He Must Be Investigated

"How dare you!" The moment Song Linming laid eyes on them, his temper flared. Striding into the room, he barked in reprimand, "Completely lacking in discipline and organization! Allowing you to take part in the Berlin exhibition was already an act of leniency, yet you actually dared to secretly contact foreign distributors, flagrantly violating regulations! "Director Li, you're an old hand at Beijing Film Studio—I am deeply disappointed in you! Do you have any idea what you've done? Where is your Party spirit? Where is your sense of discipline? "And Comrade Chen Qi!" Song Linming glared fiercely at Chen Qi and said coldly, "I've heard of your reputation—a talented young fellow. I originally wanted to have a good talk with you, but now there's no need at all! Don't think that just because you can write a few screenplays you can look down on everything, casting aside even the most basic collective spirit. Put away your pathetic individualism! If a person has no regard for the collective, no amount of talent will do any good! "If you dare pull a stunt like this today, who knows what you'll dare do tomorrow! "If Xiao Fang hadn't been keeping watch, I bet you would've found a chance to stay in Berlin and never come back!" "..." Li Wenhua was berated into silence, not daring to utter a word. Chen Qi raised an eyebrow and said, "General Manager Song! Whether what I did broke the law is still up in the air, but your slander and rumor-mongering definitely break the law. If you see someone holding a kitchen knife, do you conclude he's going out to commit murder? If you see a man has something in his crotch, do you convict him of rape? When you don't possess even the basic spirit of seeking truth from facts, how can you have the gall to lecture others?" "Is that how you speak to a senior veteran? You..." "Old Song! Old Song! Calm down." The official from the Ministry of Culture intervened to keep the peace. Truth be told, when he had received word of this case, he had been shocked as well. Who the hell would have imagined someone would actually dare do such a thing? But the standard procedures of investigation and questioning still had to be followed. "Comrade Chen Qi, this is a serious matter. You must adopt a proper attitude and cooperate actively. If you keep smirking and joking around, you won't be sitting here anymore! Now that both sides are present, I cannot listen only to one side of the story. Tell us: what exactly happened?" "It went like this..." Chen Qi straightened his spine and said, "First, I'd like to thank the leadership for giving us this precious opportunity. At the start of the month, we arrived in Hong Kong first. The Hong Kong audience loved Tai Chi tremendously—everywhere we went, people cheered. That gave us immense confidence. "Then we went on to West Berlin. "This time, there were two films: Return of the Swallows and Tai Chi. We were only there for an exhibition screening, just to show the film, whereas Return of the Swallows was in competition. Big Sister Fang didn't pay much attention to us; she poured all her energy into that side, bustling about all day long. "With nothing to do, we could only lend a hand to Mr. Fu Chi. He went to Berlin to sell films and taught us a great deal. "When Tai Chi screened in Berlin, nobody expected it to be such a hit. Those foreigners loved it immensely, and distributors took the initiative to come to us. I wanted to talk it over with Big Sister Fang, but I couldn't find her anywhere. She was either attending banquets or participating in events. She was on very good terms with the festival director, hugging him every time they met. "We discussed it among ourselves. The film festival only lasted twelve days, and traveling abroad is no easy feat. What those distributors were offering was US dollars! US dollars—foreign currency! An opportunity like this comes once in a blue moon. "In the end, we decided to take the risk. "Did we not know this violated regulations? But there was no alternative. Big Sister Fang didn't care about us, and we couldn't find anyone to ask for instructions, so we had no choice but to act first and report later..." "Bullshit!" Fang Yurong's eyes turned green with fury. Pointing directly at Chen Qi's nose, she lashed out, "Stop playing innocent! You planned this all along! You intentionally shook me off, intentionally deceived me, and contacted foreign distributors behind my back!" "Do you have proof?" "Proof or no proof, you did it, and that's a fact!" Song Linming said, "That's right! Proof or no proof, secretly contacting distributors is a violation of regulations. Who gave you the authority?" "I did!" With a resounding shout, Wang Yang strode into the room, his shoulders and hair damp from the rain outside. Stepping in front of Chen Qi like a patriarch protecting his own child, he scoffed, "Song Linming, at your age, don't you dare come here to bully a young man! Signing contracts in the name of Beijing Film Studio was my instruction!" "What authority do you have to do that?" "Under last year's new policy, the copyright for Tai Chi belongs to me. If I own the copyright, of course I can sell it!" "The new policy only stated that copyrights were returned to you; it never said you could handle distribution!" "A general in the field is not bound by orders from above! Besides, this was earning foreign exchange. If we missed this opportunity, could you shoulder the responsibility?" "Why should I shoulder the responsibility? Rules must be followed in all things—without rules, nothing can be accomplished! You're an old revolutionary; have you forgotten that principle entirely? If everyone acted like you, who would the regulations be for? Who would the law be for?!" "All right, stop arguing!" The Ministry of Culture official's head throbbed. All this squabbling always boiled down to the same old mess: the power struggle between China Film and the production studios. Only this time, Beijing Film Studio had caused an enormous stir. He couldn't show favoritism, so he said, "Old Wang, I've listened to the whole story from start to finish. Whatever your reasons may be, secretly contacting distributors is an indisputable fact. That constitutes a violation of regulations, and disciplinary action must be taken..." Before he could finish, Song Linming chimed in immediately, "I propose that Comrade Wang Yang has committed a severe breach of discipline and is no longer fit to serve as head of Beijing Film Studio! "Director Li Wenhua knowingly broke the rules and should be dismissed from public office! "And Chen Qi, as a direct participant, should be expelled..." "Report!" Chen Qi suddenly raised his hand and corrected him, "My official employment relationship isn't with Beijing Film Studio. I'm on temporary transfer. I belong to the Dashilar Sub-district Youth Refreshment Cooperative in Xuanwu District! If you want to fire me, you'll have to take it up with the sub-district office." "..." The atmosphere suddenly turned intensely awkward. Song Linming glared at Fang Yurong. *He isn't even part of Beijing Film Studio—why the hell didn't you tell me?* Fang Yurong felt wronged. *I didn't have time!* Everyone in the room was stunned. After all this fuss, this kid didn't even belong to Beijing Film Studio? Then what the hell were they doing! However, Song Linming's mind worked quickly, and he promptly shifted the topic: "Furthermore, Beijing Film Studio never had the authority to handle distribution in the first place! The contracts they signed must be handed over to us, and we will handle all subsequent follow-up!" *Fuck!* Wang Yang's nose almost twisted in anger. *Do you have any shame at all?* The incident had happened so abruptly that he hadn't yet coordinated with Chen Qi, and some details were still unclear to him. Just as he was about to speak, Chen Qi tugged at his clothes and spoke first: "There definitely aren't any contracts." "The festival director said you signed contracts, so you definitely have them!" Fang Yurong cried. "There really aren't any. Even if there were, they aren't with me." He spread his hands in an attitude of pure nonchalance. Over the past hour or more of arguing in the room, they had traded countless verbal blows, where any slip of the tongue could be seized upon by the other side for a counterattack. Fang Yurong's mind worked furiously; she had some cleverness in her after all. First, Chen Qi wasn't part of the film system, which made things very tricky. Second, China Film wanted the contracts to follow up with those distributors. But they weren't a law enforcement agency; they had no way to force Chen Qi's mouth open. *Got it!* A flash of inspiration struck Fang Yurong. Pointing at him, she exclaimed, "He has an ideological stance problem!" "Watch your tongue!" Wang Yang's expression changed. "Think about it, everyone! A twenty-one-year-old youth, going abroad for the first time, attending a film festival for the first time, and he actually managed to negotiate business deals! How did he negotiate them? When did he learn English? How did he get to know the distributors? He claimed Fu Chi taught him, but who knows if he's lying? Besides, the Hong Kong company can barely keep itself afloat—are they really that capable? "I don't have hard proof; I'm merely deducing based on common sense! "He must be investigated!"