Chapter 47: Weeping

Living in Taiwan in July is not particularly comfortable.

Of course, July in Hong Kong and the capital city isn’t likely to be much more pleasant either.

Lin Jianlu had already booked his return trip, but he still needed to stay here for about another half a month to record several variety shows and tie in with the official release of the *Cold to the Bone Video Tape*.

Then... he would probably have to come back around August to run a circuit of autograph signings.

During a brief moment of leisure, Chen Shuhua and Elaine Jin accompanied him on a trip to Sun Moon Lake.

The scenery was just so-so.

In short, it was just for taking photos, checking in at the tourist spot, and escaping the summer heat.

Along the way, they ran into quite a few fans. He specifically stopped and signed over a hundred autographs. I must say, this is truly a golden age for the record industry; many people even carried portable CD players in their backpacks when going out, along with two or three CDs. Therefore, he would sign whatever was handed to him. Signing directly on a portable CD player was no big deal—he actually even signed two for Wu Bai.

Some people were insatiable: after having Lin Jianlu sign, they passed the item over to Chen Shuhua for her signature as well.

The record was Emil Chau’s *Wrong Love*.

After signing, the person casually offered blessings, "Ah Lu, Shuhua is wonderful. She hasn't had a single scandal in all these years. You must treat her well! May you live happily together forever and have a child soon!"

Chen Shuhua blushed and burst into hearty laughter.

Lin Jianlu chimed in casually, "Got it! I'll send you some wedding candies later!"

As a mainlander, he was swimming in success not only in Hong Kong but even in Taiwan. Countless people no longer merely liked his songs; they had grown to deeply adore him as a person. According to Sylvia Chang’s analysis, he possessed an inexplicable sense of effortless ease that made everyone feel particularly close to him.

Well, to put it bluntly, it meant he simply didn't give a damn about anything!

That was why he dared to pick up any topic and just talk nonsense off the cuff!

Yet, he was handsome, had a great image, and was widely recognized for his talent. When he rambled casually, he always maintained a sense of propriety, never uttering anything annoying. Even when he dragged innocent young women into his scandals, they knew it was a joke and not only wouldn't get angry, but would actually feel grateful—a casual remark from him meant traffic, meant attention, and meant work coming knocking at their door!

Of course, sometimes he would offend people.

On the car ride back from Sun Moon Lake, Chen Shuhua was noticeably in low spirits.

Lin Jianlu thought about it for a brief moment and guessed the reason, so he playfully reprimanded, "You are truly an annoying person! If you really want to get married, be brave and pull down my pants! But you don't have the guts!"

Chen Shuhua burst out laughing, "You're the annoying one! You are so annoying!"

Such bold and wild dialogue frightened Angela Leong, who was driving, into trembling.

***

Unawares, it was already mid-July, filled with all sorts of chaotic business.

Work, of course.

Yet apart from work, socializing took up a considerable amount of time. Lin Jianlu’s innate temperament actually preferred being by himself; ideally, he wouldn't interact with anyone. He never wanted to cause trouble for anyone else, and hoped no one would come to bother him either. However, in actually dealing with real-world affairs, he clearly understood that to do his job well and make more money, one could not live in such an idealized state.

Thus, outwardly, he appeared quite fond of socializing.

In the gaps between work, he had been frequently spotted on the streets of Taipei lately, tasting quite a few unique local flavors.

Some places were introduced by Chen Shuhua, some by Chang Chen-yue, and others by Sylvia Chang.

Naturally, he also fulfilled his earlier promise to the media.

Before going out to dinner with Rene Liu, he specifically called the local media to inform them that they could come and snap some scandal photos, and even helped come up with the headline: *Lin Jianlu Switches Girlfriends Again, Rene Liu Successfully Takes the Crown!*

Not to mention how his friends laughed through their tears upon hearing this, even the paparazzi felt a rather absurd sense of irony.

Yet they still went and took the pictures, and reported on it.

He met Emil Chau’s wife for the first time—she was an American citizen, born in Hong Kong, of Caucasian descent, reportedly a mixed-race of Chinese, Caucasian, and Spanish heritage, quite pretty, and spoke fluent Taiwanese Mandarin.

The two of them were deeply in love.

Chen Shuhua had a good personal friendship with her, chatting nonstop throughout the meal.

It was just a pity that their two children—the older boy, born in '90 and already six years old, was like Sylvia Chang's son, difficult to coax and stubbornly refusing to call him "Dad" no matter how he was tempted; while the younger daughter was still too small, cradled in her arms.

Chen Shuhua adored these two children. After the meal, she insisted on dragging Lin Jianlu along to accompany the eldest son to a street-side toy store, where she bought him an expensive set of toys.

Chang Yu-sheng, Wu Chien-nien, the couple Tarcy Su and...

It was all about making friends and socializing.

Then suddenly, another well-known producer in Taiwan, one of the four major producers, Chiung Yao, called Sylvia Chang to arrange a meeting.

Sylvia Chang and Brigitte Lin had both acted in her television dramas in their early years and shared a connection. Her status in the entertainment circles of both Hong Kong and Taiwan was not low, so Lin Jianlu ultimately agreed to meet the old lady and had a meal with her.

Although the collaboration she proposed through Sylvia Chang during their prior communication had already been rejected by Lin Jianlu—she was preparing a drama titled *Tears in Heaven*, scheduled to start filming at the end of this year or the first half of next year, and hoped to invite Lin Jianlu to play the second male lead (the first male lead was not of a suitable age).

What a joke!

Lin Jianlu might consider a three-to-five-day cameo, but to seriously shoot a television drama? Forget it. He told the other party directly: I can't act, I have no acting skills! And I don't have the time!

Besides, no matter how prestigious Chiung Yao's brand name was, it wasn't enough to warrant Lin Jianlu playing a second male lead in a TV series!

Overall, however, the conversation was pleasant.

With Lin Jianlu's emotional intelligence, as long as the other party wasn't deliberately trying to pick a fight, he virtually never ruined a conversation. In fact, Chiung Yao herself was extremely clever and talkative.

When both sides are agreeable, things naturally go well.

As the chat progressed, they even agreed that if Chiung Yao ever went to the mainland to film, especially collaborating with the mainland to make a television series, Lin Jianlu would be willing to go over and do a two-day cameo.

***

Right before leaving Taiwan, he unexpectedly received a phone call from Alyssa Chia.

She wanted to treat Lin Jianlu to dinner.

After hesitating for a moment, he agreed, "I have to record at the television station tomorrow. The time is uncertain, and I might get quite busy. If you aren't afraid of waiting..." Of course, she wasn't afraid, so they agreed that Lin Jianlu would call her once his work finished the next day.

As it turned out, the recording for *Super Sunday* ended even before four o'clock the next afternoon.

Everyone present was full of fun and adept at impromptu ad-libbing. What they recorded had long exceeded the script by a wide margin, yet it turned out to be immensely entertaining. Fei Yu-ching joked, "If Ah Lu comes to host long-term, wow, our show is going to explode! Plus, it's relaxed; we could record two episodes in a single day!"

They wanted to arrange dinner, but Lin Jianlu had a prior commitment, so that fell through.

In the car back to the hotel, he still gave Alyssa Chia a call in advance, instructing her not to rush, to focus on filming securely, and that it wouldn't be too late to eat after work wrapped up.

Thus, he ended up waiting for her in the hotel for over three hours.

In the middle of it, he also received a call from Tarcy Su.

She was having the time of her life lately.

*Lemon Tree* had easily surpassed 400,000 copies sold in Taiwan and was marching toward 500,000. It also sold heavily in Hong Kong, moving 70,000 to 80,000 copies, and coupled with a decent amount of sales harvested across Southeast Asia—considering the general lag in sales statistics—it could now be roughly deduced that global sales had already reached somewhere over 700,000 and were approaching 800,000 copies.

A super breakthrough!

If she had previously been firmly established as a second-tier artist, she was now stepping into the first tier.

In the long run, this album had a high probability of eventually breaking one million copies in sales—a single album that outperformed her previous five combined! This caliber of record was something countless singers never achieved in their entire lives!

She was still running promotions in Malaysia and had just booked a plane ticket to return on the 17th.

However, Lin Jianlu's flight was already booked for the 16th to Hong Kong.

She screamed in exasperation and vented, "I went to Hong Kong to find you, and you suddenly went to Taiwan. Now I'm coming back to Taiwan, and you're heading to Hong Kong! Is it really that hard to see you?"

"Hey, don't just pick the parts that benefit you when you talk. Did you forget I went to Hong Kong to support you and do promotions? Where is your conscience? A person must have a conscience!"

She burst into loud laughter.

They had no choice but to wait and schedule another meetup next time.

***

It wasn't until eight o'clock in the evening that the dinner finally commenced. On a street not far from Alyssa Chia's home, there was a fantastic restaurant specializing in seafood, which she claimed was her absolute favorite.

Although she was visibly exhausted, she was very happy, bustling around to arrange things and order dishes.

They ate quite happily.

However, once the simple task of filling their stomachs was complete, the atmosphere imperceptibly grew somewhat low. After chatting for a short while, her eyes unconsciously began to turn red.

Pulling out the business card Lin Jianlu had left her, she gripped it tightly in her hand and said, "Actually, I originally didn't want to call you. I guessed you probably wouldn't have time to bother with me, but I didn't expect you would actually agree. You probably don't know, this business card you gave me, telling me that if I encounter any insurmountable hardship... I..."

Lin Jianlu pulled out a napkin and handed it to her.

Such a pretty young girl, and within a short moment, she was crying tearfully like a pear blossom drenched in rain.

She said that owing a lot of debts was indeed a huge pressure, but as long as she worked hard, she could still earn money to slowly pay them back, and she wasn't afraid of that. What truly caused her suffering was that she didn't even have a single person she could rely on right now. This kind of reliance didn't mean wanting someone to step in and help her pay off her debts, but rather having a psychological pillar of support—someone she could cry to when the pressure became too great.

Her mother had broken down even earlier than she did, and to this day couldn't even go out to work normally, while her younger brother was still a child. No matter how much pressure and panic she held in her heart, she had to brace herself and endure it alone. She simply didn't dare to break down in front of anyone, especially not in front of her family!

Among the many friends she had made over the past two years, quite a few sympathized with her plight and were willing to offer some care. But to her already heavily pressured and exceptionally sensitive heart, these friends either had ulterior motives or were actually worried about being dragged down by her. Lin Jianlu was the first person who could tell her so openly and candidly that if she encountered an obstacle she couldn't pass, she could call him for help.

Lin Jianlu hardly said anything, just quietly listening as she cried and talked.

From time to time, he poured her a glass of water, and occasionally handed her a tissue.

Speaking uninterruptedly for a full hour, her crying finally gradually subsided. Her eye sockets weren't just red; they were now visibly swollen.

Yet after crying and wiping away her tears, her entire demeanor noticeably relaxed. She even smiled with intense embarrassment, "I'm sorry! You're such a huge celebrity, yet you ran over here to listen to me vent about all this messy nonsense! I originally just wanted to treat you to a meal! I super love so many things this place makes, and I desperately wanted you to taste them too! But the moment I saw you, I couldn't quite control myself... I'm sorry!"

Lin Jianlu smiled, "It's fine! Big celebrities aren't busy every single second. Right now is my personal time."

After chatting a bit longer about relatively light topics, Lin Jianlu let her take the initiative to pay the bill. The two of them then left the restaurant. She accompanied Lin Jianlu all the way until he flagged down a taxi, and then she stood by the roadside, waving earnestly as she watched the taxi carry Lin Jianlu away into the distance.