A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 21 is quite humorous.

There will be a banquet tonight.

Lin Jianlu specifically asked Ge Fuhong for permission before dialing Wang Fei's number from the notebook—the couple actually lived more in the capital, but were currently in Hong Kong.

Sure enough, as soon as Wang Fei heard that Lin Jianlu had come to Hong Kong, she immediately asked which hotel he was staying at and wanted to come over together. Only then did Lin Jianlu explain about dinner that evening, and Wang Fei readily agreed.

In the evening, the Bentley that had picked them up at noon drove over again, and Ge Fuhong accompanied Lin Jianlu in this car.

Once we arrived at the agreed hotel room, guests from all walks of life quickly arrived.

The first to arrive was Leslie Cheung, who gave everyone a big hug as soon as he walked in. He's a signed artist with Rock Records, but he seemed to be quite free lately, as he started smoking as soon as he entered. He speaks excellent Mandarin and chatted about all sorts of random things. He said he especially liked the song "Ten Years," praising the lyrics and music as top-notch, adding, "Hong Kong artists probably only release one song like that every five years!"
Then there's Leung Wing-ki, wow, she's really tall.

A girl who is 176 cm tall, even without wearing high heels, would stand out among a group of male celebrities in Hong Kong today. Her legs are long and straight, and her feet in open-toed flat sandals are fair and tender. Just one look at her could make someone swoon. Not to mention that she also has an extremely pure and innocent face with big, expressive eyes. She is simply stunningly beautiful.

It looks much better than in the photos.

She wasn't exactly a newcomer; she had already played the lead role in a movie that grossed over 30 million HKD and received a Hong Kong Film Awards nomination, so she had some prestige. But when she met Lin Jianlu, she looked at her with adoration.

She's considered quite famous now, even very famous. Ge Fuhong is even trying to push her towards becoming the "second generation of Hong Kong's Jade Girl Leader," with abundant resources to follow. Of course, she should be a bit proud of that status. When she acts in movies, she should at least be the second female lead, a positive role, and in small productions, she should be the female lead. When she sings, a group of veteran big names will produce her albums. It's impossible for her to accept invitations from just anyone to shoot a music video; that would be lowering her status.

But Lin Jianlu was clearly an exception.

In Taiwan, sales reached 66 copies in four weeks; in Hong Kong, 24 copies; in Singapore, over 10 copies; and in mainland China, sales are said to have exceeded 300 million copies. Even in Japan and South Korea, he has made considerable success. Not only did his hit single "Bei'er Shuang" climb the streaming charts in its second week, but the album itself also reached the bestseller charts in its third week, reportedly selling over 10 copies. Just as Ge Fuhong said, Lin Jianlu is now the biggest star in the entire Chinese music scene!
It was Lin Jianlu who was promoting Liang Yongqi, who was able to star in Lin Jianlu's music video.

Before long, more people arrived.

Aaron Kwok, Lo Ta-yu, Dou Wei, Wang Fei, Huang Zhan, Tsui Hark, Nansun Shi, Derek Yee, Wang Jing, Brigitte Lin, and Huang Baiming—they have connections with Rock Records, Ge Fuhong, and Sylvia Chang. However, only Dou Wei and Wang Fei are Lin Chien-lu's own old friends.

Wang Jing was ultimately chosen as the director of the music video for "Ten Years".

The planned shooting period is two days—Wang Jing is known for his quick shooting; he dares to start filming without even a script. It can take anywhere from half a month to twenty days to finish a movie, and after its release, he can even guarantee that it won't lose money, or even make a profit, and maybe even a huge one.

For him, shooting a four-minute music video in two days was a truly meticulous concept.

There are two reasons why we ultimately chose him. First, he is fast. His album is selling very well now, but the PR team at Rock Records believes that if the follow-up singles and music videos can keep up, the promotional effect can still be greatly improved and sales can be boosted. Second, he is also good at capturing the beauty of people – and he is in no way inferior to Wang Jiawei!

It was not even six o'clock yet, and everyone had arrived, which was very kind of them.

It was just a drinking party.

The main purpose of Ge Fuhong's visit was to introduce Lin Jianlu to everyone, saying that he was an artist jointly signed by her and Zhang Aijia, and that everyone should take care of him as he walked the streets and mingled in the underworld of Hong Kong.

With this meal, the whole of Hong Kong will know. It's like an announcement to the world.

It might not save you any extra face, but you'll avoid some common tricks and underhanded tactics.

The banquet was lively, and almost everyone there was a seasoned veteran.

After the opening remarks, Ge Fuhong and Zhang Aijia, who were sitting on either side of Lin Jianlu, led Lin Jianlu in a very江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) style to toast everyone. After that, the official business was considered over, and everyone quickly started eating and chatting.

Wow, Dong Sheng, you haven't been out eating lately. Do you have a new movie in the works?

When will that movie you were working on in Hollywood be released, Lao Xu?
Uncle Zhan, you promised to write a song for me, have you started writing it yet?
Wow, when it comes to playing cards, I know Ah Fei is super obsessed!

Wang Jing suddenly asked, "Lu Han, you're so handsome, why don't you want to act in a movie?"

Sylvia Chang replied, "Then you'd better bring a good play!"

Back and forth they went. They were all acquaintances, all insiders, seasoned veterans, so there was almost no formality; it was all very direct and frank. It's no exaggeration to say that what they casually said was juicy gossip. Suddenly, Zhang Aijia leaned over and whispered, "Is it good?"

Lin Jianlu leaned closer, whispered in her ear, and covered her mouth with her hand, "I've seen a lot of her movies before, and her breasts didn't seem that big!"

This refers to Brigitte Lin.

She sat opposite Lin Jianlu, wow, she had a lot of breasts.

Of course, you wouldn't treat a female senior like that to anyone else, someone so much older, almost an elder. Saying such disrespectful things would be too frivolous. But Zhang Aijia could.

Sylvia Chang was equally direct, glancing at Brigitte Lin before leaning back and saying, "She's gained weight recently!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Brigitte Lin across from her suddenly raised her hand and pointed in their direction, "Hey, what are you two talking about? You must be talking badly about me!"

Before Lin Jianlu could speak, Zhang Aijia turned around with a smile, "No, Alu asked me if Qingxia is dating anyone right now? I said yes, she has a boyfriend!"

Brigitte Lin laughed loudly, "Please, don't ruin my marriage! Ah Lu, I don't have a boyfriend, you can pursue me!"—The room erupted in laughter.

Lin Jianlu felt slightly embarrassed.

But just then, before the laughter had completely subsided, Shi Nansheng suddenly added insult to injury, "Ah Lu, your sister isn't married either, so you can pursue her too!"

The audience burst into laughter again.

Even Xu Ke, who was sitting next to her, laughed heartily.

For a moment, Lin Jianlu had the illusion of being manipulated by several older women. Anyone who has ever been surrounded by several married elders or sisters-in-law and had their mouths uttering vulgar and offensive remarks can understand that feeling. You really can't fight back because these older women have long since lost all shame and their dirty jokes are even more fluent than yours. Ordinary people really can't stand it.

So, he had been in Taiwan for about two weeks and had just arrived in Hong Kong, but his impression was that, although it was only the 1990s, the way people interacted here, or rather, the atmosphere—of course, it could just be the atmosphere in the entertainment industry—had an indescribable sense of freedom and unrestrainedness.

Everyone is open to jokes, and many of them are sexual jokes.

Poor Lin Jianlu had a bellyful of dirty jokes in his past life, but he only dared to tell them to a bunch of lowly adopted sons. In this life, everyone in the capital's music circle also jokes around, but he rarely jokes around with female friends.

The atmosphere here is much more conservative than it is here.

Fortunately, Lin Jianlu is now prepared to be content with a modest life and retire gracefully, so he is not at all intimidated. Amid everyone's laughter, he stood up with his beer glass in hand, gestured to everyone without saying a word, and then started gulping it down.

Everyone immediately cheered.

After finishing a glass of wine, he revealed the bottom of the glass to the audience, which drew cheers from everyone present!
But then, Lin Jianlu put down his cup but didn't sit down. Instead, he took out his business card from his jacket pocket, left his seat, and walked towards Lin Qingxia. Everyone in the room looked at him in surprise. Only when he reached the side behind Lin Qingxia, and Lin Qingxia moved her chair and turned around halfway, did Lin Jianlu hand over his business card. "I just got a mobile phone, and this business card is also newly made. Sister Qingxia, I'm staying in room 1006 of the Peninsula Hotel!"

Lin Qingxia stood there, holding the business card, stunned.

Half a second later, everyone burst into laughter again.

Lin Qingxia also realized what was happening and burst into laughter, laughing so hard her chest was shaking.

At this moment, Lin Jianlu took two steps around the table, pretending to count out another business card. But before he reached Shi Nansheng's side, he suddenly turned his head and saw Xu Ke. He paused for a moment, put away the business card, and without saying a word, turned around and walked back. Once again, the whole room erupted in laughter, so loud that it almost lifted the roof off.

Huang Zhan, in particular, slapped the table and burst into laughter, exclaiming, "Interesting! How hilarious!"

Even Xu Ke and Shi Nansheng laughed so hard they started wiping away tears.

(End of this chapter)