Chapter 34

In the following days, Xia Hou Zhongying became very mysterious. He would take out a notebook during class and write and draw in it, not letting anyone see what he was doing. His few close friends felt that he had suddenly become a different person, and they hardly recognized him anymore. When they asked him what was going on, he would just smile and say, "You'll know later," which made his friends even more anxious.

After school one day, Xia Hou Zhongying did not go home. Instead, he took the notebook he had filled over several days and went directly to the Zheng family's house. When Zheng Mother saw him, she was delighted and prepared several dishes that he liked for dinner. At the dinner table, she kept putting food on his plate, making Zheng Xiuyan jealous. She wondered who the real child of the Zheng family was.

"Xiuyan, there's something I want to talk to you about," Xia Hou Zhongying said to Zheng Xiuyan after chatting with Zheng Father and Zheng Mother after dinner.

Zheng Xiuyan also thought that Xia Hou Zhongying might want to talk about the micro-movie, so she nodded and led him into her room.

Their mysterious behavior made Zheng Father and Zheng Mother exchange glances. They wondered if the two kids were hiding something from them.

"Do you think they might be..." Zheng Mother used her thumbs to make a gesture and asked Zheng Father in a low voice.

"Don't be ridiculous, they're not that kind of people," Zheng Father said, though he was a bit worried inside. Could the two kids really be in love? But usually, they just argued a lot, which didn't seem to fit.

"Xiu Jing, come here," Zheng Mother called to her younger daughter, who was playing games on the computer. She couldn't directly ask her older daughter, so she decided to get some information from her younger daughter, who often spent time with her brother and sister. If there was anything wrong, it wouldn't escape the sharp eyes of Zheng Xiu Jing.

Seeing her mother call her, Zheng Xiu Jing had no choice but to leave the computer and sit next to her mother, picking up the PSP that was lying on the sofa. "Mom, what's up?"

"Xiu Jing, I want to ask you, is your brother Xia Hou Zhongying in love with your sister?" Zheng Mother asked in a low voice.

"No way," Zheng Xiu Jing immediately denied it. "Mom, with her temper, who would want her? And my brother is even more afraid of her. He usually avoids her. Mom, you should advise her to change her bad temper, or she might never get married."

Zheng Xiu Jing was still angry about her sister's unchanging attitude. Last time, there was a crisis, and she thought her brother was almost taken away by Sister Taeyeon. But her sister only knew how to get angry and didn't want to change. If this continued, it would be too late when her brother was really taken away by someone else.

Zheng Mother was at a loss, patting her daughter's head. "You shouldn't talk about your brother and sister like that."

"But it's true," Zheng Xiu Jing pouted. "Sister only knows how to get angry at my brother. If one day he is taken away by some of the sisters at the company, I wonder how she will regret it."

Zheng Mother was taken aback and asked cautiously, "Does your brother have someone he likes?"

"Not yet," Zheng Xiu Jing thought for a moment. "But I think some of the sisters at the company have a good impression of him."

Hearing this, Zheng Mother became more concerned. She hadn't thought about this before, as the kids were still young, and she hadn't tried to push them together. But the more she interacted with Xia Hou Zhongying, the more she liked him and hoped he would end up with her older daughter.

However, from her younger daughter's tone, it seemed that the two didn't like each other much. Getting them together wouldn't be easy. Moreover, someone as excellent as Xia Hou Zhongying would surely have many admirers. If he ended up with someone else, her daughter would be very unfortunate. She started to worry.

"Xiu Jing, do you think there's a possibility that your brother Xia Hou Zhongying and your sister could end up together?" Zheng Mother asked, feeling a bit desperate. She couldn't think of a solution, so she sought advice from her 10-year-old daughter, which was quite ridiculous. Zheng Father, who was listening, couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not impossible," Zheng Xiu Jing said casually while playing with her PSP. "As long as my sister changes her bad temper. My brother seems to like gentle girls. I think he treats Sister Taeyeon well. If my sister doesn't scare him away, it would be a miracle."

Zheng Mother's face fell. She knew her daughter's temper and thought it was almost impossible for her to change, especially for Xia Hou Zhongying. If she tried to advise her, it might backfire and make her daughter even more hostile towards Xia Hou Zhongying.

Thinking about this, Zheng Mother sighed and turned to ask Zheng Father for his opinion.

"Why are you so worried? The kids are still young, only 15. Who knows what will happen in the future?" Zheng Father was exasperated by Zheng Mother's anxiety.

"Who else will worry if not me? Our daughter is ours. Where can we find a boy as good as Xia Hou Zhongying? None of the kids in the neighborhood can compare to him," Zheng Mother said, snatching the newspaper from Zheng Father's hands. "Our kids are growing up, and you're not worried. What will we do in the future?"

"Fine, fine, I'm worried. What should we do now?" Zheng Father asked helplessly.

"..." Zheng Mother was speechless. If the kids didn't have any feelings for each other, no matter how worried they were, it wouldn't help. After a while, she said hesitantly, "Even if we can't do anything now, we should still think of some ways."

When it came to their children, women could be unreasonable. Zheng Mother's state of mind was giving Zheng Father a headache. Ignoring her wasn't an option, but what could he do? After a moment, he said, "Maybe the kids have their own ideas. They're still young, so it's not too urgent. We can only wait and see what they think in the future."

Not knowing what to do, Zheng Mother could only nod helplessly. She glanced at Zheng Xiu Jing, who had already run back to the computer to play games, and felt another headache. Her younger daughter was also going to be a handful in the future. Zheng Mother felt like she was in debt to her children.

While Zheng Mother was worrying about how to get Xia Hou Zhongying and Zheng Xiuyan together, the two of them had entered Zheng Xiuyan's room. Xia Hou Zhongying couldn't help but be curious and started to look around.

To be honest, this was the first time he had entered Zheng Xiuyan's room. Everything in the room was pink, making it look like a pink world. There was a large poster of BoA and a man on the wall.

"Tsk, tsk, Xiuyan, you like this type of man?" Xia Hou Zhongying asked while looking at the poster.

"What's it to you?" Zheng Xiuyan's face turned slightly red, and she said irritably.

"Just asking, no need to get so upset. Liking someone is not a crime," Xia Hou Zhongying said, reaching for the photo album on the table.

"What are you doing? I warn you, don't touch my things," Zheng Xiuyan was startled and quickly grabbed the photo album, hiding it under the blanket. It contained many of her childhood photos, some of which were quite funny. If Xia Hou Zhongying saw them, he would surely laugh at her.

"Hey, Zheng Xiuyan, why are you so stingy? Really," Xia Hou Zhongying shook his head in dissatisfaction.

"Let's get to the point. Didn't you say you had something to talk about?" Zheng Xiuyan ignored Xia Hou Zhongying's dissatisfaction, glared at him, and warned, "Stay there, don't sit. I allowed you to enter my room, but I didn't allow you to sit on my bed. Sit on that stool over there."

Xia Hou Zhongying was looking for a place to sit. Sitting on the bed would be more comfortable than sitting on a stool, so he walked towards Zheng Xiuyan's bed. However, before he could sit down, Zheng Xiuyan chased him away, making him very unhappy.

"Fine, fine, really. I spent so much time thinking about how to help you, and you won't even let me sit on your bed," Xia Hou Zhongying grumbled as he walked to the stool.

"Okay, let's talk," Zheng Xiuyan said after Xia Hou Zhongying sat down.

"I've already made the outline," Xia Hou Zhongying said, getting into work mode. He organized his thoughts and said, "If we want to make this micro-movie well, first, we need to buy or rent a good camera and some professional equipment, costumes, and props. We also need a makeup artist. These are necessary expenses that we can't avoid."

"Considering the cost, I suggest we rent first. After the first one is made, we can see the results and reactions and then decide what to do next," Xia Hou Zhongying said. "If the results are good, we can consider buying one later."

"Next is the personnel issue. For the female roles, we can use the seven of you. For the male roles, we can use some of our classmates, like the fat guy. If we need extras, we can get them from our class. These are easy to arrange. However, if we need adults, we'll have to think of other ways, such as hiring extras or finding people from elsewhere."

"Another issue is the location. We need to use the classroom and various places and facilities in the school. We need to communicate with the school first. I'll talk to Vice Principal Li in a few days to see the school's reaction. If it doesn't work out, we'll have to look for other schools," Xia Hou Zhongying said, flipping through his notebook and looking at Zheng Xiuyan.

"The most critical issue is the script. I don't have any ideas yet, so you should also ask the others for their opinions. We need to brainstorm and come up with ideas. The more people, the better," Xia Hou Zhongying said after thinking for a moment. "The theme should be about school life, and it should be positive and uplifting. This will make it easier for the school to agree to our request."

"Also, we don't know if we need vehicles or other things yet. We'll have to wait for the script to be written. If we do need them, our costs will increase significantly. So, I've been thinking about getting some sponsorships to reduce our costs," Xia Hou Zhongying continued.

Xia Hou Zhongying then talked about other details and things they needed. He looked at Zheng Xiuyan and asked, "I've organized this much for now. Do you have any suggestions to add?"

Zheng Xiuyan's head was spinning from all the information. She just listened to what Xia Hou Zhongying said. When he suddenly asked for her opinion, she couldn't think of anything. Her strength was in singing and dancing, and she didn't know much about planning and organizing, so she couldn't offer any suggestions.

"You decide," Zheng Xiuyan said weakly, feeling a bit guilty, which made Xia Hou Zhongying even more frustrated.

Xia Hou Zhongying sighed. If he had known it would be so complicated, he wouldn't have suggested making a micro-movie in the first place. He felt like he was being forced into something. Not to mention the funding issues, he couldn't handle everything alone. These girls could perform, but asking them to come up with ideas was too much.

"I didn't realize how much work it would be until I started organizing it," Xia Hou Zhongying said helplessly. Thinking about all the tasks he had to handle alone made him feel a headache. He could have lived a carefree life, but why did he have to take on this burden? He was already regretting it. After a moment, he continued, "I've been thinking about forming a studio."