Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 484: The Sea of ​​Darkness
“As the chairman said, let Ah Fa play the role. He has both the fame and acting skills to carry the show.

His appearance is very deceptive, and acting opposite Michael will definitely be very interesting, and it will be easier to promote the film in the future."

Hearing Lin Chaoyang's words, Ann Hui's eyes lit up, while Xu Guanwen looked thoughtful.

Whether in the novel or the script, Lao Jin is the undisputed protagonist.

But the character of the chairman also has a lot of scenes, and because Lin Chaoyang's writing is so outstanding, the complexity and multi-layered nature of this character is even stronger than that of the protagonist Lao Jin.

This man appears to be polite, courteous and well-mannered, but in fact he is full of arrogance and superiority of an upper-class person. His disdain and contempt for the lower-class people are hidden beneath a mask as thin as a cicada's wing.

In him, one can clearly see the alienation of people by money and power. All his self-reliance comes from money, and he has the kind of superficial weakness that is unique to the upper class.

Chow Yun-fat has an elegant appearance, is suave and has excellent acting skills. If he can play the role of the chairman, he will indeed be a good choice.

This is why Ann Hui's eyes lit up, and Xu Guanwen's hesitation is also easy to understand.

Such an outstanding role was played by an actor whose fame and acting skills were as good as his, so he couldn't help but worry about being overshadowed.

But soon, Xu Guanwen came to his senses.

When filming a movie, the most important thing is that the movie is exciting. If the quality of the movie is terrible, what’s the point of having many roles?
"Afa is a good choice, but what about the others?"

Lin Chaoyang thought for a moment and said, "Let's use Cherie Chung as the chairman's wife. The movie Autumn's Fairy Tale she collaborated with Ah Fa did well at the box office. Playing a couple again will also be a publicity point. As for the others, I haven't decided yet. You can decide."

Ann Hui said hesitantly: "With Michael, Ah Fat, Maggie Cheung, and other actors, I'm afraid the actors' salaries will be close to 1000 million Hong Kong dollars, and the investment..."

Lin Chaoyang looked calm, "If 1000 million is not enough, then 2000 million. Lin's Pictures just needs a big investment."

His statement surprised and delighted Ann Hui and Xu Guanwen. They were surprised by Lin Chaoyang's generosity, and delighted by the huge investment in the film, which would give them more room to display their talents.

After thinking about it, the two of them understood the reason behind Lin Chaoyang's actions.

The ban order against the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation has just been issued, and the Lam family now urgently needs a big move to demonstrate their confidence and strength.

After understanding this truth, both of them felt relieved.

The three of them spent the entire day discussing the script and various issues regarding filming.

They didn't go their separate ways until after dinner in the evening.

When Lin Chaoyang returned home, Tao Yumo shouted at him, "Brother-in-law, you should buy a mobile phone. You can't contact your people all day long."

Lin Chaoyang was too lazy to listen to her complaints and asked, "What's the matter?"

"There is a foreign publishing house that wants to publish your book."

"Oh?" Lin Chaoyang raised his eyebrows, "Which country?"

“Random House of America.”

"Random House?" Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised to hear the name.

Founded in 1927, Random House has played an important role in the American book industry throughout the th century.

It started out as a modern library, and then quickly became an internationally renowned literary publisher thanks to its ingenious planning.

It has now become one of the leading publishers in the American book industry.

"What did they say?"

"The person who contacted me was Luan Walter, who said he was a senior editor at Random House and wanted to introduce your book The Truman Show to the United States," said Tao Yumo.

Lin Chaoyang thought to himself, publishing "The Truman Show"? It was probably influenced by the movie. Thinking of Paramount Pictures, which was rejected by Tao Yushu some time ago, Random House might have heard some rumors and came to him.

"Brother-in-law, your novel is going to be published in the United States!" Tao Yumo said excitedly.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "I'll leave this matter to you to discuss."

Hearing this, Tao Yumo was both excited and worried, "Can I do it?"

The publication of previous novels was negotiated by Lin Chaoyang, and she was just responsible for acting as an agent and signing the contract.

It was her first time being the head of the household, and she felt a little unsure.

"What can be done and what cannot be done? It's not that difficult."

Lin Chaoyang's words made Tao Yumo feel a little relieved. Since her brother-in-law trusted her so much, she naturally could not retreat.

After dinner, while digesting his food, Lin Chaoyang flipped through today's evening paper and saw a report on the acquisition battle of a hotel company in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

When it comes to the Hong Kong Shanghai Hotel Company, almost no one has heard of it, but if you mention the Peninsula Hotel, many people should know that the Peninsula Hotel is one of the company's properties.

The company's other assets include the Kowloon Hotel, Repulse Bay Building, The Peak Tram, etc. It also has hotel businesses in the United States, the Philippines and other countries.

Its current market value is as high as HK$67 billion, making it a giant in Hong Kong's hotel industry.

Hong Kong people call this company the Grand Hotel, and the helmsman is the British-Jewish Kadoorie family.

The family not only controls large hotels, but also controls China Light and Power, the largest listed company in the Hong Kong stock market. For more than half a century, it has been regarded as Hong Kong's top wealthy family.

At the same time, Lawrence Kadoorie, the head of the Kadoorie family, is also a British lord, a life peer granted by the Crown, and a member of the House of Lords. He can be said to have both financial and power.

But it is such a big hotel with a huge and profound background, but someone dares to stroke its beard.

This person is none other than Liu Luanxiong, the notorious sniper of the Hong Kong stock market in recent years.

Starting from March, he teamed up with Lin Jianyue, the second son of the Lin family of Li Xin Garment Manufacturing, to suddenly announce a large-scale purchase of shares of the Grand Hotel, with a shareholding of up to 3 million shares.

In recent days, the Hong Kong Takeovers and Mergers Committee ruled that Liu and Lin did not "act in concert" and rejected the Kadoorie family's accusation against the acquirer.

Now the two sides are in a stalemate, and the stock price of Grand Hotel has fallen back.

After reading the newspaper, Lin Chaoyang compared the share prices of the Grand Hotel and Cathay City, which he held in recent times.

It was discovered that although the acquisition war was so fierce, the increase in the share price of Grand Hotel was far less than that of Cathay City.

The monster stock is indeed a monster stock!
"Brother-in-law, do you want to invest in stocks too?" Tao Yumo asked.

Lin Chaoyang replied as he flipped through the newspaper: "Just collecting materials."

Tao Yumo asked again: "Which stock do you think has potential now?"

Lin Chaoyang glanced at her and asked, "Why? You want to invest in stocks?"

"It's not me, it's Maggie. She has been trading stocks for more than two years and has been losing money."

Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but feel curious when he heard this. It would have been fine before, but the Hang Seng Index has been soaring since last year. To still lose money in this situation, it takes a bit of investment genius!

"What stocks did she buy?"

"There are many, such as Wheelock, Nengda, and China Coal..."

Tao Yumo reported everything in detail, and after listening to it, Lin Chaoyang fell silent.

Just by listening to the company names, the stocks that Maggie Cheung bought are all good targets in the market.

But the question is, sister, what does it mean that you only buy targets that are involved in merger and acquisition wars?
Lin Chaoyang knew without guessing that Maggie Cheung was most likely trying to fish in troubled waters, thinking that she could get some benefits by following the dealer in this situation.

Little did she know that if a small shrimp like her got involved in such a big storm, her fate would only be swallowed up by the banker.

"Brother-in-law, why don't you speak?" Tao Yumo asked.

Lin Chaoyang did not answer her, but warned her, "Stay away from her in the future."

"What do you mean?"

"Be careful she asks you to borrow money."

Tao Yumo sneered and said, "Brother-in-law, Maggie earns much more than me, millions a year..."

She was halfway through her words when she realized what Lin Chaoyang meant.

"It's not as exaggerated as you say!" she muttered.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. In his mind, he had already labeled Maggie Cheung with many labels such as "investment genius" and "stock market underworld".

In future investments, as long as you try to avoid the stocks she chooses, your probability of profit will increase significantly.

Time flies and it is July. Lin Chaoyang spends a lot of time on the new book every day, and the progress is encouraging.

In less than a month, I have written nearly 20 words of the new book. At this rate, it should be completed before the end of July.

By the second Wednesday of July, "An Autumn's Tale" was officially taken off the screen after 7 days of release, with a box office of 23 million.

This film cost HK$1000 million to make, but it recovered its costs and earned a considerable profit just from the local box office.

Tao Yushu has been busy with the overseas release of the film these days. With Chow Yun-fat around, there is no need to worry about the overseas release of "An Autumn's Tale". Lam Pictures is bound to make a fortune.

Wang Jing's "The King's Avatar" also started filming two days ago. The crew's preparation process was very smooth and it seems that it was not affected by the ban order.

The company's development has not been greatly constrained for the time being, and Tao Yushu's mood has become much brighter in recent days. On the weekend, she took time out to take her two children to the amusement park for a day with Lin Chaoyang.

The next day, while having breakfast, Tao Yushu was reading a newspaper when he suddenly uttered "Huh".

Lin Chaoyang looked over at her, Tao Yushu's expression was subtle, and he said, "Wandao is JY!"

The so-called "JY" means to relieve JY.

JY has little impact on the daily lives of ordinary people, but its effect of loosening up the entire society is extremely obvious.

Wandao JY means that Wandao’s capital will be more active, which naturally includes film capital.

This is also the reason why the Hong Kong film market has entered a white-hot stage since 88, with too much hot money pouring in all at once.

"Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing for us?" Tao Yushu asked Lin Chaoyang for his opinion.

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment and replied, "In the next few years, the Hong Kong film market will probably become more and more lively, which is actually beneficial to our development..."

The reason why Li Yunlong was able to win a great victory was because the entire northwest of Shanxi was in chaos. He wanted to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the opportunity to expand, so the more chaotic the situation, the better.

Listening to his analysis, Tao Yushu nodded affirmatively.

A few days later, Tao Yumo told Lin Chaoyang that the royalties from Ming Pao Publishing House had been settled. This was the second royalty Lin Chaoyang had received this month.

In January, "Parasite" was published in mainland China and Hong Kong, and its performance was as outstanding as ever.

The first month's sales in mainland China were 45 copies, with cumulative sales of 164 million copies and royalties of 51 yuan.

The cumulative sales in Hong Kong were somewhat beyond Lin Chaoyang's expectations, exceeding the 15 copy mark.

Sales volume in half a year reached 15 copies, which is the first time such sales speed has been achieved since Lin Chaoyang's works were introduced to Hong Kong.

Such sales volume is enough to show that Lin Chaoyang's appeal among Hong Kong's pure literature readers has now reached an extremely high level.

Lin Chaoyang believes that this is closely related to the honor that "The Truman Show" has won for Hong Kong.

The hot sales of "Parasite" in Hong Kong also brought Lin Chaoyang a royalty income of HK$195 million, which is also the largest royalty income he has received since his works were published in Hong Kong.

Lin Chaoyang did a careful calculation and found that, not counting the assets of several companies such as Lin's Pictures, and not counting the assets and deposits in the mainland, his available deposits in Hong Kong alone amounted to more than 900 million Hong Kong dollars.

If the floating profit brought by Cathay City’s soaring share price in recent times is included, the figure will reach HK$1500 million.

These deposits are certainly not much compared to the wealthy people in Hong Kong, but as a pure literature writer, it is rare to be able to earn so much money in Hong Kong.

In an environment like Hong Kong, it is difficult to become rich simply by writing. Even if you are talented, you have to become a boss to get rid of those invisible restrictions.

In the 1960s, Hong Kong had Jin Yong and Ming Pao; in the 1980s, Hong Kong also had Wong Yuk-long and Yuk-long Organization. It was all like this.

In August, Lin's Film Studio's "The Rich and the Powerful" was released.

This movie does not have a luxurious cast, and even the leading actors are hosts with little appeal like Dong Biu and Shen Dianxia. It completely relies on the plot to win.

However, such a movie, which did not seem to be a hot seller at all, achieved an impressive box office of HK$500 million within three days of its release, surprising many of its peers in the Hong Kong film industry.

In its first week, "The Rich" grossed 1100 million yuan at the box office, which was even better than "An Autumn's Tale" starring Chow Yun-fat and Cherie Chung.

This time even the boss Tao Yushu was a little surprised.

The total investment of "The Rich" was less than 500 million Hong Kong dollars, which is a small or medium-investment movie in Hong Kong today.

Tao Yushu originally just wanted Gao Zhisen to test the waters, but unexpectedly, the other party gave her a huge surprise. In the first week of the movie's release, not only did it pay off, it also made money.

What a treasure I found!
Tao Yushu secretly rejoiced at the benefits that the internal strife in Cinema City had brought to Lin's company. He specially called Gao Zhisen to encourage him and then gave him a red envelope of 20 yuan.

Gao Zhisen was immediately delighted when he received the red envelope. He originally came to Lin's because of the generosity of the boss Tao Yushu. Now it seems that he has followed the right person.

His red envelope is calculated separately and does not include the dividends given to the director by Lin Pictures.

With the money, Gao Zhisen was full of motivation and took the initiative to propose to make a movie called "The Wealth Is Coming".

Since his director was so proactive, Tao Yushu naturally would not discourage his enthusiasm. He not only agreed to Gao Zhisen's request, but also specifically added an additional budget of HK$300 million for him.

The success of two films in a row finally dissipated the dark cloud of "ban" that had been hanging over Lin's Pictures for more than two months.

But the current situation is far from being one in which we can rest easy. The Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation has not made any new statements for some time, and Tao Yushu does not believe that they will just stop.

She must take advantage of the fact that Lin still has room to maneuver and hold more cards in her hand.

Since Shaw Brothers announced its closure in 85, it has carried out a series of slimming-down measures.

They first transferred the Clearwater Bay Studio to TVB, and then cut the production business from 30 to 40 films a year to 6 to 8, and mainly focused on investment.

As for the cinema business, part of the cinemas were leased to Debao Company jointly run by Dickson Pan and Sammo Hung, and part of the cinemas are still self-owned.

What Tao Yushu is eyeing are the cinema chains that Shaw Brothers still owns.

Felix Restaurant, The Peninsula Hotel, Kowloon.

This is the place where Tao Yushu often entertains guests. It has exquisite decoration and elegant environment. She attaches great importance to today's guests and has waited in the restaurant in advance.

"Ms. Fang!"

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Tao Yushu saw a woman in elegant clothes coming over under the guidance of a waiter. She stood up and smiled.

After the two shook hands, Miss Fang couldn't help but look Tao Yushu up and down, and said with a smile:

"Mrs. Lin, you are really young. I have heard a lot about you."

"You are so polite! You are my role model in my career!"

The Miss Fang in front of him is not only Mr. Shao’s confidante, but also an important partner in his business.

Many people only thought that she was a vine clinging to Run Run Shaw, but they didn't know how much help she provided to Boss Shaw.

When Golden Harvest rose to prominence, Shaw Brothers’ monopoly in the Hong Kong film industry came to an end and the company began to decline.

She noticed the promising future of the television industry and suggested that Mr. Shaw shift his focus from movies to television. Mr. Shaw then spent a huge amount of money to purchase shares from several other partners of TVB. This is how Mr. Shaw’s business has been able to flourish for half a century.

In addition to her huge contribution to the development of TVB, Ms. Fang also took over the responsibility of Shaw Brothers after Run Run Shaw's death.

Although Shaw Brothers had already declined by then, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and the resources in Miss Fang's hands are still considerable.

After sitting down and exchanging a few pleasantries and ordering their food, the two women did not start talking about business right away, but instead started chatting about family matters.

Miss Fang was born in Shanghai. Her mother was Fang Wenxia, ​​a famous stage star in old Shanghai. She went to Southeast Asia when she was young, and then met Mr. Shao and became a singing star. She came to Hong Kong with Mr. Shao in the 1950s.

She knew that Tao Yushu was from the mainland, so she asked about the development and changes in the mainland over the years, and was deeply moved after listening.

"Miss Fang, if you have time, you might as well go back to the mainland. There are still great changes now."

Fang Yihua smiled and said, "If time permits, I would definitely like to go back and take a look."

After saying this, she smiled and said, "Mrs. Lin, you are as capable as any man. You have developed the Lin Group so well in just two or three years. It is really impressive!"

"You're too kind. I'm just a newbie in the film industry."

Listening to Tao Yushu's humble words, Miss Fang joked: "If Mrs. Lin were a junior, we in Shaw Brothers would be old bones."

Tao Yushu sensed the temptation in her words and said, "Without Shaw Brothers, there would be no booming Hong Kong film industry today.

If Mr. Shao had not shifted his focus to television in recent years, it would probably be too late for us youngsters to get involved in the Hong Kong film market.”

Tao Yushu's compliments brought a smile to Miss Fang's face. Although verbal flattery was certainly pleasing, Miss Fang was even happier that the topic had finally gotten to the point.

The two chatted for a few more sentences before Tao Yushu said, "Miss Fang, I asked you out today because I wanted to talk about our cooperation."

"Oh?" Miss Fang raised her eyebrows slightly, showing some interest, and asked, "What does Mrs. Lin think?"

The films released by Lam have been screened in Shaw Brothers’ cinemas in the past two years, and the two parties have actually been cooperating for a long time.

Moreover, due to the sudden ban by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation in the past two months, Lam also made concessions on the box office share, which is equivalent to Shaw Brothers getting millions of dollars in revenue for free every year.

Since Tao Yushu said he wanted to discuss cooperation, he must have some new proposals, so Miss Fang was naturally curious.

Tao Yushu looked calm and said calmly: "I hope to further deepen our cooperation."

Hearing this, Miss Fang, still slowly cutting the steak, asked lightly, "Deepen? How do you do it?"

"I want to set up a joint venture film company with Shaw Brothers!" said Tao Yushu.

Miss Fang's fork paused for a moment before she put the steak into her mouth and chewed it slowly.

The quiet atmosphere became particularly long, but Tao Yushu's expression did not show any impatience, and his face was calm.

Miss Fang swallowed the food in her mouth, wiped the corners of her mouth gently, and asked, "Establish a film company? If we can cooperate with Lin, we would be happy to do so, but who has the final say in a joint venture?"

"The operation and management will be handled by our Lin family, and we can appropriately transfer the right to dividends." Tao Yushu said simply and clearly.

Miss Fang's eyes were calm. "Mrs. Lin thinks that we at Shaw are short of money?"

“Shaw Brothers is certainly not short of money, but I think Shaw Brothers still retains a certain amount of film investment, hoping to retain a voice in the Hong Kong film industry.

Cooperating with our Lin Group will be of great benefit to Shaw Group."

Miss Fang shook her head after hearing this.

"Mrs. Lam, forgive me for being blunt, but Lam is still under a ban from the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation.

We at Shaw Brothers are taking a huge risk to be able to produce your film.

I think you should also understand that if the Freedom Association escalates its ban, we at Shaw Brothers will probably not be able to release your films again..."

Miss Fang's words were like a dagger, accurately piercing Tao Yushu's vital point.

Why is the ban from the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Federation, or from Taiwan and the island, so destructive?
The reason is that the Hong Kong film industry is very cautious.

As long as a film company cooperates with a banned company or individual, any film related to this film company will not be released in Taiwan.

If the Freedom Federation further escalates its restrictions and bans on Lin Pictures in the future and starts naming the actors and film companies that have worked with them.

Then these film companies will inevitably have to make the choice of "taking sides", and there will be no such "ambiguity" as now.

Judging from the current situation, if it really comes to that, even if Lin Pictures does not die, it will probably suffer a considerable blow.

Miss Fang said this naturally in order to gain more bargaining chips.

Tao Yushu also understood this truth. She looked calm, without a trace of panic, and said calmly:
"If Wandao bans us, what good will it do to Shaw? On the contrary, if Shaw can cooperate with our Lin, the benefits will probably be greater."

After listening to her words, Miss Fang did not express any opinion, but gestured for Tao Yushu to continue.

“If the cooperation between Shaw Brothers and us is really affected, then the few films you invest in every year will not be able to be shown in Taiwan.

Another area that may be affected is the export of TVB's television programs to Taiwan.

I just want to say, no matter whether it is movies or TV, how much profit can it bring to Mr. Shao and Ms. Fang?"

When Tao Yushu said this, his aura suddenly became strong.

Fang Yihua fell silent after hearing this. If Shaw Brothers really made money, Mr. Shaw would not have cut off his own business.

Taiwan's television industry is no less developed than Hong Kong's, and the profits TVB makes from exporting TV dramas and variety shows to Taiwan each year are extremely limited.

But Miss Fang said, "Although Mrs. Lin is very confident about the prospects of our cooperation, who can guarantee that a high-risk investment like a movie will always make money? How do I know that I will definitely make money by cooperating with you?"

Tao Yushu smiled and asked, "Ms. Fang, can you find a business that is sure to make money?"

The two looked at each other, and there was a faint smell of gunpowder in the air.

Of course, they didn't really want to quarrel. Their purpose was actually to gain the upper hand in the negotiations.

But in the final analysis, Shao still holds the initiative. After looking at each other, Tao Yushu sighed slightly inwardly and asked:

"Ms. Fang, why do you think I would be willing to give up my 20% investment in Parasite?"

She didn't wait for Miss Fang to answer, and said to herself: "With the success of "The Truman Show" and the bright prospects of "Parasite", I think this is enough to show my sincerity in cooperation.

If you really want a guarantee, I think we can sign a bet agreement."

"Betting agreement?" Upon hearing these four words, Miss Fang's expression finally changed.

"That's right. We will jointly invest HK$4000 million in the new company. After three years of establishment, the total profit before interest and tax will be HK$1.2 million. I can give you this promise.

If the bet fails, we will buy back your shares at a high price in accordance with the contract.

What Shaw Brothers needs to do is to lease the cinemas that you still own to our Lin Brothers for five years at HK$1000 million per year in order to obtain a 49% stake in the joint venture.

After the expiration, we can both negotiate a renewal at the market price, and we at Lin only want the priority right to renew the contract."

Tao Yushu finally revealed all his cards. Miss Fang narrowed her eyes slightly, obviously thinking about the pros and cons.

Last year, the total box office of Hong Kong movies was HK$6.4 million. There are 130 cinemas, 10 of which are owned by Shaw Brothers. Last year, the box office revenue was nearly HK$6000 million, with a profit of more than HK$800 million.

Lin's willingness to rent the cinema chain for 1000 million yuan a year was naturally to show his sincerity.

And with the gambling agreement in place, Shaw Brothers can be said to be sure to make a profit.

The rental plus investment income is 3000 million yuan a year, which is a considerable sum even for TVB, which now occupies the leading position in the Hong Kong television market.

Last year, TVB’s revenue was just over HK$8 million, and its net profit barely reached HK$1.5 million.

This condition is very generous and full of sincerity.

Miss Fang sat there pondering for a long time, her heart beating fast.

(End of this chapter)