The literary era since 1979

A gust of fresh breeze in the early morning blew through the window, gently ruffling Zhu Lin's hair.

She looked down, her eyelashes were like beige moth wings, resting on her fair cheeks, making her look gentle and quiet.

These days, Gong Xing specially arranged a full-time teacher to teach her Cantonese and traditional Chinese. After all, if she wants to start a new acting career in Hong Kong, she can still rely on dubbing if she can't speak Cantonese well, but if she can't understand the traditional Chinese script, that will absolutely not work.

Therefore, Zhu Lin was required by his teacher to read the newspaper and learn to read every day.

I raised my hand and flipped through the Oriental Daily. My eyes were fixed on a film review about Chinese Hero:

“The special effects of Chinese Heroes were very successful, even breathtaking. However, the plot did not give me many surprises after watching the movie. It even missed many very important characters, settings and stories in the comics, making the whole plot too loose. The narrative did not make up for this logical flaw very well, so the special effects were the only thing that left the deepest impression on me.”

"Compared with Jet Li's previous Once Upon a Time in China series, it is inferior in terms of depth and fighting scenes."

His brows suddenly furrowed slightly, and he switched to another copy of Ta Kung Pao, which seemed to be praising the newspaper but was actually criticizing it secretly.

"The level of special effects in "Chinese Hero" is indeed unprecedented in all previous Hong Kong films."

"However, even the most exciting battle at the Great Wall at sunset is still far behind Hollywood's top blockbusters. The outside world generally touts "Chinese Hero" as the new standard for Hong Kong blockbusters, which is probably biased and exaggerated..."

Seeing these negative reviews, Zhu Lin looked unhappy and couldn't help muttering:

"You can only talk about it. If you have the ability, you can make a movie yourself."

"Who are you talking to?"

Gong Xing walked from outside to the living room with a letter in his hand.

"bawl!"

Zhu Lin shook the newspaper in his hand and said, "Look at how these newspapers criticize Chinese Hero. In short, they say it's so bad. I'm confused. They were the ones who said Chinese Hero was so good before. How come they turned against us after just a few days?"

"This is the media. The media has two mouths. They either say the opposite of what they mean, or they say the opposite of what they mean."

Gong Xing smiled and said: "If they don't do this, how can they attract attention and increase sales?"

Zhu Lin blinked. "From your tone, it seems like you've gotten used to it?"

"of course."

Gong Xing shook his head and laughed, "In the beginning, I was just like you. I didn't like these gossiping media, but as time went by, I got used to it. After all, no matter how they slandered, just like war reports can deceive people, but the battle lines can't be the same, movie box office will never lie. The faster the box office grows, and the more it grows, the more it proves that the audience likes it, and that's enough!"

"Makes sense."

Zhu Lin savored it carefully.

"It was Yanzi who told me these things. Hong Kong is a highly commercialized film market, and everything is based on commercial performance." Gong Xing said, "Even if you buy out all the newspapers and keep boasting about the film, if the box office fails, you will become a joke."

"So from that perspective, Chinese Hero has been a huge success, with the box office already exceeding 2500 million."

Zhu Lin pointed to the place in the newspaper where the movie box office data was published.

"This is only half of it. Don't forget what Yongsheng boasted at the premiere. It will only be considered a success if the box office reaches 5000 million."

Gong Xing stretched out five fingers and shook them, then asked Zhu Lin to continue reading the newspaper.

Zhu Lin watched her best friend's back as she disappeared into the study, her eyes flashing with complex expressions, but they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

………………

"Dong dong."

Hearing the knock on the door, Fang Yan glanced at the door and stretched his waist.

At this time, there were piles of books and materials on the table, basically all about the United States, Japan, and Big Brother.

To write about the United States and the Soviet Union, one naturally has to write about how the bald eagle and the woolly bear joined forces to end the colonial system of John Bull and the Gallic rooster.

Especially the Suez Canal incident, because this incident confirmed the iron law of geopolitics -

Whoever controls the canal will control the world's throat!

When writing "The Rise of Great Powers", in addition to writing about how the great powers rose, one must also write about how they declined after their rise.

Just as he was thinking hard, Gong Xing walked up to him and handed him an invitation letter.

"This was personally delivered by Mrs. Xiang from Yongsheng early in the morning. She said that she would like us to attend the celebration banquet for Chinese Hero."

“They are quite good at it.”

Fangyan raised his eyebrows.

"The day after tomorrow."

Gong Xing gave a reminder.

"It's amazing that they can bear it."

Fang Yan said, “I originally thought that they would hold a big banquet when the box office of “Chinese Hero” reached 2000 million.”

Gong Wei smiled brightly, "The day after tomorrow, the box office may break 3000 million. By then, it will only be 5000 million away from 2000 million. Judging from the upward trend that has reversed the decline for 5 consecutive days, it may not be impossible to break the record of breaking 5000 million in the single box office in Hong Kong."

Fangyan glanced at the invitation letter and smiled without saying anything.

"Chinese Hero" only had a box office of more than 2000 million Hong Kong dollars in its previous life. Even "Feng Yun, the King of Fighters", which represents the higher level of industrialization in Hong Kong, only had a box office of more than 4000 million. Of course, this is also related to the fact that the movies were released at the wrong time.

In the late 90s, Hong Kong's economic situation deteriorated severely after it experienced the Southeast Asian financial crisis and the Battle to Defend Hong Kong.

The people have become poor now, so how can they have money to spend on watching movies?
Hong Kong's local film market is also in a slump. Even though there are occasional Hong Kong films such as "Infernal Affairs" and "Shaolin Soccer", they are not as good as before.

"If there is no problem, I will give Mrs. Xiang a reply later."

Gong Xing sat on his lap very naturally.

Fang Yan hummed, "Look at you, it seems like you have something else to say?"

"In a few days, I will prepare to shoot Ghost. I have already given the script to Guo Rong and Xiao Xian."

Gong Xing said, "They have all agreed. In terms of investment, Shaw Brothers and Cinema City both hope to invest more."

"He really deserves to be the director of the Palme d'Or at Cannes."

Fang Yan noticed her expression and said, "You have already taken care of the actors, investment, and crew. What else do you have to worry about?"

Gong Xing said: "I'm not worried about myself, I...I'm worried about Zhu Lin."

Fang Yan saw through her worries at a glance, "Is it about her filming a movie again?"

Gong Xing nodded. Although Zhu Lin was unable to film for the time being and needed to learn Cantonese and understand the traditional Chinese script, just like Zhang Guorong did when filming "Farewell My Concubine", the whole process would not take long. After a few months, a suitable script must be found for Zhu Lin.

"But I've asked Nansheng, Xuke, and Aunt Liu, and it seems like there's no film contract suitable for her at the moment."

"So you're planning to target me again?" Fang Yan smiled.

"What do you mean by 'again'? Didn't you say it yourself? If you can't find a script suitable for Zhu Lin, you will come out in person!"

Gong Xing rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Haha, just kidding."

Fang Yan said, "Don't worry, after I finish writing the manuscript for "The Rise of Great Powers", I will definitely tailor a good script for Zhu Lin."

………………

In the past two days, the news that Yongsheng was going to hold a celebration banquet had spread almost throughout the entire Hong Kong entertainment industry.

The invited overseas film producers, celebrity artists, film companies, theater managers, etc. all tried their best to give face to the brothers Xiang Huaqiang and Xiang Huasheng. After all, Yongsheng was the "hottest star" in the Hong Kong film industry with "Chinese Hero", so naturally they had to give face to them.

One of the invitations was also sent to the "Yingzhijie" company by Yongsheng staff.

Logically speaking, a small film company like this, which was established only two years ago and has only released one film, "Brothers Fighting", would not be within the scope of Yongsheng's invitation. However, the boss of "Shadow of the Shadow" is Deng Guangrong, who is known as the "Prince of the Underworld" in the underworld.

With the support of the Lian Gong Music Society, he is a disciple of the current leader, Deputy General Manager of the Macau Entertainment Group, Liu Rongju, and is also the future second generation.

"They are sensible. I don't need to call Hongxing again."

Deng Guangrong casually flipped through the invitation, then turned his attention to Wang Jiawei and Liu Zhenwei in front of him.

"Boss Deng, since Ah Wei will be with you, I guess I don't have to go, right?"

Wang Jiawei is now wearing frameless glasses and has not yet worn sunglasses like in later generations.

"Say it! You have to go!"

Deng Guangrong glared sharply.

Liu Zhenwei echoed from the side: "Yes, Long-legged King, how can you not go!"

Wang Jiawei opened his mouth, "But..."

"But what but!"

Deng Guangrong was very dissatisfied. "You were the one who said that you were a waste of talent as a screenwriter. It would be different if you were a director. I believed you and paid you to be a director. I found Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, and Zhang Xueyou to let you shoot "As Tears Go By". Now it's time to promote the film. The actors are all on board. How can you, as a director, not go?"

As he spoke, his face turned grim: "Are you going to make me, the boss, shout like a cart noodle vendor on the street?"

"Mr. Deng, that's not what he meant." Liu Zhenwei hurriedly tried to smooth things over for his friend.

Wang Jiawei was startled and waved his hands hastily, saying, "I...I didn't mean that."

"That's good. Remember to wear formal attire to tomorrow's celebration party!"

Tang Kwong Yung said: "We are promoting "As Tears Go By" but the key is to meet Mr. Fang."

Liu Zhenwei and Wang Jiawei nodded repeatedly. Ever since "Farewell My Concubine" landed at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or, Deng Guangrong and they also started to think about registering "As Tears Go By" to participate in next year's Cannes Film Festival to promote it well.

"I will ask Mr. Fang for advice on how to participate in the Cannes Film Festival competition."

Deng Guangrong said sternly: "Perhaps with his guidance, "Chungking Express" can also enter the competition unit."

Wang Jiawei reminded, "Main competition unit."

"That's right, the main competition!" Deng Guangrong said, "It would be great if we could win another award."

Wang Jiawei and Liu Zhenwei looked at each other and smiled bitterly. They asked themselves, with the quality and level of "As Tears Go By", they never expected to enter the main competition unit, let alone win any awards. But they would be thankful to be selected for the "Film Critics' Week" unit.

In the end, under the coercion of Deng Guangrong without any inducement, Wang Jiawei reluctantly agreed to attend the celebration banquet tomorrow night.

"Ah Wei, what should we do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know me well. I am most afraid of this kind of occasion..."

"Don't worry, I've already thought of a plan for you. Didn't you like wearing sunglasses when you were directing a movie before?"

"What do you mean by like? I've already said that I often overuse my eyes in dark environments and am very sensitive to light. In order to protect my eyes, I have to wear sunglasses. Look, I'm not wearing sunglasses now, am I?"

"It's different. I know you look really pretentious when you put on sunglasses!"

Liu Zhenwei advised him that when he appeared in front of the camera, he should just wear sunglasses, strike a pose, talk less and act more cool.

"Is this okay?"

Wang Jiawei was stunned for a moment, then he took out the sunglasses he carried with him, replaced his frameless glasses and put them on. Suddenly, he had an indescribable feeling.

The next night, he still wore sunglasses and went to the Miramar Hotel with Deng Guangrong, Liu Zhenwei and others.

At this moment, the entrance was already full of parked cars and people, most of whom were Hong Kong entertainment reporters who had rushed there after hearing the news.

Cameras and cameras were all pointed at the guests in their best attire, and the sound of shutters clicking could be heard incessantly.

Wang Jiawei was glad that he had worn sunglasses in advance, otherwise his eyes would have been filled with tears under such a dazzling flash.

Deng Guangrong and Zhang Xueyou faced the camera together, and while commenting on "Chinese Hero", they occasionally promoted "As Tears Go By" with their own opinions. And they were not the only ones who did so. There were many people who took advantage of the celebration banquet of "Chinese Hero" to promote the film.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion among the crowd.

The extended version of Cadillac that appeared at the premiere of "Chinese Hero" appeared in front of everyone again.

All the entertainment reporters present knew who was coming at once, and immediately turned their cameras and swarmed over, fearing that they would not be able to grab a good position.

"Mrs. Fang is here!"

"Qingxia, Xiaoxian, Lizhi and the others are here too!"

In the camera, the five women are charming and beautiful, each with her own unique charm, as colorful as a kaleidoscope.

As graceful as Zhu Lin, as elegant as Gong Xing, as pure as Wang Zuxian, as charming as Li Zhi, and the most heroic among them is none other than Lin Qingxia.

And all these flowers, willows, beauties, all surrounded Fangyan, which was truly the envy of others.

Liu Zhenwei murmured to himself, "Mr. Fang is indeed Mr. Fang. I'm afraid I'll never have such luck with women in my life."

Wang Jiawei's eyes kept flashing under his sunglasses. There are always some people who can become the focus as soon as they appear, as if they have a strong aura.

His steps were full of wind and he looked very powerful. Compared with him, I, who was pretending to be something with sunglasses, looked more like a clown.

Invisible pretense is the most deadly! (End of this chapter)