Reborn in 1970, I thrived in Hong Kong.

When TVB poached Phoenix TV's staff, Phoenix TV immediately retaliated. Wang Tianlin sent people to contact Shaw Brothers and TVB's artists and staff, whom he had long coveted, offering the exact same conditions as TVB's poaching of Phoenix TV's artists and staff.

TVB is a bit better. Now it's run by Li Xiaohe, so he's not as stingy or harsh on his employees.

But Shaw Brothers suffered greatly, as Wang Tianlin was able to poach anyone he set his sights on.

On June 8, 1970, at the strong invitation of Wang Tianlin, the great director Chang Cheh and his favorite actor Ti Lung switched to Phoenix Film Company!

On the same day, following Connie Chan, Josephine Siao, and several other Shaw Brothers princesses who went to the United States to study, Fung Bo-bo and Nancy Sit switched to Phoenix Film and Phoenix Television, pursuing careers in both film and television.

The following day, Cheng Gang, along with his 17-year-old son Cheng Xiaodong and a group of stuntmen, joined Phoenix Film Company and formed the Cheng Family Stunt Team.

On June 11, 1970, at Li Huai-ren's repeated requests, Wang Tianlin recruited Sammo Hung (Yuen Lung) and his seven fellow apprentices, as well as Yuen Qiu, Yuen Ching (Yuen Woo-ping), Yuen Tak, Yuen Chun (later renamed Wu Yuen Chun), Yuen Bin, Yuen Chun, Yuen Po, and others into Phoenix Film Company to form the Yuen Clan.

According to Li Huai-ren, the head of the Yuan Family Troupe was Hong Jingbao, and the deputy head was Yuan Heping.

By appointing Yuen Woo-ping as the deputy head of the troupe, Li Huai-ren was clearly planning to eventually have Yuen Woo-ping leave the troupe and form his own independent troupe.

After all, Hung King-po and Yuen Woo-ping, who are martial arts choreographers, have different styles and will eventually go their separate ways. It's better to plan ahead and make some arrangements now.

In 1970, TVB was in the golden age of its star-making machine, and stars created a legend in Hong Kong's entertainment industry under harsh "slave contracts."

At that time, Adam Cheng, who had not yet become famous, only received HK$50 per episode when he played the villain Zhang Tianwei in "Warm and Cold Family Relationships". 70% of his salary was taken by his agent, and he also had to play mahjong with a rich woman to pay off her debts.

Although Lydia Shum was a mainstay of "Enjoy Yourself Tonight" and earned HK$1,200 a month (the highest in Taiwan), she had to gain weight to 200 pounds, otherwise it would be considered a breach of contract.

Lee Sze-kei signed a 10-year indenture contract and had to undergo a makeover to fit the TVB character's persona, including having her canine teeth removed with electric shocks (to prevent being considered unlucky for husbands) and having her skin bleached to the point of burns (to portray a mixed-race person)...

On June 13, 1970, Lydia Shum, Adam Cheng, Louise Lee and others transferred to Phoenix TV!

After the talent poaching war began, Wang Tianlin, following Li Huai-ren's instructions, only reassured He Shouxin and Wang Mingquan to ensure that the two would not be poached. The rest of the people were left to their own choice to stay or leave.

Then, following Li Huai-ren's eight-character policy of "you dig yours, I dig mine," Wang Tianlin disregarded Phoenix TV and focused solely on poaching talent from Shaw Brothers and TVB.

On June 14, Li Huai-ren specifically requested that Zhong Jinghui, whom he was determined to poach, switch to Phoenix TV.

On the same day, Zeng Jiang, who was also specifically recruited by Li Huai-ren, switched to Phoenix Film Company and Phoenix TV, pursuing both film and television careers and developing in tandem.

On the same day, many directors, assistant directors, cinematographers, set designers, prop masters, art directors, and other behind-the-scenes staff from Shaw Brothers and TVB also switched to Phoenix Films and Phoenix TV!

The fierce battle between TVB and Phoenix TV quickly attracted the attention of many people who wanted to take advantage of the situation.

On June 15th, something momentous happened that would have made Run Run Shaw want to strangle Raymond Chow: Wang Yu, a rising star and key figure in Shaw Brothers films, switched to Golden Harvest!

Run Run Shaw also received information that Raymond Chow, Leonard Ho, and Leung Fung, who had just left Shaw Brothers last month to form Golden Harvest, were respectively contacting Michael Hui, David Chiang, and a large number of behind-the-scenes staff.

What angered him even more was that the half-dead RTV was also making moves. Although it had not yet targeted Shaw Brothers, it had begun to contact artists and employees of TVB!

Shaw Brothers never imagined that his actions, aimed only at Phoenix TV, would backfire so badly. Shaw Brothers films became the biggest target for poaching talent from various Hong Kong film and television companies, resulting in heavy losses.

Not only that, he has also earned the title of "Hong Kong's most stingy boss", and his "good reputation" has spread far and wide.

What he least wanted to see was that on June 16, Li Huai-ren, citing his poaching of Phoenix TV artists and employees as a pretext, instructed someone to notify Shaw Brothers Cinemas to immediately terminate their cooperation and take back seventeen theaters!

As the saying goes, "He who provokes first is despicable and deserves to be beaten to death." Old Shao knew he was in the wrong and started the trouble first, so it's no wonder that Li Huai Ren turned against him and took back the seventeen theaters.

The following day, Phoenix Cinema Circuit was established, immediately boasting seventeen of its own theaters with a total of 21400 seats.

Phoenix Cinemas had barely been established when it immediately announced that seventeen of its major cinemas would be closed for renovations, with the reopening date yet to be determined!

That same day, Li Zhaoji's construction company moved into seventeen theaters and removed all the old chairs.

Now, Shaw Brothers could no longer renege on its promise to hand over the seventeen theaters, so they had no choice but to quickly find other theaters to join the Shaw Brothers franchise.

Located at No. 8 Ka Shu Road, in the Sai Kung Clear Water Bay Mansion, Mr. Shaw discussed the Shaw Brothers cinema chain with his concubine in his 2500-square-foot mansion.

"Sixth Brother, I told you long ago that we should coax Li Huai-ren into selling us the seventeen theaters while he was still grieving the loss of his parents. But you insisted on waiting. Now look what happened! That scoundrel Li Huai-ren pulled the rug out from under us and took back all seventeen theaters..."

"Ah Hua, let's not talk about the past anymore. You know what the situation was back then. Those soldiers in the north were shouting to take back Hong Kong. Under such circumstances, even if the property prices and land in Hong Kong were cheap, not many people would dare to buy them."

The reason Li Huai-ren was asked to spend six million to buy seventeen large theaters was because he was indulging in all sorts of vices, and would soon be meeting his maker.

With his death, the ownership of the seventeen theaters became impossible to verify. Wouldn't it be perfectly reasonable for them to become ours by spending some money to have someone reissue the land deeds and property deeds?

Who would have thought that both Li Huai-ren and the Thai monk had predicted he wouldn't live past the Lunar New Year? Now, not only is he still alive and well, but his health has also improved from that of a sickly man to a tall and strong man...

"Sixth Brother, what should we do? Our theater chain has lost seventeen large theaters to that scoundrel Li Huai-ren, and the remaining dozen or so are all small theaters with a few hundred seats. How are we going to schedule screenings?"

Furthermore, Raymond Chow and a few other traitors are also setting up Golden Harvest Cinemas. They're negotiating with Shaw Brothers' affiliated cinemas, trying to poach them and transfer them to Golden Harvest…”

Old Shao waved his hand, interrupting her:

"Come at the right time, come at the right time, why are you so worried?

Have you forgotten our Clearwater Bay film set? Have you forgotten that whether it's Li Huai-ren's Phoenix TV or Phoenix Film Company, if they want to film a movie, they have to rent our film set?