Hong Kong films: From street thugs to Hong Kong financial tycoons

Seven days, a full 168 hours, this extravagant spending spree, hailed by Time magazine as the most insane incestuous event in film history, finally came to a crazy close amidst the dazzling sunset of Los Angeles.

The top floor president's office of the Universal Lionsgate headquarters building.

The newly appointed global CEO, Li Ming, is currently holding a thick final financial summary report in both hands.

His bloodshot eyes, swollen from working overtime, held nothing but extreme shock and deep awe for the young man leaning back in the boss's chair.

"Boss... the final data is in."

Li Ming swallowed hard, his voice trembling, as if he were holding not a report, but a nuclear bomb that could explode at any moment.

"Over the past week, all 3,000 directly operated theaters across the United States have been operating at full capacity 24/7."

"In addition to waiving ticket revenue, giving away tens of millions of popcorn and Coke combos, plus a ten-dollar cash subsidy for each person leaving..."

"We...we, Yaosheng Pictures, have burned through a total of 680 million US dollars in pure cash in just seven days!"

In 1987 America, $680 million was enough to buy a top NBA team or dozens of the most luxurious super mansions in Beverly Hills.

And now, it has turned into Coke and money in the hands of ordinary Americans, without leaving a trace.

Li Ming thought his boss would frown when he heard about the astronomical loss.

However, Lin Yao, sitting in the large boss's chair, was just casually fiddling with the pure gold cigar cutter in his hand, without even glancing at the report.

"Six hundred and eighty million? That's twenty million less than I expected. It seems the Americans' appetite isn't all that great after all."

Lin Yao cut open the cigar cap, lit it for himself, and exhaled a thick smoke ring, his expression so calm it was infuriating.

"Let's talk about the results. I've spent so much money, I can't just let it all go to waste."

"The results...the results are absolutely revolutionary!"

Li Ming suddenly raised his head, his young Asian face bursting with unprecedented fervor and pride.

"Boss, in just seven days, the Hong Kong comedy 'The Romancing Star', which no one expected to succeed, has completely broken through the cultural barriers of North America."

"More than 150 million people in the United States, which is nearly half of all Americans, went to our movie theaters."

"Now, if you grab any American on the streets of Los Angeles and New York, they can imitate Chow Yun-fat's extremely arrogant hair-flipping gesture from the movies."

"Ms. Chingmy Yau has topped the list of the most popular actresses in the United States. Her posters are being sold for as much as fifty dollars each on the black market, and they are in short supply."

Li Ming became more and more excited as he spoke, his whole body trembling: "The most crucial thing is that, because of our seven days of free bombardment, the other seven major Hollywood film studios all had zero box office revenue in the past week, literally zero."

"Their cinemas are deserted, and two mid-sized production companies have officially filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday due to broken cash flow."

"Boss, you used over six hundred million dollars in cash to smash the entire traditional Hollywood system into a pile of shattered glass!"

Lin Yao leaned back in his leather chair, took a deep drag on his cigar, and a smug, confident smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

This is a case of dimensional reduction attack. When your cash flow is so large that you can ignore any business rules, so-called cultural differences and so-called unspoken rules of film scheduling are all worthless in the face of money.

"Knock knock knock".

Just then, there was a knock on the office door. Sanggou pushed it open, adjusted his tactical sunglasses, and walked in to report to his superior:

"Boss, the reception hall downstairs is packed with people. All the top white veteran directors in Hollywood, like James Spielberg, are lining up in the lobby, clamoring to see you."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yao raised an eyebrow slightly: "Why would they want to see me? Don't they pride themselves on being Hollywood's artistic elites, looking down on nouveau riche Asians like me who reek of money?"

"Hey, it's all because we're short on money."

The dog grinned, his face full of mockery.

"After what we did in these seven days, the other seven major film studios are all frantically laying off staff and cutting costs. Who has the money to invest in making blockbusters for them?"

"These foreign directors are now on the verge of shutting down their film productions, and they're all as anxious as ants on a hot plate. They know that Yaosheng Films is the only company in the entire US with a huge amount of cash on hand, so they're all coming here begging for investment."

Lin Yao couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing this.

backbone?

In the heart of capitalism, this thing isn't even worth a penny.

These white directors usually act high and mighty, but when they're really short of funding, don't they have to obediently line up and wag their tails at the door of this Asian bumpkin's office?

"Tell them that when I, Lin, invest in movies, the rules are very simple."

Lin Yao stubbed out the half-smoked cigar in the ashtray, stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, known as the world's entertainment center.

His voice was cold and domineering, like a god who set the rules for a new world.

"If you want to use my money to make a blockbuster, you can, but all the core roles must be played by Chinese actors designated by our Yaosheng Films."

"The assistant director and producer of the production team must be assigned people from our Hong Kong team to learn their advanced industrial technologies."

"Anyone who dares to say a word against it can get the hell out of here. I don't need that stinking money, but I do need people willing to be my dogs."

"Understood. I'll go tell them the boss's rules right away. Anyone who disagrees, I'll just throw them onto Sunset Boulevard."

The savage dog grinned maliciously, turned around, and left to carry out its orders.

After finishing up the final tasks in Hollywood, Lin Yao stretched out a big yawn.

He has completely conquered this overseas dungeon with his money. From now on, Universal Lionsgate, one of the eight major Hollywood studios, will be his strongest outpost for exporting Eastern culture to the world and making a fortune along the way.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, in the computer lab of the School of Architectural Engineering at an ordinary public university.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the loosely drawn curtains, illuminating the five hundred top-of-the-line IBM graphics workstations that were still humming softly.

For Li Qiang and the hundreds of teachers and students from the School of Architectural Engineering, those thirty days and nights were nothing short of a brutal and transformative ordeal.

They did not use any opportunistic shortcuts, nor did they fudge even a single decimal point because of the Hong Kong boss's urging.

Because this is architecture, a giant real-world palace that needs to withstand wind and rain and tectonic movements in the real world!

"The last set of data: wind load test of the main hall's dome!"

Li Qiang's eyes were deeply sunken, and his dark circles were so heavy it looked as if ink had been smeared on his eye sockets. His once somewhat round face was now thin and angular.

He stared intently at the frantically jumping data progress bar on the screen, his voice so hoarse he could barely utter a sound.

The elderly professor with a receding hairline standing behind him was clutching a bottle of nitroglycerin tablets tightly in his hand, barely daring to breathe.

The hundreds of students around held their breath, and the entire computer lab was so quiet that the only sound was the whirring of the computer cooling fans.

"drop--!"

A crisp electronic notification sound rang out, and the complex red stress analysis grid on the screen instantly turned into green, representing safety and perfection.

【Test Passed】

"Passed. It withstands earthquakes of magnitude 8 and winds of force 12. The interlocking precision of every mortise and tenon joint has reached the millimeter-level construction standard..."

With trembling hands, Li Qiang slowly moved the mouse and clicked the save button on the screen.

When a huge folder, hundreds of megabytes in size and containing tens of thousands of layered cross-sectional images, pops up on the screen.

Li Qiang could no longer hold on. He collapsed onto the leather seat, as if all his strength had been drained, and tears streamed down his face like a burst dam.

"Teacher, we...we've finished drawing it!"

Li Qiang burst into tears, pointing at the panoramic bird's-eye view of the Maoshan Celestial Master's Mansion on the screen, a view that was as magnificent and imposing as if a heavenly palace had descended to earth, and which even the wireframe exuded an aura that made people want to bow down in worship.

"Without a single modern steel column, using an entirely antique mortise and tenon load-bearing structure, and an 18-story underground earthquake-resistant reinforced foundation, our students from an ordinary university have actually drawn a palace fit for gods!"

"Okay, okay, okay!!!"

The old professor threw the nitroglycerin pills on the ground, tears streaming down his face. He was so excited that his whole body was trembling violently. He hugged the limp Li Qiang and roared to the sky.

"We haven't lost the infrastructure skills of our ancestors, we haven't lost the architectural spirit of the Chinese people, you bunch of little brats are the most amazing students I've ever taught in my life!!!"

"Awoooooo!!!"

"We did it! The multi-million dollar prize is ours!"

In the computer room, hundreds of men and women who had been cooped up for a month went completely crazy.

Some hugged each other and cried, while others tore their textbooks into pieces and scattered them into the air, releasing the immense psychological pressure they had been under for the past month, which felt like walking a tightrope.

Wang Pangzi, who had been waiting outside the computer room, heard the cheers from inside and burst in like a mountain of flesh, slamming the door open.

"It's finished! The complete set of construction drawings is done?"

Looking at the breathtaking panoramic image on the screen, Fatty Wang was so excited that the fat on his face trembled wildly. Without saying a word, he pulled out his specially made encrypted satellite phone from his pocket and dialed Lin Yao's number.

At that moment, in the Hollywood president's office, Lin Yao was idly trimming his nails when the phone rang, and he answered it casually.

"Boss, this is a miracle! University students from mainland China have worked on the entire set of blueprints!"

Fatty Wang roared in a hoarse voice on the other end of the phone, his voice filled with an uncontrollable fervor.

"The old professor personally guarantees that if we use these blueprints for construction, let alone filming a movie, even if there is an 8-magnitude earthquake, the Celestial Master's Mansion will not collapse in the slightest. We can start laying the foundation right away."

Upon hearing this news, Lin Yao paused slightly while trimming his nails. For a full month, these ordinary college students had actually withstood the pressure and managed to overcome this tough challenge.

A blazing light, unlike anything seen before, suddenly burst forth in Lin Yao's eyes.

The lithography machine has entered the final assembly stage in Hong Kong, and the Hollywood distribution channels have been fully opened. Now, the first shot of this Eastern primordial myth universe is finally about to be fired.

"Wang Sanri, now that the blueprints are out, don't waste your time at school."

Lin Yao stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. His invincible aura, powerful enough to swallow the heavens and earth, was instantly unleashed. Even Fatty Wang on the other end of the phone could feel the terrifying pressure emanating from his boss.

"The final payment of ten million, not a penny less, will be distributed to those students on the spot. Tell that old professor that Yaosheng Film Industry has hired their entire team to be the full-time on-site engineering supervisor for this project."

"Then, you take the blueprints and the exploration team and go deep into the famous mountains and rivers of the interior, into the deep mountains of Sichuan, and into the ancestral temples of Taoism."

Lin Yao's voice was deep and domineering, like an ancient beast about to be unleashed: "Find me a famous mountain with the best feng shui and the most magnificent aura."

"I'm going to take a billion yuan, buy the whole mountain and land for me, and then bring in 30,000 workers to start construction."

"Within two months, I want to see the Maoshan Celestial Master's Mansion, with its towering statues of the Three Pure Ones, truly standing tall on the land of China!"