1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

Once the cast list was finalized, Wai Ka-fai and Yuen Ying-ming were extremely busy.

Huo Sheng's life remained unchanged, as if the audition that day had never happened. He continued his routine of going between two points and sitting in his office, engrossed in writing.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, the scene scripts for episodes 4-8 have been completed. They are just waiting for a final polish before they can be sent to Yuan Yingming so that he can transform them into a storyboard.

Then finally, the day arrived for the crew to officially begin filming.

He finally entered the film studio, which had been meticulously set up to resemble a stock exchange, for the first time.

This photography studio used to be a bank, and it occupies a large area of ​​more than 500 square meters.

The art director cleared out most of the original facilities and set up about thirty trading counters, each with a model telephone on it. Back then, electronic trading hadn't been implemented yet; stock trading involved customers placing orders and calling their brokerage firms, who would then relay the instructions to the exchange's floor representative.

The ceiling was designed with an open space, and a large electronic screen hung in the center, with red and green numbers scrolling in a cycle. However, the production team decided which stock would rise or fall.

Above that is a circular track, equipped with moving cameras and hanging lights, used to create the tense atmosphere unique to the stock exchange.

Wai Ka-fai also made the most of the space, transforming the original bank counters into small cubicles and designing them as different offices, with the remaining areas also serving as temporary rest areas for the actors.

Actors spend most of their time waiting for their scenes in the studio. If you don't find a place to lock them up, they'll disappear in the blink of an eye.

Huo Sheng went over to take a look out of curiosity. The rest room was only 3 or 4 square meters in size, and the environment was far worse than that on the mainland. There were only a few plastic stools inside, not even a sofa. TVB still continues its consistent practice of not treating actors like human beings.

After he had finished his tour, Wai Ka-fai called out to him, "Ah Sheng, over here."

Huo Sheng walked over quickly and found Wei Jiahui directing people to set up the offering table. The table was covered with a layer of velvet red cloth, and in the center was a roast suckling pig the size of an arm. Apples, oranges, sugarcane, and bananas were placed at the four corners.

There was an empty incense burner at the very front.

Huo Sheng attended the opening ceremony in mainland China in later years. By then, it had been simplified several times. They only set up incense burners and fruit, invited the media to take a few photos, and called on the celebrities to worship together.

He'd never seen a roast suckling pig before, so he asked Wai Ka-fai, "Why are we offering a suckling pig?"

Wai Ka-fai was arranging the offerings when he smiled and said, "We offer roast suckling pig to the gods. It looks golden and shiny, which is auspicious. As the saying goes, a good start and a good finish symbolize smooth sailing and good fortune."

"Then which god do we worship?" Huo Sheng asked again.

Wei Jiahui bowed devoutly and whispered, "It is the Great Emperor Huaguang."

Huo Sheng thought for a while but didn't recognize the name. Wei Jiahui knew he was a newcomer and explained it to him directly: "In our industry, many of the behind-the-scenes masters come from Cantonese opera backgrounds and brought over the rules of the opera troupe. In the past, the opera stages were all made of bamboo and wood, which were very easy to catch fire. Opera troupes also often traveled by boat to the docks, so they were also afraid of fire."

Huaguang Dadi is the patron saint of the opera industry; people pray to him before filming begins, hoping for fire prevention, peace, and freedom from disaster.

Huo Sheng nodded repeatedly, but still felt it was a bit far-fetched—this Emperor Huaguang seemed to have been forcibly taken from an opera troupe.

But worshipping Guan Gong is definitely not right. It's estimated that the people making the TV series searched through many miscellaneous books overnight but couldn't find a legitimate god to bless the production, so they borrowed Huaguang Dadi to use.

Seeing that he didn't take it seriously, Wai Ka-fai carefully instructed him, "Ah Sheng, you can't not believe it, especially in our movie, there are people jumping off buildings, dying tragically, and the stock market crashing. The evil spirits are very strong, so you should pray to the gods for peace."

Huo Sheng smiled and nodded: "Okay, Producer Wei."

Wai Ka-fai, seeing that the auspicious time was about right, called over the crew members and main actors to begin the opening ceremony.

Adam Cheng, Damian Lau, and Vivian Chow all showed up to the event.

The entire crew stood in a row according to their positions and seniority.

Wai Ka-fai stood at the front, holding three incense sticks in his hands. He bowed three times to the Huaguang Emperor, then bowed once in each of the four directions (east, south, west, and north), and finally inserted the incense into the burner, chanting prayers for a smooth filming process and soaring ratings.

Although Huo Sheng felt that this god was pieced together, he was not disgusted. He also followed Wai Ka-fai's example and prayed around, hoping that "The Greed of Man" would achieve good ratings, or at least not be too much worse than the original.

It's a bit risky. With a budget cut by two million, they'll definitely have to work on the quality of the shoot. Although I trust my partners' abilities, who can say for sure what might happen if something goes wrong?

After all, what audiences like to watch is a kind of mystery...

Huo Sheng prayed silently, but not to Emperor Huaguang; he hoped that the audience would give him some support.

After the ceremony, Wai Ka-fai brought over a knife and called out, "Yingming, Asheng, come and cut the pig, let's all eat together."

Huo Sheng leaned closer, unable to hold back any longer. It wasn't that he was making a fuss, but there were some things he genuinely didn't understand. He quietly asked Yuan Yingming beside him, "Why did you cut it up?"

Are you going to keep the offerings for yourself after just presenting them to Emperor Huaguang?

They're dismantling the bridge before we've even crossed the river!

"I guess it's to let everyone share in the joy?" Yuan Yingming seemed unsure as well, and casually said, "Anyway, that's the tradition. Let's just consider it a gift from the Great Emperor Huaguang."

Huo Sheng was speechless. Emperor Huaguang probably only ate vegetarian food all year round, since the crew only left him with apples and bananas...

Before he could finish his internal monologue, Wai Ka-fai directed the three men to grip the knife hilts together and shouted in a deep voice, "A good start and a good finish, smooth sailing, great success for filming!"

Huo Sheng was pulled forward and quickly regained his composure, then cut downwards with force.

With a single, precise cut, the skin of the roast suckling pig cracked crisply, splattering oil everywhere.

Wai Ka-fai let go of the pig and let the stagehands take it away and cut it into small pieces. They quickly brought it back on several large plates. The staff and actors all gathered around and shared the food, each taking a piece.

Huo Sheng also took a piece and took a bite.

It was completely cold, the meat was a bit dry, and my mouth was full of oil.

He chewed a couple of times, but the taste wasn't very good. He looked around again—Lau Ching-wan was squatting in the corner, happily munching on a piece of meat, Vivian Chow was wiping her mouth with a tissue, and even Adam Cheng was slowly chewing a small piece of pork rib with no particular expression on his face.

No one thought the suckling pig tasted good, and no one complained.

It has nothing to do with whether it tastes good or not; it's a ritual. Once it's over, everyone feels at ease.

Huo Sheng swallowed the piece in his hand, then reached for another. When in Rome, do as the Romans do; there was no need to be pretentious.

The ceremony wasn't over yet.

Wai Ka-fai then called the cameraman to bring over the camera, lifted the red cloth covering it, and shouted:

"Good luck with your startup!"

The entire audience applauded, their faces beaming with smiles, as if the ceremony had truly boosted morale by 200 points.