Literary Master 1978

Du Feng wanted to make his business bigger and stronger, so he asked Lin Chaoyang and his wife for help. It was within the capabilities of relatives and it didn't take much effort, so it was natural to help.

Du Feng has a shrewd mind and a ruthless vision. If he can start a project like a clothing city at this time, the benefits in the next ten or twenty years will be absolutely astonishing.

But precisely because of this, Lin Chaoyang had to think more long-term.

In Du Feng's view now, the clothing city may just be a project with an investment of 500,000 yuan and a potential to make money. But what if this clothing city becomes rich every day in a few years?

The clothing city project was initiated by Du Feng, and he will definitely be the one who puts the most effort into it in the future. At that time, will he still be willing to let Tao Yushu, who only participated in the investment, take away half of his gold?

The human heart is not enough for a snake to swallow an elephant.

Lin Chaoyang did not question Du Feng's character, but he never tested human nature, so he came up with such a plan.

Providing money for a joint venture is considered as help. If the project is really successful, the dividends in the next few years and the premium when the stock is withdrawn are their rewards.

After Lin Chaoyang finished explaining his plan, Du Feng's face was uncertain. He naturally understood Lin Chaoyang's intention. After a long time, he said unwillingly: "Brother-in-law, you really underestimate me!"

"I'm not looking down on you, I just don't want to hurt my feelings. You are still young, and you will understand in the future that people's hearts are fickle!" Lin Chaoyang said calmly.

"I am Du Feng..." Du Feng raised his neck and said these three words loudly, but he swallowed the rest of the words.

He wanted to say categorically, "I, Du Feng, will never change," but in the end he found that the words were feeble.

He was silent for a moment and said: "Brother-in-law, I understand your good intentions, so just do what you want."

When he said this, Du Feng had only one thought in his mind.

He will use time to prove that he, Du Feng, will not change.

When going to bed at night, Tao Yushu said to Lin Chaoyang: "What you said during the day was a bit hard for Du Feng to accept."

"I know it's hard for him to accept, but it's just a temporary face issue for young people. It's better than breaking up with each other later."

Tao Yushu had never seen the ups and downs of the business world and the evil people's hearts. She asked with some uncertainty: "Do you think people can really change?"

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment, "Maybe, maybe not, but are you willing to bet?"

Tao Yushu stopped talking.

In the next few days, Tao Yumo had a new job, which was to take Du Feng out and wander around every day, euphemistically called inspection.

Tao Yushu was busy registering the company and promised Du Feng that he would invest in the clothing city, and it would definitely be in the name of Xiangjiang Company.

Lin Chaoyang also asked Tao Yushu to register a cultural company. As the number of his works and the number of adaptations continued to increase, managing these affairs had occupied more and more of Lin Chaoyang's energy.

He thought about it and decided to set up a company to find someone to handle these matters. Lin Chaoyang had already found this "person".

"I will give you another 1,000 yuan in pocket money from now on, and you will be in charge of this cultural company."

Tao Yumo looked at his brother-in-law with a blank expression.

What's going on? Give pocket money again?

No, you have to work more?

"When you have time, get familiar with the laws here in Xiangjiang. It is different from ours. It will come in handy in the future."

Lin Chaoyang explained a lot to Tao Yumo. She digested it for a while and said reluctantly: "Brother-in-law, I don't want to do it."

"You don't want the pocket money?"

When it came to pocket money, Tao Yumo hesitated, "It's too much work."

"Is it much?"

Lin Chaoyang, who has turned into a black-hearted capitalist, has lost his empathy for "working people".

"The cultural company has nothing to do. It just manages the copyright of my books. It sounds complicated, but in fact it only needs to be used twice a year. This is a thousand yuan of pocket money a month, so think about it!"

After his gradual temptation, Tao Yumo couldn't resist the temptation in the end. After all, he had 1,000 yuan more pocket money!

After August, the weather in Xiangjiang is still hot, with daytime temperatures still exceeding 30 degrees.

Recently, Lin Chaoyang has been staying at home, writing the script adaptation of "A Better Tomorrow" that he promised Tsui Hark.

He originally said it would be two months, but he has been busy in the past few days and has not started writing the script. Now that he has time, he must hurry up and finish the script.

This morning, Lin Chaoyang received a call from Dong Qiao, asking him to have morning tea, but Lin Chaoyang knew that there must be something to talk about.

The two made an appointment at the Lu Yu Teahouse in Central. This teahouse, established in the 1960s, still maintains the style of a Hong Kong-style teahouse. The interior decoration is antique and the waiters are all wearing Tang suits.

When they met, they exchanged a few words. Dong Qiao asked Lin Chaoyang what he was busy with recently. Lin Chaoyang told him about writing a script for Tsui Hark.

After hearing this, Dong Qiao praised: "It seems that you are really blooming in both novels and scripts now!"

In his words, there was appreciation for Lin Chaoyang's talent, and part of it was surprise at Lin Chaoyang's ability to adapt to the language and cultural environment of Xiangjiang so quickly.

Almost all the literati who have been active in Hong Kong's cultural circles in recent years are from the mainland, but there are very few literati who can thrive as soon as they arrive like Lin Chaoyang.

After the pleasantries, Dong Qiao talked about the publication of "The Truman Show".

Ming Pao Publishing House and Huacheng Publishing House coincided with each other and also wanted to hold a book signing for "The Truman Show".

Dong Qiao explained the reason why they did this. First, they wanted to take advantage of the popularity of the movie of the same name "The Truman Show", and second, Lin Chaoyang is now more famous in Hong Kong than in the past two years.

If the publicity work is done well, it will definitely drive the sales of books, especially after the release of "The Truman Show", the bonus will be even greater.

"I think it would be best to invite Xu Guanwen. If the character of "Truman" is brought to reality, it will give readers a better experience."

Dong Qiao said his thoughts, and Lin Chaoyang heard the meaning of freeloading from it.

He deliberately said: "Invite Xu Guanwen? You Ming Pao Publishing House are really willing to spend money!"

Dong Qiao really said: "Chaoyang, can you discuss it with him? Attending the book signing event is actually a kind of publicity for the movie."

"I invite? Isn't this inappropriate?" Lin Chaoyang shook his head decisively.

It's fine to ask him to cooperate with the book signing event, but he also wants him to use his personal connections to invite people. This calculation is too cunning.

Seeing that Lin Chaoyang was determined and had no room for negotiation, Dong Qiao hesitated for a while and made a concession, offering a friendly price to Xu Guanwen to stand on the stage.

"Chaoyang, this is indeed beneficial to both parties, so just help." Dong Qiao said earnestly.

Lin Chaoyang pondered and said, "I may not be able to invite him."

This was of course a polite remark. Lin Chaoyang and Xu Guanwen have a good relationship now, and they have the cooperation relationship of "The Truman Show". Ming Pao Publishing House is willing to pay, so Xu Guanwen has no reason not to agree.

The next day, Lin Chaoyang went to the Golden Harvest Studios to talk to Xu Guanwen about this matter, and Xu Guanwen was indeed very interested.

The novel "The Truman Show" was published in Hong Kong, and inviting him, the male lead of the movie version, to attend was not within his consideration of the impact on the sales of the novel.

He thought that such an appearance would definitely make the headlines of Entertainment Weekly, and it would also help readers to infuse their good impressions of the characters in the novel into the characters he played.

Whether from the perspective of film promotion or the future release of the film, this is a good thing.

Xu Guanwen agreed without hesitation.

After talking about this, Lin Chaoyang stayed on the set for a while. It happened that Maggie Cheung had a role today.

"Ka!"

"Ka!"

"Ka!"

Her performance was still stable. Lin Chaoyang listened to the crew chatting. Maggie Cheung was recently nicknamed "Ka Jie" by the script supervisor.

As long as there was a notice for her today, the workload of the script supervisors would explode directly. In order to express their dissatisfaction, they privately gave Maggie Cheung such a nickname, and it soon spread among the crew.

While the crew members were chatting, Maggie Cheung's NG number soared rapidly, and the blood pressure of director Ann Hui also soared.

But before Ann Hui got angry, Maggie Cheung's tears were already rolling in her eyes. Seeing this, Ann Hui could only wave her hand helplessly and let the crew take a break.

Then Lin Chaoyang saw Maggie Cheung wipe away her tears and run to Tao Yushu to rub against her.

Those who don't know would think that she acted so well and ran to ask for credit.

A few days later, the script was finished and Lin Chaoyang asked Tsui Hark to meet.

After learning that the script was finished, Tsui Hark was overjoyed and specially set the meeting place at the Swiss restaurant of the Peninsula Hotel, saying that he would treat Lin Chaoyang to a big meal.

After the meeting, he and Shi Nansheng were still dressed in their unique styles. Lin Chaoyang also brought Tao Yushu today, and the two women chatted together.

Tsui Hark discussed with Lin Chaoyang while reading the script.

The later version of "A Better Tomorrow" by John Woo actually only had an outline when it started filming. Even Chow Yun-fat's Mark was originally just a cameo. It was only because he felt right in his performance that John Woo admired him very much that he was given more roles and became the male lead.

The stunning effect of the final film was inseparable from the collision of inspiration between Tsui Hark and John Woo during filming and production.

Now Tsui Hark asked Lin Chaoyang to write the script. Lin Chaoyang copied the standard answer. After reading the script, Tsui Hark couldn't help but applaud. He couldn't help but feel a sense of mutual appreciation.

"Chaoyang, you really understand me!"

Tsui Hark held Lin Chaoyang's hand and said excitedly.

Lin Chaoyang got goose bumps and quickly pulled his hand away.

"As long as you are satisfied, what are your plans next?"

Tsui Hark suppressed his excitement and said, "Next month, "Swordsman" will start shooting. This movie may have to wait until after the New Year."

"Will you be the director yourself? Or find someone else?"

This is the question that Lin Chaoyang cares about. Although Bai Ge Wu only has three tricks, he is very good at it. He is indeed better than Tsui Hark in shooting this kind of subject matter.

"It's not confirmed yet..."

Tsui Hark put his hand on the script and told Lin Chaoyang about the earliest origin of his idea of ​​adapting "A Better Tomorrow". It turned out that this movie was an idea that came out of a conversation with John Woo when he was on a business trip to Taiwan last year.

He met John Woo at a filmmaker gathering in 1979. At that time, John Woo was already a well-known new director in the Hong Kong film industry.

But Tsui Hark was still unknown and had just filmed a martial arts TV series "The Swordsman" on Jiayi TV.

John Woo had watched "The Swordsman" and was particularly impressed by a shot in the TV series. A knight, after fighting with a sword, threw the sword on the snow, and the bright red blood on the sword tip was thrown on the white snow.

When he learned that Tsui Hark was the director, he immediately took a liking to him, and the two of them became friends.

In 1980, Cinema City was established. One of the founders, Michael Hui, tried to persuade John Woo to go there to make a film, but at that time John Woo was already tied to Golden Harvest and it was difficult to get out, so he recommended his friend Tsui Hark to Cinema City.

Tsui Hark's move was like a dragon entering the sea, and in just a few years he became a hot young director in the Hong Kong film industry.

On the other hand, John Woo, who recommended him to Cinema City, was tired of Golden Harvest always asking him to make comedies, so he went to tinker with gunfight films, and made two gunfight films in a row, both of which flopped at the box office.

When filming his second gunfight film, "Tough Guys," the crew had another accident, resulting in an actor being shot in the thigh.

After this film, Golden Harvest officially terminated its contract with John Woo.

At this time, Tsui Hark brought John Woo to Cinema City, but because of the failure of the previous two films, Cinema City did not dare to reuse John Woo, but sent him to Taiwan Island to be a producer in the branch.

"The Xiao Ma Ge in your script reminds me of Ah Sen. The temperament of this script is very consistent with his experience in recent years.

If he is given the chance to shoot, unexpected sparks may be created."

After Tsui Hark finished speaking his mind, he said to Lin Chaoyang: "These are still my own ideas. Ah Sen will return to Hong Kong next month. I will discuss it with him then. He has no films to shoot now, so he will definitely agree. The main reason is that Cinema City is a bit difficult to deal with."

Lin Chaoyang nodded, understanding what he meant.

Behind the film studio are Boss Lei and Cinema City. Boss Lei does not care about specific matters, so Cinema City has a great influence on the film studio.

John Woo now has a reputation as a "box office poison" and has been declining for several years. Cinema City has no shortage of directors, so it is difficult for them to take the risk of using John Woo, a bad director.

"Everything depends on human effort. I believe in your vision." Lin Chaoyang said this.

He did not have a good impression of Wu Baige. This guy was very close to the film capital of Taiwan Island in his later life. When filming "Red Cliff", he did a lot of things to suppress mainland actors.

But he also understood that Wu Baige was indeed a great director. The most important thing was to help make money. You can't give up because of a person.

His words made Tsui Hark excited again. Feeling his deep trust, Tsui Hark drank a glass of wine with him, and almost shouted "good brothers for life"!

The next morning, Tao Yushu went to the film studio on behalf of Lin Chaoyang to sign an agreement, and the script issue was temporarily over.

Time passed quickly and it was already mid-September. Two letters came from home in a row, both of which were concerned about Tao Yushu's stomach.

She is now more than eight months pregnant, and the months are getting bigger and bigger. During this time in Hong Kong, Tao Yushu's pregnancy check-up has not been delayed, and the child's development indicators are all normal, but the old people are still worried.

The couple discussed and planned to return to Yanjing before the National Day.

That night, the two called Tao Yumo to the living room, told them about their arrangements, and asked Tao Yumo's thoughts.

"Do you want to stay in Hong Kong or go back to Yanjing?"

Tao Yumo's eyes flashed with joy when she heard this, and her restless thoughts were revealed, but she is now more sophisticated than before.

She pretended to be calm and said: "What's the point of being alone in Hong Kong? I will go back to Yanjing with you."

Tao Yushu immediately said: "You can actually stay in Hong Kong, and someone needs to take care of you here."

"Ah? Then when can I go home?"

Tao Yumo pretended to be embarrassed, and her acting skills were comparable to Sister Ka.

Tao Yushu dispelled her fantasies with just one sentence, "No one will give you pocket money when you go home!"

"Sister, brother-in-law, there are so many things to do in the company in Hong Kong, and we really can't do without people. I'll stay here for a while."

Tao Yumo immediately expressed her attitude, like a soldier ready to go to the battlefield at any time.

Tao Yushu was very satisfied with her attitude and said, "Okay. Then it's settled. You will take care of the company's affairs in Hong Kong for a while."

Seeing her say this, Comrade Yumo couldn't help but protest against this bureaucracy and formalism, muttering, "You have already decided, why are you asking me?"

Lin Chaoyang also reminded her, "Go get a driver's license when you have time."

"Learn again?"

Before, Lin Chaoyang asked her to familiarize herself with the laws of Hong Kong, and now he asked her to learn to drive. Tao Yumo felt under great pressure.

This little pocket money is really hard to get!

"What are you afraid of if I reimburse you? Others can't even beg for this opportunity."

"Okay."

Tao Yumo thought about it. Once Lin Chaoyang and his wife left, Xiao Dongzi would definitely leave too. By then, there would be no...呸呸呸呸 in the mountains. She was the one in charge of the world. She had plenty of time. It was nothing to learn to drive.

After saying these serious things, Tao Yushu couldn't help but remind Tao Yumo a few words. It was nothing more than paying attention to safety when going out, not going to those dangerous places, and not making friends with people of questionable character.

Tao Yumo asked: "Is Maggie Cheung a questionable character? She wanted to ask me out shopping the other day!"

Tao Yushu's face was serious. "Ignore her. Instead of shopping, you might as well think about how to act."

Her tone was like a teacher asking a top student to isolate the poor student in the class.

Lin Chaoyang looked aside and thought that she treated you as a close sister when she was on the set. You are too unkind!

The next day, Lin Chaoyang and his wife went out together to buy gifts for their family.

While shopping in Cityplaza, Tao Yushu saw the bookstore on the first floor and said, "I only remembered when I saw the bookstore that "The Truman Show" was released in Hong Kong, right?"

"Counting the time, I should be on my way." Lin Chaoyang said.

The publication of "The Truman Show" in Hong Kong is far less popular than in the mainland. In the cultural atmosphere of Hong Kong, pure literature has never been mainstream.

Before publication, Ming Pao Publishing House placed advertisements in its own newspapers and some literary magazines, but the audience for these advertisements was mainly limited to literary readers.

As for the book signing that Dong Qiao mentioned before, Ming Pao Publishing House has a different idea than Huacheng Publishing House. They plan to wait until there is some buzz and response after the novel is released for a few days before holding it.

The couple walked into the bookstore while talking. The bookstore in Taikoo Shing Center is very stylish and specializes in original English books. This is certainly not because Taikoo is a heroic developer.

It’s because the customer base of Cityplaza is mostly the middle class, and these people have always been proud of reading English books.

However, this does not mean that there are no Chinese books in the bookstore. Lin Chaoyang and the others searched the bookstore and actually found "The Truman Show" on the bookshelf dedicated to new books.

"It seems like the sales are pretty good." Tao Yushu said happily.

It looked like there should have been several copies of "The Truman Show" placed there, but now only one was left there.

As she spoke, she took down the remaining book and flipped through it.

The vertical version, traditional Chinese characters, fonts and page turning from right to left are definitely a "retrograde" reading experience for mainland readers.

But Tao Yushu didn't care. She happily read the book for a while, and then asked the bookstore salesperson, "Are there more copies of "The Truman Show"?"

"Wait a minute ma'am, we need to check the inventory."

The two waited for a short while, and the salesperson pushed a trolley to deliver the book, which made Lin Chaoyang feel familiar. He had been doing this job for several years.

"Just buy two books. It's troublesome to carry the books through customs and they're so heavy." Lin Chaoyang persuaded Tao Yushu when he saw that Tao Yushu was making a big purchase.

In the end, Tao Yushu only took three copies, "We will keep one for ourselves and the remaining two can be used to give to friends."

The two of them were talking and paying the bill. Tao Yushu chuckled when he saw that another reader who entered the store picked up the "The Truman Show" that had just been restocked.

"I don't know how much this book can sell in Xiangjiang." Tao Yushu said to Lin Chaoyang after walking out of the bookstore.

"It doesn't matter how much he sells it, the money is collected anyway." Lin Chaoyang said easily.

"The Truman Show" was published in Hong Kong, with an initial printing of 15,000 copies. Ming Pao Publishing House has paid an advance of HK$150,000 in royalties.

This number is certainly not large compared to the domestic royalty base, but after all, Xiangjiang is only a small place.

And if it sells well, there will still be a lot of royalties in the future.

From these, Lin Chaoyang has successively received royalties from the publication of several previous books. Now the deposit of the couple's bank account in Hong Kong has exceeded 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars.

A few days later, the Wan Chai branch of Hong Kong Joint Publishing Bookstore was very busy from early morning, with many enthusiastic readers gathered inside and outside the bookstore.

Today is the day of Lin Chaoyang's new book signing, and these readers are all here for the signing.

The first time Lin Chaoyang's works came to Hong Kong was four years ago. It was entirely by chance that "The Death of Van Gogh" was brought here by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press.

From being unknown at the beginning, he later opened up the market with word-of-mouth. In addition, in the past two years, Lin Chaoyang has become more and more famous in Hong Kong due to the Academy Awards and various news.

"The Death of Van Gogh", "Enter Guandong" and "Chess Master", these works have gradually become best-sellers. The sales of these novels in Hong Kong are worthy of pride in the Hong Kong literary circle.

Not to mention the increase in fame, if we just talk about the popularity of the work, the publication of "Enter Guandong" in Xiangjiang must be regarded as a watershed.

Before "Into Guandong", Lin Chaoyang had gained some fame in the cultural circles of Hong Kong with "The Death of Van Gogh", and because he had been in the newspapers for a few days after winning the Academy Award, he did gain some fame in Hong Kong.

But this kind of popularity was actually mixed with some entertainment attributes and was not pure. At that time, some people in the cultural circles in Hong Kong believed that Lin Chaoyang's speeches to reporters were more like sensationalism and they did not think highly of him.

After "Crossing Guandong" was published in Xiangjiang, Lin Chaoyang's reputation in the cultural circles of Xiangjiang increased rapidly.

The reason is also very simple, it is that the novel is written so well that people have to admire it.

In the past year or so, almost all newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong that have anything to do with literature have published reviews or promotional articles about "Crossing the Guandong", with rave reviews and praise, otherwise "Flower City" would not be the same There isn’t that much material to reprint.

After years of accumulation, Lin Chaoyang's number of loyal readers in Xiangjiang is no less than those of well-known veteran writers. The lively scene at today's book signing is the best proof.

Throughout the morning, there was an endless queue of readers for the book signing. Although the momentum was far less massive than in the Mainland, given the literary environment of Hong Kong, it was extremely difficult to have such appeal.

Even Pan Yaoming, who came to support Lin Chaoyang today, was surprised when he saw such a scene.

From "Zhengwu Daily" to "Ocean Literature and Art", and then to Sanlian Bookstore, he has worked in literary newspapers, magazines, bookstores, and publishing houses, and has come into contact with countless writers.

In his impression, there are probably only a handful of Hong Kong writers who can have the appeal of Lin Chaoyang.

"I can't believe that Chaoyang, a mainland writer, can have such an influence among Hong Kong readers!"

Dong Qiao was also very pleased to see such a scene. It was worth the effort of Ming Pao Publishing House, and even paid Xu Guanwen to come to the platform.

Xu Guanwen had a notice today, so he could only come at noon.

He glanced at his watch. It was almost 11 o'clock now, and it was time to arrive.

Thinking of this in his heart, Dong Qiao found that there was some restlessness on the street not far away.

Less than a minute later, Xu Guanwen came to the door of Sanlian Bookstore surrounded by the crowd.

After all, he is a top-tier movie star in Hong Kong film industry. Xu Guanwen's arrival undoubtedly ignited the already hot atmosphere of the book signing event, and even stole the limelight from the author Lin Chaoyang.

Not only did the readers who were queuing up become excited, but Xu Guanwen's arrival also attracted a large number of enthusiastic citizens, who surrounded Sanlian Bookstore in three layers inside and outside.

Looking from outside the bookstore, the crowd was surging and rubbing shoulders with each other.

Seeing this scene, Dong Qiao hurriedly greeted the reporters from Ming Pao who were waiting on the side.

It cost a lot to invite Xu Guanwen to the book signing event today, and the purpose was of course to sell books.

But it was definitely not to sell books by relying on the celebrity stand at the book signing event. To be precise, it was to create momentum and publicity. Only in this way can the benefits be maximized.

Looking at the huge crowds of people in front of Sanlian Bookstore, Dong Qiao was proud.

This time the money was really not wasted!