Chapter 209: Signing Wen Biyu

In the Hong Kong entertainment industry of the eighties and nineties, there were countless pure beauties and ever-changing energetic girls, but only Wen Bixia possessed that unique, alluring gaze and infinite charm that no one could ever succeed.

The role of Daji played by Wen Bixia is one that no one will be able to surpass in the coming decades.

Wen Bixia—no, she should be called Wen Biyu now.

The place where Wen Biyu lives, Tiaojingling, is a tiny spot, yet it has produced many talents.

Zhou Runfa's girlfriend, Cheng Yulian, was also born in Tiaojingling.

The origin of the name Tiaojingling is quite unique; after the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan in 1949, some retired veterans and their families who were unwilling or unable to move to Taiwan were settled in Mount Davis.

However, the following year, a group of leftist students moved to the Mount Davis refugee area to provoke the veterans, which eventually escalated into a bloody conflict.

Afterwards, the Hong Kong government moved these veterans and their families to Tiaojingling in Kwun Tong, and changed the name to Tiaojingling, using a homophone for the original "Hanging Neck Ridge."

Currently, the Zha FIT Ren for the Hongxing in Kwan Tong District is Datian Er. After seeing Wen Biyu's profile, Chen Jiajun decided to go and sign her, so he found Datian Er to lead the way.

Datian Er pulled over a Majai born in Tiaojingling, drove Chen Jiajun to Tiaojingling, and after entering Kwun Tong, the car turned onto a dirt road, bumping along the weed-covered path for a while.

"Ada, we're here."

When they arrived at Tiaojingling, Chen Jiajun finally understood what a "slum" was.

Looking around, one could vaguely see lonely graves and crooked tombstones in the wilderness.

The housing situation was even worse; from oil-paper sheds in refugee camps to squatter huts built against the mountains, and then to private estates with clear property rights, the entire neighborhood here was a dirty and crowded shantytown, with almost no decent streets to be seen.

Datian Er's underling, Laohu Zai, laughed: "Ada, the Taiwan KMT previously organized a group of people to return to Taiwan; those with some money have all moved out, and those remaining are all poor people."

Chen Jiajun nodded and walked toward Tiaojingling Zhongxue.

Tiaojingling Zhongxue was very small, consisting of only a few dilapidated teaching buildings.

"Laohu Zai, where is the principal's office?"

"Ada, follow me," Laohu Zai said, walking toward a teaching building.

Chen Jiajun followed Laohu Zai to the outside of the principal's office and was just about to raise his hand to knock when the door suddenly opened on its own, and a girl ran out recklessly, colliding head-on with Chen Jiajun.

"Ah."

The girl in his arms let out a cry of surprise, while Chen Jiajun stood firmly in place, but she herself was knocked backward and fell.

Chen Jiajun didn't think much of it, reached out to pull the girl back to her feet, and asked, "Are you alright?"

To Chen Jiajun's surprise, the first thing the girl said was not "thank you," but an angry demand: "Eat shit, you street-rat! Do you have eyes when you walk?"

Before Chen Jiajun could speak, Datian Er pointed at the girl and said, "Hey, have the guts to say that again."

Someone inside the principal's office also scolded the girl: "Wen Biyu, how can you have no manners at all? Apologize at once."

Wen Biyu?

Chen Jiajun looked her over carefully several times; she was indeed Wen Bixia.

At this moment, her height only reached Chen Jiajun's chest, her clothes were very worn, her hair was tied into a casual braid, and there was even a patch on her pants; she was full of a rustic air.

Her chest, however, was already quite developed.

Wen Biyu rolled her eyes at Chen Jiajun and replied in a rather rebellious tone: "Principal Wang, you want to control me when I don't come to class, and now you want to control how I speak? Who do you think you are?"

Principal Wang was quite angered by Wen Biyu, but Chen Jiajun said with a smile: "Forget it, a lively and rebellious girl is quite cute. This student, you go to class first; I still have things to discuss with Principal Wang."

Seeing that Chen Jiajun actually spoke up for her, Wen Biyu couldn't help but look at him a few more times and snorted: "Hmph, you're sensible enough."

Now fifteen years old, Wen Bixia had eight siblings in total—four older brothers and three older sisters—and she was the youngest, with a family of ten squeezed into a 30-square-meter wooden shack.

Because she was born in a slum, the vast majority of students here were hoodlums, and she herself was a little delinquent through and through.

What Chen Jiajun didn't expect was that Wen Biyu actually claimed to be...

He looked at Datian Er and Laohu Zai with an inquiring gaze, and both of them shook their heads.

After Wen Biyu left in a huff, the plainly dressed Principal Wang hurriedly stepped forward to explain for her: "Three gentlemen, please don't be angry. Wen Biyu's family is in great difficulty, and the adults have no time to discipline her. Her temper is a bit bad, but she is very kind at heart. I apologize to you three on her behalf."

Principal Wang naturally saw that the three of them, Chen Jiajun included, were dressed in bright and luxurious clothes and were not ordinary people.

Chen Jiajun took out a business card to introduce himself: "Hello, Principal Wang. My name is Chen Jiajun, and I am the boss of Guojun Group and Hongxing Film."

"Guojun Group? You are the famous Chen Jiajun?" Principal Wang took the business card with some doubt:

"Mr. Chen, please sit down. I don't know what brings you to our small place?"

Although Principal Wang knew of Chen Jiajun, he knew very little about Chen Jiajun's true background.

After all, having experienced Dalao Jun's several donations and the crazy fawning reports from the Oriental Daily News, Chen Jiajun was now a successful entrepreneur and, even more so, a great philanthropist.

Chen Jiajun smiled and got straight to the point: "It's like this, with the New Year approaching, I am here on behalf of Guojun Group to donate money to improve the educational environment of Tiaojingling. Additionally, I am preparing to shoot a film about young people, and a female student from your school submitted a resume to our company; she fits our casting needs very well."

"Really?"

Principal Wang was full of joy upon hearing this, completely lacking the reserve and cultivation of a school principal.

Don't blame Principal Wang for not being reserved; the situation in Tiaojingling was truly too dire.

The last time the school received a donation was seven years ago.

Chen Jiajun had originally only intended to come to sign Wen Biyu, but once he actually arrived in Tiaojingling, as a well-known philanthropist in Hong Kong, he felt a bit uneasy if he didn't donate some money.

Chen Jiajun smiled and said: "Of course it's true. If your school has any good talent, you can send students to our Guojun Academy, with tuition and accommodation waived."

Principal Wang rubbed his hands repeatedly on his clothes and shook Chen Jiajun's hand enthusiastically: "Mr. Chen, you are truly a kind-hearted person with a noble spirit!"

"Not at all, not at all."

Taking out a check for 200,000, Chen Jiajun stuffed it into Principal Wang's hands and said: "If your school has any difficulties, you must contact me. Here is 200,000; although it is not much, it can improve the environment of Tiaojingling Zhongxue."

"Thank you! I am deeply grateful!" Principal Wang said incoherently.

The two chatted for a while longer, and Chen Jiajun opened his briefcase, took out Wen Biyu's resume, and said: "By the way, Principal Wang, the female student I am looking for is her."

"Ah."

Principal Wang looked at the resume above and patted his forehead.

Soon, a teacher brought Wen Biyu to the principal's office, and Chen Jiajun, wearing a kind smile, teased: "Hello, student Wen Biyu. I am the boss of the Hong Kong Yicheng Film Company. You previously submitted a resume to our company, and we would like to invite you to become a signed artist for our company."

Wen Biyu looked at Chen Jiajun with some suspicion; she had indeed submitted a resume to a film company before, but that was Hongxing Film.

As for the company Yicheng, she knew nothing about it.

She looked again at Principal Wang behind him and asked in disbelief, "You want me to act in a movie?"

Seeing that she was still dazed, Chen Jiajun tempted her, "Student Wen, don't you want to become a big star like Cheng Yulian, and in the future wear nice clothes and live in a nice house?"

Wen Biyu felt as if she had been struck on the head by a heavy club; her mind went blank, and the scorching flame ignited within her burned through her entire body.

Wen Biyu's father was a refugee veteran, and there were eight siblings in the family.

If life had continued on like that, perhaps the family, though poor, would not have fared any worse.

But unexpectedly, right at that moment, her father suddenly became a different person.

In the Number Gang, Wen Biyu's father became addicted to gambling; gambling was like a bottomless pit, sucking away the little money left in her home.

At their most destitute, her mother prepared to sell her.

In the end, even the money had been taken, and Wen Biyu cried sadly, wanting her mother; the buyer was also a kind person, and in the end, he returned Wen Biyu to the Wen family and did not take the money back.

Having grown up in such an environment, how could Wen Biyu not want to become famous?

Wen Biyu looked down and caught sight of the patch on the knee of her trousers, suddenly feeling very embarrassed; she tucked her legs to hide the patch, looking at Chen Jiajun with longing eyes without speaking, the rebellious appearance from before having vanished without a trace.

……

Wen Biyu walked in the lead, stepping quickly up the uphill stone path, occasionally looking back at Chen Jiajun, Principal Wang, and their party behind her.

In truth, what she was thinking about now was not becoming a star to make money, but rather an urgent desire to go home and change her trousers.

The pair of trousers she was wearing was old and tattered, having been worn by her two older sisters before; it was fine to wear them at school, but now, in front of Chen Jiajun, a film company Boss, Wen Biyu always felt that these trousers made her lose all face.

Principal Wang pointed at these stone steps and said, "Mr. Chen, don't look at this place as too crude; everything here was built by our own hands."

Chen Jiajun smiled and praised, "The residents of Tiaojingling are very united, otherwise it would be impossible to pave these stone steps."

"That goes without saying," Principal Wang said proudly, "In all of Hong Kong, our people in Tiaojingling are the most united. Whatever we want to do, as long as someone stands up and shouts, one hundred thousand people are of one mind, and we say we'll do it and we do it..."

Suddenly, Principal Wang's voice stopped abruptly, and he stared with anger and fury at a person on the side of the road ahead.

This person was about forty or fifty years old, likely an old veteran rogue, and was urinating by the side of the road.

Seeing Wen Biyu and the others arrive, he did not avoid them; he whistled while urinating, his expression quite carefree and relaxed.

Principal Wang then said awkwardly, "Mr. Chen, they are all rough people, their manners are not very civilized, please don't take it to heart."

Chen Jiajun glanced at the shanty by the road and said, "I think this has nothing to do with civilization or barbarism, it is merely a problem of lagging social development. If he had a bathroom in his home, he would certainly not urinate on the street."

"Mr. Chen is right, Tiaojingling is indeed too poor."

The two of them climbed the slope for a full ten minutes or more before finally arriving at Wen Biyu's home.

This was a crude wooden house; the poor lighting made the interior appear very dark, and the floor was also an uneven dirt ground.

The entire area of the house was at most 30 square meters, yet ten people lived in it; the only electrical appliance in the house was a light bulb, let alone anything like a refrigerator or a television, there was not even an electric fan.

Wen Biyu seemed somewhat embarrassed, feeling a bit awkward to invite them into such a dilapidated house, and moved two small stools outside, saying, "Mr. Chen, Principal Wang, please sit."

"Thank you."

Chen Jiajun sat down without standing on ceremony.

Soon, a woman came out from the house; there were already gray hairs at her temples, and one could vaguely see the traces of the past in her face; one would imagine that in her youth, she was also a well-known young lady of a prominent family.

Seeing Principal Wang, Chen Jiajun, and the others sitting outside the house, she hurriedly asked, "Principal Wang, has my Biyu caused trouble again?"

Principal Wang smiled, shook his head, and said, "It's not trouble, it's a great piece of good news. This is..."

Seeing Principal Wang let it slip, Chen Jiajun immediately interrupted, "My surname is Chen, and I am the Boss of Yicheng Film. Previously, Wen Biyu submitted a resume to us, and our company has taken a fancy to her. We feel your daughter's image is good and want to promote her to be a female star. Because she is currently a minor, we must have a parent act as an agent when signing the contract, so we have intruded upon you today."

Wen Mu shook hands with Chen Jiajun, but she immediately realized her hand was very dirty and instantly pulled it back, asking with a tone of hesitation and anticipation, "This Boss, does it mean she cannot go to school and study if she goes to film movies? Our Biyu is still young..."

Being a star in Hong Kong could make money, but Wen Mu did not wish for her daughter to go out and be a female star.

After all, being a star would waste her studies.

This was also the important reason why, after Wen Biyu debuted back then, she earned a sum of money and then withdrew from the film industry to go back to school; by the time she returned to the film industry, it was already three years later.

Chen Jiajun smiled and said, "How could that be? If Wen Biyu really becomes famous, she can transfer to other better schools and study while filming. Our company's strength is very robust, and we can introduce your daughter to enroll in Guojun Academy for free."

"That's good, I will have to trouble you to take care of things in the future, Mr. Chen."

Wen Mu did not ask any further questions, because the family was too poor; she was actually quite happy for her daughter to go earn money, and hearing that she could still study while earning money made her even happier.

Because Chen Jiajun was brought by Principal Wang, Wen Mu was not worried that Chen Jiajun was a swindler.

She was just about to call Wen Biyu over to tell her to listen to Chen Jiajun well in the future, but discovered that her daughter had disappeared.

However, after only a minute or two, Wen Biyu ran out from the house again; she had already changed out of her tattered trousers and stood under the eaves smiling, wearing a floral skirt.

It was already the beginning of January, and although the winter in Hong Kong was not too cold, this was truly not the season to wear a skirt.

Wen Bixia's actions revealed two pieces of information.

First, she did not have a decent set of clothes, and only this skirt was fit to wear out of the house.

Second, this little girl was truly vain and cared about her appearance; her vanity was exceptionally strong.

Chen Jiajun took out the contract he had prepared early from his bag: "Mrs. Wen, it is like this: before filming the movie, Wen Biyu must first join our company's training class for training. Our company has staff dormitories for artists in Wanchai, and from now on, Wen Biyu will have to live in Wanchai.

In addition, the company will give her a subsidy of 1,000 dollars every month; here is 5,000 dollars."

Hearing this, Wen Biyu could not help but feel her heart flutter.

Wanchai?

That was a world of glitz and glamour to her.

"5,000 dollars?"

Seeing the brand-new Hong Kong banknotes in Chen Jiajun's hand, Wen Mu was so shocked she cried out.

Because Tiaojingling was too remote, one thousand dollars a month was already considered a high income.

(End of chapter)