Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 414: Waiting for the Spring to Come, He Will Be a Good Man Again

In a blink of an eye, the Little New Year had passed. The sky was dark and it started to snow lightly in the afternoon. In the evening, Li Hanxiang, who was busy filming "Fire Dragon", came to find Lin Chaoyang for a drink.

"Fire Dragon" started filming in December. It has been two months now and the shooting progress has just reached the halfway point.

Seeing that there was less than a week left until the Chinese New Year, Li Hanxiang gave the crew members a holiday.

Transportation is inconvenient these days, and half of his crew members are from Hong Kong, so they have to go back to Hong Kong in advance to celebrate the New Year. The crew will have a twelve-day holiday.

As for Li Hanxiang, he will not return to Hong Kong this year.

When filming "Fire Dragon" this time, he gave the roles of Empress Wanrong and concubine Li Yuqin to his two daughters Li Dianlang and Li Dianxin. His wife also came to the mainland a few days ago, and the family celebrated the New Year in the mainland.

After chatting about movies and the Chinese New Year for a while, Li Hanxiang took out a few stacks of foreign exchange certificates from his bag and handed them to Lin Chaoyang.

"The Chess Master" was released in Hong Kong some time ago and was a success. Li Hanxiang promised Lin Chaoyang and others that he would give him a red envelope after the Southeast Asian copyright was sold. Today he came to fulfill his promise.

These foreign exchange coupons were exchanged by Li Hanxiang with Hong Kong dollars. He knew that it was inconvenient for Lin Chaoyang to keep foreign currency, so he considerately exchanged the foreign exchange coupons.

A total of 30 Hong Kong dollars worth of foreign exchange certificates is a huge amount of money.

Lin Chaoyang looked at the foreign exchange certificates and asked, "Old Li, such a big red envelope?"

Li Hanxiang glanced at him and said, "Why? Do you, a glutton, think you have too much money?"

"I'm afraid you'll set a trap for me."

When Li Hanxiang heard this, he stretched out his hands and was about to take back all the foreign exchange coupons.

Lin Chaoyang stopped him immediately and said, "I've already given it to you, there's no reason to take it back."

After receiving the foreign exchange vouchers, Lin Chaoyang joked: "It seems that we have made a lot of money this time!"

When talking about making money, Li Hanxiang grinned to his ears, revealing his two big buck teeth. "Not bad, not bad."

Li Hanxiang contributed both money and effort to the film "The Last Emperor", but in the end, the film made a lot of money but he could only smell it, which made Li Hanxiang very angry.

When it came to the movie "The Chess Master", Li Hanxiang took the risk to co-invest in the filming with Yan Film Studio in the name of New Kunlun Pictures, which brought him huge returns.

Although this movie's box office in Hong Kong is not as high as "The Last Empress", its investment is also low.

If converted into Hong Kong dollars, it is only three million investment.

The distribution revenue of movies in the mainland has nothing to do with New Kunlun Pictures, but New Kunlun accounts for the majority of the box office and copyright income in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Putting aside the profits of China Film, the success of "The Chess Master" brought more than 600 million Hong Kong dollars in revenue to New Kunlun Pictures.

You should know that Li Hanxiang only invested 60 Hong Kong dollars in this movie. In less than two years, the return on this investment reached 1000%.

It's really a profitable business!
An investment of HK$60 brought a profit of HK$600 million, which was the most profitable investment Li Hanxiang had ever made since he started working in the film industry.

Moreover, he didn't have to worry much about the movie. Apart from contributing a little to its screening in Hong Kong and overseas distribution, he made money almost without doing anything.

It’s really fun to make money!
Li Hanxiang also understood that if Lin Chaoyang had not helped to make "The Chess Master" into a co-production, he would not have had this opportunity to make money.

So when it comes to red envelopes, people are particularly generous.

In addition to this reason, he also has his own little thoughts.

Having known Lin Chaoyang for three or four years, how could he not see Lin Chaoyang's talent in film.

Not to mention the success of "The Last Emperor" and "The Chess Master" in Hong Kong, didn't Lin Chaoyang's earlier collaboration with Xie Jin, "The Shepherd" and "The Garland under the Mountain", also achieve huge success?
Li Hanxiang boasted that he had been in the film industry for decades, but he had never seen such a comprehensive screenwriter as Lin Chaoyang. Not only did his works have diverse styles, but the most important thing was that he was able to transcend geographical restrictions, which was the most valuable thing.

The success of one work may be a coincidence, but the success of so many consecutive works is undoubtedly a testament to one's strength.

With four consecutive movies selling out, if this happened in Hong Kong, Lin Chaoyang would definitely be dubbed the "master screenwriter" by the media.

Such a screenwriter is a golden goose that lays golden eggs for any film and television company and should not be missed.

But Li Hanxiang also knew that with his strength he would not be able to recruit Lin Chaoyang no matter what, so he might as well play the emotional card.

Compared with HK$30 million, HK$600 is certainly not a lot, but considering the nature of the red envelope, it is definitely a huge amount.

"With your talent in film, it would be a shame if you didn't work in this field," said Li Hanxiang.

"The film industry is different from writing. Writing is an individual creation, while film is a collective creation. No matter how outstanding an individual's talent is, he or she cannot control the overall situation."

Lin Chaoyang's understanding was very clear, and Li Hanxiang couldn't help but nod.

"That's true, but having outstanding talent does play a big role. The point is, aren't you jealous when you see the movie making so much money?"

"You're jealous! That's why I won't write scripts anymore. This way, you black-hearted capitalists won't be able to make money from my scripts."

This was of course a joke. The main reason why Lin Chaoyang didn't write movie scripts was because the income was too low, especially now that he had obtained a royalty contract. As long as his works were popular, the money he made would be much higher than writing scripts for others.

"You can start a film company and invest like me. Wouldn't you make more money that way?" Li Hanxiang advised.

Lin Chaoyang said quietly, "Movies are risky, so you need to be cautious when investing. How did you get back from Wandao? Have you forgotten?"

Lin Chaoyang's words hit the nail on the head for Li Hanxiang.

In the 1960s, he left Shaw Brothers due to conflicts and went to Taiwan to set up the United Films Company, which was supported by Dianmao.

Nowadays, no one knows about Dianmao, but in the 1950s, Dianmao was the dominant force in the Hong Kong and Taiwan film industry. To what extent was he dominant? Even Shaw Brothers, a giant in later generations, had to be beaten by him.

If the plane crash of Dianmao founder Luk Wan-to had not happened in 1964, Shaw Brothers would not have dominated Hong Kong and Taiwan in the s and s.

In that plane crash, all 57 people were killed, including Dianmao's boss Luk Yun-to, his newlywed wife and Dianmao's senior management. The once glorious Dianmao was almost uprooted by this accident, which completely rewrote the history of Hong Kong and Taiwan films.

After Luk Yun-to's death, the films produced by the Guolian Film Company founded by Li Han-hsiang failed one after another, and he lost all his money in the end. He had no choice but to return to Shaw Brothers to continue working. The failure of Guolian could be regarded as the biggest regret of Li Han-hsiang's life. If it weren't for the plane crash in 64, his Guolian might have become the dominant force in the Taiwanese film industry.

Lin Chaoyang's words were all over the place, and Li Hanxiang kept cursing for a long time until Lin Chaoyang toasted him with two glasses of wine, and then he calmed down.

"If Boss Lu hadn't passed away..."

Although he had calmed down, Lin Chaoyang had brought out Li Hanxiang's years of depression. After drinking two glasses of wine, he kept chattering like Xianglin Sao.

In his context, Lu Yuntao is probably the white moonlight that every man longs for in his youth, and Boss Shao is, of course, the yellow-faced woman who squeezed him dry.

After listening to him chattering for a long time, Lin Chaoyang began to regret hiring him.

Li Hanxiang was talking about his success in Wandao back then, and suddenly said, "Oh, right. You don't know yet? You are famous in Wandao now."

Lin Chaoyang laughed and said, "Why? Did you really ban me?"

"Of course they can't ban you. You are in the mainland, not in Hong Kong. If they really issue a ban, it would be tantamount to humiliating yourself and making a fool of yourself.

Your last speech in Hong Kong did spread to the island and attracted some people's attention, but that's not what I want to talk about."

Lin Chaoyang asked: "What is that?"

Li Hanxiang lowered his voice and said, "A friend asked me to help them get a few copies of "Crossing Guandong"."

At this point, Li Hanxiang narrowed his eyes, "And there is more than one person."

"Is that all? Can't they buy it in Hong Kong as well?"

"You didn't understand." Li Hanxiang's expression was mysterious. "My friends are all from the cultural circle, and one of them is in office. Don't you understand?"

Li Hanxiang had said so much, it was impossible for Lin Chaoyang not to understand.

Judging from this, "Crossing the Guandong" should have become a minor hit in the cultural circle of Taiwan Island.

"I haven't been back to Hong Kong for the past two months, but I talked to Hu Juren. He said that your movie "Crossing the Guandong" was very popular in Hong Kong and received rave reviews. I guess the news spread to Taiwan."

Hu Juren is the editor-in-chief of Ming Pao Monthly. Lin Chaoyang met him once last year when he visited Hong Kong with a delegation of mainland writers.

"As for why they don't buy it in Hong Kong, you don't understand. They want to see the original flavor."

After Li Hanxiang explained, he continued, "Since they can find me to help deliver the book, you should understand how popular your book is in Taiwan. Of course, it must be spread underground now."

Lin Chaoyang certainly understood this. The relationship between Taiwan Island and the mainland has not improved yet, and any people, things, and objects from the mainland are taboo.

After talking about this matter, Li Hanxiang urged: "Please sign a few books for me later so that I can send them to others."

Lin Chaoyang joked, "Be careful not to send the letter, or you'll be wanted as a TG again."

"Do you think I'm still a good person over there now?" Li Hanxiang said without any burden.

Ever since the news that he went to the mainland to film "The Last Emperor" spread back to Taiwan, he has been blacklisted by Taiwan.

After chatting and laughing and three rounds of drinks, Li Hanxiang left Lin Chaoyang's house.

After he left, Lin Chaoyang handed the pile of foreign exchange certificates to Tao Yushu.

"So many foreign exchange certificates? How can we use them all?"

"Red envelope. Use it slowly. You can also use it for relatives and friends who need it."

Tao Yushu put away all the foreign exchange certificates and asked, "Why did Lao Li give you such a big red envelope?"

"To win me over. This time, The Chess Master made Lao Li a lot of money, so of course he wants to continue the cooperation in the future."

“You still write scripts for him?”

Lin Chaoyang shook his head and said, "You can't always do things that make wedding clothes for others."

He said with a malicious smile on his face, "If I write a script for you, I will do it even if you don't pay me!"

The change in emphasis made Tao Yushu unable to help but roll her eyes at Lin Chaoyang. She thought it was just a roll of eyes, but in Lin Chaoyang's eyes it was full of charm. He put his arms around Tao Yushu's waist and put his mouth close to hers.

Not to mention the one night stand.

The Spring Festival in 1985 came a little later than usual. In the following days, Lin Chaoyang was busy buying New Year's goods.

Two days before the Chinese New Year, Lin Chaoyang drove to the Tao family to deliver New Year's goods. He heard from Tao's father that Zhu Guangqian had been ill recently.

He carried his things and ran to Yannan Garden to visit the patient. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Zhu Guangqian leaning against the head of the bed with a haggard face.

After asking, Lin Chaoyang asked a few words of concern, and Zhu Guangqian replied: "It's okay, you won't die!"

"Why do you want to die? Take good care of yourself and you'll be a brave man again in the spring!"

Zhu Guangqian was unhappy again when he heard this, "If you don't open the spring, you are not a hero?"

"Yes, yes, you are really a man of iron!"

How could Zhu Guangqian not hear his sarcasm? He cursed him and then asked about something that he had been concerned about recently.

"I heard someone say that Jiang Zhujiu was able to win three games in a row against the Japanese team because he read your book "The Chess Master"?"

Lin Chaoyang: ???

(End of this chapter)