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Chapter 584: Chapter 491 Meeting of All Parties (Please Subscribe!)_1
"After having lunch.
Wang Xin rushed back to town, aiming to quickly sort out the road construction matters. Tang Qing had granted him face and brought investment; naturally, he should exhaust all his efforts. As for Zheng Xiu, he didn’t leave in the afternoon but joined Tang Qing to fish in the reservoir at the back mountain of the village.
In just two hours.
Wang Xin, accompanied by many others, including the village head Guo Quan, surveyed around the village. Just in the afternoon, they decided on the route for the road. Guo Quan then went from house to house persuading the villagers. As it turned out, since the road would pass by everyone’s house, except those on the mountaintop, and upon hearing that they would not be charged any money, everyone agreed. There was no one attempting to exploit the situation.
It’s simple.
Guo Quan has high prestige; otherwise, he wouldn’t be the village head. The villagers, being kin, have been living here for generations. It’s unnecessary to stir up trouble and be mean. If it were outsiders, they might cause some problems, but Tang Qing was different. Tang Qing was a top scorer in the National College Entrance Examination, his uncle was rich, and a relative was in the Public Security. There was none daring enough to prick him.
Just like that.
In just two days, the road construction was settled. Tang Qing directly gave Guo Quan a hundred thousand RMB and didn’t bother with the matter anymore. As long as a car could get to his house, even if Guo Quan misused the money, he couldn’t care less.
...
Meanwhile.
Tang Qing and Zheng Xiu were fishing. Lin Jiaxue didn’t come; she was reading and practicing the piano at home. Ever since she was taught several musical instruments by Tang Nian’er in Bangkok, Lin Jiaxue had started to study hard. Especially after seeing Tang Qing’s exceptional musical talent, she didn’t want to lag behind.
She didn’t want to be too far behind Tang Qing.
Although Tang Qing didn’t demand anything, she couldn’t take for granted Tang Qing’s favor and become fearless. The excellent Tang Qing should be accompanied by an outstanding Lin Jiaxue; that was her faith.
Seeing this,
Tang Qing didn’t know what to say.
The two were sitting by the fish pond.
The water was rippling.
The float was bobbing.
A gentle breeze blew over, warming their hearts.
But damn, no fish was biting. Yep, after sitting for thirty minutes, they still hadn’t caught any fish.
"Little Tang, are you sure there are fish in here?" Zheng Xiu asked doubtfully. For so long, nothing had been hooked. He wondered if his fishing hook was straight.
Tang Qing was also unsure because it had been a while since he had gone fishing. Normally, fishing was done in a fish pond. Tang Qing didn’t prefer it. Catching wild fish was more interesting.
"There should be. There used to be many fish here," Tang Qing said hesitantly.
There were indeed fish here in the past.
"What are you guys fishing here for? This place has been poisoned; there’s no fish left," a passing villager chuckled at them.
"Why was it poisoned?" Tang Qing asked.
The villagers saw Tang Qing, found him a bit familiar and explained, "Didn’t someone lease this place for fish farming? He made money in the beginning, some people got envious, and poisoned it extensively. All the fish died. Old Xu, who had leased this place by loan, drank pesticide and died, leaving his children and wife behind to farm and raise pigs to pay off the debt. It’s pitiful. The culprit was never caught in the end."
The villager left with a regretful look.
Tang Qing and Zheng Xiu gazed at each other. Tang Qing didn’t know the fish pond had been leased. After thinking about it, it made sense that he didn’t know since he had been studying in Qingyan City and didn’t know the local happenings. Plus, it had been poisoned.
"This is despicable, who the hell did this?" Tang Qing said angrily, packed up his fishing rod, and got up. Even though he had heard of such things before, it was the first time it had happened so close to him. The world was indeed dangerous.
More so, it had driven a man to his death.
Jealousy.
Is a disease; if it’s deep-rooted, it certainly needs treatment.
"Uncle Zheng, I think we need to look into this. Such a person is harming society," Tang Qing felt an irritation in his chest. The culprit drove a man to his death due to jealousy. Had he not known, he wouldn’t have cared. But now that he knew, he had to act righteously.
Meddle in matters?
Heh, he wouldn’t need to personally get involved when he had the fighters. Once he got home, he planned to let the fighters figure out a way to investigate. In order to protect Lin Jiaxue’s grandparents, the fighters had basically placed the entire village under surveillance. As long as some rumors were spread, it wouldn’t be difficult to pinpoint a suspect.
"Alright, once I get back, I’ll have people pay close attention to this. It’s quite hateful," Zheng Xiu agreed. Things would get serious when given attention. He had seen many such cases, with a stack of similar cases in the bureau. However, these cases were hard to solve.
But since Tang Qing mentioned it, he could only follow along. Whether it would work or not would depend on fate. He didn’t harbor much hope.
Having said that,
The two lost enthusiasm and went home.
Under Zheng Xiu’s scrutiny, the town immediately began to investigate the fish pond poisoning incident again. At first, they thought they wouldn’t find anything, but in just two days, they mysteriously found the culprit.
It was as if... it was a piece of cake.
When they saw the disfigured suspect confessing without coercion, they were taken aback. Afterward, they interrogated him. The entire process of the crime was flawless. The suspect confessed without contesting. He said a hulk who called himself a ’good guy’ showed him what fear was like.
A knife was put to his throat.
He was beaten until he looked like a pig’s head.
The suspect, who was known to be a coward, naturally chose to enter prison. Unexpectedly for Tang Qing, this guy turned out to be Qin Kong’s father, the one Tang Qing had previously sent to prison, the one who bragged with a gun, the hoodlum, who had a crush on Lin Jiaxue...
Well."
It was a father-son reunion of sorts. Unfortunately, the man had no money to compensate for the damage caused. Hesitant at first, Tang Qing eventually had someone deliver thirty thousand RMB to the mother and son – enough to clear their debt.
It was like performing a good deed daily.
In the following days, Tang Qing and Lin Jiaxue freeloading meals here and there, attending two class reunions. For the most part, the participants were High School graduates still untouched by the dark side of adult life. Thus, the reunion atmosphere was harmonious with no unwelcome fuss.
......
July 25th.
Monday.
Ten in the morning.
After breakfast, Tang Qing returned to his room, foregoing the usual lovey-dovey moments with Lin Jiaxue. This was due to today being the launch day of the film company. After a week of recruitment and preparation, bolstered by the assistance from the ’second generation kids’, every approval came at top speed.
Incredibly rapid.
Today, all company departments were ready. The first phase of recruitment was complete, and it was time to hold the first shareholder meeting.
The name of the film company was ’Comet Film and Television Company.’ There was no particular significance to the name; Tang Qing merely found it pleasantly phrased. Their business included film investment and production, but didn’t involve packaging, promotion, or signing artists.
To put it bluntly,
This was purely a film investment and production company. The cast was hired from other companies. But Tang Qing did not fear being overcharged by actors. After all, he intended to make a sci-fi film with a major focus on special effects – something akin to ’Transformers’. People were not interested in watching two actors fall in love; they wanted to see giant robots.
A science fiction movie.
Especially in the global market, attracting audiences didn’t rely heavily on the actors’ appearances. After all, once overseas, apart from a handful of celebrities, who would recognize you? The most crucial factor was - acting skills. Even for science fiction films, Tang Qing would absolutely refuse to hire an actor without acting skills.
It was not personal, but the global market was concerned less about appearances.
The same was true for awards, which barely regarded the actors’ looks.
Tang Qing didn’t care about box office revenue or fan economy. Since he wouldn’t attract audiences in this way, it mattered even less whether an actor had good looks or not. He wanted to create a satisfying piece of work, and that was all.
Inside the room,
Tang Qing turned on his computer and the projector, summoning a fighter to adjust settings. Then, he merely sat there and waited.
At ten o’clock sharp.
Several faces emerged in the projection in front of him.
Zheng Lin.
Chai Ren.
Dou Jiao.
And the general manager of ’Comet Film and Television Company’ --- Pu Chaodong.
Pu Chaodong, a deputy general manager poached from a large film and television company by Sky Eye, had no idea about the shareholders’ identities before joining. Initially reluctant, the promising salary, promised growth, and the astronomical registered capital of 600 million RMB swayed him to give it a shot. Previously, the company he had been working with had a scale of less than 300 million, incomparable with this new venture.
It was only after joining the company
when he learned the identities of the shareholders that he found he had hit the jackpot. Damn, that was Zheng Lin, a direct descendant of Beijing’s prestigious Zheng family, a big shot in domestic management and publicity. People in nationwide entertainment, media, publishing, publicity, and the cultural industry admired him. Now, Pu Chaodong was fortunate to work in that company, which was akin to having a colossal pie fall from the sky. So surprising was this that he hadn’t slept well in days.
So exciting!
Initially, he thought Zheng Lin was the major shareholder. But on closer observation, he was astounded to find Zheng was indeed a minor shareholder. There was another minor shareholder, Chai Ren, and a mysterious chairman who held absolute control of the company.
He learned from Dou Jiao who recruited him that Tang Qing was also the chairman of this company with a 100% stake. However, he was unaware of the other details. Sky Eye – a company he had never heard of before.
Today was the first meeting.
Pu Chaodong was exceptionally tense. A few major shareholders and Dou Jiao, the girl who interviewed him, were obviously not simple characters. Naturally, several deputy general managers and secretaries, including Shen Yi, were also in attendance. Shen Yi was qualified for the deputy general manager position due to Dou Jiao’s interview and assessment. However, Pu Chaodong didn’t know about Shen’s identity. It was only because he’d heard the big boss mention Zheng Lin and got wind of Zheng’s involvement in the preparations, that he was able to piece together the facts.
When the time came,
The projection in front of him lit up.
Pu Chaodong saw the other shareholders, all quite youthful. He was almost a generation older than them.
There was one who was excessively young, excessively handsome, with an imposing personality - he was obviously the chairman.
Looking at the people in the footage,
Tang Qing waved and chuckled, "Hey Zheng, Chai, Jiaojiao, greetings to you all. Also, Manager Pu, Brother Shen..."
"You youngster, I heard you went back to the village." Chai Ren responded with a chuckle. The meeting hadn’t started yet and informal chatter was permissible. As for when to start the meeting, it was up to Tang Qing, the most prominent figure here.
"Yeah, it’s peaceful here, and the air is great. Alright, let’s get this meeting started." Once Tang Qing spoke, everyone else’s expressions turned solemn.
"Some of you might not know me yet. Let me introduce myself. My name is Tang Qing, just graduated from High School. I am the absolute shareholder of ’Comet Film and Television Company’. This is our first shareholder’s meeting, nothing important, mainly for all of us to meet and to get acquainted with each other. In the meantime, let’s also talk about our forthcoming tasks.
"Manager Pu, I suspect you understand the purpose of our company, which is to produce great movies. Hence, you now have two tasks. First, set up the film production team quickly. We’d rather lack than have the unworthy. We are not short on funds, so be picky.
The second task is to find and purchase quality science fiction film scripts, build the best transformation team. Take care of this situation first, focus on broad scene films that reflect human virtue and can penetrate the international market. You gauge it for yourself. By next month, and every month after that, ten selected scripts must be submitted to all the directors and Sky Eye. We will decide which one to film. Of course, you can also make some primary recommendations; we will take them into consideration."
