Huayu: King of Kung Fu

It was just after the Spring Festival in 1998.

Lin Hu carried his luggage out of Beijing West Railway Station, looked at the city covered in white snow, and exhaled a puff of white breath.

Starting today, he is a migrant worker in Beijing.

He hailed a red Xiali taxi and told the driver, "Go to the Beijing Film Academy, and find a three-star hotel nearby."

"Alright!"

The driver quickly helped him put his luggage away, turned on the meter, started the car, and headed towards Nortel.

Taxi drivers in Beijing are all chatterboxes. The driver, while driving, chatted with Lin Hu: "Are you going to the Beijing Film Academy to take the entrance exam?"

How did you know?

"Look at your demeanor, you look like a movie star, how could you be wrong?"

The driver saw that Lin Hu was quite handsome and guessed that he was going to take the art exam.

Lin Hu is indeed very handsome. He has a buzz cut and a small but well-defined face.

With thick eyebrows, bright eyes, broad shoulders, and an upright posture, he looks very energetic and exudes a heroic spirit.

"How did the art exams go this year? How competitive were they?" With nothing else to do, Lin Hu chatted with the taxi driver.

"To say it's not strong would be a lie. Think about it, the best people from all over the country gather in this city. How could it not be strong? But judging from your demeanor, you're no ordinary person. You're sure to pass the exam!"

"Haha, thank you for your kind words!"

Lin Hu didn't come to take the art exam; he was actually a time traveler.

In his previous life, Lin Hu was a video blogger who frequently recreated classic scenes from old action movies on Douyin, and was very popular.

Once, during the filming of a dangerous stunt, an accident happened, and I was thrown into the past.

Lin Hu is now an athlete in the Guangxi Wushu Team, and his performance was originally quite average.

But for some reason, after transmigrating, his body was actually enhanced, and his strength, agility, and memory far surpassed those of ordinary people.

This led to a rapid improvement in his martial arts skills, transforming him from an unknown athlete into a promising player on the martial arts team.

He began participating in martial arts competitions, progressing from provincial to national levels, and eventually won three gold medals at the National Games in all-around boxing, staff fighting, and spear fighting.

After reaching the peak of his athletic career, Lin Hu began to consider his retirement.

Based on his experiences in two lifetimes, Lin Hu decided to retire and came to the capital with a film project in mind.

This time, it's not simply about replicating classic movie scenes online...

……

Lin Hu and the taxi driver joked around for a while, and soon arrived at the Beijing Film Academy.

The car stopped in front of a relatively new-looking three-star hotel near Nortel.

"Here it is. It's 18.5 yuan. Let me round it down to 18."

Lin Hu took out twenty yuan and casually asked, "Brother Zhang, I need to take care of some business in Beijing for a while. Do you offer car rental services?"

We were just chatting on the road when the driver introduced himself and even told us where his child went to school.

Upon hearing this, Old Zhang's eyes lit up – this was a big job! "Take it! How would you like it wrapped?"

"How much would be a reasonable price to rent it for a month? I'll use the car during the day, and you can use it as you please at night."

Old Zhang was overjoyed. He did the math for a moment and said, "To be honest, I pay 4300 yuan in monthly fees, and I only keep about 3000 yuan for myself. How about this, I'll charge you 7000 yuan, and I'll reimburse your gas expenses, okay?"

Lin Hu had done some research on the prices in Beijing during that era, and after thinking about it, he felt it was alright.

He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll pay a deposit of 1000 first, and the rest will be settled every ten days, how about that?"

"No problem!"

Lin Hu immediately counted out ten 100-yuan bills and handed them to Old Zhang: "Count them!"

Old Zhang took the money, his mouth splitting into a wide grin; it was the first time he'd ever met such a generous customer.

"You're so generous, I'll write you a receipt."

He pulled out a pen and paper, quickly wrote a receipt, included his ID number, signed it, and handed it to Lin Hu.

Lin Hu carefully put away the receipt: "Then come pick me up at nine o'clock tomorrow morning!"

"Alright, I'll be there promptly at nine o'clock tomorrow morning!"

As he spoke, Lao Zhang opened the car door and got out, quickly helping Lin Hu with his luggage and escorting him to the hotel lobby.

"By the way, Brother Zhang, could you help me find out if there are any clean and affordable courtyard houses for rent around here?"

Old Zhang put down his luggage and thought carefully: "These courtyard houses around here... do you want to rent the whole one?"

"right!"

"Okay, I'll ask my buddies and get back to you first thing tomorrow morning."

"Thank you very much!"

……

Lin Hu came to Beijing as a migrant worker and needed to find a place to stay permanently.

For most people who come to Beijing to pursue their dreams, the initial conditions are quite difficult.

For example, Deng Chao lives in an illegally constructed shack near Di'anmen, paying 200 yuan a month in rent. It's cold in winter and hot in summer, and he's no different from a homeless person.

Fan Binbin's family is slightly better off. They rented a house for 650 yuan a month and lived there for five years.

Lin Hu was different from these people; he planned to open a film company in Beijing, giving them an opportunity.

He now has some start-up capital.

Last autumn, he won three gold medals at the 8th National Games, with the province awarding him 50,000 yuan for each medal, for a total of 150,000 yuan.

Retiring as a national champion comes with a decent retirement bonus, plus injury compensation, totaling around 100,000 yuan.

There is a total of 250,000 in start-up capital.

This amount of money is not small, but it's far from enough to make a movie.

Lin Hu plans to get the company up and running first, and then gradually raise funds.

As the boss, he can't live in a bad place, but he can't afford to live in a place that's too expensive for the time being.

A courtyard house is a great choice; it allows you to experience the culture of Beijing's hutongs without looking shabby.

As for Bao Laozhang's car, it's because he needs a car to handle various procedures when registering the company.

……

The next morning, Lao Zhang arrived on time, and Lin Hu treated him to a buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Old Beijing's traditional breakfast, with its douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) and fried liver, is so authentic that Lin Hu can't eat a single bite.

While eating, Old Zhang chatted: "Yesterday I asked around and found that all the buildings in this area have been built, but there are still old courtyard houses in Tieshizi Hutong."

My friend's second uncle has a small courtyard there. It's a bit old, but clean, and the price is negotiable. If you like it, I'd like to take you to see it?

Lin Hu thought to himself, "Hey, it's still better to find a local."

He asked Lao Zhang to help him find a house because Lao Zhang was a local and had a large network of taxi drivers, which was better than him searching around on his own.

"Okay, let's go take a look!"

After breakfast, Old Zhang took Lin Hu to see the courtyard house.

When they arrived at the place, Lin Hu realized how easily Old Zhang had found him a courtyard house.

This place is very far from the Beijing Film Academy; it takes more than half an hour to drive there, so it's not very convenient.

Lin Hu thought to himself, "It seems that this house is indeed someone I know. Although it doesn't quite meet my requirements, he still insisted on introducing it to me."

The house is indeed nice, with a courtyard that spans nearly 300 square meters.

To the south of the courtyard are the gatehouse and three rear-facing rooms, which are the kitchen, storage room, and bathroom, respectively.

Upon entering the gatehouse, there is a screen wall; going around it leads to a small courtyard.

There are two trees in the yard, one is a jujube tree and the other is a persimmon tree.

The main house is on the north side, and there are two side rooms on the east and west sides, all of which are quite spacious.

Lin Hu doesn't actually need to live near the Beijing Film Academy. He's not here to study; he just mentioned it casually yesterday.

He felt quite good about the house. He lived in the main room, used the east wing as an office, and the west wing as a dormitory for his employees.

"What do you think of this yard? We could build a grape trellis here, and in the summer, invite a few friends to sit under it, enjoying the cool breeze, a few beers, and some barbecue—it would be wonderful..."

Lin Hu was truly impressed. This old Zhang was a real chatterbox. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he launched into a long, uninterrupted introduction. His mouth never stopped.

You know what, the introduction was really good. Lin Hu felt that this guy could go into real estate sales.

Since you think it's good, let's start talking about the price.

Old Zhang helped negotiate the price, arguing with the landlord until they were red in the face.

Lin Hu suspected that the two were putting on an act, conspiring to deceive him.

However, Lin Hu had done some research on the prices in the capital, and if they were too outrageous, he simply wouldn't rent it.

After some haggling, the three of them reduced the monthly rent from 2,800 to 2,000. Lin Hu felt that was about right and settled on the deal.

Next, there's signing contracts, making payments, purchasing daily necessities, getting a computer, applying for an internet account at the telecommunications bureau, and all sorts of other chores.

Old Zhang was very enthusiastic, running around taking Lin Hu to places where things were cheap and affordable. He even brought his wife over to help tidy up the house, which made Lin Hu feel a little guilty.

He used to think that Lao Zhang was trying to scam him, but now it seems that the man was just being helpful.

After several busy days, Lin Hu finally settled down in the capital.

Renting a house, hiring a car, buying a computer... In just a few days, his 250,000 yuan start-up capital dwindled by more than 20,000 yuan, and the movie was still far from being a reality.

Next, I need to figure out how to make money.