1990: Starting from Baojia Street

After receiving the call from Han Sanping, Zhou Yan received calls from several other people, all of whom called to congratulate him.

What Zhou Yan most didn’t expect was a call from Stephen Chow.

Zhou Yan didn't have much contact with Stephen Chow, but the two had a pretty good relationship.

As for Stephen Chow, he has character flaws, and they are very obvious, but his strengths are also obvious. If both parties can get along well at work, it would be very comfortable.

At least Stephen Chow is very goal-oriented in everything he does and is very persistent in his goals.

From a career perspective, this is obviously an advantage.

Although they have a good relationship, Stephen Chow seldom calls Zhou Yan. Of course, Zhou Yan basically doesn't call Stephen Chow either. The two haven't been in touch for a long time.

Therefore, Zhou Yan was quite surprised when Stephen Chow suddenly called to congratulate him.

Stephen Chow has not had a bad time in the past two years. Although the box office performance of "A Chinese Odyssey" was a mess, which directly caused the company he co-founded to go bankrupt, at the beginning of the second year, "Forbidden City Cop" which he wrote, directed and starred in achieved quite good results.

"Forbidden City Cop" grossed over 36 million in Hong Kong, ranking third on the list of Hong Kong's popular films last year.

The second place on this list is "The God of Cookery" starring him, which has a box office of over 40 million.

The two movies were released, one at the beginning of the year and the other at the end of the year, and both were very good at the box office and in terms of word of mouth.

Not long after, at the beginning of this year, "All's Well, Ends Well 97" was released, and the box office also exceeded million.

In a few months, he will have another movie called "The God of Cookery" to be released.

So, despite the Waterloo of "A Chinese Odyssey", Stephen Chow's commercial popularity is still in the first tier.

In the whole of Hong Kong, even Jackie Chan, who has boarded the Hollywood bus, cannot be said to be superior to Stephen Chow.

"Some directors in Hong Kong may not be able to make a living in the future."

In the middle of the conversation, Stephen Chow suddenly said this with a smile.

Zhou Yan also laughed, "Master Xing, you are joking. I don't mean to steal anyone's job."

"I know you didn't mean to steal anyone's job, but in fact, you stole a lot of people's jobs. Haha, relax, I don't think this is a bad thing, at least it's better than having all your jobs taken away by those Hollywood companies."

Obviously, Stephen Chow has also observed that Hollywood has been growing rapidly in recent years and is about to take the whole world by storm, and it seems that Hong Kong will not be immune to it.

The Hollywood movies that will be released in Hong Kong this year all have great potential. The currently released "Jurassic Park 2" was about to replicate the performance of its predecessor "Jurassic Park". Fortunately, "A Time Traveler" suddenly appeared and blocked it.

This is just the beginning. In the future, Hollywood movies will flood into Hong Kong like a tide, and the living space of local films will be slowly squeezed.

If local films do not sell well, investors' enthusiasm will decline, film and television workers will have fewer job opportunities, and the entire industry will shrink. This is something that anyone with a discerning eye can see.

Therefore, these top stars now either develop towards the mainland or towards Hollywood, trying not to be trapped in the Hong Kong market.

If anyone doesn't get out in the end, the only outcome is death.

In fact, in addition to the impact from Hollywood, Hong Kong films have also been severely impacted by mainland films.

In the past few years, Hong Kong films have dominated the commercial market and Hong Kong actors are very well-known in mainland China.

However, as the mainland's film industry develops, Hong Kong films will fall into a very embarrassing position. They have no way to go international, nor can they maintain their previous dominant position in the mainland.

In addition to the mainland, they will slowly lose the market in Taiwan.

In fact, the market share of Hong Kong films in Taiwan has been gradually shrinking since a few years ago.

But judging from Stephen Chow's tone, he seemed quite relaxed.

On the one hand, although Stephen Chow is very stubborn about his work, he is very open-minded in this regard. On the other hand, movies like "Jurassic Park" and "Time Traveler" have relatively little impact on him.

The people who will be affected first are other directors in Hong Kong.

"It doesn't matter. The mainland market still has great potential. Hong Kong's outstanding film talents can consider developing in the mainland as soon as possible and work together to expand the mainland market." Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"It's not that easy." Zhou Xingchi didn't say why it was not that easy, but changed the subject and asked, "When will you come to Hong Kong? I will treat you to a meal."

"The Ministry of Culture will have some activities in July, and our orchestra will go to Hong Kong for a performance. I will go there then."

"July, no problem. See you in Hong Kong then."

"Well, see you in Xiangjiang."

……

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan was still a little confused. He didn't understand the real intention of Stephen Chow's call. Was it just to congratulate him?
In fact, when Zhou Yan first received the call, he wondered whether Stephen Chow would mention "A Chinese Odyssey".

Recently, pirated discs of "A Chinese Odyssey" have been selling particularly well in mainland China.

How good is it?

Let’s put it this way, the three best-selling movies in the entire pirated market right now are "Time Traveler", "A Chinese Odyssey Part 2 and ", and "Jurassic Park : The Lost World".

The reason why "Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World" ranked third is that there is no Mandarin version of this movie yet, and the pirated versions that have come out are only English and Cantonese versions, which mainland audiences are not very interested in.

Judging from this ranking, "A Chinese Odyssey" is indeed very popular. After all, "Time Traveler" was released just a few months ago, and the box office at that time exceeded 80 million RMB.

Zhou Yan was wondering how Stephen Chow would feel if he knew the current situation of "A Chinese Odyssey".

Happiness, atmosphere, annoyance, regret?

Stephen Chow paid a lot for "A Chinese Odyssey", but in the end he was severely poured a bucket of cold water.

For Stephen Chow, "A Chinese Odyssey" can be said to be an important turning point, and it is no exaggeration to say that it was a Waterloo.

If "A Chinese Odyssey" had performed better at the time, Stephen Chow's situation would be different now.

It doesn't have to be much better. As long as the combined box office of the two movies in mainland China and Hong Kong exceeds 100 million RMB, Stephen Chow will take a different path.

Although Stephen Chow seems to be doing well now, with two consecutive years of box office hits, his position in these movies and what he wants to express are different now.

To some extent, his creations in recent years have been constrained. This constraint may be imposed by others or by himself.

From a creator's perspective, Stephen Chow should be happy to know that "A Chinese Odyssey" has been brought up again and is loved by people, because what he wants to express is recognized by more people.

But from a business perspective, these things have nothing to do with him anymore.

The copyrights of "A Chinese Odyssey" Part 1 and Part 2 had already been bought by Zhou Yan. When Zhou Yan bought the copyrights of these two films, Stephen Chow and his team were grateful. After all, Zhou Yan's bid was not low, and it also helped Stephen Chow and his team solve some problems.

But in this situation, will Stephen Chow still be grateful to Zhou Yan?
Zhou Yan didn't know the answer. Just now on the phone, Stephen Chow didn't mention "A Chinese Odyssey" from beginning to end.

……

At around four o'clock, Zhou Yan received another call from Joey Wong.

He originally thought that Joey Wong wanted to tell him about the screening of "Time Traveler" in Hong Kong, because Joey Wong would not call him at this time normally.

However, what he didn't expect was that Joey Wong actually asked him to help her give Fang Xiu a gift.

"How much do you think is appropriate?" asked Joey Wong.

After Fang Xiu told Zhou Yan about her marriage, Zhou Yan also told Wang Zuxian. Zhou Yan didn’t think much about it at the time. After all, Wang Zuxian knew Fang Xiu, so he just mentioned it casually.

Unexpectedly, Joey Wong took the matter to heart and called him to wish him well and help pack the gift money.

"Well, how about a two hundred bucks?"

"Isn't two hundred too little? I'm a big star after all. It would be embarrassing to tell others about it."

Zhou Yan curled his lips, now he felt like an idol.

However, what Wang Zuxian said does make sense, and this is also the difficulty in understanding why she gave Fang Xiu a gift. Wang Zuxian and Fang Xiu have a good relationship, but it is definitely not a particularly good one. It doesn't matter whether she gives Fang Xiu a gift or not.

But if you want to package it, the number is a bit difficult to determine.

Logically speaking, a hundred yuan is not a small amount of gift money for a wedding in mainland China, but two hundred yuan seems too little for Joey Wong.

Zhou Yan thought about it and said, "How about this, we both pay one thousand."

Wang Zuxian smiled and said, "No problem, just one thousand. Don't give too much, otherwise she will feel pressured to give a gift when we get married."

"Well, you're very thoughtful, but this is not a small amount. When we get married, she will have to pay back two thousand."

In fact, two thousand is not too much pressure for Fang Xiu. After all, Fang Xiu's average monthly salary is several thousand now, and she can definitely pay back this gift money.

"It's a pity that there are some things going on in Hong Kong these two days, otherwise I would go to attend Fang Xiu's wedding."

"It's right that you don't come. If you come today, won't you steal the spotlight from her as the bride? Everyone will go to see you instead of the bride."

"Tsk, you just flatter me."

"It's all true."

"I won't tell you anymore. Remember to give my blessing to Fang Xiu."

"Do not worry."

Then the two chatted for a few more words and hung up the phone.

About half an hour later, Shizuka Kudo and Akina Nakamori called again.

"If Mingcai hadn't reminded me that Fang Xiu is getting married today, I would have forgotten about it. Remember to help us prepare a wedding gift for her."

The so-called gift is the gift money.

Zhou Yan was a little suspicious whether they had any contact with Joey Wong. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the calls were only half an hour apart and they were both talking about the same thing.

"How much is the package?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Five thousand, maybe."

"Neon Coins?"

"What are you talking about? Of course it's RMB. If it's Neon Dollars, it's too little."

"You mean, you and Mingcai each gave Fang Xiu a gift of 5,000 RMB?"

"Well, is there a problem?"

"Too much."

"how?"

"Yeah, a lot."

"Then how much did you say?"

"One thousand, I'll give you one thousand too."

Joey Wong paid 1,000 yuan, and if Kudo Shizuka and the others paid 5,000 yuan, something strange might happen later, so Zhou Yan asked them to pay the same amount.

Kudo Shizuka thought for a moment and said, "Well, one thousand is one thousand, a wedding gift. We'll give it to her next time we go to Yanjing."

"Please say happy wedding to Fang Xiu for us." Akina Nakamori said from the side.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Okay, I will bring your blessings."

……

Half an hour later, Zhou Yan appeared in the lounge where the bride was.

There were quite a few people in the lounge at this moment, and some girls from the orchestra were chattering around the bride Fang Xiu.

Seeing Zhou Yan coming, the girls scattered away from Fang Xiu like sparrows.

"Teacher Zhou."

"Senior brother."

Zhou Yan nodded and asked Fang Xiu with a smile, "Are you nervous about getting married?"

Fang Xiu smiled and replied, "A little bit, but not as nervous as when we first went to Taiwan for a concert."

"That's because Sister Xiu, you haven't gone on stage yet. Things will be different once you go on stage." Li Biru said with a smile.

"I wasn't nervous at first, but what you guys said here made me a little nervous."

Zhou Yan said with a smile, "There are many concerts. If you fail once, you can come back next time. But for most people, weddings only come once. If you don't perform well, you won't have a chance to make up for it."

"It's over. Brother, after you said that, Sister Xiu must be even more nervous. Just now, Sister Xiu said that she was worried about mistakes and making a fool of herself."

"How can it be unforgettable without making some jokes? Scientific research has shown that human memory of happiness, joy, pain and sadness is very short and tends to fade with the passage of time, but the memory of embarrassment is very long and deep, and remains fresh no matter how long it has been." Zhou Yan smiled and gave them a little scientific knowledge.

"Brother, did you make this up yourself?"

"But it seems to make sense. Now that I think about it, the embarrassing things are the most memorable."

"Well, I broke my leg in my sophomore year of high school. Now I don't remember how much pain it was, but I went to the wrong men's restroom in my junior year of high school. Now I remember it clearly."

……

The girls chattered again. Zhou Yan took out a few red envelopes from his pocket and handed them to Fang Xiu. "This is the red envelope Wang Zuxian, Kudo Shizuka and Nakamori Akina asked me to give you. I won't go to the front to keep the account. I'll give it to you directly."

“How can this be good…”

"They asked me to wish you a happy wedding. This is just a token of their appreciation. Don't refuse."

After hearing what Zhou Yan said, Fang Xiu did not refuse anymore and took the red envelope with a smile, "If I have a chance, I must thank the sisters in person."

Zhou Yan nodded, "You take a rest, I'll go sit outside."

"Brother, walk slowly."

After Zhou Yan left, the group of girls started chattering again.

"Sister Xiaoxian, Sister Mingcai and Sister Shizuka also gave you a gift."

"So when they get married, will you go too, Sister Xiu?"

"Of course you have to go. If you don't go, how can you pay back the gift money?"

"They don't need this little gift money."

"Even if we don't need this little gift money, we still have to show courtesy."

"Hehe, if Sister Xiaoxian marries Senior Brother Zhou Yan, wouldn't that solve the problem?"

"Sister Xiaoxian's problem has been solved, what about Sister Shizuka and Sister Akina?"

"Yeah, it's a pity that there is only one Senior Brother Zhou Yan."

Fang Xiu rolled her eyes as they continued to talk nonsense. "Okay, stop talking nonsense. The ceremony is about to begin. Can you guys check if there is anything wrong with my clothes or headwear?" (End of this chapter)