Chapter 56: A Mountain of Gold

There are several thousand commonly used Chinese characters, which can be combined and arranged to create an infinite number of online nicknames.

Liu Jing did not choose any other name, but insisted on using "Yun Taikang", which was clearly done on purpose.

This was simply bullying an honest person, and deliberately asking for trouble.

Sister Li naturally sneered; when an honest person gets angry, that is truly terrifying.

"Woody, did you do something wrong?" Xixi's eyes sparkled, the fires of gossip burning brightly within her.

She had not yet connected it to the issue of the online nickname, finding "Yun Taikang" rather amusing instead.

In her childhood memories, Woody had never done anything wrong; apart from loving to fight and performing poorly at school, he was the quintessential "child of other people" in the mouths of her relatives.

Look how ambitious Liu Jing is.

Look how sensible Liu Jing is.

Look how Liu Jing has gone abroad.

Look how much money Liu Jing has made again.

...

Whenever she visited her relatives' homes, she constantly heard these words, until her ears became numb.

"Yes, I did!" Liu Jing said with a melancholy look. He needed to get out and hide for a while; he believed time and space could smooth over disharmony. It was just a nickname, why such a huge reaction?

"Tell me about it. I won't laugh at you, and I'll even comfort you. If Dad tries to beat you, I'll help block him." Xixi said with a smiling expression, and even picked up a piece of meat for Liu Jing.

Liu Jing sneered inwardly; you'd probably help him hold me down instead.

He let out a long sigh, "Chingmy Yau and Fat Wong broke up, and I didn't do a thing."

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..." Zhang Min choked on her drink. She had also been pricking up her ears to listen, but who knew he would leap from the heavens to the earth like that, almost spraining her waist.

"Don't worry, we all believe you." Sister Li said crossly, really knowing how to make up her own drama. What did that matter have to do with you? Such an awkward subject change.

"Fat Wong couldn't give Ah Chen marriage, nor could he give her a family. Their breakup was just a matter of time." Zhang Min's expression turned dim as she thought of herself.

"Why must there be marriage? If there is true affection, a slip of paper with a marital vow cannot bind anything. If there is no intent, it can bind even less. Two people liking each other—isn't that enough? Fat Wong gave her fame, gave her money, gave her status; aren't those things enough?" Liu Jing was extremely puzzled. The memories of a pampered young scion held no answer to this, because it was not a problem at all.

"Fat Wong has a wife and two daughters," the aunt reminded him.

"That doesn't matter either. Over in Hong Kong, how many don't have secondary wives?" Liu Jing dismissed it casually.

"Those are all bad practices. Not only are they illegal, but they are also immoral, and people will spit on them." Sister Li frowned deeply, feeling a secret wave of anxiety. She suddenly realized her husband's worries were right. During their growth phase, children really should not hang around film crews for long periods; their values could easily become distorted.

"What's a secondary wife? Are they young in age?" Xixi asked with curiosity.

"Ahem, Xixi, try this piece of fish. It's so tender." Sister Li glared at Liu Jing, wanting to change the subject.

"For a man to have a wife and concubines is a normal phenomenon; it's just you people who can't let go of conventional thinking. Not to mention Hong Kong, isn't the mainland the same? No matter how good the regulations are, there is always a way to evade them. Who knows, maybe one day in the future, you women will have several husbands too. Besides, having secondary wives in Hong Kong is the most normal thing in the world. They only ended the polygamy system a little over twenty years ago. In Grandpa and Grandma's era... Uh, this fish is really tender." Liu Jing shrank his neck, feeling a heavy murderous intent, and could not say another word.

***

Liu Jing ate this meal with total composure, while Sister Li's complexion was very unsightly.

Two days later, at the netizen gathering, the roles were reversed: Sister Li wore a calm expression, while Liu Jing sat on pins and needles.

"Woody, do you need to use the restroom?" Sister Li asked with a radiant smile, feeling utterly triumphant inside.

"I can hold it." Liu Jing pursed his lips. It wasn't that he couldn't hold his urine, but that he couldn't hold his tongue.

Everyone else was engaged in lofty discussions, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise, nor was there any way for him to insert himself into the conversation.

In the eyes of the netizens, he was merely the child of Yun Taikang, not Yun Taikang himself.

Sister Li had no desire to take the blame for Yun Taikang, so upon arriving at the venue, she announced right away that Yun Taikang was her husband's account, though she used it frequently as well.

This cleverly helped her avoid answering questions she didn't understand.

She was stunningly beautiful, and even with a child as old as Liu Jing, it did not stop her from becoming the center of attention.

Consequently, at the gathering, everyone discussed matters even more intensely than they did online.

The current state of the internet, development trends, the American market, domestic industry conditions, technological innovation, hardware iteration, programming languages, databases...

Sister Li basically didn't understand any of it, but she just sat there, chiming in with a sentence every now and then, her presence fully felt.

Liu Jing could still understand some of it, but he had even more questions he wanted to ask. Sister Li could attend the gathering in his place, but she couldn't voice the questions and answers he had in mind.

"It's bad for children to hold their urine; it can cause bladder sphincter dysfunction, leading to symptoms like frequent urination, urinary urgency, and incomplete voiding, and in severe cases, it can cause urinary retention and bladder rupture, resulting in infection," Lei Jun said with a smile while holding a cup of tea.

"It's not good for adults to hold their urine for long periods either; it easily leads to kidney stones and damages renal function," Liu Jing retorted. This Station Master Lei was even more fond of popular science than he was online.

The gathering was held as scheduled—a gathering called by Station Master Lei, who also provided the venue.

There were not many attendees: thirteen responded, but only nine actually arrived.

Liu Jing and Sister Li counted as one entry, and she was the only one bringing a child, as well as the only woman present.

Xixi had not tagged along; compared to a gathering, the pile of videotapes at home was much more attractive to her.

Besides, Sister Li had no intention of bringing her along anyway; this wasn't a banquet, and bringing two kids would be too absurd.

Sister Li pursed her lips, holding back a laugh. For a child who loved to talk, holding back her words was indeed much more painful than holding her urine.

"Woody, do you want to drink some milk?" Sister Li picked up a bottle of AD Calcium Milk and handed it to Liu Jing.

"You'd better save that for Xixi." Liu Jing rolled his eyes.

"Yun Taikang, have we met somewhere before?" Lei Jun had been wanting to ask this question for a long time and finally couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Old Lei, your line for picking up girls is too clumsy and outdated," said a netizen whose handle was Old Rong, a computer hardware professional in real life.

"I wanted to ask the moment I walked in. Taikang, have we met before too?" This was Ding Lei, who had built his own BBS and had just founded NetEase.

"Both of you are taken men, don't be so shameless." Old Rong was speechless. It was one thing for Lei Jun to say such a thing, but for a proper person like Ding Lei to do so as well...

***

"I also think you look familiar." Another person chimed in.

Old Rong rubbed his eyes and muttered, "Is this psychological suggestion? How come I think he looks a bit familiar too?"

"I remember now! You are Sun Shangxiang, and your family is from Jiangcheng!" Lei Jun suddenly slapped his thigh and cried out.

"Oh! It really is..."

"Seems like it."

"Aha, I knew it! I was just watching Romance of the Three Kingdoms at the hotel yesterday."

"Who is Sun Shangxiang? Is she very famous?"

...

The conference room, which was already far from quiet, became even more lively.

Sister Li gave a wry smile. "That's right! I am Liu Xiaoli, and I once played Sun Shangxiang."

Liu Jing gave two dry coughs. There was also a well-known child star sitting right here—did none of them look familiar? Do programmers not watch movies?

No one paid him any attention; everyone's focus was entirely on Sister Li.

"We're fellow townsmen; I'm from Xiantao. Hubei province produced a Sun Shangxiang, but it's a pity she stopped acting later and retired from the industry to start a company," Lei Jun said with a fascinated expression.

"With elderly family members and a child at home, I was just idling around with nothing to do, so I started surfing the net," Sister Li smiled.

"What kind of company?" Ding Lei's eyes lit up; he wanted to ask if there were any opportunities for cooperation.

"A film and television company, and an investment company," Sister Li said calmly.

"An investment company? Old Lei, aren't you guys running short on money? The God of Wealth is sitting right here!" Old Rong quickly straightened his back. He had thought the beauty before him was just an ordinary netizen, but she turned out to be a financier.

"Who wants to invest money? Where is the God of Wealth? Please accept a bow from a believer!" A man pushed open the door, his eyes burning with fervor.

This person was company boss Qiu Bochun, also one of the netizens.

He had gone to the restroom just a moment ago and stepped out for a while.

Judging by this reaction, this company must be desperately short of money.

Liu Jing's heart stirred. He glanced at the company logo and tossed over a Daily Appraisal.

[Note: Within Kingsoft, there is yet another golden mountain.]

Liu Jing smiled. "How much money do you lack?"