Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

Chapter 143 Olive Branch

The next day, the crew packed their luggage early, checked out of their rooms, and went up the mountain led by Zhang Xinyan.

These days, there are no cable cars or similar tools; all the equipment used by the film crew has to be carried by hand.

Fortunately, there were no incompetent people in the crew, so everyone swapped places and went up.

By the time they reached the Zhongyue Temple after climbing the mountain, everyone was exhausted and panting.

Zhang Xinyan gave the crew an hour's rest before preparing to film.

After a period of rest, at Director Zhang's command, the entire crew sprang into action like a machine, creaking and groaning.

Looking at the busy crew and the set design, Li Jiangbo knew that they were going to film a scene of the twelve monks practicing their skills outdoors.

A dozen or so people gathered together and began discussing what to perform.

Li Jiangbo moved closer to Zhang Xinyan and asked, "Director Zhang, aren't you going to give some instructions?"

Zhang Xinyan shook his head. "No need to explain, they are all professionals. As long as the game looks good, that's all that matters."

Li Jiangbo nodded, not saying much. After all, he was just a director and had no right to interfere with how the filming was done.

He finally understood why Zhang Xinyan had invited him; this guy knew absolutely nothing about action scenes.

Moreover, this guy and Hong Kong directors share a common problem: they both like to improvise on set, and only have a story framework in hand.

A dozen or so people gathered together and discussed the matter for a while, but they couldn't come up with anything.

They clearly saw Zhang Xinyan's expression change, and could only lower their heads and continue their discussion.

Yu Chenghui and Ji Chunhua couldn't stand it anymore and joined the discussion.

After a while, Li Lianjie also joined the discussion.

Li Jiangbo was a little puzzled. The performance in the later period was quite good. What was so difficult about it?

He called over the assistant director, Shi Yangping, and said, "Director Shi, tell them to stop discussing it. Tell them to just perform what they're best at."

Shi Yang was very obedient, after all, the director often had to ask Li Jiangbo for advice.

Then, Shi Yangping squeezed into the crowd and said, "You can all just perform your best martial arts skills."

Ten minutes later, about ten people stood on the open ground, each holding a weapon, while Yu Hai stood empty-handed.

Zhang Xinyan nodded, and with a command, filming officially began.

The red light on the camera flashed, and about ten people began their performance.

Some carried guns, some carried knives; everyone had a different weapon.

Everyone was performing with great enthusiasm and no one noticed Jueyuan, who had climbed over the wall to eavesdrop.

Li Jiangbo and Lin Qingxia watched from outside the camera. When they saw the whip performer twirling the whip on the ground, swinging it under his body like he was jumping rope, they were amazed.

Lin Qingxia, who was standing to the side, stared wide-eyed, looking incredulous.

This was the first time Lin Ching-hsia had ever seen someone make such a movement without external force.

She nudged Li Jiangbo. "Director Li, am I seeing things?"

Li Jiangbo whispered, "No, they were all selected from various martial arts teams, so it's not surprising that they know some real skills."

Lin Qingxia nodded. "No wonder! In Taiwan and Hong Kong, not many people can perform kung fu like that!"

After saying that, she pointed to the person in front of her and asked, "Director Li, what is he doing? It doesn't look very good."

Li Jiangbo smiled and said, "This person is wielding a rope dart, which is extremely difficult. It takes three or four years of practice to master it."

"real?"

Li Jiangbo didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

This scene was filmed for almost an hour. When Zhang Xinyan felt it was about time, he decisively called for a stop.

Other staff members brought bowls of water and handed them to the performers.

The performers had been performing for almost an hour, and most of them were so hungry and thirsty that they picked up their bowls and started drinking like oxen.

Seeing that everyone was resting, Li Jiangbo went straight to Li Lianjie's side.

When Li Lianjie saw Li Jiangbo approaching, he asked somewhat shyly, "Hello."

Li Jiangbo nodded. "How was it? How was their performance?"

Li Lianjie grinned, "It's great!"

"You're not telling the truth! You should remember me, right? I was the one who went with Director Zhang to the martial arts team to cast actors."

Li Lianjie glanced at Li Jiangbo a few more times before recognizing the man who had come to the martial arts team to select members that day.

The two started chatting casually, with Li Lianjie initially appearing quite reserved.

But as time went on, the two gradually became very enthusiastic about chatting.

Then Li Lianjie was heard spouting nonsense: "Director Li, not to brag, but I can use all the weapons those people just performed with. And I can perform them better than them, otherwise I wouldn't have become a national champion."

Li Jiangbo nodded. "When I saw your performance last time, I always felt that you were leaving room for maneuver."

Li Lianjie nodded in agreement, "I went out to play that night and wasn't very energetic the next day. Hey! Director Li, how are things going in Hong Kong?"

"How should I put it? It's neither good nor bad! I started a company and have about a hundred people working for me."

Upon hearing this, Li Lianjie's expression changed, becoming excited and envious.

After a while, he asked in a low voice, "Director Li, do you think I can make movies?"

Li Jiangbo looked at him and said with a sullen laugh, "You're filming right now, aren't you!"

"Oh dear! Director Li, you know that's not what I meant. I'm eighteen now, an adult. It's time to support my family, and supporting a family is very expensive."

Li Jiangbo covered his mouth and chuckled secretly. After a while, he said, "Then let's make movies and make more money."

Li Lianjie's eyes lit up instantly, but quickly dimmed again.

"But... I'm still in the martial arts team, and there are organizational rules..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Li Jiangbo knew what he was talking about.

In that era, mainland athletes were all trained by the state, and their organizational affiliation was with the Sports Commission; they couldn't just leave whenever they wanted.

Thinking of this, Li Jiangbo tentatively asked, "If you had the opportunity to film a movie in Hong Kong, would you go?"

Li Lianjie nodded at first, then shook his head. "My parents are in mainland China, and my organizational ties are here too. If I go to Hong Kong, won't I just have to come back?"

At this time, Li Lianjie was still very naive and had not yet been corrupted by the evils of capitalism.

It was only after witnessing the stark differences between actors from mainland China and Hong Kong that Li Lianjie decided to go to Hong Kong to make films.

Moreover, as the mainland becomes more open and he gets older, Li Lianjie is also considering whether he should stay in the martial arts team indefinitely.

At first, I thought it was all good; I was just going to film a movie and never intended to change my nationality.

Unfortunately, he was persuaded by people from Golden Harvest to change his nationality.

Li Jiangbo nodded, but didn't want to give up. He began to use a very seductive voice to bewitch Li Lianjie.

"I have my own film company in Hong Kong. If you go there, I'll give you HK$50,000 for each film."

Fifty thousand Hong Kong dollars? Li Lianjie swallowed hard, but didn't say anything.

Li Jiangbo could tell that he was interested, so he intensified his offensive.

But before he could speak, Zhang Xinyan's voice came from afar.

"Lianjie! Lianjie! Come here for a second!"

The sound interrupted Li Jiangbo's offensive, but he wasn't annoyed. He stood up and patted Li Lianjie on the shoulder.

"Go ahead! Think about it again, there's no rush."

Li Lianjie stood up, said thank you, and then disappeared in a flash.

Li Jiangbo sat there, watching Li Lianjie walk away, and couldn't help but sigh.

At some point, Lin Qingxia walked up behind him.

"What? The deal fell through?"

"Hmm! There's no rush."

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