Chapter 143: Continuous Crises

“The three film crews filming yesterday were all harassed by gangsters!” Wei Dongling recalled what had happened the previous day and shouted in anger, “Those bastards, under the pretense of demanding protection money, attacked people without any provocation. In total, five people were injured across the three crews, two of them seriously!”
“Two seriously injured…” Xiao Ran drew out the last word and asked doubtfully, “What about the Lianying gang? Weren’t we supposed to pay them protection money? Now that someone has crossed the line, they must step in!”
At this, Wei Dongling cursed angrily, “These bastards took our money all along but now play such tricks on us. Ghost King Dong isn’t even in Hong Kong, or maybe he is but too scared to show up in front of Liang Kun!”
Xiao Ran closed his eyes again, picturing everything in his mind. He knew well that he had only reputation in the underworld and no real power at all. Now that Ghost King Dong had taken a stance, more people in the underworld would likely want to target him as an easy target.
As for Ghost King Dong’s sudden change in stance, it was within Xiao Ran’s expectations. In his view, the underworld was full of deception and darkness, far from being as ideal as depicted in movies. Moreover, he had nothing to offer Ghost King Dong, so it was natural that he wouldn’t maintain this relationship.
Suddenly, Xiao Ran remembered that Lin Qingxia was also filming. If her crew was harassed, wouldn’t that mean… Thinking of this, sweat dropped from his forehead as he hurriedly asked, “Is Qingxia okay?”
“She’s fine!” Wei Dongling replied quickly, “Liang Kun investigated. It wasn’t the people from the three major gangs who attacked the crews yesterday; it seems to be people from Le Sheng. But I really don’t understand—given such a clear violation of boundaries, why haven’t the three major gangs shown any reaction?”
Hearing that Lin Qingxia was safe, Xiao Ran’s anxious heart settled back, allowing him to calm down and continue thinking about the unresolved issues. Judging from the attitude of the three major gangs, it was likely that external forces had influenced them. But what exactly had caused them to change their stance?
The first person who came to Xiao Ran’s mind was Fang Ruohai, but he also knew well that Fang Ruohai despised the underworld, so it was theoretically unlikely he would get involved. Could it be Jiahé? If so, Jiahé definitely had enough power to make the three major gangs change their attitude.
Or would force be needed? Xiao Ran smiled bitterly. He had once asked Guan Xin whether he would be willing to kill for him if necessary. At that time, Guan Xin had just received orders from his superiors to assist Xiao Ran, and after brief consideration, he agreed.
Back then, Xiao Ran asked this question simply because he wanted to eliminate the leaders of the three major gangs at once and put his own people in power. But at that time, Daobā hadn’t taken over yet, and A Biao hadn’t been released from prison. Even if he killed the leaders of the three major gangs, it would be difficult for him to control the underworld.

But now, Xiao Ran’s intuition told him that it would be very difficult to control the situation without using force. He believed the three major gangs were waiting to see if he could handle such matters on his own. If not, they would surely lose any fear and immediately side with that hidden enemy.
Xiao Ran wasn’t a pacifist, nor did he enjoy violence. He believed the biggest difference between humans and animals was that humans dealt with everything with their brains, while animals relied on intuition and instinct. However, if force really had to be used this time, Xiao Ran would definitely not object. Even if Guan Xin and the others were unwilling to do it, he still had Lin Yongmai as his loyal follower.
Things were quite complicated—Wang Yang and the gang-related issues made Xiao Ran suspect that there might be a long-planned scheme behind it. In fact, Xiao Ran still had some grudges against the three major gangs, especially regarding film distribution. He firmly refused to distribute films produced by their companies. Their films were really poor quality, no wonder few distributors wanted them.
It wasn’t that Xiao Ran deliberately wanted to antagonize the three major gangs; he simply refused to allow gangs to get involved in the film industry. After all, it was precisely for this reason that Hong Kong’s film industry was ruined back then. With gangs involved, their arrogance would be unimaginable.
Just like what Liu Hua said in “Dragon in the Valley” when he ordered his men to produce pirated copies: “If you can’t shoot it clearly, just steal it—you’re part of the gang!” By the 1990s, gangs had even become so brazen as to send people to cinemas to steal film copies, showing just how rampant they had become.
Things weren’t much better now, but since Xiao Ran’s arrival, the Hong Kong British government was forced to take measures, using account audits to bring down many gang-related companies. So, although there were still a few gang members in the industry, the vast majority were law-abiding. Only the companies of the three major gangs were entirely run by gangs, and Xiao Ran had to drive them away.
As he was deep in thought, he was suddenly startled by the ringing of a phone—it was Wei Dongling’s mobile. Wei Dongling answered the call, listened for a moment, and his expression instantly changed. With a pained and angry look, he hung up and said solemnly, “One of those who are in Guanghe Hospital has just died! And the warehouse where our equipment is stored was robbed—about ten million worth of equipment was taken!”
Xiao Ran felt as if his heart was being squeezed, unable to breathe. He took a deep breath to dispel his anger and other negative emotions, then said to Yang Guang, “Don’t tell them yet. Let’s go to Guanghe Hospital! Dong, give me the phone!”
Taking the phone from Wei Dongling, Xiao Ran dialed Lin Qingxia’s number. After a few rings, no one answered, and his heart tightened again. It wasn’t until a faint sound came through the phone that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Qingxia’s voice came through, “Who is it?”
“Qingxia, it’s me!” For some reason, hearing Lin Qingxia’s voice made all his negative emotions vanish. “Go to Guanghe Hospital right now. I’ll be waiting there for you.”

Shutting off the phone, Xiao Ran said nothing more. Everything seemed not too serious, but he knew well that if it wasn’t dealt with promptly, trouble would surely arise. Controlling the underworld really depended on what happened next.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling immediately saw the family members wailing beside the hospital bed. He stepped forward, gently supported the deceased’s mother, and said softly, “Auntie, please don’t grieve. We will definitely catch the killer.”

The old woman recognized Xiao Ran and looked at him tremblingly as she cried, “Boss Xiao, my son was killed by those beasts. You must avenge him…”

Xiao Ran lifted the white cloth, took a quick glance, then turned away. The death was tragic—there were at least a dozen cuts on his chest and back. The perpetrator was truly ruthless. As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he comforted her, “Don’t worry. We will ensure your son’s funeral is held with honor. He won’t die in vain. Yu Xuan, go to the finance department tomorrow and give them 500,000 as compensation from the company.”

Leaving the room, Wei Dongling shook his head with a bitter expression and said, “The victim’s name is Zhang Fanxiu. He admired you the most. He was a lighting technician, originally working for Jiahé before joining us.”

After walking a few steps, Xiao Ran froze as he saw Lin Qingxia’s strong yet somewhat delicate figure just over ten meters away. All his worries vanished, and he walked up to her, hugging her tightly. “I’m glad you’re fine. I’m so glad you’re fine…”

“What exactly happened?” Judging from Lin Qingxia’s expression, it was clear she knew nothing about the whole incident. “I thought you were injured! Of course I’m fine.”

Wiping his nose, he asked Wei Dongling to explain the situation to Lin Qingxia, who was shocked beyond measure. “What should we do now?”

“There’s always a way!” Xiao Ran smiled bitterly. He was equally confused. Simply resolving this issue wasn’t enough; they also needed to expose the mastermind behind it. After some thought, he said, “We can’t rely on the police. Just give them a brief report.”

Who could have done this? After thinking it over, Xiao Ran could only think of Fang Ruohai and Yang Qi as possible enemies. As for Wang Yang, he wasn’t even qualified. Given Yang Qi’s methods, it was possible he was the culprit. But Xiao Ran couldn’t find any reason why Yang Qi would want to kill him.

Suddenly, an idea struck Xiao Ran. He understood the key to this matter. What could change the attitudes of the three major gangs? There was only one possibility: interests. Interests came in many forms, but dealing with the Shadow Gang in this way clearly indicated it was an internal matter.

There was only one possibility—someone had promised the three major gangs something, or even agreed to distribute their films in the future. In that case, the gangs would open the door to the film industry and earn a fortune while laundering money. Even Xiao Ran wouldn’t have any reason to refuse such benefits.

Who or which company could have the power to make such promises and get them to believe? Aside from the Shadow Gang, only Jiahé in Hong Kong had the distribution power in Southeast Asia and even Europe and America. As for Deppa, it was merely a large production company.

Although Tianluo and Hailuo intended to approach the distribution side, they lacked strong enough works and thus had not yet been able to fully break into the distribution market. Therefore, only Jiahe had such strength; other companies simply couldn’t match it.
“Jiahe! Jiahe!” Xiao Ran murmured to himself. This was a tough nut to crack. Jiahe invested little in other industries, making it difficult to push them into a corner. Moreover, since Jiahe wasn’t listed, it was hard to find a breakthrough through the stock market.
It felt like trying to move a turtle with a mouse—uncertain of where to start. With this thought, Xiao Ran turned to Wei Dongling sitting beside him and asked, “A Dong, if we want to take on Jiahe, how should we force it to the brink?”
“It’s difficult, extremely difficult! Their industries are quite stable, and their strategies are very cautious. They have at least a billion in liquid assets. It would be good enough if we could keep up with them.” Wei Dongling thought for a moment before honestly telling Xiao Ran it was impossible. Then he suddenly realized, “Are you saying Jiahe is behind this?”
“I suspect it’s Jiahe, but there’s not enough evidence yet!” Xiao Ran really couldn’t be sure. Without evidence, it was hard to determine anything. “Do we really need ten years to bring down the Jiahe Empire? Isn’t there a faster way?”
Wei Dongling confirmed Xiao Ran’s claim in a firm tone: “Absolutely not. Most of Jiahe’s shares are in Zou Wenhuai’s hands. As long as he doesn’t sell, we can do nothing against him. But I don’t think it’s likely to be Jiahe’s doing.”
“Whatever did it…” Xiao Ran paused briefly before saying casually, “I’ll get to the bottom of it! Master, is everything ready?”
“Everything’s in order. We’re just waiting for your command!” Guan Xin shrugged indifferently. Such matters held little interest for him. He picked up the phone, made a call, then nodded at Xiao Ran: “Go to the warehouse!”
After instructing Yang Guang to change course, Xiao Ran said nothing more and closed his eyes, deep in thought. Though his appearance remained calm, his mind was in turmoil. Even after the shooting incident, he knew the underworld had to be brought under control—at least he needed to show them what could and couldn’t be provoked.
So, he asked Guan Xin for help recruiting retired soldiers from the mainland. The villains in *Bodyguards of Zhongnanhai* were once Chinese soldiers, and though fictional, there was artistic exaggeration. Yet Xiao Ran knew well that soldiers who had fought in the Vietnam Self-Defense War were extremely strong—and that’s exactly what he needed.
After Guan Xin reported this, higher authorities showed no reaction, which amounted to tacit approval. After all, Xiao Ran didn’t need many people—only twenty-five for now. Guan Xin arranged these people, and Xiao Ran had only met them once. He had prepared good treatment for these respected soldiers, which easily won them over.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Xiao Ran didn’t prepare these helpers for Hong Kong’s underworld, but for Hollywood. The whole world knows that the Italian mafia is closely linked to Hollywood, having even taken over giants like MGM. Without such a force to protect himself, it would be difficult for him to establish himself in Hollywood.
What Xiao Ran never expected was that before even reaching Hollywood, he had to handle matters in Hong Kong first. However, his need for such a force was definitely not for fighting, but to protect his achievements from harm.
This time, he really didn’t want to use these people, but it seems there’s little hope left. By the time he arrived at the warehouse, the police were already investigating the scene, including two acquaintances: Xing Jiafeng and Liu Guanglu. It was strange enough to see Liu Guanglu here, but Xing Jiafeng’s presence was even more puzzling.
*****
My schedule is being adjusted, so the update is delayed. Please understand!
Recommendation: “Immortal Love in the Mortal World,” a work set in the entertainment industry—worth checking out!
http://www.feiku.com/showbook.asp?bl_id=46113