Lu Kuan soon realized how hard it was to earn those few thousand yuan. He accompanied Zhou Xun and Jiang Qinqin from 4:30 to 7:00, and they showed no signs of stopping. The Little Taoist was starting to feel exhausted.
If the two female sales assistants at Youngor saw this, they'd probably grumble again: so weak, yet acting like a kept man, he'll be dumped by the rich lady sooner or later!
"Two sisters, can we take a break and eat? Don't you have to go to Suzhou for filming tomorrow!"
Zhou Xun looked at her watch and smiled, "I didn't realize time passed so quickly. We'll leave after buying a few more pieces of underwear for your Sister Jiang."
"What are you talking about!" Jiang Qinqin's face turned slightly red with embarrassment. She playfully slapped Zhou Xun and then glanced at the Little Taoist, who looked as calm as ever.
The Jiangnan region has high humidity, making it difficult for everyday clothes to dry, especially with the recent continuous drizzle. You have to use a hairdryer for a long time.
Jiang Qinqin's main purpose for dragging Zhou Xun shopping tonight was actually to buy underwear.
"Let's go!"
Jiang Qinqin seemed to find it a bit awkward to have a man 6 or 7 years younger waiting outside while she bought underwear, so she quickly grabbed a few items and pulled Zhou Xun out.
"Give them to me." Lu Kuan habitually reached for the shopping bags.
Jiang Qinqin glared at him. "Hurry up and go, I'll carry them myself."
Zhou Xun chuckled beside them, "Little Taoist, you made the Bodhisattva's face all red."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Jiang Qinqin slapped her best friend's butt with a 'pat'. Although there wasn't much flesh, it still quivered slightly.
The outdoor wind was biting cold. Lu Kuan had the two of them wait at the entrance and drove over to pick them up.
"What would you like to eat?"
Jiang Qinqin asked curiously, "The way you say that, it's like you're the host here. Aren't you from Mao Mountain? Do you know Wuxi?"
"I know a little about worldly affairs."
Lu Kuan recalled his past life when he was invited to Wuxi as a judge for a model contest, and the romantic moments spent with a few young models after the competition were still vivid in his mind.
"Tired of big meals? How about we just wander around a snack street or something?"
Zhou Xun's eyes lit up when she heard this. "Great!"
She had a figure that didn't gain weight, making her unique among female celebrities. At least she was much less restrictive with her diet than Jiang Qinqin, who was always dieting.
Lu Kuan drove to Chong'an Temple, a snack street located in the bustling downtown area with a long history.
"Heh, you actually found it, that's impressive, Little Taoist." Jiang Qinqin got out of the car still fully covered up, very surprised by how familiar he was with the place.
"This place is very famous, I've even heard of it on the mountain."
The three of them walked inside, avoiding the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. It was Saturday, and the snack street was quite crowded.
Lu Kuan's tall and straight figure cleared a path in front of the two actresses, giving them a strong sense of security.
"This Little Taoist would actually make a good bodyguard," Jiang Qinqin whispered to Zhou Xun behind him, covering her mouth.
"Qinqin, are you lonely?" Zhou Xun teased her best friend.
"Oh, I know now! You touched him just now when you were straightening his clothes. How was the feel? Those strong muscles... tsk tsk!"
Jiang Qinqin raised her delicate eyebrows. "Get lost! You're always cozying up with Li Yapeng yourself, and you're still laughing at me."
Zhou Xun was 27 this year, and Jiang Qinqin was one year younger. In this era, female celebrities didn't practice secret marriages or relationships, and both of them were experienced and well-versed, so their conversation was quite unrestrained.
"Do you want to eat these?" Lu Kuan couldn't hear what the two of them were chattering about behind him. He pointed to the plum blossom cake, Wang Amei's taro and sugar soup, and Ding Ali's duck blood vermicelli soup on his right.
"Xiao Lu, is there somewhere to sit?" Jiang Qinqin wasn't as interested in snacks as Zhou Xun. Sichuan girls have a strong preference for spicy food and weren't used to the sweet flavors of Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou.
Using his height advantage, Lu Kuan looked around for a while. "There should be a Gongdelin restaurant ahead, specializing in vegetarian food. Let's buy some and take it there."
The few of them enjoyed the rare leisure time. Just 24 hours ago, Lu Kuan was drinking himself into oblivion at a banquet, while Zhou Xun and Jiang Qinqin would have been filming non-stop for several months if it weren't for last night's Li Yapeng assault incident.
Life is not easy, Xiao Lu sighed. Touching the more than 7000 yuan in his pocket, Lu Kuan decided to first contact his senior brother in Beijing and ask him to register a consulting company in Beijing.
This was mainly to avoid legal risks.
Next, a showbiz guru who knows everything about you from three hundred years before your birth to three hundred years after your death is about to make his appearance.
The three of them found a corner to sit in the main hall of Gongdelin. The two actresses were still fully covered, only slightly loosening their scarves to start tasting the food.
Zhou Xun was very hungry. With her left hand, she held a piece of Cai Apo's Chicken Cake, and with her right hand, she stirred the Huishan Tofu Pudding with a spoon, praising it non-stop.
"Xiao Lu is really good at finding places, it's delicious!"
Lu Kuan smiled and scalded two sets of cutlery for them. He also picked up a dish of Double Mushroom Swallow and started eating, watching Jiang Qinqin across from him continuously pouring chili oil into her bowl, thinking to himself that Mountain City was still the most flavorful.
The three of them ate for a while, slightly easing their hunger.
Jiang Qinqin looked at Lu Kuan across from her and smiled, "Lu Kuan, without your Taoist robe, your words and demeanor completely hide your true nature."
Zhou Xun had been wondering about this for a while. "Yeah, I seriously suspect you're a fake Taoist. Your living habits seem exactly the same as a normal person's."
He could drive, knew the way, could find the snack street – his every move was completely unlike a Mao Mountain Taoist who lived deep in the mountains.
"Don't be fooled by the Taoists in TV dramas and novels," he explained.
Lu Kuan explained, "People like us cultivate at home. Aside from our regular studies, we are no different from ordinary people. I at least graduated from high school, and one of my senior brothers even went to college earlier."
"However, he left the Taoist order early, which is an individual case."
In short, being a Taoist is just a profession, not an exclusive identity.
"So, everything you said in front of Director Zhang today was true?" Jiang Qinqin was half-believing, half-doubting.
She was initially surprised that he could point out the crew's shutdown was due to the Li Yapeng incident, but now seeing Lu Kuan completely blend in with ordinary people after taking off his Taoist robe, she felt the filter of mystery had been removed somewhat.
"Whether it's true or not, you'll know in a few days."
Lu Kuan looked at the two still somewhat confused women and smiled, "You two sisters spent money today, let me do a reading for you. Ask anything you want."
Zhou Xun and Jiang Qinqin exchanged glances. One of them bought clothes, and the other bought shoes, which combined amounted to keeping a kept man.
"Let's do a relationship reading!" Jiang Qinqin put down her spoon with a hazy look in her eyes and gave the Little Taoist two birth charts.
Lu Kuan chuckled inwardly. This man should be Zhang Xiaozheng from "The Bride with White Hair", right? Had they not broken up yet at this time?