Chapter 729: To Get That Money Back

The entertainment circle of the past was a scattered bunch, each fighting tooth and nail over profits, status, and resources.

At Huayi, the Big and Little Wangs treated stars like flesh lockers for the rich to toy with, and they themselves joined in the fun.

Now the Principal treats them a bit better—at least the Principal won't talk about blatant discrimination, won't tell anyone to keep anyone company, and won't treat them as money-making tools.

Your own affairs, you decide for yourselves.

"That goes without saying." Liu Jiang stood with his hands behind his back, looking very relaxed, without a trace of the expected reserve.

He also knew Su Mang couldn't be protected.

This time he'd offended not only the star community but even the capital side—many investors pulled out and stopped playing.

No stars, no capital, and those brand merchants will run off too.

"What comes next is up to you to break the deadlock yourselves." Fang Hong said.

"Break the deadlock ourselves?" Liu Jiang didn't quite understand.

"Right, what can I do? You want me to hold a meeting and tell them, let's keep playing with you—obviously that wouldn't be appropriate. You find a big-name star, get her on the cover, and the thing will naturally break." Fang Hong said.

As long as one star gets on the cover, the others naturally won't be willing to be upstaged, and that sense of unity will crack on its own.

Add to that his silence, and those stars will figure out what's going on.

Su Mang's been fired, the grumbling should die down too.

"Who's suitable? Given the situation, no one's going to stick their neck out, right?" Liu Jiang said.

Fang Hong thought for a moment and said, "Fan Xiaopang's a good fit. She plays her own game—as long as it's not someone too powerful, she doesn't fear offending them."

Fan Xiaopang had already gone up against the big players; she didn't care about the small fry's attitude either.

As long as it's not a major film and TV capital, she isn't afraid.

Liu Jiang thought in silence. His first thought had been to have Liu Tianxian on the cover—as long as Liu Tianxian got on the cover, it would signal the Principal's stance.

He hadn't expected the Principal didn't want to get involved, wanted to keep his team intact, and didn't want Liu Tianxian to be the one sticking her neck out.

"I thought today's negotiation would be a real struggle." Liu Jiang said with a smile.

"You and I have no grudge—I just can't stand those shady dealings, that's all." Fang Hong bore Fashion Group no ill will.

Their having that attitude was enough; there was nothing else he could do. Knocking Fashion Group down would do him no good at all.

Even without Fashion Group, there'd be something else. With less competition, that circle would only get filthier.

"The Principal truly is kind-hearted!" Liu Jiang said with a smile.

"Not really—I just have that most basic moral bottom line, that's all." Fang Hong said.

"Fine, but the matter of your wife appearing on the cover as endorser, I'll still arrange it." Liu Jiang said.

They hadn't made things hard for him, hadn't asked for anything in return, and had even taken the initiative to offer advice—this kindness still had to be repaid.

"Let's talk about it next year. This year is definitely not appropriate." Fang Hong waved his hand.

This year, if Liu Tianxian got on the cover and landed an endorsement through Fashion Group's connections, she'd inevitably bear a bad name. Once that impact faded, things would be fine.

"Alright, thank you, Principal." Liu Jiang cupped his fist.

"I won't see you out." Fang Hong said.

"There's a driver waiting outside. I'd actually like to see the Principal's son." Liu Jiang looked at the two women in the distance, laughing away as they played with the child.

"Sure." Fang Hong gestured.

The two then walked toward the women, and saw the baby in the cradle, with Jing Tian in front, tickling the baby's chin, cooing "ooh-ooh" to amuse it.

The baby giggled happily.

"What's this child's name?" Liu Jiang stood to the side.

"Yun Xuan. The surname takes my husband's and mine—it's called Fang Liu." Liu Tianxian said.

"It's a bit of a mouthful." Liu Jiang mouthed the name to himself.

"It's a bit awkward at first, but once you're used to it, it's fine." Liu Tianxian said with a smile.

"That's true." Liu Jiang pulled a gold lock pendant from his pocket—the gold lock gleamed brightly, about half a palm in size.

"This is for the child! Wishing good health." He placed the gold lock in the baby's arms.

Before coming, he'd heard the Principal had a son, so he'd bought it specially.

How could you visit someone's home without bringing a gift?

"General Manager Liu, this won't do—it's too valuable." Liu Tianxian picked up the gold lock and tried to return it.

"Just a small token of regard." Liu Jiang reached out to stop her.

Liu Tianxian glanced somewhat embarrassed at Fang Hong. Seeing he had no objection, she accepted it and said, "Then thank you, General Manager Liu."

"You're welcome. I'll be going now. Jing Tian, are you coming with me?" Liu Jiang looked at Jing Tian.

"You go ahead, I'm not leaving yet. I'll stay and play a while longer—this baby is really fun, very entertaining." Jing Tian had gotten hooked on playing.

"Alright then, stay where you are." Liu Jiang said, gestured, and then walked toward the front gate.

Jing Tian stayed behind, continuing to play with the child. Anyway, she was having a good time and seemed to really like kids.

She only left after playing until the baby fell asleep, arranging to come again next time.

The entertainment and fashion circles were still locked in their standoff, but Liu Jiang moved fast—whether he'd worked things out with Su Mang or what.

Su Mang quickly posted two tweets in a row: "Thank you for the most wonderful time of my life, and the longest companionship. Fashion Group is the most important part of my life. But now, due to a family member's health issues, I must leave.

This is a difficult decision, but family is irreplaceable. May the Fashion Group I love so dearly stay forever young."

"23 years, the journey here—grateful to Mr. Liu Jiang and Mr. Wu Hong, grateful to all my partners. Please forgive me for not being able to continue forward with everyone."

After these two tweets went out, the entire entertainment circle was unusually quiet—not a single star posted "rest in peace" or "future looks bright" or the like.

The fashion circle was also quiet; no one showed any sympathy, and even if they did, people wouldn't recognize them.

Clearly there was no buzz—as if everyone was utterly indifferent to Su Mang's departure, which made Su Mang very uncomfortable, his heart turning cold.

But people in the entertainment circle knew this was their victory—a phased victory in their resistance against the fashion circle.

Who is Su Mang? Not long ago, he controlled fashion resources, able to make anyone appear on the cover.

He was the one who could make anyone donate money.

Anyone who refused to donate could be sanctioned under the guise of charity with a publicity draft.

All the labels of "iron rooster," "not a single hair to spare," were slapped onto her.

Now that this person has been fired, the entire entertainment circle feels a sense of victory.

"Have you heard? Su Mang was fired." Liu Jialing sent a message to Guoji Zhang.

The two knew each other and seemed to have a good relationship.

"I heard. She should've been fired long ago—she offended too many people. Looks like General Manager Liu has some self-awareness." Guoji Zhang felt not a shred of sympathy.

Instead, she felt a kind of triumph.

"Looks like our joint boycott actually worked—we still have some power." Liu Jialing sighed.

"It definitely worked, but we needed a leader. If the Principal hadn't raised his voice this time, we'd have been scattered sand—not just this year, but next year too, we'd get harvested, and still thank them." Guoji Zhang replied.

All these big players fought among themselves, none willing to submit to another—they simply couldn't unite for a boycott.

Only someone like the Principal could bring them together—nothing else mattered; the Principal had superior tactics and high prestige.

Over the years, they'd all watched what the Principal did—his prestige was earned through action.

Even Yao Dazui was discussing Su Mang's departure from the Fashion Group.

"I heard Chairman Liu went to see the Principal, and then Su Mang got fired!"

"."

Not just these people—Fan Xiaopang, Young Master Zhou, Li Bailian, and nearly everyone in the circle were discussing it.

They didn't discuss it publicly, but at private gatherings over drinks, they'd sit together and talk about it; rumors spread fast—one told ten, ten told a hundred.

Some said Su Mang's firing was actually the Principal's doing behind the scenes—that Liu Jiang had gone to see the Principal.

Others said the Fashion Group had surrendered.

Still others claimed it was the result of the entertainment circle's boycott.

Either way, her firing thrilled insiders, and suddenly everyone had a different theory.

After all, they had jointly boycotted her, and no one was harmed—it all passed peacefully.

That's how "the law doesn't punish the many" works: if there had been fewer people, the one who spoke up would've been ruined and blacklisted—that's reality.

Now, Chairman Liu hasn't yet gone to Fan Xiaopang for step two—he needs to sort out internal affairs, let this fire die down a bit, and wait until everyone forgets about this before approaching Fan Xiaopang.

It must be done step by step to neutralize the impact.

At Huayi Building, both Wang Zongs were present. Young Master Wang said: "With Su Mang gone, it looks like Charity Basha is done for."

"It was never going to last—nobody wants to be a sucker getting harvested, treated like an ATM, especially you—you made them drink with you, play with you, lost both body and money—who'd want that?" Senior Wang said.

"I was just introducing them to billionaires," Young Master Wang chuckled, smiling sheepishly.

"But speaking of this incident, the Principal's prestige has skyrocketed. From now on, when anything happens in this circle, people will probably turn to the Principal to solve it." Senior Wang said.

Originally, everyone had little regard for the Principal. But this time, when he raised his voice and united everyone against the fashion circle, directly targeting Su Mang, he harvested a massive wave of prestige.

"Who cares? We just care about making money—we still owe a mountain of debt. By the way, it's been over half a year—can the Principal help us contact Warner to get that money back?"

"After all, we helped the Principal so much, and the Wanda matter has calmed down." Young Master Wang said.

Huayi is still arguing with Warner over the 600 million—threatening to sue, but no trial has started; every time a court date is set, Warner delays it with jurisdictional objections.

They drag you until you're exhausted, numb, indifferent.

"I'll talk to the Principal about it," Senior Wang said.

"Brother, after all this time, has the Principal ever called Warner to help us get the money back?" Young Master Wang asked quietly.

"Probably not. If the Principal truly wanted to help you, he'd have solved it already—he's the chosen one; if he doesn't want to help you, he'll drag you until you die." Senior Wang said.

In their eyes, nothing is unsolvable by the Principal—if it's unsolvable, it's because he doesn't want to help you.

"The Principal is too cunning," Young Master Wang slammed the table. "We've been his dogs, and he still watches us."

"What can you do? We've fought him for years—how could he not be wary of us?" Senior Wang said.

"But we've been crushed by him, recently hit again by Wanda—is it still meaningful to keep guarding us?" Young Master Wang said.

"Don't jump to conclusions yet—I'll go see him first." Senior Wang raised his hand, signaling his brother to calm down.

"I'll go with you," Young Master Wang said.

"Fine!" Senior Wang nodded.

Fang Hong was at Yutu Film and Television Base, discussing with Universal's Donna the global release of The Martian and its submission to the Oscars.

There's a strict requirement to enter the Oscars: the film must be publicly screened for at least seven days before December 31 of the previous year, with at least three showings per day.

One showing each day must be during prime time—that is, between 6 p. m. and 10 p. m.

This is a mandatory public screening requirement: the screenings must be completed within this month to qualify for the Oscars.

"We've already picked the theater for you. You just need to confirm the dates. Also, how do you plan the global release—before the Oscars or after?

If before, you need to finalize the propaganda plan now. If after, and you don't win, you're just delaying—think it through." Donna said.

"What's your advice?" Fang Hong asked.

"My advice? Before I give it, if you screen it in even one Los Angeles theater, viewers might leak plot details—diminishing audience anticipation and mystery, hurting box office performance."

Donna was thinking purely from a profit perspective, adding: "Of course, if you win, the post-Oscar release will bring huge benefits and explosive influence—but the chance of winning is slim."

"With your team running things, is the chance still slim?" Fang Hong said.

"You're talking about money—others are using money too. Who doesn't have cash? In the end, it's still about the judges' preferences and the film's quality.

Like a national election—both parties have money, but who becomes president still depends on who gets more votes, who can manipulate the crowd," Donna explained.

"That makes sense," Fang Hong acknowledged.

"The unfair part is the barrier—the good films, the ones without capital, have no chance." Donna meant the upper echelons are rigidly entrenched.

That's just how the United States is.

"I know what you mean. There's still some time now, right? Let me think about whether to do it before or after the New Year." Fang Hong considered for a moment.

"Alright, I'll wait for your news." Donna hung up the phone.

Just as Fang Hong was thinking, his secretary outside said the General Manager of Xiao Wang and the General Manager of Da Wang requested an audience.

Fang Hong didn't think much of it and let them in.

"Principal, this time you've really removed a great scourge for our entertainment circle!" The moment he entered, General Manager Xiao Wang gave a thumbs-up.

"What do you mean?" Fang Hong was baffled.

"Su Mang! Without you, that woman would still be throwing her weight around." General Manager Xiao Wang's words and gestures were exaggerated.

"What does this have to do with me? She's not someone from my company, and I didn't fire her." Fang Hong gestured for them to take the seats in front.

"Even so, it's still your credit. Without your pressure, it's hard to say that woman would have been fired. You've really removed a great scourge for our entertainment circle." General Manager Xiao Wang spread his hands.

"She's gone, Charity Bazaar is gone—shouldn't you be the saddest? Your meat-cabinet business is gone." Fang Hong teased.

He remembered this person had openly priced celebrities on the Bazaar.

"It is quite a loss, but it doesn't matter—there's always a trade-off, you know." General Manager Xiao Wang said.

"Where's the gain coming from?" Fang Hong asked instinctively.

"The two of us brothers came this time to ask you, Principal. You said you'd help us get in touch with Warner to get back those six hundred million. Why is there still no word at all?" General Manager Da Wang chimed in at the right moment.

"That matter—" Fang Hong deliberated.

He had completely forgotten about this matter. If these two brothers hadn't come to remind him, he wouldn't have remembered it at all.

At the beginning of the year, he had indeed promised these two brothers that he would help them contact Warner to get back that six hundred million investment. It was just that too many things came up afterward, and he forgot.

At the time, in order to keep them in check, he didn't demand the money when he put a leash on Huayi; instead, Jade Rabbit lent them money, making Jade Rabbit one of Huayi's creditors.

"I've been in constant communication about this. Let me get in touch with their president again, and I'll give you an answer once the communication is done." Fang Hong figured it was time to get this money back.

(End of this chapter)