Chapter 295: Wei Ming arrives in Hong Kong, Ah Min waits expectantly (seeking follow-up)

Beitou Villa Area, Taipei, Wei Residence.

Three wives plus one sister-in-law who was also a sister-in-law went out shopping. Nearly eighty-year-old Wei Muchun put on his reading glasses and started reading the May issue of *Harvest* himself; this was just sent over by his powerful student two days ago.

After waiting for a few months and reading for a few days, he finally saw the grand finale. It was about the same as the outcome of the three siblings; the three fell apart and established their own homes, only that a fictional fourth child who didn't exist was added.

He read the final chapter and its last short paragraph several times over, simulating in his mind the scene from the end of the novel where, after all the trials and tribulations had passed, the brothers remained, and a smile upon meeting wiped away all past grievances. Finally, the old man could no longer hold back and wept unrestrainedly, calling out for his father and mother in a native accent that already sounded somewhat foreign to his own ears.

Before his wives returned, Wei Muchun tidied up his emotions as quickly as possible and then called his sister Wei Lindi, who was far away in San Francisco.

"Have you read that novel I had Lingling bring to you?"

In a Chinese-style manor covering a wide area in San Francisco, an exquisite silver-haired old lady in a cheongsam was holding a lazy orange cat: "Read it, it's neither here nor there, it's uncomfortable."

"Now there is an ending; I've finished reading it, I'll mail it to you immediately."

"Alright, but have you listened to the record I mailed you?" the silver-haired old lady on the other end of the phone asked back.

"Listened, but I don't like listening to foreign language songs. It also said something about commemorating John Lennon; I don't even know who that 'Lennon' is."

Wei Lindi said: "But the lyrics and music of this song and *The Human World is Full of Vicissitudes* are by the same author, oh."

"Ah?" Wei Muchun hadn't expected at all that that brat could actually write English songs? He thought the Cantonese song *Flower in the Water* was already his limit.

Wei Lindi added: "And this song is now popular all over Europe and America, and even topped that Billboard in the United States. Lingling often hums it, but doesn't know that the person who wrote the song has a relationship with her."

Speaking of this, Wei Lindi even chuckled.

"Where is Lingling? Is she by your side? I want to say a few words to her."

"No," Wei Lindi said, "It's graduation season; she must be at a graduation party with her classmates."

"Is it a party or a date? She isn't dating, is she?" Wei Muchun worried.

"Rest assured, I'm watching her for you. Lingling is pursuing two degrees; she has no mind or time to talk about love, and her standards are also very high."

Wei Muchun gave an "um": "Lindi, after reading Wei Ming's novel, I have deep feelings. Brothers are brothers after all, compatriots are compatriots after all. After all, blood is thicker than water. It's been decades; some things should be let go. My feelings for Xiao Ning won't be worse than yours."

Over the years, Wei Muchun had been in contact with his younger brother and sister, but the two siblings never contacted each other directly; it was always through Wei Muchun or Wei Lingling.

Including the matter of the old Western-style house at No. 2 Jueyuan recently, Wei Lingling would likely have to make a trip to Hong Kong, or even return to the mainland.

Wei Lindi sighed: "Big Brother, I'm tired; I'm going to rest."

"Oh, forgot, it's night in the United States now. Good night, Lindi. When you see Lingling, tell her to call me back."

Hong Kong, Lo Wu Railway Station.

This is located in the North District of the New Territories and is the first railway station point for entering Hong Kong, adjacent to the Lo Wu District of Shenzhen. Passengers coming from the mainland need to go through entry procedures here.

Because Wei Ming and A Long could both speak Cantonese, communication was completely no problem.

Coming out of the railway station, they saw 18-year-old Donnie Yen holding a sign with the names of Wei Ming and Zhao Debiao written on it.

Since finishing *Legend of a Fighter*, he had followed Yuen Cheung-yan back to Hong Kong to develop and apprenticed under Yuen Woo-ping, becoming a member of the Yuen Clan. Now he was doing some stunt work.

He definitely didn't have such high emotional intelligence to take the initiative to pick up the car; it was Yuen Cheung-yan who sent him over, worried that Wei Ming and the others were unfamiliar with the place.

"Wei Laoshi, Brother Biao, over here, over here!" Danny called out enthusiastically, flashing a mouthful of big white teeth. This was mainly out of fear of Biaozi's formidable reputation, as he was afraid Brother Biao might hammer him.

Wu Jing glanced at the sign: "Wei Laoshi, is my name not on the sign?"

Wei Ming: "You don't know how to read, what's the use of writing it."

"I still know my own name." Little Wu Jing was a bit depressed.

Seeing someone coming to pick them up, A Long pulled Wei Ming and said: "Ah Ming, didn't expect someone to come pick us up; actually, I also found someone."

Wei Ming asked: "Is Uncle coming to pick us up?"

"No, it's my..."

"Liang Shixiong, here, here!" They saw an Oboi holding a sign, and on the sign, besides Liu Rulong's name, there was also a cartoon portrait of A Long, looking exactly like a big panda.

At this time, Elvis Tsui was also only 20 years old, had no beard, wore long hair in an artistic style, his face was immature, but he was very tall, nearly 1.9 meters. Wei Ming and Biaozi didn't look that tall in front of him.

He was one month older than A Long, and both were disciples who had apprenticed under the Lingnan School master Guan Shanyue since childhood. A Long became the senior brother by virtue of entering the school one week earlier.

Wei Ming naturally knew the relationship between A Long and Elvis Tsui; they had even appreciated many of Elvis Tsui's art works together. At that time, A Long said: I didn't expect Junior Brother to have such strong expressiveness; he is usually a very introverted person.

Although A Long and Elvis Tsui had been separated for many years, they kept in touch one after another. Now seeing each other again was just like the old days, and they soon became familiar.

Wei Ming looked at the tall Elvis Tsui and the short Donnie Yen: "Very good, from now on we have connections in Hong Kong too. May I ask which of you drove?"

Donnie Yen was a bit embarrassed: "My income isn't high right now, but I can still afford the taxi fare."

Elvis Tsui, who had been prepared, shook his car keys: "I borrowed a friend's car, follow me."

This was a typical van, the kind that could hold over a hundred people in a fight.

Wei Ming pulled Donnie Yen: "Danny, come together; we're going to the Bluebird Film Company. Maybe Ms. Xia Meng can even let you play a role."

Hearing this, not only did Donnie Yen perk up, but Elvis Tsui was also invigorated, smiling and asking about Wei Ming's identity. After coming to Hong Kong, he relied on his art skills to hang around major film crews, but because he had no connections, there weren't many work opportunities, so he took the TVB artist training class.

Whether this film company lacked art designers or actors, he could be competent for both.

In the car, A Long started introducing the identities of these friends to Elvis Tsui, focusing on Wei Ming.

He wrote novels, wrote screenplays, and could write songs. There were several songs Elvis Tsui had heard that were actually written by him.

Donnie Yen had already heard Brother Biao brag about these things in the film crew. Now hearing it again, he still felt it was awesome. After he came to Hong Kong, the popularity of those songs by Wei Ming remained, and they were important representative works of Zhang Mingmin and Tan Yonglin.

But what surprised him most was: "Is *Moonlight Shadow* also Wei Laoshi's work? This song is very popular in Europe and America!"

Brother Biao put his arm around his shoulder from behind: "Didn't I tell you? The 'Wei Shenme' who writes fairy tales is also him. Isn't 'Wei Shenme' just 'why'? You're even an American, have you forgotten your English?"

With Brother Biao speaking, Danny could only listen obediently, while his heart was active. Wei Laoshi was so remarkable, simply a decathlon in the cultural and entertainment industry, an existence that could support a film crew by himself. Could he write a screenplay for him to make him famous?

After all, everyone knew each other and had even eaten together.

Elvis Tsui laughed and observed secretly; it could be seen that this Wei Laoshi from Peking University had very high prestige.

Immediately, A Long asked Elvis Tsui if he had any friends in the comic circle. This was also the reason he told his junior brother in advance to pick up the car; after all, he and Ah Ming were completely blind to the Hong Kong comic scene.

Wei Ming: Hey, don't count me in.

"Liang Shixiong, you actually started drawing comics now?!" Elvis Tsui said in surprise. Both of them had aspired to become art masters like their teacher when they were young.

A Long scratched his head: "Making money, it's not shameful."

"That's true, I also started learning acting now, seeing if I can be an actor to make a living," Elvis Tsui sighed; everyone had fallen.

Wei Ming: Hey, you haven't fallen to the bottom yet.

"Ah, old brother, you also want to be an actor." Donnie Yen looked at the other party, feeling that he looked fierce and not as kind and approachable as himself; he estimated he wouldn't be able to get famous.

"Yes, I even joined the TVB artist training class; having more skills doesn't weigh you down," Elvis Tsui said truthfully, "Maybe there's a film crew that will hire me as an art designer because I can act."

Elvis Tsui only had a slight understanding of the comic circle, knowing the names of people like Wong Yuk-long, Shangguan Xiao Bao, and Shangguan Ma Xiaowei and their works.

On the contrary, Donnie Yen was very familiar with this and spoke with great authority.

"Wow, that *Dragon Humen* is so awesome, let me tell you, do you know the Electric Poison Dragon Drill..."

*Dragon Humen* was the representative work of Hong Kong comic tycoon Wong Yuk-long; it was originally called *Little Rascal*. Later, Donnie Yen even starred in a film version.

He could even explain the grievances and hatreds between these comic artists clearly. It seemed this kid hadn't watched few comics after coming to Xiangjiang.

Wei Ming asked Donnie Yen: "Then what comics did you like to watch in the United States before?"

"Before in the United States, Mommy was strict; I had to practice martial arts and piano, and she wouldn't let me watch at all. But I know Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man are very popular. Oh, and the Fantastic Four. My male classmates were almost all comic fans, and the female classmates were obsessed with Barbie."

Elvis Tsui shook his artistic long hair: "You even practice piano, what piano."

"Piano."

"So you're also doing art, excuse my ignorance, excuse my ignorance." Elvis Tsui reached out to shake hands with Donnie Yen in the passenger seat.

The car shook immediately. Biaozi shook and pressed Jingzi in the middle: "A Long, Junior Brother, focus on driving!"

Donnie Yen and Elvis Tsui both shuddered. At this time, Elvis Tsui's fierce look was far inferior to Biaozi's.

Wei Ming asked with a smile: "Little Xu, how much does this kind of second-hand van cost in Hong Kong?"

"Not much money, a few thousand dollars, I mean Hong Kong dollars," he asked, "You don't want to buy it, do you? My friend originally wanted to sell it; he wanted to add money to buy a second-hand sedan."

A few thousand dollars wasn't expensive. Wei Ming took a look; it wasn't bad, the space was very open, and there was nothing wrong with the car's condition. It was an exaggeration to say it could hold a hundred people, but ten people squeezing in wasn't a problem.

During this period, there would be a lot of running around, and having a car would indeed be much more convenient.

"Go back and tell your friend to give a practical price; I want to get one." And he could let Old Ghost drive it after he used it for a few days and didn't need it anymore; he wouldn't feel bad.

"Alright, I'll try my best to help you press the price." Elvis Tsui said.

Soon, the car arrived in the Sham Shui Po District of Kowloon. The textile industry was developed here. Ms. Xia Meng's husband opened a garment factory here, but the business was just so-so.

Later, the couple created the Bluebird Film Company, which was also opened here.

At this time, Ms. Xia Meng had just met with a young man.

She didn't hide anything from the young man, stating clearly that filming *Boat People* required going to Hainan, which was the mainland's territory: "I hope you consider it clearly; once you sign the contract, there's no going back."

Andy Lau: "Ms. Xia, can I go back and discuss it with the company?"

"Of course you can," Xia Meng stood up and shook hands with this young handsome guy, "Looking forward to working with you; I think highly of you."

20-year-old Andy Lau was a bit confused; he had an impulse not to consider it anymore and sign now, but he wasn't an impulsive person after all. He still wanted to rely on TVB to achieve his star dream.

After saying goodbye to Xia Meng and Ann Hui, Andy Lau went downstairs and was called out by someone.

"Wah Jai!"

Andy Lau saw several people, and there was a sleepy child held in the arms of a muscular man, while walking in the middle was a guy even more handsome than himself.

"Oh, Ah Jiang." Andy Lau greeted; they were both students of the 10th TVB training class.

This batch did produce some material. Besides Andy Lau, Elvis Tsui, and Tony Leung Ka-fai, the three most famous ones, there were also Kara Wai, Idy Chan, Derek Chiu who later became a director, and Lin Jin who said "screw you" in *Crazy Stone*.

Elvis Tsui: "These are all my friends. Besides this one who came from the United States, these are all from the mainland. This is my senior brother who learned painting with me, this is my senior brother's classmate, this is my senior brother's classmate's colleague, and this is my senior brother's classmate's colleague's little junior brother, haha, all our own people."

Andy Lau's mouth twitched: What a "our own people."

Wei Ming asked: "Are you here for an audition?"

"Ah, how did you know." Andy Lau, feeling somewhat guilty, was startled. Was this person omniscient? What White Dragon King.

Wei Ming: "This is the office of Bluebird Film Company, and you are studying acting. If you aren't here for an audition, are you here for a haircut? This is called logic."

Andy Lau was even more horrified. The first part could be called logic, but how do you explain the haircut!

Even Elvis Tsui, because he didn't have much social interaction, didn't know he used to study haircutting!

Could it really be a blind guess?

"How should I address this senior brother's classmate?" Andy Lau asked carefully.

"Wei Ming, just call me Ah Ming."

Andy Lau had heard the songs written by Ah Ming, but he only remembered Tan Yonglin and Zhang Mingmin.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Andy Lau left. He still had to ask the company if he could take this film. He was just a nobody now; he had just played a younger brother next to Chow Yun-fat with Tony Leung Ka-fai in the TVB drama *The Shell Game* and was scolded by the director for adding scenes without permission.

And *Boat People* was equivalent to a male lead number two role, and a film male lead number two at that!

After Wei Ming and the others went upstairs to report, they soon met Ms. Xia Meng, who was accompanied by Ann Hui. Her eyes lit up when she saw Wei Ming; such a handsome guy. If Andy Lau didn't act, it wouldn't be bad if he acted.

She thought they were here for an audition, but it was a misunderstanding.

"Ma Xiaowei, Ah Long is here too~" Xia Meng had met both of them, but she had only seen Biaozi and Wu Jing in movies; one wasn't as fierce as in the movie, and the other seemed to have grown taller than in the movie.

She was quite surprised: "I knew you were coming, but I didn't expect it to be so early. Our film won't be released until next week."

Wei Ming smiled: "If I come after the release next week, it will be too late. I came early to see if I can do something."

Xia Meng actually didn't care enough about this film; she preferred art films, but the director and actors couldn't be implemented at the time, and the mainland authorities had high expectations for her. It just so happened that Ma Xiaowei recommended himself, so this cross-strait martial arts film was launched. But she preferred art films, so she hadn't even been to the set of this film herself.

Of course, she still hoped it would be profitable: "We have already done everything we should do. All cinemas in the Southern Film Circuit have posted new film announcements, and *Ta Kung Pao* and *Wen Wei Po* will also help us promote."

"And then?" Wei Ming asked.

"What else can we do? Are you talking about TV stations? That's very expensive. Our cost isn't high, and the expectations aren't high." Xia Meng felt that everything that could be done had been done.

Wei Ming asked again: "Then what is the expected box office?"

Xia Meng thought for a while: "3 million."

How much money was earned on the mainland had nothing to do with her. As long as the Hong Kong box office reached 3 million Hong Kong dollars for the Hong Kong dollars she invested, she could barely break even, and *Boat People* could be launched. And if it earned a little overseas, it wouldn't be in vain.

In the previous life, the Hong Kong box office was about this number, but that was 1983, and it only ranked 40th among Chinese films that year.

And the 3 million box office in '81 was about 20th; the difficulty was different.

Although Wei Ming was confident that his screenplay had more highlights, he didn't oversee the action scenes throughout.

So he asked: "Aunt Xia, can we watch this film in advance?"

"You can't watch it here. Since you're here, just stay in the Great Wall dormitory; you can watch the film there too."

Xia Meng didn't refuse this request. Young people were youthful and hot-blooded, and they filmed a movie together; surely they hoped to see it as soon as possible. She was like that when she was young.

The left-wing film base had gradually moved from the Hou Wang Temple studio to the current Clear Water Bay. Great Wall, Phoenix, and Sun Luen all filmed here, including the post-production and some studio scenes of *Shaolin Temple*.

Xia Meng personally brought a group of children over, first settling their accommodation. Although Bluebird was her private property, it was also regarded as a left-wing film company, and staying in a dormitory was a small matter.

Afterwards, she brought a few children to watch the complete version of *Legend of a Fighter*.

It was slightly different from Wei Ming's memory. Although Xu Xiaoming was a novice, he had a set of methods for filming action movies. Of course, it was also thanks to the hard work of the Yuen Clan team.

In terms of actors, Biaozi became the biggest surprise. First of all, it was the credit of Wei Ming's screenplay. This character was actually average in the novel, but after confirming that Biaozi would play this character, Wei Ming shaped Biaozi into a character like "Yan Xiaoguo."

In the eyes of the righteous, he was a villain who slaughtered the loyal, but in his own eyes, he was loyal to the monarch and patriotic, clearing out rebels for the imperial court; he was a kind and correct character. His few appearances in the film were very stunning.

Especially the final battle.

When Wei Ming visited the set, he didn't see the final action group scene where everyone worked together to encircle the big boss. He didn't expect such a thrilling scene to be filmed in the beautiful Jiuzhaigou. With talking and fighting, he felt it could last nearly half an hour, making people's adrenaline soar.

Biaozi himself also participated in the action design. He applied the essentials of the new action scenes that Wei Ming usually told him to this scene.

Finally, Biaozi fell into the beautiful lake like a palette, simply the synonym for beautiful, strong, and miserable.

After watching, Biaozi, Wu Jing, Donnie Yen, and the other two viewers, A Long and Ajiang, all applauded enthusiastically.

Especially Biaozi; now he felt he was terrifyingly strong. A group of protagonists barely defeated him.

Even though Xia Meng watched it for the second time, and even though she didn't like this kind of fighting movie, she felt the film was shot well, and young people would surely like it very much.

Wei Ming could conclude that this film was much better than the one in the original timeline. Maybe it wasn't as beautiful and elegant as *Shaolin Temple*, but the comedy segments weren't weak, and the action intensity was stronger.

But would a good movie necessarily have a good box office?

Actors, promotion, and scheduling were all crucial.

By the way, scheduling. Wei Ming asked a key question: "Aunt Xia, how many cinemas in Hong Kong will show our movie?"

"The entire Southern Film Circuit, eight cinemas."

Wei Ming touched his chin; only eight.

And if he wasn't wrong, with the decline of left-wing film forces, there weren't many good films to supply. The audience of these eight cinemas should be much less than Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, right?

The left-wing cinema circuit was called the Southern Film Circuit, named after the two leading cinemas, Nanhua Cinema and Nanyang Cinema.

In the Central and Western District of Hong Kong Island, there was also a Gaosheng Cinema belonging to the Southern Film Circuit, but its history was very long, it was relatively old, and it had a kind of beauty of the last century.

Plus the films weren't good, so naturally there were few viewers.

But recently, Zhou Huimin, who loved the house and its crow, became a regular here, often coming here to receive the edification of left-wing films, feel the Mandarin atmosphere, and try to have common topics with Ah Ming.

Not long ago, she had just watched *Herdsman* introduced from the mainland, which was adapted from Ah Ming's novel. The letter she just sent out contained her thoughts on this film.

She seemed to have some difficulty with Ah Ming's literary works, but this film looked very good; it was worthy of being adapted by Ah Ming himself. She heard it was adapted from the story of Ah Ming's father's generation.

Oh, that lead actress big sister was also very beautiful, making people remember her at a glance.

Today she passed by here again and accidentally saw the new film information for *Legend of a Fighter*.

Wasn't this the novel by that Wei Kuangren who wrote *A Terracotta Warrior*? It was actually made into a movie too.

She didn't know the actors, and she wasn't familiar with the director, but when she saw the screenwriter, Ah Min's eyes blinged.

Wei Ming? Ah Ming!

(Today's base, seeking double monthly tickets!)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 296 =====