Chapter 42: Ambiguous Relationship Between Man and Woman

“Screenwriter Xiao, I saw your name on the subtitles this time! You really succeeded—this movie is fantastic!”
An audience member stepped forward and shook Xiao Ran’s hand firmly. Xiao Ran was momentarily confused but quickly remembered that this was the enthusiastic fan introduced by Situ Zhuohan. With that in mind, he flashed his already bright smile. “You’re too kind. I hope you’ll come back to support us next time!”
Passing this test from the audience was undoubtedly a huge success, as evidenced by the many viewers who came up to praise them: “You did an amazing job! I’ll definitely tell all my friends!”
Zhang Guorong and Zhou Runfa felt a bit dizzy, as every audience member had gone out of their way to praise their performance. Especially Zhou Runfa—several girls even burst into tears when they saw him. After Runfa hurriedly calmed them down and asked what was wrong, he learned that the girls had been so immersed in the role that seeing “Little Ma Ge” still alive overwhelmed them with emotion, leaving Runfa at a loss.
Once all the audience members left, only a few key crew members remained in the theater, still in shock at how popular the movie had become. Xiao Ran, still excited, greeted them with a smile, and only then did they fully come back to reality.
Xiao Ran glanced around and noticed that Wu Yusen was missing. After searching, he saw Wu Yusen sitting in a seat, head bowed, face hidden, shoulders trembling. Xiao Ran quietly approached and found that Wu Yusen’s eyes were filled with tears.
This was quite surprising—having achieved such great success, why was Wu Yusen crying? The others gathered around to comfort him. Only Xiao Ran understood Wu Yusen. He had accumulated too much frustration; a highly talented person who had never had the chance to showcase his skills and had even faced repeated failures. This sudden success was undoubtedly a huge shock to him.
“Brother Sen, we succeeded!” Xiao Ran said simply, patting Wu Yusen’s shoulder gently.
“Thank you!” Wu Yusen raised his head and stared at Xiao Ran, his eyes filled with gratitude. Xiao Ran understood what this meant—without his insistence on recommending Wu Yusen, there would be no success today. Wu Yusen was grateful for that. Xiao Ran just smiled and nodded. Suddenly, Wu Yusen wiped away his tears and said to everyone, “Thank you all!”
Watching Wu Yusen walk out of the theater, Xiao Ran saw a strong sense of confidence in him. He knew that once Wu Yusen left this theater, he would transform completely, find his own place in the world, and become one of Hong Kong’s most famous directors.
Thanks to the excellent reviews from the preview screenings, the opening-day box office revenue reached 1.8 million. Compared to prices back then, this was an absolutely remarkable figure. According to Xiao Ran’s calculations, it was roughly equivalent to 8 million in 2005, even exceeding the opening-day box office of “Kung Fu”.

However, Xiao Ran was well aware that the high box office success of “A Hero’s Heart” was due to its lasting appeal. The film was shown for two full months, and even at the end of its run, it still drew over a hundred thousand in box office receipts daily—only to be pushed out of theaters by a flood of new movies. Major newspapers such as Apple Daily, Sing Tao Daily, Oriental Daily, and Ming Pao all reported on the film’s popularity and gave it excellent reviews. Every corner of society was filled with discussions about “A Hero’s Heart,” and the term “Little Brother Ma” quickly spread throughout Hong Kong, becoming synonymous with heroes. Interestingly, not long after the film’s release, Oriental Daily published a news story about a gang fight, noting that both sides in the fight were wearing overcoats and holding thin toothpicks, creating a remarkable sight. From then on, overcoats and sunglasses became highly sought-after items. On the streets, out of every ten men encountered, at least three were wearing overcoats and two were wearing sunglasses—proof of just how popular “A Hero’s Heart” was in Hong Kong at the time… The film was sold at high prices throughout Southeast Asia, sparking a wave of hero-themed movies. Once film producers everywhere tasted the huge profits from this film, they immediately sought to buy similar gang-hero movies from Hong Kong studios. For a time, it seemed as though all major film companies were rushing to produce such movies. Of course, Xu Ke’s film studio soon received requests from producers everywhere, urging them to make sequels. There were even calls from the public for Little Brother Ma to return to the screen. No screen character had ever captured the hearts of hundreds of millions of viewers like him… Zhou Runfa became truly famous—how famous? Producers either dug through their archives to find Fang Ge’s previous films or purchased his works that they had previously refused to acquire, then immediately showed them in theaters. Wu Yushen felt immensely proud and once again realized the benefits that fame brought him. Major film companies reached out to him with high offers, hoping he would join them. Of course, he refused, not because he was ungrateful. Of course, all this happened later. No one could have predicted the huge impact “A Hero’s Heart” would have on Hong Kong cinema, truly sounding the clarion call for a new wave of directors. Yet, knowing this didn’t mean work could stop—the world wouldn’t halt just because of anyone. While filming the final scene of the indoor scenes for “Eight Stars Bring Good Fortune,” Xiao Ran found that his two assistant directors were quite capable. As for Lao Jianhua, Xiao Ran had known from his dreams that he was very capable. As for Luo Wenqiang, Xiao Ran had never heard of him in his dreams. Based on his observations, this man’s abilities were definitely good, possibly even better than Lao Jianhua’s. That day, while shooting the final scene in the studio, Xiao Ran had just explained his vision to the two assistant directors and then called in the cameraman, art director, and lighting technician to explain the effects he wanted, when he saw Lin Qingxia’s graceful figure.

Lin Qingxia didn’t look very happy. After filming that scene, Xiao Ran immediately went to her side. As if by magic, Lin Qingxia took out a bowl of soup; the gloomy expression on her face turned into a smile as she handed the soup to Xiao Ran and said softly, “A Ran, I heard you got hurt in your nose some time ago. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Looking at Lin Qingxia’s stunningly beautiful face, Xiao Ran felt dizzy and quickly averted his gaze, laughing awkwardly. “It’s nothing serious. I just got knocked down. I didn’t want you to worry!”
“Is that so?” Lin Qingxia helped open the lid, poured some soup into a bowl, and handed it to Xiao Ran before continuing with a half-smile, “That’s not what I heard. They said you tried to seduce a girl, and her family came after you and beat you up!”
“Uh, well…” Xiao Ran was speechless. He scratched his head, thinking his reputation in the circle was ruined. He forced a laugh. “It’s not like that. It was just a small dispute. There was no romantic relationship involved! Ah, by the way, how are things between you and Brother Han now?”
Lin Qingxia’s smiling expression faded like a tide. After a brief silence, she said calmly, “Nothing. I broke up with him!”
It happened again, a little earlier than he remembered! As soon as Xiao Ran thought this, he suddenly remembered why Lin Qingxia was here and rubbed his nose. Ever since Yang Qi broke his nose, he had developed this bad habit. As he got used to it, he realized this gesture could sometimes be useful, at least to hide his emotions.
But Xiao Ran didn’t know how to comfort others, which was terrible. He didn’t know what to say—could he possibly ask her to “suffer in silence”? However, Lin Qingxia wasn’t as fragile as he thought. She quickly raised her head and smiled. “It’s all in the past. Let’s not talk about it. Here, come on, let your sister feed you soup!”
Seeing Lin Qingxia acting so affectionately to hide her feelings, Xiao Ran could only smile bitterly and touch his nose again. He didn’t want to cooperate, but under Lin Qingxia’s stern gaze, he reluctantly leaned in.
Her hands, as delicate as fine jade, were right in front of him. As he leaned in, the close distance allowed him to smell a wonderful fragrance. He froze instantly. Lin Qingxia seemed to realize her gesture was too affectionate, but pulling back would have been too obvious. Their movements froze in place.
Xiao Ran felt as if the world was spinning. If he could, he would have wished this moment to last forever. But his thick skin gradually turned red. Seeing Xiao Ran’s strange expression and strange blush, Lin Qingxia’s face also turned slightly red.
Just as both Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia felt their faces burning, the assistant director, Lao Jianhua, called out, “Director, how should we shoot the next scene?”
This sudden voice woke Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia. They quickly pulled back, looking around as if they had been caught in the act. Only after confirming no one had seen their awkward moment did they both let out a sigh of relief.

“Aran, you…” Xiao Ran didn’t know whether Lin Qingxia was angry or furious. In any case, she placed the bowl of soup on the chair with a strange expression before turning and leaving.
In her embarrassment, Lin Qingxia forgot the purpose of her visit. It wasn’t until she was far away that she remembered. After hesitating for a moment and thinking of the ambiguous moment earlier, she immediately decided not to look back—let someone else handle this matter.
Xiao Ran sharply shook himself awake and told himself in the strictest tone that the one who left just now was Lin Qingxia, considered the most beautiful woman among the Chinese in that era—a symbol of an age, an inviolable icon.
This stern warning clearly worked; Xiao Ran quickly put the matter out of his mind. When he arrived at the studio, he saw everyone waiting for him. He rubbed his nose sheepishly and asked the assistant who followed him to clarify the scene to be filmed.
Xiao Ran then described the desired effects based on his own impression to the crew and the assistant director, while sitting in the director’s chair to monitor the shooting. Yet he soon thought back to that accidental encounter—it was truly a remarkable coincidence, one that filled him with longing every time he thought about it.
Still, Xiao Ran remained clear-headed. His mind was occupied more by the image of another woman. He knew that was what he truly wanted…
(This book’s VIP chapters will be officially released on July 4th. Thank you all for your support.)