1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

After the meal, Huo Sheng returned to the conference room.

Wai Ka-fai and others were all there, and Lin Yu-fen was busy setting salaries, signing contracts, and coordinating schedules for the actors who were in the morning.

Once the contract is signed, it's Yuan Yingming's turn to work.

For example, reading the script with these people to set the tone for their performances; or making a shooting schedule, specifying when and whose scenes, etc.

As for the afternoon's casting meeting, it's simply to see if the actors fit the roles, discuss the actors' understanding of the roles, how to film the roles, and exchange information before officially signing a contract.

Huo Sheng sat in the second seat from the right as usual, and he was also quite looking forward to it.

As the saying goes, "There are many 'jade girls' in every generation, but there is only one true leader." In the 1990s, there were many 'jade girls', such as Liu Xiaohui, Li Ruien, and Wang Xinping, who were all popular for a while, but none of them could compare to Vivian Chow.

Now that he's here, he naturally wants to meet the most popular leader in Hong Kong right now.

Not long after, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

The sound of footsteps followed, and they suddenly stopped at the door.

Two figures appeared before everyone's eyes, and Huo Sheng and the production team all turned their gazes toward the door.

Vivian Chow attended the casting call together with her agent.

She wore a white dress, no accessories, and canvas shoes. She was of medium height, around 168 cm.

She had a small, oval face, with neatly trimmed bangs that seemed to have a slight natural curl. Below that were a pair of round, bright eyes, clear and bright, with distinct black and white, as clear as water from a mountain stream.

His smile is clean and innocent, without a trace of aggression, and his mere presence makes people feel comfortable, which is truly rare.

"Producer Wei, you're great!"

"Hello everyone, I'm Vivian Chow!"

The 24-year-old popular idol bowed slightly and greeted them in a soft, humble voice.

"Hello, hello, please have a seat!"

Wai Ka-fai stood up to greet him and introduced him: "This is Director Yuen, a senior director at our station."

Then he turned to introduce, "This is the lead screenwriter, Huo Sheng!"

"Hello, nice to meet you."

Following Wai Ka-fai's introduction, Vivian Chow looked over and her gaze fell on Huo Sheng, causing her to pause slightly in surprise.

For no other reason than that this lead creator, Huo, looks far too young, completely unlike the middle-aged, serious screenwriters I've always imagined.

She quickly looked away and sat down opposite her.

The group meeting has officially begun.

Wai Ka-fai spread out Ruan Mei's character biography in front of him and asked, "Has the company told you everything about our film?"

"Manager Chen told me, thank you for your high regard." Vivian Chow smiled and nodded, her voice very soft.

"We plan to finish filming by August next year. Your scenes will be filmed intensively, taking about four months. Is that possible to schedule?"

"It should be possible."

After a moment's thought, Vivian Chow turned to look at her manager beside her. Seeing the manager nod slightly, she formally replied, "The schedule is fine."

"That's good."

Wai Ka-fai made a note in his notebook: "Regarding the remuneration, I have already communicated with PolyGram. It's a total of 40 episodes, with a total price of 500,000. We'll discuss the specific details later."

Vivian Chow nodded without saying anything.

With her current net worth, she can earn nearly 700,000 yuan for a single film, with a production period of only two or three months.

The filming of "The Greed of Man" took four months, but the pay was only slightly more than half that of the film.

The fact that PolyGram's Chan Siu-bo accepted such a role clearly shows that he was very satisfied with the character of Little Jew in "The Greed of Man".

Wai Ka-fai asked a few more questions about the schedule and filming arrangements, and then gradually got to the point.

"You've probably already seen the story outline, right?"

Wai Ka-fai put down his pen, smiled, and asked, "Could you briefly share your overall thoughts on 'The Greed of Man'?"

The question has become a bit more in-depth.

Vivian Chow lowered her head and pondered for a moment before speaking: "This film tells the story of the decades-long feud between two families, the Fang family and the Ding family, who are entangled and fighting each other because of the hatred of the previous generation."

How do you interpret the character of Ruan Mei?

Vivian Chow tilted her head slightly and considered for a moment: "She is a very kind and devoted girl."

He was poor and in poor health, but for the person he loved, he was willing to give up all the money he had painstakingly saved, and even his life. It's quite heartbreaking...

Upon hearing this, Huo Sheng frowned.

Wai Ka-fai also felt something was amiss, unsure of where the problem lay. To verify it again, he said, "Please perform a scene where Ruan Mei gives all her savings to Fang Zhanbo."

Vivian Chow nodded.

Although there is no competition, we still need to perform a short piece randomly to see if it suits us; there's nothing more to say about that.

She immediately lowered her head, hesitated for a few seconds, and when she looked up again, her eyes were already red. She held the rolled-up paper package to her chest and handed it forward, her voice soft and trembling with tears:

"Zhanbo...this is all the money I have...you can take it..."

As soon as she finished speaking, tears fell precisely on time, rolling down one by one, a beautiful sight.

Unfortunately, this perfect crying scene did not receive the praise I had imagined.

Wei Jiahui hesitated for a moment, just about to speak, when suddenly a voice interrupted, saying:

"Feel sorry--"

Vivian Chow was taken aback. The voice was unfamiliar. She looked up and found that the speaker was the young screenwriter who hadn't said a word from beginning to end.

Huo Sheng glanced at her, his tone not harsh, but his words were direct: "Miss Zhou, I'm afraid you haven't even grasped the most basic understanding of your role."

His words were merciless.

There was a moment of silence in the meeting room, and Vivian Chow, sitting opposite, was stunned.

She had expected to be criticized by the director and made demands by the producer, but she never expected to be rejected to her face by a screenwriter who looked younger than her, and rejected so ruthlessly.

To be honest, she's not the kind of person who becomes famous just because of her looks and then stops striving for more.

On the contrary, she is very serious about her work.

After receiving the script for "The Great Era," she went back and read it carefully several times. When she read it deeply, she even shed a few tears for the little Jew.

However, now that I've finally managed to express my insights, they've been dismissed with a single, casual remark from the screenwriter.

Vivian Chow was a little taken aback, but she was also somewhat resentful, and for the first time, a hint of indignation appeared on her gentle face.

She looked up at the incredibly young screenwriter, perhaps even a few years younger than herself, her face slightly flushed, and asked:

"Screenwriter Huo, is there anything wrong with my acting?"

She wanted to hear what Huo Sheng had to say—the plot of Ruan Mei giving up all her savings for love was such a cliché, so simple, how could it be wrong?

Huo Sheng was oblivious to Zhou Huimin's feelings and was preoccupied with talking about himself.

"You only see the surface of Ruan Mei."

He paused, then added, "It's not that you didn't do your homework properly. On the contrary, after listening to you, I can tell that you read the script carefully and tried to understand the character. Your attitude was very serious."

At first, they were ruthless in their rejection, but now they've changed their tune and are praising her attitude.

Vivian Chow secretly pursed her lips, but she became even more concerned about what kind of opinion he would offer.

Huo Sheng continued, "That's also the problem."

You just think like an audience member that Ruan Mei was simply agreeing with the other party by taking out all her savings at this time, and you simply break down her behavior into "giving everything because she likes Fang Zhanbo".

In your performance, she became someone who only understands love and whose every action is driven by love.

At this point, he suddenly called out, "Miss Zhou."

"Why?!"

The junior sect leader, who was secretly harboring resentment there, was suddenly called out by name. It was as if this usually well-behaved person, who rarely spoke ill of others, had been caught red-handed.

This made her react strongly, her shoulders hunched, looking like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on.