novellhall Chapter 32 Destroying the Genitals
Chapter 32 Destroying the Genitals
Fulimen, third-floor private room.
The room that Xiang Yeqiang booked wasn't big, but it was private. Eight dishes were laid out on the round table, and Mrs. Xiang personally poured tea. Wang Jing sat opposite him, his belly pushing the edge of the table forward two inches.
When Lin Dong arrived, the tea had already been brewed twice.
"Lin Sheng, sit down." Xiang Yeqiang didn't get up, but pointed to the seat next to him.
Li Jiaxin took Lin Dong's arm and sat down, then casually placed her hand on his knee as she withdrew it, her posture natural.
The small talk lasted only three sentences. Xiang Yeqiang disliked beating around the bush, so he put down his chopsticks and got straight to the point.
"Mr. Lin, I've invited you here tonight for two reasons."
Lin Dong picked up his teacup but didn't reply.
"The first thing—" He glanced at Wang Jing.
Wang Jing immediately put down his chopsticks, his chubby face unusually devoid of a smile. "Lin Sheng, I'm making this clear today. All of Huang Gou's projects, every single one of them, are shut down."
"The Story of Viagra, The Haunted Fetus, and The Untold Story 2 have all been recast. As for 'Full-Time Thief,' which has already finished filming, I won't let him appear even once in the post-production promotions."
He paused, then added, "And Zeng the Dwarf, the same goes."
Lin Dong blew on the tea froth. "Director Wang, are you trying to turn down money?"
"You can make money anytime," Wang Jing waved his hand. "But I've been in this business for twenty years, and I know what's more valuable than money—being in the right place."
That's a very practical and clever statement.
Lin Dong raised his teacup and gestured to him.
Xiang Yeqiang took a brown paper bag out of his briefcase, placed it on the turntable, and turned it to face Lin Dong.
"The second thing—"
Lin Dong picked it up and looked at it, then introduced it to Ye Qiang: "These are all evidence of Zeng Aizi's fighting, acting like a big shot, and gambling in recent years at the bar."
Most importantly, two years ago, a newcomer was forced to drink alcohol by him after filming and then forcibly dragged into a hotel. It was Deng Guangrong who intervened and resolved the matter, and the newcomer was able to leave the country.
Lin Dong watched for a while, a smile on his face, and nodded. "That's enough. It might not be able to convict him, but it's enough to completely ruin his reputation. Others will naturally deal with him later."
Wang Jing and Xiang Yeqiang exchanged a glance. Xiang Tai smiled slightly and picked up the teapot to refill Lin Dong's cup.
"Mr. Lin is right," she said. "Mr. Lin doesn't need to worry about what happens next."
The implication is quite simple.
After the business was finished, the atmosphere at the table relaxed. They also chatted about the completion of filming and the release of "Prince Charming".
The release date is tentatively set for July 1st.
After eating and drinking for a while, it got late, and the group began to disperse.
Tuesday, April 28th.
Nothing serious.
Lin Dong spent the whole day in his office, flipping through several newly submitted scripts, and had a short meeting with Chen Xinjian to confirm that filming for "Mongkok Street" would wrap up tomorrow, while also urging other projects to speed up their progress.
Zhang Baizhi came to the company in the afternoon, wearing a dark gray suit skirt and carrying a small black bag for clothes. He obediently spent the afternoon reading the script of "King of Comedy" in the reception area.
In the evening, Lin Dong returned to Happy Valley and thoroughly experienced the allure of being a constable in uniform.
Wednesday, April 29th.
Newsstands all over Hong Kong were in an uproar.
Not just one newspaper. All of them.
The entertainment section of the Oriental Daily News headlined: "Tsang Ai-zi is embroiled in a scandal! He was caught having an indecent sexual act while drunk, and Deng Guangrong is suspected of stepping in to smooth things over!" The accompanying photo showed Tsang Ai-zi with a flushed face, holding a wine glass at a drinking party.
The Sing Tao Daily ran an even harsher headline: "Thirty-Year-Old Tycoon's Image Collapses! Shorty Zeng, a compulsive gambler, is being chased by underground lenders for debts!"
The accompanying photo shows him entering and leaving an underground gambling den. The last paragraph reads: "It is understood that most of the projects he has taken on in recent years involve receiving advance payments to cover gambling debts."
Sing Tao Daily dug up his old story of fighting in a bar, and included a blurred screenshot of a medical report.
Ming Pao was relatively restrained, but still used the phrase "a long history of misdeeds".
The yellow dog didn't escape either.
The Oriental Daily News, on the same page, had a single-line headline: "Yellow Dog's Private Remarks Exposed, Openly Promoting Discordant Remarks!"
The text doesn't specify what was said, but the phrase "according to sources" is followed by a long string of ambiguous descriptions, enough for readers to imagine the worst possible version.
After flipping through the newspapers in his office, Lin Dong laughed and tossed them back onto the table.
At that moment, Chen Xinjian knocked on the door and came in.
"Mr. Lin, I have a message from Wang Jing—he will be holding a press conference at 2 p.m. this afternoon."
"understood."
2 PM, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Wang Jing stood on the steps in front of Yongsheng Company, with a temporary backdrop behind him displaying the logos of Yongsheng and Tengda side by side.
There were forty or fifty reporters crowding in front of me, microphones were poking at me from all angles, and the flashes from the cameras made the steps look white.
"I, Wang Jing, hereby solemnly announce today—"
He was usually all smiles and laughter, but today he had a serious face, and the flesh on his chubby face didn't move at all.
"—From this day forward, I and all companies under my name will never cooperate with Mr. Zeng Aizi and Mr. Huang Gou again."
"The following projects already in progress have been suspended: 'The Story of Viagra'; 'The Haunted Fetus' will have its lead actor replaced immediately; and 'The Full-Time Thief' will not be scheduled to attend any promotional events later on."
The audience erupted in uproar.
A reporter rushed in to ask, "Director Wang, is this because of the recent reports—"
"Next question."
"Director Wang, has Zeng the Dwarf contacted you?"
"Next question."
"Did Mr. Lin Dong put pressure on you?
Wang Jing glanced at the reporter, his lips twitched as if he wanted to laugh but held it back.
"Lin Sheng is my business partner and my friend. He has never asked me to do anything." He paused for a moment, "but I can't turn a blind eye when my friend has been splashed with dirty water."
The press conference lasted less than fifteen minutes from start to finish.
That evening, in a private room of a tenement building in Causeway Bay.
Zeng Aizi was huddled on the sofa, with seven or eight newspapers spread out in front of him. The ashtray on the coffee table was overflowing with cigarette butts, and his cell phone screen was lit up with more than a dozen missed calls.
"Why?! Why?! You're stepping on me like this just because of some nouveau riche???"
"Bang bang bang!"
"Shorty, open the door! I know you're in there. Don't think we can't find you just because you're hiding here. You owe us 280 million, and you have to pay it back today."
Zeng Aizi stood up in a panic, looked around, and then saw the iron gate that was about to be kicked open. He gritted his teeth and climbed onto the window.
"Bang……"
…………
April 30th, Mong Kok.
The wrap party for "Mongkok Street" was held on the rooftop of a tenement building on Temple Street—the same rooftop where the opening ceremony was held.
Wang Yalin set up three folding tables, covered with disposable plastic tablecloths, and filled them with salt and pepper mantis shrimp, stir-fried clams with black bean sauce, typhoon shelter-style stir-fried crab, and several cases of Blue Girl beer, all brought up from the food stalls downstairs.
No more than twenty people came. Director Huang Jiahui, cinematographer, production assistant, several lead actors, plus Lin Dong and his two bodyguards.
Upon seeing Lin Dong arrive, Wang Yalin greeted him with undisguised pride on her face, "Mr. Lin, we did it. We finished filming in twenty-seven days."
"How long will the later stages take?"
"The rough cut is complete. The fine cut and dubbing will take another week, and the finished film will be available next week."
Lin Dong nodded and sat down in the main seat. To his left was not the director, but Li Zhi, and Wang Yalin sat to his right.
"Mr. Lin, let me toast you."
Wang Yalin had the air of a heroine, frequently raising her glass to Lin Dong and even urging Li Zhi to toast him as well.
Li Zhi did not refuse, and toasted Lin Dong a few times, but made no other statement.
At this moment, A-Qiang walked over, bent down and whispered in his ear, "Lin Sheng, here's some news from Zeng Aizi's side—the person who placed the bag underground got the news yesterday and panicked, so he went to ambush him. As a result, he accidentally fell from the building. He didn't die, but he's crippled. I heard his manhood was completely removed."
Lin Dong was stunned. This was something he hadn't expected. However, although the result was unexpected, he liked it very much.
Li Zhi overheard some of it and her face was filled with surprise.
"he……"
"Sometimes, if you do too many bad things, you'll eventually run into trouble."