Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

"Our conversation here is disturbing Uncle Zhong and his family."

Zhang Shuai'an said very politely, "Mr. Wang, if you don't mind, how about we find another place to discuss this further?"

"Of course," Fatty Wang nodded repeatedly. "To be honest, it was my presumption that led me astray."

As he spoke, he apologized to Chung Chor-hung's parents: "I'm sorry to have bothered you, please forgive me."

Mr. Chung waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "You're welcome, you're welcome."

Zhang Shuai'an then said to Mr. and Mrs. Zhong, "Uncle, Aunt, I'm sorry, I need to talk to Mr. Wang about something, so I'll have to take my leave now. I'll come back to chat with you again when I have time."

Mr. Zhong laughed heartily: "It's alright, it's alright. Business is important, you should go and get busy."

He turned to his daughter and whispered, "Aren't you going to see them off?"

Chung Chu-hung snapped out of her reverie, saw Zhang Shuai-an to the door, and whispered, "Thank you for today. And... congratulations!"

Zhang Shuai'an smiled and replied in a low voice, "Then you'll have to treat me to dinner another day."

Chung Chu-hung glared at him: "You've already done something so great, and you still want me to treat you... Fine, I'll treat!"

Before long, Zhang Shuai'an led Fatty Wang away from Chung Chu-hung's house and headed to Aunt He's house.

After the door closed, an eerie silence descended upon the Zhong family's living room once again.

Finally, it was Boss Kuang who came to his senses first. He slowly stood up and said with a smile, "Old Zhong, since Ah Hong already has a boyfriend, we won't bother you any longer. As for the engagement... just pretend I never mentioned it."

The arrogance in his tone was gone.

Mr. Chung said politely, "Mr. Kuang, let the children handle their own affairs. We older generation shouldn't worry about it so much; doing too much will only lead to complaints."

"You're right," Mr. Kuang replied awkwardly, giving his wife and son a look before making a move to leave. "Then we'll be going now."

The three members of the Kuang family left in a hurry, their backs looking rather disheveled.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhong even escorted him downstairs.

When they returned, Mrs. Chung couldn't help but slap her thigh and laugh: "Oh my, you didn't see Mrs. Kuang's expression. It was hilarious! They were so arrogant before, yet they still wanted my daughter to marry into their family. What wishful thinking! Everyone knows that her son has been indulging in all sorts of vices since he was a young age."

Mr. Zhong felt somewhat relieved, but still spoke kindly: "Alright, how have they been? They've helped us before. Even if we don't become in-laws, we might still do business together."

"What do you mean 'helped us'? You just screwed us over!" Mrs. Chung was still upset. "If you ask me, it would be best to cut off all contact with them."

Mr. Zhong changed the subject at the right moment: "However, that Zhang Shuai'an is a good young man. He is humble and polite, and he has a promising future."

Mrs. Chung praised him sincerely, saying, "Anzai is not only handsome, but also talented. Even Shaw Brothers came to our door."

At this moment, Chung Chor-hung's younger siblings also ran out of the room and joined the conversation.

"That guy is so handsome! He's much more pleasing to the eye than that fatso!"

"Yeah, that young master Kwong has such a condescending attitude, he's so annoying!"

"Sister, you need to work harder and win that handsome guy over to make him our brother-in-law!"

"..."

Chung Chu-hung blushed at their words and quickly clarified, "What nonsense are you talking about? We're just ordinary friends, and we haven't known each other for very long. I only asked him to pretend to be my boyfriend today to appease Mr. Kwong and his family."

"Just a friend?" Mrs. Chung smiled knowingly, as if she had already seen through her. "You would find a friend to pretend to be your boyfriend? Besides, even if it was an act just now, it can be real later. This Anzai is indeed a good person, calm, polite, and talented. If you really like him, then you should seize the opportunity."

Chung Chor-hung's face turned even redder, and she didn't know how to retort for a moment, so she could only say, "I'm only nineteen years old, and I don't want to be in a relationship or get married so soon. Please stop pressuring me."

With that, she ran back to her room and closed the door.

……

the other side.

On the way home, Li Shuisheng quietly explained to Zhang Shuai'an that he had accidentally taken the manuscript to the Shaw Brothers studio, where it was seen by Fatty Wang, who then recommended it to Boss Shaw.

Once inside, Li Shuisheng poured Wang Pangzi a cup of hot water: "Screenwriter Wang, I'm sorry, there's not much to drink at home, so you'll just have to make do with this hot water."

Fatty Wang waved his hand: "That doesn't matter, let's talk about business first."

Li Shuisheng nodded, then kicked He Jiatong: "Go to the room, don't disturb screenwriter Wang and Anzai's serious discussion."

He Jiatong's back was still hurting. She had just lay down on the sofa when she had to get up again and go into the inner room.

Fatty Wang gave Li Shuisheng a strange look, his eyes clearly implying that Li Shuisheng should also avoid the situation.

Unfortunately, Li Shuisheng lacked this foresight and sat down next to Fatty Wang after pouring the water.

Fatty Wang glanced at him, too lazy to remind him, and went straight to Zhang Shuai'an, asking, "Mr. Zhang, have you finished writing your novel, 'Young Detective Bao Qingtian'?"

Zhang Shuai'an replied, "The story framework has been completed. It's expected to consist of seven stories, totaling around 800,000 words. I've finished the first two stories. I originally planned to submit the first story to the Oriental Daily News, as I heard that newspaper pays the highest fees."

Fatty Wang nodded unconsciously, doing a quick mental calculation: "One episode of a TV series is about 12,000 words. Subtracting the superfluous descriptions from the novel, his novel, adapted into a screenplay, would have at least forty episodes, which is more than enough."

He pondered for a moment, then decided to get straight to the point.

Fatty Wang said calmly, "Mr. Zhang, Uncle Shao wants to buy out the film and television adaptation rights to your novel. We can offer eight thousand yuan. In addition, if you are interested in participating in the screenplay adaptation, we can discuss the remuneration further."

Eight thousand yuan?

Zhang Shuai'an frowned slightly. Although he knew that Shaw Brothers was stingy, he didn't expect them to be this stingy.

Actually, five thousand dollars isn't a small amount these days. Ni Kuang could only sell a movie script for thirty to fifty thousand dollars, and he was one of the highest-selling screenplay writers in Hong Kong.

Li Shuisheng gasped when he heard the price. Could he really earn eight thousand yuan just by casually writing and drawing?

Zhang Shuai'an began to think things over. His original plan was to become famous through Ming Pao and Jin Yong, and then write some more popular novels to submit to Oriental Daily News to earn more royalties.

Now, "Young Detective Bao Qingtian" has unexpectedly ended up with Shaw Brothers, who want to adapt it directly into a TV series, which has disrupted his plans.

How can we leverage this change to maximize our benefits?

The most important thing right now isn't making money, but becoming famous as soon as possible!

Once you become famous, it becomes much easier to make money, and it's also easier to use someone else's name to gain prestige and elevate your social standing.

"Mr. Zhang, please don't think it's too little!"

Seeing Zhang Shuai'an deep in thought, Fatty Wang couldn't help but add, "Eight thousand yuan is not a low fee for a screenwriter in the industry. Even when I was at Shaw Brothers, I only got ten thousand yuan for writing a script for thirty or forty episodes."

Fatty Wang was actually lying here. At Shaw Brothers, directors, screenwriters, and actors all received a fixed salary. Only if a film performed well at the box office or a TV series achieved a breakthrough in ratings would Boss Shaw give them a small bonus.

"Mr. Wang, I need to think about the buyout option further."

Zhang Shuai'an had thought it through and said slowly, "However, I do have a new plan that you can pass on to Boss Shao."

"Go on," Fatty Wang said, taken aback. He had thought that Zhang Shuai'an, being so young, would be unable to resist the temptation of eight thousand yuan. He never expected him to be so composed. No wonder he could write such a novel.

Zhang Shuai'an made his request: "I can forgo the scriptwriting fee, but I want to be the male lead in this drama."

……

Shaw's office.

Fatty Wang has returned from negotiating with Zhang Shuai'an and is reporting to Boss Shao.

Boss Shao narrowed his eyes slightly: "You mean, that kid is the male lead in this movie?"

"Yes." Fatty Wang nodded. "He said if he were to play the male lead, he wouldn't ask for a penny of the screenwriter's fee, and he wouldn't even ask for a salary."

Fang Yihua, sitting next to him, tapped the table and asked with some doubt, "Then what's his motive?"

Fatty Wang replied, "He said he just wants to be famous."

"That's a good eye; they know TVB dramas can make stars!"

Fang Yihua's face showed a proud expression, "According to you, that kid is both tall and handsome, so we can try to promote him. But we should at least sign a ten-year contract."

"Manager Fang said he won't sign a long-term contract."

Fatty Wang gave an awkward smile, then relayed Zhang Shuai'an's words: "He said he will only act in this one TV series and will not take up any of TVB's resources afterward."

Fang Yihua scoffed, "If he doesn't know what's good for him, why should we support him?"

"No, agree to it." Shao Yifu laughed, his eyes full of admiration: "This kid is quite interesting; he must have put a lot of thought into figuring out my ideas."

In Shaw Brothers' eyes, Shaw Brothers films and TVB were his factories, and the directors, screenwriters, and actors were his employees. He cared about whether the products sold well or not, and he didn't care at all about what the employees thought or what kind of halo they had.

Even someone as formidable as Chang Cheh, as strong as Li Hanxiang, and even future stars like Andy Lau... Shaw Yi-fu abandoned them without hesitation.

Shaw Yifu looked intently at Fatty Wang: "Since he said he doesn't want screenwriting fees or film remuneration, then we won't give him a single penny. If he agrees, then we'll build the crew and film the movie as soon as possible. If it can beat RTV's 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' then we won't sign a long-term contract. If not, then he'll obediently sign a ten-year long-term contract with Shaw Brothers and work for me."