Huayu 1995

Chapter 16 Three Days Without Nine Meals

"Let me think about it, Teacher Wei. Could you give me your business card? I'll call you when I've made up my mind."

Su Chao showed appropriate surprise, but he did not intend to go.

If he had been reborn into the early 1990s, he might have actually gone.

The 1980s and 90s were known as the golden age of Hong Kong films, reaching its peak in 1993. However, by the mid-1990s, Hong Kong films had begun to decline.

Many mainland netizens, who are good at self-analysis, like to attribute the decline of Hong Kong films to policy changes.

But in reality, only the market truly determines the fate of Hong Kong films.

In 1993, Taiwan began importing Hollywood movies on a large scale, and Hong Kong films lost their largest overseas box office market.

Then came the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Singapore's promotion of English education, and Malaysia's restrictions on the broadcast of dialects, gradually leaving Hong Kong films' "backyard" desolate.

Hong Kong films from 95 were already on their deathbed.

If you go to Hong Kong to develop your career now, what's the difference between that and joining the National Revolutionary Army in 49?

Hong Kong is not off-limits, but at least not in the way it is now.

Su Chao did not intend to go hungry for three days and nine meals a day with Galaxy Image.

"Alright then," Wei Jiahui said, feeling it was a pity but there was nothing he could do. He turned to Lin Xue and asked, "Xuezi, how much money did we bring?"

"There's over five thousand in the bag, and the private room, drinks, and flower baskets will probably cost around three thousand."

Lin Xue understood what Wei Jiahui meant.

At this point, he had no right to speak.

He could only feel sorry for Su Chao.

Such a great opportunity, and you, you scoundrel, still need to think about it?

"Give Lance two thousand."

Wai Ka-fai is not a stingy person, and he was very generous to Su Chao, who had really helped him a lot.

He had been holding back "The Birth of a Character" for several months, like being constipated. He felt uncomfortable if he didn't poop, but he couldn't poop even though he wanted to.

Until Su Chao had an idea that saved him.

You are my glycerin suppository!
The sky was covered with glycerin, and the starlight could not be contained.

A single idea might not be worth two thousand yuan, but Su Chao later provided him with a lot of useful advice.

That's why he thought of taking Su Chao to Hong Kong.

“I also came from the mainland. There’s a wider world out there. It’s not like I’m never coming back. You should really think about it.”

Lin Xue took out two stacks of money from her bag, all of which were exchanged RMB, and then placed a business card of Wai Ka-fai on top of them.

If Su Chao could really go to Hong Kong to become a screenwriter, even if it's just as Wai Ka-fai's assistant, it would be beneficial for him, a mainland Chinese.

"Thanks, Brother Lin!"

Su Chao smiled at him and said that once he had money, it wasn't impossible for him to cooperate with Milkyway Image.

For example, you could buy the script for "Running Out of Time" and cast Andy Lau in it, and then buy the script for "Infernal Affairs" from Andy Lau...

This cycle repeats itself, practically forming an ecosystem.

You don't necessarily have to buy a script from the screenwriter; the director or lead actor can also do it.

As soon as Su Chao stepped out of the private room, he saw Sister Hong.

"Sis, they gave me a two thousand yuan tip..."

Su Chao handed over the money directly.

The business card was also on it, clearly showing Wai Ka-fai, director, screenwriter, and phone number.

There are many screenwriters and directors in Hong Kong.

Many scammers who come to the mainland print these kinds of business cards.

But Sister Hong, being knowledgeable and experienced, quickly figured out who this person was.

Why did this person give such a large tip?

What exactly did Su Chao do?

She replied somewhat mechanically, "The tip is your own income, you don't need to share it with the karaoke bar, you can keep it..."

"Thank you, Sister Hong."

Su Chao knew this, of course; he had already learned about these rules of the karaoke bar from Lü Bu.

They were just deliberately acting innocent.

Are you helping them write or compose songs?

Su Chao previously mentioned that he acted in "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" and also participated in the creation of the ending theme song.

"Ah, this time it's not, this time it's a script. Actually, this is my first time writing a script. I didn't expect to be noticed by Teacher Wei, so I got such a big tip."

Su Chao spoke casually, but he completely overwhelmed Sister Hong.

What the hell is all this nonsense?

You're an actor, a songwriter, and a scriptwriter... Are you serious about coming to our karaoke bar to sing?

Did you sing seriously?
Aren't you being incredibly disrespectful to the profession of a resident singer?

"He even asked me to go to Hong Kong with him, saying I could be his assistant, but I didn't want to go. It's only my first day at this karaoke bar, how can I give up halfway?"

What Su Chao said wasn't exactly a lie, but... it wasn't the truth either.

"Going to Hong Kong would be nice..."

Hongjie murmured something.

"Sis, does anyone want me to sing?"

Although we've already made a lot of money today, no one ever complains about having too much money.

"There are two, go and take a look."

Sister Hong came to her senses. At least for now, this guy was still a karaoke bar employee and was temporarily under her jurisdiction.

When Su Chao arrived at the song request board, he found that there were indeed two customers who wanted him to sing, but the one above had been erased, which meant that the customer had either canceled the request or had already paid and left.

The remaining song is "I Just Like You".

Since there was no one on stage, Su Chao asked the sound engineer to arrange this song.

"Hey bro, I have an original instrumental track here. Could you play it for me after I finish singing this song?"

"According to regulations..."

The sound engineer was somewhat embarrassed; if Su Chao hadn't performed so brilliantly, he wouldn't have said a word.

Even if Sha Baoliang wanted to sing an original song, he had to wait until after midnight.

"I've already spoken to Sister Hong." Su Chao's words silenced his anger; he had personally witnessed Su Chao and Sister Hong coming downstairs together.

Damn, I'm so jealous.

Sister Hong, I can do it too! Steel wool, ping pong, badminton...

"Hello, brothers and sisters, I'm back again."

Su Chao greeted the audience warmly, as if they were his neighbors.

"Next up is 'I Just Like You,' which is one of my favorite songs. It's just a pity that my singing is still far inferior to Mr. Danny Chan's. I hope everyone will forgive me."

Inextricably linked to this song is probably the relationship between Danny Chan and Pansy Ho.

Especially after Danny Chan's death, this song became even more poignant.

After the song ended, Su Chao did not leave the stage.

"Today is my first time singing in Casablanca, and I didn't expect everyone to take such good care of me. I've decided to sing one of my own compositions for you all..."

Music director Yan Siyuan ran into a regular customer today, who is also a friend, so he had a couple more drinks.

In his hazy, drunken state, he heard Su Chao say that he wanted to sing an original song.

I really wanted to go up and stop him.

The karaoke bar has a rule that singers are not allowed to sing their own original songs before midnight, as this is the busiest time for customers.

Unfortunately, he was too dizzy to get up.

"I used rock arrangement in this song and also used heavy metal instruments as accompaniment. I'm about to leave work, so I'm using this song to say goodbye to everyone. The song is called 'Goodbye'."

Su Chao won't be high-profile right from the start.

That would easily lead to a rollover.

He will take care of everything and then, within reasonable limits, showcase himself in a high-profile manner.

Now is the time to be high-profile.

The music director and the madam were both stunned by him, and as for the elusive female owner of the nightclub, she was said to rarely appear.

I'm afraid I won't have the chance to say goodbye to you, because maybe I'll never see you again...

The guests were quite helpless.

Even though they had the right to refuse, Su Chao didn't give them time to do so.

Before Su Chao could finish speaking, the music had already started.

seem……

That sounds pretty good.

The song "Goodbye" doesn't have much buildup; it goes straight to the climax.

This caught many people completely off guard.

Before the guests could even react, they were already captivated by the melody and lyrics of the song.

Yan Siyuan completely let go of his worries.

That's really a pleasant surprise.

It seems the rules of Casablanca are about to be broken.

No original songs are allowed to be sung before midnight, except for that kid Su Chao.

I will remember your face forever / I will cherish the memories you gave me / These days will never be erased from my heart...

As Hongjie listened to the song, she seemed to recall some beautiful things from a long, long time ago.

And the other singers in the karaoke bar.

Some of them might have gloated, but Boss Yan stipulated that no original songs could be sung before midnight. This new kid just wouldn't believe it. You're just waiting to die.

Some people were worried about Su Chao. "A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. I was just as reckless as you when I first came here."

These... are all unnecessary.

Even though they are all original songs, some can be called music, while others can only be considered noise.

"I hope we can meet again tomorrow. Thank you everyone, thank you for liking my song. I will work harder in the future and strive to write more and better songs..."

By the time the curtain fell, Su Chao was already able to see the feedback from the song.

Flowers... one flower after another.

There were even bouquets and flower baskets.

Meanwhile, on the song request board, the waiter was adding "Goodbye" to the playlist.

Sing, keep singing!
"It seems it's not time to say goodbye yet. Thank you, brothers and sisters, I'll continue to sing for you!"

What else can we do? It costs fifty yuan per performance, and it all goes to the singers. Even if we're exhausted, we have to keep singing.

By midnight, Su Chao had sung "Goodbye" six times.

This is probably the most difficult goodbye ever.

Every time it was time to say goodbye, someone would request a song to keep him from leaving.

In fact, no classic song should be a collection of melodies pieced together or a bunch of lyrics randomly combined.

"Goodbye" has a superb melody and conveys the most genuine emotions with the simplest lyrics.

Whether you're a man or a woman, a bad person or a good person, you won't hate it too much.

It's fair to say that the system's 7.9 rating is conservative.

"Brothers and sisters, I'm so sorry, I made plans to have barbecue with my friends, see you tomorrow..."

Su Chao knew when to stop.

If you sing it dozens of times, even the strongest voice will break down.

“Our Lance is still just a child, all he does is eat. Fine, let’s let him go today.”

Sister Hong helped him out of the predicament at just the right time.

This can be seen as tacitly approving Su Chao's request to leave work at this time.

Midnight is the closing time.

However, most karaoke bars usually stay open until three or four in the morning.

And they have even more fun after midnight.

If karaoke bars before midnight are considered vegetarian, then after midnight they are at least half-meat and half-vegetarian.

Su Chao does not dislike meat.

But if he were the meat dish to be served, then there would be no need for that.

(End of this chapter)