Literary Master 1978

The Little New Year has passed in a blink of an eye. It was dark in the afternoon and it started to snow. In the evening, Li Hanxiang, who was busy filming "Fire Dragon", came to Lin Chaoyang for a drink.

"Fire Dragon" started shooting in December. It has been two months now, and the shooting progress has just passed half.

Seeing that there was less than a week left before the Chinese New Year, Li Hanxiang gave the crew a holiday.

These days, transportation is inconvenient. Half of his crew members are from Hong Kong, so they must return to Hong Kong in advance to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The crew will be on holiday for twelve days.

As for Li Hanxiang, he will not return to Hong Kong this year.

This time, when filming "Fire Dragon", he gave the roles of Empress 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 Chinese New Year in the mainland.

After chatting about movies and the Chinese New Year for a while, Li Hanxiang took out a few stacks of foreign exchange certificates from his bag and handed them to Lin Chaoyang.

Some time ago, "The Chess Master" was released in Hong Kong and was a success. Li Hanxiang promised Lin Chaoyang and others that he would give him a red envelope after the copyright in Southeast Asia was sold. Today he came to fulfill his promise.

These foreign exchange certificates were exchanged by Li Hanxiang with Hong Kong dollars. He knew that Lin Chaoyang was not convenient to keep foreign exchange, so he exchanged foreign exchange certificates considerately.

Foreign exchange certificates worth 300,000 Hong Kong dollars are a big deal.

Lin Chaoyang looked at these foreign exchange certificates and asked, "Old Li, such a big red envelope?"

Li Hanxiang glanced at him, "Why? You are a glutton, and you still think that the money is too much?"

"I'm afraid you will set a trap for me."

When Li Hanxiang heard this, he pulled back his hands and was about to take back all the foreign exchange certificates.

Lin Chaoyang stopped him immediately, "I've already given it, how can I take it back?"

After accepting the foreign exchange coupons, Lin Chaoyang joked, "It seems that you have made a lot of money this time!"

When it comes to making money, Li Hanxiang's teeth are grinning to his ears, revealing two big buck teeth, "Not bad, not bad."

Li Hanxiang spent money and effort on "Behind the Curtain", but he could only smell the money made by the movie, which made Li Hanxiang very angry.

When it came to the movie "The Chess Master", Li Hanxiang took the risk to invest in the filming with Yanying Studio in the name of New Kunlun Pictures, and the return he brought was also huge.

Although the box office of this movie in Hong Kong is not as high as "Behind the Curtain", its investment is also low.

If converted into Hong Kong dollars, it is only 3 million investment.

The distribution income of the movie in the mainland has nothing to do with New Kunlun Pictures, but the box office and copyright income in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are accounted for by New Kunlun.

Putting aside the profits of China Film, the success of "The Chess Master" brought more than 6 million Hong Kong dollars to New Kunlun Film.

You should 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 1000%.

It's really a big profit!

An investment of 600,000 Hong Kong dollars in exchange for a return of 6 million Hong Kong dollars, which is the most profitable investment since Li Hanxiang started working in the film industry.

Moreover, he didn't worry about the movie much. Except for a little effort in the release in Hong Kong and overseas distribution, he almost made money lying down.

This money is really easy to make!

Li Hanxiang also understood that if Lin Chaoyang hadn't arranged to make "The Chess Master" a co-production, he would not have had the opportunity to make money this time.

So he was particularly generous in the matter of red envelopes.

In addition to this reason, he also had his own little thoughts.

Having known Lin Chaoyang for three or four years, how could he not see Lin Chaoyang's talent in film.

Not to mention the success of "Behind the Curtain" and "The Chess Master" in Hong Kong, even "The Shepherd" and "The Wreath under the Mountain" that Lin Chaoyang collaborated with Xie Jin earlier, didn't they also achieve great success?

Li Hanxiang boasted that he had been in the film industry for decades, and he had never seen a screenwriter as comprehensive as Lin Chaoyang. Not only did his works have a variety of styles, but the most important thing was that he could transcend geographical restrictions, which was the most valuable.

If the success of a work was accidental, the success of so many works in a row was undoubtedly a testament to his strength.

With four consecutive movies selling well, if it were in Hong Kong, Lin Chaoyang would inevitably be dubbed the "screenwriter master" by the media.

Such a screenwriter is a golden goose that can lay golden eggs for any film and television company, and it should not be missed.

But Li Hanxiang also knew that with his strength, he could not recruit Lin Chaoyang anyway, so it was better to play the emotional card.

300,000 Hong Kong dollars compared to 6 million Hong Kong dollars is certainly not much, but in terms of the nature of the red envelope, it is definitely a big deal.

"With your talent in film, it's a pity not to do this business." Li Hanxiang said.

"The film industry is not like writing. Writing is an individual creation, while film is a collective creation. No matter how outstanding an individual's talent is, he cannot control the overall situation."

Lin Chaoyang's cognition is very clear, and Li Hanxiang can't help but nod.

"That's the truth, but outstanding talent always has a considerable effect. The key is, seeing that movies make so much money, aren't you jealous?"

"Jealous! So I won't write scripts, so that you black-hearted capitalists won't be able to make money from my scripts."

This is of course a joke. Lin Chaoyang doesn't write movie scripts mainly because the income is too low, especially now that he has obtained a royalty contract. As long as the work is popular, the money he earns is much higher than writing scripts for others.

"You can open a film company and invest like me. Wouldn't you make more money this way?" Li Hanxiang advised.

Lin Chaoyang said faintly: "Movies are risky, and investment should be cautious. How did you run back from Taiwan? Have you forgotten?"

Lin Chaoyang's words hit Li Hanxiang's lungs.

In the 1960s, he left Shaw Brothers because of conflicts and went to Taiwan to set up the National Alliance Film Company, with the support of Dianmao behind the scenes.

Nowadays, no one knows about Dianmao, but in the Hong Kong and Taiwan film circles in the 1950s, Dianmao was a hegemon. To what extent was he domineering? Even Shaw Brothers, a giant in later generations, could only be suppressed by him.

If it weren't for the plane crash in 1964 when Dianmao founder Luk Yun-to was on board, Shaw Brothers would not have dominated Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1960s and 1970s.

In that plane crash, 57 people including Dianmao boss Luk Yun-to, Luk Yun-to's newlywed wife, and Dianmao executives were all killed. The once glorious Dianmao was almost uprooted by this accident, completely rewriting the history of Hong Kong and Taiwan movies.

After Lu Yuntao passed away, the films produced by the Guolian Film Company founded by Li Hanxiang failed one after another, and he lost all his money in the end. He had no choice but to return to Shaw Brothers to continue working.

The failure of Guolian can be regarded as the biggest regret of Li Hanxiang in his life. If there had not been the air crash in 1964, his Guolian might have been the overlord of the Taiwan Island film industry.

Lin Chaoyang's words were irrelevant. Li Hanxiang cursed for a long time until Lin Chaoyang toasted him with two glasses of wine, and he calmed down.

"If it weren't for Boss Lu's death..."

Although he calmed down, Li Hanxiang's years of depression were brought out by Lin Chaoyang. After drinking two glasses of wine, he kept talking like Xianglin Sao.

In his context, Lu Yuntao was probably the white moonlight that men wanted but couldn't get when they were young, and Boss Shaw was, of course, the yellow-faced woman who squeezed him clean.

After listening to him nagging for a long time, Lin Chaoyang regretted hiring him.

Li Hanxiang was talking about his success in Taiwan, and suddenly said, "Oh, right? You don't know yet, do you? You are famous in Taiwan now."

Lin Chaoyang laughed, "Why? Did they really ban me?"

"Of course they can't ban me. You are in the mainland, not in Hong Kong. If they really issue a ban order, it would be tantamount to humiliating yourself and making a fool of yourself.

The last time you spoke in Hong Kong, it did spread to the island and attracted some people's attention, but that's not what I want to talk about."

Lin Chaoyang asked, "What's 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 narrowed his eyes, "And there is more than one person."

"That's it? Can't they buy it in Hong Kong as well?"

"You didn't understand." Li Hanxiang's expression was mysterious, "My friends are all in the cultural circle, and one of them is in office. Don't you understand?"

Li Hanxiang's words had reached this point, and it was impossible for Lin Chaoyang not to understand.

Judging from this, "Crossing the Guandong" should have become a little popular in the cultural circle of Taiwan.

"I haven't been back to Hong Kong for the past two months, but I talked to Hu Juren, who said that your "Crossing the Guandong" is quite popular in Hong Kong and has received rave reviews. I guess this trend has spread to Taiwan."

Hu Juren is the editor-in-chief of "Ming Pao Monthly". Lin Chaoyang had met him once when he visited Hong Kong with a delegation of mainland writers last year.

"As for why they don't buy it in Hong Kong. You don't understand. People want to read the original version."

After explaining, Li Hanxiang continued: "They can find me to help carry the book, so you should understand how popular your book is in Taiwan. Of course, it must be spread underground now."

Lin Chaoyang certainly understands this point. The relationship between Taiwan and the mainland has not improved yet. Any people, things, and things from the mainland are taboos.

After talking about this, Li Hanxiang said, "Sign a few books for me later so I can send them to others."

Lin Chaoyang joked, "Be careful not to send the books, or they will think you are wanted as a TG again."

"Do you think I am still a good person there now?" Li Hanxiang said without any burden.

Ever since the news that he went to the mainland to shoot "Behind the Curtain" was reported back to Taiwan, he has been blacklisted by Taiwan.

After talking and laughing, and drinking three rounds, Li Hanxiang left Lin Chaoyang's house.

After he left, Lin Chaoyang handed the pile of foreign exchange certificates to Tao Yushu.

"So many foreign exchange coupons? How can I use them all!"

"Red envelopes. Use them slowly. You can use them if your relatives or friends need them."

Tao Yushu put away all the foreign exchange coupons and asked, "Why did Lao Li give you such a big red envelope?"

"To win me over. This time, "The Chess Master" 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 do things that 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 roll her eyes at Lin Chaoyang. She thought it was a roll of eyes, but in Lin Chaoyang's eyes, it was a thousand kinds of charm. He hugged Tao Yushu's waist and put his mouth close to her.

One night of romance is not to be mentioned.

The Spring Festival in 1985 came a little later than usual. In the next few days, Lin Chaoyang was busy buying New Year's goods.

Two days before the Chinese New Year, Lin Chaoyang drove to the Tao family to deliver New Year's goods. He heard from Tao's father that Zhu Guangqian had been ill recently.

He then carried his things and ran to Yannan Garden to visit the patient. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Zhu Guangqian leaning against the bed with a haggard face.

After asking how he was, Lin Chaoyang said a few words of concern, and Zhu Guangqian replied: "It's okay, he won't die!"

"Why do you keep talking about death? Take good care of yourself, and you will be a brave man again when spring comes!"

Zhu Guangqian was unhappy again when he heard this, "If it's not spring, you're not a brave man?"

"Yes, yes, you are really a man of iron!"

How could Zhu Guangqian not hear his irony? He scolded him and asked about something he was very concerned about recently.

"I heard that Jiang Zhujiu was able to win three games against the Japanese team because he read your "God of Chess"? "

Lin Chaoyang: ? ? ?