"Boss, I haven’t asked the other hotels yet," the lobby manager panted, out of breath, "I’ll make a call right now and ask."
Before the lobby manager could start making calls, Chou Haiping received a call from a hotel owner: "Chou Haiping, you son of a bitch, if you want to die, don’t drag us down with you!"
Chou Haiping was stunned, "President Mou, what do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean?" President Mou said furiously, "You’ve offended a bigwig in the film industry. With just one word from him, all the crews have pulled out. Without these crews, how can our hotels in Hengdian continue to operate? Chou Haiping, if you don’t sort this out, we’ll smash your hotel!"
President Mou hung up the phone angrily, leaving Chou Haiping completely dumbfounded.
No sooner had the call ended another person called, giving Chou Haiping a thorough tongue-lashing.
While Chou Haiping was on the phone, numerous other calls were coming in.
Needless to say, they were all to scold him.
After Chou Haiping finished that call, he hurriedly switched his phone to airplane mode, not daring to take any more.
Those colleagues cursed viciously, greeting every ancestor he had and every female in his family, so he dared not take their calls again.
Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Chou Haiping turned his gaze to Ma Zhiwen, "Young Master Ma, what do you think about this..."
Ma Zhiwen had not expected Yang Yu to resort to such measures and couldn’t help but blurt out, "How did you manage to get so many crews to prefer losing money and delaying their shooting schedule just to check out?"
"I got a bigwig in the entertainment industry to send a message to each crew, telling them that I would cover all their losses," Yang Yu said with a cold laugh, "With our company’s connections in the industry, they would give us that much face."
Now, all the bigwigs in the entertainment circle were friends of Yang Yu, and the Liu Family had become a subsidiary of the Tianhai Business Alliance. To say that Yang Yu was now the only bigwig within the circle would not be an exaggeration.
If any crew dared not to show face, the repercussions were truly not something their bosses could afford.
Of course, Yang Yu was never one to bully others with his power. If they really didn’t give face, Yang Yu truly wouldn’t do anything to them.
However, it was up to all the crews to consider the consequences for themselves.
Hearing that Yang Yu was willing to compensate for all the crews’ losses, Ma Zhiwen couldn’t help but laugh, "Boss Chou, don’t worry, Yang Yu won’t be able to hold out for long. The loss of so many crews in one day can amount to hundreds of thousands, even millions. How could they afford to compensate for it?"
"They’ll hold out for a maximum of two or three days, no more than ten days at most, and those crews will definitely come back. As for the losses during these days, I, Young Master Ma, will compensate you!"
"Really?" Yang Yu said with a cold laugh, "Young Master Ma is wealthy and mighty and might indeed be able to afford the losses for these days. However, we just happen to have a large open space in Tianhai City, and I’m considering what to build on it."
"With the power and efficiency of the Tianhai International Chamber of Commerce, building a brand-new high-tech film city within half a year is no problem."
"Once our film city is up and running, leveraging my connections in the entertainment industry, the industry upon which you all depend for survival may not disappear, but a severe blow to its vital energy is inevitable."
"Thinking of bullying me? I’ll dig out your very roots!"
The volume of Yang Yu’s speech was not loud, but the aura he exuded was absolutely powerful; no one present felt that Yang Yu was just bluffing.
If Yang Yu wanted to do it, he definitely could!
The thought of so many crews leaving Hengdian made Chou Haiping shudder, his face turning pale.
If that really happened, he would be the sinner of the entire Hengdian.
The most frightening part was that he had not owned the hotel for long, and the bank loan had not yet been repaid.
If the hotel were to close down , he would have to spend the rest of his life paying off the debt, and it might even be possible that he would never be able to repay it in full!
Without any further hesitation, Chou Haiping immediately bowed his head to apologize to Yang Yu, "Mr. Yang, I beg you to show mercy and spare me!"
"Why beg me? Go beg Master Ma!" Yang Yu sneered, "Young Master Ma told you to drive me out, and you did just that. Now, why come to beg me instead?"
"Young Master Ma also said that he wouldn’t let me leave Hengdian. If he doesn’t apologize, this matter won’t be settled. If you really want to resolve this issue, you beg him!"
Ma Zhiwen was no fool. If Yang Yu really did what he said, the Ma Family would also be in trouble.
If his father blamed him for this, how could he hope to have good days ahead?
Yet, having just talked tough in front of Yang Yu, to apologize immediately now would mean losing face, wouldn’t it?
While Ma Zhiwen was hesitating, a call from his father came in.
His father hardly ever contacted him; receiving a call at this time meant without question that his father was aware of the incident.
He didn’t dare to answer the phone yet couldn’t not answer. Thus, he braced himself and picked up: "Dad, listen to me..."
"No need to say more. If you can’t handle this matter, from now on, the Ma Family in Hang City will have nothing to do with you anymore." Old Ma left just these words before hanging up.
Ma Zhiwen completely chickened out now. Compared to being kicked out of the Ma Family, what did face matter?
After straightening his immaculately tidy clothes, Ma Zhiwen bowed very respectfully to Yang Yu, "Mr. Yang, I’m sorry, I was thoughtless. Please forgive me."
"Kneel and kowtow three times," said Yang Yu coldly. "This is what you had previously demanded of me. I’m not asking you to do double that; that’s not too much, is it?"
"You!" Ma Zhiwen glared furiously, looking as if he wanted to kill someone.
He felt that apologizing to Yang Yu had already given Yang Yu enough face, and yet he dared to make him kneel and kowtow, which was utterly excessive!
"Don’t want to kneel? No problem. Then keep suffering!" Yang Yu scoffed, "I’m curious to see just how long you, the local bully, can hold out. Miss Quan, let’s go."
Ma Zhiwen finally lowered his proud head, bent his noble knees, and kowtowed three times, "Mr. Yang, Miss Quan, please forgive me!"
"That’s more like it." Yang Yu picked up his phone and sent a message.
Before long, the film crew that had checked out quickly came back.
Chou Haiping finally realized the truth: no matter how fierce Ma Zhiwen, the local bully, was, he was still just a snake, while Yang Yu, no matter how weak, was a dragon.
Besides, it wasn’t without reason that the dragon had crossed the river so boldly; without real power, who would dare be so domineering on someone else’s territory?
Thus ended the turmoil. Ma Zhiwen didn’t want to stay a moment longer; he left with his head lowered.
Yang Yu offhandedly remarked, "Master Ma, in light of your sincere apology, let me give you a piece of advice. You’ve done too many wicked deeds; your whole being is encumbered with the karmic consequences of your flirtatious ways."
"If you don’t want to die, think carefully about all the disgusting things you’ve done. Otherwise, within three days, a great disaster will befall you."