1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 367 Upper Class Society
"The joint marketing of '1024 Daily News' and has had such a wonderful response. I have been a theater manager for so many years, and I have never heard of the sales method of giving away newspapers while watching movies. It is quite novel."

Theater manager Qian Maosheng was holding the report from the previous day, his face filled with excitement.

The newspaper was first published yesterday, with the slogan that if you sign up for a cinema membership, you will get a monthly newspaper package for free.

Statistics show that thousands of membership cards for its cinemas, priced at 2888, 1888 and 888, have been sold.

The average ticket price in Hong Kong this year is HK$20.

The ticket price for 1024 Theater is NT$50, which is slightly more expensive than the premium seats in other theaters.

Just like the difference between an IMAX theater and an ordinary theater.

It also indirectly reflects the reason why the box office of its film companies remains high.

Because high-priced theaters basically monopolize the middle and high-income groups, even if there are occasional weak films and the number of moviegoers cannot compare to other companies' films, the overall box office can still win.

"The box office of Due East is also booming. The first day box office has exceeded 150 million. How is the audience mood in the theater today?"

Shi Nansheng asked Qian Maosheng.

The latter replied, "High! Most of the audiences are young men under 30 years old. I heard that many people have planned to go to Japan for vacation after watching this drama to see if they can meet a beauty like 'Xiao Si'."

Xiao Si is the heroine in the movie, played by Tomoka Tachihara, a new member of Tokyo Hot's team.

19 years old, B895, W58, H88, D cup.

Although her figure is not as exaggerated as Wang Li Danni's in the original film, it is two levels better than Akasaka Rei, who plays the girlfriend of the male lead, the second female lead. It is a sharp contrast.

The gentle and considerate Japanese girl Xiao Si and the unreasonable Hong Kong girl Ali make a group of dirty viewers full of fantasies about the Japanese.

Shi Nansheng nodded with satisfaction: "Based on this situation, the final box office of "Dear Mr. Right" should be similar to that of "Sex and Zen."

Qian Maosheng said proudly: "This time, Xinbao Cinema Line has failed! Do you think that using golden cats can compete with Jiamei? Those ghost women are old and ugly. Do the audience know how to vote with their lower bodies?"

Shi Nansheng did not respond to such vulgar remarks.

Suddenly I realized that I had been chatting with the theater manager for so long, but the boss next to me never interrupted me, which was totally inconsistent with Zhai Yuan's usual lively personality.

Are you not happy about the double success of cinema membership cards and movie box office? Is it because the sales of the September 1st Daily are not good?
That shouldn't be the case. 17 sales in a single day is a result that other broadsheets can only achieve after one or two years of operation. When Ming Pao was first published, it even had a dismal sales volume of only a few thousand copies.

Who pissed him off again?
Shi Nansheng was very curious about Zhai Yuan's reaction today, and he remained silent as if pretending to be deep.

Little Alain Delon!
Shi Nansheng stretched out his hand and gently waved it in front of Zhai Yuan's eyes: "Mr. Zhai? Wake up!"

"Hmm?" Zhai Yuan raised his eyebrows and came back to his senses, then smiled and said, "Sorry, after watching the midnight show of Due East last night, I couldn't help but go to my girlfriend to talk all night, so I feel a little sleepy today."

Shi Nansheng breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, it was the familiar Boss Zhai.

Qian Maosheng laughed and said, "Mr. Zhai's girlfriend? She must be the boss's wife. Bring her out for everyone to meet."

Zhai Yuan squinted at him and asked, "Which one are you talking about?"

Qian Maosheng: “…”

After a few pleasantries, he sent the theater manager and the top producer away.

Zhai Yuan sat alone in the office. He lit a cigarette, took a puff, leaned back and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Li Zhiying asked me to meet him?
It's not like he has the ability to read minds and wants to strike first.

…………

"Fatty Lai has seen you before. You don't have to drive me tonight. He chose the yacht as the meeting place. Carlos Chan will take me on board."

That night.

After explaining the satellite, Zhai Yuan decided to keep the appointment to see what the forbidden fruit boss was selling.

The agreed meeting place was a cruise ship. Although it was not as big as the Natural Selection, it was more than enough to accommodate dozens of people for a party.

While it was still early, Zhai Yuan boarded a gambling boat in advance and chatted with Ye Zhiming, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

Talking about his Qiaozui Island, Ye Zhiming still felt that the entertainment facilities on his island were quite advanced, and it was really short-sighted of Zhai Yuan to demolish them.

The Natural Selection is now operating successfully on the high seas, and as gambling ships are gaining momentum, its peers are also drawn into the competition.

But Ye Zhiming has now opened up a new track of rice washing. Zhai Yuan can still see a few Soviet faces on the boat. They are like super-large water hoses and never look at the chips when placing bets at the gambling table.

Zhai Yuan lay on the railing and looked at the gamblers below. In the glass box next to the gambling table, there were girls dancing striptease, including some White Russian women.

He jokingly said, "Introduce me some White Russian witches if you have the chance."

"No! Ah Qing will chop me to death." Ye Zhiming laughed, and then advised with a tone of an experienced person: "You can do business with them, but forget about having sex with their women. They smell bad and have a lot of body hair. I've tried them once and don't want to try again."

"Then let's do business~" Zhai Yuan grinned: "When I want to develop in Moscow, I will come to you to borrow some connections."

Ye Zhiming said earnestly: "If you want to do it, do it now. The Soviets are corrupt now. If you dare to pay them, they will even sell you airplanes and tanks. In my opinion, in at most 20 years, this country will not be able to compete with the mainland."

Zhai Yuan glanced at him and thought to himself, you are quite optimistic.

"I haven't thought of using the good bridge in the Soviet Union yet, and I don't have the energy to continue expanding. This year, I will first integrate the two aspects of culture and entertainment." Zhai Yuan thought for a while and told Ye Zhiming: "The business is too big, and the funds are gradually insufficient. I plan to go public in the next two years."

Ye Zhiming nodded in understanding: "That's right, it's not as easy for you to make money now as it is for me. Everything you do is very expensive. It's difficult to fight alone. It will be easier if you have a listed newspaper company."

It is still very difficult for a single cinema chain or film company to go public in Hong Kong at this time.

The CSRC can reject an application simply based on the single profit type.

Even though Jiahe had already become the top company in the film industry in its previous life, it had to wait until 97 when Chen Shilong truly broke into Hollywood before it was successfully listed.

Zhai Yuan naturally couldn't wait that long.

Therefore, we have to integrate our industries, connect the two paths of film and television and culture, set up an entertainment company and then talk about listing.

Ye Zhiming turned his head to look at Zhai Yuan and said, "But if you are willing to use a shell company, it shouldn't be a big problem to go public early."

Zhai Yuan shook his head and rejected the suggestion.

We are not at the end of our rope yet. There are too many potential risks in a backdoor listing, so there is no need for that.

We chatted for few words.

The phone in my hand rang.

Li Zhiying's affectionate voice came from the other end of the phone: "Ayuan, my cruise ship has arrived at the high seas, and I have seen your gambling boat."

Zhai Yuan smiled into the receiver and said, "Okay, I'll be there right away."

Hang up the phone and say goodbye to Ye Zhiming.

Zhai Yuan waved to Chen Jiale who was standing beside him and said, "Brother Jiale, I have an appointment. Please send a speedboat to take me out to sea."

…………

The speedboat broke through the waves and gradually approached a luxury cruise ship dozens of nautical miles away.

The cruise ship is not big, and its decoration is more eye-catching than that of the Natural Selection. It is brightly lit like a pearl on the sea. Before boarding the ship, I could hear bursts of exciting Dutch dance music. There were many people on the deck, and from time to time I could hear the screams of women who were reluctant to accept the invitation.

The closer the speedboat got, the clearer the situation on the deck could be seen against the brightly lit night sky.

The party hosted by Li Zhiying was very fancy. Most of the tall girls around the outdoor bar were half-naked, enjoying the sea breeze and the comfort of their male companions.

"Hey, Ayuan! Come here quickly~"

The organizer of the party, Fatty Li, also saw Zhai Yuan in the speedboat not far away, and waved at him while leaning on the railing.

Holding an exquisitely crafted glass pot filled with smoke, Fatty Li smiled defiantly, took a deep puff from the pot's spout and exhaled the smoke. He then reached out and grabbed the hair of a half-naked female star who was kneeling at his waist, and pressed it hard.

Zhai Yuan narrowed his eyes and smiled. The speedboat approached the deck and lowered the sling. He reached out and patted Chen Jiale on the shoulder, smiling and said, "Come on, brother Jiale, let's go up together. I'll show you what 'high society' is."

……

High society~
If you are rich and powerful and have nothing to worry about, but you want to be different from ordinary people, you have to find fun in other ways.

"Brothers, how about a bet? Pick one! Which gambling boat do you want to board? I don't like short-term bets, I want long-term bets. Let's get together tonight to get this girl together and bet on which child she will give birth to next year. Ten million for one bet!"

"Boss Li brought back some really good stuff from South America this time. My sister had a blast last night. She was made to feel like she was flying in the clouds by the two young men from your company."

"I went to the White Dragon King for a fortune-teller last week, and he told me that my luck this year is bad. It would be best if I could find a pregnant woman to transfer the bad luck to the baby in her belly. Is there anyone who can help me find one? It would be best if the baby is seven or eight months pregnant, as that would give her great magical powers. However, the zodiac sign must match mine, and money is not a problem..."

Zhai Yuan and Chen Jiale boarded the cruise ship.

The few words he heard made Chen Jiale frown frequently. From time to time, he glanced at Zhai Yuan who was beside him with a calm expression. He couldn't understand why Brother Yuan was hanging out with this group of people.

"Ah! Yuan!"

Li Zhiying had just satisfied his craving, so he pulled up his trousers and came over with a smile on his face. He opened his tall and fat body and gave her a warm bear hug with open arms.

"Would you like to try it? There's been plenty of rain in South America this year, so these are AA+!"

Fatty Li smiled and pulled Zhai Yuan to sit on the sofa beside him. He asked the girl at the open-air bar to serve a bottle of red wine, and then handed the glass pot in his hand to Zhai Yuan: "Don't worry, this is the high seas. No one will find you when you return to Hong Kong in the morning!"

The smoking ban in Hong Kong is implemented quite well, especially celebrities like Lai Chi-ying who also take the impact into consideration and occasionally have a few puffs in Hong Kong to satisfy their cravings. If they want to satisfy their cravings, they have to go to the high seas or Formosa like they did today.

Facing Fatty Li's cordial invitation, Zhai Yuan smiled and pushed away the glass pot: "I don't have that preference, please help yourself, Boss Li."

"I didn't have this hobby before. When I went to study in New York, I was led astray by a group of foreign classmates. Sigh!"

Li Zhiying pretended to sigh, then smiled and put his arm around Zhai Yuan's shoulders, motioning him to look the other way: "But this is not entirely useless, especially for those of you who are creative. You should give it a try. Look at Fatty Ni over there, he's now writing serial novels for my Forbidden Fruit Daily. When he runs out of inspiration, he'll come to me to get the goods. So young people should learn to accept new things."

Follow his gaze.

On the other side of the open-air bar, Ni Xu, one of the four great talents, was also holding a pipe and puffing out smoke, with two girls, about fourteen or fifteen years old, leaning on his arms. His face was fat and lewd, and he looked nothing like the serious one in the TV shows.

Zhai Yuan recalled that the Hong Kong circle's later evaluation of this person was "drinking milk before bed and holding a baby after meals", which turned out to be not groundless.

(End of this chapter)