"How old are you, and you're still getting teary-eyed and crying? It's not that serious," Cui Mantong said, torn between laughter and tears. "Or are you saying you don't trust us at all, that you think we'd abandon you?"
Wang Hui shook his head vigorously. "No, that's not what I meant. I just feel inadequate, with no connections behind me. It's not worth it for you to offend Wang Zhou for me."
"What's not worth it about it?" Cui Mantong waved her hand dismissively. "Miao Miao and I also want to use our humble efforts to make this industry better. If all the directors were like Wang Zhou, how could we make better movies?"
Fang Miaomiao couldn't help but chuckle. "Exactly. We're actresses, after all. If all the scripts we get are trash, what are we supposed to film? Should we retire before we're thirty and go travel the world?"
Hearing this, Wang Hui scratched his head sheepishly. "After I finish filming this project, I'll tailor a movie for you both."
"That would be wonderful," Cui Mantong said with a beaming smile. "Then you go for it. Miao Miao and I will be waiting for you."
After a brief chat, Fang Miaomiao took Cui Mantong away.
In the car.
The driver, Da Chen, said, "Madam, we've received news that Wang Zhou is now planning to team up with his agency to suppress this matter while selling his movie copyrights abroad."
"Wang Zhou only has bad movies, right? Is the film industry so desperate for scripts that they'll even buy Wang Zhou's flops?" Cui Mantong asked, puzzled. "I thought there were plenty of movies released in theaters every day during holidays."
Although she found them bad and wouldn't contribute a ticket.
"Wang Zhou still has good films, especially the original scripts for Hui Wang," Fang Miaomiao said, resting her chin on her hand. "And I think if he can buy Wang Hui's script, he can buy works from other unknown screenwriters. He probably still has quite a few good scripts."
Thinking about human nature in its worst light, perhaps those directors were buying not scripts, but information, any information that was unfavorable to them.
Cui Mantong fell silent for a moment before saying, "This is truly outrageous. This industry is being tarnished by these people."
"It's normal," Fang Miaomiao said, stroking Cui Mantong's head. "To be realistic, there's always darkness in the light. It's just that some industries have more darkness than others."
In her previous world, there were even more bad things. Every year, a considerable number of entertainment figures were exposed for scandals and negative impacts. There was even a period when three or four top-tier artists were exposed within a single month.
During that time, everyone in the industry was on high alert, afraid of being the next one exposed.
"Mantong, you're already doing very well. You protect the artists in your studio, ensuring they earn money honestly, and you don't skim off their earnings," Fang Miaomiao comforted her. "If I weren't establishing my own studio, you would be the first person I'd think of signing with an agency."
Cui Mantong gave a silly laugh. "Actually, I'm not that great."
Besides, she felt she had already made a lot of money and didn't need to exploit her employees. Moreover, long-term exploitation was bad for employees; it not only made them slack off but might also lead them to bite her back when they left.
So, it wasn't worth it, not worth it.
"Then, are we going to deal with Wang Zhou next? He dared to scheme against me, I definitely won't let him get away with fleeing abroad so easily," Cui Mantong said quickly. "Ideally, his reputation in China would be ruined, and he'd be chased out of town like a rat, even if he flees abroad, he'll still be pointed at."
Fang Miaomiao's lips curved upwards, and she gave Cui Mantong a thumbs-up. "Naughty enough. I like it. Don't worry, he won't escape. The Hui Wang matter isn't resolved yet."
When the two returned home, they saw two men sitting on the sofa, one on each side, gazing at them with deep eyes.
"Why are you here again?" Cui Mantong's expression soured upon seeing Cui Tong. "I already told you, once I resolve the Wang Hui matter, I'll go back."
Cui Tong sighed helplessly. "My dear Mantong, I haven't said anything. I'm just here to talk business with Wen Zhiyan, and we happened to meet. But still, I miss you terribly. Mantong, can we go home? Your beloved son misses you."
Cui Mantong couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Don't even start. Your beloved son, and even your eldest son, comes to Miao Miao's place almost every day after school. What does he have to do with you?"
Upon hearing this, Cui Tong became even more aggrieved. "Mantong, how can you say that? You take two sons to someone else's house, leaving me to guard the empty nest alone. I haven't slept with you in so long, I'm getting old."
"Cough cough."
Fang Miaomiao, hearing this, almost spat out the water in her throat. "You... perhaps be a bit more reserved?"
"If I'm more reserved, I'll lose my wife," Cui Tong retorted.
He had initially thought his wife just didn't want to leave Miao Miao, so he decided to move in too. He bought a floor in the building below Fang Miaomiao's, thinking that when Mantong was done playing with Fang Miaomiao, she could come home at night, and he could hold his fragrant wife every night.
But who knew that after he bought the apartment, his Mantong would be out all night, almost every night clinging to Fang Miaomiao and wanting to sleep with her? He couldn't even remember how many nights he had spent alone in the empty nest.
Cui Mantong's face turned red, and she stroked Cui Tong's cheek. "Good boy, we have very important things to do. Once we resolve the Wang Zhou matter, I'll come back to accompany you, okay?"
Cui Tong's eyes flickered. "As long as Wang Zhou is dealt with, you'll come home with me?"
"Yes," Cui Mantong immediately nodded. "Be good, okay?"
Cui Tong pulled Cui Mantong to sit on the sofa. "Wen Zhiyan, the evidence, the witnesses, hand them over quickly."
Wen Zhiyan raised an eyebrow, his long legs crossed. His thin lips parted, "Cui Tong, can you have some dignity? The evidence I found is for my Miao Miao."
"Our goals are the same anyway, so information sharing shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Wen Zhiyan let out a light chuckle.
"You found evidence? What evidence?" Fang Miaomiao asked curiously.
"It's quite a coincidence. The victim of the scam was a student I previously sponsored. He was a model student, and his script was also swindled by Wang Zhou. Although he had evidence, it was suppressed, and he had no one to complain to. In a fit of anger, he switched majors and is now working at my company."
"He has evidence?"
Wen Zhiyan nodded. "Yes. His considerations were more thorough than Wang Hui's. He kept a fallback during negotiations. Plus, Da Chen and Xin Xuan found several witnesses. Coupled with his tax evasion and other wrongdoings, these things combined can put Wang Zhou in prison for several years."
"Wen Zhiyan, how are you so amazing?" Fang Miaomiao said enviously. "I was planning to have people investigate these matters, but I didn't expect you to have it all sorted out so quickly."
Wen Zhiyan pulled her into his arms, his voice low and gentle, "Isn't it the same as someone... not wanting to be alone in an empty room?"
Hearing this, Fang Miaomiao's cheeks flushed, and she wrapped her arms around Wen Zhiyan's neck. "After this is over, let's take the two little ones out to play."
National Day, a seven-day holiday, shouldn't they have some fun?
"Aren't you afraid of the crowds if we go out during that time?"
"It seems so."
"Don't worry, we can wait until after the National Day holiday to go out and play."
"What about An An?"
"An An needs to focus on his studies now. When he grows up, he can go anywhere. Perhaps when he's older, he won't even think of us when he goes out to play."
Fang Miaomiao: "..."
Is this truly a father?
Why did she suddenly feel sorry for An An?
Cui Tong looked at the couple acting as if no one else was there, his mouth twitched, and he pulled Cui Mantong away.
"What were you doing just now?" Fang Miaomiao, hearing the sound of the door closing, immediately sobered up, her cheeks flushed as she looked at Wen Zhiyan.
"It's better that they left. At least no one will disturb us now."
Saying this, he held her tightly in his arms. "You haven't spent time with me in so long. Don't worry about the Wang Zhou and Wang Hui matter; Wang Zhou is going to jail anyway."
Fang Miaomiao stroked Wen Zhiyan's face. "If you handle everything like this, I'll become useless."
"No, my Miao Miao, in my heart, you are the most capable person in the world."
His Miao Miao was his lifeline, his treasure that he could never let go of.