1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 256 Actor's Salary
Eight in the morning.

Zhai Yuan was awakened by the ringing phone.

I groped for my eldest brother's phone on the bedside table in a daze, and asked who it was with a yawn.

Guizaitian's voice sounded equally tired, but he had not rested all night. After finishing all the tasks, he waited until dawn to dial the number.

"Mr. Zhai, Zhai Xiaosheng has already dealt with it. Xu Jiasheng went to Xiawan Village to release the snake last night. There should be news this morning."

"Well, well done."

Zhai Yuan leaned against the head of the bed and lit a cigarette. On the big bed on his left were the mature and charming Deng Leling and Nishixie Michiko. The quilt was not covered tightly, revealing a large area of delicate white skin, with a few red marks on their necks and chests.

He recalled the battle last night, biting the cigarette butt and smiling, and asked Guizai Tian on the other end of the phone: "Is there anything else?"

Guizai Tian hesitated for a moment and said, "No... Mr. Zhai, aren't you curious about what happened?"

"It's done, you don't need to tell me the details."

Zhai Yuan blew out a puff of smoke and continued, "Malaysia has a film censorship system. The protagonist cannot do bad things. Of course, the people around him can do them, but the protagonist must be unaware of the situation and act like a white lotus. Otherwise, the movie cannot be released."

Guizai Tian said "oh" twice, as if he understood something.

Zhai Yuan was not interested in explaining too much to him, and thought with disdain in his heart:

You don't even understand the power of 404 not found after I told you about it, and you still want to tell me the details. Aren't you destroying me?
After hanging up the phone, he got straight into bed, hugged Deng Leling from behind, and put his other hand on Michiko's tight thighs and caressed them.

Deng Leling's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her cheeks became redder and redder. Finally, she opened her eyes and lowered her voice to scold, "Don't mess around so early in the morning!"

Zhai Yuanle asked: "When did you wake up?"

Deng Leling said angrily, "How can I sleep with the phone ringing so loud?"

While the two were talking, Michiko opened her eyes dazedly. The two women looked at each other face to face, and both shyly looked away.

Last night was really wild.

Deng Leling and Michiko knew that Zhai Yuan was shameless, but they didn't expect that he was so shameless as to secretly hide a bedroom key. They originally sent him to the guest room to rest, but Zhai Yuan suddenly attacked in the middle of the night, slipped into the bed, and first severely taught Michiko a lesson for locking him out, and then threatened Michiko to lie on top of her...

"I got up first."

Michiko felt like a traitor last night. Her face flushed and she was too embarrassed to look at Deng Leling. She just put on her clothes and left the bedroom.

Zhai Yuan hugged Deng Leling and suggested, "Let's ask the moving company to help her move next door. We'll go to celebrate her move to the house tonight, and stay next door for another night to help Michiko try out the bed and see if it's comfortable."

Deng Leling turned around and bit his chest: "Have some shame, okay?"

Zhai Yuan laughed and said, "Then your request is too high."

Deng Leling bit her lip and said, "Then I'll change my request."

Zhai Yuan raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Deng Leling leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Next time you come, be inside me..."

…………

At noon, the moving company transported Michiko's belongings from her rental house to Kowloon Tong, and Deng Leling called a housekeeper to clean the new home.

Zhai Yuan saw that the cleaning would probably take until evening, and figured he would still be treated as a laborer, so he didn't want to stay any longer and just made up an excuse to leave.

I didn't ask Satellite to drive over to pick me up, I just walked to the company.

When passing by a newsstand on the road, Zhai Yuan casually flipped through this morning's news and found the news about Xiawan Village in the supplement page.

'Swindlers are in power! The village representative of Xiawan Village in Yuen Long defrauded villager Ding Quan and disappeared without a trace after receiving a loan of 2 million yuan.'

"Zhai Xiaosheng from Xiawan Village has been confirmed missing. Witnesses claim he and others involved in the case boarded a smuggling flight early in the morning with 2 million yuan in cash. Customs officials have yet to respond."

"Both the villagers and HSBC were defrauded. Professionals have analyzed that the land deeds held by HSBC are still legally binding. This newspaper has summarized three anti-fraud rules for citizens."

The rural fraud case did not cause much sensation in the city, but only provided a channel for those who wanted to know about it.

The villagers of Xiawan Village stomped their feet and cursed in the streets. They also organized a group of people to go to the Municipal Bureau with banners and go to court to sue Zhai Xiaosheng and HSBC.

不过义不不大。

When Zhai Yuan returned to the downstairs of Jiuyi Entertainment, he happened to receive a call from Xu Jiaqiang.

"Mr. Zhai, our people released the snake last night and talked to the villagers of Xiawan Village again this morning. The attitudes of more than a dozen households have softened."

He didn't mention Xu Jiasheng on the phone because he was afraid that Zhai Yuan might have some grudges.

"Then we'll start construction on the farmland owned by those dozen or so households."

Zhai Yuan instructed on the phone: "I'll have someone design a factory blueprint. You have to go to Guan Weiming to pick it up when you are free. This time, the construction team will use your Xinji people. If there are any problems, please communicate with Guan Weiming at any time. In short, don't cut corners."

Xu Jiaqiang said repeatedly: "I understand, thank you Mr. Zhai."

The construction team is the main gathering place for members of Hong Kong gangs, while the business of various entertainment venues does not require much manpower.

When the society negotiates projects with construction companies, it is easier for workers with a background to get jobs, so they take the initiative to join. Occasionally, when they come across a scene of people showing off their talents, they follow the crowd, wave flags and cheer a few times, and they can get an appearance fee of one or two hundred yuan without having to do anything.

Things are different now. The name of Xiangjiang has basically been determined, and scenes of thousands of people showing off their horses are becoming less and less common.

The leader is not willing to have a conflict and would rather talk. After all, even if there is no fighting, the appearance fee of his subordinates will be over a million. If there is a fight, the expenses will be even more exaggerated, with medical expenses, funeral expenses, and bail amounting to millions. It's not a fight at all, it's clearly a waste of money.

The safest one is Xinji.

By taking on a project to help Zhai Yuan build a factory and simply monopolizing the lunch box business at the construction site, a large number of younger brothers could be employed. After construction began, those workers without any background would come over on their own initiative, and the momentum of the society would gradually grow.

Zhai Yuan asked about Xu Jiaqiang's wife's situation on the phone and walked into the company.

After patrolling the hall and finding nothing to deal with, he waved his hand and called his apprentice into the office to give him a massage.

Zhai Yuan was so exhausted last night that he didn't even have the urge to take advantage of Zhou Huimin.

I lay on the sofa and let her rub my shoulders and waist. When I felt sleepy, I took a nap again.

"Master?"

As Zhou Huimin was massaging him, she found that he had his eyes closed. She called him softly but saw no response, so she pouted in dissatisfaction.

Accustomed to being taken advantage of, Zhai Yuan suddenly became so well-behaved that the girl felt a little disappointed.

She sat on the sofa, holding her chin, looking at Zhai Yuan sleeping in a trance, and suddenly a smile welled up in her eyes. She glanced at the closed door behind her, suddenly moved in front of Zhai Yuan and pecked him on the face, then quickly retreated and acted innocent. Five o'clock in the afternoon.

Zhai Yuan woke up from the sofa refreshed and found that Zhou Huimin was not around and he was wearing an extra pink blanket.

I pulled it off and smelled it, and the blanket still had the scent of my little disciple.

The air conditioning in the company is turned on high, so Zhou Huimin specially brought this blanket to cover her legs.

"My apprentice is the one who cares about others~"

Zhai Yuan stood up and stretched himself, looking out the window at the setting sun, muttering, "I came to the company to sleep, I have to do some work anyway."

First, I called Shi Nansheng in and asked him about the progress of several current Category III films.

"Wang Jin is making the fastest progress. He has already taken Xia Wenxi and the others to the set to start work."

Shi Nansheng sat on the chair and crossed his legs. "Liu Zhenwei and Wu Yusen are still selecting actresses, and the script still needs to be polished, so the progress is a little slow."

When Zhai Yuan heard that the actors had not been cast, he asked, "Where is Tina, the tech beauty from last year's filming of 'Irresistible Passion'?"

Shi Nansheng shook his head and said, "I heard that she got a new boyfriend with violent tendencies. He punched her in the face, and the silicone filler in her chin shattered. She almost lost her life, and now she's very disabled."

Zhai Yuan said "oh" without asking any more questions, "If they really can't pick any, let them go to the gambling boat and find a few dancers to fill in the numbers. Just shoot some random shots. Their two films are just to make up the numbers. The main character is still Xia Wenxi's "The Evil Killer."

Shi Nansheng nodded and said okay.

Zhai Yuan asked again: "What is the current situation of Mr. Zombie?"

"Ah Xu has almost finished the storyboard. I'll give it to you for review later."

Shi Nansheng continued, "Xu Guanying, the person you asked me to talk to, is a bit troublesome. He refuses to play a supporting role for Lam Ching-ying. His original salary was NT$200,000, but if he plays a supporting role, he will have to pay an extra NT$50,000."

Zhai Yuan said indifferently, "It's fine, it's only 50,000 yuan. He doesn't even need to think about being the protagonist, he looks like Teddy Robin."

In later generations, no one knew who the male lead was in this movie, and it was a mess. The reason was that Xu Guanying thought his status was big enough, while Lin Zhengying and Qian Xiaohao were not of the same level. The male lead of "Mr. Vampire" should have been Wencai, played by him. So when he was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, he refused to go on stage to receive the award, which made the organizers and producers very embarrassed.

Shi Nansheng was unhappy and said, "I don't agree with paying 250,000 for a supporting role. Besides, he is already 40 years old, six years older than Lin Zhengying. How can he play his apprentice?"

Zhai Yuan said with a smile: "Forget it, don't be as stingy as Fang Yihua. This movie mainly promotes Lin Zhengying and John Lone. Xu Guanying plays a funny role to liven up the atmosphere. The background of the early Republic of China can be filmed in three or two films at most. Don't consider him for future sequels."

Shi Nansheng asked, "Then I should just buy out all three of his films for 750,000? That way, he won't have to raise the price after he becomes famous after filming 'Mr. Vampire'."

Zhai Yuan nodded and said yes, then asked with a smile: "Are you so sure that Mr. Zombie will be popular?"

Shi Nansheng also laughed: "Boss, you always hit the mark. I didn't see you working so hard when filming "Wushuang". Besides, Ah Xu's storyboards are very good. The combination of the two of you will definitely break the record of "Wushuang"."

Zhai Yuan thought that this was not impossible.

According to the original timeline, "Mr. Vampire" seemed to have only earned more than 20 million at the box office, but this time it was moved to a large scene in the mainland, which is not only cheaper, but the saved rent can also be invested in production. The finished film should be more sophisticated, and the box office may not be able to break 30 million again.

He looked up and asked Shi Nansheng, "How did the negotiations for the biggest cast go?"

"You mean Zunlong?" Shi Nansheng said, "Fen Juhua called him personally, and then I talked to him more smoothly, but this big guy also asked for a very high price."

"How much does he want?"

"15."

“Not high.”

"15 US dollars is equivalent to about 120 million Hong Kong dollars!"

This price is indeed surprisingly high in the Hong Kong film industry. Even though Wan Ziliang is famous enough now, he cannot guarantee that he will get this price.

When Xu Guanjie was filming "Best Partner", Lei Juekun was in high spirits and offered him a sky-high price of 200 million, which was second only to Chen Shilong's 480 million salary in Hong Kong.

However, once the IP of "Best Partner" became unpopular, Xu Guanjie could not carry the box office, so his salary was directly cut to a few hundred thousand.

But even with hundreds of thousands, he is still a top-tier star, and his status is higher than that of Qin Xianglin, the most popular young actor in Taiwan.

On the other hand, Zun Long had almost no representative works at that time and was not well-known in the American film industry. It was indeed a bit aggressive to invite him back to film for 120 million.

Zhai Yuan rubbed his face and said nothing. He was used to finding bargains. How much did Michelle Pfeiffer spend on it? He hesitated when he heard such a high price.

But when he thought that his salary would double after Zun Long finished filming "Year of the Dragon", he made up his mind.

Zhai Yuan knocked on the table and said, "It's expensive, but we can make it back from him in the future! The American actor's return to Hong Kong can also be considered a piece of news that can create momentum for the outside world."

Shi Nansheng sighed helplessly when he heard this.

Before the filming started, the salaries of the three male actors had already cost nearly two million yuan, and the filming was done on location in mainland China, which saved the little production cost.

"You're the boss, you have the final say." Shi Nan said helplessly. Not wanting to continue arguing about money, he asked, "Do you want me to show you the storyboard that Ah Xu has drawn?"

Zhai Yuan nodded with interest: "Okay."

…………

America, New York City.

Zun Long, who was in his early thirties, taught a class to students at the Art Academy. As soon as he walked out of the school gate, he saw his agent Hughes waving at him vigorously.

"Lone!"

Hughes, a white guy, stepped forward, laughed, and punched him in the chest. "You became famous after filming a movie directed by Fred, and now you won't even answer my calls?"

Zunlong smiled and said, "I usually turn off my phone when I'm in class."

Hughes patted him on the back and said, "Go sit in the corner cafe for a while. I have something to discuss with you."

The two arrived at the coffee shop and sat down at a window seat.

Hughes told a few anecdotes from the set, then changed the subject: "You called me last night and said you wanted to return to Hong Kong to develop your career. You must be kidding me, right?"

Zun Long stirred his coffee and shook his head. "If Hong Kong agrees to pay me $15, I do plan to return to China to develop my career. You know, as an orphan, I have a stronger attachment to my homeland."

Hughes hit his forehead. "15? Did you know I've already offered you 30? In Michael Cimino's Year of the Dragon, you play a Chinatown leader, second only to Mickey Rourke..."

Zun Long grinned and interrupted him: "Don't try to persuade me, Hughes. I am willing to reduce my salary and return to Hong Kong. I believe you know my determination..."

(End of this chapter)