1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

As soon as Mr. Wu finished speaking, the conference room fell into a deathly silence.

Ding Daming's smug expression froze instantly.

The words "a sinner for all time" are too heavy!

He dared to accuse Cheng Xuemin of "sabotaging diplomacy," but he didn't dare to accept the accusation.

An older leader sitting on the right coughed twice and tried to smooth things over, saying:
"Old Wu is joking. Comrade Cheng Xuemin is young and impetuous. Perhaps his methods were inappropriate, but calling him a 'sinner for all time' is too much of an exaggeration."

In my opinion, it would be better to have him come back and explain in person why he is obstructing the cooperation with Yamato Pictures.”

"An explanation?" Ding Daming didn't dare to respond to Old Wu's words, but the leader's words clearly seemed to be in the direction of exonerating Cheng Xuemin, so he immediately retorted, "He hasn't even been seen yet, maybe he already knew he had caused trouble and went into hiding!"

Such disorganized and undisciplined behavior must be dealt with seriously; otherwise, who will respect organizational discipline in the future?

Another elderly leader with gray hair slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Xiao Ding, you're wrong! Convicting someone without evidence is not our style!"
Cheng Xuemin made a solemn pledge in the lake, and if he really didn't achieve anything, he could run away from the first day of the month but not the fifteenth.
But if there were any achievements, your actions would only discourage the spirit of reform and opening up!

"A pledge of military authority? What pledge of military authority?" The old leader's words instantly left Ding Daming bewildered. He didn't understand why a pledge of military authority had suddenly appeared when they were talking.
Did Cheng Xuemin make a pledge in Haizi? What pledge did he make? And when did he make it?
A series of doubts made Ding Daming feel uneasy, because Wu Lao, who had been sitting in the first place the whole time, only gave an opinion, while the others basically just watched coldly. What kind of attitude was that?

Unfortunately, although Ding Daming was in charge of all aspects of China Film Group's work, nobody really paid any attention to him!
For example, regarding the military order that surprised and puzzled him, no leader could explain it to him. He and Hu Jian could only look at each other blankly, listening to the argument between several leaders with differing opinions.

This made him, the main person giving the report, completely sidelined!
"Quiet!" Old Wu put down his teacup, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable authority, and said:

"Whether Cheng Xuemin has problems or not can't be determined by words alone. The most crucial question now is, where is he?"

Hu Jian from China Film Group has already returned and even rushed to the lake to badmouth him! But Cheng Xuemin is still nowhere to be seen!
Wang Yang from Yan Film Studio is the same. They didn't even come to the ministry to report as soon as they returned from Bolin. Now they're in such a passive position!
Since Cheng Xuemin wasn't present, wasn't he just letting China Film Group fabricate whatever they wanted?
Old Wu was also secretly annoyed and immediately demanded an explanation!

This question struck a chord with Ding Daming, who immediately looked at Hu Jian with a suggestive look in his eyes.

Hu Jian understood and quickly stood up: "Reporting to the old leader, Cheng Xuemin... he hasn't returned."

"He hasn't returned?" The bespectacled senior leader frowned and asked, "What do you mean? Didn't you transfer in Hong Kong yesterday? Why hasn't he arrived in Beijing yet?"

"He didn't come back? What do you mean? He's stuck in Bolin and hasn't returned?" Another senior leader asked on the spot.

But a thunderclap startled the leaders present, instantly turning their faces pale with fright!

One leader was so angry he was trembling, demanding, "What did you say? Cheng Xuemin is stuck in Bolin and hasn't returned. He's defected?!"

"Hu Jianding Daming, why didn't you report such a serious situation as Cheng Xuemin's defection immediately?"

"Cheng Xuemin hasn't come back? What's he doing in Bolin?" Old Wu was also startled by Hu Jian's question about him not returning!

What's the situation?
Xiao Cheng hasn't returned and is still stranded in Bolin. Could it be that there are still issues with the subsequent contract signing?

"No, no, he's not stuck in Bolin and hasn't come back!" Hu Jian swallowed hard. He hadn't expected that his words would provoke the fury of the leaders.

At this moment, he genuinely hoped that Cheng Xuemin was still stuck in Bolin and hadn't returned, but whether he had defected was unknown!
Of course, now is not the time to speculate about these things, so he quickly explained, "We parted ways in Hong Kong."

He said he was taking Gong Xue and the others to Guangzhou, apparently to record a tape at some music company, and that it would take a few days…

"Record a tape?" Ding Daming was also startled by Hu Jian's earlier action.

I'm asking you to embellish the story, not to spout such nonsense!

If Cheng Xuemin were to remain in Bolin and defect, would he still be able to keep his job as the general manager of China Film Group?
He immediately interrupted, saying, "If you went to Guangzhou, just say you went to Guangzhou! Can't you just say it in one complete sentence?"

"Exactly! Can't you finish what you're saying in one breath?!" A leader who was just excited became red-faced and furious after hearing Hu Jian's nonsense.
"Be more careful and rigorous in your speech in the future, and don't leave things unsaid!" The other leaders also scolded him.

Old Wu couldn't help but laugh; he was truly frightened!
If Cheng Xuemin really stayed in Bolin without reporting to me or applying to the organization, then whatever the reason for staying in Bolin, it would be a serious foreign affairs incident, because it could very well be considered defection.

Seeing the excited reaction of those old guys, even though Old Wu had the trump card of over 20 million US dollars in foreign exchange earnings, he was still not confident!

Because the person who orchestrated this bombshell for him hasn't come back!

Fortunately, it was a false alarm. These old guys were too hasty; they hadn't even finished their fabricated story before they were already imagining things and getting all excited!

Startled, Hu Jian cowered back and looked at Ding Daming for help.

Ding Daming glared at Hu Jian and then asked, "Did he go record another tape?"

"What kind of time is this to be recording a tape? He's deliberately avoiding it!"

"I think he fled to Guangzhou because he knew he had ruined the cooperation with the Japanese and was afraid of being punished when he returned!"

"Hiding?" Old Wu broke his silence and began to lash out, "He's been in Bolin for so long, if he wanted to hide, he would have gone abroad long ago. Why would he need to come back to China to hide?"

“That’s not necessarily true!” Ding Daming was now determined to go underhanded, and said in a sinister tone, “Maybe he lied about going to Guangzhou, but actually didn’t go and is staying in Hong Kong instead?”

After all, the mess he made was too big. If Japan were to condemn him through diplomatic channels, he wouldn't be able to clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River!

These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the conference room.

The same leader suddenly stood up and questioned, "You mean... there's still a possibility he might be stranded abroad?"

This time, the question was still directed at Hu Jian, after all, he was the leader of the team on this trip to Bolin, and he didn't know whether his team members had returned to China or not.
"This..." Hu Jian hesitated, now showing a genuine look of difficulty, and said, "When we parted ways in Hong Kong, he did say he was going to Guangzhou, but whether he actually crossed the border, I can't guarantee..."

"Nonsense!" The old leader was furious on the spot and shouted, "Why didn't you report such a big thing earlier?"
Cheng Xuemin was a pioneer of reform and opening up. Do you know how terrible the impact would be if he were to remain abroad?

Ding Daming was secretly delighted, but pretended to be anxious: "We were just thinking of reporting the situation in Bolin to our old leader first, and we haven't had time to verify it yet..."

"Verify? Is it too late to verify now?" The bespectacled old leader said, his face pale. "A cadre who made a solemn pledge, a pioneer of reform and opening up on whom high hopes were placed—if something like this really happens, how can we explain it to the people of the whole country?"

The atmosphere in the conference room instantly plummeted, and everyone's eyes were fixed on Old Wu. Cheng Xuemin was someone he had pushed through against all opposition; if anything went wrong, he would be held responsible.

Old Wu's fingers stopped, and the steam from the rim of the cup swirled into mist before his eyes.

His face was very gloomy!

Are these people hoping Cheng Xuemin will defect, or are they truly heartbroken?
Stranded in Hong Kong?!
That's utter nonsense!
If you said that Cheng Xuemin would stay in Bolin, Old Wu would believe it to some extent, after all, this military order had been kept from China Film Group.

Therefore, with Hu Jian from China Film Group in charge in Bolin, Cheng Xuemin couldn't act on his own initiative.

It's possible that he clashed with Fujian and angered Fujian so much that he returned to China early.

But now that they've all returned to Hong Kong, Mr. Wu doesn't believe that the talents they've selected will continue to linger in Hong Kong and refuse to return to the country.

Of course, if he fails to fulfill his military pledge, it would be understandable that Cheng Xuemin would be ashamed to return.

But this time, with a whopping 20 million US dollars, what reason does Cheng Xuemin have not to come back?

What really annoyed Old Wu was that Cheng Xuemin was indeed a troublemaker!
You should come back first to report the good news, cancel the military order, and then go to Guangzhou again, it's not impossible!

I have to make the trip there; the ministry is short of his travel expenses!
Old Wu's mind raced, and he immediately looked at Hu Jian, asking:
"Comrade Hu Jian! Are you sure that when you parted ways with him in Hong Kong, he said he was going to Guangzhou?"

Hu Jian felt uneasy under Wu Lao's gaze and quickly nodded, replying, "Wu Lao, I'm only sure he said he was going to Guangzhou to record a tape, but I didn't see him go through customs with my own eyes because our flight was earlier!"

"Let's call and ask in Guangzhou!" someone suggested.
Ding Daming nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, we must contact Guangzhou immediately!"
Even if he did go to Guangzhou, but instead of coming back to report on his work immediately, he went to record tapes, which is also disobeying orders!

In my opinion, we should immediately call Guangzhou and have them detain the man and escort him back to Yanjing for questioning!

"Control? Escort?" Old Wu slammed his hand on the table, splashing most of the water from his teacup. "Ding Daming, that's enough!"

Everyone was stunned by Old Wu's anger.

The usually gentle old man now had flames burning in his eyes as he pointed at Ding Daming's nose and angrily rebuked him:

"Comrade Cheng Xuemin earned 20.9 million US dollars for the country in Bolin, and you're here discussing how to extradite him for questioning?!"

"What are you guys thinking?!"

Old Wu's words were another thunderclap, startling the entire conference room into an instant silence, confusion, and shutdown!
"Twenty...more than twenty million US dollars?" Ding Daming was struck dumb, his entire body stiffening on the spot. He then asked, trembling all over, "Mr. Wu, what...what did you say? What twenty million US dollars?! I...I...I...I...I...I...I didn't know anything about this!?"

"What? Comrade Cheng Xuemin achieved a foreign exchange earnings of over 20 million US dollars in Bolin? Old Wu, is that true?"

"Holy crap, Lao Wu, the surprise you were talking about can't be this, can it?! Over twenty million US dollars in foreign exchange! Lao Wu, how could you keep this a secret for so long?!"

"More than 20 million US dollars in foreign exchange? This...this...this...how is this possible?" The most shocked and bewildered person present had to be Hu Jian.

When he heard Old Wu say directly that Cheng Xuemin had earned 20.9 million US dollars in foreign exchange for the country in Bolin, he was stunned and dumbfounded!

How is this possible!
Cheng Xuemin's Tai Chi, just like his, failed miserably in Bolin!
These are all things that Xie Jin and Lao Zhao told me themselves, okay?

Cheng Xuemin himself was just as helpless on the way back. How could he possibly feel after making more than 20 million US dollars?!

The more Hu Jian thought about it, the more self-righteous he became, and he suddenly exclaimed repeatedly, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! Do you think I don't know whether Cheng Xuemin made more than 20 million US dollars in Bolin?!"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! It's a lie, it must be a lie!"

"It must have been Cheng Xuemin who gave us a report beforehand and deliberately lied to us!"

At this point, Hu Jian preferred to believe that Cheng Xuemin had defected rather than believe that he was in Bolin, right under his nose, generating more than 20 million US dollars in foreign exchange for the country!
This is impossible, absolutely impossible!
"impossible?"

The conference room door was flung open, and Wang Yang strode in with Huang Jianzhong, holding up a stack of documents. He said:

“Ding Daming, look for yourself! This is the contract from Columbia Pictures, this is the remittance deposit from the French distributor, and this is the foreign exchange certificate issued by the consulate! It's twenty million nine hundred thousand US dollars, not a penny less!”

The document was slammed onto the table with a clatter, and the leaders eagerly passed it around for a read, eliciting a collective gasp from the conference room.

"My God...it only sold for ten million US dollars in North America?"

"And there are 1.5 million from South Korea, 800,000 from France... That adds up to more than 20 million!"

"This kid...this kid...he dropped another atomic bomb on us without saying a word!"

Ding Daming's face turned deathly pale instantly. He staggered backward, crashing into a chair with a jarring sound.

"No...this isn't true...Hu Jian said that nobody in Bolin cares about 'Tai Chi'..."

Hu Jian was already huddled in the corner, trembling all over: "I...I really don't know...he didn't tell me...I really don't know!"

Wang Yang walked to the center of the conference table, pointed at Ding Daming and Hu Jian, and angrily rebuked them:

"You didn't know? You were busy running for awards for 'Romance on Lushan Mountain,' and Xuemin invited you to the premiere of Tai Chi to show your support. You said that martial arts films couldn't be considered highbrow and then turned around and left!"

Now look what's happened! They're treating a contract that was taken for free like a precious gem, and they're even blaming Xuemin for preventing them from signing with the Japanese side, damaging Sino-Japanese friendship, and causing a serious diplomatic incident!

But you don't know that it was to stop you from betraying your country!

Do you know that your so-called Sino-Japanese friendship agreement will cause us to lose all of the more than 20 million US dollars we just earned?!

……

I'm currently traveling, so this chapter was written on my phone on the train. The formatting and word choice might be a bit off, but I still managed to finish it. Finished, time for bed. I won't be asking for monthly votes anymore. Goodnight, muah! (End of Chapter)