Chapter 699 - 352: Finished Just Like That?
Unfortunately, no one answered the phone.
He immediately tried another number. As soon as someone answered, he barked, "We’re going down! Get Chen Jincheng. You have to get him!"
Just as the words left his mouth, he was tackled to the ground. His phone clattered to the floor. As he was being handcuffed, he heard the officers’ conversation and laughed.
"He was just on the phone. Probably notifying his accomplices."
"I’m trying to call the number back, but it’s not going through."
Zhou Huapeng’s face was a mask of sinister viciousness. Even if it was over for him, he had gotten the message out. Even if he was going to prison, he would drag Chen Jincheng down with him.
... (Author’s note removed) ...
「Second-Life Star.」
Chen Yu had already finished his shots with the cameraman. He walked over to Chen Jincheng and said, "Mr. Chen, I’d like to ask for your cooperation with some more filming. Specifically, about how you discovered these criminal elements controlling the traditional culture industry, how you bravely fought against them, and how you risked danger to develop the traditional Hanfu culture."
"Uh..." Chen Jincheng felt a bit awkward hearing this. "Director Chen, well... it’s all actually a misunderstanding. I never intended to get involved with the film industry’s costume and prop departments. We weren’t even on the same path."
"It was all because that young master went on a rant about those people online, and somehow, the fire got drawn to me. The thing is, I’m completely innocent! I tried to explain, but they wouldn’t listen. They were determined to smear my name and leak dirt on me."
"The crazy part is, I haven’t even done anything yet."
"..." Chen Yu was also a bit stunned by this explanation.
’So, what you’re saying is, the other party was practically begging for trouble by picking a fight with this Mr. Chen. Then, his popularity inexplicably skyrocketed. And in the end, without Mr. Chen lifting a finger, his opponents are about to bring about their own doom?’
’You... you’ve got to be kidding me.’
However, he had a rough idea of who made the first move. It was probably related to that Internet Celebrity Young Master; after all, his mother’s side wielded considerable influence.
But that wasn’t important anymore.
The problem was, this plot was too bizarre, almost like a fantasy story. It made his opponents look like a bunch of idiots, and the audience would definitely complain that it was an insult to their intelligence.
Some viewers might even furiously rant, ’With an IQ that low, they can launder money and control an entire industry? I’ll be damned!’
But sometimes, the truth was that an information gap could lead to incredibly ridiculous outcomes.
"This storyline isn’t right," Chen Yu quickly said to Chen Jincheng. "Mr. Chen, how about this: your Hanfu was so outstanding that it threatened to expose all their shady dealings. That’s why they panicked and launched a series of threats against you?"
"For example, before this box of dead cats, besides smearing you online, they also made threatening phone calls, maybe even mailed razor blades to your home, and even attacked your employees to intimidate you, and also..."
As Chen Jincheng listened to this long-winded fabrication, his jaw dropped in shock. "Director Chen, isn’t this a bit much? None of that actually happened."
’None of this is true. The way he’s talking, it feels like he’s trying to get those people buried for good.’
’With all these accusations, they’d get at least another 10 years, maybe even a life sentence.’
"That’s not important," Chen Yu said with a faint, knowing smile. "What’s important is that people like this kind of story. They’ll feel it doesn’t insult their intelligence, and it also helps promote traditional culture. Besides, those people are getting what they deserve."
Chen Jincheng was a little dazed.
’He felt this could cause problems, especially since his employees hadn’t actually been harmed. It could all blow up in his face.’
Just then, Ah Pao arrived with a group of men. They were dragging a burly man who was tied up, his face beaten to a pulp. It was clear Ah Pao’s men hadn’t had an easy time either; several of them were wounded.
Seeing this, Chen Jincheng immediately walked over, guessing what had happened.
Ah Pao reported, "Boss, we caught him. This guy’s really something. It took this many of us to catch him, and he still almost fought his way out. Several of our guys got hurt."
Chen Jincheng nodded.
Before becoming bouncers at his bar, Ah Pao’s men had all run with the gangs. Brawling was a regular part of their lives, and some had even done time for it. After getting out, they found that in this new era, that kind of life was no longer in style. But when a real fight broke out, they were still countless times more ferocious than the average person.
The fact that so many of them were injured now truly spoke to the captured man’s abilities.
It made sense. Money laundering was a far more serious crime than typical gang activity. A man hired for this kind of off-the-books enforcement had to be highly capable.
Ah Pao continued, "Boss, give me some time. I think he has accomplices. Once I get it out of him, we’ll call the police and hand him over."
As a former gangster himself, he knew a few methods.
Chen Jincheng nodded in agreement. "Just don’t go overboard."
As he spoke, Chen Yu suddenly walked over. Seeing the man who was beaten to a pulp, he asked, "Mr. Chen, is this the culprit?"
"Yes, that’s him," Chen Jincheng nodded.
To be honest, with Ah Pao and his men covered in dragon and phoenix tattoos, Chen Jincheng hadn’t wanted them parading around in front of the director. It wouldn’t be good if he started getting the wrong ideas.
But who would have thought the director would stare intently at Ah Pao’s injured men, his eyes fixed on their wounds. He even asked Chen Jincheng, "Mr. Chen, are these your employees?"
"Yes," Chen Jincheng didn’t hide it, explaining, "They’re security guards from my bar. After I received those threatening calls, I called them over to the company for protection."
Chen Yu immediately said, "Well, there you have it! To threaten you, they even attacked your employees. Look at this one’s swollen face, and the blood on this one’s hand... We’ll just have to cover up the tattoos..."
"..." An embarrassed Chen Jincheng called Ah Pao over and instructed, "Have your guys cooperate with the filming in a bit. Borrow some clothes from the office staff, tone down the menacing aura, and try to look a little more pitiful for the camera."
"Got it." Ah Pao nodded. He knew who the director was and waved over his injured men.
Chen Yu, however, was already directing the cameraman to start filming.
He actually understood the identity of Mr. Chen’s "employees." They were probably bar bouncers.
But to him, it didn’t matter.
’Are these men Mr. Chen’s employees, or are they not? Were they injured by those criminals, or were they not?’
’Was he wrongly accusing anyone?’
’He was just making the interview a little more dramatic, giving it a few more twists and turns.’
While Chen Yu was arranging the shoot, Ah Pao quietly led his men away, dragging the bound man with the pulp-for-a-face with them. Interrogation required certain methods, and that couldn’t be filmed.
A short while later, Chen Jincheng saw the men with the dragon and phoenix tattoos change into security guard uniforms and white-collar shirts, each one looking utterly pathetic.
And to top it all off, these guys were damn good actors. The resulting footage left Director Chen extremely satisfied.
By evening, Chen Jincheng was in his office watching a surprising news report.
Zhou Huapeng had been caught. He was arrested at the airport.
Furthermore, a formal investigation had been opened into the suspected illegal activities within the film industry’s costume and prop departments.
He knew that even if Chen Yu had filed a report, it wouldn’t have been processed this quickly. He immediately thought of the Internet Celebrity Young Master. This must have been the news he wanted him to see.
Thinking of this, he recalled President Lei’s advice in Beijing, when he had told him not to push things too far on Black Cat TV, not to humiliate his opponent completely, and to always leave some leeway.
He felt a wave of relief that he had listened to President Lei’s words at the time.
Truly, for President Lei to have become a tycoon of that caliber, he saw things much more clearly than he did. He was someone worth learning from.
The news of Zhou Huapeng’s arrest caused a massive stir. Following his capture, Si Rui Film and Television was also put under investigation. As one of the largest film and television groups, this was a sensational event. For a time, it even overshadowed Chen Jincheng’s Hanfu incident, and it seemed the popularity of his Hanfu had completely cooled off.
Chen Jincheng wasn’t worried, though. He knew the hype from this incident would eventually circle back to his Hanfu. When it did, the popularity would explode, and his sales figures would see a massive surge.
Meanwhile, in a hotel room, three burly men were also watching the news.
One of them, his face radiating killing intent, said, "President Zhou really was arrested. Good thing I destroyed the SIM card in time. But we can’t stay in this hotel anymore. Who knows when our wanted posters will be released."
The other two also had sinister, vicious expressions. They knew what they had done; if they were caught, they were finished. But with President Zhou arrested, everyone connected to him was doomed. In this day and age, they couldn’t hope to get away by luck. It was only a matter of time before they were done for.
"Damn it, that Chen Jincheng has pushed us too far."
"Go get the tools. We’ll do as President Zhou said and take him out. If we’re going down, we’re taking him with us."