Exciting 1979!

Chapter 505: Filming wrapped up, housewarming celebration, guests arrive.

"Young man, you're in luck! The last box of 'Mo Mo Mo' is yours!"

"Thank you, boss." Wu Qilong took the cassette tape with both hands, a hint of relief flashing across his cold face.

He didn't know much about Vivian Chow before, but after listening to this album played by his teammates at the training ground, he was immediately captivated. How could there be such a gentle and clear voice in the world?

There are many young men and women in Taiwan who are getting to know Vivian Chow for the first time, like Wu Qilong. Some are attracted by her music, while others are simply drawn to her looks. There are quite a few of these young people.

One of the most influential events was the MV for "Full Moon Over the West Chamber" being broadcast on Taiwan's CTV, where the dynamic bride, Vivian Chow, instantly captured the hearts of countless fans.

The song and the album quickly gained wider popularity due to the success of the music video.

Of course, some people also noticed the male lead in the music video. Some people familiar with the situation in mainland China were surprised to find that he was Wei Ming, the most famous young writer in mainland China!

When did mainland celebrities become allowed to appear openly on Taiwan's three major television stations?

Some people who are hostile to the mainland started to report the music video, hoping to have it taken down. However, their reports went unanswered and had no effect. In addition, the other two major radio stations, TTV and CTS, also broadcast the music video, even more frequently than Hong Kong's TVB and ATV.

Soon, Vivian Chow's posters were sold in major cities in Taiwan, and the sales of "Mo Mo Mo" soared.

Many people are marveling at how powerful and influential PolyGram is in releasing this album.

The local music scene has also begun to take notice of this Chinese style originating from Hong Kong.

Sylvia Chang and Lo Ta-yu had already broken up by this time, but remained friends. She joined Cinema City and took charge of Cinema City's business in Taiwan.

This year, she spearheaded the production of a movie called "Wrong Carriage," which not only achieved box office success, but the movie's soundtrack, sung by Su Rui, also sold like hotcakes in Taiwan, second only to Luo Dayou's "Zhi Hu Zhe Ye" last year in terms of influence and even surpassing it in sales.

The main creators of this soundtrack include Lo Ta-yu and Hou Te-chien. Lo Ta-yu participated in the lyrics of "If There's No Wine to Sell" and "The Same Moonlight", as well as the lyrics and music of "Whether".

This year, or more precisely next month, Lo Ta-yu will release his second solo album, "The Future Masters," and at this time, Sylvia Chang brought him this album, "Mo Mo Mo."

"Whose is it?"

"Vivian Chow's Mandarin album."

Luo Dayou took it and said, "That's Wei Ming's work. I really like his song 'Pearl of the Orient,' and 'Tomorrow Will Be Better,' but I think it's too mild. Tomorrow may not actually be better."

The two sat together and listened. The first song was "The Moon Over the West Tower." Luo Dayou glanced at the composer on the cover and said, "Isn't this just Teresa Teng's style? I didn't expect Wei Ming to be playing with retro stuff. It's not cool at all."

"Keep listening." Sylvia Chang patted Lo Ta-yu's leg.

Luo Dayou gave an awkward twitch of his lips. Although Sylvia Chang was divorced, their relationship was completely irreparable.

After a few songs, when he heard "Do You Know," Luo Dayou nodded: "As expected of Wei Ming, the melody of this song is very trendy. It is obvious that a lot of effort has been put into it. It has a strong guiding role in popular music. However, I am not very interested in this kind of music now. I think music can be a weapon sharper than a knife, dissecting the dark side of society."

However, most ordinary people listen to music for entertainment and relaxation, and only a minority of listeners treat music as literature. This is why, although Luo Dayou's music has a wide reach and is highly discussed, its sales have not reached the top.

The news quickly reached Hong Kong: all 10 records had been sold out in Taiwan, and they requested that shipments be expedited!

At the same time, sales in Hong Kong reached 80,000, surpassing the Platinum achievement.

With her second full album, Vivian Chow proved that she is not a fleeting star in the music industry. "Mo Mo Mo" demonstrates her strength in singing and songwriting, as well as her potential for future development.

Another factor is her fan appeal. This is a Mandarin album, yet it sold so quickly. No one in Hong Kong has achieved this yet. Even last year's "Light and Elegant Sentiments" was not quite there. Vivian Chow's local fanbase in Hong Kong is incredibly strong.

In addition to continuing to accelerate the production of records, Minglong Media's "YES!" also entered Taiwan. The first issue was snapped up by fans because it featured Vivian Chow on the cover and in her photobook.

Furthermore, Nian Nu Jiao milk tea shops have become very popular in Taiwan because this interview mentioned that Zhou Huimin was the first inventor of bubble tea, which was then improved by her mother and finally took shape.

Fans directly expressed their love for Vivian Chow at this chain milk tea shop, and drinking milk tea has become one of the signature behaviors of Vivian's fans.

Perhaps due to Taiwanese people's love for food, the expansion of Nian Nu Jiao milk tea shops has been smoother than that of Holiland fast food restaurants. During this period, Zhou Ma even went to Taiwan to work and supervise the construction of the branch.

As a result, Amin became even more unruly and moved into Wei Ming's home in Causeway Bay. Now she also finds Sister Hong a bit of an eyesore.

But Sister Hong is making money for herself after all; even if she's a third wheel, she's a shining one.

All Wei Ming and Amin could do was come home late and do what they couldn't do outside.

I got home very late today because Tam Yung-lun treated me to dinner, the purpose of which was to invite the then-popular Amin to their concert.

It wasn't his own concert, but a reunion concert by the Wynners band, to be held at the Hong Kong Coliseum in early September. This was the second wave of concerts hosted by the Coliseum after Sam Hui. Tam Yung-lun was worried that he couldn't put on a show by himself, so he brought his brothers along.

Vivian Chow readily agreed, believing that such large-scale events were the best way to train a singer, and she had no desire to become a studio singer.

Aside from dating, she never stopped practicing her singing voice every day during the summer vacation.

"Ah Ming, I don't know if you have any time..."

"I'm going to study in the United States, why didn't you hold this concert sooner?" Wei Ming said with a smile and shrugged.

“I know, I mean help me write a song.” Tam Yung-lun rubbed his hands together. He knew that Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung had both received songs written by Wei Mingxin, so he couldn’t hold back any longer.

Although he has access to PolyGram's vast global music library and can freely cover the works of Japanese musicians, and already has no shortage of excellent musical works, and is now starting to learn composition himself and increase original content, he is still willing to collaborate with the legendary musician Wei Ming.

He treated his friends in the Hong Kong music scene equally: "Sure, I'll write you a song before I leave. Do you have any requests?"

"Well, Cantonese songs would be best, and I'd also like to try singing and dancing." Tam Yung-lun wiggled his body, wanting to prove that he could sing and dance at the same time, even though he was already 33 years old.

Singing and dancing—this is going to compete with Leslie Cheung for this market segment, Wei Ming roughly had an idea in mind.

A few days later he delivered the song "Lorelei, the Goddess of Storms," ​​which is the title track of his future album. It is also the work of Japanese musician Hiroaki Serizawa and the theme song of "Twins of Brothers," although "Twins of Brothers" is still nowhere to be seen at this time.

Tam Yung-Lin is very satisfied with this energetic song and plans to use it as the title track and album title for his next album.

Zheng Donghan also treated Wei Ming to a meal, firstly to thank him for writing the song for Tan Yonglin, and secondly to thank him for letting his son Zhongji star in "Home Alone".

Wei Ming also needs PolyGram's global distribution channels, and he plans to invite Masashi Sada to collaborate on producing a Japanese album for Amin next year to expand his influence in Asia.

How can you call yourself an Asian superstar if you haven't conquered the Japanese market?

Hong Kong's music scene has long coveted Japan, with its music sales often reaching millions and its concert spending power being enormous. Unfortunately, now, only Teresa Teng and Ouyang Feifei (Ouyang Nana, also known as Didi's aunt) can truly succeed in Japan, combined with Hong Kong and Taiwan.

~
In just half a month, "Mo Mo Mo" sold 20 copies in Taiwan and 15 copies in Hong Kong. PolyGram decided to expand its sales to Southeast Asia. There is also a great demand for Chinese songs in Singapore and Malaysia, and the South Korean market is also worth considering.

At the same time, Amin's influence in the music industry began to permeate the film industry.

"Congratulations on wrapping up filming!"

On the day the filming of "Home Alone" ended, Huang Baiming once again mentioned to Wei Ming his hope to buy the copyright of "Happy Ghost" and have it adapted and filmed by Cinema City.

"And we are willing to pay an exorbitant price to invite Vivian to play the female lead."

"How high is the sky-high price?" Wei Ming asked with a smile. "Recently, Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest have both wanted to invite Amin to act in their films, but I turned them down."

Huang Baiming gritted his teeth: "One million, how about it!"

He and his apprentice Gao Zhisen only received a million dollars in remuneration, but now he is willing to spend a million dollars on a young girl because he understands that no one will spend money to watch a movie just for him, Huang Baiming, but there will definitely be plenty of people willing to pay for Zhou Huimin's screen debut, and at least several hundred thousand dollars.

Although a 100 million HKD fee is probably the highest for a female star in Hong Kong, this investment will definitely recoup its costs.

However, Wei Ming shook his head: "I can cooperate with Happy Ghost, but I'll pass on Amin."

It's not that he's against Amin acting; the more famous Amin becomes, the more excited he gets. The same goes for his two older sisters. This might just be some of the perverse pleasures of men.

However, singing alone cannot make you a superstar in Hong Kong. At least in the 80s and 90s, to have enough influence in mainland China, you had to have representative works in film and television, and your personal image had to be known to people through film and television.

Happy Ghost is an ensemble piece, featuring a male ghost and the bonds between three or four young girls. Even if Amin were given more screen time, Wei Ming felt it wouldn't be commensurate with her current status.

In addition, Amin's acting talent is average, so even when filming, Wei Ming has to carefully select and tailor-make roles for her. How could he let someone else benefit from his efforts for a mere million?

After filming music videos and making cameo appearances in movies, Amin is still quite interested in acting. Whenever it's just the two of them, they often act out scenes for fun.

Huang Baiming was somewhat disappointed to hear that Wei Ming only agreed to half of it, but fortunately there was "Happy Ghost", which was enough to satisfy both Karl Maka and Cinema City.

Wei Ming then added, "However, I don't plan to sell the rights to 'Happy Ghost.' Cinema City can make it, but they need to accept joint investment with Hong Kong DreamWorks."

If Wei Ming hadn't been too busy managing this Hong Kong Dream Factory, Li Zhi would have gone to the United States too, and the movie version of "Happy Ghost" could even have been developed independently.

"Ah, this~" Huang Baiming hesitated. A movie only makes so little profit. There are already many shareholders in Cinema City. If they want to jointly invest and share the profits, would Baldy agree?

Wei Ming patted Huang Baiming on the shoulder: "You should talk to Karl Maka about it. Golden Harvest has already agreed to add Ming Lung and DreamWorks' investment to the second part of 'Lucky Stars.' This is to share the risk. Okay, let's eat."

However, Minglong and DreamWorks each hold a 10% stake, with Golden Harvest still in control. But for "Happy Ghost," he hopes for a 50/50 split, which puts some pressure on Wong Pak-ming.

The wrap party was quite well-attended. They came straight to the restaurant after filming the last scene. In that scene, the mother, Josephine Siao, returned home early on Princess Vivian Chow's private jet to see her son, while the father and his four older siblings also caught a delayed flight. The family of seven reunited on the second day of Christmas. Chingmy Yau whispered to Gigi Fu, "Is that Wei Ming? It's the first time I've met him."

Fu Mingxian pouted arrogantly: "I've already met him. Brother Ming even visited my home."

Xizi was sandwiched between the two, looking at Sister Zhen and then at Sister Mingxian, she couldn't take it all in.

At this moment, Wei Ming and Zhou Huimin walked over. He said to Fu Mingxian, "Mingxian, after you start school, Sister Amin will be studying at the same school as you. You must take good care of her then."

"Really? That's wonderful!" Fu Mingxian immediately hugged Zhou Huimin's arm, acting extremely affectionately.

If you say your parents are Fu Qishi Hui in class, no one will envy you, but if you say Zhou Huimin is your good older sister, your classmates will definitely fawn over you.

Every generation has its own superstars, and with a boyfriend like Wei Ming, Zhou Huimin is destined to become the most dazzling star of this era.

Wei Ming then looked at Ronald Cheng and Ekin Cheng, the "brothers." Ekin Cheng was steady and didn't say much, while Ronald Cheng tried hard to chat with the celebrities present and was very talkative.

Everyone else in the crew has finished filming, except for Zheng Yijian, who will have to reshoot a scene of him playing a video game, which is also the most important product placement in the film.

This kid is not only a comic book fan, but also a game fan. He has bought several Game & Watch consoles and Taiwanese-made handheld game consoles.

Besides the modest salary he received for filming this movie, Wei Ming also gave him a Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System) from Langning. He was so happy that he wanted to go home, unpack it, and play it right now, and he couldn't even enjoy his meals.

After the wrap party, on the way back to Lao Gui's house, Xi Zi asked, "Brother, when can I go home?"

Wei Ming asked with a smile, "I thought you were so happy you forgot about Beijing."

"I wasn't thinking about Wu Jing at all!"

Wei Ming and Amin both burst into laughter.

Xizi said seriously, "Uncle Wang asked me to bring something to Sister Feifei. I want to take it back to her as soon as possible."

Wei Ming: "Oh, are you sure you don't miss Lele and your parents?"

Xizi tilted her head and looked out the window: "No, absolutely not."

Biaozi, sitting next to Xizi, was quite frank: "I miss my Yanzi and Xiaofengjiu so much. I even received some photos from Yanzi a few days ago."

He bought a pocket watch, put small photos of his wife and children on it, and showed them off to everyone he met.

Perhaps because he had watched too many movies, Wei Ming always felt that this behavior was unlucky.

Wei Ming: "The day after tomorrow, my aunt is moving tomorrow. It's a housewarming party, and we can have a feast together. I'll leave after this meal."

Lizhi, who had just become the producer, was also at the wrap party. However, Wei Ming was always accompanied by Zhou Huimin, so her hopes of being seen with Wei Ming were dashed.

Fortunately, they're heading to San Francisco soon. When they're far away and the authorities are far away, Little Amin, you'll be wearing a green hat!
After returning home, she and Wei Lingling had packed up their rented apartment. There wasn't much stuff; it mainly consisted of books, videotapes, and certificates of honor. Everything else could be discarded.

Having lived here for almost two years, Lizhi has grown attached to the place, especially reluctant to part with the softness of the master bedroom's large bed. So, she will sleep with Lingling again tonight.

Coincidentally, Wei Lingling also couldn't bear to part with her softness.

The next day, Wei Ming and Biaozi personally led a moving company to move the house. One van was enough, and their destination was No. 108, Mount Dogalee.

This is a well-known luxury villa area with a quiet environment. Lao Gui and Lin Ni had already arrived. Lin Ni asked worriedly, "Isn't it unsafe for Lingling to live alone in such a big house?"

Vivian Chow also attended the banquet. Pointing to the kitchen, she said, "There are three Filipino maids and a Hong Kong cook at home."

"Four old women, they're not much of a fighter. Lingling is getting richer and richer. What if she gets robbed in her home? What if she's kidnapped by ruthless bandits?" Lin Ni thought about it more and more, and became more and more frightened.

This is all due to the sense of insecurity that comes with houses with excessively large spaces.

Then she looked at Vivian Chow: "Vivian, your female driver looks quite capable. Where did you find her?"

“My mom found her. Susan used to be a policewoman, but she was dismissed for offending her superior. She’s a very nice person.” Of course, the price is also high. Zhou’s mother’s own driver is just an ordinary person, but she went to great lengths to find a driver for her daughter. The background check took a long time.

Susan was under a lot of pressure raising her child alone after her divorce, which is why she was willing to accept this job, which wasn't very prestigious but paid well enough.

"I'll have your mom find one for me later," Lin Ni said hurriedly.

Old Ghost comforted her, saying, "This is an affluent area. The police patrol more frequently than in other places, and there are plenty of officers. It's one of the safest places in Hong Kong. I haven't heard of any home invasion robberies here."

Of course, I said that just to put my wife at ease. I still need to talk to my older brother about this issue later and ask him to help Lingling get security personnel. He definitely has capable people at his disposal.

Old Ghost roughly estimated that Langning's current valuation has already exceeded one billion. What the outside world doesn't know is that Amin also owns half of it; it all has to be attributed to Lingling.

Therefore, a young female tycoon with a net worth of over one billion is among the most prominent in Hong Kong and would likely attract more attention from criminals than the likes of Li Ka-shing and Li Shau-kee, so caution is advised.

Next door, in villa number 107, a bespectacled, refined-looking man asked his wife, "Has someone moved in next door?"

"Yes."

"Do you know who it is?" he asked.

"President Wei of Langning Company, that beautiful and young businesswoman."

"Oh~" the refined man nodded.

~
The move is over, now it's time to discuss the allocation of the house.

This villa has three floors above ground and one floor below ground, with six rooms, all of which are suites, and is equipped with an elevator.

Wei Lingling herself definitely wanted the best and biggest room on the third floor, then she reserved the best room on the second floor for her parents, and then let Lizhi also choose a room on the third floor.

Actually, it's a bit unnecessary; they've been sleeping in the same bed quite often lately.

The remaining three are guest rooms, used to entertain relatives and friends such as Wei Jiefang, Wei Ming, Wei Hong, and Amin. They can also be used to accommodate my uncle and aunt if they wish to visit Hong Kong.

"Alright, let's see what the cook has to offer," Wei Lingling announced, signaling the start of the meal.

Besides her parents, brother and sister-in-law, nephews and nieces, Lizhi, Amin, Biaozi was also fortunate to attend.

However, after only a few bites, a guest arrived. One of the Filipino maids announced, "It's Mr. Wu from next door. He said he came especially to congratulate us on moving."

As she spoke, she handed over a business card; the recipient was Wu Siyuan, the CEO of Siyuan Film Industry.

Wei Lingling wasn't familiar with this person, but she knew Wei Ming very well. Anyone familiar with Hong Kong films couldn't possibly not know him. His exploration of Hong Kong films' cooperation with the north was of great significance to the survival of Hong Kong films.

Wei Ming said to his aunt, "He was a key figure in Jackie Chan's rise to fame. 'Snake in the Eagle's Shadow' and 'Drunken Master' were both produced by his company."

At the time, Jackie Chan was still with Lo Wei's company, but Lo Wei himself couldn't make him famous. Although Cheng Siyuan made Jackie Chan famous with two movies, his Siyuan was just a small company and couldn't compete with Lo Wei.

However, Golden Harvest was wealthy and powerful. Raymond Chow waved his banknotes and snatched Jackie Chan away from Lo Wei, even taking him as his godson.

This infuriated Lo Wei. Raymond Chow had previously stolen his wife, and now he was stealing his cash cow. No wonder he angrily edited Jackie Chan's old, worthless films into movies to sell. He was indeed furious.

Hearing that it was a movie studio and that she had seen "Drunken Master," she had the maid invite it in.

Wu Siyuan held a bottle of expensive red wine in his hand. He didn't expect there to be so many people. It seemed like there wasn't a seat left for him. Among them was Zhou Huimin, who is now a very popular young star.

However, he wasn't surprised to see Wei Ming, since they both shared the same surname and frequently collaborated. Rumors had long circulated that they were actually half-siblings.

His trip here was largely motivated by a desire to try his luck and see if he could run into Wei Ming and make his acquaintance.

"Mr. Wu, do you live next door?" Wei Ming shook hands with him, pretending to be familiar with him.

“Yes, it’s really fate,” Wu Siyuan said with a smile. “Mr. Wei is a true prodigy. The box office of ‘The Shepherd’s Class’ has already exceeded 1000 million, and our family alone contributed seven tickets.”

"Oh, Mr. Wu has so many people in his family?"

Wu Siyuan shook his head: "First, the three of us watched it once, and then my wife and I each watched it once with our daughter."

"Thank you, thank you. Please have a seat, Mr. Wu." Wei Ming acted like the host, and Wei Lingling didn't say anything.

Wu Siyuan quickly waved his hand, realizing that everyone at the table clearly had extraordinary relationships, and that his presence as a neighbor was too incongruous.

"I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now. I wonder when Mr. Wei will be free? I'd really like to chat with you about movies."

"I'm flying to the US to study soon, how about tomorrow?"

"Okay, okay!"

(Yesterday's guaranteed minimum)
(End of this chapter)