Chapter 00167: He Must Be Investigated
# He Must Be Investigated
Chapter 167
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 167: He Must Be Investigated
"You have some nerve!" Song Linming's face turned red with anger as he stormed into the room, his voice booming with reprimand.
"No organization, no discipline! Allowing you to attend the Berlin exhibition was already an act of leniency, yet you dared to privately contact foreign distributors, blatantly violating the rules! Director Li, you're a veteran of the Northern Film Studio, and I'm deeply disappointed in you! Do you even realize what you're doing? Where is your party spirit? Where is your sense of discipline? And Comrade Chen Qi!"
Song Linming glared at Chen Qi, his voice icy.
"I've heard of your reputation, a young prodigy. I originally wanted to have a good chat with you, but now there's no need! Don't think that just because you can write a few scripts, you can look down on everyone. You've completely lost the most basic sense of collectivism. Put away your pitiful individualism. If you have no regard for the collective, no amount of talent will save you! If you dare to do something like this today, who knows what you'll dare to do tomorrow! If it weren't for Xiao Fang keeping an eye on you, I bet you'd have found a way to stay in Berlin and never come back!"
"..."
Li Wenhua was too scared to speak, but Chen Qi raised an eyebrow and retorted, "Director Song! Whether what I did is illegal or not is still up for debate, but your slander and rumors are definitely against the law. If you see someone holding a kitchen knife, do you immediately assume they're going to kill someone? If you see something in a man's pants, do you convict him of rape? You don't even have the most basic sense of seeking truth from facts. How can you have the nerve to criticize others?"
"You dare speak to a senior like this, you..."
"Old Song! Old Song! Calm down."
The Ministry of Culture official stepped in to mediate.
Honestly, when he first received this case, he was also shocked.
Who would have thought someone would dare to do something like this? But the process of investigation and questioning had to be followed.
"Comrade Chen Qi, this matter is serious. You need to adjust your attitude and cooperate fully. If you continue to act so flippant, you won't be sitting here anymore! Now that both sides are present, I can't just listen to one side. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
"It's like this..."
Chen Qi straightened his back and began, "First, I want to thank the leadership for giving us this valuable opportunity. At the beginning of the month, we first went to Hong Kong. The audience there loved *Tai Chi* immensely. Everywhere we went, we received applause, which gave us a lot of confidence. Then we went to West Berlin. We had two films with us: *The Return of the Swallow* and *Tai Chi*. We were only there to exhibit, so we just screened the films. *The Return of the Swallow* was competing, so Sister Fang was too busy with that to pay much attention to us. She was running around all day. With nothing else to do, we decided to help Mr. Fu Qi. He was in Berlin selling films and taught us a lot. When *Tai Chi* was screened in Berlin, no one expected it to be so popular. The foreigners absolutely loved it, and distributors approached us on their own. I tried to talk to Sister Fang, but she was either attending banquets or events, and she was very close with the festival chairman, always hugging him when they met. We discussed it among ourselves. The festival only lasts twelve days, and it's not easy to get out here. The distributors were offering U. S. dollars! U. S. dollars! That's foreign currency! You don't get opportunities like this often. In the end, we decided to take the risk. Did we know this was against the rules? Of course we did. But Sister Fang wasn't available, and we couldn't find her to ask for permission, so we had to act first and report later..."
"Bullshit!!!"
Fang Yurong's eyes turned green with rage as she pointed at Chen Qi's nose and shouted, "Stop pretending! You clearly planned this from the start, deliberately keeping me in the dark, deceiving me, and privately contacting distributors!"
"Do you have proof?"
"Never mind if I have proof or not, you did it, and that's that!"
Song Linming chimed in, "Exactly! Whether there's proof or not, you privately contacted distributors, and that's a violation of the rules. Who gave you the authority to do that?"
"I did!"
With a shout, Wang Yang strode into the room, his shoulders and hair damp from the rain outside.
He stood in front of Chen Qi like a protective parent and sneered, "Song Linming, you're too old to be bullying young people like this. *Tai Chi* was signed under the Northern Film Studio's name, and that was my decision!"
"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, I can sell it!"
"The new policy only says the copyright is returned to you, not that you can distribute it!"
"When the general is out in the field, he doesn't always follow orders! Besides, this is about earning foreign currency. Can you take responsibility for missing this opportunity?"
"Why should I take responsibility? Everything must follow the rules. Without rules, there's no order. You're a veteran revolutionary. Have you forgotten that? If everyone acted like you, who would the rules and laws be for?!"
"Enough, stop arguing!"
The Ministry of Culture official rubbed his temples, tired of the same old argument about the power struggle between the China Film Group and the film studios.
But this time, the Northern Film Studio had gone too far.
He couldn't take sides, so he said, "Old Wang, I've heard the whole story. No matter what your reasons are, the fact remains that you privately contacted distributors. That's a violation, and you must face the consequences..."
Before he could finish, Song Linming immediately interjected, "I propose that Comrade Wang Yang has committed a serious disciplinary violation and is no longer fit to serve as the head of the Northern Film Studio!"
"Director Li Wenhua knowingly violated the rules and should be dismissed from his position!"
"Chen Qi was directly involved and should also be dismissed..."
"Report!"
Chen Qi suddenly raised his hand and corrected, "My employment isn't with the Northern Film Studio. I'm on loan from the Xuanwu District Dashilan Street Youth Tea and Snack Cooperative! If you want to dismiss me, you'll have to talk to the cooperative."
"..."
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Song Linming looked at Fang Yurong.
He's not from the Northern Film Studio? Why didn't you tell me?
Fang Yurong looked aggrieved.
I didn't have time!
Everyone in the room was stunned.
After all this, it turns out this kid isn't even from the Northern Film Studio? What the hell!
But Song Linming was quick on his feet and immediately shifted the topic.
"Also! The Northern Film Studio doesn't have the authority to distribute films. The contracts they signed must be handed over to us so we can handle the follow-up!"
Damn it!
Wang Yang was so angry his nose twisted.
Have you no shame?
Things had happened so quickly that he hadn't had time to coordinate with Chen Qi, and there were still some things he wasn't clear about.
Just as he was about to speak, Chen Qi tugged on his sleeve and said first, "There's definitely no contract."
"The chairman said you signed a contract, so you must have one!" Fang Yurong insisted.
"Really, there isn't one. Even if there is, it's not with me."
He spread his hands, as if to say, do whatever you want.
In the hour or so they'd been arguing in the room, they'd gone back and forth countless times, each sentence potentially a loophole the other side could exploit.
Fang Yurong's mind raced.
After all, she was a bit clever.
First, Chen Qi wasn't part of the film system, which made things complicated.
Second, the China Film Group wanted the contracts to connect with the distributors.
But they weren't law enforcement, so they couldn't force Chen Qi to talk.
Got it!
Fang Yurong suddenly had an idea and pointed at him, shouting, "He has a problem with his political stance!"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Wang Yang's face changed.
"Think about it, everyone. A 21-year-old kid, going abroad for the first time, attending a film festival for the first time, and he manages to close a deal! How did he do it? When did he learn English? How did he know the distributors? He says Fu Qi taught him, but who knows if he's lying? And the Hong Kong company is struggling itself. Could they really be that capable? I don't have proof, but based on common sense, it's suspicious!"
"He must be investigated!"
(End of Chapter)