Chapter 0596: Not Playing the Good Guy

Zhao Fusheng was resolute, so Jiang Wen naturally couldn't say anything more. As Zhao Fusheng himself put it, apologizing for something he didn't care about at all was completely meaningless.

"If you really can't get over it, just remember not to ask for payment when I need your help someday." Zhao Fusheng said to Jiang Wen with a sly grin.

Jiang Wen didn't think much of it and nodded: "No need to say that, our relationship speaks for itself."

Little did he know, years later, every time Jiang Wen mentioned this, he wished he could bash his own head in for being so careless as to fall for Zhao Fusheng's trick.

"Alright, stop overthinking it." Zhao Fusheng smiled at Jiang Wen. "You've been tired these past few years. Why not take some time to settle down, act in a few roles, and go back to the directing department for some further training? What do you think?"

As a director, Jiang Wen had been blacklisted for five years; all he could do was act.

Otherwise, the best option was to study.

The advice Zhao Fusheng gave was the most sincere and the most practical.

In reality, there are no sudden turns; only mountains and rivers repeating. Perhaps all the bright prospects end up in chicken soup for the soul.

Jiang Wen found Zhao Fusheng's suggestion quite interesting and nodded in agreement.

The two sat there drinking tea and chatting about recent news. Zhao Fusheng heard quite a bit of gossip from Jiang Wen, such as Ma Dajun and Gao Zhenhai preparing a new film, rumored to be a super blockbuster set for release next Spring Festival.

There was no helping it; the domestic film production cycle couldn't match the speed of Hong Kong. The ability to shoot a film in just over ten days was probably something only those Hong Kong directors could achieve.

As for quality, the so-called classic Hong Kong films, upon closer scrutiny, had far too many flaws. Zhao Fusheng didn't understand why domestic filmmakers admired them so much.

Even twenty years later, some people would go to Hong Kong specifically to hold forums and pay tribute to Hong Kong cinema, only to be slapped in the face. A director who relied on his father's connections and was known for making bad films would point and curse: "You're just here to ride on my popularity."

The reason Hong Kong films became classics for a generation wasn't because those movies and TV shows were exceptionally outstanding or of high quality, but because of the spiritual emptiness of one or two generations after an era of turmoil and isolation.

Nostalgia can sometimes make people overlook many important factors and blindly worship certain things. But if you peel back the layers and examine carefully, you'll find that what you worship isn't always what you truly like; it's just been artificially placed on a pedestal.

Zhao Fusheng had once been very confused. The reality was clear, yet people often couldn't see it. He told them over and over again, in the most direct and realistic language, but the result was that he became increasingly isolated. Slowly, he understood that so-called ignorance isn't low intelligence, but an inability to be calm, with too many thoughts in the mind. For example, fear, worry, arrogance yet lack of confidence, wanting to love yet afraid of getting hurt, weighing gains and losses when happy, always complicating simple things, blinding oneself. People are like this, and human society even more so.

"By the way, about that idea you gave Feihong, what were you thinking?"

Jiang Wen suddenly remembered something as they chatted and asked Zhao Fusheng curiously.

"What idea?" Zhao Fusheng frowned.

"The one about donating to education." Jiang Wen asked Zhao Fusheng. "Seriously, if she hadn't said it was your idea, I would have thought she was crazy. Who sets a quota for charity?"

In Jiang Wen's worldview, one should not fail to do good because it's small, nor do evil because it's small. As long as it's a good deed like donating to education, donating five thousand yuan and donating ten thousand yuan are essentially the same.

You can't forbid others from doing good just because you look down on their small donations, can you?

Hearing Jiang Wen's words, Zhao Fusheng shrugged: "That's not how you put it. We also have rules. If funds are insufficient, one can choose to sponsor one or several comfort women. As for helping poor students, that's not necessary. Poor students have the Hope Project and local governments. The Hope Primary Schools we donate to have all tuition and fees waived."

Jiang Wen was taken aback. He could hear a considerable amount of resentment in Zhao Fusheng's words.

Of course Zhao Fusheng had resentment. He never minded doing good deeds, but it depended on the person and the situation.

Those pitiful comfort women deserved help, the innocent children who died in earthquakes deserved help, and the mountain students without books to read deserved help.

But those who, after studying with money donated by kind-hearted people, never learned to give back to society—what right did they have to demand others' contributions?

The most memorable example was a singer named Cong Fei, who helped countless people but ended up unable to afford medical treatment for a serious illness. Yet at that time, a parent of a student he had helped called to urge his wife, asking why the remittances had stopped. There were even those he had helped who, when interviewed by reporters, actively requested that their names be withheld.

Kindness doesn't always get rewarded. The saying 'good deeds bring good rewards' is just our wishful thinking.

Zhao Fusheng understood this truth too well.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, helping those who should be helped had nothing to do with回报; it was just to seek peace of mind, to not let down this rebirth.

Therefore, even when helping others, Zhao Fusheng followed the rules he set.

By the same token, those celebrities who casually donated three or five thousand yuan and then shamelessly told the media that they had been dedicated to charity for years, putting in effort and effort—Zhao Fusheng couldn't be bothered with them either.

Of course, if someone truly wanted to do good, he had specifically asked Yu Feihong to prepare information on those comfort women. Each person's monthly living expenses were a few hundred yuan. If someone was willing to do charity, they could individually sponsor one elderly woman.

Jiang Wen hadn't known any of this before. After listening to Zhao Fusheng's explanation, he was silent for a long time.

After a while, looking at Zhao Fusheng, Jiang Wen slowly said: "I didn't expect you to have thought it through so thoroughly."

He really hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to have such ideas, and what was even more frightening was that Yu Feihong was willing to listen to him.

Zhao Fusheng shrugged, his face calm: "It's not thorough, just thinking a bit more. I don't want to be a good person and still be blamed, nor do I want to sponsor a bunch of ingrates."

Although these words were somewhat extreme, Zhao Fusheng really thought so.

Rather than being blamed later, it was better to be strict from the start.

"Well, there are still more good people in the world."

Sighing, Jiang Wen said something even he wasn't sure about.

We always say there are more good people, more good people.

In reality, where are there so many good people and bad people in this world? Everyone is just ordinary.

The difference between a bad person and a good person often lies in a single thought. Maybe making a certain choice turns you into a bad person, or maybe a good person.