My Wandering Swordsman

The three of us were all stunned.

Leaving Hengdian? What happened? It's so sudden.

My aunt leaned closer and lowered her voice: "I haven't been filming these past few days; I've been investigating the background of the eldest prince you've offended. His father's surname is Lü, and his name is Lü Guodong. He's a big investor. And if nothing unexpected happens, he should be back in the next few days."

"So...I suggest you go into hiding."

When I heard that, I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that my aunt was going to say something very serious.

"Hey, what do you mean? I already knew about this," I said nonchalantly.

My aunt frowned: "You knew?"

"I know. The eldest prince's father is an investor, very rich. I've heard about him."

"Then why aren't you leaving?" Auntie's brows furrowed even more.

"Why would I leave? I'm not leaving." I leaned back in my chair, hands behind my head. "If I leave, they'll definitely cause you trouble. I can't drag you into this. Besides, I haven't broken any laws. What can they do to me?"

The aunt slammed her hand on the table in anger: "Ji Xiaosong, when will you ever grow up? This is not the time for you to act impulsively."

I knew she cared about me, and her tone softened a bit.

"Auntie, don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"You have no idea how powerful Lu Guodong is! You have no idea how influential Lu Guodong is."

"It's just a little money, Auntie. When did you become so vulgar?"

"you..."

The Flower Monk and Liu Zi stood to the side, not daring to breathe, heads bowed, pretending to count on their fingers.

My aunt tried everything with me, from gentle persuasion to harsh words, but I was completely unresponsive. She gave up and angrily turned her head away.

I quickly went over and, with a grin, massaged her shoulders.

The large hand landed, and my aunt trembled, but she did not resist.

"Auntie, I have a question for you..." I said, inhaling the fragrance of my aunt's hair.

My aunt snorted, "What is it?"

When she mentioned Lü Guodong, I immediately thought of the documents I had seen during the day. My aunt is an "insider," so she definitely knows more about this than I do.

"Auntie, what do you think is the purpose of storing a lot of movie tapes in a certain place?"

My aunt frowned: "A movie tape?"

"Yes, it's the movie videotapes that play in the projector. There are a lot of them, like 'Flirting Scholar' and 'God of Gamblers'..." I rattled off a few names.

My aunt was stunned when she heard this, and kept saying, "This shouldn't be, this shouldn't be."

She explained:

Back then, film copyrights were all held by producers. If a theater wanted to screen a film, it first had to contact the producer, book the number of screenings, estimate box office revenue, and the number of days the film would run. Only then would the producer give you a copy of the videotape. Moreover, the videotape was essentially a rental; once the rental period was over, the tape had to be returned, and if you wanted to continue showing the film, you had to sign a new contract.

If it's an overseas film, you have to contact the cultural management department to obtain the screening rights, which is a very complicated process.

To put it bluntly, the number of videotapes of a particular movie in a region is often determined by the number of local cinemas and screening rooms.

There will absolutely not be a situation where a large number of movie videotapes are piling up.

"Huh?" I was taken aback when I heard that.

If what Auntie said is true, then what about the videotapes in Lu Guodong's company warehouse? There are over 17,000 tapes! And he's also a producer?

That's impossible. Those are all mainstream, wildly popular movies. How could Lu Guodong, an unknown nouveau riche, possibly be involved in the production of films of this caliber?

I remained silent for a while, then stroked my chin and continued, "Auntie, is the only channel for movie tapes the producer?"

My aunt rubbed her chin a few times, her eyes flickering: "There's only one genuine tape. If it's a pirated copy, then there's no telling—it could be a replica from a film crew, a remake from a movie theater..."

My eyes lit up: "Pirated?"

My aunt said that pirated videotapes are a hot business these days. As soon as a new movie is released, pirated tapes can be found all over the streets and alleys the next day.

A pirated videotape costs only a few dollars to produce, but can be sold for several times that price. If you have the distribution channels, shipping thousands of tapes a day is not a problem.

"Of course, recently the relevant departments have been cracking down on the cultural market, and piracy and black market cinemas are the first targets. If you get caught, you'll be sentenced to a heavy prison term..." Auntie added at the end.

My mind raced.

Lu Guodong, the owner of a senior care service company, had 17,000 videotapes hidden in his warehouse...

This thing is most likely a pirated copy.

To put it bluntly, the guy surnamed Lü might have made his fortune secretly by selling pirated videotapes. Now that the authorities are cracking down on it, he's only now rushing to transfer his stockpile of videotapes.

It matches, it matches...

Lu Guodong, Lu Guodong, I think I've discovered something incredible.

Seeing that I didn't speak, my aunt waved her hand in front of my face: "What are you thinking about?"

I snapped out of my daze and quickly shook my head: "It's nothing, it's nothing, Auntie. Is there anything else? Shall I take you home?"

My aunt looked at me suspiciously, but didn't ask any more questions. She got up and stretched.

"Xiao Ji, I still hope you will seriously consider what I said tonight. We can't afford to mess with Lu Guodong."

"Okay, okay."

I verbally agreed, and then pushed my aunt towards the door.

After seeing my aunt off, I watched the taillights of the Citroën Fukang car recede into the distance, and a cold smile involuntarily crept onto my lips.

Seventeen thousand videotapes...

If they are all pirated, then Lü Guodong's background is really filthy.

I stroked my chin, and a bold idea suddenly popped into my head—

If I could get evidence that these videotapes were pirated, what would I have to fear from the First Prince or Lü Guodong? The more I thought about it, the more excited I became, and the cold smile on my lips deepened.

The monk leaned closer and asked cautiously, "Brother Ji, what are you laughing at? It's creepy."

My eyes lit up: "I just suddenly thought of something good."

"What good news?"

Hehehe~

I ignored him and strolled back into the tin shack with a smirk.

The Flower Monk and Liu Zi looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Brother Hailong, do you think Brother Ji has gone mad?" Liu Zi asked.

The monk scratched the back of his head: "Yeah, the pressure was too much. He's probably gone crazy. What a fine young man!"

"Brother Hailong, why are you sighing?"

"Brother Ji has gone mad. The heavy responsibility of taking care of Sister Weiwei and Sister Ruan has fallen on our shoulders, Liu Zi..." the Flower Monk said with a pained expression.

Liu Zi was taken aback: "Hey, that's true, it's just the two of us brothers who will have to do this, hehe~"

I threw a beer bottle.

"Guys, I'm not dead yet."