Two minutes.
Five minutes.
Not a single person replied.
Zhou Qishen then called them one by one, starting with Lao Cheng, "Did you uninstall WeChat?"
"No, I'm just a little melancholy."
Gu Heping was then scolded by Zhou Qishen: "Did you uninstall WeChat?"
"Hello? Hello? The signal is bad, I'm hanging up."
"..." Damn it.
Old Cheng and Gu Heping were in cahoots, pounding the table and chuckling to themselves!
Sure enough, less than half an hour later, Zhou Qishen's white Land Rover pulled up at the door. He walked in and kicked it open, yelling, "Go to hell, are you all crazy?"
Old Cheng, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said, "I'm so jealous, I really don't want to share in your joy."
Gu Heping shifted the blame to Lao Cheng, saying matter-of-factly, "It's not my fault, Lao Cheng told me to do it this way."
Zhou Qishen, whose mood was unpredictable, was no longer angry at the moment. He smiled, his eyes crinkling, and took out the red marriage certificates to show off one by one, "Brother's marriage certificate, how about it, isn't it festive?"
He stretched it out in front of Old Cheng, saying, "Cheng'er, touch it, touch it, and get some good luck."
He then handed it to Gu Heping, "Heping, do you know what this is? Do you recognize these three characters? It's gold foil stamping, isn't it exquisite?"
Gu Heping was truly speechless. "Boss Zhou, this isn't your first marriage, why are you acting so innocent?"
Old Cheng suddenly added insult to injury, "Thirty-three years old, almost forty."
Mr. Zhou sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and looked as if he were basking in a spring breeze.
Old Cheng asked, "Where's your wife?"
"Qinghai".
"Are you willing to let her go?"
"Willing to give up my ass." Zhou Qishen got angry as soon as he thought about it. "What a piece of trash, always causing trouble."
"That's how filmmaking is all the time, always on call. You shoot winter scenes in the summer, and wear a swimsuit in the winter. You're always available." Old Cheng scoffed. "Your outburst of anger is really unreasonable."
Gu Heping sat down next to her. "You and Xiao west remarried. Do you agree to her entering this industry?"
"As long as she's happy. I'm busy myself and have no right to make demands on her. Besides, she's been dancing for over twenty years, which isn't easy. If I were to make her compromise unilaterally for my own selfish desires, that's not something a man would do." Zhou Qishen has a strong sense of masculinity and a bit of a bandit. He's had a difficult childhood and also has a bit of a temper. Yet, he's also kind-hearted and very reasonable when it comes to matters of principle.
Old Cheng stubbed out his cigarette and objectively laid out a problem: "Don't portray yourself as so selfless. Do you understand what this attitude means? If Xiao Xi decides to develop in this industry, it will take three to five years for her to make a name for herself."
Zhou Qishen lit a cigarette, the lighter clicked softly, and he didn't speak through the smoke.
"No matter which company it is, once the contract is signed, all sorts of event invitations will come your way, whether you like it or not. These next few years, your plans to have a child will definitely be delayed. Xiao Xi doesn't mind; she's twenty-five or twenty-six, in the prime of her life. And you, in four or five years you'll be thirty-seven or thirty-eight. Congratulations, Mr. Zhou, on having a child late in life!"
Zhou Qishen let out a loud curse in Beijing, and even he himself became a laughing stock.
Gu Heping added sarcastically, "Forty years of declining sperm quality will cause suffering for the child, injustice for Xiaoxi, and the wife you finally got will fly away again."
Zhou Qishen: "Did I fucking dig up your ancestral graves or fuck your mouths? You're all crazy."
Old Cheng and Gu Heping looked at each other and burst into laughter.
The hostility directed at unmarried older single men is both sharp and ruthless.
That evening, Gu Heping organized a gathering, inviting all his close friends in Beijing to the largest private room at the Great Wall Mansion, which was fully equipped with KTV and card games. The room was a chaotic mess, with everyone making a ruckus without any shame.
Zhou Qishen is a player, and a skilled one at it. But this time, he was uncharacteristically focused on the card table, dominating the game. Gu Heping's scumbag nature is beyond redemption; in the latter half of the game, he somehow managed to pick up a young girl and sing love songs with her.
Hearing the sound, Zhou Qishen turned his head and frowned, asking Lao Cheng beside him, "Did he and Li Ran break up?"
"I haven't heard him mention it again, so it's probably off."
There's no point in talking about "yellow" or "yellow" (referring to scandalous behavior); Gu Heping is a complete and utter scumbag, beyond redemption. His only principle in relationships is to protect himself and get out unscathed. Zhou Qishen knew his character all too well and thought, "This is for the best; it's better to cut his losses early."
But after singing a couple of lines, Young Master Gu, for some unknown reason, sent the girl away under some pretext, then sat alone on the sofa smoking in silence. He repeatedly swiped his phone screen on and off, then on and off again, until finally, with a loud "bang," he smashed the phone, his face darkening, and got up. "I'm going out for a smoke."
A night of extravagance and debauchery, where some rejoice and others grieve. Zhou Qishen, having found peace and belonging, stopped playing cards and sat on the sofa to send WeChat messages to Zhao Xiyin.
"Old Cheng threw me a celebration banquet."
"They were all having a blast."
"I'm different, I genuinely miss you."
A man who tries to elevate himself by smearing others is incredibly childish. Zhou Qishen is comfortable everywhere, and it seems he can spout even the most cheesy sweet nothings effortlessly—
"Wife, I will be good."
Suddenly, someone shouted, "Zhou, your expression is too sassy!!"
Zhou Qishen, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, smiled just as they had hoped.
——
Day 5 in Qinghai.
Set in the Tang Dynasty, the film *Nine Thoughts* features scenes between Su Ying and Zhao Xiyin, a master and apprentice, all filmed along the Silk Road in Qinghai Province. However, the area was rife with sandstorms, making location shooting unsuitable. The film crew was based in Golmud City, not far from Yuzhu Peak.