1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 108 God is with us

Buffalo, New York, USA.

As the first city in North America to have large-scale electricity supply, Buffalo is also nicknamed the City of Light. Since the beginning of this century, the city has developed rapidly relying on industry and canals. The city's population reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, becoming the 15th largest city in the United States.

Then, like the fate of other old industrial cities, it quickly began to decline.

Factories closed, shipping declined, populations dwindled, and cities decayed.

By the early 1980s, the entire city had become plagued by high unemployment, and its economy continued to deteriorate as young people continued to migrate out.

Tony Hawk is twenty years old and he is one of those who wants to escape from this city.

But relocation is not as easy as imagined. The most important thing is to have money.

As an apprentice who dropped out of high school and worked in a car repair shop, Tony Hawk earned $80 a week. It was a pipe dream for him to move to Los Angeles, the city he had always dreamed of.

"I don't want to rot here like Colin, that old drunkard. God, please give me a first prize in the Super Mark Six lottery."

Tony Hawk was lying on the hood of a pickup truck that he had just repaired. He looked up at the dark roof of the repair shop and muttered, "Well, second and third prizes are fine too. I hope the one who sucks my duck is a Hollywood movie star, not a Tiger tank that has eaten too much fried food in the high-heeled shoe bar next door."

"Hey Tony!"

A shrill voice came from the door of the repair shop. Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw a tall and thin man standing there, opening his arms warmly to him.

"Go to hell Anderson, if you're here to borrow the car, don't ask."

Tony Hawk withdrew his gaze and continued to lie on the top cover of the machine, with no intention of getting up.

Anderson shrugged, walked up to him, propped up the top cover and looked down at Tony Hawk: "Brother, there is a business coming to the door. If you just do me a small favor, I will give you 500 yuan."

Tony Hawk stared at him for two seconds, turned his face away, and muttered, "Fuck."

"I can guarantee on my career as a journalist that I'm not kidding you, bro!"

Anderson circled the front of the car, met Tony Hawk's eyes again, and said seriously, "Listen, the bishop of the Buffalo Diocese will report to the Pope today. Someone has asked me to ask him a few questions. I need your perfect driving skills to help me get rid of the guys from other newspapers so that I can get close to the bishop as soon as he gets out of the car."

Tony Hawk was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "One thousand dollars. If you give me one thousand dollars, I guarantee that other reporters won't even be able to smell your exhaust. Otherwise, you can go find someone else to try. Who can guarantee that the speed can be increased to 60 miles per hour on the day of the bishop's report?"

"make a deal!"

Hearing Anderson's decisive answer, Tony Hawk punched the top cover of the machine in frustration.

One thousand yuan is still less!
……

Los Angeles, California, USA
Robert Mitchell, the party whip and U.S. Senator, is being interviewed by reporters.

"Mr. Congressman, please respond to the scandal about you laundering money and evading taxes through a Panamanian company..."

"DeLorean was arrested by the FBI for drug trafficking, which directly led to the closure of his company. He was later acquitted. Is this related to his support for candidate Walter Mondale?"

"Two female students from the University of Southern California accused you of drug gang rape. Is this a smear campaign by the other party or the truth?"

As soon as the senator, who was recently embroiled in a scandal, got out of the car, cameras were pointed at him. Robert could only try to maintain a smile and respond to questions with some official words.

Until a burly man pushed through the crowd and almost stuffed the microphone into his mouth.

"Mr. Congressman, are you a devout Christian?"

"of course."

Robert felt that this was the easiest question today, but he had to be careful that the other party might set a trap for him.

After he perked up his nerves, the muscular man spoke again.

"The bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo was interviewed yesterday and said he believes Jesus is with us. Do you agree?"

There was a commotion in the crowd. What the hell was this?
Robert hesitated and nodded slightly: "Of course, God is with us." Muscular man: "There is a movie in Hollywood recently called "This Man From Earth". What do you think of this movie?"

Robert: "I want to wait until I finish watching the movie before I answer you."

The muscular man carried the machine and turned away, leaving Robert and a group of confused reporters behind.

So, the next day, the headline of a tabloid on the newsstands in America became:
The reporter interviewed party whip Robert to ask whether he agreed with the theme of the movie "The Man from Earth".

The Whip replied, Of course, God is with us.

……

The same scene is also happening in the UK and surrounding areas.

When the news reached Hong Kong, "This Man From Earth" had already been circulated among the white-collar class and above, and had a small scope of distribution.

Because the newspapers published are all in English, most ordinary citizens cannot understand them, so public opinion has not yet fermented.

Zhai Yuan held a dozen English newspapers in his hand and let out a long sigh.

This is all money!
Each one costs from two thousand to five thousand US dollars.

Newspapers are all second- and third-rate media, and their headlines are more exaggerated than each other.

Including but not limited to:
The bishop of the Buffalo Diocese commented on the film "The Man from Earth", which was highly praised by the Pope.

"Party Whip Robert highly praised the film "This Man From Earth", saying that God is with us"

"Eastern X Church angrily denounces Tian X Church, "This Man From Earth" is nonsense"

"With a budget of US$10,000 and a box office of US$200 million, "This Man From Earth" is now in theaters"

But if you read the content carefully, you will find that the exaggerated title and content are completely inconsistent.

For example, the news about the bishop's comments on the movie was actually just a deliberate mention by the reporter. The bishop didn't say anything from beginning to end. As for the Pope's praise, he was praising the development of the Buffalo Diocese and had nothing to do with the movie.

"How's the videocassette production going?"

While headline news was constantly being generated abroad, Zhai Yuan in Hong Kong was also not idle.

He borrowed money from the bank to purchase the Guanji Cassette Factory and began to produce videotapes of the movie "Earth" with all his strength.

It would not work without a production line, otherwise he would only make a few dollars from a box of videotapes, which was far below Zhai Yuan's expectations. He offered a price 20% higher than the market price, and Boss Guan happily transferred the factory to him.

"With full production, we can now produce a steady 2,000 boxes a day, and we already have more than 30,000 boxes in stock."

After Shen Wei finished speaking, he added with a strange look on his face: "In addition, several theaters in America have contacted us and want to purchase the distribution and screening license for "This Man From Earth"."

Zhai Yuan couldn't help but smile, this was truly an unintentional success.

Originally, they just wanted to fool the local audience, but ended up fooling the American people first.

You don't really believe that a movie with a cost of only 10,000 yuan could gross 200 million yuan at the box office, do you?

"Okay, I'll reply to them one by one this afternoon."

Zhai Yuan slapped the newspaper in his hand and said, "It's time to let Brother Jiale do his work. He is the most familiar with dealing with reporters. Translate this news and let the citizens of Hong Kong know that we have a great movie in our country, which is now a big hit in Britain and the United States."

This business should make enough money to open a cinema chain, right?

Not only that, they also want to take the opportunity to beat up the Freedom Association and create an Avengers Alliance.

Zhai Yuan narrowed his eyes and grinned, revealing a row of sharp white teeth.

(End of this chapter)