Maggie Cheung was the runner-up of Miss Hong Kong and the Most Photogenic Miss in 1983. Lin Chaoyang came to Hong Kong that year and saw her poster outside a shopping mall.
After that, she signed a contract with TVB. In the first few months, she only appeared in summer programs such as "Into the Wild" and "I Love Nature".
It wasn't until 1984 when she starred in her first TV series "Drawing the Rainbow" that she was spotted by Wang Jing and invited to star in the second female lead in the comedy movie "The Frog Prince".
This movie did well at the box office after it was released, and it was Maggie Cheung's first shot in the film industry, but it also exposed her immature acting skills.
Today, "Modern Cinderella" is the third movie she has appeared in, but her acting skills can still be called poor.
Especially since this was her first time playing a leading role, the pressure was even greater. She was often ridiculed by director Wang Jing and the staff on the set. Her nerves were always tense. Every day of filming was like a year for her.
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So today, Leng Buding saw Wang Jing chatting and laughing with others on the set, and she couldn't help but feel a bit envious in her heart.
"Brother La, who are those two people? Director Wang is so polite to them!" Maggie Cheung asked Chen Baixiang beside her.
Chen Baixiang made his debut in 1979 by participating in a singing competition organized by Wireless. After that, he successfully signed a contract with Wireless and took the stage name A Le.
He first hosted "Happy Tonight" and then started acting. He has made many movies in recent years and has some connections in Shaw Brothers and TVB.
"That's Director Li Hanxiang's wife. I don't know about the pretty girl next to her. She must be a well-connected person."
While the two were talking, Maggie Cheung's eyes fell on Tao Yushu.
After arriving in Xiangjiang for more than half a month, Tao Yushu's clothes have followed the local customs, and she is completely dressed like an urban beauty. Her bright and elegant appearance and temperament make Maggie Cheung very envious.
This is not to say that Tao Yushu is much prettier than Maggie Cheung, but at this time, Maggie Cheung still has baby fat on her face. She is very beautiful, but it is difficult to call her glamorous.
Among the actresses she has worked with since joining the industry, whether it is Chung Chu-hong or Anita Mui, they are all good at this. The more they lack something, the more they naturally value it.
And she always felt that Tao Yushu had a unique temperament, which was both bookish and mature, which was exactly what she longed for at this age.
Maggie Cheung kept her eyes on Tao Yushu. Noticing Maggie Cheung's attention to her, Tao Yushu looked over.
Maggie Cheung immediately withdrew her eyes in panic, pretending to be calm while chatting with Chen Baixiang, and then used the corner of her eyes to peek at Tao Yushu to see if she was still looking at her.
The originally innocent and charming temperament and image suddenly turned into a panic and the dog was wandering. Tao Yushu could not help but smile slightly when he saw her actions.
This heroine is so interesting!
After a while, the crew finished their lunch break and resumed work.
Tao Yushu and Zhang Cuiying are still staying here. She came today to familiarize herself with the crew's work flow, so she naturally has to stay longer.
Because she was pregnant and had been out all morning, Tao Yushu felt a little tired after noon, so Wang Jing specially asked someone to find a chair for her to sit on.
On the set of Shaw Brothers, not many people can have independent seats. Even Maggie Cheung is a little envious of Tao Yushu's treatment.
Because she is a newcomer, even though she has acted in two plays, even if she is already the heroine, she can only find a stool to sit on.
It's not impossible to bring your own chairs to the set, but you will inevitably be scolded by the crew for being a big name.
In fact, the crew was very curious when they saw this situation. Shaw Brothers' studios were very hierarchical, and Tao Yushu was an unfamiliar face.
It is said that Mrs. Li came with her. She was chatting and laughing with the director on the set. The salary was so high. Could it be that she was from the Shao family? Or maybe she was a relative of Miss Fang?
There is no way to verify the random speculations of the crew and staff, so they can only spread rumors.
Wang Jing, who provided Tao Yushu with this treatment, had a very simple idea.
The little fat man speaks human words when seeing people and lies when seeing ghosts. Tao Yushu was brought to the set by Zhang Cuiying, so naturally he gave Zhang Cuiying face by doing this.
Besides, Zhang Cuiying treated Tao Yushu with such courtesy, her status must be extraordinary, and there would be no harm in forming a good relationship.
After staying in Clear Water Bay for a day, Tao Yushu returned home in the evening and saw Li Shifei sitting at home again and leaving after dinner.
After he left, Tao Yushu asked Lin Chaoyang, "Does Lao Li really want to wait until you finish the novel before leaving?"
Lin Chaoyang smiled bitterly, "It seems so."
After working as an editor for several years, Tao Yushu naturally understood Li Shifei's thoughts. She just felt that there was no need for Li Shifei to spend time in Xiangjiang like this.
Prices in Hong Kong are high. Li Shifei's business trip here will cost at least one to two hundred Hong Kong dollars a day. If he stays for ten days and a half, it will cost two thousand Hong Kong dollars.
"That's true from your perspective, but Lao Li and Huacheng Publishing House don't think so.
I came to Xiangjiang. Such an opportunity was once in a lifetime. Of course they wanted to take my manuscript away directly to avoid unnecessary trouble.
If a novel sells well, it will earn a net profit of at least one to two million, so what’s the point of spending more on travel expenses?”
After listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Tao Yushu asked with a smile, "So, you plan to give the manuscript to them?"
"Don't worry, we'll talk about it after the novel is finished."
After chatting for a while about the new novel, Tao Yushu chatted with Lin Chaoyang about their experiences at the Clear Water Bay studio today.
This was her first time to visit the studio, and everything was new to her. She talked endlessly about what she saw today.
Tao Yumo listened with great interest and begged: "Sister, next time something good like this happens, please take me with you."
"Let's wait until there is a chance in the future."
Two days later, Lin Chaoyang took the time to visit Ming Pao Building on King's Road in North Point.
Uncle Cheng at the door was still leisurely. When he came upstairs, Dong Qiao was very enthusiastic when he saw him. Dong Qiao's enthusiasm was naturally justified.
Ming Pao Publishing House has published three works by Lin Chaoyang so far, which can be considered an old relationship.
Since the publication of "Crossing Guandong" and "Chess Master" in November last year, both novels have achieved good results in Hong Kong.
Among them, "Crossing Guandong" sold more than 10,000 copies in the month it was published, which is definitely a symbol of a hit in the Hong Kong book market.
In the past six months, the cumulative sales of this novel have reached 44,500 copies, making it the most popular pure literary work in the Hong Kong literary world this year.
In addition, "Chess Master" has also achieved sales of nearly 26,000 copies in the three and a half months since it was published in Xiangjiang.
Comparing the situation when "The Death of Van Gogh" was unknown to the Hong Kong market two years ago and could only rely on word-of-mouth to increase sales little by little, we can clearly see that Lin Chaoyang's influence in the Hong Kong literary circle and literary readers in the past few years
Changes in influence among groups.
"These two works of yours are really unexpected. It has been a long time since the pure literature market in Xiangjiang has had such works with both good reputation and sales."
"If this development continues, it will be very possible for the total sales of "Guandong" to exceed 100,000 units within three years.
The momentum of "Chess Master" is not weak, especially the recent Go competition between the Mainland and Japan is in full swing. Now even we in Xiangjiang are starting to pay attention to it, and it may be able to drive some sales in the future."
"How about you not showing up in Xiangjiang for so many days? Have you finished writing the new book? I also plan to hold a welcome banquet for you? When will you have time?"
Dong Qiao enthusiastically pulled Lin Chaoyang and talked for a long time.
Lin Chaoyang came here to settle royalties today. He had already informed Ming Pao Publishing House about this matter before he came to Xiangjiang.
When he learned that he was coming to Xiangjiang, Dong Qiao was very enthusiastic and offered to introduce Lin Chaoyang to his colleagues in the literary circles of Xiangjiang. However, Lin Chaoyang declined his offer because he had to finish writing a new book first.
"The new book is almost finished, let's wait until it is finished."
When he mentioned the new book, Dong Qiao's eyes became even more eager.
"It will be finished so soon? Have you found a publisher?"
Lin Chaoyang responded to him with a smile and changed the topic. He came today to settle the royalties, not to discuss the publication of a new book.
Faced with Lin Chaoyang's request, Dong Qiao quickly informed the finance department.
"Enter Guandong" sold 44,500 units in 6 months, generating HK$5.34 million in revenue.
According to the contract, Lin Chaoyang's royalty rate is 20%, which is 1.068 million yuan. After deducting the advance payment, Lin Chaoyang received a royalty of 828,000 Hong Kong dollars this time.
As for "The Master of Chess", calculated based on the current sales volume and also deducting the advance payment, the royalties are about 170,000 Hong Kong dollars.
But because the settlement period has not yet come, there was no settlement this time.
With more than 800,000 Hong Kong dollars in royalties in his pocket, Lin Chaoyang's purpose of this trip has been completed.
As the saying goes, if you have food in your hands, you won't panic in your heart.
With more than 800,000 Hong Kong dollars, you can buy a 1,000-square-foot luxury home in today's Hong Kong. Ordinary migrant workers can save so much money by working hard for more than ten years without eating or drinking.
With this money, their family can be more relaxed during their stay in Xiangjiang.
In the blink of an eye, half of May has passed. Lin Chaoyang finally completed his new work on this day, and Li Shifei seemed even happier than him.
Li Shifei stayed in Xiangjiang for more than a week, waiting for Lin Chaoyang's novel to be completed.
During this period of time, he had been communicating with Huacheng Publishing House, and the results were already available, but Lin Chaoyang did not let him say it. Instead, he waited until the novel was completed that day and then made a special trip to write a letter to Yanjing Publishing House.
Lin Chaoyang explained the situation in the letter and bluntly said that this situation was not what he wanted to see. Therefore, after much deliberation, he decided to let Huacheng Publishing House and Yanjing Publishing House make a price each as a final bid for his new work.
This method is equivalent to the hidden bid price in future tenders, which avoids vicious competition as much as possible, but at the same time allows competitors to give the most sincere price because they are afraid of each other.
After hearing this, Li Shifei also agreed with this approach and waited patiently for news from Yanjing Publishing House.
After finishing writing the novel, Lin Chaoyang plans to relax and take his family out on weekends.
Tao Yushu proposed to go to Sai Kung. The Clear Water Bay studio she went to with Zhang Cuiying before was in Sai Kung. Sai Kung is located on the eastern coast of Hong Kong, including the Clear Water Bay Peninsula, the new town of Tseung Kwan O and more than 70 surrounding islands.
At this stage, Saigon has not yet been developed on a large scale. It has a completely simple village atmosphere. There are few high-rise buildings around and the commercial atmosphere is not strong.
The sea water is clear and the scenery is beautiful, which is very suitable for playing. It is called the Back Garden of Xiangjiang by the people of Hong Kong.
The family spent a day here and had lunch at a small restaurant here. The price was much lower than that near Ho Man Tin where Lin Chaoyang and the others live now.
And after this day of contact, they discovered that many people nearby were immigrants from the mainland, and there was no barrier to communication.
The next day, Lin Chaoyang took sisters Tao Yushu to Taikoo Shing Center again, planning to buy a few sets of clothes.
But Tao Yushu and her sisters walked around the mall and looked at the clothes with price tags of hundreds or even thousands of Hong Kong dollars. They couldn't make up their minds to buy them.
Taikoo Shing was built in 1978 and has not yet been fully completed after seven years of development. There are now nearly 50 high-rise residential buildings in the community, housing more than 10,000 units, and it has been rated as one of the top ten housing estates in Hong Kong by the media.
In recent years, it has been regarded as the benchmark of the property market and is favored by the middle class in Hong Kong.
Cityplaza is the supporting commercial center of the Taikoo Shing project, covering an area of ​​over 110,000 square meters. In a place like Xiangjiang where land is at a premium, a large shopping mall of this size cannot be of lower quality.
There are many department stores, specialty restaurants, supermarkets, cinemas, bookstores, ice skating rinks, banks, clinics and child care centers in the mall. It has all kinds of entertainment and livelihood facilities, meeting almost all the daily needs of the surrounding residents.
"You're already here, let's buy some clothes!" Lin Chaoyang persuaded.
"It's too expensive, it's too expensive, buy it somewhere else."
I just went to Saigon yesterday, and today I went to Taikoo Li for shopping. The huge difference in environment and consumption made Tao Yushu feel guilty.
"It's not so expensive that I can't afford it. I need some decent clothes when going out to socialize."
Lin Chaoyang persuaded Tao Yushu to buy two sets of clothes, and also asked Tao Yumo to choose a few sets of clothes.
The clothes were too expensive, and Tao Yumo was a little embarrassed, so he only chose a pair of jeans and a black leather jacket for himself.
"It's such a hot summer day, why did you buy such an outfit?"
"Sister, you don't understand this. This is how Zhong Chuhong is dressed in the magazine. This is called fashion!"
Tao Yushu didn't quite understand what her sister meant by "fashion." The clothes she picked were all dignified and elegant.
After picking out clothes, Tao Yumo's eyes were attracted by the shiny and exquisite cosmetics displayed at the cosmetics counter in the shopping mall, and he ran to the counter to look around.
At this moment, a young man with long hair suddenly appeared from the side and started chatting with Tao Yumo enthusiastically.
"Hello, pretty girl!"
Tao Yumo didn't understand much Cantonese, so after talking for a long time, he finally figured out that the long-haired young man was a talent scout for a company called Guohua Film and Television Company.
"Beautiful girl, our company is planning to make a movie now. Your appearance is particularly suitable for the image of a heroine. Do you want to come for an interview?"
Chapter completed!