1990: Starting from Baojia Street

"You need to give us two more tickets."

Backstage at the concert hall, Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng in and reached out to Zhou Yan to ask for tickets.

Zhou Yan was cleaning his flute. When he heard Yu Hua's words, he asked curiously, "What ticket do you want to make up?"

Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "Today we went to the art museum and met Mr. Wu Guanzhong. He was very happy to see us and we chatted for a long time. He talked about you and he was very interested in your concert."

At this point, Shi Tiesheng pointed at Yu Hua and said, "This guy is quite a good person. When he heard that Mr. Wu was interested in your concert, he directly offered to give our tickets to Mr. Wu and his wife."

Yu Hua smiled and said, "I know that if you were here, you would definitely give out tickets, so I gave them to you."

Zhou Yan nodded. "There's nothing wrong with giving away tickets. If I were here, I would definitely give them away. You're helping me."

"Let me tell you, we delivered the ticket to him and he even wanted to thank us."

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I can't buy a new ticket. You all know how tight the tickets are today. Even if you wanted to reserve a ticket, you couldn't have kept it until now because the tickets will be checked soon. So, there are no tickets left now." Zhou Yan shrugged with a smile.

"Ah? It's really gone. You didn't lie to us, did you?"

"It's really gone. Why don't you go check at the door now? I heard there are people scalping tickets outside. Just add some money and you'll be fine."

Yu Hua curled his lips and said, "Forget it, let's just listen to it backstage. We should be able to hear it here too."

Zhou Yan laughed, "I only said that I don't have any tickets to give you, I didn't say you can't go to the front to listen."

"You have to have a seat in the front."

"There are seats available. They added a few barrier-free seats in the front row of this concert hall. Tie Sheng was originally going to go there. Whether you have a ticket or not, the seats are there."

"He has somewhere to go, but what about me?" Yu Hua asked.

Shi Tiesheng smiled and said, "Otherwise, you can sit on my lap."

Yu Hua rolled his eyes, "Can your legs withstand me? I've gained weight recently."

"How about you sit in the wheelchair and I sit on your lap?"

"Can you tell me something reliable?"

"No need to do that. The concert hall not only has accessible seats, but also wheelchairs. I'll have someone get you a wheelchair and put it next to Tie Sheng's seat." Zhou Yan said.

"You want me to sit in a wheelchair?"

"What, you still dislike it?"

"I don't mind it, but I'm afraid that others will see me and say I'm taking up resources for people with disabilities. Wouldn't that mean I'm just being blamed?"

Zhou Yan looked at Yu Hua's legs with a smile, "Otherwise..."

Yu Hua pulled his legs back and said, "Forget it, I'll do as you say. How about an accessible location? It shouldn't be too far away."

"Everything arranged for you is in front."

"That's good. Do we need tickets to go in later?"

"What ticket do you need? Aren't you already backstage? Just go directly from backstage." Zhou Yan curled his lips.

Yu Hua patted his head and said, "Yeah, that's right."

Seeing that he was dazed, Zhou Yan shook his head and then asked, "How was the event at the art museum this afternoon?"

"Very good." Yu Hua nodded. "I didn't expect that Wu Guanzhong is so popular among young people in Hong Kong. The art gallery is so small, but it was packed with people who came to see the paintings. The atmosphere was very lively, and Wu Guanzhong even painted a picture on the spot."

"What did you draw?" Zhou Yan asked curiously.

"I drew a picture of Victoria Harbour and named it Victoria Harbour Part Two. I think I had drawn Part One before. Watching Mr. Wu draw, it seemed very simple. At first, the strokes looked like scribblings, and there was no pattern. Later, I realized that we didn't see the pattern because our skills were not good enough. When he finished, the scenery of Victoria Harbour came alive on the paper."

Hearing Yu Hua say this, Zhou Yan felt a little regretful. He also wanted to see Wu Guanzhong painting live. If he knew that Wu Guanzhong would paint live, he would definitely take some time to go and see it.

“Why did Mr. Wu paint on the spot?”

Zhou Yan was a little confused about this. Painting in public was something that usually happened more often with fake masters, while real masters were not very willing to do it.

I have never heard of Wu Guanzhong painting in public before.

Yu Hua smiled and said, "I actually asked that Deputy Director Situ about this. When they first invited Mr. Wu to come, they suggested that he paint in public, but Mr. Wu disagreed. Later, Director Situ persuaded Mr. Wu that this was not a show, but a promotion for the painting industry. Through this form, young people in Hong Kong who like Mr. Wu can get closer to art."

Zhou Yan smiled. It seemed that Mr. Wu had a good impression of Hong Kong. Director Situ was able to convince Mr. Wu to paint in public. This was the basis.

"When will Mr. Wu and others arrive?" Zhou Yan asked again.

Yu Hua shrugged. "Who knows? Anyway, the art museum is not far from here, they should just come over. When we came here just now, it was very lively outside, and many stars were walking on the red carpet. Why is there always a red carpet wherever you hold a concert?"

"There was one in the first game, but not in the rest." Zhou Yan looked Yu Hua up and down, "Why didn't you two go up there and take a look just now?"

"I'm not ready today. Let's talk about it next time. Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. Let's go to the front."

After saying that, Yu Hua pushed Shi Tiesheng to the front.

Not long after the two of them left, Zhang Manyu walked in with a smile on her face.

"Ayan, congratulations."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "It's just a concert, is it worth congratulating?"

"I didn't talk about the concert. I was talking about the box office of Time Traveler. I read the news today and it said that the number of moviegoers has already ranked third and is expected to become the second."

"Are you watching today's news?"

"Yes what's the matter."

"This news came out a few days ago, but you just saw it now."

"Oh, it seems that I am too late, but I still want to tell you congratulations. Next time you want to make a new movie, please consider me. Otherwise, I can work with Xiaoxian again."

Zhou Yan half-jokingly asked, "Are you still willing to be a supporting role for Xiaoxian?"

"Why not? As long as the role can attract me, I would be willing to play a supporting role for anyone, not to mention you, Xiaoxian." Zhang Manyu said with a smile.

Zhou Yan did not doubt the truth of Zhang Manyu's words. Although Zhang Manyu has a variety of images in the movies, in reality she always gives people the impression of being innocent and even a little silly. There are many kinds of people who are born to act, and Zhang Manyu is a special one among them.

Many people who are born to act can actually do well in other things.

In other words, they are good at acting because they are smart.

Zhang Manyu is also a natural actor, but she is different from those people because if she doesn’t act, she probably won’t achieve much by doing other things.

In the drama, Zhang Manyu handles various roles with ease, but in real life, she is often flustered when dealing with interpersonal relationships.

When I was filming, my mind worked very quickly and I understood things immediately, but in real life I was confused and couldn't understand many simple things.

Zhang Manyu is definitely a top-tier actress in Hong Kong today.

If a director wants to achieve box office success, there will be many choices. Zhang Manyu's advantage is not very obvious among the top actresses. This can be seen from her pay. There are several actresses in Hong Kong who have higher pay than Zhang Manyu.

But if a director wants to achieve success in winning awards, the first choice must be Zhang Manyu, because Zhang Manyu is so favored by major awards.

When she just debuted in 85, she was nominated for the Best New Performer Award, which got a good start for her subsequent acting career.

Then a few years later, she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress for "Innocent".

In the same year, she was nominated for the Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role in "As Tears Go By".

The following year, she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Red Dust.

Then in the same year, she won the Best Actress Award at the Academy Awards for "The Man Who Never Takes Off His Socks".

In the same year, she won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Golden Horse Awards and the Best Actress Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, making history.

Later, "Ruan Lingyu" became a huge hit and won her numerous awards. Not only did she win the Best Actress awards at the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards, she also won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival, becoming an international film queen.

This year, "Comrades: Almost a Love Story" swept the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Bauhinia Awards, and Zhang Manyu won two more Best Actress awards.

It is worth mentioning that Zhou Yan won two Best Original Music Awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Purple Flower Awards for "Sweet Honey".

The soundtrack of "Sweet Honey" was made by Zhou Yan's studio, but Zhou Yan did not interfere. It was all done by Li Tao and his team, but Zhou Yan's name was also on it.

Whether it was the Hong Kong Film Awards or the Golden Bauhinia Awards, Zhou Yan's name was put together with Li Tao's name, which meant that the Best Original Music award was given to both of them.

They also invited Zhou Yan to attend the award ceremony, but Zhou Yan did not go.

Not to mention that Zhou Yan doesn't have time to attend, even if he had time, he wouldn't go. This award should have belonged to Li Tao, and there was no need for him to go and steal Li Tao's limelight.

The Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Bauhinia Awards actually also want to take advantage of Zhou Yan's popularity. As long as Zhou Yan is mentioned, there will even be publicity for the Best Original Music Award.

And this time the blackmail was reasonable and open. No matter what, Zhou Yan's name did appear in the music director column of "Sweet Honey" together with Li Tao.

"Comrades: Almost a Love Story" ranked second in the list of the top ten best films of the year selected by Time magazine.

If nothing unexpected happens, "Comrades: Almost a Love Story" should have a very good chance of winning the Best Actress award at the Golden Horse Awards.

If "Comrades: Almost a Love Story" wins the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress again, it will be the second time that Zhang Manyu has won both the Golden Horse Award and the Hong Kong Film Award. If the time she won the Best Supporting Actress award is counted, it will be the third time.

In addition, "The Soong Sisters", which will be released in May, will win numerous awards as expected.

If "The Soong Sisters" can win the Best Actress award at the Academy Awards next year, it will be Zhang Manyu's fourth time to win this award.

The 17th Academy Awards will not be held until next year, and Zhang Manyu alone has won a quarter of the Best Actress awards.

If we count from the time when Zhang Manyu debuted, from 85 to next year, nearly one-third of the best actress awards of the year went to Zhang Manyu.

It can be said that over the past decade, Zhang Manyu has had absolute dominance in the Academy Awards.

Her dominance at the Golden Horse Awards is also strong. So far, Zhang Manyu is the actress who has won the Golden Horse Best Actress award the most times.

In other words, she is the actress who has won the Best Actress awards the most times at both the Golden Horse Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards.

So, when the director wanted to win an award, the first actress he thought of was Zhang Manyu.

Although Zhou Yan does not value these awards, he would like to work with actors like Zhang Manyu if there is a chance.

As for letting Zhang Manyu play a supporting role for Joey Wong, Zhou Yan just said it casually and it is highly unlikely that this will happen.

Unless the script is particularly suitable for both of them, otherwise, forcing Zhang Manyu to play a supporting role for Joey Wong would not be a good thing for Joey Wong.

Zhou Yan must have lost his mind to do such a stupid thing.

"You are so successful now, and you just won the Best Actress Award at the Academy Awards. Are you still worried that no one will ask you to act in a movie?"

"There are quite a lot of plays, but good scripts are not that easy to find. I can feel that there are fewer and fewer good scripts in the past two years." Maggie Cheung sighed slightly.

In fact, most of the scripts she got were not bad, because the scripts that came into her hands had basically gone through a round of screening, and the bad ones would definitely be passed.

The ones that can stay either have a good script, a good director, a strong cast, or a very high pay, at least one or two of these.

Looking at these scripts now, Zhang Manyu can feel that she will be filming fewer dramas in the next few years.

Zhou Yan smiled. In fact, it’s not that there are fewer good scripts, but that the overall number of scripts has decreased.

There may have been a hundred scripts released every year on the market, five of which were high-quality. But now that the market is sluggish, the number of scripts released has been halved, from one hundred to fifty. Naturally, there are only two or three high-quality scripts left, or even fewer.

Because the scripts Zhang Manyu received had all been screened, she only felt that the quality of the scripts had deteriorated, but she didn't realize that the overall number had decreased sharply.

Even an actress of Zhang Manyu's level is worried about not having any movies to shoot, so you can imagine how bad the film market in Hong Kong is now.

Moreover, the main reason why Zhang Manyu wants to cooperate with Zhou Yan is that at her current level, what she wants can no longer be satisfied by the small Hong Kong.

She hopes to have more performance in foreign markets. Although she has won the Best Actress Award at the Berlin Film Festival, her popularity abroad has not really increased.

Now she has neither made a big splash at major international film festivals like Gong Li, nor has she proven her commercial viability internationally like Joey Wong.

If she wants to achieve her next goal, it would be most appropriate to cooperate with Zhou Yan.

Now, as long as it is Zhou Yan's movie, not to mention Europe and the United States, at least it is very stable in Asia.

Especially Neon, it feels like Zhou Yan's base camp. (End of this chapter)