Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 341: The Burning of the Old Summer Palace

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Chen Huaikai tried hard to recall. Yanying Studio was one of the assisting filming units of "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor". When the movie was being filmed in the Forbidden City, Chen Huaikai also visited it and had some impression of Tony Leung.

When Lin Chaoyang said this, he thought of Tony Leung Ka Fai's face and a smile suddenly broke out on his face.

"You know what, this actor is really suitable."

But he was just happy for a few seconds, and suddenly realized, "No, he is a Hong Kong actor, right?"

Facing Chen Huaikai's inquiring gaze, Lin Chaoyang nodded, "Yes, from Hong Kong."

Chen Huaikai was immediately disappointed. "Then why are you criticizing him? This is not a co-production."

"Everything depends on human efforts!" Lin Chaoyang said lightly.

Chen Huaikai showed some indignation on his face, "It's easy for you to say that. If you have the ability, you can bring him here."

“You’re the director.”

“You’re also a screenwriter!”

The two glared at each other, neither of them could win the argument. Chen Huaikai sighed helplessly and said, "Let's talk about something real. Do you have any suitable people to recommend?"

"No more." Lin Chaoyang said simply.

Chen Huaikai was blocked there by him. He was silent for a long time before he said, "Then I'll go back and think about it."

"it is good."

Chen Huaikai left Lin Chaoyang's house in a depressed mood.

In the evening, Tao Yushu returned home happily. Lin Chaoyang asked her, "What are you so happy about?"

Tao Yushu took out a copy of "People's Literature" with the words "1983-8" written on the cover.

"The August sample issue is out, and the new editorial committee is printed on it!"

She waved the magazine, her face full of satisfaction and pride.

Thanks to Wang Meng's efforts, almost all the older generation of writers retired from the new editorial board of People's Literature, and were replaced by several senior editors of People's Literature and a group of the most famous writers in the country today. Lin Chaoyang's name was prominently listed among them.

Just as Wang Meng said, Lin Chaoyang became the youngest editorial member of People's Literature.

The youngest of the other editorial board members is 43-year-old Jiang Zilong, who is 18 years younger than Lin Chaoyang, a gap that is almost like a cliff.

Therefore, Lin Chaoyang's name appearing on the list of editorial board members of People's Literature is somewhat eye-catching.

Lin Chaoyang joked: "Does this mean Comrade Yushu will have someone above him in the future?"

His words were full of double meanings. How could Tao Yushu not understand what he meant? He spat at him fiercely.

"There is another happy thing."

"What's the happy news?"

Tao Yushu pointed to the short story "Hometown Three Chens" signed by "Wang Zengqi" in the catalog and said, "I handled it. The writer I mentioned last time has also been contacted and sent me a short story. It's very well written and will be published in the next issue."

"Awesome!" Lin Chaoyang immediately gave a thumbs up.

Tao Yushu wrinkled his nose at him, showing his dissatisfaction with his deliberate flattery, but there was a smile in his eyes.

The couple chatted and laughed. After dinner, Tao Yumo found Tao Yushu and said, "Sister, please pay me my salary."

Tomorrow is her working day, so Tao Yumo can only give up her nephew, who is her fortune tree, for the time being.

Taking the bills from her sister, she spat on her fingers and began to count them like a money-grubber.

She worked for 64 days during the summer vacation and earned a total of 5 yuan, which was almost the same as her salary at work.

Tao Yumo was assigned to the China University of Political Science and Law and had to start as an assistant teacher. The first year was a probationary period with a monthly salary of 49 yuan, which would increase to 5 yuan after one year.

She thought about her future salary and suddenly felt inexplicably emotional.

“Oh, it’s so hard to make money!”

The next morning, the family sat together to eat breakfast, and Tao Yumo was flipping through the People's Daily that had just been delivered to him.

A piece of news on the front page caught her eye. It was a document released by the government titled "Decision on Severely Cracking Down on Criminal Activities."

The "Decision" proposes: to organize one, two, or three campaigns over a period of three years, and to crack down resolutely on criminal offenders in accordance with the spirit of "severe punishment and quick action, and catching them all in one fell swoop" in accordance with the law.

“I don’t know what effect it will have this time.”

Tao Yumo studied law and went to work at the China University of Political Science and Law after graduation. Now he has begun to pay attention to social news.

She had taken the newspaper from Lin Chaoyang. No one in this era knew the severity of this attack better than Lin Chaoyang.

"It will be fine!" Lin Chaoyang said softly.

In the last few days of this summer vacation, the air in Yanjing City was filled with anxiety, and the vigorous Iron Fist Operation began.
Since September, news about the criminals of crimes that were once hated by the people being brought to justice has appeared one after another on television, radio, newspapers and various news media.

Under the iron fist, all illegal and criminal acts will not only be dealt with severely and strictly, but large-scale public trials and sentencing meetings will also be indispensable.

Various news comes from the capital, the capital of Yanjing, from time to time, not to mention other regions in the country.

For ordinary people, Iron Fist has no major impact on their daily lives. The public security environment in recent years has indeed made ordinary people feel disgusted and hate it. The vast majority of people welcome the development of YD with open arms.

By the middle of the month, execution vehicles had begun broadcasting radio programs along the route, promoting the iron-fist struggle and denouncing the prisoners' crimes.

Not only did it attract countless people in the streets and alleys to watch, but many units also organized young employees to watch the execution on site. It was definitely a warning to others. Lin Chaoyang would often hear that someone fainted from watching the execution on site. The massive public security rectification activity will continue for a long time. The biggest impact on Lin Chaoyang's life is that several laser halls at the gate of Yan University were closed, and Du Feng was so scared that he stopped his business.

Given Du Feng's family background, he didn't take Operation Iron Fist seriously at first.

Until a piece of news began to spread in Yanjing City: the elder’s grandson had been arrested.

In the past one or two years, GD has been rampant, with Yanjing and Shenzhen being the hardest hit areas. The arrogance of corrupt officials and the second generation has begun to take shape.

After this news came out, the GDs in Yanjing who relied on political resources to gain benefits suddenly stopped their activities and lay down more obediently than the bugs on the ground.

Du Feng is different from ordinary GDs, he just runs a small business honestly, but the wind is strong outside and he is afraid that his small body will be blown away if he is not careful one day.

The iron fist remains the iron fist, and life goes on as usual.

On September 9, "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" was released in Hong Kong and mainland China on the same day.

As the painstaking work of the great director Li Hanxiang, "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" was released with great fanfare in mainland China.

The film was distributed by China Film Corporation and enjoyed the same treatment as domestic films. Provincial distribution companies at all levels also provided strong support, with copies being sent to cinemas across the country for free.

In just a few days, the film was released in cities across the country, attracting countless audiences to the cinema.

In addition, on the day the film was released in Hong Kong, the Film Bureau also sent a special delegation to Hong Kong to attend the premiere ceremony of the film, which can be said to have given Li Hanxiang enough face.

Before the release of "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace", some Y-faction media in Hong Kong had published many articles criticizing the film. The starting point of these people was certainly not to discuss the film itself, but to discredit and intimidate those Z-faction filmmakers in Hong Kong who were inclined towards the mainland.

Fortunately, "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" performed very well after its release in Hong Kong, with the box office revenue exceeding 80 Hong Kong dollars on the first day. Many Z-style media in the Hong Kong news industry immediately praised the film.

Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po said: "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace is a magnificent spectacle with rare pomp and circumstance, perfectly recreating the destruction of the Old Summer Palace, a national treasure. This scene is not only a reproduction of historical events, but also a profound reflection on China's modern history."

The Ta Kung Pao report believes that the acting skills and interpretation of the roles by the main actors such as Liu Xiaoqing and Tony Leung Ka Fai successfully convey the emotional depth of the roles to the audience. Director Li Hanxiang's camera language is exquisite and the visual effects are stunning, giving the audience a sense of reality of being in a major historical event.

Two or three days after the movie was released, in addition to the Z-faction media, neutral media also began to comment on the movie, and the praise was almost unanimous.

The media hype made "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" the hottest movie in Hong Kong film industry in September. After its release, the box office continued to soar, triggering a wave of movie-watching among Hong Kong citizens.

Before the National Day, Li Hanxiang made a long-distance call to Lin Chaoyang to share with him the grand occasion of "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace".

Years of hard work finally paid off.

Li Hanxiang sounded extremely proud on the phone; one could sense his high spirits just by listening to his voice.

The 1980s was the golden age of Hong Kong films. This port city with a population of only a few million gave birth to a group of outstanding filmmakers, whose influence spread to both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Hong Kong, and East Asia and Southeast Asia.

At this time in 1983, Hong Kong films were still in their infancy and the local box office was experiencing a boom.

In 1980, the annual box office of Hong Kong films was only HK$1.82 million. By 1982, this figure had risen to HK$4.04 million.

The release period of a movie is generally 25 to 30 days. If it can sell for HK$600 million, it can already be among the top of the annual box office and is called a blockbuster.

This number was achieved in just one week after the release of "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace". If nothing unexpected happens, it will become a strong contender for the top three box office rankings of Hong Kong films in 83.

The box office success not only represents the success of the movie, but also means that Li Hanxiang has made money for the investors.

"The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor" required huge investments, with millions of Hong Kong dollars spent, and Li Hanxiang was under great pressure.

Now, judging by the box office trend shown by "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace", this movie has already made back its investment and is still profitable, not to mention that "The Last Emperor" has not yet been released.

Therefore, Li Hanxiang's high-spiritedness is understandable.

Li Hanxiang talked about movies on the phone for a few minutes, and then asked Lin Chaoyang why he didn't join the Film Bureau's delegation to visit Hong Kong.

"They are an official delegation, and I am a non-staff member." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

Li Hanxiang said regretfully, "It's a pity that you didn't come. I wanted to introduce you to some friends in the Hong Kong film industry. Everyone praised the scripts you wrote. I think you haven't seen the plays he wrote yet. They are amazing!"

Lin Chaoyang usually teased and ridiculed Li Hanxiang from time to time, so he was a little uncomfortable to hear him praising him out of the blue.

I was thinking that since Old Li couldn't carry it, maybe there was something that needed his help?

As expected, after Li Hanxiang finished praising him, he said, "Chaoyang, The Burning of the Old Summer Palace was a huge success, and next month The Empress Dowager will be released. With this favorable trend, the box office will definitely be good. How about we continue to work together on the story of Empress Dowager Cixi, the evil queen?"

"You still want to take pictures of Cixi?"

"Yes, the movie is making so much money, everyone is urging me to keep making it."

Lin Chaoyang pondered for a moment and asked, "Then let's talk about the royalties first."

Li Hanxiang said disdainfully: "You are a person who values ​​money too much. You stink of money."

"It's fine for others to say that I'm full of money, but what right do you have to say that?"

After some teasing, Li Hanxiang got back to the point, "Twenty thousand yuan, how about that?"

Lin Chaoyang sneered at the words, "Old Li, you make a lot of money, at least let me have a share, I get more than this when I write scripts for our film studios in the mainland."

"You only received 30,000 yuan for writing The Burning of the Old Summer Palace and Behind the Curtain."

"You're still bringing this up! I asked you to shoot two movies with one of my scripts. It's good enough that I didn't ask you for royalties!

I can’t do it for 20,000, and I won’t do it for less than 100,000.”

Li Hanxiang was furious, "You are asking for too much!"

(End of this chapter)