Exciting 1979!

Chapter 506 Wei Ming's Study Abroad Life

The next day, Wei Ming took Biaozi with him to visit Siyuan Film Industry.

The reason he brought Biaozi along was that when Wu Siyuan left yesterday, he didn't glance at any of the beautiful ladies in the room, but instead looked Biaozi up and down a few times. He noticed this and asked Biaozi to return to Beijing a day later to accompany him.

Biaozi thought there was danger on this trip, so naturally he felt obligated to help.

To Biaozi's surprise, Wu Siyuan was very enthusiastic towards him after they met. He shook his hand and said, "I heard from my friends in Guangzhou that there is a movie in mainland China called 'The Legend of the Martial Arts' that is extremely popular, no less than 'Shaolin Temple' last year. It is starring Brother Zhao, right? And the villain Tie Biao in 'Heroes from Ancient Times' is also unforgettable."

Biaozi, unaware of how popular "The Legend of the Martial Arts" was, excitedly asked, "Oh, really? Is 'The Legend of the Martial Arts' really that amazing? It wasn't even released when I came to Hong Kong."

Wei Ming patted him on the shoulder: "Mr. Wu was just being polite, you actually took it seriously."

"I'm not being polite, but I heard it's really popular, and I also heard that the action scenes in this movie were designed by Brother Zhao. He's a multi-talented person!"

Zhao Debiao waved his hand: "Hey, I only participated in a part of it. There were many experts who helped design the movements. I can't give all the credit to myself."

Seeing the two chatting happily, Wei Ming roughly knew what Wu Siyuan was planning to do.

At this time, Siyuan Film Industry was in a slump. Last year, Siyuan Film Industry had three films released: Yuen Woo-ping's "Fearless", director Law Man's "Modern Misfits", and Corey Yuen's "Ninja of the Dragon". Although the box office did not make it into the top ten of the year, they all made a profit.

However, only one film this year, "Retired Detective," grossed 600 million HKD. The reason for this is that Ng See-yuen was attacked and seriously injured in Taiwan last year.

The cause was Li Yuanba, the male protagonist of "Ninja Dragon".

He found Li Yuanba with the intention of training him to be the next Jackie Chan, and this guy grew up in the United States, speaks fluent English, and has the potential to be an international star.

Therefore, Li Yuanba's appearance in this movie is very similar to Jackie Chan's early work, which is very deceptive.

This guy is all brawn and no brains. Because Taiwanese people wanted him to act in movies, and he had a contract with Ng See-yuen, Ng See-yuen wanted him to finish filming the sequel to "Ninja of the Dragon" before taking on other roles.

At the time, Li Yuanba said to the Taiwanese, "If you want me to act in your movies, you'd better get Wu Siyuan on your side first." As a result, Wu Siyuan suffered a bloody disaster. The Taiwanese "getting on your side" didn't mean negotiating, but rather beating him.

After this incident, Ng See-yuen completely gave up on Li Yuanba. Ng See-yuen was a big name in the Hong Kong film industry, so after this incident, Li Yuanba was effectively blacklisted in the Hong Kong entertainment circle, and no one dared to hire him to act in movies.

It wasn't until six years later that he made a comeback with Lau Kar-leung's "Tiger on the Beat" alongside Chow Yun-fat. But by then, Jackie Chan had already become a big name and was considered an international superstar. With his face, he looked like a fake Jackie Chan and didn't have any unique characteristics, so it was naturally difficult for him to become a big star.

Wu Siyuan looked at Biaozi with a smile and finally revealed his true thoughts: "Then I'll call you Ah Biao. What do you think of the Hong Kong film industry during your time in Hong Kong?"

"Yes, it's very developed. I really enjoy watching it."

"Would you like to act in it? As long as you become a Hong Kong citizen or a citizen of any other country, I'm willing to tailor a movie just for you. I think your potential is no less than that of Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee."

Actually, what he really wanted was Li Lianjie, who was handsome and had a dashing style. Unfortunately, Li Lianjie was a member of the national team and had no choice in the matter. Getting him to act in a film required going through many departments, which was not something an ordinary person could do.

So after seeing Zhao Debiao yesterday, he had the idea of ​​winning over this muscular man. He originally thought of persuading him through Wei Ming, but unexpectedly Wei Ming brought him directly.

"Huh, me?" Biaozi pointed to himself, somewhat incredulous.

"That's right, it's you. Look at you, with that physique and imposing presence. In ancient times, you would have been a great general capable of taking on ten thousand men. Do you know that there's an action star in Hollywood named Schwarzenegger? You two have some similarities. I think he can become famous, and I also think you can become famous."

Biaozi was flattered by his words, while Wei Ming crossed his legs and quietly watched the two of them.

Just as Biaozi was about to sign the contract, Wei Ming asked him, "What time is it now?"

“Oh, now…” Biaozi pulled out his antique pocket watch and saw the photos of Yanzi and her daughter.

He immediately came to his senses: "Mr. Wu, thank you for your kindness, but I will never betray my country. I was born Chinese, and I will die with a Chinese soul!"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Debiao suddenly expressed his patriotism, which startled Wu Siyuan: "Oh, that's not what I meant. It's just for convenience. Why don't you become a Hong Kong citizen? Maybe it will return to China in the future, right, Mr. Wei?"

“It’s not just a possibility, it’s a certainty,” Wei Ming corrected. “They will definitely return.”

Wu Siyuan's heart skipped a beat. Was he really that sure? Did he have some inside information? Oh dear, should he start making plans soon?

He has always wanted to avoid politics because political alignment is too uncertain. Throughout history, and even in modern times, countless people have lost their lives and fortunes because of this issue.

But if it's a clear political direction, then it's not called taking sides, it's called going with the flow.

Wei Ming asked, "Biaozi, are you sure you don't want to film the male lead for Boss Wu?"

"Unless you let me be a mainland Chinese citizen, then forget it." Even if the other party agreed, Biaozi would still have to consider it; he didn't want to be separated from his wife and children for too long.

Wu Siyuan shook his head regretfully: "What a pity, these Taiwanese are so damn hateful, but we businessmen can't ignore them."

It seems the trauma of being attacked by gangsters in Taiwan last year is still lingering, which is why he doesn't have a good impression of the area.

Wei Ming waved his hand: "It's alright, I understand. I guess Mr. Wu wanted to talk to me about this. Now that we've finished talking, we'll take our leave."

"No, no, Mr. Wei, actually I'd like to talk about this." As he spoke, he took out a copy of "Madman Comics" magazine.

However, this magazine is from last year, and the cover star is Feng Yun.

Wei Ming asked in surprise, "You want to make a film called 'Storm Riders'?"

"No, no," Wu Siyuan quickly flipped open the magazine and pointed to "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" when he saw that Wei Ming had misunderstood. "Actually, I wanted to make this. I originally wanted to cast Ah Biao, but now I have to find someone else."

If he's lucky, the Taiwanese market could bring him millions in revenue, so he definitely can't choose Zhao Debiao as the male lead.

Wei Ming nodded: "That's a minor issue. You can go directly to Minglong Media to discuss cooperation. However, we don't sell copyrights much anymore; we mostly do cooperative investments. If they agree, then we can talk."

Siyuan Pictures is not like those big companies; Wu Siyuan can definitely negotiate with them.

Although "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky" ended relatively early and isn't considered particularly outstanding in Kuangren Comics' lineup, its gore and excitement suggest it would have a strong visual impact if adapted into a film, and might even carve out a unique niche for the genre.

Wu Siyuan was easy to talk to, but Karl Maka ultimately did not approve the plan to co-produce "Happy Ghost" with DreamWorks, and Wei Ming didn't care.

In order to maintain the influence of the Happy Ghost Zhu Xiucai IP, A Long also asked Zhao Rude, the illustrator of City Hunter, to draw a short story of Happy Ghost whenever he had time.

Previously published in "Madman Comics", it can now also be published in "YES!". The most attractive readership for this comic is students. Zhu Xiucai is practically a substitute for Doraemon, and he will definitely have the opportunity to shine in the future.

In addition, Ah Long also told Wei Ming about the acquisition of "Chinese and Foreign Films".

"The deal has been finalized. Two million Hong Kong dollars bought 70% of the shares, and the other 30% belongs to one of the founders, Lie Fu, who chose to stay. We also need a leader."

That's really fast. Based on the monthly profits of "Chinese and Foreign Films", the acquisition price is definitely a premium, but it saved time.

Minglong is about to own three publications, two newspapers, an animation department, and has swapped shares with Hong Kong's DreamWorks Pictures. It is already taking shape as a media giant, except for a television station.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Then the new episode can help promote Ahui's film 'The Burning of the Yuanmingyuan'."

This film will be released in left-wing theaters next month, taking over the time slot from "The Shepherd's Spring".

Ah Long: "That's natural."

Wei Ming also talked to Ah Long about the movie adaptation of "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky". In principle, he had no objection. Wu Siyuan was a very capable director and producer, and he wouldn't let the work go to waste.

"So, besides Biaozi, who else do you think could play the male lead?" Ah Long asked.

Wei Ming thought for a moment: "How is your junior brother?"

“Ah Jiang,” Ah Long thought for a moment, “he is tall enough, but a bit too thin. I have to urge him to stop staying at home drawing all the time and start exercising.”

"Still not over the heartbreak?" Wei Ming asked with a smile.

"I feel much more cheerful after filming 'Home Alone'," Ah Long said with a smile.

Wei Ming stood up and said, "Then that's settled. A Jiang is our own brother, so we should definitely support him first. He's working independently now and hasn't even played a leading role yet."

After this movie, Xu Jinjiang's future acting career will likely be completely different from his previous life. For some reason, Wei Ming even felt a little regretful when he thought about it.

Those are all classics!
Although Hong Kong films enriched the entertainment and leisure life of mainland people in the 1980s and 1990s, their value to Wei Ming was relatively low, incomparable to Hollywood, so he didn't care much about them.

Take, for example, the movie New Line is currently filming, "A Nightmare on Elm Street." It's a low-budget horror film that doesn't even rank among the top in film history, but it grossed $180 million at the box office on a budget of $2000 million.

This is equivalent to HK$1.7 million, and that's just from North American cinema revenue. With the rise of the videotape industry, there are also overseas copyrights, television broadcasting rights, and other businesses. The profits are so huge that, apart from some of Jackie Chan's films, other Hong Kong films are far behind.

Soon, Wei Ming will be heading to Hollywood to stir up trouble.

After seeing his parents Xizi and Biaozi off, it was finally his and Xiaohong's turn. They chose to go directly to San Francisco to enroll in school and return to China to visit relatives during the National Day holiday.

"Amin, I can't bear to part with you~" Amin snuggled in Wei Ming's arms. Her mother had returned from Taiwan today, and she was going home to sleep tonight.

Next month, they will move to the Kowloon Tong villa area with Lao Gui Lin Ni.

Wei Hong felt a little superfluous: "Um, I'll go downstairs and buy an ice pop." Wei Ming stopped her: "No need, it's getting late, I'll take Amin home."

He forcibly separated Amin and kissed her in front of Wei Hong, on the tongue.

"Eek~" Little Red covered her eyes, unable to bear to look.

Once they were in the car, Wei Ming gave Amin a song.

"We're going to be separated again. This is for your next Cantonese album."

In fact, Amin has already written two songs for her next album, both about breakups.

Wei Ming's song is similar; it's about parting.

“Where in life do we not meet again?” Amin read it carefully and hummed softly, “Drifting with the waves and the wind, with the waves of life, you and I overlap in that instant, and then we are in different places…”

Wei Ming turned off the radio in the car, which was playing Amin's "Chai Tou Feng". The song was currently charting, but the original version sounded better.

Perhaps it's just that love hears the best, but Wei Ming felt that Amin's voice was already on par with the original singer's. However, since it was his first time listening to this song, some details still needed polishing.

After finishing the song, Amin immediately said, "Park the car on the side of the road."

"Huh?" Wei Ming quickly stopped, wondering what was going on.

After stopping, Amin unbuckled her seatbelt and immediately turned her head to kiss her.

Wei Ming also unbuckled his seatbelt so that she could relax a bit.

This song touched Amin's heart: "Who is on the Gold Coast, who is on the other side of the war, you and I look back at that moment, comforting each other about our situation."

"I heard that America is quite chaotic and there are frequent shootings. You must be careful when you get there, and don't be reckless, okay?" Amin repeatedly reminded him as they parted.

"Yeah, don't worry." Once he got to America, Wei Ming thought he would buy a gun first and then practice every day to make himself stronger.

Wei Ming, Wei Hong, and Li Zhi boarded the plane together. Before leaving, Wei Ming bought a copy of the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po at the airport, where two news items caught his attention.

One of them was photos and news of Gong Xue and director Bai Chen boarding a plane to Venice after "Under the Bridge" was shortlisted for the Venice International Film Festival.

It seems that Sister Xue set off earlier than I did.

I must be extremely cautious. It would be good to take advantage of this time to learn more skills abroad and put personal feelings aside for now.

“Brother, I’ve also leveraged some of the profits I made.” Seeing Wei Ming close the newspaper and look out the window, Wei Hong nudged her.

"You're quite bold, aren't you? When do you plan to stop?"

"Why stop now? I plan to invest in gold after the Hong Kong dollar stabilizes. The depreciation trend of gold is very obvious."

Wei Ming nodded and asked, "How much have you earned in the past two months?"

Wei Hong lowered her voice: "The total will be 11 million US dollars, and soon your 3 million will turn into a 10 million profit!"

Lizhi, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, looked shocked. She had turned 300 million into 1000 million. Wei Hong was a stock market genius!
Wei Ming remained calm, because Xiao Hong would report to him every few days, and the last time she reported, the total profit was about to break through ten million US dollars.

Now the exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar is almost 9 to 1, which means that he has made a profit of nearly 100 million Hong Kong dollars through this stock market fluctuation. Not bad, making money in the stock market is indeed fast.

Next, they can try the US stock market, but there haven't been many good opportunities recently, so they can only start with those famous Silicon Valley companies.

Perhaps having learned of Wei Hong's earning power, she was exceptionally enthusiastic towards Wei Hong when she got off the plane, almost calling her "Sister Hong." She also wanted Sister Hong to help her get rich.

Before coming to San Francisco, Wei Ming had asked Gong Biyang to help him rent an apartment. It would be more convenient for him to live near the school, so he didn't want to trouble his aunt.

Wei Ming and Gong Biyang used to be business partners, but now they are relatives. According to Gong Xue, he should call him "uncle".

Gong Biyang had already subtly inquired about the relationship between the two from Gong Xue, and it was roughly as he had imagined. However, since he was so much older than Wei Ming, and neither of them intended to make it public, calling him "uncle" was inappropriate, using his pen name "Mr. Why" seemed too formal, calling him "Mr. Wei" seemed too distant, and calling him "Xiao Ming" would be somewhat disobedient and unfilial.

Finally, he asked Wei Ming if he had a formal English name.

There really was a name that hadn't been used in a long time, "Leonardo," so Gong Biyang took the abbreviation of that name and called him "Leon." There was also a very famous assassin with that name.

After picking up Wei Ming and the others, Gong Biyang first took them to see the house.

"This is it. This apartment building has a nice environment. It's mostly occupied by college students and white-collar workers. There are parks, museums, cinemas, and many restaurants nearby."

Wei Ming was very satisfied with the environment, but it was a bit too big.

"A three-bedroom apartment is really a bit of a waste." Wei Ming looked around and felt it was too empty.

"Ah, aren't all three of you going to study abroad, and at different universities?" Gong Biyang glanced at the other two girls. Could it be that two of them were sharing a room?
Wei Ming said, "Both of them live on campus, so I only need a two-bedroom apartment."

It's fine to let Xiaohong stay overnight occasionally, as Stanford is farther away and sometimes she might not have time to go back.

However, a three-bedroom apartment isn't very expensive, costing just over $800 a month, which is a drop in the bucket for Wei Ming, who has just earned nearly ten million US dollars, so he went with this one.

Lizhi hurriedly asked, "How long does it take to get from here to the University of San Francisco?"

Gong Biyang said to his fellow Shanghainese, "It's just across the bay bridge, about a half-hour drive."

Lizhi was secretly delighted. That was very convenient. She could come over after school without missing dinner and watching a movie. However, she would need a car first.

This was also Wei Ming's first consideration; in a place like the United States, it's too difficult not to have a car.

Gong Biyang had also considered this: "Transformers' partner in the American auto industry is Chevrolet of General Motors. They previously gave Mr. Wei two Chevrolet Monte Carlos, one black and one red, and now both cars are idle."

These two cars are the fourth generation of Monte Carlo models, double-cab sports cars, and they have a nice design.

Wei Ming and Xiao Li will each drive one car. Later, when Xiao Hong gets her driver's license, he will give her his car and then buy a Ferrari or Lamborghini or something.

Having ridden bicycles and motorcycles in Beijing for so many years, I had to enjoy myself a bit in America.

After leaving their luggage at the apartment, the three of them followed Gong Biyang to pick up their car and took the opportunity to visit the San Francisco branch of Langning Company.

This is already quite a large operation. San Francisco is the headquarters of Lanning's North American branch, and the North American market is Lanning's largest source of cash.

However, apart from a few senior executives in the branch office, ordinary employees only knew of Wei Lingling, but not Wei Ming.

This year, the main theme of Lanning North America is litigation, suppressing companies that tried to imitate or skirt the law of plagiarism. There can only be one Transformer on the market, and that is the Lanning brand.

Secondly, we will continue to promote claw machines and blind box machines, mainly through cooperation with arcades.

Looking at the Transformers elements everywhere in the company, Wei Ming remembered that he was also planning to make a girl's toy for Lang Ning, and then beat Hasbro and Mattel. He decided to go to the toy section of the mall and do some market research.

Afterwards, the three of them drove two cars to visit their great-aunt's house. Since they were in San Francisco, they had to visit her. The old lady had contributed a lot to the fact that Langning was able to distribute its products so smoothly in the United States.

During dinner, Wei Ming mentioned David Henry Hwang, whom he met in New York, to the old lady: "He and my aunt seem to be old acquaintances as well."

Speaking of this, the old lady sighed: "Our two families wanted to match them up before. In fact, Huang Zhelun was very satisfied, but unfortunately Lingling was not interested. In the end, they could only be friends. You know how old she is. Her parents are not in a hurry, but I am."

"It's alright, my aunt is only 25 years old, she's still young."

"Getting married at 25 might be a bit early, but she should at least have a relationship. Whenever I bring it up, she uses her studies and career as an excuse." Speaking of this troublesome niece, Wei Lindi is no different from those old ladies who urge her to get married, getting anxious and frustrated.

Wei Ming gossiped, "Did my aunt suffer some heartbreak during her university years?"

"No, she's never had a boyfriend before," the old lady said firmly.

Lizhi thought to herself: Really? She seems really good at this!
After dinner, they went back. Wei Ming planned to take Xiao Hong and Xiao Li to stay overnight at the rented apartment and experience San Francisco's nightlife.

Before leaving, Wei Ming asked Uncle Chao, his great-aunt's bodyguard and driver, where he could practice shooting.

Uncle Chao laughed and said, "I have a shooting range. You are welcome to come and play anytime. We have all kinds of guns."

Looking at Uncle Chao's smile, Wei Ming suspected that he could easily pull out a dozen guns from his great-aunt's car.

There are indeed quite a few drunkards on the streets of San Francisco. Wei Ming instructed Lizhi and Xiaohong: "Try not to leave the school alone in the future. Go with your classmates or drive to increase the safety factor."

He gave Lizhi a special look: "Especially you."

Xiao Hong's figure looked much safer than hers.

Lizhi sensed Wei Ming's extra concern and nodded heavily, her three heads trembling together.
……

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