Power and Wealth

Inside the house,

"Give me Qian Qian."

"Why?"

"It's late, and I need to go back."

"First, sort out things for Jia Jia."

"I already promised, didn't I? Once I promise, I'll get it done."

"I'm still skeptical of your words. Contact her now. Jia Jia's mother is quite anxious. Sort it out before you leave."

"..."

"Hurry up and make the call."

Dong Xuebing and Fang Ping clashed once again.

Sun Jia hurriedly interjected, "It's okay, I..."

Fang Ping interrupted, "Let him handle it. You don't need to worry. This guy even forgets his goddaughter. Who knows when he'll get around to others' matters."

Dong Xuebing's face turned red. He argued defensively, "I did have something today..."

"Even if you had something, you shouldn't forget the child," Fang Ping sneered at him.

Dong Xuebing felt guilty. Indeed, he had promised to come by 8 o'clock, but his old classmate had distracted him by undressing, completely throwing off his thoughts. He had forgotten about the child entirely. If Fang Ping hadn't called to remind him, Dong Xuebing figured he wouldn't have remembered until tomorrow morning. They didn't know Qian Qian wasn't his goddaughter but his biological daughter. Dong Xuebing felt he was failing as a father. "Alright, alright, I'll make the call." Dong Xuebing picked up his phone and headed towards the bedroom to avoid further embarrassment from Fang Ping.

Ring, ring, ring...

Second Aunt answered the phone.

"Hello, Second Aunt, I..." Dong Xuebing got straight to the point. "I have two friends here who want to develop in the entertainment industry. One is Sun Jia, who hasn't acted before and wants a chance to showcase herself. The other is named Chen Ying. She's my elementary school classmate. You should know a bit about her. She's acted in several TV dramas and movies, though she's still in the lower tiers. Life isn't easy. What do you think?"

Ci Lifen responded with a confirming tone, "No problem."

"Thank you, Second Aunt," Dong Xuebing said.

"Send me their information, and I'll arrange with the people below. I'll make sure everything is handled for you." Ci Lifen was very cooperative. "If there's any news or good roles for auditioning, I'll have someone call them directly."

"Alright," Dong Xuebing agreed. "I'll send it to Xiao Hao's email later, and he'll forward it to you."

"Okay," Ci Lifen replied.

After hanging up, Dong Xuebing put away his phone and went out. Seeing Fang Ping and Sun Jia talking, he said to Sun Jia, "Send me your resume to my email."

Sun Jia quickly responded, "Okay."

Dong Xuebing instructed, "Once it's done, someone will contact you. Keep your phone on 24/7, okay?"

"Thank you, Brother Dong," Sun Jia said.

Dong Xuebing waved his hand half-heartedly and sat down. He thought to himself, This Fang Ping. Just asking her to look after a child and look at her, making all these demands. Such a handful. If he had known earlier, Dong Xuebing might as well have asked Han Fei to take care of the child. She would be better than Fang Ping. Thinking this, Dong Xuebing reached out to pick up the child. "Everything's settled. Let's go home, Qian Qian. Let's go home with Daddy."

However, Fang Ping dodged, "Let me hold her a bit longer."

Dong Xuebing clicked his tongue. "You've been cuddling my daughter all day."

Ignoring his comment, Fang Ping continued playing with Qian Qian, her face filled with affection. "Good girl, why don't you stay at Auntie's place today? Auntie will sing you to sleep and tell you stories. How does that sound?"

Little Qian Qian babbled, whether she understood or not.

"Why are you grabbing her?" Dong Xuebing stepped forward. "Give her to me."

Fang Ping swatted his hand away. "You go away. I'm talking to the child."

When they met, Dong Xuebing and Fang Ping always started arguing, and there was never a moment of peace.

Sun Jia smiled awkwardly and quickly changed the subject, "Aunt Fang, Brother Dong, Christmas is coming up in a couple of days. I want to treat you to dinner to thank you for your help."

Dong Xuebing asked, "Christmas Dinner?"

"It's Christmas," Sun Jia blinked. "Isn't it a holiday? If you're busy, it's okay, I..." She lowered her head again.

Dong Xuebing stopped trying to take the child and turned to Sun Jia, speaking earnestly, "I'm not criticizing you, Xiao Sun, but I'm puzzled. Isn't our Republic full of holidays? New Year, Spring Festival, May Day, National Day, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Qixi Festival—aren't these enough holidays? Even if we don't catch up on this one, there's Youth Day and Women's Day. At worst, we have Arbor Day. Why are you celebrating a Western holiday? Where in our country is this holiday? Can't we handle our national holidays? Are you celebrating foreign holidays instead?"

Sun Jia was taken aback. "I, uh..."

Dong Xuebing pointed at her. "Admiring foreign things excessively is no good. I don't understand what you think. We've learned about the history of the Eight-Nation Alliance against us in primary and middle school. Have you forgotten? And current events—how those foreign countries treat us, you must have seen it in the news. Your parents must have seen it too. Those foreigners disgust us, suppress us, and openly challenge us. In history, they have invaded us. Oh, so you don't care about any of this? Are you okay with licking their feet and celebrating their holidays? Can we not be so low? Can we not praise their stinky feet like this? What are you thinking?"

Sun Jia's eyes welled up, almost crying from the criticism.

Dong Xuebing, the ultimate angry youth among angry youths, even criticized Xie Jing.

"I... I..." Sun Jia felt highly wronged. She didn't understand why celebrating Christmas, just one holiday, could provoke such anger from Dong Xuebing. During her school days, everyone always celebrated Christmas, so she followed suit. It had become a habit, and she never thought celebrating Christmas would be a problem.

Fang Ping's face darkened.

Sun Jia looked to Fang Ping for help, unsure how to explain to Dong Xuebing.

But unexpectedly, Fang Ping's expression was stern as she told Sun Jia, "What Christmas? Even Arbor Day is more meaningful than that. Your father and mother are both Party members. Don't embarrass them."

Sun Jia's eyes went blank. She finally understood. She had encountered two ultimate angry youths among angry youths.

Dong Xuebing and Fang Ping unexpectedly found common ground in this matter.