Chapter 207: In Pairs

Bai Wenjing was very busy. Some time ago, the marketing department he had separated out performed poorly, and the headquarters realized it was not in the company’s best interests. So, the marketing department was merged back into the headquarters, and he continued as its manager.
He had to admit that after the separation, there seemed to be an indescribable sense of emptiness and boredom. After being merged back, his enthusiasm surged. He wasn’t quite aware that Xiao Ran had argued with Wei Dongling when deciding to split the marketing department.
Wei Dongling believed there was no need to separate the marketing department at all, as it was not just an advertising department but also one of the most important in Meiying. However, Xiao Ran thought it was a waste not to utilize talented marketers like Bai Wenjing to maximize profits. As a result, after the separation, administrative expenses and taxes increased, while performance showed no improvement.
In the end, Xiao Ran had to admit his mistake and merge the marketing department back. But his original plan had been to expand the department before splitting it into an advertising company. Now that that didn’t work, the headquarters had no choice but to establish an advertising company itself.
Originally, Bai Wenjing could have had it easy, but the headquarters disbanded the experienced team of the marketing department and assigned them to various subsidiaries for marketing tasks. Now, at least half of the members in the marketing department were newcomers, forcing Bai Wenjing to take on more work himself and teach the newcomers Xiao Ran’s advanced marketing concepts.
Just like last year, this year’s Golden Statue Awards were also a key focus for marketing, both for the marketing department and Meiying. For this reason, Bai Wenjing assigned the detailed marketing plan for the film to the newcomers, while he personally handled the Golden Statue Awards.
In Wei Dongling’s office, Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling reviewed Bai Wenjing’s marketing plan. Wei Dongling glanced at Xiao Ran, knowing he didn’t need to get involved in such tasks. That film-loving enthusiast would surely take the initiative to share the workload.
Xiao Ran’s fingers unconsciously brushed his chin. Bai Wenjing’s plan wasn’t unworkable, but it lacked the stunning impact of last year’s plan in these final days, being quite similar to it. In fact, this plan shouldn’t have been given to Xiao Ran but directly to ATV. It was only because of Xiao Ran’s emphasis that it was submitted to him for approval.
“Ajing, I once said that repetition leads to self-destruction. This saying also applies to marketing,” Xiao Ran said, stretching out his voice as he stared at Bai Wenjing. “This plan is quite similar to last year’s. If presented as is, there might not be much of a problem, but in the long run, it could easily cause boredom!”
“Ran Ge, what do you mean?” Bai Wenjing also felt that the plan still lacked something, though he hadn’t realized it before. With Xiao Ran’s reminder, he immediately understood the issue. As he pondered the phrase “repetition leads to self-destruction,” it grew increasingly meaningful to him.

“Actually, the marketing tactics are pretty much the same old ones. The key is to make them seem fresh. Never give the impression of being repetitive—changing things up is a crucial factor!” Xiao Ran suddenly remembered his days in sales and couldn’t help but feel emotional. In just a few years, he had changed so much.

Bai Wenjing’s eyes lit up. He realized he truly understood now—that for some people, certain things don’t need to be said too directly. Just as he was about to leave, Xiao Ran called him back, looking at him with a smile: “I think you can try using clever tactics for promotion instead of overwhelming them with everything at once! Using footage of me and Qingxia to create buzz is possible, but that doesn’t happen every time. You need to find the exciting highlights that are unique to each occasion.”

Bai Wenjing nodded in understanding. With only a week left before the Golden Horse Awards, ATV abandoned its plan to air footage of Xiao Ran proposing to Lin Qingxia. Instead, it used footage of Zhou Runfa and Xiao Ran winning the championship, paired with narration, using the possibility of a fourth consecutive win as a gimmick.

In Southeast Asia, Bai Wenjing’s plan worked to the fullest extent, and the combined efforts of the subsidiaries under Meiying also produced exceptional results. Having control over three newspapers, four magazines, and two publishing houses, they heavily promoted the event through various interviews and articles in the most influential entertainment magazine, “Influence.”

This year’s Golden Horse Awards focused on whether Fa Ge could maintain his four-peat and whether Meiying could dominate once again. All of Meiying’s teams centered around this theme, using clever tactics—such as interviewing Xiao Ran and Fa Ge three days before the awards—to add excitement.

Most interestingly, according to Bai Wenjing’s plan, ATV partnered with many industries in Southeast Asia. For example, buses featured Fa Ge and Meiying’s logos, indirectly promoting both him and Meiying.

This approach proved extremely effective, stirring up emotions among people across Hong Kong. Especially when they thought of Fa Ge’s three-peat last year and Meiying’s triumphant return, their enthusiasm soared even more.

Southeast Asia was the focus of promotion. This time, aside from Japan and South Korea, almost all other countries and regions contacted ATV right away to purchase broadcast rights. This time, Zhu Guangli wasn’t reluctant to complain about high costs compared to returns, as this year’s profits were directly proportional to the investment. On the last day, South Korea also purchased broadcast rights, leaving only Japan—the largest market—unclaimed.

This was a breakthrough for the Golden Horse Awards, as they finally managed to reach the Chinese mainland. Although it was only in some areas like Guangdong and Guangxi, and not in live broadcast, it still satisfied Xiao Ran greatly. After all, things need to be done step by step. The fact that this had happened meant the mainland was beginning to accept them, which was a good sign.

It was entirely within Xiao Ran’s expectations that the Golden Horse Awards could be promoted so quickly. Hong Kong films had always been the most influential outside of Hollywood movies in this era, especially in Southeast Asia, where their status remained extremely strong—even more than a decade later, there were still many die-hard fans of Hong Kong films.

Moreover, under Xiao Ran’s subtle influence over the past two years, Hong Kong films have gradually become more standardized and institutionalized, with increasingly high-quality productions. The salary alone for one film starring Stephen Chow is enough to fund several films in South Korea.

Most importantly, the effect of producing high-quality films has become increasingly prominent. The films released in Southeast Asia through Shadow every year are definitely carefully selected masterpieces, and those sent to Europe are even more rigorously chosen. It’s no exaggeration to say that even the worst Hong Kong films are more entertaining and commercially viable compared to films from various parts of Southeast Asia.

Thus, with such advantages in both quality and quantity, coupled with factors like precise dubbing, Hong Kong films’ market share in Southeast Asia has gradually risen to 30%, and in Taiwan, it’s almost 90%.

Seeing these figures, Xiao Ran smiled happily. Everything was basically in place now. If it weren’t for computer-generated effects starting to challenge Hong Kong films from next year, Xiao Ran could even stop paying attention to them. After all, film companies now understood how important talent was and were trying, like Shadow, to give opportunities to newcomers.

Under such circumstances, Xiao Ran was truly happy. If things went as he had initially planned, his goals would be largely achieved. As long as they didn’t make mistakes, Hong Kong films wouldn’t face extinction. Sometimes, systems are extremely crucial—establishing good systems can create a positive cycle.

If he could step back, where would he go? Perhaps traveling around the world would be a great idea. The world is so vast; there’s always something new to see! The thought of traveling the world with Lin Qingxia, living a carefree life free from worldly concerns, excited him.

Unfortunately, this kind of life was not within his reach in the short term. Hollywood stood before him like an insurmountable peak, as did Shadow and Chinese-language films.

Xiao Ran originally didn’t plan to attend the Golden Horse Awards again, fearing readers would accuse him of dragging things out. But this time, he had been nominated for Best Actor, so it would be awkward not to go.

So, it was still the Golden Horse Awards, still the red carpet. Unlike last year, there were far more journalists this time—reporters from every region and country in Southeast Asia, and even from Europe, demonstrating the influence of Hong Kong films.

Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia walked hand in hand down the red carpet. This most famous couple in Hong Kong immediately attracted frantic photography from every journalist, with countless questions posed through microphones. Xiao Ran raised his hand and gently pressed them back: “Friends in the media, take your time. If you have questions, ask them slowly! As for the first question, let’s give it to the Japanese journalist as a courtesy!”

“The journalist from Tokyo TV—this guy speaks Chinese quite fluently.”

Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia couldn’t help but laugh, with Xiao Ran laughing even more happily. From this first question, he immediately deduced that Bai Wenjing’s marketing plan had been executed very well—now probably the whole of Southeast Asia was paying attention to it!
“This must be a friend from Tokyo TV. If you’re familiar with Chinese, you must know there’s another phrase that goes along with ‘sweeping through armies’!” Xiao Ran glanced at them with a smile. Seeing many reporters look confused, he then revealed the answer: “It’s ‘falling flowers and flowing water.’ The films that make it to the Golden Horse Awards are all of the highest quality—there’s no way to measure them by standards alone. Whether they win or not depends on the judges!”
“Fallen flowers and flowing water” could be interpreted as the Phantom being utterly defeated, or vice versa—it was definitely an impeccable answer. Liang Jiabao thought to himself, admiring how Xiao Ran’s tactics in dealing with reporters became more and more skillful. He didn’t join in the excitement but instead grabbed his camera, capturing Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia’s expressions at that moment.
“We haven’t collaborated with any other film companies!” The Tokyo TV reporter pushed forward eagerly and asked the question again, clearly causing dissatisfaction among his colleagues.
“It’s not that we haven’t. Right now, The Phantom is in partnership with Deppa, Tianluo, and Taihang! As for cooperating with Japan…” At this point, Xiao Ran suddenly smiled brightly: “I think The Phantom isn’t strong enough to cooperate with Japan yet!”
Everyone burst into laughter, mocking the reporter who asked the question. The Tokyo TV reporter also smiled helplessly and touched his nose, blaming his own mistake in phrasing his question—he had meant to ask about cooperating with Japanese companies, not Japan itself.
After answering a few more questions and taking some photos, they went inside with Lin Qingxia, who was also being photographed and interviewed. After taking a few steps, a luxury RV stopped in front of the red carpet, and out came Zhou Huimin and Ni Zhen.
Seeing this, Xiao Ran couldn’t help but frown. He had once liked Zhou Huimin when he was younger, but later learned that Ni Zhen had kept her hidden away. Coupled with her father Ni Kuang, Xiao Ran held a great deal of resentment toward this father-son pair. Yet, he got along well with Ni Kuang’s sister, Yi Shu, which was somewhat strange.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Qingxia, now his wife, immediately noticed something was off with Xiao Ran. Following his gaze, she laughed and said, “Don’t you know about Zhou Huimin and Ni Zhen?”
Xiao Ran shook his head slightly. It was hard to describe his feelings at the moment. But seeing Zhou Huimin’s happy appearance, he felt he shouldn’t tear them apart for his own desires. Strictly speaking, Zhou Huimin was still quite young—Xiao Ran wondered why Ni Zhen had paired up with her so early.
“President Xiao, Madam Xiao, you’re here too!” A familiar voice came from behind. Turning around, he saw Cheng Xiaodong. The two people beside him surprised Xiao Ran at first, but then he found it extremely amusing.
If it weren’t for seeing it with his own eyes, Xiao Ran wouldn’t have believed it—the two people beside Cheng Xiaodong were Zhang Yimou, who would eventually be criticized by at least 600 million people, and Gong Li, who was hailed as an international star.

Xiao Ran had always disliked these two people greatly. The reason why he disliked Zhang Yimou was known throughout the world more than a decade later. But there was only one reason for his dislike, even aversion, toward Gong Li: he remembered that one of the three major film festivals in the 21st century invited Gong Li to be a judge. Yet she dressed as if she were a prostitute, with two unnaturally large breasts, along with an utterly inappropriate pretense of nobility—so vulgar that it brought shame to Chinese cinema. How could she still be considered an international Chinese actress!

Initially, Xiao Ran only thought Gong Li’s acting was terrible. After that incident, he developed a strong aversion toward her. However, compared to more than a decade later, Gong Li now seems far better.

Seeing that the two of them were also there, Xiao Ran suddenly remembered that several co-produced films had started shooting this year. “Romance of the Terracotta Warriors” was one of them, a collaboration between Cheng Xiaodong and Zhang Yimou. At first, Xiao Ran didn’t intend to approve the film, but after some thought, since it was recommended by the Film Bureau, he had to give face to them anyway.