This Is Art!

Ma Wu doesn't usually care much about his reputation, but this time, he was genuinely angry.

Lu Yuanshan poured Ma Wu a glass of wine. "Jun Yang, what are you saying? We're brothers, and we're happy for you that you've made money."

Lu Yuanhai chimed in from the side, "Yes, we're all happy for you."

"Why should you be happy for me?" Ma Wu didn't drink his glass. "Shouldn't you be happy? The two families partnered to finance the movie, and now that it's making money, we should divide it however we want!"

"Outer Dao," Lu Yuanshan offered Ma Wu another cigar. "Talking about splitting the money is Outer Dao. We brothers don't talk about this."

Lu Yuanhai, "Fifth brother, it hasn't been easy for you to work hard in Green Water City. We brothers feel sorry for you, so it's only right that we help you out."

"What do you mean by 'supporting'?" Ma Wu became increasingly angry as he listened. "When you're doing business together, the profits depend on the sales. Tomorrow I'll call all the reporters over and we'll talk about how we split the profits."

"No more splitting, no more splitting!" Lu Yuanshan waved his hand and said, "We've already discussed it with Uncle Qiu. All the money earned from 'Blood Spear Detective' will be yours. Our share will be used to sponsor you to make the second movie."

Lu Yuanhai said, "To be honest, we two brothers don't need this little bit of money. We made this movie for you, so don't be so polite with us."

Polite?

Are these two really that kind?

Do you really think Ma Wu can't understand what I'm saying?

They didn't want the profits from "Blood Spear Detective" not because they didn't care about money, but because they didn't want to damage the Lu Family's reputation.

The film company was a joint venture between the two families, with the Lu Family holding half of the shares. They learned the entire process, from casting to box office success. They also managed to get control of the screenwriter, director, and cinematographer.

With experience, resources, connections, and methods, the Lu Family has already extended its reach into the film industry.

The Ling family's "Blood Blade Detective" was squeezed out by Ma Wu's "Blood Spear Detective," resulting in heavy losses in both reputation and profit. It has become extremely difficult for the Ling family to monopolize the film industry, which has conveniently created space for the Lu Family.

The Lu Family has achieved all its goals.

The remaining infamy will all fall on Ma Wu's shoulders.

The Lu Family will open a new company to produce serious movies.

The Lu Family will gradually withdraw from the company that they co-founded with Ma Wu, ostensibly to leave it to Ma Wu, but in reality, the company has become a rag for filming dirty movies and doing dirty work.

You can't blame the Lu Family for being ruthless; that's just how business is done.

But Ma Wu is a shrewd businessman; how could he not see through this?

"The press conference for the next movie is coming up soon. If my two older brothers don't show up, I'm not making this movie!" Ma Wu said angrily.

Lu Yuanshan quickly advised, "Fifth Brother, what you're saying is hurting our relationship."

Lu Yuanhai also advised, "Fifth brother, what's wrong with you? You weren't like this before. Have a drink and calm down."

Drinking anything won't help!

Ma Wu quit. When he returned to Carefree Dock, he heard that Li Banfeng had come back. He opened two bottles of good wine and poured out his grievances to Li Banfeng for the whole afternoon.

"Seventh Brother, do you think this movie can still be made?"

"Take a picture! Why don't you take a picture?"

Ma Wu waved his hand and said, "Seventh Brother, you don't understand. Back then, I risked everything to fight Ling Miaoying in that ring. You probably haven't even seen the movie I made..."

Li Banfeng put down his wine glass and said, "I read it, I read it twice."

"Once you've seen it, you should know that it's not a movie anymore. It's embarrassing, even I find it embarrassing."

"How is it not a movie? How is it shameful?"

Ma Wu lowered his head and remained silent. Although he came from a wealthy family, he was, after all, a native of Pro State, and some of his ideas were still within the boundaries of Pro State.

Li Banfeng patiently explained, " In Outer State, countless directors have become famous with this type of film. This is art."

There are quite a few Western Painting Gallery in Green Water City, and the people there who paint Western Painting don't feel ashamed. Why is it shameful for us to do it?

Ma Wu shook his head and said, "A painting is a painting, this is a movie, it's different."

"What's the difference? It's all art. It's shameful to fail at something, but to succeed makes you a master! This project is set, so we have to film it."

Ma Wu looked up and said, "Then should we add your name too?"

"No way! It's not that I'm afraid of losing face, it's just that I can't reveal my identity."

Ma Wu sighed deeply, "Fine, I'll do whatever you say. Will the second movie be made the same way as the first?"

"It can't be like the first one. The first one was impactful enough, but the storytelling was lacking, and the audience would get tired of it."

Tell those screenwriters to put more effort into making the story more engaging.

"I'm afraid it won't be enough time. I don't know what method the Ling family used to finish the movie in just one month. If I take my time and work carefully, I'm afraid I won't be able to beat them to it."

"There's no need to rush ahead of them," Li Banfeng said confidently about the current situation. "If you put in a little more effort this time, it's okay to be ten or fifteen days later than them. A little later will actually be more effective. At least half of the publicity that the Ling family did will benefit us."

Ma Wu blinked and said, "You really think this is a legitimate business?"

"Seriously, very seriously!" Li Banfeng looked at Ma Wu with great sincerity. "Trust me, you won't go wrong. We're definitely going to make a killing in this business!"

"We can't let Ma Wu keep filming like this, or he'll have us cornered!" Zhou Changhong put down his newspaper and said to Ling Miaoying, "We have to cause Ma Wu some trouble. If they dare to burn our film, we can smash their film set. That's called tit for tat."

The film "Blood Blade Detective" was released, but the box office performance fell far short of expectations. Zhou Changhong was in a bad mood, Ling Miaoying was under a lot of pressure.

Now that Zhou Changhong is trying to sabotage things, Ling Miaoying feels that this is somewhat irrational.

"Ma Wu has the Lu Family behind him. If we make a move against the Lu Family, we'll be in deep trouble."

"We don't need to lift a finger. How's the communication with Three Heroes Gate going?"

"The Second Boss has a good relationship with us and should be able to help us out, but 'helping' is just a term used in the underworld, and it's hard to say to what extent."

Zhou Changhong was confident. "We don't need to be too demanding; as long as they can send someone, that's fine."

Ma Wu's movie was too dirty, and the Lu Family didn't want to get too involved. Seeing that the Three Heroes Gate had made their move, they definitely wouldn't show themselves easily. They'd make Ma Wu take the blame himself. Let's see how he handles it this time!

Ma Wu had found the actors and finalized the script. On the day of filming, a thin young man arrived at the set with a dozen or so subordinates.

The crew member stepped forward to clear the set. "Everyone, we're filming now. The director just said that anyone not involved should leave."

"What do you mean by 'unrelated people'?" The young man, holding a meat pie, took a bite and said while chewing, "Aren't you filming a movie? We're here to watch the show, and you won't even let us watch?"

The production assistant wanted to say a few more words, but was pushed and stumbled by his young subordinate.

The director knew these people were there to cause trouble, so he told someone to quickly notify Ma Wu.

When Ma Wu arrived at the film set, the young man was lecturing the actress. "Look at you, so young and so beautiful, why do you have to do this instead of doing something else?"

"If this is photographed and everyone sees what you have, how will you live? Will you ever be able to get married? Will anyone want you?"

The actresses were all terrified and burst into tears. Ma Wu walked up to the young man and said, "Sir, what brings you here?"

"Sir? Please enlighten me?" The young man laughed. "We don't call each other 'sir,' we call each other 'brother.'"

Zuo Wugang reminded Ma Wu, "Fifth Master, these are from the Three Heroes Gate. They call each other brothers in their sect."

Ma Wu said, "I have no grudge against the Three Heroes Gate. You gentlemen have come today..."

"We have a grudge, how can you say we don't?" the young man interrupted Ma Wu. "We brothers of the Three Heroes Gate are all upright men, and we can't stand your shady business."

Think about it yourself, do you think this is legitimate? Don't you guys find it embarrassing?

Zuo Wugang chimed in, "Fifth Master, don't ask any more questions. They're just here to cause trouble. Should we fight or not?"

When it comes to fighting, Zuo Wugang is truly not afraid.

But Ma Wu didn't want to take action.

The Three Heroes Gate is not a large Lineage; they are a gang with a lot of underhanded tricks. If things really come to a head, it will be like stirring up Wasp Nest, Ma Wu will have no way to deal with many of their methods.

They're causing trouble on set, probably for money, right?

Ma Wu had someone bring over one hundred silver dollars and stuffed them into the young man's hand. "Brothers, my business still relies on your support. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

The young man pushed the silver dollar towards Ma Wu: "Fifth Young Master, I don't want this money. We've met before, but you probably don't remember me. Let me give you a piece of advice..."

Don't make this movie anymore, and don't make any more. You've already made a lot of money; it's not too late to quit now.

The filming for that day couldn't be done, so Ma Wu returned to Carefree Dock and told Li Banfeng what had happened.

Li Banfeng was very curious. "Why is the Three Heroes Gate making things difficult for us?"

Ma Wu shook his head and said, "I've thought about this for a long time but I still can't figure it out. We haven't offended the Three Heroes Gate Sect."

"What did the Lu Family say?"

"Lu Yuanshan said he would ask about this, but I don't think he'll get any results. If I'm not mistaken, it was the Ling family who had the Three Heroes Gate do this."

Li Banfeng rubbed his forehead. The relationship between the wealthy families and gangs in Pro State was too complicated for him to figure out in a short time.

"Who is that young man who caused trouble on set?"

Ma Wu said, "Lao Zuo went to investigate, but there's still no news. I heard he's a talented young man from the Three Heroes Gate, but we don't even know his surname or given name."

Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat. "I'll go and meet him tomorrow."

"Seventh Brother, the Three Heroes Gate is not a group to be trifled with."

"I didn't mean to offend them, but I can't let them run wild over us!"

The next day, filming began on set, and not long after, the young man returned with his men.

He didn't eat the meat pie today, he ate the chicken leg instead.

A greasy hand slapped Ma Wu directly onto his body, and the young man laughed, "Fifth Young Master, I told you not to be so inconsiderate. I told you to stop slapping me, but why won't you listen?"

Ma Wu said to the young man, "Brother, let's talk in private."

"Let's talk in private, isn't it all the same old story?" The young man followed Ma Wu backstage at the film set. "Fifth Young Master, if you want to resort to force, I'll take it. We can do it anywhere, but you definitely won't be allowed to film this movie today."

"Then tell me when we can film?" Li Banfeng emerged from a corner backstage and walked up to the young man. "What exactly do you mean? Why are you causing trouble here?"

The young man glanced at Li Banfeng, then dropped the chicken leg he was holding. "Um, well, Seventh Brother..."

Li Banfeng was startled. "Who are you?"

P. S.: An acquaintance has arrived.