Chapter 54

The connection between "Seven Swords Descending from Heaven" and "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch" in terms of plot and characters provides ample possibility and necessity for the early publication of "The White-Haired Witch."

Another point is that when this martial arts craze began, as the instigator, Liu Jingting naturally had to take a stance. As Wang Qianqian said, although no one explicitly said anything, countless eyes were undoubtedly focused on Liu Jingting, watching him like wolves.

Liu Jingting's decision to do this was not to maintain his leading position out of vanity, but to create a more impressive impact when the novel was released, thus inspiring others to work harder. This was a deeper level of vanity.

Liu Jingting spoke a few words that were overly symbolic. Although he conveyed the core of "The White-Haired Witch" about love turning hair white, it was still difficult for Gong Cheng'en and others, who had heard similar stories, to fully understand.

After all, the classic martial arts trope of "hair turning white overnight due to love" started with this novel.

"If this isn't a metaphor, I would be very excited about this story," Wang Qianqian seemed to have an epiphany and expressed her attitude first, while reminding Gong Cheng'en, "I suggest you get the copyright early."

At this moment, Gong Cheng'en was brainstorming about "The Legend of Bao Zheng." Liu Jingting's suggestion was like a bright meteor in the night sky, and he had to capture that moment of brilliance and spread it through an appropriate medium to radiate its glory.

"I think the name shouldn't be 'The Legend of Bao Zheng,' just 'Bao Zheng,' and then we can make a series, like 'Bao Zheng: XXX.' What do you think, Mr. Gu?" Gong Cheng'en pondered for a while and proposed his idea.

Even if he didn't say it, Liu Jingting would have given the same hint. He didn't expect that this second son of the Gong family was indeed talented. Liu Jingting nodded and said, "That's exactly what I meant." He thought to himself that it seemed people's understanding of stories had many commonalities in any world.

After receiving Liu Jingting's approval, Gong Cheng'en suddenly remembered Wang Qianqian's earlier reminder and said, "We are also negotiating the TV rights for 'Seven Swords' with Qianhong, but that's my older brother's project. Mr. Gu, when you mentioned hair turning white due to love, were you referring to the new novel?"

Liu Jingting nodded slightly.

Gong Cheng'en quickly said, "Then give it to me."

"Hmm?"

"I mean, the film and TV rights for the story you haven't written yet, all of them. Everything else is negotiable."

Liu Jingting smiled and said, "You haven't even seen 'The Sword of Yue,' how do you know this adaptation will be successful?"

"Intuition and trust in Mr. Gu. To be honest, in the media industry, you can't be a Monday morning quarterback. If Mr. Gu doesn't mind, we can discuss a long-term cooperation plan."

"Why are you so diligent and ambitious? This doesn't match my understanding of a rich second generation."

The four people present smiled at each other.

Gong Cheng'en said, "Mainly because of interest and resources," and glanced at Wang Qianqian, "and to win a smile from a beauty."

Liu Jingting clapped and praised, "I applaud the last reason."

Wang Qianqian glanced at Gong Cheng'en indifferently and said, "It's just a cliché of rich heirs fighting for inheritance, but you make it sound so pretentious."

Gong Cheng'en smiled bitterly and shook his head, "This time, my work on 'The Sword of Yue' received a lot of praise from my elders, even my peers. They all look at me differently, praising my courage and ideas, saying I act decisively. But it's not that simple. Whether it's the preparation, production, or broadcast effect, there are many challenges that need to be considered. People in this industry understand that there's no lack of funding or actors in today's film and TV industry, but there is a lack of good scripts."

The three of them quietly drank their wine, not quite understanding the purpose or focus of Gong Cheng'en's words.

"Being born into such a family, some things are unavoidable. As Mr. Gu said, talent is a mission, and so is one's birth. This is a philosophical theory, but it is also a very practical reality."

Wang Qianqian, who had not heard Gong Cheng'en discuss such issues in detail before, asked casually, "Are you reading Kant, Aristotle, or Hegel recently?"

Gong Cheng'en smiled and said, "Marx."

Liu Jingting, with his sensitivity to story rhythm, sensed that Gong Cheng'en's words would have a twist. He said, "Marx is a great philosopher, but I think these theories are more for show and hard to be a real driving force. What are you trying to say, Mr. Gong?"

Gong Cheng'en looked at Liu Jingting gratefully and said, "What I want to say is, whether it's the praise from my family, philosophical theories, or a divine mission, none of these are important to me. What's important is..."

Wang Qianqian suddenly stood up and said, "I need to go to the bathroom. Sister Xiaomi, do you want to come with me?"

Mi Hu, who had been trying to stay silent, looked at Liu Jingting and answered Wang Qianqian, "I also need to go, but I still want to hear what Mr. Gong has to say."

Wang Qianqian was about to leave when she heard Gong Cheng'en say, "What's important is that in the future, when I say something emotional, she won't leave on some pretext." He then raised his glass and drank it in one go, without looking at Wang Qianqian.

Liu Jingting smiled faintly, looking at Wang Qianqian and Gong Cheng'en without commenting. He told a joke to change the subject: "One day, Bao Zheng and Zhan Zhao went out to solve a case. Before they left, Bao Zheng told Zhan Zhao, 'Follow my lead based on my expression.' Zhan Zhao looked at Bao Zheng's dark face for a long time and angrily said, 'Are you kidding me?'"

The three of them were initially stunned, then burst into laughter. Wang Qianqian said, "Uncle, you know I need to go to the bathroom, yet you still try to make me laugh. You're not a good person."

Mi Hu stood up and lightly scolded, "Move, I need to go out."

Liu Jingting casually moved aside to let Mi Hu out and raised his glass to signal Gong Cheng'en to drink.

The two girls held hands and went to the bathroom.

This is a phenomenon that boys can never understand. Girls usually go to the bathroom in groups, holding hands, while boys never do.

...

A few minutes later, the two girls still hadn't returned, and there was a commotion outside.

"It's them," Gong Cheng'en reacted quickly and hurriedly stood up.

The two boys walked out of the private room and saw the scene: five or six drunk young men were surrounding Mi Hu and Wang Qianqian, saying lewd things, inviting them to have a drink.

Gong Cheng'en's face turned pale with anger. Just as he was about to rush over to help the girls, a figure darted out from his side, wielding a chair and smashing it into the head of one of the young men.

With a loud "bang," the scene erupted into chaos.

The person who threw the chair was Liu Jingting, who had been drinking. Seeing this, Gong Cheng'en had no choice but to join in, grabbing two beer bottles and smashing them into the heads of the attackers.

Liu Jingting had been in a similar situation before. In his first year of college, he and a classmate went to the gym for a physical test. While waiting in line, a group of military students cut in front of them, leading to a fight.

Despite Liu Jingting's bravery and sense of justice, he and his classmate were beaten into a pulp. He realized then that he wasn't the protagonist in a novel and could only report to the teacher when things got out of hand.

This time, the situation was very similar. Liu Jingting and Gong Cheng'en were trying to save the girls, but they were outnumbered and faced the same outcome of being beaten up.

Seeing their boyfriends being attacked, Mi Hu and Wang Qianqian, the beauties, came to the rescue, each grabbing a bottle and throwing it at the attackers with wild abandon.

The chaos lasted for over twenty minutes before the bar owner intervened. The leader of the young men had been sitting nearby, watching with interest. When the bar owner appeared, he smiled and stood up.

"Enough, the police are on their way," the bar owner said, clearly experienced in handling such situations.

"We came here to drink and make friends, and we were suddenly attacked with chairs and bottles. I'm waiting for the police to see if there's any law and order left," the leader said indignantly, waving his hand to stop his men, giving the bar owner some face.

"It's not surprising that novels often depict these scoundrels getting beaten. If I had the strength of those protagonists, I'd make them eat shit," the injured Liu Jingting said to the equally injured Gong Cheng'en.

Gong Cheng'en laughed, "Don't think they won't eat shit today." As a super-rich second generation, he rarely had the experience of fighting with his own hands. Today, fighting alongside Gu Yongsheng, he felt a sense of satisfaction rather than pain.

...

The police arrived quickly, but there was no legendary busty and beautiful female officer. Instead, a middle-aged male officer and a young male officer in his twenties entered the bar, glanced around, and asked the bar owner and the leader, "Who started the fight?"

The bar owner pointed at Liu Jingting and Gong Cheng'en and said, "They were drunk and started it."

The middle-aged officer said coldly, "You two, come with me to make a statement. The injured ones, come too."

Gong Cheng'en, rubbing his bruised mouth, said, "Wait a moment, I need to call my lawyer."

The scene fell silent. For a young boy to remain calm in such a situation and have his own lawyer indicated that his identity was extraordinary.

Of course, Gong Cheng'en wasn't really calling his lawyer, but his older brother. When he got into trouble, his brother would handle it, a process he was already very familiar with.

After hanging up, Gong Cheng'en calmly told the two officers, "Director Tie will be here soon. I'll talk to him directly." He then turned to the leader and said casually, "Give yourselves five minutes to beat yourselves up to look like us, and we'll call it even. I'm not like those novel protagonists who like to break arms and legs. Start."

Liu Jingting, supported by Mi Hu, smiled and said, "I didn't expect this to actually happen."

The leader's face finally lost its composure, and he threatened, "I work for Mr. Gao."

This is a common tactic in social interactions. When unsure of the other party's background, one reveals their connections and then reacts based on the other's response.

Except for Gong Cheng'en and the bar owner, no one else knew who Mr. Gao was. Gong Cheng'en smiled and said, "Gao Shu? You're really putting him in a bad spot. Fine, I'll make Gao Shu look like us too."

Gao Shu was the only son of a minor shareholder in the Longchuan Group and a classmate of Gong Chengpin. He had tried to connect with Gong Chengpin many times in school but failed. So how could Gong Cheng'en take him seriously?

The leader, a seasoned veteran, was skilled at reading people. Seeing Gong Cheng'en's disdain when mentioning Mr. Gao, he judged that the other party might be someone he couldn't even look up to. He immediately apologized to Gong Cheng'en and then slapped himself, followed by his men, who started hitting themselves with bottles.

This was a logical decision. If the other party was someone who could crush Mr. Gao, he still had a chance of being forgiven by self-inflicting injuries. If the other party was bluffing, he had many ways to make them suffer.

Sure enough, Director Tie arrived, and the men hit themselves even harder.

...

This little incident seemed surreal to Liu Jingting. Although he had a tendency to be impulsive and a sense of protectiveness for his family and friends, it was purely instinctive, or as modern astrology would explain, Cancerians are naturally the type who would wield a cleaver to protect those they care about.

After treating their wounds, the four of them laughed as they left the hospital, finding the experience interesting and feeling a sense of shared adversity.

Gong Cheng'en said, "After this, don't call me Mr. Gong. Call me Cheng'en or Brother En."

Liu Jingting laughed, "Little En, if I call you Brother En, what should she call you?" He pointed at Wang Qianqian. "How about this, you call her Old Wang, and she calls you Old..."

Wang Qianqian, holding Mi Hu's hand, said, "Sister Xiaomi, please sew this old man's mouth shut."

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