Chapter 473

Having lived in Hong Kong for two years, Gong Ying is already very handy with fashion and dressing, and she arranges outfits according to different people's personalities.

A-Long has a very homebody personality, and his appearance isn't particularly outstanding, but when he went to Japan, people called him a "stylish manga master." How he dresses is all arranged by Gong Ying.

Gong Ying knows that her sister grew up in an environment like the mainland and naturally has a scrutinizing eye for bright, beautiful colors, thinking, is it really appropriate for me to dress like this?

Gong Ying feels that appropriateness never depends on where you come from. Like Li Zhi, whose face isn't that stunning but whose figure is explosive, she is very suitable for that kind of rich and colorful dressing. She can dress more boldly and brightly than Hong Kong women, but that style is clearly not suitable for the second sister.

Under Gong Ying's guidance and suggestions, Gong Xue underwent huge changes from head to toe. Although Gong Ying often sent clothes to her second sister, the effect was different from being guided in person. From hairstyle to makeup, from tops and skirts to shoes, these changes made her feel more like a city beauty.

Gong Xue looks at herself in the mirror and is even a bit afraid to recognize herself, thinking, will Ma Xiaowei like this version of me?

And her mother, Zhuang Che, recorded the beauty of her daughter's other side with photos for the first time.

After changing, the mother and three daughters first went to eat a meal at Holiland. Gong Xue often heard Wei Ming mention this, and it really satisfied her, but she felt she couldn't eat too much—it was all fried food, and she was afraid she would get fat.

A very small storefront next to this Holiland was also rented out and is currently being renovated. Gong Ying tells them this is also Holiland's, preparing to be used specifically to sell milk tea, named "Nian Nu Jiao."

In the future, within ten steps of Holiland, there will be Nian Nu Jiao. They will become a companion relationship, just like Mixue Bingcheng and Luckin Coffee.

Gong Xue shakes the pearl milk tea in her hand: "Selling this?"

"Right."

Gong Xue: "This is so delicious!"

Gong Ying: "Try to drink less; the sugar content is very high."

Afterward, they went to watch a movie. April is a cold season for movies. Besides the imported film *Breakin'*, the most worth-watching local film is *All the Wrong Spies*, a spy-themed film directed by Teddy Robin and Tsui Hark, starring George Lam, Brigitte Lin, Teddy Robin, Tsui Hark, and others.

Gong Xue still prefers Hong Kong films, but Hong Kong films filming spy themes are certainly entertainment-first, filmed quite humorously.

Mother Zhuang Che saw the shadow of the old film *No. 1 in the World* in this movie, and Brigitte Lin's code name in the film is "No. 1 in the World," which is quite frank.

Hong Kong films of this period are like this: copy a little here, take a little there, knead it together, and it becomes a movie. In *All the Wrong Spies*, one can also see the shadows of foreign classic films like *Casablanca* and *The Great Escape*.

Of course, the box office is also good; it has already broken the 10 million mark and is expected to be in the top ten for the year.

Gong Ying's evaluation is average: "The best movie I've seen this year is Jackie Chan's *Project A*. It's a pity it's already off the screen."

Gong Xue also feels regret. That was a script written by Wei Ming. It seems it will take some time to see the videotape because the film still has to be screened overseas one after another. It is currently being hotly screened in Japan.

A few days later, Liu Rulong returned from Japan, and at the same time, news came back that *Project A* had won 1 billion yen at the box office in Japan, and this is just the beginning of the hot box office.

1 billion yen is currently equivalent to about 30 million Hong Kong dollars. This is a height that the *Aces Go Places* series is difficult to reach, and according to this momentum, it will soon surpass Jackie Chan's previous best result, *Drunken Master*. In the future, breaking 30 billion yen and surpassing the best result of a Chinese-language film, *Shaolin Temple*, will also be a matter of course.

Raymond Chow publicized this news in Hong Kong, also to disgust Cinema City. What's the skill in having a high box office in Hong Kong? Hong Kong is just a small place; if you have the ability, compare globally.

The higher the overseas box office, the more Raymond Chow feels that the 1 million given to Wei Ming was worth it, and it also makes him full of expectations for *Five Lucky Stars*, which is also considered Wei Ming's work. This film has basically finished filming and is aiming for the summer season.

Liu Rulong also realized how popular Jackie Chan is in Japan, so he is preparing to add some Jackie Chan elements to *Dragon Ball*.

On the day he returned, Gong Ying took her mother and sister to play at Ocean Park for a day. Gong Xue let her mother take a photo of her and Gangdan Bass inside the glass window, which she could show Ma Xiaowei when she went back.

When the mother and three daughters returned home, they saw Liu Rulong at home.

Gong Ying didn't care that her mother and sister were still there and threw herself into his arms to kiss. Gong Xue and her mother couldn't bear to look, and then, under the pretext of needing to buy some daily necessities, the two went downstairs.

Her mother even sighed to Gong Xue: "A-Ying really looks completely like a Hong Kong person now. Too open."

Gong Xue feels embarrassed hearing this. Every time she reunites with Ma Xiaowei, she is even more open than this, and Zhu Lin watches with great interest.

After her mother-in-law and sister-in-law left, Liu Rulong embarrassedly let go of Gong Ying and first listened to her belly.

Gong Ying laughs at him: "It's still too small."

"But I feel like someone in the belly is talking to me," A-Long says with a grin, and then starts pulling out the gifts he bought this time from his bag.

Besides some electronic products that can only be bought in Japan, there are also many plush toys.

"Why are there so many Mickey Mouses and Donald Ducks? Aren't they American?"

A-Long also tells Gong Ying: "A Disneyland just opened in Japan recently. I was invited by Tokuma Shoten to visit. When you give birth to the baby, we can go play together, or just go to Disneyland in the United States to play."

This is Liu Rulong's first time visiting Disneyland, and it also helped him find the future development route for Madman Manga: from manga to animation, and then to theme parks, full-industry-chain development.

On this point, he and Wei Lingling thought of the same thing. Wei Lingling now wants to make a gift shop for her own toy products. In the future, if Transformers can be put into the amusement park, if Optimus Prime and Megatron can move, wouldn't that make the children pay up?

It's just that the investment for an amusement park on the scale of Disneyland is too high. Tokyo Disneyland's investment exceeded 200 billion yen, so Wei Lingling still prioritizes commercial complexes.

A-Long returned from Japan, and next is moving. The new home is the largest layout in Taikoo Shing, 1237 square feet, the so-called thousand-square-foot luxury home.

This area is equivalent to more than 115 square meters, all of which is usable area, without shared space, so the three-bedroom, two-living-room, two-bathroom layout looks very large and spacious, more than double the size of the house they rented before.

Besides finding a moving company, good friends and classmates like Xu Jinjiang and Liang Zi (Long Aotian) also contributed manpower and effort.

A-Long's success also let his friends see hope. Sooner or later, they will also settle down and start their careers in Hong Kong.

After moving, A-Long invited his friends to have a meal together.

A-Long suggests to them: "It's best to buy a house before the Sino-British negotiations end, even if it's a mortgage. After the dust settles, those who should leave will leave, and those who should stay will stay. The economic situation will inevitably improve, and housing prices will soar again by then."

Xu Jinjiang and Long Aotian are both moved. Housing prices are indeed very cheap now.

Long Aotian has now completely taken over the work of the lead writer for *The Legend of Qin*, and his income is in the first tier among the manga artists in the company.

And Xu Jinjiang showed his face overseas by virtue of *The Witness*. Although he is a self-employed individual, he has constant film offers and just starred in the cult master Gui Zhihong's *The Devil*.

Although neither is the male lead, the income is quite considerable, better than working for others. It's just that the blankness of his emotional life makes him uncomfortable, and he really envies Liu Rulong, who has a bumper harvest in both family and career.

After moving and treating his guests, Liu Rulong returned to the rental house because the rental house hadn't expired yet, and it was closer to the company in the Kowloon City District, so he gave the new house to the three women in the family, and he makes do here.

A quiet working environment is more conducive to his work. Now the company has hired a vice president who can help him share daily management work, so he can put more time and energy into creation.

Not only the creation of *Dragon Ball*, but he also has to control the quality of all the company's works and review the content of every issue of the magazine, so his daily work is full.

Besides this, returning from Japan this time, A-Long bought some books on animation production.

Animation has always been his initial dream. This time in Japan, through the relationship of Tokuma Shoten, he met a friend, which made him more determined to take action as soon as possible.

This friend is quite a bit older than him. In his 20s, he was a manga artist. Only after 30 did he start directing TV animation for the first time, and it wasn't until he was 38 that he finally completed the first animated feature film of his life.

This film is called *Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro*. A-Long has watched it more than once; it is his favorite Japanese animated film in recent years. He even specifically caught up on the TV version. The car chase scene in it is simply superb, and this new friend's name is Hayao Miyazaki.

Liu Rulong believes that the peak of a man's energy is in his 30s or 40s. Old Miyazaki is now 42 and is producing his second film, *Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind*, adapted from his own manga. A-Long visited the film production site and feels this will be Miyazaki's new peak.

But will this be the peak of Miyazaki's career? After all, he is at this age. Will he be able to film any good works in the future when his energy starts to go downhill?

So this acquaintance with Hayao Miyazaki made Liu Rulong realize he needs to hurry. If there are no accidents, *Dragon Ball* will be his last long-form manga, and then he will enter the animation industry. He can start by practicing and cultivating a team with small things.

Liu Rulong doesn't like socializing, but there is a gathering today he must attend because the director of the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua News Agency has changed. It is a leader surnamed Xu, which is equivalent to the number one person in Hong Kong from the mainland, and Liu Rulong is from the mainland and has been using the power of the mainland.

Besides him, other left-wing forces in Hong Kong were also invited, including Xia Meng and her husband, Fu Qi and Shi Hui and their husband, actress Bao Qijing, etc.

Liu Rulong was also invited to bring his wife, so Gong Xue and her mother watched TV at home this night. That *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire* is also Ma Xiaowei's idea, which is said to be very interesting.

Hearing that one can get 1 million Hong Kong dollars by answering all 15 questions correctly, and someone has already succeeded before, Zhuang Che feels it's incredible.

"I'm listening to the point that I want to sign up."

Gong Xue laughs: "You can. I don't think these questions are particularly difficult."

"They aren't too difficult, it's just that I don't understand them," Zhuang Che waves her hand.

Her mother still has to stay for a while, but Gong Xue is about to return to Beijing immediately. During this period, she has witnessed the prosperity and convenience of Hong Kong, but she misses Wei Ming and Zhu Lin more.

Because Gong Xue is often influenced by Hong Kong films and Cantonese songs and knows a little Cantonese, she translates for her mother while watching.

Just as they were watching, suddenly there was a phone call at home.

"Hello, is this Brother Long's home?" A girl's voice.