Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 929 is so awkward!
The Peninsula Hotel has always been a gathering place for Hong Kong's high society elites, and since its opening, it has hosted countless glamorous events.

But a banquet with so many stars as tonight is truly rare.

Even seasoned hotel staff can't resist gathering together to count stars during their free time.

"Wow, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Michael Hui, Sam Hui, Paul Chun, Adam Cheng, Damian Lau, Patrick Tse, Wu Fung, Lui Kei, Kenneth Tsang, and the seven Shaw Brothers princesses Fung So-bo, Shum Chi-wah, Connie Chan, Josephine Siao, Nancy Sit, Wong Oi-ming, and Fung Bo-bo have all gathered. Is it Shaw Brothers' home turf today?"

"All you know is Feng Baobao. Didn't you see that the three princesses of Great Wall are all here? Even my idol Xia Meng is here. Shaw Brothers has always been at odds with Zuo's film company, but they've all gathered together today. It's unbelievable."

"What's the big deal? The company my idol collaborates with is definitely extraordinary."

"Your idol? Jackie Chan or Jin Yong?"

"Jin Yong is so outdated. My idol now is Chen Fan. Except for the fact that he publishes his books a little slowly, he has no other flaws. It's ridiculous that there isn't a third part of Saint Seiya yet. I'm getting old waiting for it."

"Then go find Ms. Zhou, the boss of Qianfan Company, later and ask her when Chen Fan will release his new book. Maybe there will be a surprise."

"Pah, why don't you go yourself? You only know how to use me as a weapon. What if you get fired? It's hard to find a job these days."

The waiters chirped crickets in the corner, and the guests who had arrived chatted with acquaintances.

Wearing sunglasses and holding a wine glass, Xie Xian clinked glasses with several acquaintances before walking up to Zeng Jiang. Looking at the others in the banquet hall, he whispered, "What's going on today? Inviting film company bosses and stars is one thing, inviting directors is understandable, but inviting screenwriters, cinematographers, art directors, lighting technicians, sound engineers, and editors... Is this Qianfan Company planning to establish itself in Hong Kong? Is this party just a way to poach talent?"

They were all under the Shaw Brothers company. Shaw Brothers had "Seven Princesses," and some busybodies referred to the seven leading actors, including Patrick Tse, Hu Fung, Lui Kei, and Kenneth Tsang, as the "Seven Prince Consorts."

However, after this name was announced, it was met with strong opposition from the Seventh Princess, who felt it was an attempt to take advantage of the situation, and ultimately the group failed to form.

This actually brought the seven people closer together, and they usually get along quite well.

Zeng Jiang swirled his wine glass, shrugged, and said, "I don't know, I just arrived a few minutes earlier than you."

He suddenly patted Xie Xian's arm and said, "Have you noticed how strange it is today? People are coming in waves. Sometimes no one comes for a long time, and sometimes a large group comes at once."

Then, the actors, stars, and master craftsmen who worked behind the scenes arrived very early, and many company executives also came, but the boss was nowhere to be seen.

At this point, he suddenly looked towards the entrance of the banquet hall, "Oh, Uncle Six is ​​here, and he brought half of the senior executives from Shaw Brothers and TVB with him. He's making quite a show of force."

When the boss arrived, they naturally went over to greet him. They exchanged glances, quickly found a few old friends in the crowd, and then moved closer to Uncle Shao.

Fang Hongchang, the vice president of Qianfan Company in charge of the reception, stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, warmly shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with Uncle Shao, and invited him inside.

Then they were greeted by Liao Yiyuan from Xinlian Company, Fu Qi from Great Wall Company, Chen Jingbo from Phoenix Film Company, and others.

This made the banquet hall even more lively.

But the real peak didn't arrive until two minutes later.

When Mrs. Zhang of the Freedom Association followed closely behind a middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit and appeared in front of the banquet hall with a big smile, the entire banquet hall quickly fell silent.

Some say that the biggest cancer in the Hong Kong film industry is the triads, who force people to make movies and don't pay them, etc. But compared to that, the triads are just like village bullies. The real bully and tyrant is this "Freedom Association".

The full name of the Freedom Association is the "Hong Kong and Kowloon Film and Drama Freedom Association". In name, it is a non-governmental union in the film and drama industry, but in reality, it is an external organization of the Taiwan Affairs Office. Its main cadres are appointed by the Taiwan Affairs Office, and its task is to strictly control the stance of Hong Kong film and entertainment companies.

They are also the real rivals of companies like Great Wall Motors.

Generally speaking, other film companies are not good enough to be rivals of the left-wing film companies. They are only classified as right-wing because they gravitate towards the Liberty Council for the sake of box office revenue.

In fact, they also became tools of the Freedom General Association.

The left team made a film called "Shaolin Temple" to promote traditional culture, while the Freedom Association made a film called "Exotic Land" to praise the "reconstruction" of the Thai-Myanmar highway.

You organize Hong Kong stars to celebrate someone's birthday, and I'll gather patriotic artists to visit our beautiful country.

In short, there is always give and take; no matter which side makes a move, the other side will definitely respond.

And this Mrs. Zhang is the head of the Freedom Association.

It has been almost an hour since the first group of guests arrived, and everyone already knows what they need to know.

The owner of Qianfan Company is related to Chen Fan, who is from the mainland, blah blah blah blah...

Then, just as everyone was gossiping, Mrs. Cheung, the president of the Hong Kong Freedom Association representing Taiwan, suddenly appeared here, and... who was the person in front of her?
Most people don't recognize it, but some do.

Uncle Shao remained calm and strode over, just in time to see Fang Hongchang shaking hands with the middle-aged man. "It's rare for Deputy Director Song to come to Hong Kong in person. Welcome, welcome."

As for Mrs. Zhang, despite her imposing presence in front of numerous Hong Kong film company bosses, she could only stand aside with a smile, not even qualified to shake hands.

Deputy Director Song held Fang Hongchang's hand with a smile and a calm demeanor, ignoring Uncle Shao who was right in front of him, as well as Liao Yiyuan, Fu Qi, Chen Jingbo, and others not far away. He said calmly, "Qianfan Group is a world-renowned company that operates in news publishing and media culture. Moreover, it is Chinese capital. Now that it wants to return to Asia and enter the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets, I must come to offer my congratulations."

We hope that Qianfan Group will continue its rapid growth in the Asian market, just as it has in Europe and America, and make outstanding contributions to cultural exchange between China and the West.

Smiling on the surface, cursing under their breath.

I came all the way from the island to Hong Kong to congratulate a branch company on its opening. Where is my face?
Deputy Director Song silently comforted himself, thankfully this anger wasn't for nothing. He was already 80-90% sure he'd become the next director, and after today's ordeal, his position should be secure.

Fang Hongchang, a seasoned veteran, said with a smile, "Thanks to Mr. Jiang and Deputy Director Song's good fortune, our Qianfan Company will certainly live up to expectations and do our part in spreading Chinese culture."

After saying that, he let go of their hands and stepped aside to invite them inside.

Only then did Uncle Shao step forward to greet Deputy Director Song.

The arrival of Deputy Director Song and Mrs. Zhang was like a switch being flipped; within just five or six minutes, numerous film company owners, executives, and stars, including Lei Juekun, Raymond Chow, Robert Ho, Leung Fung, Karl Maka, Dean Shek, Raymond Wong, Yuen Lung, and Yuen Lou, arrived.

The number of people who arrived in the last few minutes may be negligible, but their significance is comparable to all those who arrived before. Normally, with Deputy Director Song and Madam Zhang present, they would have been surrounded by people fawning over them, especially Deputy Director Song, who was a true god whom everyone could only dream of seeing. Since he was personally attending the banquet today, wouldn't they hurry to curry favor with him?

But the scene today had a rather strange feel to it.

It wasn't that no one was praising them, but rather that only a few film company bosses were present, while the others were scattered and somewhat lost.

There was nothing we could do; Liao Yiyuan, Fu Qi, and Chen Jingbo were all there too.

As I said before, the north, which had been quiet for the past two or three decades, suddenly announced that it wanted to resolve the issue of taking it back. Who wouldn't take that seriously?
If the other party were not present, they would certainly be happy to step forward and curry favor, and even writing a letter of surrender would not be a problem.

But when both sides are present, who should you try to please?

How embarrassing.

In a lounge in a corner of the banquet hall, Zhou Yali watched the scene outside through closed-circuit television. Seeing this, she couldn't help but curl her lips and say, "These people are nothing special. They're all just sycophants."

Zhao Wanru glared at her and said irritably, "Xiao Fan is right. I think you've had enough of the good life and you've gotten too cocky. I'd like to put you in their position and see if you'd still stand up for yourself."

Zhou Yali raised her head defiantly, "That's true. Look at the people from Great Wall, Phoenix, and Xinlian companies, aren't they very ambitious..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Wanru shook her head angrily, "They have the backing of the mainland, and that's when they have problems."

Suddenly, she looked up and covered her forehead, "Oh my god, I can't take it anymore, this girl is going to drive me crazy."

Zhou Yali quickly moved closer, took her mother's arm, and chuckled, "Your mom is my grandma. Grandma loves me so much, she won't be angry."

Zhao Wanru glared at her. "You're going to the mainland tomorrow. Anyway, you've finished all your coursework. The last year is mainly for practical work. You just need to write your graduation thesis and pass the defense. If you don't completely change this time, you can stay in the mainland and keep Xiao Fan company."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yali's face lit up with joy, "Really?"

It just so happens that she doesn't want to stay in the United States anymore. It's so much better in the mainland. Xiao Fan is a great cook and can write wonderful novels. She also has the obedient Lili and the clever Tiantian to keep her company. She could play there for as long as she wanted without getting tired of it.

Zhao Wanru was furious and gritted her teeth, about to explode, but the next second, she actually held back and smiled slightly, "I will make it clear to Xiaofan that you must correct your bad habits, otherwise I will not let you eat good food and you will have to eat steamed buns every day."

Zhou Yali was instantly stunned. "You're really my mother, you don't have to be so cruel!"

Zhao Wanru snorted, "You should be secretly happy that Xiao Fan is personally teaching you."

He then tapped the 12-inch monitor screen with his chin and said softly, "See? Only after Deputy Director Song arrived did the others dare to come in. If it weren't for Xiao Fan's suggestion to send them invitations through the Taiwan office, I'm afraid many people wouldn't have come to today's banquet."

Zhou Yali pouted and muttered softly: If they don't want to come, they don't want to come. Who cares?

Zhao Wanru glared at her, "What did you say?"

Zhou Yali's expression immediately turned serious. "Mom, now that almost everyone's here, shouldn't we head out?"

Zhao Wanru snorted coldly, "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Let me tell you, even if you're the chairman and I'm the president, you still have to listen to me, unless I die one day, or you dare not call me 'Mom'."

After saying that, he stood up, walked arrogantly to the front door, paused for two seconds, turned around and glared angrily, "What are you waiting for? Open the door!"

Zhou Yali shuddered, quickly walked over, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled the door open, smiling obsequiously, "President Madam, please!"

Zhao Wanru raised her neck, and the next second, a smile that was seven parts amiable and three parts arrogant appeared on her face as she slowly walked out.

Zhou Yali made a few funny faces behind her, then quickly adjusted her expression and followed her into the banquet hall.

……

The moment the two appeared, they broke the eerie atmosphere in the banquet hall.

Everyone was looking at them, but each had their own thoughts.

For example, filmmakers who do post-production work such as photography, art direction, and editing are the most relaxed. They don't care about the left or right teams. As long as Hong Kong continues to make movies, it can't do without them.

From the time Hong Kong started having film companies until now, almost no one has ever paid attention to them. Even screenwriters, who are crucial to the foundation of film, are nothing more than tools in the eyes of many film company bosses. They can only find a sense of presence by talking to the actors when filming.

It's truly unprecedented that I've been invited to this banquet today.

It has to be said that these two beautiful women are indeed big spenders and big spenders who have returned from the United States. Their perspective is just different. No matter what is to be announced later, as long as it does not infringe on their interests, they must stand on their side.

Besides them, there were only a few others who knew the inside story, such as Liao Yiyuan and Fu Qi. The others were somewhat uneasy.

You, a dragon crossing the river, actually managed to bring together the big shots from both the left and right teams. What are you trying to do?

Don't mess with me, boss!

If it's just a collaboration on a film, that's fine, but if it breaks up the team and insists on giving everyone some excitement, then people might die!

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhao Wanru, accompanied by Zhou Yali, calmly greeted the guests one by one.

The order in which she greeted people was quite interesting. First, she greeted Deputy Director Song and Mrs. Zhang, then shook hands with Liao Yiyuan and a few others, and only then did she greet film industry bigwigs such as Uncle Shao and Lei Juekun.

As for Raymond Chow, Karl Maka, and others, they all shook hands and greeted each other.

There are over a hundred people present today, so it's impossible for her to take care of them all.

After exchanging pleasantries with the main guests, Zhao Wanru, led by a hostess, walked onto the stage, stood in front of a microphone, and waited for the room to quiet down before softly smiling and saying, "First of all, on behalf of Qianfan Group, I would like to extend a welcome to everyone..."

After a string of rambling, she finally got to the point, "I invited everyone here today not only because Qianfan Company is new to the area and I want to extend my greetings, but also because I have a few suggestions I'd like to discuss with you all. That is..."

(End of this chapter)