A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 25 Old Wang and Old Dou
Lin Jianlu must have seen the music video for "Fairy Tale" beforehand.

In those days, there was little internet communication, but there was human communication. After returning to Taiwan, Sylvia Chang quickly completed the initial cut, followed by phone communication. After the cut was finished, she took the developed videotape to Hong Kong, communicated with the other party, and then flew back. This process was repeated twice before the final film was completed.

It is significantly different from the original version in Lin Jianlu's mind.

For example, given Lin Jianlu's appearance and temperament, it's impossible to portray him as a dull, submissive character like Guang Liang. This aspect was already adjusted during the scriptwriting stage. Later, when it came to Zhang Aijia's hands, it underwent further understanding and adjustments. Then, during filming, there were further additions and deletions to the scenes.

However, the core of the story is clearly the same.

This music video, and the song "Fairy Tale," are selling the idea of ​​pure love and the regret of life and death.

Sylvia Chang, a woman with an artistic background, has not only sung and acted in many art films over the years, but has also achieved considerable success as a director. She naturally has her own unique understanding of these things. When this clashes with Lin Jianlu's insights—and without exaggeration, it's hard to say whether it definitively surpasses the original by a huge margin—it's clear that the original is always the best and irreplaceable. However, for those who haven't seen the original, such as Sylvia Chang herself, and even the lead actress Rene Liu, who both called and said, "Make a movie! The box office won't be bad!"

But when this topic fell into the mouth of Liang Yongqi, who couldn't even hold it in for a day and insisted on coming to the hotel, it became, "The female lead's name is Liu Ruoying, right? I think I've heard her songs before, they're quite nice."

Lin Jianlu ignored her and just yelled, "I'm going to take off my clothes and take a shower!"

Then, with a laugh-filled scream from Liang Yongqi, he immediately took off his pants, leaving only his briefs. His large penis was bulging, and he felt no shame whatsoever. He walked back and forth beside Liang Yongqi, and seeing that she didn't dare to open her eyes at all, he slowly went into the bathroom.

While he was still in the bathroom, Liang Yongqi knocked on the door and called out to him, "You have a phone call!"

She hastily wrapped herself in a bath towel and came out. As soon as the call connected, she heard Brigitte Lin's voice on the other end, which was tinged with laughter, "Ah Lu, want to walk the red carpet together? Miss Liang doesn't even acknowledge you, but I do!"

Liang Yongqi was listening nearby, and her expression immediately changed upon hearing this.

Lin Jianlu burst into laughter.

…………

It's all set. The Hong Kong Film Awards are on the 28th, and Lin Jianlu is going home on the 29th. The plane tickets are already booked.

He not only wants to go back for May Day, but also wants to stay for June 1st, July 1st, and August 1st. In short, he has enough money to spend, so he wants to go back and buy a big house, and search everywhere for me, Yuanyuan and Bingbing, to reserve a spot in advance.

At that time, the two wives would sit down to the side, enjoying braised pork knuckle and fried dough rolls from Tianfuhao, while Old Man Gao from across the street would furiously curse. The feeling, well…

Whether it's Ge Fuhong, Zhang Aijia, or Duan Zhongtan, they all know that as long as Lin Jianlu stays in Hong Kong and Taiwan, even without participating in any promotions, he can easily make headlines, which would greatly benefit album sales. However, there's nothing they can do; they can't persuade him otherwise. Moreover, let alone now, ever since the album achieved sales of 600,000 copies in Taiwan and over 200,000 copies in Hong Kong, Lin Jianlu is no longer someone they can easily control or manipulate.

Needless to say, the two agents are just partners. Even Rock Records' relationship with Lin Jianlu can now be described as merely that of collaborators. Just look at how Duan respects Luo Dayou and Li Zongsheng, and how he dotes on Zhou Huajian and Chen Shuhua. You can see the status of a singer after reaching a certain level in the industry.

Lin Jianlu has now far surpassed Zhou Huajian and Chen Shuhua. With Luo Dayou showing signs of decline, within Rock Records, one of the three major Chinese record companies, only Li Zongsheng can compare with Lin Jianlu. However, "Cold to the End" is still selling well and shows no signs of decline. Who will be next?

If he wants to go back, then he must be allowed to go back.

The stakeholders couldn't even give a bad attitude; they could only appease them, telling them to stay for a while and then come back.

However, before leaving, Lin Jianlu had one more thing to do.

He arrived in Hong Kong by plane at noon on the 27th, had a simple lunch with Leung Wing-ki, and then went out in the afternoon with his face covered.

I'll go visit Old Wang at his house.

Having visited the capital multiple times, we've become quite familiar with each other. Wang Fei is talkative and loves to laugh, possessing the carefree and straightforward nature of a Beijing girl. Despite her often blunt and outspoken remarks on television, she's not the type to lack emotional intelligence. She's just a bit proud and doesn't like being tricked by others.

It's definitely not the mindless kind.

Dou Wei appears a bit aloof in public, but frankly, he's by no means dull. In private, when chatting and joking around, he's quite cheerful and can talk a lot of nonsense—that's probably how people are. In his past life, Lin Jianlu listened to crosstalk and often heard Guo Degang say that he didn't like to talk after going offstage and almost never participated in anything like drinking. Actually, Lin Jianlu is a bit like that too. When he's live streaming, he can sing or dance on a whim, talk and chat, and often tells dirty jokes that get him banned from the live stream. But once he's offstage, he also likes to be alone all day and doesn't want to talk.

Dou Wei is the exact opposite: aloof in public, but kind in private.

They have a place to live in Hong Kong, but Lin Jianlu is busy with his schedule and has recently been entangled with Liang Yongqi, so he has been staying in Hong Kong for many days without visiting her.

We arranged to have dinner together at their house.

In the Hong Kong community, everyone is the same; we are all outsiders.

However, Wang Fei has already settled in Cantonese and started her career by releasing Cantonese albums, so she has integrated very well. Lin Jianlu, on the other hand, is still a huge outsider.

Once home and inside, Dou Wei was happy, but upon hearing that Lin Jianlu was returning to the capital the day after tomorrow, he became somewhat unhappy. The last time Lin Jianlu had come to Hong Kong, when he called to invite the couple over for dinner, Lin Jianlu seemed genuinely unable to integrate into the local social circle. There were, of course, some objective factors at play.

Speaking solely of the rock scene, whether it was during the Black Panther era or the later Magic Rock Three Heroes era, Dou Wei's talent, strength, and status are beyond doubt. However, firstly, his official cassette sales in mainland China were not high, and secondly, his CDs hardly sold well in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Rock music in Hong Kong is already a niche genre; even BEYOND has to go out and find work.

Finally, Dou Wei's greatest commercial achievement was probably the Hong Kong Coliseum concert that Zhang Peiren organized for them—only one show was held, a few thousand tickets were sold, and the total box office revenue was unknown, but the three of them together made at most a few million, and he himself would never have made more than 500,000.

Hong Kong is a typical commercial society, especially the entertainment industry, where box office results speak for themselves.

Lin Chien-lu's albums have sold over a million copies in Taiwan. In the entertainment industry, that means he single-handedly raked in nearly 200 million NT dollars at the box office in Taiwan. If the albums in Hong Kong sell over 500,000 copies, that would mean 50 million HK dollars at the box office – that's the foundation of his status in the industry.

Why do Hong Kong singers love to hold concerts once they become famous? They especially like to go to the Hong Kong Coliseum. Those who are famous enough will even hold multiple shows in a row. Like Jacky Cheung, who even has stages on all four sides, it's a sure way to prove his talent—that all translates to box office revenue!
Hong Kong people especially value this, and the entertainment industry idolizes it even more!

Even Wong Kar-wai, who is highly regarded in later generations, only began to gain real status in the industry after he started winning awards frequently in Europe, selling international copyrights, and earning US dollars.

The so-called "two Chows and one Jackie Chan" – who hasn't proven themselves through box office success?
However, Dou Wei's problems are not limited to box office performance and his status in the industry.

First of all, in order to promote the concert, the organizer instructed them to make outrageous statements to the media during the ticket sales period before the concert. Specifically, it was the classic line, "Of the four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong, only Jacky Cheung can be considered a singer; the others are just three clowns." Yes, He Yong said it. Because he was drawn in a backstage lottery, he had to step forward and play the villain, trying to piggyback on the Four Heavenly Kings to boost sales.

Ultimately, no matter how much impact it had or how much extra box office revenue it generated, Dou Wei, you'll still get a share of the profits!
It immediately offended half of the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

That day at dinner, everyone belonged to the same rock-grinding system, so they were practically classmates. Guo Fucheng and Dou Wei didn't exchange a single word from beginning to end. Zhang Guorong, probably out of respect for Wang Fei, since he had a good relationship with her, also took care of Dou Wei and chatted with him for a few minutes.

However, that's not all. Business is about making money. A person who knows how to get along with people, and who married Wang Fei, who is quite popular in Hong Kong, should have made up for lost favors long ago.

But the truth is, Dou Wei's personality dictates that he will not take the initiative to get close to these money-grubbing Hong Kong artists—deep down, he actually looks down on the decadent and extravagant lifestyle here.

I just want to earn money standing up; I don't really want to actively integrate into this community.

In response to his attitude, Hong Kong newspapers and magazines published extensive articles criticizing Wang Fei for marrying Dou Wei! There were almost no words of blessing, and they were often sarcastic and cynical.

That famous photo, showing Wang Fei emptying a chamber pot early in the morning in a hutong in the capital, was essentially a major satire of the Hong Kong entertainment circle—just looking at the photo, the person carrying the chamber pot was Dou Wei!
However, it is clear that, regardless of the fact that Wang Fei had already obtained Hong Kong residency with her family, the fact that her market and career were here meant that the couple had no choice but to stay here permanently.

Dou Wei had no choice but to come and stay.

That night, the scene was starkly different—a whole table of bigwigs and celebrities, including Wong Pak-ming, Wong Jing, Tsui Hark, Nansun Shi, Derek Yee, Sylvia Chang, Ge Fuhong, Duan Zhongtan, Wong Zhan, and Lo Ta-yu, as well as Leslie Cheung, Aaron Kwok, and Brigitte Lin. Any one of them could easily overshadow Dou Wei in the Hong Kong entertainment industry. Wang Fei had been famous for two or three years, and thanks to the love of Hong Kong people, she could only be considered somewhat at ease among this group of people. However, amidst this lively atmosphere, Dou Wei appeared exceptionally lonely and desolate.

I can't persuade them, and I don't intend to. Everyone lives their own life.

They only chatted for a few minutes and agreed to meet again when the couple returned to Beijing for a short stay.

However, during their conversation, an unexpected event occurred. Upon learning that Lin Jianlu was coming, Wang Fei also invited her good friend Na Ying and her own agent, Chen Jiaying.

The two of them didn't mind; they were just chatting. However, as the saying goes, guests shouldn't bring others, but Na Ying probably felt she had a good enough relationship with Wang Fei and wanted to act like the older sister. Seeing how famous Lin Jianlu was, she wanted to take the opportunity to help her younger brother and meet the big shot, so she took it upon herself to bring someone along: Sun Nan, her fellow Northeasterner.

She didn't dare to make a fuss, after all, she had no prior relationship with Lin Jianlu, and now Lin Jianlu's popularity far surpassed her own, whose two albums had only sold a maximum of 60,000 to 70,000 copies.

But he still took the initiative to introduce Sun Nan, implying that this young man had a very good voice—high, bright, and clear. He had known him since the capital, and he had been in Hong Kong for almost two years. He had signed with a company and released an album, but it wasn't selling very well!
Just as Wang Fei thought she was straightforward and cute and wanted to help her, she also felt that her younger brother was about to starve and was really pitiful, so she wanted to help him.

However... in fact, this is the norm in the music industry.

I've heard Zhang Peiren talk about it; even Na-ying is lucky. Wang Fei was willing to go to great lengths to help her, not only getting her manager, Chen Jiaying, to sign her to his company, but also taking her to auditions with one producer after another, ultimately getting her signed to Cinepoly Records. Otherwise, she would have had to wait a long time to make a name for herself!
But Wang Fei's willingness to mentor her doesn't mean she'll be willing to mentor the next one.

Besides, Sun Nan has already signed with a record company, so what can we do to help?
Therefore, as soon as Nayoung spoke, before anyone else had a reaction, Wang Fei was already starting to get a little unhappy.

But she and Na-young seemed to have a very good relationship, and she knew Na-young's temperament well, so she held back.

Lin Jianlu, however, joked, "We're all friends. I'm going back to the capital the day after tomorrow. Contact me when you get back, and we can have a meal together... Food is cheap in the capital; the pork knuckle rice here is fucking expensive!"

Everyone laughed, and the topic was dropped.

(End of this chapter)