Chapter 1147: You’re Not Going to Fall in Love with That Woman, Are You?

Chapter 114: Could You Have Fallen in Love with That Woman?

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" created a massive sensation both domestically and internationally, sparking a wave of classical Chinese martial arts in the global film industry. Follow-up productions sprang up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Moreover, it was not just domestic film and television companies jumping on the bandwagon; foreign studios joined in as well. "Dragon Master" was certainly not the only one, but it had a sufficiently large budget and managed to set its sights on Yang Xin'er.

Thanks to her stellar performance in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Yang Xin'er had caught the attention of many overseas film fans, a fact that film studios were keenly aware of. By producing a follow-up to meet market demand and casting Yang Xin'er, they could undoubtedly ride the coattails of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" much more effectively.

As "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" gradually left the theaters, its box office projections held steady without any surprises. Its North American box office would finish around 150 million, while the domestic gross would break 500 million without exceeding it by much. The film's box office potential had reached its ceiling, leaving nothing more to extract.

Having put the film behind him, Zhang Le began preparing for his new project.

Zhang Le planned to star alongside Yang Xin'er in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," an exceptionally classic action movie from his past life that had also enjoyed phenomenal box office success. However, Zhang Le did not alter the story's background too drastically, changing the location from the United States to Hong Kong.

Zhang Le had originally considered setting it in the mainland, but after some thought, he abandoned the idea. He could not guarantee whether doing so would run afoul of the censorship deities. Besides, in this world, Hong Kong remained a special administrative region as well as an international metropolis, making the identities of the male and female protagonists relatively more fitting for such a city.

How could the mainland possibly harbor so many assassins? With so many gunfights and action sequences yet no involvement from the police, such a premise simply would not fly.

Everything had to remain harmonious.

If not for the excessively high and uncost-effective budgets associated with filming abroad, Zhang Le would have preferred setting the background overseas and directly giving the lead characters the identities of Chinese-Americans, which would have sufficed.

Of course, Zhang Le's changes were not entirely driven by budget concerns; there was another crucial reason: he wanted to stamp this classic Hollywood action film from his past life with the label of a Chinese-language movie. If he merely replaced the lead actors with Chinese people, how would that differ from selling dog meat under a sheep's head label?

Naturally, the film's title was changed to "Mr. and Mrs. Zhang"!

"Why did that guy suddenly feel like treating us to drinks? He even asked you to pick me up, as if he were terrified I wouldn't come," Zhang Le said, looking at Feng Lei who was driving.

"If he hadn't picked you up, would you have gone? You've already turned him down several times. He was clearly scared," Feng Lei said with a smile.

"Wasn't I busy with my movie?" Zhang Le said.

"Busy? Busy with what? Late at night, busy making babies with your better half? Wasn't your better half away these past two days?" Feng Lei said, curling his lips.

"It would be fine if she were here. But since she's gone, if I were to run off to a bar with you guys and she happened to think I was out fooling around, wouldn't I be wronged to death?" Zhang Le said with a smile.

"If you feel that wronged, then you might as well go and actually fool around for once," Feng Lei said with a grin. "I'm just afraid you don't have the guts. A late-stage patient with a severe case of wife-dependency syndrome, already incurable and destined to hang himself from a single tree."

"Still better than someone who wants to find a tree to hang himself on and can't even find one," Zhang Le retorted, rolling his eyes. "How much longer?"

"Almost there," Feng Lei asked again. "When are you two planning to get married? I suppose next year the peach blossoms around your house will be in full bloom across the mountains, right?"

"Yeah," Zhang Le nodded, a happy smile blooming on his face.

"Do you really want to get married so early? Don't you think getting married at twenty-four or twenty-five in the entertainment industry is a bit too soon? Besides, both you and she are at the peak of your popularity right now. If you push ahead with renewed effort, breaking into the international scene might not be out of the question," Feng Lei remarked.

"When you meet the person you love, you'll feel the same way," Zhang Le replied.

"I won't end up like you! If I truly find someone I love, I won't get married so early. Haven't they always said marriage is the tomb of love? I certainly don't want my loved one and me to enter that tomb so soon," Feng Lei said.

"Why don't you finish the saying 'marriage is the tomb of love'?" Zhang Le asked.

"Is there a second half? How come I've never heard of it?" Feng Lei glanced at Zhang Le, then swept his gaze toward the road ahead and cursed, "Damn it, why is there such a massive traffic jam?"

"Marriage is the tomb of love; without marriage, love is destined to die without a burial place," Zhang Le said with a smile.

"Never heard of it. You made that up, didn't you? That second half is clearly just self-consolation for someone like you." As Feng Lei spoke, his phone rang. He answered it impatiently, saying, "Coming, coming! We're stuck in traffic on the way!"

"Wu Xiaoyong?" Zhang Le asked, looking at Feng Lei. Seeing the latter nod, Zhang Le continued, "That guy has been acting a bit strange lately. He hasn't been this persistent about inviting us out for drinks before!"

"He's just trying to drown his sorrows in alcohol. That punk got dumped," Feng Lei said with a smile, his expression tinged with schadenfreude.

"Dumped?" The corners of Zhang Le's mouth twitched. He found it very difficult to associate a playboy with the word "dumped."

To use such a sacred word on a playboy was an insult to the term itself!

"Did you really get dumped?"

When they arrived at the bar, Wu Xiaoyong had already consumed a considerable amount. Looking at the empty bottles lined up beside him, if not for his decent alcohol tolerance, he probably would have already passed out.

"Dumped! Would I, Wu Xiaoyong, ever get dumped?" Upon hearing this, Wu Xiaoyong instantly bounded up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, bristles raised in defense.

"Right, how could our esteemed Young Master Wu ever get dumped?" Feng Lei smiled and said.

"Well, at least you have some sense." Wu Xiaoyong chuckled, then looked at Zhang Le and said, "As for drinking, you at least owe yourself three penalty drinks. You tell me how many times I've asked you out. If I didn't know your character and hadn't heard from Feng Lei that you were genuinely busy preparing a new film, I would have thought you were putting on airs with me."

Zhang Le picked up an empty beer bottle from the table, examined it, then looked at the liquor Wu Xiaoyong was currently drinking. He curled his lips and said, "Three drinks? What you're drinking right now is vodka. Do you still think you're drinking beer?"

"Why did you switch drinks halfway through?" Feng Lei asked, looking puzzled.

"Beer lacks a kick; vodka goes down much more comfortably," Wu Xiaoyong said, though his eyes suddenly shifted toward the entrance.

Zhang Le and Feng Lei followed his gaze, momentarily stunned before exchanging a glance. Then, looking back at Wu Xiaoyong, they both thought to themselves: *This is bad.*

At the entrance, Huang Fei had walked into the bar leaning intimately against a man, their closeness so uninhibited that her seductive laughter seemed to pierce straight through Wu Xiaoyong's heart.

"Could you have really fallen in love with that woman?"

Observing Wu Xiaoyong's expression, Feng Lei suddenly blurted out.

Huang Fei did not seem to notice Wu Xiaoyong, as she giggled and made her way with the man to another table.

"Brother, try to look at the bright side," Feng Lei said, patting Wu Xiaoyong on the shoulder.

"Get lost, let's drink!" Wu Xiaoyong snapped.

Looking at Wu Xiaoyong, Zhang Le suddenly recalled two lines from a song: *Unwilling to let other men witness your allure, do not easily taste the flavor of indulgence.*

*Because it will break my heart.*

Whether Wu Xiaoyong's heart was broken or not, Zhang Le could not say, but seeing Huang Fei smiling seductively in front of another man with such an air of abandon, his feelings surely could not have been pleasant.