A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 31 Damn it!

Three days' worth of work, finished in two and a half days.

Several vehicles took the film crew and equipment into the city, and everyone scattered like birds and beasts.

Lin Jianlu suddenly felt completely relieved—ever since he woke up on the train and realized he had traveled back in time, he had been on edge, thinking he had to make money. This was a rare opportunity!

When the album became a hit, it became popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and sold very well. They even wanted to shoot music videos for three more songs. To be honest, he was starting to think about letting go of his inhibitions.

Later, it was only through the constant encouragement and guidance of his two agents that he was able to muster the courage to travel around promoting his work and shooting music videos. Now that the music video for "Hua Tian Cuo" has been completed, he feels that he has truly finished what he was supposed to do.

Why make so much money? To enjoy life!
How do you enjoy life? By spending money!

He invited Yu Qian, whom he remembered as a knowledgeable person, to go to the flower and bird market together. They spent over 300 yuan to buy a fine thrush for Old Lin, and another 800 yuan to buy a set of what was said to be a good cage and a good bird.

Comrade Lin Guodong actually loved this. He played with it when he was young, but during a special period, fearing something might happen, he cried as he released the thrush and smashed the cage, keeping only a small bowl as a souvenir. He never bought another one after that, and even less so after he got married and had children.

After buying it, I gave it to Old Lin. As I guessed, when Old Lin looked at the thrush, his eyes instantly turned red, and he almost cried. So much so that when Lin's mother was about to say, "Hey, you two are really something, both of you are such spoiled brats...", she couldn't bear to say anything more when she saw Lin's father's expression.

…………

After being on the market for over nine weeks in East and Southeast Asia, sales statistics in Taiwan and Hong Kong have been consistently fast. Finally, after the May Day holiday, Xinhua Bookstore in mainland China provided its first accurate statistics – as of April 5th, which is about five weeks after its release, "Cold to the End" had sold a total of 285 million cassette tapes and 114,000 CDs at Xinhua Bookstore!

Total sales amounted to just over 3538 million RMB! This is because Xinhua Bookstore doesn't offer discounts.

It's absolutely a cause for celebration for the whole world!

However, there's really no need to complain. Moyan Records' own distribution channels only provide a rough estimate of the sales data for the past two months. It's rough because they can only calculate the difference by counting how many copies were released and how many were returned within a certain period.

There's really no such thing as true accuracy.

However, we already know roughly that the confirmed sales figures for cassette tapes and CDs are over 350 million copies – which can be touted as 400 million copies!
Needless to say, the sales figures will be absolutely phenomenal!
It's said that in the 1980s, there was almost no piracy in China, and some cassette tapes sold over ten million copies. But in the 1990s, those sales completely disappeared, and selling over one hundred thousand copies of a genuine cassette tape was considered a bestseller! As for CDs, sorry, it's good if anyone buys them; if it exceeds ten thousand copies, it deserves a report!

So, right after May Day, newspapers and radio stations across the country were almost entirely filled with news that the official version of "Cold to the End" had sold over 400 million copies—a sales record hailed as historic in the face of rampant piracy!
In comparison, the news had a greater impact on the record industry when it reached Hong Kong and Taiwan—especially Hong Kong, which is about to return to China. Records published in Hong Kong can apply for registration, review and distribution in the mainland in advance, without having to go through the so-called "import" method. At that time, what a huge market that will be!

Even if you sell it at a low price, you can't compete with sales of millions!

Of course, this wasn't possible before the handover. "Overseas import" distribution and direct domestic distribution, which only required prior registration and collaboration with domestic audio-visual publishing houses, are completely different things.

At least up until the handover, the sales figure of 400 million copies in mainland China was something no one dared to even dream of. Conversely, it was extremely difficult for mainlanders to go to Hong Kong to make a living, whether it was to act in movies, work as models, or try to sign with a record company and release records there.

Li Lianjie benefited from the fact that when "Shaolin Temple" was arranged to be released in Hong Kong, he immediately made an impression on the people of Hong Kong. His subsequent films also performed well at the box office and successfully entered the mainland market.

But apart from him, there have been no successful examples of people with mainland Chinese identities in any industry until Lin Jianlu suddenly became popular.

Wang Fei doesn't count. Firstly, she has already settled in Hong Kong with her family. Secondly, she has a good teacher. Thirdly, she is a girl from the capital city and has released Cantonese albums for seven consecutive years since her debut. Therefore, Hong Kong people recognize her.

Lin Jianlu was definitely the first mainland singer to achieve huge sales in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Moreover, he didn't just go to Hong Kong and Taiwan to make it big; he established himself in mainland China and dominated the scene while simultaneously reaching the pinnacle of the music industry in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and Taiwan had already been discussing him as the next generation of Heavenly King after the Four Heavenly Kings! However, many newspapers still didn't acknowledge his mainland identity, insisting that he was merely a super-powerful outsider!

But these things were of no concern to Lin Jianlu, who lived a secluded life in the capital.

…………

On May 8th, Gu Changwei came back and invited me for drinks. So I went for drinks. The group of people who came to the table were a complete mess.

There are singers like Liu Huan and Jin Xuefeng, songwriters like Sanbao and Zhao Jiping, and directors like Zhang Zien, Zhang Yang, Zhang Yibo, Zhang Jizhong, and Xiao Gangpao. Hmm, it seems the Zhang family produces a lot of directors.

Of course, there were also actors, but they were also family members: Jiang Wenli and Xu Fan. In addition, Jiang Wenli also invited two of her best friends, Chen Xiaoyi and Jiang Shan. Zhang Guoli and his wife also joined them halfway through, and later Liu Bei also came.

The relationships here are incredibly complicated.

Anyway, with this and that, quite a few people came over to freeload drinks after hearing the news.

To reiterate, the mainland arts and culture scene of this era, in Lin Jianlu's opinion, is indeed rather simple and unpretentious, with a strong sense of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) on the whole. Everyone is from humble backgrounds, and there is no distinction between those of higher and lower status.

Of course, it's also possible that Lin Jianlu is the most famous, so for him, there's no difference in status.

With so many women around, Lin Jianlu simply called Jiang Qinqin over as well.

Since Lao Gu is organizing the gathering, he'll naturally treat us, so let's just tag along.

Lin Jianlu herself had lost count of how many times she'd been taken advantage of. She couldn't possibly get her money's worth!

The topics covered a wide range of topics.

Zhang Jizhong has been longing to be transferred to CCTV, but it seems that's not possible yet. However, the TV series "Water Margin" that he produced has been in preparation for more than a year and is about to start filming. He feels that if this series is done well, it will be a success.

Little Cannon's frustration needs no further explanation. He had always been too closely associated with Wang Shuo, and now that Wang Shuo was criticized and nearing his downfall, he had been dragged down with him. His glory days were over, and he was now depressed, drinking heavily, and no longer boasting.

Zhao Jiping was usually stern and seemed to have a psychological distance from Lin Jianlu, a "celebrity from Hong Kong and Taiwan," plus the considerable age difference. But after a few drinks, he probably thought, "Hey, this young man is pretty good," and they started chatting. He asked Lin Jianlu if he would like to join the Chinese Quyi Artists Association, saying he could make an introduction.

The old man is now the director of the Guanzhong Provincial Song and Dance Troupe, a proper government employee. He happened to be in the capital on a business trip and had some connections with people from Xi'an Film Studio, such as Gu Changwei and Zhang Zien, which is why he was invited to drink.

Of course, in the end, what everyone is most interested in is the bizarre and fascinating world of Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment.

Everyone was curious, envious, and longing.

It's no exaggeration to say that, at least for now, the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment industry, especially the Hong Kong entertainment industry, remains the most fashionable, cutting-edge, trendy, and awesome trendsetting mecca in all of Asia.

And the key point is that everyone knows Hong Kong and Taiwanese celebrities make a lot of money!
Although Nayoung is just starting out in Hong Kong, she can sell 30,000 to 40,000 copies of an album, and one of her albums even went platinum. That's enough to make people in mainland China extremely envious.

Earning hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars by recording just one album—that's incredible!
These mainland actors, Chen Xiaoyi and Jiang Shan are considered famous, but they only earn two or three thousand yuan per episode of a TV series. The problem is that even so, they don't get enough work. Otherwise, how would they have time to get together for drinking parties?
Of course, actors generally earn less and can't earn as much as singers of the same level, which is the norm.

There's a song called "The Big Sedan Chair," which was very popular. The official album reportedly sold 20 copies, but it only earned them a few hundred thousand yuan. On the contrary, they earned far more from commercial performances and gigs!

Even with "The Big Sedan Chair," Huo Feng only had one album that sold well. He has released several albums, and selling over 30,000 copies is considered a good result. It can't compare to Na Ying's stable sales of 30,000 to 50,000 copies in Hong Kong, earning hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars per album!
Liu Huan himself admitted that commercial performances range from 15,000 to 30,000 yuan per show, and there aren't many opportunities. He goes out twice a year, but that's all he can earn. CCTV only pays 500 yuan for recording a gala. From rehearsal to the actual recording, he goes through many trips and almost loses money!
As for his albums, he has only released fewer than 50,000 copies!
Of course, we envy Hong Kong and Taiwan!

Then... go ahead and brag!
Hong Kong and Taiwan are nothing special. Jackie Chan is very smart and has high emotional intelligence. Sammo Hung is indeed fat, but his most obvious feature is his large belly; otherwise, he's not that fat. Brigitte Lin is beautiful. Oh, oh, oh, I kissed her. At the Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony, they insisted I sing, and I hugged Brigitte Lin and Sylvia Chang, kissing them both...

What the hell!

Even a bunch of women were screaming "Holy crap!"

Lin Qingxia, Zhang Aijia...

(End of this chapter)