1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 224 Never happen again
"The future life is terrible."

Several major shareholders of Jiahe, including Zou Wenhuai and Ho Kwan-chang, walked out of an independent theater near Sai Kung.

Several people got into an extended luxury car parked outside. After the driver started the car and drove for five minutes, Zou Wenhuai leaned on the back cushion and sighed softly.

Even in a theater in a remote area like Saigon, the performance of "Wushuang" that I just watched was still very popular.

Zou Wenhuai, who is nearly 60 years old, recalled a day many years ago when he left Zhao's company and founded Jiahe, surpassing Zhao Yifu in the film industry. A few years later, a new city emerged, but he and Zhao Yifu could not defeat the other side even if they joined forces.

Today's Jiuyi Entertainment is afraid that even if the Zhao family is resurrected and joins forces with Jiahe and Xinyicheng, it will not be able to withstand the opponent's fierce momentum.

"Every generation has its own upstarts. Who will be the next to defeat 91 Entertainment?"

The atmosphere in the car was a little depressing. Several older guys were silent, and no one knew what they were thinking.

He Guanchang hugged his shoulders, with a nonchalant expression on his face.

He holds Chen Shilong as his trump card, and no matter how turbulent the situation outside is, he can remain unmoved.

Managing Director Liang Feng was a little nervous.

He is considered a "pro-Hong" in the company and has always felt that Hong Xinbao has a bright future. This was confirmed in the past few years when Hong Xinbao made a series of good action films. However, with the rise of Chen Shilon, anyone with a discerning eye can see who is Jiahe's real cash cow.

Especially this year's Christmas season, because "Wheels On The Road" has already been released in the summer, he reserved the Christmas season for Hong Xinbao's new film.

As a result, when he learned that "Wushuang" was scheduled to be released on December 12, which conflicted with his own release date, Hong Xinbao went directly to him and hesitantly said that he wanted to postpone the release for ten days or half a month because the post-production of his own film had not been completed yet.

Not only did he slap himself in the face, but he also made Jiahe lose face.

"Brother Feng, what's the name of Hong Xinbao's new movie?"

In the car, Cai Dusheng, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly asked Liang Feng a question in a puzzled manner.

Cai Dusheng is the youngest among the people in the whole car company, but he is Zou Wenhuai's cousin. This cousin relationship allows him to often serve as Zou Wenhuai's mouthpiece and say things that the big boss is not convenient to say.

Liang Feng glanced at Zou Wenhuai who was resting with his eyes closed, and thought that he was here to call for punishment.

With a smile on his face, he calmly replied, "His play is called The Owl and Dumbo, and it was also scheduled to be released on Christmas."

Cai Dusheng showed a look of understanding, and then asked: "Isn't the post-production done yet?"

This was the excuse Hong Xinbao used to fool Liang Feng. Liang Feng would definitely not use such a poor excuse in front of a group of old foxes.

He smiled bitterly and could only tell the truth: "He and Curly Cen Jianxun cooperated to set up Xinbao Film Company, and found a big boss outside to invest in this film "The Owl and Dumbo". I heard that it conflicts with "Wushuang". Sanmao is worried that the box office will be sucked away and he won't be able to explain to the investors, so he discussed with me to postpone it for a few days."

Cai Dusheng asked what happened and said with a smile: "Hong Xinbao is not bad. The company opened two companies for him, Jiafeng and Baohe, but he was not satisfied and set up a new company with people from outside. I think he is the big mouth of the film industry, more powerful than the young boss of 1024."

After saying this, Liang Feng felt a burning pain on his face.

He curled his lips and said, "He has a wide network of contacts. In the past two years, he has indeed interacted more with friends outside. He helped out of friendship."

Cai Dusheng chuckled twice and said nothing more.

There was silence in the car for a moment.

Zou Wenhuai slowly opened his eyes and said calmly: "This won't happen again."

…………

"This won't happen again? Mr. Zou can even tolerate such a thing. He really has the demeanor of a big boss."

In the tea room of Jiuyi Entertainment, two directors, led by Wang Jin and Wu Yusen, gathered with several other cast and crew members to chat about gossip.

Wang Jin recounted a scene in which several Jiahe shareholders were chatting in a car. His description was vivid and aroused the interest of many people.

A colleague finished eating Jiahe's melon and turned to ask Wang Jin: "Brother Jin, is this true? You speak as if you have seen it with your own eyes."

Wang Jin's face was trembling with fat, and he said dissatisfiedly, "Picking! Mr. Cai is my master, so is it true that he called me? Liang Feng, that loser, relied on being a backbone of the Freedom Association and kept taking advantage of the situation to make Mr. Cai teach me a lesson about getting too close to 1024. He deserves to be harassed by my master this time."

Several people were having a pleasant chat.

Zhai Yuan walked into the tea room carrying an oversized enamel cup, glanced at them and asked, "What are you so happy about?"

Wu Yusen smiled and repeated the gossip that Wang Jin had just told him.

While listening, Zhai Yuan took out the enamel cup he brought back from Yanjing and poured a handful of finely ground tea leaves into it to make it brew.

"Don't do it again? It seems Zou Wenhuai is indeed magnanimous, but if you dare to do something behind my back, hmph!"

Zhai Yuan simply listened to the general idea, put the cup on the table, and glanced at Wu Yusen and the others threateningly.

Several people smiled awkwardly and immediately began to express their loyalty, saying that they would not do something as disastrous as Hong Xinbao.

"It's just a joke, don't be too nervous."

Zhai Yuan waved his hand and smiled, "The most important thing about this kind of thing is to have a discussion. If Fatty and Old Wu say tomorrow, 'Hey, boss, I want to cooperate with a production organization outside the company,' and everyone sits down and talks it out, I may not necessarily let them go."

Wang Jin laughed dryly and said, "Mr. Zhai, please don't test us. I have a strong sense of contract."

There was a low laugh in the tea room.

Wu Yusen smiled and said, "The key to this matter is that Hong Xinbao has the strength. Jiafeng doesn't have the most say, but Baohe has indeed helped Jiahe make a lot of money. "The Prodigal Son", "Ghost Fighting Ghost", "People Scare People" and this year's "Fast Food Truck" are enough to appease the company's top management's dissatisfaction with his private actions."

Wang Jin also nodded and said, "That's right. He is still the top player in the action film market. Chen Shilong has just switched to making fashion films, so he may not be popular in the future. Jiahe still has to rely on Hong Xinbao to maintain the box office of action films."

After listening to their analysis, Zhai Yuan blew away the tea foam in the cup and took a sip.

But he was thinking in his heart: Jiahe can indeed still use Hong Xinbao now, so his little actions can be tolerated. However, when "Police Story" comes out next year, the gap between Big Brother and Big Brother will be terrifying. By then, the mines that Hong Xinbao has buried for himself will start to explode one by one.

In the late 1980s, Chen Shilong tried to transform himself. Weihe invested in and produced a large number of literary and artistic films such as "Rouge" and "Ruan Lingyu". He also starred in a film with a strong literary and artistic atmosphere, "Miracle", but he almost lost all his money.

At the same time, Hong Xinbao's Baohe was also spending more than it earned, and faced a huge debt crisis due to successive losses.

When his two flagship companies were in danger, Zou Wenhuai funded the internal operation of Weihe, easily reversing Chen Shilong's debt crisis, but chose to ignore Baohe. Not long after, all the film companies under Hong Xinbao's name went bankrupt, and he simply left Jiahe. Later, until Li Jiacheng acquired a stake in Jiahe, Chen Shilong still stayed in the company, and he could be called a loyal general.

So when Zou Wenhuai said "this won't happen again" from Wang Jin's mouth, Zhai Yuan thought it was just for the sake of listening. If he followed his example and acted magnanimously, the company would fall apart in no time.

Zhai Yuan spat out tea leaves and asked, "Who is the big boss of Hong Xinbao's Xinbao Film Company?"

Wang Jin shook his head and said, "He and Cen Jianxun came up with it, so of course he is the big boss, and the money for filming came from outside investment."

Zhai Yuan hummed, thinking that it seemed that 'Debao' was completely killed by him.

According to the original timeline, there must have been a wealthy sponsor named Dickson Pan who invested in Hong Xinbao and spent a huge sum of money to rent the Chiu Cinema, which is also a significant event in the history of Hong Kong cinema.

But now Zhao's theater is in his hands...

Zhai Yuan thought of something else and asked, "Who is the heroine of his movie The Owl and Dumbo?"

Wang Jin said: "Hu Huizhong, one of the three Hu of Taiwan."

Zhai Yuan slapped his forehead hard. If Pan Disheng didn't run Debao Company, the heroine Yang Ziqiong, whom he had been supporting, would be gone too. What a sin!
I guess I was too restrained being with my boss.

A group of people chatted for a few words in the tea room, and then found excuses to leave one after another.

Zhai Yuan kept Wu Yusen and asked, "You have a good relationship with the people in Xinyi City. Did you ask them why they avoided the battle this time?"

Wu Yusen was full of energy: "Because my movie "Wushuang" is very powerful!"

…………

Lei Juekun was overwhelmed by his family's real estate and minibus companies and had not paid attention to the situation of his film company for some time.

As Princess Yin's number one military advisor, Feng Bingzhong had the responsibility to take on the important task.

At this time, in the meeting room of Xinyicheng, he was pulling Mecca to do ideological work on him.

"The guys in the marketing department just sent me a research report. The forecast for the box office of "Wushuang" on the first day of its release is at least 200 million. The audience's willingness to go to the theaters is not only due to the pre-promotion of 1024, but also the appeal of the previous work "A Better Tomorrow". In addition, I believe you have already seen the quality of this movie. Now I can only say four words: bad luck."

Feng Bingzhong was a theater manager and was extremely rational about the market. He analyzed the interests involved one by one.

After that, he looked at the bald man Mecca and said, "I have reported the current situation to Boss Lei. Your film "Merry Christmas" will be postponed by ten days to December 12nd, which happens to be Christmas Day on the 22th. It will also span the New Year's Day holiday, which can minimize the impact of "Wushuang"."

Like Hong Xinbao's "The Owl and Dumbo", Mecca's Lunar New Year schedule this year is also set on December 12.

However, Hong Xinbao asked for an extension because he was afraid of losing investors' money. Mecca's current situation is somewhat forced.

Lei Juekun is poor now.

In the past two years, he would rather compete with 1024 than postpone the release date. But now that Feng Bingzhong told him that "Merry Christmas" could earn millions more at the box office if it avoided "Wushuang", he agreed without hesitation.

Sun Hung Kai's acquisition battle for Kowloon Motor Bus was in full swing, with no intention of stopping. The company's small shareholders were selling off their shares one after another, and Sun Hung Kai was buying them all at any price. In just a few months, Lei Juekun had gradually lost control of Kowloon Motor Bus.

Another property, Kowloon Development, was able to be preserved because it has not yet been listed, but the situation is also not optimistic.

This year's property prices have rarely shown signs of recovery, but Jiu Jian has failed to win the bid in several consecutive land auctions. Lei Juekun has recently been discussing with the Wu family, another major shareholder of Jiu Jian, and plans to jointly contribute a huge sum of HK$80 million to force the purchase of two new commercial building reconstruction projects in Yau Tsim District.

Feng Bingzhong held a meeting for Mecca in the conference room.

Outside the meeting room, Huang Baiming held a small meeting with Shi Tian, another shareholder of New One City.

Shi Tian smiled and said, "It's the Lunar New Year period. If your movie 'Happy Ghost' is released during this period, the box office will easily exceed 20 million."

Huang Boming smiled calmly, "They are the major shareholders, so of course they get the best time slot. Even Feng Bingzhong came to comfort us when the movie was postponed. How could we be treated like this?"

The two seemed to be having a simple conversation, but they were filled with jealousy.

As the founders of Xin Yicheng, Huang Baiming and Shi Tian have made great contributions to the company. Huang Baiming in particular is known to everyone in the circle as the one who has done the most work. Shi Tian can get 19% of the shares, but he only has a pitiful 9%.

Although Shi Tian is the youngest among the three major shareholders, he has entered the industry early and has rich experience.

He said to Huang Boming with a hint of meaning: "I talked to Xu Qi a few days ago. He and Shi Nansheng are currently filming a new movie in America. The boss of 1024 thinks highly of him. I guess he will have his own film company when he returns to Hong Kong."

Huang Baiming pursed his lips and smiled: "Ah Xu and Shi Nansheng are both good at literature and martial arts. If I become the boss, I will also make use of them~"

Shi Tian added: "Zeng Zhiwei is not bad either. He is now working for Hong Xinbao and must be eating well."

In the New One City team of seven, after Xu Qi and Shi Nansheng left, Zeng Zhiwei, who had background as a martial artist, announced his withdrawal.

Before leaving, Zeng Zhiwei left a famous saying in the company: "This pot of porridge is not enough for five people to share, so I will go out to find food so that everyone can relax."

Today, of the seven-member team of New One City, only three major shareholders and Teddy Robin remain, and their previous advantages in competing with Jiahe are becoming less and less obvious.

Huang Baiming took a deep breath and turned to look at Shi Tian: "Why are you saying this for no reason?"

"I plan to cash out my shares next year and start some small business."

Shi Tian looked at Huang Baiming and said with a smile. Seeing Huang Baiming's astonishment, he said indifferently, "Times have changed. I joined Zhaoshi as an actor when I was 20 years old. Later, I worked as a screenwriter, director, and producer. My fans call me the 'Eastern Charlie Chaplin'. Am I really Charlie Chaplin?"

Huang Boming frowned and said, "But your movie 'Family Portrait' did very well at the box office."

Shi Tian winked at him: "Besides "Family Portrait", do I have any other movies this year?"

Huang Boming suddenly realized that Shi Tian, the once witty and humorous superstar, did not even have the opportunity to be an actor in the whole of 1984 except for the movie "Family Portrait" which he directed himself.

"You are too bookish. Sometimes you need to change your personality and stop focusing on work."

Shi Tian saw Huang Baiming in a daze and patted his shoulder with a smile.

He glanced at the closed door of the conference room and said with some boredom: "Some people are suitable to be friends, but when it comes to interests, they may not be suitable to work together... Come on! I did say too much today. I'll treat you to a drink at the Lan Kwai Fong bar tonight!"

Huang Baiming looked up, smiled at Shi Tian and said hello, but his heart was already filled with emotions.

(End of this chapter)