National Tide 1980.

The port city is a place that is both open and conservative.

In preserving certain aspects of traditional Chinese culture, they have undoubtedly done a much better job than those in mainland China.

Its openness is also reflected in its acceptance of foreign cultures.

In Hong Kong, the proportion of teenage boys and girls dating and even having sexual relations has been increasing in recent years, and their acceptance of Western holidays and exotic cultures far exceeds that of other parts of the world.

Even when it comes to content related to Chinese culture, the acceptance of themes such as male-female desire and ghosts is quite high.

This is precisely the core reason why Ning Weimin insisted on sending the comic book adaptation film "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" and the supernatural film "The Peony Lantern" to the port city for public screening.

It's important to know that at that time, Hong Kong did not have a film rating system, and so-called Category III films were still referred to as erotic films.

Although there are film censorship standards, the tolerance for elements of ghosts, lust, and violence is far higher than that in mainland China at the same time, and also more lenient than in most parts of Southeast Asia.

It is precisely this tolerant and diverse cultural environment of the port city that has been able to accommodate these two films, which might have been restricted elsewhere.

Of course, Ning Weimin cannot deny that even in a port city like this, there is no absolute creative freedom, and some films will still be banned.

In his previous life, he produced "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" in 1992, which was banned in Hong Kong after only seven days due to excessive violence.

However, it should be noted that that version also brought disaster upon itself.

Ultimately, the problem stemmed from the film's excessive pursuit of box office success, which involved using gory scenes to stimulate the audience's morbid curiosity.

Indeed, the director's filming style was too straightforward, and due to a lack of funding, the props were crude, making it follow the path of low-budget splatter films from Europe and America.

The scenes of meat grinding, dismemberment, and exposed internal organs are depicted without any embellishment, and are visually shocking.

It was so unbearable for the audience, far exceeding the sensory limits of ordinary people in modern times, that the censorship committee issued a red card and urgently stopped the film.

As for "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky," which Ning Weimin directed in his lifetime, it's quite different.

Because of ample funding, this film, starring Jet Li and with action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, was originally intended to be a big-budget production with big stars and big directors.

Furthermore, the film's director, Mai Lingzhi, is a woman, and her natural aversion to bloodshed and violence leads to a rather subtle approach to expression.

Thanks to Ning Weimin's "foresight" in reminding her, Mai Lingzhi made great efforts to reduce the depiction of disturbing gore. On the contrary, the actors, props and special effects were extremely well done, trying to replicate the original comic as much as possible, and there was no problem of shoddy production.

In particular, Mak Ling-chi herself is skilled in martial arts and has a great rapport with Yuen Woo-ping. Her focus in filming has always been on the brilliant martial arts choreography.

Therefore, even though the film has a very cold and ruthless atmosphere, and even though it is a masterpiece that comic book fans exclaimed was "80% faithful to the original," there are not many scenes of violence shown directly, and the way it is handled is subtle, so it is unlikely to cause physical discomfort to the audience.

Ultimately, it passed the censorship quite smoothly and was officially released. Negative social feedback was also kept under control, thus completely avoiding the fate of Fan Siu-wong's version of "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky".

The same applies to "Peony Lantern".

This film is the second collaboration between mainland Chinese young directors Liang Ming and Mu Deyuan.

Although these two are still relatively unknown figures, they are the creators of the first film in mainland China not suitable for children, and also the first horror film, "The Lonely Soul of the Black Building".

Liang Ming and Mu Deyuan are both graduates of the Beijing Film Academy's Department of Photography. They are both very talented and skilled in using the aesthetics of the lens and creating atmosphere.

This explains why they were able to get "The Lonely Soul of the Black Building" into a murder case with just simple doll props.

This explains why "The Lonely Soul of the Black Building," which was pulled from theaters after only half a month of release and cost only a few cents per movie ticket in mainland China, still managed to gross 3.5 million yuan at the box office.

To be honest, Ning Weimin was drawn to the two directors' strengths and their unique perspectives on Chinese horror stories, which is why he invited them to make this horror film based on Chinese ghost stories, hoping to generate foreign exchange through overseas distribution.

Now it seems that these two have indeed not disappointed Ning Weimin.

Although mainland directors certainly lack experience in filming ghost stories.

However, the two mainland directors were incredibly talented and had a humble and eager-to-learn attitude, so they were willing to work on it.

In addition to putting their expertise into this film, they also referenced the techniques and style of Tsui Hark's film "A Chinese Ghost Story" based on Ning Weimin's suggestion.

Ultimately, the filming conditions provided by Ning Weimin were crucial—a meticulously crafted script, carefully selected actors, the most skilled prop and technical personnel in mainland China, and the low production costs in mainland China.

This resulted in the film, which originally had a low budget, being produced to the highest standards, becoming a period ghost film with a production quality comparable to an investment of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

In fact, although the film "Peony Lantern" they filmed contained erotic scenes performed by the two leading actors, Lin Fangbing and Tang Guoqiang, it was done in a proper manner and was by no means vulgar.

The depiction of love between men and women and the aesthetic style are reminiscent of Tsui Hark's "A Chinese Ghost Story".

Even with very few truly terrifying scenes, they still managed to tell a thrilling and suspenseful horror story about a love between a human and a ghost, thanks to their excellent costumes, props, and sets, and their meticulous storytelling. They created a chilling and eerie atmosphere that was vividly portrayed.

Ultimately, the horror theme of the incompatibility between humans and ghosts was elevated to a deeply moving love story.

Of course, the film also has obvious flaws.

After all, there were excellent predecessors. Their film "Peony Lantern" has a similar plot to Tsui Hark's "A Chinese Ghost Story", showing heavy signs of imitation and lacking innovation. These are undeniable flaws.

Fortunately, they also have their own advantages. They excel in their meticulously crafted scripts with strong logic, and they are more adept at creating a terrifying atmosphere of love between humans and ghosts. Their expression of the emotional content of love between men and women is more delicate, and they accurately hit the Hong Kong people's tolerance for explicit content of erotic horror.

Therefore, given that audiences in Hong Kong still have a strong preference for ancient costume ghost stories because of "A Chinese Ghost Story" and haven't grown tired of them, this work is an extremely excellent alternative.

Its box office revenue was significantly higher than that of the two imitation films already released in Hong Kong, "Golden Swallow" and "The Fairy in the Painting".

In short, both "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" and "The Peony Lantern" were released in Hong Kong and quickly gained market recognition, achieving both critical and commercial success.

Specifically, "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" was the first film to be released in August. With its stunning action scenes, unique dark style, and action stars familiar to Hong Kong moviegoers such as Jet Li, Yu Rongguang, and Yukari Oshima, it sparked a movie-going frenzy as soon as it was released.

Theater screenings skyrocketed, every show was packed, and the streets were buzzing with talk of the film's iconic fight scenes. Even though this film was a collaboration between Fog Studios and Sil-Metropole Organisation, Ning Weimin had no direct connection to the Hong Kong box office revenue.

But seeing the success of the work he had planned, with box office revenue approaching 30 million, and Li Lianjie able to wipe away the shame of the defeat of "Chinese Hero" and regain his confidence, Ning Weimin still felt very gratified.

As for "Peony Lantern," which was released from the end of September to the beginning of October, Ning Weimin was even more delighted because it was his own creation. Although its box office performance was far inferior to "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky," it still made him very happy.

As the first film independently produced by Big Ship Entertainment, this movie had a production cost of less than three to two hundred thousand RMB, taking the path of achieving big results with small investment.

Without much publicity, the film grossed over HK$4.85 million in its opening week, and its popularity continued to rise. It is easy to predict that it will earn at least HK$10 million by the time it leaves theaters.

It's worth noting that, under the leadership of Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi, and as this was their first film project in collaboration with Golden Princess, Big Ship Entertainment signed an agreement with Golden Princess Cinemas for a minimum three-week screening period.

In this way, the film's box office revenue in the first week was close to recouping the cost. In other words, the revenue from screenings starting in the second week was basically the box office dividends that the company could receive, not even including the profits from the distribution of videotapes.

This remarkable achievement, which has garnered attention and amazement from the industry, is enough to allow the newly established Big Ship Entertainment to gain a firm foothold in the Hong Kong film scene.

In fact, once October arrived, the offices of Big Ship Entertainment were filled with a joyful and encouraging atmosphere almost every day.

Every morning, Yao Peifang would bring the newspaper and the latest box office report to Ning Weimin to report the latest good news.

She reported with a smile, "President Ning, the media in Hong Kong are reporting again on your generosity in the charity performance for disaster relief. More and more people are inquiring about the history of your rise to wealth. Some reporters even want to arrange an exclusive interview with you. What do you think..."

Or, with barely concealed excitement, he would announce, "President Ning, our film 'Peony Lantern' has seen another box office increase! The momentum isn't declining, it's actually increasing! Golden Princess Cinemas has already proactively offered to increase the number of screenings! They've also indicated they're willing to extend the film's run for another week..."

Qin Jun and Chen Mo would usually join in and surround them in this situation.

Their faces were beaming with excitement, and they repeatedly praised Ning Weimin for his insightful choice of film and the right market in Hong Kong.

In addition, what makes Ning Weimin even more gratified is that, thanks to the participation of the three girls, Le Yun, Yu Li, and Zhao Hui, in the previous grand performance and the company's continuous publicity and promotion, they have achieved great success.

It gradually began to gain attention from the entertainment media in the port city, and even attracted the attention of some young movie fans, and its popularity grew.

In addition, each of them has been working exceptionally hard during this period.

Every day, I'm either busy promoting the company to the outside world or actively participating in various auditions arranged by the company, without daring to slack off at all.

With the company's support, each of them achieved some success in their careers.

Le Yun was spotted by a rising advertising director and landed a commercial for an imported shampoo.

Yu Li landed a significant supporting role in the comedy film "The Legend of the School Heroes" starring Aaron Kwok.

With her outstanding beauty and alluring charm, Zhao Hui replaced the plain-looking Yu An'an and was chosen by director Tsui Hark, who was planning "Swordsman 2," to play Shi Shi, the beautiful concubine of Dongfang Bubai in the film.

Seeing her subordinates working with great enthusiasm and achieving satisfactory results, coupled with the moderate rise in the Hong Kong stock and property markets, and the considerable unrealized profits from her earlier investments, she was overjoyed.

Ning Weimin was in high spirits. He believed that he had almost finished what he needed to do in Hong Kong and would be able to leave Hong Kong with peace of mind soon.

So they immediately decided to share the joy and happiness, and planned to give everyone some extra material rewards.

On October 10, 1991, before leaving work, he happily announced it to everyone at the company.

"The company's business has been doing very well lately. Especially today, our company's investment in the comedy film 'The Love Saint' was a huge success on its opening day. I want to say to everyone here that you've all worked hard. Our company's rapid prosperity so soon after opening is inseparable from everyone's efforts, whether it's the core staff or the girls like Yueyun, everyone has put in a lot of hard work. As the company's boss, I'm not a miser, nor will I make empty promises. Although our Da Chuan Entertainment is just a startup, I'm willing to let everyone benefit. Our company's investment is going very well. Next Monday, I will take 880,000 yuan in cash from the company account as a special Mid-Autumn Festival bonus for everyone. Also, tomorrow, Friday, you don't need to come to the company. The company will charter a bus to organize a team building trip, taking everyone to Lamma Island to eat seafood and tofu pudding. We'll have an early weekend vacation. In short, when the company is doing well, everyone is doing well. When the company makes money, everyone makes money."

For migrant workers, there's really nothing more practical than such simple and honest words.

Needless to say, cheers erupted in the office as soon as the words were spoken.

"Long live!"

"Long live President Ning!"

"Long live the boss!"

Indeed, apart from Yao Peifang, who knew Ning Weimin relatively well, no one expected their boss to be so generous, not even Qin Jun and Chen Mo.

After all, Ning Weimin had just given each of them a Rolex watch not long ago, so who would have thought they would receive a bonus so soon?

With such a generous and visionary boss, how could they not have confidence in the future?

They both thanked him profusely, their faces beaming with excitement and renewed energy.

Le Yun, Yu Li, and Zhao Hui exchanged smiles, their eyes filled with surprise and gratitude.

Keep in mind that the company has fewer than eighteen employees, yet Ning Weimin was willing to spend HK$880,000 on bonuses for everyone.

With such a generous sum of money, they would surely have at least 30,000 to 50,000 yuan in their hands.

Based on their current treatment, it's equivalent to each of them receiving the salary of a movie for free.

Needless to say, all the hard work and perseverance during this period have naturally transformed into warmth and trust at this moment.

Even Yao Peifang, who is usually the most composed, looked at Ning Weimin with a hint of genuine admiration in her eyes.

Having followed Ning Weimin all this way, she knows best how much planning and hard work lies behind this success.

The fact that Big Ship Entertainment has been able to establish itself in the Hong Kong film industry today is no accident.

The road in front of us was paved entirely by this young boss.

She now firmly believes that under the leadership of its boss, Ning Weimin, Big Ship Entertainment will rapidly grow and become stronger, and she is very clear that that is not too far in the future. (End of Chapter)