My absurd experiences in North America over the years

Late September, San Francisco.

In the study on the second floor of the Zhigongtang headquarters, Fang Li sat at an old wooden table with three newspapers of the day spread out in front of him: the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, and a Chinese version of the Sing Tao Daily.

His gaze didn't linger on any single article, but rather on the subtle gaps between them.

There was also an open laptop on the table, with a social media platform page on the screen.

The public opinion fluctuations of the past few hours are taking shape, transforming, and rearranging at a faster pace than the printing of news, and he has been able to discern the direction those changes are pointing, sliding from entertainment events into the borders of culture warfare.

This is not a good sign.

As the vice president of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Chee Kung Tong, Fang Li has been assisting his friend with the Chee Kung Tong's official business these past few days, but he has also been paying close attention to the entertainment storm that broke out in Los Angeles.

Li Fu's methods are undeniably clever, and he currently holds a significant advantage, but he still lacks sufficient understanding of the North American ecosystem!

Fang Li closed the newspaper, leaned back in his chair for a while, then picked up his assistant's number. "Book me a flight to Los Angeles, the sooner the better."

He realized he had to see Li Fu and get to the eye of the storm as soon as possible, because once that boundary was completely breached... things would become even more complicated.

Fang Li arrived in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. that evening.

He stayed at a hotel not far from Chinatown without notifying anyone, as it was not appropriate for him to meet Li Fu in public at this time.

As soon as he got to his room, he dialed Li Fu's number.

"Uncle Fang?" Li Fu was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Fang Li to contact him at this time.

"I just arrived in Los Angeles. Could we meet tomorrow morning? You can choose the location, preferably a quiet one," Fang Li said in a low voice.

When Li Fu heard him suddenly request a meeting, he realized something might be wrong. After thinking for two seconds, he said, "Let's go to the hotel next door, the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. I'll have someone arrange a private room."

At 10 a.m. the next day, Fang Li was led into a private room on the second floor of the hotel by Thompson through a side entrance.

He wasn't dressed formally, just in a dark gray jacket and ordinary dark trousers, looking like an ordinary middle-aged Chinese man who had come to Los Angeles on business.

Li Fu was already waiting at a window seat on the second floor, with a cup of tea that was already half-cold in front of him.

Fang Li barely exchanged pleasantries upon meeting, getting straight to the point: "Your current situation isn't so optimistic. Beyoncé is looking for a middleman to communicate with you, and I don't think you can push things too far."

Li Fu was of course aware that Beyoncé and her husband had recently been looking for a middleman, but he had no intention of backing down easily and had to make them suffer a bit.

"Is Uncle Fang also concerned about this matter?"

"I didn't care about the entertainment industry before, but since you were the one who spearheaded this, the whole of Chinatown is talking about it and feels proud of themselves," Fang Li shook his head. "But they've only seen the surface; they're just joining in the fun."

Li Fu, standing on the moral high ground, used his media matrix to directly push Kanye West into a corner, and Beyoncé and her husband are currently facing continuous public condemnation.

In North America, Chinese people occupy a similar, and sometimes even less, niche than Hispanics.

So, of course they felt relieved.

Fang Li's level is different from that of ordinary Chinese people; he can see deeper things and has channels to understand the movements of all parties.

As far as he knew, the Beyoncés' communication channels were indeed narrowing, and each attempt was met with obstacles on different levels. Li Fu used media coverage to put them under public scrutiny.

But that doesn't mean they have no trump cards up their sleeves.

"Why do you say that, Uncle Fang?" Li Fu didn't quite understand either. He did indeed have the upper hand and was impeccable in terms of public opinion.

"Public opinion is still under your control for now," Fang Li said to Li Fu seriously, "but it won't stay like this forever. Some people have already started to steer this storm in another direction."

"Which direction?" Li Fu asked.

"They want to package this as 'Chinese capital suppressing Black artists'," Fang Li said, making a startling statement.

"What?" Li Fu frowned.

Frankly, his actions were not directed at Black people. Regardless of Kanye and Beyoncé's skin color, if they try to use their entertainment power to humiliate and suppress Taylor Swift, he will make them pay a heavy price.

However, if someone tries to frame this incident as "Chinese capital suppressing Black artists," then we really need to take it seriously.

Once this view becomes mainstream, no amount of explanation will help.

He recalled the Black Lives Matter movement from his previous life and immediately realized that public opinion could indeed shift, after all, the current president was also Black.

Racial discrimination is one of the most untouchable politically correct things in this place.

Once the situation reaches that point, he will no longer be the boss who protects Taylor, but the villain who crushes Black culture.

In an increasingly stigmatized era, once this label is attached, everything he has painstakingly built up in New York could be severely impacted overnight.

"Kanye is pretty much finished. You've achieved your goal," Fang Li said, pouring out the cold water from Li Fu's teacup and brewing a new pot of tea. "You should stop at the right time."

His words were quite blunt: Kanye West is currently just a somewhat famous rapper, far from having built up enough reputation and capital, while Beyoncé and her husband are different.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are part of the Black community's cultural identity, living symbols of the Democratic Party's diverse ideology, and were also among the major donors and promoters of that Black president's campaign.

It's absolutely impossible to drive them both to their deaths, at least not at the moment.

Li Fu nodded slowly as he pondered.

He recalled the Didi Party scandal in his previous life, and how close Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and their husbands were to this scumbag. Theoretically and logically, there was no way they could have remained uninvolved.

However, they really did remain completely uninvolved... without even the slightest involvement.

If I said I didn't have the protection of some powerful figure behind me, who would believe it!

"Does Uncle Fang have any suggestions?" Li Fu looked at the senior figure across the table, Fang Li, a director of the Zhigongtang.

The Chee Kung Tong has existed in North America for even longer than the country's history, and has weathered all sorts of crises. They have enough survival wisdom to establish themselves in this land.

"Beyoncé and her husband have been cornered by you. They want to end this more than you do now. As far as I know, Madonna might act as a mediator between them to reconcile with Taylor. You can use this as an excuse to end this media storm."

Fang Li's information channels cover most areas where Chinese people live. Although the organization, which has existed for three hundred years, is no longer at its peak, it is still not to be underestimated.

"Madonna?" Li Fu was somewhat surprised; this was indeed a middleman of considerable influence.

What they didn't know was that there was another middleman who would soon contact him through capital channels.

Liberals and multiculturalism have always been central to Hollywood narratives, and no one wants their "core identity" to collapse for any reason.