Chapter 294: Comprehensive Planning

Lei Shidong had no reason to hesitate. Come on, with Phantom’s financial strength, Universal had developed comprehensively over the years, not only dealing a severe blow to major companies’ film businesses but also gradually threatening their television markets. From any perspective, he had absolutely no reason to like Xiao Ran. “I admit that forming an alliance with Universal four years ago was a mistake. I want a chance to make it up!”
“I…” Pierce, the leader of the mafia family, couldn’t force a smile. He had long wanted to do something about Phantom. MGM’s performance had always been mediocre, and in recent years, it had been devastated by Phantom. It had already started losing money last year. Under such circumstances, he obviously wouldn’t choose any other option. “I don’t like it! I really don’t like it.”
Turner and Michael couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. This matter really depended on Pierce to handle—it was they who were law-abiding American citizens. Michael looked seriously at everyone present, far from his usual flamboyance. “Now Turner and I have a way to plunge Phantom into an internal crisis. If we can unite, we’ll surely be able to put pressure on both Universal and Phantom!”
“What’s the method?” In the end, Shinji Iide couldn’t resist asking out of curiosity. “I think it’s unlikely that Phantom, having reached its current level, has any problems that could shake this empire!”
Michael immediately smiled triumphantly. He gradually felt that Disney’s ten million dollars was worth it. “You don’t need to ask. Just cooperate with our actions when the time comes!”
“Wait!” Lei Shidong immediately realized something was wrong. “It won’t be easy to get Paramount to cooperate. You know, Universal is now Paramount’s second-largest shareholder. If we plan to do anything, we can’t possibly not inform Universal!”
“That’s right. Universal also controls some shares of Columbia. If we don’t inform them, we’ll face lawsuits!” Shinji Iide’s expression immediately became serious—he was already very serious by nature.
“I think that’s not important!” Michael laughed heartily. He didn’t want other companies to unite to do something; he just needed such a coalition. “What matters is that we’re now an alliance—one that will exist as long as Phantom stays out of Hollywood. That’s enough!”
Murdoch immediately understood. Such a large coalition could do many things. It could be used to threaten the five major studios not to release Universal and Phantom’s films, otherwise their film sources would be cut off. It could also influence the camps of actors—and even policies!
The meeting ended, but Turner and Michael still stayed. They called out to old Pierce—this was the key to the meeting. Pierce turned to look at the two elders with slight confusion and sat back down. “Do you still have something unsaid?”
“Mr. Pierce is truly wise. You saw at a glance that we still have something to discuss!” Turner’s smile was always hard to refuse, though it seemed too commercial. “You know, there’s one thing for which we need your help.”

Since Turner emphasized the word “power,” Pierce immediately realized it referred to the family influence behind him, and he was slightly stunned. Like Hong Kong, Hollywood also disliked gangs, though sometimes it was hard to avoid them. Especially for wealthy people like Turner and Michael, worth billions of dollars, gangs were certainly not welcome.

Michael always showed extreme respect toward Pierce, the mafia leader, as he didn’t want to get shot dead as soon as he stepped outside, although he knew Pierce wasn’t that stupid: “Mr. Pierce, you know, this task can’t be done without you!”

Pierce remained calm; he wanted to profit from this situation. Turner clearly guessed his thoughts and quickly added, “This is closely related to the survival of MGM. I think we’re on the same side.”

“Oh… Do you mean Phantom?” Pierce was old, but that didn’t mean he was foolish. He quickly connected this to the previous meeting.

Michael said nothing, while Turner smiled at Pierce, who looked puzzled: “Mr. Pierce, I think someone will approach you about this. It will be an Easterner. I hope you won’t refuse him. It’s extremely important. Whether we can defeat Phantom depends on this next step!”

Tie Long, who was waiting inside MGM for Pierce’s arrival, was frustrated. He never expected to be outwitted by that cunning old fox, Turner. That scoundrel wanted to shift all the blame onto him. If things went wrong, the clues would end here, without implicating Turner or Michael.

Those two scoundrels wanted to harm him, but he definitely wouldn’t just hand over easily. As the saying goes, if you do something bad, I’ll do something worse. Tie Long didn’t care anymore—he just wanted the money. Fortunately, it seemed unlikely he’d be implicated. He thought the mafia surely wouldn’t be that foolish.

Still, he had some doubts. Given Xiao Ran’s methodical nature, there was no reason for him to let himself fall into such a predicament. Moreover, since they had started fighting against international speculators, with Xiao Ran’s decisive approach, there was no reason to drag things on so long.

In short, he suspected there was a conspiracy. But no matter how he looked at it, no one would be stupid enough to use this as a bait. Anyway, he dismissed this overly cautious thought.

As soon as Pierce entered the company, he saw the Chinese man walking back and forth. He immediately remembered Turner and Michael’s instructions and waved at his bodyguard, who promptly brought Tie Long before him. Pierce examined the seemingly ordinary young man carefully: “Are you here to see me?”

Tie Long nodded firmly, cursing Turner inwardly once again. Once in the office, Pierce closed the door before staring at Tie Long and saying, “Now, you can tell me why you’re here!”

“It’s simple. To deal with Phantom Group, all we need is for Wei Dongling to have some trouble. Then Xiao Ran won’t be able to do anything, and Phantom Group will surely fall into internal chaos!” Tie Long spoke carefully, trying not to leave any clues that could be used against him later.

Pierce frowned slightly, wondering what kind of person Wei Dongling was to be so highly regarded by Turner and Michael. Clearly, he didn’t understand Wei Dongling’s importance to Shadow. Tie Long patiently explained it to him, and only then did Pierce realize.

After some thought, he concluded that this deal wasn’t very profitable. Wei Dongling was an important figure, and if anything went wrong, it wouldn’t be as simple as losing just one ant. So, he talked to Turner and Michael again, and finally they reached an agreement on a few deals.

The benefits Turner and Michael offered Pierce—or rather, MGM—were quite simple: collaborate on films to help MGM emerge from its slump, while MGM could use the opportunity to launder money. As for Tie Long, he naturally left.

June 30th was crucial, both for Xiao Ran’s opponents and for Xiao Ran himself. Not long after he got up that day, Lin Qingxia personally prepared breakfast for him. Watching Xiao Ran gobble up the food, she couldn’t help but laugh and ask, “Is it really that delicious?”

“Of course it is! Everything you make is delicious!” Xiao Ran laughed heartily, not showing any shyness. Glancing at the two little ones causing trouble nearby, he said, “Xiao Qing, Xiao Ling, eat the breakfast your mom made!”

Xiao Qing was afraid of Xiao Ran, while Xiao Ling was afraid of Lin Qingxia. Those two children were truly interesting. After having a joyful breakfast together, Xiao Ran kissed his two children before smiling at his wife. “Today is very important. I might be back late. Wait for me!”

Lin Qingxia nodded gently. She could guess what Xiao Ran was going to do today. Yesterday, Shadow only had 10 billion in working capital left. Today, they had to use that money to fend off attacks from international speculators and protect the interests of Hong Kong and even all of Asia.

“I’ll wait for you. I believe in you. You’ll win!” Lin Qingxia stepped forward and gently hugged Xiao Ran. In that moment, she suddenly felt as if she had returned to the time when she was deeply in love with him, experiencing the sense of security and indescribable confidence she felt around him.

Xiao Ran inhaled her sweet scent, confident that he could protect his family and Hong Kong. At least he knew he should atone for the early success he’d gained in the stock market; now he was making amends for his past.

“Dad, I want to go with you!” Xiao Ling’s big eyes kept scanning her parents’ faces. She didn’t understand the expressions on their faces, but she suddenly really wanted to go with her dad. She liked that kind of environment.

The couple was momentarily stunned, then laughed. Xiao Ran didn’t reject Xiao Ling’s request. He even asked Xiao Qing if she wanted to go too. Unfortunately, Xiao Qing clearly didn’t like that kind of environment. Before leaving, Xiao Ran gave Lin Qingxia a deep look. “Remember, don’t go anywhere with mom and dad today. Stay at home!”

After Lin Qingxia nodded, Xiao Ran smiled, picked up his daughter, and left. Watching his back, Lin Qingxia had a strange feeling—she believed Xiao Ran was sure to succeed this time.

Upon approaching the car, he saw only Sun Yang, Monkey, and Zhang Yan crouched on the ground, gnawing on sandwiches, looking extremely down and out. Yet, having known each other for some time now, they had become increasingly familiar with one another.
“You guys are really absurd. With such high salaries, and yet you’re still here eating breakfast!” Xiao Ran could only smile bitterly. Looking at the four of them, they didn’t resemble bodyguards of a billionaire at all—they seemed more like poor outlaws ready to rob a bank at any moment.
Zhang Yan and Liu Xi stood up as soon as they saw Xiao Ran, out of habit. Sun Yang and Monkey, on the other hand, stood up slowly with smiles, looking at Xiao Ran and Xiao Ling’er and saying, “Brother Ran, we’re part of the poor masses—we have to save wherever we can! Right, Xiao Ling’er?”
“You’re not poor at all!” Xiao Ling’er, set down by Xiao Ran, made a cute face at Sun Yang and Monkey before darting into the car, making them burst into laughter.
Zhang Yan and Liu Xi drove a BMW ahead to open the way, while Xiao Ran got into Sun Yang and Monkey’s car. When they arrived at the company, Xiao Ran took Xiao Ling’er’s hand and entered the lobby accompanied by Sun Yang and the others. Along the way, he heard people calling out “President Xiao!” repeatedly.
After going straight up to the floor, Xiao Ran entered his office and told Xiao Ling’er to play by herself before starting to work. After reviewing the business intelligence collected by Xia Lin Yongqiang, he fell deep into thought.
Murdoch had officially launched an acquisition bid against that North American company yesterday. By convention, Phantom should respond today. But since Phantom had been going through tough times lately, it might take some time before they launched a counterattack against Murdoch’s bid this afternoon.
Wait a moment—Xiao Ran soon noticed something was off. It wasn’t because of Murdoch, but because the heads of the six major Hollywood companies had met yesterday. Why would they meet? And at this time? Xiao Ran racked his brains trying to figure it out.
He could easily imagine the reason for the meeting—it was surely to deal with Phantom or Universal. But what Xiao Ran wanted to understand was what tactics those companies planned to use against him. After thinking for a while, he gradually smiled. It probably involved some tricks in areas like distribution.
At 9:30, Xiao Ran took Xiao Ling’er to Fang Xiaoqiang’s command room, where everyone was busy. Fang Xiaoqiang came over to Xiao Ran, scratching his head in confusion and saying, “It’s strange—Soros isn’t showing any signs of activity. I guess he’s planning something big. If we don’t have the funds this time, we’re really done!”
Xiao Ran smiled slightly, waved at Fang Xiaoqiang, and whispered something in his ear. Fang Xiaoqiang’s expression changed instantly as he stared at Xiao Ran in shock, “Brother Ran, you… how is this possible?”
“Why not?” Xiao Ran turned to look at the stunned Fang Xiaoqiang. “This is strategy. It’s necessary for our strategy—we must create such a situation!”
The financial and stock markets were mostly quiet in the morning, as if Phantom and the international speculators had disappeared altogether, leaving only small players moving around. Most people thought the international speculators had finally withdrawn under Phantom’s pressure, and they were almost on the verge of cheering.

However, those in the small group with broader insights were highly skeptical about this. International speculators and Phantom have been in a fierce struggle these days, with Phantom suffering significant losses—there’s clearly no way the two sides would simply cease fighting. The only possibility is that both are preparing for a major showdown…
At this thought, many people became excited. It would be truly rare to witness the two most top-tier and famous speculators in the world engage in a head-to-head battle.
Just two minutes before market close, the numbers on the electronic screens suddenly jumped several times. Everyone in the exchange saw it—the mysterious funds had started another round of selling. But what they never expected was that this round was even more intense than before.
Due to this round of selling, the Hong Kong dollar’s exchange rate dropped significantly, and Phantom didn’t place any orders at all. Many thought Phantom was too late and grew confident that it would intervene in the afternoon.