Chapter 132: Another Battle with the Golden Statue

After chatting jokingly, a Rolls-Royce stopped at the end of the red carpet. Without looking, Xiao Ran knew it was Fa Ge’s car—Fa Ge loved this brand and even owned four or five of them. Yet Xiao Ran kept his gaze fixed there, wanting to see the effect of his deliberate move.
Fa Ge stepped out but went to the other side to open the door for someone. Who emerged was a woman who combined softness with strength. She was Feng Feier—more of a girl than a woman, still retaining a touch of youthfulness.
The reporters found Fa Ge’s behavior extremely amusing. After some thought, they remembered she was the woman from the poster of “Dark Flower” and quickly picked up their cameras to take photos. Feng Feier was initially flustered, having never experienced such a scene before, but she quickly calmed down.
“She must be from Shadow Company, right? She has great presence and a bright future!” Mei Yanfang, noticing the meaningful smile on Xiao Ran’s face, guessed that this scene had been orchestrated by him.
Xiao Ran nodded. That was indeed the case. Feng Feier and Su Renyao were the stars Shadow Company wanted to promote, and this opportunity was perfect to take advantage of. He had originally planned to come in person but gave up the idea, fearing the reporters might speculate about his relationship with Feng Feier.
“No one can be more famous than you!” Xiao Ran joked half-seriously, “It’s a shame that because you’re so famous, Tianlai doesn’t dare recruit you. I’ve always wanted to work with you!”
A strange glint appeared in Mei Yanfang’s eyes before disappearing instantly. She laughed heartily and left, leaving behind a remark for Xiao Ran: “If you don’t try, how will you know I’m not willing to switch companies?”
Watching Mei Yanfang’s solitary figure leave, Xiao Ran felt a hint of sadness. She was a strong woman who had achieved success in her career but lost her love, with an unfortunate fate. But reflecting on her words, he felt joy—having her would surely help Tianlai Company make further progress.
There was more to why Mei Yanfang said those words! Everyone in the industry knew she liked Liu Hua, but love was unrequited—a story of unfinished feelings. In Xiao Ran’s knowledge, Mei Yanfang had left a famous record company to join one that signed Liu Hua, competing with her friend Zhang Guorong. The implications were obvious.
It seemed Mei Yanfang had certain plans for Tianlai Company, otherwise she wouldn’t have said those words so casually. After pondering for a while, he suddenly felt someone tapping his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Hong Jinbao.
Under normal circumstances, with all four major companies opposing Xiao Ran, not many would dare be so familiar with him. But Hong Jinbao was known for his straightforward and bold personality—few dared stop him from doing what he wanted. Before Xiao Ran could even complain, Hong Jinbao laughed heartily and patted his shoulder, saying, “A Ran, you’re amazing! You’ve made it to so many award lists this time.”

Xiao Ran silently praised him—Hong Jinbao was very thoughtful; his words referred only to Xiao Ran’s own achievements, not extending to Shadow Company. This meant he was talking to Xiao Ran on a personal basis, avoiding gossip within the alliance.
“Where’s the thanks? If it weren’t for Brother Hong’s promotion, I might not have reached where I am today!” From any perspective, Xiao Ran had no reason to flatter Hong Jinbao, yet he still said so.
Hong Jinbao smiled so much that his eyes narrowed. He didn’t think Xiao Ran was flattering him; with Xiao Ran’s status, he didn’t need to curry favor with anyone. More importantly, he knew well that Xiao Ran respected his seniors in the industry, which was why he had such good reputations. He patted Xiao Ran again and said, “I’m going in first. Let’s go out and have some fun sometime!”
No one disturbed Xiao Ran this time. Lin Qingxia had already come over, and the two of them entered the venue with smiles. Upon arriving in the somewhat noisy place, Xiao Ran frowned slightly and scanned the area before walking over to the Mai brothers.
Don’t assume that just because Mai Dangxiong’s works are realistic and harsh, he himself must be cruel-looking. In fact, both brothers were sturdy and steady-type people. Seeing Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia coming together, they quickly stood up with smiles and greeted him.
Mai Dangxiong’s work was the only one in that era that could compare to Xu Ke’s studio, and it was also the most evenly skilled. His film *Provincial and Hong Kong Flag Troops* ranked just behind *True Men* in later century’s list of the best Hong Kong films, showing how classic it was.
Mai Dangxiong was best at gangster themes, or rather, he excelled at films about powerful figures. Although his directing credits were only *Provincial and Hong Kong Flag Troops* and its sequels, almost any film he produced could be considered his work. Just like *New Dragon Inn* and *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer* aren’t directed by Xu Ke, yet the whole world knows they’re Xu Ke’s works.
The production system popular in Hong Kong today was pioneered by Mai Dangxiong. He and his golden partner Xiao Ruoyuan created many classic works. In the early 1990s, the addition of Pan Wenjie turned this duo into a famous “golden triangle,” and classic gangster films like *The Lame Hero*, *The Emperor of Shanghai*, and *The Emperor of Shanghai: Domination of the World* were all created by this renowned trio.
It’s a pity that they later stopped making movies and went to Shandong Province on the mainland to become members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference! Xiao Ran sighed inwardly while carefully observing Mai Dangxiong and Xiao Ruoyuan. Xiao was relatively delicate, while as for the mediocre Mai Wenjie, Xiao Ran almost completely ignored him.
It wasn’t their first meeting. In Hong Kong’s film industry, if you didn’t know someone, at least you’d have seen them before. While shaking hands with Mai Dangxiong and Xiao Ruoyuan, Xiao Ran said, “I’ve always wanted to meet Mr. Xiao. It’s an honor to finally meet you both!”
“Where’s the thanks? You, with the surname Xiao, have done far better than me!” Xiao Ruoyuan was somewhat flattered by Xiao Ran’s high regard for him.

“In that case, are you interested in joining Phantom?” Xiao Ran glanced at their faces and smiled lightly. “As you all know, Phantom always only wants the best, and you are the best!”
Mai Dangxiong smiled astutely and declined politely, “Thank you for considering us, President Xiao, but we have a contract with Hailuo Group and are afraid we can’t leave!”
Xiao Ran smiled faintly—this outcome was already within his expectations. Fang Ruohai had been wise enough to acquire both of the major film studios in the industry at once, so there was no reason to let them go. However, Xu Ke was unlikely to continue working with Fang Ruohai, as Xiao Ran had promised to fund the establishment of a production company for him, requiring only 60% of the shares.
Don’t think Xiao Ran was foolish for offering Xu Ke such favorable terms—Phantom was currently transitioning into a distribution company. To succeed in distribution, one needed sufficient distribution rights to make money. With that in mind, investing in Xu Ke to set up a production company while Phantom handled distribution was similar to the relationship between Warner and its subsidiary New Line.
After talking with Mai Dangxiong and others, building some rapport to lay a foundation for the future, Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia headed to their seats. Along the way, they accidentally ran into Liang Chaowei and greeted him, inviting him to join them. Liang Chaowei thought for a moment before smiling and agreeing.
They also greeted Wang Jing, Zeng Zhiwei, and other interesting folks in the industry before reaching their seats. It seemed the Golden Horse Awards organizing committee was somewhat aware of the tensions between the alliance and Phantom, as the seating arrangement this time was clearly divided.
The New Art City group had few big-name stars. Despite Fang Ruohai’s high offers, no one wanted to ally with him and instead sat in relatively neutral positions. However, Golden Harvest and Deppa were furious at Fang Ruohai’s arbitrary price hikes for actors, as this could lead to another round of rising demands from actors.
Given the current situation, the four major companies clearly hadn’t planned to abandon their current allies. Yet, dissatisfaction among them was inevitable—something Xiao Ran had anticipated. He just didn’t expect internal strife to start before he even took action.
Everyone in this industry faced conflicts as business developed. Xiao Ran had previously ignored this alliance because he knew that if he gave in a little, the alliance would inevitably split over interests.
Glancing to his right, where Deppa’s seats were, Xiao Ran smiled faintly. Pan Disheng had suffered a huge loss during the New Year’s season. If the theaters hadn’t teamed up, “Wealth Pressures” could easily have earned over 20 million at the box office. But the actual figure fell far short of Pan Disheng’s expectations. If that box office revenue had gone to Golden Harvest, it would naturally have angered him.
Glancing again at Fang Ruohai, who was sitting far away, Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling had guessed that by now, Hailuo must have been largely reorganized. This was probably why they hadn’t been able to deal with Phantom before. Now that they had freed up their resources, well…

This year’s Golden Horse Awards were hosted by Zeng Zhiwei and Zheng Yuling. It must be admitted that both of them are highly skilled hosts who can always appropriately set the atmosphere and bring out laughter, giving it a somewhat Oscar-like feel. The first award presented was for Best Music (i.e., Film Score). Three major films from Mythic Films were nominated in this category, and the winner was Lin Daoyun from The God of Gamblers. Upon hearing the news, Lin Daoyun immediately showed great joy—it was his first film score, and he never expected to win such an award right away. It’s a pity that Lu Guanting, who contributed to two films by Mythic Films, didn’t win. Next came the Best Newcomer award. The nominees included Lin Guobin, Mei Yanfang’s current boyfriend, Huang Guangliang from Prison Storm, Chen Songling from Crazy Campus, and Wu Zhenyu from The God of Gamblers. In this category, Xiao Ran was quite optimistic about Wu Zhenyu. Although his acting style was still quite conventional, he delivered the villain role with great conviction. After the guests shouted, “Wu Zhenyu, The God of Gamblers!”, Wu Zhenyu immediately jumped up and whispered to Xiao Ran nearby, “Bro Ran, thank you!” Xiao Ran smiled in congratulations. Wu Zhenyu had good reason to say that—without his guidance, Wu Zhenyu, who had never starred in a film before, would never have won. Next was the Best Film Song award. In this category, only Lu Guanting from Prison Storm from Mythic Films was nominated. Huang Zhan from The Legend of the Ghost Girl was supposed to win this award, but since the film hadn’t been released yet, he wasn’t eligible to win this year. The Best Art Direction award went to Zhang Shuping, and it was time for this outstanding artist to receive his award. Fa Ge, sitting next to Xiao Ran, kept laughing. Suddenly, he asked, “Aran, do you think our company can win?” “What do you think?” Xiao Ran chuckled. It was hard to say whether they could win, but he was sure that Fa Ge would win this time. After all, Fa Ge had received four nominations unprecedentedly—Dragon and Tiger, Prison Storm, Autumn Fairy Tale, and The God of Gamblers—making it truly historic. Every time Xiao Ran thought about this, he felt extremely proud because Fa Ge was about to be elevated to a legendary status by him. In fact, Fa Ge was already firmly the top actor in Hong Kong, having won awards at both the Golden Horse and Golden Rooster Awards, as well as at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. But Xiao Ran felt it wasn’t enough—he wanted to elevate Fa Ge to a place beyond reach for ordinary people. Hearing their conversation, Lin Qingxia couldn’t help but interject, “I think they’ll definitely win, and I guess The God of Gamblers will win the most awards!” Judging from the affection in her eyes toward Xiao Ran, Fa Ge immediately understood that Lin Qingxia’s confidence was solely in Xiao Ran. Xiao Ran wasn’t nervous at all—strangely enough. Soon he figured out why: due to his status, he could hardly still feel excited or nervous about such things. Unless the award he was presenting was one he had nominated.

Just as he was thinking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao showed up. As soon as Xiao Ran had this thought, he heard Zeng Zhiwei on stage winking at him, while Zheng Yuling stared straight at him. Even a fool could tell that the next award to be given would be for Best Screenwriter.
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My new book, “The Legend of the Gambling God,” will release its VIP chapters on December 1st. I hope to get everyone’s support then!