was already stumbling around and had to be supported by others. Finally, he looked at Ye Zhen with his reddened eyes.

“In the past, everybody made fun of me because I was short. People asked me why I bother getting into acting school to become an actor. When I switched gears to become a director, people told me that I had no talent and would never make it in my lifetime! Now look! I have made it! Nobody would call me a shorty to my face anymore!”

Having said that, he wiped away the tears on his face and downed the contents in his glass.

Ye Zhen also downed her glass. She was genuinely happy for Ning Yang's success today.

As the box office continued to grow, the amazing acting of the lead and supporting characters was also out there for all to see. The male and female leads in particular.

Guan Ming, who was barely heard of before now, became the most talked about actor today and earned himself quite a bit of fans from his performance in the movie. Many from the media recognized his acting. His agent was now flooded with scripts from all over. Meng Jie, who had laid low for the last four years, walked in front of the audience once again. Her fans from four years ago were very emotional that they could finally see the day when she got back into acting.

All of the characters in the movie that were present toasted Ye Zhen. Toward the end, all of them were drunk. Ning Yang, who could barely walk, had fallen asleep on the couch where he was placed. Ye Zhen was stumbling as well. She could barely see straight. She was just about to pull her phone out and call the chauffeur when she tripped. She was steadied by a pair of strong arms when she was about to fall.

Ye Zhen looked up through her drunken eyes and found herself looking into a pair of profound eyes.

The eyes were familiar. She could only see her own eyes.

“Boss Lu…” The one who was still sober quickly put down his glass.

Lu Beichuan looked around and had a very different opinion about this unrestrained celebration, but in the end, he did not comment on it. He only let the hotel workers know to help all of the guests to hotel rooms for the night before he carried Ye Zhen, who was already asleep, from the hotel.

Ye Zhen drank quite a bit. Her face was beet red, and she was burning up. She did not remain nicely in Lu Beichuan’s arms. She said she was hot and wanted to take off her clothes, then she covered up her mouth and said she was about to vomit. Finally, on their way back, she abruptly vomited all over Lu Beichuan.

Lu Beichuan’s assistant, who was sitting in the passenger seat, heard the ruckus. He couldn’t really tell what his boss looked like in the dimness of the car. He could only pass him the tissue and roll down the window.

Lu Beichuan saw the vomit on himself and looked awful. Then, looking back over at Ye Zhen and saw how sick she was feeling, he sighed helplessly. He took his soiled jacket off, gave in and started wiping off the corners of Ye Zhen’s mouth with a tissue.

Ye Zhen was still not conscious. Lying on Lu Beichuan’s thighs in this cramped area, she was not able to make herself comfortable. She was hot and uncomfortable and was throwing a hissy fit.

“Can’t you just get a bigger car?”

Lu Beichuan didn’t know what to say, so he just went along. “Sure. I’ll get a new one tomorrow.”

Ye Zhen grabbed Lu Beichuan’s tie and moved her face up to his. She then asked him viciously, “Speak! Why do you like Ye Qing?”

He was but an innocent bystander.

Lu Beichuan had no idea why Ye Zhen would ask him that when she was drunk. Ye Qing? Why would he like Ye Qing?

Ye Zhen, who was drunk, insisted on an answer. Lu Beichuan softly smiled and said, “When did I like her?”