Chapter 168: Indirect Approaches

In just over ten days, the marketing department used sophisticated tactics and comprehensive plans to swiftly mobilize almost all of Mirage’s subsidiaries. Even Sihai Audio-Visual included promotional videos for the Golden Horse Awards at the beginning of its video releases, demonstrating the industry’s synergistic effects in the most perfect way.

Not long after the Golden Horse Awards ended, Asia Weekly was astonished by the reputation of Mirage’s highly strategic and efficient marketing team and quickly published an article praising them as the best in Hong Kong.

Bai Wenjing was almost dizzy from the praise, but fortunately, he remained calm. When other companies tried to poach him—including Lee Chao Ren’s Cheung Shing— he firmly refused them all. He knew his talents could only be fully utilized here.

Not only him, but almost every employee in the marketing department was poached later on, yet they remained unmoved. After all, they weren’t fools. In terms of benefits, how many companies in Hong Kong could compare to Mirage? Including employees from overseas branches and cleaning staff, Mirage had less than a hundred people, yet it spent at least 400 million last year on employee benefits and wages.

As for the opportunity to showcase their talents, there was no comparison. Here, Xiao Ran gave everyone ample room to express themselves, though the company’s structure and systems were quite strict. Yet, the creative atmosphere was rich and expansive. Who would be silly enough to leave? Rumors abounded that everyone who left Mirage was qualified to become a department head—this wasn’t an exaggeration.

Besides, who in Hong Kong or Southeast Asia didn’t know about Mirage? It was hailed by many magazines as the most promising company. Xiao Ran was also regarded as the most dynamic and talented young leader, while Wei Dongling was already a well-known senior manager in Hong Kong.

Leave this company? Don’t think they lack intelligence or vision. Last year, when Hailue was split up, those who left Mirage—such as Lu Can and Hai Lulu—except for Lu Can, who returned, how well did any of them fare? They couldn’t even continue working in this industry.

But that’s another story. In any case, after Lu Can and the others were poached, Xiao Ran placed greater emphasis on communicating with his employees. Though he wasn’t familiar with corporate culture, he believed a united company was what he wanted, and Mirage’s employees indeed lived up to his expectations.

Back to marketing, ATV’s investment of 20 million was well worth it. Even before the Golden Horse Awards began, Taiwan’s CTS couldn’t resist offering 1 million to buy the broadcasting rights in Taiwan. Singapore also quickly bid 500,000. Strictly speaking, this amount was hardly worth anything. But since it was the first year the Golden Horse Awards were officially promoted, it could be considered a discount.

After the Golden Horse Awards ended, thanks to the widespread advertising, everyone in Southeast Asia knew about it, piquing everyone’s interest. It might not have been unbearable to wait, but many certainly wanted to see it as soon as possible.

As a result, after the Golden Horse Awards, regions and countries other than Japan offered ATV licensing fees. It did help ATV recover some of its 20 million investment, though not much. But combined with the advertisements shown during the Golden Horse Awards, the total amount was quite significant. Anyway, it would be several years before ATV could reap the full benefits, so there was no rush. The key was that with Phantom as the parent company providing financial support, ATV could afford to invest another 20 million without concern.

Don’t assume that ATV, Shuxiang, and Sihai are all subsidiaries of the same company, so they don’t need to pay each other for business deals. Business is business—this needs to be clearly understood. Moreover, it affects the performance of each subsidiary, so it’s hard not to take it seriously.

In short, thanks to the marketing efforts, the Golden Horse Awards became a highly renowned award across Southeast Asia. Even the mainland inadvertently covered the news several times. Such a good start filled Xiao Ran with confidence about the awards’ future.

Realizing time was running out, Xiao Ran specially called Sun Yang, Monkey, and Guan Xin to his office to discuss the matter in detail. After all, it was no trivial issue. It was similar to a story in Ni Kuang’s “Wesley” series titled “Chasing the Dragon,” which depicted a vicious curse against Hong Kong’s return. Nothing happened during Hong Kong’s return, but that year, something serious did occur. Several Hong Kong conglomerates and tycoons, panicked by the situation, moved their assets around, triggering the last stock market crash of the 1980s.

Many Hong Kong residents had already emigrated abroad due to 1997, and if this happened again, it would scare even more people away. This also led to strong criticism and sanctions from Western countries against China in the future, with them repeatedly using the pretext of human rights and democracy to pressure China.

For Xiao Ran, the most critical issue was that this incident could shatter his hopes of using the mainland as a market. Moreover, it was possible that it would lead to sanctions from the West. The only fortunate aspect was that so far, very few people knew about his plans for the mainland. He thought this might be his only way to protect himself.

He wasn’t a true patriot, but he also couldn’t stand by idly when the country faced crisis. He knew he couldn’t do much directly, but he could use people like Guan Xin to help the National Security Bureau prevent such incidents. Just like recently, he had subtly hinted that the head of Xinhua News Agency might be problematic.

In fact, the National Security Bureau bore the greatest responsibility for this. As the agency in charge of national security, failing to implement adequate safeguards and allowing such a loophole to exist was unforgivable.

However, before meeting with Guan Xin and the others, Xiao Ran first arranged to meet with the mysterious backer of Yindu. Now, Xiao Ran had secretly entered Yindu’s headquarters. Since he had made an appointment in advance, he was able to meet that mysterious person easily.

Pushing the door open, Xiao Ran saw two people: one who appeared quite young and another in middle age. They were clearly waiting for him. As soon as the middle-aged man saw Xiao Ran, he greeted him with a smile, “President Xiao, welcome! I’m Jiang Zhi, the owner of Yindu. This is Huang Qun.”
Xiao Ran’s gaze lingered on the owner of Yindu for less than three seconds. Jiang Zhi, standing in front of him shaking hands, looked very similar to him—both were people who liked to speak with smiles. When Xiao Ran turned his gaze to the young man who seemed to be in his early thirties, his heart suddenly pounded three times. This young man would become a very important figure in the mainland government in the future. But there was no reason for him to be here!
Xiao Ran shook hands with the young man but found him to be quite cold in demeanor, somewhat similar to Pan Disheng. After some small talk, they all sat down on the sofas in the office. Jiang Zhi asked curiously, “President Xiao, what brings you here? Why do you specifically want to see me?”
With so much on his mind, Xiao Ran didn’t know where to start, as it was somewhat bizarre. After hesitating for a moment, he took the water Jiang Zhi offered, took a sip, and then slowly glanced at the two of them. “I heard the leader isn’t in good health. I wonder if that’s true!”
This sudden, nonsensical remark left Jiang Zhi and Huang Qun stunned. They didn’t understand what Xiao Ran meant. That the leader wasn’t healthy was something known all over the world. Although Jiang Zhi and Xiao Ran had never met before, Jiang Zhi knew quite a lot about him and knew such a formidable person would unlikely say such nonsense. He asked doubtfully, “President Xiao, what do you mean?”
“Last year, my company released a film called ‘Choice’. I wonder if you’ve seen it!” Xiao Ran put down his cup and stared at Jiang Zhi’s expression. Last year, he had specifically given a copy to Jiang Zhi. “The plot of this film is very interesting!”
Jiang Zhi was even more confused. He had watched that film, but what did it have to do with Xiao Ran’s purpose? He didn’t understand. Huang Qun, on the other hand, showed a thoughtful look, clearly having also watched the film.
Xiao Ran lazily crossed his legs before suddenly putting them down and walking over to the window, saying softly, “Storms are coming before the wind fills the towers!”
A glint appeared in Jiang Zhi’s eyes as he gave Huang Qun a look and stepped beside Xiao Ran, saying calmly, “There’s no storm at all. The sun is shining beautifully today. President Xiao, you must be mistaken!”
“You have to know that before a storm comes, it’s always very calm, just like in ‘Choice’.” Xiao Ran calmly focused his gaze on the buildings outside the window. He really couldn’t express it more directly: “I don’t like storms because my house isn’t built yet—there are holes everywhere.”
Jiang Zhi and Huang Qun exchanged another look, even more confused. Huang Qun seemed to guess something vaguely, but he couldn’t grasp it. Could Xiao Ran’s house really be a leaky shabby house? Jiang Zhi knew there was more to these words, but since Xiao Ran didn’t even hint at the main theme, how could he figure it out?

“There’s nothing to fear about vulnerabilities; after all, I still have other means to defend against them!” Xiao Ran talked to himself. He really wished he could grab those two guys and shout this in their ears. Unfortunately, that was impossible: “It’s a shame that besides these vulnerabilities, there are other opponents eyeing us eagerly, desperate to see my house collapse right away!”
“Those opponents are clever. They know how to train snakes, insects, rats, and ants to cause trouble. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t fear them. In the mainland’s terms, this is probably what they call a ‘paper tiger’!” Xiao Ran’s eyes didn’t move at all. If it weren’t for him still talking, Jiang Zhi would have thought he was dead.
However, upon hearing the term “paper tiger,” Huang Qun’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately grasped the meaning. After carefully reflecting on Xiao Ran’s words, he broke into sweat. He realized Xiao Ran was implying something, but he wasn’t sure.
“When a storm comes, creatures that could normally be easily stepped on become deadly threats, lurking in my house and causing chaos,” Xiao Ran thought with a bitter smile. He felt no different from a poet now. “What’s worse is that besides these, there are also loyal livestock who keep being deceived and confused by those guys. But I have to repair the house and deal with them at the same time, while the house’s pillars have broken due to years of neglect.”
The more Huang Qun listened, the more terrified he became. Connecting it to the current situation, it wasn’t hard for him to understand what Xiao Ran meant. After making a few gestures to Jiang Zhi, who was still confused, Jiang Zhi suddenly understood as well, drenched in cold sweat and filled with fear.
Xiao Ran realized his ability to act pretentiously was getting better and better. From such a perspective, he could still pretend to be uninvolved, leisurely and interestingly gazing at the buildings outside. Only then did he turn around, sighing and shaking his head. “What do you think I should do?”
Sweating profusely, Huang Qun picked up the conversation in Jiang Zhi’s eyes, trying to gauge Xiao Ran’s intentions. “You can first solve the problem with the pillars, and then gradually deal with those paper tigers. I think that will ensure safety!”
“I don’t have time to choose. The paper tigers have deceived the livestock and quickly turned my house into chaos. If I don’t deal with it promptly, even if I survive the storm, they’ll destroy my house!” Xiao Ran almost believed his own ridiculous story, which he told in such vivid detail.
“Then you can first repair the pillars, and then wipe out all those paper tigers mixed in with the livestock at once. That way, there won’t be any lingering problems!” Jiang Zhi forced a smile. Though he said so, if he were in that position, would he dare make such a decision?
Xiao Ran shook his head sadly, slowly walking over to the sofa and leaning on it, sighing. “The problem is, there aren’t many paper tigers. They were accidentally let in by the hunting dogs. These paper tigers have incited the people on my farm, causing most of them to cause trouble. If I wipe them out all at once, it will be a huge loss for me. Besides, people outside might call me cruel, stop selling me goods, and blockade me!”

Hunting dogs, paper tigers, livestock, home, pillars! Even without Huang Qun’s reminder this time, Jiang Zhi probably could understand Xiao Ran’s meaning. Thinking about everything Xiao Ran had subtly hinted at was truly shocking. If Xiao Ran weren’t still here, they might even want to fly back to Beijing right away.

Seeing Xiao Ran pick up his cup and take a sip of water, Huang Qun, thrown into turmoil by him, couldn’t help but ask, “So what do you think we should do?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them—how could he ask a businessman how to solve something like this!

Xiao Ran sighed in relief—finally, they were getting to the point. As he had thought, these two didn’t seem stupid; how could they not understand what he was saying? He pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying, “You know, I’m a businessman, and businessmen focus on profit. So I won’t allow myself to suffer losses, nor can I tolerate others blocking me—otherwise, the losses would be enormous, and I might not be able to recover for decades.”

Under the gazes of Jiang Zhi and Huang Qun, Xiao Ran smiled faintly, not daring to look them in the eyes, instead staring out the window. “I’ll repair that old and dilapidated pillar before the storm hits, and I might even prepare an extra one just in case. For safety, I’ll clean the hunting dogs’ eyes and noses so they can detect their enemies’ schemes in time.”

“As for the livestock, I’ll calm them down before they cause trouble and make them understand what’s going on. Also, I’ll invite others to testify on my behalf, so I won’t be framed by my opponents as cruel or something!” Xiao Ran knew nothing about politics; he just wanted to stay as far away from it as possible. At that point, he suddenly looked up at the two of them and said, “If I can finish all this before the storm, my home will be as solid as a fortress. Even if the preparations cost some money, compared to the consequences of being hit by the storm and other threats, the profit is worth it!”

Actually, such a simple method was well-known to everyone—Xiao Ran had spoken in vain. But before he finished speaking, he once again walked over to the window, pretending to observe the weather, then pointed and turned to the two who were already in shock, saying, “Fortunately, the storm hasn’t arrived yet, so we still have time to prepare everything. But it won’t be long—maybe it’ll show up in a few days! I wonder if a few days are enough for preparations?”

Jiang Zhi believed Xiao Ran about seventy percent—last time, the head of Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong branch tried to defect because he was exposed by Xiao Ran, and his attempt failed. Huang Qun believed him about thirty percent—after all, the situation on the mainland was clear, it just lacked a trigger.

Xiao Ran politely bowed to the two and prepared to leave. Suddenly, he turned back and smiled at them, “The main pillar of a house is very important. If we replace it with another pillar, the effect might be different. So I think we should protect my family’s pillar first! Just like in ‘Choice’.”

Leaving behind the two guys with chilled hearts, Xiao Ran hurried back. This time he had revealed important secrets; he wasn’t sure if he would be punished by fate. He wasn’t afraid of fate itself, but was worried that those in authority might question why he had predicted everything. So, he spoke in such a vague manner that no one could find any fault with him. Yet, if they really decided to inquire, it would still be a problem.
Hastily returning to Phantom’s headquarters, Guan Xin and the other two were already waiting for Xiao Ran. He immediately invited them into his office, told them to sit down, and then slowly pointed at the ceiling and poked it: “The situation up there is extremely unstable; there are many threats lurking there. As security personnel, how can you not even be aware of this! If we don’t mobilize everyone to conduct a thorough inspection soon, problems will arise in a few days.”