Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 443: Money Not Spent in Waste
Du Feng wanted to expand his business, so he asked Lin Chaoyang and his wife for help. As relatives, it was within their ability and wouldn't take much effort, so it was natural for them to help.

Du Feng is a shrewd man with a sharp eye. If he can get a project like the clothing city off the ground at this time, the profits in the next ten to twenty years will be absolutely staggering.

But precisely because of this, Lin Chaoyang had to think further into the long term.

In Du Feng's current view, the clothing city may be just a project with an investment of 50 yuan and a potential to make money, but what if this clothing city makes a fortune in a few years?

The clothing city project was organized by Du Feng, and he will certainly be the one who contributes the most effort to it in the future. At that time, will he be willing to let Tao Yushu, who merely participated in the investment, take away half of his money?

People are not enough to swallow elephants.

Lin Chaoyang was not questioning Du Feng's character, but he never tested human nature, so he came up with such a plan.

Contributing money to the joint venture can be considered as help. If the project is successful, the dividends in the next few years and the premium when the shares are withdrawn can be considered as their return.

After Lin Chaoyang finished talking about his plan, Du Feng's face was uncertain. He naturally understood Lin Chaoyang's intention. After a long while, he said unwillingly: "Brother-in-law, you really underestimated me!"

"I'm not looking down on you, I just don't want to hurt our relationship. You're still young, and you'll understand in the future that people's hearts are fickle!" Lin Chaoyang said calmly.

"I'm Du Feng..." Du Feng raised his neck and said these three words in a resounding voice, but he swallowed the rest of the words.

He really wanted to say with absolute certainty, "I, Du Feng, will not change," but in the end he found that words were powerless.

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Brother-in-law, I understand your good intentions, so let's do as you wish."

When saying this, Du Feng had only one thought in his mind.

He will use time to prove that he, Du Feng, will not change.

When they went to bed at night, Tao Yushu said to Lin Chaoyang, "Du Feng found it hard to accept what you said during the day."

"I know it's hard for him to accept, but it's just a temporary face issue for young people. It's better than a falling out later."

Tao Yushu had not yet seen the ups and downs of the business world and the wickedness of human nature. She asked with some uncertainty: "Do you think people can really change?"

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment, "Maybe, maybe not, but are you willing to bet?"

Tao Yushu stopped talking.

In the next few days, Tao Yumo got a new job, which was to take Du Feng out for a stroll every day, under the pretext of inspection.

Tao Yushu was busy registering a company and promised Du Feng that he would invest in a clothing city, which would definitely be registered in the name of Xiangjiang Company.

Lin Chaoyang also asked Tao Yushu to register a cultural company. As the number of his works and the number of adaptations continued to increase, handling these affairs has occupied more and more of Lin Chaoyang's energy.

He thought about it and decided to set up a company and hire someone to handle these matters. He had already found this "person", Lin Chaoyang.

"I'll give you an extra 1000 yuan in pocket money, and you'll be in charge of this cultural company."

Tao Yumo looked at her brother-in-law with a confused look on her face.

What's going on? Give me pocket money again?
No, it means I have to work more?

"When you have time, familiarize yourself with the laws in Hong Kong. They are different from ours and will be useful in the future."

Lin Chaoyang explained a lot to Tao Yumo. After she digested it for a while, she said reluctantly, "Brother-in-law, I don't want to do it."

"Don't you want pocket money?"

When it comes to pocket money, Tao Yumo hesitated, "Too much work."

"Is it much?"

Lin Chaoyang, who has transformed into a black-hearted capitalist, has lost his empathy for the "working people".

"The cultural company doesn't have much to do. It just manages the copyright of my books. It sounds complicated, but in fact, I only use them twice a year. This is a thousand yuan of pocket money a month, so you should think about it carefully!"

After his step-by-step persuasion, Tao Yumo finally couldn't resist the temptation. After all, he had an extra 1000 yuan in pocket money!

After August, the weather in Hong Kong is still hot, with temperatures still over 30 degrees during the day.

Recently, Lin Chaoyang has been staying at home, writing the adapted script for "A Better Tomorrow" that he promised to Tsui Hark.

He originally said it would take two months, but he was so busy these days that he hadn't started writing the script yet. Now that he has the time, he has to hurry up and finish writing the script.

That morning, Lin Chaoyang received a call from Dong Qiao, who wanted to invite him for morning tea, but Lin Chaoyang knew that there must be something to discuss.

The two met at Luk Yu Tea House in Central. This tea house, which was established in the 1960s, still maintains the style of a Hong Kong-style tea house. The interior decoration is antique and the waiters are all dressed in Tang suits.

When they met, they exchanged a few pleasantries. Dong Qiao asked Lin Chaoyang what he was busy with recently, and Lin Chaoyang told him about writing a script for Tsui Hark.

After listening to it, Dong Qiao praised: "It seems that you are really good at both novels and scripts now!"

His words showed his admiration for Lin Chaoyang's talent, as well as his surprise at how quickly Lin Chaoyang could adapt to Hong Kong's language and cultural environment.

In recent years, almost all the literati active in Hong Kong's cultural circle are from the mainland, but there are very few who can be as successful as Lin Chaoyang right after arriving.

After the greetings, Dong Qiao talked about the publication of "The Truman Show".

Ming Pao Publishing House and Huacheng Publishing House coincidentally wanted to hold a book signing event for "The Truman Show".

Dong Qiao explained the reasons why they did this. First, they wanted to take advantage of the popularity of the movie of the same name, "The Truman Show", and second, Lin Chaoyang is now much more famous in Hong Kong than in the past two years.

If the publicity work is done well, it will definitely boost book sales, especially after the release of the movie "The Truman Show", the bonus will be even greater.

"I think it would be best to invite Xu Guanwen to come over. If the character of 'Truman' is brought to life, it will give readers a better experience."

Dong Qiao expressed his thoughts, and Lin Chaoyang heard the implication of freeloading.

He deliberately said: "Please ask Xu Guanwen? You Ming Pao Publishing House are really willing to spend money!"

Dong Qiao really said, "Chaoyang, why don't you discuss it with him? Attending the book signing event can actually be considered as a form of promotion for the movie."

"Me treat? Isn't that inappropriate?" Lin Chaoyang shook his head decisively.

Not only did they ask him to cooperate with the signing event, but they also asked him to use favors to invite people. This was too cunning a calculation.

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang was firm in his attitude and there was no room for negotiation, Dong Qiao hesitated for a while and made a concession, offering Xu Guanwen a friendly price to support him.

"Chaoyang, this matter is indeed beneficial to both parties, so please help us." Dong Qiao said sincerely.

Lin Chaoyang pondered and said, "I may not be able to invite him."

Of course, this was just a polite remark. Lin Chaoyang and Xu Guanwen have a good relationship now, and they also have the cooperation on "The Truman Show". Ming Pao Publishing House is willing to pay, so Xu Guanwen has no reason not to agree.

The next day, Lin Chaoyang went to the Golden Harvest Studios to discuss this matter with Xu Guanwen, and Xu Guanwen was indeed very interested.

The novel "The Truman Show" was published in Hong Kong, and he was invited as the leading actor of the movie version to attend. He did not consider the impact on the sales of the novel.

He figured that such an appearance would surely make headlines in Entertainment Weekly and would also help readers infuse his character with the same favorable feelings they had for the fictional character.

This is a good thing both from the perspective of film promotion and from the perspective of future film releases.

Xu Guanwen agreed without any hesitation.

After talking about this, Lin Chaoyang stayed on the set for a while. Coincidentally, Maggie Cheung had a role to play today.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

Her performance remained stable. Lin Chaoyang listened to the crew members chatting and learned that Maggie Cheung was recently given the nickname "Sister Ka" by the crew.

As long as there is a notice about her today, the workload of the script supervisors will explode. In order to express their dissatisfaction, they privately gave Maggie Cheung this nickname, and it soon spread among the crew.

While the crew members were chatting, the number of NGs for Maggie Cheung soared rapidly, and the blood pressure of director Ann Hui also soared.

But before Ann Hui could get angry, Maggie Cheung's tears were already welling up in her eyes. Seeing this, Ann Hui could only wave her hands helplessly and let the crew take a break.

Then Lin Chaoyang saw Maggie Cheung wipe away her tears and run to Tao Yushu and rub against him.

People who don’t know her would think she acted so well that she went to take credit for it.

A few days later, the script was completed and Lin Chaoyang asked to meet with Tsui Hark.

After learning that the script was completed, Tsui Hark was overjoyed and specially set the meeting place at the Swiss Restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel, saying that he wanted to treat Lin Chaoyang to a big meal.

After meeting, he and Shi Nansheng were still dressed in their unique styles. Lin Chaoyang also brought Tao Yushu today, and the two women chatted together.

Tsui Hark was looking at the script while discussing it with Lin Chaoyang.

The later John Woo version of "A Better Tomorrow" actually only had an outline when filming began. Even Chow Yun-fat's role as Mark was originally just a cameo. It was only because his acting felt so right that John Woo appreciated it so much that he was gradually given more roles and became the leading actor.

The stunning effect of the final film is inseparable from the collision of inspiration between Tsui Hark and John Woo during the filming and production.

Now Tsui Hark asked Lin Chaoyang to write the script, and Lin Chaoyang just copied the standard answer. After reading the script, Tsui Hark couldn't help but applaud, and couldn't help but feel a sense of mutual appreciation in his heart.

"Chaoyang, you really understand me!"

Xu Ka held Lin Chaoyang's hand and said excitedly.

Lin Chaoyang got goose bumps all over his body and quickly pulled his hand away.

"As long as you are satisfied, what are your plans next?"

Tsui Hark suppressed his excitement and said, "Swordsman and Lady" will start shooting next month, and this movie may have to wait until after the New Year."

"Will you direct it yourself? Or will you find someone else?"

This is what Lin Chaoyang is concerned about. Although Wu Baige only has three tricks, he uses them very well. He is indeed better than Tsui Hark in shooting this kind of subject matter.

“This is not confirmed yet…”

With his hand on the script, Tsui Hark told Lin Chaoyang about the origin of his idea of ​​adapting "A Better Tomorrow". It turned out that the idea of ​​this movie came out when he was chatting with John Woo during a business trip to Taiwan last year.

He met John Woo at a film gathering in 1979. At that time, John Woo was already a well-known new director in the Hong Kong film industry.

However, Tsui Hark was still unknown and had just filmed a martial arts TV series "The Golden Sword" on ATV.

John Woo watched "The Sword" and was particularly impressed by a scene in the TV series. A knight, after striking with a sword, threw the sword onto the snow, and the bright red blood on the blade splashed onto the white snow.

When he learned that Tsui Hark was the director, he immediately took a liking to him, and the two formed a friendship.

In 1980, Cinema City was established. One of the founders, Michael Hui, tried to persuade John Woo to work there, but at that time John Woo was already tied to Golden Harvest and it was difficult for him to extricate himself, so he recommended his good friend Tsui Hark to go to Cinema City.

Tsui Hark's trip was like a dragon entering the sea. In just a few years, he became a hot young director in the Hong Kong film industry.

On the other hand, John Woo, who recommended him to Cinema City, was tired of Golden Harvest always asking him to make comedies, so he went to tinker with action movies. He made two action movies in a row, and both of them failed at the box office.

When filming his second gun-fighting film, "A Tender Touch," an accident occurred on the set, causing an actor to be shot in the thigh. After this film, Golden Harvest officially terminated its contract with John Woo.

At this time, Tsui Hark brought John Woo to Cinema City, but because of the failure of the previous two films, Cinema City did not dare to reuse John Woo, and instead sent him to Taiwan Island to serve as a producer at the branch.

“The character Xiao Ma in your script reminds me of Arsen. The temperament of this script fits his experiences in recent years very well.

If I take a photo of him, maybe there will be some unexpected sparks.”

After Tsui Hark finished speaking about his ideas, he said to Lin Chaoyang, "These are just my own ideas for now. Ah Sen will be returning to Hong Kong next month, and I will discuss it with him then. He has no movies to shoot right now, so he will definitely agree. The main reason is that Cinema City is a bit difficult to deal with."

Lin Chaoyang nodded, understanding what he meant.

Behind the film studio are Boss Lei and Cinema City. Boss Lei is not in charge of specific matters, so Cinema City has a great influence on the film studio.

John Woo now has the reputation of being a "box office poison" and has been in decline for several years. Cinema City has no shortage of directors, so it would be difficult for them to take the risk of hiring John Woo, a director with a bad reputation.

"Everything depends on human efforts. I believe in your vision." Lin Chaoyang said this.

He didn't have a good impression of Wu Baige. In later life, this guy was very close to the Taiwanese film capital and did a lot of things to suppress mainland actors when filming "Red Cliff".

But he also understood that Wu Baige was indeed a great director, and the most important thing was that he could help make money, so he couldn't waste his time just because of the person.

His words actually made Tsui Hark excited again. Feeling his deep trust, Tsui Hark drank a glass of wine with him and almost shouted "good brothers for life"!

The next morning, Tao Yushu went to the film studio on behalf of Lin Chaoyang to draft an agreement, and the script issue came to a temporary end.

Time flies and it is already mid-September. Two letters came from home, both expressing concern about Tao Yushu's pregnancy.

She is now more than eight months pregnant, and the months are getting further and further along. During this time in Hong Kong, Tao Yushu has never missed her pregnancy checkups, and the child's developmental indicators are all normal, but the elders still can't help but worry.

The couple discussed it and decided to return to Yanjing before November 1st.

That night, the two men called Tao Yumo to the living room, told him their plans, and asked for Tao Yumo's opinion.

"Do you want to stay in Hong Kong or return to Yanjing?"

Tao Yumo's eyes flashed with joy when she heard that, and her restless thoughts were revealed without a doubt, but she was now more shrewd than before.

Pretending to be calm, he said, "What's the point of being alone in Hong Kong? I'll go back to Yanjing with you guys."

Tao Yushu immediately said, "You can actually stay in Hong Kong. We also need someone to look after us here."

"Ah? Then when can I go home?"

Tao Yumo pretends to be difficult and her acting skills are comparable to Sister Ka's.

Tao Yushu dispelled her wild thoughts with just one sentence, "No one will give you pocket money when you go home!"

"Sister, brother-in-law, there are so many things going on in the company in Hong Kong, and we really can't do without people. I will stay here for the time being."

Tao Yumo immediately expressed his position, like a soldier ready to go to the battlefield at any time.

Tao Yushu was very satisfied with her attitude and said, "Okay. It's settled then. You will take care of the company's affairs in Hong Kong for the time being."

Seeing her say this, Comrade Yu Mo couldn't help but protest against this bureaucracy and formalism, muttering: "You have already made the decision, why are you asking me?"

Lin Chaoyang reminded him again: "You can get a driver's license when you have time."

"Again?"

Previously, Lin Chaoyang asked her to familiarize herself with the laws of Hong Kong, and now he asked her to learn how to drive. Tao Yumo felt under a lot of pressure.

It’s really hard to get this little pocket money!
"Why are you afraid of reimbursing you? Others can't even ask for this opportunity."

"Ok."

Tao Yumo thought about it and thought that once Lin Chaoyang and his wife left, Xiao Dongzi would definitely leave as well. By then, there would be no one in the mountain...呸呸呸呸. She was the one in charge of the world and had plenty of time. It would be no big deal for her to learn how to drive.

After finishing these serious matters, Tao Yushu couldn't help but give Tao Yumo a few words of advice, which were nothing more than to be careful when going out, not to go to dangerous places, and not to make friends with bad people.

Tao Yumo asked: "Is Maggie Cheung considered a bad person? She wanted to go shopping with me a few days ago!"

Tao Yushu's face was full of seriousness. "Ignore her. Instead of shopping, you might as well think about how to act."

Her tone was as if the teacher was asking the top students to isolate the poor students in the class.

Lin Chaoyang watched from the side and thought to himself that when she was on the set, she at least treated you as a close older sister. You are being too unkind!
The next day, Lin Chaoyang and his wife went out together to buy gifts for their family.

While shopping in Taikoo City Center, Tao Yushu saw a bookstore on the basement floor and said, "Seeing the bookstore reminded me that The Truman Show is now available in Hong Kong, right?"

"According to the time, it's time to go." Lin Chaoyang said.

The publication of "The Truman Show" in Hong Kong is far less popular than in mainland China. In the cultural atmosphere of Hong Kong, pure literature has never been the mainstream.

Before publication, Ming Pao Publishing House did advertise in its own newspapers and some literary magazines, but the audience of these advertisements was mainly limited to literary readers.

As for the book signing event that Dong Qiao mentioned earlier, Ming Pao Publishing House has a different idea from Huacheng Publishing House. They plan to hold it after the novel has been on the market for a few days and there is some noise and response.

The couple walked into the bookstore while talking. The bookstore in Taikoo City Center is very stylish and mainly sells original English books. This is certainly not because Taikoo is the developer of Yingzi.

This is because the customer base of Taikoo City Center is mostly middle-class people, who have always been proud of reading English books.

However, this does not mean that there are no Chinese books in the bookstore. After Lin Chaoyang and his companions searched the bookstore, they actually found "The Truman Show" on a shelf dedicated to new books.

"It looks like it's selling quite well." Tao Yushu said happily.

There seemed to be several copies of "The Truman Show" placed there, but now there is only one left.

As she spoke, she took down the remaining book and flipped through it.

The vertical format, traditional Chinese characters, fonts and page turning from right to left are definitely a "retrograde" reading experience for mainland readers.

But Tao Yushu didn't care. She happily read the book for a while, then asked the bookstore clerk, "Do you have more copies of this "The Truman Show"?"

"Ma'am wait a minute, we need to check our inventory."

The two waited for a while, and the salesperson came with a cart to deliver the books. Lin Chaoyang felt a sense of familiarity, as he had been doing this job for several years.

"Just buy two. It's troublesome to carry books through customs, and they're so heavy." Seeing that Tao Yushu was about to make a large purchase, Lin Chaoyang hurriedly persuaded him.

In the end, Tao Yushu only took three books. "We will keep one for ourselves, and the remaining two can be given to friends."

The two of them were talking while checking out. Tao Yushu noticed that another reader came into the store and picked up the copy of The Truman Show that had just been restocked, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

"I don't know how much this book can sell in Hong Kong." Tao Yushu said to Lin Chaoyang as they walked out of the bookstore.

"Who cares how much he sells for? The money has been collected anyway." Lin Chaoyang said easily.

"The Truman Show" was published in Hong Kong, with an initial print run of 1 copies. Ming Pao Publishing has already prepaid HK$5 in royalties.

This figure is certainly not much compared to the domestic royalty base, but Hong Kong is just a small place after all.

And if it sells well, there will be a lot of royalties later.

In addition to these, Lin Chaoyang has also received royalties from the publication of several previous books. Now the couple’s bank account in Hong Kong has a deposit of more than 150 million Hong Kong dollars.

A few days later, the Wan Chai branch of Joint Publishing Company in Hong Kong was bustling from early morning, with many enthusiastic readers gathering inside and outside the bookstore.

Today is the day of Lin Chaoyang’s new book signing event, and these readers are here for the event.

Lin Chaoyang's works first landed in Hong Kong four years ago. It was purely by chance that "The Death of Van Gogh" was brought here by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press.

From being unknown in the beginning, he later opened up the market with word of mouth. In addition, in the past two years, Lin Chaoyang has become more and more famous in Hong Kong because of the Academy Awards and various news.

"The Death of Van Gogh", "Crossing the Guandong" and "The Chess Master" are works that have gradually become bestsellers. The sales of these novels in Hong Kong are something to be proud of in the Hong Kong literary world.

Not to mention the increase in fame, if we only talk about the popularity of the work, the publication of "Crossing the Guandong" in Hong Kong can definitely be regarded as a watershed.

Before "Crossing the Guandong", Lin Chaoyang had gained some fame in the Hong Kong cultural circle with "The Death of Van Gogh". He was also mentioned in the newspapers for a few days because of his winning the Academy Awards, and he did gain some popularity in Hong Kong.

But this kind of fame was actually mixed with some entertainment attributes and was not pure. At that time, some people in Hong Kong's cultural circle believed that Lin Chaoyang's remarks to reporters were more like sensationalism and did not think highly of him.

After "Crossing the Guandong" was published in Hong Kong, Lin Chaoyang's reputation in the Hong Kong cultural circle increased rapidly.

The reason is very simple, that is, the novel is so well written, so well written that one cannot help but admire it.

Over the past year or so, almost every Hong Kong newspaper and magazine related to literature has published reviews or promotional articles about "Crossing the Guandong", which have received rave reviews and praise. Otherwise, "Huacheng" would not have so much material to reprint.

After several years of accumulation, the number of Lin Chaoyang's loyal readers in Hong Kong is no less than those of famous veteran writers. The lively scene at today's book signing event is the best proof of this.

For the entire morning, there was a constant queue of readers waiting in line for the book signing event. Although the momentum was not as huge as in the mainland, it is already quite rare to have such appeal given the literary environment in Hong Kong.

Even Pan Yaoming, who came to support Lin Chaoyang today, was surprised to see such a scene.

From "Zhengwu Daily" to "Ocean Literature and Art" and then to Sanlian Bookstore, he has worked for literary newspapers, magazines, bookstores, and publishing houses, and has come into contact with countless writers.

In his impression, there are probably only a handful of Hong Kong writers who have the same appeal as Lin Chaoyang.

"I never thought that Chaoyang, a mainland writer, could have such an influence among Hong Kong readers!"

Dong Qiao was very pleased to see this scene. He felt that all the hard work of Ming Pao Publishing House was worth it. They even paid Xu Guanwen to come and show their support.

Xu Guanwen has an announcement today, so he can only come here during lunch time.

He glanced at his watch. It was almost 11 o'clock, so it was time to go.

As he was thinking this, Dong Qiao noticed some commotion on the street not far away.

Less than a minute later, Xu Guanwen arrived at the entrance of Sanlian Bookstore surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.

After all, he is an actor-level figure in the top echelon of Hong Kong film industry. The arrival of Xu Guanwen undoubtedly ignited the already heated atmosphere of the book signing session, and even overshadowed the author Lin Chaoyang.

Not only did the readers who were queuing become excited, Xu Guanwen's arrival also attracted a large number of enthusiastic citizens, who surrounded the Sanlian Bookstore in three layers inside and outside.

Looking from outside the bookstore, there was a huge crowd of people jostling for position.

Seeing this, Dong Qiao hurriedly called out to the reporters from Ming Pao Group who were waiting on the side.

We invited Xu Guanwen to attend today's book signing event, which cost a lot of money, and the purpose is of course to sell books.

But it is definitely not to rely on celebrities’ appearance at book signing events to sell books. To be more precise, it is to create momentum and publicity. Only in this way can the profits be maximized.

Looking at the huge crowds of people in front of Sanlian Bookstore, Dong Qiao felt proud.

This time the money was really well spent!

(End of this chapter)