1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 104: Let me tell you a Huangpu joke
"Director, the way you looked at me today was not right."

Zhai Yuan was sitting in the back seat of the car. He noticed that Peng Jiayan was frequently looking at him through the rearview mirror from the driver's seat, and he finally couldn't help but speak out.

Peng Jiayan was surprisingly enthusiastic today.

He took the initiative to drive to Biliyuan early in the morning and said he would take him to the Actors Guild to select actors.

"While You Were Sleeping" is different from "The Blind Girl's Lost Virginity Files". No matter how much the cost is cut, there are still nearly ten actors.

Most small independent production studios do not have any artists under their umbrella, so they can only contact the union to help hire people.

In order to have job opportunities, actors naturally have to register with the union, submit personal information and expected remuneration for selection.

"How could that be? I just thought you looked a little more handsome today."

Peng Jiayan held the steering wheel and laughed awkwardly.

Zhai Yuan raised his eyebrows.

Something is wrong. Are you coveting my body?
"Sister Jiayan, you are a good person."

No matter whether it is true or not, just give out a nice guy card first.

Peng Jiayan let out a puzzled "ah" and glanced at the rearview mirror, wondering why Zhai Yuan suddenly said something nice.

I'm just taking you to select actors. If you knew that I stayed up late to write the script these past two days, wouldn't you be so touched?

"But we are not suitable for each other. You are not my type."

Seeing that she didn't respond, Zhai Yuan added another sentence.

A sharp brake sound suddenly sounded.

The silver Honda Yucai stopped on the side of the road, and the body of the car was shaking.

Ten seconds later, Zhai Yuan covered his head and face, opened the car door and ran out.

"Just walk over there slowly, pounce!"

Accompanied by Peng Jiayan's angry roar, the car drove away, raising a cloud of dust.

"puff!"

Zhai Yuan spat, fixing his hair that was messed up by Peng Jiayan's claws, and muttered to himself, "You said it too bluntly and too hurtfully. Are you angry out of shame?"

……

By the time Zhai Yuan took a taxi and arrived at Ping An Building in Yau Ma Tei, Peng Jiayan's Honda had already been parked downstairs.

Get out of the car and look around.

Zhai Yuan saw the rich girl standing next to a trash can and smoking outside the parking lot.

Smiling, Zhai Yuan approached and lit a cigarette, smiling earnestly, "Director, what a coincidence, you are also smoking here."

Peng Jiayan put on a cold face, extinguished the long cigarette butt, turned around and walked towards the building.

Zhai Yuan took two quick puffs of the cigarette, hurriedly put it out, and quickly followed.

He took the elevator and went straight to the seventh floor. Even though they were in the same elevator, Peng Jiayan still didn't give him a good look.

Wouldn't love turn into hate?
Zhai Yuan glanced at Peng Jiayan, who was folding her arms and not saying a word, and thought with some worry.

The predecessor of Ping An Building was Ping An Theater. Later, due to poor business, it changed hands several times without any improvement, so it was demolished and converted into a building.

The so-called Actors Guild is actually a non-governmental organization without any institutional system. It rents a floor on the seventh floor of a building as its office.

The elevator door opened, Peng Jiayan walked out first, and Zhai Yuan followed closely behind her.

The two walked through the corridor and came to a door with a union sign.

Although it is a makeshift team, there are quite a few people. People working in the film and television industry come and go, and from time to time you can hear them talking about investment costs, shooting progress and other issues.

It's a pity that I didn't see any familiar faces.

Zhai Yuan's eyes moved through the crowd, trying to find a few big-name celebrities he knew and sign them while they were not yet famous, but in the end he got nothing.

"After you enter the door, make your own requests to the other party!"

As she was about to join the union, Peng Jiayan finally spoke in a cold and hard voice.

Zhai Yuan apologized with a smile: "Understood."

Peng Jiayan glanced at him, frowned, and added, "In addition to the female lead, we need a male lead and three male and four female supporting roles."

Zhai Yuan nodded repeatedly, looking well-behaved.

Peng Jiayan sighed helplessly: "Also, please don't be so sentimental in the future. I'm not interested in children."

As I walked into the Actors Guild, I was immediately greeted by a receptionist.

The staff member looked Zhai Yuan and Peng Jiayan up and down and asked with a smile, "Do you want to join the union or are you here to recruit people?"

"Help." Zhai Yuan explained his purpose: "We want to make a movie, and we are short of a leading actor and seven supporting roles."

Then I briefly explained the casting requirements.

The staff member wrote down the relevant information in his notebook and nodded, "I understand. The union will notify the qualified actors as soon as possible. In addition, according to the requirements, you need to pay a deposit of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars. After the actor is selected, we will refund the money in full."

The acting industry was in chaos at that time, and the deposit system was mainly to prevent someone from pretending to be a director or producer to cause trouble, or to use the name of casting to select concubines.

Zhai Yuan paid the deposit as per the rules and thought that was the end of it, but the staff asked him to wait a moment.

Not long after, the previous staff member appeared again, this time with a tall and thin man in a suit beside him.

When Zhai Yuan saw the other person, he unconsciously raised his eyebrows. Peng Jiayan beside him also recognized the tall and thin man and couldn't help but greet him with a smile: "Hey, Rhino Hide!"

The person who came was Feng Cuifan, the actor who played Rhinoceros Skin in Five Lucky Stars.

The 39-year-old Feng Cuifan did not look like the comedian on the screen at all. He had a stern face and a serious expression until Pang Ka-yin greeted him with a smile, then he forced out a perfunctory smile.

He held a document in his hand and walked straight to the sofa in front of Zhai Yuan and the other man and sat down.

"This gentleman wants to hire actors? Which company is it from and which theater chain is it from?"

Feng Cuifan took the initiative to ask, and added: "I don't remember introducing myself. I'm sure you two know me. In addition to being an actor, I am also the honorary vice president of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Film and Drama Free Association. This actors' union is also a subordinate department of the association."

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "Hello, Comedian. My production company is in the process of being registered and we are still negotiating with the theater chain. I am just trying to make a living as a small company."

Feng Cuifan hummed, and his attitude became even colder after he seemed to know that the other party was just a small production studio.

"Since you are in the film industry, you must know that it is difficult to recover the cost of the local box office. You mainly rely on the ticket base in Taiwan."

Feng Cuifan asked: "After this gentleman's film is made, does he have any intention to release it in Taiwan?"

Zhai Yuan thought to himself, isn’t this nonsense? Do you even need to tell me about this kind of money-making stuff?
He nodded again and asked curiously, "What advice do you have?"

Feng Cuifan pulled up the corner of his mouth and smiled: "It's not that I can give you advice, but according to the requirements, any film that is released in Taiwan, from producers to directors to actors, must join our Freedom Association. I guess you two are not members of our association yet, right?"

This was the first time Zhai Yuan heard of this matter.

Looking sideways at Peng Jiayan, Peng Jiayan also had a confused look on her face.

That’s right, she’s a woman making experimental short films, and her films haven’t been released yet.

"What are the requirements for joining this Freedom Association?"

"No, but you need to sign an agreement. Also, the actors in our union are all members of the general association, so you don't have to worry about identity issues."

After Feng Cuifan finished speaking, he handed over the document he had been holding in his hand.

Zhai Yuan said "oh" and took it. He opened the document and glanced at it, and his heart sank.

'Any member who joins the Freedom Association must publicly declare his support for X's position and sever ties with X... Members must participate in activities such as military service, celebrations, and the President's birthday every year... If the rules are violated, membership will be revoked, and all films produced by non-members will be prohibited from being released in Taiwan...'

And what about this?

Zhai Yuan looked at the words above and almost laughed out of anger.

"Sorry, I can't sign it."

Just throw the document on the table.

Zhai Yuan crossed his legs and looked directly at Feng Cuifan who was waiting for his answer.

Feng Cuifan's face suddenly became gloomy.

Peng Jiayan took the document curiously, looked at it for a few seconds, and then frowned.

“Is there such a thing in the film industry?” she asked. “Why do you do this?”

Feng Cuifan looked at her as if she was a fool and said, "Just because of the freedom, the Federation of Liberty will have the right to investigate, monitor and approve some officials in Taiwan."

After saying that, he looked at Zhai Yuan again.

"What's your name, sir?"

"Zhai Yuan."

"Mr. Zhai, it's pointless! What about Chang Fengxin back then? How can an arm defeat a thigh?"

Feng Cuifan pretended to persuade Zhai Yuan earnestly, "Making movies is nothing more than making money. If you don't want to join our Freedom Association, wouldn't you lose everything if you only rely on the local box office? I don't care, but seeing that you are so young, I am afraid that you will regret it in the future, so I kindly give you a few more words of advice."

Zhai Yuan had a strange smile on his face: "Are there any filmmakers who are unwilling to join your association?"

Feng Cuifan laughed proudly twice: "Of course there are, but they have all been banned. In addition, I will reveal to you a piece of news that has not been announced yet. The famous director Li Hanxiang will also be banned soon because he is filming in the mainland."

Zhai Yuan nodded in understanding.

I remember now, I seem to have the impression that there was such an incident. Because of a movie called "Fire Dragon", Li Hanxiang was banned along with the future movie emperor Liang Jiahui.

It turns out the root of the problem lies in this damn Freedom Association of yours.

"Of course, there are some who have not been banned."

Seeing that Zhai Yuan was still thinking, Feng Cuifan continued, "For example, Cheng Shilong can join and leave the club freely at any time, but he is famous enough, and Taiwan's vote bank needs his movie to be released. Do you think you are qualified? The group of people above are so poor that they have to dig grass and eat feces. Do you want to learn from them?"

These words clearly contained sarcasm and insults.

Even Peng Jiayan couldn't stand it anymore and pretended to stand up to argue.

Zhai Yuan stopped her, looked at Feng Cuifan and smiled, lowered his head to think for a few seconds, and smiled again.

"Hey! I have a Huangpu sister in my company. She told me a Huangpu joke before. Can I tell it to you?"

He suddenly spoke to Feng Cuifan, and without waiting for the other party to respond, he continued: "The joke is that we buy two watches for ten yuan, and your brother is the honorary president of the Freedom Association. He has a high status and face, so they are willing to give you a 30% discount. Do you know what this is called?"

Feng Cuifan shook his head in confusion.

Zhai Yuan smiled, pulled Peng Jiayan up and walked out.

He took two steps and suddenly stopped and looked back, his face gloomy.

He pointed at Feng Cuifan's nose and yelled, "Seven dollars for two pieces of silver (that bitch)!"

(End of this chapter)