Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Chapter 174 Deceiving Bald Mai into Participating (2nd Update, Please Subscribe)

Zhang Shuai'an knew Tsui Hark's personality very well, so he didn't let Shi Nansheng be his producer, but instead invited Chen Peihua from Golden Harvest.

As the producer of "Chasing Girls," Chan Pui-wah was highly regarded by Cheung Shuai-an. She had a meticulous and detail-oriented personality that complemented Tsui Hark's extravagant lifestyle.

He doesn't intend to get involved in other specific matters.

Tsui Hark is a director with a strong desire for control, and because of this temperament, he often fell out with others when he worked as a producer in later years.

For example, when he was the producer of John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow", he strongly interfered with Woo's creative process, which caused the two longtime friends to become estranged.

For example, he invited his idol, King Hu, to direct "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," but due to too much interference, he fell out with King Hu.

Zhang Shuai'an doesn't have a habit of interfering in other people's filming; if he's going to delegate authority, he should do so thoroughly, otherwise conflicts can easily arise. If someone wants to interfere in every aspect of a film's production, then they shouldn't delegate authority in the first place.

On the other hand, the main reason Zhang Shuai'an was able to delegate so much authority was because he had an omniscient perspective and knew the other party was reliable. It would be impossible for him to place 100% trust in a complete stranger.

In the following period, Zhang Shuai'an prioritized having the company's staff prepare for "The Wise and Clever Guy".

He then sent Shi Nansheng to Taiwan Island to scout locations and negotiate the lease of the film studio.

Tsui Hark truly lives up to his reputation as a workaholic; once the funding arrived, he assembled his film crew in just three days.

Apart from the people Zhang Shuai'an arranged for him, the rest of the people were all people he found himself. Some were his former colleagues from RTV, some were from Wu Siyuan's side, and some were his own connections.

For example, he brought in Ko Sing-Pei as his assistant director, who was also the assistant director when he filmed "Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind".

He found Sima Zhuohan to be the screenwriter for the production team. Sima Zhuohan had worked with Tsui Hark on "No Way Out" and "Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind" and was an old friend of Tsui Hark.

When it came time for casting, Tsui Hark suddenly approached Zhang Shuai'an and asked, "I'd like to ask Michael Mak to play the role of Capone. I wonder if that's feasible?"

Zhang Shuai'an was taken aback: "You really need him?"

"His performance was the best!" Tsui Hark explained, "His looks and sense of humor are one in a million; it's hard to find a substitute."

Zhang Shuai'an said, "As long as you can convince him to take the role, I naturally have no objections."

Tsui Hark's eyes darted around, and he suddenly said, "Then I need to borrow a little bit of your influence, boss. Please don't mind."

It's nothing more than playing the same old trick of borrowing someone else's power. Zhang Shuai'an waved his hand dismissively: "If you can get Mai Guangtou to participate, you can make up any reason you want, just don't make it too outrageous."

"Absolutely not outrageous!" Tsui Hark chuckled, then turned to say goodbye and leave.

"Wait a minute." Zhang Shuai'an sensed something was amiss and said directly, "You arrange a time with Mai Guangtou first, and you two chat while I arrive shortly."

The next day, in the morning.

Tsui Hark arrived at a coffee shop near the Pioneer Building on Nathan Road.

Cinema City's offices are located on the sixth floor of the Pioneer Building. Behind the Pioneer Building is Kowloon Development, whose major shareholder is Lui Kok-kwan, the big boss of Cinema City.

Before long, two people arrived and walked towards him together.

The person in the lead was Wu Yusen, and the other person, with a shiny bald head, was naturally Mai Jia.

John Woo and Tsui Hark were old acquaintances. Woo smiled and introduced him, "Tsui Hark, let me introduce you. This is Karl Maka, the CEO of Cinema City."

He then pointed to Tsui Hark and introduced him to the bald-headed man, saying, "This is Tsui Hark."

"I've heard so much about you." The bald man, Mai, looked at Tsui Hark with a smile and said, "I've heard of you for a long time, and..."

I've seen your films *The Butterfly Murders* and *Hell Without Gates*, both of which are excellent and very imaginative.

Tsui Hark's "Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind" has finished filming and post-production, but a release date has not yet been set.

"I know you too," Tsui Hark replied with a smile. "The famous bald guy, right? The plot design of 'Tiger and Frog' was quite imaginative, and the series of misplaced dramatic conflicts in 'The Nameless Kid' were also very creative—"

Tsui Hark talked about almost all the movies that Michael Mak had participated in in recent years, and he did so in great detail that he made Michael Mak very happy.

Mai Guangtou laughed heartily, patted Wu Yusen on the shoulder, and said, "Ah Sen, your friend is really funny. I'm starting to like him."

Wu Yusen said, "I'm glad you like him. I was originally planning to introduce him to your Cinema City."

"No problem," said the bald man readily. "Our company is currently short of talent. With your talent, Master Xu, if you could join us, our New Art City would be even more powerful."

Tsui Hark sighed and murmured, "Unfortunately, you're too late."

"What do you mean?" Baldy Mai's eyes widened. "Why does this sound like you got beaten to a woman when you were trying to pick her up?"

Tsui Hark said in a rather somber tone, "My girlfriend joined another company before, and she did quite well, becoming a director. To make it easier for her to be with me, she introduced me to her boss as well."

"Then bring your wife to Cinema City too," said the bald-headed man in a nonchalant tone. "We have Boss Lei behind us; we're incredibly powerful. What other company is better than us?"

Tsui Hark replied, "It's Zhang Shuai'an's Tianxia Film Studio!"

"Zhang... Zhang Shuai'an?" Mai Guangtou couldn't help but touch his bald head. "Well—that's a bit hard to say. This kid is quite strange, and Boss Lei likes him quite a bit too."

Tsui Hark replied, "Zhang Shuai'an looks very young, but he is decisive and efficient in his work, and he also knows how to win people over."

The bald man asked, somewhat puzzled, "Oh, what do you mean by that?"

Tsui Hark began, "It was my first time meeting him, and we hadn't even really discussed anything serious yet, but he gave me a script and offered me an initial investment of three million, saying that if it wasn't enough, he would add more."

"Really?" The bald man's eyes widened in surprise. "Does he have that much money? Could it be that Zou Wenhuai is backing him up?"

Wu Yusen chimed in, "His film 'Chasing Girls' grossed over 20 million at the box office, so it's not surprising that Mr. Zou is fully supporting him."

Mai Guangtou licked his lips, as if that made sense.

However, to offer an investment of over three million on the very first meeting is indeed quite astonishing. Although Boss Lei claimed he would invest tens of millions, that was just talk; the actual initial investment was only two million.

Thinking about it this way, even Mai Guangtou was considering becoming Zhang Shuai'an's apprentice.

"Wait, something's not right."

After a short while, Mai Guangtou came to his senses and pointed at Tsui Hark, saying, "Since you've already joined Tianxia Films, why did you have Ah Sen invite me out?"

Tsui Hark replied with a smile, "I asked you out because I wanted to collaborate with you, of course."

"You want to recruit me to Cinema City?" Baldy immediately shook his head: "I have shares in Cinema City, how can I defect to the enemy?"

Tsui Hark waved his hand: "You just said that our boss, Zhang Shuai'an, is well-liked by Boss Lei, so how could we be enemies?"

Mai Guangtou scratched his head, feeling his CPU was a bit overheated, but still said, "Then there's no way I can leave Cinema City to go and join him. We're on the same level."

"I'm talking about collaboration," Tsui Hark said earnestly. "Our boss really likes Mr. Mak and has always wanted to collaborate with you."

"We just haven't had the chance before, but this time we'd like to invite you to participate in our company's year-end show."

It took Mai Guangtou a while to figure it out. He said speechlessly, "After all this talk, you want me to act? You could have just said so."

Tsui Hark asked, "If I were to tell you directly, would you agree?"

"No way." The bald man shook his head decisively: "My own company is short-staffed for its productions, why would I go and act in another company's productions?"

Just then, a figure walked in from outside and laughed, "The paycheck is 800,000?"

"That's absolutely not—it's not negotiable."

Just as Mai Guangtou was about to refuse, he suddenly changed his mind.

His current salary is actually around 600,000, and this extra 200,000 is too much for him to resist, given his miserly nature.

He snapped out of his daze a second later, turned to look at the newcomer, and said, "Hey, Brother Zhang, what brings you here?"

Zhang Shuai'an said with a smile, "It was I who asked Master Xu to invite you here. Didn't he say so?"

"I haven't had a chance to say it yet," Tsui Hark replied somewhat embarrassedly. "I was still thinking of using my eloquence to persuade Mr. Mak."

Mai Guangtou looked at Zhang Shuai'an and said with a sigh, "The last time we met, you were just an ordinary TV actor. Now you've suddenly transformed into a rising star in both Hong Kong film and television. You've even gone to Hollywood to make movies. You really can't judge a book by its cover."

"You're wrong about that!" Zhang Shuai'an waved his hand with a smile. "You can't judge a book by its cover. I am handsome, and even if you judge me solely by my appearance, I am still an outstanding person."

Mai Guangtou curled his lip and said, "As expected of a novelist, you're quite the talker. I can't argue with you. However, I'm afraid I still can't agree to the collaboration."

We've never had that kind of relationship, so why can't we cooperate? Didn't you used to work with Hung Ching-pao frequently?

Mai Guangtou replied, "That's different. Before I signed with a company, I relied on Golden Harvest to make a living. Now I'm with Golden Princess, how can I associate with people from the Golden Harvest group anymore?"

"Am I part of the Golden Harvest Group?" Zhang Shuai'an asked in return.

Just as Mai Guangtou was about to say yes, he thought about it again and realized that something was wrong, because "Chasing Girls" was also being shown in Golden Princess Cinemas.

"Baldy Mai, everyone says you're a big shot, so why are you being so indecisive?"

Zhang Shuai'an said somewhat impatiently, "I was originally planning to have you make another blockbuster that grossed over 30 million after this collaboration, but it seems like I should forget about it now."

The bald man said coldly, "What did you say? Box office surpassed 30 million? Are you kidding me, or dreaming?"

"The movie 'Chasing Girls' has already broken the box office record of 20 million, so the next step is naturally to aim for 30 million. The investment in that movie alone may have exceeded 10 million. If you don't even dare to dream of a box office of 30 million Hong Kong dollars in the local market, then what are you talking about in terms of movie dreams?"

Zhang Shuai'an said with a very natural expression, "I heard from Brother Sanmao that you are a man of great loyalty and righteousness. Now it seems I've chosen the wrong person."

"He's here."

"No, you've come to the right place."

Mai Guangtou immediately patted his chest and said, "I'm a man of great integrity. I'll take this role for 600,000 yuan. However, you must cast me as the male lead in that big movie you mentioned next year."

Zhang Shuai'an suddenly frowned: "But I might not be able to afford the 600,000 yuan fee for that movie. Maybe I should find someone else."

Mai Guangtou grabbed Zhang Shuai'an's hand: "No, I'll take the role even if I have to lower my price!"