Chapter 306

A few days ago, Li Zhi had watched "Heroes Born in Troubled Times." She had viewed this film as a mainland movie, but the quality of the film far exceeded her expectations, and she felt it was better to watch than most Hong Kong films.

And the box office results were also very gratifying; the key was that the male and female leads in the film and Zhao Debiao became very popular because of it, and Li Zhi had seen them on newspapers and television more than once.

Especially Zhao Debiao; recently "Superman II" landed in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong media even dubbed Zhao Debiao the "Chinese Superman," while Li Jiacheng had just received the media title of "Hong Kong Superman," and she felt Biaozi was still more impressive.

Once Li Zhi saw this, she realized mainlanders could also become popular in the Hong Kong film and television circle. She felt her own conditions were good—she was tall, her skin was fair, and she was well-endowed—not worse than that young wife in the movie, and her father also worked in performance, so she thought about wading into the muddy waters of the entertainment industry as well.

She didn't dare go to big companies like Shaw Brothers or Golden Harvest, but she happened to have seen a Cinema City film before, thinking a small company should be easier to break into, so she came to recommend herself.

As a result, she was ridiculed by that bald man, who said she was too rustic, her attire was unqualified, and her makeup looked like a streetwalker's, while their films were all urban fashion films—how could a mountain pheasant match a phoenix?

Li Zhi didn't repeat the words the other party used to mock her rusticity, but Wei Ming could roughly guess; after all, she was a girl who had just arrived in Hong Kong from the mainland, and her ideas on dressing naturally couldn't keep up with these Hong Kong women.

So later, Li Zhi learned from her pain, returned to Shanghai to study English diligently, took the TOEFL, and went to San Francisco to study abroad. Several years later, she returned to Hong Kong as an Miss Asia champion, yet once she truly entered the Hong Kong entertainment industry, she still couldn't escape being bullied and pranked because of her mainland origins; at that time, how she longed to find a powerful backer.

But at this moment, Li Zhi only wanted a decent job to establish herself in Hong Kong.

Wei Ming asked: "You don't like working in a supermarket?"

"I don't like it."

"Then what about a fast-food restaurant?" Wei Ming couldn't help but want to help her; in the mainland, everyone distinguishes between Beijingers and Shanghainese, but coming to Hong Kong, everyone is a fellow mainlander.

"Ah?"

Wei Ming: "I have shares in a fast-food restaurant in Hong Kong, and I'm about to open a new branch; I just need a girl with your youthful vitality."

Li Zhi looked at Wei Ming with some surprise. Isn't he just a writer with some fame in the mainland? At most, he has some fame in Hong Kong now, so how does he have a shop in Hong Kong? And he's opening a branch? It sounds like he's very successful?

"You don't like manual labor?" Wei Ming saw her dazed and thought she wasn't interested, so he added, "I'm currently acquiring a local Hong Kong comic publishing house, and I'll have results soon. I do need staff like clerks or receptionists; are you interested in that kind of work?"

Li Zhi: What, he has more than one company in Hong Kong! Where did he get so much money?

She couldn't afford to think too much; Li Zhi felt she should seize this opportunity: "I..."

However, just as she was about to agree to this office job, Wei Ming vetoed it himself: "No, no, the comic side is all young geeks, most of them are still single; if you go there, they probably won't have the heart to work anymore."

With that kind of figure, it might even cause the brothers to turn against each other and end up bleeding in the streets.

Li Zhi giggled; she could tell he was praising her beauty, and the talented writer had an eye for things—that bald man from before was blind.

Li Zhi asked: "Are you serious or not? Do you really have a company in Hong Kong?"

Wei Ming: "Opening a company in Hong Kong is very simple; the important thing is whether you can make money. How about this, leave a contact method; I have a relative who needs an assistant-type position, and I can help you ask."

He felt that his aunt didn't have anyone around to carry her bags and run errands, which didn't match her status, and Li Zhi, who was still relatively simple, might be a suitable candidate.

Li Zhi, following by the side of his aunt who had studied abroad, would likely complete her transformation quickly through osmosis.

Of course, this would require Wei Lindi's consent.

Although Li Zhi still had doubts in her heart, it was just a contact method, so she took out paper and pen to leave it for Wei Ming, and asked again: "Then what about yours?"

Wei Ming left the phone number for the Great Wall dormitory: "I'm using this phone for the time being, and also, did you bring photos..."

Biaozi and Wu Jing, who were across the street, squatted by the roadside watching the two of them. Biaozi asked: "Jingzi, do you know what Brother Ming is doing?"

Jingzi: "Isn't he helping others?"

Biaozi laughed: "You don't know anything."

Wu Jing thought to himself: I really don't know anything, could it be that Teacher Wei knows?

The two were chatting when suddenly someone stood in front of them, looking quite eccentric. Biaozi stood up, a head taller and twice as wide as the other party.

The other party seemed to recognize Biaozi: "May I ask if you are Mr. Zhao Debiao? My name is Tsui Hark, I am a director at Cinema City. Are you here to audition for our company?"

Tsui Hark looked at Zhao Debiao and was quite satisfied; he was truly a born villain, giving people a full sense of oppression!

At this time, Wei Ming, who had sent Li Zhi away, walked over: "Director Tsui Hark, hello, I am Wei Ming. I have a script I'd like your company to look at."

"That mainland writer? The one who wrote 'Human Righteousness is Vicissitudes'?"

"It is I."

Tsui Hark's interest in Biaozi was higher than in Wei Ming, but he was more polite and courteous to Wei Ming; after all, he was a talented person, even recognized by the Hong Kong literary scene.

Tsui Hark invited the three of them inside, and Wei Ming's script was handed directly to the bald Karl Maka. After all, it was a small startup company, and Wei Ming's previous scripts had stopped at the manager-level executives at Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest.

"'Let's Make Laugh 2'?" Karl Maka looked at the outline and the beginning and was somewhat surprised. Could these straight-laced northerners actually write a story about marital infidelity? Are they this open?

Wei Ming saw Tsui Hark and his wife at Cinema City, and also saw the duck-voiced Eric Tsang, who had just been entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the company, taking on the role of director for "Aces Go Places."

Don't look at Eric Tsang's appearance, but this film holds an eternal record: the Hong Kong film history record for viewership, reaching 2.86 million, accounting for 54% of the Hong Kong population at the time.

Although later films' box office receipts could exceed this film, they basically relied on ticket price increases, just as no Hollywood film could surpass "Gone with the Wind."

"Mr. Wei, our boss invites you." Cinema City's chief manager, Sylvia Chang, came out to invite Wei Ming to meet with Karl Maka.

Although Karl Maka often used Shandong dubbing in Mandarin-language films, he actually had nothing to do with Shandong; he was a Cantonese who first immigrated to Hong Kong with his family, then moved to the United States, completing his studies at New York University.

An art-school returnee naturally had the confidence to mock a mainland girl, but facing Wei Ming—whether it was his attire, hairstyle, or even his demeanor—Karl Maka felt a sense of inferiority, unable to imagine that this was actually a mainlander.

"Mr. Wei's script is very interesting, but the style doesn't quite fit our Cinema City, and our company doesn't have a director who specializes in this type."

Wei Ming wasn't particularly disappointed; the current Cinema City indeed only filmed the most profitable, most cost-effective genre films.

Then Karl Maka added: "So Cinema City can offer at most 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, and that's only out of consideration for the box office success of 'Heroes Born in Troubled Times'."

Alright, so it was just to drive the price down. But Wei Ming wasn't truly wanting to sell; he just wanted to understand the market conditions. After comparing three places, he already had a clear idea.

Screenwriting is considered a very high-paying profession in the mainland; 1,500 yuan is equivalent to dozens of times the average monthly wage.

But screenwriting is a bit worse in Hong Kong; a script is only a few times the average monthly salary. Famous screenwriters might reach more than ten times the average wage, like Ni Kuang, whose scripts earned far more than his novels.

However, Hong Kong film scripts are also simple to write; a fast shooter can complete a script in a few days, unlike the mainland, where writing a script for a year is common. Whether it's good or not is another matter, but it's truly meticulously crafted, often involving experiencing life.

"Sorry, 10,000 doesn't meet my psychological target. Goodbye." Wei Ming stood up and said.

"Friend, don't be too greedy. This money is enough for you to live happily in the mainland for a lifetime, right? I heard that 'ten-thousand-yuan households' in the mainland are the richest. One of your scripts is worth what others struggle for a lifetime to achieve."

Wei Ming laughed: "Mainlanders always fantasize about how good the lives of Hong Kong people are, but in the few days I've been here, I've seen many people at the bottom living on the poverty line. Hong Kong people are also accustomed to fantasizing about how miserable the lives of mainlanders are, yet one of my songs can sell for hundreds of thousands or millions."

"How much? You said how much?" The bald man's eyes widened. Don't look at how bright Cinema City's future is now; he couldn't even earn a million from a film's salary plus company dividends, and he hadn't even earned that much money since starting the business.

This mainland bumpkin really talks big; he has the legacy of the days when "sows compete with elephants" and "yields reach ten thousand jin per mu."

Wei Ming smiled and shook his head, not wanting to explain too much: "Writing scripts in Hong Kong really has no cost-effectiveness. See you later." After speaking, Wei Ming stood up and left, not giving the bald man a chance to react. He would just give this script to Aunt Xia Meng later. From now on, unless it's to promote someone, there's really no need to write scripts. The mainland and Hong Kong are the same; how much money can writing scripts earn? And it can't be a long-term career, can't provide for retirement.

Wei Ming went out, and Karl Maka snorted: "Unappreciative, he doesn't even know how to brag!"

Karl Maka was truly angered by Wei Ming. He had always been the one to give mainlanders a hard time, and today, seeing Wei Ming's fame, he had been courteous, but he hadn't expected to lose face.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Karl Maka suddenly picked up the phone and dialed an entertainment reporter he was familiar with.

"Hey, A-Gou, do you know about the very popular 'Heroes Born in Troubled Times'? Let me tell you..."

Today, Biaozi and little Wu Jing were following him around, so Wei Ming found a high-class restaurant to treat them to a meal, with lobster and abalone—rare things not seen in the mainland.

But seeing the prices, Biaozi had some hesitation.

"Brother Ming, isn't this too expensive?"

Although Wu Jing couldn't read yet, he could understand the prices; it was indeed very expensive, and the cheapest dish was equivalent to a big banquet in Beijing.

Wei Ming smiled: "It's nothing. I just received a sum of money; this meal is just a drop in the bucket."

"What money? Did Aunt Xia Meng give you a red envelope?"

Wei Ming: "The Americans gave me a red envelope, a big one."

After eating, Wei Ming also packed some leftovers for A-Long to taste.

The next day, Wei Ming went to the Blue Bird Film Company early in the morning to find Aunt Xia Meng.

Xia Meng made an "eight" gesture, meaning the film's box office had already broken eight million.

"Great Wall Company is helping us contact overseas film distributors, and that will be another sum of income. I didn't expect that my first time as a film producer would achieve such great success; it's really thanks to you. Knowing you are leaving soon, I have prepared red envelopes for you, A-Biao, A-Jing, and A-Yan who didn't come. You can just bring them to them for me."

Wei Ming took the red envelopes; they weren't thin, and each had a name on it. The one for Yanzi was exceptionally thick.

"Isn't she pregnant? And she got pregnant on the set; the little one started acting before being born, so of course he has a share too." Aunt Xia Meng winked mischievously, and Wei Ming understood.

He asked: "Is the company's next film 'Boat People'? Aunt, do you think it can still make money?"

"I was indeed worried about this film's box office before, but now it doesn't matter. What was earned before is definitely enough to cover the losses, but this is a film I truly want to make." Xia Meng still had artistic pursuits.

Wei Ming thought of his past life; although he made a fortune filming melodramatic short dramas, during the film industry's winter, when he encountered realistic works with great ideas, he couldn't help but want to invest, hoping to restore the reputation of domestic films.

Wei Ming said: "Then I have another script here, a popular film that can probably make money. Aunt, do you want it?"

"Oh? You have a new work again? Bring it here and let me see." Xia Meng reached out directly.

Wei Ming handed over the prepared script: "I'll state beforehand, the plot is a bit bolder compared to leftist films."

The original version starred Ye Tong and Kenny Bee, and had explicit scenes. Of course, even without filming nudity, it involved public order and customs.

However, although Xia Meng came from a leftist film background, Blue Bird was her private property. Strictly speaking, it wasn't a leftist film company, and her freedom was greater than that of Great Wall or Phoenix.

Xia Meng, having been warned, read on with a sense of taboo expectation. The story is about a married woman whose wealthy husband leaves home due to debt. The government sends the male lead to stay in her house, responsible for monitoring her to prevent her from running away too.

For this intruder, the female lead is initially quite disgusted, but the male lead has a gentle personality and is forbearing in every way, and crucially, he is also stylish and handsome.

Until one day the villa is robbed, the two's feelings warm up because of this, and they finally break the shackles of morality. However, just as their relationship is rapidly heating up, the female lead's husband returns...

This love story also had very good box office results; it was the first ten-million-level work for Shaw Brothers and a top-ten contender for the year.

And this story template could completely be used for another "The Bodyguard from Beijing," killing two birds with one stone.

Xia Meng's face showed surprise from time to time while reading. Where is this film vulgar? She felt this story was just the right amount of literary.

"A-Ming, I didn't expect you to write a Hong Kong story so well. How did you do it?"

"I have a Hong Kong pen pal; we've been corresponding for almost two years. Hong Kong is not unfamiliar to me." Half of the merit medal belongs to A-Min.

"But you are stepping foot in Hong Kong for the first time after all. A genius is a genius!"

"Then you've accepted the script?"

"I've accepted it. After finishing 'Boat People,' we'll film this," Xia Meng said. "This film doesn't need to go to the mainland for location shooting, nor does it need to be a co-production. I'll pay you the script fee according to Hong Kong rules directly—10,000 Hong Kong dollars... make it 20,000. You should be worth this price now."

I didn't expect that after asking the three biggest film companies currently, the one that gave the highest price was actually Xia Meng of Blue Bird.

While personal friendship played a role, Wei Ming remained grateful.

"I see other film companies often operating several films at the same time; Aunt, you can be bolder." This script has already been seen by many people; if it's not filmed soon, things might change.

Xia Meng laughed: "We are a small company, and I prefer to be steady. Our company's investment in a film only accounts for half at most; the other part usually requires seeking external funds to share the risk. The funds for 'Boat People' are all in place, but although your new script doesn't have a high cost, raising funds takes time."

"Isn't it just investment? What do you think of me?" Wei Ming asked.

"You want to count the script fee as investment? That's certainly possible, but it's far from enough."

Wei Ming: "It's not just the script fee. If the gap is several hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars, I can still come up with it."

"What are you doing? Are you that rich!" Xia Meng was shocked.

Wei Ming said modestly: "A little bit richer than most people imagine."

Originally, he didn't have that much money; investing in Holsin and acquiring "Happy News" would have spent it all. But shortly after arriving in Hong Kong, the American MCA company sent him the first installment of record sales dividends and partial licensing dividends. It wasn't much, just 100,000 USD, and Li Aiguo's portion had already been deducted.

Wei Ming's shriveled wallet immediately became plump again. This is the power of a hit song, and 100,000 USD is just the beginning!

Because the cost was unknown, the detailed investment amount needed to be discussed further. Just as Wei Ming was preparing to leave, A-Long called Blue Bird again.

"A-Ming, Sister Lindi called and said 'Happy News' is already settled. She has negotiated everything; she's just waiting for your money." A-Long really treats everyone differently.

"Good, I'll pick you up and go find her."

"Happy News," which had no works left and only some equipment and apprentices, was very cheap. Wei Ming didn't even use the income from that song.

That same day, Wei Ming took A-Long to sign the contract with Shangguan Xiao Bao and Shangguan Xiao Wei.

From now on, this comic publishing house belonged to Wei Ming. Because there were no works for the time being, "Happy News" would suspend publication for a period of time. When it resumed publication, it would change from a newspaper to a magazine, and even the name "Happy News" could be discarded.

Wei Ming prepared a new name for it: "Madman Comics."

"Madman Comics," Editor-in-Chief: Wei Madman!

(End of chapter)