Once those annoying relatives had been sent packing, the next few days at home were peaceful.

Xu Ye planned to go back to Shanghai on the ninth of the first month. For one thing, the company reopened on the tenth. For another, Yu Beiwang and Pei Youwei were getting married and had asked him and Chen Qingqing to be best man and maid of honor.

Over those first days of the month, apart from New Year's visits to Grandma's and Little Aunt's, Xu Ye spent nearly all his time with Chen Qingqing. Sometimes they brought Wang Yuxin along too, and the three of them saw several of the Spring Festival releases. This year's crop was pretty much all duds, though. The one with the most buzz was Journey to the West: The Demons Strike. As for the rest, like Buddies in India and Kung Fu Yoga, Xu Ye would have taken one episode of Tom and Jerry on the toilet over any of them.

Barring surprises, though, the Wolf Warrior film the company had invested in would come out this summer.

Lü Cheng had put money in twice. The first round was fifteen million. Then in October, the crew said they'd run out of money again mid-shoot, and he'd put in another twenty-five million. Forty million all told.

Hardly any company in the industry would put that much behind a first-time director, which was why the production had come knocking twice in a row. Unless something unexpected happened, this film would bring the company enormous profits, far more than Monkey King: Hero Is Back had.

After this film, Xu Ye planned to set up a dedicated film and culture investment team under the Investment Department, handling film and TV investments exclusively.

Early on the ninth, Xu Ye drove to Red Leaf Estate, picked up Chen Qingqing, and headed straight for Shanghai.

They left in the morning and didn't arrive until eight that night.

Luckily the traffic wasn't too bad. The expressway was just busy, so they couldn't go fast.

Xu Ye checked into a hotel near the company again. By…