Ma Wu was not usually overly concerned with his reputation, but this time, he was truly angry.
Lu Yuanshan poured Ma Wu a glass of wine. "Junyang, what are you saying? We’re brothers. If you make money, we’re happy for you."
Lu Yuanhai chimed in, "That’s right, we’re all happy for you."
"Happy about what?" Ma Wu didn’t drink his wine. "Shouldn’t you be happy? Both our families invested money to make a movie. Now that it’s profitable, shouldn’t we just split it as agreed?"
"That’s too formal, too formal," Lu Yuanshan said, offering Ma Wu a cigar. "Talking about splitting money makes us seem like strangers. We’re brothers; we don’t stand on such ceremony."
Lu Yuanhai added, "Old Five, it hasn’t been easy for you, struggling in Greenwater City. We brothers feel for you. Helping you out is only right."
"What do you mean, ’helping me out’?" The more Ma Wu listened, the angrier he became. "We’re business partners. We assess the business and divide the profits. Tomorrow, I’m calling the reporters to discuss our profit-sharing agreement."
"No split, no split!" Lu Yuanshan waved his hand. "We’ve already discussed it with Uncle Qiu. All the money from ’Blood Gun Detective’ will go to you. Consider our share as sponsorship for your second film."
Lu Yuanhai said, "Honestly, we brothers don’t need this bit of money. Making this film was all for you, so don’t stand on ceremony with us."
They weren’t claiming their profits from ’Blood Gun Detective’ not because they didn’t care about the money, but because they didn’t want to tarnish the Lu Family’s reputation.
The film company was a joint venture, with the Lu Family owning half the shares. The brothers learned the entire process, from casting and managing box office sales to screenwriting, directing, and cinematography—they had their hands on it all.
With experience, resources, connections, and methods acquired, the Lu Family had already extended its reach into the film industry.
Ma Wu’s ’Blood Gun Detective’ squeezed out the Ling Family’s ’Blood Blade Detective’, causing them severe losses in both reputation and profit. The Ling Family’s ambition to dominate the film industry was now greatly challenged, conveniently creating space for the Lu Family.
The Lu Family had achieved all their objectives.
They intended for Ma Wu to bear all the remaining infamy.
In the future, the Lu Family would establish a new company to produce legitimate films.
The Lu Family planned to slowly withdraw from the company they co-founded with Ma Wu. They would ostensibly leave it to him, but in reality, it had become a scapegoat—a rag for handling dirty films and sordid jobs.
One couldn’t blame the Lu Family for being ruthless; business had to be done this way.
But Ma Wu was a shrewd businessman; how could he not see through this?
"The press conference for the next film is coming up soon. If you two brothers don’t show up, I’m not shooting the movie!" Ma Wu fumed.
Lu Yuanshan hurriedly tried to appease him, "Old Five, your words are creating a rift."
Lu Yuanhai also tried to calm him, "Old Five, what’s gotten into you? You never used to be like this. Have a glass of wine and cool down."
Drinking wouldn’t help!
Ma Wu refused to comply. Upon returning to Xiaoyao Lodge, he heard Li Banfeng was back. He opened two bottles of good wine and poured out his grievances to Li Banfeng all afternoon.
"Old Qi, do you think this film can still be made?"
"Of course, it can! Why not?"
Ma Wu waved his hand. "Old Qi, you don’t understand. To compete with Ling Miaoying, I threw my reputation to the wind. You probably haven’t even seen the film I made..."
Li Banfeng put down his wine glass. "I’ve seen it. Watched it twice."
"If you’ve seen it, you should know it was hardly a film. It’s disgraceful. Even I find it disgraceful."
"Why isn’t it a film? Why is it disgraceful?"
Ma Wu lowered his head, silent. Although from a prestigious family, he was still a man of Puluo State, and some of his views were confined by its conventions.
Li Banfeng patiently reasoned, "In the Outside Provinces, countless directors have made their names with such films. It’s art! Greenwater City has many galleries showing Western art; those painters don’t feel ashamed. Why should we?"
Ma Wu shook his head. "Painting is painting; this is a film. It’s different."
"How is it different? It’s all art! Failing is what’s disgraceful. Succeed, and you become a master! This is settled. You must shoot it."
Ma Wu looked up. "Does that mean your name should be added too?"
"That won’t do! It’s not that I’m afraid of disgrace, but my identity cannot be revealed."
Ma Wu sighed deeply. "Fine, I’ll listen to you on everything. So, should the second film be shot the same way as the first?"
"It can’t be the same as the first. The first film had sufficient impact but lacked in storytelling. The audience will experience aesthetic fatigue. Get those screenwriters to put more effort into crafting a more engaging story."
"I’m afraid there isn’t enough time. I don’t know what methods the Ling Family uses, but they can churn out a film in a month. If I focus on meticulous, quality work, I fear I won’t release it before them."
"You don’t need to release it before them," Li Banfeng said, confident about the current situation. "This time, spend more effort on it. Releasing it ten days or even half a month later than them is fine. In fact, a slight delay might be even better. At least half of the Ling Family’s promotional efforts will inadvertently benefit us."
Ma Wu blinked. "Do you really think this is legitimate business?"
"Legitimate, very legitimate!" Li Banfeng looked at Ma Wu earnestly. "Trust me, you won’t go wrong. We’ve got this line of business locked down!"
「...」
"We can’t let Ma Wu continue filming like this; otherwise, he’ll have us completely cornered!" Zhou Changhong put down the newspaper he was reading and said to Ling Miaoying, "We need to create some trouble for Ma Wu. They dared to burn our film reels, so we can smash their set. It’s tit for tat."
The release of ’Blood Blade Detective’ had brought in far less at the box office than expected, leaving Zhou Changhong in a foul mood and Ling Miaoying under immense pressure.
Now that Zhou Changhong was suggesting underhanded tactics, Ling Miaoying felt it was somewhat irrational.
"Ma Wu has the Lu Family backing him. If we move against them, we’ll completely break off relations."
"We don’t need to act ourselves. How are the communications with the Three Heroes Gang coming along?"
"Their second-in-command is on good terms with us and should help, but gangs speak in Jianghu terms; it’s hard to say how much help they’ll actually provide."
Zhou Changhong was confident. "We don’t need to be too demanding about the extent of their help. As long as they send people, it’s enough.
Ma Wu’s film is so sordid. The Lu Family won’t want to get too deeply involved. Once they see the Three Heroes Gang making a move, they certainly won’t show their faces easily. Ma Wu will definitely be left to handle it himself. Let’s see how he manages this time!"
「...」
Having secured actors and finalized the script, on the first day of shooting, a lean young man, accompanied by a dozen or so subordinates, arrived at the film set.
The set manager stepped forward to clear the area. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are filming. The director just announced that all unrelated personnel are to clear the set."
"What do you mean, ’unrelated personnel’?" The young man, holding a meat pie, took a bite and spoke while chewing, "Aren’t you filming? We’re here to watch. You’re not allowing spectators?"
The set manager tried to say more but was shoved aside by one of the young man’s subordinates, causing him to stumble.
The director knew these people were there to cause trouble and quickly sent someone to inform Ma Wu.
By the time Ma Wu hurried to the set, the young man was lecturing an actress, "Look at you—young, pretty. You could do anything. Why stoop to this?
Once this film is out and everyone has seen... everything, how will you live? Can you still get married? Will anyone still want you?"
The actress was already in tears. Ma Wu walked over and looked at the young man. "Sir, what brings you to our set today?"
"Sir? Guidance?" The young man laughed. "We don’t use ’sir.’ We call each other ’Brother’ here."
Zuo Wugang whispered a reminder to Ma Wu, "Master Wu, these are men from the Three Heroes Gang. They all call each other ’Brother’ within their gang."
Ma Wu said, "Master Ma has no quarrel with the Three Heroes Gang. Your presence today, gentlemen..."
"A quarrel? How can you say there isn’t one?" The young man interrupted Ma Wu. "We brothers of the Three Heroes Gang are all upstanding men. We just can’t stand your indecent business.
Think about it. Do you really think this stuff you’re making is decent? Don’t you feel ashamed watching it yourselves?"
Zuo Wugang prompted from the side, "Master Wu, don’t ask any more. They’re just here to make trouble. Do we fight or not?"
If it came to fighting, Zuo Wugang was truly unafraid.
But Ma Wu didn’t want to resort to violence.
The Three Heroes Gang wasn’t a prominent family; they were a gang. They had plenty of dirty tricks, and if relations soured, it would be like stirring up a hornet’s nest. Ma Wu would be defenseless against many of their tactics.
Ma Wu had someone bring one hundred Ocean Dollars and offered them to the young man. "Brothers, Master Ma’s business relies on your continued support. This is a small token of my appreciation."
The young man pushed the Ocean Dollars back to Ma Wu. "Young Master Wu, I don’t want this money. We’ve met before, though you probably don’t remember me. Take my advice: stop filming this movie. Stop filming altogether. You’ve made enough money. It’s not too late to quit now."
Filming for the day was impossible. Ma Wu returned to Xiaoyao Lodge and told Li Banfeng what had happened.
Li Banfeng was curious. "Why would the Three Heroes Gang want to give us trouble?"
Ma Wu shook his head. "I’ve been wondering about that for a long time and still can’t figure it out. We haven’t done anything to offend the Three Heroes Gang."
"What does the Lu Family say?"
"Lu Yuanshan said he’d ask around, but I doubt he’ll get a clear answer. If I’m not mistaken, the Ling Family put the Three Heroes Gang up to this."
Li Banfeng rubbed his forehead. The relationships between the prominent families and gangs in Puluo State were too complex for him to unravel at the moment.
"This young man who came to disrupt the set, what’s his background?"
Ma Wu replied, "Old Zuo went to investigate, but there’s no news yet. Word is he’s a rising talent in the Three Heroes Gang; we don’t even know his name."
Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat. "I’ll go meet him tomorrow."
"Old Qi, the people from the Three Heroes Gang are not to be trifled with."
"I don’t intend to trifle with them, but we can’t let them walk all over us!"
「...」
The next day, filming commenced. Not long after, the same young man arrived again with his subordinates.
Today, he wasn’t eating a meat pie; he had switched to a chicken leg.
He slapped Ma Wu’s shoulder with a greasy hand, smiling as he said, "Young Master Wu, I must say, you’re not very sensible. I told you to stop filming. Why won’t you listen to reason?"
Ma Wu said to the young man, "Brother, can we have a word in private?"
"Does it matter if we talk a few steps away? The issue remains the same, doesn’t it?" The young man followed Ma Wu to the backstage area of the set. "Young Master Wu, if you want to play rough, I’m ready. We can fight anywhere you like. But you definitely won’t be filming today."
"Then tell us, when will you let us film?" Li Banfeng emerged from a corner backstage and approached the young man. "What’s your game? Why are you causing trouble at our place?"
The young man looked at Li Banfeng, and the chicken leg in his hand dropped to the ground. "Uh, um... Brother Seven..."
Li Banfeng was surprised. "Who are you?"