Chapter 135: Building for the Future

While Chen Kexin was making preparations, Xiao Ran wasn’t idle—he called Fang Xiaoqiang over. After explaining his plans, Fang Xiaoqiang scratched his head in confusion and asked, “Brother Ran, why do you want to sell yen? I think there’s not much room for its value to rise anymore! Besides, Dell and Cisco do have good performance, but I don’t see much potential in them.”
Xiao Ran smiled faintly, crossed his arms, and walked over to the window. Pointing at the skyscrapers outside, he said, “Thirty years ago, no one could have imagined that Hong Kong would develop so rapidly. Yet it truly became a business miracle and one of the world’s most famous financial cities!”
Fang Xiaoqiang nodded thoughtfully, but he still didn’t fully understand Xiao Ran’s intentions. He simply realized that Xiao Ran didn’t want him to ask further questions. So he nodded and asked, “Brother Ran, what do you think of this plan? Should we still take at most 10% just like when we acquired Microsoft shares?”
Glancing at the research reports on the two companies on the table, Xiao Ran smiled lightly and looked again at the skyscrapers outside. “The company currently has 500 million in liquid funds, but only 300 million is available for you to use. Go to the U.S. first and acquire Dell. Tang Yan calculated that 300 million should be enough to buy 12% of Dell’s shares for now.”
“The company will transfer another 500 million to you later. Of that, 300 million should still be used to acquire more shares in Dell. Use the other 200 million to invest in Cisco, and you must earn me at least 20% in returns from that investment!” Xiao Ran wasn’t unwilling to make more money, but everything needed to be done in moderation—otherwise, there would be no one left to make money for him!
In fact, both Cisco and Dell had low market values at the time. With Xiao Ran’s vast wealth, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to take control of these two companies outright. But he still needed to leave someone behind to help him make easy profits.
A few days later, Fang Xiaoqiang rushed to the U.S. to get started, while Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling were extremely busy. Eventually, they secured a 2.5 billion loan from HSBC, and the plan to buy land to build a movie city was put on hold for now.
Amidst all this chaos, Hong Kong’s renowned magazines, Asia Weekly and Film Weekly, interviewed Xiao Ran, using him as their cover figure. Film Weekly’s cover photo of Xiao Ran was quite interesting—it showed him on a rooftop, arms outstretched as if embracing the wind.
Interestingly, though the image was supposed to convey a sense of lightness and agility, it somehow exuded an air of domineering authority. Frustrated, Film Weekly added a headline that amplified this sense of dominance: “The Rise of a Movie Dynasty!”
Asia Weekly featured a special interview with Xiao Ran due to Phantom Company’s business investments. Of course, it was also because Xiao Ran was, by all accounts, the richest bachelor under 35. Its cover was equally interesting—Xiao Ran’s fingers were slightly bent, as if he could control everything in his hands. That hand was very prominent, and the headline was equally sharp: “The World Is in My Hands!”

Of course, this is indeed quite exaggerated. So now, Xiao Ran is at home, facing criticism from Lin Qingxia: “Tsk tsk, this cover is really… Don’t you think it’s too showy?”
“Showy?” Xiao Ran was slightly stunned before laughing and saying, “How can this be showy? It suits my status. Fang Ruohai is the one who’s really showy—appearing in newspapers and magazines every day!”
“He’s only appeared in Film Weekly; he’s never even been on the cover of Asia Weekly. That shows you’re better than him!” Lin Qingxia couldn’t stop laughing; clearly, Xiao Ran was a great target for mockery. “By the way, it says that although you’re not yet among Hong Kong’s top 100 richest people, they think you’ll make it into the top 80 by the 1990s. They think highly of you.”
Xiao Ran smiled. What’s so special about those top 100 richest people? They’re just involved in money games. For Xiao Ran, money was merely a tool to help him build his film empire—it would never become his master.
There wasn’t much for him to worry about now. The influence of Hong Kong movies wasn’t that great; basically, the movies that should have been made were made, and those that shouldn’t have been made also appeared. This showed that Hong Kong screenwriters’ thinking was gradually expanding, with more and more talented people emerging.
He didn’t always have to decide which movies the company would produce. Basically, the company’s artists and filmmakers all had projects going. Of course, given the results of the company’s training, the filmmakers and artists were much more serious about their work than before. What Xiao Ran needed to control now was himself and deciding whether to produce some relatively important big-budget films or not. For example, the Taiwanese movie “Mom, Love Me Once Again” was ready to shoot at any time under Myth Shadow’s investment.
Of course, Liu Songbo wasn’t from Myth Shadow but from another production company. This needed to be clearly distinguished—production companies are those responsible for actually filming the movies, while distribution companies are mainly in charge of financing and investment. Usually, production companies don’t have the money to produce movies on their own, so when a production company came to Myth Shadow for investment, Xiao Ran immediately remembered the stunning scenes of that movie when it was released on the Chinese mainland and agreed right away.
Of course, distribution companies don’t refrain from producing movies either; Myth Shadow’s production department does that job. This brings us to the profit distribution between production and distribution companies. Under normal circumstances, even if the distribution company isn’t involved in investment, the distributor, producer, and theater operator each take 30%.
However, this is just the rate for the local market. If the movie is distributed in Southeast Asia, the distributor takes 40% of the profits. This is still considered a win-win situation, as production companies themselves don’t have the capability to handle distribution. Of course, if the producer is willing to wait patiently for Southeast Asian distributors to approach them, that’s also fine.
So, aside from the movies being produced by Myth Shadow’s production department, Myth Shadow has so far invested in the production of nine films. Besides profit sharing, the copyright to the movies belongs to Myth Shadow.

Xiao Ran was now hesitating whether to postpone the shooting of “New Dragon Inn.” It wasn’t because he wasn’t confident in directing the film, but rather because he really didn’t want to direct someone else’s work anymore. He wanted to be a truly legitimate director and prove his own abilities. After hesitating for a while, he remembered that the film was originally scheduled to be released in four years, so he decided to postpone it for now. However, this left the summer season empty, and at least one film needed to be selected to fill that slot. The summer season targets students as its main audience! With that in mind, Xiao Ran quickly made a decision—he would choose “School Troublemakers.” Coincidentally, the director of this film, Chen Jiasang, was working as a producer at Shadow Company, which made things much easier. Xiao Ran asked An Yuxuan to find a producer and bring Chen Jiasang over, while he waited while working. The first investment proposal he saw was also a script—it was the script for “Legal Affairs.” After skimming through it, he confirmed it was indeed the film he remembered. Upon closer inspection, he saw which production company wanted to make it: Siyuan Film Company, founded by Wu Siyuan. He promptly approved the investment, covering the full budget. Of course, to prevent the production company from wasting funds, a producer was essential. Next, he saw the investment requirements for “A Man’s Diary,” and without even considering it, he agreed right away. The film was funny and had a low budget—only three million was needed. It was also an opportunity to promote the company’s actors as leads, so why not? Now, Xiao Ran understood why Liu Qingyun had been acting in boring comedies for twenty years—Liu Qingyun had signed several contracts with China Star, forcing him to act in whatever roles they assigned, with no choice at all. After finalizing a few films, Xiao Ran began to review the scripts. When he opened one, he was shocked—it was the script for “Unfinished Business.” Of course, it was only similar in concept, as both were about a love story between a human and a ghost, but there were significant differences in the details. After reading it carefully, he found the story quite interesting and leaning toward a comedy. After just a brief look, he decided that the writers skilled in romantic love stories should revise it, as the key was the concept and creativity. That’s why in Hollywood, a good idea can fetch a very high price. Who should direct this Hong Kong version of “Unfinished Business”? Xiao Ran hesitated. Currently, it seemed that only female director Zhang Wanding was good at love stories. Another female director, Xu Anhua, was skilled in various genres but not so much in love stories. After continuing to review the scripts and finalizing a few films, Xiao Ran started looking at the talent profiles sent by the human resources department. Soon, the producer and Chen Jiasang arrived. Xiao Ran briefly explained the plot of “School Troublemakers” and asked the producer to immediately inform the planning department to prepare the script.

Chen Jiasang was somewhat confused. Could there be another movie for him to prepare for? But he was already working on another project at the moment. As he pondered, Xiao Ran smiled at him and asked, “Jiasang, how long have you been at the company?”
“Almost four months!” Chen Jiasang answered without even calculating.
“In that case, are you interested in this project?” Xiao Ran looked at the still slender Chen Jiasang with interest. He truly had a refined demeanor, no wonder he was regarded as one of Hong Kong’s most scholarly directors.
Chen Jiasang had entered the industry in 1980, initially working for Shaw Brothers. It was only after seeing his resume that Xiao Ran learned he had worked in Shaw Brothers’ special effects team, contributing to special effects for films such as “Starship Blunders” and “Day of Disaster,” as well as “The Demon.” He began writing scripts in 1983, with his first work being Huang Tailai’s “Fate.” Since Shaw Brothers ceased operations last year, he moved to Phantom Company, which had a good relationship with TVB. However, he never expected the rigor in creative work here to be a hundred times stricter than at Shaw Brothers. Moreover, the system was very flexible, giving creators ample freedom, which gradually made him like it here.
Hearing Xiao Ran’s words, he could hardly believe his ears. He had only been at Phantom Company for a few months, yet he was already getting a chance to direct—a fact he found hard to believe. After confirming he wasn’t imagining things, he thought to himself that the company truly valued promoting newcomers.
“Of course, I’d be happy!” Chen Jiasang nodded frantically, as if afraid he might miss the opportunity if he delayed.
“Great!” Xiao Ran smiled and then turned to the producer, saying, “You two work together on this project. Use Xing Zai as the lead actor, and decide on the rest yourselves.”
After handling these matters, Xiao Ran went straight to Wei Dongling’s office. He wanted to discuss some important matters with Wei Dongling. Coincidentally, Wei Dongling had no guests at the time. When he saw Xiao Ran arrive, he simply raised his head slightly in greeting.
“A Dong, put down your work. I need to talk to you about the company’s future!” Xiao Ran was frustrated. When had this president become so lacking in dignity? Seeing Wei Dongling raise his head in surprise, Xiao Ran hesitated for a moment before saying, “I think it’s time for the company to be split up!”
“Split up? Isn’t it too soon?” Wei Dongling was slightly shocked. The company had only just gotten on track, and Xiao Ran wanted to split it up—this carried too much risk. “I personally think the timing isn’t right yet!”
Xiao Ran didn’t really understand business matters, which was why he had hesitated before. Hearing Wei Dongling’s words, he became even more uncertain. He knew well that splitting up was one of the best ways to expand. Besides, since Phantom Company intended to transform into a distribution company, splitting up was inevitable sooner or later.
Xiao Ran also understood that the company’s structure and systems were gradually improving and maturing. Splitting up now wasn’t appropriate, as many departments still had old habits, most notably the production department. Without Xiao Ran’s supervision, it might revert to its previous state of shoddy work.

“I mean, it’s better to wait until after the company goes public before splitting it up,” Wei Dongling said, staring intently at Xiao Ran. Xiao Ran’s idea was simply too unwise at the moment. Moreover, he noticed that Xiao Ran had become increasingly impatient lately. “Aran, don’t you think you’ve been too hasty lately?”
Hasty? Well, maybe. Xiao Ran smiled bitterly and rubbed his nose. He didn’t want to take such risks, but if he wanted rapid expansion, he had to bear the risks. Undeniably, he knew he was being a bit too hasty, but time didn’t wait.
There was nothing else to do but go with this plan. Many years later, Xiao Ran thanked Wei Dongling more than once for stopping his risky idea in time; otherwise, the company might not have turned out as well as it did.
Seeing Xiao Ran rubbing his nose in silence, Wei Dongling laughed. “Never mind. I’m going to Europe for negotiations in a few days. Is there anything you want to say now?”
*****
Recommendation: Jing Guan’s new book, 《Boiling Beast Blood》, http://www.feiku.com/showbook.asp?bl_id=45050