Chapter 173: The King’s Arrival

Upon reading this, Xiao Ran uncovered the answer and couldn’t help but beam with joy. He exclaimed, “Let’s look forward to the winner of the 8th Golden Statue Award for Best Actor—our second three-peat tonight… Zhou Runfa, for ‘The Story of Ah Lang’.”
At that moment, Fa Ge seemed frozen as if under magic. He finally understood what Xiao Ran had felt earlier—a sense of joy so intense it felt like his heart might explode, as if he had received approval from the whole world.
Standing up, Fa Ge accepted congratulations from others while walking onto the stage. Xiao Ran was even happier than him. If Fa Ge was happy just because he won the award, Xiao Ran was happy for far more reasons—he was also pleased that he had indirectly shaped history by pushing Fa Ge to the pinnacle.
At this moment, he reveled in it. He finally realized that not everything needed to be done personally, nor did every honor have to be claimed by oneself. As long as he could silently manipulate things from behind, that feeling was truly unparalleled. If one could experience what it was like to be an emperor, then they could understand Xiao Ran’s current feeling—the power to control life and death.
His confidence swelled. He told himself that he could manipulate the outcomes of the Golden Statue Awards without anyone noticing. Then, surely, he could control Hong Kong cinema and even world cinema. That was his ultimate goal!
While Xiao Ran was lost in self-admiration, Fa Ge stared blankly at the stage for a moment. After pondering, he finally spoke with a smile, “When I heard I won this award, I thought I wouldn’t compete for it anymore. But now, after thinking it over, I realize I was afraid—afraid that newer talents might surpass me.”
The audience listened silently as Fa Ge spoke from the stage, while Xiao Ran smiled at this actor who was destined to become a legend. Suddenly, Fa Ge laughed and said, “Thinking back to what Xiao Ran said earlier, I feel like a fool. If it can inspire newcomers to strive harder, I’m willing to lose a hundred times. I want to tell every actor that you all have the chance to stand here and enjoy this honor—as long as you work hard and have a bit of luck!”
Fa Ge’s words were powerful and decisive, and the impact of Xiao Ran’s earlier antics faded considerably. The audience erupted in thunderous applause. Everyone respected Fa Ge, and they admired his words even more.
As for Fa Ge’s speech, Xiao Ran couldn’t say much beyond praising it. He realized that Fa Ge was increasingly able to understand his intentions. With such words from Fa Ge, more people would likely want to enter the film industry and work harder there.
This was exactly the outcome Xiao Ran wanted—anything that benefited Hong Kong cinema pleased him. The last award was for Best Film, which was a no-brainer. Everyone knew it would almost certainly go to Shadow Hand.

This award indeed went to “Dark Flowers.” When stepping onto the stage to receive it, Xiao Ran said only one sentence: “Tonight’s brilliance belongs solely to Shadow Company. Let’s all celebrate this great victory!” Just these words caused everyone on Shadow Company’s side to erupt in cheers. After that was the party. By now, the Golden Statue Awards took great care to cater to Xiao Ran’s special preferences, even providing him with a drink from his personal list. This clearly reflected the sudden rise in Xiao Ran’s status and influence.

The three major companies were almost completely defeated, with only the Best Actress award going to Jiahé, which barely saved some face for this established film company. Yang Qi and Pan Disheng knew well that, as Xiao Ran said, this night belonged to Shadow Company, and every other company was its underdog.

After deep reflection, both Yang Qi and Pan Disheng came to the same conclusion: Shadow Company’s strength was now unstoppable, and its expansion trend could not be halted. They understood that perhaps starting from that night, the era when Shadow Company would dominate the world was approaching.

Since they couldn’t stop it, why not go with the flow? They remembered the rumors within the industry about Xiao Ran’s ambition. If they had still held a sliver of hope of defeating Shadow Company before, tonight’s decisive victory marked the arrival of Shadow Company’s era—a era ruled by a king.

Though this sounded exaggerated and artistic, it was an absolute fact that Shadow Company, with its immense financial power and creative strength, had already brought under its control over 40% of the production companies in Hong Kong. After learning from Xiao Ran’s habit of conducting thorough research before making decisions, they gained full insight through data.

As of February 11, 1989, Shadow Company controlled the distribution of at least 40% of the production companies in Hong Kong. In terms of market share, it held 37%, but in terms of box office revenue, it accounted for nearly half—meaning that the films distributed by Shadow Company accounted for almost half of the local box office earnings.

In foreign markets, the figures were even more alarming. So far, aside from Japan, where the rising value of the yen forced Xiao Ran to abandon his plans to acquire cinemas, cinema chains in South Korea had already been acquired before various restrictions were imposed. Nearly all countries and regions in Southeast Asia now had Shadow Company’s cinema chains, with their films accounting for 60% of Hong Kong movies in foreign markets and 80% of the box office revenue.

With Shadow Company’s current strength, as well as the development it had achieved, Yang Qi, Pan Disheng, Zou Wenhui, and He Guanchang all understood that as long as Shadow Company didn’t make mistakes and continued to maintain its strong creative capacity, there would be no way for them to overtake it.

Moreover, after everything that had happened that night, coupled with Xiao Ran’s usual behavior and attitude, his charisma in the eyes of others had greatly increased—this was personal charisma. Having such an outstanding opponent made it difficult for them to defeat him. As businessmen, they knew well that waiting for their opponent to make a mistake wasn’t a wise strategy. So they had no choice but to set aside their jealousy and follow Xiao Ran in challenging Hollywood.

If they lacked financial resources, they would take out loans to finance their efforts. With Shadow Company’s success as a model, it seemed that the industry leaders were now full of confidence in competing with Hollywood, rather than harboring the pessimism of before.

If it were someone else, they might consider other methods, such as sending people to cause trouble at the movie theaters—some less honorable tactics—to deal with Phantom. But they all knew exactly what Xiao Ran could do, what he should do, and what he would do. The devastating defeat of Fang Ruohai was still fresh in their minds, along with the death of Ghost King Dong, serving as a stark warning to anyone who tried to confront Phantom or Xiao Ran.

Under such circumstances, their choices became very limited, or rather, they were unwilling to make any other choices. Especially after seeing how karaoke quickly became popular in high-consumption regions like Japan and Taiwan within just half a year, they seemed to understand Xiao Ran’s intention behind having them invest.

The only one who still hadn’t given up was Jiahe. Zou Wenhui was puzzled as to how Xiao Ran could rise so rapidly in just a few years. It was actually easy to understand—just like the rise of DreamWorks in history, the film industry is a place where miracles can easily happen. It’s not only directors and actors who can create miracles, but also film companies.

However, Xiao Ran was luckier than his counterpart—people in his area hadn’t fully realized the importance of distribution. So, his counterpart could only reluctantly hand over overseas distribution rights to the seven major companies, while Xiao Ran was able to distribute Phantom’s films throughout Southeast Asia.

The next day, the media across Hong Kong went wild, using various eye-catching headlines to attract readers’ attention. Naturally, the New Paper, under Shuxiang Media, was the most enthusiastic, using the headline “Phantom’s Wind Sweeps Through Hong Kong” to lavish praise on its parent company.

Under normal circumstances, the New Paper’s approach would have been dismissed. But that day, no one thought so, because many believed this might become the greatest Golden Horse Awards ceremony ever.

Calling it “greatest” might be an exaggeration, but years later, everyone would refer to this edition as unsurpassable. While Phantom’s success was impressive, the episode of Xiao Ran proposing to Lin Qingxia was absolutely unmatched.

It was also the most captivating Golden Horse Awards ceremony, as ATV’s viewership that night reached as high as 90%. According to later investigations, aside from those who went to the movies that day, everyone else was watching the awards show without exception.

No one ever surpassed that viewership rate again, even though ATV’s executives, who were always on Phantom’s side, would complain that Xiao Ran hadn’t informed them in advance—otherwise, the advertising fees that night would have been astronomical.

Besides the New Paper, every newspaper, even those important and unimportant ones across Southeast Asia, covered the Golden Horse Awards, describing Phantom’s complete victory as inevitable. This indirectly contributed greatly to promoting both the awards and Phantom. Of course, Xiao Ran certainly wouldn’t pay them any advertising fees.

On the third day, Power magazine, also under Shuxiang, released a special issue with Xiao Ran on the cover and a picture of him proposing to Lin Qingxia on the back. In bold letters on the cover was a fact that had already become reality: “The King Has Arrived!”

One of the articles analyzed the situation with exceptional precision, presenting countless solid pieces of evidence to prove that Phantom Company was indeed the undisputed king of Hong Kong’s film industry. With this complete victory tonight, Phantom has become the most influential film company in Southeast Asia. No other film company can shake its dominance in this vast and complex region.

The article’s analysis was spot on. Hong Kong films already had a wide influence in Southeast Asia, and at least 80% of the upcoming Korean films were plagiarized from them. They also had a strong market in Japan, with even a large number of die-hard fans. Thus, Hong Kong films were at their absolute peak between 1987 and 1994, and it’s truly a pity they failed to seize this opportunity to reach even greater heights.

When Phantom emerged, it overpowered Hollywood in 1988, with films like “Spy Change” defeating so-called Hollywood blockbusters in numerous countries and regions. Driven by this success, Hong Kong films gained even more loyal fans. Therefore, it’s well-founded to say that within Southeast Asia, no company other than Hollywood has the ability to challenge Phantom’s position.

Anyway, Xiao Ran had finally completed the first step of his goal—dominating Hong Kong’s film industry. His second step still required more effort. Yet, we have every reason to believe that with Phantom’s strength, the ultimate goal may not be far off.

That night, the celebration banquet personally organized by Wei Dongling became a gathering place for all the stars and filmmakers in Hong Kong. All fourteen award winners were present, including Mei Yanfang, who won an award for her role in “Red Lipstick” produced by Cathay-Keris.

At the Regal Hotel, which Xiao Ran preferred, rather than the other Regal Hotel, in the most lavishly decorated hall, everyone cheered for Phantom’s tremendous victory. It seemed like an impossible task—had it not been for the Golden Horse Awards’ reluctance to award prizes to Phantom, turning this edition into a complete Phantom-dominated event, Ai Jia could have won the award as well.

Even so, Xiao Ran knew, and everyone in Hong Kong knew, that the only real winner of this event was Phantom. This edition of the Golden Horse Awards celebrated Phantom’s glory, witnessed not only the love between Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia but also the true rise of an empire in filmmaking.

Wei Dongling and Xiao Ran stood on a makeshift stage. Initially, Xiao Ran didn’t want to say anything. But everyone seemed captivated by the depth in his words and actively suggested he speak, calling out louder and louder.

So, Xiao Ran, Wei Dongling, and Lin Qingxia stepped onto the stage. Xiao Ran looked around at the over a hundred filmmakers, company employees, and Phantom friends selected to attend the celebration, all quiet and waiting for his words.

Gazing at the sea of faces below, Xiao Ran felt his nose sting. He spoke loudly, “I don’t like tears or crying, but right now, I really long to cry heartily. Phantom has finally achieved unprecedented success. This isn’t the credit of just you, me, or him—it’s the credit of all of us.”

“Work is always exhausting, but even after feeling tired, we still have to keep working hard, because whether it’s you, me, or him, we all know…” Xiao Ran’s tone rose: “We all know that the achievements of Phantom will never stop here. Whether we’re front-line workers or behind-the-scenes staff, or even the audience, each of us is helping to build an empire of cinema—a Phantom that keeps growing! You are the heroes of Phantom! And the heroes of Hong Kong cinema!”
At this point, Xiao Ran was so emotional that his voice choked up. He turned sharply to look at Wei Dongling, saying nothing, and simply hugged him tightly. Sometimes, men don’t need to say anything—Wei Dongling could feel Xiao Ran’s gratitude. Without Wei Dongling, Phantom would at most be a production company, not the distribution company it is today!
When they separated, the smile in Wei Dongling’s eyes and his tender gaze showed he was equally moved. Every Phantom employee in the audience was also deeply excited; they had all come a long way, and each of them was worthy of pride.
A strange scene unfolded—many Phantom employees were moved to tears by Xiao Ran’s deeply emotional words. Not to mention them, even Xiao Ran, who had never cried since he was a child, almost shed tears.
The celebrities and behind-the-scenes workers were also inspired by Xiao Ran’s passionate speech, recalling the seriousness and dedication required when filming. They used to think it was too exhausting, but at that moment, they felt that all their efforts were worth it.
As for the “Phantom Friends,” they were simply touched by Xiao Ran’s words, proving that he truly had a talent for moving people. Although he didn’t deliberately try to be emotional, his words came from the heart. Yet sometimes, sincerity is indeed what truly touches people— isn’t that right?
Xiao Ran wrapped his arms around Lin Qingxia’s waist, closed his eyes briefly to savor the emotion a little longer, then quietly looked down at the audience and said in a deeply emotional tone, “There are two things I’m most lucky about in my life. The first is being able to share the rest of our leisure time with Lin Qingxia. I’m willing to share everything outside of work with her.”
Everyone listened quietly to Xiao Ran’s speech. His words were simple, yet filled with undeniable sincerity. His gaze met the smiles in everyone’s eyes, and he emphasized his point with strong gestures: “And the other thing I’m most lucky about is being able to work with such outstanding people like you, and share the rest of my working years with you all. Tonight’s glory belongs to you— you are my greatest pride and honor in life!”
“President Xiao, we are just as proud of you. It is only under your leadership and that of President Wei that the company can move forward in a better direction. You are also our pride and honor, and we will take pride in working at Phantom for the rest of our lives!” Everyone shouted in unison, as if they had been trained.
This is a truly united company, isn’t it? With their dedication and the leadership of Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling, Phantom will ultimately fulfill Xiao Ran’s vision…