Chapter 132: If You Have Money, Spend It Boldly

"The newspaper reported on October 30th that the film 'The Great Emperor Wu of Han,' which was released nationwide recently, has received great acclaim due to its excellent production. However, the emergence of pirated discs has had a significant impact on the film's box office. Recently, following a rigorous investigation by public security organs, the pirates were apprehended, and investigators followed the trail to uncover a massive piracy ring. Upon investigation, this proved to be a classic case of an inside job; the criminals bribed cinema staff to obtain the film reel, and then..."

The case had been solved. Some guy with access to the reel was paid off, stole the copy, and the piracy followed. It was a substantial operation—rumored to be worth a million—and it led to the discovery of an entire production line.

It wasn't difficult at all. The entire investigation was lightning-fast, mostly because the police weren't fools and knew exactly where the target was. Later, the culprits even turned themselves in and confessed to quite a bit.

Of course, whether that person was just a fall guy for someone else remains unknown. Whether that was the only production line is not something we can delve into; if we did, there's no telling how many people might be implicated.

Had the thing that Wu Xiang was worried about actually happened? Had he offended someone?

To hell with whether he offended someone or not; he just wanted to vent his frustration!

That was easy enough to say, and it felt cathartic, but to fight against villains, one must be even craftier. Wu Xiang had actually already come up with a strategy, but he decided to put that matter aside for now. Wu Xiang had too much on his plate, and he had a new, grander plan.

"Xiao Hai, come on and act in my film. It's really good and suits you perfectly—it’s a female nurse in the Eighth Route Army with a touch of petit-bourgeois style." Wu Xiang began his talent scouting, with his first target being his current "partner," Hai Qing.

"Oh! I already told you I don't want to act in your film! How are we supposed to get along on set? Besides, once our relationship is exposed later, what will people say? That I only got famous because of your connections? No way!" Hai Qing, naturally, stood by her principles.

"Sigh," Wu Xiang let out a long sigh. "Xiao Hai, I really have no choice. The budget is just too tight."

"You! Who told you to go around doing all sorts of crazy things?" Hai Qing furrowed her brows; she sometimes truly didn't know what to do with her boyfriend.

Why was Wu Xiang's budget tight again? Hadn't he made a lot of money from the box office of "The Great Emperor Wu of Han" and "First Intimate Contact"?

That was true; the box office numbers were indeed impressive, and Wu Xiang had received a significant share. "The Great Emperor Wu of Han" hadn't finished its theatrical run yet, so he hadn't received that share, but the money for "First Intimate Contact" had already come in—specifically, the box office share from its release in Japan.

The funds from Japan came from two sources. Don't forget there was another film, "Not One Less" (The Road Home), which also performed quite well at the box office, grossing 350 million yen. Combined with the over 500 million yen from "First Intimate Contact," Wu Xiang had received a total of over 3 million US dollars!

That was no small sum, but it didn't end there. It wasn't just those two films earning dollars. Don't forget "Getting Home." That film was taken by a French company called M6 for distribution alongside "First Intimate Contact." Unexpectedly, while "First Intimate Contact" had a mediocre performance in France and Europe—grossing only about 2 million euros—"Getting Home" became a massive success!

This low-budget film, upon its release in France and Europe, immediately sparked a viewing craze, becoming a dark horse and raking in over 20 million euros!

That was exactly what happened—a highly unexpected result that no one had anticipated!

Wu Xiang had expected "First Intimate Contact" to do well, but it was "Getting Home" that became the dark horse. Even European critics found the whole thing bizarre, leaving them completely dumbfounded.

In the end, some analyzed that the film's success was likely related to its theme: xenophobia.

Xenophobia is not just something found domestically; it exists abroad, and it's quite severe.

Take France, for example. The famous city of Paris—or rather, the Paris region—is filled with people who look at those from outside Paris with various biased lenses.

They are xenophobic, and quite intensely so. Anyone from outside the Paris region is considered a "country bumpkin." Marseille, Lyon—they're all just rural areas to them!

Furthermore, these European countries have many immigrants—Blacks, Muslims—who have also faced exclusion.

Of course, the initial supporters and ticket buyers were inevitably international students or overseas Chinese. Far from home, hearing their native tongue and seeing the story in the film, they felt a deep resonance and were moved to tears.

Emotion is contagious, and many who had experienced such things were moved to tears.

In other words, the psychological resonance this film triggered was immense, leading to a box office haul far greater than the domestic one!

The box office success was unexpected, but it made sense.

The only thing that was a bit frustrating was the title. The M6 company was quite mean; they translated the title as "Two Idiots"!

Damn it! Wu Xiang was furious at the time. Fortunately, he knew what the word for "idiot" meant in that context. It wasn't that Wu Xiang was fluent in French, but he had seen the film "Tais-toi!" starring Gérard Depardieu.

Ultimately, at Wu Xiang's insistence, the film was retitled "Two Countrymen."

That was better—at least it was an improvement over "Idiots." Those foreigners could be quite sharp-tongued.

The film's massive success was a surprise, but it allowed Wu Xiang to make a fortune. He personally stood to receive over 5 million euros. Adding that to his share from "First Intimate Contact," the foreign currency Wu Xiang had at his disposal, if converted to US dollars, was already over 10 million.

That was a huge amount of money. In this day and age, anyone with that kind of money was truly a big shot!

However, don't forget, this money was in US dollars.

Aren't US dollars better? Yes, they are great, but you can't just bring US dollars into the country easily. The state has foreign exchange controls. If you want to bring it in, you have to follow certain channels.

One way is the black market. Needless to say, if you have 10 million US dollars, you'd be lucky to end up with 7 million. But don't look down on the black market; it's not actually "black"—it's run by serious professionals. They use channels and methods that are both legal and illegal, which is why the costs are high. But they have an advantage: speed. They actually get things done.

Another way is through normal channels, adhering to foreign exchange controls, trickling money into the country like an ant moving a house. This process is extremely slow and almost no one uses it.

So, are there no other options? Of course there are. You wouldn't let a live person be stifled by a bit of urine, would you? Don't forget about Hong Kong!

As an Asian financial center, one of Hong Kong's key functions is the conversion between RMB and USD. Of course, the black market channels mentioned earlier also operate there, but there is another method that is lower in cost and quite fast.

That is to open a company in Hong Kong and then treat the funds as an investment in the mainland. This is reasonable, legal, and comes with various policy supports. It's fast and the costs are minimal, though you do need an organization in Hong Kong to handle these matters—you have to hire people and pay taxes to the Hong Kong government.

This is the most common method. After earning large sums of foreign exchange, although there are regulations on repatriating export earnings, most mainland companies do this. This is why many Hong Kong companies, especially large ones, have mainland capital backgrounds or are simply "red-capitalist" businesses.

In fact, Hong Kong's prosperity is related to this; it simply cannot exist without the mainland.

Wu Xiang wasn't stupid, and he knew a thing or two about this. Before, he was just a small screenwriter for "anti-Japanese war dramas," and in fact, most of the funding for those dramas came from Hong Kong. Surprising, right?

There is a lot to this, and if you dig deep, it wouldn't be finished in a short time.

So, Wu Xiang opened a company in Hong Kong called Haixiang Holdings. Well, his naming skills were terrible.

And what would this company do? Naturally, it would invest in the mainland. However, Wu Xiang chose to invest in real estate—buying a building!

He wasn't just buying a small building; Wu Xiang's idea was to build a "307 Tower." He wanted to build a high-rise where every floor served a purpose—indoor filming, personnel training, even film special effects production...

In short, it would be a film base, a foundation. Wu Xiang's vision was to build a permanent base, turning it into a top-tier Asian, or even world-class, film and entertainment production company.

This plan was nothing short of grand and ambitious, but the investment required was truly massive.

That is why, even though Wu Xiang was so wealthy, he still lived with Hai Qing in a small courtyard outside the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing, and he wasn't in a rush to buy a car. Of course, part of this was because Hai Qing was frugal, but they still had to save where they could.

This is the so-called "the greater the power, the greater the ambition." Conversely, the bigger the heart, the bigger the stage. To put it simply: if you've got the money, go all out!

Times were good back then; land was cheap. In the East Third Ring area, Wu Xiang acquired a plot of land for commercial use, covering over 5,000 square meters, for which he spent over 40 million RMB!

It was a steal! After Wu Xiang finished negotiating with the original company, he was ecstatic.

In reality, the original company was also ecstatic, because land wasn't that expensive back then, and the price Wu Xiang offered was very high; otherwise, the deal wouldn't have gone through so quickly.

Anyway, Wu Xiang’s plan was to throw all those 10 million-plus dollars into it. Of course, that was just enough to build the structure; the equipment and such would have to be added later.

This was a good deal, not a loss at all. When property prices skyrocketed later, even if the film base didn't succeed, he would still make a fortune just by renting out office space. If we aren't speculating on property, can't we at least have a sip of soup?

It was just that, for now, funds were tight, and costs had to be controlled.

But the future was infinitely bright. Wu Xiang could already see, a few years down the line, a modern film production center rising from the ground, gathering all kinds of domestic talent, and using this as a foundation to build his own entertainment empire...

Of course, that beautiful vision had to wait. It was better to focus on the immediate tasks, starting with saving money on casting.

"Xiao Hai, do me a favor."

"I'm not playing the female lead!" Hai Qing finally relented.

"Fine, there's a good supporting role. Not much screen time, but you'll get to wear the period costumes, and we'll put your hair in two braids—tsk tsk, you'll look beautiful."

"Giggle..." Hai Qing was flattered and naturally happy. This was as good as saying yes. It wasn't much screen time, so it shouldn't have any impact. As a way to help him, she asked, "What's the name of your film?"

Wu Xiang smiled and replied, "Bright Sword!"