Chapter 178: Chengtian

【Daily Report 1: Wang Ou plans to win Yan Li's favor by bringing in a partner, with the following specific target: Wu Jiani from the Fengshen Bang cast, her close friend…】

Yan Li looked at the report and couldn't help glancing down at Wang Ou, who was cleaning.

This bitch really goes all out!

But to be fair, Wang Ou is the most diligent at pleasing him.

For others, he has to half-coax, half-intimidate just to get results; Wang Ou not only meets his demands outright, she even proactively researches new tricks—sometimes Yan Li is even startled and can't accept them.

Thinking of this, Yan Li's heart softened a little; he picked up a glass of water and made Wang Ou rinse her mouth, then held her close.

"I've wronged you before."

Wang Ou's eyes lit up; she wanted to seize the moment to butter him up and smear Fan Xiaopang, but then she thought of something and stayed silent, only leaning against Yan Li's chest and murmuring.

"I'm not wronged—you haven't forgotten me, that's all I need."

Even so, Yan Li gave her ass a light slap: "Speak properly."

Wang Ou is fine in other ways, but she has too many petty schemes.

Probably due to her family background and experiences, she's sensitive and often feels insecure—too cold and she fears being abandoned; too warm and she wants more, always unable to resist pulling little stunts.

Fortunately, Yan Li has an intelligence network and understands her deeply; anyone else would easily fall for her tricks.

Wang Ou sighed slightly—this man, when he wants to, can't be hidden from.

This feeling left her frustrated and fearful, yet she couldn't help being addicted and admiring him.

As mentioned before, Wang Ou was raised as a ward, neglected by her parents, both hating and craving family.

Her relationship with her mother was relatively better, but not truly good—since Wang Ou earned money, her mother quit her job and let Wang Ou support the family, even showing favoritism toward her half-sister from the same mother.

Though she complained constantly, Wang Ou still willingly paid to support her mother and sister.

Compared to the faintly decent maternal love she had, Wang Ou rarely saw her father growing up.

The system confirmed: due to growing up without a father and being forced into independence early, Wang Ou has a pronounced father complex.

Yan Li's domineering strength and his care for her partially fulfill her psychological needs.

Put simply, when she calls him "Teacher," it's not just for fun.

Making Fan Xiaopang call him "Dad" takes Yan Li considerable effort, but when Wang Ou hears him say it, she obediently complies—and does so with genuine delight.

Even now, after everything's over, she still calls him "Dad" over and over.

Hearing Wang Ou's unreserved address, Yan Li gently stroked her cheek with a strange expression.

He'd originally planned to give her Jin Xin as a consolation, ostensibly to encourage her ambition—but now, it seemed more fitting to offer it out of paternal affection.

Praising her generosity also fits—among all his women, she's the first to think of bringing others into the fold.

Doesn't she fear being thrown away after being used?

【Daily Report 2: …Wang Jinghua recommended Yan Li to Wu Kebō, CEO of Chengtian Entertainment, suggesting he bring Yan Li in via acquisition or share swap to complete Chengtian's television drama layout…】

Yan Li perked up slightly—he knew Wang Jinghua had been in contact with Chengtian, but hadn't expected them to target him.

This Wu boss at Chengtian has big ambitions.

He's negotiating for Red Cliff to overshadow Huayi, courting Wang Jinghua to poach talent from Huayi, and now he's eyeing me for TV dramas.

He's clearly aiming to become the top dog in the entertainment industry.

Yan Li recalled the intelligence he'd triggered and his own knowledge, and added Chengtian to his priority watchlist.

But he wasn't sure if they could pull it off.

After all, from all the future intelligence he'd triggered so far, he'd never seen any trace of Chengtian.

But then again, his intelligence was often fragmented—maybe it hadn't triggered yet. At least from current signs, this wasn't some shell company; it had real strength and capital backing.

Yan Li didn't care whether Chengtian or Huayi became number one—he couldn't compete for first place anyway.

What he cared about were the fragments of intelligence related to Chengtian.

Jiahe!

Chengtian intends to acquire Jiahe and enter the cinema market.

This could directly conflict with Yan Li's future development path.

If he remembered correctly, Jiahe Cinema had strong power, especially influential in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.

When he researched cinema data, he'd seen that Jiahe operated nearly 200 theaters, holding over 15% market share in Xiangjiang and over 30% in Taiwan.

In Singapore and Malaysia—two major Chinese-speaking countries—it held over 50% market share, and it also had minor theaters or stakes in Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

Most crucially, Jiahe planned to enter the mainland market in the past two years, starting with Shenzhen, aiming to capture over 50% of Shenzhen's market share by 2005.

Chengtian was aggressively expanding into mainland film and television, flush with capital and full of ambition, plus Jiahe's experience and team.

Together, they'd likely launch a major offensive in the mainland cinema market.

With Zhongying, Star Media, Wanda, and United Cinema already competing fiercely, now adding Chengtian + Jiahe made Yan Li's head ache.

He wasn't afraid of fierce competition, but this situation could scare off investors and disrupt early cinema layout.

Early cinema operations are always loss-making—the goal is to burn cash and seize market share.

But they can't lose too badly, or investor confidence will waver, leading to withdrawals, abandonment of future investments, and all sorts of chaos—potentially triggering a chain reaction that collapses the entire company.

This scenario was all too common; countless companies had died this way, even some major ones had faced similar crises.

Fortunately, Yan Li had the system—he could learn the situation in advance and adjust according to Chengtian's moves.

Some things are both crisis and opportunity—it all depends on how you handle them.

At least Yan Li felt Chengtian's emergence benefited him more than harmed him.

Yi'an had grown rapidly, and he'd lured away Fan Xiaopang; later, with heavy investment in cinema and film distribution, he'd inevitably draw the suspicion and targeting of Huayi and others.

Yan Li wasn't afraid, but he didn't want to waste his high-growth phase on these distractions.

Chengtian's appearance would draw most of the fire, giving him the relative breathing room he needed.

Once Yan Li had fully developed, whether Huayi, Chengtian, or any other company won, he'd have enough strength to challenge them head-on.

【Daily Report 3: The production supervisor of the Lu Xiaofeng Chronicles crew falsified accounts for meal boxes and transportation, expected profit: 286,000 RMB... The assistant director xxx coerced female extras into sexual relations by threatening to withhold their roles... The lighting team members xxx, xx... four people consistently arrived late and left early, performed their duties sloppily, and bullied colleagues...】

Yan Li: "……"

He had said the Lu Xiaofeng Chronicles crew had more people and a larger scale than the previous Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies crew, yet no internal corruption intel had been triggered.

Good thing it was a consolidated report—better to handle it all at once and save the trouble.

【……】

…

Lu Xiaofeng Chronicles crew

Yang Xue and Jiang Xin were getting their makeup done in the dressing room when they heard commotion outside and quickly got up to investigate.

"What's going on?"

A passing crew member, barely concealing his excitement, said: "The production supervisor's been taken down by Boss Yan."

Fuck, last time he and another guy went on an out-of-town job, they took receipts but refused to get reimbursed—I knew there was something fishy, and sure enough, he got nailed.

This crew member was a veteran—he'd seen Yan Li's ability to root out corruption during the Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies crew, and now he was seeing it again.

Jiang Xin and Yang Xue exchanged glances, abandoned their makeup, and grabbed their costumes to go watch the spectacle.

The crew was just as large as theirs; it seemed deliberately staged to make a show, and no one tried to stop them.

When they reached the crew's logistics base, several young men blocked them from getting closer; inside the production supervisor's office, people could be seen rummaging through things.

At another door to the tea room, two men stood guard, the door shut—no one knew what was happening inside.

Someone who arrived early described in vivid detail how a dozen men had stormed in, pinned the production supervisor down, found something incriminating, and then beat him senseless.

Then Boss Yan arrived—the production supervisor was dragged in like a dead dog, while the others continued auditing the accounts.

Jiang Xin was eager to get closer, but Yang Xue held her back—they watched from the periphery.

Soon after, two men carried something out of the office to the tea room; muffled curses and screams could be heard from inside.

Tea room

Yan Li sat on a chair, flipping through the newly seized notebook, sneering: "You remembered everything clearly. This time, you can't say I'm framing you."

The production supervisor, bruised and swollen, knelt on the floor weeping, banging his head repeatedly.

"Boss Yan, Boss Yan, I'm sorry, please spare me—I'll return all the money, don't call the police!"

He'd embezzled over 200,000 RMB; if the evidence was solid, he'd face charges of embezzlement and abuse of position—five years minimum, possibly over ten.

"Fuck, now you realize you're wrong? Where was your conscience when you stole the money?"

One of Yan Li's hometown brothers couldn't resist kicking him.

Earlier, Yan Li had assigned them to the crew, one of their key tasks being surveillance and deterrence—yet someone stole right under their noses, and they hadn't noticed a thing. It took Boss Yan himself to uncover it. How could they face Brother Yan?

"Enough."

Yan Li waved his hand, glancing at the producer Wang Decai: "Wang Producer, you recommended this man. What do you say we do?"

Hearing Yan Li shift from "Old Wang" to "Wang Producer," Wang Decai trembled, sweat pouring down his face, his voice firm.

"Prosecute him. Must prosecute him."

The production supervisor screamed in terror, clinging to Wang Decai and begging, even revealing how he'd bribed Old Wang to get the position.

Wang Decai went berserk—you fucking bastard, you got caught and dragged me down with you.

I got you the position—I didn't tell you to steal this much!

The production supervisor handled logistics—plenty of grease, no one expected him to stay clean. That was the unspoken rule.

Even Yan Li knew this—if he'd skimmed a few thousand or ten thousand, unless it was a case needing a warning example, Yan Li wouldn't touch him.

The crew was full of gray areas; if you chased every single one, you'd never run a proper team.

But this bastard's appetite was too big—the crew had only just started shooting, and he'd already embezzled nearly 300,000 RMB. If the whole film wrapped, it'd be seven figures easily—enough to buy two ordinary apartments in Jingcheng.

The total investment for Lu Xiaofeng Chronicles was only 30 million RMB!

Yan Li had already planned to make an example of someone—to set rules and make the unscrupulous ones behave.

This guy was so greedy, he literally walked into the gun barrel—so Yan Li made a huge show of it.

"Enough."

Yan Li stopped Wang Decai, who had begun striking again, and turned to the production supervisor.

"You embezzled 500,000 RMB. You'll return every cent. Write a confession statement and record a video. Then get out."

"... Thank you, Boss Yan. Thank you, Boss Yan."

Though he'd lost blood, at least he avoided prison—compared to five to ten years, ten thousand RMB was an easy choice.

Two men dragged him out to record the video and sign the confession, to prevent this old bastard from reversing his statement later.

"Brother, are you letting him off too easy?"

Someone thought Yan Li's punishment was too lenient—he should've been locked up for years to learn his lesson.

"Know when to show mercy. Besides, if you go too hard, everyone in the crew will live in fear."

As always, the crew had too many gray areas. Yan Li's goal was to make an example, clear out the corruption, and show everyone he wasn't someone to be fooled—work honestly, don't think of shortcuts.

But if you go too far, the others will feel sympathy for the fallen, morale will collapse, and word will spread—no one will dare work with Yan Li again. Counterproductive.

The crew is a world of its own, with its own unwritten rules. Unless necessary, avoid involving the authorities.

"Understood."

Several nodded, but one still grumbled: "Can't we beat him once more?"

"All you think about is beating people. I'm a legitimate businessman, not a gangster. This old bastard's got incriminating evidence in our hands—he won't dare report us. If someone else reports him, you all go to jail."

Yan Li scolded them—he wanted these brothers to intimidate, not to bully. Don't lose sight of the purpose.

Afterwards, Yan Li comforted Wang Decai.

Though Old Wang and the others weren't entirely blameless, it wasn't entirely their fault—they weren't professional auditors; some oversight was normal.

As for red envelopes, that's even more normal—he once slipped one to Old Wang when he was filming.

A few warnings are enough; Old Wang is loyal to him, and they've known each other a long time—Yan Li is quite understanding.

Wang Decai felt deeply ashamed—Yan Li had entrusted him with a multi-million-yuan production, and the mistake came from his own people.

"Boss Yan, rest assured—I'll manage the crew properly from now on."

Yan Li clapped Wang Decai on the shoulder; the two stepped out of the break room and faced the crew of The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng gathered around them. Yan Li spoke loudly.

"Everyone probably already has some idea of what just happened. The full details will be announced later by the production team."

"One piece of advice: I, Yan Li, will never shortchange any of you—but I also hope you all keep your hands to yourselves and don't make things look too ugly."

With that, Yan Li walked away. Wang Decai and a dozen young men followed behind him. Once they were far enough, the remaining crew members immediately began buzzing with chatter.

"I told you—Yan, no, Boss Yan—he may not be on set, but his eyes are planted deep. Nothing escapes him."

"You really thought he was just sitting around doing nothing? He built this empire from nothing—he's got real ability."

"It's not just this bastard—word is, they've fired several people from the lighting crew, and even an assistant director was taken away. Apparently, it involves outsiders."

"Isn't that just xxx? A guy who can't keep his pants zipped—he deserved to be dealt with. He's dragging down our production's reputation."

"Can't keep his pants zipped? Who are you implying?"

"Don't go spouting nonsense—I didn't mean Boss Yan. He's charming, young, rich, and never short of beauties. This guy's a con artist—that's a whole different thing."

"Who said anything about Boss Yan? Why bring him up?"

"…"

Yang Xue and Jiang Xin left quietly. On the way back, Jiang Xin could barely hide her excitement.

"Boss Yan was so cool today—kind of like Chen Haonan."

"Don't compare Boss Yan to those Triad thugs—that's nothing like street brawling."

Yang Xue walked while fiddling with her phone. Jiang Xin asked curiously: "What are you doing?"

"I just saw An Yixuan—she looked at Boss Yan with stars in her eyes. I need to warn Dong Xuan."

Jiang Xin clicked her tongue. "You're really acting as her spy, huh?"

Yang Xue stopped typing and looked at Jiang Xin. "What else? Our company only gives me so many resources—when there's a ready-made leg to cling to, why not hold on tight?"

Jiang Xin's voice trailed off. "A ready-made leg—but the thickest one isn't hers."

Yang Xue gave her a silent look and shook her head. "You can't cling to him."

Jiang Xin: "…"

(End of Chapter)