Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 431: Sneaky Dog Maggie Cheung

Maggie Cheung was the runner-up and Miss Photogenic in the Miss Hong Kong pageant in 1983. When Lin Chaoyang came to Hong Kong that year, he saw her poster outside a shopping mall.

After that, she signed a contract with TVB. In the first few months, she only appeared in summer programs such as "Wild Wild" and "I Love Nature".

It was not until 84 when she starred in her first TV series "Painting the Rainbow" that she was spotted by Wong Jing and invited to play the second female lead in the comedy film "The Frog Prince".

The film did well at the box office after its release, and was considered Maggie Cheung's first step into the film industry, but it also exposed her immature acting skills.

To date, "Modern Cinderella" is her third movie, but her acting skills are still poor.

Especially since this was her first time playing the leading female role, the pressure was even greater. On the set, she was often ridiculed by director Wang Jing and the staff. Her nerves were always tense, and every day of filming felt like a year for her.

So when she suddenly saw Wang Jing chatting and laughing with others on the set today, she couldn't help but feel a little envious.

"Brother La, who are those two people? Director Wang is so polite to them!" Maggie Cheung asked Nat Chan beside her.

Natalis Chan made his debut in 1979 by participating in a singing competition held by TVB. He was then successfully signed with TVB and took the stage name A-Le.

He first hosted "Happy Tonight" and then started acting. He made many movies in recent years and has some connections in Shaw Brothers and TVB.

"That's Director Li Hanxiang's wife. I don't know about the pretty girl next to her. I guess she's another relative."

While the two were talking, Maggie Cheung's eyes fell on Tao Yushu.

After arriving in Hong Kong for more than half a month, Tao Yushu's dressing style has adapted to the local customs and she is now dressed like an urban beauty. Her bright and elegant looks and temperament make Maggie Cheung very envious.

This is not to say that Tao Yushu is much prettier than Maggie Cheung, but Maggie Cheung at that time still had baby fat on her face. She was pretty, but it was hard to call her glamorous.

Among all the actresses she has worked with since she entered the industry, whether it was Cherie Chung or Anita Mui, they were all of this type: the more they lacked something, the more they naturally valued it.

Moreover, she always felt that Tao Yushu had a unique temperament, with both the bookish air and the charm of a mature woman, which was exactly what she longed for at her age.

Maggie Cheung's eyes were always on Tao Yushu. Noticing Maggie Cheung's attention to her, Tao Yushu looked over.

Maggie Cheung immediately withdrew her gaze in panic, pretended to be calm and chatted with Nat Chan, then used the corner of her eyes to peek to see if Tao Yushu was still looking at her.

Her originally pure and moving temperament and image suddenly became flustered and sneaky. Tao Yushu couldn't help but smile slightly when he saw her actions.

This heroine is so interesting!
After a while, the crew ended their lunch break and continued working.

Tao Yushu and Zhang Cuiying are still here. She came today to familiarize herself with the work flow of the crew, so naturally she has to stay longer.

Because she was pregnant and had been out all morning, Tao Yushu felt a little tired after noon, so Wang Jing specially asked someone to find a chair for her to sit on.

On the Shaw Brothers' set, not many people could have their own independent chairs, and even Maggie Cheung was somewhat envious of Tao Yushu's treatment.

Because she was a newcomer, even though she had already acted in two plays and was already the heroine, she could only find a stool to sit on.

It's not impossible to bring your own chair to the crew, but you will inevitably be scolded by the crew for being a big shot.

In fact, the people in the crew were also very curious about this situation. The Shaw Brothers' set had a strict hierarchy, and Tao Yushu was a stranger.

It is said that she came with Mrs. Li, and she was chatting and laughing with the director on the set. With such a high salary, could she be from the Shao family? Or a relative of Miss Fang?

There is no channel to verify the crew members' random guesses, so they can only be spread as rumors.

Wang Jing, who offered this treatment to Tao Yushu, had a very simple idea.

The fat guy speaks differently to different people. Tao Yushu was brought to the set by Zhang Cuiying, so he naturally gave face to Zhang Cuiying by doing this.

Besides, since Zhang Cuiying treated Tao Yushu with such courtesy, her identity must be extraordinary, so there would be no harm in making good friends with her.

After staying in Qingshui Bay for a day, Tao Yushu returned home in the evening and saw Li Shifei sitting at home again, who had only left after dinner.

After he left, Tao Yushu asked Lin Chaoyang, "Old Li really wants to wait until you finish your novel before leaving?"

Lin Chaoyang gave a wry smile, "It seems so."

Having worked as an editor for several years, Tao Yushu naturally understood Li Shifei's thoughts. She just felt that there was no need for Li Shifei to waste time in Hong Kong.

The prices in Hong Kong are high. When Li Shifei is on a business trip here, his travel expenses are at least HK$100 to HK$200 a day. If he stays here for ten days or half a month, it will be HK$2,000.

“That’s true from your perspective, but Lao Li and Huacheng Publishing House don’t think so.

I came to Hong Kong and this opportunity was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so of course they wanted to take my manuscript away directly to avoid any further complications.

If a novel sells well, it will make at least one or two million in net profit. What does a little extra travel expenses matter?"

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Tao Yushu asked with a smile, "So, you plan to give the manuscript to them?"

"Don't worry, wait until the novel is finished."

After chatting for a while about the new novel, Tao Yushu talked to Lin Chaoyang about what he saw and heard on the Qingshui Bay Film Set today.

This was her first time to visit the set in person. Everything was new to her and she talked endlessly about what she had seen and heard that day.

Tao Yumo listened with great interest and begged, "Sister, next time there is such a good thing, please take me with you."

"Wait for a chance later."

Two days later, Lin Chaoyang found time to visit the Ming Pao Building on King's Road in North Point.

Cheng Bo was still leisurely at the door. When he came upstairs, Dong Qiao became enthusiastic as soon as he saw him. Dong Qiao's enthusiasm naturally had a reason.

Ming Pao Publishing House has published three works by Lin Chaoyang so far, so they can be considered an old relationship.

Since the publication of "Crossing the Guandong" and "The Chess Master" in November last year, both novels have achieved remarkable results in Hong Kong.

The sales volume of Crossing the Guandong exceeded 1 copies in the month of its publication, which is definitely a symbol of a hit in Hong Kong's book market.

In the past six months, the cumulative sales of this novel have reached 4.45 copies, making it the hottest pure literary work in the Hong Kong literary world this year.

In addition, "The Chess Master" has achieved sales of nearly 2.6 copies in Hong Kong in the three and a half months since its publication.

Compared with the obscurity of "The Death of Van Gogh" when it first landed in the Hong Kong market two years ago and could only rely on word of mouth to increase sales little by little, we can clearly see the changes in Lin Chaoyang's influence in the Hong Kong literary world and among literary readers over the past few years.

"Your two works are really unexpected. It has been a long time since the pure literature market in Hong Kong has had such a good reputation and sales." "If it continues like this, it is very likely that the total sales of "Crossing Guandong" will exceed 10 copies within three years.

The momentum of "The Chess Master" is also strong, especially with the recent Go competition between the mainland and Japan going on in full swing. Now even Hong Kong has started to pay attention to it, and it may also boost sales in the future."

"You haven't shown up in Hong Kong for so many days. How are you doing? Have you finished writing your new book? I was planning to hold a welcome party for you. When are you free?"

Dong Qiao enthusiastically took Lin Chaoyang aside and talked for a long time.

Lin Chaoyang is here today to settle royalties. He had already informed Ming Pao Publishing about this matter before he came to Hong Kong.

Upon learning that Lin Chaoyang was coming to Hong Kong, Dong Qiao was very enthusiastic and offered to introduce Lin Chaoyang to his colleagues in the Hong Kong literary world. However, Lin Chaoyang declined his offer as he was considering finishing his new book first.

"The new book is almost finished, wait until it's finished."

When talking about the new book, Dong Qiao's eyes became more eager.

"You're going to finish it so soon? Have you found a publisher?"

Lin Chaoyang responded to him with a few words with a smile and changed the subject. He came here today to settle royalties, not to discuss the publication of a new book.

In response to Lin Chaoyang's request, Dong Qiao readily informed the finance department.

"Crossing the Guandong" sold 6 copies in 4.45 months, generating a box office of HK$534 million.

According to the contract, Lin Chaoyang's royalty rate is 20%, which is 106.8 million yuan. After deducting the advance payment, Lin Chaoyang received 82.8 Hong Kong dollars in royalties this time.

As for "The Chess Master", according to the current sales volume, after deducting the advance payment, the royalties are approximately HK$17.

But because the settlement period has not yet arrived, no settlement was made this time.

With more than 800,000 Hong Kong dollars in royalties in his pocket, Lin Chaoyang's purpose of this trip was achieved.

As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, you will not be worried.

More than 800,000 Hong Kong dollars can be used to buy a 1,000-square-foot luxury house in Hong Kong today. An ordinary worker can save this much money by working diligently for more than ten years without eating or drinking.

With this money, the family can spend their time in Hong Kong more leisurely.

In a blink of an eye, it was already halfway through May. On this day, Lin Chaoyang finally completed his new work, and Li Shifei seemed even happier than him.

Li Shifei stayed in Hong Kong for more than a week just to wait for Lin Chaoyang to finish the manuscript of his novel.

During this period of time, he had been communicating with Huacheng Publishing House, and the result was already out, but Lin Chaoyang did not let him tell it. Instead, he waited until the novel was completed that day and wrote a special letter to Yanjing Publishing House.

Lin Chaoyang explained the situation in the letter and said frankly that he was not happy with this situation. Therefore, after much deliberation, he decided to let Huacheng Publishing House and Yenching Publishing House each make an offer as the final bid for his new work.

This method is equivalent to the secret bidding in later generations, which avoids vicious competition as much as possible, but at the same time allows competitors to give the most sincere prices because they are afraid of each other.

After listening to this, Li Shifei also agreed with this method and waited patiently for news from Yenching Publishing House.

After finishing the novel, Lin Chaoyang planned to relax and take his family out for a trip on the weekend.

Tao Yushu suggested going to Saigon. The Clearwater Bay Studio that she and Zhang Cuiying had visited before was located in Saigon. Saigon is located on the eastern coast of the Hong Kong River and includes the Clearwater Bay Peninsula, Tseung Kwan O New Town and more than 70 surrounding islands.

At this stage, Saigon has not yet been developed on a large scale. It has a simple village atmosphere, with few high-rise buildings around and a weak commercial atmosphere.

The sea water is clear and the scenery is beautiful, which is very suitable for entertainment. It is called the back garden of Hong Kong by Hong Kong people.

The family played here for a day and had lunch at a small restaurant here. The price was much lower than that in Ho Man Tin where Lin Chaoyang and his family live now.

And after this day of contact, they found that many people nearby were immigrants from the mainland, and there was no barrier to communication.

The next day, Lin Chaoyang took Tao Yushu and her sister to Taikoo City Center again, planning to buy some clothes.

But after walking around the mall, the Tao Yushu and her sister looked at the clothes with labels that cost hundreds or thousands of Hong Kong dollars, and they just couldn't make up their minds to buy them.

Taikoo Shing was built in 1978 and has not yet been fully completed after seven years of development. There are now nearly 50 high-rise residential buildings in the community, with more than 1 units. It has been rated by the media as one of the top ten housing estates in Hong Kong.

In recent years, it has been regarded as a weather vane of the property market and is highly favored by Hong Kong's middle class.

Taikoo Shing Centre is the supporting commercial center of the Taikoo Shing project, covering an area of ​​over 11 square meters. In a place like Hong Kong where every inch of land is valuable, a large shopping mall of this scale is naturally of high quality.

The mall houses department stores, specialty restaurants, supermarkets, cinemas, bookstores, ice rinks, banks, clinics and childcare centers, etc. It has all kinds of entertainment and livelihood facilities, almost meeting all the daily needs of the surrounding residents.

"Since you're here, why not buy some clothes?" Lin Chaoyang persuaded.

"It's too expensive, too expensive, let's buy it somewhere else."

I just went to Saigon yesterday, and came to Taikoo Li to shop today. The huge difference in environment and consumption made Tao Yushu feel guilty.

"It's not so expensive that I can't afford it. I need some decent clothes to go out for social events."

Lin Chaoyang persuaded Tao Yushu to buy two sets of clothes, and also let Tao Yumo pick out a few sets of clothes.

The clothes were too expensive, and Tao Yumo felt a little embarrassed, so he only picked out a pair of jeans and a black leather jacket for himself.

"Why did you buy such a thing in the middle of summer?"

"Sister, you don't understand this. This is how Cherie Chung dresses in magazines. This is called fashion!"

Tao Yushu didn't quite understand what her sister meant by "fashion". The clothes she chose were all dignified and elegant in style.

After picking out the clothes, Tao Yumo's eyes were attracted by the shiny and exquisite cosmetics displayed at the cosmetics counter in the mall, and she ran to the counter to look at them.

At this moment, a young man with long hair suddenly appeared from the side and started chatting with Tao Yumo enthusiastically.

"Hello, pretty girl!"

Tao Yumo could hardly understand Cantonese, and after a while of miscommunication, she finally understood that the long-haired young man was a talent scout for a company called Guohua Film and Television.

"Pretty girl, our company is planning to make a movie now, and your appearance is particularly suitable for the image of a heroine. Would you like to come for an interview?"

(End of this chapter)