Hong Kong Film: Short mules have no future, I am in charge of Hong Kong

Chapter 273: A comeback!
At this moment, in a teahouse in Xiwan, Su Hanze was chatting with several trusted stall owners. He had a faint smile on his face, but his tone was very serious: "Young Master Jin is anxious now. The more times like this, the more we can't relax. He will try his best to win back a game, and he will definitely make a bigger move."

A stall owner asked in a low voice: "Boss Su, what should we do? We can't keep fighting with him, right?"

"Keep fighting?" Su Hanze shook his head, his eyes sharp. "What we need to do is not to fight him, but to let him ruin the situation himself. The East Bay model is destined to only attract people in the short term, but it won't last. Their stall owners can't make money, and sooner or later they will turn around and cause trouble. When that happens, the chaos in East Bay will be our opportunity."

Several stall owners nodded frequently, but Ah Liu couldn't help asking, "Boss, what should we do next? We can't just wait for something to happen in Dongwan, right?"

"Wait? Of course not." Su Hanze smiled faintly, his eyes swept across the teacup on the table, "A Liu, starting tomorrow, we have to accelerate the transformation plan of Xiwan's night market, especially the optimization of stall distribution and interactive projects. Remember the food street mentioned earlier? Let's do a pilot project first, select a few stall owners with the best reputation, give them a spot on the main street, and create our own characteristics."

"Also," he paused, turned to look at Xiaolong, "keep watching the capital flow in Dongwan, and tell me immediately if you find anything unusual. Young Master Jin is gambling so hard, he will have to show his cards once the capital chain is broken."

Xiaolong nodded and whispered, "I have arranged for someone to keep an eye on it. I will notify you immediately if there is any news."

As the night deepened, the lights in West Bay gradually went out, and the stall owners packed up their stalls and left one by one with satisfied smiles. However, the nightclub in East Bay was still brightly lit. Young Master Jin sat in the box, holding a half-finished glass of whiskey in his hand, staring at the account book on the table, his face livid.

"Su Hanze..." He gritted his teeth and whispered, "Don't think you can turn the tables just by winning this round. We haven't settled our accounts yet."

In the theater's conference room, Su Hanze stood in front of a huge whiteboard with a marker in his hand, surrounded by a circle of core members.

The whiteboard was filled with complicated arrows and tables, with several data areas specially marked out. Xiaolong sat nearby, cigarette in hand, but without taking a single puff, his eyes fixed on the numbers on the whiteboard.

"According to the current trend, although Jin Shao's stall is busy, its revenue growth is weak." Su Hanze pointed at a set of data with a pen. "The key point we caught yesterday is that although their wealthy customers support the scene, the income of ordinary tourists and small stall owners has not kept up. This is a fatal problem."

Ah Liu sat near the door and frowned as he said, "Boss, the stall owners don't look that far ahead. They only look at how many customers are coming in front of them and how much money they can make."

"So we have to let them see clearly." Su Hanze turned around and glanced at the people present. "What do the stall owners care about most? Stability and real profits. What we have to do is to put our advantages in front of them and let them understand that Xiwan is the place where they can survive."

Xiaolong blew out a smoke ring and asked, "Boss, how do we do it specifically?"

Su Hanze raised his lips and smiled faintly: "First, organize last night's data into a detailed revenue analysis table, focusing on the stall owners' revenue growth rate and the rate of tourists returning. These data should be used in the simplest and most direct way to make the stall owners understand that they are making money by staying in Xiwan."

Ah Liu slapped the table and said, "This is a good idea! Let's not talk about anything else but money!"

"Also," Su Hanze continued, "I just contacted several local wholesalers. They are willing to provide lower purchase prices to our stall owners in Xiwan. This is our additional support for the stall owners. Let these stall owners know that we not only help them gain business, but also help them save costs."

There were nodding sounds in the conference room. Liu quickly took out his notebook and wrote down the key points one by one.

"Besides that," Su Hanze paused and drew a big circle on the whiteboard with a pen, "we need to play a real killer - tourist experience. Jin Shao's boxing match attracted temporary excitement, but we can organize a long-term theme event to draw tourists' attention back to Xiwan."

The skinny monkey scratched his head and muttered, "Boss, what theme activity can be more attractive than a boxing match?"

"Light Art Festival." Su Hanze raised his lips slightly. "The theater and night market in Xiwan already have a foundation. Light show is the easiest project to expand its influence. Moreover, this thing can be directly combined with the stall owners, such as displaying special stalls under lights, interactive performances, and even designing a 'light and shadow night market' theme route to give tourists a more complete experience."

Xiaolong's eyes lit up: "Light Art Festival? This is something new that Hong Kong Island has never seen before!"

Ah Liu slammed the table in excitement and said, "Boss, this is a great idea! As long as the light show is on, will tourists still go to a smoky place like East Bay?"

"Let's take action." Su Hanze threw the pen on the table and said decisively, "Xiaolong will be responsible for contacting the lighting design team, Ah Liu will lead people to implement the income support plan for the stall owners, and Shouhou will keep an eye on the data statistics tonight. I want to see initial results within two days."

After the meeting, Xiaolong quickly began to arrange the connection with the lighting design team, while Liu took a group of people to run around the night market, explaining the latest support policies to each stall owner.

After hearing this, many stall owners expressed their full support for Xiwan’s activities on the spot. Even a few stall owners who had previously gone to Dongwan quietly came back to ask if they could reapply for stalls.

At the same time, in the office of Dongwan Nightclub, Jin Shao stood by the window, watching the crowd downstairs gradually disperse coldly. His assistant Zhang Hai stood aside, holding a report in his hand, his face a little pale.

"Master, I just received news that Xiwan's revenue last night was 30% higher than we expected. And they are planning to hold a light art festival in three days. This project..." Zhang Hai paused and added cautiously, "It may become a new hot spot for tourists."

"Light Art Festival?" Young Master Jin turned around abruptly, frowning. "That old man Su Hanze is quite smart. Isn't he planning this just for our East Bay?"

Zhang Hai didn't dare to respond, he just lowered his head and waited for Young Master Jin to continue getting angry.

"Let him do it." Young Master Jin sneered and sat back on the sofa. "No matter how big a fuss Su Hanze makes, he is still playing with legal things. We are different. Boxing matches, high rollers, gambling, these are areas he cannot touch. As long as our high rollers stay, can Xiwan beat us?"

Zhang Hai asked quietly: "Master, what's next? Should we do something?"

Young Master Jin narrowed his eyes, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes: "Go contact Master Qi and ask him to arrange a few big bets to make the momentum bigger. At the same time, lower the price of our nightclub and directly snatch the business of the stall owners. Xiwan wants stability? I won't let him be stable." At the same time, in the backstage of Xiwan Theater, the lighting team has begun to enter the venue for decoration, and everyone is busy. Su Hanze stood in the backstage, looking at the effect diagram simulated by the lighting designer with the projection, and nodded.

"This part is good. The light and shadow should be softer to meet the tourists' needs for taking photos." He said, then turned to Liu and added, "The participation of the stall owners must be highlighted. Tourists taking photos, visiting the night market, and watching performances, all the links must be closely integrated."

Ah Liu was full of excitement: "Boss, don't worry! This time we will definitely be able to completely suppress Dongwan's arrogance!"

Su Hanze smiled and said nothing more, but his eyes were as calm as a pool of deep water.

After the backstage lighting was debugged, Su Hanze walked to the square outside the theater. The surrounding lights were brilliant. Several technicians were busy debugging the projection equipment. The stall owners gathered together and whispered, with excited and nervous expressions on their faces. He patted Xiaolong beside him and whispered, "Send someone to notify the stall owners and explain the arrangements for tonight, especially the stalls participating in the interactive display, to ensure that the process is correct."

Xiaolong nodded and turned to make arrangements. Ah Liu had already run over from the other side, holding a copy of the latest lighting design drawings in his hand. He said breathlessly, "Boss, the lighting team just made some adjustments. We extended the projection show to fifteen minutes, and it will cycle every half an hour. Visitors will have a longer experience time."

"Very good." Su Hanze took the blueprint, glanced at it, and returned it to Ah Liu. "Tell them to hurry up and set up the booth so as not to delay the effect tonight. In addition, the lighting distribution in the booth area must be reasonable so that the tourists' eyes cannot be focused only on the main stage."

"Got it!" Ah Liu turned and ran, then turned back and said, "Boss, I heard that there's something new going on in East Bay tonight. They're setting up some kind of high-stakes gambling game in the nightclub, and they've also arranged some performances. Are they targeting us?"

"Of course they are coming for us." A hint of coldness flashed in Su Hanze's eyes. "But the more they do this, the more anxious they are. We should hold our ground and ignore those fancy things in East Bay."

At this moment, Shouhou ran over from the other side of the square, holding a mobile phone in his hand, with a nervous look on his face: "Boss, I just received news that someone from Dongwan has been sent over here, and they are mixed in with the crowd. I don't know what they want to do."

"Send someone?" Su Hanze frowned slightly, then calmed down. "Don't alert the enemy yet. Let Xiaolong's people keep a close eye on them. If they are found to be sabotaging or inciting the stall owners, immediately arrest them and send them to the police station. Remember, we can't take action first, but we can't miss any opportunity either."

The skinny monkey nodded rapidly and ran quickly to inform Xiaolong.

As the night deepened, more and more people came to the square. Tourists and stall owners filled every corner. Long queues formed in front of the interactive game stalls. The first round of the projection light show had just begun. Colorful lights and shadows flowed on the outer wall of the theater like a dynamic painting, attracting countless tourists to stop and take pictures.

Su Hanze stood behind the crowd, watching everything quietly. He did not step forward to participate, nor did he make any speeches, but just observed the reactions of the people around him. He knew that everything tonight would determine the future of Xiwan.

"Boss!" Xiaolong squeezed through the crowd and whispered in his ear, "Those guys who sneaked in have already targeted several stall owners. It seems that they are trying to get information from them. They also deliberately spread some rumors about Dongwan, saying that the stalls there have cheaper rents and tourists spend more."

"It seems that Young Master Jin is trying to engage in psychological warfare." Su Hanze snorted coldly, "Don't let them succeed. Let Ah Liu go over and announce our latest profit-sharing and revenue policies directly in front of the stall owners. Use facts to shut them up."

"Understood!" Xiaolong took action immediately.

Soon, Ah Liu stood in the center of the square, holding a megaphone, and loudly announced to the stall owners and tourists who gathered around him: "Everyone, thank you for supporting us in Xiwan! In order to give the stall owners more confidence, our Xiwan Theater and Night Market have decided to increase their support again! The rent of all stalls will be reduced by 10% in the next three months, and the profit sharing will be adjusted according to a more favorable ratio! When we do business, we value long-term stability, not a flash in the pan!"

There was a burst of warm applause from the crowd, and many stall owners started talking excitedly. Several stall owners who had previously hesitated whether to stay in Xiwan immediately expressed their support and even said on the spot that they were willing to sign a one-year long-term cooperation contract.

The few "nails" from Dongwan who had sneaked in turned pale in the face, and quietly retreated, trying to leave, but were blocked at the exit by Xiaolong's men.

"Want to leave?" Xiaolong stopped them with a sneer, his tone icy, "Once you enter our Xiwan territory, don't even think about getting out unscathed. What you just said is all evidence of inciting the stall owner. We have a recording. Do you want to go to the police station by yourselves, or do you want me to take you there?"

Several people suddenly turned pale and dared not say a word.

On the other side of the square, Su Hanze heard the noise and just glanced at it indifferently, then turned and walked backstage. He knew that the game was half won, but he couldn't relax yet.

As soon as he walked to the backstage, the phone suddenly rang. Su Hanze picked up the phone and it was the contact he sent to monitor the capital flow in Dongwan.

"Boss Su, there is news. Young Master Jin recently withdrew two large sums of money from Master Qi. One was used to subsidize the stall owners, and the other was used for an unknown purpose, but the amount was very large and did not seem to be a normal operating expense."

"Very big?" Su Hanze raised his eyebrows slightly, and said in a low and steady voice, "How big is it?"

“Close to 20 million Hong Kong dollars.”

Su Hanze was silent for a moment, then a sneer appeared on his lips: "Twenty million Hong Kong dollars? Young Master Jin is betting on the future of East Bay."

"Do you want to continue investigating?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded a little nervous.

"Keep watching, especially the funds of unknown purpose." Su Hanze's voice was chilling. "Young Master Jin is in a desperate situation right now. As long as he's not careful, we can turn the tables in one fell swoop."

(End of this chapter)