Chapter 115 – Small Family Meeting
Elder Fei: These restless things. It seems they’ve had too much sugar lately and don’t know what it feels like to bite into something hard. Xiangnan, you were still too lenient. It wasn’t enough to teach them a lesson.
Grandfather: Hey, things aren’t that serious yet. Just stopping it in time is enough. More education is needed. Use words to persuade them; violence is too outrageous.
Grandfather: Elder Zhuo is truly a man of great learning. His words and actions are so refined. Education is good, education is good. As long as our Fangfang isn’t wronged, it’s fine.
Fei Yishan: I think we should be able to extort a sum for mental distress compensation. They probably made a lot of money digging into people’s privacy anyway.
Liu Qian: Daughter, why have your words become so barbaric? We are civilized people.
Fei Yishan: …..Mother’s meaning is?
Liu Qian: We should request a sum for mental distress compensation. Elder Zhuo, is my wording correct?
Grandfather: Ahem, the wording is indeed very civilized.
Elder Fei: Then I’ll go and make a request immediately.
Xiao Fang looked at the chat in the group with a sweatdrop. How could they be so playful at their age?
But as the main character of the incident, Xiao Fang still needed to speak up and express his gratitude.
Xiao Fang: Thank you for your concern, family. This matter is already over, and the problem didn’t get too serious.
Grandmother: It’s good that you’re okay. Fangfang, when are you free to come home? The vegetables at home are almost ripe. You and Xiangnan can come over and take some back with you.
In reality, it wasn’t about getting vegetables. It was just that the two old folks wanted Xiao Fang to come and visit them.
Xiao Fang immediately agreed and sent a very cute sticker.
The younger generation was starting to act cute (PS: this was Elder Fei’s personal understanding). As elders, how could they not give him a red packet?
And so, a heavy rain of red packets arrived on the battlefield.
Elder Fei: Hushing money for my good grandson (Red Packet)
With Elder Fei making a move, how could the other elders sit idly by? They all showed their love for their little grandson. Then Liu Qian also followed suit. Xiao Fang’s hands went soft from receiving money. The amounts weren’t large, but everyone was just too enthusiastic. By the end, Xiao Fang had received almost two thousand RMB.
Xiao Fang beamed as he showed off to Fei Xiangnan.
Fei Xiangnan narrowed his eyes, looking at his little money-grubbing treasure. He first bent down to give him a kiss, then turned around and sent a red packet five times larger in the group, with the title: Wife’s Consolation Fee.
Xiao Fang clicked on it. Good heavens, 13140. Wasn’t this display of affection a bit too obvious?
The answer was, of course, yes. Fei Yishan struggled to swallow this mouthful of public display of affection. A trembling hand, a single heart. This full-powered combat strength, alas, couldn’t be vented through the screen!
The other elders didn’t quite understand the term “public display of affection” for the time being. Apart from feeling a bit full in the stomach, they were very happy to see the younger generation living lovingly. After all, Elder Fei once thought that this grandson of his would never find something he liked. Now there was someone who made him so satisfied, and his grandson’s favorite was simply a pie falling from the sky.
Fei Xiangnan: I will seriously consider everyone’s opinions and will amicably request a sum for mental distress compensation. (Smiley face)
As soon as Fei Xiangnan finished speaking, a pile of “well done” messages followed. With the integration of Xiao Fang and this small family, the once divided and impersonal Fei Family was becoming more and more humane.
Xiao Fang poked Fei Xiangnan with his index finger. “Is it that hard not to show off your love? They’re all elders.”
Fei Xiangnan replied righteously, “Yes, it’s very hard.” Then, he looked at Xiao Fang with a wronged expression. “I can only show off in front of the elders. When will you let me show off to my heart’s content?”
The meaning was already very clear. Coupled with the little puppy-dog expression Fei Xiangnan deliberately put on, Xiao Fang felt he was having a hard time resisting.
“Soon,” Xiao Fang managed to say.
“How long?”
“Two years, maybe,” Xiao Fang said.
“Two years, huh,” the tone of a certain person sounded unusually disappointed.
Xiao Fang gritted his teeth and shortened it a little more. “A year and a half.”
Seeing that Fei Xiangnan was about to do something else, Xiao Fang immediately stopped him from acting cute. “No less!”
Actually, Fei Xiangnan was just teasing Xiao Fang. It was at times like this that Xiao Fang was most attractive to him. Even teasing him was very meaningful. He hugged his little pampered wife and said affectionately, “Babe, I’ll wait for you.”
Xiao Fang’s eyes shimmered with moisture. He then hugged Fei Xiangnan’s broad body. I’ll work hard! I’ll make it so we can live completely in the light.
This determination would definitely be rewarded, and the reward was both within and somewhat beyond Xiao Fang’s expectations.
Finding Home was released after Xiao Qi’s movie. The cast had no big names; apart from Xiao Fang, it almost exclusively used non-celebrities. For such a film to climb up was arguably quite difficult. The director was also a newcomer whose name no one had even heard of.
But the company had enough faith in the power of this film. The early promotion was no less than that of a big production, and the promotional methods were novel enough. In some places, they even tried to break with tradition to give the audience a different feeling. Isn’t novelty an important thing in modern society?
Coupled with Fei Xiangnan’s push, even though the first week’s box office wasn’t as high as Xiao Qi’s, a box office of 50 million was enough to become a topic of conversation.
On the first day of its release, Xiao Fang and Fei Xiangnan secretly disguised themselves and went into a movie theater to see what the real reaction to the film was like.
The movie began. Gu You, the protagonist played by Xiao Fang, successfully graduated from high school. His family was an ordinary middle-class family. After estimating his scores and feeling he could get into a good university, Gu You started looking for a job. Unexpectedly, his first venture out was a scam.
He had just found a job and was preparing to start work the next day when he encountered a pregnant woman clutching her stomach on the street. Others didn’t dare to get involved in such trouble, but Gu You had just left high school, and the hot-blooded passion in his mind hadn’t faded yet. He immediately went to help the pregnant woman, but it turned out she was a complete human trafficker.
Gu You was taken to a deserted alley and tied up.
In fact, at Gu You’s age, and since he wasn’t a girl, the path of being sold as a wife was almost non-existent. The only option left was to beg on the streets.
At first, Gu You resisted fiercely. He was locked in a dark warehouse, eating leftover spoiled food every day. Many people who came in around the same time had already compromised, begging on the streets under supervision. Only Gu You held on stubbornly, holding on until he got sick, making them despise him. That way, he could be abandoned, and he could go back. Just like that, Gu You grew thinner day by day.
“Brother, give up. If this goes on, you won’t even have spoiled food to eat,” a boy who had come in around the same time as him said with difficulty, the light long gone from his eyes.
Gu You stared at him stubbornly, gritting his teeth and saying, “I can… go back.”
This boy persisted, fighting with the newcomers for food. When he lost, he would go hungry for several days and then try again. In this warehouse, every night, you could hear people crying softly. Gu You had cried too, and then his tears had run dry. He had also gone mad, once seeking death, only to be beaten half to death by the traffickers and then saved again.
Many times, many people didn’t understand him. Some even took the lead in bullying this annoyingly tough nut. In this situation, was there any other way but to obediently submit?
At this time, the extremely thin Gu You still said the same thing, “I want… to go home.” The stubbornness in his eyes was already etched into his bones.
The people in the cinema were all worried. Some of the girls were even crying. This movie was honestly extremely depressing. Snatching food like a dog, stuffing gray-dusted steamed buns from the ground into his mouth without blinking. Gu You escaped again and again, and was beaten back again and again.
The most serious time, both of his legs were broken. Others cursed him for not being strong enough, for running away. Gu You, without any painkillers, called out for home in his delirium.
The last time, the second male lead was moved by him and escaped with him. After planning for three months, the plan was finally put into action today.
But just as they were about to succeed, the second male lead collapsed. His legs had long been crippled, and it was already a great effort for him to walk here.
The second male lead had a relaxed expression. “You go. You want to go home so badly. I’m a smart person. If I go back and say a few nice words, maybe I can become a team leader by the time I’m thirty. It’s been years, but the brothers here actually respect you the most. You look so effeminate, but your backbone is the hardest among us. Go quickly, it’ll give everyone some hope.”
Many emotions flickered across Gu You’s face. The pursuers behind were getting closer and closer. He stood up and ran out quickly.
A gratified smile appeared on the second male lead’s face. “Brother, run quickly. Don’t let me see your unlucky face again.”
Gu You only ran a few steps, but then he turned back. No matter how the second male lead cursed, he struggled to carry him on his back, his hoarse voice like a broken bellows, his whole body tattered and covered in scars.
“Let’s go home together.”
He faced the light, faced the dawn. Even if the darkness behind him was about to swallow him, his heart that yearned for the light would never change.
The next two days, they left the city, begging all the way. Finally, in an extremely simple, hasty, yet heart-wrenching way, they returned to their original home.
The movie used a first-person perspective to clearly describe this darkness. This was a way of breaking with tradition. The entertainment industry today blindly filmed so-called gorgeous TV series, detached from reality, highly beautified, covering up a lot of darkness. Xiao Fang’s movie brutally uncovered this darkness. The movie clearly described this dark trade, and the protagonist’s persistence formed a sharp contrast with the numbness of most people.
Seeing Xiao Fang injured on the screen, Fei Xiangnan tightly gripped Xiao Fang’s hand. He wouldn’t cry so easily, but he needed to confirm one thing over and over again: Xiao Fang was living well in front of him right now, not that skinny, bony appearance that made his heart ache.
Almost no one who watched this movie didn’t cry. Later, it was said that parents of abducted children even went to see the movie in groups. This gave them hope. Maybe their children were also struggling somewhere, so as parents, they couldn’t give up so easily. There would definitely be a day of reunion.
The movie’s box office was 50 million in the first week, and 100 million in the second week. It continued to grow, eventually earning a staggering 800 million at the box office. Xiao Fang officially ascended to the position of Film Emperor. There had been various rumors before, but this time he was firmly seated. Xiao Fang donated ten percent of his income to relevant associations, dealing a heavy blow to the dark forces. Of course, this was all a story for later.
With the success of the movie, Xiao Fang also received various blessings and congratulations from his friends. When he saw Ma Rui and Que Jiang coming over to congratulate him, holding hands, Ma Rui’s somewhat awkward but very happy appearance made Xiao Fang tease him for a while. It would have been better to be like this from the start, instead of making people go through several big circles to get to this point.
Of course, while some people were happy about this, others were naturally in despair. Xiao Qi, who had originally thought he could regain his dignity with this movie, fell into a big pit, and the success of Xiao Fang’s movie plunged him into the abyss again. He was as desperate as one could be.
But he had no ability to retaliate anymore. Everything was over, nothing was left.
He wanted to see Yan Yunyang now, but when he thought about how Yan Yunyang had already cut off all ties with him, he laughed sarcastically. Maybe he was the tumor, despised by everyone, abandoned by everyone.
If only God could give him another chance, a chance to let him throw everything away and go crazy!
As this venomous thought slowly grew in Xiao Qi’s mind, an unexpected guest arrived at Xiao Fang’s house. This guest was also someone who had a profound influence on them.