Entertainment: Since 1990

Chapter 146 A Year of Gods Fighting

"Honey, do you think I'm violent?"

Cao Jian, embracing Zhou Huimin's voluptuous body, was not angry at the title of "tyrant on set," but rather a little pleased.

"Kind of."

Zhou Huimin nodded.

In this film, "Fong Sai-yuk," his own role was small, even less so than Miao Cuihua's.

But when her boyfriend was filming, he didn't consider their relationship at all; he would yell whenever he felt the need to.

He even occasionally berated himself.

"This might just become my style from now on."

Cao Jian chuckled and said, "Besides, don't you think your acting skills have improved rapidly during this period? Hong Kong doesn't lack pretty faces, it lacks pretty faces with acting skills. Baby, I have high hopes for you."

"Ugh, you're laughing at me for being just a pretty face."

"That means you're beautiful."

In this drama, Zhou Huimin's ancient costume look is indeed very beautiful, not inferior to Li Jiaxin.

The scene of storming the execution ground involved many extras, but because director Cao Jian was meticulous, the scene took five days to film.

"Cut! That's a wrap!"

In mid-November, Beijing was already entering winter. The filming of the last scene, where Fang Shiyu and Chen Jialuo went to the Red Flower Society, was finally completed, and the production wrapped up.

"If this movie does well at the box office, we will start filming the second one early next year."

At the wrap party, Cao Jian announced the plans for a second season.

Everyone smiled and agreed, saying they could adjust their schedules if needed.

But many people think, "How can you plan a sequel when the box office results for the first movie haven't even come out yet?"
"Brother Zheng, you must reserve time for me next year. You have a lot of scenes in the second movie."

Cao Jian might not be worried about other people, but he was most worried about Zheng Qiu.

Adam Cheng's role in the second film is much larger than in the first.

After greeting Zheng Qiu, Cao Jian, holding a wine glass, went to find Yuan Kui.

Yuan Kui put in a lot of effort in this film, and he can still help himself in the second season. In addition, he will play a pressure point master whose catchphrase is "safety first".

Although Yuan Kui is a supporting character, she is the comedic relief in the second season.

After filming is finished, all that's left is editing.

Fortunately, there are relatively few special effects in movies nowadays; the main focus is on editing, dubbing, and other related tasks.

Fortunately, Hong Kong filmmakers are very fast; they can definitely finish it in two months, and it will be released right after the Lunar New Year.

After filming the movie, Cao Jian did not return directly to Hong Kong, but went to Guangzhou.

The September electronics trade fair has been over for more than a month. At the fair, the "Flying Swallow" VCD attracted the most attention and undoubtedly became the biggest winner.

At the trade fair, we received orders for more than 10,000 units.

Moreover, at the autumn trade fair in October, customers from Europe, America, Japan, the Middle East, and other countries waved their money, eager to import this product.

Cao Jian was filming a movie when he received a call from the factory manager, who said that production was already fully booked and they planned to activate the third production line.

The third production line was originally intended for DVDs, but with VCDs being so popular these days, we can only produce English-language products for export first.

Even with all production lines running at full capacity, demand cannot be met, so Mr. Cao has no choice but to continue building houses, buying more land, and adding more production lines.

The sales were so booming that they exceeded Cao Jian's expectations.

The product has only been on the market for three months, but it has already received orders for nearly 30,000 units, with sales exceeding 100 million yuan.

"These days, even without the internet, it's still the real economy that makes money."

Cao Jian could only sigh. After finishing filming "Fong Sai-yuk" and arranging the editing and other matters, he returned to the electronics factory.

"The Greed of Man" has already aired in Hong Kong, achieving a viewership rating of 33%.

Besides the fact that many beautiful women performed exceptionally well, people were so angry at Ting Hai's antics that they gritted their teeth in hatred.

But the more they do this, the more enthusiastic the audience becomes.

Cao Jian's performance was both lovable and hateful.

But many girls actually like this handsome, roguish man.

With such high viewership, the VCD advertisement immediately drew people's attention to the fact that there were machines that could play discs.

If a small CD can play movies and TV series, then what's the point of videotapes?

Hong Kong people have high incomes, and VCDs quickly sold out.

Many distributors, carrying boxes of cash, traveled to Guangzhou to place orders. In mid-November, "The Legend of the White Snake" premiered in Taiwan, achieving a viewership rating of 30%.

Meanwhile, the "Flying Swallow" brand VCD, which was credited at the end of the film, immediately appeared in stores and gradually entered thousands of households.

The Chinese state-owned CCTV also discovered the show and began importing it.

Faced with this situation, Cao Jian had no choice but to transform the former green belt into a workshop and add two more production lines.

Otherwise, there really wouldn't be enough to sell.

Sales are booming; there's a constant stream of trucks coming to pick up goods at the factory gate.

But Cao Jian understood that "The Legend of the White Snake" hadn't aired in mainland China yet. With a 91% viewership rating and the show being broadcast every winter and summer vacation, his VCD would surely become known to people all over the country.

"It seems I need to get Amy Kwok on board as soon as possible, at least until next year when we're filming 'Fong Sai-yuk 2'."

The most beautiful moment in Amy Kwok's acting career was in "Fong Sai-yuk 2", where she wore a red dress and stood on a bamboo raft.

That scene was absolutely stunning.

However, since Cao Jian had come to Guangzhou, he naturally had to accompany Yang Yuying.

Although there is no such thing as a "Queen of Pop" in mainland China now, Sweet Girl's current fame is in no way inferior to that of a future Queen of Pop.

Several of their hit songs have become essential songs for primary and junior high school students in mainland China to sing before class.

It's estimated that there isn't a single primary or secondary school student in the country who doesn't know how to sing "Shaking the Sun".

"Honey, you've lost weight lately."

Despite Yang Yuying's immense popularity, she's just a sweet, caring girl to Cao Jian.

"There's no other way, I have to make money."

Cao Jian has been working very hard on planning for the factory lately.

He also contacted the United States and they sent technicians to begin developing DVDs.

The biggest difference between DVD and VCD is storage capacity and picture quality.

However, this difference is technically very difficult to achieve.

The electronics factory has now become a major taxpayer in Guangzhou, and Cao Jian has acquired another 300 acres of land. After all, the factory's scale has now increased to 2,000 people.

"So how much money have you made lately? If you're not making as much as singing, then don't work so hard, okay?"

By this year, Yang Yuying's album and performance income had already made her a wealthy woman with a net worth of tens of millions.

She didn't want her boyfriend to work so hard for a little money.

"It wasn't much, just twenty or thirty million."

"Then you might as well sing. Just sing another song like 'Goodbye Kiss,' and you could earn tens of millions, right?"

Yang Yuying did the math for Cao Jian: if he releases an album that sells five million copies, he can earn tens of millions.

If a song were as popular as "Goodbye Kiss," it could definitely earn tens of millions.

Why spend all your time in the factory like this?

"Baby, you don't understand."

Cao Jian enjoys singing, but he also understands that the factory is the long-term solution.

No matter how well you sing, even if you sing all the hit songs, you'll only make tens of millions a year.

Mainly, you're just an entertainer.

As for real businesses, achieving a few small goals a year is certainly achievable.

However, the year 1993, which was just around the corner, seemed to be another year of fierce competition in the music scene.

At the beginning of the year, "Stars and Lights" was released, and then Taiwanese singers began to dominate the charts with songs like "How Many Good Sisters Do You Have?", "New Mandarin Duck and Butterfly Dream", "True Hero", "Playboy", and "How to Say I Love You".

These songs are probably familiar to everyone.

In Hong Kong, songs like Cheung Hok-yau's "Love Net" and "All the Way With You," Lau Tak-hua's "Forget Love Potion," and Grasshopper's "Baby, I'm Sorry" are also bombarding the music scene.

In mainland China, Liu Huan's "A Thousand Questions," as well as "Smiling Face," "Xiao Fang," and "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," and Cao Jian's "The Sound of Waves Remains the Same" for Mao Ning and "Water Town in Dreams" for Yang Yuying, are all street-smart hits when taken out on their own.

Of course, the most terrifying thing is the theme song of "The Legend of the White Snake," "Waiting for a Thousand Years," which is absolutely unmatched.

In China, if you have a tape recorder at home, you're bound to have a cassette tape containing the complete original soundtrack of "The Legend of the White Snake".

Cao Jian is a singer and one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Liu Dehua, who can sing well, has already brought "Forget Love Potion," so shouldn't I also do something even more explosive?
Even though it's a battle of the gods, I can't fall behind.

His previous Cantonese album was a disgrace, and he wants to prove himself.

Cao Jian lay on the bed, touching Yang Yuying's chest, and thought to himself, "How about I sing 'Too Softhearted'?"
It does feel quite soft to the touch now.
(End of this chapter)