It was well known that the North American medical system, so glorified by certain people back in China, was ridiculously expensive. Ma Qiang nearly wet himself when he saw the bill.
But he didn't dare delay payment—otherwise, leaving the hospital would be impossible.
With no other choice, Ma Qiang borrowed a phone to call his family, asking them to wire money so he could cover the medical expenses first.
His family, terrified, immediately demanded to know what had happened.
Ma Qiang didn't dare admit that he had been beaten by a foreign girl's boyfriend after trying to hit on her at a bar. Instead, he claimed it had been a conflict with some crew members.
His mother, utterly doting and protective, nearly had a meltdown at the news, immediately wanting to fly over to confront the production team herself.
Ma Qiang panicked at the thought. If his mom confronted the crew, his fabricated story would unravel. That couldn't happen.
"Mom, I'm fine! You really don't need to come. I just need some time to rest, and I'll be okay," Ma Qiang pleaded desperately.
But his mom refused. "No, I have to come see for myself. Are Americans so special that they can just hit two people without consequence?"
Ma Qiang hurriedly tried to calm her down. "Mom, please don't come. This is America. Nobody would even listen to us. If you come, we might not be able to get back."
Finally, his mother paused to consider, tears streaming down her face. "My son, you've suffered enough. Don't worry—I'll talk to your father and grandfather and get them to bring you back. Forget this whole thing."
"No, no, no," Ma Qiang groaned, feeling his head ache. "Absolutely don't tell my father. Just send the money, that's enough. I'll handle the rest myself."
A mother who spoiled her son beyond reason, her common sense almost gone, promptly obeyed Ma Qiang's instructions and wired the money to him.
With that, Ma Qiang was able to pay the bill, leave the hospital, and return to the production set.
Though he and Ma Qiang didn't always see eye to eye, Guo Fan still felt concern for him—after all, they were five strangers abroad, and they had to stick together.
"So, how's it going, Ma Qiang? Feeling any better?" Guo Fan asked.
Ma Qiang replied in a rare tone of courtesy. "I'm okay, not too serious. It's just that the medical fees are ridiculously expensive."
A junior assistant nearby added, "Boss Qiang, we need to be careful. The crew already warned us, and Brother Cheng Long's assistant has shown some subtle dissatisfaction."
Ma Qiang pressed a hand to his forehead. "I know. I'll be careful, absolutely."
Guo Fan exhaled quietly, hoping that Ma Qiang would indeed learn from this mistake.
Usually, Chinese emigrants abroad keep their heads down, obedient and smiling, unwilling to resist.
Then they realize that Chinese people occupy the very bottom of society here. Koreans and Japanese from East Asia are far better off, and yet the Chinese are rarely united. In Los Angeles, Chinatown constantly teems with disputes, mostly among Chinese themselves, with the police rarely intervening.
It's no wonder that Chinese immigrants often lack courage and confidence. Stories like Eileen and Zhao Jack—couples bridging different social classes—are extremely rare.
That made Ma Qiang's confidence and boldness unusual, though he had applied it to the wrong area—chasing girls, and worse, girls who already had boyfriends.
Of course, jealousy and rivalry happen everywhere. Just a few days ago, two crew assistants had fought over a girl from the art department.
Usually, these matters are handled internally, with no major consequences.
But Ma Qiang wasn't American, nor was he a low-level Chinese immigrant. He was a Chinese national with an apparent family background.
That made things messy. Gilbert had just assured Lao Tian that the students' safety would be guaranteed, yet now Ma Qiang's bar incident had happened.
Though the conflict had little to do with the production team—Ma Qiang had brought it upon himself—it still embarrassed Gilbert.
And that wasn't the worst part. The worst was Ma Qiang's mother.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She began using connections to try and bring her son home.
As a result, the news of Ma Qiang being assaulted, hospitalized, and left to pay his own medical bills spread like wildfire.
Because of the previous fake-student incident, many people in the film and cultural circles had already developed grudges.
These people didn't hold it against the foreigner Gilbert—after all, he was blameless. The blame fell squarely on certain domestic figures.
Seizing the opportunity of Ma Qiang's misfortune, these small, frustrated circles managed a little comeback for themselves.
Lao Tian, already exhausted by the recent cultural chaos, felt his head spin at yet another complication. But he had to get to the bottom of it, so he called Gilbert.
Gilbert, busy filming False, had Ivanka answer the phone.
Ivanka, eloquent and precise, gave Lao Tian the full account of what had happened with Ma Qiang, without exaggeration or embellishment.
Hearing this, Lao Tian's veins bulged with a surge of anger, a deep frustration at being deceived.
Why? Why were these students behaving this way? Why did they willingly sink so low? You go to Hollywood to study properly, not to chase girls!
After hanging up, Lao Tian immediately mobilized his subordinates to contact Ma Qiang's parents and demanded that the embarrassing son be brought back.
Lao Tian unleashed every venomous word he could think of at Ma Qiang.
As a seasoned veteran in the industry, Lao Tian could almost immediately tell that Ma Qiang must have lied to his own mother. Ma Qiang probably never expected that his mother, out of concern for her son, would blow the situation wide open.
After finishing the call, Ivanka went over to Gilbert.
A scene had just wrapped, and noticing her expression, Gilbert asked, "What's wrong, Ivanka? Did your father urge you to go back?"
"Not at all. He just wants me to work properly by your side," Ivanka replied. She held back another thought—Donald actually hoped Gilbert would become his son-in-law.
Ivanka told Gilbert exactly what Lao Tian had said. Surprisingly, Gilbert showed no reaction.
"You're not angry?" Ivanka asked, puzzled at his calmness.
"Why should I be?" Gilbert replied, unbothered. "You have a good rapport with Paris Hilton, right? You should know what kind of person this Ma Qiang is just by looking at him."
Ivanka immediately understood—so Ma Qiang was a spoiled Chinese rich kid!
"What are you going to do about this?" Ivanka asked.
"What does it have to do with me?" Gilbert, after the fake-student incident, had realized that some people were hopeless.
"Let them handle their own people. Business as usual," Gilbert said without turning his head, already focused on the next shot.
Ivanka thought about it and realized he was right—what did it have to do with them?
Ma Qiang had misbehaved, got beaten at a bar while hitting on girls, and didn't even know who had attacked him. The crew had helped report it to the police, but the efficiency of the Los Angeles police was, at best, average.
Moreover, it was a foreigner's problem; people were even less likely to meddle.
Let the Chinese deal with their own mess, then.
Later, Gilbert learned the result of the incident when he visited the Adventures of Jackie Chan and heard it from Shu Chang.
The girl couldn't hide anything: that lecherous, annoying Ma Qiang was finally gone.
"That sleazy Ma Qiang kept staring at me and Bingbing," Shu Chang said.
And indeed, back home, Ma Qiang might have tried to impose himself further—but now he had been sent back.
Once Ma Qiang was gone, the twenty-nine students who had come to study were instantly reduced to just four. The remaining three finally settled down and understood who was truly fit to lead.
From then on, everyone would follow Guo Fan—this kid had luck on his side.
....
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