Traveling Through the Tokyo Bubble Era

Chapter 1004 "The Fighting Woman"

Because he had been busy in America for so long, Hideki Hanyu had no intention of immediately starting work after arriving in Hong Kong.

Therefore, after listening to Yasukawa Akimi's report on the first day, he stayed in the mansion and focused on spending time with his son and Zhou Huimin.

Then time flew by, and it was October 19th.

At noon, after Hideki Hanyu had finished lunch and put his son to sleep, Kaoru Chiba, who had come from Japan to replace Akemi Yasukawa and bring her back to Japan for rest, came to tell him.

"Mr. Yuzuru, someone called and wants to meet you..."

Before Chiba Kaoru could finish speaking, Hanyu Hideki interrupted her, saying, "Didn't we say we wouldn't see anyone before the 20th?"

Hideki Yuzuru has been spending time at home with his son lately, while also enjoying the gentle care of the "Jade Girl Leader," giving off an air of a monarch who no longer needs to attend court.

However, he didn't completely abandon his studies; he set a date for himself to "emerge from seclusion" on the 20th.

However, after hearing what Hideki Yuzuru said, Kaoru Chiba continued to explain, "Mr. Yuzuru, the person who arranged to meet you this time is Chen Shufen from Hengxing Entertainment. You instructed me beforehand that if she contacts you, I must inform you immediately."

"I understand. You don't need to worry about it anymore. I will contact her myself."

After finishing speaking, Hideki Yuzuru glanced at his sleeping son on the bed and Zhou Huimin, who was resting with her son due to exhaustion, then got up and tiptoed out of the bedroom, gently closing the door behind him.

……

"Auntie, I have to go out for a social engagement and I might not be back tonight. Please tell Vivian when she wakes up."

Inside Bai Jianshi's mansion, after giving instructions to Zhou Huimin's mother, Yu Shengxiu left in a Bentley.

Hideki Hanyu's destination this time is the Mid-Levels area of ​​Hong Kong Island.

I just spoke with Florence Chan by phone and learned that Wing Shing is filming a movie here, and that movie is none other than "God of Gamblers II," which is very familiar to mainland movie fans.

After the huge success of "God of Gamblers" last year, Stephen Chow became famous again this year with "All for the Winner". Yong Sheng decided to strike while the iron was hot and make money by making sequels to these two movies.

Judging from the finished product in another timeline, this movie, produced by Yong Sheng, features Andy Lau and Stephen Chow as the two main leads.

However, Stephen Chow's performance style was so eye-catching that it ultimately stole the attention that belonged to Andy Lau.

However, this only applies to the Hong Kong domestic market. Outside of Hong Kong, in overseas markets, Andy Lau is still the one who carries the box office for this film.

After all, Stephen Chow's comedic style is too localized, and overseas audiences are not very receptive to it.

As for why Hideki Hanyu came to the Mid-Levels for this movie, it wasn't because of Zhang Min, one of the female leads, even though Zhang Min did appear in the movie as if from another timeline.

Even if he wanted to, Zhang Min didn't have any scenes in the several scenes that the "God of Gamblers" crew filmed in the Mid-Levels area.

He came today solely for another beauty.

That was Lee Young-ae, whom Chen Shufen signed with through the matchmaking of Hideki Hanyu when she went to South Korea not long ago.

After Lee Young-ae signed a contract in Hong Kong, Chan Suk-fan, following Hideki Hanyu's advice, quickly helped Lee Young-ae secure a film role for her Hong Kong debut.

It was the set of "God of Gamblers" that Hideki Hanyu was going to visit.

If it were the original "God of Gamblers II," and Lee Young-ae wanted to participate in the film, debut through it, and gain fame, she would have to replace one of the two female leads, either Zhang Min or Chen Farong.

But putting aside Lee Young-ae's immature acting skills and poor spoken language, would she even be able to complete the filming?
Her fame in Hong Kong alone would make it difficult for the production company, Wing Shing, to agree to the project.

Indeed, when Florence Chan expressed her desire to arrange for Lee Young-ae to join the cast of "God of Gamblers II," both Yong-sheng and the film's creative team refused without hesitation.

In this situation, even if Asian cinemas intervene and use their connections, Yong Sheng might not necessarily give them face.

After all, forcibly inserting a foreign newcomer who knows nothing and has no box office appeal is tantamount to ruining their "financial future."

Unless Hideki Hanyu is willing to use his connections to force Yong Sheng Films to back down.

While doing so may seem enjoyable, the subsequent consequences are quite severe.

Why would Hideki Hanyu do something so thankless for a woman?

So, just as Hideki Hanyu and Florence Chan had discussed, Lee Young-ae was arranged to join the "God of Gamblers" crew. The film was not the original "God of Gamblers," but a special South Korean version.

According to Chen Shufen's report to him, after she told director Wong Jing about her idea for a special edition and said that the South Korean distributor would cover the filming costs of the special edition featuring Lee Young-ae and provide the crew with certain compensation, Wong Jing, the genius, immediately came up with a solution.

In Wong Jing's South Korean-exclusive version of "God of Gamblers II," Lee Young-ae will play a South Korean police officer who travels from South Korea to Hong Kong to hunt down the villain Hussein, who committed crimes in South Korea.

As for the scene design, the initial filming involved some indoor scenes in a South Korean police station, roughly depicting how superiors assigned a mission to send Lee Young-ae's character to Hong Kong to apprehend Hussein.

The scene that follows is a gunfight action sequence after they enter Hong Kong. Lee Young-ae and her fellow police officers are ambushed during the arrest, and all the other officers except for the skilled Lee Young-ae are killed.

The following plot involves Lee Young-ae chasing the villain Hussein alone, when she happens to stumble upon Hussein's men attacking the Mid-Levels villa. She intervenes to help Chen Daozai and Ah Xing, thus getting involved in the original plot of "God of Gamblers II".

As for the subsequent plot, it naturally involves Lee Young-ae cooperating with the two main characters in various ways in order to capture Hussein.

Interspersed with some independent investigations, the story culminates in a final battle on the gambling ship.

Of course, the plot was all added extra, and sometimes it even needed to be filmed twice, once for the original version and once for a special version.

The biggest difference between the special edition and the original version is in the ending.

After the gambling ship battle, the original "God of Gamblers II" did not explain the fate of the villain Hussein in detail.

However, in the special edition of "God of Gamblers II", Hussein was rescued by his subordinates during the arrest and imprisonment process and escaped from Hong Kong to South Korea.

Don't ask why we went to South Korea; it's just for the sake of the story.

Then, after learning about this, Chen Daozai and the character played by Lee Young-ae went to South Korea. After a series of chase and gunfight action scenes, they helped Lee Young-ae capture Hussein.

In the end, the man and woman parted ways and went their separate ways, completing the South Korean special edition of "God of Gamblers II".

When Chan Suk-fan, accompanied by Wong Jing, told Wing Sing about the idea and plot of the special edition, the Heung brothers considered it briefly and agreed on the spot.

Of course, this wasn't because the Xiang brothers were easy to talk to; it was simply that Chen Shufen had done her job well, adopted a humble attitude, and given Yongsheng a lot of face.

One of their methods was to contact the South Korean distributor in advance—that is, the South Korean subsidiary of Crescent Cinemas—and pay a high price to acquire the South Korean screening rights for "God of Gamblers II."

Secondly, the production team was given filming funds and additional compensation, and they did not participate in any box office revenue sharing. Although the production team wasted some time, they gained more benefits.

Of course, most importantly, Chen Shufen's Hengxing Entertainment is backed by the Yunshang Group, and the Xiang brothers would not easily refuse such a mutually beneficial cooperation.

……

The Bentley drove along, picking up Florence Chan along the way, and soon arrived at the filming location of the hillside villa in the movie.

Before the Bentley even got close, several film crew vehicles were already parked on the road in front of the villa. To avoid disrupting filming, Hideki Hanyu parked his car some distance away and walked towards the villa where the scenes were being filmed.

While walking, Hideki Hanyu casually asked Florence Chan, "Is this Lee Young-ae's first scene?"

Chan Suk-fan shook her head and replied, "No, her scenes have to be coordinated with the crew. Basically, she can only film whatever scenes the crew is shooting, if they include her scenes."

However, I heard from Director Wang that, apart from a few action scenes and the final South Korean ending, Lee Young-ae's scenes have basically all been filmed.

Hideki Hanyu said, "It seems that this movie will be wrapped up soon."

Chan Suk-fan replied, "Yes, I estimate that filming will definitely wrap up before the end of the month."

After all, the screening schedule in Asian cinemas has been confirmed; it will be released in the second week of December this year. If filming doesn't wrap up soon, there won't be enough time for post-production.

Upon hearing this, Hideki Hanyu thought to himself that it was already October 19th, and including filming and post-production, it had taken less than two months.

It's often said that Hong Kong films have a very efficient shooting schedule, and it seems that's certainly true.

If even a blockbuster like "God of Gamblers II," which grossed over 40 million at the Hong Kong box office in its original timeline, had such a production cycle, one can only imagine how long it would take for other smaller productions.

As the two were talking, they had already reached the outside of the villa.

As soon as I got there, I saw the film crew shooting a video of two people dressed in black squatting at the entrance.

Hideki Hanyu, who is familiar with the plot, doesn't need to look closely to know that it's Stephen Chow and Uncle Da.

Looking back at another timeline, when he traveled there, Uncle Da had already passed away, and Stephen Chow had long since disappeared from the big screen.

But at this moment, he saw the two of them squatting in front of him, reciting their lines in Cantonese. One was young and the other was perfectly matched.

Especially when he saw the blood pack buried under Uncle Da's clothes explode, and Uncle Da pointed at his arm and talked to Stephen Chow in a funny way, the memories and reality overlapped, and he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Crack!"

With an annoyed voice ringing out, unsurprisingly, the play, which was about to end, was abruptly canceled because of Hideki Hanyu's laughter.

Then Hideki Yuzuru saw a fat man wearing sunglasses running over from not far away, looking at Chen Shufen with a depressed expression, and complaining.

"Mrs. Chen, I'm begging you, even if you want to visit the set, it's too much trouble..."

Needless to say, this fat man is none other than director Wong Jing.

However, Wang Jing's complaints were interrupted by a voice after only two sentences.

"Director Wang, let's continue filming. I'll take care of Mrs. Chen."

Along with the sound, a man in sportswear walked over.

The man was none other than one of the bosses of Yong Sheng, and also Xiang Qiang, who played the role of Xiang Qiang in the movie "God of Gamblers II".

As the other person approached, he immediately smiled and spoke to Hideki Yuzuru.

"I am sorry for not being able to greet you properly, Mr. Yuzuru."

Hideki Hanyu extended his hand and shook hands with the other person, saying politely.

"Mr. Xiang, you're too kind. I'm sorry for bothering you and for accidentally affecting the filming. I should be the one apologizing."

"It's just a small thing. How can there be no accidents while filming?" Xiang Qiang said nonchalantly.

After all, given Hideki Hanyu's status, what does it matter if it only affects filming?

If he wanted, he could ask Xiang Qiang to suspend the filming.

Of course, Hideki Hanyu would never do that.

At this point, Xiang Qiang deliberately asked Chen Shufen, "Mrs. Chen brought Mr. Yuzuru to visit the set today. Didn't you give us a heads-up so we could make some preparations?"

Xiang Qiang said this simply because he wanted to know from Chen Shufen what Hideki Yuzuru's purpose was in visiting the film set today.

Chen Shufen understood the implication and immediately said, "When Mr. Yuzuru heard me report on my work, he learned that Hengxing Entertainment had signed actors in South Korea and was also working with Yongsheng on a film, so he decided to come and take a look. I had no idea about it beforehand."

Chen Shufen's words were half true and half false; she clearly didn't want to tell Xiang Qiang the truth.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Qiang immediately said to Hideki Yuzuru, "So Mr. Yuzuru's visit to the set was for Ms. Lee from South Korea. I thought it was for Ms. Zhang Min. I was just about to tell you that Ms. Zhang has no scenes to film here."

As he spoke, Xiang Qiang pointed into the villa, "Miss Li is currently rehearsing with the martial arts instructor. After this scene is finished, we'll be filming Miss Li's action scenes next."

Hideki Hanyu said, "Really? Then can I watch from the sidelines later?"

Xiang Qiang joked, "Of course, no problem. Mr. Yuzuru can direct it himself if he wants."

Upon hearing the word "director," Wong Jing, who was preparing for filming in the distance, immediately turned around and gave Hideki Hanyu a fawning smile.

At this point, Wong Jing had already recognized Hideki Hanyu as a big shot.

After all, it would be hard for Wong Jing not to recognize someone as handsome as him, and for Heung Keung to treat him with such courtesy and personal respect.

Of course, Wong Jing wasn't the only one who recognized Hideki Hanyu on set. Actors and crew members all curiously glanced at this big shot and couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

Hideki Yuzuru didn't care about the reactions of the crowd. He simply nodded slightly to Wong Jing, making the other party feel flattered. In order not to affect the filming, he and Xiang Qiang simply went to the other side to chat.

All the two of them could talk about was things related to the Hong Kong film industry.

Also, please inquire about Zhang Min's current situation at Yongsheng and how his career is progressing.

Although he was actually quite curious about the underworld affairs in Hong Kong.

Not long after, the reshoots of Stephen Chow and Ng Man-tat's scenes were completed.

At Wong Jing's signal, the entire crew moved into the house.

Because he had to participate in the filming, Xiang Qiang had to say goodbye to Hideki Hanyu and start communicating with the director and action choreographer.

After Hideki Hanyu followed the film crew into the villa, he soon saw Lee Young-ae rehearsing her moves with Andy Lau and other actors.

The girl was wearing sneakers, jeans, a T-shirt, and a sports jacket. Her long hair was tied into a neat ponytail at the back of her head.

At this moment, Lee Young-ae was no longer the innocent and lovely girl I remembered. Her heroic and dashing appearance was exactly like that of a female action star in Hong Kong movies.

(End of this chapter)