Chapter 201: Smoke of War

After dealing with Jiahe, what else in Hong Kong’s film industry required Xiao Ran to return in person? Just half an hour earlier, the head of the Film and Television Department announced to the media that, for the development of Hong Kong-produced films, they would relax the registration requirements for film companies, lift previous restrictions, and abolish annual financial audits!

This was already suspicious—did the Film and Television Department really have the audacity to relax these regulations? The British government in Hong Kong was well aware of the rampant gang activity there; it had only become less overt in recent years for certain reasons. If not for Xiao Ran keeping them in check, which gang wouldn’t want to invade the film industry and carve out a share of the profits?

Now, by relaxing the registration requirements, the restrictions previously in place to keep gangs and those seeking quick profits out were lifted—meaning the British government was deliberately allowing such people to disrupt the industry.

What shocked Xiao Ran even more was that the British government had made this decision without consulting him. What did this imply? His mind raced as he tried to find an answer amidst the confusion.

Remember, Xiao Ran was now the de facto ruler of Hong Kong’s film industry. It was impossible for the British government to enact any policy without consulting him. Just like last year when the film rating system was divided into four levels, the head of the Film and Television Department had personally visited Xiao Ran to hear his opinion before finalizing the split into AB levels.

What angered Xiao Ran even more was that the British government implemented this decision immediately. That meant that during the time it took him to return to Hong Kong, a hundred film companies might have already been registered.

It was Wei Dongling’s secretary who came to pick Xiao Ran up at the border. Once in the car, Xiao Ran closed his eyes, steadied himself, and asked in a low voice, “Tell me everything about this incident—leave no detail unmentioned!”

“Yes, after the incident, President Wei sent people to investigate…” The secretary nodded, realizing the seriousness of the matter, and began to report to Xiao Ran.

Everything happened so suddenly that Wei Dongling couldn’t find anything. But it wasn’t entirely useless—he managed to gather information on a few companies that appeared right after the regulations were relaxed. The most surprising one was Hongguo Film Company, jointly invested in by Guoli and Hongwei, with a total investment of 2 billion.

Upon hearing this news, Wei Dongling immediately went to see the head of the Film and Television Department but couldn’t even get a meeting, as the latter avoided him under various pretexts. It seemed as if someone had orchestrated this—within just half a day, four companies had been registered. However, aside from Hongguo, the others were all production companies. In other words, among the newly registered companies, only Hongguo posed a threat.

Hongwei! Guoli! Xiao Ran continued to close his eyes, thinking calmly. What exactly was Mo Huaien’s motive? Was it for him or for profit? It was obvious even to a fool that the British government had acted without consulting Shadow, and they had even ensured Hongguo was registered first—this was clearly aimed at Shadow.

What exactly had Mo Huaien gotten his hands on? The film industry department? Unlikely! Just this alone involved the Trade and Industry Bureau, the Science and Technology Bureau, and the Treasury Bureau—issues related to the Financial Secretary. And the Financial Secretary was a foreigner…
At this thought, Xiao Ran felt a chill run down his spine. He considered a possibility: it was likely the Hong Kong-British government behind this. Why? What gain could they have? Xiao Ran couldn’t help but smile bitterly—was it really necessary to think further? A chaotic film industry would definitely bring many benefits to the Hong Kong-British government, and it would also allow them to leave a mess behind—how perfect.
When he arrived at the company, Wei Dongling was already pondering the whole situation, also suspecting it was connected to the Hong Kong-British government. Otherwise, why choose such a timing to pull this stunt? Could it be that the Hong Kong-British government really no longer wanted to make money from the film industry?
Xiao Ran arrived at the company soon after. After meeting Wei Dongling, they exchanged opinions without any wasted words. Upon learning everything, Xiao Ran sneered. If the Hong Kong-British government wanted to get involved, then he might as well put some pressure on them. Perhaps there was no need to rush—after all, Hongguo still posed a threat.
Since Mo Huaien was willing to charge in headfirst, he couldn’t blame himself! Xiao Ran thought coldly. Initially, Mo Huaien had nearly driven Ming Xuan into bankruptcy, but he hadn’t taken it seriously. But now that Mo Huaien dared to enter his domain, he definitely wouldn’t be polite.
Just as they were talking, Guan Xin arrived and looked at Xiao Ran calmly. “Do you want higher-ups to apply pressure for you?”
“No need, not for now,” Xiao Ran replied with a faint smile before suddenly freezing. He thought it was likely that pressure from the mainland on the Hong Kong-British government had exposed his political stance, making them suspicious of him and leading to today’s situation.
Closing his eyes, he stood quietly in front of his desk, his fingers gently tapping the surface—not the intense rhythm of negotiation, but a softer pace of thought. Xiao Ran had always believed this helped his mind become more flexible. Suddenly, a faint smile appeared on his face.
Opening his eyes abruptly, Xiao Ran made his smile even more relaxed and said loudly to Guan Xin, “Since a few have already been exposed, losing a few more is definitely no problem! Master, can you and those guys under Liang Kun control them?”
“No problem!” Guan Xin replied calmly with a hint of pride. If he couldn’t even control gangsters, how could he stand firm? “Just tell them what you want them to do. Higher-ups said that before 1997, as long as ordinary citizens’ interests aren’t harmed, we can do whatever we want.”
“Great!” Xiao Ran’s smile grew brighter. “They want to enter the film industry, right? Now I’ll give them that opportunity. And I’ll cover the cost for them—but it has to be enough!”
Guan Xin stared at Xiao Ran in confusion, not quite understanding his meaning. Wei Dongling racked his brains before suddenly having an epiphany and bursting into laughter. Pointing at Xiao Ran, he said, “You kid are really clever—using this situation to see what they do!”

“A few companies have been registered so far—how is that enough…” Xiao Ran’s smile at this moment was the epitome of hiding knives behind a smile: “How about letting those guys register dozens more? I’m really curious to see how the Hong Kong-British government feels!”
Xiao Ran had no idea what the Hong Kong-British government was thinking, but within one night, dozens more film companies appeared out of nowhere, which was quite alarming. At least the Secretary for Security personally ordered the Commercial Crime Investigation Unit to investigate those companies immediately. This put the officers in the unit in a tough spot, and needless to say, complaints abounded.
Although Guan Xin was highly skilled, his business acumen was… Wei Dongling certainly understood this well—probably better than anyone else—knowing exactly how effective this tactic of riding the wave was. Initially, the Hong Kong-British government imposed restrictions due to pressure from large protests in the film industry. Now, the excuse for lifting those restrictions was that after years of scrutiny, it had been confirmed that none of the film companies were involved with the underworld, so it was time to lift the restrictions.
Strictly speaking, Xiao Ran had no objection to lifting the registration restrictions, especially after he had taken control of Hong Kong’s underworld. It would be ideal to lift these restrictions. But for such a thing to happen without consulting the four industry giants clearly showed that they were at odds with them. Although coincidences were possible, the likelihood was extremely low.
He thought he needed to counterattack. What kind of counterattack? If Xiao Ran wanted to, he could even trigger a mass protest involving tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong at any time. But he didn’t want to risk undermining his highly neutral status between the underworld and the legitimate world. After all, not many people knew that Xiao Ran was the godfather of the underworld.
Why allow, or even encourage, the underworld to register? This was Xiao Ran’s contingency plan. Wei Dongling only guessed that Xiao Ran intended to let the underworld enter the industry to provide a pretext. But he didn’t realize that Xiao Ran’s ultimate goal was to put pressure on the Hong Kong-British government to back down. He wanted to use this contingency plan to show them that in Hong Kong, it wasn’t just Li Ka-shing who they couldn’t afford to anger—Xiao Ran too was someone they couldn’t offend. Without pressure from the mainland, he could rely solely on his own cards to force the British to comply.
“Mo Huaien, Hongwei, Guoli, Liyou…” Xiao Ran murmured to himself, repeating these names, trying to find connections between them: “Guoli, Liyou, and Hongwei have all been investigated. Liyou has always been Guoli’s biggest backing bank—I suspect there’s something fishy here. Guoli and Hongwei used to have a business investment relationship, but things probably aren’t that simple now!”
Wei Dongling also sat in his chair, constantly turning his pen as he thought. Everyone has a specific way of thinking—Xiao Ran preferred to move his fingers to aid his thinking. Guoli held a controlling stake in South Korea’s Shijie, and with Liyou Bank’s support and assets worth over 12 billion, it made it impossible for Xiao Ran to acquire it.

Joking aside, he just doesn’t understand business that well, but he’s also aware that even if he makes money from such an acquisition, it would still be a loss. Wei Dongling thought for a while and still believed it was unlikely for Mo Huaien to pose any threat to Shadow: “How about this? Let Mo Huaien be alone; there’s no need to touch him. He can hardly shake our position; at most, he’ll only create more intense competition.”
“That’s impossible. If I compromise this time, next time anyone will dare to challenge Shadow!” Xiao Ran said lightly. He was originally magnanimous and didn’t intend to pursue Mo Huaien for scheming against his father, but now this happened again—it was outright a challenge to his authority. “Moreover, he might not have any good intentions coming here. There will be competition, but it’s likely to be vicious.”
Thinking of this, Xiao Ran had a sudden idea and slammed the table: “I’ve got it! Since he’s here, we must use actors. But since Mo Huaien barged in recklessly, he’s probably afraid we won’t give him actors, so…”
“So, he’s very likely to target actors, no, even filmmakers!” Wei Dongling also stood up excitedly, slamming the table. “And big stars like Fa Ge and other filmmakers haven’t signed long-term contracts with Shadow, so it’s entirely possible for him to succeed.”
Top stars like Zhou Runfa, Liu Hua, and Su Renyao are basically unlikely to sign long-term contracts with any company. They’re not newcomers who need to be promoted; they’re willing to sign multiple contracts to gain fame and trade future profits for current success.
Don’t assume just because Fa Ge and the others are close to Xiao Ran that they’ll definitely sign long-term contracts with Shadow. The reason they’re called Shadow’s people is that they basically only film for Shadow and take its side. So, if Mo Huaien offers high prices to sign some top artists, it’s definitely possible.
After pondering for a moment, a strange faint smile appeared on Xiao Ran’s face: “Since he’s likely to need artists, why not give them to him? We’ll give him as many as he wants!”
“But won’t the company suffer losses like this?” Wei Dongling stared at Xiao Ran with wide eyes. Sometimes he found Xiao Ran’s methods truly extreme. “And Mo Huaien isn’t stupid. If a large number of people flock to him, he’ll definitely suspect a conspiracy!”
“What if there’s a conspiracy?” Xiao Ran couldn’t help but laugh loudly, a funny laugh. “If it were you, having these stars’ contracts in hand would make him feel a bit more at ease, even if there’s a conspiracy. The most important thing is, if he wants to make movies, he needs actors. Even if he knows it’s a conspiracy, he still has to use them!”
Wei Dongling thought for a while. Indeed, Mo Huaien had no choice but to use them, even if he knew there was a conspiracy. This was clearly setting a trap for Mo Huaien to fall into. But after just a moment’s thought, he still felt it wouldn’t benefit the company: “But this will surely cause huge losses to the company!”
Xiao Ran shook his head meaningfully. Wei Dongling was smart, but since he wasn’t in charge of film-related matters, it was only natural he wouldn’t understand. But Xiao Ran knew very well that when he learned Mo Huaien was entering the film industry, his first thought was, “Sure enough, he’s here.”

What exactly brought him here? From the start, Xiao Ran realized that it was highly unusual for Guoli to suddenly take control of Korean company Shijie in such a short time. Based on various considerations, he thought Guoli might be entering the film industry. However, what he hadn’t expected was that Mo Huaien, a realist, would also enter the game. This was actually good news, as it indicated a close partnership between Hongwei and Guoli, and Xiao Ran could take this opportunity to avenge his father.

The reason for all these ramblings is to show that Xiao Ran was extremely cautious—so cautious that he had prepared plans to deal with any company in Hong Kong that could pose a threat to Shadow. He also devised strategies against Guoli and its group; he wanted Shijie, and even if Guoli didn’t enter the market, he would find a way to lure them in.

With Toei already in hand, adding Shijie would truly make Asia belong to Shadow, creating a perfect (except for the Chinese mainland) Asian defense chain. At that point, Shadow would be the absolute largest film company in Asia—not necessarily the most influential or wealthy, but the most powerful and capable in distribution.

To secure Shijie and close the last gap in Korea, Xiao Ran had to let Mo Huaien in. Not allowing him in meant he wouldn’t be able to trap them in the film industry, and if he managed to get Shijie, it would likely cost a great deal.

Shijie! That’s what Xiao Ran desired most. For Shijie’s sake, he might even spare Mo Huaien. But according to his previous plans, things might not work out completely—like secretly sending actors and crew members to Mo Huaien, which was just an idea that came to mind on the spot. So, Xiao Ran knew he needed to rethink his strategy.

*****
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