Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 309 Find a new way
That evening, on the set of "Heaven and Earth".

After filming the last scene of the afternoon, Andy Lau collapsed onto a beach chair, looking exhausted.

Seeing his brows furrowed in worry, the assistant, who was about to give a report, immediately hesitated and stopped.

However, before Andy Lau lay down, he had already noticed his movements. After waiting for a while and seeing that the other person hadn't come over, he turned around and scolded him impatiently, "What are you doing sneaking around like that?!"

Among the popular stars in Hong Kong, Wah Jai is considered to have a good temper, but recently he has been overwhelmed by the company's losses, and the progress of "When Heaven Burns" is not going well, so he has become a bit hot-tempered in his words and actions.

The assistant quickly stepped forward with a smile and bowed, saying, "Brother Hua, Zhang Manyu has returned the gifts we sent. She's probably still angry. What do you think..."

"Let's put it on hold for now."

Andy Lau pinched the bridge of his nose and instructed, "Remember to keep an eye on her recent schedule, and remind me when there's a suitable opportunity."

In 1993, the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong Island were at the height of their fame.

Andy Lau also made rapid progress in the music scene, achieving second only to Alec Suet-yu, who became the "God of Songs" that year.

But when it comes to film and television...

He founded Sky Films, and after his first film, "Saviour of the Soul," did well at the box office, he impulsively spent 4000 million yuan to hire five directors to create "Legend of the God of War."

As a result, the film failed at the domestic box office, and then the overseas box office shrank drastically in 93, almost wiping out all his savings from those years.

The biggest problem with "Legend of the God of War" is that it has too much dialogue and not enough action scenes, making it seem very incongruous. However, the directors, led by Sammo Hung, have shifted the blame to Cheung Man-yuk.

This caused a rift between Andy Lau and Cheung Man-yuk.

After finishing discussing Zhang Manyu's matter, Andy Lau casually asked, "What did they say in Taiwan?"

"Uh~"

The assistant whispered, "The film distributors over there said they want to control the number of Hong Kong films and free up some slots for Hollywood, so they'll see how good 'Heaven and Earth' is before deciding whether to import it."

Upon hearing this, Andy Lau unconsciously clenched his fist. "Heaven and Earth" is an art film, and Taiwan has always been the largest market for art films in Hong Kong.

If it can't be released in Taiwan, then this work, which was made possible by mortgaging assets to turn things around...

Taking a deep breath to suppress his agitation, Andy Lau asked listlessly, "Is there any other news?"

"Also, Jiahe released a message saying that the big guy has an unusual relationship with Director Lin of Optoelectronics, and we should all be careful and not get involved."

"Big Guy?"

After thinking for a moment, Andy Lau suddenly realized and said, "You mean that mainland boss who was secretly photographed? Didn't he say he was going to hold a press conference? Did something happen at the press conference?"

"More than that!"

The assistant perked up at this: "This guy is a total blabbermouth. He'll say anything in front of reporters. He actually said at a press conference that after 97, everyone should kneel on the ground and kowtow three times and nine times to the red flag to swear allegiance; he also said that when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded, Hong Kong women all offered themselves to them..."

"Is it real or fake?!"

Andy Lau sat up straight in shock. He never expected anyone to dare say such a thing in public: "Wouldn't he be killed in the street?!"

"I heard someone wanted to make a move, but he had a lot of police around him, and I heard they all brought some guns—it's said that there were also imperial guards from the mainland protecting him in the shadows, and several people were quietly taken away."

When he got excited, the assistant even made a shooting gesture.

"This is too..."

The more Andy Lau listened, the more exaggerated it seemed; it was even more chaotic than a movie plot.

After thinking for a moment, he remembered that Mui Yan-fang seemed to have dealt with this person before, so he asked his assistant for his mobile phone and dialed Mui Yan-fang directly.

"Aunt Mei".

Andy Lau and Anita Mui have a long-standing friendship. When he was sidelined by TVB, he relied entirely on Anita Mui's help, so he didn't stand on ceremony and directly asked about Zhang Yan's situation.

"Hehehe..." After hearing Andy Lau's retelling, Anita Mui couldn't stop laughing on the other end of the phone. She laughed for a while before saying, "It's only been half a day and the rumors have become so outrageous. No wonder he said yesterday that the Hong Kong media was 'fake news'—I was there, and what he actually said was..."

After Anita Mui explained the whole story, Andy Lau finally understood, but he still felt that Zhang Yan's remarks were too sharp and very different from those of mainlanders who had come to Hong Kong before.

In the past, mainlanders who came to Hong Kong, regardless of their job title or status, were at least initially filled with longing and even awe for Hong Kong Island. How could anyone be like Zhang Yan, who started by mocking everyone?
but……

"Anita Mui, can this Zhang Sheng really influence the mainland's policies towards Hong Kong films and television?"

"I'm not really sure about that."

Mei Yanfang hesitated and said, "But he is indeed very influential in the mainland. Didn't I tell you before that in order to subdue Mao Ning's company, that guy brought a whole bunch of police officers with him..."

This statement is tantamount to indirectly confirming the news about Golden Harvest.

After much hesitation, Andy Lau asked, "Anita Mui, could you arrange for me to meet him?"

"why?"

Mei Yanfang asked doubtfully, "He's currently in the eye of the storm. If the media catches you in contact with him, it will be troublesome."

"Things are not very stable in Taiwan. If 'Heaven and Earth' flops again, I'm afraid I'll be homeless. So I want to try and see if I can get this film released in mainland China."

These days, only a very small number of Hong Kong films can be released publicly in mainland China, and most of them have a cinematic or mainland background. "Heaven and Earth" obviously does not meet this condition.

That's why Andy Lau thought of taking a different approach through Zhang Yan.

"Tch~ Who would believe that? At most, you'll just keep making a few more bad movies to make money, like before."

Despite saying that, Anita Mui still agreed to help Andy Lau get together with his girlfriend.

This wasn't difficult for her. Although she was forced by public opinion to go to Tianjin against her will, as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, and Yuanmeng owed her a favor in this matter.

After hanging up the phone, Mei Yanfang noticed that Zhao Wenzhuo on the other end didn't seem too happy—the two had arranged to have dinner alone.

He recalled that he had just suggested that he wanted to get in touch with Zhang Yan, but he had refused without hesitation.

Mei Yanfang reached out and touched Zhao Wenzhuo's face, and said with a smile, "I'm not showing favoritism. Huazai's influence is unmatched by ordinary people. Even if rumors spread, they can be suppressed."

"And you're originally from the mainland, and you haven't been fully accepted by the industry yet. If you're photographed contacting Mr. Cheung now, how will you maintain your foothold in Hong Kong?"

Although Zhao Wenzhuo was still unhappy, given his current status, it was already a great favor that Mei Yanfang was willing to explain things to him.

So he could only suppress his displeasure, and grasped Mei Yanfang's hand in return, saying earnestly, "I know you're doing this for my own good. Don't worry, one day I will become even more famous than Andy Lau!"

The second half of his sentence was his true feelings. After Wu Junru gave him the nickname "Zhuozhuo" that day, he secretly vowed to make something of himself and make these people from Hong Kong Island never dare to underestimate him again.

But Mei Yanfang almost couldn't hold back her laughter when she heard this, and said, "You are you, why do you have to compare yourself with others?"

As he spoke, he pulled his hand away and said, "Alright, I'll contact Zhang Yan first and see when he's available."

After making the call and exchanging a few pleasantries, Mei Yanfang heard a commotion on the other end and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's going on on your end?"

"Nothing, just moving."

"move place?"

"After moving from the third floor to the sixth floor, the window of my original room was broken..."

Just as I finished speaking, I heard a loud crash from the other side, followed by a woman's scream and a man's curses.

Hearing the commotion, Mei Yanfang hurriedly asked, "What's wrong now?"

"It's alright. The window on the sixth floor was also shattered by a slingshot just now—this isn't a hotel, it's a spy center! My every move is being monitored!"

(End of this chapter)