Chapter 137: Too Ruthless Means

President Liu said, “You’ve remembered? If you have, then quickly deal with it, otherwise you’re going to be in trouble this time.”

Xue Zhanhua shook his head repeatedly, “Impossible, he’s just some unknown kid who’s recently come into money out of nowhere. At most, he’s just a nouveau riche with a bit of cash, how could he be a friend of our Mr. Jiang!”

The person he thought of was Xu Yang.

Regarding Xu Yang, he had the public relations department look into it.

Xu Yang came from a small county in Hubei province and had never stood out before.

Even been dumped by his girlfriend for being deemed unworthy.

It was just that Xu Yang’s luck was inexplicably good; dumped by his girlfriend, he caught the eye of her twin sister and they went straight to get a marriage certificate.

Ever since he got the certificate with his ex-girlfriend’s twin sister, Xu Yang seemed to be on a winning streak.

He made money speculating on futures, buying out a guild, acquiring Yuhuo Renjia, rebranding it as Jiangdi Lao, and making even more money.

But even so, there was still a big gap compared to Jiang Yuheng.

How could Xu Yang be a friend of Jiang Yuheng?

Clearly, Hua’an Film and Television’s public relations department hadn’t found any connection between Xu Yang and Jiang Yuheng, and they didn’t know that Jiang Yuheng had already become a shareholder of Xu Yang’s Jiangdi Lao.

President Liu asked, “Whom are you talking about?”

Xue Zhanhua said, “A young man named Xu Yang, but he shouldn’t be your Mr. Jiang’s friend.”

President Liu asked, “The Xu Yang you mentioned, is he the owner of Jiangdi Lao?”

Xue Zhanhua nodded and said, “Yes, the owner of Jiangdi Lao. You know him too?”

President Liu said, “Of course I know him, the owner of Jiangdi Lao, Xu Yang, is our Mr. Jiang’s friend. Moreover, let me tell you, their relationship is very good, and our Mr. Jiang has even invested in Jiangdi Lao!”

“What!” Xue Zhanhua was shocked.

He hadn’t expected their relation to be so close.

Jiang Yuheng investing in Jiangdi Lao meant that their relationship wasn’t just simply friends; they had become a community of interests.

No wonder the Southwest Business Association would issue such a statement.

Now it seemed that Xu Yang was not so simple.

President Liu said, “President Xue, now that you know the crux of the problem, go resolve it. Otherwise, we are really going to seek compensation and it’s not just talk—we need to stay busy, so I’ll hang up first.”

Having said that, President Liu hung up the call.

On Xue Zhanhua’s side.

He put down his phone, his expression uncertain.

To concede just like that?

Though conceding to a friend of Jiang Yuheng wasn’t disgraceful.

Yet, it was still hard to swallow.

Just then, the assistant pushed the door open and entered, once again without knocking, just as anxious as before.

Xue Zhanhua furrowed his eyebrows again. “What’s the matter with you? Has something big happened again? Has the endorsement of another artist been canceled?”

The assistant said, “President Xue, it’s not that another artist’s endorsement has been canceled, but something big has indeed happened.”

Xue Zhanhua felt a bad premonition, “Spit it out quickly.”

The assistant said, “The project of ‘War Panther 2’ has been blocked. Just now, someone from the other side called to notify me, saying they couldn’t reach you.”

“What!” Xue Zhanhua’s expression changed, “How could that be, how could it be blocked? I just got a call from someone, who said it had been approved.”

The assistant said, “That person said someone higher up intervened, and the reason given was very legitimate. After all, a movie with legal disputes can’t be greenlit for production. That person also mentioned there would be consequences, that helping us this time would affect his career prospects. His tone didn’t sound good.”

Xue Zhanhua said expressionlessly, “This is a risk he should take; I’m not without offering him benefits.”

As for the other party’s future, Xue Zhanhua couldn’t care less.

So what if his tone was bad.

This was a transaction.

If the other party was doing business with him, they should be prepared for this.

Xue Zhanhua added, “This must be Xu Yang’s doing—how does he have such a powerful network?”

He really couldn’t see through Xu Yang.

It seemed that the other party was not just Jiang Yuheng’s friend.

Xue Zhanhua said, “Mr. Xue, there’s also…”

“Hmm? What else?” Xue Zhanhua had a feeling that things were getting more troublesome.

“Now on Douyin, there’s a video about our company; take a look.”

The assistant held up the mobile phone to Xue Zhanhua and tapped the screen.

Suddenly, a short video played.

The forbidden scene displayed a priority investment agreement for “War Panther 2,” signed by Xu Yang and Lin Junyi.

A voice-over said: “Mr. Xu Yang and Director Wu Jing signed a priority investment agreement to invest in ‘War Panther 2,’ which according to the contract, allowed for a thirty percent investment stake. However, Hua’an Film and Television, as a major capital force, bullied him by only giving Mr. Xu Yang a five percent stake. They even threatened that if he didn’t agree, he wouldn’t even get the five percent, making the investment agreement worthless! In the face of big capital, Mr. Xu is just a small fry with no power to fight back. With no other choice, he could only expose the matter in the hopes that netizens would see Hua’an Film and Television’s true colors and that the relevant departments would uphold justice.”

The video received ten million views, one million shares, and a hundred thousand comments.

It swept across Douyin, hitting the trending search list.

Even other media outlets reported on it.

This was the result of the promotional powerhouse Fengcai Guild, as all their streamers pinned the video to the top.

Moreover, they mentioned the incident multiple times during their live broadcasts.

Lin Junyi, in particular, worked hard by producing a shop visit video, where he used the incident to criticize Hua’an Film and Television for their shameless behavior, saying how unseemly they were.

In the end, he posed the soul-searching question: “Is this how it works in your circles? As long as you have money, you can bully others? As long as you have money, you can do whatever you want? What about the legal agreements signed, can they just be tossed aside? Where is justice? Where is fairness? Where is righteousness?”

“I never thought that Hua’an Film and Television would be such a company!”

“Junyi is right, Hua’an Film and Television’s behavior is indeed disgusting!”

“Today, I truly understand what it means for big capital to bully the little guy.”

“If even Xu Yang is oppressed, what about us regular people? If we catch the attention of these big capitals, wouldn’t we be crushed to dust in a minute?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Definitely, but you don’t need to worry. These big capitals only do things that are profitable, and to them, we are just ants, not worthy of their attention unless you touch their interests, or don’t get caught as collateral damage; otherwise, it’s just your bad luck.”

“To say that a legally binding agreement is worthless, Hua’an Film and Television is really lawless.”

“I earnestly request the relevant departments to deliver justice for Mr. Xu Yang!”

“From now on, I won’t watch any movies invested by Hua’an Film and Television.”

“I won’t watch any works of Hua’an’s artists either.”

“Boycott Hua’an Film and Television, don’t let such a cancer continue to exist in the film industry.”

After watching the video and reading the comments, Xue Zhanhua almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

This video had created an extremely negative impact on Hua’an Film and Television; the losses were almost incalculable.

This move was indeed too ruthless.