Chapter 293

"Mr. Li, after hearing Xiao Hui's account, I truly regret not being there to watch your debate."

After the debate ended, Li Ye did not go with Li Huai and the others to Fengze Garden, because Pei Wencong had his sister find Li Ye to say he needed to discuss something.

So Li Ye cooked a few dishes at the Zaojunmiao sihe academy and sat across from Pei Wencong for a quiet drink.

Li Ye raised a cup to Pei Wencong and smiled faintly: "Tonight, you're not going to talk about the debate, are you?"

"Of course not."

Pei Wencong savored the burn of Er Guo Tou, frowning: "I followed your advice and called several mainland film studios. They all reacted the same way—Mr. Li, can you guess what that reaction was?"

Li Ye smiled: "They thought you were a scammer?"

"Exactly!"

Pei Wencong stamped his foot, laughing and exasperated: "I've sold fruit, worked as a laborer, even traded porn magazines—but I've never been a scammer. How did they know I looked like one?"

Li Ye said: "When you gave them the film budget, didn't they all freeze for a few seconds?"

Pei Wencong paused, thoughtful: "Yes, and they kept double-checking if the amount was in U. . dollars. Mr. Li, I only listed the initial budget—five million!"

Li Ye said: "That's obvious. They think your budget is too high—ridiculously high, unrealistically high."

"Oh~ I see."

Pei Wencong suddenly understood and praised Li Ye repeatedly: "Only Mr. Li understands the mainland situation. If I'd tried to guess, I'd still be guessing tomorrow!"

Li Ye smiled but didn't correct him.

Because in his past life, he'd seen his own company's top boss calmly accept flattery from subordinates.

When your staff shows respect, you can't dampen their hearts.

More than a year ago, Pei Wencong and Li Ye were purely business partners—but now he'd learned this, and he deserved encouragement.

Pei Wencong poured Li Ye another drink: "Should I explain again to the other studios tomorrow? Or lower the quote?"

Li Ye shook his head: "Wait for them to come to you. Do you know why so many people who got scammed weren't stupid, yet still fell for it?"

"Profit drives people. They know there's risk, but they'll still investigate. Then let them name their own price—you'll see the mainland's unique advantage in historical and war films."

Historical and war films require massive manpower for sets and extras—costly everywhere overseas, but cheap here.

Back in '82, when Brother Jie shot "Shaolin Temple," actors earned one yuan per day—location fees? Probably none.

So when Pei Wencong quoted five million, plus the dollar premium, of course they thought he was a scammer.

"But yesterday I heard Wu Jinyuan mention something," Li Ye said suddenly. "Someone in Hong Kong is spreading rumors that a film company has already taken your $35 million deal. Could this be pressuring you?"

"Pressuring me? Impossible."

Pei Wencong laughed: "They still don't know our strength. If they knew how much money we have, they wouldn't dare these tricks."

Seeing Li Ye skeptical, Pei Wencong called out: "Ah Qiang, come in!"

Ah Qiang, who'd been staring down the big yellow dog "Bapu" outside, rushed in.

Pei Wencong said: "Call Hong Kong tomorrow. Tell that Xiong Brother to tell his boss to stop treating me like a sucker and stop spreading lies."

"I'm willing to give him a meal, but only if I choose to. If he tries to play games, don't blame me for smashing his bowl."

Ah Qiang blinked, then said: "Boss, why not smash his place now? Just give me thirty grand—I'll have my guys raid them."

"Slap!"

Pei Wencong slapped Ah Qiang right on the forehead.

Ah Qiang had a hard life—he'd spent years in a triad as a kid, and still carried that underworld vibe. When he was poor, he held back—but now that he'd made it, he couldn't help missing the glory of being a "big brother."

"You're wearing a suit now. Stop acting like a lowly thug. If you want to join a triad, first ask your reporter Pan if she'll have you."

"I was just joking! Why hit me? I warn you—don't ever hit my head again!"

「」

Ah Qiang grumbled and stormed out. Though he knew he was Pei Wencong's subordinate, years of hardship together meant he'd never back down in words.

Pei Wencong was about to chase after him and beat him, but Li Ye held him back.

"Aren't you wearing a suit too? Why are you so brutal? Why hit his head?"

"That kid gets itchy all over if he goes three days without a beating. No parents, no one to discipline him—I've got to keep him in line, or he'd be rotting in Chi Shu prison by now."

「」

Li Ye finally understood—Pei Wencong's bond with Ah Qiang ran deeper than he'd imagined.

"Ah, forget Ah Qiang," Pei Wencong said. "Mr. Li, I want to ask—should we enter the film industry? Movies don't make much money. Better to stick with finance."

"Our future core business is manufacturing—but we must not abandon culture."

"Manufacturing?"

Pei Wencong didn't immediately agree. He'd grown somewhat dismissive of industries that earned slowly.

What did it matter if Fenghua Clothing Factory or Talang Literature Press worked themselves to death for a year, when he could make more in days on the forex or stock market? No passion left.

Li Ye glanced at Pei Wencong: "This film project is your ticket to enter the mainland."

"Next, you'll set up factories in Pengcheng—clothing, electronics, machinery—whatever the mainland needs, that's what we'll make. Can you understand?"

Pei Wencong looked at Li Ye's serious face, licked his lips, and admitted honestly: "I don't understand yet—but please don't doubt me. I'm fully willing to follow your advice."

"You don't understand?"

Li Ye smiled lightly: "After you attend the National Day celebration in a few days, you'll understand."

Pei Wencong nodded eagerly: "Good, good. Mr. Li, please take care of me then. If I don't understand something, point it out—I don't want to embarrass myself."

「」

Li Ye stared at Pei Wencong for a long time, his jaw twitching slightly.

Pei Wencong sensed something was wrong: "Mr. Li, is there a problem?"

Li Ye clenched his teeth and forced out: "At the celebration, you'll go with others. I can't go with you."

Pei Wencong asked, puzzled: "Why?"

I don't even have the qualification to enter that area—do I really have to tell you? Look at you, so proud.

"Dinner's over. Go home now."

Pei Wencong stared at the four untouched dishes, racked his brain, but couldn't figure out where he'd offended his destiny's benefactor.

On the last day before National Day, two groups from the Shanghai and Chang'an film studios arrived in Jingcheng, dusty and tired, and nearly simultaneously found Li Ye.

"Mr. Li Ye? We're from Shanghai Film Studio. Can you contact Mr. Pei in Hong Kong?"

"We're from Chang'an Film Studio—we also need to find Mr. Pei."

Li Ye checked their IDs: one was Xiong, the other Zheng, both directors.

He asked, puzzled: "Didn't Mr. Pei leave you a contact address? Why come to me?"

Director Zheng from Shanghai said: "We went to Mr. Pei's hotel but couldn't find him. We heard you're very close to him, so we came to ask."

Li Ye shook his head and smiled: "I don't know where Mr. Pei is either. He's attending the National Day celebration tomorrow—go see him the day after."

"National Day celebration?"

Directors Xiong and Zheng exchanged glances—eyes sparking with tension.

Competition always sparked sparks.

Li Ye figured they'd both gone to the hotel looking for Pei Wencong, found him gone, and met while waiting.

If they'd had doubts before, hearing "National Day celebration" erased them.

Could a scammer attend the National Day celebration?

"Mr. Li, do you smoke?"

Director Xiong from Chang'an pulled out a pack of cigarettes and smiled at Li Ye.

Li Ye shook his head: "No need to be formal. Just ask directly—I really don't know where Mr. Pei is."

Li Ye didn't want daily trouble, so he always claimed publicly he was just the author and Pei Wencong was his publisher.

Xiong didn't light up either—he tucked the pack back in his pocket and asked: "Mr. Li, we just want to know—is Mr. Pei really going to spend five million U. . dollars on a film?"

"I don't know the exact amount," Li Ye said evasively. "But he said he wants the best director, best actors, best sets—those won't be cheap."

Director Zheng pressed: "Does he even have that much in U. . dollars?"

Li Ye replied calmly: "I don't know—but he just donated thirty million U. . dollars in cash to our university."

"Thirty million U. . dollars—in cash."

「」

"Thank you, Mr. Li."

"Thank you, young comrade."

The two directors tasted the words, then turned and left immediately.

Moments later, in two adjacent phone booths at the university's post office, they both called their studios.

"Hey, get me the studio chief! Big deal—send the best director, best actors—don't care who, let the chief decide!"

"Chief! Forget the meeting—I ran into old Xiong from Chang'an. I can't beat him—I need backup!"