Chapter 322: Stealing a Chicken but Losing the Rice, Orange Sky Is in Complete Chaos

In the following days, Seeing Yan Li stayed with the Wind Sound production team.

With him present, the two rivals behaved relatively well, and as filming settled into a rhythm, their petty schemes diminished.

In Wind Sound, both actors had standout roles, and the crew was filled with seasoned performers; to deliver a good performance—or even an exceptional one—required deep study and effort.

No one knew who started it, but the two women began an unusual competition, working harder in private than they had during Painted Skin.

At first, Seeing Yan Li was still uneasy and shuttled back and forth between Beijing and Tianjin daily.

After all, Beijing and Tianjin were close; a round trip took only four hours, just like enduring a massive traffic jam—arriving to work a bit early or late didn't matter.

Later, as the Wind Sound production team's situation steadily stabilized, Seeing Yan Li reduced his visits to once or twice a week.

During this time, the box office performance of Contract Lover had also become roughly clear.

It was still somewhat affected by the Olympics.

But there was no help for it; the entire August was dominated by the Olympics, and the preceding releases had been blockbusters and dark horses. The movies and the Olympics were at least separated—watching films didn't interfere with watching the Olympics—but direct competition with other films was another matter entirely.

After the peak on Qixi Day, box office figures dropped steadily day by day, with projected earnings around 15 to 20 million.

Profit was absolutely guaranteed!

As previously stated, Contract Lover had a very limited production budget; breaking even required only 10 million in box office, and with other revenues, several million in profit was still achievable.

This result alone was quite satisfying—a low-budget film that turns a profit is a good film.

But unfortunately, ahead of it stood Ten Perfect Beauties, a massive dark horse, and the gap in performance was too wide to be noticeable.

Still, it was a credit on her resume—not worthy of grand promotion, but worth publicizing, and internal recognition was given.

Wang Ou finally relaxed.

This film didn't add much to her standing, but it didn't subtract much either. Considering her company's second sister's status, future film resources would still be allocated to her.

She didn't dare to dream of major female leads in blockbusters or lead roles in mid- and low-budget films that Fan Xiaopang commanded.

It wasn't just about whether the company would give her resources—key was that she couldn't carry them, and the production team might not even hire her.

The Four Dan and Two Bing weren't jokes; despite the controversy, their fame and influence were widely recognized by the public.

Wang Ou operated below market level, targeting resources Fan Xiaopang either overlooked or deemed poor value—such as female leads in low-budget films, supporting female roles in mid- to high-budget films, or standout second or third female roles.

Lower fame and status had its advantages; someone like Fan Xiaopang was somewhat trapped—often preferring not to act at all rather than drop her status.

Wang Ou didn't care; she wasn't yet a significant figure in the film industry, and even playing a minor supporting role wasn't embarrassing—though it wasn't necessary.

Still, she was a popular leading actress with Yi'an backing her; she wouldn't be reduced to such poverty.

In any case, both Ten Perfect Beauties and Contract Lover turned profits, with combined box office totaling roughly 80 million.

This summer, Yi'an could already be called a success.

At the end of August, there was still Li Mi's Guess, a film not primarily commercial but aimed at building critical reputation.

As long as the reputation was good, even if the film lost money, it was acceptable.

Of course, Yi'an hoped to achieve complete success; if Li Mi's Guess could earn 20 million at the box office, it would make a small profit, and Yi'an's total summer box office would surpass 100 million.

Aside from Red Cliff, Yi'an would be the biggest winner.

It could already be called the biggest winner; Red Cliff was popular, yes, but its reputation was terrible—Yi'an's films weren't critically acclaimed, yet they were far superior to Red Cliff.

Honestly, if Red Cliff weren't a China Film Group project, Yi'an would already be launching vicious attacks.

But they couldn't attack China Film Group—they could attack Orange Sky.

Orange Sky's Red Cliff Encounters Huarong Path, Suffers Heavy Losses, Outperformed by Yi'an's Quiet Profit.

Orange Sky's Planning Fails, Its Stars Are Numerous but Useless, Big Bets on Red Cliff Backfire.

After Acquiring Shaw Brothers for Two Months, Orange Sky Suffers Setback—What Lies Ahead for Orange Sky Shaw?

…

Yi'an's attacks on Orange Sky weren't without reason: one was to routinely antagonize the third player to prevent interference during Yi'an's competition with Huayi.

The other was that in July of this year, Orange Sky officially announced its acquisition of Shaw Brothers, holding over 75% equity and completing privatization and delisting.

After absorbing Shaw Brothers' high-quality assets, Orange Sky's strength surged, especially in theater chains and film rights, placing it among the industry's top players, and it had also opened up access to the Hong Kong market.

Previously, people often spoke of the Four Giants—Huayi, Yi'an, Orange Sky, Haiyi—but in terms of hard performance and hard strength, Orange Sky had always been somewhat hollow—merely rich and with many artists.

But with this acquisition of Shaw Brothers—even a faded Shaw Brothers—Orange Sky now deserved the title of industry giant.

Meanwhile, Orange Sky, holding theater chains, production, and artist management, now directly overlapped with Yi'an in every business area, and planned to restructure and go public via a backdoor listing, triggering strong vigilance from Seeing Yan Li and Yi'an.

Because Seeing Yan Li himself planned to merge Yi'an Film + Yi'an Theaters into a full-industry-chain advantage for an IPO.

Orange Sky's moves would inevitably impact Yi'an in various ways.

Seeing Yan Li had already begun viewing Orange Sky as his primary rival.

He wasn't worried that Huayi would profit from the chaos.

Previously, Seeing Yan Li had thought to let Huayi and Orange Sky fight while he waited behind as the opportunistic bird, ready to pick up the pieces after either lost.

But he hadn't expected Yi'an to grow so fast, nor had he expected Orange Sky to be so incompetent.

Aside from that one incident with Wang Jinghua and occasional attempts to poach talent and annoy Huayi, the threat to Huayi was negligible, forcing Yi'an to become the main competitor to Huayi.

Now, with Orange Sky's strength greatly increased, it can finally join the battle—but Yi'an can no longer pretend to be harmless.

Even if Boss Wu and the Wang brothers had water in their heads, they wouldn't ignore Yi'an's fierce momentum.

Similarly, now, whether Yi'an or the other two, none would underestimate a third party.

Then it was simple: a three-way brawl, and whoever laughs last wins.

Huayi wasn't easy to defeat; Seeing Yan Li preferred to eliminate the weaker Orange Sky first—easy before hard—knock out one competitor, then deal with the remaining two slowly.

He didn't know what Huayi's thinking was, since both sides had previously maintained a tacit understanding regarding Orange Sky.

Seeing Yan Li planned to meet with the Wang brothers later; there had been some unpleasantness between them, but profit outweighed grudges.

…

"That's right, we two have had conflicts, but they're not mortal enmities—why can't we bury the hatchet with a smile?"

At a private club, Boss Wu secretly met the Wang brothers from Huayi, hoping to partner with them against Seeing Yan Li.

"Yi'an is coming on strong; although I don't like Seeing Yan Li, I must admit he has an extremely sharp and precise eye."

"With Yi'an Cinema Chain and Yi'an Film & Television, their foundation is terrifyingly solid; their moves to acquire Tudou and Weibo combine internet + film and television into a seamless one-stop operation spanning film, promotion, media, and platform."

"Both Wang CEOs, if he pulls this off and becomes self-sufficient, he'll be inherently invincible—how do we fight him?"

Seeing Yan Li plans to ally with Huayi to first eliminate the rival Chentian, then settle the score between the two.

Boss Wu also realized this: when the eldest and second eldest fight, the third dies first.

Chentian's situation is actually not good; to break the deadlock, they can only ally with the weak against the strong. Seeing Yan Li is powerful and formidable—he doesn't believe the Wang brothers have no thoughts of their own.

If Chentian dies, Huayi will benefit.

But will a single Huayi be a match for Yi'an?

The two Wang brothers exchanged glances; they indeed had this concern—they'd fought Chentian before, and the threat wasn't that great.

Seeing Yan Li is different; after several clashes, Huayi mostly came out on the losing end, almost with psychological trauma.

Under these circumstances, asking Huayi to face Yi'an alone, both brothers felt uncertain.

Partnering with Chentian isn't a bad idea—not aiming to destroy Yi'an, but to inflict serious damage, drag their heels, which would also benefit Huayi.

Wang Zhongjun gave his brother a look; Wang Zhonglei asked: "Boss Wu, what's your idea?"

"First, Seeing Yan Li himself is slippery—he wasn't even scratched by the blog scandal; ordinary tactics won't work on him, so target others."

"Fan Bingbing, Deng Chao, Ning Hao are all core personnel of Yi'an and tied to many key projects; if anything happens to them, the projects will be dragged down. Hitting ten fingers is not as good as cutting off one—first make Yi'an suffer a major blow, crush their momentum."

"Second, Seeing Yan Li's Weibo is a major weapon; if we get dragged into a public opinion battle, we'll likely lose. We can cooperate with Sina—enemy's enemy is friend."

"With Sina's help, if Seeing Yan Li tries to muddy the waters or steer public opinion, the effect won't be as strong."

"Third, set a trap for Seeing Yan Li—we stay out of sight, hire a third party to launch a super-production, draining and tying up his funds."

"Then, our two companies specifically sabotage Yi'an's projects, find ways to disrupt and cause chaos, making Yi'an unable to cover both front and back."

"…."

It was clear Boss Wu had done his homework—his analysis of Seeing Yan Li and Yi'an's many moves was well-grounded.

The Wang brothers nodded repeatedly; if the plan succeeded fully, Yi'an would survive but lose a layer of skin—even if only half succeeded, Seeing Yan Li would be black-and-blue and subdued for a long while.

"Come on, Boss Wu, let's discuss the details."

Over half an hour later, the three parted with good moods; Wang Zhonglei looked at his brother with excitement.

"This bastard deserves some pain—I really want to see Seeing Yan Li's face when he finds out."

Face like constipation!

Not because he heard the news—but Seeing Yan Li actually had constipation, thinking he should eat more vegetables and fruit.

Coming out of the bathroom, Seeing Yan Li sat on the sofa and began seriously studying Chentian and Huayi's plan.

Honestly, this Wu guy is really ruthless!

Seeing Yan Li shook his head; he wasn't angry about Huayi and Chentian's collusion.

Nothing to be angry about—he himself had planned to ally with Huayi to kill Chentian.

Business warfare is like this: deceit, treachery, no bottom line—even hiring assassins and kidnapping threats happen; at least Wu and the two Wangs are still within commercial competition.

But Seeing Yan Li had no intention of fighting two at once—not because he couldn't, but because it was unnecessary.

Now that he knew their plans, sowing discord would be better.

Huayi and Chentian have had deep conflicts for years; even they don't believe in any "genuine cooperation."

He didn't even need to exert much effort—they'd start suspecting each other on their own.

After thinking it over, Seeing Yan Li asked Fatty Yu to help organize a gathering, including a Chentian executive and Zhang Guoli, who was extremely close to Huayi.

During the meeting, Seeing Yan Li chatted at length with the Chentian executive; the next day, Young Wang of Huayi was exposed as bisexual.

Notably, the initial leak came from Sina.

They teamed up to fight Yi'an, but Huayi got hit—by a "friend's" betrayal—and Seeing Yan Li was seen cozying up to Chentian.

Is this Chentian and Huayi fighting Yi'an—or are they undercover, actually working with Seeing Yan Li to destroy Huayi?

Yi'an is strong, but Huayi isn't weak—it's currently the leader among private film companies.

In terms of allying the weak against the strong, Huayi also qualifies.

The Wang brothers had suspected Seeing Yan Li was sowing discord, but crucially, they dared not gamble.

What if they were set up by Seeing Yan Li and Wu?

The two grew paranoid; Seeing Yan Li focused solely on Huayi, making Huayi frantic, ignoring the instigator Chentian entirely—then suddenly, Yi'an's general Deng Chao was flooded with manipulated narratives, forcing Yi'an into panicked response.

Three companies, two reeling, only Chentian unscathed—mud on the pants, not shit but looks like shit.

Boss Wu was furious; he felt Huayi's attitude had grown cold, even that Young Wang had made a sarcastic remark.

More crucially, he hadn't even started targeting Deng Chao when Deng "self-exposed" himself.

Those narratives looked fierce, but in reality caused no real damage; Yi'an and Deng himself responded swiftly and appropriately, minimizing the negative impact.

This caught Chentian completely off guard—not only failing their goal, but losing a major weapon against Yi'an.

Most crucially, he suspected Chentian had a mole.

Yi'an's response was too fast—it felt like a self-directed performance, as if they'd received advance warning.

But this wasn't Boss Wu's greatest fear; a mole could be rooted out—he feared Huayi's brothers might turn on him, pretending cooperation while stabbing him in the back, colluding with Seeing Yan Li.

Huayi and Yi'an's consecutive troubles might be a double act to deceive him.

Perhaps Huayi pretended to cooperate, then after fighting Yi'an, sold him out, wanting to watch Chentian and Yi'an fight to the death.

Otherwise, it made no sense how Yi'an knew about Deng Chao's matter.

At this point, the already fragile alliance between Huayi and Chentian was effectively over.

Even if they met again to talk openly, with suspicion and old grudges, how could they lower their guard?

At this moment, Seeing Yan Li came to visit Hua Yi and the two brothers, saying outright: "You two Wang bosses aren't being fair—you originally agreed to join forces with us on Chengtian, so why did you turn on us?"

Wang Zhongjun blocked his brother from speaking: "Director Yan, what do you mean by that?"

Seeing Yan Li shook his head: "Wu's guy came to me—he said you two approached him to team up against Yi'an, and that you were behind Deng Chao's incident."

Wang Zhonglei couldn't hold back: "Bullshit—he was the one who came to us first."

Seeing Yan Li stared in shock: "So it really happened? I thought that kid Wu was just lying to me to get me to cooperate with him?"