Chapter 322: Failed to Steal a Chicken, Lost the Rice, Chengtian Is in Total Chaos

In the following days, Yan Li remained at the set of "The Wind."

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

In "The Wind," both Li Bing and Wang Ou had standout roles, and with a cast full of seasoned actors, to perform well—or even shine—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, Yan Li was uneasy and shuttled daily between Beijing and Tianjin.

After all, Beijing and Tianjin were close; a round trip took only four hours, just like enduring heavy traffic—arriving a bit early or late for work.

Later, seeing the set of "The Wind" grow increasingly stable, Yan Li reduced his visits to once or twice a week.

During this time, the box office performance of "Contract Lover" also became 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 film and the Olympics were at least separate—watching movies didn't interfere with watching the Olympics—but direct competition with other films was another matter.

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

Profit was 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, a profit of several million was certain.

This result was already quite satisfying—a low-budget film that makes money is a good film.

But unfortunately, "Perfect Nine" had emerged as 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 internally recognizing.

Wang Ou finally relaxed.

This film didn't add much to her standing, but it also didn't hurt her much; considering her company's second sister's status, future film resources would still be allocated to her.

She didn't dare dream of major female leads in Fan Xiaotian's blockbusters or top-billed roles in mid-budget films.

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.

Wang Ou was below market level, focusing on resources Fan Xiaotian overlooked or deemed low-value—such as female leads in low-budget films, supporting roles in mid- to high-budget films, or standout second or third female roles.

Low fame had its advantages; someone like Fan Xiaotian was somewhat trapped—he often preferred not to act at all rather than drop his status.

Wang Ou didn't care; she wasn't yet a major figure in the film industry. Even playing a minor role wasn't embarrassing—she just didn't see the point.

Still, she was a popular leading lady with Yi'an backing her; she wasn't that destitute.

In any case, both "Perfect Nine" and "Contract Lover" turned a profit, with combined box office of roughly 80 million.

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

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

As long as the reviews were good, even a financial loss was acceptable.

Of course, Yi'an hoped for complete success—if it could earn 20 million, "Li Mi's Guess" 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 even be called the biggest winner; "Red Cliff" was popular, but its reputation was terrible. Yi'an's films weren't critically acclaimed, yet they far surpassed "Red Cliff."

Honestly, if "Red Cliff" hadn't been a China Film Group project, Yi'an would have already launched vicious attacks.

But since they couldn't attack China Film Group, they could attack Chengtian.

"Chengtian's Red Cliff Hits the Huarong Pass, Suffers Heavy Losses, Unable to Match Yi'an's Quiet Profits and Stable Gains."

"Chengtian's Poor Planning: Its Stars Are Numerous but Useless; Big Bets on Red Cliff Backfire."

"Struck Two Months After Acquiring Shaw Brothers: What Lies Ahead for Chengtian Shaw?"

"…"

Yi'an targeted Chengtian for reasons: one, to routinely antagonize the third party and prevent interference during Yi'an's competition with Huayi.

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

After absorbing Shaw Brothers' high-quality assets, Chengtian's strength surged, particularly in theater chains and film rights, placing it among the industry's top players, and it also gained access to Hong Kong's entertainment channels.

Previously, people often spoke of the "Big Four"—Huayi, Yi'an, Chengtian, and Hai—yet in terms of hard performance and real strength, Chengtian had been hollow, merely rich and with many artists.

But with this acquisition of Shaw Brothers—even a faded Shaw Brothers—Chengtian now rightfully earned the title of industry giant.

Meanwhile, Chengtian, holding theater chains, production, and artist management, now directly competed with Yi'an across all fronts, and planned to restructure and go public via a backdoor listing, triggering strong vigilance from Yan Li and Yi'an.

Because Yan Li himself planned to merge Yi'an Film and Yi'an Theater Chains into a full-industry-chain advantage for an IPO.

Chengtian's moves would inevitably impact Yi'an in multiple ways.

Yan Li had already begun viewing Chengtian as his primary rival.

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

Earlier, Yan Li had planned to let Huayi and Chengtian 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 Chengtian to be so incompetent.

Aside from that one incident with Wang Jing and occasional poaching to annoy Huayi, Chengtian posed little real threat to Huayi, forcing Yi'an to become Huayi's main competitor.

Now, with Chengtian's strength greatly increased, it could join the battle—but Yi'an could no longer pretend to be harmless.

Even if Wu Boss and the Wang brothers were idiots, they wouldn't ignore Yi'an's momentum.

Similarly, now neither Yi'an nor the other two would underestimate any third party.

Simple then: three-way chaos, see who laughs last.

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

He didn't know what Huayi thought, since both sides had once had an unspoken understanding regarding Chengtian.

Yan Li planned to meet the Wang brothers again; though there had been tensions, profit outweighed grudges.

…

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

At a private club, Wu Boss privately met the Wang brothers of Huayi, seeking to ally against Yan Li.

"Yi'an is coming on strong. Though I dislike Yan Li, I must admit—he has extraordinarily sharp and precise vision."

"Yi'an Theater Chains plus Yi'an Film form a terrifyingly solid foundation; their investments in Tudou and Weibo integrate internet + film, creating a seamless chain from production to promotion to media to platform."

"Gentlemen Wang, if he succeeds, he'll be self-sufficient, inherently invincible—how can we possibly compete with him?"

Yan Li planned to ally with Huayi to first eliminate the rival Chengtian, then settle the score between the two.

Wu Boss realized this too: when the top two fight, the third dies first.

Chengtian's situation was precarious; to break the deadlock, it could only ally with the weak against the strong. Yan Li was powerful and formidable—he didn't believe the Wang brothers had no thoughts on this.

If Chengtian died, Huayi would benefit.

But would a lone Huayi be a match for Yi'an?

The Wang brothers exchanged glances; they indeed had this concern—they'd fought Chengtian before, and its threat had been limited.

Yan Li was different; in multiple clashes, Huayi had mostly come out worse, nearly developing a psychological trauma.

Under these circumstances, facing Yi'an alone, the brothers had no confidence.

Partnering with Chengtian wasn't a bad idea—not aiming to destroy Yi'an, but to cripple it, drag it down, which would benefit Huayi.

Wang Zhongjun gave his brother a look; Wang Zhonglei asked: "Mr. Wu, what's your plan?"

"First, Yan Li is slippery—he escaped unscathed from the blog scandal; ordinary tactics won't work. So target others."

"Fan Bingbing, Deng Chao, Ning Hao are all core figures at Yi'an, tied to key projects. If any of them stumble, the projects suffer. Better to sever one finger than bruise ten fingers—inflict a major blow on Yi'an to crush its momentum."

"Second, Yan Li's Weibo is a deadly weapon. If we engage in a public opinion war, we'll likely lose. We should partner with Sina—enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"With Sina's help, if Yan Li tries to muddy the waters or manipulate public opinion, the effect will be muted."

"Third, set a trap for Yan Li. We stay out of sight, use a third party to launch a mega-production, draining and tying up his funds."

"Then, we specifically sabotage Yi'an's projects, causing chaos so Yi'an can't defend front and back."

"…"

Clearly, Wu Boss had done his homework—his analysis of Yan Li and Yi'an's strategies was sharp and well-informed.

The Huayi brothers nodded repeatedly; if the plan succeeded fully, Yi'an would be crippled—if only half succeeded, Yan Li would be bruised and battered, forced to lie low for a long while.

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

Half an hour later, the three parted in high spirits; Wang Zhonglei looked excitedly at his brother.

"It's time this bastard suffered. I'd love to see Yan Li's face when he finds out."

Face like constipation!

Not because he heard the news—but because Yan Li himself was actually constipated, thinking he should eat more vegetables and fruit.

After leaving the bathroom, Yan Li sat on the sofa and began carefully studying Chengtian and Huayi's plans.

Honestly, this Wu guy was truly ruthless!

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

No reason to be angry—he himself had planned to ally with Huayi to eliminate Chengtian.

Business warfare is like this: deceit, treachery, no morals—even hiring assassins or kidnapping threats happen. At least Wu and the Wang brothers are still operating within commercial boundaries.

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

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

Huayi and Chengtian had accumulated years of grievances; they themselves didn'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 some thought, Yan Li asked Yu Pangzi to arrange a gathering, inviting a Chengtian executive and Zhang Guoli, who was very close to Huayi.

During the meeting, Yan Li chatted at length with the Chengtian executive; the next day, the younger Wang brother was exposed as bisexual.

Notably, the initial leak came from Sina.

They teamed up to take down Yi'an, but Huayi ran into trouble—betrayed by their own people—and Yan Li was once again cozying up to Chengtian.

Is this Chengtian and Huayi targeting Yi'an, or are they pretending to be undercover while actually working with Yan Li to strike Huayi?

Yi'an is strong, but Huayi is no weakling—it currently leads private film companies.

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

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

What if Yan and Wu had set a trap?

The two grew paranoid; Yan Li focused solely on hammering Huayi, leaving Huayi frantic and ignoring the true instigator, Chengtian. Then Yi'an's top general, Deng Chao, was suddenly targeted by coordinated smear campaigns, forcing Yi'an into chaotic damage control.

Three companies, two humiliated—only Chengtian remained unscathed. The mud on the pants isn't shit, but it sure looks like it.

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

More critically, he hadn't even begun targeting Deng Chao when Deng Chao voluntarily "confessed."

Those smear campaigns looked fierce, but in truth they barely scratched the surface; Yi'an and Deng himself responded swiftly and appropriately, minimizing the damage.

This caught Chengtian completely off guard—it failed to achieve its goal and lost a crucial weapon against Yi'an.

Most critically, he suspected Chengtian had a mole.

Yi'an's response was too fast—it felt like a self-directed performance. Everything suggested they'd received prior warning.

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

Huayi and Yi'an's consecutive troubles might be a double act meant to lull him into complacency.

Perhaps Huayi pretended to cooperate, then, after maneuvering against Yi'an, sold him out—hoping to watch Chengtian and Yi'an tear each other apart.

Otherwise, it's impossible to explain how Yi'an knew about Deng Chao's affairs.

At this point, the fragile alliance between Huayi and Chengtian was effectively dead.

Even if they met again to speak openly, suspicion and old grudges made trust impossible.

At this moment, Yan Li came to visit the Wang brothers himself, opening with: "You two Wang bosses aren't being fair. You promised to take down Chengtian together—why did you turn on us?"

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

Yan Li shook his head: "Boss Wu contacted me. He said you two approached him to target Yi'an—that you were behind Deng Chao's downfall."

Wang Zhonglei couldn't hold back: "Bullshit. He came to us first."

Yan Li was stunned: "So this actually happened? I thought that Wu kid was just lying to me to win my cooperation?"