Chapter 236: Arriving in Hong Kong, Cocktail Party, Slap

"Here, it's like a giant ship about to run aground; film people with pursuits are all embracing the mainland."

"Not saying what their inner real thoughts are, at least on the surface it's like this..."

Through the car window, looking at some buildings with a sense of the times outside, Lin Nan couldn't help but say.

"To be honest, this is my first time coming here to film, haha..." Zhu Yawen mocked himself.

"Who isn't?"

"Right."

"Eh? I see the giant posters for *The Flowers of War* and *Flying Swords of Longmen*."

Shu Chang pointed to the giant billboard in the distance and shouted, attracting everyone's attention.

"*Flying Swords of Longmen* will be released here in a week; *The Flowers of War* is also delayed for a while.

But I reckon these two films won't have any good results in Hong Kong."

"So sure?"

Liu Yifei didn't quite believe Lin Nan's words.

When they set off for Hong Kong, the two films were both over 30 million daily revenue in the mainland.

"Tsui Hark's film went off track. *Flying Swords of Longmen* put the cart before the horse, blindly pursuing technology, weakening martial arts. This is completely different from the traditional martial arts films in the hearts of Hong Kong audiences; the ending is doomed."

"As for *The Flowers of War*... do you think the audience here will like this kind of war historical film?

Even a group of film people are seriously lacking historical common sense, let alone ordinary audiences. The historical education received is different, completely not to their taste."

Hearing Lin Nan's explanation, several people suddenly realized.

On one hand, the film and television circle here is relatively conservative, while Tsui Hark's film this time is too "breakthrough".

On the other hand, it's historical reasons... so *The Flowers of War* in Hong Kong is very likely to suffer cold reception.

A mainland big director bringing a crew to Hong Kong to film.

This is also a rare thing in the Hong Kong film and entertainment circle. How could the Hong Kong media let go of this news.

"Mainland Golden Lion Lin Dao Nan, led the main cast, arrived in Hong Kong today."

"Film *Bad Genius* will take scenes at the SAT test center..."

"Cast includes first-tier actresses Liu Yifei, Shu Chang, first-tier actor Zhu Yawen..."

From getting off the plane and getting into the stretched Rolls-Royce of Emperor, Lin Nan and others found that quite a few paparazzi were following behind.

"Mainland reporters are not so blatant; there are at least three cars behind, and they are hanging signs of different newspapers."

Luo Jin counted carefully, then couldn't help but tease.

The car drove all the way to the Peninsula Hotel, known as the "Far East Lady".

Back then, Lin Nan won his second Silver Bear for Best Director, and when he returned to the country, he stopped by Hong Kong to talk about *Ip Man*.

Emperor held a welcome for Lin Nan here and held a cocktail party; this time it was the same.

Huo Wenxi had been waiting outside for a long time; seeing the car stop, she walked over with a smile.

"Lin Dao, Yifei, welcome everyone to Hong Kong. Let's go in quickly; Yang Dong is inside."

"Thank you, Director Huo, for waiting outside." Lin Nan said politely.

"Should be, should be."

Huo Wenxi led the way, leading Lin Nan by half a body, talking and laughing. The rest followed behind.

Shu Chang hugged Liu Yifei's arm and teased in a low voice:

"Sigh, Producer Liu still has status; you and Lin Nan have titles, and we are summarized by the word 'everyone', tsk tsk..."

"You, you are quite careful at this time."

Liu Yifei tapped Shu Chang's forehead and teased.

"Oh, you tapped my head again, tapped silly by you..."

"Lin Dao, please take your seat."

Yang Shoucheng wore glasses and smiled, looking a bit scholarly.

But in the industry, he was never considered a gentle person; this is a big crocodile, one that eats meat.

"Yang Dong, sorry for the wait. Let me introduce." 【236-

"Haha, no need, I know it all. These three are all outstanding among the young actors in the mainland; Hong Kong doesn't have so many excellent young people..."

"Hello, Yang Dong."

……

Today, Yang Shoucheng only brought Huo Wenxi. Originally, Lin Nan thought the other party would bring a group of artists; it seems he overthought it.

It wasn't until halfway through the welcome banquet that Lin Nan realized he had been too hasty; what was meant to come, came anyway.

"Lin Dao, there's a cocktail party tonight. I wonder if you and your team are available?"

"As expected," Lin Nan muttered to himself.

Liu Yifei, Shu Chang, and the others also looked at Lin Nan with questioning expressions.

"Yes, they are all filmmakers from the Hong Kong circle. They asked me a few days ago if Lin Dao had any free time; everyone wants to get to know you..."

Lin Nan remembered that it was only back during the time of *Ip Man* that he attended an Emperor Motion Pictures cocktail party, and he had no further interaction with them since.

He glanced at Liu Yifei beside him, and she nodded slightly.

"Alright, Yang Dong, please make the arrangements."

Zhu Yawen and the others also looked eager to try, so Lin Nan simply made the decision for them.

"Good. Wenxi, notify them in a while."

"I understand, Yang Dong."

An hour later, the dinner ended.

Emperor Motion Pictures had arranged rooms for Lin Nan and the others at the Peninsula Hotel, but Lin Nan declined.

The crew had already arranged a hotel, and if they stayed there, it would appear too high-profile.

……

"This time, Lin Dao has ladies with him. Tell those who like to drink and are prone to acting out to stay away, or have someone keep an eye on them for me..."

"Understood, Yang Dong."

……

In the car, Lin Nan sent a message to Liang Jiahui, and immediately after, he received a text from Liu Dehua.

Here in Hong Kong, the few people Lin Nan was familiar with all knew he had arrived.

"Let's go see what's different about a Hong Kong cocktail party tonight."

Zhu Yawen stretched and muttered.

"It's more naked than the mainland," Lin Nan replied.

"What do you mean?"

"The distinction between superior and inferior is clear, the hierarchy is strict; it's more intuitive and chaotic than the mainland...

Of course, it shouldn't be like that tonight; Yang Dong has a sense of propriety."

Hearing Lin Nan's words, the group nodded blankly.

"Well, later we can go check out Hong Kong's nightlife; I hear it's very famous..."

"You're a man with a girlfriend, take it easy," Luo Jin teased.

"Hey, how can you slander my innocence out of thin air?"

Zhu Yawen glared, imitating the tone from the play *Kong Yiji*.

"You'd better take it easy. Even if you just walk around those places and do nothing, the news in the mainland will definitely have you in it later."

Lin Nan looked at Zhu Yawen and laughed.

"Right, according to the way Hong Kong paparazzi write, it would be: 'Mainland A-list male star Zhu X-wen, seeking pleasure in Hong Kong, spending money like water...'"

Shu Chang also joined in the teasing.

Only a whisper reached Lin Nan's ear: "Lin Dao, have you been there too?"

…………

The first week ended.

*The Flowers of War* was released for four days, grossing nearly 100 million at the box office in its opening weekend, becoming the champion of the mainland film market.

And *Flying Swords of Longmen* followed closely behind, reaching 130 million, but it could never catch up to the pace of *The Flowers of War*.

In the film circle, it was felt that the atmosphere of the New Year's slot had been thoroughly stirred up.

Bona's pressure at this time was relatively low; after all, at the Cannes Film Festival, the copyright for *Flying Swords of Longmen* sold quite well.

But it was different for New Pictures.

According to these box office figures, it was impossible to reach 1 billion, and there was still a big shark like *Pacific Rim* coming up behind.

You have to know, a large portion of the investment in *The Flowers of War* was borrowed from banks.

And one of the collaterals was the film copyright of *The Flowers of War*, and the only lender was New Pictures, because Zhang Weiping wanted to eat alone at the time...

"How is the box office in North America?"

Zhang Weiping asked in a low voice, his tone trembling slightly; he was barely suppressing the lingering fear and worry in his heart.

The assistant opened his mouth, not daring to speak.

"Speak!"

"According to the data from the North American distributor, the current box office is less than, less than 10,000... Chairman Zhang, Chairman Zhang, come help..."

……

"There's no other way with the contract with New Pictures; we can only sue to terminate it. Ni Ni, you all need to be mentally prepared..."

…………

Emperor Motion Pictures' cocktail party.

Many celebrities from the Hong Kong circle had arrived; the scene was truly stratified by class.

You could tell at a glance who was in which circle, and everywhere you looked, you could see humble, fawning faces.

"It really is more direct than the mainland; there are people groping and acting like hooligans on the spot!"

Zhu Yawen and Luo Jin stood together, watching a scene in the distance, somewhat shocked.

"One look and you can tell he's drunk; this guy has always been notorious."

Luo Jin glanced at Ceng Zhiwei in the distance and said disdainfully.

Lin Nan was chatting with Liu Dehua at this moment. Liu Yifei and Shu Chang were tasting desserts on the side.

"Congratulations, Brother Hua, you'll be a father soon."

"Haha, thank you. After so many years, I'm finally going to be a dad; I'm very happy."

"By the way, what were Wensheng and the others saying to you just now? I think it must be a good thing, right?" Liu Dehua asked in return.

Lin Nan recalled Wen Jun and the others just now and shook his head speechlessly; they were all from the Hong Kong Film Awards organizing committee...

"They want to invite me to participate in next year's Hong Kong Film Awards. Brother Hua knows that *Bad Genius* meets the requirements."

Hearing this, Liu Dehua fell silent; such matters are inconvenient for outsiders to discuss.

Lin Nan did not give a definite answer, only saying he would decide based on the film's progress. In his heart, he was actually resistant because the operations in Hong Kong were similar to the Golden Rooster Awards and were often very magical.

If they played dirty and used his film as a stepping stone for newcomers, that would be too disgusting. They had done this kind of thing many times!

"Let's just forget it."

Jackie Chan arrived late with his son.

Liu Dehua glanced over and teased with a chuckle: "Hahaha, I guess he found him in the 'flower garden' again."

"Lin Dao, Wah-jai, I'm late, I'm late."

Jackie Chan walked over with his signature smile.

"Has Big Brother's *Chinese Zodiac* wrapped up?"

"Not yet, after the new year, we still have to film for a few months..."

……

Just as the group was chatting lively, a scream came from the side, and the scene instantly became chaotic.

Liu Yifei pulled Shu Chang, and the two quickly hid beside Lin Nan.

They saw a drunk Ceng Zhiwei casually throwing several wine bottles, which smashed three meters away from Lin Nan, splashing shards of glass everywhere.

And he himself wasn't idle; he was grabbing a Hong Kong female artist and forcing her to drink—well, her top was already torn...

Emperor's people had already surrounded him.

"Are you two alright?" Lin Nan was worried about whether Liu Yifei and Shu Chang had been hit by flying shards; he pulled them to look them over and asked urgently.

"We're fine, just startled," Liu Yifei and Shu Chang said, shaking their heads.

Beside them, the expressions of Jackie Chan and Liu Dehua were a bit ugly; this was a huge loss of face.

"Lin Dao, don't worry about that guy; Yang Dong will handle it," Liu Dehua whispered.

Lin Nan glanced over and indeed saw Yang Shoucheng, surrounded by several people, walking over with a murderous look; where was the elegance he had during the day?

Ceng Zhiwei had already been pinned down by several bodyguards.

"Slap," "Slap"...

Yang Shoucheng slapped him several times; it looked painful just watching.

This boss of Emperor Motion Pictures wasn't young anymore, but he didn't look weak; the drunk man's face was already swollen, completely turned into a pig's head.

"Take him down to sober up!" Yang Shoucheng said coldly with a grim face.

Afterward, he looked at Huo Wenxi beside him, "Wenxi, you were derelict in your duty..."

…………

"Lin Dao, I'm sorry for letting you see such a joke, haha..."

At this moment, Yang Shoucheng had changed back to a kind and elegant appearance; you couldn't see any of the rage from just a moment ago.

Lin Nan admired him; this face-changing skill was worthy of a big boss who had dominated the circle for many years.

…………

End of chapter