Chapter 78: Heading Out to Gather Materials
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
The second day after Fang Zhao spoke with Great-Grandfather was a Saturday. Second Uncle did not have to work, so he borrowed a car from his colleague and made a four-hour drive from Yanbei City to Qi’an City.
The previous night after dinner, Second Uncle had decided to head out and chitchat with a bunch of friends from the same housing block. He had seen all the news and information regarding Fang Zhao and, in the past two days, had chatted with people in the vicinity. Previously, Fang Zhao had bought candy for the kids within the vicinity. Fang Zhao had also come to stay with Second Uncle on Memorial Day. Lots of people had met Fang Zhao here; thus, when the news erupted, many people recognized him and dragged Second Uncle out to chat everyday.
As he was preparing to leave last night, he had received a call from Great-Grandfather Fang. Having always been the one to make the call, there had never been a situation where Great-Grandfather Fang had taken the initiative to contact him. Seeing the terminal displaying the word "Grandpa" gave Second Uncle a scare and made him think that something had happened to Great-Grandfather Fang
However, Great-Grandfather Fang only asked about the situation with Fang Yu and then enquired as to whether Second Uncle had any plans on Saturday. Upon finding out that Second Uncle did not have to work and had no other arrangements, he asked if Second Uncle could make a trip to Qi’an City.
It was rare to be be assigned a task by Great-Grandfather Fang, and Second Uncle was feeling excited. He immediately went to borrow the flying car from his colleague, and early on Saturday morning, he went to the retirement facility, received an item from Great-Grandfather Fang, and pledged to complete the task successfully before driving straight for Qi’an City.
Fang Zhao had received a message from Great-Grandfather Fang on the second day. Great-grandfather had something to give him and Second Uncle would deliver it over, thus, on Saturday morning, Fang Zhao was up early and waiting at home.
Second Uncle followed Fang Zhao’s given address. As he neared this district, the car’s in-built computer beeped a speed limit warning, and the security personnel requested identification, a verification number, and other information. Only after all that was he able to drive to Fang Zhao’s block.
Fang Zhao was already waiting in his top floor penthouse.
"Seems like this area’s security measures are rather stringent. You probably don’t have to worry about being disturbed."
Before coming, Second Uncle had been worried that, with all the attention Fang Zhao was getting, his lifestyle would surely be disrupted. But seeing the tight and secure environment, he felt at ease.
"Indeed, there are not many disturbances." Fang Zhao guessed that Xue Jing had purchased the place all those years back to avoid trouble too. If he was still living in the black street, reporters would have already been camping outside his door. Maybe some journalists even knew the black street rules better than the tenants themselves.
"Great-Grandfather Fang wanted me to pass this to you."
Second Uncle did not know what Great-Grandfather Fang wanted to give to Fang Zhao, nor did he check what it was. He did not even touch the tea upon entering the house, choosing to hand over the wrapped box to Fang Zhao straightaway.
After delivering the item, Second Uncle did not stay long. Knowing that Fang Zhao’s situation was safe and well, he did not worry anymore. Since he seldom came to Qi’an City, he took this chance to find a couple of old friends for a chat.
After Second Uncle left, Fang Zhao tore off the wrappers on the box and input in the passcode Great-Grandfather Fang had given him to unlock it. Opening the box, he saw the black gun that was lying inside.
The black gun in the box did not have a casing. The body of the gun emanated an icy-cold glare. From the gun’s structure, it was different from the one he had picked up from the black street. He had seen this sort of gun in games before.
There was also a note inside the box which read: "If you want something done well, do it yourself."
Below it was another line: "Only for self-defense."
Looking at the gun and the note, Fang Zhao laughed. He burned the note, kept the gun, and sent his great-grandfather a return text: "Received."
Fang Zhao had still thought that he would need to raise his reputation even higher before asking Great-Grandfather Fang for the gun. Little had he expected that Great-Grandfather Fang would send it over that quickly.
Great-Grandfather Fang had sent the gun over mainly because he had made the deal with Fang Zhao. Other than that, he felt that being a celebrity was dangerous, as attention would always be on Fang Zhao when he went out. What would he do if he ran into a crazed person? He might also run into unscrupulous people with bad intentions. Fang Zhao did not have any reliable friends in Qi’an and could not completely trust Silver Wing. Even if they arranged a bodyguard for him, how much assurance was there that he could be completely at ease? The world would always have crazy people who would do crazy things over small matters. What would he do if he encountered such a situation?
Great-Grandfather Fang felt that his great-grandson was an artistic youth who would not be able to raise his arms in a fight. With a gun for protection, the two elders would be more at ease.
Upon receiving Fang Zhao’s reply, Great-Grandfather Fang had more words for Fang Zhao. "Don’t think that having a gun makes you invulnerable; be wary whenever you head out!" A long winded speech from Great-Grandfather Fang who at this moment treated Fang Zhao like an ignorant doll.
"You think too much. I know how to handle a gun. I won’t use it anyhow."
"You know my ass! Sigh, whatever. Youngsters nowadays just will not listen!"
"You are really overthinking. Right now I’m only slightly famous; I still cannot compare with all those big celebrities. There won't be much trouble at all," Fang Zhao replied.
Great-Grandfather Fang nagged on a little longer before ending the call.
Having obtained the item, there was no longer any need for Fang Zhao to stay home, so he headed to the company. He submitted an application with Duan Qianji, an application to head out and gather materials.
Great-Grandfather had said something right. He had suggested Fang Zhao head outside more often. Even though he was not affected by all the discussions in the outside world he had decided to take a walk to somewhere a little far.
The accompaniment piece for Fiery Bird’s game was not yet complete. Fang Zhao wanted to head out to look for inspiration. When he did his worshipping at the Yanzhou Cemetery for Martyrs, he got quite a bit of inspiration, but it was still not enough. Fang Zhao decided to visit other Cemetery for Martyrs in other continents. He had long wanted to visit the graves of his old friends.
Silver Wing Media’s top floor office.
Duan Qianji was listening to reports. There were still two days till the end of online voting for the Rising Dragon poll. The standings for the three candidates were all very close, with each candidate having over 20,000,000 votes. Yet the gap between them was less than a thousand. At present, Polar Light’s votes were the lowest, but looking at the total quantity, one thousand votes was in fact an insignificant gap. One could say that all three candidates were evenly matched.
Seeing the application that Fang Zhao had sent, Duan Qianji frowned.
Head out to gather materials?
And to other continents to gather them?
Was there a need to visit every continent's Cemetery for Martyrs to look for inspiration?
However, Fang Zhao had no pressing assignments to handle even if he stayed within Yanzhou. Regarding Polar Light’s development plans, Fang Zhao had already seen and given his approval. Furthermore, since many media organizations were keeping an eye on Fang Zhao, Duan Qianji thought that letting Fang Zhao out to avoid the limelight was not a bad idea.
After some consideration, Duan Qianji agreed. Even if Polar light was not chosen for the endorsement deal, if Fang Zhao’s completed piece was selected by Fiery bird, it would not be that bad.
Duan Qianji thus approved his request and even arranged for an intercontinental flying transport for Fang Zhao.
"The assistant I arranged for you can only reach Silver Wing at night. He has a flying license and will accompany you to gather materials. He will double up as a bodyguard too."
An hour later.
Silver Wing Tower 50th floor. Virtual Projects department.
Zu Wen had finished a game and came out to stretch his legs. A young man around his age had walked in, his eyes throwing curious glances all around.
"May I know who you are looking for?" Zu Wen asked.
The young man walked over, smiling. "Hi, I’m the new assistant assigned to Fang Zhao."
"That's you?"
Zu Wen had heard Fang Zhao mention that the superiors had arranged for an assistant cum bodyguard for him. He had never expected it so quickly, though. However, the person in front of him did not look special. This person was of a similar height to Zu Wen, and his body was not well-built, unlike the large chunks of muscles seen in movies.
However, since it was arranged by the top, Zu Wen kept whatever doubts he had to himself, smiled, and introduced himself. "Nice to meet you. I’m Zu Wen, the Virtual Project Department’s top technician."
"Nice to meet you too. I’m Zuo Yu. May I ask if Fang Zhao is in?" Zuo Yu asked.
"Boss is in his office, that way." Zu Wen pointed Zuo Yu in the direction.
"Okay. Thanks."
When Zuo Yu arrived at Fang Zhao’s office, Fang Zhao was just arranging the last piece of a manuscript that he was going to send over to Xue Jing tonight.
"Hi, Boss Duan arranged for me to come over. Starting today, I am your assistant. Is there anything you require me to do?" Zuo Yu asked with a smiling face.
Fang Zhao raised his head and looked up at him. After thinking seriously, he said, "Yes. Could you feed the dog. The self-feeding machine broke. It has not yet returned since it was sent for repairs."
Zuo Yu: "...Sure"
Although it was not what he had expected to be doing, Zuo Yu went about it seriously. Just... the dog seemed to dislike him. Whenever he got close, the dog would run.
After Fang Zhao completed the manuscript, Zuo Yu drove him over to Xue Jing’s place. During the trip there, he had thought that Fang Zhou would ask him some stuff about his duties in the special forces and had already prepared what to brag about. Unfortunately, other than stating the address, Fang Zhao did not say anything much.
When they reached Xue Jing’s place, Fang Zhao instructed Zuo Yu to head back first. He was going to stay at Xue Jing’s place and finish the last bit of proofreading.
"You have one day to pack your stuff and prepare the flying transport. We leave at 7 a.m. the day after tomorrow." Fang Zhao told him.
"Where is the destination?" Zuo Yu asked.
"I will let you know when the time comes." As soon as he finished, Fang Zhao headed inside.
Zuo yu watched as Fang Zhao’s back view disappeared. Shaking his head and pursing his lips, he said to himself, "Tsk. An artist."
…
On Monday, Du Ang headed upstairs to look for Fang Zhao.
Du Ang was very pleased recently. As the head of the newcomer’s department and Fang Zhao’s manager back when he was a newcomer, Du Ang had received lots of compliments and congratulations when Fang Zhao’s popularity was on the rise. In the elevator, whenever he ran into other managers he knew, they would all come chat Du Ang up.
"Old Du, when you were the manager of the newcomer composers, what means did you to use to excavate a fine gem like Fang Zhao? Composing, songwriting, remixing, what an all-rounded talent!"
Du Ang was especially pleased. "I don’t even know myself. I just kept digging and digging and I found myself a gem."
Today, the head of operations, Julian, had wanted to throw a celebration and had invited everyone to have fun. Thus Du Ang personally headed to the 50th floor to ask if Fang Zhao wanted to go with him.
But when the jubilant Du Ang reached the 50th floor, there was no sign of Fang Zhao.
"Where is your boss?" Du Ang asked Zu Wen.
"He headed out to gather materials," Zu Wen replied.
"Headed out to gather materials? Isn’t that like a company-sponsored trip?" Du Ang felt extremely envious. "When will he be back?"
"We don’t have a clue either. A minimum estimate would be between ten days and half a month, I guess."
Translator's Thoughts
BeetleBarker BeetleBarker
Greetings fellow saplings of the tree-men army. BeetleBarker has created a Discord channel for SOT. Join us at discord.gg/bEr3QYN. May your roots grow deep and your leaves stay forever green.