"oh."
"We had a really bad fight... I know she meant well, but, after all, I'm a man... I..."
"You're losing face," Mu Tou bluntly pointed out the problem.
"...But she's too domineering! I'm a man, I don't like being led by the nose by my woman, and I especially don't like being controlled by her..."
Before I could finish complaining, Wood interrupted me: "Did she ever control you before?"
"..." I was stunned.
Yang Wei... did she control me? It seems not...
My development in Vancouver, my collaboration with the Yang family, including opening a film company in Los Angeles, all benefited from Yang Wei's help... Of course, she acted as my strategist on many occasions. However, she never truly used her power to override me.
"No." I sighed. "But this time she... I'm worried about the future..."
"Is she a very smart woman, so smart that you feel inferior to her?" Wood's words once again struck a nerve with me!
"Yes, she's too smart. It seems like there's no problem she can't figure out, no difficulty she can't solve. She even helped me with a lot of things before... I..." I suddenly stopped talking, a thought that surprised even myself arose in my mind!
So it turns out... I've always harbored resentment towards Yang Wei deep down!
For no other reason than that her abilities were simply too great! She was too intelligent! Anyone standing in her presence could be seen through by her in an instant!
Unfortunately, the vast majority of men in this world don't like women who are too smart or too assertive!
As a somewhat chauvinistic man, I certainly don't like overly assertive women!
The contradiction lies in the fact that, after a series of events and unexpected twists of fate, I've fallen for Yang Wei... This creates a dilemma. Although this dilemma had been hidden before, now, suddenly an opportunity has arisen to confront it...
The crux of the problem isn't that she took some strong measures to stop me this time... but rather that I've never liked her being too smart.
From a normal person's perspective, probably 99% of men worldwide prefer gentle, sweet women who are affectionate and dependent on them. Of course, men also like smart and sensible girls.
But Yang Wei... she's just too, too, too smart!
While some men may like strong women, I'm not a "queen fetishist."
When I fell silent, Wood suddenly chuckled twice: "What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that when you make love with that woman in the future, she will be wearing leather clothes, holding a leather whip, and ordering you to call her queen while whipping you?"
"..." I yelled, "You blockhead, you'd better watch less porn!"
Mu Tou chuckled, then his voice turned serious: "From what you've said, she must be a very capable woman. Well, indeed, overly intelligent women can make men feel uncomfortable or even afraid. Because such women are unlikely to be completely obedient to you, unlikely to be submissive to you, and even when you're feeling triumphant, she won't look at you with admiration to satisfy your vanity—well, but most men in the world like these qualities, don't they?"
I sighed, then couldn't help but begin to recount my relationship with Yang Wei… from the very first time we met. Our first brush with death, and then I told you everything that happened, every single event, every single experience…
As I spoke, a wave of tenderness suddenly welled up within me… This woman, we've been through so much together, she's helped me so much, she's sacrificed so much for me. We've even faced life-and-death situations together…
I've lost count of how long I talked, but after I finished, there was no sound from the other end of the phone.
"Wood...wood?" I called out twice, somewhat doubtfully.
"Hmm? Oh, you're done talking." Only then did Wood's voice come through again.
"Are you...are you even listening?"
"I heard it."
"But I think I heard the sound of pages turning... Were you reading Naruto while I was talking?! Damn it!"
Wood scoffed, "No... So what if I did see it? You use your eyes to read comics, but you use your ears to listen to you."
"Holy crap...￥％...￥※……￥#◎◎"
"Alright, alright." Wood chuckled, then said in a strange tone, "Little Five... you've lost your way on the path of love..."
"..." I gritted my teeth: "You still say you haven't read comics... That's a line from Kafka!"
Ignoring my accusations, Mu Tou suddenly stopped laughing and said solemnly, "You just said so much... I feel sorry for this girl named Yang Wei that you mentioned."
"……What?"
"She did a lot for you, didn't she? She helped you a lot, didn't she? She spared no effort and schemed tirelessly, but all she got in return was the suspicion of the man she loved. He even worried about her intelligence and talent... I think she's very pitiful."
"..."
"And another question: when she helped you so wholeheartedly, did she ever have a single selfish motive? Was there anything she was planning for herself?"
"No." My voice sounded weak, even to myself.
“That’s it,” Wood said bluntly. “She slapped you to save your life. And here you are, fussing over such a trivial matter of saving face.”
The more I listen, the more it seems like it's my fault.
"But... there's something else about her that I find really hard to accept." I sighed and told her about Yang Wei asking Li Wenjing for help, and then briefly explained the relationship between the three of us.
This time, Mu Tou's tone softened slightly: "No wonder you're angry. No man wants to accept help from a love rival. Yang Wei handled this matter poorly. However... I have another question."
"Um?"
"Has she had other lovers before?"
"...It seems not."
"So, has she had other men before?"
"Probably not."
Has she had any previous romantic relationships?
I thought about it and recalled a conversation I had with Yang Wei one night. It seemed that I could tell from Yang Wei's words that she had always looked down on other men since she was a child...
"It doesn't seem so."
At this point, I was suddenly startled... It turns out that I was actually Yang Wei's first love?!
"Do you understand?" Wood said with a smile, "She didn't do it on purpose, it was a complete mistake, or rather, a sign of inexperience. She's never been in a relationship, never had any romantic experience, so she's not good at handling these kinds of problems... even though she's very smart. But smart isn't everything, there are always areas where she's not good at it. I think your woman is a bit clumsy when it comes to matters of the heart."
I took a deep breath, thought for a long time, and said into the phone, "Thank you... Wood, I'm hanging up now."
"Wait... next time, bring back a few autographed photos of you. Yoyo has been wanting them..."
I hung up the phone, paced back and forth in the room a few times, and then couldn't resist opening the door and going downstairs.
Yang Wei's bedroom was downstairs, but as soon as I walked down the stairs, I saw the living room light was on. Yang Wei hadn't gone back to her room to sleep; she was lying on the sofa, curled up in a ball, and had fallen asleep there.
I tiptoed over and stood quietly on the sofa, watching Yang Wei. Her eyes were closed, and although she was asleep, her eyelashes would occasionally flutter slightly. Her breathing was even and gentle, and her expression was calm. Even in her sleep, her brows were slightly furrowed, as if carrying a hint of worry.
I watched her for a while, then turned around and found a blanket, gently covering her with it. I bent down and just quietly looked at her for a long time. Her skin was delicate and translucent, her eyelashes fluttering. As she slept, Yang Wei looked indescribably pitiful, possessing a charm that was even more endearing than her confident, strong-woman demeanor during the day.
After watching for a while, I finally reached out, gently slipping one hand under her neck and the other under her knees. Then, with a burst of strength, I lifted Yang Wei up horizontally.
Yang Wei was startled from her sleep, but did not wake up immediately. Instead, she reached out her arm, still a little dazed, and hooked it around my neck, tilting her head to rest on my shoulder.
I carried her back to Yang Wei's room, opened the door, and gently placed her on the bed. Then I sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at Yang Wei, and suddenly murmured, "Sigh, once she falls asleep, she's as docile as a kitten... If only you used your gentleness more during the day, wouldn't that be great? Men don't like overly assertive women, and with your intelligence, you must understand that."
After saying that, I smiled, stood up, and prepared to leave. But as soon as I turned around, I felt my hand being pulled. Turning around, I saw Yang Wei lying on the bed, already awake. In the darkness, she stared at me with her big, bright eyes. It turned out she was already awake, but she was holding my hand as if she didn't want me to leave, her eyes revealing a pitiful look of reluctance and pleading.
I turned around and sat down again, gently stroking the stray hairs from her forehead with one hand, and said softly, "Go to sleep."
Yang Wei closed her eyes, then opened them again, and said in a low voice, "I...I know I shouldn't have done those things for you. I...sigh, I also know that sometimes, I'm afraid that if I do this, I'll scare you away one day. But, do men really not like women who are too smart?"
I smiled.
A blush suddenly appeared on Yang Wei's fair cheeks, and then she said softly in a trembling voice, "Then... I can become a little dumber in the future. I heard... that when a woman has a man, she becomes a little dumber."
It was rare to see Yang Wei show such a tender, girlish side. My heart fluttered, and I couldn't help but lower my head and kiss her cherry lips, whispering with a smile, "No need. I like you like this. Actually, I should thank you. Without your intelligence, I probably wouldn't be where I am today."
I paused for a moment, then said softly, "However, sometimes you shouldn't forget... you're not just my strategist and advisor... you're also my woman. Remember that? Strategists and advisors need to be intelligent, but women need to be gentle."
A sly smile flashed in Yang Wei's eyes. She smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, I've got it."
The gloom of the day seemed to have vanished. As I walked out of Yang Wei's room, I felt a sense of relief.
Yeah, thanks to that guy, Wood. It seems like that's how people are; when they're feeling down, talking to friends is the best option.
But thinking about Wood's unusual behavior today... well, how should I put it? Wood seems much more cheerful now, and he talks a lot more than before... Could there really be some reason that has changed him?
***************
Because I had been up all night, I slept until 2 PM the next day—yeah, being your own boss is great. As long as nothing major happens, I can go to the office whenever I want.
Yang Wei and I got up at 2 p.m., had a "breakfast" together, and then drove to the company.
It was at breakfast that I told Yang Wei about my collaboration with Martin Rothschild the night before. Yang Wei listened attentively to my entire account, then thought for a moment and said, "I also think there's nothing wrong with it. The Rothschild family has never had a bad reputation; at least they don't have a tradition of betraying their allies. Besides, this family's only goal is to make money. Moreover..."
Yang Wei and I exchanged a smile and said at the same time, "Besides, even the worst-case scenario is just returning to the result we predicted before, so we won't suffer any harm."
Although Martin was an unconventional Rothschild, he also inherited the Rothschild family's tradition of being low-key.
After two or three days of preparation, including compiling statistics on the company's current assets—a process that saved a lot of time, since I had only recently acquired the film company and the asset statistics had just been completed. All that was needed was to do some supplementary statistics on the company's operations over the past few months.
On the third day, Martin came to my company with several assistants, and we quietly signed a cooperation agreement.
Then, we left some technical details to the lawyers. We opened champagne in the office.
According to the final agreement, the Rothschild family invested $30 million to purchase 50% of my company's shares. I will continue to serve as the company's chairman. If the company goes public in the future, the shares will be split equally between the two parties. This is fair.
Subsequently, the Rothschild family began to fully intervene in the company's business. Martin brought a group of professionals from his family into the company and placed their people in several departments so that they could truly manage the company together.
However, Charlie will no longer serve as the company's general manager. To be honest, he's better at public relations, so I handed over media relations and PR responsibilities to him. And the new CEO, Martin, has somehow managed to poach a vice president from Warner Bros.
I wasn't familiar with this person's name, but Martin convinced me with just one sentence:
"Back then, he defied public opinion and decided to buy the film rights to Harry Potter despite others' skepticism. And now, you see the result."
***************
And I finally understood what Martin had told me about back then, the little gift he gave me...
My name is on the VIP list of all Rothschild family financial institutions worldwide! And the treatment I receive is this: anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances! I can obtain an emergency loan of fifty million US dollars from any Rothschild family-owned bank or financial institution! The repayment period is six months... and it's... the lowest interest rate!!
I am fully aware of how significant this treatment is!
In other words, I can receive financial support from the Rothschild family whenever I encounter any difficulties in the future! Business people know that in critical moments, a life-saving sum of money can often be a lifesaver!
The original Billy Hill Film Company sign was taken down and replaced with a new, more sophisticated sign, although the company name on the sign remained unchanged: "Billi Hill Film Production Company".
The only subtle change is that a small symbol has been added to the upper left corner of this line: a circle with a capital R inside.
This small mark indicates that the company belongs to the Rothschild family's peripheral businesses and enjoys all the protection that the Rothschild family provides to its peripheral businesses!
“From today onwards, even if the President of the United States wanted to cause trouble for this company, he would have to think twice. As for the Gambino family…” Martin said calmly, “No one can stop the Rothschild family from making money, otherwise they will become the family’s enemy.”
I noticed that when Martin mentioned the Gambino family, it was as if he were talking about a crawling worm.