So what if I work with celebrities?

"Are you kidding me, Liu Jiahui?"

"Him?"

"I'm not saying he didn't try hard enough; oh, the appearance of the movie lead is very important!"

"Look at Luo Lie, you know? 'World's Number One Fist' was a huge hit in North America, but what happened? He's still a supporting character."

"Brother, I advise you to be more cautious."

Zhang Che earnestly advised him, explaining that he didn't always judge people by their looks, and that Fu Sheng's appearance certainly had nothing to do with being handsome.

Liu Jiahui and Liu Jialiang were sworn brothers. In the era when Hong Kong cinema still valued family background, it was impossible for Zhang Che to promote Liu Jiahui.

Zhang Che's relationship with Liu Jialiang had basically hit rock bottom. At the time, Zhang promised Liu that he would become a director, but Chang Gong Film Company supported Jiang Dawei and Di Long instead, and the two of them made a bunch of bad movies.

Liu Jialiang wanted to become a director, but Zhang Che wouldn't allow it. In a fit of anger, Liu Jialiang ran back to Shao's company.

It just so happened that Ms. Fang entered the core department, which was in dire need of talent, so Liu Jialiang was supported as a director.

"I want to film a story about Wong Fei-hung. I remember Liu Jialiang is..." Xu Zan's meaning was quite clear.

It wasn't Liu Jiahui he was interested in, but rather Liu Jialiang, who was behind him.

"Hey bro, there are plenty of people who claim to be Wong Fei-hung's disciples and grand-disciples. The film industry is all about reputation; nobody cares whether it's true or not." Zhang Che didn't seem to care. It's just a movie, after all.

Besides introducing Fu Sheng and Qi Guanjun, he also mentioned several martial arts instructors from the Zhang family troupe, such as Guo Zhui and Lu Feng.

"Brother, I swore to the boss that if I hadn't gotten him, and had sent someone else, he'd think I was up to something!"

"Oh, I see. Okay, I'll have Liu Jiahui come, and you can talk to him. I'll talk to the Shao family, but whether Liu Jialiang can come or not depends on you."

Zhang Che was naturally aware of Xu Zan's background: the Lianzhuhui, the largest underworld force in Taiwan, was now making a major foray into the film industry, which was neither good nor bad.

Liu Jiahui was doing push-ups in the staff dormitory when Wu Ma found him.

"Huh? Director Zhang wants to see me?" he asked nervously. "Brother Feng, what... what does he want to see me about?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing," Wu Ma said.

Liu Jiahui arrived at Zhang Che's office door with trepidation. He hesitated for a moment before knocking, and upon hearing a "Come in," he immediately pushed the door open and entered.

The office reeked of cigarettes. Liu Jiahui noticed the cigars on the ashtray and saw two people sitting on the sofa. One was Zhang Che, and the other was someone he recognized: Xu Zan.

With a hint of suspicion, I walked over and asked with a smile, "Director Zhang, were you calling me? Hello, Director Xu."

Zhang Che, with his legs crossed, pointed at Xu Zan and said, "Director Xu specifically sought me out today, wanting to invite you to act in a film. What are your thoughts?"

Liu Jiahui was even more uncertain about Zhang Che's intentions. Who wouldn't want to act in Xu Zan's movie? But Zhang Che, are you letting me act or not?

He was bald to begin with, and in a short while, a layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Mr. Liu, I've discussed it with Director Zhang. I'd like you to act in my film as the male lead. It's a rare opportunity," Xu Zan said, seeing the other man's predicament.

"Huh?" Liu Jiahui was extremely surprised; the male lead's mouth was agape. "Yes, yes!"

After seeing Xu Zan off, Zhang Che immediately summoned the core members of the Zhang Family Team to his office.

Fu Sheng, Qi Guanjun, Jiang Dawei, Guo Zhui, and Wu Ma arrived one after another about ten minutes later.

"Xu Zan wants to make a film based on the 'Shaolin Temple' theme. Although I'm not optimistic about his kung fu film skills, he has a unique vision. Don't you think we should..." Zhang Che said.

Wu Ma, a seasoned veteran, fearing the others in Zhang's team might misunderstand Director Zhang's meaning, immediately added, "You mean to film?"

"Xu Zan is planning to film a story about Wong Fei-hung, so we can do that too. We can film Fong Sai-yuk," Zhang Che said.

The other apprentices, of course, wouldn't object and readily agreed.

Jiang Dawei patted Fu Sheng on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Your master is going to give you a big push again this time, so do a good job!"

He's no longer just a superstar; he's now a director. He has a film coming out in the first half of the year called "Death Row Inmate," written by Ni Kuang and directed and starring Jiang Dawei.

Xu Zan was unaware that he had given Zhang Che an idea. Now, he rushed back to the company, contacted the Shao family, and made an appointment to meet Miss Fang.

The procedures for leaving the island are extremely complicated; it took a week to process the passport and visa. This stringent screening process is a real hassle for people like Xu Zan who frequently travel to the island.

Sailor, Wang Chao, and Ma Han also went with him to Hong Kong this time.

They brought some of the Lianzhuhui's business with them, seemingly to make contact with some of Hong Kong's bigwigs. As for what kind of business it was, Xu Zan didn't care; he never wanted to get involved in the affairs of the underworld.

The fact that Hsu Tsan could utilize the funds and protection provided by the United Bamboo Association was already the limit of his tolerance.

The Grey Duck of the Lianzhu Association seemed to have seen through Xu Zan. The two were very tacit and basically never met, conveying each other's intentions through sailors.

The turbulent flight was a terrifying experience for Xu Zan every time he took a ride; there was no way around it, the probability of plane crashes was rather high in this era.

Like the plane crash in Taiwan in the 1960s that killed more than 50 people, including many officials, which directly led to the decline of Cathay.

Xu Zan didn't want her fledgling career to come to an end.

"Ah Zan, would you like to come with us for some tea?" the sailor asked.

"I'll go to Shao's first; our film business is also very important!" Xu Zan didn't completely reject the idea, after all, Sailor was his boss.

Upon returning to Shaw Cinema, Xu Zan was greeted this time by Miss Fang.

It must be said that she is a very talkative person with a unique understanding of film. She travels all over the world to collect films, mainly from Japan.

By adapting or drawing inspiration from successful Japanese films, essentially using 70% old and 30% new elements, Shaw Brothers was able to maintain its success into the 1970s.

"How about we co-produce a film?" Ms. Fang said with a smile.

"How do we calculate it?"

"I heard your idea, it's very interesting. Shaw Brothers has an existing film studio, Liu Jialiang can be the action choreographer, and Shaw Brothers can also invest half of the capital. We will take 65% of the box office in Hong Kong, 65% in Taiwan, 65% in Southeast Asia, and the rest will be split 50/50."

It must be said that Miss Fang's offer was excellent, and Xu Zan was already tempted. He was well aware of the current difficulties faced by Shaoxing Film Company. Although they produced forty or fifty films every year, they had almost never won a Chinese-language box office championship since the 1970s.

This is a huge loss of face for a film company that claims to be the largest in the Chinese-speaking world.

Xu Zan didn't care about short-term gains or losses. He gave the Shao family some benefits, and the Shao family might give him an even bigger surprise in the future.

In the future, Shaw Brothers will shift its focus from film to television. So, who will inherit such a large legacy as Shaw Brothers?

Are they Shao Liuye's children? Or other nephews or nieces?

Therefore, Xu Zan supported Miss Fang even more. She didn't have any relatives by marriage, but she could get help from outsiders.

The two had a very pleasant conversation when they met with Liu Jialiang, especially after hearing that Xu Zan was going to support his sworn brother.

When Liu Jialiang first saw Xu Zan's concept, he felt that it was exactly the prototype of his ideal movie.

After a few days, Xu Zan and Ms. Fang agreed on the price: Panda Entertainment and Shao's would each invest five million New Taiwan Dollars to film "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin".

The entire cast was provided by Shao's, with Liu Jiahui as the lead actor and supporting actors including Wang Yu, Luo Lie, Liu Jiarong, Xu Shaoqiang, Yuan Xiaotian, and Chen Sijia. The martial arts director was Liu Jialiang.

On the last day of the trip, Xu Zan followed the sailors to meet the New Tribe, whose current leader is Four-Eyed Dragon.