Chapter 603: Lightning Died
However, no matter how much it cost, they had to proceed. Chips were the most critical component. They absolutely could not afford to fall behind in cutting-edge technology.
Early in the morning, Han Xiaorui personally dropped Ye Feng off at the airport.
“Ye Feng, when you get there, be confident,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile. “We have plenty of houses and several cars now. Our assets are more than enough to support the family. Whatever money we make from now on, I’m willing to invest it into this industry with you.”
Ye Feng paused. “What if it doesn’t succeed? You know this field is a bottomless pit.”
Hearing this, Han Xiaorui smiled. “If we succeed, it will be a monumental achievement. If we don’t, it doesn’t matter. At least we tried.”
Ye Feng gently hugged her. “Thank you, Xiao Rui!”
“We’re husband and wife, there’s no need for that,” she laughed, waving goodbye. “Call me when you get home.”
Ye Feng nodded. “I will!”
As Ye Feng entered the airport, Han Xiaorui instructed her driver to head to the company. There was no point in overthinking other matters. Her job was to make money, plain and simple.
Her morning at the company was incredibly busy, filled with meetings and reviewing documents. After having lunch at the company cafeteria, she headed to the police dog base.
Upon arriving, Han Xiaorui immediately noticed the somber atmosphere.
“Director Wang, what’s wrong?” she asked, bewildered.
Director Wang’s eyes were slightly red. “Lightning… Lightning died in the line of duty!”
Han Xiaorui froze. “Lightning? Wasn’t Lightning sent to shoot a movie? How could he die?”
Director Wang gritted his teeth. “That bullshit director said he wanted to capture absolute realism. He used live explosives and blew Lightning up.”
Han Xiaorui was utterly dumbfounded. “How… how dare they?”
Director Wang choked up. “We couldn’t believe it either. But when they brought him back, Lightning had already stopped breathing. They even had the nerve to ask for two more police dogs that looked similar to him. I refused.”
Han Xiaorui slammed her hand on the desk. “From now on, no police dog is allowed to participate in film shoots! Prepare a memorial service for Lightning first; I’ll come over tomorrow to send him off. Right now, I need to go out. I want to see exactly which bastard used live explosives.
“I’ll throw him onto an explosive and see if he gets blown up! These scumbags will do anything for their so-called bullshit art.”
Director Wang watched as Han Xiaorui stormed out like a hurricane. Worried that she might act on impulse—it would be a disaster if she actually beat someone to death or crippled them—he quickly called out to a subordinate.
“Xiao Zhou, hurry up and follow her. Make sure President Han doesn’t lose her mind,” Director Wang urged. “Be careful riding the motorcycle!”
“Understood, Director Wang,” Xiao Zhou replied, rushing off.
Han Xiaorui called the screenwriter to find out the director’s location. She immediately headed over and found the director still filming, barking orders left and right.
She marched straight up, shoved aside the people blocking her path, and slapped the director hard across the face. “Who the fuck told you to use live explosives? If you wanted realism, why didn’t you blow yourself up?”
The resounding slap sent the director stumbling backward.
Han Xiaorui followed up with a sweeping kick, sending him crashing to the ground, and landed several kicks on him.
Everyone around them was scared silly. On a film set, the director was the ultimate authority; no one dared to step forward and break up the fight.
By the time Xiao Zhou arrived at the set, he hurriedly grabbed Han Xiaorui. “President Han, please don’t be impulsive! Beating him to death won’t bring Lightning back.”
Pulled back by Xiao Zhou, Han Xiaorui managed to deliver one last vicious kick to the director.
“You have the audacity to ask for two more dogs? You’ve got a lot of nerve! Let alone you, even if the director of the Shencheng Film Studio came begging, I wouldn’t give them to him!”
Director Wu initially wanted to lose his temper, but realizing she was here because of the police dog—and that she was the formidable Han Xiaorui—he swallowed his anger. “I… I did it for the sake of art!”
“Art my ass!” Han Xiaorui was so furious she was losing her mind. Swearing profusely, she shoved Xiao Zhou away and delivered another kick to Director Wu. “Why didn’t you get blown up? How dare you blow up my police dog? In my eyes, you’re not even a fraction as noble as Lightning, who has rendered outstanding service time and time again! He was a decorated police dog, and you just blew him up like that. Doesn’t your conscience hurt?”
Director Wu shrieked in pain from the kick.
Xiao Zhou scrambled to hold her back again. “President Han, you can’t hit him anymore! You’re going to kill him!”
After unleashing her fury, Han Xiaorui finally felt a slight release of her pent-up anger.
She had already been incredibly displeased when the director for the project was replaced. Then, when they refused to let her invest, she was even more annoyed! Because they couldn’t borrow dogs from the police dog training base, they had gone to the local police station to borrow one instead.
And for the sake of some bullshit art, they had blown up a decorated police dog.
“Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you have money? Call the police! I’m going to sue you!” Director Wu clamored.
Someone made the call. When the police arrived to investigate the situation, Han Xiaorui and Director Wu were taken to the police station.
When the officers learned that Director Wu had used a decorated police dog for a movie and blown him up, every single one of them cast a cold, hard glare at him.
A chill ran down Director Wu’s spine. He genuinely feared they might lynch him right then and there.
Director Liu of the film studio arrived in person and whispered a few words into Director Wu’s ear.
Director Wu’s expression changed drastically. His eyes were full of grievance, but he had no choice but to change his tune, or else he wouldn’t survive in this industry.
He forced an apologetic smile. “We weren’t fighting. It was just a demonstration for the shoot. We wanted it to look realistic, so it appeared as though we were fighting.”
One of the police officers sneered coldly. “Heh. Since it was just filming, then there’s no issue. President Han, you are free to go.”
Han Xiaorui nodded. “Thank you for your trouble.”
She shot a fleeting glance at Director Liu, completely ignored him, and turned to leave.
Director Wu also stood up to leave.
“Hold it right there!” Officer Zhao blocked his path. “You can’t leave!”
Director Wu was taken aback. “We’ve already settled things. Why can’t I go?”
“Maliciously killing a police dog with explosives. Fifteen days of administrative detention,” Officer Zhao replied coldly.
Director Wu was dumbfounded. “If Han Xiaorui doesn’t forgive me, then I withdraw my forgiveness for her assault!”
Officer Zhao showed him the signed settlement agreement. “You think you can just forgive or not forgive whenever you please? Do you think this is a wet market where you can haggle?”
Director Liu hurriedly interjected, “The crew is right in the middle of a shoot. So many people are waiting on him.”
Officer Zhao’s voice was dark. “Lightning is dead!”
“I know he’s dead, and we’ve already apologized,” Director Liu argued. “We are also willing to provide compensation for the police dog.”
“Lightning is dead!” Officer Zhao repeated verbatim.
“A dead dog can’t come back to life! People need to move on. My production burns through a massive amount of money every single day. If you detain him for half a month, how am I supposed to finish this movie?” Director Liu wiped the sweat beading on his forehead.
Officer Zhao’s face darkened completely. “Lightning is dead! Director Liu, you should leave. We are handling this strictly by the book!”
No matter what was said, Officer Zhao flat-out refused to release Director Wu.
The dogs from the police dog base played a crucial role in solving crimes. Many of their successful cases were actually thanks to the help of these police dogs.
They were their comrades-in-arms, their colleagues.
And this bullshit director had blown one of them up for his bullshit art.
Director Liu pulled every string he could, constantly reiterating that it wasn’t intentional but rather a terrible mistake. Even so, Director Wu still ended up being detained for seven days.
Furthermore, Han Xiaorui sent an official memorandum to every police station and public security bureau in Shencheng—and eventually to all branches nationwide affiliated with the Shencheng Police Dog Base—demanding absolute guarantees for the safety of their police dogs.