1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 371 Emotional value is full

Guan Moyan, who is in his early thirties, left the biggest impression on Zhai Yuan by his thick black hair.

It can be said that if you want good looks, you have hair, and if you want temperament, you have hair.

'When others are clever, we are stupid and dull. When others are exhausted and gradually fall into despair, we have the soul to open up, remember everything we hear, memorize everything we see, and become clear-headed and hairy.'

At this time, Teacher Guan probably has not yet reached the peak period he described.

But it has already shown its potential.

When mainland publishers had not yet charged by word, his first work had already been sold for more than 70 yuan, and his monthly income was only around 10 yuan at that time.

After that, he published articles in magazines one after another. His living conditions were not the best, but they were certainly not bad in his hometown.

Chen Jiale brought Teacher Guan into Zhai Yuan's office. Seeing Teacher Guan's reserved look, Zhai Yuan realized that he had made a mistake.

The Five Shaolin Patriarchs should have been asked to pick them up at the airport. With Carlos Chan’s disastrous Mandarin level, the two of them must have tortured each other along the way.

"Hello, Mr. Mo Yan. I'm Zhai Yuan. You should have heard of me?"

To be honest, Zhai Yuan did not have any special feelings for Teacher Guan. After all, people lived in different times and in different environments. As the new generation watched their motherland become more prosperous and stronger, his old ways of praising suffering would naturally be abandoned.

But now that there are people who are willing to buy into this, it's a good opportunity for him to make the most of it.

When Mr. Guan met the young man for the first time, he was surprised at the age of the young man in front of him. The leader of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles only told him that a boss from Hong Kong was interested in his articles.

When these two words, Hong Kong and boss, are put together, the first impression that comes to mind is a capitalist landlord.

However, he did not expect that the boss was younger than he had imagined, and even spoke Mandarin so fluently that he was somewhat moved after having just experienced the baptism of Carlos Chan.

"Boss Zhai, hello!"

Teacher Guan's accent was mixed with a hint of Shaanxi dialect. He stretched out his hands and shook hands with Zhai Yuan with a very humble attitude.

Wearing a shirt and a suit, even though Hong Kong is very hot in June, Guan Moyan is still wrapped up tightly.

A few simple words of greeting.

Zhai Yuan motioned him to sit anywhere, took out a Red Double Happiness and gave it to him, saying with a smile: "Don't be nervous, just treat it as your own home. Brother Jiale, please ask the assistant to bring in a pot of tea."

After asking Chen Jiale to leave, Zhai Yuan looked at Guan Moyan again: "Teacher Guan, do you know why I asked you to come here?"

Guan Moyan nodded and said he knew, and repeated what Zhou Xuejun had said. During the conversation, Zhai Yuan realized that Zhou was also a man of few words. He was afraid that Moyan would delay things, so he directly said that this was an organizational task and transferred the person from his hometown to Yanjing on the same day.

"It's just business. There's no such thing as a mission."

Zhai Yuan rolled his eyes, pointed at the office outside, and told Guan Moyan directly: "My newspaper company wants to start a new column now. Starting from the 1960s, it will introduce the development of the mainland year by year, from nothing to something, from hardship to prosperity. Such things can't be written by the lousy writers in Hong Kong, or they are just making up stories without depth. After thinking about it, it's better to ask our own writers to do it."

Mo Yan is responsible for a column from the 1960s to the 1980s, and writing dozens of issues is enough to ensure that European and American sponsors can see what they want to see.

From the 1990s until the turning point of 2008, the people of the mainland moved forward step by step, showing amazing vitality, which can be described and written by other people who experienced it.

This column in the September 1st Daily will be very long.

Do you think I am weak at the knees to please the European and American moneybags?
No, I just asked the editor-in-chief to describe a magnificent era. It was you who came up with wild ideas from beginning to end, and you even gave me money on your own initiative.

Guan Moyan asked, "Does Boss Zhai have any requests?"

Zhai Yuan waved his hands repeatedly: "I don't dare to have any, just create in your own style."

Guan Moyan didn't know where to start with the word "dare not", and he said "oh" as if he understood it.

After a moment of silence, he rubbed his hands and asked tentatively: "The comrades from the Federation of Literary and Art Circles said that our salary..."

"The monthly salary is 10,000 yuan, plus a fee of 100 yuan per thousand words. The housing is a bit remote, and we can provide you with a car if you need it."

"Don't dare, don't dare!"

Guan Moyan's literary character was directly shattered by such a grand stroke of the pen. He rubbed his hands harder and harder, mumbling only a few words.

Zhai Yuan smiled and patted his shoulder as encouragement: "In addition to opening this daily column in the newspaper, you can write novels in your spare time. I will help you publish it and then send it to foreign countries for selection. Maybe you can even win an award."

"I just wrote this novel for fun, how can I win any foreign awards?"

Guan Moyan waved his hands in a somewhat flattered manner, then showed some interest in the end, saying, "I did write a novel last year, and a director recently wanted to buy it, saying it could be made into a movie. If Mr. Zhai is interested, I can show it to you. But it's just a casual look, it's not well written."

Zhai Yuan ignored his half-hearted politeness and asked with interest, "What's the name of the novel?"

Guan Moyan: “It’s called Red Sorghum.”

Zhai Yuan: “…”

Seeing that he didn't respond, Guan Moyan coughed awkwardly and said, "The name is a bit vulgar."

Zhai Yuan rubbed his face vigorously and exhaled: "Who is the director who bought this novel?"

"The director's surname is Zhang, and his name is Zhang Yimou. He is also quite famous in the mainland."

"Yes, I have heard of it."

Zhai Yuan nodded silently.

Guo Shi is indeed well-known in the industry now. He started out as a photographer and also works as an actor. He just won the Best Actor award at the Tokyo International Film Festival last year.

He won the first Best Actor award at a Category A film festival in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan with the film "Old Well", but the first Best Actress award had to wait until Zhao Lirong made the film "New Year".

However, the co-production system has not yet been opened up, and it is difficult for the film emperor Guoshi to convert this title into commercial resources for the time being, so he is not valued by the capital market.

If I remember correctly, Red Sorghum was his first film after he switched from being a photographer to a director.

Zhai Yuan collected his thoughts, turned his head and asked Guan Moyan: "What price did Director Zhang offer you?"

"800 yuan." Guan Moyan talked about the buyout income of the novel, and added: "There is a regulation in the mainland film industry now that the film adaptation of a novel cannot exceed 800 yuan, but he promised to give me a screenwriter fee in the future."

Zhai Yuan hesitated for a moment, then pretended to be curious and asked, "Teacher Guan, I won't read the details of Red Sorghum. How about you tell me the story of the book first?"

You still have to pretend, otherwise your intention to intercept will be too obvious.

Guan Moyan immediately told him everything he knew, fearing that Zhai Yuan might not understand. He started from the details and spent more than half an hour explaining this novel of more than 100,000 words, from the plot to the characters, to Zhai Yuan one by one.

During this time, the assistant came in to change the tea twice.

"…In the end, Yu Zhan'ao and Douguan escaped from the sea of fire, but they lost their loved ones. They could only pick up the cakes dropped by Dai Fenglian and eat them."

Guan Moyan finally finished speaking, wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, picked up the tea and took two sips.

Zhai Yuan immediately made the decision: "I'll buy this novel, 80,000!"

…………

He bought out all the copyrights of Red Sorghum for 80,000 yuan. After signing the contract that day, Zhai Yuan directly took out several stacks of Hong Kong dollars from the safe and slapped them into Guan Moyan's hands.

Everything that happened today made Guan Moyan feel as if he were in another world. 80,000 yuan! 80,000 kilograms of pork! Thousands of pigs!
It’s not easy to catch them all.

Holding the heavy Hong Kong dollars in his hand, Mo Yan made an excuse to go to the bathroom, hid in the cubicle, took out the money and counted it again and again.

At least I didn't forget the important things.

I first used the company's phone and dialed the number left by Zhang Yimou. There is no need to go into the details of the operator's transfer. After a while, the phone rang again, and a familiar voice came from the other end of the receiver.

Guan Moyan: "Teacher Zhang, the situation is like this. I am in Hong Kong. A boss of a film company has bought out the copyright of Red Sorghum. Your 800 yuan has not been paid yet, so let's not talk about this matter for now..."

On the other end of the phone, Zhang Yimou's unhappy mood was about to overflow the receiver: "Teacher Guan, my crew has already prepared, and the film studio can start filming as soon as the funds are in place. You..."

Guan Moyan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have good news for you. My current boss has decided to continue to use you as a director. Have you heard of Zhai Yuan from Hong Kong Jiuyi Entertainment? The old man is rich. You can talk to him about the details. I'll leave you a phone number of 8008208820..."

hang up the phone.

When Guan Moyan walked back to the workstation assigned to him by the company, he still felt a little weak in his steps.

Pan Yongqiang urged the manuscript in broken Mandarin: "Teacher Guan, please give me the manuscript before leaving get off work so that I can print tomorrow's pages."

Guan Moyan responded in his newly learned Cantonese: "Roar~"

After a few minutes of calming down, Guan Moyan recalled Zhai Yuan's request and picked up the pen:
'At that time, I and a group of five or six-year-old children were basically naked in spring, summer and autumn. When we were really hungry, we ate coal. People at that time were extremely short of material resources, but on the other hand, they were full of energy and enthusiasm to save the American people who were in dire straits. It was not until I grew up that I woke up from my dream...'

…………

"Pick! Is he crazy? He knew I was having a concert in Thailand, but he was still so anxious to ask me to come back? Are my fans not human? I had to pretend to be sick and refund the tickets to everyone. It really hurts the fans' feelings!"

Nine One Entertainment.

Zhang Guorong, who was recalled to Hong Kong by Shi Nansheng's thirteen gold medals, was complaining about Zhai Yuan at a very fast speed.

Manager Chen Shufang sighed, "It hurts the fans, but we refunded all the tickets, not only did we lose money, but we also offended the Thai show organizers. It will be very troublesome to work with them again in the future."

"Yes, yes, Afang, you have a point, and Arong, you also have a point."

Shi Nansheng tried to mediate the atmosphere like a peacemaker, and chimed in: "I don't know what the boss wants to do. He just does whatever he wants... But this trip to Thailand should be fun, right?"

Zhang Guorong's attention was immediately drawn, and he said happily, "It's fun! I think Sister Nan, you should give yourself a break and take Director Xu with you to see it. There are also transvestite performances, swallowing poisonous snakes, and human head separation techniques. In short, it's extremely bizarre!"

Chen Shufang smiled helplessly and shook her head. This big boss of hers was so easily fooled.

"Shemale? Where are the shemales?"

Zhai Yuan pushed the door open with excitement, looked around, walked up to Zhang Guorong, who looked unhappy, and hugged him, teasing him like a monkey stealing a peach: "Let me check if you had surgery?"

Zhang Guorong couldn't help but smile, pushed Zhai Yuan away and scolded: "I'm your enemy! Being a shemale is not cheap for you!"

Chen Shufang smiled and greeted, "Mr. Zhai."

"Long time no see, Sister Fang." Zhai Yuan nodded at her and said, "You asked Brother Rong to come back so urgently because you have some film work to arrange, which delayed your overseas concerts. This year, I will help Brother Rong to make up for one concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum."

Chen Shufang's smile brightened and she said thank you.

Zhang Guorong laughed and said, "Hey! You said it, the Hong Kong Coliseum will open the whole show!"

"No problem." Zhai Yuan said with a smile, "But it may not be the whole show. I have a new group called Girls' Generation. I plan to invite you, Tan Yonglin, Mei Yanfang, Liu Dehua and others to hold a big party."

Chen Shufang: “…”

Zhang Guorong was furious: "Little Trumpet! Do you think we are the emcees?"

Zhai Yuan said seriously: "Of course not, but I heard that your fans and Tan Yonglin's fans have been unhappy recently, so let's reconcile on the same stage~"

Zhang Guorong sighed with a lack of interest: "It's all the company's hype. Ah Tan is a senior, you can just discuss this matter with Sister Fang."

Zhai Yuan looked towards Chen Shufang.

Chen Shufang immediately put on a smile and said, "I have no problem with this. Although this hype has made Ah Rong more popular, the fans of Tam Wing-lin sometimes curse too harshly, which makes Ah Rong feel bad. We can reconcile and avoid continuing the war of words. It depends on whether Mr. Zhai can convince PolyGram to stop the war."

Zhai Yuan smiled and said yes, thinking to himself: This Miss Chen makes herself sound like a white lotus, but the truth is that my brother Rong’s fans didn’t let Tan Yonglin go either~
However, the competition between Tam and Cheung is getting more and more intense. To be honest, Zhang Guorong is a junior and his strength is not as good as Tam Wing-lin, and he also has fewer fans. He will suffer more when the war breaks out.

Otherwise, they wouldn't go overseas to start work so frequently.

Of course, on the other hand, he was also avoiding Wang Jiawei's "Days of Being Wild". His scenes in the movie had actually been filmed, but as long as he was in Hong Kong, the King of Sunglasses would call him every now and then to ask him to reshoot the scenes.

"My own Girls' Generation is going to debut, and Alan Tam and Cheung must be on the same stage. If PolyGram doesn't give me face, I will slander their artists in the newspapers to vent Yung's anger."

Zhai Yuan said with a smile, and asked Shi Nansheng and Zhang Guorong to sit down, and then said again: "Let's get to the point. I asked you to come back this time because I'm going to start a new play, and I plan to send you to the mainland."

Chen Shufang, who was standing by, heard that her singer was going to be sent to the mainland. She opened her mouth to say something, but when she saw that Zhai Yuan had no intention of paying any attention to her, she closed her mouth silently.

Zhang Guorong became excited instead: "Going to the mainland to film? Great, where?"

Zhai Yuan said: "Yanjing."

Zhang Guorong nodded repeatedly and changed his Mandarin to "Last time you guys went to film Once Upon a Time in China, I wanted to visit the set, but I didn't make it!"

Shi Nansheng got to the point and asked, "What kind of movie is Mr. Zhai going to shoot?"

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "A few years ago, Hong Kong Radio produced a series of dramas. Later, Li Bihua changed the script into a novel called "Farewell My Concubine". I was very interested after reading it..."

……

The financier needs to provide emotional value.

Guan Mo Yan and "Farewell My Concubine" are not quite up to par.

"Red Sorghum" also needs to be put on the schedule.

That afternoon.

Zhai Yuan received another call from the mainland. The man's accent on the receiver had a distinct Shaanxi accent.

"Excuse me, is this Mr. Zhai Yuan from Jiuyi Entertainment?"

"It's me, Director Zhang. Hello. I have indeed bought out Red Sorghum, but I still want to invite you to be the director. You don't have to wait for the studio to allocate funds. I will sponsor you a sum of production costs. How much do you need now? 80 RMB? Not enough, I'll give you 100 million to make it a whole..."

hang up the phone.

Zhai Yuan pondered the details.

For making movies, there is no need to rush to find Li Zhiying. Wait for the "Mainland Past" column in the newspaper to ferment. If the financiers are satisfied, then talk to them about investing in the two films "Farewell My Concubine" and "Red Sorghum".

Later, Zhou Xingchi and Liu Zhenwei filmed "A Chinese Odyssey" in mainland China. They had the guts to cheat Liu out of 6000 million yuan in production costs. They took advantage of Liu's ignorance of mainland prices and issued invoices for several thousand yuan for just a single prop. Afterwards, Liu was so angry that he directly sold his film contract.

My sponsor is even bigger. It shouldn't be difficult to get tens of millions in sponsorship for a Red Sorghum worth 100 million, right?

After all, the mainland cannot afford to eat food. If the filming damages the sorghum fields of fellow villagers, it is reasonable to issue an invoice to compensate hundreds of thousands of yuan.
(End of this chapter)