Chapter 0414: Drowning Sorrows

Zhao Fusheng always believed that he was a kind person. Of course, occasionally playing a little trick to set someone up was unavoidable, but could the matters of a scholar be considered trickery?

The matter of asking Boss Ma to help purchase game consoles was quickly settled. After all, although Boss Ma came from an ordinary family, this small matter was nothing to him.

Shenzhen was developing rapidly now. With just a phone call, someone helped him get what Zhao Fusheng wanted.

Of course, Zhao Fusheng also told Boss Ma that this was his private business, purely asking for a favor as a friend.

Many people, when running a company, often fail to separate personal interests from company interests. Simply put, it's like the ancient emperors treating the national treasury as their own private vault.

The problem is that such practices were criticized by ministers even in ancient times, let alone in modern times.

Do they really think the tax authorities are just for show?

To put it bluntly, even if personal interests and company interests are aligned, they should still be clearly separated.

Zhao Fusheng knew this well. In his view, although he seemed to be involved in several industries, there were still risks.

For example, although "Infernal Affairs" had already started filming, Zhao Fusheng dared not guarantee with absolute certainty that its box office would reach the heights he remembered from his previous life.

Even though he had made a gentleman's agreement with Andy Lau, it was to boost the Heavenly King's morale. Zhao Fusheng knew in his heart that his confidence was less than fifty percent.

There are never two identical fingerprints in the world.

In other words, copying movies directly like in rebirth novels and believing the box office will surely be a hit is complete nonsense.

Copying has never been synonymous with success; at best, it offers hope for success. If any reborn person truly thinks they can casually copy a work and achieve great success, pinning all their hopes on that, then it can only be said that they have regressed not only in age but also in intelligence.

The reason is simple: movies are never something that can be solved by copy-pasting. If that were the case, many copycat films wouldn't be inferior to the originals, because only the pioneering works that create a genre have the most charm.

The most obvious examples: "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Never Say Die" are very good movies, but if they were released in a different schedule or at a different time, would they still succeed?

No one knows the answer.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, the stock market and the movie market are both full of uncertainty. To put it bluntly, they are gambling—deciding to bet big or small in an instant.

And once the decision is made, it's up to fate.

The victor is king, the loser is a bandit.

Even if he is a reborn person, this rule will not change one bit because of him.

...

...

Facts proved that everyone's执行力 is strong when driven by interests, even someone like Zhang Qian.

By evening, Zhao Fusheng received a call from Zhang Qian.

"Seven people in the home meet your requirements," Zhang Qian hesitated and said. "Four boys, three girls."

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Okay, let them go to the Wanda Supermarket's play area for an internship for a while, to train first."

After all, an arcade and a play area have similarities. Of course, Zhao Fusheng wouldn't say that he just felt there was no need to let these orphans idle before the machines arrived. Letting them earn money first was more important than anything.

"Internship?" Zhang Qian was taken aback.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Yes, consider it advance training. Um, there will be wages."

Sure enough, the last few words delighted Zhang Qian, and he quickly nodded in agreement.

"By the way, what about your comrades?" Zhao Fusheng asked Zhang Qian.

This was the key. Although he hadn't yet reached the point of needing bodyguards when going out, in Zhao Fusheng's plan, places like arcades should have a few capable people to keep order.

This wasn't Ninghai in 2015; it was the Northeast in the millennium year.

He didn't want to one day have some punks cause trouble at his place and have to call his dad to handle it.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's question, Zhang Qian said calmly, "There are four people."

After hesitating for a few seconds, he whispered, "Can they get the same salary as me?"

Zhao Fusheng laughed. He really hadn't expected the guy's thinking to be so simple.

"Alright, the five of you will each get a salary of one thousand yuan, but I have one condition," Zhao Fusheng said slowly.

"As long as it's not illegal," Zhang Qian said seriously.

Like him, his four comrades were all from extremely poor families. It had to be said that sometimes our soldiers were truly pitiable. They worked hard to defend the country, but once they took off their uniforms or died in the line of duty, their affairs were often not well taken care of.

In his previous life, when Zhao Fusheng watched Wolf Warrior 2, he always felt that the most satisfying part of the whole movie was not the line "Fire!" but the kick Leng Feng delivered at the beginning.

"Even if you wanted to do something illegal, I wouldn't let you," Zhao Fusheng said irritably. "I promised Director Chen I'd give you a hand, so just drop those messy thoughts and work hard."

With that, Zhao Fusheng paused for a moment and said to Zhang Qian, "I'll give you ten thousand yuan later. You can pay them two months' salary first and have them report as soon as possible."

"Uh, is that necessary?" Zhang Qian was stunned. They hadn't even started yet, and he was already paying two months' salary in advance—the treatment was too good.

"I'm the boss, so what I say goes," Zhao Fusheng said. "After they arrive, take a look around, see how other people's game arcades are run, and sum up the experience. When the machines I ordered arrive, find someone to do the decoration and installation, hire some more people, and let's get the store open as soon as possible."

As it happened, the venue for the arcade was ready, the staff was ready, and the security guards were found. All that was left was for the machines to arrive.

Rubbing his chin, Zhao Fusheng thought that if he moved quickly, he might be able to open in time for Children's Day on June 1st.

"Okay, I'll notify them right away," Zhang Qian said helplessly. Just as Zhao Fusheng had said, he was the boss, much like in the army where a higher rank could crush you.

Orders from a superior: as a subordinate, you must execute them whether you understand them or not; you understand after executing.

Moreover, Zhao Fusheng was generous, directly paying two months' salary in advance. Zhang Qian understood the principle of taking money and solving problems for the giver.

In short, since the money was already given, as long as it wasn't illegal, Zhang Qian didn't mind doing anything for Zhao Fusheng.

True to his word, Zhao Fusheng hung up the phone, went to the bank early the next morning to withdraw money, and also grabbed the phone that Tan Kaixuan no longer used, delivering both to Zhang Qian.

"Send this money to them," Zhao Fusheng said, pointing at the ten thousand yuan in cash. "Keep two thousand for yourself—that's your salary."

Then he handed the phone to Zhang Qian: "This is yours. Call me if anything comes up. Don't keep using public phones; I can never find you."

Zhang Qian didn't refuse and took what Zhao Fusheng handed him.

That was just how he was. Since he regarded Zhao Fusheng as his boss, he would accept whatever Zhao Fusheng gave him. At worst, he would dedicate his life to Zhao Fusheng.

"How is the old man?" Zhao Fusheng didn't enter the ward but stood in the hallway with Zhang Qian.

Zhang Qian's face darkened: "Director Chen said he can probably only hold on until the end of the year."

For him, the old man was the person he cared about most, and the siblings at the welfare home were his family. Now that a family member was about to leave, it was undoubtedly a very painful thing.

Zhao Fusheng sighed. He had no solution either. He had privately asked Chen Jianmin before, and according to Chen Jianmin, the old man was simply too overworked and had long-term malnutrition, leading to bodily function failure.

In other words, the current situation was just sustaining life.

A machine used for decades without proper maintenance would inevitably come to a complete stop.

Everyone says man can conquer nature, but in fact, everyone knows there are many things that human effort cannot change.

"By the way, the old man has been asking for you," Zhang Qian raised his head and said to Zhao Fusheng.

After the surgery, the old man had recovered fairly well. After all, Zhao Fusheng had given a lot of money, the hospital had reduced some fees, and the old man's nutrition was adequate. He could now eat liquid food.

Zhao Fusheng was startled, then nodded: "Let's go. I'll go see the old man."

Regardless, he held respect in his heart for such an old man.

In many people's eyes, the old man's behavior of giving up an easy, leisurely life and stubbornly staying at the welfare home for decades seemed foolish. But we often deeply admire such fools, because once upon a time, everyone had a fool named Kindness living in their hearts. Only as time passed, the once passionate youth was defeated by reality; we succumbed, knelt before the rules of this society, and retracted our sharp edges and corners.

The word "ideal" was deeply hidden, not dared to think about, not willing to think about.

If not for being reborn, Zhao Fusheng was certain that if he encountered such a situation, he would at most leave a few hundred yuan at the door and then quietly leave.

He wouldn't even dare to leave a thousand yuan, because his salary was limited. With a few hundred yuan, he could just skip smoking and drinking for the month. But if a thousand yuan disappeared without explanation, he would have to spend time explaining to his wife.

Sometimes, kindness is also constrained by reality.

Zhao Fusheng understood this truth very well now, so in this life, he worked hard to make himself strong.

Life is like a glass of wine, toasting the morning sun, toasting the moonlight, toasting the distant place, toasting the homeland, awakening everyone's longing, gentling the hard years, flying against the wind without looking back, unafraid of rain in the heart or frost in the eyes, so that the soul no longer has nowhere to rest.