Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 34 Going to Hong Kong
Many people clicked in out of curiosity and found that the comments had instantly reached a thousand.

Some celebrities started showing off the books they had bought early in the morning, with several different cover versions, including one with a monkey illustration and another featuring the four main characters from Journey to the West.

Many people bought a copy out of curiosity and started reading it, but at first, they were all filled with questions.

"Classical Chinese writing style?"

"Is Chen Shouzhe really that well-educated? Why can't I understand him?"

"No wonder everyone is doubting whether he wrote it. Did he really write it?"

"There are two versions, one is entirely in vernacular Chinese and the other is in classical Chinese. I personally recommend reading the vernacular Chinese version first, and then looking at the classical Chinese version. You will understand it more thoroughly. I'll go read it now."

Half a day later, there were quite a few people arguing. Most people bought a copy out of curiosity. Some of the books were difficult to understand, while others read them with great interest.

"Why am I a little confused and unable to understand some of it?"

"Don't bother me, the Moon Goddess Chang'e is so beautiful."

"I don't understand some of the monkey's actions."

"That's strange. I didn't have this feeling when listening to Chen Shou's storytelling, but why do I feel different when I read the book?"

“I have the same feeling. I’ve seen video recordings of Chen Shou’s storytelling. The story is correct, but the text seems to be implying something.”

A day passed, and Chen Shou still didn't know how the sales were. That evening, there was a steel wire festival performance by Deyun Society at the Beijing Exhibition Center.

Chen Shouzhe was in the middle of the venue, and the audience didn't even know about the performance sign that had been posted.

The show started at 7:30, and around 9:00 the actors went offstage, and the Marquis went upstairs with a microphone to announce the program.

"Next, please enjoy the storytelling performance of 'Journey to the West' by Chen Shouzhe."

The audience below the stage were stunned for a moment, and then they saw Chen Shouzhe, wearing a long gown and holding a fan, walk onto the stage.

"it is good!!!"

The atmosphere at the scene was great, and many people cheered and applauded when they saw Chen Shouzhe.

They never expected that Chen Shouzhe would actually come back to perform crosstalk; this was a pleasant surprise.

Chen Shouzhe looked down at the audience and saw Huo Wenxi and Boss Yang. The two had bought expensive tickets and sat in the first row. Besides him, Chen Shouzhe also saw an unexpected face. She was very beautiful and waved to Chen Shouzhe.

Chen Shou nodded to the other party and picked up the eye-catching item.

"The most difficult and mysterious thing is the hardest to find."
Do not take the elixir of immortality lightly.

Without encountering a sage to impart the secrets,

Empty words leave my mouth dry... *snap*... my tongue is parched!

The room quieted down considerably, and everyone was watching him.

"The day before yesterday, my godfather asked me if I wanted to come on stage and perform crosstalk. I'm already a widow, so I won't do crosstalk. I'll tell stories instead. To be precise, it's not exactly storytelling. You just heard it. It's storytelling. Telling stories is about telling you the content of a story. In the past, most people were uneducated and couldn't understand books, so they would ask a storyteller to read the story to them. You can also understand it as asking someone to read and tell a story."

Storytelling involves commentary. I'm not just going to talk about the book; I'm going to comment on how well it's written and what the inside stories are. There might not be too many laughs. Everyone's been laughing all night, so I'm going to give you something not so funny.

Whether I wrote Journey to the West or not is not important. This is a true story that has been revised many times throughout the dynasties and has even appeared in operas. It tells the story of the monk Xuanzang secretly going abroad to obtain Buddhist scriptures during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty. Today, the new book is released, and I will tell you the story behind it, which may change your future interpretation of Journey to the West.

If you were to consider Journey to the West as a novel about officialdom or the workplace, what would come to mind?

Chen Shou's final, mysterious smile sent chills down the spines of many who had read Journey to the West.

Especially the Guo and Yu couple, who were standing at the entrance listening, had already read "Journey to the West" and had finished reading the whole book long ago.

When Chen Shouzhe said that this was a novel about officialdom and the workplace, the two of them suddenly thought of many things.

Suddenly, the problems that had been troubling him became clear, enlightening him and sending chills down his spine. As Chen Shouzhe continued, even those who hadn't read the book listened with great interest, but there weren't many laughs. Chen Shouzhe spoke for a short while before stepping down, leaving a loose end, half-speaking and half-commenting before leaving the stage.

Although there weren't many laughs, it was unforgettable. If it weren't for Yue Yunpeng taking over, it probably would have been a flop. This also shows that it's not easy to tell stories in a big theater. It's best to be the kind of storyteller who is thin-skinned but has plenty of substance, giving the audience enough laughs.

After finishing his speech, Chen Shouzhe rested backstage. When the event ended, they had a late-night snack and went home separately. The next morning, Chen Shouzhe flew to Hong Kong with Boss Yang.

After a night of fermentation, the sales figures and various interpretations of "Journey to the West" also emerged.

The sales volume was 173850 copies, which shows that there are still many people who support Chen Shouzhe. Selling 170,000 copies is neither too much nor too little. Culture needs to be cultivated, it's not money, and no one can like it all at once.

Because of a comment Chen Shouzhe made at the Beijing Exhibition Center, various forums and websites began to look at "Journey to the West" from different perspectives. Some people even thought it was a cultivation method, practicing Taoist internal alchemy.

Some say it's about cultivating the mind, while others say it's about officialdom or the personal cultivation of Tang Xuanzang. The so-called Sun Wukong, Zhu Wuneng, and Sha Wujing are all manifestations of one's nature.

As time goes by, classics will inevitably remain classics. Chen Shouzhe is just a porter. He feels it is a pity that such a splendid culture is disappearing.

He felt no remorse for bringing the culture that should have existed to the world, so what if he was criticized?

There's no need to adjust to the time difference when going to Hong Kong; it only took a little over three hours to get to the airport, and then I went to Emperor Entertainment Group.

When Chen Shouzhe arrived in Hong Kong, he had to admire the paparazzi there; they were incredibly pervasive. Photos of him and Yang Shoucheng getting off the plane together were quickly reported by Hong Kong media, and mainland media followed suit.

The eyes of the film and television industry were immediately focused on him. Chen Shouzhe had brought back a big production worth 200 million US dollars from overseas last time. This time, he was walking with people from Emperor Entertainment Group, which made his former allies speculate whether Chen Shouzhe was going to cooperate with Hong Kong.

Chen Shouzhe is now a box office record director, and many film companies are eyeing him, just waiting to get a share of his projects. Unexpectedly, Chen Shouzhe is flirting with Emperor Entertainment Group in Hong Kong.

"You went to Hong Kong?"

Inside the China Film Group office, Han Sanping heard his secretary say something that sounded surprising.

"Yes, today the media photographed me getting off the plane with Emperor Group's boss, Yang Shoucheng, and arriving at Emperor Group together," the secretary said.

"Go and ask Director Wang to come over." Han Sanping and Chen Shouzhe had a decent relationship, but Director Wang and Chen Shouzhe had a very good relationship; Director Wang was the producer of both of their films.

A moment later, Director Wang came in, and he already knew why he wanted to see him.

"I'll find an opportunity to ask him. He has a pretty good attitude towards Emperor Entertainment. When we were filming Goodbye Mr. Loser, he almost went to Emperor Entertainment for investment, but his mentor, Yu Qian, made up the last four million, so he didn't go to Emperor Entertainment," Director Wang said.

"That guy surnamed Yang has reached out to us. We need to find out what projects they're discussing, and ideally, we could get involved," Han Sanping said.

"I'll try my best," Director Wang nodded.

Shanghai Film Group shared the same idea. Chen Shouzhe brought them good news about a co-production. They were finally able to work with Chen Shouzhe. At least Chen Shouzhe's two films have made money and received good reviews. He also has a blockbuster scheduled for release at the end of this year.

"Go and find out more, and it would be best if we could tie him to our Shanghai Film Group." Chairman Ren instructed the marketing department to carry out the plan.

"Emperor? Why would they suddenly go to Emperor? That's strange." Wang Zonglei frowned as he looked at the news.

Huayi Brothers had dealt with Emperor Entertainment Group before, co-producing many films, but the response was lukewarm, so they gradually gave up on Emperor Entertainment Group. On the other hand, director Jiang Wen had a very good relationship with Emperor Entertainment Group.

Everyone was making inquiries, and the Hong Kong media were reporting on it. Chen Shouzhe also had a certain international reputation. "Painted Skin" did well at the box office in Southeast Asia. As the highest-grossing director in China, many Hong Kong production companies were keeping an eye on him. They must have felt uncomfortable seeing him with Yang Shoucheng.

"Director Chen, let me introduce you. This is one of our company's artists, Nicholas Tse. This is Charlene Choi (Ah Sa). This is Gillian Chung (Ah Gil). This is Joey Yung..."

Many of the artists are familiar to me, but it's clear that Hong Kong's artists are truly fading away. The same people who were popular all over the world in the 80s and 90s are still around, and you can hardly see any of the younger generation.

"Boss, Stephen Chow has arrived." Chen Shou chatted with the artists until Huo Wenxi arrived, at which point they finished.

Chen Shouzhe finally met this talented man from Hong Kong. He looked quite old now, and Chen Shouzhe wondered if he was still capable of performing.

"Hello Director Chen, I'm Stephen Chow."

"Director Zhou, I grew up watching your movies."

(End of this chapter)