Chapter 314: Punishment and Loss

There were many flights between Kyoto and Hangzhou, but most required transfers. If the transfer was in Beijing or Hong Kong, the trip would take eight or nine hours. But if the transfer was at Chengdu or Shenzhen, the trip would take more than ten hours. There were direct flights, however, only one or two were available each day and were quite expensive. The direct flights were at least three times as expensive as flights with a transfer.

Direct flights were obviously much faster, taking less than four hours.

Meng Fan chose a direct flight. Luckily, the earliest daytime flight today was a direct flight, leaving at 9 a.m. and arriving at Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou at around 11:50 a.m. Even more coincidentally, after Meng Fan got his boarding pa.s.s, his airfare was refunded, and he was upgraded to first cla.s.s.

The flight crew on this flight definitely didnt know about Meng Fans connection to the attempted hijacking in Singapore, nor did they know Meng Fan was on this flight for free. Of course, there were plenty of VIP services in first cla.s.s. Even when some people recognized Meng Fan as someone in the group fight, and even though he was seen throwing down many j.a.panese fighters in the recording, no one showed their feelings.

Perhaps it was due to the Charisma attribute, the flight attendants were more caring and attentive toward Meng Fan than to other pa.s.sengers.

Earlier, Meng Fan had received many calls and messages about the fight, including Goro Takahas.h.i.+, the senior editor at Kodansha.

After realizing Goro Takahas.h.i.+ was calling about this, Meng Fan was prepared to have his comics refused. After all, most of the conflict was with j.a.panese fighters, and he threw down so many of them. If Kodansha turned him down because of this, Meng Fan had no choice.

Things were better than Meng Fan had imagined. Goro Takahas.h.i.+ said Kodansha management had noticed the incident and would pay attention to the follow-up. They didnt mention any changes to the contract, since the fighting world was not close to the comics world.

The aftermath for the fight had also been announced. There was a press conference, with some fighters banned and some fined, and there was a statement for the public. The MMA camp did a good job.

As for Meng Fan, the results were the same. They couldnt discipline him even if they wanted to. During the press conference, they described him as an employee of the Chinese team. They even used the excuse that Meng Fan had to fight to protect his teammates.

If theres nothing else happening, Meng Fans contract-signing should go forward as scheduled.

Other than people at Kodansha, no one else in j.a.pan knew Meng Fan had reached a tentative agreement to serialize comics in j.a.pan.

The flight landed at around 12 noon at Xiaoshan Airport. Meng Fan got off the flight and left the terminal.

Wu Tong messaged him on WeChat. Are you off the plane? Im not picking you up.

Of course, Meng Fan wanted to see Wu Tong as soon as possible. He was a little disappointed as he replied, OK. Its a ha.s.sle going to the airport and back. I was getting a taxi anyway. As long as you can wait to have lunch with me.

Wu Tong replied. Im cooking lunch right now. Ill wait for you.

Then, she sent a photo.

Meng Fans eyes widened. This was his kitchen!

Youre in my apartment?

Yes.

How did you get in?

I have special unlocking skills.

Meng Fan instantly thought of a possibility. Did my mom come?

Her reply was simple. Yes.

Meng Fan almost jumped up. Mom, you finally did something right!

Meng Fan had thought of giving Wu Tong a key or to install a fingerprint lock. But he didnt know how to bring it up.

Even if he mentioned it, he could be pummeled.

Who knew his mom would help him!

So, Wu Tong didnt pick him up because she was cooking lunch for him in his place!

The amazing turnaround made Meng Fan literally jump up.

What kind of scene is this?

A wife waiting for her husband to come home!

Meng Fan smiled with a silly grin.

He floated all the way back. He didnt know how he got in a taxi, how he got to his neighborhood, nor how many people were stunned to recognize him on the way.

Isnt he the Iron Hero?

Hes back from j.a.pan?

Wow, he fought and he ran!

Hah, why is Meng Fatty smiling like that? Is he really happy? Why am I smiling, too? His smile is so infectious!

Why is he by himself? Wheres his brother-in-law?

They said online that those fighters were all disciplined. Meng Fan is the only one who wasnt since hes not in that industry. Its hilarious.

The taxi driver was confused, too. The muscular guy in the back seemed charismatic but also a little odd with his smile. Why was he constantly smiling? He pondered, I better stop looking at the rearview mirror, or Id start smiling, too.

Ding dong.

The mesmerized Meng Fan pressed his own doorbell. Soon, the door opened to an ap.r.o.n-covered Wu Tong, who also held a spatula.

Are you out of your mind? Why are you pressing the doorbell at home? Why are you smiling like that? Come on in.

Wu Tong got slippers for Meng Fan then grabbed his suitcase. After Meng Fan came inside, she said, The soup needs some more time. You can take a shower.

Oh.

Meng Fan nodded with a stupid grin then walked toward the bathroom. He was looking at Wu Tong the whole time and didnt stop until he collided with the wall.

When he came out of the bathroom in a robe, he was humming, and then he got spooked by Wu Tong standing in front of him.

Let me see your wounds.

When Meng Fan just stood there, she dragged him to the living room and pushed him down on the sofa. I want to see where youre swollen.

Meng Fans heart started beating really fast. He shook his head as if in a trance. Im not swollen.

Not swollen?

Wu Tong bit her lips lightly and grabbed him with the courage from sending those emojis earlier. Her face heated. Its swollen.

Wu Tong wasnt one to go back on her word. She did what she said.

Meng Fans soul left his body.

Its not good for someone to lose their focus or one could lose things.

This was how Meng Fan lost a few hundred million.

When Yixin heard Meng Fan was coming back from j.a.pan today, he flew from Shenzhen to Hangzhou. Traveling with him was an a.s.sociate editor-in-chief and a few other colleagues. The big group showed Meng Fans importance.

In addition to Meng Fans Legend of the Mountains and Seas about to be serialized by Kodansha, his mysterious popularity and the fact that his comic, despite having no content, was already well-known, Penguin Animation Network was determined to sign him.

They arrived at one in the afternoon. Since Meng Fan was busy, they had to wait.

They didnt see him until after seven in the evening.

The meeting was held at the Damei Studio. The studio was s.p.a.cious, and there was a conference room ideal for discussions.

If they were going to sign, there would be professionals at the studio who could take a look at the contract.

If Meng Fan signed the contract, he wouldnt be the same as a typical comic artist, especially in copyright. Meng Fan wanted to keep a lot of his copyright, or sign a partners.h.i.+p agreement, so a regular Penguin contract wouldnt be appropriate for him.

Meng Fan didnt show up until after his dinner with Wu Tong and taking her back to the studio at the school. At the door, Meng Fan saw Zhang Zhouwei and Flathead Bro sitting together looking at their phones. It seemed like Flathead Bro had been here a lot lately. So he probably was on the fast track with Yan Xixi.

They seemed to be streaming a game. Meng Fan heard the two of them saying excitedly, Flathead Bro is cool! YTG is cool!

Whats going on? Whys Flathead Bro calling himself cool? Whats YTG?

Meng Fan didnt ask why and just greeted them. He asked a studio member if the conference room was ready and checked it out. Soon, Yixin and his people arrived.

Yixin also graduated from the Huaxia Art Academy. He was a student of Qin Qiu as well as a cla.s.smate of Yan Xixi. He also knew a bunch of people at the studio. After he greeted everyone, hes made a nice foundation for the contract negotiations later.

Meng Fan went inside the conference room. He then pa.s.sed out the pre-printed ma.n.u.scripts to Yixin, the a.s.sociate editor-in-chief, and others.