Chapter 0570: Little Schemes

From a certain perspective, Zhao Fusheng had never been an ambitious person. He liked making money, that was true, but he absolutely did not harbor the desire to benefit the world. At most, he had some kind thoughts and was willing to help those in need.

Having persuaded his grandfather, Zhao Fusheng was in a good mood. He called his aunt and uncle, and after a few words, his uncle apologized for letting him down. Zhao Fusheng smiled and didn't take it to heart. If nothing unexpected happened, he would eventually take this path anyway, so why bother?

Seeing others living well while his own family remained unchanged, Zhao Fusheng believed that his aunt and uncle would know what to do when the time came.

As for the school matter, when he hung up the phone, he suddenly had a change of heart.

He might have been too fixated on his past life. People had their own choices; he just needed to do what he should, and let the rest be.

Could he really watch over them for a lifetime?

Some things, if destined to happen, were beyond anyone's control.

Having realized this, Zhao Fusheng felt much lighter. Only then did he remember that there was a future great director waiting for his consolation.

Because his grandfather was around, he didn't call from home. Instead, he walked out of his grandfather's house and headed west along a small path, where there was a large water pit formed by sand digging. As a child, Zhao Fusheng often played there with his uncle's children.

Not far away was a brick factory. Someone was playing a song—it turned out to be 'My Chinese Heart.'

Shrugging, Zhao Fusheng smiled.

Every era has its popular songs, carrying the youth and memories of many. Those born in the 1950s liked 'My Motherland'; the 1960s liked 'The Moon of the Fifteenth,' 'Camel Bells,' 'The Splendor of Blood'; the 1970s liked 'The Sailor,' 'Starlight,' 'I Only Like You'; the 1980s liked Zhou Huajian, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Gigi Leung, and Zhang Xinzhe.

The 1990s liked Eason Chan, Xu Liang, Wang Sulong, Xu Song; the post-2000s liked TFBoys, Lu Han...

Each generation has its idols, but youth's emotions remain unchanged. Just as the 1970s had the craze for handwritten books like 'The Second Handshake,' which were banned at the time—reading them could get you labeled a hooligan, and the author Zhang Yang was nearly executed. Zhao Fusheng once had the honor of meeting the author and hearing him recount the creative journey. The reverence and excitement shown by the audience of writers around fifty years old, like star-struck teenagers, eagerly raising their hands to tell stories of secretly circulating handwritten books, recalling their lost youth, was moving to tears.

As children, we did many things our parents didn't understand; as adults, our children do many things we don't understand. While we fail to understand our parents, our children fail to understand us.

Life is a cycle. You can never make others understand the emotions of your era. Understanding this, we should accept our parents listening to old songs, and parents shouldn't look down on pop music. In the eyes of the older generation, new things are always misunderstood.

This was probably how Jiang Wen felt at the moment. He really couldn't understand why, just for being faithful to a filmmaker's responsibility and making a movie, he was being singled out for criticism by the higher-ups.

"Why did you think to call me?"

Receiving a call from Zhao Fusheng, Jiang Wen was quite surprised and blurted out.

Zhao Fusheng chuckled: "What, didn't expect it?"

"Honestly, no." The environment around Jiang Wen seemed noisy; he must have stepped out to find a quiet corner. "Aren't you supposed to be interning?"

"I am interning, but basically nothing's happening." Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Jiang Wen, "You know, I'm an advertising design major. What use do you think I am at school?"

Jiang Wen was taken aback, then burst into laughter: "Right, right, that's true."

He naturally knew what Zhao Fusheng's major was. Just imagining Zhao Fusheng standing solemnly at the podium teaching students made him want to laugh.

Zhao Fusheng could almost picture that bastard Jiang Wen laughing over there. In fact, even Zhao Fusheng himself wanted to laugh, because it was really quite funny.

"Old Jiang, that's not cool." Zhao Fusheng listened for a long time while the guy kept laughing, and finally said helplessly.

"Mm-hmm, I'll stop, I'll stop." Jiang Wen covered his mouth and said.

Zhao Fusheng didn't bother to call him out; after all, he was in a bad mood lately, so he'd let it slide.

"You seem to be in a good mood." Zhao Fusheng asked.

"Finding joy in misery." Jiang Wen replied, then said, "I know about the idea you gave President Wang. Thank you."

After contacting Zhao Fusheng, Wang Zhonglei had called Jiang Wen, telling him the idea Zhao Fusheng had given him and asking for Jiang Wen's opinion.

After all, Jiang Wen was always opinionated. If Huayi went to negotiate with the广电 people without him and reached an agreement, and then Jiang Wen caused trouble, things would be hard to handle.

Fortunately, Jiang Wen was strong-willed but not stupid. He knew that both Wang Zhonglei and Zhao Fusheng were looking out for him.

"I'm glad you don't blame me. I estimate that at least for the next five years, you won't be able to work as a director again." Zhao Fusheng sighed and said to Jiang Wen.

Jiang Wen chuckled: "It's already pretty good. Really, when I went abroad, I had already considered this. Didn't we agree then? This gives me time to polish myself. When I'm unbanned, I'll shock everyone!"

"Yes, it's easy to be willful, but it's not easy to patiently and cleanly solve problems. As a young director, you have to crawl through both dragon gates and dog holes. The beauty of this world is that no matter what you encounter, you remain hopeful; and all the troubles come from wanting too much before you're ready." Zhao Fusheng was silent for a moment, then said slowly to Jiang Wen.

Though saying this was somewhat surprising for him, Zhao Fusheng felt that if he didn't say it, he would regret it.

Jiang Wen was silent for a long time, not speaking for a while...

...

...

The overseas call with Jiang Wen lasted over ten minutes before Zhao Fusheng hung up. There was no choice; long-distance was too expensive. At this moment, Zhao Fusheng deeply missed the future China Mobile and China Unicom.

The next morning, Zhao Fusheng still got up early, helped his grandfather prepare breakfast, then walked ten minutes to the intersection and took the bus to school.

This time, Zhao Fusheng didn't think too much. He just went through the motions, accompanying the students in morning self-study. When Wang Xiaorong arrived, he followed her out.

From start to finish, Zhao Fusheng didn't actively talk to the few teenagers in his memory.

"You're in a good mood today." Wang Xiaorong said to Zhao Fusheng with a smile as they walked.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: "Not bad. Mainly because I talked with my grandfather last night, and he agreed to live with us."

"Oh, oh." Wang Xiaorong was startled, then nodded: "That's good. After all, the elderly are old; it's more convenient for them to live with you."

Being a neighbor, she knew a bit about the Zhao family. She knew that Old Man Zhao's children were all filial and there was no issue of neglecting the elderly; it was just that the old man was too stubborn and insisted on living alone.

"By the way, Teacher Wang, I'd like to ask for leave." Zhao Fusheng suddenly said to Wang Xiaorong.

Wang Xiaorong was taken aback, then frowned slightly at Zhao Fusheng: "Leave?"

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Yes, I have something to deal with back home. I'd like to take a few days off. Is that okay?"

To be honest, Wang Xiaorong found Zhao Fusheng's sudden request for leave inexplicable. Who starts an internship and asks for leave on the second day? Moreover, unlike other interns who were professional teacher-training students, he was just casually asking for leave. What did he want?

Actually, she was overthinking. Zhao Fusheng had no particular plan; he simply didn't want to waste time there anymore.

People are like that. Sometimes when they can't figure something out, they hesitate and agonize. But once they understand, they are no longer bound by it.

In other words, Zhao Fusheng now cared less about the fate of those at Hongqi Middle School. He believed that as long as he handled things properly, those tragedies could be avoided.

"Alright, you'll need to go to the Academic Affairs Office to ask for leave." Wang Xiaorong hesitated for a moment, then said to Zhao Fusheng.

Whatever the case, since Zhao Fusheng wanted leave, she couldn't stop him.

Zhao Fusheng smiled, walked Wang Xiaorong to the office, then turned and headed to the Academic Affairs Office.

Since he was asking for leave, he had to inform Sun Qingfeng. That was the advantage of knowing someone; if needed, a small gift and a word would do.

"Teacher Sun." Zhao Fusheng entered the Academic Affairs Office. Seeing that Sun Qingfeng was the only one there, he knocked first, then greeted respectfully.

Sun Qingfeng saw it was Zhao Fusheng, was a bit surprised, but still asked warmly: "What's up, Fusheng? Anything I can help with?"

Zhao Fusheng looked at him, organizing his words on how to ask for leave.