Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 439: Why go back to work?
After entering the Plam restaurant, Lin Chaoyang saw a couple with very special appearances.

Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi are the kind of people who can be recognized in a crowd at a glance, not because of how good-looking or handsome they are, but because of their sharp clothes and temperament.

The man has a goatee, the woman's hair is shorter than the man's, and their clothes are more trendy than each other, and the most striking thing about them is that they are all unique.

Lin Chaoyang had met the two of them at the Academy Awards, but it was just a quick glance in the crowd.

After saying hello and sitting down, Shi Nansheng asked Lin Chaoyang what he wanted to drink. Lin Chaoyang said, "Do you have coffee? Let's have a cup of coffee."

Originally, Lin Chaoyang wanted to ask for a cup of tea, but the restaurant didn't have any, so Shi Nansheng asked him for a cup of coffee.

Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi are a couple who are very Westernized. They ordered whiskey and seemed to treat this place as a bar. They were no strangers to Lin Chaoyang and after a few pleasantries, they started chatting while drinking.

At the beginning, the main topic was still focused on the Academy Awards a few days ago. After all, the two sides were not familiar with each other, and this was the only common topic.

Tsui Hark admired Lin Chaoyang's script very much, which is why he contacted Lin Chaoyang.

In his opinion, Lin Chaoyang's creative style has an upright and majestic style, which is completely different from the unconventional style of most screenwriters or directors in Hong Kong today.

It is difficult to judge which of these two styles is better or worse, but after so many years in the industry, Tsui Hark has gradually become tired of some of the stereotyped creative content in Hong Kong, which is one of the reasons why he left Cinema City.

“When the movie The Chess Master was released, I went to see it on purpose. It was very well made, and I also bought the novel.

I especially like the stretched shot at the end of the film, which has a cruel poetic romance.”

"The film was well made, and Director Chen deserves a lot of credit."

"Yeah. I think he deserves a Best Director Award, but it's a pity..."

While Tsui Hark and Lin Chaoyang were chatting animatedly, Nansun Shi just sat quietly by the side.

Although she looks strong on the outside, she is unexpectedly gentle in front of Tsui Hark, which creates a sense of contrast.

Seeing that the two had not yet gotten to the point, she asked, "Mr. Lin, the movie The Truman Show that you and Ann Hui worked on recently has been very popular. Hong Gu said that Ann Hui wanted her to play the leading female role."

The Hong Gu that Shi Nansheng mentioned is the "Cherry Chung" who is now very popular in the Hong Kong film industry. Lin Chaoyang replied, "Yes. Director Xu has a good relationship with her, but unfortunately, she has already agreed with you on "Swordsman and Lady".

Cherie Chung has starred in Ann Hui's famous work "The Story of Woo Viet". Last year, Ann Hui's assistant director Stanley Kwan started to set up his own studio. Ann Hui even specially introduced him to Cherie Chung and asked her to star in "A Woman's Heart" directed by Stanley Kwan.

Shi Nansheng smiled and said: "It doesn't matter. At most, I can overlap with other projects. Hong Gu is so famous, it would be abnormal if she didn't overlap with other projects.

The master's next film, "Swordsman and Lady", will not start shooting until October. I heard that "The Truman Show" will start shooting in August, which can stagger most of the time."

"Master" is the nickname that Nansun Shi privately calls Tsui Hark.

In later generations of the mainland's film and television circles, overlapping roles is often seen as an unethical practice, but in Hong Kong today it is a very common thing.

Nowadays, Hong Kong movie stars would be embarrassed to say that they are famous if they don’t run two or three groups every day.

Shi Nansheng continued, "The master has an idea recently. He wants to remake an old film, maybe after the filming of "Dagger and Lady". He wants you to help write a script."

The film companies that contacted Lin Chaoyang were all after his scripts, and he expected what Tsui Hark and his wife were thinking.

When Shi Nansheng mentioned that Tsui Hark wanted to remake old films, several movies flashed through Lin Chaoyang's mind. Among the many classic films shot by Tsui Hark, a considerable number were adapted from old films produced by Shaw Brothers in the 1960s and 1970s.

Lin Chaoyang asked what movie it was, but unexpectedly Tsui Hark directly took out the script, which turned out to be "A Better Tomorrow" produced by Cinema Films in 1967.

The film is directed by Long Gang and stars Patrick Tse and Shek Kin.

In the 1960s, the Cantonese film market was still dominated by dramas and romances. A Better Tomorrow tells the story of a released prisoner and does not involve love between men and women at all, which was a bold innovation at the time.

After its release, it received a good response and the box office revenue reached 400,000 Hong Kong dollars.

This number may seem pitifully small nowadays, but in 1967, it was already among the top ten in the box office rankings of that year.

That year, Chang Cheh directed "One-Armed Swordsman", which became the first film in Hong Kong film history to gross over a million dollars. Chang Cheh was therefore known as the "Million-Dollar Director".

When the script was placed in his hands, Lin Chaoyang immediately understood Tsui Hark's thoughts.

"I want you to rewrite the script..." Tsui Hark made his request to Lin Chaoyang.

The 67 version of "A Better Tomorrow" is a dark realistic social film. Tsui Hark liked this story, but what he wanted to pursue was a heroic spirit, which was missing in the original script.

After listening to his ideas, Lin Chaoyang did not talk about the script anymore, but talked seriously with Shi Nansheng about the issue of remuneration.

He knew that Nansun Shi was in charge of all the affairs of the film studio, and Tsui Hark was only responsible for making movies.

Lin Chaoyang had just won the Best Screenwriter Award at the Academy Awards for the second consecutive year, so Shi Nansheng was already prepared when he was asked to write the script.

"I heard that Mr. Lin used the script as investment for the movie "The Truman Show"?"

Listening to Shi Nansheng's words, Lin Chaoyang was slightly surprised.

Most film companies would have rejected his request, but Nansun Shi did not follow the usual path and took the initiative to mention it.

After a brief thought, he roughly guessed what Shi Nansheng was thinking.

The financial backer behind the film company she and Tsui Hark run is Boss Lei, and the bulk of the investment comes from Boss Lei and Cinema City, so a larger or smaller investment share actually has no big impact on the couple's income.

On the contrary, if they could get Lin Chaoyang's script without spending a penny, it would reduce the production cost of the film and might be more beneficial to the development of the film studio.

After understanding this principle, Lin Chaoyang chatted with Shi Nansheng for a while.

With the previous case of "The Truman Show", Shi Nansheng did not hesitate too much and quickly agreed to Lin Chaoyang's request to use the script fee as investment, and the proportion was still 10%.

Then Tsui Hark talked to Lin Chaoyang about his ideas about the script. Lin Chaoyang received all his information and then summarized it with his own ideas.

"I understand what you mean. You want to make a martial arts film with an urban style, with elements of being framed, upholding justice, settling accounts and taking revenge, and two heroes fighting for supremacy. But it must have modern characteristics.

The most important thing is to have a heroic spirit, to act with integrity even if there are minor flaws, and never to drag your feet."

After listening to Lin Chaoyang's summary, Xu Ke felt as if he had met a kindred spirit, and his face was full of excitement. "Yes, yes, yes, you are absolutely right. This is exactly the feeling I want."

After dinner, Lin Chaoyang promised Tsui Hark that he would hand over the script within two months and then left the restaurant.

After returning home, Lin Chaoyang told Tao Yushu what happened today, and said to her: "Let's register a film company later, and you will be the boss and the investor of "A Better Tomorrow".

Lin Chaoyang wanted Tao Yushu to start a film company, but it was impossible for him to invest or produce films independently right from the start.

Given the couple's current situation, the best solution is to temporarily cooperate with others.

Cooperating with a film studio is a good choice. Firstly, Tsui Hark's performance is relatively stable. Secondly, the scale of the film studio is not large, so there is no need to worry about bullying customers. Thirdly, with the cooperation between Lin Chaoyang and the film studio, Golden Harvest will not dare to go too far.

"Do we need to get the residence permit?"

"Of course." Lin Chaoyang teased her again, "Speak a few words in Cantonese."

The couple has been in Hong Kong for more than three months. The reason why they have not yet issued Tao Yushu a citizenship is mainly to give Tao Yushu time to familiarize himself with Hong Kong's environment, culture and language.

Tao Yushu is the one who goes out and communicates with people the most in the family. She is also studious and has become quite fluent in Cantonese after a few months.

In the next few days, with the help of Zhang Cuiying, Tao Yushu went to the Immigration Department to handle his identity, and then registered a film company.

The name of the film company was chosen casually, it was called Lin's Pictures, and Tao Yushu served as the chairman and general manager.

The chairman of Lin Pictures is named Tao, and he has a dark sense of humor.

With the establishment of the new company, Tao Yushu had an additional general under him, Tao Yumo, the deputy general manager, head of the legal department, and head of the administrative department.

As for Lin Chaoyang, he is so casual that he definitely cannot go to work. At most, he can be a part-time screenwriter.

The first thing the company did after its establishment was to find an office location. Chairman Tao spent several days surveying the surrounding area with Oriental Garden as the center, and finally set his sights on the Prince Building at the intersection of Prince Road and Kitti Road.

It is less than 300 meters away from Oriental Garden, and the monthly rent for a 500-square-foot office is around HK$3.

Tao Yushu did some calculations. HK$3 a month would be HK$3 a year. The property price per square foot in Prince's Building was only HK$6, so 950 square feet would be less than HK$500.

If you rent for more than ten years, your capital will be recovered.

Starting from the early 80s, the world economy experienced an overall recession due to the oil crisis, and China and Britain had been unable to reach a consensus in the negotiations on the Hong Kong issue.

This led to a continuous decline in Hong Kong's real estate market in the past few years, with the cumulative decline exceeding 30%.

It was not until the beginning of this year, after the negotiation results were finalized, that Hong Kong's housing prices turned from negative to positive.

But it will take at least a year to return to prices before the 1980s.

Therefore, this period is not the golden time to buy at the bottom of the property market, but it is also a good opportunity.

After listening to Lin's analysis of the world situation and market conditions, Chairman Tao thought that it was better to buy than to rent, so he spent nearly HK$50 to buy the 500-square-foot property, approximately 46.5 square meters, on the sixth floor of Prince's Building.

After the purchase, Tao Yushu was still a little unsatisfied because she heard from the agent that houses here only cost 850 per square foot last year, but in just half a year, the price has increased by yuan per square foot.

"If I had known, I would have bought it last year!"

Chairman Tao expressed his regret for spending an extra 5 Hong Kong dollars.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Be content, you didn't come last year."

Tao Yushu said regretfully: "It's a pity that the company also needs funds, otherwise we can buy more houses."

During this period, Lin Chaoyang received three royalties from Ming Pao Publishing House, and the couple's savings have reached 150 million Hong Kong dollars.

After spending HK$50 to buy the property in Prince Building, there was still HK$100 million left. This HK$100 million was the starting capital for Lam's Pictures.

Copying buildings is a typical commercial speculation, so Tao Yushu naturally cannot invest all his money in it.

In the next few days, the family was busy decorating the office and purchasing office supplies, and they finally managed to set up the company's facade.

Lin Chaoyang originally planned to open the store quietly, but unexpectedly on the opening day Li Hanxiang came with Xu Guanwen, Yue Hua, Ti Lung and a group of people to show his support.

The flower baskets sent by this group of people filled the entire company, even in the elevator lobby and at the entrance to the stairwell.

"Chaoyang, you should open your business open openly. Why are you opening your company in such a sneaky way?" Li Hanxiang said half jokingly and half sarcastically.

"My company has opened but has no business. It is just a decoration now. There is no need to create hype."

Having said that, Lin Chaoyang still wants to express his gratitude to everyone for coming to support him.

"Let's go to Fortune House at noon. It's my treat!"

Everyone cheered when they heard the noise. No one needed the meal, but they really liked this atmosphere.

Although Lin's Pictures was open for business, there was no business. Everyone came to chat and laugh, which attracted the attention of some company employees in the building. Although Ti Lung and Yue Hua were a little out of date, their fame was there. As soon as they showed up, many people gathered at the door of Lin's Pictures to watch the fun.

Li Hanxiang looked at the crowd at the door and said with a smile, "Look! This is what we call a grand opening! Oh, and there will be a surprise later."

His mysterious expression made Lin Chaoyang unable to help but ask a few more questions, but after saying this, Li Hanxiang kept silent and kept the secret.

Half an hour later, a charming and beautiful woman arrived at the door of Lin's Film Studio, and the people watching at the door immediately became excited!
"Cherry Chung!"

"Hong Gu!"

The appearance of Cherie Chung not only made the onlookers go crazy, but also caused a sensation in the entire Prince's Building. Upon learning that Cherie Chung appeared in the Prince's Building, the white-collar workers ignored their work and rushed to the sixth floor just to catch a glimpse of the beauty.

"Hong Gu, Hong Gu, you are really famous all over the world!"

Yue Hua couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the enthusiastic people outside the company.

Just now, the crowd outside was getting bigger and bigger. For safety reasons, Lin Chaoyang closed the door of the company. The onlookers could only stand outside and watch, with no intention of leaving.

"What should I do?" Tao Yushu had never experienced such a scene before. She felt a little overwhelmed when she saw the thick crowd outside.

However, Cherie Chung was no longer surprised. She had just accepted the role of the heroine in "The Truman Show" and was called by Xu Guanwen today to support Lam's Film Company.

"Mrs. Lin, it's okay. These people are just curious. I'll go talk to them and they'll be gone in a moment."

When Cherie Chung stepped forward, it really had a miraculous effect. Although the onlookers were somewhat reluctant, how could they not give some face when the goddess stepped forward!

After a while, the crowd had almost dispersed, leaving only a few fanatical fans who were still waiting at the door, hoping to catch another glimpse of the goddess before Cherie Chung left.

At this time, the elevator arrival bell rang in the elevator hall, and Chen Ziqiang and Maggie Cheung, who had dyed purple hair, walked out of the elevator, with a young man holding a flower basket behind them.

"Mr. Lin, Mrs. Lin, congratulations! Congratulations! Good luck with the opening of your business!" Chen Ziqiang bowed and congratulated them as soon as they met.

After congratulating him, Maggie Cheung automatically moved closer to Tao Yushu like a cat that smelled fish.

Tao Yushu and Cherie Chung both have bright and elegant looks and temperaments. Her style is pure and sweet, and standing next to the two of them, she inexplicably gives off a feeling of being like a little bird.

Seeing Tao Yushu chatting enthusiastically with Cherie Chung, Maggie Cheung felt a little uncomfortable. Her eyes wandered around and suddenly she found a pair of familiar eyes.

The reason why she is familiar is that she looks very similar to Tao Yushu, but her temperament is completely different, which makes Maggie Cheung feel a sense of mutual admiration.

After a while, the two of them got together.

When it was almost noon, everyone went to the Fulinmen Restaurant. After having a big meal, the opening ceremony of Lin's Pictures was considered a complete success.

When Tao Yumo returned home at night, he said to his sister, "Sister, you have given me so many positions, you should at least give me some salary, right?"

"What kind of salary? Isn't the pocket money I give you enough?"

Although he had just become a capitalist, Tao Yushu's heart turned evil at an alarming speed, which made Tao Yumo heartbroken.

"Pocket money is pocket money. I look after the kids and help you all day. Even if I don't get any credit, I still work hard."

The coolie was clamoring for a wage increase, and his request was reasonable and legitimate, so even a black-hearted person like Tao Yushu had to consider it.

"Then I'll give you an extra thousand dollars every month."

"I took on so many extra jobs, and I'm only getting a 1,000 yuan raise?"

"You are really insatiable! Isn't this much more than your previous salary?"

"Living in Hong Kong is not easy! You hold great financial power, how can you understand the difficulties faced by ordinary people like us?"

Tao Yumo tried to act pitiful, but it sounded a bit weird.

The two sisters discussed for a long time and finally decided to give Tao Yumo an extra HK$1,500 in pocket money every month. Together with the original HK$1,500 they gave her every month, it was exactly HK$3,000.

Having secured enough treatment for himself, Tao Yumo's face was full of smiles, and the word "money-grubber" was almost written on his face.

She thought cunningly that 3,000 Hong Kong dollars a month, converted into RMB, was more than 1,100 yuan, which was equivalent to her income in two years working in Yanjing.

Why would she go back to work?
Two days later, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu appeared on the Golden Harvest Studios.

Golden Harvest Studios is located in Busan Province. Zou Wenhuai purchased the bankrupt Cathay Studios and renamed it Golden Harvest Studios.

Today is the day when "The Truman Show" starts filming. The crew members have arrived early in the morning and there are also many guests who have come to support the event.

Xu Guanwen is a capable executive of Golden Harvest, so of course Boss Zou had to show up today. In addition to the boss, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and other stars under Golden Harvest also showed up to show their support.

In addition to these people, Lin Chaoyang also saw the four Xu brothers appear together for the first time today.

Among the four brothers, Sam Hui is now a superstar in both film and singing, even more popular than his eldest brother Xu Guanwen. This time, all the brothers will make guest appearances in "The Truman Show".

After the lively opening ceremony, the stars who came to the stage dispersed, and the first scene and the first shot of "The Truman Show" officially began shooting.

The first shot of "The Truman Show" is Truman complaining about his little belly in front of bottles and jars in the bathroom.

The original Jim Carrey became famous for his comedy, and this movie was his transitional work. His performance in this movie restrained a lot of the exaggerated elements of comedy, but he still revealed some of his true nature unconsciously.

In comparison, Xu Guanwen's performance when facing the camera is more dull than Jim Carrey's.

Later in 1993, Xu Guanwen starred in a movie called "The Money-Grabbing Couple", which tells the story of a news reporter played by Xu Guanwen who was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was exploited by the highly competitive Hong Kong media, triggering a series of crazy "money-grabbing" behaviors.

The clip of Xu Guanwen giving a speech to the camera became popular on TikTok for a while. His relaxed and effortless performance in the movie was very impressive, and it would be an understatement to describe it as a best-seller-level performance.

Lin Chaoyang watched Xu Guanwen's performance from the side and felt that his performance was even better than in "The Money-Grabbing Couple".

It seems that he really put a lot of hard work into the script.

After one shot is finished, the next shot is where the Trumans appear together.

Cherie Chung is only in her twenties this year, so it stands to reason that she is a little young to play Xu Guanwen's wife.

But her appearance and temperament are very mature. With a little makeup and dressing up, it would not be at all out of place to say that she is a young woman in her thirties.

Compared with Xu Guanwen, whose acting is natural and superb, Cherie Chung's acting is much more immature. Today was the beginning of the work, and she had not yet entered the state, and was called "cut" by Ann Hui several times in a row.

"Take a break."

The shooting schedule of "The Truman Show" was quite generous, and Ann Hui was not impatient. Instead, she gave Cherie Chung time to slowly get into the mood.

By the afternoon, her performance had improved significantly.

The next day, Lin Chaoyang received a call from Li Shifei in Guangzhou, saying that the publication of "The Truman Show" lacked the influence of the previous magazine publication. Huacheng Publishing House prepared some promotional activities and wanted Lin Chaoyang to cooperate.

Lin Chaoyang asked in detail and found out that Huacheng Publishing House wanted to hold a press conference for "The Truman Show" and they invited some TV stations and newspapers in South China to attend.

In addition, several book signing events were prepared. Huacheng Publishing House hoped that Lin Chaoyang could travel around several major cities in the country, which could be considered a means of publicity.

Lin Chaoyang listened to the cities Li Shifei reported, and started from Guangzhou, then Changsha, Wuhan, and then went along the Yangtze River to Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.

After the south, it's the north, all the way north to Zhengzhou, Jinan, Tianjin, and Yanjing.

Lin Chaoyang was so nervous after hearing this. It would take at least a month to run this whole round.

"No, no. You are treating me like a donkey pulling a millstone. How can you order someone around like that?"

"How can this be called ordering you around? Aren't we also doing this for the promotion and sales of the novel?"

After some arguing, Lin Chaoyang finally agreed to attend only three signing sessions in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Yanjing, which would take about a week.

The new book launch of "The Truman Show" was scheduled for August 8, and Lin Chaoyang could just go to Guangzhou after attending Er Maitai's wedding.

Two days later, Lin Chaoyang was about to go to Shenzhen, but Tao Yushu found him awkwardly and talked about preparing a wedding gift for Er Maitai.

It turned out that she had originally planned to prepare a motorcycle as a gift for Er Maitai, but after asking at the mall, she found out that this thing could not be brought in.

"Why not bring a TV or a VCR back with you?" Tao Yushu suggested.

"Forget it, don't bother yourself. They just got married, so giving them money is the most practical thing to do."

After the couple discussed it, Lin Chaoyang went to Hung Hom Kowloon Railway Station the next day, then took a train north along the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway to Luohu Port.

Nowadays, eye-catching signs can be seen everywhere on the streets of Shenzhen, such as the slogan "Time is money, efficiency is life" painted all over the streets and alleys.

Everywhere you look, you see high-rise buildings under construction and the long arms of tower cranes extending everywhere. Next to the busy construction site, men and women in blue work clothes whizz past on Phoenix bicycles.

Although he did not return to Yanjing, for some reason, when Lin Chaoyang set foot on the land of Shenzhen again, he felt like he was home.

He followed the address provided by Ermaitai and found Hongling Building in Futian.

"Chaoyang!"

Er Maitai was so excited to see Lin Chaoyang that he went up to him and gave him a bear hug.

Lin Chaoyang patted Ermaitai and said, "Great! You really are going to be a groom, and you are dressed up smartly. Don't call me Ermaitai anymore, call me Daqingjing instead."

Er Maitai scratched his head and smiled. Luo Huifang also came over to greet Lin Chaoyang, "Chaoyang!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and nodded, "Afang, congratulations!"

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lin Chaoyang looked at Er Maitai and Luo Huifang's new home and said, "Your house is quite nice."

Speaking of houses, Er Maitai was a little embarrassed and said, "Last year you told me to buy a bungalow, but now it's not available in Luohu or Futian. Afang's family urged me to buy one, so I bought this one. This place is cheap, only 300 yuan per square meter."

Lin Chaoyang laughed and said, "What's the big deal? Houses are for living. By the way, why is this house so cheap?"

In recent years, the housing prices in Shenzhen have changed every year. When Lin Chaoyang came last year, Luo Huifang said that the prices of some newly built commercial housing were already several hundred yuan per square meter, and good properties even cost one thousand yuan per square meter.

“I was building the China World Trade Center before, and I found out about it when I was chatting with my colleagues.

This community was built by the Housing Authority. At that time, in order to raise funds for the construction of the China World Trade Center, the city had no money, so they built this place first and sold the properties to the outside. It did not matter whether it was private or public, or what household registration it was, as long as 40% of the house price was paid.

We paid too much for it. The year before last, it was 220 yuan per square meter.”

I'm afraid such a policy can only be enjoyed in Shenzhen. Apart from anything else, there are no design specifications for high-rise buildings in the country, yet they dare to build high-rise residential buildings with more than 30 floors.

"So you two still have loans?"

(End of this chapter)