So what if I work with celebrities?

After Xu Zan left, Third Master Wei didn't let Zhang Aijia leave, and the two talked in the study. The room was brightly lit, the bookshelves were filled with various books, and his desk was covered with stacks of documents.

"Has that kid made any moves lately?"

Sylvia Chang sat astride a chair, leaning against the backrest, looking down at her shoes, "It looks like we're filming a period drama."

"Did they look for you?" Third Master Wei took a sip of ginseng tea to sober up.

"Oh, I remember now, he wants me to act in 'Dream of the Red Chamber'!" Zhang Aijia said.

"Dream of the Red Chamber?" Master Wei was quite surprised. According to the intelligence department's information, Xu Zan rarely read classical masterpieces when he was in school.

Why did you suddenly decide to make a film based on "Dream of the Red Chamber"?

The intelligence department's information is very comprehensive, including a character analysis of Xu Zan. This kid was an excellent student before high school and was quite cheerful and lively, but since his parents' accident, he has become taciturn, and it is almost certain that he has psychological trauma.

Three years ago, he suddenly rose to prominence at the Lianzhuhui Qinghetang, gained the favor of the sailors, and was assigned to manage a coffee shop. He had no criminal record and seemed to just work there.

According to some people in Qinghe, Xu Zan was humble and approachable, never offending anyone, and had good relationships with everyone. While those in the martial arts world couldn't quite articulate it, the intelligence officers immediately saw that Xu Zan was extremely shrewd and calculating.

Because truly upright people often don't have many friends, and they can't always be altruistic in their words and self-interested in their actions.

Master Wei naturally paid close attention to whoever came into contact with his granddaughter. He knew that the boy's dramatic change was definitely foreshadowed by something, but the intelligence department had not yet uncovered it.

After meeting Xu Zan several times, Wei Sanye felt that the other party did not seem like a young man in his twenties, but rather a mature middle-aged man in his forties.

Could he have been recruited as an intelligence agent by the other side? That was the first possibility that came to his mind, but after listening to the phone calls and checking the funds, he found nothing unusual.

We had no choice but to put it aside for now and arrange for Xu Zan to work at the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Association to see how he behaved next. If there were any problems, they would eventually slip up.

"He's very clear about his grudges and favors. He probably cast you as the lead actor to repay a favor. When it came to filming 'Dream of the Red Chamber,' did he say whether he would direct it himself or hire someone else?" Master Wei pulled out Xu Zan's file from a stack of documents.

"It seems they're planning to cast Li Hanxiang as the director."

Sylvia Chang was somewhat unhappy. She asked her grandfather for help with Xu Zan, not for any personal gain, but simply because she felt comfortable being with Xu Zan and that the two shared many similarities in spirit.

But if feelings become a transaction, then Zhang Aijia will be very unhappy.

"Grandpa, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now!" She stood up abruptly and rushed out the door.

"You... you really are someone who only uses people when you need them and then discards them when you don't. Couldn't you stay at your maternal grandfather's house for one night to keep your maternal grandmother company before you leave?" Third Master Wei said with a laugh and a scolding.

Xu Zan... could he really be a hidden dragon, destined to soar to great heights with the right circumstances? Master Wei squinted at the closed door.

……

Driven by high-ranking figures, "The Eight Hundred Heroes" experienced a box office boom in Taipei, with daily box office growth at an alarming 90-degree angle.

Some clueless directors, thinking that this kind of film has a large audience, started frequently attending drinking parties hosted by outsiders, hoping that some blind, deaf, and brainless bosses would invest in it.

Even some unscrupulous people started crowdfunding money from ordinary citizens, pointing to the daily newspaper reports on the box office of "The Eight Hundred Heroes" and saying:

"Look, 'Eight Hundred Heroes' has already grossed nearly 20 million NTD in Taipei alone. The return on investment is huge. How much will it be in central and southern Taiwan? This movie is guaranteed to reach 40 million NTD at the box office. If you invest following this trend, it's hard not to make money!"

"Madam, your son is getting married and needs a wedding house and a dowry. This investment is a sure thing. It only costs 20,000 yuan, and in six months, you'll get 50,000 yuan including interest! The more you invest, the more you earn!"

"Sir, you're over forty and still single, probably because you don't have enough money. I have a project here, it's not a scam, it's investing in movies, war movies! Have you seen 'The Eight Hundred Heroes'? It's something like that..."

"Grandpa, these are eggs for you. Just invest 200, and you'll get 2,000 back in six months. The more you invest, the more you'll earn!"

"..."

The police officers at the local police station were exhausted, having to patrol their assigned areas, post notices, and spread anti-fraud information.

But what will be the results?

Greed often consumes people's rationality, and this cannot be solved simply by anti-fraud propaganda, because fraudsters often target specific symptoms.

They sell beauty products for young women, baby supplies for new mothers, elixirs of immortality for the elderly, and aphrodisiac creams for men. They're a guaranteed scam; anyone who thinks they're immune to it probably hasn't encountered anything like this before.

Panda Entertainment received a subsidy from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. The filming cost of "The Eight Hundred Heroes" was 15 million yuan, and the subsidy was 10 million yuan. Of course, this money needs to be transferred to China Film Group.

As for why he did something so pointless, it was purely for Xu Zan's benefit. "See? Following *country* will definitely not treat you unfairly!"

With financial support from Cathay and Shaw Brothers, movie posters for "The Eight Hundred Heroes" are displayed everywhere in the streets and alleys of Malaysia, large and small. The film industry here is not developed, so much so that films need to be imported from all over the world to meet the needs of the citizens.

This is the main dumping ground for films from Hong Kong and Taiwan, since there are a large Chinese population in Malaysia, and films don't need dubbing or translation services to be imported.

As the son of a hotel tycoon, Guo Kongcheng had long followed his father's arrangements, serving as a director of the group and acting as a traveling ambassador.

The rich second-generation naturally has many women around him, but he is a big fan of Teresa Teng's songs. He even recently watched the movie "Miss Granny" starring Teresa Teng and was captivated by this quirky and charming girl.

It was only through the recommendation of Cathay Pacific manager Xia Yun that Guo Kongcheng learned it was the director of "Miss Strange"'s new film.

At a friend's invitation, and out of his curiosity, he asked the group's purchasing department to buy a large number of movie tickets as a benefit for the employees, so that they could bring their families to see the movies.

"Mr. Guo, I've booked these theaters. Do you have any other instructions?" the purchasing manager said.

"Let's go watch a movie together!" Guo Kongcheng found an empty seat and led some of the group's senior executives to sit down and watch.

"The interior design of Cathay Cinemas is definitely better than that of Shaw Cinemas!" a senior executive of the group laughed.

"The owner of Cathay International Group really invested a lot back then, what a pity, what a pity."

These people lamented that if airplanes hadn't been so unreliable in the 1960s, the son of Malaysia's richest man wouldn't have died so young.

As they chatted, the movie officially began. When the giant screen showed scenes of exploding flesh and blood, the people gasped in surprise, muttering, "It's so realistic!"

When Guo Kongcheng saw young people introducing their hometowns and names to the camera, tears welled up in his eyes, but he held them back out of pride.

He watched it three times, and even observed the employees' expressions. Unexpectedly, they were all crying and muttering under their breath that there were no cowards among the Chinese.

……

"Congratulations, Director Xu," Huang Jiaxi said with a smile. "I heard that 'The Eight Hundred Heroes' grossed 33 million NT dollars in Taiwan?"

"Hehe, it's still a loss for now. We'll only make a profit if the box office reaches 60 million!" Xu Zan said.

"Didn't I bring you news?" Huang Jiaxi contacted him immediately after receiving the fax from the Chinese secretariat.

"The box office results in Southeast Asia are in, and they're fantastic! From what I understand, the two major theater chains 'joined forces,' and 'The Eight Hundred' grossed seven million US dollars! Seven million US dollars!"

Xu Zan gasped upon hearing this. Seven million US dollars, which is almost 280 million New Taiwan Dollars, this movie is simply outrageous.

However, he also understood why the contributions of Southeast Asian Chinese to their motherland had never changed. Even in the most difficult times, they would sell their possessions to donate money to fight the war, and many rich second-generation individuals even went to the battlefield to drive military transport vehicles.

They would inevitably go to the theater to watch these patriotic films repeatedly. Xu Zan heard from Xia Yun of Guotai that many viewers had sent them letters, some even containing tens or hundreds of dollars in cash.

I'm just worried that this movie will lose money and we'll never be able to see it again.

"Old Huang, have any viewers mailed you any letters?" Xu Zan asked.

"Oh? I didn't ask about that. Why do you need a letter?" Huang Jiaxi asked.

"No, I heard that many Chinese in Southeast Asia would put money in their letters. I want you to collect them and see how much. I plan to donate all the money donated by the audience of Cathay and Shaw to Chinese schools in Malaysia."

Huang Jiaxi agreed without hesitation, adding that if Master Shao found out about this, he would definitely donate a lot of money as well.

Upon hearing this, Xu Zan also took out two million New Taiwan Dollars from his own pocket and donated it. He was well aware that the Chinese in Malaysia had been having a very hard time in recent years.

"By the way, Director Xu, Li Hanxiang would like to invite you to Hong Kong to discuss 'Dream of the Red Chamber' in detail!" Huang Jiaxi said.

"No problem, I'll take care of what I'm doing and call you before I go!"

The robbery of "The Eight Hundred Heroes" and his subsequent imprisonment caused Xu Zan to miss many things, such as Teresa Teng's concert and Miss Fang and Master Shao's trip to South Korea.

"What? You're not going to act in 'Dream of the Red Chamber'?" Xu Zan asked in surprise, looking at Zhang Aijia, who seemed rather unhappy.