Young people were hot-blooded. Once provoked, their emotions flared up, and they all became quite indignant.
When young, they all harbored dreams and believed the world was fair, but once they entered society and discovered unfairness everywhere, they couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied with those in high positions.
After all, they were a disadvantaged group; they hadn’t gotten a bite of the meat. Some of this anti-rich sentiment stemmed from exactly that.
“Don't be hasty. Squat down, squat down. Everyone’s watching.” Seeing them too agitated, Qin Xuan hurriedly told them to stay calm.
Don’t let the fire get snuffed out before it even started burning.
Looking around, many people were already staring over here. Assistant Director Matthew even asked someone nearby: “Shit, what are they doing over there?”
“No idea,” the person nearby said.
“You stupid yellow-skinned people. You, go tell them to behave.” Matthew ordered.
This berated the bystander as well, but they dared not speak their anger. He held the power of life and death over them.
A man surnamed Lin from Hong Kong walked over and said, “You mainland bumpkins, the assistant director wants you all to behave. Stop causing trouble.”
“Who are you cursing? We’re talking here—what business is it of yours?” Zhang Linke flared up, about to curse this guy as a “banana man.”
But Qin Xuan stopped him: “It’s almost mealtime. We’re just resting here, not bothering anyone.”
“That’s for the best.” The man surnamed Lin from Hong Kong swept his eyes over them and left.
“Look at that—our own people discriminating against our own people. Fuck this.” Zhang Linke was furious.
The current state of the film and television industry was just like this—not only were mainland crew members behind the scenes treated as inferior, but even actors had to bow their heads.
Very normal. The big film and television companies set such a fine example. If it weren’t for mandates from above requiring a film to employ a certain number of mainlanders, they probably wouldn’t even get to drink the soup.
The others also looked displeased on the surface. It wasn’t that they loved to make trouble; they truly couldn’t swallow their anger.
“I understand how you feel, but don’t be impulsive. Just us few won’t do; we need to gather more brothers.” Qin Xuan placated them, afraid they would go cause trouble right now. That would be more loss than gain.
The production crew could easily deal with just the few of them without any impact, so they definitely needed numbers.
If they were broken up before they even started, it would be very troublesome. He had instigated this conflict, and all his efforts would be wasted. His plan was not only to stay with this production crew until filming finished.
He also wanted to become the spiritual leader of these people.
“Then what do you say we do?” Shen Ao asked.
“Come here!” Qin Xuan leaned forward.
The few of them also leaned their heads in, drawing closer.
“It’s almost mealtime anyway. Let’s take this chance to gather more people. Tomorrow morning when work starts, we’ll launch it directly and stop them from filming.” Qin Xuan lowered his voice.
They exchanged glances, understanding each other perfectly, and said in unison: “Deal!”
“Now split up and move out. Bring your friends—whether you know them or not—over here. Let’s do a mobilization and unify our thinking.” Qin Xuan swept his gaze across their faces one by one.
“I’m going right now.” Zhang Linke immediately took action.
The others also had firm gazes and, without prior agreement, went to gather their classmates and friends.
Many of these people were schoolmates. You bring me, I bring you. Generally, it was hard to get in without someone bringing you along. Just like Qin Xuan—without his uncle, he couldn’t have gotten in.
Matthew, who had been keeping an eye on them, saw them disperse and felt relieved.
“Assistant Director, your food.”
It happened to be mealtime right now. An assistant brought him seven or eight lunchboxes—one was rice, and the rest were all dishes. It was an abundant spread.
These were all meals delivered by a major hotel.
Ordinary workers had a completely different standard. They got two lunchboxes: one with vegetables and the other with rice.
At Qin Xuan’s spot, many people holding rice bowls quickly gathered, roughly twenty or thirty in all.
“Look at this—is this fit for human consumption? Not even a drop of grease. It’s practically pig swill.” One person complained.
“Alright, enough complaining. The reason we called you here is that we have a plan. We’ve decided to launch a counterattack against the people bullying us.
“We agreed that tomorrow morning we’ll go on strike and stop them from filming. If you have friends or schoolmates, coordinate with us.” Li Miao said, holding his chopsticks.
These words made the newcomers involuntarily show expressions of surprise.
“Is this okay?” someone asked.
“There’s no good or bad about it. Do you want to be beasts of burden forever? Were we born to be cattle and horses? We’re just working a job, not offering ourselves up as beasts of burden. Even oxen and horses have dignity. We don’t even have that.” Qin Xuan once again employed his skills and began to incite their emotions.
“Brother Qin is right. We’re just working a job, not serving as cattle and horses. You all know how they treat us.” Zhang Linke chimed in.
The people present looked at one another, displeasure in their eyes. Some had already put down their chopsticks, clearly affected.
“Actually, we’re not afraid of causing trouble. After all, it’s not the first or second time. We made a fuss once before in Dunhuang. It’s just that if they fire all of us and withhold wages, that would be troublesome. After all, most brothers still need to live. If something happens, we won’t even have anywhere to seek justice.” One person was quite dejected.
They weren’t born to enjoy being bullied. It was just that when they were bullied and resisted, no one stood up to speak for them. It was utterly powerless.
Instead, they were told they were hindering this and that.
“You don’t need to worry about this. We’re doing this together. We’re not targeting the production crew, just a specific person who bullies us the worst, to make them improve our living conditions.
“The production crew has no reason to punish all of us for one person. Of course, nothing is absolute.
“If—and I mean if—someone really gets into trouble, gets fired by the crew, or has their wages docked or withheld, we can each chip in a bit to help cover the loss. If all of us are punished, then we’ll surround the Huayi Building. Our salaries are settled by Huayi to begin with; they have no reason to shortchange us.” Qin Xuan looked at them, taking in their expressions.
“Surround the Huayi Building? Then who will hire us for work in the future?”
They were utterly shocked. That was far too bold.
“What are you afraid of? It’s already like this—how much worse can it get? Besides, are you famous? Does he even remember who you are? Is Huayi the only film and television production company in the world? This is Hengdian; his reach doesn’t extend here.” Qin Xuan’s tone was resolute.
What he said made some sense. They were already doing odd jobs and hauling things around; their status couldn’t get any lower.
The people present fell silent for a moment. Shen Ao added: “The main thing here is unity. If we’re not united, it’s easy for us to be broken.”
“Right. If anyone betrays his brothers, don’t blame us for not treating him as a brother. This time, we’re fighting for dignity.” Qin Xuan clenched his fist to rally them.
He had never had so many brothers in his previous life. It seemed the only one with many brothers was Daqiangzi.
One man slammed his chopsticks on the ground and said excitedly, “Fighting for dignity. I’m in.”
“Do it!”
Stirred up like this, they were all fired up. Some even threw their boxed meals on the ground.
Qin Xuan watched and thought to himself, if you throw away your food, what are you going to eat? He glanced at the food in his own hands.
There really wasn’t anything good about it.