Chapter 199: Taking Control of Jiahe

The next day, every citizen was preparing for the Spring Festival, while the high-ranking figures in the film industry suddenly became busy. For Zou Wenhuai, he had already invited many media reporters—he intended to announce that Jiahe would significantly increase actors’ salaries and also reveal that Jiahe would invest in ten large-scale productions costing over 40 million each this year.

One minute before 9 o’clock, Zou Wenhuai entered Jiahe’s headquarters. He had always appreciated this quality—punctuality. However, once inside, he noticed the employees’ expressions were strange, filled with an indescribable oddity and sadness.

Zou Wenhuai thought something might have happened to an employee, his heart suddenly tightening as he rushed back to his office. There, He Guanchang was waiting, pale-faced, along with several other key company executives, all looking extremely pale.

“What happened?” Zou Wenhuai felt goosebumps rising all over his body, chilled to the bone. These were all high-ranking executives in the company; such tension couldn’t be caused by a trivial matter. Moreover, he had an ominous premonition—that this was likely due to Shadow.

“Shadow held a press conference for the media just two minutes ago…” He Guanchang replied in a faint, almost dreamlike voice, “announcing that Shadow has officially taken control of Jiahe!”

Although it wasn’t the first time he heard this news, the other executives still felt as if their hearts were being squeezed painfully. Zou Wenhuai was stunned, completely shocked, unable to believe it: “Shadow doesn’t even hold a controlling stake in the company. How can they take control?”

“Qingtian Company is completely under Shadow’s control, which means they control Toei Company as well as 25% of the company’s shares!” He Guanchang wanted to cry. Years of hard work by him and his old friends had all turned into someone else’s property overnight; they were all just helping others succeed.

“But even so, they only control a portion of the shares. We don’t need to be afraid of them!” Zou Wenhuai was shocked, his mind racing—when exactly had Xiao Ran acquired Qingtian? But he quickly calmed down and asked a question, after all, he was an experienced businessman.

“Qingtian Company… the 25% they control…” He Guanchang could no longer speak. He knew Xiao Ran had a backup plan, but he hadn’t expected him to act so quickly.

“Qingtian Company…” Zou Wenhuai felt cold all over, his heart pounding violently as sweat beads the size of broad beans rolled down his forehead. “Has something happened to Qingtian Company?”

“The shares held by Qingtian Company were sold to Xiao Ran. Now Jiahe is in Xiao Ran’s hands!” He Guanchang cried out in pain and sorrow, “Lao Zou, I talked to Xiao Ran yesterday. If you hadn’t intended to confront him, he wouldn’t have tried to take over Jiahe. Why did you insist on your own way? Now the company we built from scratch is about to become someone else’s property. Are you happy now?”

“How… how is that possible…” Zou Wenhui felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest, pounding at an extreme speed. “But I checked before raising funds—It was Tianxia Investment Fund that held the shares in Xiadian!”
“Mr. Zou, that’s correct—indeed, it was Tianxia Investment Fund!” Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling entered the already crowded office with relaxed and cheerful steps. Strangely, there were also a few unrelated people behind them.
After scanning all the senior executives in the room, Xiao Ran stood with his hands behind his back, staring arrogantly at Zou Wenhui, who was clutching his heart, and said word by word, “Yesterday afternoon, I reached an agreement with Tianxia Fund. They decided to sell their shares in Xiadian Company to reorganize the company!”
A conspiracy! It was all a conspiracy! As Zou Wenhui’s heart pain intensified, he suddenly had a realization and understood everything. With all his strength, he rushed at Xiao Ran, shouting, “This is a conspiracy! It’s always been a con…”
His words were cut short as his body collapsed to the ground, still holding his heart—clearly suffering from a heart attack. Just as his head was about to hit the floor, Xiao Ran swiftly helped him up and said to the unrelated people behind him, “It’s your turn now!”
Then he turned to He Guanchang and the others and explained, “Mr. Zou has a heart condition. I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to bear this shock, so I called a doctor to come right away.”
He Guanchang and the other executives immediately forced smiles, confused… What kind of person was this Xiao Ran? He had painstakingly pushed Zou Wenhui to this situation and even brought a doctor to prevent Zou Wenhui from dying. They were truly puzzled—could there really be such kind-hearted people in business?
Xiao Ran looked around seriously and said softly, “I really admire Mr. Zou for leading you to defeat the Shaw Brothers and establish what could have been a successful Hong Kong film empire. Unfortunately, as a competitor, I have to defeat you, but I don’t want Mr. Zou to die because of this!”
These words made He Guanchang and the others smile bitterly again. What exactly was happening today? Even they were confused. But one thing was certain—Xiao Ran, who had seemed extremely hateful before, now didn’t seem hateful at all, because they were all businessmen and understood that his words were sincere.
It’s rare for anyone to harbor resentment toward a sincere person. Xiao Ran stared at He Guanchang, his gaze stern: “Mr. He, I demand an immediate board meeting!”
A board meeting! This meant Xiao Ran wanted to take control of Jiahé right away. In fact, he already had it, only lacking a formal title. Jiahé’s board had quite a few members, all senior executives within the company, including Cheng Long and Hong Jinbao.
The news spread quickly. Now, everyone present knew about the arrival of “The Shadow” at Jiahé, so it wasn’t surprising to see Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling, the two giants of “The Shadow,” there.

Looking at the people seated around the oval table, Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling exchanged a glance, both seeing the desire for victory in each other’s eyes. Wei Dongling no longer doubted that Xiao Ran could take control of Jiahe; now he even suspected that it was all part of Xiao Ran’s strategy.

Wei Dongling was right, but luck played a role as well as other factors. Indeed, Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling had a plan for Jiahe—one aimed at taking advantage of its heavy debts. However, when Xiao Ran learned that Jiahe was seeking financing, he became immediately interested.

Xiatiang Company was originally intended to be forcibly acquired by Tianxia Fund so it could be split up and sold. Just before the acquisition was set to proceed, Rong Xiaoyi received word from Xiao Ran to suspend the split plan and help him take control of Jiahe. So, Rong Xiaoyi had Xiatiang Company approach Jiahe on its own, eventually securing 25% of the shares for a contract value of three billion. As for Qingtian Company, it was purely by chance—at that time, Fang Xiaoqiang hadn’t yet completed his acquisition of Qingtian, and Toei tried to enter the Hong Kong market, taking the initiative—which happened to suit Xiao Ran’s plans perfectly.

Everything was unusually simple, though luck also played a role. In fact, even without controlling Toei, Xiao Ran could still achieve control of Jiahe, as long as he was willing to make concessions to Toei in certain areas; Toei would surely be willing to cooperate with him.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Jiahe was always within Xiao Ran’s sight, and everything Zou Wenhui did was nothing but a desperate struggle. Perhaps not exactly—if Zou Wenhui hadn’t actively sought financing and tried to bring in reinforcements to deal with Shadow, Xiao Ran would never have touched Jiahe, after all, he had deep feelings for the company; many of the films he admired in his youth were produced by it.

In any case, although Xiao Ran faced some difficulties this time to win, there was still great profit to be made through those difficulties. After splitting up and selling Xiatiang and Qingtian, Tianxia and Shadow could each earn at least six hundred million Hong Kong dollars, and they would also gain control of the heart of the turmoil—worth every bit of the effort.

However, for Xiao Ran at this moment, what he enjoyed most was the atmosphere around him. He loved the feeling of being looked up to, giving him the illusion of being an emperor standing high above.

To the directors present, Xiao Ran said just one concise sentence: “Starting today, Jiahe will cease all operations and immediately begin restructuring!”

After the meeting, He Guanchang rushed out to stop Xiao Ran and said with a pained expression, “President Xiao, can we avoid splitting up the company?”

“Uncle He, I understand how you feel,” Xiao Ran certainly did. If it were Shadow that was about to be split up, he would likely be equally distressed. “But you know very well that Jiahe is already failing; many of its systems can no longer keep up with the times. If we want to make a difference, we must take action!”

“I know, but it doesn’t have to be through splitting up!” He Guanchang was indeed sharp-eyed; as soon as Xiao Ran mentioned restructuring, he realized the plan to split up and sell the company. “Moreover, Jiahe can definitely strengthen Shadow. I’m sure you need it very much!”

“You’re wrong…” Xiao Ran suddenly turned around and stared at He Guanchang defiantly. “Jiahe is absolutely of no use to Shadow. The only reason I wanted to control Jiahe was to stop Mr. Zou from causing me trouble anymore.”
Xiao Ran indeed didn’t need Jiahe—Shadow’s current influence far exceeded what Jiahe could add. Moreover, since Xiao Ran had taken over Toei Company, it meant he had successfully opened up the Japanese market, truly breaking through major barriers. Now, no one in all of Asia could stop Shadow.
“Perhaps you can pass a message to Mr. Zou for me!” Xiao Ran smiled gently, a smile full of grace. “If I wish, I can make every word of mine a rule—no one dares to defy it!”
He Guanchang stared blankly at Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling’s retreating figures, suddenly feeling as though time and space had completely reversed. Back then, he and Zou Wenhuai both shared such grand ambitions, but as they aged, it became harder for them to pursue progress.
Now, Jiahe was in Xiao Ran’s hands, and it was Xiao Ran who set the rules. Yet, compared to them and Jiahe, Xiao Ran and Shadow had far more right to do so. Didn’t they? Watching those young figures fade into the distance, he thought: Perhaps once they left, an era of unified Hong Kong cinema would arrive.
Even Shaw Brothers in its early days hadn’t managed to unify the industry. Initially, Lu Yuntao, a highly ambitious boss, supported the film industry, standing alongside Shaw Brothers as two dominant forces. But unfortunately, Lu Yuntao lost his life in a plane crash, leading to the collapse of the film empire he built.
Later, Cathay, founded by Li Hanxiang who had defected from Shaw Brothers, challenged Shaw Brothers for years. But when Cathay finally faltered, Jiahe emerged. Shaw Brothers had never truly unified Hong Kong cinema; it had always been consumed by internal strife. Now, Shadow, led by Xiao Ran, was destined to unify the Hong Kong film industry—this was certain ever since Xiao Ran defeated the established powerhouse Jiahe.
For Wei Dongling, he admired Xiao Ran greatly. He admired how Xiao Ran had led Shadow to this point, unifying Hong Kong cinema in just a few years and even becoming the largest and most influential film company in Southeast Asia. Although Wei Dongling had contributed greatly himself, he still admired Xiao Ran.
To Xiao Ran, it was all just a game. Winning over Jiahe was actually too easy. He even missed the times when he competed with Fang Ruohai. Emotionally, he liked having a strong rival. Rationally, he told himself that having control over everything was the best.
After that, Zou Wenhuai completely withdrew from Jiahe, and all of its businesses were split up and sold. Its distribution contracts and land leases were taken over by Shadow. While Shadow made only tens of millions in profit from this, the distribution contracts they acquired were extremely valuable.
Interestingly, Lei Kaitai appeared again, this time bringing over a billion in cash to Xiao Ran. In the end, to gain another ally like Deppa, Xiao Ran decided to sell some of Jiahe’s distribution rights to Lei Kaitai.

During the Lantern Festival, Lei Kaitai acquired Jiahe’s production and distribution operations outright and renamed it Taihang Film Company. This long-established industry giant finally collapsed on this day of celebration, giving way to a completely new generation of film companies. The media humorously referred to the current state of the film industry as the “Phantom Car and Three Musketeers Era.” Phantom naturally became the leader of Hong Kong’s film industry, with Debao Tianluo and Taihang following as its three Musketeers, relying on Phantom for support.

Meanwhile, the Japanese film industry also experienced upheaval as Phantom took control of Toei. After selling off Toei’s unrelated businesses, it eventually gained full control over Toei, turning it into a subsidiary of Phantom. Qingtian and Shimoda were mercilessly sold off by the Power and World Funds, yielding profits of over a billion in total.

The Phantom era is approaching! But will it really come? Perhaps it won’t go as smoothly as we expect…

Chapter 200: On-Site Guidance

The Spring Festival has passed. For the Chinese, this marks the beginning of a new year. For Xiao Ran, his Asian distribution and sales network still lacks the most important link—South Korea. Yinghua Company had a theater chain in South Korea, which gradually became the country’s first formal theater chain through initial acquisitions and mergers.

However, having a theater chain doesn’t mean controlling South Korean cinema. Xiao Ran wanted more, such as South Korea’s largest distribution company, CJ…

At that time, South Korea’s film industry was still chaotic and young. Although some outstanding filmmakers had emerged, there was a lack of sufficient funding. Xiao Ran didn’t consider supporting South Korean cinema; instead, suppression was necessary. This meant using high-quality films to attract South Korean audiences to Hong Kong movies, making it difficult for South Korean cinema to develop significantly.

In fact, Xiao Ran was well aware that no matter how big Phantom became, it would be hard to achieve complete monopoly in the film market. Every country knew how to protect its own film industry. So, his goal was simply to replace Hollywood as the global mainstream. Just as Hollywood movies could be seen in every corner of the world over a decade later.

For now, he hadn’t planned to attract foreign filmmakers on a large scale, as Hong Kong still didn’t qualify as the center of Asian cinema. This status required support from the mainland market, along with strong technical capabilities and talent, to truly challenge Hollywood.

Currently, Phantom’s liquid assets had reached an unprecedentedly high figure—20 billion. Not to mention Phantom, even Cheung Shing probably didn’t have that much in liquid assets. Moreover, the film industry inherently requires a high level of liquidity, so Phantom basically didn’t need to worry about funding.

Still, keeping such a large sum in the bank wasn’t ideal. After discussing it with Wei Dongling, Xiao Ran decided to increase investment in Mingxuan Real Estate. After announcing Phantom’s entry into real estate, several plots under Phantom’s control saw their values soar, driving up prices in the surrounding areas as well.

It was then that Xiao Ran suddenly realized—this was exactly what Mo Huaien had predicted. Yet he had to admit that Mo Huaien’s move was spot-on. Land was gold, and with Shadow’s rapid growth, it was only a matter of time before they would enter the real estate sector. Mo Huaien had predicted accurately that Xiao Ran would invest in Mingxuan soon.

Xiao Ran touched his lips; his moustache had grown back again. With a quick thought, he came up with a plan. He simply instructed Power Investment to “accidentally” reveal Shadow’s intention to invest in a shopping mall on that piece of land, causing the surrounding land prices to rise sharply.

It was understandable—large companies like Shadow and Cheung Shing set benchmarks in the industry. Take Sun Hung Kai for example; if they set their sights on a piece of land and acted wisely, it could quickly spark a real estate boom, as many people were eager to profit from such large corporations.

The merger of East Germany and West Germany to form Shadow earned billions, and it also brought hundreds of millions to Fang Xiaoqiang himself. Though traveling around the world was exhausting, the sense of satisfaction was indescribable. Meanwhile, Xiao Ran was thinking about the collapse of the Soviet Union—perhaps he could make a fortune in oil by then.

However, he wasn’t in a hurry about this. Albert had already established subsidiaries in the mainland and the Soviet Union, all of which were subsidiaries of Shadow. With Albert handling things and sending two capable people over, the problems would surely be resolved.

On the side of ATV, thanks to Xiao Ran’s creativity, many excellent programs were produced, helping ATV win against TVB. With Shadow’s massive funding backing them, TVB employees either switched jobs or agreed to be sidelined after reaching deals with ATV. Everyone knew that with Shadow’s support, ATV’s actors could achieve fame in the film industry if lucky, whereas TVB lacked such a advantage.

One day, Xiao Ran was in Shenzhen, Guangdong, where the crew of *Terminator 2* was filming outdoor scenes. The lead actor was Su Renyao, while the one playing the Liquid Metal Man was another relatively thin actor—Zhang Wenle, a promising talent discovered while filming *Dark Flower*. The female lead was an actress from a local troupe in Guangdong, well-suited for action movies.

It’s worth mentioning that Su Renyao was now one of Shadow’s top stars. But he was the only big star on the set; Zhang Wenle and the female lead, Miao Liyun, weren’t very well-known. Today, they were filming the chase scene in a ditch. It was difficult to find a suitable location in Hong Kong, so producer Liu Mei simply chose to film it on the mainland.

Liu Mei had joined Shadow, but after only working on one experimental project, she decided to hone her skills first and volunteered to start as a producer. Initially, Xiao Ran wasn’t in favor of her taking on the role, as it was a highly masculine film, and a woman as a producer might make it too delicate.

Unexpectedly, Liu Mei had a rather boyish spirit and quickly arranged everything perfectly, earning high praise from director Chen Musong. In fact, the ditch they were filming in was still under construction in Shenzhen. Since filming this scene would cause considerable damage, it required significant investment.

The setting of this film is Hong Kong, and choosing this location was a last resort. Fortunately, editing can compensate for this shortcoming. To give the scenes a Hong Kong urban vibe, Liu Mei even spent a lot of money decorating the area around the ditch during the preparation stage. This way, there are basically no flaws left. The scene has been mostly filmed over the past couple of days; only the explosion scene remains unfinished. In Liu Mei’s plan, this explosion scene should feature a real explosion, so they even invited someone from the public security bureau to oversee it to ensure everything goes smoothly. Just thinking of the chase scenes in Chen Musheng’s film “The Fury on the Streets” gives Xiao Ran great confidence in this scene. Seriously, few films can create such classic chase scenes with a low budget, and Chen Musheng is one of them—probably even the best in Hong Kong. Although Wu Yusen is good at gunfight scenes, he may not be as skilled at chase scenes. The most typical example is the sea chase in “Face Change,” which seems like an ordinary chase battle to Asians but is extremely intense from a Western perspective. In this scene, Su Renyao sits coldly on a motorcycle and shoots at the large truck, blowing it up. What troubles Chen Musheng is how to film this scene. He can’t really put Zhang Wenle in the car and let it explode, but if not, they’ll have to rely on editing to achieve the effect, which lacks the visceral intensity. Xiao Ran is also slightly surprised—he didn’t expect Chen Musheng to have realized this. It seems the changes he brought about are truly significant. In this era, when shooting wide shots of explosions, props are usually used instead of real people, making many shots appear extremely fake. Chen Musheng, who should have been part of that norm, came up with this idea, showing great change. Xiao Ran is pleased that his innovative concepts have been adopted by Hong Kong’s film industry, meaning Hong Kong movies are gradually undergoing a qualitative transformation. What kind of explosion scene is the most thrilling? A wide-angle explosion shot is the most thrilling, delivering the strongest visual impact. Usually, shots start close and then pull back to capture the entire explosion in frame. But Chen Musheng doesn’t want to do that. He likes the technique used in Xiao Ran’s “Spy Change.” Without exaggeration, even after over a year, that shot remains one of the most thrilling explosion scenes in Asian film history. To maintain this status, it’s not about making the explosion as huge as possible; it’s about on-set coordination and shot composition. Chen Musheng wants to use this technique, but the issue of using a prop person troubles him. When he mentions it to Xiao Ran, Xiao Ran is briefly stunned before bursting into laughter. He calls Zhong Zhihang, the head of the special effects team, and passes the problem to him. Zhong Zhihang thinks about it, forms an idea in his mind, and quickly gives an answer: “President Xiao, theoretically, it’s no problem. We can use computer techniques to move him there.”

Xiao Ran suddenly remembered “The Legend of the Unconquered.” It was the first Hong Kong film to use computer special effects on a large scale, marking the birth of special effects in Hong Kong. In that film, the special effects artists paid extreme attention to every detail, including the reflection and lighting of each water droplet—this level of care was exactly what was needed.
“Then, have you considered…” Xiao Ran said with a light smile, “the attacks caused by flames or other objects on the characters during explosions, as well as the effects of those flames and objects on them? Things like lighting and shadows, as well as the projection of flames—I think all these need to be addressed to avoid any flaws!”
Zhong Zhihang and Chen Musheng stared at Xiao Ran with wide mouths. What he proposed was far too exaggerated; achieving such detail would take countless hours and money! After a long while, Zhong Zhihang finally said with a wry smile, “But this will probably take a lot of time. You know, we also need to calculate based on the visuals to achieve such precision!”
“I want perfection. Whether it’s this film or future ones, I demand perfection,” Xiao Ran said casually, waving his hand lightly. “There are already over a hundred people working in the special effects department. Soon, I’ll separate you from the animation team, and by then, strong skills and a dedicated attitude will be essential.”
Chen Musheng and Zhong Zhihang discussed it for a while before approaching Xiao Ran and saying, “Brother Ran, I think we should use the floor explosion technique from ‘Treason.’ What do you think?”
Xiao Ran paused for a moment before showing a proud expression. He hadn’t expected even Chen Musheng to want to use his technique. After briefly observing the surroundings, he immediately concluded, “That technique isn’t suitable here. You should try something else!”
Under Chen Musheng’s confused gaze, Xiao Ran pointed at the surroundings and explained, “This is a ditch, while originally it was a building. The space inside the ditch is narrow, but the area around the building is wide. The sense of space and distance is completely different. You need to remind the cameraman of this, and also pay attention to this difference in distance and space when adding sound effects later.”
Chen Musheng suddenly understood. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have missed this issue, but he really liked that explosion scene and wanted to use it, so he had overlooked it. Thanks to Xiao Ran’s reminder, he realized that since the scene took place in the air, it was highly three-dimensional, and it definitely couldn’t be handled in the same way here.
Xiao Ran was also thinking about how he would handle this shot if it were him. In fact, the previous chase scenes were great, but the key was here. Filming a chase was essentially a process of building momentum and emotion, like a bowstring—building tension among the audience, which needed to be properly controlled to deliver the satisfying payoff.
To put it more clearly, the final scene of the chase was like the climax of sex, offering the most intense pleasure. So, if this shot wasn’t handled well, it meant the entire chase sequence had failed.

After observing the surroundings, Xiao Ran had an idea. A dramatic explosion scene relies on depth and sensory impact, making the camera angle extremely important. Xiao Ran smiled slightly—he thought he had a solution.

Chen Musheng was quite frustrated. The entire crew was waiting for him to come up with a concrete concept, but his earlier ideas had already been completely overturned by Xiao Ran. Moreover, the alternative approaches he had thought of were rather ordinary, which put him in an awkward position.

“Since I’m the producer, why not offer a suggestion?” Xiao Ran was the producer of this film. When it came to controlling such large-scale action scenes, neither Wu Yusen nor Eddy could compare to him, so only he could serve as the producer. “If in this scene, we have that heavy truck explode and tumble countless times in the air, combined with powerful post-production sound effects, as long as the camera angle is right, the effect will definitely be impressive.”

“You mean…” Chen Musheng’s eyes lit up immediately. This was indeed a good approach, though implementing it might pose some difficulties.

Xiao Ran smiled. He already had a detailed plan for this scene. He waved at the script girl, signaling her to bring a piece of paper and pen. Then he began drawing on the paper while explaining, “We can try this approach. Let’s visualize the scene. First, Su Renyao blows up the car. At the same time, for some reason, the car flips into the air, passing above Su Renyao’s position—this height needs to be at least three meters. We can use a close-up camera angle to create a sense of pressure as this massive object sweeps through the air.”

“And there happens to be a bridge pier right there. This is crucial when determining the distance—the car must land at just the right distance to bounce a few times.” Xiao Ran was fully immersed in the scene, acting more like a director than a wealthy man. “After bouncing a few times, it coincidentally hits the bridge pier. What do you think of that effect?”

Chen Musheng closed his eyes and reimagined the scene in his mind, adjusting the angle. He still felt the scene had sufficient impact. However, it seemed to lack something very strange… Suddenly, he realized it—there was a lack of power from the camera.

Seeing Chen Musheng’s expression, Xiao Ran guessed what he was thinking. With a light laugh, he tossed the paper aside and stepped forward to the center of the ditch. He tapped the spot where Su Renyao was supposed to be and pointed upward. “We need a camera here. I think you understand what I mean!”

Chen Musheng realized this was the camera angle Xiao Ran had mentioned earlier to create a sense of pressure. He watched as Xiao Ran stepped forward to another spot. “Assuming that’s where the car lands, we need a camera to capture that area.”

“And the bouncing part can be filmed by another camera…” Xiao Ran went to the bridge pier and pointed upward. “The flames need to be intense. We need a camera positioned above to capture the flames rising, and another camera to record the moment the car hits the bridge pier. That should cover it!”

Chen Musheng pondered for a moment again and realized that this approach indeed required a sense of perspective and too many cameras, all while maintaining extreme smoothness. Just as he was about to speak, his secretary An Yuxuan hurried over to Xiao Ran and whispered, “President Xiao, there’s been an accident!”
Xiao Ran frowned slightly and instructed Chen Musheng, “Have Liu Mei consult the professor of mechanics about the principles of these bounces and leaps!” Then he left, leaving Chen Musheng confused about what exactly had happened in Hong Kong…