Chapter 90: A World for Two

The police station? Everyone was stunned. Xiao Ran glanced sideways at Guan Xin, who remained calm, and smiled slightly. “No problem, officer!”
“I’ll go with you!” Fa Ge and Lin Qingxia stepped forward at the same time, worried that something might happen to Xiao Ran again. Seeing their concern, they both laughed. Xiao Ran checked the time and realized that a quick trip to the police station wouldn’t delay the premiere, so he nodded and told Liu Hua and the others to stay.
As soon as they reached the police station entrance, Lin Qingxia and Fa Ge were surrounded by several police officers who asked for autographs. It wasn’t until a higher-ranking officer stepped in to stop them that they dispersed. After some effort, they finally made it inside. As soon as they entered, they noticed that every police officer was staring at Xiao Ran with strange expressions.
Feeling puzzled, Lin Qingxia and Fa Ge nudged Xiao Ran. “A Ran, why are they looking at you like that? Are you really that ugly?” The last sentence was obviously a joke.
“You’ll know in a moment!” Xiao Ran smiled mysteriously but refused to reveal anything. “I guess the police called me here for this reason!”
The police officers knew what kind of person Xiao Ran was and didn’t dare question him in a regular interrogation room. After all, Xiao Ran was a victim, so he was taken to the chief’s office. As soon as the chief saw them enter, he stood up immediately and said to Lin Qingxia with a smile, “A Xia, it’s been a long time. Why haven’t you returned to Taipei?”
“Chief Zhang, I’m here now, right?” Lin Qingxia replied cheerfully and sat down alongside him. “My adopted brother has suffered a lot this time. Look, he still has wounds on his forehead…”
“A Xia, since Boss Xiao has safely returned, let’s not dwell on it too much,” Chief Zhang said, breaking off Lin Qingxia’s words. He then turned to Xiao Ran. “Well, Boss Xiao, since you’re injured, why not give a statement quickly and go to the hospital?”
One of the officers, who seemed to hold a higher rank, brought a chair and sat in front of Xiao Ran, asking seriously, “Mr. Xiao, on June 27, 1987, which is today, where were you kidnapped?”
Xiao Ran naturally told them everything about the kidnapping. The police officer’s expression gradually became strange. After hesitating for a while, he asked, “Boss Xiao, were you the one who called the police and reported a death at the scene? Where were you at that time?”
“Of course I was. I was on my way back to the hotel,” Xiao Ran admitted honestly, showing no resistance. Besides, he knew this was just the beginning; the real questions were yet to come.
“Uh, so you witnessed the murder happen with your own eyes!” The officer’s expression grew even more strange. “Could you tell me who killed those four men who kidnapped you and then rescued you? Maybe you can describe them to me.”

After searching for a long time, the police officer still reached his goal. The officer had been to the scene in person and seen the condition of those four people; actually, their deaths weren’t that gruesome. But when the forensic expert told the officer that all four had been killed with a single strike, the officer was shocked, and all the police were extremely surprised. At that time, they really thought it must have been done by some legendary martial arts expert.

With no other choice, they turned to Xiao Ran, the person who knew everything clearly. Judging from Xiao Ran’s cooperative attitude, they thought there should be no problem. But suddenly, Xiao Ran’s expression turned serious: “Officer, I did see that person, but I couldn’t see his face clearly because he was wearing a mask.”

A masked man? The officer instantly felt an urge to slap Xiao Ran hard, cursing inwardly. He had to ask again: “Why did he wear a mask? Why save you? You must know his build, right? Can you describe it for us?”

Xiao Ran secretly laughed to himself but pretended to look calm and thoughtful: “I don’t know why he wore a mask or why he saved me. I guess he might be some kind of chivalrous hero. As for his build, he wasn’t fat or thin, tall or short—I only know that much!”

The police officer immediately smiled bitterly. What did “not fat or thin, tall or short” mean? There were at least millions of such people in Taiwan. He had originally thought those who refused to speak even to death were the most difficult to deal with, but now he realized that those who kept smiling and cooperating were actually the real challenge.

“Then, may I ask one more question?” The police officer knew, even if he was stupid, that the killer must be related to Xiao Ran. But even an idiot knew that in this case, Xiao Ran was the victim. Whether it was someone else who killed them or even Xiao Ran himself, it would probably be hard to convict him. Most importantly, Xiao Ran’s status meant they couldn’t act rashly.

After getting Xiao Ran’s smiling nod, the police officer hesitated for a moment. He knew it was impossible for the police station to expect Xiao Ran to hand over the killer. He didn’t care either. After all, Xiao Ran wasn’t the first nor the last to get away with crime like this: “Do you know that person killed the four kidnappers with a single strike?”

Xiao Ran was stunned. In fact, he knew. After Guan Xin knocked out the four, he never touched them again and casually said there was no need to worry about them. After thinking for a while, he nodded at the police officer: “Yes, I think I do!”

“Then, aren’t you surprised by that?” The police officer refused to give up, trying to get something out of Xiao Ran. Although he was convinced that the person was either Xiao Ran’s subordinate or bodyguard, he even dared to guess that it was Xiao Ran himself who committed the murder.

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. He wasn’t trying to kill me—he was trying to kill the kidnappers. What do you think?” Xiao Ran showed signs of fatigue. A lot had happened since the kidnapping, and he was truly tired: “Besides, I believe there are extraordinary people in this world!”

With just one sentence, he ended the police officer’s questions. Despite the officer trying hard to ask more questions later, he couldn’t stump Xiao Ran. Seeing that the interrogation seemed endless and noticing the fatigue in Xiao Ran’s eyes, Lin Qingxia felt a pang of concern: “Director Zhang, how much longer will this interrogation go on? Xiao Ran is very tired and needs rest!”
“That’s enough, we’ll stop here!” Director Zhang, who had been chatting casually with Fa Ge and Lin Qingxia, quickly stopped things when he saw Lin Qingxia’s displeasure. “Mr. Xiao, thank you for your cooperation. We have one last question: Who do you think kidnapped you? I mean, do you have any enemies? Or were they after money?”
Xiao Ran sneered. If it weren’t for this question, he wouldn’t have the patience to linger here. After pretending to hesitate for a moment, he bit his lip and said, “I don’t know. None of those four people mentioned it. Besides, I don’t have any enemies in Taiwan!”
When saying the last sentence, his tone hesitated slightly—even a fool could tell it wasn’t sincere. He deliberately waited for the police to ask this question before giving the real answer because he had no evidence showing it was the Wang family who did it.
Of course, the most important reason was that Xiao Ran knew the police would surely get information from the underworld and find out who had ordered it. So, he didn’t need to tell them—either because he didn’t want the police involved or because he wanted to handle the Wang family himself.
However, before dealing with the Wang family, it would be pleasant to let the police cause them some trouble. Later, Xiao Ran found out that the police were indeed misled by his hesitant tone, thinking he was afraid of the Wang family’s power. But the police only went after Wang Minggui once, failing to achieve the effect he wanted.
Returning safely to the hotel, Xiao Ran went back to his room accompanied by Lin Qingxia. Without saying anything, he collapsed tiredly on the bed, eager to fall asleep right away. Lin Qingxia, worried, pulled him up and scolded, “Go take a shower before sleeping. You’re too dirty like this!”
Xiao Ran was exhausted—he had felt tired since he was kidnapped today. If such days would be the norm from now on, he really didn’t want to go on, but there were some things he couldn’t let go of. This only strengthened his resolve to control both the underworld and the legitimate world—without enough deterrence, it would be hard to achieve his goals.
Carefully taking off his clothes, Xiao Ran teased Lin Qingxia, “Sis, I’m about to take off my clothes. You’re not allowed to peek!”
“Go away! Who wants to see you?” Lin Qingxia gently pushed him away and said jokingly, “Hurry up. I’ll check if you’re okay, then we’ll go back to the room!”
“Don’t go back to the room. Can you stay with me here?” Xiao Ran said in a nearly pleading tone as he took off his clothes. In fact, their relationship was quite proper; nothing particularly intimate had happened between them. “I’m very tired. I really want someone to be with me!”

Lin Qingxia didn’t respond to Xiao Ran’s request. Instead, she let out a cry and stared at his bare upper body. To be honest, Xiao Ran was quite strong, but his body was now covered in bruises, looking extremely alarming. It seemed as if those injuries belonged to Lin Qingxia herself. She couldn’t help but tremble slightly, gently touching the bruises with her fingers, her eyes filled with pain as she said, “Why do you have so many injuries? It must hurt a lot!” When her fingers touched the swollen areas, Xiao Ran felt an intense burning sensation that struck his nerves, causing his muscles to tremble. He then said softly, “It’s okay. Just minor injuries. I’ll rest for a while before going to the hospital.” “You say it’s okay, but there are bruises everywhere!” Seeing Xiao Ran’s muscle tremors, Lin Qingxia realized she had been too forceful and quickly withdrew her fingers. “Go take a bath first. I’ll keep you company!” After taking a bath, Xiao Ran felt as if his body was falling apart. Lin Qingxia rushed over, helped him lie down on the bed carefully, being careful not to touch his injuries. Xiao Ran smiled slightly, took Lin Qingxia’s hand, and asked her to lie on his chest. His heart was filled with sweetness. He thought that even for Lin Qingxia’s sake, he must achieve something in life and then marry her properly. Being with her was truly a blessing from his past life. Thinking about the dreams, he couldn’t help but laugh self-mockingly—what kind of blessing could he have had in his past life? Putting aside all other thoughts, Xiao Ran simply enjoyed this happy moment. “Qingxia, don’t worry about me anymore. Since I chose this career, there’s bound to be some danger.” “Of course there’s danger. Danger isn’t just risk—it comes from the underworld. I’ve heard of a movie company owner who used underworld funds for his films. When those films lost money, he was chopped into pieces by an angry gangster.” “Can you please stop talking?” Lin Qingxia wanted to enjoy this quiet time together. It was a rare moment of peace for them, as they still couldn’t be exposed to the public. Xiao Ran stopped talking and let his thoughts wander, letting out a soft “hm” from his nose. A wonderful feeling arose—he now understood what peace and happiness felt like… Fa Ge and Liu Hua weren’t as lucky as Xiao Ran. They were currently at the premiere, being questioned by reporters. The experienced Fa Ge and Eason Chan handled the reporters skillfully, but Wu Zhenyu, who was new to this, was thrilled to be given so much attention for the first time. The reporters quickly saw through Fa Ge and Eason Chan’s tactics and shifted their focus to the newcomer, Wu Zhenyu. Although Wu Zhenyu didn’t like to be the center of attention, he was still an artist, and he had to gain some recognition. However, he soon realized the reporters had ulterior motives. After asking some questions about the film, they suddenly asked, “There are rumors that Xiao Ran was kidnapped. Is that true?”

That reporter was quite clever; to create a sudden impact, he didn’t even use the polite expressions that are usually necessary. Yet it was precisely this approach that led to success. Wu Zhenyu almost blurted out the answer, only to immediately feel as if someone had stabbed him hard, forcing him to swallow back his affirmative response. He was drenched in cold sweat, unable to imagine what Xiao Ran would do to him if it were revealed.
He was overthinking it. Given Xiao Ran’s fondness for him, it was impossible for Xiao Ran to do anything to him over such a trivial matter. Xiao Ran was actually looking forward to seeing his neurotic, outstanding performances in films like “Gunfire.”
*****
Debao Film Company
This was a company founded by Sammo Hung and Sham Kui-hun themselves. Initially, because they were just starting out, Sammo Hung personally invited Tseng Chi-wai from New Art City based on their friendship. Tseng Chi-wai had been supported by Sammo Hung and owed him a great debt, so he betrayed New Art City once, causing the seven top figures there to grow apart. One of the Debao films featuring Tseng Chi-wai was “Five Lucky Stars,” which seemingly defeated New Art City’s films for the first time.
Later, businessman Poon Tat-sum acquired Debao Film Company, focusing on female action films, light comedies about urban underclass life, and art films. Typical examples include the “Flower of Power” series, the “Wealth Forces Destiny” series, and “A Fairy Tale in Autumn.” Especially in terms of awards, Debao’s art films always managed to secure spots at the Golden Horse Awards or Golden Bell Awards. It was a remarkable company. It’s a pity that Poon Tat-sum abruptly ended Debao at its peak, a real mystery.