1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

The recording studio fell silent for a moment.

Leung Wing-Chun and Chan Ka-Ying looked at each other, wondering what was going on.

However, being shrewd and quick-witted, Chan Ka-ying quickly replied, "Mr. Fok, Jingwen especially loves this song; she listens to it all night long."

Does someone who likes to sing like they're attending a funeral?

Huo Sheng's gaze pierced through the glass and landed on Wang Jingwen in the soundproof booth. He couldn't understand why she would sing her hit song like that, so he pressed the intercom button again and asked, "What's the reason you don't like it?"

The soundproof room was quiet for a few seconds.

Wang Jingwen looked up at Huo Sheng through the glass, her expression unchanged, still cold, but she pursed her lips, hesitating whether to tell the truth.

Chan Ka-ying quickly tried to smooth things over: "Mr. Fok, Jingwen didn't mean that, she just—"

"Sister Jiaying," Huo Sheng interrupted her, his tone gentle, "I want to hear what she has to say."

Working at TVB was just one way for Huo Sheng to gain a foothold in Hong Kong.

If he really wants to get rich, he needs to work on other things. Wang Jingwen is his long-term meal ticket and source of income for buying property in Hong Kong. If anything goes wrong because of his involvement, it would be a huge loss.

"I don't like it."

After a long silence, Wang Jingwen finally spoke through the glass door.

She raised her hand, took off one of her earphones, hung it around her neck, and looked straight at him. "The melody is outdated, the transition from verse to chorus is monotonous, and you can tell what the next variation will be as soon as you hear it."

Liang Rongjun's lips twitched, and Chen Jiaying covered her face.

Huo Sheng nodded slightly. "Anything else?"

Wang Jingwen paused for a moment, then continued, "The lyrics are also very clichéd, full of bitterness and weakness, making it very uninteresting to sing."

"So that's how it is."

Huo Sheng got the answer he wanted, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "From a professional point of view, what you said is not wrong."

Wang Jingwen was slightly taken aback, not understanding what Huo Sheng meant.

Leung Wing-Chun once said that this person, despite being young and holding an important position, might be a bit arrogant. She was prepared to mess it up, expecting the reaction to be either "What do you know?" or "If you're not going to sing, then leave..."

What's the situation now?

She looked up at the other person, a surge of suppressed resentment and a hint of barely perceptible grievance welling up within her, and said, "Then why did you make me sing?"

Huo Sheng did not answer the question.

He stood up, walked to the glass door, and the two of them stood face to face, separated by a door frame, the distance between them getting closer.

"You really look down on this song?"

He looked down at her and couldn't help but smile, "So, do you think the audience will accept me buying this song as the theme song for my new movie?"

Liang Rongjun finally couldn't help but interject, "Mr. Huo, she's a newcomer, how would she know anything about the market..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Jingwen's eyes narrowed slightly:

"Won't."

She met his gaze and said crisply, "A play that complements this song might have been watched in the 1980s, but now, nobody wants to watch it anymore."

Before Huo Sheng could say anything after hearing this, Chen Jiaying gasped and tugged at Liang Rongjun's sleeve.

I don't know if it's too late to choose a new title track now.

Huo Sheng looked at Wang Jingwen with a leisurely air. "So, what kind of things do you think will have a market?"

"Independent and with character."

She raised her chin, her tone carrying a touch of the stubbornness unique to girls from Beijing, "Women don't necessarily have to get hurt in love; they can also be indifferent to it."

As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Jingwen regretted it a little.

She didn't want to say so much; he wasn't from a record company, he was just someone who bought songs for her to sing.

But this person kept asking, kept asking.

Moreover, the way she looked at him was strange; he wasn't angry at all, but rather seemed to be investigating something.

She looked up, waiting for him to continue.

"it is good."

Huo Sheng said.

Wang Jingwen frowned: "What's so good about it?"

"You think it's tacky and has no market appeal."

Huo Sheng reiterated her words for confirmation, "You think the audience won't buy it?"

"right."

Wang Jingwen said.

Huo Sheng nodded, as if accepting her judgment, then tilted his head and gestured towards the door.

"Then let's go take a look."

Wang Jingwen was taken aback. "What are you looking at?"

"On set".

Huo Sheng said, "Look at the female lead in my drama who is full of suffering and always shows weakness. What kind of person is she? Look at my drama and my songs. Do they have a market?"

He paused for a moment, then added, "Whether you guess right or wrong while standing in the recording studio, it's all just guessing and doesn't prove anything."

Wang Jingwen looked at him, her eyes narrowing slightly.

She's not stupid; this is a provocation tactic.

But he was very open and honest. He didn't hide anything or use his position as the copyright holder to pressure her. He took her judgment seriously and was even willing to take her to verify it.

What kind of development is this?

"Are you going or not?"

Huo Sheng tilted his head and gestured towards the door. "The lyrics come from stories, they're not made up out of thin air. After you read them, you might understand why the lyrics are so cheesy."

Liang Rongjun coughed from behind, "Mr. Huo, this..."

"Don't worry, Mr. Liang, it won't take up her time."

Huo Sheng smiled and said, "Anyway, she won't be able to sing it even if she wastes time here."

After saying that, he looked at Wang Jingwen and asked, "So, are you going?"

Wang Jingwen stared at him through the glass for a few seconds, trying to figure out if he was playing a trick on her. Seeing that Huo Sheng still insisted, she closed the scorebook, hugged it to her chest, walked out of the soundproof booth, and stood in front of Huo Sheng.

Wang Jingwen was a little shorter than him, so she had to look up to ask, "When?"

Huo Sheng smiled:

"Now."

……

Jordan spans three districts in Clearwater Bay.

Huo Sheng had no intention of taking her to a taxi and strolled leisurely toward the bus stop.

Wang Jingwen, unaware of what was going on, could only follow him, with about a meter between them. Huo Sheng controlled his pace well, so keeping up with him was not difficult.

On a weekday morning, the streets were quiet, and the asphalt shimmered with a gray light. Huo Sheng remained silent, seemingly aimless. Wang Jingwen finally couldn't help but catch up with him: "How do we get there?"

"Um……"

Huo Sheng determined the direction and said, "Take bus number 91."

"No, aren't you taking a car?"

"I have no money."

Huo Sheng said honestly, "Besides, you're not very well-known right now. Even if you walk openly on the streets of Central, you won't have the trouble of being recognized."

"Time is money."

"But the time spent falling down isn't worth much!"

Wang Jingwen had no way to refute this statement. Her shoes rubbed heavily on the asphalt road, as if someone's face was on it.

Fortunately, Jordan Station wasn't far from the recording studio; it was just four streets away. Huo Sheng bought two tickets to Clearwater Bay.

Although it was a weekday morning, the bus was very crowded. When they arrived at Sai Wan, the two housewives got off the bus, and Huo Sheng and Wang Jingwen sat down next to each other.

It was quite pleasant to find a seat on a packed bus.

The bus kept stopping and starting, swaying and rocking, and if you weren't careful, the arms of the two people next to you would bump into each other. Whenever this happened, Wang Jingwen felt a little uncomfortable.

Huo Sheng didn't seem to care at all, as if he didn't even care who was sitting next to him, staring at the scenery outside the car window.

When he came to Hong Kong, he was either busy working in bars or staying at home writing scripts at TVB. He rarely seemed to be like today, no longer confined to the scope of work and life, but more like a tourist who came out to travel and stroll around Hong Kong.

However, this kind of browsing is not enough for him to truly like the city; it can only help him gradually get used to it.

That rootlessness is still difficult to eliminate.

That's a very pretentious word.

In fact, Huo Sheng knew that even if he didn't say that much to Wang Jingwen, Liang Rongjun and Chen Jiaying would probably find a way to subdue the diva and make her sing obediently.

But for some reason, Huo Sheng just wanted to hear her say what was on her mind.

When Wang Jingwen met Huo Sheng, she felt an indescribable feeling, and Huo Sheng felt the same way when he first met her.

It's a sense of familiarity and warmth that arises when you're in a different place and meet someone from a similar background.

They both came from Beijing, were both forced to live in Hong Kong, and were both overwhelmed with problems.

Huo Sheng wasn't angry because of Wang Jingwen's denial, because he knew that Wang Jingwen just wanted to find some of herself by singing the songs she liked.

He was the same.

Since arriving in Hong Kong, he has been busy finding a way to survive and saving money to buy a house. He needs an anchor to support himself.

Leaving the place where I've lived for decades and coming here, I always feel like I'm trying to grasp onto something.

I can't quite describe this feeling.

If I had to say, who could understand?

He turned his head and glanced at the diva, who was staring blankly out the window, just like him.

Perhaps it was only her.