"So, uh, what do you guys wanna do tonight?" After a fancy dinner prepared by a hired chef, Douglass Kirkland asked as he peeked through the window. There were still some paparazzi hanging out in the community, hoping to catch an interview with the local residents. They were quite skillful, really, as even with the community management sending out security guards to drive them away, they would still sneak back.
"Isn't there a way to press charges against these people?" Wu Xiaoming asked.
"Yes. But they are still technically the press, typically insured against lawsuits. Also - " Douglass Kirkland looked into Wu Xiaoming' eyes, stern and serious: "Let's not forget, as players in the entertainment business, there needs to be elasticity in our relationship with the press, that includes paparazzi. So, unless they were really out of line, or are trying to do something really heinous, it's best to remain a little bit of grace."
"Oh?" Wu Xiaoming frowned, then looked into Wu Wentao, who was looking at him smiling.
"It's probably best that you learn." Wu Wentao chuckled: "Do you read gossip magazines? Do you read them online?"
"I - a little, I guess."
"Well, would you be surprised to know that it's likely more than half of the gossip out there comes directly from these celebrities' PR team?"
"Half? Don't be ridiculous." Douglass Kirkland scoffed, almost laughing out loud: "I'd say it's probably somewhere around 80 percent. Unless it's some great breaking scandal, a lot of them are actually planned in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge kind of way. "
"Now, you see." Wu Wentao laughed out loud: "You know we are not new to this. These are just some common tricks. I thought you knew already. But it's never too late to learn about the nature of the business."
Just this moment, a car parked in front of the house. It was Wu Xiangyu.
"Xiangyu! Welcome back!" Wu Wentao stood up to welcome his eldest son: "How's business? I thought you won't have time until tomorrow?"
"Things wrapped up early." Wu Xiangyu smiled, then walked over to greet Douglass Kirkland and Wu Xiaoming: "Hey Douglass, Xiaoming, how's the cameo?"
Douglass Kirkland turned his head to Wu Xiaoming with an expectant look on his face.
"Uh - it was good, I guess." Wu Xiaoming scratched his head: "The director liked it, I heard, and he's open to consider me for future cameos, if the audience likes me. And - the director's brother offered me a job to host a show."
"Who, Charlie Manchester?" Wu Xiangyu nodded: "He's - he's not a small name. Good job!" He handed Wu Xiaoming a small bundle of old newspapers: "Here."
"What is it?" Wu Xiaoming took the bundle - it was tied together using paper ribbons.
"Tao Te Ching." Wu Xiangyu nodded: "I noticed you have grown interested in learning about traditional Chinese culture. I was hanging out with some business partners and investors today, and one of them gave me this as a gift - it's one of the limited editions, shipped straight from China, with detailed explanations and additional information expanding on the original texts."
Wu Xiaoming lightened the force he used to open up the bundle and grinned at his brother: "That is - that is super nice. Thank you, Xiangyu." He had already ordered Tao Te Ching online, only that it would take a few more days to be delivered.
"Not a problem." Wu Xiangyu's smile was rather cunning: "Bear in mind, this is in full Chinese, so you might need to brush up on that."
"Well, I'll - I'll try." Wu Xiaoming shook his head. Lucky for him, it was only a bit over a week since his coming into this world and this body, his understanding of the Chinese text was still fresh. "Thank you, don't worry about it. I will definitely give it a really careful read."
"Now!" Wu Wentao seemed to be in quite a good mood, "It's a good day today, what do you wanna do tonight? When the paparazzis are gone, we can go out for a family - uh, and friends time."
"Thank you for including me." Douglass Kirkland laughed: "You know, I know a new bar that just opened - "
"No alcohol." Wu Wentao and Wu Xiaoming said at the same time. Wu Wentao turned to Wu Xiaoming, surprised.
"Okay, okay. Then how about going out for a night stroll in Haoliwood? " Douglass Kirkland chuckled: "It's old fashioned, but it's - uh - classic."
"They're the same thing." Wu Wentao laughed.
"I mean - if you have time, we can fly to Europe, stay for a few days, maybe Rome, Florence - " Wu Xiangyu shrugged.
"Woah." Wu Xiaoming fixed his eyes on this older brother of his: "Brother, you're not just rich, you're RICH rich."
"I'm just in the mood to offer, take it or leave it." Wu Xiangyu laid back on the sofa.
"Xiaoming, you decide." Wu Wentao turned to Wu Xiaoming: "Since you're obviously the star today. Take the responsibility."
"Uh - " Wu Xiaoming began scratching his head. For a moment he wanted to suggest touring a haunted house. But it would surely make his father and older brother think more than twice about his decision to host the paranormal investigation show, so he shot it down. And after a moment of thought, a light bulb lit up in his head: "Is there an archery range nearby?"
"Archery range? That's - very out of the ordinary." Wu Wentao scratched his jaw.
"Well, at least it's not a night club or a bar." Wu Xiangyu shrugged: "Hey, I'm open for it."
"We actually have that around here. " Douglass Kirkland looked up from his phone: "To be fair, it's not really an archery range, but a gun range. They just have lanes for archery."
"Well?" Wu Xiaoming rubbed his hands: "Shall we?"
The drive from Wu Wentao's place to Uncle Long Indoor Range only took half an hour. And before even getting out of the car, the explosive pops of gunshots already got Wu Xiaoming's blood running and heart racing.
"Oooh, man. I should have come earlier." Wu Xiaoming couldn't help but mutter.
"It's the American way of life!" Douglass Kirkland snickered, Wu Xiaoming could not tell whether he was being facetious.
"Archery? How many lanes?" The man behind the counter was a burly, bearded man wearing what looked like a hunter's hat with camouflage.
"Four." Wu Xiangyu raised his hand with four fingers: "And we would like to rent bows."
"Okay, how many pounds?"
"Uh - " All four of them looked at each other, none of them had any answers.
Eventually, they picked their bows after trying pulling a few bows with different draw weights. Wu Xiaoming chose a recurve bow that was closest to the bow he got from the skeleton archer - it was 30 pounds.
"Do you want an instructor?" The man behind the counter asked.
"Maybe?" Wu Xiaoming giggled: "You can see, we're all noobs here."
"It's okay then, I'll help ya." The man behind the counter stepped out.
Standing before his lane, facing a grass backstop with a paper target on it. Wu Xiaoming asked: "Hey instructor, sir, I have a question: if I was about to shoot an arrow without fletches, how can I be more accurate?"
"Well, there's nothing you can do." The burly man shrugged: "Either you can try adding fletches, or you can just - try your best to know your bow and arrow."
"I see." Wu Xiaoming pulled his bow, aimed, then released. The arrow went straight over the target: "Damn, what the heck?"
"You need to aim down - because when you aim, your eye's above the arrow, and when you aim, you naturally point higher." The burly man walked behind Wu Xiaoming, then pulled his how-holding left hand down slightly: "At this distance, it should be probably about - half a finger's length."
Wu Xiaoming pulled and aimed down before releasing. The arrow shot into the grass below the target. But at least, it was closer to where Wu Xiaoming was aiming - the bullseye.
"Yeah, you got it, just keep practicin'" The man chuckled and went to Wu Wentao's side.
Apparently, Wu Wentao was naturally a better shot than all the other three. After a few tries, he was already able to land his arrows around the bullseye. Wu Xiangyu, on the other hand, was the worst shot among them, even with pointers from the burly man, he could only land one shot out of five on target.
"Now, who's the sharpshooter, huh? Anyone?" Wu Wentao was way too proud of his arrow alignments on the target, that he strided through all four lanes multiple times: "It's been years since I last touched a bow, and I've barely fired a dozen shots. But I just got it! "
Just this moment, a Korean mother brought her son into the lane on their side. The son could not be anything older than fourteen - fifteen years old, yet he assembled his own bow like an absolute pro. With a swift pull, he released his arrow right into the center of the target. He fired four more shots, all of which touched the bullseye.
"Well." Wu Wentao smacked his mouth as the rest of the three looked at him with schadenfreude: "I'm still better than all of you!"
"You're still the best among the noobs, dad." Wu Xiangyu shook his head. His arrow just went under the backstop itself and made it to the space behind it.