1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 475 Upper Class

The movie "Dragon King" was a hit in Hong Kong.
They pinpointed the location to a specific residential building in Yanjing City, but ended up failing miserably.

When Zhou Ping went home for the Chinese New Year, she carried half a backpack full of CDs and also sent a VCD player home.

At that time, the mainland had just implemented a price control policy, and millions of color TVs were put into the market, which greatly alleviated the rigid requirement of "color TV coupons". Although state-run stores still forced consumers to buy abacuses, thermos bottles and down quilts, which were slow-moving goods, while buying color TVs, the long queues at the store entrances did not diminish at all.

In the residential building where Zhou Xuejun lives, many residents have started using color TVs.

However, since Kuaibo had not yet officially entered the mainland market, VCDs were still a rarity. Compared to the fact that there were only 27 VCR users in the entire city of Beijing this year, coastal cities like Guangzhou, blessed by Mazu, had already started using more advanced optical discs.

Zhou Ping's return from Hong Kong already attracted the attention of the neighbors, and with the addition of a VCD player, a novel gadget, she quickly became known as "someone else's child" among adults and "Sister Zhou Ping" among children.

Zhou Xuejun was frequently mentioned.

"Old Zhou, you're something else! You've put all that effort into making a fortune quietly into your life. Your daughter is so well-educated; she even brings things home when she goes to school."

"Wow! I've only ever seen one of these VCD players at our school. They say it was donated by a Hong Kong businessman for storing courseware, and it's quite valuable."

"Brother Zhou, how about our daughter goes to Hong Kong again after the New Year, and we take my son along too? It's nothing much, it would be good for him to broaden his horizons..."

During the Spring Festival holiday,
The little girls and boys watched eagerly as Zhou Ping played DVDs, just like they were living in Zhou Xuejun's house.

The adults also joined in the viewing, watching everything from "A Better Tomorrow" to "A Chinese Ghost Story," all of which were popular blockbusters in 1991.

There are inevitably scenes that are not suitable for children. At this time, either the child will go to the bathroom on their own initiative, or the adult will cough and tell their child to buy cigarettes, pour water, or check if the gas is turned off.

It wasn't until Zhou Ping put "Dragon King" into the DVD player that things changed.

The disc was an unreleased sample that Zhai Yuanjia had packed. For the first few minutes, adults and children alike were enjoying watching it with laughter.

When the first female character, Yan Qianwen, appeared as 'Zhuque', the atmosphere became slightly awkward.

She was dressed so scantily, her outfit was almost as revealing as the calendar pictures on the wall at home.

From then on, every female character in this short drama appeared with a hint of suggestiveness.

The drama is a serious one, but whenever Chu Yen-ping films women, the camera focuses on close-ups of their breasts, legs, and buttocks. This is also the case with "Dragon King". In terms of costumes and props, Zhai Yuan designed them according to the style of online game cosplayers after the millennium. Even when Yan Qianwen, who plays "Vermilion Bird", wears the Dragon Palace armor, her chest still has to be squeezed out to reveal half a cleavage.

When Li Jiaxin, who plays the young lady, first appears, she is also wearing a low-cut, backless evening gown.

Nineteen-year-old Li Jiaxin was so irresistible that even the kids in the room couldn't handle her, and even the parents like Zhou Xuejun were having trouble controlling themselves.

"Xiaoping, this one doesn't look very interesting, let's choose another one."

As a result, the short drama "Dragon King" was taken down after only twenty minutes of screening in the residential building.

But it's said that in the following days, sales of family planning products in nearby stores increased significantly, though the reason is unknown...

……

"People in my hometown are still conservative in their thinking."

Hong Kong, Deep Water Bay Garden Villas.

After listening to Zhou Ping recount her experience of returning home for the Spring Festival, Zhai Yuan chuckled and made a sarcastic remark.

The opening up of ideas and concepts across the mainland was a gradual and tortuous process.

This year, the Youth Daily only started a gender column for the first time, albeit in a somewhat veiled manner. In Zhai Yuan's memory, until the mid-to-late 90s, even adults had difficulty accessing such topics. It wasn't until magazines like Zhiyin, Girlfriend, and Family Doctor emerged, urban youth took the lead in opening up their views, and pirated video discs also flooded the market, that everyone began to have some exposure to these topics.

During this period, calendar pictures also changed from depicting Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities in a normal style to bikini-clad women.

However, the rebound after suppression always seems a bit exaggerated.

After the internet became widespread in the millennium, it was hard to imagine that ten years ago, watching a movie like "*****" had to be done secretly. Ten years later, all kinds of pornographic, violent, and bloody resources could be openly displayed on various online forums and BBS. Prostitutes, drug sellers, gun sellers, and even live-streaming childbirth were everywhere.

Back then, the Simplified Chinese internet was the real cyberpunk; even the dark web had to be conquered.

"However, the promotion of VCDs in mainland China also needs to be put on the agenda."

After briefly reviewing the development process in the mainland market, Zhai Yuan felt it was time to bring the Kuaibo name into every household.

It's not entirely true that mainland China knew nothing about VCDs at that time. After all, Kuaibo had donated a lot of educational equipment like "BabyBus" to schools in mainland China over the years.

In terms of data, People's Daily helped Zhai Yuan compile statistics.

Since the reform and opening up, up to this year, the number of home video recorders in mainland China is estimated at about 500 million. In Hong Kong, that would be almost one per person, but in mainland China with a population of 11 billion, these 500 million video recorders are like drops of water entering the ocean.

The market is still like an uncultivated fertile land. And Zhai Yuan is currently short of money.

So far, among his businesses, the VCD industry remains the one that generates the most cash flow.

Whether it's recycling used home appliances or creating short dramas, the essence is to expand the market audience.

"We need to set aside the budget for a safety net entry before TSMC withdraws."

Zhai Yuan thought to himself, "At the same time, we also have to take care of Zhonggang Communications, this money-devouring behemoth. Tsk, it's tough."

…………

Accompanying Zhou Ping back to Hong Kong from the mainland were Yu Feihong and two directors who had traveled from afar.

Zhang Yimou, the director of "Red Sorghum"
Chen Kaige in "Farewell My Concubine".

91 Entertainment.

Upon learning that the two directors had come to visit with sample films, Zhai Yuan visited the company for the first time since the holiday.

"Sister Nan~"

As soon as he arrived downstairs at the company, he saw Shi Nansheng standing there. Zhai Yuan smiled and waved to greet him.

Shi Nansheng pointed upstairs and said, "Mr. Zhai, the two directors from the mainland are in the editing room."

Zhai Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, let's go up together."

While getting into the elevator, I took the opportunity to briefly inquire about the box office situation of the Lunar New Year film season from Shi Nansheng.

As expected, Chen Shilong immediately took over the leading role since he did not participate in the creation.

With "Miracle" surpassing "Family Reunion" and "Casino Raiders", Jiahe has returned to the top of the box office charts after several years.

"Although 'Miracle' won the Lunar New Year box office, its box office did not even break 3100 million."

In the elevator, Shi Nansheng frowned and said, "In the past two years, the box office in Hong Kong seems to have not increased, as if it has been locked at 3000 million, but the box office in other places has been rising all the way, especially the box office in Taiwan, which has been rising very fast. The movie-watching environment in Hong Kong seems to be somewhat out of step with market rules."

"That's normal. Hua En and I started an appliance recycling business, and the release of 'Dragon King' during the Spring Festival further boosted its popularity. Now, VCDs have completely surpassed video recorders in Hong Kong's market coverage."

Zhai Yuan casually explained, "The price of a movie ticket can be converted into the cost of at least three to five DVDs. Renting is even cheaper. Unless Hong Kong suddenly experiences a population explosion or everyone becomes a movie fan, home theaters will inevitably draw a large number of moviegoers away from theaters."

Shi Nansheng pondered for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "But it doesn't matter. Hong Kong is a small place, so any slight increase or decrease in the market is easily noticeable. But the large markets in other places won't change because of these factors, so everything will remain the same."

Shi Nansheng smiled with relief: "That's true, otherwise the box office on the Taiwan charts wouldn't have surged."

at the same time,

Outdoor editing area of ​​91 Entertainment.

Members of the creative teams behind "Red Sorghum" and "Farewell My Concubine" gathered in the hall.

Thirty-nine-year-old Zhang Yimou was thin, with a hardened look on his face from the northern sun, and was talking in a low voice to the male lead next to him.

The male protagonist is named Jiang Wen... let's just say he's mature beyond his years.

Compared to the cast of "Red Sorghum," Zhang Yimou and Jiang Wen, two men, were unusually quiet together.

Thirty-seven-year-old Chen Kaige, accompanied by the cast and crew of "Farewell My Concubine" and his beautiful wife, was in high spirits.

With Leslie Cheung actively enlivening the atmosphere, it became even more lively.

The actresses who shuttled between the two production teams also took on the leading roles in both films.

That was Gong Li, who was twenty-four years old.

The elevator doors dinged, then opened to the left and right, and Zhai Yuan and Shi Nansheng stepped out side by side.

Everyone in the hall stood up.

Chen Kaige took a deep breath, pressed down on the film reel of "Farewell My Concubine" with one hand, and held the hand of his newlywed wife Hong Huang with the other, his face showing undisguised excitement.

Seeing Zhai Yuan approaching, Chen Kaige whispered to Hong Huang, "Erniu, from today onwards, we are the upper class."

(End of this chapter)