I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 269 You're going to die!

Chapter 269 You're going to die!
10 month 7 day.

The last day of National Day.

[Xuan Shi Entertainment] is always filled with countless media outlets!

By 8 a.m., the parking lot outside was already packed with cars.

Wearing a mask and dressed very simply, Li Mingrui blended in very inconspicuously among the media. He eventually managed to sneak into the back door of [Xuan Shi Entertainment] with a pass given to him by Dong Qichang.

As the glass door was pushed open, Li Mingrui's leather shoes slid three times on the non-slip mat, his gaze fixed on the hall not far away...

Posters are pasted all over the longest corridor on the first floor of the [Xuan Shi Entertainment] building!

From "Monkey King vs. Superman 2" to "The Black Robe Alliance"...

From the North American box office receipts for "Saw" to the $100 million poster for "The Black Alliance"...

Each one felt like a slap in the face. In just over a year, Huaying International had almost missed all the perfect answers.

Li Mingrui has always been a very strong-willed person; he has never bowed his head to anyone except when it comes to capital...

But this time, he realized that Huaying International's current situation was far from optimistic!

Early yesterday morning, after reviewing the performance and operations of Huaying International over the past year, many of the investors behind the company suspended further investments in Huaying International…

Several mid-sized investors have even discussed withdrawing their investment from the company's shareholders, as they are extremely pessimistic about the future of Huaying International.

In the end, Li Mingrui managed to persuade them to stop, but at the cost of Li Mingrui having to clean up the mess...

"Mr. Li, Mr. Zhou is waiting for you in the conference room."

Zhou Yang's secretary, Zhang Jingya's voice made him tremble slightly.

Whether it was his imagination or something else, the small company he had once blacklisted now even had its secretary looking at him with a hint of pity.

Why pity?

Ah!
Now, even his chance to see Zhou Yang is only because Dong Qichang speaks on his behalf out of respect for him from the past.

When had he ever been so humiliated?

But he knew very well that he was now almost at his wit's end and had no choice but to temporarily submit to Zhou Yang; otherwise, the empty screening room...

The surveillance cameras in the corridor moved with his steps, and accompanied by Zhang Jingya, Li Mingrui felt as if he were a prisoner being escorted.

When he pushed open the conference room door, Zhou Yang was sitting in his office, smiling in the morning sun.

"Mr. Li, we meet again. Please have a seat... Could you pour me a glass of water, Mr. Li?"

Zhou Yang simply turned his chair around, saw him, but didn't stand up or shake hands with him; he just pointed to the chair in front of him.

Zhang Jingya nodded, and soon after, Li Mingrui saw a glass of plain water on his table. It was drawn directly from the water dispenser next to him, and it looked so simple and unpretentious.

Just as Li Mingrui was about to speak, the conference room projection screen suddenly lit up.

In the live surveillance footage, a giant poster of "Catwoman" was being removed from a screening room at Huaying International Cinema, and a worker smashed Anne Dessavie's face with a hammer.

"Mr. Li, your people are quite quick." Zhou Yang looked at Li Mingrui with a smile.

These words felt like a slap in the face to Li Mingrui. He didn't react, but instead took a small sip of water: "President Zhou, we had some misunderstandings before. This time, I came here personally to clarify them..."

Zhou Yang didn't look at him, but instead glanced at Zhang Jingya: "Jingya, help me calculate the time. In ten minutes, if I don't have any other requests, let the people from other theaters come in..."

Zhang Jingya nodded!

Li Mingrui's expression suddenly changed drastically, and he stared intently at Zhou Yang: "President Zhou, name your terms. I want screenings of [Black Robe Alliance]!"

Zhou Yang didn't say anything, but silently took out a document from the drawer and handed it to Li Mingrui.

Li Mingrui lowered his head...

Immediately afterwards, it was seen that all the directors under [Xuanshi Entertainment] were asked by [Huaying International] and the directors led by Li Minghao and Liang Xiaogang to apologize and sign.

He was stunned.

A moment later, his face turned ashen.

"Zhou Yang! Are you determined to wipe us out completely?"

"Mr. Li has a terrible memory. The one who will truly wipe you out is not me, but you. There are still 9 minutes left!" Zhou Yang's smile gradually disappeared. He glanced at the time briefly and stared at Li Mingrui.

Li Mingrui slammed the document onto the conference table, the paper scraping against the glass surface with a screeching sound.

The veins on his neck bulged, and he clenched his fists: "Zhou Yang! You fucking think you're someone important?"

Zhou Yang remained leaning back in his leather swivel chair, the morning sun casting half of his face into shadow.

He slowly removed his glasses, breathed on them, and wiped the lenses with a napkin: "Seven minutes left. After you apologize to everyone at [Xuan Shi Entertainment], sign this agreement..."

Li Mingrui lowered his head, opened the document titled "Xuan Shi Entertainment Second-Tier Cinema Cooperation Agreement," and read the first line: "From now on, all films authorized by Xuan Shi Entertainment to Hua Ying International will receive a 64% share of the box office revenue..."

Upon seeing this, his eyes widened, and he abruptly stood up: "Zhou Yang! You really think I'm here to beg for food?!"

His voice was forced out through clenched teeth, his whole body trembling with rage as he stared intently at Li Mingrui: "Sixty-four split? You might as well just hold a gun to my temple!"

The sunlight outside the window was warm. Zhou Yang calmly and slowly put his glasses back on his nose, the glare from the lenses obscuring his eyes: "Anger will only cloud my judgment. Time is precious to me, and to everyone else. Mr. Li, there are five minutes left..."

Li Mingrui's pupils suddenly contracted. He stared at Zhou Yang, who suddenly grabbed the document, tore it in half, and threw it hard on the ground, trembling with rage: "You think you can turn things around with a crappy movie? I'd rather leave the theater completely empty than bow down to you!"

Zhou Yang suddenly laughed.

But staring at Li Mingrui, he said calmly, "Three minutes...that's just enough to save time. Since you won't back down, Mr. Li, why did you specifically ask President Dong to meet with me? Go back now..."

"Zhou Yang, you son of a bitch!"

Li Mingrui launched into a tirade of curses, never having lost his temper like this before.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, as he reached the office door, he seemed to remember something and gritted his teeth.

"An apology is fine, I can personally apologize publicly online... But a 64% cut is too high. Our theater chain only earns 20% of the screening fee, while the cinemas take 40%... If we give up 20%, it's like we don't make any money, we can't survive, at most 55%!"

“We give it 5.5, your theaters give it 4.5!” Zhou Yang said calmly.

"We can't survive, I'll say it again!" Li Mingrui stared intently at Zhou Yang: "The cinema chain needs a 10% profit margin to survive, 5%..."

Just at this time.

There was a knock at the door.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Jingya stood at the door. "President Zhou, ten minutes are up, the other theater chains have arrived..."

"it is good!"

Zhou Yang nodded.

Then, looking at Li Mingrui, he said, "Mr. Li, please..."

"Zhou Yang, you..."

Li Mingrui's pupils contracted sharply, and the anger on his face froze instantly.

He opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing, but no sound came out, as if something was stuck in his throat.

When Zhang Jingya pushed open the door to signal him, he suddenly staggered forward half a step, his voice filled with an unprecedented panic: "Wait! President Zhou, let's talk some more..."

Zhou Yang had already turned around and was organizing documents with his back to him.

The sunlight cast his shadow long, which stretched right in front of Li Mingrui's feet, like an insurmountable barrier.

"Mr. Li!" Zhou Yang's voice was colder than ice: "The door is over there! I don't want to say it a second time!"
"Mr. Zhou!"

“President Li, you came to me to negotiate terms, not the other way around!” Zhou Yang turned his head, looking at the group of cinema owners not far away, and Li Mingrui, whose face was pale beside him: “President Li, it’s true that you are one of the three major cinema chains, but you can’t stay one forever. Do you see these people over there? Every one of them is ambitious and wants to replace you…”

"..."

"Fight if you want, make peace if you want, shed blood but pay no price! There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world!"

"..."

"You never think you're wrong; instead, you know you're going to die!"

"..."

Zhou Yang took a deep breath and looked at Zhang Jingya.

"Jingya, see the guest out!"

"Mr. Li, please..."

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou, let's talk... Young man, don't get so angry. Let's continue talking. I was a little impulsive just now. How about this, 5.5 is fine too, no problem!"

As if realizing something, Li Mingrui slammed the door shut and came to Zhou Yang, his emotions slightly agitated.

Zhou Yang, however, remained silent with a cold gaze.

Immediately afterwards, security personnel rushed into the conference room and hurriedly pulled Li Mingrui out!

After Li Mingrui left...

Following Dong Qichang, one cinema owner after another entered the conference room.

When they saw Li Mingrui's angry and disheveled appearance, some people had complicated expressions...

However, some people's eyes flashed with a hint of greed.

When Li Weibin from Changkong Cinema quietly walked in, he happened to see Zhou Yang sitting in the main seat of the conference room, scanning everyone.

This time, Zhou Yang invited all the core members of the former [Independent Cinema Alliance]. Although the other cinema chains were also gathered around, they did not receive any admission tickets!

In fact, apart from Huaying International, none of the other owners of the three major cinema chains were present.

He saw Dong Qichang sitting silently next to Zhou Yang, holding some documents in his hand, and seemed somewhat excited.

After watching Zhou Yang scan the room, he had Zhang Jingya close the door.

A short while later...

He saw Zhou Yang narrow his eyes!

Zhou Yang stood up.

He bowed deeply to everyone, and then slowly began to speak.

"Dear colleagues in the cinema industry, when the light of the screen illuminates the faces of the audience, we have witnessed together the miracle of 'The Black Robe Alliance' tearing apart the encirclement of capital with its quality!"

"This battle!"

"I won!"

"But we haven't won yet!"

"Right now, China's three major cinema chains have suffered losses because of 'Catwoman,' and the capital market is experiencing turmoil!"

"To all members of the Independent Cinema Alliance..."

"They were once ambitious, uniting with the five major Chinese film companies to try and devour us!"

"At one point, we saw no hope in our predicament!"

"but now!"

"I survived!"

"We survived!"

"Not only did they survive!"

"and!"