In the blink of an eye, the New Year was over, and the sky turned dark that afternoon, with light snow falling. In the evening, Li Hanxiang, who was busy filming "Fire Dragon", came to see Lin Chaoyang for a drink.
"Fire Dragon" started shooting in December, and it has been two months now, and the filming progress is just over halfway.
Seeing that the Chinese New Year was less than a week away, Li Hanxiang gave the crew a holiday.
Transportation is inconvenient these days, and half of his crew members are from Xiangjiang. They must return to Xiangjiang in advance to celebrate the New Year. The crew has a twelve-day holiday.
As for Li Hanxiang, he will not return to Hong Kong this year.
This time when filming "Fire Dragon", he gave the roles of Queen Wanrong and concubine Li Yuqin to his two daughters, Li Dianlang and Li Dianxin. His wife also came to the mainland a few days ago, and the family celebrated the New Year in the mainland.
After chatting for a while about movies and Chinese New Year, Li Hanxiang took out a few stacks of foreign exchange coupons from his bag and handed them to Lin Chaoyang.
Some time ago, "Chess Master" was successfully released in Hong Kong. Li Hanxiang promised to give Lin Chaoyang and others a red envelope after the Southeast Asian rights were sold, and today he is here to fulfill his promise.
These foreign exchange coupons were exchanged by Li Hanxiang in Hong Kong dollars. He knew that Lin Chaoyang was inconvenient to keep foreign exchange, so he thoughtfully exchanged the foreign exchange coupons.
A total of 300,000 Hong Kong dollars worth of foreign exchange certificates is quite a big deal.
Lin Chaoyang looked at these foreign exchange coupons and asked: "Lao Li, such a big red envelope?"
Li Hanxiang glanced at him sideways, "What? Are there times when you, a glutton like you, think you have too much money?"
"I'm afraid you'll set a trap on me."
When Li Hanxiang heard this, he moved his hands back to take back all the foreign exchange certificates.
Lin Chaoyang immediately stopped him, "I gave you everything, there's no reason to take it back."
After accepting the foreign exchange coupons, Lin Chaoyang joked again: "It seems that I made a lot of money this time!"
When it comes to making money, Li Hanxiang grinned to the base of his ears, revealing his two big teeth, "Not bad, not bad."
In "Curtain Behind the Curtain", Li Hanxiang contributed both money and effort. As a result, the movie made a lot of money but he could only get a taste of it, which made Li Hanxiang feel very angry.
When it was the turn of the movie "The Master of Chess", Li Hanxiang took the risk and jointly invested and filmed it with Yan Film Studio in the name of New Kunlun Pictures, and the rewards for him were also huge.
Although the box office of this movie in Hong Kong is not as high as that of "Current Curtain", its investment is also low.
Converted into Hong Kong dollars, it would be an investment of three million.
New Kunlun Pictures has nothing to do with the film's distribution revenue in the mainland, but New Kunlun accounts for the bulk of the box office and copyright revenue in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
Putting aside China Film's profits, the success of "Chess Master" brought New Kunlun Pictures more than 6 million Hong Kong dollars in revenue.
You must know that Li Hanxiang only invested 600,000 Hong Kong dollars in this movie. In less than two years, the return on this investment reached 1,000%.
It’s really a huge profit!
An investment of HK$600,000 resulted in a profit of HK$6 million. This is Li Hanxiang’s most profitable investment since he started working in the film industry.
Moreover, he didn’t worry much about the movie. Apart from a little effort in showing it in Hong Kong and overseas distribution, he was basically making money on his own.
It’s really fun to make this money!
Li Hanxiang also understood that if it weren't for Lin Chaoyang's orchestration to make "The Chess" a co-production, he would not have had the opportunity to make money this time.
So when it comes to red envelopes, they appear to be extra generous.
In addition to this reason, he also has a little thought of his own.
Having known Lin Chaoyang for three or four years, how could he not recognize Lin Chaoyang's talent in film.
Not to mention the success of "Left Behind the Curtain" and "The Master of Chess" in Hong Kong, even "The Wrangler" and "Wreaths Under the Mountain", which Lin Chaoyang collaborated with Xie Jin earlier, also achieved great success, didn't they?
Li Hanxiang boasts that he has been in the film industry for decades and has never seen a screenwriter as comprehensive as Lin Chaoyang. Not only does his work have a variety of styles, but the most important thing is that he can transcend geographical restrictions. This is the most valuable thing.
If one work is successful, it is still accidental, but the success of so many consecutive works is undoubtedly a testament to its strength.
Four consecutive movies have been hits, and if it were released in Hong Kong, Lin Chaoyang would have to be dubbed the "Master Screenwriter" by the media.
A screenwriter like this is a golden hen that can lay golden eggs for any film and television company and should not be missed.
But Li Hanxiang also knew that with his strength, he would never be able to recruit Lin Chaoyang, so he might as well just play the emotional card.
HKD 300,000 is certainly not a lot compared to HKD 6 million, but considering the nature of the red envelope, it is definitely a generous sum.
"With your talent in film, it would be a pity not to work in this industry." Li Hanxiang said.
"The film industry is not comparable to writing. Writing is an individual creation, but film is a collective creation. No matter how outstanding an individual's talent is, he cannot control the overall situation."
Lin Chaoyang's understanding was very clear, and Li Hanxiang couldn't help but nod.
"That's the truth, but outstanding talent always plays a big role. The key is, don't you be jealous when you see the movie making so much money?"
"I'm so jealous! That's why I won't write scripts anymore, so you black-hearted capitalists can never make money from my scripts."
This is naturally a joke. The main reason why Lin Chaoyang does not write movie scripts is because his income is too low, especially now that he has received a royalty contract. As long as his works sell well, he can make much more money than writing scripts for others.
"You can do the same as me and open a film company for investment. Wouldn't you make more money this way?" Li Hanxiang advised.
Lin Chaoyang said quietly: "Movies are risky, and investment needs to be cautious. How did you run back from Bay Island, have you forgotten?"
Lin Chaoyang's words touched Li Hanxiang's lungs.
In the 1960s, he ran away from Shaw Brothers due to conflicts and went to Bay Island to establish Guolian Film Company, with the support of MP&M behind him.
Nowadays, no one knows when it comes to MP&M, but in the Hong Kong and Bay Island film circles in the 1950s, MP&M was the overlord. To what extent did he dominate? Even the giant of the later generations, Shaw Brothers, could only be defeated by him.
Hit with your head pressed down.
If it hadn't been for the plane crash of the founder of EP&M, Luk Yuntao, in 1964, there would not have been the dominance of Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong and the Bay of Islands in the 1960s and 1970s.
In that plane crash, all 57 people, including the boss of Electric and Power Group, Lu Yuntao, Lu Yuntao's new wife, and the top management of the group, were killed. The once-splendid group was almost uprooted by this accident, which completely rewrote the history of Hong Kong and Wandao movies.
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After Lu Yuntao passed away, the films produced by the Guolian Film Company established by Li Hanxiang failed one after another. In the end, he lost all his pants and had no choice but to return to Shaw Brothers to continue working.
The failure of the League of Nations can be regarded as the biggest unwillingness of Li Hanxiang in his life. If it had not been for the plane crash in 1964, his League of Nations might have become the dominant force in the Bay Island film industry.
Li Hanxiang cursed and cursed for a long time, until Lin Chaoyang toasted him with two glasses of wine, and he calmed down.
"If Boss Lu hadn't disappeared..."
The anger returned to calming down, but Lin Chaoyang brought out Li Hanxiang's years of depression. After drinking two glasses of wine, he kept talking like Xiang Lin's wife.
In his context, Lu Yuntao is probably the Bai Yueguang that men dream of when they are young, and Boss Shao is of course the yellow-faced woman who squeezed him completely.
Lin Chaoyang listened to his ramble for a long time and almost regretted hiring him.
Li Hanxiang was talking about his great success in Wandao, and suddenly said: "By the way. You don't know yet, right? You are now famous in Wandao."
Lin Chaoyang smiled and said: "What? You really banned me?"
"Of course it is impossible to ban you. You are in the mainland and you are not developing in Xiangjiang. If they really issue a ban order, it will be nothing more than humiliating themselves and making everyone laugh.
Your speech in Xiangjiang did spread to the island last time and attracted some people's attention, but that's not what I want to talk about."
Lin Chaoyang asked: "What is that?"
Li Hanxiang lowered his voice and said: "A friend asked me to help them get a few copies of "Crossing Guandong"."
At this point, Li Hanxiang squinted his eyes, "And there's more than one person."
"That's it? Can't they also buy it in Xiangjiang?"
"You don't understand." The expression on Li Hanxiang's face was mysterious. "Those of my friends are all people in the cultural field, and there is one who is currently in office. You still don't understand?"
Li Hanxiang's words were all about this, and it was impossible for Lin Chaoyang not to understand.
Judging from this meaning, "Crossing Guandong" should have become a small hit in the cultural circles of Bay Island.
"I haven't been back to Xiangjiang in the past two months, but I had a conversation with Hu Juren. He said that your movie "Crossing the Guandong" was very popular and well received in Xiangjiang. It is estimated that this trend has spread to Wandao."
Hu Juren is the editor-in-chief of Ming Pao Monthly, and we met Lin Chaoyang when he visited Hong Kong with a delegation of mainland writers last year.
"As for why they don't buy it in Xiangjiang, you don't understand. What people want to see is the original flavor."
After Li Hanxiang explained, he continued: "If they can find me to help carry the book, you should understand how popular your book is in Bay Island. Of course, it must be spread underground now."
Of course Lin Chaoyang understands this. The relationship between the Bay Island and the mainland has not improved yet, and anyone, anything, or anything from the mainland is taboo.
After talking about this matter, Li Hanxiang warned: "You can sign some books for me later so that I can send them to others."
Lin Chaoyang joked: "Be careful if you don't send the letter, you will be considered a TG and wanted."
"Do you think I'm still a good person over there now?" Li Hanxiang said without any burden.
Ever since the news that he went to the mainland to film "Current Behind the Curtain" came back to Wan Dao, he has been blacklisted by Wan Dao authorities.
After talking, laughing, and drinking for three times, Li Hanxiang left Lin Chaoyang's house.
After he left, Lin Chaoyang handed the pile of foreign exchange coupons to Tao Yushu.
"So many foreign exchange coupons? How can we use them all?"
"Red envelope. Use it slowly. Relatives and friends around you can also use it if they need it."
Tao Yushu collected all the foreign exchange coupons and asked, "Why did Lao Li give you such a big red envelope?"
"Just win me over. This time "The Master of Chess" has made Lao Li a lot of money. Of course he wants to continue to cooperate in the future."
"You still write scripts for him?"
Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "You can't always make wedding clothes for others."
He said with a malicious smile on his face, "If I write a script for you, I will do it even if you don't pay me!"
The change of emphasis made Tao Yushu couldn't help but roll his eyes at Lin Chaoyang. She thought it was a roll of the eyes, but in Lin Chaoyang's eyes, it was all kinds of charming. He put his arms around Tao Yushu's waist and put his mouth towards her.
Not to mention a romantic night.
The Spring Festival of 1985 came a little later than usual. In the next few days, Lin Chaoyang was busy buying new year's goods.
There were two days before the Chinese New Year. Lin Chaoyang drove to deliver New Year's goods to the Tao family. He heard from Tao's father that Zhu Guangqian had been ill recently.
He carried his things and ran to Yan Nanyuan to visit the patient. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Zhu Guangqian leaning on the bedside with a haggard face.
After saying hello, Lin Chaoyang expressed some concern, and Zhu Guangqian replied: "It's okay, I won't die!"
"Why are you always talking about death? Take good care of your health, and when spring comes, you will be a good man again!"
Zhu Guangqian was unhappy when he heard what he said, "If the spring doesn't start, will he not be a good man?"
"Yes, yes, you are really a tough guy!"
Zhu Guangqian couldn't hear his sarcasm, so he scolded him and asked him about something he was very concerned about recently.
"I heard someone say that Jiang Zhujiu's ability to win three games in a row against the Japanese team was all because of watching your "Chess Master"?"
Lin Chaoyang:???
Chapter completed!