Chapter 65: Mysterious Incident

In addition, Lin Minyi, who was regarded as the top expert in film music before the 1990s, also won the Best Film Song award with three nominations. There was also Kwok Ka-fai, who was nominated for Best Film Score for “A Hero’s Heart,” and Law Wing-wai, who received nominations for “My Favorite” and “Dream Lover” — each of them were truly outstanding talents.
Xiao Ran now resembled a hungry wolf drooling, staring at these masters who excelled in film music, eager to persuade them to join Phantom. Unfortunately, he knew that Huang Zhan and Kwok Ka-fai likely wouldn’t give him face.
Lu Guan-ting, on the other hand, seemed likely to join. As for Law Wing-wai, who was good at composing music for art films, Xiao Ran hadn’t decided yet whether to sign him. He definitely had no hope of getting Lin Minyi to join — given her current status, it would be hard for her to consider joining a small company like Phantom. Besides, even if she signed a contract, Xiao Ran might not be willing to keep her.
After some thought, he gave up the idea of bringing Lin Minyi to the company. After all, he could sign a short-term contract with her if needed in the future. However, because of film scores, Xiao Ran thought of two masters he greatly admired — Huang Yinghua and Zhong Zhirong.
The former had composed music for Future Galaxy Pictures on many occasions and even scored “Kung Fu” in 2004; he was undoubtedly one of the most talented score composers in the next twenty years. As for Zhong Zhirong, he was no ordinary person — he was Xiao Ran’s favorite composer after Uncle Zhan, the official composer for Galaxy Pictures. Films like “Dark Battle” and “Gunfire” were his works, and he was recognized by many film fans as a top-tier expert.
The awards ceremony ended, but the crowd didn’t disperse. The winners all went onto the stage. Someone from the organizing committee brought out a food cart filled with high glasses holding transparent wine. Xiao Ran immediately frowned — he didn’t drink alcohol. Strictly speaking, even a single beer could knock him out.
But the organizing committee obviously wouldn’t prepare water just for him, so Xiao Ran had no choice but to pick up a glass and clink it with the other winners around him. When he reached Fa Ge and Ng Yu-sun, his mood improved somewhat. Teasingly, he said, “Brother Sen, Brother Fa, you two are the biggest winners this time. It’s a shame I can’t celebrate with you. I must invite you over later!”
“No problem. Let’s go fishing together some other day! I’ll cook something for you!” Fa Ge smiled subtly, though everyone could see the joy in his eyes. The success of “A Hero’s Heart” pushed Fa Ge’s popularity to new heights. Calling him the most popular actor now wouldn’t be an overstatement — Cheng Long couldn’t compare to Fa Ge in terms of personal charm.
That was what a superstar looked like! Xiao Ran was deeply impressed. He could hardly imagine when he would be able to have the same calm demeanor as Fa Ge. Watching Fa Ge talk and laugh so easily, Xiao Ran felt admiration in his heart.
Due to his status, he didn’t attend New Art City’s celebration party this time but only celebrated briefly on stage before saying he had to leave. Lin Qingxia came to him and said softly, “Let me see you off!”

Xiao Ran was very frustrated. He was already the boss of the company, yet he couldn’t even drive—a bit of a demerit for his status! Lin Qingxia clearly didn’t think it was wrong for Xiao Ran to keep borrowing rides; she started the car and drove away.

“Why are you silent?” Lin Qingxia glanced at Xiao Ran, her eyes filled with tenderness, but Xiao Ran didn’t notice. “Did winning a prize make you so excited you’ve gone crazy?”

Xiao Ran thought that since Fa Ge and the others weren’t willing to work with Ah Xin, why not ask Lin Qingxia? She probably wouldn’t refuse! With that in mind, he asked a unrelated question, “I have a script. I was wondering if you’d be interested in acting in it?”

“Aren’t I on break right now?” Lin Qingxia gave Xiao Ran a look—so alluring it could drive anyone mad—but Xiao Ran still didn’t see it. “You can ask Ah Hong and the others to act; they might not refuse!”

“The problem is they did refuse because I want them to work with Fang Ruoxin!” Xiao Ran’s worried expression looked childish. Whenever it came to Fang Ruoxin, his cheerfulness vanished as if eaten by a dog. “Ah Hong won’t agree, and Fa Ge won’t do it either. If I can’t find anyone else, I guess I’ll have to act myself.”

“Fang Ruoxin?” Lin Qingxia froze for a moment, repeating the name involuntarily before suddenly braking. She had heard from Ah Hong about this spoiled girl and frowned deeply. “Even if her brother is an investor, you don’t need to flatter her like this. In this industry, it’s only us who ask them for favors.”

Now it was hard to tell who was asking whom! Xiao Ran suddenly felt powerless. Forget it; he might as well give up on this. Then he remembered something and his mood lifted again. Smiling, he said, “Fa Ge invited me fishing. It’s a good chance for us to go out together to relax. How about we go together?”

Lin Qingxia hesitated. She had originally wanted to create a chance to be alone with Xiao Ran. But now, seeing his sincere eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. “Fine, as you wish. I’m really scared of you. But don’t forget—you still owe me a trip!”

Just as they were about to drive away, Xiao Ran spotted a dark figure writhing like an insect at the entrance of an alley. His eyebrows raised, and he reached out to stop Lin Qingxia. “No rush. Look at that!”

Pointing, he made Lin Qingxia jump at the writhing shadow. Xiao Ran watched carefully for a while before recognizing it as a person. For safety reasons, he didn’t get out of the car right away but continued to observe. Only after confirming the person posed no threat did he tell Lin Qingxia to close the windows before getting out to check.

Approaching cautiously, Xiao Ran realized the person was injured—evident from the pool of dark blood on the ground. Should he help? What if the person wasn’t good? Xiao Ran stamped his foot angrily. His instinct told him to help, but he hesitated before making a decision.

Although Xiao Ran wasn’t the type to scream at the sight of blood, he wasn’t cruel enough to turn a blind eye to a life slipping away. Gently helping the weak man, he went to the car and signaled Lin Qingxia to open the door.

“Take him to the hospital!” Xiao Ran placed the man in the back seat and said to Lin Qingxia, who looked shocked.
Although the man seemed unconscious, he could still hear Xiao Ran’s words in his daze and mumbled a few words. Xiao Ran leaned in to listen carefully and then realized he was saying, “Don’t take me to the hospital…”
Could he be a criminal? Xiao Ran frowned. He wasn’t the kind to rescue criminals. Lin Qingxia stared at the man in fear and said, “Let’s take him to the police station instead!”
“Take me to Xinhua News Agency…” The man suspected of being a criminal suddenly sat up and shouted these words clearly before falling completely unconscious. This left Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia stunned for a while, both confused. Xiao Ran felt even more uneasy—could this be tied to some complicated situation?
However, it might be a good solution after all. Lin Qingxia and Xiao Ran quickly agreed and drove to Xinhua News Agency’s Hong Kong headquarters. Xiao Ran spent some time in a phone booth looking up Xinhua’s number before calling them to inform them that there was an injured person who needed their help.
Soon, someone came downstairs. Due to her identity, Lin Qingxia couldn’t get involved, so she hid. Xiao Ran saw three ordinary-looking men appear and cautiously went up to them, “Are you from Xinhua News Agency? There’s someone…”
“Where is he?” One of the men, who seemed to be the leader, interrupted Xiao Ran as the other two carefully observed their surroundings.
Xiao Ran was annoyed, but to get rid of this trouble, he had to ignore his displeasure. He led the three men to the car, opened the door, and they were shocked upon seeing the blood-soaked man inside. “It’s him!”
Without hesitation, two of them quickly lifted the man and carried him upstairs. The third handed Xiao Ran a cigarette. When he refused, the man gave him a serious warning, “Treat this as if you never saw anything. Understood?”
Xiao Ran shrugged. He didn’t want to get involved in such matters to avoid trouble. So he nodded without saying anything. The man seemed unsure of him and stared at him for a long time before turning and going upstairs. Xiao Ran let out a sigh of relief, called Lin Qingxia out, and they drove away together. Of course, they didn’t know that when the leader returned to his office, his first order wasn’t to treat the injured man but to investigate Xiao Ran’s identity.
“Who were those people?” Lin Qingxia remained silent for a while before asking, “They seemed very mysterious. I’m not sure if they’re good or bad.”
“Forget about it. It won’t cause us any harm anyway!” Xiao Ran shrugged helplessly. It was indeed mysterious, but it wasn’t his concern.
He did forget about it, at least for now. The next day, he felt refreshed, and the displeasure from the previous day was quickly overshadowed by the joy of winning an award. He had a rare day off, but he might not be able to stay idle.

Remember, to survive and thrive in any era, it’s not enough to have only a basic understanding of the future; one must also keep learning. Especially in the field of filmmaking, progress is essential—otherwise, one will fall behind. If one fails to keep up with the times and their methods of entertaining audiences become outdated, there’s only one outcome: failure.

Moreover, Xiao Ran wasn’t lacking in ambition. Learning from other directors’ techniques was undoubtedly beneficial for both his mind and body. So, he went to the company to talk with Wei Dongling about business matters, then checked the newspapers.

The entertainment headlines in the newspapers shocked Xiao Ran. Apple Daily’s headline read: “Is Hong Kong’s Number One Screenwriter Born?” The article quoted Huang Bingyao and Lin Qingxia’s conversation from the previous night, implying that Xiao Ran was indeed the number one screenwriter. Additionally, Oriental Daily, while praising the success of “True Heroes” with the headline “Heroes Rule,” also attracted readers with the bold title “The Industry’s Recognized Top Screenwriter.”

Oriental Daily did an excellent job with data analysis, managing to find and list the box office figures for Xiao Ran’s past films overnight, providing accurate statistics. With nine films and a total box office of 230 million, the figure was truly astonishing—averaging over 20 million per film. It seemed Xiao Ran’s reputation as the “20-million-screenwriter” was firmly established.

What made Xiao Ran especially proud was that Yi Shu wrote a review of him in her Ming Pao column that day, stating that his title as Hong Kong’s number one screenwriter was well-deserved. Even Ni Kuang, that old fellow, harshly questioned Xiao Ran’s status in his column, analyzing the weaknesses in Xiao Ran’s previous scripts.