Huayu: This director is pretty strong.

Chapter 104 Who is the true master of this land?

Yan Huaizhong stood in the shadows at the top of the stairs and glanced down at the red folder.

Without asking any questions, he stuffed the things inside his coat and held them tightly with his arm.

"Chen Yan, once you've made this move, you'll never be able to wash the skin off properly."

Chen Yan stood at the bottom of the steps, looking at the students doing their morning exercises on the playground in the distance.

"The skin doesn't matter, as long as the bones are intact."

Yan Huaizhong didn't say anything more, turned around and went up to the creaking faculty and staff building.

The leather shoes struck the metal plate with a hollow, dull thud.

Chen Yan opened the car door and sat in the back seat.

Wu Gang started the car, and the black Santana merged into the traffic without causing a ripple.

Two hours later, a piece of news ignited the entire high society circle in Beijing.

Zhao Minghai, chairman of Minghai Group, was taken away from his office by officers from the Economic Crime Investigation Department.

The group's stock price plummeted to its daily limit, and all assets were frozen.

Chen Yan, at the eye of the storm, was sitting on a bench in the second canteen of Beijing Film Academy.

In front of me is a large white porcelain bowl, filled with freshly cooked noodles with soybean paste, topped with bean sprouts and green beans.

He broke off a clove of garlic and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it with a crunching sound. The spicy juice mixed with the salty and savory flavor of the soybean paste exploded in his mouth.

The cafeteria was bustling with noise.

"Have you heard? Zhao Minghai is in jail. Minghai Group is finished!"

"Who did this? That's incredibly ruthless, all overnight!"

"Who else could it be? Look over there, at the master eating noodles."

Several complex gazes were cast over, then quickly looked away.

A young teaching assistant carrying a tray hesitated for a long time before finally walking over.

He is Professor Liang Huai's doctoral student, and just a few days ago he published an article in the school newspaper, criticizing "Thunder" as artistic dross.

"Director Chen?"

The teaching assistant forced a stiff smile. "I'm Xiao Liu, from the last seminar..."

Chen Yan didn't look up, stirring the noodles at the bottom of the bowl with his chopsticks, making the sauce aroma even stronger.

"The noodles were good, but there wasn't enough sauce."

The teaching assistant's words caught in his throat, his face turning red and then white.

"Please, take your time eating. I have some classmates over there."

He practically fled.

After finishing the last bite of noodles, Chen Yan wiped his mouth with a napkin, pushed the bowl away, and walked towards the sink.

Su Wan, dressed in a smart gray suit, waited at the entrance of the cafeteria.

She held a freshly printed document in her hand, but her expression showed no joy; instead, it was somewhat solemn.

"The business registration changes for the three core cinemas have been completed, and the signs were put up at eight o'clock this morning."

She handed over an official letter.

The four official seals of "Yanying Film Line" on the screen are glaringly red.

"But..." Su Wan lowered her voice, "something happened."

"explain."

Chen Yan dried his hands and accepted the official letter.

"I just received a call from the printing plant; our application for reprinting copies has been withheld by the copyright bureau."

Su Wan spoke quickly, her voice filled with impatience.

"The reason given is a complaint from the industry association alleging a labor dispute during our filming process. Right now, theaters across the country are desperate for tickets; the film copies haven't arrived, and our screenings are completely empty! Lin Shufen's phone is ringing off the hook!"

Chen folded the official letter and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Whose idea was this?"

"I don't know, but this notice was just issued at 2 PM, and it was signed by Director Zhou from the Copyright Bureau. I checked, and the honorary president of the industry association that was reported is Liang Huai."

Chen Yan stopped in his tracks.

Those bedbugs he thought had been crushed crawled out of the gutter again where he couldn't see them.

"Back to the company."

Half an hour later, in the conference room of Yan Culture Media.

The atmosphere was oppressive.

"I just spoke with Director Zhou on the phone," Su Wan said, hanging up the receiver with a grim expression. "He said it's routine and we should wait for further notice."

"wait?"

A distribution manager suddenly stood up. "Director Chen, every extra hour we wait means we'll lose millions in box office revenue! If 'Thunder' falters, it'll be hard to revive it!"

Chen Yan didn't say anything. He walked to the window and looked at the endless stream of vehicles below.

"Wu Gang".

"exist."

"Get the car ready, let's go to the copyright office."

He turned around and picked up the trench coat draped over the back of the chair.

"Su Wan, notify the printing plant to keep the machines running. I want to see the first batch of one thousand copies loaded onto the truck tonight."

"But the approval document..."

"I'll go get it."

At the foot of the white administration building, the security guard stretched out his arm to stop Chen Yan.

"We're off work, no business being processed."

Chen Yan didn't even look at him and went straight to the stairs.

"I'm looking for Director Zhou."

"Director Zhou is in a meeting and won't see anyone!"

The security guard shouted from behind.

At the end of the second-floor corridor, the door to an office was ajar.

An old, smug voice came from inside.

"Young man, too arrogant, doesn't know respect for others. Someone has to teach him a lesson and teach him some manners."

It is Liang Huai.

Chen Yan stopped in front of the door, his toes pressing against the crack.

He raised his foot and kicked hard.

"Bang!"

The heavy wooden door slammed against the wall with a loud bang.

The conversation in the room stopped abruptly.

Liang Huai sat on the mahogany sofa, his teacup wobbling slightly.

Across from him, a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses suddenly stood up, scattering the documents in his hands all over the floor.

It was Director Zhou.

"Chen Yan? Who let you in! Security!"

Director Zhou was both shocked and furious.

Chen Yan entered the room and closed the door behind him.

He walked to the desk, placed his hands on the surface, leaned forward, and stared into Director Zhou's eyes.

"Who submitted the application for withholding?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it made the room temperature drop a few degrees.

"It's...it's a routine inspection. Someone reported it, and we have to follow the procedures."

Director Zhou avoided his gaze and stammered an explanation.

"program?"

Chen Yan turned his gaze to Liang Huai.

Liang Huai had calmed down by now. He took a sip of tea slowly and then slammed the cup down on the coffee table with a loud thud.

"Chen Yan, this is a state-owned institution, not a place for you to run wild. The film industry has its own hierarchy. You haven't even been to Cannes yet, and you already want to establish your own business in Beijing? Who gave you the guts?"

Chen Yan smiled.

He pulled over a chair, straddled it backwards, and rested his arms on the back of the chair.

"Professor Liang, Lu Haiming has fallen from grace. Who will fund the subsequent acquisition of that land in Tongzhou that you got through his connections?"

Liang Huai's face turned deathly pale instantly.

He pointed at Chen Yan, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

"You...you're spouting nonsense!"

"Making false accusations?"

Chen Yan took out a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his trench coat. It was a copy of the black ledger from Tianjin. He gently patted it on the table.

"Liang's Architecture, consulting fee: two million. I'm very curious, what kind of art consulting is worth that price?"

Director Zhou's breathing stopped.

He looked at Liang Huai in disbelief, then at the thin piece of paper on the table.

In the room, only the clicking sound of the clock on the wall could be heard.

Chen Yan took a pen out of his shirt pocket, removed the cap, and handed it to Director Zhou.

"Can this application be signed now?"

Director Zhou's hands were trembling violently. He took the pen and almost poked the nib into the paper, writing "Approved" on the application form for additional printing.

The ink smudged because my hand was shaking.

Chen Yan took back the application form and blew on the ink stains.

He stood up and walked over to Liang Huai, who was looking completely lost.

"Professor Liang," he bent down and whispered in Liang Huai's ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear, "the tea is getting cold, and it's time to change the rules of the capital."

After saying that, he straightened up and walked out of the office without looking back.

Su Wan and Wu Gang were waiting anxiously in the corridor.

Chen Yan waved the paper in his hand.

"Notify the printing plant to start production overnight."

The three of them quickly walked down the stairs.

Just as I stepped out of the building, a postal motorcycle sped up to the entrance like a madman, and a young man in camouflage jumped off the motorcycle in a flurry.

He was one of Wu Gang's underlings, and was sent to Tianjin to assist Liang Qinian.

His face was covered in sweat, his lips were pale, and his voice was trembling with sobs.

"Director Chen! Brother Wu! Something's happened!"

Chen Yan stopped in his tracks.

"In Tianjin... Officer Liang... he's gone missing!"

The young man pulled a crumpled envelope from his pocket and handed it over with both hands.

"This was found this morning at the entrance of the guesthouse where Officer Liang is staying."

Chen Yan took the envelope and tore it open.

There wasn't a single word in it.

There was only a bloodstained plastic card.

It's an admission pass for the "Thunder" film crew, and the photo on it is Liang Qinian.

In the photo, someone drew a crooked cross with red paint.