The 'A Chinese Ghost Story' film crew had nearly a hundred regular members. Once temporary extras were included, the number easily exceeded one hundred. Even using a conservative estimate of 100 people, with two boxed meals per person per day, the crew needed around 200 lunch boxes daily.
At the original price of '30 Hong Kong dollars' per box, food expenses came to roughly '6,000 Hong Kong dollars' a day. Now, Honghua Catering wanted to raise the price to '55 Hong Kong dollars' per box, bringing the daily cost to '11,000 Hong Kong dollars', an increase of '5,000 Hong Kong dollars' every single day.
Since most of the movie would be filmed inside Lion Rock Film City, and the crew would remain there for well over a month without going on location, that meant paying an extra hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars just for meals.
Honghua Catering was asking far too much.
For a lunch box like yesterday's, the same meal would cost at most '15 yuan' on the Mainland, with further discounts for bulk orders. They were already making a healthy profit. Living costs in Hong Kong were high, but certainly not 'that' high.
Wan Xiaoquan was the first to lose his patience. "You're…"
Before he could finish, Lu Chen raised a hand to stop him. Keeping an unchanged expression, Lu Chen nodded. "If you can guarantee the quality of the meals, then we can accept the price of 55 dollars per box. But we won't be paying for today's batch."
Manager Jiang clearly hadn't expected Lu Chen to agree so readily. He had deliberately quoted an outrageous price, yet Lu Chen accepted it without much argument. Even someone as shrewd as he was couldn't help being stunned. "Really?"
Lu Chen lightly tapped the tabletop with his finger. "I don't joke."
"Good... good!" Manager Jiang immediately broke into a triumphant smile. A greedy gleam flashed across his eyes as he continued, "However, meal prices are one thing. Delivery charges are separate."
---
Honghua had gone completely insane.
Even Chen Wenqiang's face darkened with anger. "Manager Jiang, that's against the rules."
Even criminal organizations had their own rules. Especially these modern gangs that had transformed themselves into legitimate businesses, they still relied on rules when carrying out monopolistic practices.
Otherwise, provoking public outrage would only bring disaster upon themselves. They had already nearly doubled the meal price, and Lu Chen had accepted it. Now they wanted to charge separately for delivery. This was naked extortion.
Manager Jiang gave Chen Wenqiang a meaningful glance. "Brother Qiang, rules are made by people. You've been in this industry long enough, you should understand that. Our company's rules are like this now."
He looked at Lu Chen as though staring at a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. "Young Lu, you're a superstar making money every day. Since you've come to Hong Kong to make movies, you must be earning a fortune. Surely you don't mind giving us hardworking folks a little extra?"
"Heh." Lu Chen smiled. But there wasn't the slightest warmth in his eyes.
"I don't like trouble. If money can solve a problem, I don't mind spending some to avoid unnecessary headaches. But that doesn't mean I'm afraid of trouble. Since your company has no sincerity in cooperating, then don't bother delivering meals to us anymore. I'm sure our crew won't starve because of it."
To be honest, Lu Chen had chosen to begin his film career in Hong Kong mainly because of the government's new film support policy.
Taking advantage of it would make entering the Mainland film market much easier while allowing him to establish a base in Hong Kong and expand into Taiwan, Macau, and Southeast Asia. The benefits were obvious.
However, shortcuts were never easy. When he decided to come to Hong Kong, he genuinely hadn't considered the influence of the local gangs, because such problems practically didn't exist when filming movies or television dramas on the Mainland.
As the saying went, 'even a mighty dragon cannot suppress the local snake.' Lu Chen wasn't yet a mighty dragon, so he had originally been willing to spend a little extra money in exchange for peace and stability.
As long as 'A Chinese Ghost Story' could be completed and released successfully, any additional expense would eventually be earned back many times over.
But the other side's greed had far exceeded his expectations. They had taken a mile after being given an inch. His patience had completely run out.
Without Zhang the butcher, did that mean everyone had to eat pigs with the hair still on them? What nonsense.
Hearing Lu Chen reject him so decisively, his attitude making a complete '180-degree turn', Manager Jiang's smile instantly froze on his face. It looked rather ridiculous.
Lu Chen gave him no chance to speak. He stood up and said, "Uncle Qiang, see our guests out."
---
The complete lack of courtesy enraged Manager Jiang. One of the burly bodyguards behind him immediately stepped forward, pointed a thick finger at Lu Chen's face, and shouted, "Watch how you talk to Manager Jiang! Don't mistake kindness for weakness!"
A gang was still a gang. Violence was embedded deep in their bones. Without strong-arm tactics, businesses built on monopoly and intimidation could never survive. The men Manager Jiang had brought were precisely for that purpose. If negotiations went smoothly, they were simply decorations. Now that talks had broken down, it was time for them to display their strength.
His arm was thick and hairy, his finger almost poking Lu Chen in the face. For an ordinary person, such intimidation would have been overwhelming.
But Lu Chen wasn't ordinary. Nor was he alone.
Before Lu Chen even needed to respond, Wan Yong, who had been sitting beside him, moved instantly. Like lightning, he grabbed the man's pointing finger and twisted it upward with tremendous force.
"AAAH!"
The thick-bodied thug let out a miserable scream, startling everyone present. Driven by pain, he instinctively tried to kick Wan Yong. But Wan Yong's foot struck his knee first. The man instantly lost his balance and crashed heavily onto the floor.
That was already Wan Yong showing mercy. Had this been a life-and-death fight, both the man's finger bones and kneecap would have been shattered.
Wan Yong released his hand and fixed a razor-sharp gaze on the other thug, who had begun to move. No one doubted that if he made the slightest aggressive move, Wan Yong would strike without hesitation.
Manager Jiang was frightened as well. Only after several moments did he recover enough to grit his teeth and say, "Fine! If we can't do business today, there's always another day. We'll see each other again!"
The threat came out somewhat incoherently. Yet no one found it amusing.
---
The people from Honghua Catering left in disgrace. Neither Wan Xiaoquan nor Chen Wenqiang felt any sense of relief. Everyone knew the real trouble had only just begun. There was no way the other side would simply let the matter rest.
Lu Chen turned his gaze toward Old Jia. "When we negotiated this partnership, Jiayang Film Industry guaranteed there wouldn't be problems like this. Now that this has happened, I'd like to know what your boss's position is."
Compared with Lu Chen's newly established workshop, Jiayang Film Industry was the real local power. The best way to deal with one local power was to rely on another. Lu Chen wasn't afraid of trouble, but he wasn't about to shoulder everything himself. Otherwise, what was the point of having a partner?
Under Lu Chen's unwavering gaze, Old Jia felt enormous pressure. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "Young Lu... our Jiayang Film Industry will give you an explanation."
Lu Chen nodded. "Good."
But deep down, he wasn't optimistic. Honghua's people certainly knew Jiayang Film Industry was backing this production. Manager Jiang had come here anyway. That alone was already a slap in Jiayang Film Industry's face.
They would just have to wait and see.
(End of Chapter)
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