Chapter 393 - The Mafia King's Explosive News
Chapter 393 – The Mafia King’s Explosive News
Wei finally learned the hard way that having a crowd was alright as long as Lihua got a place to sit. He thought and thought and agreed that from a woman's point of view, anybody would hesitate a bit to climb into an empty bus with only the driver and conductor. Who were men, and she was a lone woman and pregnant at that.
Though Chang Fang was his underling, Lihua didn't know about it, so obviously, she wouldn't trust a stranger who was randomly acting so nice to her out of nowhere.
Wei felt disappointed in himself.
I screwed up.
He wanted to help her but scared her instead.
The next bus arrived in twenty minutes, and once again, it was Chang Fang as the conductor, albeit in a different disguise.
Lihua was finally satisfied to see people inside. "See? Those people were scammers! How come there is a crowd now?"
Wei cleared his throat.
Learning from the previous experience, Chang Fang acted normal and politely smiled at her rather than hyper-welcoming her.
Lihua quietly sat in her seat. She looked around and felt that the people looked anxious for some reason.
"Liangshi. Is it only me, or everybody seems to be on edge here?"
Wei didn't care about them. "Must be work stress."
"All of them?"
"Coincidence."
One of the men in his late forties stood up to protest, but Chang Fang's one glare instantly sapped all his courage. He gulped and sat back.
Lihua noticed a cute keychain hanging from a woman's bag who was seated beside her. "It's a cute keychain," she beamed and complimented.
But the woman sobbed as she suddenly looked at her. "Why am I on this bus? I am just a mere peasant! I have no money! And I am definitely not tasty!"
"…"
"Save me!"
What is she talking about? Why is she crying?
Wei cleared his throat. "Maybe she had a bad dream last night."
"I really think so…"
Chang Fang shot a warning glance at her, and she shut up.
Lihua and Wei stepped out at their stop near the campus. Chang Fang sighed in relief. He turned to look at the "last-minute" passengers.
The passengers stiffened. They internally sobbed.
What happened? I don't even understand when but I was pulled into this bus!
Why am I here? This is completely the opposite direction from where I want to go!
Why was I suddenly stuffed into this bus?
This is not my way to the office!
Somebody call the cops! We are being kidnapped!
But how did those college students leave then? Aren't they hostages too?
Oh God, are we gonna die?
Chang Fang said, "You can leave now."
Everybody – "…"
Say what!? What was the whole point!?
One woman nervously asked, "Are we not getting kidnapped? Are we not gonna die?"
"What gave you the impression?" He blinked.
!!!
Forcibly pushing us into the bus for instance!
"I needed some people to fill this empty bus."
So we were just extras like in a movie!?
"You can step out and go wherever you want," Chang Fang nodded.
NOW you tell us to leave when you scared the shit out of us and made us an hour late to work!?
They all cursed that lightning fell on Chang Fang right this instant.
—
Ji Da Xia looked over Lihua's assignment and studied her answers. She raised her brow as she went through one of her answers.
"If you are a PR of a famous entertainment agency and news break out that an actor or actress is a gay/lesbian and fans bash them for that, you say that the actor should hold his ground instead of denying the claims. Isn't that detrimental to their reputation?"
Lihua straightened up and said, "No. The LGBT community has come a long way. Our society is slowly heading in the right direction to treat them as equals like straight people. Someone's sexual orientation is their personal choice."
"But the fans are starting to hate the actor."
"Then they are not his true fans," Lihua shook her head. "A true fan will remain loyal and love the artist irrespective of his orientation. Fans need to understand that loving the same sex is not a crime. That is also love as much as loving someone from the opposite gender."
"But you don't want the fans to leave the actor."
"Those who want to leave will leave. Some haters and extremists cannot be stopped. And an artist doesn't need such fans that cannot respect his choice. We are PRs, but that doesn't mean we always have to bow and give in for the sake of reputation. There is nothing wrong in being gay, so there is no need to deny it or apologize to anybody."
"What if he is shut out?"
"People want to spend their hard-earned money on talent. If an artist is capable and works hard enough, he can shine through all odds and discrimination and prove that one's orientation has nothing to do with their abilities. The crowd might grumble and complain, but in the end, they will give up if they want to have worthwhile entertainment. Hiding or apologizing is a sign of feeling guilty, and there is nothing to feel guilty about a man liking a man or a woman liking a woman."
Ji Da Xia smiled. "Excellent."
Lihua nervously asked, "Was I too bold?"
She shook her head. "No. If we want the discrimination to end, then we need to make a collective effort in encouraging such artists or other people, in general, to come out with their orientation. Otherwise, it will never end."
Lihua brightened. "Thank you, Miss Ji!"
Wei's gaze was filled with pride for her.
"Let's take a short break."
They just chatted along, and as Lihua casually scrolled through the news feed, she froze as she read an explosive news going viral on Weibo.
'The CEO of the Jiang Industries, Jiang Wei, has surrendered himself to the police!'
'CEO Jiang Wei in jail!'
Lihua stared at the news wide-eyed, and she felt stunned.
Jail? Wei is in jail?