One of Our Own

“Big brother, you need to be careful these days. That ‘Great Cause Pictures’ doesn’t look like the type to play by the rules. Even though I went over and had a meal with them, that President Yang is rather petty—I figure he’ll still try to stir up trouble.”

“Dad, your connections aren’t much use, are they?”

“...”

“Can’t we just cut off ties when necessary?”

“Careful, or I’ll come to Huating and give you a piece of my mind!”

Director Ai Shoujin, frustrated by his son’s mockery of his lack of clout, protested indignantly. “You think it’s easy to get by in this business? They have powerful backers. The most influential councilman in Guanzhong could have me packing my bags out of Chang’an with a single word. The fact I was even invited to that meal—it’s all thanks to my reputation...”

“Dad, you’re getting forgetful. The only reason you were invited for a meal is because of your father-in-law—my grandfather—who was once an influential councilman in Guanzhong.”

“I’m not going to Huating. I’ll come to Jianye tomorrow and teach you a lesson.”

After Li Jie’s relentless needling, Director Ai’s blood pressure shot up. If he didn’t smack this kid around a couple of times, he’d never feel at ease. Still, in the end, he sent Li Jie an email, detailing the various questionable maneuvers “Great Cause Pictures” had pulled in recent years.

Some were serious, some not. Some were above board, some not at all. Especially the dirty tricks and cheap shots—President Yang of “Great Cause Pictures” truly relished them. They didn’t always produce results, but as long as it caused trouble for someone, he seemed to take great pleasure in it.

Director Ai was well-connected. Even if he couldn’t shield his dear son from every storm, gathering some useful intelligence to pass along wasn’t too difficult. And so, Li Jie carefully studied the illustrious record of President Yang Ying of “Great Cause Pictures.”

“Well, well, this President Yang... what a character.”

After reading just a few cases, Li Jie gained a deep appreciation for Yang Ying’s shamelessness. Honey traps, false accusations, throwing mud—he deployed these tactics without the slightest hesitation.

He’d even once thrown snakes and excrement at a rival production crew in the middle of the night. That rival had been “Yuhua Pictures” of Jianye. Later, one of Yuhua’s shows was reported for allegedly using minors to skirt the rules, filming was delayed by three months, and eventually “Yuhua Pictures” became “Yuhua Culture,” and then “New Yuhua Culture.”

Seeing all this, Li Jie felt he and President Yang might have a lot in common. After all, “New Yuhua Culture” was in complete disarray these days, and he wasn’t entirely blameless for that.

The long-focus lens on his phone—truly the stuff of legends!

Leafing through the material his not-so-talented father had provided, Li Jie noticed President Yang’s favorite move: sending “enthusiastic social groups” to directly threaten his competitors. It made him seem very impressive.

“If he tries to use violence to intimidate me... well, that wouldn’t be so bad,” Li Jie mused. What he feared least was some “enthusiastic social group” showing up at his door. He’d grown up an orphan in a welfare home; if it really came down to fighting in the streets, they’d do well to check his background first. How desperate does an orphan have to be to get into a street brawl?

Unfortunately, the likelihood was slim, since Li Jie’s company’s registered address was just a cubicle on some floor of an office building. You’d have to be crazy to cause trouble there.

So, this President Yang was bound to resort to something more underhanded. Odds were, it would happen on campus—after all, once outside the gates, the school would always back its own students.

No worries, then.

Li Jie considered what could possibly go wrong at school. Right now, he was a campus celebrity. The school was counting on him to win gold and silver at the upcoming university games among six provinces and municipalities. The School of Media was giving him free rein, figuring that keeping him in top form was more important than any theory lessons in photography. If needed, they could always organize some practical teaching. In the end, results depended on practice. Master the art, and everything else was secondary.

Still, just to be safe, when he was in “Boss Li” mode, he hired security guards for both the warehouse and the factory. One was Aunt Shu’s nephew, and so was the other. To make shift changes easier, Aunt Tu also called in her nephew to help out. Three guards from within the family, plus three more recruited locally—more than enough.

Tiger Mom’s son had wanted to join in the fun, but she smacked him into submission. She was a “specialty actor” now, earning honest money, and wasn’t about to let her good-for-nothing son ruin her work environment.

Though she claimed her own son was less valuable than a slab of braised pork, at least he wasn’t a thief or a scoundrel. When Li Jie learned of it, just before New Year’s, he said to Tiger Mom, “Mom, Brother Zhong is a decent guy. How about this: let him come over and drive the shuttle bus, what do you think?”

“Don’t bother with him. You have no idea how hard it was to get him a spot in the education bureau’s print shop. But as soon as someone hinted he got the job through connections, he got all upset and quit without even telling the family. Tell me, isn’t that infuriating?”

Just thinking about it made Tiger Wenjing boil with anger. “Your Uncle Wu was so mad he couldn’t eat for days.”

“Well, if young people don’t have a bit of fire in them, what’s the point of being young?”

“Ugh... I can’t be bothered anymore. And listen, don’t ever lend him money. Always dreaming about getting rich quick—now he wants to open a hot pot restaurant. He’s never even seen a restaurant kitchen, let alone run a hot pot place.”

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Tiger Wenjing shook her head repeatedly. “I told him to deliver takeout for a few months, but he thought it was beneath him. I really don’t know where he picked up this arrogant attitude. I certainly never spoiled him.”

To this day, Tiger Wenjing couldn’t figure it out. She’d disciplined her younger son strictly, never holding back when it came to punishment. But she’d always balanced reward and discipline—it shouldn’t have produced a ne’er-do-well, right?

And yet her younger son, Wu Qingzhong, really was hopeless. He’d become the biggest obstacle to her upcoming retirement. She was afraid she’d lose her temper and beat him to a pulp with the rolling pin.

Li Jie actually wanted to tell her the truth. Though Wu Qingzhong had always been afraid of his mother, every time he was punished, his grandparents would secretly comfort him. When Li Jie was young, he’d never liked spending the night at Tiger Wenjing’s place, precisely because her parents-in-law were something else entirely.

The only reason there hadn’t been a mother-in-law/daughter-in-law war was because Tiger Wenjing could handle the entire Wu family by herself. With a single rolling pin, she could have every man in the Wu family searching for their teeth on the floor.

Li Jie figured her in-laws, unable to assert themselves with their daughter-in-law, sought consolation through their grandson instead. So Wu Qingzhong grew up experiencing “ice and fire”—with such a family dynamic, it was practically a miracle his worldview hadn’t gone astray.

He knew Tiger Mom didn’t want trouble, but Li Jie didn’t care. Right in front of Tiger Wenjing, he called Wu Qingzhong: “Second Brother, Mom made over twenty grand this month and says she’ll buy you the latest ‘Durian Phone.’ Come to Jianye! Yes, yes, of course the train tickets are covered. Sure, just remember to bring your driver’s license—I’ll find you a job, too. Naturally, if the pay’s less than five grand, forget it. Okay, okay, I’ll pick you up at the station.”

Tiger Wenjing was speechless at Li Jie’s high-handed style. She glared at him and said, “Honestly, you act more like a big brother than he does.”

“Heh heh... don’t be mad! Come on, let’s go get some saltwater goose—and a roast duck too!”

With an arm around Tiger Wenjing, he coaxed her out for a meal. After they’d eaten and drunk their fill, Wu Qingzhong was probably already on the high-speed train.