Chapter 1687: Big Mouth

Hong Kong islanders have the habit of having morning tea and afternoon tea, and even some celebrities can't avoid it.

Andy Lau is no exception.

He had been secretly married for a long time, his wife living in Malaysia and rarely coming to Hong Kong. He himself would fly over to accompany her whenever he had time.

For a star like him, he rarely had time to himself. Yesterday, because the crew had been working hard recently, filming nonstop, the director saw everyone was too tired and gave them a day off.

After sleeping soundly all morning, Andy Lau sipped his afternoon tea while reading the newspaper.

"Famous actress cheats on her husband—shocking..."

Looking at the headline, Andy Lau shook his head helplessly. Hong Kong media were becoming more and more shameless, not only with clickbait but even outright deceiving readers.

Opening the article and glancing at it, he knew that the so-called "husband" was actually the actress's spouse, but since he rarely appeared in public, the media were deliberately creating hype.

That's how Hong Kong media were, always using exaggerated headlines to attract readers.

In short, they were just a bunch of clickbaiters.

This habit had existed since he first debuted, and after more than twenty years, Andy Lau had long gotten used to it.

"Exclusive! Ethan's assistant beaten by mainlander!"

"Huh?"

Andy Lau suddenly caught sight of a headline, and his eyes instantly widened.

"What... what does this mean?"

Picking up the newspaper, a sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Andy Lau's heart. Intuition told him that something bad had happened.

Sure enough, when he finished reading the article, Andy Lau's face was ashen and terrifying.

"Brother Hua..."

Seeing his expression, his assistant leaned in and asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"

"Have you read today's newspaper?" Andy Lau asked his assistant in a low voice.

"I glanced at it. Ethan leaked last night's incident to the media, saying the mainlanders were bullying." The assistant replied nonchalantly, clearly thinking it was no big deal.

"That bastard!"

Andy Lau suddenly slammed the table, rattling the afternoon tea, his face full of anger: "That jerk is asking for trouble! Damn it!"

The assistant was stunned. He rarely saw Andy Lau so furious. Even when his company Tianmu Films was nearly driven to bankruptcy, Andy Lau hadn't been this angry. What was going on?

"Contact Ethan's side immediately—no, contact his agency."

After cursing, Andy Lau gritted his teeth and said to his assistant, "Also, get in touch with director Luo Hanguo."

"Ah, okay."

The assistant was a bit confused but nodded and hurried out to make calls.

Andy Lau sat there, taking a deep breath. He could only pray that the person involved didn't read entertainment news and that he could suppress the story before it blew up. Otherwise, he might really face a huge problem.

"Damn, I shouldn't have invested in this film."

Andy Lau muttered to himself.

He had invested five million Hong Kong dollars in the film "Brothers." Otherwise, why would he care so much about Ethan? It wasn't like the guy was his son.

If it weren't for the fact that Ethan was one of the lead actors, Andy Lau couldn't be bothered with his fate.

Soon, the assistant contacted Ethan's agency. They said Ethan had told them about the incident last night, and they thought it was no big deal, and Ethan was in the right...

"Idiot!"

Andy Lau gripped the phone, wishing he could grab the person on the other end and beat them senseless. Did they think being in the right mattered? Didn't they know some people didn't play by the rules?

"Brother Hua, Director Luo's on the line."

At that moment, the assistant came over with another phone.

Andy Lau took a deep breath, put down the first phone, and picked up the assistant's phone.

"Ahua, what's wrong?" Luo Hanguo's voice came from the other end.

"Brother Luo, we have a problem."

Andy Lau didn't beat around the bush: "Ethan's loose talk might affect the film's release in the mainland."

The Hong Kong film market was in decline, no one could deny that, while the mainland market was booming.

In other words, the most important box office for Hong Kong films had shifted from Hong Kong itself to the mainland.

Under these circumstances, any impact on the mainland release could be devastating for the film.

"Uh, is it that serious?"

Luo Hanguo was taken aback: "He just mocked mainlanders a bit, and his assistant was indeed beaten by a mainlander."

It seemed he had also communicated with Ethan.

Andy Lau snorted: "Do you know who he fought with?"

"Who?"

Luo Hanguo was startled, keenly realizing that the other party's identity was the key issue. Otherwise, why would Andy Lau, known for his social grace, step in now?

After all, it was well-known in Hong Kong's entertainment circle that Andy Lau was good at socializing, while Chow Yun-fat was good at handling affairs.

Andy Lau had a good reputation all around; no one spoke ill of him. The reason was that he was really good at dealing with people, even his competitors had to give him a thumbs up.

Blending in with the world—that was his principle.

But now, he was directly telling Luo Hanguo that Ethan was wrong, which meant the person involved must be someone special.

Wait!

Luo Hanguo suddenly remembered that Ethan had mentioned the mainlander who hit his assistant seemed to know Andy Lau, saying his boss was an acquaintance of Andy Lau's.

"You know him?"

Luo Hanguo said to Andy Lau.

Andy Lau sighed and nodded: "Know him? We've even worked together before. But now, I'm afraid he might not want to see me."

Luo Hanguo immediately became unsettled. For Andy Lau to say such a thing, how much influence did that person have in the mainland entertainment industry?

"Come to my place, let's meet." Andy Lau said after a moment of silence.

Since things had come to this, he needed to fill Luo Hanguo in and discuss the next steps.

Luo Hanguo was confused but nodded and hung up.

...

...

At that moment, Zhao Fusheng and Fan Beibei were on their way to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, Fan Beibei, having played all day, went to bed early. Zhao Fusheng was about to take a shower when his phone rang.

"Brother Hua?"

Zhao Fusheng was surprised to see the number—it was Andy Lau calling him.

"Long time no see, Fusheng."

Andy Lau's tone on the other end was hesitant.

Zhao Fusheng frowned: "Brother Hua, what's..."

He could tell from Andy Lau's tone that something was wrong.

"Let's talk in person, how about it?"

Andy Lau thought Zhao Fusheng already knew what was going on.

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback but nodded: "Alright."

He then gave his hotel address.

After hanging up, he paused. Wait, how did Andy Lau know he was in Hong Kong?

Frowning, Zhao Fusheng dialed Wu Sijie's room: "Come over."

Wu Sijie agreed and soon arrived.

"What's up, Chairman?" Wu Sijie asked.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Have you met Andy Lau?"

Wu Sijie was startled, then smiled bitterly: "You know?"

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng's expression changed. Clearly, something was off.

Even if Wu Sijie had met Andy Lau, there was no reason for Andy Lau to seek him out. Although they had some past acquaintance, they had long since lost contact.

"What exactly happened?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Wu Sijie: "Andy Lau wants to come see me now."

"Ah?"

Wu Sijie was also stunned. For such a trivial matter, Andy Lau was personally coming to meet Zhao Fusheng? That couldn't be right.

Seeing Wu Sijie's reaction, Zhao Fusheng knew he was also in the dark.

"It was like this: last night, I was with a friend..." Wu Sijie recounted the whole story, ending with, "Then we parted ways. I figured I wasn't at a loss, so I didn't tell you."

"Interesting."

Zhao Fusheng smiled. Intuition told him this was getting more intriguing.

"Chairman, should I look into it?" Wu Sijie asked after a moment.

Regardless, this incident involved him and had even alerted his boss. Wu Sijie felt responsible for investigating.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "Why investigate? Since Andy Lau wants to see me, he'll probably tell me everything. Let's just wait and see."

That was the truth. In Zhao Fusheng's view, no matter what happened, it wasn't a big deal.

From Wu Sijie's account, he understood the whole thing was trivial—just a bar fight. How much impact could it have?

As for the people involved, they meant nothing to him. Given his current status, to be honest, a bunch of celebrities didn't even register on his radar.

To put it bluntly, it was a matter of overwhelming advantage.

No matter what they did, they couldn't shake him. If it were something he couldn't handle, Andy Lau wouldn't be coming to see him personally.

"Yes, Chairman." Wu Sijie quickly nodded.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: "Alright, go wait downstairs. When Andy Lau arrives, bring him to me."

Wu Sijie nodded and left the room.

Zhao Fusheng sat there, tapping his fingers on his knee, wondering what Andy Lau wanted this time.