Chapter 296: The Grand Curtain

On the balcony of the Phantom Building, Xiao Ran quietly gazed at the night skyline. Hong Kong looked especially beautiful that day, yet its beauty was tinged with sadness due to the events of the day. By his side was Lin Qingxia, with their two children taken care of by their grandparents at home.
“Hong Kong is a beautiful city. No one wants it to become desolate. What do you think?” Xiao Ran said, holding Lin Qingxia’s hand and looking at her, his deep affection evident. “And I certainly won’t allow Soros and his bunch to ruin it!”
Lin Qingxia said nothing, merely staring at her husband in silence. At first, she didn’t understand why Xiao Ran came here, but now she thought she might know—only from this vantage point could one see further.
Reaching out, Xiao Ran gently smoothed the wind-tousled hair on Lin Qingxia’s face, smiled at her deeply, then turned to walk toward Guan Xin and the others. On this cool night, the breeze was pleasant. Xiao Ran sat down on a chair and looked at Guan Xin across from him. “Master, have you taken care of the underworld?”
“No problem. Liu Bin is in charge there. Those scoundrels can’t pull any tricks!” It was hard to describe Guan Xin’s expression—it seemed both indifferent and aloof.
“Great!” Xiao Ran couldn’t help but praise him. With Guan Xin involved, he felt completely at ease. He snapped his fingers at Yang Guang and the others, who immediately understood and left. Soon, a sumptuous meal appeared. Xiao Ran smiled and said to everyone, “Tonight, let’s count down together as we welcome the handover!”
Although the financial and stock markets had been dismal during the day, it didn’t have as much of an impact on the evening celebration as expected. Only a shadow seemed to loom behind the festivities.
Now, in many parts of Hong Kong, countless citizens, after dinner, flocked to the streets to welcome this century-long celebration. The streets were lit up with decorations, everywhere there were signs welcoming 1997, along with advertisements. Truly shrewd.
Late at night, the People’s Liberation Army began to enter Hong Kong. Their numbers weren’t large, but they were full of vigor and dignity. Through television broadcasts, the underworld figures trapped in the room trembled. Fortunately, they hadn’t thought of causing trouble; otherwise, just the PLA alone would have given them a hard time.
Cheers rang out in many places, but on the spacious balcony of the Phantom Building, Xiao Ran quietly watched the troops and suddenly smiled. He had never seen Hong Kong’s handover before, as he had been wandering in rural areas without electricity or television. He thought that being able to witness it now was a kind of compensation.
Yet times had changed. Once, he was a happy and carefree wanderer. Now, he was a powerful figure who racked his brains over everything. Life’s ups and downs had been too rapid—even he couldn’t imagine it. Truly, the world was full of wonders.

At this very moment, Pylock was locked in a fierce battle with the heads of the other six major companies at the American Film Institute over actor salaries. Salaries were actually secondary; the real issue was Universal’s and Columbia’s “abusive” behavior in competing for actors. Perhaps it was more of a target at Universal.

Michael’s emotions were extremely unstable. What kind of role had Pylock played before, that he now dared to confront him head-on? But thinking of Pylock’s backer, he calmed down. He had to admit that Pylock definitely had the right to speak to him that way.

However, giving in like this was definitely not Michael’s personality. He barely suppressed his emotions and said, “Pylock, I have to admit you weren’t right about this. Competing with Columbia like this harms our collective interests!”

Pylock felt wronged. In fact, it wasn’t him who decided this—it was Wei Dongling who made the decision, with Han Long handling it. But since he was now part of Universal, he had to swallow this bitter pill: “Michael, I think you’re wrong. Your ‘collective’ doesn’t include Universal, does it?”

Michael was so angry by Pylock’s words that he couldn’t speak. Just as he was about to explode, old fox Turner finally spoke up, saying kindly to Xiao Ran, “Pylock, you know that raising salaries isn’t good for any of us. We should work harder to keep prices low!”

“Turner, you’re wrong too. It wasn’t Universal that raised the salaries this time—it was Columbia. I think you’ve picked the wrong person!” Pylock was full of confidence. With the reputation of Phantom behind him, he dared to challenge anyone here.

Turner wasn’t intimidated by Pylock and continued to smile. “But I think dear Pylock surely hasn’t forgotten that it was Universal who first raised salaries by a million. Columbia had no choice but to resort to this tactic!”

Pylock wasn’t as arrogant as he seemed. It was just that this time, Wei Dongling had instructed him to be as firm as possible. So, he had to play the role of Zhuge Liang in this verbal battle: “I see. You don’t want Universal to sell out its films, right? I need this actor, so I’m willing to pay this much to sign him. He’s not worth forty million, so I gave up!”

Michael finally lost control. Seeing Pylock’s expression, feeling increasingly overshadowed, he slammed the table and shouted, “Pylock, let me tell you—Hollywood’s rules are decided by us. It’s never your turn to break them!”

Turner and the others inwardly panicked, annoyed by Michael’s terrible temper. Pylock’s expression changed drastically. He glanced around at the six men with a disdainful look and said proudly, “Then I’m sorry, but until Universal accepts these so-called rules, they’ll never become rules!”

With that, Pylock strode away. At the door, he suddenly turned and looked around at the six men, then said proudly, “If you want Universal to accept these rules, then defeat them this summer. Otherwise, those rules can go to hell…”

Murdoch kept thinking. Earlier, he hadn’t even bothered to speak—those boring guys didn’t even have the strength to challenge Universal, yet they still wanted to. They never considered how many times Universal had won the annual box office title with the help of Phantom and its film distribution. What right did they have to speak up?
However, he thought that if the plan mentioned by Turner and Michael worked, there might be a good chance to overwhelm Universal. It would be too late to say anything then. For him, the main goal now was to acquire Book Fragrance Media. It didn’t seem difficult, did it?
That afternoon, Phantom indeed launched an attack on News Group’s acquisition attempt, trying once again to ruin News Group’s deal, just as before. But this time, Murdoch was clear he didn’t really care about that acquisition—he cared about acquiring Book Fragrance. Of course, he wasn’t unwilling to acquire Phantom, but he needed the strength for that too.
He was currently talking to a banker. If the negotiations succeeded, he would be able to raise enough funds to take over Book Fragrance. Otherwise, he would have to forcefully acquire that North American company to boost the banker’s confidence. It would still be possible to go after Book Fragrance later.
It was deep night in Hong Kong. Xiao Ran and Guan Xin were both enjoying themselves, smiling as they looked at Guan Xin. “Master, after this, retire with us. You’re getting old. If you keep fighting, it’s really…”
Guan Xin shrugged. Retiring or not didn’t really matter. Yet he couldn’t help but reflect on how he had witnessed Phantom grow rapidly into a super empire. So many things had happened in just ten years, and Xiao Ran and the others had done so well.
“Also, Yang Guang and Monkey, retire with us too! I suddenly realize I really can’t do without you!” Xiao Ran clicked his tongue, looking at Yang Guang and Monkey. “This lesson teaches us never to rely on anyone!”
“Brother Ran, retiring isn’t easy!” Fang Xiaoqiang immediately objected. Without Xiao Ran, what would happen to Phantom? “Don’t forget, such a large Phantom still needs you to lead it!”
“A Dong can take care of it!” Xiao Ran chuckled, shirking responsibility onto Wei Dongling, something he was very good at. “And you, if you want, you can let your disciple gradually take over. You can step back in a few years!”
“Are you really willing to give it up?” Guan Xin finally couldn’t hold back and asked. This was a business empire worth 300 billion dollars. “You spent eleven years—will you really hand over your foundation to others to manage?”
“Master, you know Xiao Ran!” Lin Qingxia smiled softly. She remembered that long ago, Xiao Ran had promised her he would achieve his goals as quickly as possible and then live a free life. Looking back now, he had indeed done it.

Guan Xin couldn’t help but sigh slightly. Even he himself was reluctant to leave this company, yet Xiao Ran could simply walk away at will—something truly beyond ordinary people’s capability. Still, the question that puzzled everyone was: How could Xiao Ran emerge unscathed? Given the current situation, it would already be a miracle if Shadow didn’t go bankrupt—so how could he retire?

“It’s a shame Dong isn’t here; otherwise, it would be perfect!” Xiao Ran murmured softly. Without Wei Dongling, everything about Shadow was just his own fantasy—a mere illusion.

“Wait, Brother Ran, I really want to ask you something!” Fang Xiaoqiang finally couldn’t hold back, eager to shout out his emotions: “Do you have some way to solve this crisis, or is it all part of your plan?”

Xiao Ran burst into laughter. Under everyone’s gaze, his laughter grew louder. Without admitting or denying it, he replied, “You’ll know when July 1st arrives.”

Fang Xiaoqiang and the others were shocked, especially Fang Xiaoqiang, who knew Xiao Ran well enough to understand that he was the type who planned everything carefully. This time, faced with such a crisis, instead of avoiding it in advance, Xiao Ran sent a letter to Soros that seemed like a challenge—something truly baffling.

So, Fang Xiaoqiang suspected Xiao Ran had some plan behind it, but he simply couldn’t see it no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps that was his weakness in strategic thinking. He remembered what Xiao Ran had whispered in his ear that morning: “Xiao Fang, today I’ll make both finance and the stock market collapse under your control!”

At that moment, he was certain Xiao Ran had a strategy, but he really couldn’t tell if it was all part of a plan. Which idiot would spend 80 billion dollars on a scheme? That person must be crazy. So, he couldn’t be sure.

Xiao Ran knew very well that this was indeed risky. The key lay in funds—once he could obtain 200 billion dollars, Soros and the national speculators would surely suffer an unprecedented defeat. Even before starting his plan, Xiao Ran himself couldn’t believe he could get 200 billion dollars, especially after already investing over 70 billion dollars.

But without taking risks, how could Shadow and Hong Kong enjoy stability for the next few years, even decades? Without risks, dealing with Murdoch and Soros might not be something he could handle in a short time. He needed to win this fierce battle decisively and restore peace.

At this point, as midnight neared, it was likely time to lower and raise the flag. Xiao Ran had refused the invitations from the British Hong Kong government and the central government to secure his freedom—otherwise, given his status, he would have had no choice but to attend the handover ceremony. Even so, he still had to send a representative to show his support for the central government’s takeover of Hong Kong.

This is extremely important. As Hong Kong’s most powerful figure, a single step from him could shake the global economy. If he clearly stated his disapproval of the central government, the consequences would indeed be unpredictable. First, it would indirectly affect the public’s perception of the central government; second, it would lead other countries to make exaggerated statements on this matter.

Fortunately, Xiao Ran has stated over the years that he has no political stance; otherwise, he would surely struggle to extricate himself tonight to carry out his plans! Rather than planning, it would be more like execution.

Finally, midnight arrived. Even Xiao Ran and the others could hear the collective countdown calls from the citizens: “Ten, nine… three, two, one! Oh wow…”

“Three, two, one!” Xiao Ran took Lin Qingxia’s hand and gazed at the city below, silently repeating the numbers in response to the citizens’ voices. Suddenly, an excited roar erupted across Hong Kong, almost enough to overturn the heavens. They weren’t particularly welcoming of the central government, but after what had happened before, they definitely disliked the Hong Kong-British government even more.

“Qingxia, from now on, let me put on a great show for you, kicking off a magnificent prelude to our retirement!” Xiao Ran smiled, raising his glass to clink it against Lin Qingxia’s, his eyes filled with deep emotion.

Xiao Ran released Lin Qingxia’s hand—he had to get to work. He turned to Fang Xiaoqiang and the others and ordered in a deep voice, “Previously, it was the time for rivals to show off. But from this moment on, it will be the realm of the shadows! Everyone, get ready to act!”