1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 193 Xiao Zhai is a good comrade

"Sister Lan, God of Gamblers won't be shown in July. My theater is going to show a new movie, so I'm letting you know in advance."

Zhai Yuan walked out of the recording studio, let Zhou Huimin go in first, and then called Chen Lan.

The call he just received upstairs was from the person in charge of Lianhua Cinema Line.

At the beginning of the year, Lianhua and a number of theaters on the left helped to screen the 1024st "A Better Tomorrow". Now that is very popular, the other party found Zhai Yuan and wanted to invite him to show a movie from the Central Plains Film Studio in the theater.

"Shaolin Kid", the sequel to "Shaolin Temple".

The person in charge of Lianhua told him on the phone: "Originally, this movie was going to be released during the Lunar New Year holiday last year, but Mr. Liao decided to release A Better Tomorrow first to support 91, so Shaolin Kid was delayed to this summer."

Having said that, it would be foolish of Zhai Yuan to hesitate, so the release of "God of Gamblers", which was originally scheduled to be released in July, will be postponed for another month.

Chen Lan was somewhat unhappy to hear the news. Although both are summer vacation seasons, there is a big difference between July and August. August is the tourist season and many Hong Kong people will take their children to travel abroad, so the number of people going to the cinema will decrease.

"Don't worry, I won't let you suffer any loss. At most, I'll take 10% less of the theater's share of "God of Gamblers"."

After comforting Chen Lan with a few words on the phone, Zhai Yuan stood at the door of the recording studio and thought about it.

He has not seen the movie "Shaolin Kid", but since the lead actor is Jet Li, perhaps he can take this opportunity to invite him to film two movies for him in advance. It just so happens that Xu Ke is in the company, and the Wong Fei Hung series is a good IP.

Jiuyi is now in need of action stars. As one of the few Chinese who can break into Hollywood, the value of Kung Fu Emperor is probably second only to Chen Shilong.

"Forget it. It's useless to think about these things now. I'm a little too ambitious."

Zhai Yuan glanced at the beautiful figure of the girl vaguely visible in the frosted glass of the recording studio and felt that he was somewhat ungrateful.

After two months of hard work, it’s time to do something serious.

Pushing the door open, Zhou Huimin was standing in front of a row of musical instruments in a daze. When she saw Zhai Yuan come in, a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Mr. Zhai, are you busy?"

"It's just a small matter, nothing compared to you."

Zhou Huimin was startled, her dense eyelashes flickered, and her bright and clear eyes revealed an expression of disbelief. She obviously did not expect Zhai Yuan to suddenly say such a thing.

"After all, you are the only female singer in the entire company now. I am very optimistic about you."

Zhai Yuan added as if nothing had happened.

Zhou Huimin instantly breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this, thinking that she was overthinking it, and then smiled sheepishly: "I will definitely work hard."

The recording studio is divided into two rooms, the inner one is a soundproof room, and the outer one is where musical instruments and equipment are placed. Jiuyi doesn't have much post-production business now, so this place has basically become Zhou Huimin's personal practice room.

Zhai Yuan simply hummed the background music of the God of Gamblers' appearance, and she then skillfully selected an instrument and tried to play it.

The original soundtrack for the movie "God of Gamblers" in which Gao Jin appears is a section of "The Final Countdown" adapted by Lowell Lo from an overseas band. It uses the rhythm of a "horse race" and the style of the song sounds magnificent.

It is said that people who hear this BGM will walk slower unconsciously.

For a short piece of background music like this, it is actually very simple to choose the instrumentation after having the melody. If Huang Zhan does this process, it can be done in half an hour at most.

Zhou Huimin is much slower, especially since she has an unreliable boss around her.

Guitar, piano, violin, timpani.

Zhou Huimin demonstrated the musical instruments she can play one by one.

The style of music is becoming more and more proficient, but Zhai always has an attitude of "I think it's good, but you can try another instrument."

Zhou Huimin said with a guilty conscience: "These are the only instruments I can play..."

Zhai Yuan could tell that she was best at piano and guitar, and her skills in the other two instruments were average.

But it's still very powerful. If it were me, I would probably just make some noise at most.

"It doesn't matter. It's already done very well. It's just that the style is a little different from what I imagined."

Zhai Yuan said, pointing to a musical instrument next to him that was rarely seen in Hong Kong, and asked her, "Can you play this?"

"Dida (Suona)?" Zhou Huimin glanced at the suona on his fingers, frowned and shook her head: "I have only seen those suona guys use it during weddings and funerals."

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "Try to play it."

Seeing Zhou Huimin's awkward expression, he added, "Go ahead and try. The scene when the God of Gamblers appears is very gloomy, so you need to use a gloomy instrument. Once you play it, people in the next village can hear it. Your guitar and piano are too subtle to express it."

Zhou Huimin listened to his clear and logical talk and nodded hesitantly. She took the suona beside her and carefully wiped the whistle part with a tissue.

He opened his lips slightly, put the whistle into his mouth and blew gently. There was no sound, so he puffed up his cheeks and blew hard.

Beep—a shrill sound instantly broke the silence.

Zhou Huimin was caught off guard and startled by the noise she made.

Seeing this, Zhai Yuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Zhou Huimin's face suddenly turned red, and she couldn't tell whether it was because she played too hard or because she was embarrassed.

She said uncomfortably: "Mr. Zhai, I really don't know how to do this..."

Zhai Yuan reached out and took the suona, saying, "Here, let me try it."

Zhou Huimin subconsciously took out the tissue.

Before handing it over, Zhai Yuan put the reed directly into his mouth.

Zhou Huimin wondered if this could be considered an indirect kiss, and she also suspected that Zhai Yuan had done it on purpose.
Then the sound of Zhai Yuan playing the suona rang out in the instrument room.

Holding the only musical instrument he knows how to use, Mr. Zhai feels like a donkey in water.

Less than half of the boyish skills from the previous life have been utilized at this moment.

But it was enough to shock the seventeen-year-old Zhou Huimin.

When it comes to Ba Bi, the suona is indeed the best instrument to look at. Its majestic tone is full of passion and unrestrainedness.

Zhou Huimin was a little stunned when she saw Zhai Yuan playing with ease. Was this boss actually a hidden fighter? When she played "God of Gamblers" on guitar and piano, she didn't feel that this piece of music was anything special. But now when she heard Zhai Yuan playing it, she felt that this piece of music had a lot of room for development.

While playing, Zhai Yuan winked at her and freed his hand to point to the timpani beside him.

Zhou Huimin smiled knowingly, stood up, picked up the drumsticks and started playing with him.

…………

On July 7, Lianhua Cinemas and 1 simultaneously released "Shaolin Kid".

Zhai Yuan invited the film's creative team to attend the premiere in the VIP room of his own theater.

Director Zhang Xingyan and several powerful people from the Hong Kong Malaysia Exchange Office, dressed in suits, sat in the back row.

Jet Li and members of the martial arts team sat in the front row.

Ever since "Shaolin Temple" achieved remarkable results in Hong Kong, martial arts teams from the mainland have had an additional task, which is to come to Hong Kong in groups every year for technical exchanges.

At this time, the 21-year-old Kung Fu Emperor was still immature. Sitting next to him was his senior sister and girlfriend Huang Qiuyan. Like other members of the martial arts team, the young couple also showed fresh and surprised expressions at the luxurious decoration of the 1024 Theater.

"This theater is different from the ones outside. It's even more beautiful than the big hotels in Yanjing City."

"The popcorn is sweet too, and tastes better than the ones sold outside."

"It's good, but the place is a little small."

"I heard that the smaller the hall, the more expensive it is. We are sitting in the VIP hall now."

"What does VIP mean?"

……

The members of the Wushu team were whispering. Among this group of people, except for Jet Li and Huang Qiuyan who are currently famous, the rest of them are visiting Hong Kong for the first time.

"Ahem!" A powerful person sitting in the back row looked unhappy. He had told the team members before they came to be reserved and not lose face, so why did they still look so inexperienced?

Jet Li and others looked back at their leader, grinned twice with their big white teeth bared, and then fell silent.

The theater suddenly became much quieter.

Another leader nearby tried to smooth things over, saying with a smile, "Xiao Zhai's theater is very uniquely decorated. Not to mention these young people, even I have never seen anything like it before."

As the host, Zhai Yuan sat in the same row with them, and next to him was Zhou Huimin.

Under the pretext of co-writing and arranging music, his relationship with Zhou Huimin has improved a lot recently. Today, he invited her to watch a movie together, and Zhou Huimin agreed after a little hesitation.

But she didn't expect to sit with a group of adults, and they all looked very old-fashioned and serious, which made Zhou Huimin feel a little uneasy, and she unconsciously moved closer to Zhai Yuan.

Zhai Yuan said: "I saw this kind of business model overseas in the newspaper, so I moved to Hong Kong to try it out."

The leader smiled and said, "Capitalism does have something worth learning, but we must also be careful of the sugar-coated bullets that may corrupt us."

Zhai Yuan smiled and nodded.

Both parties communicated in Mandarin, which made several powerful people who did not speak Cantonese very satisfied with Zhai Yuan's performance.

Another leader said, "Xiao Zhai, I've seen A Better Tomorrow, it's a good movie, but we should also make some patriotic movies."

Zhai Yuan said: "Lend me Jet Li and the movie will be released next year."

The leader of the martial arts team at the side heard this and shook his head and said, "That won't work. He has already missed training because of the filming. He has other performance tasks this year and can't waste any more time."

Another leader with a southwestern accent said, "Hey! Special matters should be handled specially. Xiao Zhai is a good comrade. As long as it does not violate the principles, his needs can be discussed at the meeting..."

The conversation between the people was not loud, but it could still be heard clearly in the quiet theater.

The members of the Wushu team cast envious glances at Jet Li. Huang Qiuyan smiled as she looked at her boyfriend. Jet Li himself couldn't help but clench his trouser legs, with eagerness in his eyes.

Zhou Huimin didn't understand why it was so troublesome to borrow an actor, but Zhai Yuan was mature and steady when he chatted and laughed with this group of middle-aged men, and seemed very powerful.

"The movie has started!"

As the lights in the theater went out and the screen lit up, someone in the front row shouted, and "Shaolin Kid" officially began playing.

Accompanied by the sound of a flute, the scene unfolds in a landscape, and the list of leading actors appears one after another.

The leading actor is definitely Jet Li, and the two female protagonists are Ding Lan and Huang Qiuyan.

In the list of leading actors, Zhai Yuan also saw two familiar names: Yu Chenghui and Ji Chunhua.

He thought to himself: "One is the Sword Saint, and the other is the Blood Knife Patriarch. I'll see if I can invite him to Hong Kong later."

During the melodious opening song, the style of the movie suddenly changed, and it unexpectedly used an animation for the opening. The Chinese-style animation style reminded Zhai Yuan of "The Magic Book", and he wondered if it was also produced by the Huangpu Art Studio.

Although it was the first time that Zhai Yuan watched this drama, he could guess from the opening animation that this should be a light comedy with a family-friendly tone.

Sure enough, in the following plot, the movie called "Shaolin Kid" did not contain any scenes of Shaolin Temple. In a paradise village, young men and women sang and danced, which was quite like a musical.

Except for director Zhang Xingyan, everyone else present was watching the finished film for the first time.

The numerous light comedy scenes in the movie made the theater burst into laughter, and several old-fashioned and serious people couldn't help but smile.

Zhou Huimin also enjoyed watching the film. The little girl was not interested in the fighting and murderous grudges in the martial arts world, but she enjoyed this kind of comedy film very much.

In order to make it easier for the leaders to enjoy the film, the VIP lounge specially played copies with Mandarin dubbing. Zhou Huimin had a good command of Mandarin, so she naturally had no difficulty listening to Mandarin.

When Jet Li appeared in the movie wearing women's clothes, the atmosphere in the theater reached its climax. The martial arts team members in the front row cheered and even Zhai Yuan couldn't help but smile.

"I think Brother Jie still has his charm."

Zhou Huimin has a lower sense of humour, but she has to consider her image. She couldn't help laughing so she leaned on the armrest of the chair, her shoulders trembling slightly.

The two of them sat side by side. When she lowered her head, her black hair spread out and fell on Zhai Yuan.

Zhai Yuan glanced at the beautiful girl lying beside his armrest, and instantly lost interest in the plot of the movie, and gently stroked her hair.

Zhou Huimin noticed something and looked up at Zhai Yuan with a smile in her eyes.

She gathered her hair a little embarrassedly and said, "Did I bother you?"

Zhai Yuan smiled and shook his head, his fingers slid down from her temples and gently brushed across her delicate face.

The sudden intimate action made Zhou Huimin's face gradually become dull and her whole body stiff and tense.

She was so nervous that she didn't know what to do: "What are you...doing?"

Zhai Yuan said nothing. He slid his fingers to her smooth chin and lifted it up slightly. Suddenly he lowered his head and pecked her slightly open red lips.

They fly apart at the slightest touch like chicks pecking at rice.

Zhai Yuan quickly returned to his normal posture, staring at the screen and saying, "It's alright, let's watch the movie."

Zhou Huimin subconsciously touched the corner of her mouth and widened her eyes in disbelief.

Embarrassment, fear, shyness... and many other indescribable emotions filled her mind, making it buzz.

How come I lost my first kiss while watching a movie?

…………

"Mr. Zhai, what do you think of my film?"

Walking out of the theater, Zhang Xingyan, who was nearly 50 years old, pulled Zhai Yuan aside and asked him nervously.

The success of "Shaolin Temple" actually put him under a lot of pressure, and he didn't have the confidence to try a light comedy style this time.

"The response in the theater just now was very enthusiastic, so there must be no problem."

Zhai Yuan consoled him and said, "The film market has developed rapidly in the past two years. Your film may be more popular in Hong Kong than Shaolin Temple."

Just after we sent him away, several leaders came over.

The leader said mysteriously, "Xiao Zhai, the future of Hong Kong will definitely be decided this year. October 1st is our 35th anniversary. If you come to Yanjing to attend the celebration, I will help you arrange it."

Zhai Yuan was a little flattered. He felt that he was still a small character and should at least be treated like Huo and Li.

The leader smiled and said, "Then it's settled. If you want to leave for Yanjing, contact me in advance."

Huang Qiuyan pushed Jet Li over as well.

She pulled her boyfriend aside and said to Zhai Yuan with a big smile, "Mr. Zhai, we are going back to the mainland with a tour group soon. Although it may be a bit presumptuous to say this, if you have a new movie to shoot, please consider Ajie."

Jet Li also forced a smile: "I hope Mr. Zhai will give me a chance."

At this time, Jet Li looked introverted, but in fact he had already bought a private car in the mainland, like a child of destiny. However, when he arrived in Hong Kong, his sense of superiority was wiped out, especially by theater owners like Zhai Yuan, who were younger and richer. As an actor, he had no chance to interact with them at all.

Zhai Yuan nodded: "If there is a chance, go back and train well first."

After getting this promise, the brother and sister happily returned to the martial arts team and waved goodbye to Zhai Yuan vigorously.

However, the leader of the Wushu team looked at Zhai Yuan unkindly, obviously disliking him for delaying the team members' training.

Only after sending everyone away did Zhai Yuan breathe a sigh of relief.

When he turned around, Zhou Huimin was standing there pitifully, looking at Zhai Yuan with eyes full of resentment.

She was in mixed emotions. Not only did she lose her first kiss, but before she could lose her temper, this rogue boss actually watched the entire movie with relish as if nothing had happened, and then ignored her the entire time, only focusing on chatting with a group of strangers.

"I thought you went back to the company by yourself."

Zhai Yuan walked up to Zhou Huimin and said with a nonchalant smile: "I'm going back to the company now, do you want to come with me or should I take you home directly?"

Seeing that he looked as if nothing had happened, Zhou Huimin almost doubted whether it was an illusion that she had just been in the theater.

(End of this chapter)