Chapter 390: Cross-Eyed

This fiery temper turned what had been a pleasant atmosphere into one instantly tense, for they'd been fighting for so many years, with clashes almost annual.

Enemies meeting each other naturally burn with hatred.

Around them, Huang Bo, Fang Long, Bingbing, and others remained silent—they still moved in this circle, and in today's film industry, the Principal was an unavoidable mountain, always crossing paths.

They all now held the mindset of offending no one.

Yao Dazui, Da Baobei, Zhang Hanyu, and other Huayi artists also stayed silent, though Yao Dazui felt deeply uneasy.

Though Huayi had many artists, the major ones had all left to go solo.

The studio model is simply the current trend.

"Try saying that again to me, and I'll slap you senseless." Fang Hong raised his hand to strike him.

Feng Kuzi's face changed—he thought he was really going to be hit, instinctively raising his arm to block, but the hand never came down; striking here would be unwise.

He was seated; Fang Hong stood, giving him the height advantage.

Seeing the slap didn't land, Feng Kuzi exhaled in relief—but also felt embarrassed.

Fuck, coward! Fang Hong cursed inwardly.

"He's already fifty or sixty—he could be your grandfather. Who the hell do you think you are calling yourself 'old man'?" Xiao Wangzong stood up for Feng Kuzi.

"If you like, I can be your old man too," Fang Hong said.

"Absolutely disrespectful."

Xiao Wangzong, furious, rose to confront him.

Those beside him quickly pulled him back and soothed: "Enough, enough."

Liu Tianxian also grabbed Fang Hong, shielding him in front, telling him not to fight—even if a fight broke out, she'd go first.

If it came down to real fighting, Fang Hong couldn't beat Liu Tianxian, and Xiao Wangzong and the others certainly couldn't.

They were all pampered, indulgent people; Liu Tianxian, if she weren't trying to keep her figure, could take on ten of them.

Only Fang Long might be able to match her.

Liu Tianxian trained in dance, trained in martial arts, and exercised daily without fail—her entire energy went into this.

Put it this way: she could hold a one-handed plank while rowing a dumbbell with the other—she was just that badass.

Celebrities and stars farther away noticed the commotion, craning their necks to look; some even stood up, asking those beside them what was going on.

There were also Yutu artists here—Song Jia, Li Xian, and others were present.

"Principal, you're deliberately provoking us—we haven't done anything to you," Da Wangzong, calmer, spoke up.

Fang Hong looked at him, arrogant: "I'm deliberately provoking you. What are you going to do about it?"

This left Da Wangzong speechless—he could only glare angrily; the Principal had become too arrogant.

Before, he'd at least held back a little; now, he showed no restraint at all.

When they mocked Fang Hong in the past, they should've foreseen this day.

Now, without big capital backing, no one can control him—he's built a more mature production system and is steadily perfecting his promotion network.

Aside from lacking movie theaters, Yutu's system is now fully integrated in promotion and distribution—only time is needed for growth.

Meanwhile, the big capitals are locked in fierce battles; from 2013 to 2015 was the peak of the Cat vs. Goose rivalry.

Entering the film industry isn't easy—it requires capitalization and public market financing.

That starts next year: from next year onward, major film companies will begin public financing, internet financial hot money will flood in, and film companies will keep going public.

"You're young—show some humility," Fang Long couldn't help saying.

"What's wrong with that? I was bullied by you for years—can't I be arrogant now? When I was weak, why didn't you show humility?" Fang Hong shot back.

He remembered clearly: at the Shanghai Film Festival two years ago, these people stood together, mocking him.

Back then, all he could say was: "You're crazy!"

"Enough, enough—this is still a Bazaar Charity auction. Give me some face and stop quarreling," Su Mang, having watched the drama, finally decided to intervene.

If this kept escalating, the situation could spiral out of control.

If they actually started fighting here, Bazaar Charity would become a joke.

Fang Hong glanced at her, thinking: You've got zero face to give.

But he said nothing—there were still many government officials here; he couldn't go too far, couldn't just beat them up.

"I really want to slap him twice!" Feng Kuzi muttered, watching Fang Hong walk away.

Da Wangzong, Xiao Wangzong, and those around him stared at him suspiciously—why didn't you slap him then? When he was about to slap you, you cowered. But no one said it aloud.

Feng Kuzi was all bluster and no courage—he'd be fiercest and most boastful when facing someone weaker.

But if someone was stronger, he'd act like a whipped dog.

"Forget him, forget him—he's just young and hot-headed. Someone will eventually put him in his place; we'll just wait to see when he falls," Fang Long also disliked Fang Hong's behavior.

So young, and already so arrogant.

Over there, Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian walked toward their seats; Liu Tianxian gripped his arm and whispered: "You're always causing trouble whenever you come."

"Why else do you think they look at me with such hostility, like I'm an idiot? It pisses me off," Fang Hong said.

"Still, you should have some decorum. Look how harmonious everyone else is," Liu Tianxian said.

"That's just surface. There's no harmony in this world—even the U. S. presidential election has its circles and factions, hidden power struggles, candidates cursing in speeches. They're supposed to be high-level, supposed to have decorum, yet they call each other idiots and morons."

This world is just a shoddy operation—no matter how high-level someone is, they still act like ordinary people. What decorum is there?

Ordinary people have more decorum than those pretending to be virtuous.

"I can't argue with you," Liu Tianxian fell silent.

The auction above continued, unaffected by the conflict; the two sat back down, their table filled with actors and celebrities.

The actors were Gao Yuanyuan, Shu Qi, Jing Tian, and others.

Jing Tian, seeing Fang Hong, still wondered in her mind: is he male or female? She still couldn't figure it out.

It looks like he's dazed, got turned around.

Famous names include Chen Yihong, Shen Nanpeng, Wang Xiaofei, etc. Wang Xiaofei doesn't need explanation—he's one of the Beijing Four Young Masters, and he hasn't hit an economic crisis yet, so he's still very rich.

Shen Nanpeng is the founder of Sequoia Capital, and he also founded Ctrip and Home Inn.

"Principal, hello." Shen Nanpeng extended his hand toward Fang Hong.

"Hello, General Manager Shen." Fang Hong shook his hand.

"Hahaha, Principal, if you need investment, come to me—we can talk." Shen Nanpeng found this man quite interesting.

People in investment don't look at how a company is doing—they look at the person. Someone this arrogant must have absolute confidence, the kind that lets him keep fighting.

After all, his Yutu just gets stronger the more he fights!

"Definitely. But right now I'm not short on money—I'll come to you when I am." Fang Hong replied tactfully.

"That's all I need to hear." Shen Nanpeng smiled.

Wang Xiaofei watched this man with envy—he held the title of Beijing Four Young Masters, yet Shen Nanpeng wouldn't even acknowledge him, only chatting with Chen Yihong.

Now he's also warming up to the Principal—what does he lack?

At that moment, a man at the next table pulled over a chair and sat beside Fang Hong: "Principal, long time no see."

"Oh, it's you!" Fang Hong turned, patted his shoulder, acting warm and familiar.

He'd completely changed from his earlier hostile state.

He'd already mostly retired from the film industry—no more conflict of interest with him.

The man pulled out a string of beads tied together like a pendant and said: "Principal, look—this is called Dzi Bead, from the snow region, a treasure of the Tibetan people!"

"Oh!" Fang Hong took it, glanced at it—it was just an ordinary bead, street-market junk.

Seeing Liu Tianxian looked curious, he handed the beads to her. She held them up to her eyes, examining closely—the beads had carved patterns, artistic and intricate.

But they didn't look like any "treasure" at all!

"This thing is ordinary." Fang Hong told Liu Tianxian.

"Hey, not ordinary at all—the exact same ones are being auctioned right now." The man explained.

The auction on stage right now is for this man's Dzi Bead—it's already reached 800,000, and finally sold for 880,000 to Huang Yi; no one knows if it was rigged.

Seeing neither of them moved, the man sensed he couldn't fool them and added: "Look over there—Huang Jiaozhu is wearing one just like this around his neck."

"So you mean this thing is valuable, and you're giving it to me?" Fang Hong asked. "Dzi Beads have thousands of years of history, extremely precious—only ten thousand exist worldwide. I couldn't afford to give you one." The man lied.

"If you're not giving it, I don't want it." Fang Hong gestured for Liu Tianxian to return it.

He wasn't a fool—he'd seen street-market junk before. Those stars live high above it.

"Don't be like that, Principal! Give me something, at least so I don't lose money!" The man grew anxious.

Seeing Fang Hong ignore him, he turned to Liu Tianxian: "Tianxian, take it—this is a treasure, wearing it around your neck will protect you."

Liu Tianxian shook her head and waved her hand—she didn't believe in this stuff. She believed in herself.

"Principal…" The man still wouldn't give up.

"If you give it to me, I can promote it—run ads, do publicity. If you don't give it, no one will advertise for you. You should know—if I wear this out, even if it's dog shit—"

Fang Hong paused, adding: "I'm not saying yours is dog shit—I'm just making an analogy."

"Yeah, I get it." The man listened.

"If I wear it out, how many celebrities, how many big-name stars will follow? How much profit could that bring you? Do you understand the economic value here?" Fang Hong spoke with perfect seriousness.

His status was real—if he wore it, people would notice, and many stars and celebrities would copy it. That's catering to their tastes—not because the thing had real value.

The promotional benefit here was huge.

"But I only have ten thousand—limited edition."

"Don't treat everyone like fools. You say it, they believe? Maybe a few idiots, like the one you just mentioned—do you think I believe it?" Fang Hong's face was dead serious.

Liu Tianxian listened beside him and smiled—clearly, he was calling Huang Jiaozhu an idiot for actually buying this Dzi Bead.

The man stared at Fang Hong, speechless. Businessmen like him were hard to fool—unlike stars, who fell for anything.

First Huang Jiaozhu, now Huang Yi—fools with money!

"What you want is to break into the high-end market. To reach the top tier, you need celebrities and bosses wearing your product as examples—then the stars will follow."

Fang Hong gestured to Liu Tianxian: "If it weren't for this connection—if I didn't treat you as a friend—I wouldn't say so much. Tianxian, return the Dzi Bead to him."

"No no, I give it to you!" The man reached out to stop her, convinced Fang Hong was right.

No wonder he succeeded—his vision was totally different from mine.

"Don't force yourself." Fang Hong said.

"No forcing—I really give it to you." The man said.

"Then give me another one. The two of us—we can't both wear one, it'd be too dull." Fang Hong pointed at Liu Tianxian.

"Principal, these are expensive." The man hesitated.

"No wonder they say you're narrow-minded—you can't accomplish big things. You must give to receive. Do you understand?" Fang Hong sneered.

The man felt utterly humiliated—he realized how petty he'd been. Liu Tianxian was, after all, a red-hot female star.

She was top-tier in the domestic entertainment industry, and his beads weren't even costly.

"Fine." He handed another bead to Liu Tianxian.

Liu Tianxian now held two Dzi Beads, but she said nothing, quietly watching this man being conned.

"That's the spirit—that's how you do big things. I'm rooting for you." Fang Hong patted his shoulder.

"You have to promote it for me." The man was reluctant, stingy as ever.

"Do I even need to say that?"

Fang Hong looked as if it were obvious.

Their conversation was quiet, heads down, ignoring everyone else—only Liu Tianxian leaned in close to listen. No one else was so rude.

The shoehorn had gone off to sweet-talk someone else. Liu Tianxian held two Dzi Beads in her palm and said to Fang Hong: "Here, let me put them on you."

"Are you sick? Wearing that thing." Fang Hong's face was full of disgust.

"If you're not going to wear it, why did you ask for it from someone? Are you giving it to your auntie?" Liu Tianxian was baffled.

"Pfft, one for my Heizi, the other for your cat." Fang Hong took one over.

One Dzi Bead for each person's pet.

"What?!" Liu Tianxian's eyes went wide, then she caught on. She draped one hand over Fang Hong's shoulder, leaned on it, and burst into a "giggle giggle giggle" laugh.

After all that fuss, the man had spent half a day hustling for freebies, just to give them to pets.

She had assumed the man was giving her one and keeping one for himself.

The people at their table were either watching the stage or chatting with others; not all of them were paying attention to them. Liu Tianxian laughed so happily that no one thought anything of it.

Every table was chatting, people were laughing out loud with a "ha ha," the stage was running a solemn auction, and the atmosphere below was still very lively.

Jing Tian noticed and wanted to say something to Fang Hong, but didn't get the chance.

"You're so bad." Liu Tianxian swatted his leg and pinched the flesh of his thigh hard while she was at it.

"Hiss—" Fang Hong winced and said, deadpan: "Are you out of your mind?"

"You only just figuring that out today?" Liu Tianxian said, all cutesy.

Fang Hong got his revenge on the spot: he put his hand on her thigh and pinched hard too. Liu Tianxian's features scrunched up at once, and she even crossed her eyes in a goofy face.

That very moment was caught on camera.

But the camera only flashed past and moved on; the cameras below only panned over occasionally, not constantly—after all, things were all over the place.

A certain actress was doing the crossed-cups toast with a big shot.

Fang Hong watched her like that and couldn't help laughing too—she really was too cute.

Just as the two of them were idle, secretly tormenting each other under the table, Su Mang came over again, and both of them immediately straightened up.

She whispered in Liu Tianxian's ear. After hearing it, Liu Tianxian nodded to show she understood.

Liu Tianxian leaned close to Fang Hong's ear: "I'm going up to be the guest auction assistant for a bit."

"Okay!" Fang Hong nodded.

The previous lot on stage had ended, and the next one was beginning. The host said: "Lot number 12 is also a very weighty lot—it is a sculpture by our contemporary art leading figure, Zhang Xiaogang."

"Since it's such a weighty lot, we must also bring out a very weighty guest auction assistant—Ms. Liu Tianxian."

The applause from the audience was scattered and half-hearted.

Liu Tianxian stood up, and Su Mang, under everyone's gaze, held one of her hands high and helped her up onto the stage.

"Thank you, Tianxian. Please give us an introduction," the host greeted her.

"Hello everyone, I'm really moved to be here today, to be able to do my small part and help those who need help. The Charity Bazaar that Su Mang and General Manager Liu have put together is a very meaningful thing."

Liu Tianxian gave her remarks on stage, then began introducing the lot.

There was no worry about no one bidding—Su Mang and the others would naturally round up bidders; those bosses had the measure of things in their hearts.

Fang Hong lay on the table and said to Jing Tian, who was at some distance: "Miss Jing, why do you keep glancing at me? Is it because I'm so handsome?"

He had noticed Jing Tian glancing at him every now and then and was a little curious, though of course he knew in his heart what was going on.

Jing Tian switched seats, sat down in Liu Tianxian's spot, lay on the table, and said softly: "Are you really a girl?"

"Don't tell anyone. You haven't told anyone, right?" Fang Hong cupped a hand beside his mouth, afraid she might tell others.

"No, I won't tell anyone."

Jing Tian looked very serious, then said: "But you seem pretty normal to me. Do you have some kind of mental illness where you think you're a girl?"

She had heard from friends in the United States that over there lots of men think they're women, and that psychologically you can think you're a woman, and others shouldn't assume someone's gender.

So she figured the Principal must be like that.

"No, I don't have a mental illness," Fang Hong said. This girl really does run wild with her imagination.

"No, you do! Does Tianxian know?" Jing Tian figured he was in denial.

"She doesn't know." Fang Hong hesitated.

"While she still doesn't know, you need to get treated right away. This is very serious—if you're not careful it'll affect the relationship between you two."

Jing Tian's tone was full of concern, and she said earnestly: "I'll have my family find a top psychologist for you. You don't have to worry about people finding out—they'll keep it confidential for you."

She was too kind-hearted; Fang Hong didn't know what to say, and couldn't bear to keep deceiving her.

(End of chapter)