Before the conversation between the two ended, Xiao He quietly slipped away.
After all, accidentally overhearing someone trying to poach his own manager... ahem, was quite awkward.
Of course, Xiao He didn't actually mind Shu Han's attempt to recruit his manager.
From their earlier conversation, he knew that Shu Han had approached Liu Rulan mainly to help her out, so his intentions were actually good.
Shu Han wasn't familiar with him - he didn't know Xiao He's character or capabilities, so considering things from Liu Rulan's perspective was only natural.
Still, hearing Sister Liu speak so highly of him made him quite happy...
Xiao He wandered around outside for a while, calculated when they would come downstairs, then returned to the elevator to meet them.
"Sister Liu, Mr. Shu." Xiao He acted as if nothing had happened, greeting them proactively, "This way, the others are already waiting for us."
"Alright, just call me brother, no need to be so formal." Shu Han corrected Xiao He's address with a smile.
"Just call him Brother Shu, he's planning to develop his career back here now, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to meet in the future." Liu Rulan casually teased.
Xiao He nodded: "Okay, Brother Shu."
The group walked to the hospital's underground parking lot, then left together by car.
When they reached the hotel, everyone took some time to settle their own affairs. After Liu Rulan had mostly recovered her energy, she brought Xiao He along to invite Shu Han to dinner at a nearby restaurant.
The entire meal was very enjoyable. Xiao He had originally thought Shu Han might hold some hostility toward him, but after interacting, he discovered Shu Han had an exceptionally straightforward personality - speaking and acting very directly, and looking at Xiao He more with a "benevolent" gaze of a senior regarding an outstanding junior.
It was also during this meal that Xiao He learned the reason for Shu Han's return to China.
"Mainly because it's just too chaotic over there." Shu Han sighed deeply, "It's hard to get by without capital backing, and even with capital, you're just destined to be exploited by the big players."
"In my last film, that damn director pulled editing tricks on me, deliberately using my entrance shots and dialogue out of context to showcase their so-called correct ideology. Fortunately, a buddy of mine encountered it when the project was outsourced, otherwise I would have been completely finished."
When locals got tangled up with this correctness stuff, they could only suffer in silence, sparking waves of criticism and bloody storms. For someone with his sensitive background to dare touch that stuff would mean all these years Shu Han had worked would be completely wasted.
He might even get dragged by some political party to serve as a typical example, and then he wouldn't be able to return even if he wanted to.
Shu Han had come to understand that it was better to work back in China now - he could earn money and preserve his life, much better than living in constant fear abroad.
Coincidentally, Shu Han's contract with his overseas company had expired, and he didn't plan to renew. After some legal "entanglements" with his previous production team, Shu Han chose to return to China quietly.
Currently, not many people in China knew he had returned, and this news hadn't yet spread online.
Recounting his difficult history, Shu Han patted Xiao He's shoulder with genuine sincerity: "I was basically forced to return home with my tail between my legs. Don't view overseas with rose-tinted glasses in the future - our side has better development prospects now."
Liu Rulan smiled helplessly: "Xiao He doesn't have plans to go abroad right now anyway. He's still working in villain roles - he should establish firm footing domestically first."
However, Xiao He felt somewhat tempted.
If the criminals he portrayed in the future could gain influence overseas, becoming known to people around the world, how many points would that earn him?
Not to mention much - if each person gave him just one point, it would be enough for him to retire on the spot.
Hehe, just thinking about it was exciting—
"You kid, what are you thinking about again."
Liu Rulan called out to Xiao He, pulling him back from his beautiful fantasy.
Xiao He instantly turned serious: "I'm listening to Brother Shu."
After finishing this topic, Shu Han and Liu Rulan discussed the current situations of several entertainment companies, with Xiao He listening nearby and occasionally adding his own understanding of these companies.
By the end of the meal, everyone was full from both the food and the gossip.
After resting, Xiao He returned to the film set the next day.
But this time, the way everyone on set looked at him had become much more reverent.
After all, Xiao He was the tough guy who dared to rescue people from a smoking tanker truck.
Who wouldn't feel awe toward that!
After recovering, Liu Rulan also began coordinating with the police regarding the car accident situation.
Everyone had suffered heavy losses in this accident. Although the main culprit was now living a life worse than death due to inexplicable "phantom pain," she genuinely had no money for compensation. Fortunately, the tanker truck driver's insurance company provided compensation, alleviating much of the pressure from medical treatment costs for the injured.
However, there were still a few people who might end up with lifelong disabilities, and this money was completely inadequate for their needs.
After learning about this situation, Liu Rulan sighed deeply, thought for a moment, then subtly guided current online public opinion to prepare for social fundraising assistance for these families with the most critical financial situations.
Meanwhile, the police were also working hard to follow the clues from Zhang Li's case, arresting all the staff members selling counterfeit drugs, and pursuing the final hope of tracking down the fraud money.
Unfortunately, much of the money obtained by these fraudsters over the years had long since flowed overseas. And once money went overseas, it was like a mud dragon entering the sea - almost no hope of recovery.
Even so, they didn't give up, since this money included Zhang Li's portion. If they could recover it, they could compensate the victims, helping them secure more treatment funds and opportunities.
During the police's relentless day-and-night investigation, a clearly traceable flow of funds actually emerged.
Fortunately, this fraud team was a small group without sophisticated money laundering methods. The police traced the fund flow step by step, reconstructing the money trail, and actually managed to locate these funds, successfully fixed on and freezing the related accounts to prevent the money from slipping away further through operations by overseas contacts.
So the final outcome was quite good - the police achieved a major victory this time, not only arresting everyone but also recovering the money, which was quite rare among numerous fraud cases.
Although the technical staff responsible for the investigation privately felt somewhat puzzled, feeling that the entire process of finding clues and tracing fund flows had been unusually smooth, as if divinely assisted, smooth to an unreasonable degree, upon careful examination, they found no other suspicious traces.
So they could only let it go and happily accept credit for their achievements.