Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Chapter 175 Preparing to Conquer Wang Yu and March into Taiwan (3rd update, please subscribe)

"Isn't this inappropriate?"

Zhang Shuai'an looked at Mai Guangtou with some surprise: "Some people say that you, Mai Guangtou, are greedy and disloyal."

"That's utter nonsense!" Baldy Mai patted his chest and said earnestly, "I, Mai, have always been a man of great loyalty and righteousness. Brother Zhang, you are my friend, so naturally I won't ask you for an exorbitant price."

As he spoke, he patted his chest and said, "How about this, for both films, you just need to give me a total of one million in fees."

Zhang Shuai'an laughed and said, "Bald guy, you said it yourself."

"I said it," said the bald man solemnly. "I always keep my word and never back down."

"Okay, it's settled then." Zhang Shuai'an nodded and said to Xu Ke, "You guys continue the rest, I still need to go find Boss Lei."

After Zhang Shuai'an had walked away, Mai Guangtou said to Xu Ke with dissatisfaction, "Master Xu, you're not being fair. Why didn't you tell me beforehand that you had made an appointment with him?"

Tsui Hark gave an awkward laugh: "I forgot."

The bald man glared at him: "You either forgot, or you did it on purpose."

Wu Yusen said, "You're not at a loss either, you've directly gained two more film contracts."

"I clearly lost money, how can you say I didn't lose money?" Baldy Mai glared at Wu Yusen.

Wu Yusen looked at Mai Guangtou speechlessly: "Don't pretend in front of us. Although Cinema City has been established, it was the earliest to start."

Filming won't start until early next year. In the meantime, everyone else won't have many projects, but you'll have filming, and you won't have to share with them—isn't that a win-win situation?

Mai Guangtou curled his lip: "If filming starts next year, won't I be working myself to death just to earn an extra 500,000?"

"At Cinema City, you only hold shares. Unless you become a director, you won't receive a salary."

Wu Yusen then exposed Mai Guangtou's little scheme, "Next year everyone will be busy with the company's productions, and if you go out to earn extra money, you'll definitely get scolded. But now you have an excuse, saying that you signed a package deal this year and that your salary was withheld, so Bai Ming and Shi Tian naturally won't blame you!"

The bald man looked at Wu Yusen with some wariness: "Wow, Yusen, you're terrifying. You can see right through me."

"You have another motive," Wu Yusen continued. "By lowering your price to take Zhang Shuai'an's role, you've made him owe you a small favor. In case you can't stay at Golden Princess someday, you can have Zhang Shuai'an and Sanmao put in a good word for you, making it much easier for you to switch back to Golden Harvest."

Mai Guangtou immediately denied it: "I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense."

"There might be a fourth layer of motive," Tsui Hark suddenly interjected. "If Mr. Zhang's film really does gross 30 million at the box office next year, then the bald guy's salary can double, and he can make back all the money he lost."

"Who do you think I, Baldy, am? Some kind of fortune teller who can predict things this far in advance?"

The bald man looked speechless and pointed at Wu and Xu, scolding them, "I simply thought highly of Brother Zhang and wanted to be friends with him, it's that simple. He even said I'm incredibly righteous, but you two have so many dark thoughts. You should see a psychologist sometime."

Zhang Shuai'an went to Lei Juekun again to ask for more screenings.

Although Lei Juekun had previously refused outright, Zhang Shuai'an still felt it was worth discussing it further.

This kind of business is inherently about asking for exorbitant prices and then haggling over them.

As Zhang Shuai'an predicted, Lei Juekun relented this time, freeing up ten theaters for "The Thirty-Six Strategies for Chasing Women," providing a four-week run, and not asking for much more revenue sharing.

However, there is a hidden clause: Zhang Shuai'an must make a film primarily for the Golden Princess Cinema within the next two years.

This can be considered a little trick played by Lei Juekun, taking the opportunity to sow discord between Zhang Shuai'an and Golden Harvest Cinemas.

Zhang Shuai'an agreed. He had a cooperative relationship with Golden Harvest and Golden Princess Cinemas. As long as his films were successful enough and he wasn't a core member of either camp, he would have the flexibility to maneuver between them until he owned his own cinema chain.

This is actually following the same path as Wu Siyuan.

Wu Siyuan's Siyuan Films is an independent film company. His films are sometimes released in Golden Harvest theaters and sometimes in Golden Princess theaters, depending on which theater offers the higher revenue share.

Zhang Shuai'an's Tianxia Pictures still requires some investment from Golden Harvest, so its films are mainly shown in Golden Harvest cinemas. As the company matures, he will naturally move out of the Dongying Building and gradually reduce his dependence on Golden Harvest cinemas.

Ultimately, it is still relatively weak and must rely on another party to thrive.

Over the next few days, Tsui Hark completed the storyboard and script, and they simply picked a date to start filming.

Zhang Shuai'an made a brief appearance at the filming launch, and also played a cameo role as a passerby, which can be considered a small Easter egg in the movie.

At the same time, he also needs to start preparing for "Mr. Zombie".

Shi Nansheng scouted several locations on the island of Taiwan, but he still needs to go there to make the final decision.

Moreover, several film distributors in Taiwan are very interested in Zhang Shuai'an's new movie and are looking to talk to him.

Zhang Shuai'an knew that some film companies in Taiwan had powerful backgrounds and didn't want to make contact with them rashly.

So, Zhang Shuai'an contacted Zhang Aijia through Zhao Yazi and asked her to act as an intermediary to introduce him to Wang Yu.

Zhang Aijia was deeply in love with Zhang Shuai'an before, but she was later hurt by something Zhang Shuai'an said, and that romantic feeling faded away.

Now that Zhang Shuai'an has taken the initiative to contact her, it almost made her have wild thoughts.

Unable to contain her excitement, Zhang Aijia called Zhang Shuai'an and invited him out for morning tea: "I thought you had changed your mind and wanted to have a passionate love affair with me."

Zhang Shuai'an didn't respond to her words, but instead brought up the past: "I still need to apologize to you for what happened last time."

"What is it?" Zhang Aijia waved her hand. "I've long forgotten. My love for you has never diminished; on the contrary, it has only grown stronger."

Zhang Shuai'an smiled and shook his head, saying, "Alright, sister, you have a boyfriend now, so don't say things like that."

"How did you know I have a boyfriend now?" Zhang Aijia was taken aback, her expression showing surprise. "I don't think I've announced it to anyone."

Zhang Shuai'an vaguely stated, "There are no real secrets in the entertainment industry. The public may not know, but those of us in the industry can still know some things."

Zhang Aijia didn't think much of it, because Zhang Shuai'an wasn't wrong.

She was silent for a few seconds, then said with a hint of disappointment, "You asked Azi to find me, really just to get to know Wang Yu?"

"Yes." Zhang Shuai'an nodded and said, "I'm going to Taiwan to film a movie. I heard that gangs are rampant there, so I want to get to know Master Wang and use him to intimidate those scoundrels."

Zhang Aijia said with a sigh, "The environment on Taiwan Island is really chaotic. You made the right choice to find Wang Yu. He does have some influence there, and he's arrogant, loyal, and a good fighter. Most gangsters don't want to mess with him."

Then she added, "Wang Yu has a very impatient personality, so you'd better be mentally prepared. If you're not on his wavelength in any way, even if the King of Heaven himself comes, he won't give you any face."

"What are his hobbies?" Zhang Shuai'an asked.

Zhang Aijia replied: "First, I'm combative; I feel uncomfortable if I don't fight every day. Second, I love alcohol; I feel uncomfortable if I don't get completely drunk every day. Third, I love luxury cars and fine horses—"

"Luxury cars and luxury cars are too expensive, I can't afford to give them as gifts."

Zhang Shuai'an considered for a moment, then smiled and said, "The first two are very easy to handle. I'll treat him to a good drink and then give him a good beating!"

"If you can really beat him, he'll actually think more highly of you," Zhang Aijia replied earnestly.

Zhang Shuai'an took a bite of the shrimp dumpling: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Sister Ai."

"Sure thing." Aside from being a bit love-struck, Zhang Aijia was usually very agreeable: "We've set a time, I'll let you know then."

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