Chapter 158: The Great Victory in Hong Kong

“You still don’t know, right? Xiao Ran has just taken the lead in deciding to unite Jiahe and Debao to shut down Hailue, preventing anyone in the industry from taking on Hailue’s projects. Otherwise, they’ll face joint retaliation from the three major companies!”

“What kind of news is this? Let me tell you—this whole thing was caused by Fang Ruohai. Do you remember how Fang Ruohai got into this business? He deceived Jiahe and Debao to gain their approval. But given the feud between the Fang family and President Xiao, as soon as Fang Ruohai entered the scene, he poached people from Meiying. How can President Xiao not be angry?”

“What happened after that?”

“After that? Haha, President Xiao is such a kind person; he didn’t hold grudges over past matters. Even when Fang Ruohai poached his people, he still thought of their past friendship. But the Fang family cared nothing about friendship. Do you know about that incident in the underworld some time ago? It was orchestrated by the Fang family. It’s said Fang Ruohai hired assassins to kill President Xiao and bribed three major gangs. In his anger, President Xiao… hehe!”

“What happened? Go on!”

“Of course, this enraged President Xiao. Anyone would be furious. The Fang family is nothing but ungrateful! In his anger, President Xiao used some unknown method, and the three major gangs became completely obedient. The assassins were also caught. Everyone knows President Xiao is kind to friends, but you probably don’t know how ruthless he is to enemies. This time, he simply united Jiahe, Debao, and Tianluo to vow to completely eliminate Hailue!”

Three days later, everyone in the industry knew that Meiying, Jiahe, Debao, and Tianluo Company were working together to drive Hailue Group out of business. No one dared take on Hailue’s projects, as everyone knew the consequences. Even if they did, they couldn’t sell them in Southeast Asia—only locally, which was of no benefit to the actors.

It was a grand campaign to drive them out—no, for Xiao Ran, it was a real effort to completely eliminate Fang Ruohai. It seemed grand because almost everyone in the industry joined in. It seemed quiet because the public was completely unaware; at most, they saw news in the papers about Hailue Group members going on strike.

Fang Ruohai collapsed—truly collapsed this time. Actors and filmmakers across Hong Kong refused to take his projects, and even his own company was terrified. He never realized making movies was so difficult. Now he deeply regretted it. If it weren’t for the desire for victory and revenge, he might have achieved many successes by now.

What he couldn’t imagine was that with such wealth, he still couldn’t attract filmmakers and still couldn’t gain a foothold even after half a year. Now, with just a word from Xiao Ran and Zou Wenhui, no one in Hong Kong dared take his projects anymore.

He had heard what Lin Guiyun told him—words said by Xiao Ran: “Within three months, I will completely eliminate Hailue Group!” He hadn’t believed it before, but now he did. Only now did he realize that in the film industry, having money alone isn’t enough.

The entertainment industry is a complex web of relationships; not everyone can just get in. It’s even less something outsiders can interfere with. When faced with external threats, they tend to be very united.

He lost in a way that was utterly undeserved, but he had to admit he indeed lost. It was he who first tried to poach people against Xiao Ran. Xiao Ran had remained unresponsive all along—not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to deal with him for now. Once Xiao Ran decided to eliminate him, it would be effortless.

Hailue Group was finished. Aside from those bound by contracts who continued to work for Hailue, no one dared to pay attention to them anymore. It wasn’t entirely due to a ban, but because even a blind person could see that Hailue had no hope left.

Yet something even more terrifying happened. The phone rang, and Fang Poli’s exhausted and desperate voice came through: “Ah Hai, we lost to Wen Bowen…”

Fang Ruohai’s hand trembled violently. Losing meant the Fang family had to start over. It meant everything he had was about to disappear, and Hailue Group would have to shut down due to the lack of his father’s support, likely being sold off by the board of directors.

By now, Fang Ruohai finally realized that ever since he stepped into this world, he had never been free from Xiao Ran’s control. As long as Xiao Ran wanted to, he could kill him at any time…

Upon hearing the news of the Fang family’s crushing defeat, Xiao Ran smiled. Hailue Group had lost industry recognition, and continuing as it was meant daily losses. The board of Haisen Group wouldn’t let such a wasteful subsidiary continue losing money, so selling it was inevitable.

The Fang family had almost lost everything. By precise calculation, Xiao Ran could buy their various businesses at at least 20% below Hailue’s original purchase price. He didn’t want to know how Wen Bowen had defeated the Fang family, but he was clear that even without Wen Bowen, Hailue would have been doomed.

Accompanied by Yangguang and Monkey, Xiao Ran left the company and headed to the parking lot. There, next to his BMW, stood a familiar yet strange figure—Fang Ruohai. His face was deathly pale as he stared at Xiao Ran silently.

Yangguang and Monkey reacted quickly. The former immediately shielded Xiao Ran with his tall frame, while Monkey drew his gun, ready for action. Xiao Ran couldn’t help but smile lightly, pushing Yangguang aside and waving his hand: “It’s fine!”

Losers are dangerous, but Xiao Ran wasn’t afraid at all. If he were afraid of even his defeated subordinates, he wouldn’t deserve his current achievements. Slowly walking up to Fang Ruohai, Fang Ruohai moved his hand slightly. Yangguang and Monkey were shocked and rushed forward, only to realize he had just taken out a pack of cigarettes.

He offered one to Xiao Ran, who shook his head slightly: “You know I don’t smoke!”

Fang Ruohai tried to appear calmer. With trembling hands, he lit the cigarette and took a deep drag before finally calming down: “I didn’t expect it to be you who won this time!”

“I’ve been winning all along; you just didn’t know it!” Xiao Ran smiled as he looked at the despondent man who seemed on the verge of suicide. He felt pity for Fang Ruohai—having spent his entire life working for the Fang family and even sacrificing his own happiness, only to have his father’s greed take away everything they had fought for. But what could be done? The Fang family’s two major wealth spikes in the past decade had come from marriages and mergers. This time, they were instead absorbed by Wen Bowen, which was quite normal. In business, it’s either win or lose; there’s no such thing as staying neutral.

“Yes, you’ve been winning against me all along; I just didn’t realize it!” Fang Ruohai stared at Xiao Ran, who kept smiling. Only now did he realize how much Xiao Ran had changed—from being inexperienced when they first did business to now scheming against him. From a cheerful and carefree man, he had become someone deep and reserved.

“Actually…” Fang Ruohai hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to explain something, but fearing that Xiao Ran might think he was showing weakness. After some thought, he decided to speak up—after all, he had lost everything; what was there to fear? “Actually, hiring someone to kill you wasn’t my idea!”

“I know. You’re not that kind of person.” Xiao Ran was well aware of Fang Ruohai’s indescribable pride; otherwise, he wouldn’t have come all this way just to compete with him.

“Thank you!” That thank you was sincere, even Sunlight and Monkey could tell. Fang Ruohai smiled bitterly. “I think I really understand why I lost to you. You actually knew what I was planning all along, but you tolerated it, hoping I could put pressure on the film distribution companies in Southeast Asia. Indirectly, that would help you transition from production to distribution, so you could take control of the distribution sector!”

Sunlight and Monkey were shocked. They had always protected Xiao Ran closely and knew him best. But after following him for so long, they had never seen him express such thoughts. If it were true, it was incredibly profound.

“You’re right. Sometimes I really can’t help but admire you. Unfortunately, from the day we signed the contract, it was destined that we wouldn’t be companions.” Xiao Ran felt a mix of emotions—this was the first opponent he had truly defeated in his life. He thought he had won, and won thoroughly, forcing Fang Ruohai to admit defeat.

In fact, Fang Ruohai’s speculation was correct. Xiao Ran had indeed planned to use him from the start. Despite a few setbacks along the way, everything was still under Xiao Ran’s control. With a faint smile, he said softly, “There are still a few things you haven’t figured out! The reason I tolerated you at first and didn’t punish you for betraying the three major companies was to use you to overshadow Phantom’s influence.”

As the saying goes, once you understand one thing, everything else becomes clear. With Xiao Ran’s hint, the already intelligent Fang Ruohai suddenly saw it all—his heart filled with bitterness. If he hadn’t fully accepted defeat before, now he truly knew he had lost, inevitably, it was fate.

Last year, Phantom captured half of the top ten rankings, including the box office champion. For a company that had just been established, such success was undoubtedly beneficial for its development. Yet it must not be overlooked that this was the film industry, specifically the highly competitive film industry in Hong Kong.

Phantom’s rise undoubtedly threatened the existence of other companies. At that time, Xiao Ran even believed that even Lei Kaitai would find it hard to tolerate Phantom’s success. This had nothing to do with personal relationships—it was simply a threat. For a company established just one year ago, it was extremely difficult to gain real influence in such an industry.

Therefore, to avoid the hostility and exclusion from other companies, Fang Ruohai became an ideal target. With Xiao Ran’s strategic withdrawal, Golden Harvest and Deppa were indeed persuaded to team up against Phantom. This was exactly what Xiao Ran wanted—he wanted to appear weak enough that Golden Harvest would disregard him.

The only thing he hadn’t anticipated was New Art City being acquired and its talents poached. But this turned out to be a good thing for him, as it improved his relationships with those at New Art City and Lei Kaitai. With Hailai Group’s backing of several billion dollars, it naturally shone even brighter, drawing away much of the attention and hostility that had been directed at Phantom.

Over the past six months, Phantom essentially gave up on the local box office, which was what Xiao Ran meant by “letting them have the local market.” During this time, Phantom quietly took control of the distribution rights of 30% of local production companies and successfully established direct connections with cinemas in Southeast Asia, securing distribution rights in many regions and countries.

By this point, Phantom had largely completed its transformation and survived its toughest days. Xiao Ran no longer needed to fear pressure or exclusion from Golden Harvest. He had originally planned to keep the Fang family around for a while longer, but the fact that they were the real masters behind the scenes clearly enraged him. Thus, he decided there was no need to keep them around, and Hailai had to be destroyed.

Realizing this, Fang Ruohai’s already pale and terrifying complexion turned even paler, shifting from blue to red. He never expected that he had been under Xiao Ran’s control from the very beginning. The feeling of failure was even worse than losing hundreds of billions in the stock market.

He experienced firsthand the horror of being controlled—like a slow-acting poison that gradually plunged one into inevitable fear over time, causing endless suffering.

Xiao Ran felt sympathy for Fang Ruohai but was also grateful to him. Without Fang Ruohai and the pressure from Golden Harvest, he would never have been able to grow so quickly, nor would he have come up with such cunning tactics. Sometimes, for some people, pressure is motivation.

Life is essentially a continuous struggle against opponents—sometimes against people, sometimes against fate, and sometimes against society. Xiao Ran was very lucky to find an opponent suitable for him, allowing him to grow through these struggles and gain greater strength to face even greater challenges in the future.

Fang Ruohai was now utterly disheartened; if possible, he would truly choose suicide to end his life. Looking at Xiao Ran with despair, the hostility in Fang Ruohai’s dull eyes had vanished. “I lost. Will you make me die?”
“Of course not!” Xiao Ran shook his head. Jokingly, if losing meant death, then who would be left in this world? With a light smile, he said, “I’m a businessman, not a killer. My goal is to defeat my opponent, not kill them! If it were you who won, you wouldn’t kill me either, right?”
“I understand!” Fang Ruohai nodded. He knew well that Xiao Ran wanted him dead—just one word would suffice to end his life. So saying this was giving him a chance to live. “Thank you!”
Fang Ruohai turned and walked away slowly. Xiao Ran stared at his sad and pitiful figure, unable to help but sigh with emotion. He knew very well that no one from the Fang family would appear before him again, because his silent alliance with Wen Bowen had pushed the Fang family to the brink. Fang Ruoxin could only end up divorced…
“He’s a great opponent!” Xiao Ran said gravely, unsure whether he was speaking to Yang Guang and Monkey or to himself. But he knew he had defeated the greatest opponent in his life, and stronger enemies still lay ahead…