Hong Kong film: The cop backs down, the ladies beg me to check his license.

"So," he looked at Liang Kun, "that means the forty-five million in illicit funds can be laundered in without any problem?"

Handsome Kun stood there, stunned, his mouth slightly agape, unable to process what had happened for a long time. After a while, he stammered, "Wait, wait... are you doing magic? How... how did you wash out forty-five million?"

Ye Tian's mocking smile remained unchanged: "Didn't you just say that nobody would believe we paid five million for actors and four million for directors? We publicly announced that we paid that price. But in reality, we only need to pay the normal market price. Of course, we'll pay all the taxes they're owed, not a penny less."

"I believe no actor would refuse such a good deal! They get a normal salary, have the reputation of receiving an exorbitant fee, and don't even have to worry about taxes." He shrugged. "Actually, if it weren't for making the process look more realistic, I wouldn't even want to hire proper actors; I could just grab a few off the street."

Liang Kun listened blankly, the confusion in his eyes gradually replaced by a bright light of sudden realization.

"And that set," Ye Tian continued, "the same pile of wooden planks and styrofoam. You say it's worth ten thousand, I say it's worth ten million. Who decides?" He stared at Liang Kun. "This matter, I don't care what you think, I care what I think. If I think it's worth ten million, then it's worth ten million. Your opinion is unimportant and useless."

"Look," he spread his hands, "all in all, more than 30 million yuan of dirty money has been laundered, hasn't it? The only hard cost we have to pay is the 'sky-high' personal income tax we pay on behalf of the actors and directors. That's also the most expensive part of the whole process."

A look of ecstatic joy spread across Liang Kun's face, and he eagerly asked, "Then... are there any other costs?"

Ye Tian rolled his eyes: "The film crew is starting work, and the staff aren't getting paid? They're not eating boxed lunches? Film, props, and costumes don't cost money? These are all costs, but compared to taxes, they're nothing."

Liang Kun was a little embarrassed by what he said, but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter. Ye Tian's words were like opening a brand new door in front of him, behind which was a bizarre yet "reasonable" world that he had never imagined.

"However," Ye Tian suddenly changed the subject, his tone becoming serious, "this method can only be used once, occasionally. The risk is too high."

Handsome Kun's smile froze: "Risk? Isn't this quite discreet?"

"It's too conspicuous," Ye Tian said bluntly. "It'll easily attract the attention of the Economic Crime Investigation Department and the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Once or twice, we might be able to get away with it. But if it happens too often, there will definitely be loopholes. I can hire a top-notch accounting firm to do the bookkeeping, and they won't find any problems in the short term, but it's not a long-term solution."

"A truly safe and sustainable method of money laundering through movies is not like this."

Handsome Kun quickly pressed, "So what does the proper one look like? Tell me!"

Ye Tian's face regained that faint smile, tinged with a sense of control: "Actually, it's simple."

"Everything will proceed according to the standard film production process. The project will be registered under the name of Qiankun Films, and we will properly select a script, find a director, choose actors, build a production team, and film it step by step."

Disappointment crossed Liang Kun's face: "This... what's the difference between this and making a normal movie? How does it launder money? How much can you launder?"

Ye Tian sneered, "How much can you launder?" He paused, his voice low but firm, "If handled properly, laundering all of Hung Hing's dirty money wouldn't be a problem."

Handsome Kun gasped, his eyes widening in shock: "Really...really?"

Ye Tian shrugged, his tone casual: "It's just a small business with tens or hundreds of millions a year. I don't care about it anyway. Brother Kun, you're my boss, so I'm sure you wouldn't care about this little bit of money either. Never mind." With that, he made a move to get up.

Liang Kun panicked, took a step forward, and with a beaming smile, gently pressed him back into his chair: "Tian! We're brothers for life, if you don't help me, who will? Do you expect that scoundrel Qiang to help? We should be thanking our lucky stars if he doesn't lose the money!"

Ye Tian looked at him, then suddenly said seriously, "Brother Kun, that Sha Qiang is unreliable. He only cares about money and has no sense of loyalty. If you don't give him enough, or if there's something better for him, he'll turn around and sell you out. You need to be aware of that."

The smile on Liang Kun's face faded slightly, and he sighed heavily: "I understand, isn't the whole point of this life to make money? I'll be careful and won't trust him completely."

Seeing that he had taken it to heart, Ye Tian said no more. Having lived two lives, he understood one principle: don't force your ideas on others. Everyone's circumstances are different; what you think is right, others may not. Saying too much will only annoy them. With Liang Kun and Lin Fu, all he could do was offer his opinion. Whether they listened or not was up to them. If anything happened in the future, he would have a clear conscience.

He sat up straight and continued, "The core of legitimate money laundering through movies lies in... box office revenue."

Handsome Kun frowned: "Making a high-grossing movie? That's much harder than making a bad one!"

Ye Tian nodded: "It is very difficult."

"But the problem is," he changed his tone, his eyes sharp, "we don't actually need to make high-grossing movies."

Liang Kun was completely confused: "The movie didn't do well at the box office, how can they launder money?"

Ye Tian slapped his thigh, laughing so hard his shoulders shook. The fine lines around his eyes were all squeezed together, revealing a sly, premeditated glint.

"This? Simple."

Let me walk you through the steps.

"The first step is to have our own cinema chain, to get things going."

"This is something we can get all the different factions involved in."

"The locations of the twelve Hung Hing branches are unparalleled."

"They are mostly in bustling areas with lots of people and shops."

"Don't worry about how much real money it will take to renovate a movie theater."

"Each branch has some legitimate businesses. I've roughly calculated that converting a movie theater into a working one would cost at most one or two million."

"Even if those twelve hall masters don't want to contribute a single penny, we can cover it ourselves."

"Besides," he paused, lowered his voice, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes, "the money involved in building a movie theater... doesn't necessarily have to be 'clean' in every single aspect."

Liang Kun squinted, rubbing his fingers back and forth on the newly sprouted stubble on his chin. A few seconds later, he grinned, revealing a knowing smile.

"There are two advantages to doing this," he continued, his mind racing. "First, we can take advantage of this opportunity to acquire a batch of land. Right now, the Hong Kong property market is sluggish and cheap. With the land in hand, all we have to do is wait for it to skyrocket. If we ever decide we don't want to be stuck in this mess anymore, we can sell the land and have a stable income that we could never spend in several lifetimes."

"Secondly, having our own cinema is a good place to house the brothers in the gang who want to go ashore, or their families. Showing movies, selling tickets, cleaning—at least it's a decent job, sheltered from the wind and rain. It's attractive enough for those who are tired of fighting and want to change their way of life."

The more Liang Kun listened, the brighter his eyes became, and his attraction was clearly written all over his face.

"The rest is even simpler." Ye Tian leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "We'll finance the film ourselves, release it in our own theaters, and not have to share a single penny with outsiders. We'll keep the lion's share."

"Here's the important part, listen carefully." He held up one finger.

Liang Kun instantly straightened his back, stretched his neck forward, and stared intently at Ye Tian's face, afraid of missing a single word.

"To launder that shady money, the key is to grasp one thing: what's the highest box office record for the day? As long as the number we report fluctuates around that record, not too outrageous, then the reported figure is entirely up to you, isn't it?"

Liang Kun's eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape, his face full of "This can actually work?".

"This...how is this possible?" His voice rose slightly. "Aren't you afraid of being watched? If they check your ticket stubs and the numbers don't match, won't you be exposed?"

Ye Tian sighed, his shoulders slumped slightly, and his eyes looked like he was looking at a student he could never teach.

"Brother Kun, I really advise you to spend some time reading a couple of books." There was a hint of helpless teasing in his tone. "Your idea is too practical. In this situation, wouldn't you just say someone booked the whole theater? No matter who's inside, as long as someone comes to investigate, you'll insist that it was a big client who spent lavishly to book the entire theater in support of film art."