Whoever's Happy Knows Why

The poker game that Lin Qi saw before he arrived was actually Mr. Fox passing the time by deliberately "losing" the game. To put it simply, he used the act of losing money to gather some ordinary old men around him.

Some people might see this as a sign of loneliness, or as Mr. Fox being a pitiful old man with few friends.

But if you look at it from another perspective, at least he still has money...

Lin Qi saw right through him. It was not normal for someone who dealt with money all day and wasn't exactly a good person in the strictest sense to lose so little in front of him.

He didn't think Mr. Fox was pitiful either. Perhaps in Mr. Fox's heart, those who played with him and took advantage of him were the pitiful ones. At least he wouldn't pay the price of the most expensive time of his life for a tiny bit of insignificant money.

People often say that happiness can't be bought with money. Lin Qi thought Mr. Fox was quite happy just now. They couldn't understand the kind of happiness that comes from sitting behind the scenes and making those old men think they had found an "honest man," only to find themselves the ones who had taken the bait.

The two chatted and laughed for a while before sitting on the rattan chairs. The open-air platform was exposed to the wind and sun, and sometimes even worse weather. Leather or fabric sofas would break down in less than six months, but rattan chairs could last longer and had a cultural feel, making them more suitable for this place.

People are generally like this: once their most basic needs in terms of wealth are met, they begin to pursue spiritual fulfillment, and pursuing cultural fulfillment is a more suitable approach for the general public.

"I heard from other places that you found a script." Lin Qi took a small sip of the coffee brought by the maid. In fact, many young people like him prefer to drink juice because it is sweet and sour.

But the real Lin Qi is not a young man. He has passed the age of liking sweet and sour flavors, and those flavors can no longer attract him. Instead, he is more fascinated by bitter flavors with a sweet aftertaste.

Mr. Fox nodded. "You know, my bastard son is a college student..." He called Little Fox a bastard, but the pride on his face betrayed his true feelings. "One of his classmates found him and offered him this script. Little Fox thought it was interesting, so why not let him give it a try?"

Lin Qi could understand this feeling as a father. In fact, every father hopes that his child can walk on a bright path, even the leader of a criminal family would have this thought.

He nodded. "I talked about this with the mayor when we had dinner together that evening. He agreed to give us a financial subsidy. I can't guarantee the exact amount, but I asked for as much as possible."

"Alternatively, you can apply for assistance from the Social Services Bureau, and they will arrange dedicated staff to assist with your filming."

Mr. Fox paused for a moment, then thanked Lin Qi, "You're a good man, Lin Qi!"

"We're friends, and friends should help each other, don't you think?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Mr. Fox replied, "You're right, my friend Lin Qi!"

Perhaps Lin Qi's arrival distracted Little Fox, or perhaps he wanted to find Lin Qi's opinion and gain recognition. Not long after, he came to the second-floor platform with the script and handed it to Lin Qi, saying, "Do you want to take a look at the script? If nothing unexpected happens, this will be our first film."

The Fox family founded a company called "Fox Film," in which Lin Qi also invested some money, holding a 30% stake.

Originally, he meant that a 10% share would be enough, but the father and son were very enthusiastic and insisted on giving him 30%. For this, Lin Qi paid an extra 300,000 yuan (it hasn't arrived yet, but it will eventually). What a despicable father and son!

Given his sense of responsibility for his money, he took it very seriously. Thanks to his previous experience and knowledge, he also had some connection with this industry that made quick money.

As Lin Qi watched, his eyebrows began to twitch. It was a very common road thriller-romance film, which might be a bit off-putting, but this kind of film is currently a fairly common mainstream movie.

Before the advent of faster modes of transportation, people often chose to travel between different cities by car, partly because it was cheaper than taking the train, and partly because it offered more freedom. As is well known, freedom is enshrined in the Charter, and the spirit of freedom permeates the very bones of the Federal people.

People love roads, and they love the beauty and poetry of driving towards the bright red setting sun on the Gobi Desert at sunset. That's why road movies have always been popular, partly because of their low production costs.

But Lin Qi wasn't optimistic about this script. A woman's car broke down, and while hitchhiking, she got into a car driven by a psychopathic killer. What's even more absurd is that after being hurt and tortured, this woman actually fell in love with the psychopathic killer, thus achieving a bizarre redemption, bringing the psychopathic killer back to normal and making him turn himself in. She even had a child with the psychopathic killer.

What's truly terrifying isn't the atmosphere, but the screenwriter's mind. Lin Qi put down the script and added some body language, trying to find a relatively neutral word, but he failed.

"I don't know how to describe it..."

Little Fox might have misunderstood, "Were you also amazed by it?"

Lin Qi glanced at Mr. Fox, who seemed to be looking at him seriously, hoping to gain some insight. He frowned. "I may not understand the deeper meaning of this script, but I know it's not a script I like, and I won't spend money to buy a ticket to see it in the theater."

Little Fox's face showed a hint of disbelief. "It's an excellent script with lots of metaphors. Didn't you notice that it's actually related to some religious stories?"

Next, Little Fox began to explain to Lin Qi what a certain passage in the script meant, what kind of metaphors it contained, and what other things it alluded to. Through his description and explanation, some of the deeper aspects of the script were revealed.

In fact, this script, like its author, lacks people who can clearly interpret it, which has prevented many interesting and deeper contents from being discovered.

However, Lin Qi wasn't very interested in this. "Entertainment is about having fun, not about making people think. That's something philosophy does."

"Audiences won't spend a few dollars to sit in a movie theater with their families for an hour or two to think about why this is and why that is. They just want to be happy, but I haven't found even a little bit of happiness in your movie."

"This might make you feel a little sad, but I have to express my feelings because I also have to be responsible for my money."

Mr. Fox maintained a smile throughout. He didn't know much about movies, but he understood what was interesting and what wasn't. He didn't think it was a good story either, but the college students thought it was great.

He was absolutely incompetent as a father, so he hoped to somehow make up for what Little Fox lacked, and instead of saying it was bad, he remained silent.

If Mr. Fox. had stopped Little Fox. from making the script, it probably wouldn't have been very effective. But Lin Qi was different. In some ways, Little Fox Jr. admired Lin Qi more than Mr. Fox. At least, both he and his father became successful with Lin Qi's help, and this was just a small step in Lin Qi's own plan.

"Is it really that bad?" He began to emerge from his frenzy, vaguely sensing that it might indeed be... bad? "Take it out and let people on the street who have nothing to do with this show it; they'll tell you the truth!"

Little Fox left somewhat uncomfortably, but Mr. Fox asked, "Do you have any good suggestions?"

This question puzzled Lin Qi. "Which aspect are you referring to?"

"The script, the story of the movie!" Mr. Fox continued, "In fact, he has already rented the entire set of equipment needed to shoot the movie. These things are really expensive, and the rental company has said that even if we don't use them, they won't give us a refund..."

In these days of economic downturn, it's absolutely impossible to get a refund. Some people might say that it's only worth two or three hundred thousand or three or five hundred thousand, so if it can't be refunded, then it can't be refunded. The Fox family makes so much money, do they care about this little bit of money?

This might have been the case when the economy was good, but now that the economy is bad, things are quite different.

Besides, these things weren't sold to them. Even if they couldn't return them, they could still keep some things. These things were rented, and once the contract period expired, they had to be returned to the lessor. They wouldn't lose a single thing.

Mr. Fox originally intended to teach Little Fox a lesson. He always thought that society was very simple, and even thought that they could still succeed even if they didn't take the current path.

If Lin Qi hadn't known about this, everything would have gone according to Mr. Fox's plan: filming would have been completed, but the film would have failed to be released. Little Fox would have learned about the complexities of society and the wisdom of Mr. Fox's experience, which would have been beneficial to the relationship between father and son.

But now not only Lin Qi knows, but the mayor knows too. If things are done according to his original plan, it's possible that not only Little Fox will suffer, but he himself will also "suffer a loss".

People will witness the birth of a huge joke, which is not part of Mr. Fox. Fox's plan, and he must salvage the situation.

Just as Lin Qi was about to say he couldn't do anything, he suddenly remembered what the Truck Driver had told him: there was a idiot in the fleet named James who often wrote things that were supposedly sold to film studios or unions. Maybe James could help.