HuaYu97: Starting as a Singer

Chapter 167 [167] Brother Cheng Long's Emotional Lesson

On April 24, the 18th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony officially began.

It was a night of dazzling stars and lively atmosphere.

Sandra Ng, Nicholas Tse, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau, Lai Ming, Leung Chiu-wai, Shu Qi, Wu Yan-cho... basically all the big-name Hong Kong stars who are known to be here are here.

Other directors include Chen Jiashang, Lin Chaoxian, and Liu Weiqiang.

Qi Yuan came with Du Qifeng and Brother Crow, but none of them were the main characters tonight.

"Next year, next year we'll be the main characters. We'll go to the Golden Horse Awards at the end of the year and then come to the Hong Kong Film Awards next year."

Looking at Cheng Long and Liu Weiqiang, who were surrounded by people in the distance, Du Qifeng felt a sense of pride and admiration.

He has two movies coming out this year, "The Mission" and "Running Out of Time," and he doesn't believe he won't have a place at next year's Hong Kong Film Awards.

"Post-production for 'The Mission' is finished. When will your EP be released? Let's arrange a release date. It would be better if the movie was released a week after the EP."

Du Qifeng wanted to know why Qi Yuan was so famous; it would be a shame not to capitalize on her fame, as it could save them a lot of money.

"It'll be soon. The music video is finished filming and in post-production. It should be after I attend the Golden Melody Awards, around mid-May or late May."

Qi Yuan glanced at Du Qifeng; he also hoped "The Mission" would be a success. He had converted his salary into a 20% share, making him one of the film's investors.

In addition, the concert live album will be released together with the EP.

Live albums by any singer don't sell very well. Live albums are discs with visuals, which have special commemorative value, and only die-hard fans will buy them.

Neither Qi Yuan nor Warner Music care much about the sales of live albums. It's enough for the live performances to let everyone know that Qi Yuan is not a studio singer. They can then market him with the title of "walking CD".

However, it should be noted that this title is incompatible with the song "Suffering".

Once Qi Yuan has earned the title of "walking CD," he will absolutely not touch this song.

Qi Yuan and Du Qifeng found their seats and sat down, and then started talking about "The Mission".

"You'll see on the day of the premiere. Our film is no worse than any of the films nominated today, and it's even better than them."

Du Qifeng was full of confidence. He had edited the film and watched it no less than five times. He felt incredibly proud of himself countless times, having made a tightly woven film with only five million yuan.

For an average director, even five million wouldn't be enough to tell a complete story.

During the filming, Du Qifeng felt that Qi Yuan had a great presence in front of the camera and was on par with acting prowess players like Brother Crow and Simon Yam.

He was even more delighted after watching the edited footage.

Protecting Brother Wen in the mall, Qi Yuan held guns in both hands, staring sharply ahead; that scene was incredibly cool.

Du Qifeng believes that was the most handsome shot he has ever taken in all his years in the industry.

After the movie's release, Qi Yuan may become one of the most handsome men in Hong Kong films wielding guns.

The Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony has begun.

The Best Director and Best Screenplay awards were shared by the same film, "Beast Cops," co-directed by Chen Jiashang and Lin Chaoxian.

Last year's top-grossing Hong Kong special effects blockbuster, "The Storm Riders," only won awards for Best Editing, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Film Score. This is a drawback of special effects blockbusters; they rarely win major awards.

Jackie Chan won Best Action Choreography for his award-winning film, *Who Am I?* Nicholas Tse had a standout performance, winning Best New Actor for his role in the sequel to the *Young and Dangerous* series.

After receiving the award, Nicholas Tse was beaming with pride. Holding up the trophy, he said, "The young people of Hong Kong are no less capable than anyone else. Thank you to the organizers and judges for giving me this award, and thank you to my company and agent..."

Nicholas Tse stood up straighter on stage.

Winning the Best Newcomer Award right from the start of her career, she can be described as having a very promising future.

After the awards ceremony, Andy Lau introduced Jackie Chan to Kei Yuen.

Jackie Chan actually knew Qi Yuan. As soon as he saw Qi Yuan, he said, "Your name is A Yuan, right? I've heard your songs, they're really stylish."

"Big brother, I grew up watching your movies."

Qi Yuan smiled. This wasn't just flattery; he had indeed grown up watching movies by Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow, and others.

Cheng Long had heard this kind of talk too many times, so he didn't take it to heart. He just looked Qi Yuan up and down and suddenly exclaimed, "He's tall, handsome, talented, can play music, and can play the guitar. I wish he were my son."

"..."

Qi Yuan was a little confused, but then she understood when she thought of the Dragon Prince.

Jackie Chan originally intended for his son, the Dragon Prince, to inherit his mantle, but the Dragon Prince complained that martial arts training was too strenuous and went to learn electric guitar instead. After nearly two years of learning, he still hadn't mastered anything.

Later, under Cheng Long's arrangement, Dragon Prince became a disciple of Jonathan Lee and released an album, but it didn't make much of a splash.

The outstanding Qi Yuan and the disappointing Dragon Prince form a stark contrast, and the unworthy Dragon Prince is a major worry for Cheng Long.

Cheng Long felt that he and Qi Yuan were quite compatible, and earnestly shared his experience: "You're such a handsome guy, you have to be careful of women. Several of my brothers have come home to find nothing, not even the sofa. All their money and belongings have been taken by their wives. Girlfriends may run away, but the money in your hands won't..."

“I’ve got it, brother.”

As expected of someone whose version is 30 years ahead of the Chinese server, his understanding of romantic relationships is indeed very advanced.

Qi Yuan will definitely write these words down carefully in his little notebook.

Cheng Long was very busy. Someone whispered a few words in his ear. Cheng Long told Qi Yuan that they should hang out sometime and then left with that person.

Qi Yuan didn't take those words seriously.

Jackie Chan is a social butterfly, very good at dealing with people. His most classic example is going to Taiwan and saying he's half Taiwanese, and going to South Korea and saying he's half South Korean. This old hand knows how to quickly build relationships with people, and most of the time he just says polite things.

Qi Yuan's trip to the Hong Kong Film Awards was worthwhile; she gained some recognition and even got to listen to her brother's dating advice for free.

The day after the Hong Kong Film Awards ended.

Yinghuang's PR team started to exert their efforts, and various reports about Nicholas Tse winning awards emerged, as if they wanted to portray Nicholas Tse as the new generation of superstar in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, some news has also emerged that subtly compares and belittles the Four Heavenly Kings, saying that they are all multi-talented, and even Jacky Cheung has acted in movies and won major awards. Singers who can only sing should be called "King of Singers" instead of "Heavenly Kings".

For the past year, Nicholas Tse has been comparing himself to Qi Yuan. Anyone with eyes can see who he is trying to discredit.

Qi Yuan doesn't care about these criticisms at all. He's going back to Taiwan to attend the Golden Melody Awards. After the Golden Melody Awards, his EP, live album, and "Gunfire" will be released one after another. Only then will we know who's been swimming naked.

(End of this chapter)