Leslie Cheung smiled and poured a cup of tea for her, saying, "Calm or not, the result is the same, isn't it?"
Yesterday, he had a pleasant conversation with Director Moran, so although her words today were somewhat unexpected, they weren't entirely surprising. She had expressed her liking for his performance, so giving him a role didn't seem unimaginable.
"Although that's the case..." Chen Shufen patted her forehead, suddenly freezing in her movements. "Wait a moment! When she invited you, how did you respond?"
"I said I was going to reserve a lunch seat and invite her to eat."
"And then?"
"After making the reservation, I will inform her of the time and place."
"What else?" Chen Shufen suddenly had a foreboding feeling.
Leslie Cheung thought for a moment. "She mentioned wanting to taste authentic Hong Kong cuisine. Later, find someone to reserve a quiet and good location for me."
Chen Shufen felt like crying, "You didn't immediately agree? It's an invitation from Director Moran! Anyone else would have accepted it immediately upon hearing it. What if she just said it casually and changed her mind after thinking about it?"
"What to do?" Leslie Cheung took a sip of tea and said calmly, "If that's the case, it means there's no suitable role for me in her movie. It's unavoidable, isn't it?"
Rubbing her slightly swollen forehead, Chen Shufen suddenly didn't want to say anything. Sometimes, she felt that dealing with a newcomer would be easier. Even after working together for so long, she still couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Thinking about yesterday's events, she couldn't help but shudder. She wished those thoughts of jumping off a building and suicide would permanently leave her mind.
Complaining aside, she reluctantly went to help find a restaurant serving authentic Hong Kong cuisine. Such places usually required a considerable amount of time to secure a reservation, and even she was worried about booking one on the same day. But who would they be hosting? Director Moran! For the sake of Hong Kong's image, she wanted to offer the most authentic and outstanding dishes, not just randomly choosing a place.
Fortunately, she had some luck and obtained their reserved seats from a friend. In return, she promised to help the friend out in the future.
Roy didn't want to go to the lunch appointment. He didn't want to see his girlfriend look at another man with shining eyes. However, he couldn't refuse to go; he preferred to witness their interaction rather than stay in the hotel, wondering how far they had gotten...
The restaurant was a bit far from where Laila was staying, but Chen Shufen had sent someone to guide them, and they arrived at the restaurant after half an hour's drive.
Originally, they didn't reserve the best seats, but when the owner saw that Leslie Cheung was leading the group, he immediately gave up a reserved private room and even insisted on personally cooking for him.
"Today is truly an honor for Mr. Leslie," Laila said with a smile after sitting down.
Leslie Cheung smiled faintly, "It's fine; everyone here is very friendly."
Watching his smile, the little devil in Laila's heart began to flutter again. How could a man smile so charmingly?
Roy coughed intentionally, setting the tableware with a cold expression.
Laila noticed his jealousy and playfully pinched his leg under the table.
This man was too petty; couldn't she have a conversation with a man?
If Roy could hear her thoughts, he would definitely feel wronged. Of course, he didn't mind her having male friends before. She used to associate with whomever she pleased. The problem was that those people treated her the same way, and he couldn't see anyone who made her look twice. But this Asian man across from them was different. Didn't she keep her eyes on him since they left the hotel?
The intense gaze, even sitting next to him, made him feel like he was melting. Did he need to blame himself for overthinking?
"Director Moran, I'm really sorry about what happened. I hope it won't affect our meal," Chen Shufen, unable to bear their irrelevant talk any longer, tried to steer the conversation toward the movie she cared about.
Laila smiled, "It's nothing. I've thought about the possibility of such things happening. As long as they don't disturb us, it's fine." If she guessed correctly, those paparazzi and the media had been following them since they left the hotel. Wasn't she benefiting the Hong Kong media?
"It's relatively secluded here, and those people shouldn't be able to break in," Chen Shufen tried to reassure them. However, she said this without any confidence. She knew very well the nature of those paparazzi. If one suddenly burst in, she wouldn't be too surprised.
She didn't frequent this place much. One reason was the lack of time, and the other was the difficulty in booking a seat. She wasn't familiar with how well this place could handle paparazzi. She just hoped none would barge in; otherwise, the face of all of Hong Kong would be lost to those annoying paparazzi.
Laila, eating the dish Roy served her, said nonchalantly, "Don't worry about these things. It's rare to taste authentic dishes. Talking about unhappy things will only make the food less enjoyable."
"Reasonable." Leslie Cheung nodded, also eating with great focus.
Chen Shufen, on the other hand, had no appetite for food. Instead, she looked at him with a somewhat angry expression. Why did she say these things? If he wasn't there to help, she might as well not have said anything!
There was nothing she could do; she had to get straight to the point. "I heard that Director Moran is about to shoot an epic film?"
"Yes," Laila wiped her mouth with a napkin. "It's an outstanding work. I don't know if you've heard of it, called 'The Lord of the Rings.'"
"I've heard of it, of course, it's indeed a very good work." Chen Shufen nodded, and from her appearance, she might believe that she had read it. In fact, she only learned about the name of the book yesterday from a friend in Hollywood. She only knew the name and nothing about its content.
Seeing her appearance, Laila could also guess a bit. However, she didn't mind. This work was already widely spread in the West, so it wasn't surprising that not many people in Asia knew about it. But she believed that after her movie was released, even those who weren't interested in movies would remember the name of this book.
"It's indeed a great work. I kept the adaptation rights for a long time until I had the confidence to start filming it."