Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Chapter 172 The Offering of Love (3rd update, please subscribe)

Zhang Shuai'an spent the night at Zhao Yazhi's place.

When he arrived at the company the next day, he saw Lam Ching-ying, who had arrived early, at the entrance.

"Brother Ying, you're here so early?"

Zhang Shuai'an asked with some surprise.

Lam Ching-ying replied, "Come over early, so you don't have to wait."

By 9:30 a.m., everyone in the company had arrived.

Zhang Shuai'an called another meeting, this time including Rosamund Kwan and screenwriter Huang Ying.

Based on the character designs and outline provided by Zhang Shuai'an, Wang Pangzi and Huang Bingyao wrote the first draft of the script in just one day and one night.

Zhang Shuai'an finished reading the script. Some parts were completely different from the original, but it was still exciting enough.

He took out a red pen and made some revisions and comments to the first draft of the script.

"The plot is generally fine, but it's a bit top-heavy. I cut some toilet humor from the later climax, and I'll add one or two more fight scenes later."

After sharing his thoughts on the script, Zhang Shuai'an added, "The main highlight of this play is actually Uncle Jiu, played by Ying Ge. His designs regarding Maoshan Taoist priests and Taoist arts are worth asking him; he definitely has a lot to say about them."

Wang Pangzi and the others then looked at Lin Zhengying.

Lin Zhengying said somewhat embarrassedly, "I don't have much to offer, I just heard some legends and stories about Maoshan Taoist arts when I was a child."

"Mr. Huang, you are an expert at writing supernatural stories, could you please give me some advice?"

Zhang Shuai'an then smiled at Huang Ying and said, "We'll try our best to make this film a benchmark for zombie movies. We want to make a classic film that will go down in film history. From this film onwards, anyone who wants to make a zombie film must abide by the rules we've set."

Huang Ying was surprised that Zhang Shuai'an valued him so much, and immediately said, "Director Zhang, don't worry, I will definitely do my best."

"Use all the good plot points I can think of in the movie."

Zhang Shuai'an nodded and said, "I'll give you five more days to polish the script."

"No problem," Wang Pangzi and the others nodded.

Zhang Shuai'an continued, "The roles already cast for this film are: first, I will play Qiu Sheng; second, Lam Ching-ying will play Uncle Nine; and third, Rosamund Kwan will play Ren Tingting."

You can write these characters specifically based on our personalities and appearances, which will make it easier for the audience to identify with them.

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He continued, "For the remaining literary talent, we can ask Xu Guanying. As for Ah Wei, I think Chen Baixiang is quite good."

The original Awei is another highlight of the film, but Lou Nanguang is nowhere to be found at this moment.

Zhang Shuai'an was too lazy to waste time finding such a minor actor, so he decided to use a well-known, established actor instead.

"You can decide on the other roles yourselves."

"However, you can design two zombie forms for Old Master Ren. One is the normal form, which focuses on agility, and Yuen Wah will play it."

"The other form is the enraged form, in which the body grows to nearly two meters tall. Let He Jiatong play this one; his height of over 1.9 meters is a waste."

He continued, "If it's a female ghost, find one who's beautiful, but also a little alluring, the kind that makes people feel seduced at first glance."

"As for a female ghost, I do have someone in mind," Fatty Wang suddenly said.

Zhang Shuai'an asked, "Who?"

"Liang Zhenni," Fatty Wang replied.

(Liang Zhenni in the 1981 film "Blood Parrot" wore only half of her clothes, a truly iconic look.)

After Wang Pangzi uttered the name, Zhang Shuai'an hadn't even reacted yet, but Chen Xunqi, Liu Guanwei, and the others chimed in with the sound of seasoned veterans.

Zhang Shuai'an asked with some confusion, "What works has this person created? How come you all seem to know about him?"

"Ah, I don't know him!" Chen Xunqi immediately waved his hand.

Liu Guanwei looked away, not daring to meet Zhang Shuai'an's gaze.

Qian Shengwei began to examine his fingernails, muttering, "They've grown long again; I need to trim them."

"What are you pretending to be so serious for!" Fatty Wang looked at them and found it a bit funny. He said bluntly, "This actress was born in 1958. She starred in the famous 'Hong Kong Emmanuelle' in 77. She had scenes with Deborah Lee and some nude scenes."

"Later she joined Shaw Brothers and filmed some erotic films. Her acting was quite good, and she didn't mind having nude scenes. Her pay wasn't expensive either, so she was quite useful."

Fatty Wang's tone was very serious, making him seem much more frank than Liu Guanwei and the others had been earlier: "For example, 'The Evil'..."

She delivers outstanding performances in "Evil vs. Evil" and the upcoming "Snake Fighting."

Chen Xunqi suddenly realized a blind spot and looked at Fatty Wang, asking, "The movie 'Snake Slayer' hasn't been released yet, how do you know she has a great performance in it?"

Fatty Wang coughed twice and said, "Sometimes, Shaw Brothers directors would ask me to help look at the rough cuts and offer my opinions."

When the movie "Evil" was mentioned, Zhang Shuai'an immediately thought of a scene that left a deep impression on him.

He asked Fatty Wang, "Is the woman who did the nude dance at the end of 'The Evil' her?"

Fatty Wang's eyes widened in surprise: "Boss, you went to see it too?"

"I have indeed seen it. If it is her, then she has a very good figure."

Zhang Shuai'an didn't hesitate at all and immediately admitted it, even making the decision: "Then it's her. Tell her to come for a screen test in a couple of days; I want to see how good her acting is."

"No problem," Fatty Wang nodded.

(The dance scene at the end of the film "Evil" by Gui Zhihong is truly a classic; I give it a five-star recommendation.)

During their discussion, they also finalized the selection of other supporting roles.

Next, Fatty Wang and Huang Bingyao pulled Huang Ying and Lin Zhengying together to discuss the movie's plot and how to showcase Maoshan Taoist magic in the film.

Zhang Shuai'an continued to handle company affairs as usual.

Two days later, Liang Zhenni went directly to the company and met with Zhang Shuai'an.

In terms of looks, she'd probably be around a 7 out of 10, but after putting on makeup, she has a rather unique charm that makes men feel restless.

Another point is that she is a static beauty; she looks quite good when she has no expression, but once she makes a big expression, her facial features become distorted, and her appearance instantly drops several levels.

Zhang Shuai'an had her dance the final dance from "The Evil" again, and found it to be quite good.

"Okay, this role is yours."

Zhang Shuai'an was quite satisfied with her performance and said directly, "Let's set the fee at 20,000. What do you think?"

"That would be wonderful." Liang Zhenni nodded with a smile. "At Shaw Brothers, I was paid a salary. Sometimes I could shoot two films a month, and I would still get five thousand dollars."

Earning five thousand yuan a month?

That was already a high salary at Shaw Brothers.

She was able to get such a high score mostly because she often filmed nude scenes.

Soon it was time for Zhao Yazhi's daughter's 100-day celebration.

The banquet was held at Lei Garden Restaurant, and she booked the entire lobby of the hotel.

Zhao Yazhi sent invitations to the friends she wanted to invite in advance, but the news has already spread in the past few days.

By that afternoon, the entrance to Lei Garden was crowded with reporters and paparazzi.

However, only two media outlets were invited to enter Lei Garden for filming: the eldest son's Fengxing Studio and a TVB news program.

Of course, there is a condition for allowing them to come in: they cannot take pictures of the baby.

This 100-day celebration was indeed very grand, encompassing almost half of the Hong Kong film and television industry.

Not only various film and television stars, but also Lei Juekun, Zou Wenhuai and others made appearances. Shao Yifu did not come, but sent Fang Yihua instead.

The two most sensational things at the 100-day celebration were Zheng Shaoqiu giving the little girl a large red envelope of HK$500,000 and Zhao Yazhi announcing Zhang Shuai'an as the little girl's godfather.

Zhang Shuai'an didn't give any red envelopes, but instead gave the little girl a name in front of everyone: Zhao Ningshu, nicknamed Ningning.

He even said he would cover all the expenses for this little girl from kindergarten to university, and even for studying abroad.

He named this act "the offering of love".

After the 100-day celebration, many media outlets speculated that the little girl might not be Huang Hanwei's child, but rather Zheng Shaoqiu's or Zhang Shuai'an's. Otherwise, why would the two of them be so enthusiastic?

However, just as the news was starting to gain traction, it was overshadowed by a major piece of news a few days later.

Golden Princess Cinemas' Raymond Kwan invested in Struggle Pictures, reorganizing it into Cinema City. Many media outlets interpreted this as Golden Princess Cinemas challenging Golden Harvest.

The reason Golden Harvest Cinemas was so powerful in the past was because of its numerous film production subsidiaries.

Now that Golden Princess Cinemas is also supporting production companies, the Hong Kong film industry will likely see a fierce battle between these two studios over release dates. Situations like "Chasing Girls" being released simultaneously by both studios are unlikely to occur again.

Zhang Shuai'an was somewhat surprised when he heard the news, as the establishment of New Art City was actually more than two months later than in the original timeline.