Zhou You had two purposes for visiting today: first, to see his teacher, and second, to subtly showcase his financial standing, paving the way for future plans.
Seeing the family of three across from him all staring his way, Zhou You was already confident and completely unfazed.
"Ah Le, have you seen a movie from a while back called *Love Is Not Blind*?" There was no point in bringing up other topics—they wouldn't know about them anyway, and movies were best asked of the younger generation; how many older folks actually went to theaters?
"Bro You, of course I have. I watched it with some friends. What does that have to do with you? Don't change the subject—I still want you to help me level up." Ah Le never even considered the idea of investing. For an ordinary person, who could possibly invest in a movie? Was that something regular folks could do?
"I was one of the investors in that film. It was a low-budget production, but it ended up being a box office hit, so I made a bit of money." Zhou You was deliberately vague.
The teacher and his wife turned to look at Ah Le: "Is that movie real? You've seen it—what did you think? Don't try to fool us." They didn't necessarily doubt Zhou You, but it all seemed a bit far-fetched, and they didn't want him to go down the wrong path or get scammed.
Seeing them all turn to him, Ah Le panicked: "Why are you all looking at me? That movie does exist. There's been buzz online about it being a huge success, and the investors made a killing."
"I stumbled into it by chance. You know I like documentaries, and I knew someone from a Shanghai TV station, so I invested in the film. Never expected it to make money." Zhou You kept it as simple as possible.
Hearing this, the teacher frowned: "Zhou You, I may not have direct experience with the film industry, but I've read up on it. Investing in movies is way too risky. Many films never even make it to theaters, and countless people lose their money. Do you still have the money from your lottery win?"
"After buying the house and car, I put some into stocks, and that turned a profit too." Zhou You looked at his teacher with a cheerful grin.
Well, that left them speechless. It was his money after all, the teacher thought. I'm just his teacher, not his parent. Prying too much would only create friction. Saying my piece was enough.
"Mom, just take it. It's Bro You's way of showing his appreciation. That movie made hundreds of millions at the box office, and the reported cost was only ten or twenty million." Seeing Zhou You signal him, Ah Le quickly chimed in.
"Xiao You, if you don't mind, tell your teacher's wife how much you actually made. Otherwise, I won't feel right accepting this. For our family, it's a bit of a splurge—your teacher and I could afford it, but we'd hesitate." The teacher's wife looked at Zhou You, a bit embarrassed.
"Oh, it's not that much. I initially invested a few million. After the theater chain cut and other expenses, I ended up with about thirty to forty million." Zhou You thought it over. He was about to buy a house anyway, so hiding it was pointless, especially since he was eyeing a villa this time.
As soon as he finished, Ah Le lunged at him: "Bro You, you're my real brother! Take me under your wing!"
The teacher sat up straight, stunned: "No wonder everyone wants to invest in movies. I couldn't earn that much in a lifetime."
The teacher's wife was delighted: "Xiao You, it's great to see you doing so well. I'll take this bag then. Ah, I never thought the most expensive bag I'd own wouldn't be from your teacher, but from his student." With that, she headed to the kitchen to start cooking.
Zhou You knew that while these gifts were pricey, they were within reason. As university professors, they were well-informed and knew about such things; they just lacked the strong desire to pursue them.
After the explanation and a brief moment of shock, everyone calmed down. Who wouldn't be proud to see their student succeed?
Ah Le, however, was more curious about the actors and peppered Zhou You with questions: "Bro You, were the actresses pretty?"
"They were okay. You get used to it after a while." Zhou You answered honestly.
Beautiful women, after all, become just another face after prolonged exposure.
"Ah Le, take a look at your gift." Seeing Ah Le still lost in fantasies about the actors.
"I'm way too old for gifts," he said, opening the box. Since it wasn't on the market yet, the box had no branding.
Ah Le unwrapped it and saw a white, metallic-looking object with four pointed corners. It looked like a toy airplane. When he fully opened it, his curiosity grew.
"Bro You, what is this? It looks like a toy plane. Is it a model aircraft? I don't know how to fly those."
"Yes, it's a toy plane, but it can take photos and videos. Think of it as a toy for big kids." Zhou You explained casually. "Check the manual—it comes with one. Shouldn't be too hard."
Zhou You had opened one himself earlier, played with it briefly, and then lost interest. It was just a novelty.
While Ah Le studied the manual, the teacher couldn't help but ask again: "Why did you buy this for Ah Le? He's way too old for it."
"Teacher, I didn't buy it. It was a gift from someone else. And this is a prototype—there's nothing like it on the market yet." If the teacher hadn't asked, Zhou You wouldn't have known how to bring it up. He couldn't exactly say he invested in it—that didn't fit his low-key, understated style.
"No wonder it's so simple. Bro You, let's go try it out downstairs." Ah Le was excited about the new toy and couldn't wait to test it, glancing at his father for approval.
"Fine, go ahead. Come back up soon." As soon as his father spoke, Ah Le dashed downstairs.
The two of them found an open space and started assembling it.
Back then, drones couldn't connect directly to phones; they used a dedicated remote control.
Ah Le did all the experimenting, and Zhou You wanted to see if a complete novice could get the drone airborne. Traditional model aircraft had a steep learning curve, requiring manual assembly of stable systems—remote control, video transmission, servos, electronic speed controllers, antennas, and so on—along with a deep understanding of how each component worked.
In no time, Ah Le had everything set up.
"Bro You, stand back. I'm about to show off." Ah Le said with a cringe-worthy flair.
Takeoff.
A buzzing sound filled the air.
The drone rose steadily into the sky.
A white spirit soared freely above.
Seeing this, Zhou You thought to himself, *What a fitting name.* Watching the white drone dance through the air, it really did look like a spirit flitting about.
Ah Le got more and more into it, pushing the drone higher and higher to test its altitude limit.
Eventually, it flew so high it was almost out of sight, so he quickly brought it back down.
As a new invention, despite its flaws, it was enough to颠覆 people's perceptions.
Just look at how excited Ah Le was.
Zhou You remembered feeling the same way the first time he flew one. He never imagined a drone could be this fun—flying so high and so far.
Humans all share a dream of flight.