Chapter 107: Start Your Own Company

"Pfft!" Seeing Yan Xu's expression, Barbara suddenly sat down next to him and burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Yan Xu was quite puzzled by her reaction. He knew she was naturally cheerful, though prone to overthinking when it came to relationships. Still, these sudden mood swings were a bit hard to take. Had she suffered some kind of emotional shock?

"I've noticed that every time we meet, something seems to happen, and it always involves alcohol," Barbara said, looking at him.

Yan Xu could only agree with her. Thinking back, they had only met three times so far. The first time, they had both ended up in a daze of infatuation after drinking too much. The second time, he had stopped a taxi driver's groping hands, rescuing a heavily intoxicated Barbara, and had even caught a rare, beautiful sight inside her apartment. And now, this was the third time—except it was his turn to get drunk. The scene in the bathroom earlier still sent ripples through his heart, and certain images lingered in his mind, stubborn and refusing to fade.

"Aren't you supposed to be in France?" Yan Xu asked, looking at her. He had personally escorted her to the airport for her flight to Paris, and for a while afterward, the media had been abuzz with reports about her.

"I couldn't stay there forever. Fashion Week ended ages ago, so I went to England to spend some time with my mother."

Originally, it was because of a relationship that she had moved from England to Hong Kong, and this time, it was again due to romance that she had fled Hong Kong for England. Yet, this very escape had set her life on a completely different course.

This beautiful woman, who in Yan Xu's memories should have met a tragic, untimely end months ago, was still standing before him, lively and playful.

"When did you get back? Why wasn't there any news?" For a superstar like Barbara, her every move was in the spotlight. It was baffling that the paparazzi—the uncrowned kings of media—hadn't reported on something as significant as her return to Hong Kong.

"I've been back for two days. I took a detour through the United States first," Barbara replied with a mischievous smile.

Yan Xu was speechless. Detouring from England to America just to dodge reporters before returning to Hong Kong—only she would do something like that.

"Why didn't you take a longer break?"

"A short break is enough. I know my limits. The company was actually furious with me this time, but luckily, some friends spoke up on my behalf. Besides, if I hadn't come back, you would have been sleeping on the streets last night."

Barbara casually leaned against Yan Xu, even reaching out to wrap her arm around his, completely relaxed and unguarded, like old friends of many years.

Feeling the softness of her chest pressing against his arm, Yan Xu looked down and had a clear view of the patch of delicate, fair skin exposed below her collarbone.

Catching a faint whiff of her sweet fragrance, Yan Xu looked at her and said, "In that case, I really must thank you."

"You have no idea what you looked like. You were hugging a lamppost on the side of the road and refused to budge. And you were as heavy as a bear!"

Yan Xu gave an embarrassed, awkward chuckle. "How did you know where I lived?"

"The moment you got into the taxi, you started shouting and didn't stop until we got here, insisting on coming home. Otherwise, I would have just dumped you in a nearby motel."

"Did some woman dump you? To think you'd drink so much. Let me tell you, alcohol doesn't solve anything. It only numbs the pain for a little while."

Having just returned to Hong Kong, Barbara was out of the loop regarding recent events in showbiz. She assumed Yan Xu was suffering from a broken heart and was trying to offer him some advice as someone who had been there.

"It seems you need to catch up on the news quickly. Things move so fast in this industry; if you blink, you'll be completely out of touch."

"What is it? What happened?" Barbara sat up straight, looking at him in confusion.

"Some things happened at the company."

"Your company? I thought it was doing great. I heard you launched a newcomer named Wang Jie, and in no time, his album sales hit three hundred thousand copies and dominated the charts. The moment I got off the plane, his songs were playing in every street and alley. And that band, Beyond, they've been really popular lately too. I heard their music in a bar."

"I'm not talking about my record label, but the film company I'm with. The boss of the company was murdered recently."

"Murdered? You mean Baizhan? What happened?" Barbara looked utterly shocked. Baizhan Film Company was highly famous in the industry now, and most insiders had a rough idea of the background of its boss, Baldy Qiang.

Yan Xu explained the events of the past few days to her step by step, and also revealed his relationship with Baldy Qiang.

"So you really were in a triad?" Hearing this, Barbara looked him up and down as if she had discovered a new toy. She had heard rumors about Baizhan Film Company's triad connections and had read reports about Yan Xu, knowing he used to be a street hoodlum. But she never expected him to be sworn brothers with a triad boss. If he hadn't left the gang, he would have held quite a high rank by now.

"The past is like smoke," Yan Xu sighed, feigning a look of weary sophistication.

"So what are your plans now? Will you stay with Baizhan, or move to another company?"

"I haven't decided yet," Yan Xu said with a sigh.

The film company was a cash cow for the triad, a juicy piece of meat. Currently, various factions within the gang were still vying for power. Once a victor emerged, their first bite would definitely be the film company. It was only a matter of time before it changed hands; the only question was under what terms.

And those people certainly wouldn't run the company the way Baldy Qiang did; they would only drag it deeper into the criminal underworld.

Many other companies had already extended olive branches to him, but none of them could offer terms as lucrative as Baizhan's. A twenty percent cut of the box office was absolutely unheard of elsewhere.

"You have both the reputation and the talent now, and you're not short on cash. Why don't you just start your own film company? You already own a record label anyway." Barbara leaned back on the sofa, slipping her delicate, pale feet out of her shoes and resting them directly on the coffee table.

Seeing her jade-like feet right in front of him, Yan Xu couldn't help but lose his focus, his mind starting to wander again.

"Starting a film company isn't that simple," Yan Xu said, tearing his gaze away from her feet and shaking his head slightly.

Running a film production company in Hong Kong was nothing like running a record label. The distribution and screening channels were mostly controlled by the major studios. Surviving in the cracks between these giants was far more complex than just nurturing one or two popular singers.

A record label could survive on one or two hot singers, but a film company needed a steady stream of productions that the audience would accept. Furthermore, a movie required more than just a few stars; it needed cinematographers, screenwriters, directors, martial arts choreographers, prop masters, script supervisors, extras, and a massive pool of other talent. Just finding these people required deep connections within the industry.

It wasn't that Yan Xu didn't want his own company. He had the fame and no shortage of creative ideas; what he lacked was industry connections. Although he had some friends, they were mostly A-list stars, with very few behind-the-scenes crew members. Even if he knew the names of future industry talents from his memory of the future, he couldn't match the names to faces. Many of them weren't even in Hong Kong yet or weren't working in film at the moment, making finding them like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"But enough about me. Let's talk about you. Did this trip help you clear your head?" Yan Xu was still very curious about Barbara's relationship issues. After all, in his original timeline, this was the very thing that had driven her to end her life.

"The spark and the connection are gone. No matter how hard we try to hold on, it will only get worse. On the surface, we both seem easygoing, but deep down, we're both stubborn. Neither of us will back down. It might have started as a simple misunderstanding, but reaching this point, it's no longer something that can be resolved with just an apology. Going back now is incredibly difficult." After months of reflection, Barbara sounded very calm and rational when discussing her relationship.

"What do you plan to do? Have a showdown, or just stop seeing him?"

"We're at the same company and often end up on the same set, so avoiding him completely is unrealistic. I actually met with him after I got back."

"You met him? Are you alright?"

"I'm not as fragile as you think, okay? It was a friendly discussion. We broke up amicably, agreed not to interfere in each other's lives, and we're still friends." Barbara shrugged.

"Then I must congratulate you on moving on. A three-legged toad might be hard to find, but two-legged men are everywhere. With your looks and charm, all you have to do is wave, and men from all over the street will come running." Hearing that Barbara had moved on was the best possible news, saving him the trouble of trying to persuade her. This could be considered Yan Xu's greatest achievement since arriving in this era.

"Hahaha, I'll just let nature take its course when it comes to relationships. I'm doing quite well on my own right now, and I'm not ready to start anything new yet anyway," Barbara laughed, amused by his words.

"Let me know when you're ready. I'll sign up first to secure the top spot," Yan Xu said half-jokingly.

"You want to sign up too? Don't tease me. A big director like you must have a line of young girls trailing behind you. I'm already at this age—are you looking to date an older woman?" Barbara pulled her feet back from the table, curling her knees to her chest as she sat on the sofa, her bright eyes twinkling as she looked at him.

"No matter how many young girls there are, none of them can match your beauty. Besides, you're only twenty-six, right at the age where youthful innocence blends with mature charm. If someone said you were only seventeen or eighteen, I'm sure everyone would believe them."