Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 480 This round is a sure win!
Attract five more investors? 40% of the investment?
These two sentences were easy to understand, but Li Hanxiang was confused.

The movie made money, but Lin Chaoyang's first thought was not to get rid of him who was taking advantage of the situation to make money, but to continue to invest with him and even let him bring others to invest together?
Accustomed to the Hong Kong movie bosses' greed for profit, Li Hanxiang was full of doubts when faced with Lin Chaoyang's seemingly bizarre operation.

I just felt that the smile on Lin Chaoyang's face was full of mystery.

Seeing this, Lin Chaoyang did not keep the secret and asked Li Hanxiang: "Do you remember last year's Golden Horse Awards?"

Last year, the 23rd Taiwan Golden Horse Film Awards was held in October. At that time, "The Truman Show" and "A Better Tomorrow" had already been released in Taiwan and achieved great success in both box office and reputation.

But at the Golden Horse Awards, these two pre-competition favorites unexpectedly failed to win any awards.

It is not difficult to see from this result that Taiwan Island has already noticed Lin's Pictures, and the hostility is quite obvious.

The fact that "The Truman Show" and "A Better Tomorrow" were able to be released is most likely due to the capital of Golden Harvest and Cinema City, and the officials of the pseudo Film Bureau of Taiwan turning a blind eye.

However, the Golden Horse Awards is a film award led by the Taiwan Island government with a strong political atmosphere. They naturally do not want the two films in which Lin Pictures participated to steal the show in the awards.

After the upset at the Golden Horse Awards last year, there was a heated discussion in the Hong Kong film industry. Many people believed that Lam Films had been targeted by the pseudo-Film Bureau and pseudo-Cultural Bureau of Taiwan, and might be put on the ban list at any time.

This argument caused a stir at the time, but now several months have passed and the Taiwan Island side has yet to make a statement, so this trend has not spread.

Li Hanxiang was very clear about this matter, so when Lin Chaoyang mentioned the "Golden Horse Awards", he seemed to understand something.

"Lao Li, we are old friends, I won't hide anything from you.

You are now an unwelcome person in Wandao, and our Lin's Film Company will probably be on their blacklist within a year or half a year..."

The reason why Lin Chaoyang said this is because it is already common knowledge that "The King of Children" won the award.

Previously, Lam's Films had no official background and was riding on the coattails of Golden Harvest and Cinema City, so Taiwan and Taiwan did not care much about it.

But after the movie "The King of Children", the situation was different. Lin's Pictures was the producer of this movie.

Being associated with the names "Yindu Organization" and "Xi'an Film Studio", it is impossible for Taiwan to allow them to grow wildly in Hong Kong as before.

According to Lin Chaoyang's estimation, the reaction time of the Taiwan Island side will not be too long. It is possible that they will blacklist Lin's Pictures and ban it in the next two months.
The scary thing about the ban from Taiwan is not that the movie cannot be released in their market.

The problem is that all people related to this movie will be banned from appearing in the Taiwan Island film market. To put it bluntly, they will be punished by the same group.

Today, Taiwan is the largest foreign market for Hong Kong films, and therefore has a huge influence on the Hong Kong film industry.

It would be too late to wait until the ban is implemented before making any maneuvers. Now that Lin's Pictures has accumulated its first pot of gold, it is natural to get more people on board so that it can better cope with the situation.

After understanding Lin Chaoyang's thoughts, Li Hanxiang looked relieved.

He thought for a moment and asked again, "But if we really wait for the Taiwan Island to make a statement, no one will be willing to invest, right? After all, this is not only equivalent to giving up the Taiwan Island market, but it is also likely to affect their development in Hong Kong."

A disdainful smile appeared on Lin Chaoyang's lips.

“Capital fears no profit or too little profit, just as nature fears a vacuum.

Once there are appropriate profits, capital becomes bolder.

If there is a 10% profit, it is guaranteed to be used everywhere; with a 20% profit, it becomes active; with a 50% profit, it will take risks; for the sake of 100% profit, it will dare to trample on all human laws; with a 300% profit, it will dare to commit any crime, even at the risk of being hanged.

If unrest and strife bring profit, it will encourage unrest and strife, as evidenced by smuggling and the slave trade.”

Lin Chaoyang used a few words to explain the purpose of doing so, his tone full of confidence.

Li Hanxiang was born in the mainland and was at the peak of revolutionary activities when he was young. He naturally knew the origin of the words that Lin Chaoyang recited.

He has been in the film industry for many years and understands that Lin Chaoyang's idea is correct.

There has never been any distinction between left and right in capital, and his former boss, Mr. Shao, is a clear example of this.

Since he dominated the Hong Kong film industry in the 1950s, when the wind blew left, Mr. Shaw was left, and when the wind blew right, Mr. Shaw was right. He was always a fence-sitter.

"Chaoyang, can you guarantee that your company's movies will always make money?"

Li Hanxiang asked the biggest question in his heart, which was also the biggest loophole in Lin Chaoyang's plan.

Making movies has always been a high-risk investment. For Lam Pictures, a newcomer to Hong Kong, the fact that all the movies it has participated in producing and independently produced have sold out is already a small miracle.

But Li Hanxiang just couldn't believe that they could maintain such a miracle forever.

Even if Lin Chaoyang's plan goes smoothly, he can really unite a group of investors and filmmakers to fight against the ban in Taiwan.

But as long as one or two films fail to invest, it is very likely to cause the collapse of the building. Li Hanxiang doesn't believe that Lin Chaoyang doesn't understand this.

"Lao Li, you still don't understand the weakness of capital. It doesn't matter if one or two movies fail. As long as we keep making successful movies, they won't leave so easily.

Besides, even if the Taiwan Island side wanted to ban them, they wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.”

Having said that, Lin Chaoyang once again revealed a mysterious smile, which made Li Hanxiang feel itchy.

He asked a few more questions, but Lin Chaoyang still refused to tell him.

Li Hanxiang had no choice but to think about it alone. After much thought, he felt that the reason why Lin Chaoyang was certain that the ban from the Taiwan Islands would not last too long was most likely due to cross-strait relations.

Cross-strait relations have improved in the past two years, and perhaps the "handshake of the century" will come someday.

Li Hanxiang knew Lin Chaoyang's status in the mainland and thought he had learned some inside information.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt relaxed.

Lin Chaoyang patted his shoulder and said, "I'll leave the matter of recruiting people to you. You have to promote it well for me!"

At this moment, Li Hanxiang finally realized that he was the role model set by Lin Chaoyang. He had already been tied to the chariot of Lin's Pictures, but he was completely unaware of it.

But he did not feel the slightest resentment of being plotted against. Instead, he enjoyed it and wished there were more such "plots".

"Don't worry about me, Li, doing the job!"

Li Hanxiang patted his chest loudly, fully demonstrating what it means to die for money and birds for food. As long as he can make money, it doesn't matter if the Taiwan Island bans him again.

Looking at his performance, Lin Chaoyang smiled with satisfaction.

In mid-April, Lin Chaoyang received news from France's Gallimard Publishing House.

Six months after its publication in France, sales of "The Truman Show" easily exceeded 3 copies, and the growth momentum is strong, all of which is of course thanks to the popularity of the movie.

In addition to being sold in France, "The Truman Show" is also available in several European countries where French is the official language, including Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. The sales of 3 copies include these countries.

These sales brought Lin Chaoyang 21 francs, or about 2.8 US dollars in royalties.

These royalties are not much, but according to Clement Metayer, the French pure literature book market is different from that in some European and American countries.

Its long-tail effect is more obvious and lasting. It should be said that everything has just begun. Moreover, the sales of 3 copies of "The Truman Show" have surpassed the level of many French local writers.

In the next few years, or even more than ten years, this novel will continue to bring in income for Lin Chaoyang.

That night, Lin's Pictures held a celebration party for "Best Friends".

"That Gao Zhisen was originally going to Debao, but later he heard about the treatment that A-Du and A-Tai received here, so he came straight here. I plan to produce a play for him called "The Wealth Is Forcing People"."

"Like you said, Xingzai does have some potential, and he performed well in "Best Friends" this time."

"This movie is a big hit at the box office, and A-Jing will earn at least another 300 million. The directors in the company are even more motivated, hoping to become rich by making movies like A-Jing."

……

Lin Chaoyang looked over as Tao Yushuo said, and saw Wang Jing surrounded by a group of people, toasting each other, looking high-spirited and extremely proud.

"Best Friends" was just released a few days ago, and its local box office was HK$10 more than "The Romance of the Condor Heroes", reaching HK$2182 million.

The local box office alone made Lam Pictures a considerable sum of money. If the box office from other places is included, the profit should easily exceed HK$2000 million.

At this level, if Lam Pictures produces five films a year, its profits can basically beat more than 95% of the listed companies in Hong Kong today.

In addition to the huge profits made by Lam Pictures, the success of two consecutive films also brought huge wealth to director Wong Jing.

In today's Hong Kong, a director like him is considered very successful.

Apart from those big directors and big stars who can start their own companies, fully control their own lifelines, and have cooperative relationships with big companies, few people can make as much money as Wang Jing does by making a movie.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why Wang Jing is so proud.

"Zhang Guozhong of Art Films contacted me these days, hoping to work with us. He wants Ah Jing to make a movie tailor-made for Andy Lau."

If Lin's Pictures wants to unite Hong Kong filmmakers, it is certainly not enough to rely on Li Hanxiang alone. Tao Yushu is also trying to win over people.

There is no need to think about the two giants, Golden Harvest and Cinema City. Lam Films will compete with them for the market and everyone is a competitor, but the small and medium-sized film companies scattered throughout Hong Kong are Tao Yushu's best partners.

Yi Neng Pictures is one company that Tao Yushu is more optimistic about. This company was founded by agent Zhang Guoqiang, who is also the nephew of the wife of Alan Tam, the most popular singer in Hong Kong today.

Yineng Pictures was founded in 85. From the beginning, it has been a two-pronged business, engaging in both film production and record distribution, and also serving as an artist agency.

Now it has many stars under its banner, including Alan Tam, Andy Lau, Max Wellington, Michael Miu, etc., and its strength is quite good.

"Promise them to get some investment from them and bring in a few companies. For Gao Zhisen's film, Lao Li was the only one who brought in Hu Jinquan and Wu Siyuan."

Tao Yushu nodded slightly as he listened to his words, and then continued, "Yongsheng has just changed its name to Yongsheng recently, and the Xiang brothers seem to be planning to make a big splash in the film industry. They contacted Ajing and said they wanted to cast a female lead."

Wang Jing had worked with the Xiang brothers before, and because of their background, he did not dare to refuse, so he could only come and say hello to Tao Yushu.

"Don't just let them fill the gap with people, invest as well." Lin Chaoyang said generously.

He is not afraid of too many people now, but too few people. Tao Yushu also understands this truth.

After the lively celebration banquet, Lin Pictures is still busy.

April 4th is the day of the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony. More than half a month ago, the Awards Organizing Committee released the shortlist for this year's awards to the outside world.

Among them, "The Truman Show" was nominated for 11 awards including Best Picture and Best Director, and "A Better Tomorrow" was nominated for 10 awards.

During the shortlisting stage, these two films demonstrated an overwhelming advantage over other shortlisted films.

In the past, Golden Harvest was behind "The Truman Show" and Cinema City was behind "A Better Tomorrow". All major media in Hong Kong would inevitably hype up the fierce confrontation between the two major film companies.

But this year, although many media outlets have reported on the companies behind the films, the focus of the media has been on Lin Pictures. It is true that there is a big company behind "The Truman Show" and "A Better Tomorrow", but no one can ignore that there is another thing in common behind these two films.

That is Lin's Pictures.

On the evening of the 24th, the Academy Awards ceremony ended.

"The Truman Show" won seven major awards including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Art Direction.

"A Better Tomorrow" won three major awards: Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Film Song.

There are only fourteen awards in total at the Academy Awards, and these two films took ten awards together, leaving only four awards for the other dozen or so nominated films.

Among these films are strong ones such as "American Heart", "Crazy Stories", "Fire Dragon", "Swordsman", and "Undercover".

When the result came out, many Hong Kong media exclaimed: This is arguably the most fiercely competitive award in the history of the Academy Awards.

Not only that, this result also made many media raise their level of attention to Lin's Pictures to a higher level.

Even on the second day after the Academy Awards ceremony, some media outlets had already declared that "the Hong Kong film market is once again entering a three-way competition."

Award ceremonies and judging have always been a feast for the media. In their words, Lam Pictures has become another new giant in the Hong Kong film market.

But only Tao Yushu himself knew that compared with Golden Harvest and Cinema City, Lin’s foundation and strength were still too weak.

They must continue to develop step by step instead of being complacent following the media's hype.

While she was busy with company matters, Lin Chaoyang received a call from the mainland and then hurried back to the mainland.

On April 1987, 4, the last game of the 30nd China-Japan Go Tournament was held at the Japan Go Institute in Tokyo.

A year ago, the second China-Japan Go Challenge Tournament started here, and today the competition will also end here.

This was the 17th game of this China-Japan Go Challenge Tournament. Previously, the two countries were tied at 8:8.

Before today's game, China's head coach Nie Weiping had defeated several famous Japanese players including Kataoka Satoshi, Yamashiro Hiroshi, Sakai Takeshi and Takemiya Masaki, almost replicating the plot of last year's game.

Now the only one facing Nie Weiping is the Japanese head coach and top-notch chess player Otake Hideo.

Nie Weiping's consecutive victories against Japanese players brought the atmosphere of this China-Japan Go Challenge Tournament to a climax, and the enthusiasm of the people of both countries was high.

CCTV will broadcast this game. A large number of Go enthusiasts also gathered in front of the Japan Go Institute, enthusiastically escorting the players into the institute.

Lin Chaoyang was invited to the game room as a guest spectator. Nie Weiping, who was resting with his eyes closed, opened his eyes when he heard the noise and saw a flash of relief in Lin Chaoyang's eyes.

The mascot has arrived, this round is a sure win!
At the start of the game, Otake Hero, who was in his prime, calmly planned his moves, and his style of play was solid and upright.

On the contrary, Nie Weiping made a series of surprising moves. First, he decisively abandoned the burden on the right side of the chessboard, and then after several moves, he gradually opened up the situation.

At the last moment, Nie Weiping had another capture in the empty space in the upper right corner, but in the repeated battles of more than 40 moves, Nie Weiping, who had the advantage in the capture, had the last laugh, winning this crucial game with a two-and-a-half-point advantage as black.

The victory in this game also enabled the Chinese team to achieve consecutive victories over the Japanese team in the China-Japan Go Challenge, creating an unprecedented achievement.

After the game, everyone on the Japanese team felt like they had lost their parents.

They could still find an excuse that they were careless in the first tournament, but they failed in two consecutive tournaments. No amount of excuses could cover up their incompetence.

On the other hand, the Chinese team cheered and hugged each other, ecstatic.

Lin Chaoyang pounded Nie Weiping's chest and congratulated him, "Finally, all my trouble was not in vain. Last year, you took on three people, and this year you took on five people. Old Nie, this time you have truly become a national hero!"

As early as last year, Nie Weiping asked Lin Chaoyang to come and help him. As a result, the first few games were dragged on and on, and Lin Chaoyang just cheered him up over the phone.

Today is the final battle of the ring competition. Nie Weiping called Lin Chaoyang a few days ago and asked him to participate no matter what. For this reason, Lin Chaoyang flew back to Yanjing.

By now, the positioning of Lin Chaoyang as the mascot of the Go team had already spread throughout the Sports Bureau, and Chen Zude, director of the Chess Department, specifically asked comrades in the WS department to give the green light for his visa, allowing him to fly to Tokyo with the Chinese team.

Anyway, the Sports Bureau’s current idea is to use the mascot first, regardless of whether it is useful or not.

A huge victory filled Nie Weiping's heart, and he gladly accepted Lin Chaoyang's congratulations. As the two were talking, the translator from the WS department suddenly came over with some people.

"Comrade Weiping, a reporter from Japan's NHK TV station wants to interview you."

Seeing this, Lin Chaoyang stepped aside and let Nie Weiping go for the interview.

Two people from NHK TV station came, one female reporter was responsible for the interview and asking questions, and the other was responsible for filming. Nie Weiping was interviewed with the help of an interpreter.

After Nie Weiping answered several questions related to the competition, the Chinese translator translated a question from a reporter to Nie Weiping.

"Reporter asked, you performed well in both tournaments and defeated many top-notch Japanese players in a row. Do you have any secret?"

When Nie Weiping heard this question, he looked thoughtful but was complaining in his heart.

These reporters always ask strange questions, what's the secret? What's the secret?

He was just about to say something official when his eyes happened to catch sight of Lin Chaoyang standing beside him, and a childish feeling rose in his heart.

"If I had to say the secret, it might be morale. Our Chinese team would read the novel "The Chess Master" before every game to motivate ourselves!"

After Nie Weiping said this, the translator was stumped.

How can a novel like "The Chess Master" be discussed in such an occasion? Are we still talking about Sino-Japanese friendship? What if someone asks us about it in detail?
But the reporter was staring at him, so the translator could only bite the bullet and say, "The secret is that the Chinese team likes to read a Chinese Go novel before the game."

The reporter's eyes suddenly brightened when he heard this.

The Japanese people have a strong admiration for the strong. Since the China-Japan Go Challenge was held, the Chinese team has won two games.

Although it brought a huge defeat to Japanese Go and made them frustrated and angry, it also strengthened their attention and respect for Chinese Go.

Nie Weiping spoke seriously about "The Chess Master", and the NHK reporter seemed to have found the key factor to the Chinese team's victory and couldn't help asking about the specific details of the novel.

The translator was so nervous that sweat started to appear on his forehead. If things went wrong, it could turn out to be a disaster.

In the end, it was Chen Zude who realized that something was wrong and interrupted the interview on the grounds that the contestants needed to go back to the hotel to rest.

When he returned to the hotel, he began to criticize Nie Weiping.

"Why are you spreading rumors? We just need to keep the matter of The Chess Master to ourselves."

He was not worried about causing any WJ accidents, but with a mystical mentality, he whispered to Nie Weiping: "Some things will not work if you say them out loud!"

Nie Weiping glanced at Lin Chaoyang and felt that what he said made sense.

For the sake of victory, never mention this matter again.

That evening, news of the China-Japan Go Challenge Tournament appeared on television media in both China and Japan.

What China was concerned about was that the Chinese team won the challenge match again, defeating the strong opponent Japan for two consecutive years, and the Go community was cheering.

However, Japan's focus is somewhat strange.

In addition to condemning the chess players after another defeat, NHK TV broadcast an interview with Chinese chess player Nie Weiping after the game that evening.

Since the mid-to-late 1970s, Nie Weiping has performed very well in matches against Japan, and he won the title of "Nie Tornado" in Japan many years ago.

Now, with his brilliant record of winning eight games in a row for two consecutive sessions, Nie Weiping has regained his fame in Japan. Therefore, many Go players and Go fans in Japan are no strangers to Nie Weiping.

This interview broadcast by NHK TV did not attract much attention from the public at first, but it was noticed by the Japanese Go team.

Did the Chinese team read Go novels before the game to boost morale?
The Japanese, who always like to make a fuss about everything, seemed to have discovered some great secret. They immediately began to inquire about what the so-called "Go novels" were.

It would be impossible to find the answer by just looking at the Chinese translator's answer, so the Japanese specially found students who had studied in China to translate what Nie Weiping said.

The novel "The Go Master" thus came into the attention of the Japanese Go community. After translation and introduction by international students, they learned the specific content of "The Go Master".

Then I understood the origin of what Nie Weiping meant by "reading novels to boost morale."

After understanding the whole story, the first thing the Japanese did was not to get angry or to stage a WJ protest, but to get together and discuss the matter in a proper manner. Is this kind of action of reference value for Japanese Go?

At this time, the first game of the third China-Japan Go Challenge Tournament started in Tokyo.

The final match of the 4nd China-Japan Go Challenge Tournament was on April 30th. According to the competition agreement, the next day, May 5st, was the day when the 1rd China-Japan Go Challenge Tournament would kick off.

May 5nd was the first match of the third challenge tournament. The match was between Chinese female chess player Yang Hui and Japanese female chess player Ogawa Seiko. In the end, Yang Hui easily defeated Ogawa Seiko.

In this game, Chinese women's Go players showed strength that was clearly stronger than that of Japan.

This situation caused the Japanese Go team to be in chaos. The challenge tournament has been held for two years, and the Japanese team has lost for two years. If they continue to lose, these players will really commit suicide by disembowelment.

Seeing this situation, there is no need to continue the meeting.

Learn from! You must learn from it vigorously!

"The Chess Master" is a Chinese novel, and it tells the story of using Go to fight against the Japanese. They definitely cannot read it directly.

But it doesn’t matter, because there happens to be such a Go novel in the history of Japanese literature, which is "Meijin" written by Japanese literary giant Yasunari Kawabata.

This novel tells the story of the 65-year-old Honinbo Shusai who was about to bid farewell to the chess world in the 29s and started a match with the -year-old Kitani Minoru, th dan.

因为本因坊秀哉罹患慢性心脏病，比赛数度中断，从1938年6月26日一直下到了12月4日。

In the end, Shusai, who had been "undefeated for fifty years", was defeated by the rising star of the chess world, Kitani Minoru, and passed away a year later.

This novel is full of tragic sentiment, which is very consistent with the aesthetic taste of Japanese people.

It caused a great response in Japan when it was published and was highly praised by the Japanese Go community. However, in recent years, fewer and fewer people have read this novel.

Now that they know the secret to China's victory, they must exercise targeted restraint.

It doesn’t matter that the Chinese team has “The Chess Saint”, their Japanese team also has “The Master”.

The writer behind the Chinese team is Lin Chaoyang, who sounds like an unknown person.

The writer behind the Japanese team is Yasunari Kawabata, the famous Nobel Prize winner in Literature.

No matter how you look at it, the Japanese team has a greater chance of winning.

This round is secured!
(End of this chapter)