Chapter 711

The full-moon banquet continued, and Chen Zhixi made her stance clear before hanging up the phone.

Even if they didn't speak up, they'd still do it—telling Xu Tianrong was to make him share the responsibility.

How shameless that such a giant as Hengdian would retreat!

The old man Xu Tianrong mentioned was none other than the founder of Hengdian Group and the creator of Hengdian Film City, and Xu Tianrong was his eldest son.

The Xu family's influence was immense, but no matter how immense, when facing real estate players, they still wouldn't blink—every circle had its powerful figures.

Each circle operated by its own logic and had barriers between them—there were walls between circles.

Just because you're incredibly impressive doesn't mean others in different circles will give you a second look.

"Xu Zong said he'd consult his old man—truly, when profit's involved, they forget the bigger picture; lucky he has a good father," Chen Zhixi scoffed.

"Everyone is selfish; it's hard to ask someone to think beyond their own interests for the entire industry—they all guard their own little patch, afraid their own interests are threatened, and just want to drag you out to take the hit," Fang Hong saw through these people completely.

Chen Zhixi nodded, then asked: "So what should we do?"

"Whether they sign the 15-day payment agreement or not, we're going to stand firm—we can wait and see," Fang Hong said.

"Understood!" Chen Zhixi nodded.

The full-moon banquet soon drew to a close; relatives and friends glanced at the Fang family young master before gradually taking their leave.

Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian saw them off, escorting friends and family to their respective cars.

The full-moon banquet lasted only one day—it wasn't meant to drag on for days—but Liu Tianxian's maternal grandparents planned to stay a few extra days.

It wasn't easy to come this far; they'd stay a few more days to see the baby, who was so adorable.

Meanwhile, news that major real estate service providers were demanding rent hikes for the Principal's cinemas spread rapidly—word of mouth carried it far and wide.

It quickly reached every major cinema chain CEO.

They all paid close attention—none knew if the Principal's rent would rise, whether theirs would follow; real estate service providers had zero morals.

They didn't care if your industry lived or died—they only cared about making money.

Cinema chain operators also called Chen Zhixi to inquire, essentially urging the Principal to stand firm and absolutely not back down.

When times were good, you weren't there; when someone had to stand tall, suddenly you were.

Fang Hong was using this opportunity to push for the 15-day payment cycle—regardless of whether they agreed to sign the agreement, he'd start pushing.

Of course, whether they signed or not, Fang Hong would fight the real estate service providers to the end.

This precedent couldn't be set—if it was, the damage would be too great; even if it had to be set, it couldn't be set here—he'd become a traitor.

Later, when people asked why cinemas couldn't resist rent hikes, and blamed it on the Principal surrendering, how bad would that sound?

In a simple room sat an elderly man, white-haired and frail, leaning on a cane at the head of the table—he was now eighty-one.

If you recognized him, you'd know—he was Xu Wenrong, the creator of Hengdian.

Across from him sat a middle-aged man: Xu Tianfu, partially bald, round-faced, not particularly handsome or dashing.

He recounted the incident to the old man and added: "If the Principal can't hold out, rent hikes could spread across the entire film industry—these real estate players have no rules."

"Of course, the Principal says he'd shut down all theaters before compromising—this weakness can't be tolerated. I'd like to ask you: what should I do?"

"Hengdian's success today stems from its industry leadership—guiding the film industry forward. That kind of influence isn't given; it's earned by enduring pressure, facing challenges."

Xu Wenrong spoke slowly: "Haven't you noticed that the young man called Principal is transforming from an ordinary film businessman into an industry leader?"

You ask me what to do—why aren't you the first to denounce the real estate service providers' actions as intolerable, as destroying the industry's ecosystem?"

To earn prestige, you must dare to shoulder responsibility; view problems from the height of the entire industry—not just your own little patch. Big vision, big perspective—this is what a martial arts alliance leader should do."

These words made Xu Tianfu feel his own inadequacy—he had no such vision or perspective.

Compared to the Principal, he fell short; Hengdian had spent decades building its scale and respect, yet the Principal's actions in recent years were shaping the entire industry's development.

Whether it was the 15-day payment cycle or cutting off Wanda's film supply, these were all demonstrations of the Principal's leadership.

Now, he's stepping forward to resist real estate rent hikes for the entire cinema chain, while you hesitate over petty gains.

You're already weak in film; if you keep this up, you'll become just a regional player—no longer even at the table.

"When outsiders smash anyone's pot, they're smashing yours—you're part of this industry; you should stand united. How we fight among ourselves is our own business—the meat must rot in the pot," Xu Lao added.

"I understand, Father. I know what to do," Xu Tianfu bowed his head and saluted his father.

"Go. Remember: advancing this industry is advancing yourself. If you don't keep pace with the times, the times will discard you," Xu Lao waved him off.

Xu Tianfu slowly withdrew from his father's room, his mind now settled.

While cinema chain operators were all focused on the rent hike incident, an article titled:

"Rent Hikes Crush Cinemas: Real Estate Developers Are Killing the 'Heartbeat' of the Commercial Ecosystem!"

was published on Jiangzhe Xinlan Net, directly accusing: "Real estate rent hikes are short-sighted exploitation."

"Using industrial land lease logic to hijack cultural consumption spaces!"

It cited data: for every one yuan spent on a movie ticket, 4.3 yuan in surrounding consumption was generated.

Tianhe City Cinema alone drove over 200 million yuan in in-mall food sales—27 times its rent! If real estate developers fixate only on rent ledgers, they'll ultimately reap the bitter fruit of an ecosystem's collapse."

The article was long, its language fierce, directly labeling real estate service providers as destroyers.

And the author was Xu Tianfu—no concealment at all.

This elder suddenly stepping forward to condemn real estate developers was like a calming pill for every cinema chain operator.

"Xu Laoda is still reliable!" Liu Rong said.

Other cinema chain operators also praised Xu Tianfu's move—the Principal had been a step slow.

Even Lao Wang Zong hadn't expected Xu Tianfu of Hengdian to be the first to speak out—wasn't this guy always lacking ambition?

But it didn't matter—he could say whatever he wanted; it was just empty talk. They'd still keep the Principal contained.

What they feared was real estate service providers escalating things—everyone raising rent would be a disaster.

"This Xu guy has a mastermind behind him!" Fang Hong sighed.

He hadn't expected this man, after consulting his father, would publish such an article to confront the real estate developers.

This would definitely win the goodwill of the other theater chains, and in the future when it comes to distribution, everyone could sit down and talk about screening schedules.

When it comes to film distribution, aside from the changes the internet has brought to the landscape, the traditional way is to see whose methods are tougher, whose network of connections runs deeper, and who can coordinate all kinds of resources.

Hengdian definitely wanted a seat at the table — it just never had the chance.

He took the initiative to call Xu Tianfu, and the two negotiated the matter of the 15-day payment settlement.

This time Xu Tianfu very readily agreed to the negotiation on the 15-day payment settlement, saying it was all for the sake of promoting the development of the film and television industry.

So Fang Hong and Xu Tianfu joined forces, rallying theater chains like Dadi, Shanghai Film Group, and Jinyi to meet at the Jade Rabbit film and television base, and held a round-table conference.

This meeting was to fully nail down the issue of the 15-day payment settlement cycle for theater-chain films.

It couldn't be pushed forward by Tu Piao Piao alone — the theater chains also had to get involved. Although there was financial support, finance ultimately charges interest.

Finance could only be allowed to support part of it; it couldn't be allowed to support all of it. Who knows if problems arise in the middle — would they pull out their capital? With that much money, one withdrawal and you're done. Those people have no sense of integrity.

And what Fang Hong said to them was very simple: "When the production side gets its invested money back faster, the number of films produced will indirectly increase, and the quality can be raised as well.

With the current scale of theaters, seven or eight hundred films a year aren't enough to meet demand. You have to make sure there's a film playing every day, and producing films at that scale requires a massive amount of capital."

"Principal, we understand everything you've said. Before coming here, we'd already discussed it with Boss Xu — the plan is for you to take the lead in bearing the pressure from the property service providers, not letting them spread their rent hikes, and we'll cooperate with you on the 15-day payment settlement." Liu Rong spoke very crisply.

Although they knew this time the property service providers were specifically targeting the Principal and Jade Rabbit, it was hard to say those bastards wouldn't raise rents on them too!

They simply didn't trust those property merchants one bit — there was no credibility to speak of.

Plenty of theaters had gone bankrupt at their hands. Previously in Henan, there was a Dadi theater that got its water and electricity cut off, and had no choice but to shrink its auditoriums and sublet them as stand-up comedy venues.

So they had an extreme lack of trust in property service providers — not just them, but every trade and industry distrusted them.

"No problem, then it's settled. We'll find a time to sign the contract." Fang Hong was also very straightforward.

(End of chapter)