Lin Chaoyang turned his head following the sound and saw a tall, handsome, romantic middle-aged man standing there looking at him with a smile.
Seeing the man, Huo Zhenting and Zhuang Shaoliang flashed a bit of jealousy in their eyes.
Lin Chaoyang can probably understand their mentality. The guy in front of him is a bit too handsome. He is not too handsome to be an idol star. "Lin Sheng, let me introduce to you, this is Xiao Baicheng."
With a hearty smile on his face, Huo Zhenting introduced the man to Lin Chaoyang and whispered in his ear, "The Xiangjiang Hotel belongs to them."
Lin Chaoyang nodded clearly, and at the same time glanced at Huo Zhenting's face imperceptibly. His expression didn't seem to be abnormal at all.
This "grand hotel" is not that "grand hotel". The most famous grand hotel in Hong Kong is of course the hotel group controlled by the Kadoorie family, a wealthy Jewish businessman.
However, among the citizens of Hong Kong, there is another "grand hotel" that is also well-known, and that is the Heung Kong Funeral Parlor located at the junction of King's Road and Java Road in North Point, commonly known as the Hong Kong Hotel.
In the past, Cai Feng had often dealt with three religions and nine schools, so he naturally knew this common name. He also knew that the family of Xiao Baicheng in front of him was known as the funeral king of Hong Kong. He controlled and operated the funeral business in Hong Kong and was called the most unusual rich man in Hong Kong.
As for Xiao Baicheng, his most famous identity is not that he is a descendant of the Xiao family, but that he is the son-in-law of gambling king Stanley Ho.
In 1970, Xiao Baicheng married He Chaoying, the eldest daughter of Stanley Ho, and later divorced in 1981.
According to rumors, in the early years, Huo Tungge and Stanley Ho co-operated casinos and had a close friendship. Huo Zhenting and He Chaoying were childhood sweethearts, and the two families once discussed the idea of ​​​​marriage for the two of them.
But later the two families had a falling out over the issue of profit distribution, and the marriage between Huo Zhenting and He Chaoying ended without any problems.
These gossips were all heard by Lin Chaoyang when he was chatting with people on the street. Naturally, it was impossible to seek confirmation from the parties involved.
Xiao Baicheng politely exchanged a few words with Lin Chaoyang, and his conversation was good. He looked gentle and elegant, and coupled with his handsome appearance, it was easy to win the favor of strangers.
According to rumors, Xiao Baicheng is a romantic and bohemian person, which is very different from the image in front of him.
Even if you think about it, the rumors are not credible. After all, he ran a horse farm in Iran in partnership with his father-in-law in the 1970s, so he is not really a loser.
Lin Chaoyang didn't know why Xiao Baicheng took the initiative to come over and say hello to him, but when he saw the other person's warm and kind attitude, he couldn't refuse him thousands of miles away.
When Huo Zhenting and Zhuang Shaoliang saw that Xiao Baicheng didn't seem to just say hello and leave, they knew that the other party must have something to discuss with Lin Chaoyang, so they walked away in a sensible manner.
After the two left, Xiao Baicheng said: "It's really unexpected. In just two years, Lam Pictures has become the dominant film company in Hong Kong."
"Xiao Sheng deserves the award. He was just lucky enough to make a few good films."
"Why should Lin Sheng be so modest? There are so many film companies in Hong Kong, but I haven't seen them produce a few 'good films'.
Lin Chaoyang responded to Xiao Baicheng's compliments with a smile, guessing in his heart that Xiao Baicheng's goal was probably to focus on movies.
"I wonder what Lin Sheng thinks of the funeral industry?" Xiao Baicheng suppressed his smile and looked sincere when he asked this question.
Lin Chaoyang said calmly: "Birth, old age, illness and death are normal in life. The funeral industry serves the dead and comforts the living, and its merits are immeasurable."
What he said was a bit polite, but it made sense.
Hearing this, Xiao Baicheng's face showed a look of joy, "Lin Sheng's knowledge is indeed extraordinary. We Chinese people always have colored glasses towards the funeral industry, but we don't know that it is an undertaking with immeasurable merit. This concept is very bad and should be corrected.
That's right."
At this point, Xiao Baicheng paused deliberately. Seeing that Lin Chaoyang did not answer, he had to continue, "If we can make two movies about the funeral industry, so that everyone can better understand the meaning of funerals, it will be helpful in changing the situation of ordinary people.
Old-fashioned ideas will definitely help."
Having said this, Lin Chaoyang understood Xiao Baicheng's intention.
He wanted to use the movie to promote the funeral industry and improve his business. He was quite thoughtful. The funeral industry may seem inconspicuous, but it is an industry that no one can live without. There are hundreds of people in a small Xiangjiang.
A billion-sized market.
In today's Xiangjiang, modernity and antiquity coexist, with a modern side and a feudal side.
Many people hope to be buried with splendor after death. Sometimes, even if the deceased asked for a simple funeral before his death,
Later generations will also spend a lot of money just to save face.
Such social reality has created the rise of the Xiao family, the king of funerals.
Their family monopolizes the funeral industry in Xiangjiang, and is also involved in many industries such as real estate and hotels. Their family wealth reaches billions, otherwise they would not be worthy of marrying the He family.
Compared with the huge profits and market size of the funeral industry, the film industry can only be regarded as a child's play. Therefore, Xiao Baicheng does not value the film industry, but he attaches great importance to the promotional role of films.
Nowadays, the Xiao family has reached the top of Xiangjiang society in terms of wealth and can marry into wealthy families. However, its reputation among the citizens is not good and they will always be viewed with colored glasses.
When wealth and status are achieved, people begin to pursue fame and status. This mentality is also easy to understand.
"Xiao Sheng's idea is very good, but it is too difficult to implement. The taboos of Chinese people for thousands of years cannot be changed in one or two movies." Lin Chaoyang said frankly.
"What Lin Sheng said makes sense, but there's no harm in giving it a try——"
While the two were talking, Tao Yushu, who had been socializing for a while, came over from not far away, and Xiao Baicheng stopped the conversation.
Lin Chaoyang briefly explained his idea to Tao Yushu. Tao Yushu thought it was quite interesting. The funeral industry naturally has a sense of story, and it would be a good material for making movies.
She chatted with Xiao Baicheng for a few words and made an appointment to go to the company to discuss it in detail tomorrow.
After the event, Lin Chaoyang was silent all the way, and Tao Yushu thought she had encountered something unhappy at the event.
After asking, I found out that it turned out to be some ideas about a new book.
She immediately became excited after hearing this. It has been more than a year since she finished writing "The Great Era" and a full year since the novel was published.
"What kind of story is it? Tell me first?"
"I haven't thought about it yet. I'll tell you after I sort out my thoughts."
Seeing this, Tao Yushu had no choice but to suppress her inner curiosity. She asked again: "I didn't have any inspiration before, but I have inspiration today. Is it because I participated in the event?"
"Almost."
Inspiration or something, of course it was Lin Chaoyang's perfunctory words to Tao Yushu, he simply had enough rest.
The next day, Tao Yushu met Xiao Baicheng at the company, and Xiao Baicheng decided to sponsor Lam Pictures with HK$5 million to shoot a film about the development of Hong Kong's funeral industry.
He only has two requirements, one is that the protagonist must be his father Xiao Ming, and the other is that the image must be positive.
Of course, Tao Yushu, the financial sponsor who came to the door, would not refuse and readily agreed to Xiao Baicheng's conditions.
After discussing the matter, Tao Yushu said to Xiao Baicheng: "By the way, my husband wants to go to the hotel recently for some entertainment. I wonder if Xiao Sheng can make it convenient?"
When Xiao Baicheng heard this, he looked surprised at first, and then he was overjoyed, "Is Lin Sheng's new work about the funeral industry?"
Tao Yushu said ambiguously: "It's still in the conceptual stage."
Originally, everything had been discussed, and Xiao Baicheng had already planned to leave, but now he was not in a hurry and sat down.
"Mrs. Lin, I think we can talk more about sponsorship."
"Xiao Sheng still has any ideas?"
"I thought, since Lin Sheng's new work is going to be about the funeral industry, it would be better for our cooperation to be more in-depth.
How about we adapt Lin Sheng's new work into a movie?
As long as Lin Tai is willing—
When Xiao Baicheng said this, he stretched out his finger and said, "I am willing to sponsor this number!"
One finger cannot represent 1 million in this case, and 100 million is too much. Combined with the sponsorship number "5 million" just now, it is naturally 10 million.
You must know that this is sponsorship, not investment. To put it bluntly, it is free money.
For a moment, Tao Yushu was a little moved. She was not short of money, but who wouldn't want the money she picked up for free?
But she thought about it and shook her head, "Thank you Xiao Sheng for your kindness! But I can't interfere with my husband's creative freedom."
Xiao Baicheng said eagerly: "How can this interfere with creative freedom? I am also providing Lin Sheng with the best possible help in his creation."
With the wealth of the Xiao family, it is easy to spend 10 million Hong Kong dollars, but no matter how rich the rich are, their money is not blown by strong winds.
Xiao Baicheng is so motivated because he has taken a fancy to the influence of Lin Chaoyang's works.
There was a time in later generations when eight out of ten wealthy people in China would publish some kind of autobiography or memoir. Whether it was written by someone else or written in their own name, they actually hired someone to ghostwrite it. In short, they had to publish something.
Writing books and biographies is certainly not their purpose. Their real purpose is to leave a name in history.
Autobiographies, memoirs, student aid, disaster relief, and many wealthy people's actions are mostly based on this mentality.
Chinese people, after accumulating wealth to a certain extent, cannot escape this thought.
Two years ago, Lin Chaoyang's works were somewhat famous in Xiangjiang, but they were not popular enough for Xiao Baicheng, a kid from a wealthy family.
But last year, a movie called "The Great Era" came out and successfully predicted the 1987 stock market crash, which was amazing.
Although Lin Chaoyang has publicly said more than once that the stock market crash described in "The Great Era" is quite different from the 1987 stock market crash, people have always followed the herd, and Xiangjiang talents do not care about the differences between the two stock market crashes.
They only knew that Lin Chaoyang's novel was about the stock market crash, and less than a month after the novel was published, the stock market crash really happened in reality.
Moreover, Lin Chaoyang took advantage of the stock market crash and made 100 million in the Hang Seng Index. This is no secret among the wealthy class in Hong Kong.
If you say it's not a prophecy, who would believe it?
Taking a step back, even if it is not a prediction, it is an accurate analysis. This is even more awesome, stock god!
Now that Lin Chaoyang said that he was going to write a new work, it was still related to his family's funeral industry. Xiao Baicheng was a little excited thinking about it.
Being written into a book by Lin Chaoyang, it is definitely an exaggeration to say that it will last forever, but it shouldn't be difficult to make the Xiao family famous in the Chinese world, right?
Seeing that Tao Yushu was not swayed by his plea, Xiao Baicheng took another step back and said:
"You don't need to use my father's image as the protagonist, as long as our Xiao family appears in novels and movies,
Just be a positive character."
Tao Yushu shook his head firmly, "Xiao Sheng, this is not about money."
The words "It's not about money" made Xiao Baicheng wake up from his fanaticism, and he remembered that although the Lin Chaoyang couple's net worth was not as good as his own, Haolie was also a wealthy class who controlled two leading companies in the industry.
Calculated purely based on paper wealth, he is already a billionaire, but he is not someone he can hit with just a little money.
If he really throws away money without hesitation, he might offend someone.
In a flash of thought, Xiao Baicheng's expression became clear and he showed an apologetic smile to Tao Yushu.
"Sorry, it's also because I like Lin Sheng's works very much."
Tao Yushu smiled and said, "Thank you Xiao Sheng for your appreciation."
The two exchanged a few polite words, and Xiao Baicheng left. He was in a happy mood when he was about to leave, but now he felt even more depressed, feeling like he had missed a lottery draw.
North Point, as its name suggests, is located at the northernmost tip of Hong Kong Island and is one of the earliest developed areas in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, where every inch of land is at a premium, the numerous high-rise buildings here bear witness to the prosperity of the world, while the Heung Kong Funeral Parlor, located at the junction of King's Road and Java Road in North Point, has witnessed the joys and sorrows of the world.
This funeral parlor, which started in the 1930s, was originally built with bamboo sheds, but now it has become a symbolic building in North Point.
People in Hong Kong call it "Hong Kong Hotel", which has a dark sense of humor.
The so-called funeral parlor is probably just a transit "hotel" between Yin and Yang.
From a long distance away, Lin Chaoyang could feel a strange smell. He guessed that it was just a psychological effect. Walking into the funeral parlor, the foyer of the funeral parlor was very small. There were two funeral halls on the first floor that looked the same size. Each hall
There were many people inside, either kneeling or standing, wearing sackcloth and wearing mourning. It looked like they were in the mourning hall.
Most of the floors in the museum are paved with green and white paper stones. Even during the day, the light here is not bright, giving it an atmosphere that feels like something out of a horror movie.
The dim light in the funeral parlor has nothing to do with ghosts and gods. It is mainly due to the obstruction of the surrounding buildings, especially the Harbor Plaza North Point Hotel directly opposite it.
Different from the common name of "Hong Kong Hotel", the Harbor Plaza Hotel is a real hotel, and the owner behind the scenes is not an ordinary person. It is the property of Li Ka-shing, the richest man in Hong Kong who has been in the limelight in recent years.
Li Ka-shing has a total of 16 hotels in Hong Kong, and the Harbor Plaza North Point is one of them. Because of the funeral parlor in Hong Kong, the Harbor Plaza North Point is particularly special.
In the eyes of Chinese people, places like funeral homes are relatively taboo.
At that time, Li Ka-shing also thought about the land of Heung Kong Funeral Home for his own hotel, but the result is obvious, the building is still standing here.
No one knows how true the rumors are, but Lin Chaoyang did feel something different after entering the funeral home.
"10,000 is 10,000! I have worked hard all my life. I couldn't live in a big house during my lifetime, but I will always live in a good coffin after my death!"
"It's good to be filial while you're alive. What's the point of doing these things when people are dead?"
"You were filial during your lifetime? Are you very filial?"
It sounded like the two brothers were discussing the coffin for their father's death. One wanted to buy a better coffin for his father, but the other wanted to buy a cheaper one.
10,000 Hong Kong dollars is not a small amount for ordinary working-class people in Hong Kong. It is at least two months' salary income.
The two brothers quarreled and were pulled away by their relatives.
This kind of occasion of birth, old age, illness and death is indeed full of stories. When his father passed away, he thought of writing stories. Lin Chaoyang felt that he was a bit inhumane.
"Lin Sheng!"
Lin Chaoyang turned around and saw a middle-aged man with a thin face and figure, who looked a little like Xiao Baicheng.
But he is far less handsome than Xiao Baicheng.
"Hello, Xiao Sheng." Lin Chaoyang held the other person's hand.
Another "Xiao Sheng", the Xiao Sheng in front of me is Xiao Baicheng's brother Xiao Zhicheng, the eldest son of the funeral king of Xiangjiang.
After studying in the United States, he helped his father manage the family business after returning to Hong Kong. He was passionate about social undertakings and held many titles such as being a member of Po Leung Kuk, vice president of the Eastern District Recreation and Sports Promotion Association, and vice president of the Causeway Bay Neighborhood Welfare Promotion Association.
Compared with his romantic brother Xiao Baicheng, Xiao Zhicheng is a somewhat old-school businessman.
He also had a great favorable impression of Lin Chaoyang's arrival. Everyone in the funeral industry couldn't do without it, but everyone felt it was unlucky.
Nowadays, there is a well-known writer like Lam Chaoyang in Hong Kong who is willing to write about the funeral industry. Xiao Zhicheng feels that even if it does not make his own name famous, it will be a good thing for the industry.
He chatted with Lin Chaoyang for a while and invited Lin Chaoyang to the office upstairs.
The Xiao family's business is no longer limited to the funeral industry. He does not often appear at Xiangjiang Funeral Home, but he knows the business inside the home very well. After chatting with Lin Chaoyang for a while, he specially took Lin Chaoyang for a tour.
Freezers, columbarium, mourning hall, funeral hall—·
After walking all morning, Lin Chaoyang learned a lot about the inside story of the funeral industry, but after staying in the funeral parlor for a long time, he always felt that he was infected with the smell of decay.
At noon, Xiao Zhicheng invited Lin Chaoyang to dinner.
When I walked out of the funeral parlor, the sun was at the top of the sky, and the sunshine shone on me, which suddenly dispelled the gloom in Lin Chaoyang's heart.
After ordering the food, Xiao Zhicheng saw Lin Chaoyang sniffing the smell on his shoulder intentionally or unintentionally, and said with a smile: "This is Lin Sheng's first time coming to a funeral parlor. He must not be used to the atmosphere and smell here, right?"
Lin Chaoyang nodded truthfully, "A bit. I used to think that the funeral industry should be viewed with a normal perspective and mentality, but after getting closer, it is inevitable that I will still feel a little uncomfortable psychologically. And -"
Lin Chaoyang sniffed his nose and said, "It does seem to smell like smoke or oil, I can't really put my finger on it."
"Have you ever had barbecue Linsheng? The funeral parlor has to cremate the body, and the smell is similar to the smoke from barbecue. But our equipment is better, it's very light!"
While Xiao Zhicheng was talking, a piece of barbecued pork rice was served. Lin Chaoyang suddenly lost his appetite while looking at the rice.
Xiao Zhicheng ate very deliciously, and while eating, he told Lin Chaoyang some interesting things he encountered in the funeral parlor when he was a child.
In people's stereotypes, funeral parlors have always been the birthplace of horror stories, but in Xiao Zhicheng's story, they were all ordinary things.
"Didn't Xiao Sheng have any unusual experiences in all these years?" Lin Chaoyang asked curiously.
Xiao Zhicheng said with a smile: "In our line of work, it's impossible to say you don't believe in ghosts and gods, but the most important thing is to respect them and stay away from them. The staff in my library often say they have seen them, but I see them all jumping around.
, it’s nothing.”
Listening to his words, Lin Chaoyang laughed. Xiao Zhicheng's words indeed made sense.
The reason why stories about ghosts and gods scare people is mostly because of the occurrence of scary things. If a person can tell you vividly and vividly that he has seen ghosts, then what is there to be afraid of?
Xiao Zhicheng is a busy man, so being able to spare a whole morning to accompany Lin Chaoyang to visit the funeral parlor is already a great respect.
After eating, Xiao Zhicheng asked the staff of the funeral home to apply for a work permit for Lin Chaoyang, allowing him to come in and out at will and communicate with the staff at the home at any time.
Then he apologized and went to do other things.
According to the staff, funeral parlors always have frequent situations at night. If Lin Chaoyang wants to accumulate materials, he should come at night, and he can also follow the footman to collect the body.
Lin Chaoyang thought for a while, it was only his first day here, so he should take it step by step, and don't play so hard right away and go home in the evening.
After arriving home, he ran to the bathroom and took a shower. He applied shower gel several times all over his body, almost balding his skin.
Tao Yushu teased him, "Don't you always say that you are an atheist? Do you want to treat life and death with a normal mind?"
"Easier said than done!" Lin Chaoyang sighed.
In the next few days, Lin Chaoyang continued to collect remains at Xiangjiang Funeral Home. After two days of adapting, he began to follow the workers to collect the remains.
There are basically three types of places to go: residential homes, hospitals and police station rooms (morgues).
Going to residents' homes is relatively the most comfortable job. Most of the deceased passed away peacefully. The family members looked sad, but mostly acted rationally and generously.
When you go to the hospital, the next thing you will notice is that most of the deceased died of illness, their remains are not very pretty, the cries of their family members are even more pitiful, and there are quarrels from time to time.
The work in the house is the last thing any worker wants to do. The ones we receive are often people who have encountered misfortunes. Some of the corpses are in pieces and have been patched up by Uncle Fu (forensic assistant). It is too horrible to look at.
However, there is an advantage to this kind of corpse. The makeup artist can reshape the corpse and earn more money for incense.
Make-up artist Ah Lian came to Hong Kong in the 1970s and was brought into the industry by her aunt. At first she was complacent about making more money, but later she realized what a path of no return she had taken.
She was almost forty years old and still unmarried. She was always full of low self-esteem. From time to time she lamented that her aunt had tricked her and she would never be able to escape the fate of dealing with the dead.
Alian likes to deal with Lin Chaoyang. She said that Lin Chaoyang is the richest man she has ever met in her life.
Of course, except for the dead, most of the funerals of wealthy people in Xiangjiang are held in Xiangjiang funeral parlors.
After helping to carry the body for several days, Lin Chaoyang felt that the muscles in his arms had been developed.
Lifting a body is a strenuous task. It weighed more than 100 pounds before and after life, but actually lifting it made a huge difference.
Ah Cheng said it was because the deceased had not fulfilled his wish and was unwilling to leave. Ah Hao scolded him for talking nonsense.
"It's obviously lighter. It's 21 grams lighter because the soul ascends to heaven. This is what Christianity says." Ahao said to Lin Chaoyang.
Lin Chaoyang felt that both of them were talking nonsense. They didn't even understand junior high school physics. It was obviously due to the shift in the center of gravity.
Ah Hao and Ah Cheng are the workers responsible for collecting the remains.
Remaining bodies are usually collected by two workers, one of whom works part-time as a driver. The worker is like a makeup artist and has a very high salary, 12,000 Hong Kong dollars a month, and his or her family will also take care of them, making them a high-income group.
But Ah Hao said that if he was given another chance to choose, he would never do a piece of work.
Lin Chaoyang asked him why. He said that his daughter was not close to him, and his wife said that he smelled like death. The more she talked about it, the more pitiful she became.
Because they often work at night, Ah Hao and Ah Cheng are both a little nagging, but Lin Chaoyang's joining has made them cheerful a lot.
They often asked Lin Chaoyang to talk about the strange situations he encountered in the process of work, and said that they would provide Lin Chaoyang with writing materials, but what they talked about were all ghosts and ghosts, most of which Lin Chaoyang could not use.
However, there are some that can be used. For example, Ah Hao said that he had seen family members quarreling at the birth and death registration office over who should pay the two yuan death certificate fee.
There was also a funeral shed built at home that collapsed. Later generations thought it was the angry spirit of an elder in heaven, and they were so frightened that they peed their pants.
He was admitted to the hospital on the spot.
There are so many kinds.
Following Ah Hao and Ah Cheng, who had been collecting the bodies for a week, Lin Chaoyang changed the process and ran to follow the busy funeral.
Before World War II, cremation was an unethical thing in Hong Kong. After all, the Chinese value "the hair and skin of the body are given to parents and do not dare to be damaged." It was not until the 1950s that it was gradually accepted by Hong Kong people.
Funerals have also changed a lot over the years, as high-rise buildings have gradually become more numerous, and funeral sheds have become less and less common. They have basically become the exclusive property of people with luxury homes.
Because only they have land to build a funeral shed, and they are not afraid of disturbing their neighbors.
However, Lin Chaoyang was busy with the funeral, and his work was similar to before. Instead of carrying the body, he had to carry the coffin. He only had to carry it a short distance.
In recent years, it has become popular in Hong Kong to have relatives and friends support the funeral procession. This is a pure Western tradition. Most of the time, eight male peers or descendants support the funeral procession.
After several days of drinking alcohol, Lin Chaoyang ended his interview at the Xiangjiang Funeral Home.
When leaving the Xiangjiang Funeral Home, Ah Lian, Ah Hao, and Ah Cheng came to say goodbye to him and asked Lin Chaoyang to write them into the novel no matter what.
Lin Chaoyang said that it is okay to write it into the novel, but you will become famous in the future, and everyone will know that you are in this business.
The three of them fell silent and never mentioned the things written into the novel again.
They stood in front of the funeral home and waved to Lin Chaoyang, their faces pale and weak, like three Ah Piao.
After leaving the funeral parlor, Lin Chaoyang went to take a sauna to wash away the fatigue from his body before returning home.
As soon as he entered the house, he saw Tao Yushu beating Dongdong. He was beating Dongdong so hard that the wolf didn't know. Anyway, the little fat man cried heartbrokenly and begged for mercy again and again.
"Mom, I was wrong, Mom, I never dare to do it again!"
Tao Yushu couldn't bear to hear this. As soon as he stopped, he saw the little fat man stopped crying and glanced at her secretly.
At this moment, she didn't know that he was acting, so she beat him even harder.
Tao Yumo on the side hugged Yan Yan and covered her eyes with a look of intolerance.
Chapter completed!