So what if I work with celebrities?

Good businessmen reach mutually satisfactory terms through reciprocity and compromise.

Clearly, Miss Fang was an excellent orator, and Xu Zan was persuaded.

HK$1.5 million is equivalent to NT$7.5 million. As for whether the box office can exceed US$3 million, he doesn't care much.

Miss Fang secured 7.5 million yuan from Chang Gong Film Industry, intending to invest it in Xu Zan's Panda Entertainment Company. This infuriated Zhang Che.

Chang Gong is the branch of Shao's in Taiwan. Zhang Che's main task is to take copies of the profits Shao's has earned in Taiwan over the years and bring them back to Hong Kong.

Losing 7.5 million is equivalent to Zhang Che making two fewer kung fu movies, so he was naturally dissatisfied.

On the day the contract was signed, Zhang Che brought Jiang Dawei along, along with his godson Fu Sheng. They were all capable assistants at Chang Gong Pictures.

David Chiang is already a top male star in the Chinese-speaking world. In the early 1970s, he could earn 10,000 Hong Kong dollars for a single film. He and Dillon were an old-school idol couple.

The passionate brotherhood has been imitated by many, such as Big Nose Dragon, but his appearance makes the images cringe-worthy.

Currently, David Chiang and Dillon's relationship is still in its honeymoon phase. He even went so far as to play a eunuch in a drama for his good friend, allowing Dillon to ride on his back.

As for Fu Sheng, he has gradually gained fame, and his image as a kung fu kid is deeply ingrained in people's minds. He and Wang Yu, who is being promoted by Liu Jialiang, are in the same category of competition.

In the future, the two were involved in a "race car" incident, which led to Fu Sheng's unfortunate death.

"Welcome Director Zhang to our company for guidance!" Xu Zan warmly shook hands with Zhang Che, then led the group to the conference room.

"Director Zhang, I grew up watching your movies. When I was in school, my childhood friend and I would often fight over who got to play the one-armed swordsman."

Zhang Che's fiery temper was calmed by this shower of flattery. When dealing with a fan-driven director, even a thousand faults seem reasonable at this moment.

"Mr. Xu, I didn't know you loved watching kung fu movies so much."

"I love watching movies, like 'The Five Ancestors of Shaolin' and 'Young Master Hung.' I've seen them all. I'd also like to direct a kung fu film, but I have no experience and haven't dared to try, afraid of losing money!" Xu Zan said honestly.

He listened intently to Zhang Che's instruction, notebook in hand, with an expression of admiration. This method always worked on a master like him.

Chinese people, how could they not like to be teachers?

Less than a week after the contract was signed, more than seven million yuan was deposited into the company's account.

The sailors now regard Xu Zan as their god of wealth; he's practically a half-brother! They even bring Xu Zan along to the high-level meetings of the Lianzhu Association.

Xu Zan got to know the real power holders of the Bamboo Union, such as Liu Maochuan (Grey Duck), Zhou Rong (Youngest), and Chen Gong (Master of the Palm).

He also realized that gangs were somewhat like Western feudal societies, with a hierarchical relationship where "my underlings' underlings are not under my control."

At the meeting, someone suggested that Panda Entertainment should be a subsidiary of the Mariners' Guild, rather than an asset of the Mariners' Guild.

Clearly, this huge opportunity has attracted the attention of many. Some even want Xu Zan to make movies for them, with negotiable prices.

If it weren't for the palm strike, a fight would probably have broken out.

After leaving an apartment in Tamsui, Hsu Tsan rode his motorcycle to Chang Cheh's film crew. Chang Cheh had a big-budget film, "Marco Polo," coming out this year.

The main actors in this film are Fu Sheng, Qi Guanjun, Liu Jiahui, Shi Si, and Richard Harrison, a foreigner.

Richard has starred in many Hong Kong co-productions and is known for his roles in crime and action films.

The story mainly revolves around four assassins who attempt to assassinate Kublai Khan. Marco Polo, moved by the Han people's resistance against foreign invaders, secretly helps them. In the end, the four sworn brothers avenge their fallen comrades.

After reaping the benefits of the box office success of "The Fist Within" in North America, Shaw Brothers has been looking for ways to produce co-productions.

This film, Marco Polo, was created under this kind of thinking.

"Xu Zan, come here! Sit next to me!" Zhang Che, with a cigarette between his fingers and wearing large sunglasses, patted the stool next to him.

Many celebrities were present on set for this film, including the renowned writer Ni Kuang, assistant director John Woo, and Liang Jiaren.

The four main characters stripped off their shirts, revealing their muscular physiques, smeared them with oil, and practiced martial arts using stones, millstones, bamboo forests, and mud pits to showcase masculine beauty.

As expected of Zhang Che's film.

However, Xu Zan keenly saw the mediocrity of the script. The story, based on Marco Polo's journey to the East, was a cliché of folk martial arts resisting tyranny.

This movie is likely to flop; it's too drawn out and almost follows the same formula as "The Five Ancestors of Shaolin".

"I reckon Li Hanxiang will have plenty of material for his essay once the movie is released," Xu Zan thought to himself.

Zhang Che truly lived up to his reputation as the tyrant of the crew; he almost always spoke by shouting, and anyone who made even the slightest mistake would be subjected to a torrent of abuse from him.

It's hard to imagine that someone like that could write "The Girl from Alishan".

Xu Zan learned Shao's long-range camera techniques from the side, so his trip wasn't a complete waste. In the afternoon, when he was about to leave, Zhang Che called him back.

This renowned director actually had Xu Zan try filming a scene. It was the scene where the sworn brother bravely stormed the palace to assassinate the Yuan Emperor, only to be wiped out by three top Mongol warriors.

The entire creative team was taken aback, especially John Woo, who gave Xu Zan a deep look. They felt Zhang Che was being a bit frivolous, but no one on set dared to contradict the renowned director.

Liang Jiahui and two others played Mongolian masters, while Guo Zhui played the sworn brother.

The rebel army stormed in from the outside, soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals, the fighting style was very similar to old Shaw Brothers movies, lively but not chaotic.

"Card!"

The actors were engrossed in their fight when they suddenly heard the young man shout something, and they all stopped, puzzled.

Xu Zan shouted through a megaphone, "This kind of fighting is unoriginal! Guo Zhui, Liang Jiaren, you two come over here!"

"Director Xu... is there a problem?" Guo asked, and Liang Jiaren nodded in agreement.

"The Mongolian masters use a variation of Hung Kuen, and so do the Central Plains masters; neither has any distinctive characteristics!"

"This..." Liang Jiaren and Guo Zhui looked at each other in bewilderment.

Xu Zan turned to Zhang Che, who was sitting in a chair smoking a pipe, and laughed, "Director Zhang, I think it would be more effective if Liang Jiaren performed a set of Vajra Finger techniques and the martial arts choreographer created some new routines!"

Zhang Che took a few puffs of his cigarette, sat there in thought for a while, and then said, "You're the director for this scene, you arrange it!"

With the director's approval, Xu Zan discussed the design with the martial arts choreographer, creating movements that were both powerful and graceful. Liang Jiaren was asked to perform the movements for a while, but he couldn't quite get them right.

I had no choice but to replace him with Liu Jiahui to do this set of movements, and his movements looked much better.

Xu Zan then had the props team lay out a map of the Mongol invasion of the Southern Song Dynasty on the ground. Later, Liang Jiaren and Guo Zhui simulated a battle on the map, with extras standing around it. The entire space was thus divided, making it look like a fighting arena.

Two hours of setup and repeated rehearsals by the extras, and we didn't expect to pass on the last take.

"Great! You're really something, quick-witted. I wonder if you'll ever make action movies in the future, I see you have a lot of ideas!" Zhang Che led the applause and invited him to have a late-night snack that night.

Talent is always a scarce resource.

That evening, I went to a karaoke bar with Zhang Che and the others. Unexpectedly, I ran into Qi Yu singing there. She seemed nervous, probably because it was her first time performing on stage in such a setting.