The plane had already taken off. Leyao and I were seated in different cabins—one in economy and the other in first class. Though we were on the same flight, we had no interaction. Thus, for the duration of this two-hour journey, I remained asleep until shortly before we were about to arrive in Beijing, when I finally woke up. Moments later, the plane landed at the airport. I didn’t immediately leave with the crowd but stayed seated, waiting for Leyao.
After waiting briefly, she finally appeared within my line of sight, walking toward me and stopping at my seat. She asked, “Waiting for me?”
“Yeah.”
Leyao slightly furrowed her brows. “You aren’t deliberately following me, are you?”
“Round-trip airfare from Shanghai to Beijing costs nearly a thousand yuan. Would I really go to such lengths to follow you?”
Leyao gave me a sarcastic smile and then said, “Whether you’re following me or not, I should let you know that there might be a group of reporters waiting outside the airport right now. If you’re willing to get involved in this mess, feel free to keep following me.”
I grabbed her arm and asked, “Are there reporters waiting outside? What you’re saying means you’re coming to Beijing to announce your return to the entertainment industry?”
“I don’t even have a company signed yet—who would host a press conference for me? Zhaoyang, I just don’t get it—why are you so eager for me to go back into the entertainment industry?”
“It’s not that I want you to return to the entertainment industry. I just hope you can return to a normal life track. If it’s a normal life, you need a job, right? What else can you do besides acting?”
“You started your own company. Why don’t you let me be your assistant? I won’t mind that your company is small.”
“Can’t you be serious for once?”
Leyao shrugged and then walked toward the exit of the cabin. I followed closely behind her. She turned back and, with a half-smile, said to me, “Zhaoyang, there are reporters out there… If you have the guts, keep following me. Otherwise, I can just hold your arm and pretend we’re a couple!”
Prompted by her words, I immediately felt uneasy and instinctively stopped in my tracks. Leyao looked at me disdainfully and then walked alone toward the exit.
Until I left the airport, I didn’t see any sign of reporters. I only watched Leyao get into a silvery-white BMW without even glancing sideways, quickly disappearing from my sight. Yet even so, I couldn’t help but speculate about her motives and intentions for coming to Beijing. Suddenly, I found this woman, who once spent every day with me, becoming mysterious.
…
After waiting a little while outside the airport, Yang Congrong’s driver came to pick me up and drove me to a restaurant with a strong traditional Chinese style, where Yang Congrong was hosting me for a banquet. However, this banquet only included him as the host and me as the guest.
After I entered the private room, Yang Congrong’s assistant stepped out, and he stood up to welcome me, then invited me to sit down. After I was seated, he smiled and said, “Before we talk about serious matters, let’s decide what kind of alcohol to drink first. I have two bottles of Wuliangye, aged over a decade, or we can have beer!”
This seemingly simple choice was actually full of implications. Choosing to drink baijiu would indicate a formal setting, and our upcoming conversation would proceed from the perspective of businessmen discussing cooperation. Choosing beer would signify a more personal connection, allowing us to speak openly about our difficulties and positions, and then seek solutions.
I smiled at Yang Congrong and replied, “Let’s have beer. It’s the only season left when it’s still appropriate to drink.”
Yang Congrong nodded. “Then I’m really glad you came to see me in autumn. To be honest, I don’t like drinking baijiu either. Years of social engagements have made me completely tired of it!”
“I can understand. So let’s go with beer. But I think this is more about catering to your preference, Uncle Yang. I think you want to drink beer more than I do!”
Yang Congrong laughed heartily, then pointed at me and said, “You kid, you really know your stuff. But since you understand me, I think our conversation will go more smoothly from now on.”
I nodded in agreement.
…
The authentic Beijing dishes were gradually brought in by the waiters. I poured a glass of beer for Yang Congrong and filled my own glass as well. We both downed our glasses in one go. Yang Congrong seemed to enjoy the beer and gestured for me to pour him another round. I immediately refilled his glass and mine, and after clinking glasses once, we again drank them in one go with great enthusiasm.
After finishing three glasses like this, Yang Congrong finally put down his cup, savored the aftertaste, and said to me, “Although the drinking hasn’t reached the peak of enjoyment yet, it’s already started off well. I believe we can remain calm and continue our conversation. So go ahead and ask any questions you have—I’ll definitely answer them without reservation!”
I placed my cup down, took a deep breath, and asked him, “Uncle Yang, I want to know what exactly motivated you to invest in Lukoo initially. I’m increasingly skeptical that it was the ‘Artistic Road’ project that convinced you!”
Yang Congrong nodded and said, “Initially, I indeed saw potential in the ‘Artistic Road’ project, and the prospects it showed were quite promising. However… these weren’t enough for me. To be honest, even without investing in this project, I had the capability to build a company like Lukoo entirely under my own control.”
“I understand that, which is why I’m puzzled. Why did you still invest in this company?”
Yang Congrong poured himself another glass of beer, drank it all in one go, and then said with deep feeling, “Zhaoyang, this is a very realistic society. No one can easily create a miracle. Under China’s current social system, running a private enterprise is extremely difficult. You should know that most private enterprises are struggling at the edge of survival, with only a small portion enjoying success. Of course, this isn’t entirely due to systemic issues. But in the current social climate, without deep interpersonal connections, your business won’t grow significantly. Do you understand that?”
“I do understand, although I haven’t experienced it deeply myself. My entrepreneurial journey seems to have gone too smoothly.”
“Of course it has gone smoothly for you… Let’s take Lukoo as an example. Since its establishment, have you ever encountered any trouble? Haven’t all the procedures requiring government approval gone through completely without any obstacles?”
“That’s right. We’ve never encountered any obstacles.”
“Why is that?”
I understood in my heart but didn’t voice it.
Yang Congrong smiled again and continued, “This society is a complex network of interests. To survive within this network, you must understand the rules and know how to use them effectively. Take your ‘Artistic Road’ project as an example. It looks creative and profound, but I’ll tell you this—if someone wanted to shut down your project, they could simply find a fire safety issue in one of your coffee shops or bars and force your entire project to halt for rectification. When and whether you meet the standards would be decided by the relevant authorities… I’m not giving this example to criticize any prevailing practices, but simply to show you how important interpersonal connections are in this society!”
He paused for a moment and continued, “I come from humble beginnings, with an ordinary family background, climbing my way up from the very bottom of society. When I was young, I had many ideas that I believed I could realize, but when I actually tried to implement them, I always encountered various obstacles, which eventually forced me to give up. There was a time when I truly felt defeated. But I did a deep reflection—I needed to adapt to this society, to accommodate those social interest relationships that I found repulsive… I met Jian Boyu ten years ago. We’ve worked together on many projects. He’s a very capable person, but in fact… the truly powerful one is his wife. That’s why Jian Boyu’s company has grown bigger and bigger. As for the young girl Jian Wei, she’s even more impressive. Within less than a year, she turned her advertising company into the top one in Suzhou and even the entire southern Jiangsu region… but is that a miracle? It is, and it isn’t!”
Although I had mentally prepared myself, as Yang Congrong’s words peeled away the layers like silk being unraveled, I still couldn’t suppress the rising sense of unease. I poured myself another glass of beer and downed it in one go.
Yang Congrong finally said to me, “I’m a businessman. I always make judgments and assessments about things. The world is never short of ideas that can make money, but turning those ideas into real profit requires opportunity and fate. That’s why I invested in Lukoo.”
Yang Congrong didn’t explicitly spell everything out, but his meaning was clear. His investment in Lukoo was entirely because of Jian Wei. Take that county scenic area project, for example. Why did the government provide so much real support? The implications here didn’t need to be spelled out. What Yang Congrong needed most was this kind of official support, something every businessman dreams of but cannot obtain without the protection of a company like Lukoo, backed by Jian Wei’s investment… This was the most direct motive behind his investment in Lukoo. It wasn’t exactly exploiting Jian Wei, but rather a mutual benefit!
I nodded and said, “I’m really grateful that you could be so honest with me. I understand you better now… But what about Jian Wei? Why did she invest in Lukoo and even bring you into it? With her capabilities, she definitely didn’t need to involve you to achieve these business goals.”
“Do you really not understand this yourself?”
I didn’t want to continue speculating subjectively, so I looked at Yang Congrong, waiting for him to give me the most genuine answer. In my mind, I recalled the various seemingly reasonable reasons Jian Wei had used to establish the Lukoo company and to invest in it.
A clear thread formed in my mind. It seemed like the Lukoo company had indeed been established step by step through Jian Wei’s meticulous planning… while I had always been in a passive environment, struggling to find a clear direction for its operations.
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