I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 804 801. The beginning is not the peak

The Los Angeles Lakers won 99 to 88 in their first game. It was not a big victory, but it could be said that they dismantled the glorious Sacramento Kings without a single blow.

As the final whistle sounded, Kobe Bryant contributed a perfect answer of 26 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists in the first game, declaring that he is still the best player in the entire league.

"Xu. I'll see you later~"

"Okay, Kobe."

Xu Xin nodded and looked at him, sweating profusely, as he walked into the player tunnel, then turned to Yang Dalin and said:

"Dad, you and Brother Hu can go back later."

"good."

Yang Dalin nodded.

Following the audience as they walked outside the arena, Xu Xin waited here for a few minutes. Kobe's bodyguard, former retired member of the U.S. Special Forces, John Savaro, who is said to be super capable, found Xu Xin:

"Hey, Xu, let's go, Kobe is waiting for us."

"Okay, John."

Following John, who had a gray beard but was tall and strong, he walked into the tunnel.

Then Xu Xin saw a group of reporters holding long guns and short cannons pouring into the locker room.

Seeing this, John said:

"Let's wait for a while. The reporters will be interviewing for about twenty minutes."

"OK."

The two of them were waiting in the passage.

Chatting while waiting.

They were all talking about things after the NBA game.

It was also the first time for Xu Xin to come to the legendary "post-game" session, and everything he saw was new.

For example, some American locker room culture and so on.

John had been Kobe's bodyguard for many years, so he knew a lot of things and didn't hide it from Xu Xin.

The two of them had a great time chatting.

After chatting for a while, reporters came out of the locker room one after another, and he said:

"let's go."

Under the leadership of John, he finally entered the Lakers locker room.

"Hey, Xu."

Kobe, who was still sweating, came over to greet Xu Xin with a smile. After hugging Xu Xin, he said:

"Here, let me introduce you. This is my brother Pau Gasol..."

He began to help Xu Xin introduce the Lakers players.

It can be seen that these buddies are very curious about Xu Xin, an Asian face.

But no matter what, Kobe is the supreme authority in the locker room. Everyone introduced by the boss is treated with courtesy.

After Xu Xin said hello one by one, Kobe said:

"Wait a minute, I'm going to take a shower. What do you want to eat later?"

"You can eat whatever you want."

Xu Xin didn't care.

I said in my heart, buddy, it’s okay if we don’t eat. My mission is to take you home tonight.

Although both of them "tacitly understand each other", there is a high degree of tacit understanding at this moment.

After walking around the locker room, he exited, and John took him to the players' parking lot.

Among those luxury cars, I came to a Lincoln car that looked "tall and big".

This is Kobe's car.

Xu Xin looked around and asked John:

"Are you allowed to smoke here?"

"Theoretically it's not allowed, but with Kobe here, you can do anything at Staples."

Hearing this, Xu Xin smiled and shook his head, but he didn't take out the cigarette case after all.

After chatting with John for a while longer, Kobe, wearing slippers and sportswear, walked out with the driver.

"Hey."

After saying hello, he waved goodbye to the staff behind him, walked to the front and back of the car and said:

"Xu, I know you like Italian food. Come on, I'll take you to a great little restaurant. It's a small place, but the Italian sandwiches there are the best."

Now, Xu Xin no longer refutes the fact that others think he is "super invincible" and likes Italy.

Nodding happily, the four of them got into the car together.

In the car, the two of them didn't talk about anything about Vanessa.

The conversation turned out to be about fitness and sports.

Unlike Kobe, who was full of muscles, Xu Xin touched his belly and said that he planned to find a trainer to "torture" himself in the past few months so that he would not have to climb a hill while still panting.

After Kobe heard this, he made an appointment with him to train together tomorrow without saying a word.

The original words are:

"Fitness? Yo, Xu, why don't you come with me tomorrow? Let my physical trainer help you take a look?... You know, I have a gym at home, and the equipment is very professional. You can come to my house..."

Ta-ta-ta-ta.

Crackling.

Listen.

How loud is his calculation.

Even though you are at Staples, you can hear it clearly in Las Vegas next door.

Xu Xin actually didn't know if it was of any use...but he could see that this brother was really trying to win Vanessa back.

He didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. But...just think of it as an idol halo.

If you can help, try your best.

As the saying goes, it is better to demolish ten temples than break up one marriage.

Just think of it as a sign of merit.

"sure."

He agreed directly.

The two chatted for a while, and then came to a place...compared to the luxury of the wealthy areas of Los Angeles, it was a slightly "poor" neighborhood.

Xu Xin even saw a few gangsters strolling around the corner of the street.

He actually didn't realize whether there was any danger in this kind of neighborhood, but Kobe said:

"Don't be nervous, Xu, we won't have any trouble in any neighborhood in Los Angeles."

Xu Xin was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile:

"Of course. You are here after all."

Finally, the car was in a restaurant that was not that big, but the style was the American style seen in movies.

After Kobe got out of the car, he explained to Xu Xin:

"The owner of this restaurant is very famous here. Have you seen "The Godfather"?"

"Seen."

"This restaurant used to be a neutral zone in this neighborhood. Any gang or mafia member who comes here will strictly abide by the rules here. Whether it's robbery, theft, or some bad things, I haven't been here for 17 years. Happened in a restaurant. Awesome, and the crown holder of the best Italian sandwich in Los Angeles..."

Kobe seemed to really like this restaurant and introduced it tirelessly.

Later, when the four people came in, Xu Xin saw that it was late at night, it was after 10 o'clock, and there were still many people eating and drinking coffee in the restaurant.

The appearance of Kobe quickly attracted the attention of many people.

But there was no such thing as a swarm of people coming over to ask for autographs.

He seems to be a regular visitor here. He will say hello to familiar faces at several tables, and they will smile and wave to him.

Then I heard Kobe talking a lot to the waiter at the bar in natural Italian, then pointed at Xu Xin and said a lot more.

The waiter, who was probably in his forties or fifties, was stunned for a moment. After looking at Xu Xin, he immediately showed a bright smile.

I also said a lot.

This time it was Xu Xin's turn.

Kobe smiled and said:

"Xu, he said he would treat you to pizza."

"Grazie."

Xu Xin smiled and waved.

Fine.

It seems that wherever there are Italians in the future, we Lao Xu won’t have to worry about going hungry.

…

Not a traditional Margherita pizza, but a pizza with salami.

spaghetti.

sandwich.

Almost all are high in carbs.

However, considering that Kobe just played a very intense game, replenishing energy is inevitable.

Of course, there are two glasses of red wine.

Eat, drink and chat.

From time to time, guests would come to Kobe to ask for a photo or autograph before leaving.

This meal is Kobe’s treat.

The taste... to be honest, it's not as delicious as the food he was fed by those Italian grandmothers in Venice. But it can be eaten, so it’s not bad.

Kobe asked a lot about his daughter during this period.

For example, what is my daughter doing these days?

And when he heard that GIGI had received piano instruction from Lao Lang every day these days, the smile on his face was the kind of happiness that any parent can understand.

But Xu Xin still didn't talk about any Vanessa topics.

He gave the other party the utmost respect.

By the time the meal was finished, it was past 11 o'clock.

After settling the bill, the four of them drove back to Beverly Hills in a car.

After arriving at the door of Kobe's house on Bolton Street, Kobe asked:

"Xu, do you want to come and sit at my house?"

"Is there any red wine?"

Hearing this, Kobe was stunned, and his smile suddenly became brighter.

Showing a mouth of white teeth:

"certainly."

So, the car drove into the manor.

As soon as Xu Xin got out of the car, he saw the lights on in the villa's room.

"Bye, John, Nick."

After waving to the bodyguard and driver, the two got into the car and drove out of the manor.

And just at this moment, the light at the door also turned on.

Kobe had no intention of going in.

Xu Xin had no intention of speaking.

The two of them were silent at the door with a "confused atmosphere" for about ten seconds, and then the door was opened.

Vanessa, who was wearing a hoodie, looked at Kobe and Xu Xin standing at the door, with a wonderful expression on her face.

The look in Kobe's eyes was one of caution and alienation.

But when this look looked at Xu Xin, it was a speechless expression of "I thought we were friends, but I didn't expect you to be such a scumbag."

"..."

Kobe looked at Vanessa, then glanced at Xu Xin, and said:

"Hey, honey. Did Natalia sleep with GIGI?"

Vanessa didn't answer.

Didn't even pay attention to him.

Instead, he looked at Xu Xin and said:

"Xu, it's so late, what do you want from me?"

"..."

Xu Xin's mouth twitched.

I said in my heart, sister, what can I do to you?

I wish I could go home and sleep.

but……

As the saying goes, those who take advantage of others are soft-spoken and those who take advantage of others are short-handed.

He could only bite the bullet and said:

"Hey, Vanessa. Kobe and I want a drink."

"Then you should go to the bar, not my place."

"Uh... you know, Nick and John have already gotten off work. I don't have a driver's license, and neither does Yang... I don't speak English well, and I'm not good at running... Kobe said there is a lot of good red wine at home..."

"..."

It's actually quite outrageous.

The omnipotent Black Mamba on the court is like a snakeskin meeting a snakeskin player.

Silent.

Xu Xinxin said, Brother, please say a few words.

To coax people, wouldn’t this house just go in?

Unfortunately, Kobe didn't.

But Vanessa graciously stared at Xu Xin for a while, then took her hand off the doorknob and let her body out.

Xu Xin glanced at Kobe.

Found Kobe looking at him too.

[Xu, you go first. 】

[No, Ke, you come first. 】

[How can I get in if you don’t come in? 】

[How can I enter your house if you don’t? 】

The two stared at each other.

until……

"Come in, Mr. Bryant. Are you going to let my friend stand out all night?"

The great Kobe Bryant nodded quickly:

"Please come in, please come in."

In the middle of the night, Xu Xin entered the home of his friend Vanessa for the first time as Kobe's friend.

He had obviously been here twice, but this third time made him feel on pins and needles.

Different from the usual enthusiasm.

When Kobe appeared, the atmosphere between the two made Xu Xin feel uncomfortable.

Because he could see... Vanessa's "angry" was really "angry".

It's not the kind of awkwardness or quarrel between young couples.

After the two of them entered the house, she had already reached the stairs. When she was about to go upstairs, she did not forget to say to Kobe:

"I hope you can wake up early tomorrow, you know what I mean."

After saying that, without giving Kobe a chance to speak, he walked upstairs without looking back.

When Kobe saw this, he quickly said:

"I made an appointment with Xu tomorrow and Garryvitti will come over. We made an appointment to train together in the gym..."

Vanessa didn't respond.

The resistance is so obvious.

After she went upstairs, Xu Xin thought about it and said:

"It's okay if I don't practice tomorrow..."

"……May!"

"..."

Look at the pleading look on Brother Black's face.

Xu Xin scratched his head.

"Practice... just practice."

…

The time is approaching 12 o'clock.

Xu Xin returned home with a bottle of red wine collected by Kobe Bryant.

After taking a shower in the guest bedroom, I quietly opened the door to the master bedroom.

Darkness.

Discredited, he returned to bed.

The child did not sleep with Yang Mi.

When she noticed movement on the bed, Yang Mi turned to glance at him and mumbled in a daze:

"I thought you and Kobe were going to be buried in the backyard by Vanessa."

"...I guess she can tolerate me for once today. But I will go to home with Kobe to exercise tomorrow..."

"..."

Yang Mi remained silent at first.

After her husband lay down, she turned over and hugged him.

Then he muttered:

"Don't worry, I can remarry and have children without changing my surname."

"..."

Xu Xin's face turned blue.

What ghost stories are you telling me in the middle of the night, sister?

…

Facts have proved that Xu Xin thought too much.

Because I came back late, I got up a little late.

When he woke up at around 9 o'clock, he thought he was still late, but as soon as he came downstairs, he saw Vanessa sitting at the dining table at home, making dumplings with her hands full of flour.

Yang Mi and her mother-in-law are also there.

The three children are there too.

It's just that the three children were covered in flour and the entire dining table was a mess.

Each of them was playing with a ball of dough in their hands as plasticine.

"Morning, Xu."

Vanessa said hello.

Looking at the confused Xu Xin, she said:

"Kobe has been kicked out by me in the morning. If you want to train, would you like to go to the gym with me and Yang in the afternoon? I will introduce my trainer to you. Galivetti's training standards are based on players, and they are very intense. Da, you don’t have to choose him.”

"..."

Xu Xin was stunned for a moment and smiled bitterly:

"Vanessa, I'm sorry, I didn't inform you in advance yesterday."

"It's okay, I understand. This is a friendship between men. But...Xu, some things are my decisions after careful consideration. Maybe you don't know yet, but tomorrow, November 1, Monday, the lawyer will come over. Come with the documents..."

Because GIGI was right next to her, she spoke very cryptically.

But Xu Xin understood what documents the lawyer brought.

After thinking about it, he persuaded:

"Vanessa, as a friend, I think...why don't we think about it?"

"This is my decision, Xu."

Vanessa shook her head.

"You know, it's not about anything, it's just between the two of us."

"..."

At this time, Xu Xin couldn't say anything.

Can only nod.

I took a look at the dumpling filling.

Yeah, two pots.

One pot should be fish, and the other pot should be beef.

Fine.

…

"Bro, I'm sorry, I tried to dissuade her. But she was adamant."

"Thank you, Xu. I know, we were also talking about this this morning...Do me a favor, if Vanessa and the children need any help..."

"Don't worry. I'll help."

"Thank you, Xu. I also need to calm down for a few days. Let's keep in touch."

"good."

Although I don’t know what happened in the morning.

But he could tell from the message Kobe replied. The two of them should have discussed some things when they got up in the morning.

There was nothing he could say.

105 people…

According to Yang Mi, someone stabbed her in the heart 105 times with a knife.

Even if the cracks in Eagle County have been repaired, how long will it take for these 105 wounds to heal?

No one knows.

And just like Vanessa said.

November 1st, Monday.

Even people like Xu Xin who rarely follow Twitter saw this message on Sina Weibo:

"Vanessa and Kobe sign divorce agreement"

And it was Monday night when he saw the news.

Vanessa invites the family to her home for dinner.

Makes for an authentic Mexican meal.

Nuan Nuan and Yang Yang like to eat very much.

GIGI also enjoyed eating.

Only Natalia, as if it was the first time everyone met, she and Vanessa had no communication throughout the whole process.

Clearly, she was on her father's side.

On the other side was Vanessa, who was sitting in front of him and seemed not to be affected in any way by the divorce.

On one side was Vanessa's cold expression on the phone.

For a moment, Xu Xin couldn't tell what was real and what was disguise.

But it turns out that the disguise is still the same.

After two glasses of wine.

The only thing Yang Mi could do was to hold GIGI and tell her not to disturb her mother at this time.

Then I watched Vanessa cry on that side while getting herself drunk.

But he could only sigh.

Alas~

…

Since coming to the United States, Xu Xin has been basically out of the domestic news.

In fact, he often receives news from his wife.

For example, "The Legend of Zhen Huan".

In Yang Mi’s words, that is:

"It's okay, let the bullets fly for a while."

"The Legend of Zhen Huan" was not rotated on local stations. Its first broadcast was directly placed on Shaanxi TV and became a star nationwide.

To be fair, Liang Binning + Zheng Xiaolong.

In addition, the first broadcast star channel.

This TV series should have good ratings.

but……

After it started airing on November 1, its premiere ratings were only 1.1.

Although this result is definitely qualified, there is still a big gap between it and everyone's expectations.

It shouldn't be.

The quality of the series, the depth of the script, and the actors' performances...how come it's only 1.1?

And the Douban score is only 3.7.

Embarrassingly low.

In comparison, Shuangwei's other TV series "Bu Bu Jing Xin" is now dominating prime time nationwide, with an average ratings of 3.25 and a Douban score of 7.3.

Compared with "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "Bu Bu Jing Xin", they are like heaven and earth.

This result made Liang Binning herself suspicious.

Could it be that... I'm not angry anymore?

Word-of-mouth response online has also been mediocre.

Many people's comments on Douban are basically "I came here for Liang Binning, but after watching the first two episodes, I felt so boring.", "How could Liang Binning take on such a featureless drama?", "The actors in it" I want a handsome guy but not a handsome guy, I want a pretty girl but not a beautiful woman.”, “It’s not interesting.”, “The original author said that the traces of magic modification are too serious, right? I can’t accept it, bad review!” This kind of thing.

It can be said that it is full of bad reviews.

When this news was reported to Yang Mi, the answer she gave was the same sentence she just said.

After Xu Xin learned the news, he thought she was being harsh and wanted to comfort her.

But Yang Mi’s attitude was extremely determined:

"I'm serious. Don't worry. How many episodes have it aired? The story hasn't even started yet. Don't worry, I have confidence in this drama."

This is what Yang Mi said when "The Legend of Zhen Huan" aired the first two episodes the day after Kobe and Vanessa divorced.

She is really confident because she has already finished watching the show when she was at home.

Whether Director Zheng's film is good or not, as someone who has watched the entire film, she has the right to say.

Even speaking honestly, in her heart, "The Legend of Zhen Huan" is a level higher than "Bu Bu Jing Xin".

Therefore, even if the previous market feedback was mediocre, she believed that with Sister Bingbing’s reputation and the solid quality of the series, after getting through the previous episodes where Director Zheng said “it was a bit delayed, but it can’t be done without filming”, this film The audience of the play must be able to feel the excitement of this "desire to rise before suppressing"!

She is confident!

Even if "The Legend of Zhen Huan" got off to a bad start and the media badmouthed it, "the premiere is the peak"...

We’ll see!

And the next words seemed to confirm her "prophecy".

November 3, Chinese time.

After the long preparations in the first four episodes, the fifth episode of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" begins, and the emperor finally hears the sound of Zhen Huan's flute.

"Oh my god, Chen Jianbin and Liang Binning don't seem to be worthy of each other. They feel like father and daughter."

"It took 4 episodes for Zhen Huan to meet the emperor. Although the original work is also like this, but... I finally waited for you. Fortunately, I didn't give up!"

"Ah ah ah! Huan Huan finally meets the emperor!"

"The original author said: Everyone, you can pop the champagne. From now on, the myth of Zhen Huan officially begins!"

Episodes 5, 6, 7 and 8, with the plot starting little by little, the ratings of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" began to gradually increase.

The ratings also started to climb up a little bit.

Although it certainly can't compare with the popularity of "Bu Bu Jing Xin".

But... at least for Shaanxi and Taiwan, during the prime time period, under the shadow of "Bu Bu Jing Xin", except for the weekends of "The Voice" and "The King of Masked Singer", this Monday to Friday TV stations with average ratings of less than 1% have breathed a sigh of relief.

Um.

good.

Although the ratings are only 1.47.

But as long as it is stable, it means that this drama is a good buy.

Just keep it low.

Seventy or eighty episodes.

When "Bu Bu Jing Xin" is finished, we will launch a wave of "Double Only Launch" ads.

Why can’t the ratings be above 1.5?

As long as it can reach above 1.5, then this year's performance can be regarded as meeting the standard.

As for Douban ratings...

well.

take it easy.

Who can't become fat after eating at one go?

Just one chapter today, Kavin.

Mainly... the protagonist of the "Quick" movie series, I'm really scratching my head. The American plot itself was prepared for Xu Xin to make a movie. But...I really don’t know who to choose.

I originally thought it was the guy from the Razorback Party, but with the recent release of "Oppenheimer", the media are saying that this guy is Nolan's "royal" or something like that. I don't like it anymore.

I want to arrange a royal appointment for Xu Xin. But now there are no candidates.

I envisioned Nicolas Cage, Tom Hardy, and many others. But...it just doesn't taste right. It's just weird.

The plot changes are also very awkward.

By the way...who do you like? Recommend one?