From Wage Slave to Tycoon

It wasn’t just expensive—it was terrible.

They had wandered around for a while, and the little bit they’d eaten at McDonald’s was long gone.

Recalling the snacks they had earlier, Chen Fei suggested, "Sir, why don’t we go find a place to eat outside? In here..."

"Hmm..." Su Chen had to admit, Chen Fei’s suggestion was a good one. After a moment of thought, he said, "Let’s go. We’ll check outside!"

They were here to have fun and enjoy good food, not to stumble into tourist traps. After all, who doesn’t want a pleasant trip?

After leaving the Qinhuai River area, Su Chen and Chen Fei found a small, crowded restaurant. It mainly sold duck blood and vermicelli soup, along with other local specialties like soup dumplings and salted duck.

Seeing that all the customers were eating with gusto, Su Chen went ahead and ordered two servings of everything before finding an empty table deeper inside the restaurant.

"I’m looking up, above the moon, at how many dreams are flying free!" The moment he sat down, Chen Fei’s phone rang.

Hearing the cheerful ringtone, Su Chen gave him a thumbs-up. "Your taste is certainly something else."

Even many of the surrounding diners glanced over.

Chen Fei’s tanned face flushed with a bit of embarrassment. He quickly pulled the phone from his pocket, but froze for a moment when he saw the caller ID.

He looked up at Su Chen and said, "Sir, it’s a call from Wu Jing."

Su Chen paused for a second, then gestured for him to take the call.

As for why Wu Jing had Chen Fei’s number, it dated back to the incident in Africa. After returning, Wu Jing had specifically asked for Chen Fei’s contact information. He knew that Chen Fei was Su Chen’s driver and personal bodyguard, so it made sense to contact him first if anything came up.

Chen Fei didn’t hesitate and quickly answered the call.

When Wu Jing asked if Su Chen was free, Chen Fei replied, "He’s right here next to me. I’ll pass him the phone." With that, he handed the phone to Su Chen.

Taking the phone, Su Chen got straight to the point. "Wu Jing, what’s up?"

Wu Jing on the other end didn’t bother with any pleasantries and got straight to the point. "Mr. Su, *Wolf Warrior 2* has finished editing and passed the censors. I’m planning to release it on May 1st, and I wanted to ask if you would have time to attend the premiere?"

In truth, Wu Jing had his own agenda for making this call. In today’s entertainment industry, online popularity is king. He had made quite a few action movies back in Xiangjiang, but unfortunately, he didn’t have much of a presence in the mainland.

After returning to the mainland, he had filmed a few movies and TV shows like *I Am Special Forces 2* and *Wolf Warrior 1*, and had managed to make a small name for himself in the domestic entertainment scene. But compared to the top-tier ’it’ celebrities, the gap was enormous.

Take Chen He, for example. His celebrity status was far greater than Wu Jing’s at the time.

Wu Jing didn’t have many friends in the mainland industry, so he was definitely lacking when it came to movie promotion.

His goal in calling was twofold. First, he wanted Su Chen, the film’s largest investor, to attend the premiere. Second... he hoped to leverage Su Chen’s influence to generate buzz for *Wolf Warrior 2*.

While Wu Jing didn’t know the full extent of Su Chen’s power, the little he had seen was enough to know that Su Chen was a hidden titan. A single word from him could solve all of Wu Jing’s problems.

Su Chen was no fool. He wasn’t born yesterday, and he knew that Wu Jing’s call wasn’t just a simple invitation to the premiere.

After a moment’s thought, Su Chen saw the problem. Wu Jing said *Wolf Warrior 2* was set to release on May 1st—only a few days away—yet there was hardly any promotional buzz online.

There should have been at least some preliminary hype, but Su Chen hadn’t heard a single thing about it.

Su Chen picked up a salted duck leg, took a bite, and then asked, "Problems with the promotion?"

Hearing this, Wu Jing on the other end of the line gave a wry laugh. "Yeah... We were striving for realism during the shoot and ended up damaging a lot of equipment. It cost a fortune, which left us with an insufficient budget for promotion. On top of that, we don’t have good marketing channels."

Wu Jing didn’t hide anything, laying out all his problems, including the fact that very few celebrity guests were expected at the premiere.

Su Chen was a bit speechless. A lack of promotion was one thing, but for the premiere itself to be so bare-bones? Still, he understood Wu Jing’s situation.

He had gone to Xiangjiang in ’03 to make it on his own. After a decade of grinding it out, he had built a bit of a name for himself. But upon returning to the mainland, he had no real roots, so naturally, his network and resources were significantly weaker.

"Alright, I’ve got it. Someone will contact you later about the promotion. As for the premiere, I’ll get some people to come. Just send me the time and location on Green Bubble."

Hearing this, Wu Jing said excitedly, "Thank you, Mr. Su! Thank you so much!"

"Hey, don’t mention trouble. We’re friends, aren’t we? Why are you being so formal with me?" Su Chen said, the corner of his mouth twitching as he feigned annoyance.

Wu Jing, on the other end of the line, was completely floored. ’How am I supposed to respond to that? Nobody ever taught me the script for this...’

Just as Wu Jing was racking his brain for a reply, Su Chen’s voice came through again. "Alright, I’m in the middle of eating. I’ll talk to you later."

And with that, before Wu Jing could say anything else, Su Chen hung up.

As he handed the phone back to Chen Fei, he saw that the guy had been quietly demolishing the soup dumplings and salted duck. The whole salted duck they had ordered was already half-gone.