1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 135 The Xu Brothers
On July 1983, 7, Youde returned to Hong Kong from London and said that he would be Hong Kong's representative in the subsequent negotiations.

On the same night, Shaw Brothers artist Fu Sheng was involved in a serious car accident while driving to the Clearwater Bay studio and died of his injuries in the early morning.

The next morning, Zhai Yuan was sitting cross-legged on the sofa watching TV.

Suddenly I received a call from Shi Qiuyi from "Film Biweekly".

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhai. Did you watch the news? Fu Sheng died in a car accident. Most people in the entertainment industry went to pay their respects. So our award ceremony originally scheduled for the middle of this month has to be postponed to the end of the month. I hope you can understand."

"Oh, my condolences, by the way."

Zhai Yuan stared at the picture on TV and spoke absentmindedly into the receiver.

The news is playing on TV:
The Yenching side pointed out that Governor Youde could only represent the British side and not Hong Kong.

That's right, you, a demoted foreigner, are representing us. It's ridiculous.

"Uh... Fu Sheng was in a car accident. It has nothing to do with me."

Shi Qiuyi was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone. Perhaps he felt that it was unlucky, and couldn't help but speak up to remind him.

"Fu Sheng? I don't know him."

Zhai Yuan turned his attention away from the TV, switched his brother's phone to another hand, and said, "Hey, Boss Shi, tell me honestly, what award are you going to give me this time? I'm a new director, so I should at least get the Best New Director Award, right?"

Shi Qiuyi said helplessly: "Boss Zhai, we only have the Best Director Award, not the Best New Director Award."

"What the hell are you doing? You can't even plagiarize someone who won an Oscar, and you don't even have a Best New Director Award?"

Zhai Yuan asked dissatisfiedly: "What award are you going to give me?"

"Shouldn't we wait until the ceremony starts to reveal this?"

"Pick! You're not a woman, and you're trying to surprise me? Come on!"

Zhai Yuan has seen many award ceremonies like this. The awards are always decided in advance, and the ceremony is just a trick to make it mysterious.

At this time, the Academy Awards were just about to be held for the second time. It was completely a self-entertainment for a group of film critics. The actors who participated were all invited one by one, not to mention the boss of a production company of Zhai Yuan's level.

He was willing to bring the actors to the scene in person, which was a real tribute to the Academy Awards, so he naturally spoke with a lot more confidence.

"Boss Zhai, we will give you the Best Screenwriter Award and the Most Promising Newcomer Award, and the movie itself can be nominated for the best award. What do you think?"

Shi Qiuyi hesitated for a moment, but still revealed the award to Zhai Yuan in advance.

Except for a few others like Shao Yifu, Wu Siyuan and Cheng Shilon.

Zhai Yuan is already the biggest star that could be invited to this year's Academy Awards, and he dared not offend him at all.

Even the Best Screenwriter and Most Promising Newcomer awards were made up by Shi Qiuyi on the spur of the moment.

I had just asked Zhang Guorong casually without holding out much hope. Who knew that this recent celebrity in the film industry would actually agree to attend the ceremony?
"Why don't you hold the Academy Awards until the end of the year? By then I should be in a new movie, a five-million-dollar production, with Wu Yusen invited, and it will be the first time to compete with Golden Harvest and Golden Princess. You can just give all the awards to me."

Zhai Yuan held his brother's phone and spoke arrogantly.

On the other end of the phone, Shi Qiuyi, who was timid, felt something in his heart after hearing these words.

It was exactly the same as when I interviewed Uncle Shao Liu. The other party was obviously leaking the information on purpose.

A five-million-dollar production, controversial director Wu Yusen, and hard-core Golden Harvest and Golden Princess.

These three key pieces of information were reported by "Film Biweekly", and his film was able to generate some popularity before it was released.

"Thank you, Boss Zhai, for giving me the information."

"No need, you're a smart guy."

Zhai Yuan smiled. Shi Qiuyi was not stupid after all.

I am a hot topic now, and when the news of my new film gets out, it will naturally attract attention. The biweekly magazine and a better version of myself can both increase my exposure.

"Jiuyi Entertainment has just been established. How about this? I will sponsor you a red carpet for this awards ceremony, plus 60,000 Hong Kong dollars."

Zhai Yuan said loudly, "Anyway, my company currently only has two dramas, "This Man From Earth" and "While You Were Sleeping". Since you want to nominate, just nominate two. As for the other awards such as best screenplay, actor, photography, etc., just give me a few at random. Is that ok?"

Shi Qiuyi was silenced again by him.

On the one hand, I feel that doing so goes against the original intention of establishing the Academy Awards.

On the other hand, 60,000 Hong Kong dollars was really too much for him.

At that time, "Film Biweekly" had just been established and had no means of making a profit. It relied on the pitiful sales volume to maintain a balance between income and expenditure.

So much so that the magazine cover is printed in monochrome black and white, giving it the texture of pornographic magazines from the 1950s and 1960s.

It was not until the first Academy Awards was established last year that Shi Qiuyi and another boss, Chen Bosheng, begged and pleaded with everyone and invited a number of celebrity actors to participate. This made the magazine gain a little fame and increased its sales.

Last year's first Hong Kong Film Awards had only five awards. Not counting the government officials who came to show off their reputation and seniors like Kwan Tak-hing, the biggest names in the film industry were actually Tsui Ke, Kara Hui and Chow Yun-fat.

Actors and directors with slightly higher status simply don’t have the time to participate.

Moreover, because most of the guests this year were dressed casually, after the award ceremony, they were criticized by other newspapers and magazines, who mocked them for not being solemn enough.

But can we expect a bunch of poor actors to make a suit for themselves?

The situation in the second session this year was obviously much better.

Not only did Sing Tao Newspaper join in, but also the film industry giant Run Run Shaw.

This means that we don’t have to face the dilemma of broadcasting live on the radio and playing recorded programs on TV like last year.

Instead, it can be broadcast live directly through the wireless Jade Channel, and its popularity will be greatly enhanced.

Because Uncle Shao Liu was invited, although the big guys at the same level as him did not come, there were the big producer Wu Siyuan, the big star Cheng Shilon, and the big boss Zhai Yuan.

Zhai Yuan now has sufficient cash flow. The difference between it and other film studios is that it lacks the support of theaters.

But there are also fewer constraints.

He has an independent production company that can pay for a movie worth millions out of its own pocket, which is quite unique in the current film industry.

"Mr. Zhai."

After a long silence, Shi Qiuyi finally spoke again: "The venue for our award ceremony this year is the college auditorium of Baptist College. Although the venue is rented for free by the college, it is currently lacking a large screen that can project movie images in real time. Do you think you can sponsor a little more?"

"I'll get you a few hundred thousand dollars, but in addition to two Best Picture nominations, I also want to see the name of 91 Entertainment among the organizers of this year's competition."

"One hundred twenty thousand!"

"Ninety thousand. If you keep talking nonsense, it will only be eighty thousand."

"...Okay, then one hundred thousand. We'll meet at the Academy Awards at the end of this month."

…………July 7, 31:19 p.m.

Waterloo Road, Beacon Hill, outside the S.H.I. campus of Heungkong Baptist College.

As the sky gradually darkened, there were almost no traces of students at the school gate.

But there were a lot more vehicles and outsiders.

They are all people from the entertainment industry who came to attend the 2nd Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony.

"That Rolls-Royce is Uncle Six's car. I never thought he would come here in person."

Wu Yusen led the three male protagonists of the "A Better Tomorrow" crew to the school gate. When they saw Shao Yifu's car appear here, he and Zhang Guorong couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Wan Ziliang and Di Long, who just came from TVB, were quite calm.

"Director, this way."

Zhai Yuan's voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Wu Yusen and the other three turned around and saw him appear with a group of people in a grand manner, waving at them with a smile.

The three women, Deng Leling, Pang Jiayan and Nishixie Michiko, attracted a lot of people's attention.

Liang Xiaolong, Luo Jiaying and others followed behind.

"Such a big battle?"

Once the two sides met up, all the people from Jiuyi Entertainment were present. With everyone in the entire company present, the momentum was naturally quite large.

"To support the Academy Awards. I invested money in this selection."

Upon learning that he had actually invested 100,000 yuan in the Academy Awards, Wu Yusen and the others all looked as if they were saying, "You have so much money but don't know where to spend it."

"One hundred thousand yuan...why don't you rent a venue and hold it again?"

Even Zhang Guorong couldn't help but complain.

"It has such a bad reputation that we can't hire anyone."

Zhai Yuan said honestly.

Although the Academy Awards are not very good now, they will...seem to be just average in the future.

"Forget it, let's go in first."

In the end, Wu Yusen had no choice but to change the subject. He felt that Zhai Yuan not only wasted his money, but also squandered a considerable amount of production costs.

But Zhai Yuan didn't feel like he was being taken advantage of.

Spending 100,000 yuan to buy an opportunity to appear in the film industry is to tell everyone that Jiuyi Entertainment is not only able to compete in the Taiwan market, but also has a lot of money and stupid people, so come quickly.

It costs money to ask newspapers to write soft articles, not to mention that this time it is broadcast live on Jade Channel.

Whether or not you win an award is not that important; it is just the icing on the cake.

We walked into the campus and arrived at the newly decorated college venue. A red carpet sponsored by Zhai Yuan was laid from the entrance to the venue. A few reporters were taking photos absent-mindedly.

“It’s a bit shabby indeed.”

Zhai Yuan was not in a hurry to go in, wanting to take a closer look at the door first.

"Cheng Shilong is here."

Suddenly, there was a burst of noise in my ears. The reporters who were originally on the defensive became excited and the sound of shutter clicks continued.

Brother Cheng was still very young at that time, and he looked a little handsome after having double eyelid surgery.

Through the crowd, Zhai Yuan saw Cheng Shilong, dressed in a white suit, stepping onto the red carpet with a smile on his face, calmly greeting the camera, and leading a few of his close associates into the venue.

Then several more waves of people passed by, but they were basically not very famous or old actors who had passed their prime, and they did not cause a sensation.

Just as Zhai Yuan was about to lead people in, a few more people stepping onto the red carpet caught his attention.

There aren't many of them, only four in total.

Three men and one woman.

"Brother Sen!"

Just as Zhai Yuan's eyes fell on them, the man leading the four also happened to turn his gaze.

His eyes made brief contact with Zhai Yuan, then fell on Wu Yusen's face, and then he showed a surprised smile.

"Brother Sen, I didn't expect to meet you here."

The man took the initiative to step forward and greet Wu Yusen.

Wu Yusen was startled and looked at the other person carefully. He recognized his appearance, but could not remember his name for a moment.

"You are Xu...Xu..."

"Don't you remember? I'm Xu Jiaqiang! When I was a martial artist in Taiwan, you were helping Director Zhang Che on the set!"

The 35-year-old Xu Jiaqiang was all smiles and took the initiative to shake Wu Yusen's hands.

This friendly look was completely different from the serious image of Long Wu in Zhai Yuan's impression.

"Oh--"

Wu Yusen dragged out the words, patted his forehead and laughed, "I remember now, Aqiang! Hey, why did you come to Hong Kong instead of developing in Formosa?"

"It's hard to describe in words."

Xu Jiaqiang smiled awkwardly, "Let's not talk about this for now. Let me introduce him. He is my younger brother Xu Jiasheng. He is also preparing to make a living in the film industry. I would like to ask Brother Sen to take care of him. This is my wife Chen Lan."

Thirty-three-year-old Xu Jiasheng wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He is tall and thin and looks a bit bookish.

Mrs. Xu Chen Lan still has the image of a great beauty, with bright eyes, white teeth, and charming beauty, which dazzles the eyes of all the men present.

"This is my...brother."

Xu Jiaqiang finally introduced the tall man in a black suit who was following behind them.

It's obvious from his appearance that he is a bodyguard or thug.

He smiled and patted the man on the back, saying, "His name is Ashan, Xie Hushan."

(End of this chapter)