A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 203 is done!

"Wow, you really know how to choose! This house is great!"

June 27, Hong Kong.

Lin Jianlu accompanied Gong Li to look at and choose a house.

This is a duplex apartment with a sea view, totaling nearly 300 square meters across two floors. The living room is quite spacious, measuring 70 to 80 square meters. There are two bedrooms on the first floor alone: ​​one is the master bedroom, which can be used as a guest room, and the other has two small beds and two sets of wardrobes. This is a common practice in Hong Kong home renovations to reserve a room for maids. If that's not enough, a bed can also be placed in the laundry room for someone to sleep in.

The second floor features a luxurious master bedroom with a small living room that has been converted into a small study, as well as two guest rooms with ensuite bathrooms, one of which was converted into a mahjong room by the original owner.

In short, for Hong Kong's middle class and the wealthy, this kind of house is definitely the ultimate luxury house.

Rosamund Kwan lives in a house similar to this.

Gong Li also took a liking to it at first sight.

She has been in Hong Kong for quite some time now, hoping to settle down here and have a child. Whether she is pregnant or not is still uncertain, but recently she has been going to look at houses every day. After looking at them for more than ten days, she still hasn't been able to decide which one to buy.

So Lin Jianlu spoke to Ge Fuhong and asked her to arrange for someone to make the selection.

As for real estate agents, they have connections for everything from buying a house, a car, renting a boat, to collecting wine. Whether they can help you make money depends on their individual abilities, but when it comes to helping you spend money, they basically just need to be real estate agents.

And sure enough, Gong Li was immediately drawn to the first set.

It seems she wasn't just overwhelmed by the choices before, but rather hadn't found any truly good properties. This is a common dilemma for celebrities when buying things. Most people tend to treat celebrities like fools, hoping to make more money or sell them some unsold items. But Gong Li is clearly not the kind of naive person who is easily fooled.

So, it's a closed loop, which is why agents need to have connections in this area.

Recently, Liang Yongqi made a fortune and heard Lin Jianlu say that the housing prices had only temporarily fallen and would definitely rise again in a few years. Foolishly trusting Lin Jianlu, she decided to buy a house as well.

Ge Fuhong had already been keeping an eye on things for her!
Finding someone you like at first sight is the best outcome, so Lin Jianlu beckoned to Ge Fuhong and nodded to her. Ge Fuhong immediately understood, beckoned to the real estate agent, and went downstairs to chat.

Gong Li had just snapped out of her reverie from the sea view in the second-floor study when she instinctively wrapped her arm around Lin Jianlu's waist and looked up at him. "But it's just too expensive, isn't it? I've seen real estate agents everywhere saying that house prices have dropped sharply, and it's a good time to buy a house. Many houses are only priced at around 20,000 to 30,000 yuan per square meter. If this house is priced at over 11 million yuan, isn't that almost 40,000 yuan per square meter?"

Lin Jianlu chuckled, "I have something to tell you!"

"Huh? What?" She stared at him blankly.

"Those Xuande censers, antiques, are extremely expensive! But you know, during the Xuande period, when Xuande censers first appeared, they were already incredibly expensive! And those Yuan blue and white porcelains, it's said that only a few pieces survive, you know? Those things were already treasures in the Yuan Dynasty, and by the Ming Dynasty, there were hardly any left!"

She understood, smiled, and glanced at me sideways, "You're lecturing me again!"

However, it was clear that she was persuaded by Lin Jianlu's theory. But after a short while, her brows furrowed again. "If I can bargain it down to below ten million, that's fine. But if it's over ten million, I... I'll... Sigh! Good things are so expensive!"

Lin Jianlu laughed, "I'll make up for whatever you're missing!"

She glanced over, wanting to be happy but holding back, "Actually... I have enough money of my own, but I've spent it all, so I'll be starving from now on!"

Ha, how pretentious!

How do you say it?

In fact, Gong Li, in terms of both looks and temperament, is nothing like the refined "little women" of Taiwan and Hong Kong.

In terms of looks and facial features alone, frankly speaking, she can't compare to the four leading actresses of Hong Kong: Rosamund Kwan, Li Jiaxin, Wang Zuxian, and Zhang Min. Any one of them could easily outshine her in terms of looks. However, her personality, unique to northerners, is characterized by its magnanimity and aloofness, which gives her an indescribable strength that makes her stand out even among a group of top beauties who would dominate the entire era.

Lin Jianlu had enjoyed her sweetness and gentleness, and even her obsession and submission, but even now, he still felt that it was quite reasonable for later generations to call her "Empress Gong".

And when a woman like this, seemingly oblivious yet somewhat pretentious, subtly hints that she wants to take advantage of your wealth, honestly, it can make a man feel quite accomplished—yes, some women are like that; she's willing to take advantage of your money, and you're actually quite happy. Because, given her aloofness, this could even be seen as her way of expressing her willingness to depend on you!
It was like when Wang Zuxian offered to light her cigarettes many times, and Lin Jianlu couldn't stand it—after only a few times, she fell into his eyes.

So in reality, if women are considered trophies in life, how can their value be simply based on their so-called looks? Every woman who can stand at the top of her industry has a unique personality, but almost without exception, she possesses the arrogance that a strong person must have. And after conquering this arrogance, being able to enjoy her long-hidden feminine gentleness is the most wonderful thing in the world.

"Don't give me that! Let's consider it a joint venture!"

"A joint venture? With equity ownership?"

"Yeah! Let's hold the shares! I hold 51% of Gongli, and Gongli holds 49% of Gongli!"

"Get lost! You've become my major shareholder now?"

"Why, no?"

"Okay, okay! You're the big boss, you're the BOSS, you'll hold shares in me!"

As she spoke, she leaned in, kissed him, and laughed, "I find you to be a really interesting person. You're extremely possessive, love spending money, and like keeping women around. Are you afraid people will call you a gigolo?"

"Tch! You're dreaming. I'd love for you guys to chip in and support me! But you'd better be able to support me! How about you give me a monthly allowance from now on?"

"Dream on! You want to support me? I can't afford to support you! ...Hey, hey, I saw in the newspaper that Rosamund Kwan really is supporting you financially? They say she's spent over a million of your money!"

"Huh? Which newspaper said that? Screw it! It's only a few tens of thousands of yuan! It's been half a year, and I haven't spent tens of thousands of yuan of her money! I win money almost every time I gamble, so I don't need her! The credit card she gave me, I haven't used it once since I got it!"

"Ha... if that's the case, I can afford to raise them too!"

"Look at you, so pathetic. You think I got off easy, huh?"

As the two were flirting, Lin Xilei came upstairs. Seeing the two embracing tightly, she ignored them and walked right over. Gong Li, on the other hand, felt a little embarrassed and tried to let go, but Lin Jianlu showed no intention of letting go. Lin Xilei, however, didn't find it strange at all—she was used to it. She had personally witnessed Lin Jianlu hugging and embracing at least a dozen women, and even seen him having sex with women in bed several times. She herself felt like she was becoming a personal eunuch.

She wasn't a palace maid. Palace maids might have a chance to be favored by the emperor, but she didn't have that opportunity.

Anyway, she felt that Lin Jianlu was almost treating her like a genderless person.

"The homeowner's bottom price is 9.8 million, and the agent is helping to negotiate, but it's estimated to be around 9.5 million to 9.6 million. It's already a bloodbath sale, and they said the renovation alone cost 3 million!"

It seems to be over 290 square meters. If you could get it for under 10 million, that would be around 33,000 per square meter. To be honest, with this house, this location, and this sea view, if it were in 1993 or 1994, let alone a fully furnished one, even a bare shell would have started at 60,000 per square meter. With this kind of fully furnished house and not much sign of life, you could probably ask for 80,000 per square meter if you wanted to buy it—this is a house that would definitely start at 20 million.

Sigh, the financial crisis is really too fierce!
What's so powerful is that it's not just about how much the Hang Seng Index has dropped, but also about how the confidence of many Hong Kong people, and their confidence in the future, has been shattered all at once!

"Alright! You keep an eye on it, make sure the accounts are settled, I'll cover 51%, and they'll cover 49%!"

Lin Jianlu pointed to Gong Li in his arms.

Gong Li chuckled and, feeling rather embarrassed, lightly punched Lin Jianlu in the chest.

However, Lin Xilei was already numb. Instead, she turned to Gong Li and said, "Ms. Gong, here's a little suggestion: he's very rich, and he likes to buy houses for his girlfriends to live in. You don't actually need to spend money. You'd be better off using your money to buy two small apartments to rent out..."

Lin Jianlu was completely dumbfounded. "Hey! You're my assistant!"

Gong Li smiled and nodded to Lin Xilei, "Thank you for your suggestion!"

…………

In her leisure time, Lin Jianlu lived a fulfilling and happy life. In the morning, she accompanied Gong Li to look at houses, and in the afternoon, she went to enjoy Rosamund Kwan's 38-degree fever—she had been running a cold and fever for two days, with a temperature of around 37 to 38 degrees Celsius. She had taken medicine, but the fever would go down and then come back, and she just wouldn't get better. So Lin Jianlu joked!
Even when she was ill, she couldn't help but burst into laughter and punch her fists repeatedly.

"Boss, you have no humanity!"

"Let me help you sweat it out and clear your blockages!"

"How can you help someone sweat like that!"

You know what, it actually worked a little. After it was over, she lay there dazed for a long time, then suddenly said, "It really does! I feel so much more energetic... Hey, does it really work, or are you just making this up? It must be the medicine I took that's working!"

Lin Jianlu had no idea that his original intention was just to make the beautiful woman happy. He didn't expect that the beautiful woman would actually be a little interested, so he just wanted to test the temperature inside.

But strangely enough, after he cleared her throat, Rosamund Kwan really started to get better. Not long after, when her temperature was taken again, it had really gone down. An hour or so later, she started to cry out in hunger. After drinking a big bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup and sweating profusely, she really started to jump around again.

So when Andy Lau called that evening to inquire about her condition, she actually wanted to drag Lin Jianlu along to go drinking with others, which earned her a scolding from Lin Jianlu. However, Andy Lau, on the other end of the phone, upon hearing Lin Jianlu's voice, immediately said, "Ah Lu, you've been so busy lately, why don't you come out for a chat?"

Then we'll just have to go out and sit for a while.

Liu Da's face was full of worry—his and his girlfriend's joint investment in a resort project in Thailand had suddenly failed. So much money was poured in, tens of millions of US dollars, and with the current situation in Thailand, the currency was depreciating and prices were soaring. Everything that used to be valuable, such as land and buildings, was now depreciating wildly!
Devaluation itself isn't the scary part; the real problem is that no one will buy it after it's devalued.

Andy Lau himself said that their project, even with a bid of ten million US dollars, would now have no takers.

He asked Lin Jianlu, "You're very wealthy, and you're able to come up with the money to acquire ATV at this time. Do you have high hopes for Hong Kong's future economy? What do you think of Thailand? Can it return to its previous prosperity?"

Lin Jianlu didn't know how to comfort him. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "I think you shouldn't worry about making money for five to eight years. In five to eight years, Thailand's tourism industry should have recovered. If you really want to make money, just hold on to your shares. My personal estimate is that in about ten more years, the mainland's economy should have developed. Once the mainland's economy has developed, many people will be willing to travel to Thailand!"

He just nodded as he listened, without really taking it to heart.

…………

On November 28, Brigitte Lin returned from the capital.

I brought back a reply from above. Yes, it was also handwritten and had the leader's signature, showing sincerity.

The letter was brief and its contents were not complicated. It addressed each of the issues raised by Lin Jianlu in his letter: "Your letter has been received. The organization attaches great importance to it. Considering your situation and the work you are doing, it has been decided that you should go to Hong Kong to establish a Party branch. The two comrades you mentioned will be interviewed soon to hear their opinions. If there are no problems, they should be able to go to Hong Kong within the year."

In addition, in principle, we support ATV in applying for operating rights in mainland China and support ATV in going satellite after achieving digital recording and broadcasting. The application can be submitted at any time, and the specific satellite launch time will be coordinated in a unified manner.

The TV series "Water Margin" that you inquired about has been confirmed to premiere on CCTV in January 1998. Your intention to purchase the series has been conveyed to the staff at CCTV, and after review, they have agreed to premiere it on the same day as ATV. For specific details regarding the purchase of the series, you can send someone to contact and discuss it with the staff at CCTV.

That's it!

After reading the letter, Lin Jianlu couldn't help but excitedly flick the two pages.

Then, he turned to look at Brigitte Lin and said, "You stay put for a few months. When the people from over there arrive, we'll insert you and let you try it out for a while. Once I'm done with this, I'll start setting up Dragon TV Chinese Channel. Within five years, I want to get ATV listed on the stock exchange, and within ten years, I want to give it a market value of 10 billion!"

So the next day, Lin Jianlu personally went to ATV for a meeting.

Putting everything else aside, let's start with the easiest thing to do: arranging next year's TV dramas. We'll start with "Water Margin," which will premiere simultaneously with CCTV. Next, we'll fill in a modern romance drama produced by ATV, and then premiere "Kangxi's Private Visits"—this will require some scheduling.

Arrange for a high-profile person to go north to negotiate with CCTV about purchasing the drama series.

Of course, it wasn't just "Water Margin" that needed to be discussed; Lin Jianlu also demanded that the broadcasting rights for "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" be secured.

Even the minor hits produced by ATV simply can't compete with TVB. Especially in the past, due to cost constraints, the dramas they produced were just so-so. Instead, they would free up some time to broadcast large-scale historical dramas from CCTV, which would have a stable audience and ensure that the minimum viewership ratings were maintained without much trouble.

When it comes to aesthetics and drama production, there's no need to mythologize Hong Kong; they simply can't compete with CCTV!

However, at that time and in those days, they were indeed better at commercializing their content, filming more relatable urban romance dramas and capturing the essence of commercial dramas.

Hong Kong people don't even look at mainland urban dramas and romance dramas, but conversely, once the mainland starts imitating historical dramas, Republican-era dramas, and even fictionalized dramas, neither Hong Kong nor Taiwan can compete with the mainland!
From filming locations to costumes and props, it completely outclasses the competition.

This is true now, and it will be even more true in the future.

Therefore, not only "Kangxi's Private Visits" can be broadcast, but also other TV series invested by Lin Jianlu in the capital can be brought over, such as Li Shaohong's TV series version of "Thunderstorm", Guo Baochang's "Sunset in the Forbidden City", and "Yanzi Li San" invested by Longxin Film and Television and currently being filmed by Chen Hong. From the perspective of subject matter, there are no major problems.

Forget about "Love Will Carry On," that's a mainland-style romance drama, Hong Kong people probably won't like watching it, but next year's "My Fair Princess" will definitely be a hit!

Next up is "Yongzheng Dynasty," a historical drama co-produced by Longxin Film & Television and CCTV.

Then, there's a series of dramas that Longxin Films will be co-producing with Yang Peipei and Zhou Linggang from Taiwan, including several Jin Yong dramas, which can also be premiered on ATV as soon as possible.

With these TV dramas as a foundation, ATV's pressure on its self-produced dramas will be greatly reduced next year, and the pressure will be significantly reduced in the following years. This will allow them to concentrate their manpower and funds to focus on producing a few good dramas. They can also go north to the capital to co-produce with the capital, and if they do a good job, ATV can broadcast them and they can be sold again in mainland China!
With 52 weeks in a year, roughly 260 days of broadcast time, ATV needs to air at least 520 new dramas during its prime-time 8 PM slot. In the past, ATV produced about 10 dramas annually, totaling 250 to 300 episodes, with varying quality. To cover the remaining gaps, they purchased dramas from overseas, primarily from Taiwan and occasionally from Singapore.

If you catch a good drama, you can compete with TVB's self-produced dramas, but most of the time you can't beat TVB.

After Lin Jianlu took over, he put everything else aside, such as variety shows, and believed that, purely in terms of TV dramas, his ATV dramas should be qualified to compete with TVB.

For a television station, variety shows are the elevated part, while dramas are the foundation!
ATV and TVB have been competing for many years, from dramas to variety shows. ATV would produce Jin Yong dramas, while TVB, unable to obtain Jin Yong's authorization, would produce Gu Long dramas. ATV would hold a Miss Hong Kong pageant, while TVB would hold a Miss Asia pageant. In short, they were always vying for ratings, but ATV always came out on the losing end.

Turning things around is by no means something that can be done overnight.

TVB has been able to steadily suppress ATV for many years. Its core competitiveness, to put it bluntly, has always been its strong dramas. Even though Lin Jianlu doesn't have the in-depth understanding of Hong Kong that he has in the last two years, he is very clear about this. In his previous life, he could feel the outstanding works of TVB during its peak 20 years just by watching short videos. So let's start the war with dramas!
It's hard to say about other things, but Lin Jianlu felt that at least one "Princess Pearl" should be enough to stabilize ATV under his control.

…………

On November 30th, Lin Jianlu, along with Wang Zuxian, Lin Xilei, Wu Minghua, and his two bodyguards, headed north. They first flew to Shanghai and spent a few hours visiting the Times Square project under construction in Shanghai. After that, they skipped the capital and left Wu Minghua there to inspect the site, while Lin Jianlu himself took his men and flew directly to Xinjiang.

First, the plane crossed several time zones, and after landing, we spent a long time by car, and it even started snowing halfway through the journey. It was a long and arduous trip until late at night before we finally arrived at the filming location chosen by the production team.

Once here, Lin Jianlu had to wear heavy armor in almost every scene.

With time running out and the task heavy, although the girls who had been specially recruited from Goryeo to play the roles of maids looked somewhat familiar, they didn't have time to take a closer look. The next morning, under the light snow, they started filming immediately.

So, it wasn't until three days later that Lin Jianlu learned the names of those girls from Wang Zuxian—wow! It has to be said that these days, when it comes to the entertainment industry, Korea hasn't really taken off yet, while Hong Kong has quite a few stars who are very popular in Korea!
Lin Jianlu himself goes without saying!
In Korea and Japan, he was already at the peak of his international fame!
Media Asia Films contacted Korea to cast the lead role for international superstar Lim Chien-lu's first film. The lead actress was Wang Joo-hyun, who was very popular in Korea. It is said that there was a fierce competition in Korea, and the three girls who were finally recommended were the best of the best. Lim Chien-lu actually knew them all - Kim Hee-sun, Kim Tae-hee, and Song Hye-kyo!

Most of them are girls who have just debuted in the last year or two. Song Hye-kyo is said to be only sixteen years old this year and is only about 1.6 meters tall. It is unknown whether she will grow taller in the future. Anyway, she looks really petite now. In comparison, the girls from the capital are not inferior in terms of looks alone, and they are basically superior in terms of height.

Of the three girls from Korea, Kim Tae-hee was only slightly taller than Song Hye-kyo, and Kim Seo-sun was the tallest, probably around 168 cm. But the three girls from the capital were all around the same height.

Chen Hong chose the person, and although she had her own motives, she still handled the matter beautifully.

Fan Bingbing, Zhao Yanzi, Zhang Ziyi.

The oldest among them is Kim Hee-sun, who is only 20 years old this year—he looks incredibly young!
However, according to the story setting of "The Myth," the female lead is a princess from a foreign state who is presented to Qin Shi Huang. Naturally, she should be a young girl. In ancient times, sixteen was considered a grown woman, and parents would be guilty if she didn't marry. It was only to consider modern acceptance and other factors that the age range was broadened to around 20. Wang Zuxian was given some styling and makeup to make her look younger, which wasn't a big problem. Her maids, with limited screen time, only needed to be young and pretty.

However, the actress who played her maid was indeed between sixteen or seventeen and twenty years old, which was the most suitable age.

However, if someone comes back to study the history of this play in the future, they will probably be shocked—the six maids beside Wang Zuxian are all big names!
After filming for a few more days, Lin Jianlu suddenly came to his senses again!
It seems, perhaps, possibly... In the original timeline, the female lead of the drama "The Myth" was Kim Seo-sun?
***
I don't know if the double monthly pass event has started yet. Can I ask for votes now?

(End of this chapter)