1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 285 Stocks and Premieres

“Stocks are a complex social game.”

Hong Kong Stock Exchange Office.

Du Jiancheng, a stock manager nicknamed "Shark Gallbladder", was holding a handwritten account book and introducing the market situation to Shen Wei with a cigarette between his teeth.

"At this time last year, 1 US dollar could be exchanged for 240 Japanese yen. As of the minute we meet, 1 US dollar can only be exchanged for 220 Japanese yen. Now a large number of retail investors are rushing in to follow suit and go long on the yen. Do you know what this means?"

Shen Wei looked at Du Jiancheng blankly and shook his head.

"Then let me tell you." Du Jiancheng dusted off his cigarette ash and smiled confidently: "Based on my many years of experience, when retail investors flock to the trading market, it is often the most dangerous time. Why? Because the political and business leaders and capital tycoons will not give money to the citizens for nothing. They must first let these retail investors taste some small profits to stimulate them to open accounts and invest money. Then, a technical adjustment can lock the retail investors in at a high level, and they will not be able to get out of this trap for at least ten years. I say!"

"During these ten years, these retail investors must work hard to make money in order to make up for their losses from being stuck at high prices because of following the trend. The harder they work, the more beneficial it is to the development of the entire society. This is also what the political and business leaders want to see. This is what I call the rule of the socialized game."

Shen Wei said, "What then? What does what you said have to do with me? Boss Du kept me here for so long today, are you trying to recommend your products to me? I have to state in advance that I don't have the money to play at your stock poker table."

Seeing Shen Wei holding his wallet tightly, Du Jiancheng chuckled twice, always maintaining a confident attitude that he had everything under control.

"It has nothing to do with you, but it has something to do with your boss Zhai Yuan."

Du Jiancheng put out his cigarette, and a wisp of green smoke rose from the ashtray. He leaned forward slightly, and said with confidence: "In the first half of the year, Mr. Zhai built a position with me, and invested hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars by buying low and selling high. He has made tens of millions of dollars by taking advantage of this trend. But judging from the current market rules, now is the best time to exit and short the yen with my client team. I guarantee that within three months, the Japanese government will adjust its policies for the existing market. Otherwise, if other countries in the dollar zone continue to buy Japanese products, the prices will become more and more expensive, which will have a huge impact on Japanese export trade."

Shen Wei nodded thoughtfully, raised his face and smiled: "I always feel that Mr. Zhai has been smooth sailing all the way, like a god. Let me tell you secretly, I also want to see him lose money this time!"

Under Du Jiancheng's surprised eyes, Shen Wei stood up, brushed off the hem of his suit, and continued with a smile: "So don't give him this chance to make a fortune! I will continue to come here to check the accounts every day, and you continue to follow his instructions and increase your position to long the yen. In three months, I will know whether he is a god or not."

Before leaving, Shen Wei looked back at Du Jiancheng again.

"Manager Du recently cut his hair and shaved his beard. Even his clothes are neat and new. He looks much more energetic than before. But he has some dark circles under his eyes. He needs to make sure he gets enough rest."

As the office door closed.

Du Jiancheng's always confident demeanor suddenly disappeared, and he slumped in his chair, his eyes slightly dazed.

From his sloppy image not long ago to his recent attire of a successful person, everything he shows is to give his clients confidence.

In three months, Du Jiancheng earned millions in commissions from Zhai Yuan.

But at the same time, several clients who listened to him and chose to short the Japanese yen lost more than 30 million yuan in principal, including some private operations of cooking the books, and he has not dared to explain this to his clients yet.

"The Japanese government will definitely come out to rescue the market! As long as there is another round of capital injection, and we can get through this period, I will still win this hand!"

Du Jiancheng always believed that the Japanese yen would fall, and once the decline occurred, he would recover all his losses.

As long as Zhai Yuan is willing to hand over the hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars to him for operation, he can alleviate the loophole in his account at this time and give an explanation to all his customers.

It’s a pity that this guy named Shen Wei is so difficult to deal with.

He came to check the accounts on time every day, bringing two financial accountants with him, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, leaving him no chance to cook the books.

"Gerkey, come here."

Loosening the tie around his neck, Du Jiancheng called his trader.

Female trader Gerkey quickly pushed the door open and looked at Manager Du, who looked grim, and asked worriedly, "Brother Cheng, what's the matter?"

"Gerkey, how am I treating you?"

"Brother Cheng is of course very good to me. I can study and have a job, all thanks to your help, Brother Cheng."

"OK!" Du Jiancheng took a deep breath. "I remember that when you first joined the exchange, you followed Manager Sun for a while? Did you know that he always wanted to get you into bed?"

Gerkey blushed slightly and nodded gently: "It was all thanks to Brother Cheng that I was transferred to your side."

Du Jiancheng ignored the woman's tender gaze and said gloomily, "Help me, go to him this time, get all his customer information, and find someone to support me..."

…………

"As a major national opera, Peking Opera should not only sort out and explore traditional operas, but also create modern operas that reflect the spirit of the times. It should analyze the market, study the audience, and create good plays that the people love to hear and see. At the same time, it should also pay attention to processing and polishing to promote inheritance and development..."

"Movies are a vehicle for Peking Opera to go global. Jiuyi Entertainment's filming of "Dama Dan" is aimed at spreading this excellent opera overseas, making Peking Opera truly integrated into the trend of world drama, and becoming an important part of the world drama system, regaining cultural and artistic confidence..."

In the auditorium of the National Peking Opera Theater, Zhai Yuan delivered an impassioned speech, winning warm applause from the participants.

"Mr. Zhai, if there is anything you need cooperation with during the filming of "Dagger-Swordsman", please let us know and our troupe will fully cooperate!"

"Peking opera must go abroad. Xiao Zhai's words are very profound! Back then, Master Mei Lanfang performed in the United States, Japan and the Soviet Union. In the new era, we must use movies as a new form to promote traditional culture."

"If possible, I hope Mr. Zhai can leave a name for our Peking Opera Troupe at the end of the movie."

The meeting on the movie "Damadan" ended.

After the meeting, the deans and secretaries of the institutes came up and expressed their goodwill to Zhai Yuan in an enthusiastic manner.

Zhai Yuan accepted all requests and had no intention of making a high-end film. He just agreed to all requests from the leaders.

Zhou Xuejun also came over and said, "The Federation of Literary and Art Circles established an audio-visual publishing house in 83. The leader asked me to ask you if this "Dagger-Swordsman" can be handed over to our publishing house for publication?"

After a brief recollection, Zhai Yuan realized that he was talking about the Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Although it is not well-known now, it will also be a national economic entity in the future.

"Okay." Zhai Yuan nodded and agreed, and then asked, "Do you want to distribute Huang Feihong in mainland China? Let's take it together."

Zhou Xuejun didn't expect to have an unexpected gain, and rubbed his hands excitedly: "What a great game!"

Zhai Yuan smiled: "You're welcome!"

People carry people in sedan chairs.

Zhai Yuan made many friends in the mainland, and the reputation of 91 Entertainment also rose rapidly.

"Huang Feihong" received the highest treatment at the Yanjing Film Studio. Four editors were hired. Except for the theme song "A Man Should Be Self-reliant" which was composer Wong James, the rest of the music and dubbing were contracted by the studio.

After the meeting, we returned to the foreign guest hotel.

The receptionist smiled and said, "Mr. Zhai, someone from Hong Kong just called you."

Zhai Yuan said thank you, returned to the room and called back.

Shen Wei's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Mr. Zhai, the manager surnamed Du from the Stock Exchange has been acting a little strange these past two days..."

Shen Wei recounted every detail of Du Jiancheng's affairs, including his suggestion to Zhai Yuan to short sell the Japanese yen.

Zhai Yuan listened quietly and almost guessed Du Jiancheng's current situation.

He held the receiver and said slowly, "I lost a lot of money and now I want to find someone to take over. Don't pay attention to him. Just keep the accounts clear and remember to register the transaction records with the exchange. I will rush back to Hong Kong soon..."

……August 8.

The finished film of "Once Upon a Time in China" is officially released.

In Zhai Yuan's version of the script, many of Liang Kuan's scenes were deleted based on the original film.

Liang Kuan in the original film was played by Yuan Biao. At that time, Yuan Biao was more famous than Sammo Hung and second only to Chen Shilong. Even though Jet Li was the protagonist in the movie, Yuan Biao was still given a lot of roles.

For example, scenes like peeking at Thirteenth Aunt changing clothes and the nonsensical fighting in the opera troupe not only take up a lot of space, but also make the plot somewhat scattered.

This time, Liang Kuan is played by Hui Tianci, who only retains the character's growth arc, and the rest is all Yi Jian Mei.

"The current edited version of Once Upon a Time in China is 120 minutes long, so it's fine for screening in mainland China. But when it comes to screening in Hong Kong, the length should be shortened to around 100 minutes."

After Zhai Yuan finished editing the film, he discussed the length of the film with Xu Qi in the editing room.

The mainland market is not making any money at this stage, so films can be screened at will.

But if we return to Hong Kong, we have to consider the issue of profitability.

Hong Kong films are commercialized, so the length of the films must be strictly controlled in order to get more screenings. The more screenings, the more money they make, and they can also save a lot of money on film. Therefore, it is generally agreed that the length of a film should be between 80 and 90 minutes, and 100 minutes is rare.

As a director, it was naturally difficult for Xu Qi to accept the mad cuts to the film, but he had no choice but to accept the market trend.

"The standard running time of a Hollywood movie is at least 110 minutes. Hong Kong's film companies are too impetuous."

He didn't dare to have any opinions about Zhai Yuan, and directly blamed the entire Hong Kong film market.

Zhai Yuan glanced at Xu Qi and said, "If I'm not impetuous, how can I afford to hire directors like you? Everyone needs to eat! Don't worry, the full version of your movie will still be seen by more people."

Xu Qi nodded and said, "There are indeed more mainland audiences than Hong Kong audiences."

Zhai Yuan smiled without commenting, thinking to himself that I am not talking about the audience in mainland cinemas, but the disc audience all over the world.

A movie has an edited version in theaters and a full version on discs. Isn't it basic practice to get the best of both worlds?

……

September 9st is the start of the school year in mainland China.

After a brief advance promotion by Literary Federation Publishing House, Jiuyi Entertainment's "Once Upon a Time in China" officially landed in various state-owned cinemas in the mainland.

"You picked the wrong time. It's the time for students to welcome new students. Not many people go to the cinema recently."

On the way to Yanjing Cinema to watch a movie.

Zhou Xuejun said, and then added: "But after watching the movie, the people above gave it a very high rating. I received news that Once Upon a Time in China will continue to be shown in cinemas for three months. We will try to fill up the schedule."

After hearing this, Zhai Yuan sighed with admiration, three months of scheduling time, this is at least the level of treatment for "Wolf Warrior 2".

Unfortunately, with the current system of buying out imported films, I still can’t make any money.

The crew of "Damadan" also came to watch the movie premiere today.

Led by director Xu Qi, the three leading actresses are Moon Lee, Winnie Wong and Rosamund Kwan, followed by Peter Leung and others, and of course the leading actor of the film, Jet Li.

Zhai Yuan took Moon Lee's hand and asked Jet Lee: "Brother Jie, I remember you are a Wuying-level athlete, right?"

Jet Li laughed in surprise and said, "Mr. Zhai also knows about the Wuying level?"

At this time, the concept of Wuying level was just a name in a niche circle in mainland China. As Jet Li became popular, the three words "Wuying level" gradually gained some value. While being known to the public, they also played a role in the publicity of celebrities in the future.

"I've heard of it." Zhai Yuan then asked, "Can you communicate with the relevant departments? You know there are a few female fighters in the company, like Sai Feng and the others, who have learned a few skills and have some martial arts skills. Can we give them a Wuying-level title?"

Moon Lee didn't know what the Wuying level was. She looked up at him, her big eyes full of confusion.

Zhai Yuan pinched her fingers and said with a smile: "It will be good for your future development."

Jet Li didn't dare to say too much, and said carefully: "I'll call the coach tonight to ask."

Zhou Xuejun, who was standing by, heard their conversation and came over to say, "No need. This is under the jurisdiction of the Sports Bureau. I'll go talk to their leaders. The Wuying level won't be a problem. Xiao Zhai, let your company's stars sign up and learn a few unpopular martial arts weapon moves, like whips and meteor hammers that no one can perform. Then let the Sports Bureau arrange for them to participate in competitions in remote areas like the Northwest. They can easily win first place."

Zhai Yuan didn't expect it to work this way, and said in surprise: "Old Zhou, you know a lot!"

Zhou Xuejun waved his hand and said, "Well! I read Jin Liangyong's martial arts novels back then, and I wanted to try my hand at it, so I asked someone about it."

Zhai Yuan was happy: "How's the practice going?"

Zhou Xuejun cursed: "Those who use tricks like Li Lianjie are still quite capable, but those masters who say they can practice internal skills are all fucking liars!"

An old lady who was passing by happened to hear the second half of his sentence. She took Zhou Xuejun's hand and spoke to him earnestly.

"Young man, that's because you haven't found a true master. We have a Qigong seminar this afternoon. The teacher who is giving the lecture can make a snake appear out of an empty basin, and he can also teach you a scientific way to get your blood pumped. Come over and learn more..."

Zhai Yuan couldn't help laughing when he saw Zhou Xuejun being entangled by the old lady.

1980 was such a magical era.

……

A group of people walked into the cinema in a mighty procession.

Movie posters for Once Upon a Time in China were posted everywhere.

The promotional slogan is very interesting: Hong Kong superstars Rosamund Kwan, Leonard Leung and Leung Hiu-lung present their passionate performances!

It's really eye-catching.

These three combined are still not superstars, especially Rosamund Kwan, who is playing the leading female role for the first time. If this poster were posted in Hong Kong, fans of popular actresses such as Cecilia Yip, Chung Fok-hung and Ching-ha Lam would curse the theaters into submission.

On the contrary, our own Jet Li did not get much publicity.

It seemed that until some time after the millennium, the mainland film and television circles had not yet gotten rid of the fascination with Hong Kong and Taiwan stars.

What Zhai Yuan remembers most clearly is that Kent Tong has an older brother named Kent Tong, whose career was dim and he only played small supporting roles in Hong Kong movies and even went on to make third-level films.

As a result, when he came to the mainland to develop his career, the media at the time commented that he was Hong Kong's superstar.

This situation has reversed as the mainland economy has developed and the film market has become bigger and bigger. But even so, out-of-date supporting actors like Big B Brother Wu Zhixiong still occupy a certain position in the sinking market.

From superstars like Tan Yonglin to Jiang Tao, no one knows what exactly happened to the entertainment industry in this city...

Zhai Yuan shook his head and recalled his thoughts. He smiled and called the three people who appeared on the poster: "Come on, three superstars, let's go in and watch the movie you starred in."

(End of this chapter)