Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

In early July 1979, Li Jiangbo and Li Hanxiang walked out of the passageway of Kai Tak Airport.

Looking at the familiar surroundings, Li Jiangbo felt a pang of emotion, realizing that this past month had been worthwhile.

Li Hanxiang looked utterly dejected; his collaboration plans had been shelved once again.

During this month, Li Jiangbo first went north, then to Feiyingjiang's house, going around in circles, wasting all his time in the air.

However, the results this time were very encouraging; he brought back HK$500,000 in cash and HK$200,000 in IOUs from China.

Since the last simulation, he hadn't considered getting involved in the waste paper business, after all, he knew he couldn't control the fiery temper of the Qin people.

So this time they changed their approach, going to the US to collect glass bottles, then having Huayuan Group bring them back, and finally selling them to glass factories in mainland China.

This road is also controlled by Hong Kong's triads, but the demand is huge. 90% of it is sold to glass factories in Hong Kong, and less than 5% is left in the mainland.

There's no question of competing with gangs for business; it's just that Li Jiangbo can't guarantee whether anyone will try to take it away once the business grows bigger.

Going north was easy to arrange. With the help of Li Hanxiang, who was well-known in the film and television industry, they could get in touch with the glass factory through the Beijing Film Academy, and then with Huayuan Group.

The problem was with the US; it took him almost half a month, mainly because he didn't speak the language and communication was difficult. After this experience, he decided to learn a foreign language and study it diligently.

As for whether this foreign language is proper or not, I have no idea.

Also, he didn't bring much money this time, and he didn't collect enough, so the scrap dealers in the US were unwilling to sell to him. He had to find several scrap dealers before he could finally get the deal done.

When the goods arrived in the mainland, the glass factory ran into problems again. They could only settle accounts in RMB, which Li Jiangbo could not accept.

Fortunately, the glass factory couldn't bear to lose Li Jiangbo, a major client. After borrowing money from several of its sister companies, they managed to scrape together HKD 500,000 plus RMB 200,000 in IOUs for Li Jiangbo.

In this one trip, Li Jiangbo turned his 150,000 yuan into more than 700,000 yuan, which shows how lucrative this industry is.

Li Hanxiang said with a bitter face, "Sigh! Bozi, you made a fortune this time, but I returned empty-handed."

Li Jiangbo chuckled, "Director Li, good things often come with difficulties. By the way, are you stuck on funding?"

"Yes! The main investment is too large; one factory can't afford it, and doesn't dare to invest."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiangbo's eyes lit up. He was just worried about where to cash the IOU in his hand, and this was like a pillow being delivered to his sleepy head!

He pondered for a moment, then said, "Well, my business operates on a cycle of about two weeks, and I'll accumulate more and more RMB over time. How about I invest in you?"

Li Hanxiang was overjoyed, "Really?"

Li Jiangbo nodded. "I can't spend the RMB in my hands, so I might as well invest it. The question is whether factories in the mainland will accept my investment."

This stumped Li Hanxiang. These days, it's a pipe dream for foreign companies to try and get a piece of the pie in mainland China.

Due to various constraints, foreign investors can only receive a small share of the buyout money from China Film Group, and then the box office revenue has little to do with the foreign investors.

Just like with the co-productions that followed, all the revenue went to China Film Group, and then China Film Group would give the investors a small copyright fee and that would be the end of it.

Li Han thought for a moment, then said, "I'll contact them and see what happens."

Li Jiangbo nodded, not taking the matter to heart. Little did he know that the left-wing film company in Hong Kong would give him a huge surprise, but that's another story.

After chatting with Li Hanxiang for a while, Li Jiangbo took a taxi back to Chungking Mansions.

On the way back, Li Jiangbo also began to consider whether 500,000 yuan would be enough to film "Happy Ghost". He said that this film did not require much set construction and could be filmed directly on location.

However, the school needs to be carefully selected, and all the actors need to be newcomers; the older actors can't afford it.

When he returned to his rented apartment, he ran into Li Jiaxin, who was playing in the hallway.

Hello, Uncle.

Li Jiangbo was a little confused. He wasn't much older than this girl, so how did he suddenly become her uncle?

He put on a serious face and said earnestly, "Hmm~! Call me brother."

Seeing Li Jiangbo's serious expression, Li Jiaxin could only timidly call him "brother".

Li Jiangbo patted Li Jiaxin's head, took out a few candies from his pocket, and said, "Sweetie! Here's some candy. Didn't you go to school today?"

Li Jiaxin looked at the candy in Li Jiangbo's hand, licked her lips, and carefully took the candy. "Thank you, Uncle. We have exams in a few days, and then it'll be summer vacation."

"Are you confident about this exam?"

Li Jiaxin stuck out her tongue, shook her head, and said, "No, but I'll try my best!"

After playing with Li Jiaxin for a while, Li Jiangbo stood up to leave. As he was leaving, he asked, almost as if it were a distraction, "Jiaxin, where do you go to school?"

"Marinor Seminary".

Li Jiangbo found the name somewhat familiar, and after a while, he realized that this school had produced many celebrities!

People like Rosamund Kwan, Li Jiaxin, Ni Shibei, Lin Shan, Gigi Leung, and Cheung Siu-wai all graduated from this school.

He could go to this school to select actors. If the school's fees aren't too high, he could just book the school for filming.

Back home, Li Jiangbo took out his phone, which kept ringing, mostly with messages left by Wang Jing.

He went to a phone booth and called Wang Jing's house. When the call connected, a woman's voice came from the other end.

"Feed? Who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Wang Jing."

"Then wait a moment."

A moment later, Wang Jing's cheerful voice came from the other end of the phone, "Bo-zai, you've been gone for a whole month!"

When Li Jiangbo left, he told Wang Jing that he was going to raise money and estimated that he wouldn't be back for a month or two.

Wang Jing was initially quite confident, but Li Jiangbo hadn't contacted him since leaving! How could he not be anxious?

Li Jiangbo laughed heartily, "I mainly wanted to call you, but I have nowhere to call. Shall I come find you later?"

"no problem."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two hung up the phone.

An hour later, at a food stall on Broadcast Drive.

Wang Jing and Li Jiangbo sat at an empty table with several dishes and bottles of beer on it.

Li Jiangbo didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"Brother Jing, I'm planning to use Maryknoll Convent School as the filming location, and then find a few pretty girls there to play the lead roles. What do you think?"

Wang Jing took a sip of his drink, thought for a moment, and said, "The venue fees at this school aren't cheap. By the way, how much are you planning to invest in making this movie?"

Li Jiangbo held up five fingers and waved them in front of Wang Jing.

"That's not enough money. I suggest you choose a school in a remote area."

Li Jiangbo was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. 500,000 yuan wasn't enough to make a movie? That's quite a large investment!

Wang Jing seemed to see Li Jiangbo's predicament and smiled slightly, saying, "The main problem is that you came back at the wrong time. Schools are about to go on holiday. Where are you going to hire so many extras? So, it's cheaper to find a school in a remote area."

Li Jiangbo pondered for a moment, then said, "How about this, you wait for me for another half month? I'll bring back some more money."

Wang Jing shook his head. "Half a month? I'm not available after half a month."

"How about this, let's start assembling the crew tomorrow and begin filming. If we run out of money later, I'll find some more. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jing looked troubled. "Seriously? You're going to dump all the work on me again?"

"At worst, Archie can give you more help!"

Wang Jing glared at Li Jiangbo with a face full of resentment, wishing he could slap the guy off the planet.

I've seen people scammed before, but I've never seen anyone scammed like this. But considering that they still have something on me, I can only nod reluctantly.