Volume 4: Counterattack: Bright Star Road Chapter 246 A Gift for Li Yilia
Hearing Yuan Xudong say that he wanted to marry Li Zaiyan, the little princess of the Five Star Group, the largest chaebol in the Republic of Korea, so as to save twenty years of hard work, although Li Yiliya knew that he was joking with her, she still couldn't help feeling uncomfortable, and couldn't help but attack Yuan Xudong:
"You're dreaming. She's a princess of a wealthy tycoon who has been living a life of luxury since she was a child. The people around her are either rich or noble. How could she be interested in a common prosecutor like you?"
"Why not?"
Hearing that Li Yilia's words were meant to belittle him, Yuan Xudong glanced at her and retorted:
"She is a high-ranking chaebol princess, but I am not bad either!"
"I didn't say you were bad!"
Li Yiliya rolled his eyes at Yuan Xudong, then stepped on the accelerator to speed up while curling his lips and said unhappily:
"You know that in Korea, you have to be well matched to achieve your goals. You are from a common family, and she is the daughter of a chaebol. Even if Li Jae-yeon is blind enough to like you, will her family agree to you two being together?"
"Look at what you said, as if Li Zaiyan has already fallen in love with me, it's just a joke!"
Looking at the somewhat unhappy Li Yiliya, Yuan Xudong's heart moved slightly, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He said:
"I already have someone I like in my heart, so how can I have room for someone else!"
Hearing Yuan Xudong say this, Li Yilia blurted out:
"Who is it?"
"What?"
"I mean who is the person you like in your heart? Didn't you say you don't have a girlfriend?"
“Is there any necessary causal relationship between who I like and whether I have a girlfriend?”
Yuan Xudong leaned back in his seat, resting his hands behind his head. He glanced at the neat and tidy Li Yilia and smiled:
"The girl I like already has a boyfriend, but it doesn't matter, I can wait patiently, just like Cao Cao in ancient China. Do you know Cao Cao?"
"Cao Cao?"
"Yes, Cao Cao, the one who held the emperor hostage in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he has been my idol since I was a child!"
"I don't know. Do you like China very much?"
"Yeah, don't you like it?"
"I can't say whether I like it or not. I don't know much about China. Can you speak Chinese?"
"A little bit, can you?"
"No, I'll just say, how are you?"
Hearing Li Yiliya say "How are you" in Chinese with a strange accent, Yuan Xudong teased her in Chinese:
"Beauty, I want to be your boyfriend, are you willing?"
"Prosecutor, what are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that China is really amazing. The land area of the Republic of Korea is only a little over 1% of China's, and the total population is only a little over 3% of China's. Many people look down on China, but they don't know that they don't even consider the Republic of Korea. Only superpowers like the United States can be compared with China. If I have the chance, I would like to go to China to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shihuang, etc. The Republic of Korea does not have these magnificent ancient buildings."
Yuan Xudong explained again in Korean. When he finished, Li Yilia, a native Korean, said unhappily:
"Why don't we have majestic ancient buildings in the Republic of Korea? Aren't there Blue House, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and Changdeokgung Palace?"
Without waiting for Yuan Xudong to refute, Li Yilia continued:
"Also, China is a developing country, while the Republic of Korea is a developed country, the third developed country in Asia after Japan and Singapore, with a per capita income of more than 30,000 US dollars. Can China compare with them?"
After listening to Li Yiliya, Yuan Xudong did not answer her directly, but asked tentatively:
“Are Confucius and Qu Yuan Chinese or Korean?”
"Chinese!"
Li Yilia rolled her eyes at Yuan Xudong and said unhappily:
"What do you mean, do you think I'm the same as those netizens who know nothing?"
"No, I'm just asking!"
Seeing Li Yilia's disbelieving expression, Yuan Xudong smiled awkwardly:
"Okay, I admit that I am narrow-minded. If you say Confucius and Qu Yuan are Korean, then I have nothing to say. Whatever you say is true. Fortunately, you didn't say that. In fact, our Republic of Korea and China each have their own advantages and disadvantages, but overall, China, with its vast territory and abundant resources, is better, isn't it?"
"But……"
"But what?"
Before Li Yiliya could finish, Yuan Xudong interrupted her and said:
"Is it so hard to admit that other countries are better than your own country? If you can't even face your own country, how can you talk about change?"
"you……"
Being rebuked by Yuan Xudong, and considering that the gap in comprehensive national strength between South Korea and China is indeed too great, Li Yilia said gloomily:
"Forget it, I can't argue with you, but you are a civil servant of the Republic of Korea. Is it really okay to worship China like this?"
"What's wrong with that?"
Yuan Xudong glanced at Li Yilia and said calmly:
“The top group of people in the Republic of Korea, those who were pro-Japanese in the past, have now become chaebols and are the upper class of our country. But what about the independence army?
Without the monthly pension of 600,000 won, those old people would have nothing to eat. Aren’t we, the glamorous prosecutors, also the product of war? From the Sino-Japanese War Reform to the American military regime, from the Japanese to the Americans, those above changed their masters and transformed themselves, and still lived a life of superiority.
So, in our Republic of Korea, how many of those high-ranking figures truly love this country? What those big figures like to do most is to use patriotism, law, human rights and other things to deceive people and make the people below work for them, in the name of doing it for the motherland, for democracy and freedom.
It's quite funny. Our journalists dare to expose anything. Our film and television productions dare to shoot anything. Ordinary people like to watch them. But those high-ranking tycoons and high-ranking officials just won't change. They just play as they always do. I'm speechless. Is this willfulness or do they not take the people below them seriously at all?"
“Isn’t that what life is all about?”
Li Yilia said calmly while driving:
“I don’t know if you’ve read the news, but Sega Entertainment, a subsidiary of Five Star Group, and its holding company Haitian Media were exposed by reporters for sexually bribing members of Congress. Among them, the famous actress Jin Chenxi committed suicide by cutting her wrists at home, leaving behind a suicide note of more than 200 pages, accusing the company of having her entertain more than 100 people, including Five Star Group’s young master Li Chengzai. In the end, the matter was not resolved, but a few relevant persons in charge were fired.
Moreover, there are some rumors that these people who were fired not only did not suffer any losses, but made a lot of money. The company sent them out to be the heads of some companies that apparently have nothing to do with the company but are partners of the company. It can be said that this is a disguised promotion.
The only person who was truly hurt in this farce from beginning to end was Jin Chenxi, who committed suicide by slitting her wrists. The more than 200-page suicide note had no effect at all, and only earned a few meaningless apologies. It caused a stir online for a few days, then was covered up by other news and eventually returned to calm.
After listening to Li Yiliya, Yuan Xudong's mind involuntarily emerged with the news of Jin Chenxi's suicide by cutting her wrists. Jin Chenxi can be said to be the most tragic female star in South Korea. Her parents died when she was young. After finally making her debut with her angelic looks, she unfortunately became a shared plaything of tycoons and high-ranking officials. She was forced to entertain the powerful every day. If she tried to resist, she would not only be beaten, but would even have to pay a sky-high penalty of up to 1 billion yuan. At this time, the law not only failed to protect her, but was used by those with ulterior motives to control her and provide special services.
In the end, Jin Chenxi, who could no longer bear it and had a mental breakdown, had to commit suicide to end her hellish life. In the more than 200-page suicide note she left behind, she used her blood and tears to reveal the darkest side of the Korean entertainment industry. Ordinary trainees had to sign various indentures with entertainment companies, which contained a series of traps and punishment measures. Newcomers could either choose to completely quit the entertainment industry and become an ordinary person, or choose to sign an indenture, with no room for bargaining.
Obviously, most of the trainees will choose to sign a contract, and then the company will spend a certain amount of resources to train these trainees. The company will take 90% of the income and the trainees will take 10%. In this process, if a big shot takes a fancy to a trainee, the result is self-evident.
According to the indenture signed at the beginning, your body is also the property of the company. If you refuse to perform the contract, you will not only be blacklisted, but you will also have to pay various sky-high liquidated damages. Most people will choose to give in. After the first time, there will be a second time, a third time, and countless times afterwards. The more glamorous and beautiful the female star is, the more this will be the case. After all, even ordinary otakus like female stars. Would those big shots who are at their fingertips be pushovers?
The atmosphere in the car began to become depressing. Li Yilia felt a little sympathetic towards Jin Chenxi's situation, and so did Yuan Xudong . Unfortunately, they were both insignificant little people and could not change anything.
After the news of Jin Chenxi's suicide by cutting her wrists was exposed, especially the more than 200-page suicide note, the entire nation was furious, and some people even took to the streets to protest. But in the end , they were suppressed by the people above them. They just found two scapegoats as an outlet for public opinion. Those bigwigs who accepted sexual bribes were embarrassed for a while, but as long as they were thick-skinned enough, they could still have fun the way they wanted, drink as usual, dance as usual. Without Jin Chenxi, there are still Li Chenxi, Han Chenxi, etc. The entertainment industry lacks everything, but it has no shortage of young and beautiful female stars, that is, the stunning goddesses who are either charming or pure and lovely in the eyes of the general public.
There was no conversation along the way. Li Yiliya drove Yuan Xudong back to the Central District Prosecutors' Office. When the two of them walked into the office again, Yuan Xudong's secretary Park Eun-hye, and investigators Jiang Zhentai and Che Xiuhao were gathered together discussing something excitedly.
Seeing Yuan Xudong and Li Yiliya walk in together, the three of them greeted each other and hurried back to their work stations and pretended to start working. Yuan Xudong raised the watch on his right wrist and took a look. It was 5:58 in the afternoon, and there were only two minutes left until 6 o'clock.
On weekdays, if there is no need to work overtime, Yuan Xudong will go home after get off work at this time. After he leaves, Jiang Zhentai and others can go home after work. After all, subordinates can't leave work earlier than their leaders. Especially in the government departments of the Republic of Korea, where the rules between superiors and subordinates are strict, loyalty and respect for leaders are basic virtues. Those who violate this virtue are morally problematic and are easily bullied or treated coldly in the workplace. They are collectively boycotted by people around them, which eventually leads to social death. They either resign and go home, or endure it silently.
"Okay, it's almost six o'clock, you guys should go home after get off work!"
Yuan Xudong glanced at Jiang Zhentai and the others and said with a smile:
"We will have a department dinner at 8pm. Remember to bring your family members. By the way, where are we going to have the dinner? Have you decided?"
After Yuan Xudong finished speaking, Jiang Zhentai, who was sitting behind his desk, suddenly jumped up and said:
"It's at Han's BBQ in the east district. Their BBQ is generous in portion and affordable. The most important thing is that the owner of the BBQ is my high school classmate. I can ask him to give us a few bottles of sake. In this way, we don't have to spend money on drinks tonight. Prosecutor, what do you think? Can we have BBQ?"
Seeing that no one objected, it was obvious that they had already discussed it. Yuan Xudong nodded and said:
"Okay, let's have dinner at Han's BBQ Restaurant in the east district of the city. I have something else to do, so you guys go over first. See you at 8 o'clock tonight!"
"Then we'll be leaving first. Goodbye, Prosecutor!"
"Well, bye!"
After greeting Yuan Xudong, Jiang Zhentai and the others tidied up their desks and prepared to go home after get off work, including Li Yiliya who had just returned from work with Yuan Xudong. Yuan Xudong quickly stopped her and said,
"Li Yilia, please come back later, I need your help with something!"
"good!"
After looking at Yuan Xudong, Li Yiliya stayed. Jiang Zhentai, Che Xiuhao, and Park Eun-hye looked at each other, and then walked out silently. Before leaving, Park Eun-hye looked at Li Yiliya with complicated thoughts. On the one hand, she admired her predecessor who did things neatly and efficiently, and on the other hand, she was a little jealous. Li Yiliya was a clerk. Her job was only to record and organize case files and materials. She was an official in the establishment. She was Yuan Xudong's secretary, responsible for all kinds of trivial matters, including taking care of Yuan Xudong. But now Li Yiliya did all her work and stayed with Yuan Xudong all day. As a secretary, she could only sit in the office to calculate accounts, clean up, etc. She was a role that could be replaced at any time. She was still the same as before, a handyman, without any sense of security.
After Park Eun-hye was the last one to leave the office, Li Yilia looked at Yuan Xudong with some doubts:
"Prosecutor, what can I do for you?"
After coughing twice and clearing his throat, Yuan Xudong smiled slightly and said:
"It's nothing. I still owe you one million won. Come to my office and I'll give you the money!"
"Forget it, since you're willing to help Han Zhimin get justice, I'll waive the one million won for you!"
"No, we agreed that one million won is one million won. You can refuse it, but I can't refuse to give it to you!"
After saying that, without waiting for Li Yiliya to speak, Yuan Xudong turned and walked towards his independent office. Seeing that Yuan Xudong insisted on giving her the one million won as a reward as agreed in advance, Li Yiliya admired his behavior of keeping his promises. It was not until she followed Yuan Xudong into the independent office and Yuan Xudong handed her a beautifully packaged gift box that she realized that she was wrong. This man was not pedantic at all, and was even a little dishonest. He knew that she already had a boyfriend, but he still gave her expensive gifts in various ways. Although this boyfriend was made up by her and did not actually exist, Yuan Xudong didn't know that.
Thinking of this, Li Yilia weighed the gift box in her hand, and said with a slight smile:
"Prosecutor, what's in there?"
"How about a nice watch for your one million won?"
