Chapter 2

The so-called butterfly effect is just like this: Ye Wei made the old principal lose face, and the old principal made him suffer in return.

After the assembly, he was dragged to the principal's office for a scolding and received his "small punishment" -- his "squid" work hours increased by five hours!

Harvard-Westlake has many community service programs, one of which is called "squid": seventh and eighth-grade students clean the school after school, each required to complete one hour per year, while ninth graders need to spend three class hours mopping the floors and cleaning the cafeteria during lunch.

Now he had to add five more hours, mixing with the younger students!

So... what's the big deal?

This is why Ye Wei felt strange; he should have complained, but he didn't. He had "experienced" too much hardship, and this "punishment" was like a child's play.

It was all because of that dream; he felt he had grown a lot, which was a good thing, right? No matter, let things be as they are, this is me!

Thinking this, Ye Wei couldn't sit still in class. The math teacher thought he was still the bad student who couldn't concentrate in class. It was hard to find an Asian student with such poor math skills! In fact, Ye Wei was always thinking about the family matters, and every time he thought about his father getting so angry that he might die, he broke out in a cold sweat.

After one class, he couldn't stay any longer. He found Ms. Grace Esi and asked to go home to rest, claiming he wasn't feeling well.

Perhaps his face really did look bad, as Ms. Esi approved, but don't think this would reduce the punishment. No way, not a minute of the five hours could be reduced.

Thus, the popular VIY hurriedly left the campus, leaving many people scratching their heads. Those who wanted to play with him, those who wanted to get to know him, and those who wanted to cause him trouble... how could they not find him?

After leaving Harvard-Westlake, Ye Wei took a taxi, but didn't go home. Instead, he headed straight for his father's dental clinic.

Dr. Ye Haogen's (Hogan-Yeah) private dental clinic was located in Santa Monica. When Ye Wei arrived at this seaside city, it was already noon.

The clinic was small, with one hall, one room, and one bathroom. There was only Dr. Ye Haogen and an elderly black nurse who had been working there for many years. In the bright hall, there was a dental chair that looked like a mad scientist's equipment, surrounded by a desk, sofa, medicine cabinet, and some elegant plants.

"Dad!" Ye Wei rushed into the clinic hall and saw his father, dressed in a white coat, organizing some dental tools by the dental chair.

Dr. Ye Haogen looked up, his middle-aged face full of surprise, "Wei, why are you here?"

"Oh, you old guy!" Walking up to him, Ye Wei hugged his father with excitement, feeling as if it had been eight years since the last embrace, which made his eyes well up and his throat choke.

But what he saw was real; his father was fine, and it was just a long and smelly dream. Anyway, whether it was real or not, he had to protect his father and his family!

He composed himself and smiled, "I skipped school."

"What!?" Dr. Ye Haogen frowned in surprise.

"Ha, fooled you. I got the teacher's permission to leave. I just felt something was off with you today, so I came to check and feel reassured." Ye Wei put his hands on his father's shoulders and kept looking him over. His father was still the spirited elite dentist, with a youthful glow from chasing his movie dreams.

Dr. Ye Haogen looked at himself and smiled helplessly, "I'm fine, as you can see. Shouldn't you go back to school?"

"Please, Dad, don't be so rigid." Ye Wei looked annoyed, "I finally got out, just let me take a day off."

"Alright, alright, who hasn't been young?" Dr. Ye Haogen was never a strict father and laughed, "But don't blame me for not warning you. Your C grades in all subjects won't get you a new car key at 16. Your mom has already warned me."

He continued to tidy up the tools while speaking, "You want the latest Land Rover, right? We'll have to see how 'The Wedding Date' performs. If it's not a box office bomb, you'll only get a used Volkswagen."

Hearing 'The Wedding Date,' Ye Wei's expression darkened. He had been thinking about what to do next all the way. After much consideration, the most important thing now was to figure out one thing.

Was the poorly made 'The Wedding Date,' with a decent script, the result of the production team's best efforts but still falling short, or was it the result of Kevin Thomas and his crew being a bunch of frauds who messed it up?

The latter had a 99% chance. In the dream, when he grew up and studied film at USC, he called Kevin Thomas and asked to see the production budget, production schedule, director's log, and all the original production materials for 'The Wedding Date.' The guy claimed that the company had been bankrupt for years and all the materials were lost, so he couldn't provide them.

What a ridiculous excuse! He believed that no professional filmmaker would lose such important original materials!

Kevin Thomas not letting him see them only meant one thing: those materials had serious issues. An outsider might not notice, but an insider could.

For example, the last few exterior scenes in 'The Wedding Date' were shot in Florida. For a $2 million independent film, whether to go on location was already questionable. The key was, was that large sum of location money actually used for filming?

Or did they use the filming as an excuse for a vacation, with filming being secondary and the trip being the main goal?

Just the "location scouting fee" alone could have many hidden issues.

This was a way to try to cover up, but there were more direct and brazen ways, and clues could be found in those production documents.

If Kevin Thomas really misused their family's several rounds of investment, totaling $1.8 million, he wouldn't let that bastard off!

Thinking about this, Ye Wei looked serious and said, "Dad, I'm here for another reason. You know I'm making a short film and preparing to participate in the school film festival next year, so I'm very interested in the production schedule and director's log for 'The Wedding Date.' I want to see them."

The first Harvard-Westlake Film Festival was announced by the school not long after the start of the school year.

With such an opportunity to shine, he was naturally eager to participate. He wrote a three-minute public service announcement script, recruited friends to form a production team, and completed the filming. It was now in post-production.

Dr. Ye Haogen naturally knew and was very excited about his son's performance, nodding with a smile, "Sure, I'll ask Kevin when I have time."

"No, ask him now, Dad. I really need it! Here, give me his number, I'll talk to him."

Ye Wei was very insistent, and Dr. Ye Haogen didn't find it strange. His son had always been somewhat arrogant and capricious, which was a headache, "Alright, let's go have lunch first?"

"Now!" Ye Wei really didn't have the mood, snatching his father's phone and dialing a contact in the address book...

"Hey, hey! Kevin? Yes, it's me, Wei." As soon as the call connected, he pretended to be enthusiastic, walking towards the clinic's bathroom.

Seeing his son acting mysteriously, Dr. Ye Haogen shrugged helplessly, guessing that making a short film wasn't the real purpose?

The phone transmitted Kevin Thomas's equally enthusiastic voice, "Wei, what's up? Isn't this your dad's phone? Looks like someone skipped school?"

"Yes, ha-ha, the thing is..." Ye Wei laughed and explained his purpose, surprising Kevin Thomas, "Wow, so dedicated!"

Closing the bathroom door, Ye Wei whispered in a conspiratorial tone, "Kevin, let me be honest with you. It's actually a girl. I told her my family made a movie, and she didn't believe me. I can't show her the final cut DVD, so I need these, these professional-looking things."

At this, Kevin Thomas thought he understood everything, laughing in realization, "Oh, I get it, ha-ha, no problem, I'll give you some storyboards."

"No, Kevin, everything, I need everything!" Ye Wei's tone was urgent, as if he had let something slip, "Storyboards can only get her to take off her top, one piece of information for one piece of clothing! Oh, never mind... Kevin, you know everything now, you won't report me, right?"

"Ha-ha, no, I understand. I'll bring them to your dad tomorrow and give them to you."

"Now, I need them now!"

"Seems like that girl is really hot, huh? Ha-ha, the materials are in the office, and I'm at the office, but I can't leave right now..."

"I'll come get them, wait for me at the office."

Ye Wei ended the call without further ado, looking at himself in the mirror on the wall, slowly changing his facial expressions, muttering, "Dear, you really have some acting talent."

On that young and handsome face, a cold smile appeared.

Not going to lunch with his father, Ye Wei left in a hurry, leaving Dr. Ye Haogen feeling very frustrated.

The production company co-founded by Dr. Ye Haogen and Kevin Thomas, Vido-Pictures, named after the first two letters of Ye Wei and his sister Ye Duo (Dorothy), was located in a small office in a building in Santa Monica. There were no employees, and all the affairs of 'The Wedding Date' were managed by Kevin Thomas.

In less than half an hour, Ye Wei arrived at the office, where Kevin Thomas was already waiting.

"Hey, Wei!"

Kevin Thomas was a white man in his late thirties, wearing a blue casual suit, with a well-proportioned figure and a full smile, looking very kind and cultured. He had indeed attended university and was a graduate of the prestigious North Carolina University of the Arts' film program.

This identity and image, combined with his smooth talk, were enough to dazzle those with movie dreams.

"Kevin." Ye Wei also seemed very enthusiastic, looking around the sparsely equipped office, "Where are those materials?"

"You'll get them, over here." Kevin walked to a computer desk, where several thick stacks of documents were placed, "They're all here."

Ye Wei's eyes lit up, and he eagerly flipped through the documents, finding the production schedule, budget, storyboards... all there!

"Is there more? Is there more?" He asked while rummaging through the drawers of the computer desk, taking anything useful, acting like a thief on a raid.

Watching him, Kevin Thomas's smile was playful, his eyes filled with contempt, looking at him like a silly boy, more accurately, a wasteful and brainless playboy.

When Ye Wei had packed the documents into a bag, Kevin finally said, "Wei, return these materials when you're done, I still need them."

"No problem, I'll return them in a couple of days." Ye Wei pretended to agree.

At this moment, Kevin Thomas seemed to have another idea, hesitating mysteriously, "There's something I don't know if I should tell you..."

"What? Tell me, tell me, I won't tell anyone." Ye Wei was both curious and eager, thinking, "Trying to fool me, huh?"

"Tomorrow night, there's a yacht party on Santa Monica Beach, with many models attending..."

Ye Wei immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Wow! Are they Victoria's Secret angels? Or Playboy models? Can I go!?"

Seeming very satisfied with his reaction, Kevin Thomas laughed happily, "Not that top-tier, but very hot, and they love making friends. I'm not too interested, but I have to go for business. But I think you'd be interested, it would be good to go and have fun."

"Of course I'm interested, they'll like me." Ye Wei wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, overacting a bit, but the other party didn't notice.

He knew what this guy was up to, luring him with the promise of money. If he spent money at that party, it would make this scoundrel look rich, and the third-rate models, who were only interested in money, would flock to him. Being a minor, he would ultimately benefit Kevin Thomas.

Sure enough, Kevin Thomas also got excited, "If you really want to go, you need to prepare today. Those models aren't little girls; being cool won't work; they only like rich people." Ye Wei smiled ambiguously, "I know, I know."

"This can't be told to your dad, or anyone! Otherwise, I'll be in trouble. I'll pick you up tomorrow night, and we'll say we're going to the movies."

"Ha-ha, completely understood." Ye Wei laughed, looking at Kevin Thomas's disgusting smile, feeling a cold laugh in his heart: But you're in for a big disaster.

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