Chapter 257: The Return of the King

“President Xiao, what have you gained from your trip to Hollywood this time?” asked a reporter from Influence Magazine.
It was at the airport. As soon as Xiao Ran stepped off the plane, at least a dozen reporters rushed up to him, cameras and microphones extended toward him. Xiao Ran smiled happily. “As for gains, I won’t talk about those. But I did make some friends!”
“But isn’t Murdoch an obstacle to Phantom Group’s development plans?” asked the same reporter from Influence Magazine, clearly not showing any respect for President Xiao. “And Phantom Group is Murdoch News Group’s strongest competitor in Europe. How could they be friends?”
“We may be competitors in business, but we can still be friends in private!” Xiao Ran wasn’t annoyed at all. This was freedom of the press—he needed exactly such fearless journalists. “Don’t you know about the recent dispute between Lei Shidong and Barry? They’re also good friends.”
“President Xiao, I’m sure you’re already aware of the largest anti-crime operation in history launched by the Hong Kong police the day before yesterday. What’s your opinion on it?” asked another reporter loudly. Everyone in the room fell silent instantly, staring at that reporter.
Xiao Ran knew very well that this was a cleverly posed question—asking a crime boss what he thought of the police’s anti-crime campaign was like asking the King of Hell how to write the word ‘death.’ But Xiao Ran’s composure was extraordinary; he still maintained a cheerful smile. “Which media are you from?”
“I’m a reporter from Dong Zhou Ke!” the guy replied arrogantly. The crowd became chaotic. Dong Zhou Ke was notorious in the entertainment industry.
“Dong Zhou Ke? The magazine that labeled Wei Dongling a homosexual?” Xiao Ran couldn’t help but laugh out loud. That magazine had once suspected Wei Dongling of being gay and insinuated that Xiao Ran was too. It had become a laughingstock, ridiculed by all journalists in Hong Kong. When Xiao Ran brought it up, the reporter turned extremely ashamed.
“I’m willing to answer your question, but I hope you won’t try to figure out from my answer that I’m an alien!” Xiao Ran chuckled, delivering a few bitterly sarcastic remarks. “As for my opinion on the anti-crime operation, you should ask the Commissioner of Police or the Secretary for Security. Or maybe the Governor of Hong Kong. In my view, cracking down on crime is certainly a good thing. The public needs a stable environment, and so do we businessmen!”
The reporter was clearly too intimidated by Xiao Ran’s sarcasm to ask further questions. The reporter from Influence Magazine took the opportunity to remind Xiao Ran, “President Xiao, you just got off the plane. You might not know yet that the government is drafting an anti-monopoly law and refusing to issue a license to ATV! What’s your opinion on that?”
This news made Xiao Ran’s fingers twitch slightly, and his eyebrows raised high. His emotions surged, but he still smiled calmly and thanked them. “Thank you for the reminder. I think it’s hard for me to give a definite answer before discussing things with President Wei.”
After leaving the airport and getting into the car, Monkey couldn’t help but curse angrily, “This damned British Hong Kong government is trying some underhanded tactics again! Brother Ran, don’t give them face this time!”

Xiao Ran nodded at them and fell into deep thought. He had asked Wei Dongling to arrange for journalists to spread the news of his return throughout Hong Kong as quickly as possible. He wanted to announce to the British government in Hong Kong and the underworld that he, Xiao Ran, was back! Before boarding the plane, he still didn’t know about those two things, indicating that the news must have spread within twelve hours. Xiao Ran wasn’t clear about what the anti-monopoly law entailed. But without a license, ATV would lose its right to operate in the television industry—a decision clearly made by the British government to undermine him. What a troublesome time! Yet, in less than twenty days since leaving Hong Kong, so many things had happened quickly—quite interesting, at least in Xiao Ran’s view. Seeing challenges as fun seemed to be something only he could do. While he found it amusing, Wei Dongling was extremely worried, as everything had happened too suddenly. Though it might not have been entirely unexpected—the opening up of Hong Kong by Hongguo served as a warning. If anyone was to be blamed, it was them for failing to develop detailed and targeted plans in this area. Upon arriving at the headquarters building, Xiao Ran smiled faintly and signaled the others to stop, then quietly pushed open the door. He saw Wei Dongling hunched on the sofa in distress. Approaching silently, he suddenly shouted, startling Wei Dongling into jumping up. Seeing it was Xiao Ran, Wei Dongling punched him hard: “You brat! You went off to Hollywood to have fun while leaving me here to suffer. Really something for you!” “It’s been over ten days—your punches seem much weaker now!” Xiao Ran laughed heartily and sat down on the sofa, saying to Wei Dongling across from him, “It’s not easy in Hollywood either. If we hadn’t prepared thoroughly, we’d probably already be facing heavy losses!” Wei Dongling sighed and leaned back on the sofa with a bitter smile. “I really don’t know who I’ve offended. Problems keep popping up endlessly. Now, all three of ATV’s television stations in Hong Kong have had their licenses revoked—this is a real hassle. If you have no other solution, we’ll have to take the fight to the Hong Kong government to the end!” Xiao Ran’s expression grew serious. At first, he thought only ATV’s license had been revoked, but now he realized the entire ATV group was affected. Besides the original ATV, the group had also established a cable TV channel and a satellite TV channel purchased from Li Chaoren. While not exactly monopolistic, they certainly held an absolute dominant position. “What’s the reason?” Xiao Ran asked, frowning. “It can’t be that they just refused to issue licenses without any reason!” Wei Dongling was even more frustrated. What kind of ridiculous reason? He had consulted lawyers, and it was definitely possible to sue the Hong Kong government. The problem lay with the anti-monopoly law—the efficiency of Hong Kong’s Department of Justice was unprecedented, and a draft was quickly prepared. Through his connections, Wei Dongling soon learned that this so-called draft was actually aimed at Shadow. The market share of movies made it impossible to enforce anti-monopoly rules, as it was highly artistic, and no one could guarantee certain profits. Thus, the anti-monopoly law for the film industry aimed to separate theaters from distribution companies, which was reasonable in a sense.

It’s just like in the past with Jiahe—because they controlled the theater chains, they only showed their own movies during prime times and assigned the worst slots to movies from other companies. Clearly, Shadow is much more open; as long as a movie is good, it will be shown regardless of which company produced it.

Xiao Ran had previously been concerned about antitrust laws, but aside from the United States, almost all other countries and regions don’t have such laws in the film industry. jokingly, those countries’ film industries can’t even get off the ground, so what’s there to antitrust?

In Hong Kong, as far as Xiao Ran remembered, there was no antitrust law in the film industry. If such a law existed, theater chains definitely wouldn’t be able to establish film companies, or at least couldn’t hold too large a stake in them. From what Xiao Ran knew, Yonggao Theater Chain had produced movies, and the film company was named Yonggao. This proved that such a law didn’t exist.

Now, for this law to suddenly appear is rather ridiculous. Yet both Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling knew well that an antitrust law was indeed needed—the existence of the four giants was a clear case of monopoly. Even without considering the other three companies, Shadow alone had already achieved monopoly status.

But this was merely a monopoly in terms of structure. In reality, Tianluo had taken control of Yonggao Theater Chain, holding a controlling stake, and their sole focus was making money, without caring which company’s movies were shown. Although there was a monopoly in structure, there was no actual monopolistic behavior, which, in a sense, was strong evidence against it.

After pondering for a moment and quickly sorting through countless thoughts, Xiao Ran organized his chaotic ideas and looked up at Wei Dongling, who was getting drinks, saying, “I think they can only trouble us temporarily with these licenses; it’s impossible to revoke them. I believe it’s their way of holding us back.”

“What about the antitrust law? I think you’ve figured out why the Hong Kong-British government is preparing it now!” Wei Dongling handed Xiao Ran a glass of water and continued, “A few days ago, their film company announced plans to invest in 500 theaters on the mainland, and now they’re rushing to pass this law. The intention is quite obvious.”

Xiao Ran nodded. The timing chosen by the Hong Kong-British government was perfect. He even admiredPeng Chengkong a bit—only a politician like him could come up with such a cunning tactic.

If the antitrust law passed, it would mean Shadow’s investment in theaters had completely failed, forcing them to reduce their stakes. But this might not stop them—they could simply split up their film company, separating control of local theater chains while still being able to control theaters in other countries and regions.

However, this would mean Shadow losing control of local theater chains, which was a significant problem. Xiao Ran hoped to delay this until they secured the mainland market—ideally until after reunification. Then, with proper control, it would be difficult for this damned antitrust law to emerge in the next 20 years.

“Don’t worry, they can’t do anything under the antitrust law!” Xiao Ran had an idea and quickly came up with a solution: “If they dare to impose antitrust rules on the film industry, then Hong Kong Telecom, the absolute monopoly, will face the same fate. I’m curious to see how Pang Ting-kuong will explain this to British Telecom!”
Wei Dongling could only smile bitterly: “Do you think I didn’t consider that? But movies and telecommunications are different. Besides, Pang Ting-kuong has hired several American lawyers for advice. If the Hong Kong-British government insists on going through with it, then we have no choice but…”
Xiao Ran smiled calmly and waved his fingers lightly: “Before I came here, I already had my master take action in the UK. With the help of the UK media under our control and the opposition parties, I believe it won’t be long before the attention of the whole world, including the UK, is drawn here.”
“That’s settled!” Xiao Ran smiled gently and patted Wei Dongling on the shoulder. “Let’s get all the preparations done first. I’ll also prepare my own side. Then we’ll strike together. I wonder how long Pang Ting-kuong can stay in that position!”
Wei Dongling clearly understood what Xiao Ran intended to do. He stood up, shrugged, and expressed his helplessness: “Go ahead then. I feel like your slave. After this is done, if you don’t raise my salary, then you’re… hehe!”
Xiao Ran couldn’t help but laugh. This kid—Xiao Ran had tried many times to give him more shares, but he kept refusing, insisting he was already a billionaire and didn’t crave more money. Yet now he was still arguing over a salary of tens of millions. He really had no choice but to respect him.
After leaving the company, Xiao Ran told Monkey to go to the Film Association. Then he took the phone from Huang Ling and called Lin Qingxia to tell her to be careful. After that, he called the new president of the Film Association and asked him to gather all the bosses of film companies in Hong Kong at the Regal Hotel within half an hour for a meeting.
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Ran dialed a number. Xiang Qiang’s voice came through. He simply said, “Aqiang, I’m back!”
Snap! Caught off guard, Xiang Qiang trembled all over as the phone slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. Seeing him in such a state, his younger brother Xiang Sheng sensed something was wrong and quickly asked, “What happened?”
Xiang Qiang’s face gradually turned pale. After licking his lips a few times, he managed to control his emotions and spoke slowly, his voice hoarse as if he’d been thirsty for a long time: “Ran Ge, he’s back!”
“Ran Ge, he… he really came back?” Jiaolong asked with a trembling voice, hoping it was just an illusion. But the reality disappointed him.
Ran Ge was back! In less than half an hour, the news spread rapidly among the underworld thanks to convenient communication tools. Since Xiao Ran hadn’t been involved in underworld affairs for a long time, many newcomers didn’t even know who Ran Ge really was.
The old members warned the newcomers sternly, “Ran Ge is just Ran Ge. He’s not part of the underworld. But if he wants you dead, not even God can save you. With just one word of his, the leaders of the three major gangs can be replaced at any time!”

“Wow, is it that exaggerated?” This was the way the newer generation of people expressed themselves: “If you’re not part of the gang, how could you have such power? Ah, I remember now—could he be that legendary mafia boss? But wasn’t that boss surnamed Guan or Liang?”
“You know nothing. I don’t even want to talk to you!” The older folks would always berate such rule-ignorant newcomers harshly. But now, they didn’t even have the energy to scold, because Brother Ran had returned, and turmoil was likely to break out in the gang once again.
What about Liang Kun? He was singing opera loudly. He had also heard the news of Xiao Ran’s return and had even made an extremely bold decision. Yet he still couldn’t help but sweat, his heart pounding violently, his whole body drenched as if he had just run twenty kilometers.
On the route Xiao Ran had to take to the Regal Hotel, by one of the hotel windows, there was a calm and composed man. His eyes were fixed on the scope, waiting for a car to appear…