Ace of the Dragon Division - Chapter 243

Chapter 243: Banned (3)

After Yan Xian came out of the company, he was immediately surrounded by the reporters.

“Yan Xian, Yan Xian, can you tell us whether it’s true that you casting-couched many female celebrities? And what do you have to say about that recording Li Wen exposed?”

“Yan Xian, you cheated on your wife while she was pregnant. Do you have anything to say to your wife after something this big happened?”

“Yan Xian, everyone’s calling you scum right now. Do you think you are scum?”

Yan Xian was furious and he immediately shouted, “Who are you calling scum?”

The reporter: “Then can you talk more about why Li Wen and many other female celebrities are taking you to court for sexual harassment?”

Yan Xian’s eyes were bloodshot as he said, “I don’t know about the other female celebrities, but the recording with Li Wen was just me and her going over a script together, how can I be that much of a scum? Please stop making things up.”

The reporter: “Oh really? Then do you two go over scripts naked in the bathroom or bedroom? Shouldn’t you also talk about those photos?”

Yan Xian: “Are you guys done or not? I already said, I’m innocent!”

Then, he directly pushed away the reporters and went into his car with the escort of his assistant and agent, breaking free from the reporters’ pursuit.

Inside the car, the assistant carefully asked him, “Big Brother Xian, where are we going right now?”

Yan Xian rubbed his temple. “Get away from these reporters first.”

Then, he took out his phone and called Ou Li.

The phone connected, and Yan Xian said, “President Ou, can you see if you can help me out a bit first and lend me 30 million? I need to pay back those endorsement deals first.”

He also knew how serious the situation was. If he couldn’t pay back the money right away, then those businesses could go with the original clauses on the contract and demand 60 million from him instead! So, what was most important right now was the money, and the debt was even more important than his reputation at the moment.

Ou Li: “I don’t have that much money to give you. This year, I invested in 5 films, and you invested 50 million and have a 20% share in two of them. I invested a total of 300 million myself, and I got that much money by mortgaging my real estate. 3 out of the 5 films will begin playing soon, and by then, there will be cash inflow.”

Then, he saw a phone call coming in so he said to Yan Xian, “Give me a second, I have another call coming in.”

Then, Ou Li took the other call and it was from his assistant, “President Ou, oh no, the theaters for some reason are changing the playrate for our three movies from 13% to 1%!”

“What?!” Ou Li was shocked. “You sure?”

The secretary: “I just got faxed notice, and when I called them no one was picking up. But I checked with their employees, they said that was the new playrate, that 1%! But I remembered you saying that we already talked about it with them and settled on a playrate of 13%, right?”

Ou Li felt that something was off. “Let me call and ask.”

Then, he hung up and dialed the line to the deputy director of the entertainment company that managed all the theatres he was playing at, but no one picked up.

Ou Li immediately couldn’t stay still any more and got out of the hospital right away. Then, he directly took the taxi and went to that entertainment company. He took the elevator and went straight to the office of that friend of his. The deputy president’s assistant blocked his path and said, “Sir, you need to make an appointment first, please don’t make this difficult for us.”

“If I f-cking wait for an appointment, I’m going to go bankrupt!” Ou Li cursed, and then he directly pushed open the door. That guy was supposed to be his old friend, so of course he knew where his office was.

Inside, the deputy president was laying back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. Seeing Ou Li just forcing his way in, he appeared a bit discontent.

“You leave first,” he said to his secretary, who then closed the door behind her.

Ou Li tried to suppress his anger as he deepened his voice and asked, “What’s the matter? Wasn’t our partnership always going well? My 13% playrate, why did you suddenly change it to 1%? I saw the showtime schedule at your theatres for the next batch already, what is the meaning of that?”

The deputy president said as if he didn’t know what was happening, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Ou Li: “Bro! How am I going to survive with that 1% playrate? Do you know how much money I invested into those three movies? 150 million! I already put all my assets up as collateral, and didn’t I promise to give you 5% of the dividend? Why did you change your mind just like that and not tell me about it too?”

The deputy president frowned. “You also noticed that I didn’t get my result? Because this wasn’t done by me at all! I already tried my best and got you 13%, but the higher ups suddenly named you and ordered to suppress your movies to less than a 1% playrate. Come on, man, how did you manage to offend the young master of our company and not tell me about it? Do you know, I also went to the office to demand an explanation, just like you are doing right now, and the young master of our company directly scolded me to death. He said he can give you a 13% playrate, but I will have to get the f-ck out of the company! Ou Li, you created so much trouble for the both of us, do you know that?”

Ou Li’s eyes spread wide open and he shivered. “Impossible, how could I have offended the big boss of the cinema line? I swear I didn’t!”

The deputy president: “How would I know? I’m just an employee too, please don’t make it difficult for me. If I can do a good job this year, I will be able to join the board next year! Please don’t bring any trouble to me. You can leave now. The boss man’s son didn’t seem like he will forgive you. He already said that, in the future, any films that you, Ou Li, is associated with in any way will be banned from playing at any theatres under our cinema line! Oh right, he also said that, even if you sell your film cheap to other companies, he still won’t play it!”

Ou Li immediately became pale. “Please don’t, Bro! If I can’t get those movies to be played, then wouldn’t my money basically go down the drain? I even got a loan, and if I can’t break even on these films, I wouldn’t even be able to eat those tapes to survive! I beg you, Bro, how about 10%? I will give you 10% of the box office as a benefit!”

“Forget it, the boss man’s son already knows that I cooperated with you under the table over all these years. In the past, it wouldn’t be a big deal because things like this are pretty common. But now, you are on his blacklist, and I work for him, so wouldn’t I basically be f-cking my own career over if I continued to work with you? I will also beg you right here, please don’t call me, and don’t come and look for me again. The year is almost over, and I still want to celebrate the new year in peace. Please don’t bring more trouble to me.”

Ou Li really wanted to cry, and he was about to kneel down. “Bro, can I beg you?”

The deputy president gestured for him to not do it. “It’s no use getting on your knees. You should go and beg our company’s boss man’s son.”

Ou Li immediately began nodding like a woodpecker. “I will, I will, can you introduce me to him? I will kow-tow to him and beg for forgiveness. As long as he doesn’t boycott my movies and let it air smoothly, I can do anything!”

The deputy president sighed, “Then I will connect you two tonight?”

Ou Li nodded. “Alright, thank you so much! Just give me a call whenever, and I will be right there!”

Ou Li felt like his body was hollowed out as he walked out of the building. At that moment, Yan Xian’s call came in. “Big Brother Ou, you have to help me! Just lend me 30 million to help me temporarily get through it.”

Ou Li was already getting smashed with misfortunes and was super frustrated, and he immediately shouted, “Lend you my f-cking a-s! I’m going to go bankrupt any second now too!”

Those five movies were basically his lifeline right now. Over the years, he relied on little productions and made some money, and originally, he wanted to do a few big investments to make a big return this time since the average box office in the country had been climbing every year, but who knew he would get screwed at this critical moment!