Chapter 513: You Won't Lay a Finger on Him

Fang Hong soothed the Jade Rabbit leadership, telling them to rest easy, do their jobs well, and not let this matter affect them.

"The more critical the moment, the less we can panic, the more we must hold steady. What great storm haven't we weathered? If this little thing scares us, then we don't deserve to be in this business," he said.

The Jade Rabbit leadership didn't know what to say, only that the Principal was too mighty and unyielding.

No matter what happened, he could face it with calm composure.

Sometimes a company needs someone like this—someone who can shoulder the burden, who isn't afraid of trouble. If you're afraid of trouble, you're a coward, and a company like that will never get past its hurdles.

After they left, Fang Hong comforted Liu Tianxian again: "Those people are just trying to scare me. I can't show weakness—if I do, it means I have a guilty conscience. The other side sees your guilty conscience and can manipulate you better. If I don't back down, they can't do anything to me.

If I leave, that would be fleeing from guilt, and that would be even harder to deal with."

"What if you really got taken away? What would we do?" Liu Tianxian looked at him, her eyes full of heartache.

"I won't be taken." Fang Hong stroked her pretty face.

"I mean what if," Liu Tianxian pressed.

"If 'what if' really happens, then from now on we'll just be the most ordinary people—plain and ordinary, at peace with the world." There was a note of lament in Fang Hong's words.

If he really got taken away, it would mean justice couldn't triumph over evil.

Then what was the point of fighting? Just lie flat and be done with it!

Liu Tianxian also felt a pang of melancholy—this was a struggle against fate. If you couldn't overcome the so-called powers-that-be, then just lie flat.

"You're gambling, and it's making my heart pound," she complained, aching for him.

"Life itself is a gamble—gambling on the future, on dreams, on the chances that belong to us. There's no such thing as smooth sailing or peaceful years; everything we have, we fought for." Fang Hong said.

If it didn't work, he'd take the last step—use his foreknowledge to wipe out Yan Zi. If he couldn't beat the powers-that-be, then Yan Zi would be buried with him.

These words left Liu Tianxian silent. She had once struggled too, just not as fiercely as Fang Hong.

"Don't worry. If I behave, if I submit to capital, then Jade Rabbit will also flame out," Fang Hong said.

"What do you mean?" Liu Tianxian didn't understand.

"A cultural export enterprise that can create billions in value—we're the only one of our kind in the country. You'll never find a second." Fang Hong put his arm around her shoulder and drew her into his embrace.

Up above they chant "culture going global" every day, but when culture actually goes global, the helmsman is about to be hauled away—what kind of nonsense is that?

Many people were watching this nervously, all wondering whether the Principal would really be taken away, whether the Principal would run.

"Big Brother, do you think the Principal will run?" Xiao Wang stood before the floor-to-ceiling glass, looking across at Jade Rabbit headquarters, ablaze with lights.

"I guess not." Da Wang was examining a porcelain antique.

"Why?" Xiao Wang turned his head.

"If the Principal runs, then he wouldn't be the Principal." Da Wang said.

After fighting the Principal for so long, they still understood him somewhat. The Principal was a man of great pride—someone like that had a bone-deep confidence.

And unlike others, he had a natural sense of superiority.

Of course he didn't know this was the superiority Fang Hong carried as a reborn—looking at them was like looking at natives.

The ones who understand you best are your enemies.

Xiao Wang lowered his head in thought, then said: "Then Big Brother, do you think the Principal will be taken south?"

"Hard to say. It depends on the attitude up top. We don't know how much pull Jack Ma really has, and we don't know how heavy the Principal's weight is either." Da Wang shook his head.

Now the Principal's Big Hero 6 was a massive hit. In the eyes of those above, what it brought was far more than just economic benefit.

It had opened up a new path for animated film export—relying not on live-action film and television, but on animated films for export. That was a technique.

This kind of path avoided the limits of skin color and race, and minimized the factors brought by political ideology.

Because there were no real people, you didn't have to worry about which country the actors were from, which country the director was from, or what they thought.

"Do I really want the Principal dead?" Xiao Wang harbored hatred in his heart.

"Who doesn't? I do too." Da Wang dreamed of the Principal's death, but in today's society he could only use other means—no personal attacks.

"Shall we put in some effort too?" Xiao Wang said.

"Don't know, can try." Da Wang couldn't be sure of anything.

Because the Principal was no small player now!

If this had happened a year or two ago, angering Jack Ma, they could have had the Brotherhood of Remnant Elders put in some work. But now the Principal's value was growing heavier and heavier.

Their people simply couldn't reach him anymore.

Not just the Wang brothers—many people in the industry were discussing how the Principal should respond.

Even Zhang Ju was running around on his behalf. The Principal's impact on his political achievements was too great—whether it was culture going global or the boost to the domestic film and television market.

If Jade Rabbit was beaten into losing its spirit, where would we find another "Jade Rabbit"?

If capital runs rampant, how terrible will our cultural environment become?

Bad Genius, Lucy 1, Now You See Me, Big Hero 6—one after another, Jade Rabbit was pushing culture overseas, with obvious results.

Big Hero 6 let us see the hope of a cultural industry chain.

What you see is one animated film, but what we see is the gap with Hollywood narrowing. Who else has the technical strength to make animated films on par with Hollywood?

No one. Whether it's patience or capital investment, no other company can do it.

In an era chasing quick returns, Jade Rabbit could settle down and focus.

And Chang'e Technology was also vigorously developing web dramas, opening up an entirely new blue-ocean market and pushing the web drama market forward by a huge margin.

It solved the employment problem of countless art graduates who had to wait their turn in the film and television industry.

It solved the employment problem of a large number of extras.

Originally only a few dozen web dramas were produced in a year, but this year it broke through to over two hundred.

"An enterprise that earnestly does real work, that promotes our country's cultural development, that wholeheartedly builds culture going global and builds an industry chain—even if the helmsman has some flaws, we cannot allow him to be manipulated by improper means." Zhang Ju finished his last sentence with fervor, then looked at the several leaders seated on the executive sofa.

The office was upscale and solemn; several bigwigs carried an air of dignified authority, giving off a feeling of imposing majesty without anger.

"Old Nie, what do you think?" General Manager Liu asked.

"What do I think? Old Liu, what law did this Principal break, or what violation did he commit?" General Manager Nie retorted.

"People say he wantonly spread rumors and defamed someone's personal reputation." General Manager Liu said calmly.

"Did he do it?" General Manager Nie said.

That remark left that General Manager Liu silent—there was simply no evidence that the Principal had done it; throughout the whole process, the Principal didn't seem to have said a single word.

Of course everyone knew the two sides were locked in a struggle, but from what could be seen, that person really hadn't done anything.

"Let's say for argument's sake that he was spreading the news, but were those things false?" General Manager Nie said again.

Fang Hong hadn't broken any new material the whole time—just reheated old material; the only new thing he exposed was manipulation of public opinion.

Every single one is correct—first chapter, first release—content is on 69shuba—check it out!

Zhang Ju listened to General Manager Nie's words and felt quite reassured—the old leader was on his side.

After all, they were part of the same system, and the Principal had added a bold, striking stroke to their political achievements.

The other general managers said nothing; they were just here to listen. Some didn't even know what was going on—after all, in their eyes, this was just children fighting.

"The way you put it, it's as if this person did nothing wrong at all." General Manager Liu chuckled.

"I'm not saying this person did nothing wrong—everyone makes mistakes. Being young and hot-headed, or acting on impulse, that's fine, but there's no need to escalate it into a political issue."

General Manager Nie looked at the other general managers again, counting on his fingers: "We can't chill the hearts of people who do real work—promoting web drama development, pushing films overseas, building a high-tech film and television base, accumulating animation film technology—which of these isn't genuine, solid real work?

The results of Big Hero 6 you've all seen. Copyright, box office, merchandise—I won't even mention those. Just one point: it narrowed the gap between us and Hollywood and explored a new path for cultural exports."

The other general managers all nodded. They too saw that person as quite young, and being young, hot-headed, and impulsive was hard to avoid.

Their animation division had had its glory days before, but those were all comic-style works. Using the film format, Jade Rabbit was the first; in this area, the gap between them and Hollywood had always been huge.

Technological advancement and going overseas had always been national policy—whether for culture or anything else.

"Old Nie is right. We should be more tolerant of young people with ideas, who dare to fight and dare to push.

Logically speaking, this matter shouldn't be handled by us at all. Commercial competition belongs in the realm of commercial competition—who wins and who loses should be decided by the market." one general manager said.

"But one side is already about to take the other away."

"Send them back. Who are they trying to scare with all this nonsense?" one hot-tempered general manager said.

He couldn't stand the faces of those people from the south, always resorting to underhanded tactics at the slightest provocation.

This discussion was not to be disclosed to the outside, and no one knew about it. Even though Zhang Ju had stood by and listened to the whole process, he wouldn't tell anyone, and certainly wouldn't tell Fang Hong.

He didn't even call Fang Hong or anything like that.

What was surprising, though, was that those bailiffs heading north turned around at Qilu and went back.

Without a sound, without any explanation.

But on the internet, the negative coverage of Yan Zi still existed and hadn't been taken down—everything had returned to where it started.

That was the stage when the Principal had launched his counterattack.

In other words, the higher-ups weren't participating, weren't taking a stance—acting as if nothing had happened.

And the wave of public opinion the Principal had stirred up against her still existed!

But this left everyone baffled—what was going on? They just went back like that?

"Bro, what's the situation here?" Xiao Wang was extremely surprised—even Jack Ma stepping in hadn't worked.

"Don't know. Let's wait a few days and see if there's any follow-up." Big Wang was also quite taken aback—just like that, silently, saying nothing, doing nothing.

He couldn't figure out what the people above were thinking either.

In a high-end office, Jack Ma stood with one hand in his pocket, the other holding a cigar, looking out at the skyscrapers of Hangzhou, displeasure on his face.

This matter had leveraged his network of connections and cost him a great deal of favors—all of which would have to be repaid.

"President Ma, what does this mean?" Yan Zi also couldn't quite read it.

"Nothing much. It just means the higher-ups won't intervene—you lot fight it out among yourselves." Jack Ma said.

"Then this—?" Yan Zi was inwardly terrified. If it was like this, wouldn't she be cursed to death, wouldn't she be finished off by the Principal?

"I think we should stop here. Go apologize to the Principal, and let this matter end here—don't escalate it any further." Jack Ma turned around and took a puff of his cigar.

The higher-ups not intervening already made their attitude very clear—the person, don't even think about touching her.

And this incident had already drained far too much of his energy; companies in other sectors had been putting pressure on him over it.

Especially Tencent, which had been applying a lot of pressure on him.

The money was secondary—the main thing was the energy spent, the favors called in, and the matter still hadn't been resolved.

"Me apologize? Then where do I put my face?" Yan Zi pointed at herself, clearly very unwilling.

"Do you want your face? Or do you want to be blacklisted and driven out of the industry?"

Jack Ma's expression turned stern, and he said again: "This time it's already alarmed even bigger figures above. Do you think the people up top have a good impression of you, given all the dirty stuff you've done in the past?

Let me tell you—you can't withstand an investigation."

Those words made Yan Zi's face change dramatically—in other words, if they kept making trouble like this, they'd be put under the microscope.

It was already known, and if she kept using underhanded tactics, then it wouldn't be a matter of turning a blind eye anymore—it was a warning.

"I never expected Jade Rabbit to suddenly have a Big Hero 6 that exploded internationally."

(End of this chapter)