Chapter 47: The Glorious Phantom

After some bargaining, he and Lei Kaitai finally finalized the details of their cooperation. Xiao Ran stood up with a smile, shook Lei Kaitai’s hand, and said cheerfully, “Mr. Lei, you’re truly a shrewd businessman.”
Lei Kaitai gave Xiao Ran a deep look and laughed heartily as well. “You’re also a very astute film producer. I hope we’ll have more opportunities to work together in the future!”
“There will be, definitely,” Xiao Ran chuckled secretly. After New Art City collapsed, Lei Kaitai withdrew his funding and sold Golden Princess to Huang Baiming’s Oriental Film Company. He now wanted to leverage this connection, partly out of ambition for that film distribution network.
The next day, he found time to meet Lin Guiyun, a Taiwanese film producer who happened to be in Hong Kong. Although Lin was surprised that Xiao Ran was already a boss at such a young age, he remained stubborn about purchasing films. This suited Xiao Ran’s plans—he didn’t want Southeast Asian producers to buy films indiscriminately, as that would only harm the reputation of Hong Kong films.
It takes ten years to build something, but just one month to destroy it. Xiao Ran certainly didn’t want to spend ten years fixing a mistake made in a month, so he reached a fair agreement with Lin Guiyun on this matter. Of course, there were still rules to follow.
The number of cinemas in Taiwan was limited, so it was understandable that they couldn’t show all Hong Kong films at once. Thus, Xiao Ran argued with Lin Guiyun for a long time over the scheduling issue, until they agreed to wait and see how the new company performed in its first year before deciding whether to give it prime screening slots the following year.
Xiao Ran was persistent on this point for good reason. Film producers had two ways of acquiring films: one was to buy the local rights outright at a fixed price, suitable for smaller-scale productions that could generate quick profits; the other was through profit-sharing, appropriate for large-scale, blockbuster films.
The production of “Eight Stars Bring Good Fortune” went smoothly, with post-production almost complete—only release was left. Xiao Ran had essentially finished his work; in short, he no longer had any employment relationship with New Art City.
“The Female Warrior” performed surprisingly well, outperforming “Magic Jade” and earning just over 20 million at the box office, once again solidifying Xiao Ran’s reputation as a top-tier screenwriter. However, he realized that history was changing. In his memory, “The Female Warrior” had only narrowly beaten “Magic Jade,” earning 18 million—not 20 million.
Actually, he had forgotten that the media had been covering his relationship with Lin Qingxia, putting this top screenwriter in the spotlight among the public. Naturally, people were curious to see how this handsome screenwriter acted, which indirectly promoted “The Female Warrior,” so higher box office earnings were expected.
Still, there were many things left for Xiao Ran to handle, such as company staff… One night, specifically a dark and stormy evening in late October 1986, Wei Dongling returned from watching a movie and found Xiao Ran staring coldly at the TV. Yet even a blind person could tell his mind wasn’t on the screen at all.

Wei Dongling casually took off his jacket and threw it on the sofa, then sat down next to Xiao Ran in his slippers, staring at him in surprise. “Aran, did the sun rise in the west today?”
“Hm? Let me think…” Xiao Ran gestured with his arms and muttered to himself. After a while, he awkwardly said to Wei Dongling, “I don’t know. I’m not sure which way is west!”
Wei Dongling was furious, instantly feeling the urge to rush over and strangle Xiao Ran. Though his reason held back that impulse, he still waved his fist, as big as a casserole, as a threat. “Kid, you know exactly what happens when you play tricks on me!”
Xiao Ran couldn’t help but laugh. It felt great to relax for a moment. Once he was happy again, it was time to get down to business. His expression suddenly became serious as he stared at Wei Dongling. “A Dong, I’m going to start a business. Are you interested in joining me?”
Wei Dongling seemed carefree on the surface, but Xiao Ran soon realized he wasn’t as careless as he appeared. Wei Dongling smiled confidently, showing he had a plan. “You know, I’ve been observing your life lately and figured it out long ago. I thought you’d be able to hold back from mentioning it to me…”
Xiao Ran rubbed his nose to hide his embarrassment. He had long harbored ambitions for Wei Dongling, unsure if Wei Dongling had seen through them. But Wei Dongling’s vague tone wasn’t what Xiao Ran wanted, so he pressed on, “So what? At least give me an answer!”
Wei Dongling pretended to think for a long time, keeping Xiao Ran on edge as he worried that such a talent would be given away to someone else. After teasing Xiao Ran, Wei Dongling finally laughed heartily and pointed at his nose. “When did I say I wasn’t willing?”
“Damn it, you’re messing with me!” After being tormented for a while, Xiao Ran finally couldn’t hold back and blurted out a classic swear word from the 21st century.
Next, Xiao Ran explained in detail his partnership with Fang Ruohai. Wei Dongling thought for a moment before giving Xiao Ran some good advice. “I think there must be trust between you and Fang Ruohai. For profit distribution, the company needs two accountants to oversee each other, so that no one can manipulate the accounts!”
Xiao Ran nodded. He had already discussed this with Fang Ruohai—it was inevitable to prioritize self-interest first. After pondering for a while, Wei Dongling finally brought up the company structure that concerned Xiao Ran. “Based on the common situation of small and medium-sized film companies, they usually only have a shell company with very few actual employees. I don’t think you’d do that, so I think we need to have a proper company structure!”
At this point, Wei Dongling couldn’t help but shake his head. “It’s a shame you don’t have much capital. Otherwise, you could scale up. When I was at Jiahe, I noticed their departments were quite complete—distribution and production are two separate departments. Moreover, they can sign actors and directors, but our company doesn’t have that capability!”

The company situation that Xiao Ran and Fang Ruohai discussed wasn’t simple at all. Simply put, the new company was founded by Xiao Ran himself, and he owned it. So, naturally, there was no initial capital. Using his own over 800,000 yuan to rent an office building, carry out renovations, and hire staff were all expenses that needed to be covered with that amount.

However, once the company was established, Fang Ruohai would immediately sign an investment contract with Xiao Ran and transfer the money to him. This would basically solve the toughest part of the situation. Therefore, before that, they didn’t have the means to hire actors or directors.

After some discussion, the two quickly finalized the key staff members the company needed now and its structure for the next one or two years. Wei Dongling would serve as the manager and also act as the external contact. Xiao Ran would hire a trustworthy accountant, while Fang Ruohai would provide one as well. A security guard also needed to be hired, which really gave Xiao Ran a headache.

As for Xiao Ran, he was the boss and also served as the production manager. Unfortunately, it seemed he had no one under his command as a production manager! But this was the most cost-effective way.

While registering the company, renovations were also underway intensively. Once everything was ready, Xiao Ran finally set the opening date to December 1st and distributed numerous invitations to invite various influential figures to attend. Of course, journalists were also essential—no matter how much Xiao Ran disliked them, he still had to put on a good show.

Don’t think making movies is simple just because money is enough. If Xiao Ran hadn’t already built a solid reputation worth 20 million yuan in the film industry, enjoyed great popularity, and maintained good relationships with New Art City and film studios, even after founding the company, he might not have been able to find actors or directors. It shows that connections are the most important.

Just like now, Xiao Ran’s company had no employees, so there was no talk of film production staff. But since he had connections, what if he lacked people? No problem—borrow from New Art City and film studios. No equipment? No problem—borrow from Golden Harvest. Not enough money? No problem—since they were all friends, they would charge less for his fees. That’s exactly the role of connections—Xiao Ran had reaped tremendous benefits over the past year or so.

On December 1st, there wasn’t a huge crowd, but news of Xiao Ran founding the company spread through the newspapers. Many people came to Prince Edward Road in Kowloon to see the stars and this remarkable Xiao Ran—this was the address of his new company. The company was small, only 100 square meters, but it was sufficient.

Think back to when New Art City was first established—those big players together only had 2,000 yuan, yet they still moved from an 100-square-meter office to a larger one. Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling rarely dressed so neatly to meet people; they exchanged glances and couldn’t help but smirk.

The invited guests gradually arrived. The first to come was the most beautiful and perfect woman, Lin Qingxia. Perhaps for Lin Qingxia, this Xiao Ran was the person closest to her, aside from her family.

Many more people showed up next—almost all the stars and directors who had worked with Xiao Ran were there. Zhang Manyu, Zhong Chuhong, Ye Qianwen, and others were dressed even more gorgeously than flowers, leaving Wei Dongling wishing he could use a matchstick to keep his eyelids open.
Eddie Peng came with Wu Yusen, Xu Ke came with his wife, along with Huang Baiming, Mai Jia, and Zhang Aijia. Later, Cheng Long and Hong Jinbao, Liang Chaowei and his current girlfriend Li Meixian showed up, while Liu Hua came alone. Wu Zhenyu, Liu Qingyun, Zhou Xingchi, Ren Dahuahua, and those less successful actors whom Xiao Ran had deliberately befriended also arrived.
The singing god Xu Guanjie was there too, along with Zeng Zhiwei, Du Qifeng, Wei Jiahui, You Hai, You Zhi, and others, as well as Wang Jing’s group, several big stars and directors, and the boss. Xiao Ran’s eyes were dazzled; not to mention him, Wei Dongling and the media were truly shocked. They never expected Xiao Ran to be able to invite so many influential people. But for Xiao Ran, it was also a surprise.
Over the past year or so, he had deliberately made friends with various important figures, earning him great popularity in the industry without ever offending anyone. Naturally, those who could make it came, while those who couldn’t sent flower baskets or similar gifts. Of course, there were also many people Xiao Ran didn’t know.
The reporters and Wei Dongling, seeing the entire street filled with cars, felt as if God had slapped them. Just as they were astonished, Fang Ruohai arrived, accompanied by his sister Fang Ruoxin, who was as beautiful as a natural wonder—this alone must have used up countless rolls of film.
The moment Xiao Ran saw her, his mind went a bit fuzzy. Fortunately, he quickly regained his composure and smiled warmly to welcome the guests. But the next person to appear really surprised Xiao Ran for a long time—it was Lin Guiyun and Lei Kaitai…
Lei Kaitai’s appearance here clearly surprised everyone, instantly raising Xiao Ran’s status several notches, as few people could invite a business magnate like him. But Xiao Ran knew he hadn’t sent out any invitations. Still, it didn’t matter—since they were here, they were his guests!
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