The literary era since 1979

Chaoyangmen North Street, cultural department building.

Wang Meng, who was busy preparing to welcome the Japanese delegation visiting China, had no idea that the Bayi Film Studio would call him.

In the first half of this year, the Film Bureau and film studios across the country moved from the cultural department, their mother's home, to the radio, film and television department, their husband's home. However, the film production units were transferred there, but the film distribution units were still managed by the cultural department, resulting in a discrepancy between the upper and lower levels.

This has caused chaos in the management of the entire film industry, and today's film distribution companies are still a hot potato.

Even though the wave of "entertainment films" and "main melody" inspired by dialects has stimulated a nationwide craze for watching movies, it still cannot prevent the film market from shrinking further. One-third of the country's distribution companies are making losses, and cinemas of all sizes have switched to other businesses.

Just when I was having a headache, the secretary knocked on the office door and reported that Director Hu from the Bayi Factory had arrived.

"welcome!"

Wang Meng said enthusiastically: "If you think about it, this can be regarded as Bayi Factory returning to visit my mother."

"Ha ha!"

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Director Hu slowly explained his purpose: "I am returning to my mother's home this time not only to visit relatives on behalf of the Bayi Factory, but also to hope that my mother's family can help us at the Bayi Factory and complete this very difficult and sacred task together."

Hearing this, Wang Meng immediately became serious:

"Although it is true that we have split up the family, we are still a family even though our bones are broken."

"If there is anything you need our help with, we will do our best to help."

"You are aware that 1991 was the 70th anniversary, right?"

Director Hu said directly.

Wang Meng nodded, motioning for him to continue.

Director Hu said: "To be honest, in 81, our factory was planning to make a film about the struggle of our party as a tribute to the 60th anniversary. However, at that time, it had been less than three years since the August 3st Film Studio resumed normal work. Even if the factory had the will, it did not have the energy. So we decided to take our time and polish a fine film as a tribute to the 70th anniversary."

Wang Meng asked, "What kind of movie is it?"

"We used to call it a war film, but since the concept of main theme became popular, we have corrected it to a main theme military film."

Director Hu said in a serious tone: "The name is decided to be "The Decisive Battle", and it is planned to include the three major battles of Liaoshen, Huaihai, Pingjin and other battles."

"This is a good thing!"

Wang Meng patted the handle of the chair.

"We reported the factory's plan to our leaders, who took it very seriously and ordered us to make sure it was filmed well."

Director Hu said: "I also took the lead in signing a military order, and all the comrades in the factory are determined to make the "Great Decisive Battle" trilogy a success!"

Wang Meng's eyes were burning: "Tell me, how can our cultural department help you?"

"When making movies about historical wars, we must respect historical facts and be rigorous in every detail, and the first task is to write a good script," said Director Hu. "If there are problems with the plot logic of the script, no matter how high the director's level is or how good the actors' acting is, it cannot be called a successful movie. So in order to create the script, the studio plans to set up a script writing team for "The Decisive Battle"."

Wang Meng suddenly realized, "You want to find a group of writers and screenwriters with absolutely solid writing skills?"

"Yes, if the movie script is not good enough, we would rather not shoot it!"

Director Hu said that in addition to the screenwriters of the Bayi Film Studio, off-site assistance is also needed.

"We will fully cooperate with this!"

Wang Meng asked: "Who are the people needed? Is there a specific list?"

Director Hu said that it is easy to get three armies but difficult to get a general, and what the Bayi Factory wants most is the dialect!

"He is indeed one of the most suitable candidates..."

Wang Meng was not surprised. The People's Literature Publishing House is affiliated with the cultural department. As the deputy editor-in-chief of People's Literature, Fang Yan's work in the script writing team of The Decisive Battle naturally required the approval of this superior department.

"Yes, Mr. Fang's writing ability is obvious to all at home and abroad." Director Hu said, "And judging from the "Operation Sword" he wrote, he must be very good at writing military war themes."

"Let me take care of this!"

Wang Meng solemnly promised that as soon as Fangyan returned to the mainland from Hong Kong, he would assign the task to him in person at the cultural and artistic exchange meeting between the two countries.

…………

At the same time, Fang Yan had just arrived at Sanlian Bookstore and chatted with Xiao Zi, Pan Yaoming and others.

"Then it's settled. Before you leave Hong Kong, hold a book signing event in the store to boost its popularity."

Pan Yaoming escorted Fangyan all the way out of the store.

Fang Yan readily agreed, "Let's go out and eat. It's my treat!"

Pan Yaoming smiled and said, "Okay, since you are the God of Wealth, I will accompany you till the end. What do you want to eat?"

Fangyan looked around and asked: "Where did you park your car?"

Pan Yaoming pointed and saw a Mazda parked across the road. In fact, all the parking spaces on both sides of the road were under Fangyan's name.

“Let’s go to Causeway Bay.”

Fang Yan smiled and directed Pan Yaoming to drive the car to the territory owned by Gu Tianle and his gang of parking attendants.

Land is very expensive in Hong Kong and many shops, nightclubs, bars and restaurants do not have their own parking lots, so they need valet parking services.

If valet parking is not done, customers will not come to consume because they cannot park their cars. Therefore, this service is basically outsourced by the boss, just like in movies like "Young and Dangerous" and "Zha Zhi", whichever gang has a flag on a certain street will own the parking business.

When guests park their cars at the door, a parking attendant will come to take the keys and take them to a nearby public roadside parking space.

Then they will help you refresh the clock on time and open it back for the customers when the time comes.

The parking meters on the roadside require coins. You pay a few dollars and the parking time will be 15 minutes. The purpose of setting such a short time is to prevent people from occupying the parking space for a long time.

The parking attendant does not renew the fee all the time, but keeps a close eye on both ends. He will only pay coins to renew the fee when he sees a policeman coming to ticket him.

A parking meter will only be charged two or three times a day, which is equivalent to spending less than 10 yuan to occupy the full-day use of a parking meter.

One flag controls a dozen or twenty parking spaces around a street, and occupies illegal parking spaces such as back streets, dead-end roads and corners.

If there is no parking space, these parking attendants will park the car on the roadside for the customers without turning off the engine.

When the police come, they will only ask the driver to drive away and will not issue a ticket. Such a small group of people can take over dozens of parking spots every day, and the parking income will be tens of thousands. A street can earn hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars a month.

A parking attendant can get a basic salary of over a thousand Hong Kong dollars per month from the hotel, while the society will take 30 to 40 percent of the commission.

Usually this part of the extraction is also considered as part of the fees collected by the association.

In addition, there is protection fee, commonly known as "tuodi", which you have to pay when you open the door. There is also security fee, commonly known as "viewing fee". After collecting this money, the society will arrange people to be responsible for security, help you deal with some troublesome guests, and prevent people from causing trouble in the venue.

Therefore, if the society arranges you to work as a parking attendant on a street with a lot of money, it will not be a problem to earn over ten thousand yuan a month, even more than a white-collar worker.

Not to mention that if you are more diligent and provide some additional services such as car washing and driving, the tips you receive can be quite considerable.

However, young gang members like Louis Koo, who have not yet formally joined Hung Hing, are not so lucky and are arranged to work on a street with little money.

"Hey, do you remember me?"

Fangyan rolled down the car window and looked at the boy who had sold him the movie tickets for "A Better Tomorrow" with a smile.

The boy's eyes widened in shock, and he forgot to take the key for a moment. He stammered, "Fang, Fang...Mr. Fang!"

Fangyan took out the tip money and said, "My friend and I are out for a meal and we are in need of a guide who is familiar with the area. I'll ask Guzai to show us the way." (End of this chapter)