Chapter 78: Taking Advantage of Weaknesses
However, Xiao Ran wasn’t clear about this at the moment. Looking at Ghost King Dong, he put forward his last request: “Brother Dong, I want to add one more condition now! I want that Wang Yang. Of course, it’s enough if you deal with him.”
Hearing Xiao Ran’s words, Xiang Qiang and Ghost King Dong were stunned. They had thought Xiao Ran was extremely greedy. It wasn’t until they heard the latter part that they relaxed. A fierce look flashed across Ghost King Dong’s face: “I agree. Anyway, if you don’t want it, I still want it!”
“As for the protection money!” Xiao Ran still couldn’t avoid this issue. After pondering for a while, he realized that since this matter had arisen, it should also be resolved this way.
Ghost King Dong smiled cheerfully and waved his hand: “No need. From now on, no one will dare to collect protection money from your area!”
Xiao Ran thought for a moment. He felt this wasn’t quite right. If the underworld really followed rules, then if he refused to pay, that would be… So, he suggested: “How about this, Brother Dong? From now on, the company will still pay 20,000 per month. This way, it will satisfy both Lian Ying and the other brothers in the underworld!”
Ghost King Dong thought about it. This indeed wasn’t easy to handle. Xiang Qiang was also troubled. If they really let Xiao Ran pay, it would mean their people knew nothing about rules. But if they didn’t, the rules would be broken. Most importantly, Lian Ying’s territory might become vacant, and whichever gang took over would have the right to demand protection money from Xiao Ran. Refusing would mean cutting off their source of income!
Thinking of this, the two exchanged glances. Ghost King Dong immediately came up with an idea and laughed heartily: “I say we don’t pay! Who the hell said Mirage Company must pay? There are so many companies in Hong Kong, and not many of them have to pay protection money.”
Xiang Qiang also relaxed. Who the hell said companies had to pay protection money? Thus, the matter was settled, and the uproar that had grown so large gradually subsided. Before parting, Ghost King Dong patted Xiao Ran’s shoulder appreciatively: “A Ran, I admire you. If you joined the underworld, we old guys might not even have anything to eat! Enough talk. I still need to go for a massage. Feel free to come find me if you need anything!”
“Not at all!” Xiao Ran was immediately humble, smiling and saying, “It’s all because of Brother Dong and Brother Qiang’s kindness. I’ll definitely meet up again if I get the chance!”
The incident was basically over, but only basically. There were still some loose ends. A day later, one of Ghost King Dong’s subordinates called to tell Xiao Ran that the man who tried to kill him had been dealt with. The next day, Xiao Ran read in the newspaper about a body found dead on the street.
The only thing that annoyed Xiao Ran and Ghost King Dong was that Wang Yang wasn’t stupid. He had fled back to Taiwan early in the morning. No matter how far Lian Ying’s reach extended, he would still be doomed in Taiwan. As a result, the matter could only be left unresolved. Anyway, Wang Yang wouldn’t dare come to Hong Kong, as Lian Ying’s pursuit order was still in effect.
After that, no other gangs came to Mirage Company to demand protection money. Xiao Ran’s name became well-known in the underworld. Of course, this didn’t mean he belonged to the criminal world—it just meant his name became a taboo in the underworld, one that people didn’t dare to offend lightly.
The storm had passed, but its echoes lingered. Xiao Ran felt a stir in his heart. After hesitating for a moment, he made an immediate decision—to release “God of Gambling” right away. This was definitely a good opportunity. With both Phantom Company and Xiao Ran’s name at the center of headlines across the newspapers, the movie would surely become the focus of the public to the greatest extent possible.
After hearing Xiao Ran’s reasoning, Wei Dongling didn’t object. He sent the head of the distribution department to talk to Liao Jingping and moved up the release date by a week. That week fell under the responsibility of the publicity team.
The only regret was that since Phantom Company hadn’t yet established its reputation, it was difficult to form a fan club for the company. However, for now, this didn’t seem to have a big impact. Moreover, it was likely that fans would emerge after “God of Gambling” was released.
Unfortunately, the only foreign film producer Xiao Ran knew at the moment was Lin Guiyun; he didn’t know any others. Even Lin Guiyun wasn’t willing to blindly believe that Xiao Ran’s debut film would become an instant hit, so no producers approached him to buy the rights before release.
Xiao Ran didn’t care. Once “God of Gambling” was released, producers would have to come to him urgently. And if sold in advance, given Phantom Company’s current reputation, it wouldn’t fetch a high price. Just like last year when a Philippine company bought New Art City’s “Happy Ghost Meets Ghost” at an extremely low price but not the earlier films. When it was released, it even outperformed Stallone’s “First Blood.”
Overjoyed, the producer then turned to New Art City to buy the first and second episodes at a high price, resulting in the strange situation where others showed them in order 1-2-3 while he showed them 3-2-1.
Three days later, Xiao Ran managed to persuade the eager Fang Ruoxin to give up on attending the premiere. Still, it had to be admitted that Fang Ruoxin’s temper had changed quite a bit over this period, and Xiao Ran faced fewer troubles.
On the fourth day, there was a midnight preview of “God of Gambling.” Xiao Ran had ten tickets sent to Xing Jiafeng and Liu Guanglu. Wei Dongling, Guan Xin, and other department heads from the company also came. This was the company’s debut film, and success would mean a good start—how could they not be nervous?
Only Xiao Ran seemed completely relaxed, which made Wei Dongling express his dissatisfaction to him: “Is this serious? This is our debut film. If it fails, it’ll be disastrous! You’re not nervous at all—this isn’t human!”
“There’s no need to be nervous!” Xiao Ran laughed. His calm demeanor gradually influenced Wei Dongling as well: “Everything is set. Now is the time to prove the company’s strength. Worrying won’t help.”
The actors from the film, such as Zhou Runfa, Liu Hua, and Zhang Min, as well as producer Yu Yayu, also came. All the key members of Phantom Company sat in the back row of the cinema, waiting for the movie to start.
It began with the appearance of a truly beautiful woman, with perfect proportions. This ethereal figure, as if emerging from mist, was extremely alluring. She performed a dance like a fairy on the mirror-like surface of a lake—simple yet absolutely beautiful.
Just as everyone thought this magnificent opening was the actual content of the film, the woman’s figure gradually blurred and turned into a logo. Then, some words appeared on the surface of the lake and slowly took shape. Once the image was fixed, the audience saw the Chinese characters “Mèiyǐng” along with a line of English letters beneath them.
Such a unique opening surprised every viewer, but it certainly left a deep impression on them. Xiao Ran couldn’t help but grin inside—the woman in the company logo was actually a model he had asked Lin Qingxia to pose for.
Due to the extremely poor computer graphics technology at the time, Xiao Ran used live-action filming to create the company logo. He specially built a “lake,” filled it with perfectly pure water, and created a beautifully set surrounding environment. He then used wire effects to achieve a dreamlike, ethereal aesthetic.
The only challenge was figuring out how to transform the real scene into a fixed image on screen. With current technology, this wasn’t easy. Initially, Xiao Ran considered two approaches: live-action or animation. In the end, he chose live-action, but encountered difficulties during conversion. Animation proved decisive in solving these issues, resulting in the final version that combined both the ethereal beauty and the realism—perfect in every way.
To some extent, a company logo holds extraordinary importance. A striking logo and opening animation can ensure that most viewers remember the company, greatly enhancing Xiao Ran’s brand image.
Take the Galaxy Image logo, for example—it’s extremely simple yet memorable, and the company has produced countless classic works. Just seeing or hearing this logo can excite people because everyone trusts the company. Similarly, the Fox logo is instantly recognizable.
Xiao Ran spent a million and nearly ten thousand feet of film to create this opening. In the end, only this segment and two others were kept.
Returning to the screen, Japan appeared first—not Gao Jin, but several fans screaming beside the road, shouting the awkward phrase “God of Gambling.” The camera captured this frenzied scene for a full ten seconds before switching to a limousine slowly approaching.
The audience’s curiosity was at its peak. Finally, the car stopped. The door opened, and a pair of feet appeared on screen. The camera pulled back to show a medium shot of Gao Jin.
Brother Fa took Zhang Min’s hand and walked into the casino amid cheers. What followed was a swift and decisive dice-playing battle. Gao Jin won effortlessly, and as the onlookers cheered, subtitles appeared. Instead of the title, the first thing shown was four very prominent words—“Xiao Ran’s Works.” Only after all the subtitles appeared did the film’s title show up.
Xiao Ran’s deliberate actions greatly heightened the audience’s excitement, and when the subtitles appeared, they became even more eager to watch the film as soon as possible. At that moment, Brother Fa leaned in and whispered, “I didn’t expect it to turn out so well!”
What does “well” mean? Xiao Ran chuckled—there’s more amazing content to come. This time, he changed from the rough version shot by Wang Jing and produced a highly polished film, living up to the nearly six million yuan invested in filming (with an additional million yuan added due to budget constraints).
However, he made few major changes to the overall plot, only adding some details and altering the opening sequence. It must be admitted that Huang Yongheng has excellent cinematography skills, and combined with the use of bright yellow filters, the image quality is far superior to that of other companies’ films, making the visuals extremely sharp. No wonder so many action directors prefer to work with Huang Yongheng as a cinematographer.
*****
Novelist — Xiang Qiang
Real name — Xiang Huaqiang
Everyone knows that Xiang Huaqiang is the head of Hong Kong’s largest triad group, Sun Yee On. His brothers, Xiang Huasheng and Xiang Huabo, are also active in the entertainment industry. The Xiang family has thirteen sons, and Xiang Huaqiang is one of the most outstanding, having been an action actor since his early years. Needless to say, his status in the film industry is significant. The Yongsheng Film Company founded by him and his brothers stopped openly laundering money in the mid-to-late 1990s and later established China Star, one of Hong Kong’s largest film companies. In today’s Hong Kong film industry, he is definitely one of the few powerful figures who can call the shots.