"Amy, come and see my new home sometime."
Du Jinghai's face looks a little flushed in the dim light, but a hint of smugness and eagerness to show off is still clearly visible.
"New home? You've bought a house, Jinghai! When did that happen? You never said anything about it!" Amélie is surprised to hear that, "Looks like we really should get together more often after work, how come there is so much news I'm hearing for the first time!"
"I only bought it recently. Seeing how busy everyone is, I didn't bother to mention it. I'm still doing the refurb, and it's almost finished now."
"Wow! You're a dark horse! Only have been in the capital for a few years and you've quietly bought a house! I'm so impressed! Let's have a drink and toast to your success!"
Amélie is full of praise for Du Jinghai, and Yuan Ge also raises his glass, "Buying a house is a major life event, congratulations, Jinghai!"
Du Jinghai happily drains his glass and says, "Thanks guys, but it's not paid off, I still have to pay back the mortgage, a long way to go yet."
Amélie sighs, "Even getting a mortgage is no small feat. I can't afford to buy a house in Beijing - the price starting from tens of millions, who can afford it! Jinghai, which area did you pick? How many square metres?"
"A girl doesn't have to worry about buying a house, does she? You just need to stay beautiful and graceful, be our goddess and lead us to a bright future. As for buying a house, naturally, there are more than enough people who can't wait to worry about it for you, isn't that right, Yuan Ge?"
Seeing that Du Jinghai has put him on the spot again, Yuan Ge has to say, "Our Amélie cares a lot about her lifestyle - she's not going to settle for anything not worthy of her. That trendy Loft apartment block she lives in now is full of international business elites, and the rent is probably more scary than the mortgage payment."
Amélie makes a face, "The way you two talk, it's like you know me better than myself."
She swirls her glass gently and laments, "Time goes by so fast … It's been a year since I come back … and we've been working together for so long already, but we haven't even been to each other's homes. How about we plan some home visits after the New Year? We'll go visit Jinghai's new house first, and then check out Yuan Ge's and mine. You know, I've been looking forward to seeing his mysterious lake-view villa in the Western Hills."
Hearing Amélie's suggestion, Du Jinghai's face has turned a little gloomy as he says uneasily, "Amy, you mustn't compare my house with Yuan Ge's. If that's the case, I'd be embarrassed to invite you over to my place. I'm a Beijing drifter, with the old above and the young below that I need to support. I can't compare myself to him - an elite native from the Capital. He gets two houses from his family just by being born here, and the smaller one in the old town alone is worth more than my new house."
"The young below?" Amélie grinned as she caught Du Jinghai's slip of the tongue.
"That's right. My younger brother is coming to Beijing later this year to go to university. I'll have to pay for his tuition and living expenses. Art majors in university these days are not cheap! And my parents are getting old, so sooner or later they'll have to come to the city to live with me. "
Du Jinghai lets out a long sigh as he talks about the realities of life.
"Jinghai is indeed a better man than me. I've been living a rather capricious life over the years and contributed nothing to my family. Jinghai, you have shouldered more responsibilities than I have. On top of keeping our loss-making startup going, you've managed to buy a house in the capital, it's definitely not easy!"
Although Yuan Ge can hear the envy and indignation in Du Jinghai's words, he knows how hard it has been for him to work alone in the capital, taking on so many jobs rain or shine in order to save enough money for a deposit to buy a house. In contrast, he is much better off financially, so that he can devote more energy to his dreams, which is no doubt a luxury in the eyes of others, but also an undeniable fact.
When Du Jinghai sees Yuan Ge has backed off and appeared quite humble and understanding, he regains his composure and says, "The four of us set up Dragon Dreams, in the end, it is your talent that we've been banking on. Profitable or not, it's entirely up to you. We mortals sometimes have to think about making a living before making art. Fat Chow may appear to be a little too eager for quick success and instant profits at times, but I hope you don't mind and show him a little more understanding."
Then he turns to look at Amélie and continues, "You also need to put yourself in Amy's shoes. She had a good life in France, but after helping us produce 'Eve's Fallen', she decided to come back with us, getting out of her comfort zone and into the entertainment industry that she was completely unfamiliar with, and that really took a lot of courage … "
Amélie senses the pressure Du Jinghai is putting on Yuan Ge and hastily tries to say something to ease the situation.
"That's too much of an exaggeration. You make it sound like I'm as great as the people who sacrificed their lives for their country. In fact, it's simply because show business is full of beautiful people, with lights and cameras, red carpets and celebrities… All girls dream of the opportunities to get involved. When it comes to the courage to return to China, it's definitely Yuan Ge, not me. If he had stayed in Hollywood, with so many opportunities to pick from, he wouldn't have had to suffer the hardship with us in this tiny little company. As for 'Eve's Fallen', it's not that Yuan Ge didn't do a good job that it wasn't released domestically, it was because of the theme of the film. We should be proud of the fact that our very first production won an international award. Maybe I'm not as obsessed with making money as you men are, but Yuan Ge wants to make films without compromising his art, 'to make money standing up'[1] so to speak. It's hard, I know, but ideals are hard to achieve, so we have to be strong in our beliefs and enjoy the process."
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[1] Making money standing up is coined from the phrase "making money lying down". It implies to make money in an honourable way, with dignity and without compromising one's principles.