Chapter 259: Competing With the Principal for the Sky

After some soothing, the few men who had come to demand their wages calmed down and were no longer as worked up as before.

Fang Hong wanted to settle this once and for all; just paying them off or driving them away wouldn't guarantee that another group wouldn't show up tomorrow or the day after.

After all, the people scheming behind the scenes didn't have to show their faces — all they had to do was stir things up.

A lot of people from the crew crowded around to watch; some of the shorter ones were even standing on tiptoe, craning their necks to look inside.

Everyone knew what had happened, though — someone had come to demand their wages.

Liu Tianxian had listened for a while and roughly understood the situation, but she didn't speak up; instead, she watched to see how Fang Hong would handle it.

"You say our crew withheld your wages. Which group leader told you that? Bring him here, and I'll question him face to face." Fang Hong wanted to find out exactly which group leader was causing trouble.

"Well…" these men were put on the spot.

They were afraid that if they exposed the group leader, he wouldn't give them work in the future, and that would be bad.

This was also one of the reasons they didn't dare go after the group leader and only dared make trouble for the crew — and it was also with the group leader's encouragement and backing.

This was a kind of coercion by those who held the resources against those who didn't.

Essentially, their relationship with the Principal and the crew was one layer removed; offending the crew might still leave them with work, but offending the group leader might mean no work at all.

"If you won't tell me, how can I help you understand the situation? Resolve it?" Fang Hong's gaze swept across their faces one by one.

All of them wore hesitant expressions.

Fang Hong didn't make things hard for them; he said quietly to Han Jianü beside him: "Can you find out which group leader it is?"

"Not for the moment. These extras and temporary workers don't have files with us. Even if they gave their names, we wouldn't recognize them or know which group leader they follow. And these people drift around — they don't just follow one group leader."

Han Jianü explained in a low voice: "Of course, if we really wanted to ask around, we could find out — it just takes time."

These people followed different group leaders, and extras and temporary workers had no file information with the crew, so even if they gave their names, the crew couldn't figure out which group leader had referred them.

Fang Hong nodded and looked at Lu Dabo: "Do you know?"

Lu Dabo shook his head — how the hell would he know? There were hundreds of extras and temporary workers a day; there was no way he could remember them all!

Besides, he was uneasy inside right now; he'd also taken his cut, and he didn't know whether the Principal would blame him for it.

Seeing he couldn't get anything out of them, Fang Hong looked at the men again: "How long have you been doing this work?"

"Six years!"

"Eight years!"

"Five years!"

"."

The men answered one by one.

"Good. Hand your personal information over here. From now on, for any Jade Rabbit production, we'll contact you first — you won't have to go through a group leader."

Fang Hong had to resolve their worries before he could drag the group leader out into the open.

And while he was at it, sideline the group leader — let's see who still dares stir things up!

"Really?" The swarthy old man's eyes lit up.

"Yes. My Jade Rabbit may not be some big company, but we still produce six or seven films and TV shows a year — enough to keep you busy for a whole year." Fang Hong said.

One production took about two or three months to film, which could fill up their work for an entire year.

Of course, Fang Hong was being conservative; later on, the production volume would only grow, especially when web dramas were booming.

This made the men exchange glances, their faces showing a mix of surprise and joy. If it worked this way, they could bypass the group leader, work directly for Jade Rabbit, and not have their pay skimmed.

If it was 150 a day, that was the equivalent of working two days for what they currently earned in one — and they might even get on the permanent staff and work long-term!

The temptation was considerable; even the extras and temporary crew members watching from the outside were tempted.

If they could earn more, who would want a group leader skimming a layer off the top?

"Principal, you won't trick us, will you?" Someone still had reservations, afraid that after this was done, the Principal would stop caring about them.

"How could the Principal trick you? Go ask around — who has the Principal ever tricked?" Lu Dabo barked. How dare they doubt the Principal.

"Watch your attitude."

Fang Hong shot him a cold glance — when had he become so snobbish?

Lu Dabo lowered his head and shut up, not daring to speak again. He was a little scared inside; the Principal had never looked at him with eyes like that before — this was the first time.

In the past, it had always been jokes and a bit of awkwardness that passed; it had never been taken seriously.

That was because Fang Hong felt he had changed — forgotten that he had also clawed his way up from the bottom, and once he'd left that class, he no longer treated those people as people.

"I keep my word. And I can raise your daily wage to 200, with no middleman skimming anything — of course, this only applies to work I contact you for."

Fang Hong laid it out clearly for them: "You don't need to worry I won't give you work. What I said is we'll give you priority — meaning only if you don't take it will we look for someone else. If I have no work, that doesn't stop you from finding work elsewhere."

200 was only 50 more; for 1,000 extras, that was only 50,000 more — he could afford it.

If he couldn't afford it, the worst he could do was squeeze the actors' pay further, squeeze Liu Tianxian's pay further too, and the money would come out.

With his current position, he could trim expenses elsewhere at will and pass the savings on to these people.

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

The terms were laid out very clearly; the extras and temporary workers on the outside exchanged glances, very tempted.

With treatment like that, who would still want those group leaders!

"I trust the Principal. It was a group leader named Jing Zhangchi who brought me in." The swarthy old man was the first to speak up.

"My group leader is called Zhao Jinbao." Another man also named his group leader.

And there was more than one — they were quite capable.

Hearing the two names, Lu Dabo's face looked unnatural, and he cursed inwardly: two idiots.

Fang Hong looked at the others: "Anyone else?"

"No, just those two." They replied.

Fang Hong looked at Han Jianü: "Did you find out?"

"Found them, there are these two people." Han Jianü flipped through the contact information of the various group leaders that had been compiled and sent to her on her phone.

"Call them and tell them to come. You make the call!" Fang Hong stretched out his hand and pointed at Lu Dabo.

The production unit only had the contact information of these group leaders and did not participate in the specific contact. Lu Dabo was responsible for contacting these people and would also take attendance, so he was familiar with them.

It was impossible to collect contact information for every group leader and then introduce people to their crew; the management would be too chaotic.

It was also so that if something happened, the person responsible could be found!

"Yes, Principal."

Lu Dabo had no choice; this matter couldn't be covered up, so he could only dial the phone numbers of those two bastards.

Those two bastards had ruined him, actually hiring people to come cause trouble. Damn them.

When he dialed the phone, the scene gradually quieted down, and everyone turned their gaze toward Lu Dabo, mainly out of curiosity.

Liu Tianxian stepped forward, leaned close to Fang Hong's ear, cupped her hand to shield her mouth, and whispered: "Is someone behind this causing trouble?"

The warm breath she exhaled as she spoke tickled the inside of Fang Hong's ear.

After she finished speaking, Fang Hong gave a slight nod.

Liu Tianxian understood then. No wonder there were suddenly extras coming to cause trouble; she had thought the crew really owed them their wages!

"You must come over right now. If you don't come, then never come again." Lu Dabo issued a threat, then hung up the phone and said to Fang Hong: "They're coming right away."

Extras and temporary workers were paid first and then the money was settled with the group leaders, so the group leaders' money was still with the crew. Whether they came or not, they had to come.

Fang Hong looked deeply at Lu Dabo. Lu Dabo lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze, clearly with a guilty conscience.

Those group leaders were at some nearby club or hotel, on top of some young woman, and would come over to settle accounts after the shoot wrapped, or pull their people away, so they wouldn't be too far away and would arrive quickly.

Five group leaders came at once, clearly all staying together. They were all burly, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, looking very big and imposing.

They were all used to barking orders at their subordinates, so naturally they carried a thuggish air.

However, when they saw the Principal from afar, their expressions all turned solemn. Being able to alarm the big boss meant the matter seemed to have blown up quite a bit.

They all made their living off Jade Rabbit, and with the big boss stepping out, this matter was serious.

However, only two people were involved: Jing Zhangchi and Zhao Jinbao.

Before these two had even approached, they jogged up, pushed through the crowd, and roared angrily at those eight men demanding wages: "Damn your mothers, who told you to come cause trouble?"

After saying that, they even started using their hands, shoving those eight men outward: "Get the hell out of here, get far away."

Fang Hong just quietly watched them put on their act!

Those eight men immediately lost their nerve, but even while being pushed they didn't leave, just stayed where they were. One of them mustered his courage: "I just want to get my money back."

"Didn't I pay you?" The group leader flew into a rage and raised his hand to deliver a slap.

The surrounding people were all greatly shocked, and some couldn't help crying out.

Fang Hong signaled Lu Dabo. Lu Dabo moved quickly to stop it, and several stagehands stepped forward to separate the two men and the eight men.

"Damn it, in front of the Principal, you'd better all behave yourselves." Lu Dabo shouted.

"Principal, I'm sorry, they came to cause trouble, it's my fault." After being pulled apart, group leader Jing Zhangchi hurriedly admitted his mistake.

Zhao Jinbao also said: "Sorry, Principal, I didn't manage them well."

Very quick to read the room!

"Did I say they came to cause trouble? Why are you two so worked up?" Fang Hong said lightly.

"Then what about them?"

"They just came to get back what belongs to them. Tell them how much per head our crew pays." Fang Hong went straight to the point, too lazy to play along with these two.

Jing Zhangchi fell silent, and Zhao Jinbao also said nothing.

"Are you trying to die? Answer honestly." Lu Dabo roared.

Jing Zhangchi glanced at Lu Dabo, lowered his brows, and said: "150 per person, per day."

"Then did we settle the payment with you honestly?" Fang Hong asked again.

"We did!" Jing Zhangchi said.

"Brothers, you heard that, right? Our crew didn't withhold anyone's money." Fang Hong looked at those eight men.

Those eight men had been worn down until they had no fight left. The crew wasn't wrong, the group leaders weren't wrong, so who was wrong?

One man, gathering his courage, said: "But we really did get less."

Fang Hong looked at the two group leaders again: "How much of a kickback did you take from them?"

Both fell silent; this was their trade secret.

"Don't think that just because you don't say anything, I can't guess. We give you 150 per person—is that math hard? One person, you take 100; ten people, you take a thousand; a hundred people, you take ten thousand." Fang Hong directly pinned the blame on them.

"Principal, that's not how you calculate it." Jing Zhangchi quibbled.

"Then tell me how to calculate it." Fang Hong said.

"It's not just us taking it alone; we also have to grease palms." Jing Zhangchi said.

"Grease whose palms?" Fang Hong asked again.

"Principal, please don't make things hard for us. We can't say." Jing Zhangchi and Zhao Jinbao looked troubled.

"Is it him?"

Fang Hong directly pointed at Lu Dabo.

Lu Dabo's face changed, and he explained: "Principal, I..."

"Don't think I don't know about your little profit-sharing arrangement. I climbed up from the bottom too." Fang Hong cut him off directly.

All three lowered their heads in silence, having nothing to say.

The others on set exchanged glances, not expecting Lu Dabo to also be involved.

"Dabo, you speak. How do you split the kickback with them? Tell me everything." Fang Hong's voice was stern.

Lu Dabo didn't dare disobey: "I only take 20 yuan per person per day, the group leader takes 50, that's 70 in total. The temporary worker gets 80. That was the agreed price."

At that, he shot the two of them a resentful glare—breaking the rules, damn it.

The two didn't dare meet anyone's eyes, both keeping their heads lowered.

The three group leaders who had been watching the show exchanged glances—this had stripped their underwear clean off.

"Crash!"

Some people on set could no longer stay calm. This production needed at least three to five hundred extras and temporary workers a day. If Lu Dabo took 20 yuan from each person, that was a minimum of 6,000 a day.

That came to 180,000 a month, and that was a conservative estimate. Add Lu Dabo's own salary on top, and he was pulling in at least two or three hundred thousand a month.

And that was without counting the hidden income from other angles—meals, drinks, lodging, supplies, all that stuff—he often skimmed from those too.

Think about it, more than what some actors earned from acting. That veteran lead actor Zhang Zhijian only got a hundred-something thousand per show.

The income was simply terrifying. No wonder he'd so quickly gotten behind the wheel of a BMW and kept bragging about switching to a Porsche, comparing himself to the Principal as if he were sky-high.

Everyone had assumed he was joking before, but no one expected everything he said was true.

Usually he looked decent enough, the picture of an honest, dog-legged sort, but who would have thought his heart was so vicious—greeding even the farmers' wages.

"But I've never taken money from the extras or temporary workers directly. All the kickbacks came through the group leaders' hands." Lu Dabo hurriedly explained.

He could feel the malice radiating toward him from everyone around!

"Then you should have kept a tighter rein on it. How did it end up with people coming to make trouble? Are we still filming or not?" Han Jianü fumed, dissatisfied.

"Sister Han, I never expected it would turn out like this either." Lu Dabo's face darkened. He glanced at Fang Hong, then lowered his head.

Everyone had always done it this way, every production was the same, he'd just gone along with the crowd. He never expected some people would kick up a fuss.

Thinking of this, he shot another resentful glare at those two bastards—idiots!

"Alright, now's not the time to assign blame."

Fang Hong smoothed things over, looking at the eight men: "The situation is perfectly clear now, and where your money went is perfectly clear too."

"We're sorry, Principal, we shouldn't have come."

That swarthy old man bent at the waist in apology, and the others' faces also showed remorse.

The production really hadn't docked their pay; their money had been greedily siphoned off layer by layer by those black-hearted people. Before it had always been eighty, then suddenly they were only given fifty and told the production had paid less.

Shifting the blame onto the production and slandering the Principal—that was these people's trick.

(End of chapter)