Tong Wenping thought he could get a few tens of thousands of dollars to ward off disaster, but he didn't expect the other party to ask for a huge amount of money.
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm not in the mood to joke with you."
"You name a reasonable price."
"How can I be unscrupulous? If I were to sell the four notebooks to the media, I think they would be happy to take them."
Tong Wenping is not a big star, so how could anyone spend millions to buy his secrets? This is mainly said to threaten him. Only to Tong Wenping himself is his secret worth eight million.
Sure enough, Tong Wenping panicked when he heard it.
"Let's talk it over and we can discuss it."
"There's no room for negotiation. This is the price, not a penny less. If you agree, pay. If not, we'll meet online."
"I didn't say I didn't want to pay, but the price you offered is too high. It's beyond my ability. I can't give you that much. Can we negotiate a little?"
Upon hearing this, the other party said disdainfully, "You don't have money? You've produced so many dramas in the past ten years, if not thirty, at least twenty. If you don't have money, how can you live in a mansion worth hundreds of millions without money? And your scripts, I heard, are worth tens of millions in copyright. Eight million is nothing to you."
At this time, Tong Wenping calmed down and began to analyze how the other party got his things, or whether the other party had anything in his hand.
He handed the task to his assistant, and the assistant replied affirmatively that he had done it.
This assistant has been with him for four or five years. Based on his understanding of his assistant, this young man does not have the courage to go against his will.
So after calming down, he felt that he could not blindly believe what the other party said and be led by the nose.
Now the people who knew his secret were not just him and Jiang Meng. Perhaps it was a few other people who deliberately called to tease him.
After figuring it out, Tong Wenping calmed down and said, "I don't live in a mansion worth hundreds of millions. Those are just rumors in the media. I bought a second-hand house, but I didn't even renovate it because I didn't have the money. I still owe the bank loan, and no one buys the scripts I wrote. I really can't come up with eight million."
"I don't have time to waste on you. Take the money or not? If not, hang up. I'll go find someone who is willing to pay."
"I didn't say I wouldn't take it, but if you're asking me to pay so much, I have to know first if what you said is true and if you have the item in your hands."
The other party paused for a moment, his tone clearly revealing displeasure: "You don't believe me?"
"I can't just believe everything you say. What if someone calls tomorrow and asks me for eight million for a notebook? Am I going to give it to him again?"
The other party thought about it and agreed with Tong Wenping's words. After a while, he sent him a picture.
In the picture, several notebooks were thrown on the ground, each open, with the familiar handwriting of Jiang Meng on them.
Tong Wenping was horrified and his whole body turned cold in an instant.
The other party did not lie to him, he really had something in his hand.
There was only one person who deceived him.
His assistant.
Thinking of this, he didn't bother to reply to the other party. He strode to the door and opened it.
Seeing that the young assistant was still there, he rushed out of the door, grabbed the person by the front of his collar, and ignoring the sidelong glances of other people in the studio, dragged the person into his office, closed the door, and threw him to the ground.
"Old teacher, what's wrong with you?" The young assistant got up from the ground. He was frightened by Tong Wenping's ferocious face and could not speak clearly.
"You still ask me what's wrong?" Tong Wenping looked fierce at this moment, tightly grasping the collar of his assistant.
"I asked you to do something, and you told me you'd done it. Is that right?"
The assistant's neck was restrained, making it difficult for him to even nod. He could only stretch his neck and say dully, "I did manage it."
Tong Wenping was even more furious after hearing this: "How dare you lie to me? Do you really think I don't know what you did?"
The assistant was confused: "What did I do, teacher? I really didn't do anything. I have always been doing things according to your instructions."
Tong Wenping: "The call just came to my cell phone, and you still dare to say you didn't do anything?"
Assistant: "What call? Teacher, what call did you receive?"
Tong Wenping sneered, "It's a blackmail call. What else could it be? I haven't treated you unfairly before. You've learned a lot from me and built up your own connections and relationships. Your future is bright. I wonder how much money you and your accomplices will get from this scam. Is it worth it to go to jail?"
"Teacher, please don't talk like that. Can you tell me what happened? Who blackmailed you? Why did you say I was an accomplice? You must have misunderstood something."
"You're really good at pretending to be ignorant. Since you don't know, I'll tell you straight out and see if you have any excuses. I asked you to pick up something from my house late the night before yesterday, right?"
The assistant nodded: "Yes, I took a taxi there overnight."
Tong Wenping: "You hid it after you took it, didn't you?"
The assistant denied it repeatedly: "No, no, how dare I? I burned it somewhere that night as you instructed."
Tong Wenping shook his assistant's neck and roared, "Then tell me the fuck, why did the thing you burned end up in someone else's hands?!"
The assistant was stunned, a puzzled expression on his face: "That shouldn't be the case. I burned it myself, it couldn't have been in someone else's hands."
Tong Wenping didn't say anything, but looked at him with a sinister and sarcastic smile, as if to say, let's see how he can make excuses.
The young assistant thought for a while, and suddenly his eyes lit up.
"I remember now. When I was leaving the teacher's house, I bumped into someone. Both of us dropped our belongings on the ground. I think that's when I took the wrong bag."
Tong Wenping had no expression on his face, obviously not believing what his assistant said.
"I'm serious, teacher. We were both holding eco-friendly bags given by the supermarket. The contents were of similar weight. I took the wrong one without noticing. Are the contents very valuable?" The assistant thought that if it could be used to blackmail Tong Wenping, it must be valuable. But if it was valuable, why did he ask him to burn it?
The assistant suddenly had an idea and thought of a word: handle.
What the teacher asked him to burn was his own handle.
The young assistant didn't dare to inquire or guess what Tong Wenping's weakness was that could make him so anxious.
Tong Wenping: "Do you have any evidence to prove your innocence?"
The assistant was silent for a while.
He did the job alone, and the only person he met was someone he didn't know. He was the one who blackmailed Tong Wenping, so it was even more impossible for him to come forward and testify for him.
So there is only one way to prove his innocence.
"There's a surveillance camera! I saw a surveillance camera nearby."
Tong Wenping applied to the property management for permission to check the community’s surveillance cameras on the grounds that his belongings were lost.
Just as the assistant said, at two o'clock in the morning, the assistant came out of the building and bumped into a stranger in the lobby.
They both held the same eco-friendly bag, so much so that neither of them noticed they had picked up the wrong one.
It was the face of a strange man, and Tong Wenping had no impression of this person.
The man got into the elevator and went straight to the underground parking lot.
"Which household does this belong to?" Tong Wenping asked.
The property management company said: "We cannot disclose the privacy of our customers."
Tong Wenping tried to persuade the other party for a long time, but the other party still refused to give in.
Moreover, due to the privacy of the owners, only the surveillance footage of the public areas was shown.
Those who can live in their community are either rich or noble. The property management dare not disclose the privacy of the owners at will. It will be very troublesome if they offend anyone.
Tong Wenping had no choice but to give up, and it was difficult to ask the police to solve his problem.
So he had no choice but to find trouble with his assistant.
It was indeed the assistant's mistake. He didn't even open the bag to check it before burning it. He just burned it directly.
"I told you to do something and you can't even do it right. You didn't even check and didn't even know that something was swapped. What else can you do?"
The assistant said timidly, "I don't dare, teacher."
"You don't even dare to check anything, you're such a loser." Tong Wenping pulled out a hardcover folder and threw it at the assistant.
The young assistant didn't dare to dodge and took the hit head-on.
"You told me not to open it and read it. I didn't even dare to look at the cover. I put it in the shopping bag and left. How would I know whether it was changed or not..." The assistant looked at Tong Wenping's face and spoke in a lower and lower voice.
Tong Wenping had a heart attack and was so angry that he felt a mouthful of blood stuck in his chest.
He was the one who gave the order, but he didn't expect his assistant to be so stubborn that he said he wouldn't check it.
In the final analysis, he was too impatient. If he had known earlier, he would have waited for me to come back and deal with it. It is safest to handle it personally.
At the very least, I'd rather not take the show fee and just come back early.
Now, the remuneration for the show is just a fraction of eight million, and there are still several million left to be collected.
It's simply not worth it.
He held his head and waved his hand, asking the assistant to go out.
The assistant didn't move, and said hesitantly, "Teacher, I think we should call the police."
"Why call the police? Do you want to kill me?"
The young assistant couldn't imagine what kind of evidence could kill Tong Wenping.
"But even if you satisfy the other party this time, who knows if they'll resort to the same old tricks and continue to blackmail you next time when they run out of money."
"You know nothing. If you don't know the situation, don't speak nonsense. Get out."
After the young assistant was driven away, Tong Wenping couldn't help but think about the method he mentioned.
The assistant was right. Even if he scraped together eight million this time and paid the other party, once the other party saw that money was so easy to make, there was no telling when he would come to extort another sum of money from him. Wouldn't that mean he would have no good days left?
Instead of giving the other party time to back up the items, it is better to call the police and get the items back when the other party is least expecting it.
Since the other party has no evidence in their hands, he has nothing to fear even if they make random revelations online.
Tong Wenping made a decision quickly and went out to call his assistant.
"Let's go to the Public Security Bureau."
Assistant: "Huh?"
They rushed to the nearest public security bureau without stopping, and Tong Wenping reported the crime of extortion to the police.
He said that what he lost was an important notebook, which contained his years of hard work, as well as many of his current creativity and inspirations.
It's understandable to ask for a certain reward for finding something, and he was willing to give it, but the other party asked for eight million, which was beyond the normal range of compensation.
He was worried that the police would not take the case seriously and would treat it as a simple civil dispute, so he made up a lie, saying that the other party threatened him by saying that there were private photos of his in the notebook.
After the Public Security Bureau accepted his report, they quickly identified the suspect.
This man used to be an owner of the same residential complex as Tong Wenping. Due to a financial dispute, his mansion has been seized by the court, and he is now living in a friend's house.
He was alone at home when the police broke in.
"You dare to call the police?" What surprised the man was not the police, but the fact that Tong Wenping dared to call the police. He thought Tong Wenping didn't dare let anyone know about this.
The day before yesterday, he went back to drive his car late at night and bumped into someone on the road. At first, he didn't realize that he had taken the wrong bag. After getting in the car, he wanted to find something to eat from the shopping bag, and then he realized that his bag was the wrong one for the other person.
However, these notebooks with childish cover designs and a bit of age did not attract his attention at first.
Later he thought carefully and realized that if the old notebooks could be preserved so well, they must have cherished them very much.
In addition, people who can live in their community are either rich or noble, and most of them have connections. If he helps someone return something, the other party will remember him as a favor, and maybe it can help him overcome his financial difficulties.
With this mentality, he opened the notebook, trying to find the contact information of the notebook owner.
He didn't know the result until he saw it, and he was shocked when he saw it.
He had a very strong sense of déjà vu about what was written in it.
Tong Wenping has written not only the hugely successful children's science fiction film, but also historical dramas, fantasy dramas, and several phenomenal TV series that have been watched by almost people all over the country.
Men are no exception.
The TV stations broadcast it in turn. I watched an episode here and there and almost finished watching the whole series. I can say that I know the plot by heart.
So as soon as he opened the first page, he noticed that the story written in the notebook was very similar to the plot written by Tong Wenping.
No, it should be said that they are exactly the same.
At first, the man didn't think too much about it, because the handwriting was very similar to that of a child, and children like to imitate. It might also be that he imitated the story after watching a TV drama.
But when he flipped through several notebooks, he found that things were far from as simple as he had imagined.
No matter how obsessed a kid named Jiang Meng is with TV dramas, it is impossible for him to rewrite all the plots, and it should be a one-person play.
This question troubled the man for the whole night, and he couldn't figure it out.
Coincidentally, the next day he saw a program in which Tong Wenping participated on TV, and by the way, he heard the news that Tong Wenping's wife wanted to divorce him.
Coincidentally, Tong Wenping's wife is called Jiang Meng.
Almost instantly, the man's mind was enlightened.
No wonder the notebook was so old, it looked even older than the TV series. It turned out to belong to Tong Wenping’s wife.
Since it was written by Tong Wenping's wife, why is Tong Wenping so famous in the industry while his wife is unknown?
The man was surprised to discover a shocking secret.
He believed that Tong Wenping would not want a third person to know this big secret.
At this time, his investment had failed and he needed some money to turn around, so he quickly set his sights on making money.
Tong Wenping is just a writer with very limited resources, but he should have made a lot of money.
The eight million was his way of testing Tong Wenping's bottom line. If Tong Wenping gave it to him this time, he could continue to ask Tong Wenping for money in the future.
He never expected that Tong Wenping would rather fight to the death with him in order to avoid paying him.
The policeman pushed the man to the ground, tied his hands behind his back with cable ties, and made him squat against the wall.
"Are you really not afraid that your secret will be known to everyone?" the man looked up and asked Tong Wenping.
"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Tell me the truth. Where did you put the things?" asked a young policeman.
Tong Wenping said righteously, "How could I possibly bow to an evil force like you? I was threatened by you this time, and you'll use the same trick again next time."
"That's right," the police officer agreed. "We can't compromise with evil forces just for the sake of so-called reputation and face. We must always trust our people's police and believe that we will protect the lives and property of the people."
At this point, the man had to confess and reveal the whereabouts of the four notebooks.
The police rummaged through the folder wearing gloves and found that there were no private photos as Tong Wenping had mentioned.
"And what about the photos? Where are they?"
"What photo?" The man looked confused.
"Hand over Comrade Tong's photo yourself."
"I don't have any photos, just these notebooks."
The man squatted in the corner, looking very honest and not like he was lying at all.
The police officer turned to Tong Wenping and asked, "Comrade Tong, could you please elaborate on what kind of photos they are?"
The private photos were originally fabricated by Tong Wenping. If the police dug deeper, they would definitely find out that he was lying.
At this moment, he could only play dumb: "I don't know either. My things were missing at the time and I was panicking. And he was talking about a notebook and some photos."
The man said, "You asked me to take pictures of the notebook for you. Otherwise, you wouldn't believe me, comrade police officer, but I really don't have any pictures of him."
"Maybe I heard it wrong." Tong Wenping's confession changed too quickly.
The police had seen all kinds of people, and now they understood that the private photos were probably fabricated by Tong Wenping in order to exaggerate the urgency of the case.
"Don't make up facts when you call the police. We will take it seriously no matter what the problem is. We will deal with it seriously if it happens again." The police warned Tong Wenping seriously.
"Let's go back to the police station and record our statements."
The situation of the two people is a bit special. Extortion is indeed constituted, but it is not as serious as the crime of extortion. Moreover, the thing in the man's hand was not stolen by him, but was taken by mistake by both parties.
It does not endanger the other person's personal safety, and the item only has commemorative value but no actual economic value.
Therefore, the man’s behavior could not be sentenced, and he was eventually released after only one week of detention.
During the week in the detention center, the man realized that he had been tricked by Tong Wenping.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. After he came out, he kept thinking of ways to return the favor to Tong Wenping.
He wanted to expose Tong Wenping on the spot, but his words were useless and no one would believe his words.
Then, he saw a photo in his mobile phone album, which was the photo he took to show Tong Wenping.
The man took the photo and quickly found a gossip media and sold the information for 20,000 yuan.
It doesn’t matter how much it sells for, the man just wants to see Tong Wenping fall flat on his face.
On the same day, Tong Wenping received Jiang Meng and her lawyer at his studio.
Although everyone in the studio had known for a long time that Tong Wenping was going to divorce his wife, seeing Jiang Meng come with a lawyer still made many people excited like watching a show.
As soon as the office door closed, the people outside gathered together and started gossiping.
"The boss lady came to discuss divorce so soon."
"Why call me boss lady? I won't be boss lady anymore."
"Yes, yes, yes, I told you. It's Teacher Jiang, the Great God Jiang! Ever since I found out she's Meng Jiang, I've dug out the songs she wrote and play them on repeat every day. They're really good."
"Teacher Jiang looks so beautiful today, so elegant, and her makeup is beautiful too."
"Her skin is so good, she doesn't look like she's in her thirties at all. I'd believe she's in her early twenties. She's in much better shape than what you see on TV."
"Think about how plain she was when she was on the show. No one in the crowd noticed her. It turns out women need to love themselves. Loving others will only make you wither. Only by loving yourself can you bloom beautifully!"
"I learned a lesson from Teacher Congjiang. A woman must work hard on her career. Only with a career can she have confidence. Let me tell you something in secret: I'm going to quit at the end of the month and join my senior brother's studio."
"What a coincidence! Me too. My teacher wants to join a group and asked me to study with him. I might have to leave before the end of the month."
"How come you all found a new employer so quickly? I still haven't found one yet!"
"Don't worry, take your time looking, we'll keep an eye out for you too."
"Wait, come and see, what is this?"
"What?"
"They said Teacher Tong plagiarized!" One of them waved to the others frantically.
This sentence was like a stone, breaking the tranquility of the office.
Several heads quickly gathered together.
After reading the entire article of revelations, they were so shocked that they couldn't recover for a long time.
Then they all turned their heads towards the closed office door at the end of the corridor.
At this time in Tong Wenping's office, the lawyers of both sides had almost finished communicating.
Since both parties are unwilling to give up the newly purchased house or make concessions, there is nothing left to negotiate and they can only go to court and wait for a ruling.
Tong Wenping sat opposite, looking at the gorgeously dressed Jiang Meng with an unfriendly look, feeling a little uncomfortable.
I never saw her dress up when she was with him before, but now that they are getting divorced, she has started to dress like other young people.
He must be planning to find another partner, and maybe even planning to support a man in the house he bought.
He couldn't give in any more.
Tong Wenping: "What do you want a house for? Can you afford it?"
Not to mention the mortgage on the house, there are also monthly housekeeping fees and maintenance fees. When all these fees are added together, the monthly expenses are not small.
Jiang Meng: "If I can't afford it, I can sell it. I need to live in such a nice house anyway."
When Tong Wenping heard this, he felt even more uncomfortable than Jiang Meng keeping a man in the house he bought.
"Don't you know how hard it was for me to buy this house? And you're so nice, you still want to sell it to me?"
Doesn't Jiang Meng know that a house here is a symbol of status?
Jiang Meng: "But it's in my name now. If the court awards it to me, I can sell it if I want."
Tong Wenping: "You're dreaming. I'm telling you, I won't let you succeed."
Jiang Meng had no intention of arguing with him. He and the lawyer exchanged a glance, and the lawyer indicated that the information on his side had been almost sorted out.
She stood up and said, "Then we'll see you in court."
"I bought the house, and the money for the family was earned by me through hard work. To be honest, I don't know where you got the nerve to compete with me for a house." Tong Wenping followed Jiang Meng all the way and sent her to the door.
Rather than being a "gift", it seemed more like he was looking for an opportunity to belittle Jiang Meng.
"I know you're earning your own pocket money, but I've never asked you for it. Everything we do at home, big or small, is spent on my money. Check your conscience: do you deserve this house?"
Jiang Meng listened to his long talk and turned around to ask calmly, "You made money, did you give me any dividends?"
Tong Wenping's face fell and he was speechless.
In a blink of an eye, I saw the people from the studio gathered together chatting during working hours, and I took out my anger on them.
"What are you doing? Are working hours for you to chat? Hurry up and get to work!"
The people in the studio had complicated expressions and looked at each other. Finally, someone spoke.
"Teacher Tong, there's news about you on the Internet."
Tong Wenping had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem and thought that the man who blackmailed him was still in prison.
He put on the authority of a boss and loudly demanded, "What news? Read it out to me. Did it scare you so much?"
The person who spoke first glanced at Jiang Meng, then awkwardly read out the news:
"Famous screenwriter Tong Wenping is suspected of plagiarism in many of his works. Was his success over the years stolen?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com