The literary era since 1979

After asking about the relevant procedures for applying for the World Science Fiction Convention, Fang Yan and others drove from the New York Science Fiction Museum to the hotel.

Mike sat in the passenger seat, half turned around, and said excitedly:
"Teacher Fang, I think your Three-Body Problem is now a sure thing."

"How do you know?"

Fangyan gave a playful smile.

“When the Hugo Awards just ended, many newspaper reporters and science fiction magazine editors approached me.”

Mike spoke with a Beijing accent, saying that they were trying to get the "Dark Forest Theory" out of his mouth, either openly or secretly.

Fangyan asked: "Did you tell me?"

"How is that possible! Teacher Fang, you know me well. I am a very tight-lipped person!"

Mike made a zipper motion to his mouth. Although he did not reveal it to anyone, judging from the attitudes of the science fiction writers, editors of science fiction magazines, and members of the World Science Fiction Association who attended the conference towards the "Dark Forest Theory", there was no way that "The Three-Body Problem" would not be a success.

What's more, there are Isaac Asimov, Heinlein and others who have spared no effort in promoting it!
“The greater the expectations, the greater the pressure.”

Fang Yan shook his head and laughed, "They really put me on the fire."

Lin Qingxia smiled and joked: "Real gold is not afraid of fire, so is your piece of real gold afraid of being roasted by fire?"

Fangyan was very surprised. "I didn't expect Qingxia that you would joke like this. I always thought you were so dignified and serious..."

Lin Qingxia's eyes flashed with cunning, "No, this is the real me. If you don't believe me, you can ask Liyun and Xiaoxiang."

Fangyan smiled but said nothing. Then Mike suddenly asked, "When we return to Los Angeles tomorrow, do we want to continue staying in the same hotel?"

Lin Qingxia raised her hand and said that the hotel fee was too high. She planned to ask Golden Harvest or the crew to rent a cheaper apartment or house near the Fox Plaza Building so that they could live there during the filming of "Die Hard".

Fang Yan asked, "What about before renting a house?"

Lin Qingxia smiled bitterly: "I can only live in the hotel temporarily, and move out after I rent a house."

"In my opinion, there's no need to go through so much trouble." Mike said, "You can just live in Teacher Fang's house!"

"Isn't this... inconvenient?"

Lin Qingxia exclaimed, panicked and surprised. She didn't expect Fangyan actually had a house in the United States!
But what was even more surprising was that I learned from Mike's carefree words that Fangyan not only owns properties in Los Angeles, but also has apartment buildings in San Francisco, New York, and even near the University of Iowa, which he rents almost free of charge to domestic and foreign writers participating in the "International Writing Program."

“It’s just a small investment while doing charity.”

Fangyan waved his hand as if it was not worth mentioning.

“Is this a small investment?!”

Lin Qingxia blurted out the answer, but when she thought about how Fangyan could get Fox to offer her "500 million US dollars + 8% global box office share" just with the script of "Die Hard", it suddenly seemed much more reasonable and she gradually calmed down.

"Of course, Mr. Fang is now..."

Just as Mike was about to speak, Fang Yan winked at him and said in a dark tone, "I don't know who said he was tight-lipped just now."

"hey-hey."

Seeing Mike cover his mouth immediately, Lin Qingxia realized that everything she had just heard was just the tip of the iceberg of the dialect.

"Cough cough."

Fang Yan cleared his throat and changed the subject, "There is an empty room in my house, if you don't mind..."

"How could I dislike it? Instead, I will cause you trouble."

Lin Qingxia originally thought that Fangyan’s house was empty, but she didn’t expect it to be the “staff dormitory” of the foundation.

"You've seen Ruoxue before."

Fangyan explained briefly, "I'll introduce you to the other 'Lizhi' when you meet."

…………

"Ding dong, ding dong."

The doorbell rang again and again. After Fang Yan returned to Los Angeles, he took Lin Qingxia to his single-family villa.

Lin Qingxia looked around, left at the lush green lawn, right at the sparkling swimming pool, feeling very curious.

“I used to live in San Francisco.”

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Last year, the market was good, so I sold that house and bought a new one here."

While the two were chatting, Li Zhi came running over in slippers and opened the door:

"Teacher Fang!"

Then his eyes fell on Lin Qingxia, and he couldn't help but scream, "Lin...Lin Qingxia!"

Bai Ruoxue came out of the study and greeted them with a smile, "The guest that Teacher Fang said she would bring over on the phone turned out to be Sister Qingxia!"

Lin Qingxia greeted Bai Ruoxue and focused more on Li Zhi. She was a slender branch with abundant fruits, enchanting and charming, especially her pair of captivating eyes, which stared straight at Fang Yan, with a hint of something unusual in her eyes.

Fangyan introduced the two to each other, and Lizhi's eyes sparkled as she said:
"Sister Qingxia, you are so beautiful. You are even more beautiful in person than in photos and on the screen."

"No way."

Lin Qingxia half-jokingly said: "Standing next to you, I have become less confident. How can there be such a beautiful person?"

Then he glanced at Fang Yan and said, "If I didn't know that you and Ruoxue were his assistants, I would have thought he was hiding a mistress in his house!"

Hearing this, Li Zhi blushed immediately, and Bai Ruoxue rolled her eyes helplessly:
"Sister Qingxia, if you want to make fun of me, just make fun of Teacher Fang. Don't involve me and Lizhi!"

"Ahem, let's not stand outside and chat, let's go inside."

Fang Yan said as they walked: "She is graduating this year and wants to return to Hong Kong to be an actress. She is planning to sign up for TVB's Miss Hong Kong pageant."

"Really!?"

Lin Qingxia raised her eyebrows, marveled at it, and praised Yi Lizhi's qualifications, saying that she was fully capable of competing for the title of Miss Hong Kong.

Bai Ruoxue asked Sister Lin Qingxia, as a senior, to give Li Zhi some guidance if she had the chance. "How can I be qualified to guide others? If anyone wants to invite someone, it should be your teacher Fang." Lin Qingxia was very surprised.

Fang Yan asked: "You are wrong. Didn't you also participate in the Miss Hong Kong competition?"

Lin Qingxia was puzzled: "No, although I think the Miss Hong Kong pageant is very interesting, I have never participated in it."

"Sister Qingxia!"

Li Zhi reminded that she had sung on stage with Kenny Bee during the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant finals in 82.

"If you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten it." Lin Qingxia suddenly woke up with a start, "How come you remember it so clearly?"

Li Zhi said that she moved to Hong Kong with her father in 81. The 82 Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant was the first one she watched, so she still remembers it vividly.

"No wonder you signed up for TVB's Miss Hong Kong pageant this year."

Lin Qingxia couldn't help but wonder, based on Fang Yan's relationship with Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua, wouldn't it be a natural victory for her to win the Miss Hong Kong pageant this time?

"Relationships are often just a stepping stone. Whether you can advance or win depends on your own ability."

Fang Yan said: "Otherwise, once the ranking is announced, everyone will burst out laughing, which will not only harm Li Zhi, but also affect the reputation accumulated by the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant."

"Yes...I was thinking wrong..."

Lin Qingxia blushed with shame, then seeing Li Zhi's admiring look, she softened her heart and agreed to help. "But I have to say this beforehand. Although I have appeared on the stage of the Miss Hong Kong competition, I have never participated in a formal beauty pageant. There is not much I can guide you in."

Fang Yan then asked Li Zhi to help Lin Qingxia take her luggage to the room prepared for her.

After watching them go upstairs, Bai Ruoxue excitedly reported the investment situation:
"Teacher Fang, it's just as you expected. Although Japan has cut interest rates in response to the appreciation of the yen, the yen is still appreciating. In addition, the real estate and stock markets have risen too much. It's not just rising, but skyrocketing!"

“This is just the beginning.”

Fangyan smiled. According to Japan's original idea, when interest rates were lowered, people who saved money would take out their money to invest in factories and other real industries to help relieve some of the pressure on the manufacturing industry. However, with the appreciation of the yen, the profits of Japan's export-oriented manufacturing industry are too low, and the rate of return on investment in real industries is too low. Bank interest rates and even US Treasury bond interest rates continue to decline. The only investments now are in the stock market and real estate.

Manufacturing companies naturally took bank loans and speculated in the financial market, which led to the emergence of Hanwa Kogyo, Yamaichi Securities, Sharp Trading, Ito Corporation, Mitsubishi Trust, and Nippon Trust. They made a lot of money in Tokyo and were called the "Six Ghosts in Tokyo."

This was an important turning point in Japan's bubble economy. Since then, Japanese companies of all sizes have been jealous of the "Six Devils", speculating crazily and foreign exchange speculation. They no longer need to make steel, build cars, develop machine tools or engage in the real economy. They have moved away from the real economy and moved towards the virtual economy!

Coupled with Japan's gambling addiction, which even gambles on the country's destiny, the financial bubble began to grow bigger in 1986.

They are now standing on the cusp of the trend, and even pigs can fly. The speculation team formed by Bai Ruoxue starts speculating in foreign exchange at 8 o'clock every morning and often continues until midnight. The scope of foreign exchange speculation has also expanded from Tokyo to New York, and the amount of money flowing in and out every day is tens of millions of US dollars.

The only drawback is that the Japanese securities market has not yet launched Nikkei 225 Index futures, otherwise it would still be possible to speculate in futures.

(PS: On September 1986, 9, the Singapore Exchange took the lead in launching the Nikkei 3 Index Futures. In September 225, the Osaka Exchange officially listed the Nikkei 1988 Index Futures, which once became the world's largest stock index futures.)
After listening to Bai Ruoxue's report on her foreign exchange trading performance, the smile on her lips grew wider and wider:

"You should also take care of your body and don't get too tired."

"Teacher Fang, don't worry, I will pay attention."

Bai Ruoxue took a sip of coffee and smiled brightly.

Fangyan then flipped through the documents and asked, "What about U.S. stocks? How are they doing?"

"Except for the few stocks of Coca-Cola, Nike, and Wal-Mart that you specifically asked me to keep, all the others have been sold out."

Bai Ruoxue said that at the beginning of the year, due to the promotion of algorithmic trading, the U.S. stock market experienced several single-day plunges in succession, but fortunately, there was the good news of the tax reform plan, and the S&P 500 index soared 40%. The various stocks they held also fell first and then rose, and they were sold at high levels.

While the two were talking in the living room, Lin Qingxia put her luggage away and came downstairs with Lizhi.

"I didn't expect he was so knowledgeable about investment."

"Sister Qingxia, you don't know, Teacher Fang is an amazing investor!"

Li Zhi said with great joy.

Lin Qingxia refreshed her understanding of Fang Yan, "It sounds like he is at least a multi-millionaire?"

"Pfft!"

Li Zhi smiled and spoke in dialect. The best-selling book "The Ring" published last year alone brought him 1 million yen in royalties. Together with books such as "Artificial Intelligence" and "Guns, Viruses, and Steel", he has already topped the list of the world's richest people in the literary world.

His eyes sparkled with admiration, "Of course, compared to Mr. Fang's investment, it's just a drop in the bucket."

"A drop in the bucket..."

Lin Qingxia paused and stopped at the stairs, looking at Fangyan's silhouette in disbelief, "How many surprises do you have that I don't know about!"
I felt a strong curiosity burning in my heart, and I was ready to use this period of my stay to observe the unknown side of the dialect myself.

However, the dialect did not give her too many opportunities. During the day, she was busy participating in the casting of actors with John McTiernan, Joe Silver and others. After rounds of auditions, it was determined that "Wonder Woman" Lynda Carter would play the heroine and "Professor Snape" would play the villain.

As for the black policeman and the driver in "Die Hard", they were respectively cast as Samuel Jackson, who would play the future director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Forest Whitaker, the "Godfather of Harlem". Currently, these two are just inconspicuous extras in Hollywood.

Life was not easy for them. They wanted to act in movies but were rejected everywhere. They had to make a living by acting in TV dramas on the small screen or playing roles that were so small that they could not play any smaller roles in movies. When they learned that Fangyan had decided to let them play important supporting roles, these two black guys were so excited.

"Do your best next time."

Fangyan patted the two men on the shoulders. Ten years later, Fox would have to at least double the money it allocated to hire this cast.

Immediately afterwards, Ho Kuan-chang signed a contract with Forest Whitaker for two more films in the name of Golden Harvest's North American branch.

"Mr. Fang, I know you want to take advantage of his low pay and sign him for a few more movies, so that you can save more money when filming in the future. But even if he has a role in the sequel to Die Hard, isn't signing him for three movies a bit too much?"

He Guanchang and Cheng Long looked at each other in confusion.

"Wrong, this is not for Die Hard."

Fang Yan said, "Die Hard only allowed you to break into Hollywood. If you want to gain a foothold, you need a new masterpiece."

Ho Koon-chang was surprised at first, but then he was overjoyed. He was happy because Fang Yan had already planned and had a blueprint for Jackie Chan and Golden Harvest to gain a foothold in Hollywood.

"It's just an immature idea."

The dialect is also used in case of emergency. In the future filming of "Rush Hour", Forest Whitaker will replace Chris Tucker.

Lin Qingxia was not surprised to see his nonchalant attitude. These days, especially at night, he was either concentrating on the conception and creation of works such as "The Three-Body Problem", or staring at the Bloomberg terminal, personally sitting in charge and remotely directing Bai Ruoxue and others to trade foreign exchange by phone.

Just as I was daydreaming, I heard Cheng Long's exclamation:
"Mr. Fang is going to Japan in the near future?" (End of this chapter)