Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 229 Talent Selection at the Semiconductor Research Institute (First Update, 3200+ words)

The second-hand platform suggested that the movie be promoted before its premiere, which would create a small-scale awareness and give people the illusion that people only started doing this after seeing the promotional posters, thus generating buzz.

However, one thing to note is that the third leader is shameless and may use the film as evidence to sue the film company, claiming that the film company stole the temple's treasure.

Li Song thought it was indeed possible. He knew very well what kind of person the Third Boss was, and he would never do business with him, even if he were beaten to death.

Of course, the existence of the third leader is actually tacitly approved by the major powers, otherwise the area would be a natural landscape...

Thinking of this, Li Song called Mr. Zou of Jiahe.

When Mr. Zou received Li Song's call, he was a little puzzled, since this was the first time Li Song had called: "Mr. Li, I was just about to call you to take a look at the sample photos."

"Mr. Zou, I just want to ask when Temple Run will premiere, and are the roadshow and promotion all ready?" Li Song asked.

"We plan to start promotional activities at Ame on the 12th, then return to Hong Kong Island for promotional activities on the 20th, and also plan to promote in Japan and Taiwan. The premiere will be in Hong Kong on the 29th, and in Hollywood on Halloween on the 30th." Mr. Zou was not confident because the investment was huge.

Of course, historically, Mr. Zou collaborated with Warner Bros. in 1980 to invest $6000 million in the film "The Killer," which was a complete flop.

Of course, in the eyes of later generations, that means Golden Harvest was ripped off. What kind of place is Hollywood? Even Wall Street loses money there, let alone someone from Hong Kong.

“I’ve been getting a lot of criticism lately. Aren’t you afraid that coming to see the sample photos will cause trouble for Boss Zou?” Li Song asked with a chuckle.

"Mr. Li is joking. People criticize Mr. Li because he is outstanding. I am the one who gets criticized too," Boss Zou said with a chuckle.

“I’m free tomorrow,” Li Song said.

"Then we'll look forward to Mr. Li's arrival," Mr. Zou said on the phone.

Li Song decided to move the date forward. Since Golden Harvest was going to Ame for promotion on the 12th, he would do something around the 25th, a few days earlier than the premiere, since there would be 13 days in between.

This could lead some people to mistakenly believe that someone saw the promotional posters on Ame and that someone was stirring up trouble.

After hanging up the phone, Boss Zou thought about it for a moment. It seemed a bit strange that Li Song had taken the initiative to ask this question, since the other party had never paid any attention to it, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Golden Harvest's marketing and promotion efforts are mainly concentrated in areas with large Chinese populations, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.

The marketing and promotion costs weren't cheap either; this was a marketing company introduced by Lucas, and the marketing and promotion cost $800 million.

That adds up to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

After making up his mind, Li Song went home from get off work.

This time, Li Song did not give an interview and left directly.

Li Song returned to Taikoo Shing, having already called ahead. Ah Lin then sent the maid home.

That evening, Li Song watched the news on TVB and found that no one said anything bad about him, but they still published what he had said.

Saturday, September 1980, 10.

The Temple Run footage had only just been edited out, and Ah Long's eyes were bloodshot.

Filming in Hong Kong Island is very fast at this time of year; Temple Run is considered slow. Many films are shot in a month or even a week.

When Li Song arrived at Jiahe Company, he naturally attracted the attention of some reporters. However, Li Song did not accept the interview, as he didn't care about being interviewed at the entrance of his own company.

"Mr. Li, if there's any trouble in Taiwan, just let me know," Boss Zou said.

"Thank you, Mr. Zou." Li Song nodded.

Ah Long greeted them, and then they watched the sample footage together.

The sample footage has that Ah Long style—exciting, thrilling, and giving a sense of realism. It features a villainous major who relentlessly pursues Li Song.

"Pretty good. Let's take a look at the promotional materials?" After reading them, Li Song nodded. There was nothing to say; A Long's performance was exceptionally consistent.

"This way, please," Mr. Zou said quickly.

Here are poster samples, Ah Long's headshot, the female lead, the male supporting character, and in the background, a gloomy temple.

“This one is good.” Li Song looked at one of the pictures, in which only Ah Long, fully equipped, stood next to what appeared to be an abandoned temple.

“I won’t go to the Hollywood premiere, but I will attend the Hong Kong premiere,” Li Song said.

"Okay, thank you for your help, Mr. Li." Boss Zou reached out and shook hands with Li Song.

"Hehe, I invested too," Li Song said with a chuckle.

Then Li Song had nothing to do, so he went home and looked at semiconductor-related things.

Li Song knew this was the best time. The massive Intel was still competing with notebook computers in the storage market, and it was unclear how long it would take before they changed their strategy.

But Li Song was anxious but there was nothing he could do. He could only speed up the construction of semiconductor laboratories in mainland China and strive to achieve results by the end of this year.

Li Song decided to go back and urge them.

The following evening, Li Song arrived at the premiere of Wang Jing's first film, and his car was immediately surrounded by reporters.

"Mr. Li, there have been fewer bad things about you in the newspapers these past two days. Is it related to the feng shui?"

"Yes, I heard that Boss Zou went to the Buddhist country and brought back some sacred tablets."

"It is said that a master from the Buddhist kingdom was asked to resolve the issue."

Li Song began by saying, "I wasn't joking. I, Li Song, didn't do any feng shui arrangements. Everyone, please interview our Director Wang today." Li Song then beckoned Director Wang over, and Director Wang began promoting the movie.

Li Song was quickly escorted into the movie theater by bodyguards, and reporters who wanted to conduct interviews were blocked.

"Boss!" Qian Xiaohao quickly greeted Li Song.

"Huh, you've also signed with our TV station?" Li Song asked in surprise.

“Yes, we’ve all signed with Phoenix TV, and we’ll also be acting in Director Wang’s next movie. We’ve also joined Uncle Jiu’s project,” Yuan Hua said.

"Welcome, welcome!" Li Song shook hands with each of them.

"Huh? Has Lady Zhao joined Phoenix TV too?" Li Song asked, seeing Lady Zhao's radiant smile.

"I'm sorry to have troubled Mr. Li, as he's still in a lawsuit with TVB," Zhao Niangzi replied with a smile.

"No wonder Mr. Shao criticized me in the newspaper. It turns out that Phoenix TV poached TVB's top leading lady." Li Song suddenly understood why Mr. Shao had scolded him. On the one hand, his own TV station had indeed taken away business, and on the other hand, it had poached the artists and staff he had trained.

They also have to go to court with their former employer.

"But don't be afraid, everyone. We've never been afraid of anyone when it comes to lawsuits. It's just a matter of losing money, right?" Li Song had no idea how many TVB artists Liu Jiale had poached.

There's no other way; training our own people would take too long, it's much better to just poach them.

Many people in Hong Kong Island have connections with Shaw Brothers. Ah Lung came from Shaw Brothers, as did Fatty Hung.

"Thank you, boss." The artists who were currently suing TVB breathed a sigh of relief.

Individuals can't afford to spend time and effort suing these large companies, but it's different for business owners.

Wong Jing's first film was still a bit rough, but it already had the style he would later develop, and it featured several TVB artists.

However, there were also criticisms, since many people relied on Shaw Brothers for their livelihood.

After attending the premiere, Li Song returned to Taikoo Shing, and was still there the next day, Sunday.

The reviews of Wong Jing's film in the Sunday newspapers were varied, with some saying his first film was normal and others calling it garbage.

However, quite a lot of people still watched it, after all, it had been hyped up for so long.

On Monday, October 6, 1980, Li Song returned to Guangzhou.

"Mr. Li, the higher authorities are considering allowing construction machinery such as cranes, excavators, and bulldozers to be used as equity investments. I wonder how much your company would like?" Ma Shengli brought good news.

Li Song said, "According to international practice, non-core auxiliary patent technologies generally account for 5%-30%, while core patent technologies account for 30%-50%. How about 35%? Of course, if you have to pay extra, that's a different story."

“We will not participate in management, but we will participate in supervision and provide necessary technical support.”

Li Song didn't ask for an exorbitant 50% because the technology he offered was indeed top-notch.

However, we also need to consider the other side, which includes personnel, equipment, and other things.

Without these, technology is just technology.

“I need to report this.” Ma Shengli knew the approximate bottom line. The bottom line given by his superiors was 49%. Li Song’s asking price was already very reasonable, because Ma Shengli also knew some of the details.

"In addition, these are some of our best semiconductor talents. Mr. Li, please take a look and see who is suitable," Ma Shengli asked again.

"Have them all write a semiconductor development plan for the mainland, and then give it to me." Li Song glanced at it; it only contained basic information, mostly from various research institutes.

Li Song doesn't need top-notch talent for the time being; he needs obedient, honest people who will work like slaves in the company.

Because the technology will be taken from the Hong Kong Island Research Institute, the technology is readily available.

However, Li Song also needs to know what these people think, because some people advocate buying things, and those whose values ​​don't align with his should be thrown in the trash.

Because such a person will inevitably clash with your own beliefs in the process of getting to know them later on.

These people only know how to buy when they are technologically backward, but when they are technologically advanced, they might stand up and spout nonsense about technology having no borders and wanting to share their technology with others.

These people only care about their American masters, and they even leak their own country's plans to others.

They're helping their foreign masters make money off the Chinese.

Although Li Song is technically a foreigner now, I don't like that kind of person.

"Okay!" Ma Shengli noted it down.

“Mr. Ma, I would also like to entrust the supervision of these construction machinery factories to a service company under the Science and Technology Commission,” Li Song said again.

Ma Shengli's eyelids twitched. If the service company under the Science and Technology Commission continued like this, it would become a service provider for Li Song.

"This is how I see it: it's not realistic for the head office in Hong Kong to send people. It would be very difficult to change the factory's management system all at once. Changing the management model is not something that can be done overnight."

"I also know that some factories may be located in sensitive areas, so we need to avoid any appearance of impropriety," Li Song explained.

Ma Shengli almost said, "You don't need to avoid suspicion because your technology is much better," but he didn't, because Li Song's statement was correct.

"We will develop a plan for the process reform and gradually implement it over the next few years." Li Song also knew that it would be very difficult to change these joint venture construction machinery factories all at once.

“Mr. Li understands our difficulties, and I would like to thank him in advance. I will report all of this.” Ma Shengli knew that the Science and Technology Committee had agreed, but the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

(End of this chapter)