Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Chapter 105 Heading to Hong Kong (Please Subscribe)

The office of the director of the Beijing Film Studio was bustling with activity.

Huang Wenbin always felt that this place was an NPC spawn point. Every time he came here, there were always people here, and they would even give out tasks. This time, upon looking around, he saw that they were all familiar faces, most of whom were from the "Let the Bullets Fly" film crew.

For example, director Chen Huaikai, lead actors Yang Zaibao, Ge Cunzhuang, and Jiao Huang also arrived.

The remaining person was also a familiar face; it was Li Hanxiang, one of his current financial backers.

"Little Huang, you're here!" Li Heizi grinned broadly as soon as he saw Huang Wenbin, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "I've missed you so much!"

Huang Wenbin said speechlessly, "Stop talking nonsense. You just want me to write you more scripts, right?"

"Of course!" Li Hanxiang said with his smile, "I've already brought the money for you. You said you wanted 50,000, so I'll give you 50,000, because you're worth that price."

As he spoke, he pulled out a check.

Seeing Huang Wenbin's hesitant expression, Li Hanxiang immediately explained, "I settled the payment with you in my company's name. The taxes that were due have already been paid for you, so there's no problem."

Huang Wenbin looked at Wang Yang, who gave him a reassuring look.

"You're quite cautious, kid." Li Hanxiang pointed at Huang Wenbin as he saw him take the check. "Take this and exchange it at the post office. I heard there are also remittance certificates; those should be useful to you."

Huang Wenbin nodded: "It really works."

In those days, the remittance shops had many things that you couldn't buy with money elsewhere.

"As long as it works, it's worth all the trouble I went through." When he's not filming, Li Hanxiang is a playful old man, and he's also quite tactful in his dealings with people.

Huang Wenbin asked, "Are you satisfied with that script?"

"Satisfied, very satisfied." Li Hanxiang laughed again. "You're really talented, even more talented than I was at my age. But you're a bit old-fashioned. Why didn't you add more spice to the film? You know, audiences watch movies for excitement. If you want them to spend money, you have to cater to them."

Huang Wenbin knew what he meant by "seasoning," so he could only roll his eyes and say, "I've already sold you the script. Add whatever you want."

The others didn't quite agree with Li Hanxiang's theory.

In mainland China, it is generally believed that film should be an art form; commercial elements are acceptable, but the core message should not be lost.

When the unified purchase and distribution system was abolished, film studios of all sizes began to abandon so-called art in order to survive, and produced a lot of bad films with color and color.

"I called you here today because Lord Liao wants to see you." Wang Yang looked at Huang Wenbin with a smile, as if testing him: "Do you know why Lord Liao wants to see you?"

Huang Wenbin looked at Wang Yang speechlessly: "Old factory director, do you think I'm an idiot?"

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"Haha, I knew you wouldn't answer honestly." Wang Yang chuckled, then continued, "Then I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Liao Gong read 'Let the Bullets Fly,' and he really liked it, so he summoned you to meet him. Also—"

Huang Wenbin quickly added, "It's because the film has been submitted to international film festivals, so we need to prepare in advance. We'll be going abroad, right?"

"You actually guessed it?" Wang Yang looked surprised.

"Seeing him, I knew exactly what was going on," Huang Wenbin said casually, pointing at Li Hanxiang.

Li Hanxiang pursed his lips and said, "I couldn't help but mention it when I wrote to him."

"Alright." Wang Yang didn't mind and waved his hand. "Everyone, get ready. A car will be coming to pick us up later. When you see Lord Liao, everyone be serious. Don't joke around or say anything inappropriate."

"Then you'll have to keep an eye on this little rascal!" Ge Cunzhuang laughed and pointed at Huang Wenbin: "He always says things that are sure to shock people."

Huang Wenbin immediately retorted, "Mr. Ge, your words hurt my feelings. I treated you like an older brother on set."

"You want to take me as your elder brother?" Ge Cunzhuang glared at Huang Wenbin with annoyance. "Are you trying to take advantage of my son?"

Okay, I'll introduce you two sometime.

Huang Wenbin laughed and said, "Okay, I'll buy my nephew some gifts then."

Jiao Huang was also speechless, and said to Huang Wenbin, "You mischievous fellow, you were always causing trouble on set. If you were my son, you would have already—"

"You passed the throne to me long ago, didn't you?" Huang Wenbin replied with a smile.

Jiao Huang replied irritably, "I'm not some emperor, what right do I have to pass the throne to someone else!"

Wang Yang was quite happy to see the group bickering, which showed that they were indeed close, and this was also an advantage of the Beijing Film Studio.

Li Hanxiang pulled Huang Wenbin aside to discuss revising some of the settings in "The Footprints of the Japanese Pirates".

Huang Wenbin did not object. The key to this story lies in the power struggle between several forces, which has a strong sense of江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world). As long as this sense of江湖 is brought out, adding or deleting some things is irrelevant.

Li Hanxiang is a veteran director; how could he not know this?

He respected Huang Wenbin, which is why he discussed things with him before making the revisions.

However, the two quickly veered off-topic, talking about the Qing Dynasty trilogy that Li Hanxiang was planning to film. The second draft of the script was almost complete, and there might be a third draft later. There was also a lot of pre-production work to be done, and the earliest filming would actually begin was in the second half of next year.

Huang Wenbin, being a fan of time travel, knew the filming schedule for this movie, and knew that it wouldn't be able to start filming next year.

From around October 1978, when both Li Hanxiang and the mainland side expressed their willingness to collaborate, through several changes of subject matter in 1979, to the final agreement on a story about Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty, and then to the withdrawal of the Changchun Film Studio in early 1980, the script underwent further revisions.

Filming didn't actually begin until August 1982, and it took more than three years in total.

During this period, Li Hanxiang certainly couldn't just wait idly. Given his filming speed, he would shoot at least four films a year, and a single film, "The Footprints of the Japanese Pirates," was clearly not enough for him.

He also wrote a screenplay called "Xu Tiger and White Widow," adapted from the novel of the same name by Taiwanese writer Gao Yang.

Just by looking at the title, you can tell this movie was definitely made for Shaw Brothers; it has a rather petty, small-scale feel to it.

Li Hanxiang's attitude towards making films at Shaw Brothers was like this: as long as he had a script, that was enough; he was just working for someone else anyway.

The scripts he commissioned Huang Wenbin to write were all intended for his own film company to produce; he wanted not only to make money but also to gain some fame.

After chatting for a short while, someone came up to inform us that the car had arrived.

Led by Wang Yang, the group went downstairs together and got into two cars.

Soon we arrived at the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office compound in Dongcheng.

Led by a staff member, they entered an office, where they were told that Liao Gong was receiving guests and would come over after the meeting.

Before long, a kind-looking old man slowly walked in.

There were two people following behind him.

The people in the office immediately stood up.

"Lord Liao!"

Several people shouted together.

"Sit down, everyone!" Liao Gong waved his hand with a smile, then pointed to the two people behind him: "Comrade Fu Qi and Comrade Shi Hui from Hong Kong, you should both know them, right?"

Wang Yang smiled and nodded: "Of course I know him."

"Hey, don't be shy, I've seen your movie."

Liao Gong looked at the main actors and then at the youngest, Huang Wenbin: "You're the young man who's been causing quite a stir lately, right? You're quite handsome and have a dashing air about you."

Huang Wenbin quickly replied, "You flatter me, but I didn't cause any of those troubles."

"It's alright, so what if you provoked them?" Liao Gong said calmly, with a smile on his face. "As long as your stance is correct, a few storms are just minor episodes on your path to growth."

Huang Wenbin said, "Thank you for your encouragement, Mr. Liao. I will continue to work hard."

"However, you've brought two troublesome matters to my attention."

Liao Gong suddenly stared at Huang Wenbin and said, "This is putting me in a difficult position, and I'm not very happy about it either."

The expressions of the people present changed. Could it be that Lord Liao was here to question Huang Wenbin?

"What is it?" Huang Wenbin asked without changing his expression.

He himself had not made any fundamental mistakes, so Liao Gong would not blame such a junior for no reason.

So this was just a joke.

Factory Director Wang and his colleagues were taken aback, but they were well aware of the power and influence that Liao Gong possessed.

"You're not afraid, kid!" Liao Gong laughed again. "This kind of reckless attitude is exactly what makes someone capable of writing a script like 'Let the Bullets Fly.' If you chicken out, I'll start to doubt whether you wrote it."

Huang Wenbin replied, "I simply trust Liao Gong's character and believe he won't make things difficult for me."

"I'm afraid that's not necessarily true," Liao Gong said calmly. "If you write a terrible manuscript and I happen to see it, then I'll definitely have to make things difficult for you!"

"That's alright, I never write bad scripts," Huang Wenbin said confidently.

Liao Gong was amused by this and pointed at Huang Wenbin, saying, "Your confidence is good, but don't go overboard. Going overboard is arrogance."

Huang Wenbin nodded, seemingly having learned a lot: "Okay, I'll be humble when I talk to others."

"What a rascal." Liao Gong shook his head slightly, then got straight to the point and said, "Two things. First, Hong Kong has invited you to Hong Kong to attend the celebration banquet for 'Let the Bullets Fly'."

"Secondly, Mr. Ba is about to visit Japan, and he suggested adding one or two young people to the delegation. You are on his suggested list."

Liao Gong turned to Huang Wenbin and said, "This trip to Japan wasn't originally my responsibility, but someone's bothering me. Where do you want to go?"

After a moment's consideration, Huang Wenbin replied, "I'm going to Hong Kong."

"Alright, then let's go to Hong Kong." Liao Gong didn't hesitate at all: "I'll turn down Ba Jin's offer for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Liao!" Huang Wenbin said with great gratitude.

Liao Gong waved his hand: "It's nothing, no need to be so polite. However, I have a personal matter I'd like to ask you."

"Please feel free to ask," Huang Wenbin said.

"I said last year that I wanted to make two movies, one about Shaolin and one about Tai Chi."

Liao Gong's tone softened, but his voice brightened: "But I heard that your film, 'The Cotton Robe,' incorporates both Wudang Tai Chi and Shaolin Kung Fu. Are you deliberately trying to challenge me?"

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