Chapter Twenty-Two: I Have Decided on My Next Film

“Evidence? Of course I have evidence.” Yan Xu stood up abruptly at Zheng Tianfen’s words.

“Friends from the press, please make way and let our colleague in. I have ample evidence to prove the truth of what I just said.” Yan Xu gestured for the reporters to clear a path.

A television set was wheeled in from outside, with a video recorder placed atop it—equipment that had been prepared in advance. The reason it hadn’t been brought out earlier was to create some suspense, to whet the reporters’ appetites.

The power was connected, the television switched on, and as the video played, the entire sequence of events that had unfolded outside the Hong Kong Island Hotel appeared before everyone’s eyes. There was no sound, but from the footage, the progression of events was clearly visible. The reporters fixed their eyes on the screen, afraid to miss a single detail. This kind of evidence far surpassed the photos the taxi driver had provided.

Watching the footage on the screen, Zheng Tianfen felt a chill invade his heart. He had calculated everything—he and Yan Xu’s group were the only ones who had witnessed the incident. He had overlooked the presence of security cameras outside the hotel.

Observing the expressions of the reporters, Yan Xu felt a surge of pride. He had obtained this footage long ago but wasn’t in a hurry to make it public. As an industry newcomer, he understood media manipulation better than most. Although Baizhan Film Company had successfully produced “The Rainy Night Butcher” and he had directed it, few people knew the company’s name, and he himself was barely considered a second-rate director with second-tier actors. He intended to leverage the media frenzy to boost both his and Baizhan’s reputation.

“So it really was him refusing to take passengers, and then fleeing the scene.”

“And he even had the nerve to falsely accuse Mr. Yan.”

“This is the real story. Taxi drivers have become more and more outrageous these days.”

“That’s right. A few years ago we had the Rainy Night Butcher, and then there have been multiple complaints about refusal of service. The government really needs to crack down.”

“I tried to get a cab across the harbor once and was refused. Especially at night—hardly any drivers will pick up passengers.”

“Exactly. If your destination is even a little out of the way, they’ll find all sorts of excuses. If they don’t refuse outright, they’ll demand extra money.”

“Some even demand more money after you arrive.”

“One time was even worse—my car accidentally bumped into a taxi, clearly because he stopped suddenly, but he called several other taxis to surround me.”

“What happened then?”

“What else? They extorted several thousand dollars from me. If I didn’t pay, I’d have taken a beating. It was just a small dent that would have cost a few hundred to fix.”

As they watched the footage of the taxi driver’s behavior, a few reporters began to whisper among themselves. This soon spread, and more and more joined in, the conversation turning into an outright condemnation of taxi drivers.

Yan Xu listened to their discussion, well aware that Hong Kong’s taxi industry was far less regulated than it would be in the future. Drivers came from all walks of life—there was every sort imaginable. Many taxi companies were outright controlled by criminal organizations, so refusals of service were commonplace. Some unscrupulous drivers hiked fares at will, or even assaulted passengers, and fights between drivers from rival companies over passengers were not unusual.

As the discussion grew, something began to crystallize in Yan Xu’s mind, a vague image becoming ever clearer with each passing moment.

“Now that everyone has seen what happened, it’s clear that in such a situation, anyone would lose their composure. Yan Xu is just an ordinary person, like the rest of us—his actions were simply a moment of impulse.”

“Mr. Yan, how do you intend to respond to Mr. Wang’s lawsuit?” Now that the truth was all but established, a reporter stood to ask a question.

“As everyone has seen, I did hit him. He is fully entitled to sue me for assault. But as the video shows, I can press charges against him for hit-and-run. He will have to compensate my father for medical expenses, lost wages, nutritional costs, and emotional damages. Moreover, hit-and-run is a criminal offense. If I press charges, he’ll face a much longer prison sentence than I would. I still have a good chance of receiving a suspended sentence or paying a fine instead of serving time. He won’t be so lucky. On top of that, for all the slander he’s published about me in the newspapers, I can sue him for defamation, and the damages for that would far exceed anything he could win against me.” Yan Xu smiled as he spoke. He’d studied the situation thoroughly—so even if the taxi driver insisted on suing, this video would be enough to keep him out of jail.

“Mr. Yan, do you intend to press charges against Mr. Wang?”

“One should always leave room for others; it depends on how he chooses to act. I never wanted to escalate things, which is why I didn’t respond at first. This press conference was unavoidable—some of your colleagues in the media got a bit carried away.” Yan Xu said with a smile.

The reporters laughed awkwardly.

“By the way, Mr. Yan, do you have any work plans coming up? I heard several companies invited you to star in their productions, but you turned them down?” a reporter asked, breaking the uneasy atmosphere.

“Filming ‘The Rainy Night Butcher’ was exhausting, so I took some time to rest. Then this incident happened, which affected me greatly. Now that things are cleared up, I trust you all will soon restore my good name. I recently submitted a script to the company—preparations are complete and filming will begin soon. I’ve also had a new idea and am preparing to start work on another film.” Yan Xu replied, not forgetting to promote Baizhan Film’s new project—after all, he had written the script himself.

“A new film?” Yan Xu’s words piqued the reporters’ curiosity. This was newsworthy—a rising director working on a fresh project. Even if it couldn’t rival the earlier press conference, it would easily make a feature spread, and given Yan Xu’s current popularity, it was certain to get coverage. Ever since the success of “The Rainy Night Butcher,” many had been waiting for his next work.

“Mr. Yan, will you be directing both of these films? And will you, as before, appear in them as well?”

“As I said, I wrote the script for one, but I’ll only be the screenwriter—the company has hired another director, and I won’t be involved. The other project, I’ll direct myself. As for whether I’ll act in it, that’s still undecided—the script is only in the conceptual stage,” Yan Xu replied.

“Could you give us a hint about the content of the new film, Mr. Yan?”

“The upcoming one is ‘Dr. Lamb,’ part of Hong Kong’s Notorious Cases series—a companion piece to ‘The Rainy Night Butcher.’ As for my new idea, it’s still just a concept, so I can’t reveal anything for now…”