Fu Chi Arrives in the Capital

"Chen Qi, born June 10, 1960. Both parents are employees of Xinhua Bookstore... Excellent academic performance during his school years, skilled in Chinese language and literature. After graduating from middle school, he was sent down to the outskirts of Beijing, returning to the city at the end of '78." "In the spring of '79, he joined the Dashilar Educated Youth Cooperative, selling large-bowl tea at Qianmen while beginning his study of English. In April, he submitted a manuscript to China Youth Daily, which caused a nationwide sensation. Later, he created Romance on Mount Lu and has been stationed at Beijing Film Studio for an extended period." "During the '79 Congress of Literary and Art Workers, he met Fu Chi and his wife at Beijing Film Studio and sold the screenplay for The Cotton Kasaya... In early '80, he created Tai Chi and proposed using films to earn foreign exchange... When Li Han-hsiang came to Beijing for Rongbaozhai's thirtieth anniversary celebration, he became acquainted with Chen Qi..." "In January of this year, Liao Gong granted special approval for Chen Qi to travel abroad with the delegation. He maintained close contact with Fu Chi, addressing him as 'Uncle,' and later traveled with him to West Berlin..." Inside a square, tidy room, Xiao Mo was reporting to his superior. "According to our field investigation and interviews, people from the cooperative, the subdistrict office, and Beijing Film Studio have high praise for Chen Qi... However, a few employees at Beijing Film Studio claim he is arrogant, overbearing, and engaged in improper relations with women..." "Mm, that's already very thorough!" The superior nodded. After two days of investigation, a fully fleshed-out picture of this young fellow Chen Qi had emerged without reservation. Things like being arrogant or improper relations with women were not within the scope of their duties; strictly regarding the accusation of 'defecting to the enemy,' there was currently zero evidence. Every interaction he had with overseas figures could be traced, and every remittance from Hong Kong was completely accounted for. The only sticking point was that he claimed credit for selling the film in West Berlin, but the investigation team preferred to believe that the credit belonged to Fu Chi. After all, for a twenty-one-year-old young man to pull off something so massive was simply too shocking. Yet this actually corroborated his innocence. Right then, someone came in and whispered a few words in the superior's ear. The superior chuckled. "Director Wang certainly values this kid. How many old comrades-in-arms is this now calling on his behalf?... Never mind. Since there's no evidence anyway, Xiao Mo, the two of you go question him today, and that should be about enough." China Film had raised concerns about Chen Qi's political stance. Since it had been reported, the department had to look into it. If the investigation showed nothing was wrong, he would naturally be released. That was standard procedure to begin with, not to mention Wang Yang was pulling strings to fish him out. *** This was a modest, spartan room. There was only a bed and a set of desk and chairs, not much different from an ordinary guesthouse, but Chen Qi, having stayed here for two days, knew this place was specifically designated for hosting "individuals requiring investigation." He had not suffered any mistreatment, merely had his freedom restricted. Meals were brought in every day, and from time to time people would drop by to question him—and different people each time. They asked all kinds of questions, wide-ranging and seemingly unrelated, before suddenly bringing up a crucial point... or as they questioned him, they would abruptly slip in a question asked previously to observe his reaction. Truth be told, other than his transmigrating and the matter of buying condoms, there was nothing he couldn't openly share with others. Upright and honorable, without a shred of fear. Besides, he believed the people outside would rescue him—that was revolutionary friendship. In his previous life, he had also experienced similar interrogations, though those had been during the government's crackdowns on tax evasion and conduct rectification in the entertainment industry. He had been a law-abiding citizen back then, at most sleeping with a minor internet celebrity, and had even taken the opportunity to expose plenty of dirt on his rivals. "Knock, knock, knock!" Xiao Mo gave a token knock on the door and pushed it open, stepping in with his colleague. Chen Qi stood up and, seeing another new pair of faces, smiled. "Are the two of you interrogating me today?" "Mm. Have a seat and talk." Without any nonsense, one began asking questions while the other took notes, cycling through the same recurring questions once again. "Why did you contact foreigners in private?" "I was afraid China Film would steal the credit!" Chen Qi was telling the unvarnished truth now. "Mm?" "Some people are pieces of shit themselves, and they want everyone else to become shit along with them. If they see someone else shining too brightly, they act as if their own father had died, doing everything in their power to drag you down until you stink just like them, or even turn into maggots." "..." The corner of Xiao Mo's mouth twitched. He had said these very words yesterday; today, the description was merely even more vivid. Finally, Xiao Mo suddenly tossed out: "Have you submitted manuscripts to Story Session?" "Yes!" "What was your pen name?" "Ah Qi!" "And the other one?" "Ah Guai is Liang Xiaosheng from Beijing Film Studio. The two of us teamed up to earn writer's fees. My time was tight, so I usually wrote the outline, and he fleshed out the details." So that was it! Xiao Mo had caught a piece of gossip. Nodding subtly, he was about to wrap up today's routine questioning. Chen Qi asked, "Comrade, when can I leave?" Constrained by regulations, Xiao Mo could not give a definitive answer and only said, "If there's nothing wrong, you'll naturally be able to leave." *** Over the past few days, China Film had been pestering the Ministry of Culture daily. Their intention was to swiftly define the nature of the issue—declaring that Beijing Film Studio had violated rules and discipline—and then take over the follow-up distribution of Tai Chi themselves. However, anyone in the system knew that if you truly wanted to discipline someone, it required extensive study and deliberation. Moreover, Beijing Film Studio held a special status, and Wang Yang enjoyed immense prestige; a resolution would not be reached in less than a couple of months. Wang Yang was not worried about himself in the least. The ones who might get dragged into the mess were Li Wenhua and Chen Qi. "Fine, fine, thank you for your trouble! Let's drink together another day!" In his office, Wang Yang hung up the phone and let out a sigh of relief. That kid should be fine now. He walked to the window and pushed it open. The late-February spring chill hit him squarely, yet it left him feeling much sharper. Over the past few days, they had been on the back foot because Beijing Film Studio indeed was not in the right on paper, and the crucial materials had not arrived yet. The old man had been holding his breath in frustration. He thought to himself, *Sigh, Xiao Fu, oh Xiao Fu, you're normally such a decisive and brisk person. How come you chose this exact moment to drag your feet...* "Huh?" Suddenly, Wang Yang's gaze sharpened. His office was on an upper floor with an expansive view, and he seemed to spot a car driving in through the main gate, briefly obstructed by the flowerbeds and rockery. A car?!! A jolt went through him. Moving with nimble legs faster than a young man's, he was out the door in a flash and clattered down the stairs to look. Sure enough, a familiar car had just pulled up below the building. Wang Yang hurried over in a few strides. As the car door opened, an elegant man in a suit stepped out—it was Fu Chi, newly arrived in the capital! "Director Wang!" "Aiyo, you, oh you! What took you so long?" "My apologies, my apologies! There was quite a lot of material to prepare. I'm not too late, am I?" "Not late, not late! Let's head upstairs and talk!" The two chuckled as they climbed the stairs. Once inside the room, Fu Chi cut straight to the chase, pulling out a thick, bulky package and picking up a document from the top to hand over. Wang Yang took one look and was stunned. Thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him, he rubbed them and looked again. Instant delight followed, and he could not help bursting into hearty laughter. "Hahaha! You came at the perfect time! Over the past few days, China Film has been acting like mad dogs, trying their absolute hardest to tear into us, and Xiao Chen was even hauled in for questioning... With these in hand, let's see what face they have left!!" "Xiao Chen was taken away? Then..." "It's fine. He'll be back soon." "Oh, I heard Xiao Chen mention before that he has a journalist friend at a newspaper. We could make use of that," Fu Chi suggested. "A good idea... The newspaper, the newspaper..." Wang Yang had not had contact with Yu Jiajia. After pondering for a moment, he opened the door and instructed, "Call Xiao Gong over!" The two talked privately for a while. Fu Chi did not linger; leaving one copy for Wang Yang and keeping another for himself, he said, "Let's divide and conquer. I'll go see Liao Gong!" "Good!" *** China Youth Daily. Over the past few days, Gong Xue had become a liaison. Unable to do much else, running errands was all she could manage—besides, she was one of their own, someone they could trust. She met with Yu Jiajia once again. Yu Jiajia opened a manila envelope, glanced at the contents inside, and also broke into hearty laughter. "Great! Wonderful! This is exactly the hard evidence I needed. An absolute scoop!" "Is this enough? Will it work?" "More than enough! Go on back and wait. I guarantee he'll be fine!" Gong Xue pedaled away on her bicycle, her slender silhouette stirring pity. Yu Jiajia could not help sighing, "Ah, what a wonderful woman. Wouldn't it be great to lock that rascal up for life? Having her is totally wasted on him!"