So what if I work with celebrities?

1976 6 Month 15 Day.

When "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" was released in Taipei, Hsu Tsan specially invited monks from a temple to perform martial arts, lion dances, and dragon dances on the streets of Taipei, creating a lively atmosphere.

There weren't many competing works at the same time, the most famous being Li Xing's "Waves," adapted from Qiong Yao's novel.

The main cast includes Ko Chun-hsiung, Li Hsiang, Qin Han, Lin Feng-chiao, Gou Feng, and Sylvia Chang.

Everyone there was someone Xu Zan knew. Gou Feng was also Lin Qingxia's first love. At that time, Lin Qingxia had just graduated from high school and was working at a company after filming "Outside the Window." She met Gou Feng, who was riding a motorcycle, on her way home from get off work.

Gou Feng is both a singer and an actor, but he's not very famous. The two dated for a while, but later broke up, seemingly out of fear of holding Lin Qingxia back.

Another film is "Southern Fist, Northern Leg", directed by Wu Siyuan, a well-known director in Hong Kong who founded his own company, Siyuan Films.

He collaborated with Yuan Heping on numerous action films, making him a pioneer in the genre. He also helped launch the careers of kung fu stars such as Chen Xing and Chen Guantai.

As a result, the two turned around and joined Zhang Che. Perhaps this was Wu Siyuan's fate. He later borrowed Cheng Long from Luo Wei and filmed "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Drunken Master". Cheng Long became the hottest new kung fu star overnight.

Another promising talent was poached by Golden Harvest for a multi-million Hong Kong dollar fee.

This film, "Southern Fist, Northern Leg," stars Liu Zhongliang, Wang Dao, and Hwang Jang-li. Hwang Jang-li is Korean and has excellent kung fu skills.

He played major villains in "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Drunken Master," and his appearance and character design in "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" were even drawn by Akira Toriyama in Dragon Ball.

From the moment Tao Pai Pai appeared, you could tell he was an absolute master.

Xu Zan had actually seen this kung fu movie. The camerawork was very Japanese, mainly using medium shots and side-moving shots.

The plot is relatively simple: it's about Southern Fist martial arts tracking down stolen silver and teaming up with Northern Leg martial arts, who are seeking revenge for their family, to fight against the Iron-Blooded Silver Fox.

Yuan Biao and Yuan Hua also played minor supporting roles here.

A reporter from the film magazine "Gunstone" watched a movie at Taipei's largest cinema and recorded the audience's reviews. This type of cinema, which can accommodate thousands of people, basically represents the level of approval from Taipei citizens.

Compared to "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin," the lead and supporting actors in "Southern Fist, Northern Leg" are far less well-known.

This is Liu Jiahui's first time playing a leading role, and he is not well-known to people in Taiwan or even Hong Kong.

Unlike the main character of "Southern Fist, Northern Leg," who was at least a Taiwanese actor, the main villain, Huang Zhengli, was too famous. He even opened a taekwondo gym in Taipei.

Fortunately, Xu Zan and Liu Jialiang have decent reputations, and their collaboration can attract some viewers to the cinema.

On the first day of box office results, "Southern Fist, Northern Leg" sold a total of 390,000 copies, while "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" only sold 250,000 copies.

Ding Ze, a reporter from the film department of Gunseok magazine, was in a bit of a predicament. After watching "Southern Fist, Northern Leg", he interviewed the audience.

"Sir, sir, wait a moment, may I interview you? Yes, what did you think of 'Southern Fist, Northern Leg'?"

"It's very good, the fight scenes are amazing."

"Are there any drawbacks?"

"Weaknesses? There aren't any weaknesses, are there?"

"Then why didn't you choose to watch 'The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'?"

"Oh dear, Xu Zan is a director of art-house romance films. I don't want to waste my movie ticket making kung fu movies."

In theaters showing "Southern Fist, Northern Leg," audiences were likely to express this sentiment: they were skeptical that Xu Zan could make a good kung fu film.

The advantage of "Southern Fist, Northern Leg" is that the audience finds the fight scenes very interesting. The disadvantage is that the plot is a bit thin, but the audience is looking for fun, not for exams.

Ding Ze watched another episode of "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin." He never expected that a movie would depict how Shaolin practitioners practice their skills.

After interviewing some viewers, they gave it very high praise, saying that the plot was very tight and the action was the best they had seen in recent years.

This movie looks more realistic than Chang Cheh's kung fu films. Although it's not as good as Bruce Lee's, it's still pretty good.

After spending a day at the cinema, Ding Ze interviewed dozens of people, obtained firsthand information, and basically determined the reputation of the two similar films.

Back at Gunstone magazine, he reported the situation to Duan Zhongyi, expressing his desire to boldly write film reviews of the two movies and, incidentally, predict their box office performance.

"Okay, hand in the manuscript to me tonight!" Duan Zhongyi said.

Although the film department of "Gunstone" was newly established, it had financial support. Duan Zhongyi hired several reporters and local film critics in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia to enrich the magazine's content.

The magazine "Gunstone" will introduce films from these places every week, especially the stars from different countries.

Due to limited funds, no journalists or film critics from the Japanese market were hired for the first phase. Duan Zhongyi needs to review the first phase's performance before making adjustments and contacting the Japanese side.

Besides "Gunstone," established magazines like Crown Publishing received a commission from Siyuan Pictures and quickly published advertorials about "Southern Fist and Northern Leg."

Basically, it's about how hard the main actors worked during filming and how carefully they selected locations in South Korea.

But soon, news spread that Xu Zan was scheduled to start filming "The Eight Hundred Heroes" on June 20, this time with China Film Group involved.

Even the midday news on television reported on this, and Hsu Tsan's name once again lingered in the skies above Taiwan.

China Film Group invested hundreds of thousands of yuan to broadcast "The Eight Hundred Heroes Actor Training Highlights" on major TV stations, which achieved extremely high ratings.

This is the first time Taiwanese citizens have watched such a "reality show." They've never seen celebrities run like this before. The "brothers and sisters" are so real and hardworking.

Hsu Tsan's a cappella rendition of "Love Bird" made her an overnight sensation: "The one I love has flown away, the one who loves me hasn't arrived yet, this love bird has already flown away..."

The incredibly catchy dance instantly became a hit in dance halls, evolving the original disco into Xu Zan's version.

"Brother Zan, teach me your dance!" Zhang Aijia rushed to Panda Entertainment Company that very day.

She was dressed casually, in a low-cut short-sleeved shirt and super-short denim shorts. She dragged Xu Zan into the manager's office, wanting to learn.

"I don't teach for free!"

"Huh? What's up! How about I treat you to dinner and a movie later?"

"Not so great, it's all gone after dinner and a movie?"

Sylvia Chang looked up and said, "Then if you teach me to sing 'Love Bird' again, I'll... um... treat you to a hot spring, how about that?"

"I want to eat, watch a movie, and soak in a hot spring first. If you're satisfied, I'll teach you!" Xu Zan said with a mischievous smile.

"Let's go, let's go!" Zhang Aijia linked arms with Xu Zan, drove out in a red Mercedes, and found a Western restaurant.

"Candlelight...lunch, what would you like to order?"

The candlelight illuminated her cheeks, radiating youthful energy. Her smile was radiant, and her eyes seemed to glow.

It has to be said that Sylvia Chang is exceptional. She is not a particularly beautiful girl, but she has a unique charm.

The two toasted, and Sylvia Chang exhaled a large breath, her face quickly turning red. "So, it'll just be the two of us in the hot spring tonight?"

"I'll teach you how to swim!"

"Pshaw, how can you swim in a hot spring?"

While watching "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" in the cinema, Xu Zan noticed the audience's reactions and had a good feeling that the film should be a big hit.

Apart from his film "Miss Granny" which grossed over 10 million this year, no other film in the past six months has grossed over 15 million.

This year seems to be a slow year for movies. Liu Chia-chang's "Plum Blossom" has only grossed nine million NT dollars in Taipei after about twenty days in theaters. Including other counties and cities, it's estimated to gross around fourteen million NT dollars.

"Brother Zan, my stomach feels a little cold, can you warm it up for me?" Zhang Aijia took Xu Zan's hand and placed it on her lower abdomen.

Xu Zan felt a churning in her lower abdomen and whispered in her ear, "Shall we go to the hot springs?"