Chapter four hundred and eighty third price increase
Lao Jia came soon.
This stage manager sent by Jiayang Pictures to station on the crew is in his forties, with a short stature and small eyes. He comes across as very shrewd, quick-tongued, and has strong coordination skills in all aspects.
Although they didn't know each other before, after a few days, Lu Chen was still very satisfied with Lao Jia's abilities.
The stage manager is the abbreviation of crew service. He is the person in charge of daily affairs during the filming of film and television dramas. His main task is to provide the crew members with basic necessities such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, which is tedious but essential.
If there is not a good stage manager in a film crew, many problems will often occur.
When Lao Jia saw this batch of box lunches with completely substandard quality, his expression suddenly changed, and he was shocked and angry.
"Master Lu, I'm so sorry. I'm going to find out what's going on right away!"
Lu Chen nodded: "Then go and ask them to change a batch, or simply order a box lunch from another restaurant."
Although he did not reprimand Lao Jia, Lao Jia was obviously very stressed and he left in a hurry.
Naturally, no one ate the lunch box, which was not as good as pig food. Everyone put the lunch box back into the insulator. The atmosphere on the set was a bit strange, with many people sitting around and whispering.
Wan Xiaoquan was helpless: "Has this made them no longer want to do business?"
Chen Wenqiang said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid things are not that simple."
Lu Chen was shocked and asked: "Uncle Qiang?"
Chen Wenqiang hesitated for a moment and said: "The lunch box business in Lion Rock Film and Television City is occupied by two societies. No one else can interfere. I don't know which company our crew ordered. It is most likely from that company.
It’s a problem, otherwise no restaurant would do such a thing of destroying its own sign.”
Society?
Lu Chen was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that a small matter like eating a box lunch would actually involve the community in Xiangjiang.
The "society" that Chen Wenqiang mentioned is definitely not the kind of formal and good mutual benefit organization, but a gang society, which is generally referred to as the underworld gang in Hong Kong.
Gangs and societies in Xiangjiang were very prosperous in the 1970s and 1980s. At that time, triad organizations such as Sheng Wo, Xin'an, and Hongtang were rampant, with hundreds of thousands of gang members, and their influence spread all over Xiangjiang, Aocheng, Baodao, and
Tangkou has been established in several countries in Southeast Asia and even in Chinese areas in Europe and the United States.
These large gangs are engaged in drug trafficking, smuggling, prostitution, piracy, gambling stalls and other businesses. The small gangs below collect protection fees and bully the market, which has led to a very bad security situation in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong at that time, even the rich and wealthy were in danger. They had to bring bodyguards to protect them when they went out, otherwise they might be kidnapped and extorted by a few bold gangsters.
On July 15, 1987, the long-standing conflict between the two major gangs, Xin On and Hung Tong, broke out. Thousands of gang members from both sides fought in the streets in prosperous areas of the New Territories, resulting in 78 deaths and 154 serious injuries. Many were seriously injured.
Several other innocent passers-by were killed by stray bullets.
The 7.15 New Territories massacre shocked the whole of Hong Kong, triggering people to take to the streets to protest. It also prompted the Hong Kong government to finally make up its mind to solve this cancer, and specifically applied for help from the domestic troops stationed in Hong Kong.
In March 1988, in the Hong Kong government's sweeping crackdown, many triad organizations that had been rampant on Hong Kong Island for decades were uprooted. A large number of key members were either killed on the spot or arrested and imprisoned, leaving countless
The people of Hong Kong clapped their hands and cheered.
At this point, the security situation in Xiangjiang has fundamentally improved.
However, the triad organizations with great influence in Hong Kong society did not disappear completely. After the collapse of old societies such as Sheng Wo, Xin'an and Hongtang, new societies emerged again.
However, these new societies no longer blatantly engage in illegal activities. They register companies to engage in legitimate operations and do some sideline business secretly. Society members no longer easily wield swords and guns, and their means of making money are more covert, and they even hire employees.
Lawyers serve as legal advisors.
Such new societies are even more difficult to deal with, and dealing with them is undoubtedly a headache.
The gang forces in Xiangjiang have deep entanglements with the entertainment industry. Many film and television entertainment companies used to have gang backgrounds and forces. Although they have basically been cleansed now, they are secretly disconnected.
After only a few minutes, Lao Jia came back and brought three people with him.
Lao Jia's face looked very ugly.
He introduced to Lu Chen: "Master Lu, this is Manager Jiang from Honghua Catering Management Co., Ltd. Our crew's lunch boxes are ordered through Honghua Catering. Manager Jiang and the others want to talk to us about something."
Manager Jiang from Honghua Catering is a middle-aged man with a deer-like head and rat-like eyes. His hair is so thickly oiled that he wouldn’t even care about flies. He wears a suit and tie, and wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.
It gives people the feeling of being vulgar.
"Hello, Mr. Lu."
Manager Jiang nodded and bowed to greet Lu Chen, opening his mouth to reveal a set of gold teeth.
Following behind this man were two muscular men, their faces expressionless, their bare arms covered with dark blue tattoos, and their bulging muscles looked powerful.
When Lu Chen saw this posture, he immediately understood. He nodded and said calmly: "Okay, let's talk in another place."
It's definitely not possible here. The surrounding crew members are all watching, and many people are looking at it with surprise and uncertainty.
The location for the conversation between the two parties was a Zen room in the temple, which was also used as a temporary office for the crew.
After sitting down, Lu Chen asked straight to the point: "Manager Jiang, can you explain what happened to the lunch boxes our crew had today? Is it because we haven't paid the fees we owe you?"
Manager Jiang said with a smile: "Master Lu, your crew's catering expenses were paid on time and there is no arrears. We are also very sorry that there was a problem with the lunch box today. I can guarantee that such a thing will never happen again in the future."
"but"
He suddenly changed the topic and said: "The prices in Xiangjiang are very high now. The prices of vegetables and pork have risen sharply recently. If we follow the original prices, our company will lose money, so"
So what? Manager Jiang didn't say anything more and looked at Lu Chen with a smile.
Lu Chen answered for him calmly: "So the price needs to be increased?"
“I’m really sorry”
Manager Jiang rubbed his hands, and the smile on his face became brighter: "There is nothing we can do about raising prices. A group of employees in our company also need to eat."
Lu Chen interrupted him: "Just tell me, how much will the increase be?"
Manager Jiang gave Lu Chen a thumbs up: "Young Master Lu is really quick-talking. He is worthy of being a big star from the mainland. In fact, there are not many. From now on, we will give you 55 yuan for each lunch box and we will guarantee the quality."
55 yuan!
If Lu Chen remembered correctly, the price of the box lunch he originally ordered was 30 yuan, but now the price has been increased to 55 yuan, which is equivalent to nearly doubling the price! ——