Huayu: King of Kung Fu

P.S.: I rewrote chapter 57. If you read the updated chapter last night, please go back and take a look. Sorry!

……

Hankou, Dongting Street.

In an ordinary residential house.

Yang Xiaoye and her family are watching the Spring Festival Gala.

Suddenly, the Spring Festival Gala stage transformed into a wedding venue.

A handsome young man led a beautiful young woman by the hand, followed by a group of people, and they walked up.

Host Zhou Tao said, "We love each other and rely on each other. Because of each other, we are no longer alone on the road of life."

Zhu Jun continued, "The newlyweds opened their hearts to receive everyone's blessings."

Yang's mother looked completely bewildered: "Why are people getting married on the Spring Festival Gala?"

Yang Xiaoye understood immediately and explained with a smile, "Mom, it's just for the show; they're playing the bride and groom!"

"oh!"

Lin Hu picked up the microphone and began to sing: "No matter how far away spring is, my heart remains radiant..."

Yang Xiaoye commented, "He's quite handsome, and he sings pretty well too!"

From that moment on, she became Lin Hu's fan.

After the song was finished, the host, Zhu Jun, introduced Lin Hu's identity.

Yang Xiaoye then learned that he was a martial arts champion, a young director, and an actor.

"Quite a few identities!"

Another host, Zhou Tao, introduced: "Last autumn, the kung fu movie 'Ong-Bak,' directed and starring Lin Hu, caused a great sensation throughout Asia."

Zhu Jun: "When it comes to kung fu movies, everyone thinks of Hong Kong, but 'Ong-Bak' is the first kung fu movie independently produced by mainland China that has caused a sensation overseas!"

Zhou Tao: "Ong-Bak has already been released in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and other countries and regions, and has achieved extremely high box office results."

Zhu Jun: "Lin Hu, the director and lead actor of this film, has already become an international action superstar!"

Zhou Tao: "Ong-Bak will be released nationwide on the first day of the Lunar New Year!"

At this point, Lin Hu, along with Zhou Xun and several other hosts, extended New Year's greetings to the people of the whole country!

Ultimately, Lin Hu's appearance on the Spring Festival Gala to promote "Ong-Bak" was not solely due to the prestige of the Beijing Film Studio.

Furthermore, because Ong-Bak caused a huge sensation overseas, it may become a landmark event in the spread of Chinese culture abroad.

For a long time, only the popular culture of Hong Kong and Taiwan has been able to spread overseas.

The fact that "Ong-Bak," a film produced in mainland China, has received such enthusiastic support overseas goes beyond just being a movie.

After hearing the host's introduction, Mr. Yang praised, "This young man is remarkable! Tomorrow, our whole family will go to the cinema to see 'Ong-Bak'!"

Yang Xiaoye was overjoyed: "Great! Great!"

As Yang's mother watched Lin Hu on TV closely, she suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity with this young man!

……

After the Spring Festival Gala ended, Lin Hu and Zhou Xun returned to their courtyard at 1 a.m.

Colorful fireworks continued to rise into the sky above the city.

"Let's release them too!"

Lin Hu ran into the house and brought out a bunch of sparklers.

They live in the Second Ring Road area, where fireworks are prohibited, so they had to make do with sparklers.

However, the sparkler was also nice. Lin Hu lit one for Zhou Xun, and tiny golden rays burst forth, illuminating her clean little face.

"So beautiful!"

Zhou Xun waved a sparkler and ran around the yard like a child.

Although she was six years older than Lin Hu, Lin Hu was actually much older than her.

In Lin Hu's eyes, she was just a little girl.

After playing for a while, the two went back to their room to sleep. Thinking about their time on the Spring Festival Gala stage, Zhou Xun couldn't help but say to Lin Hu, "Xiao Hu, let's get married!"

Lin Hu was stunned for a moment. Marriage? He had never thought about this question before.

"I'm only 19 years old... I'm not of legal marriage age yet."

"Oh!" Zhou Xun slapped her forehead; she had forgotten about it.

She then reached out and touched Lin Hu's face, saying with a smile, "Then... I'll wait for you to grow up!"

……

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Ong-Bak was officially released in mainland China.

The reason it took so long is because there weren't any good available dates before.

Although prolonged delays may be affected by piracy, a good release date can completely offset such losses.

Hong Kong and Hollywood films imported to mainland China, which were delayed for a long time, still achieved high box office returns.

Because in this era, there aren't many people willing to go to the cinema to watch movies; they are mostly concentrated in a few big cities.

They have plenty of money and value the user experience more, so piracy has relatively little impact on them.

The concept of the Lunar New Year film season was pioneered by Hong Kong cinema.

In the 1980s and 90s, Hong Kong people had three treasures for Chinese New Year: red envelopes, candy boxes, and Lunar New Year films.

Chen Long releases a new film almost every Lunar New Year, and Hong Kong people go to the cinema with friends and family to watch Chen Long's movies during the Lunar New Year.

In 1995, Chen Long introduced the concept of the Lunar New Year film season to mainland China. "Rumble in the Bronx" was released during the Spring Festival and grossed 9500 million yuan at the box office.

Over the next three years, Chen Long released "Police Story 4", "Mr. Nice Guy", and "Who Am I".

These four films achieved remarkable success, winning three Chinese-language film championships and one runner-up title.

This year, during the Spring Festival, Chen Long released a Western film called "Rush Hour".

Lin Hu's debut film finally puts him in direct competition with Chen Long in the domestic market.

This is a real... fierce battle!

……

A total of four films were released during this year's Spring Festival season.

Besides Lin Hu's "Ong-Bak" and Chen Long's "Rush Hour".

There's also "The Male Women's Director," starring Zhao Benshan and Song Dandan.

The two of them just performed a classic skit called "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" on the Spring Festival Gala, which was very popular.

However, neither of them has much box office appeal, so not many people would go to see a movie just because of them.

Another film is "Spring Breeze in Meilong Town," directed by Li Guoli and co-produced by stars from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Li Guoli later starred in the classic TV series "Chinese Paladin".

However, he is clearly not suited for making movies; his films always have the quality of television dramas.

This movie is a copy of Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman," and even the lead actors are Lang Xiong and Wu Qianlian from "Eat Drink Man Woman."

A movie like this is destined not to have a high box office.

Neither of these two films is worth worrying about.

Lin Hu's only real opponent is Chen Long!

……

In recent years, China's economy has maintained steady growth.

People living in big cities are gradually changing their previous lifestyles. During holidays, they go out to have fun, and movie theaters are a popular destination for many.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the movie theater was very crowded. Yang Xiaoye queued for half a day and finally managed to buy a ticket, but it was for the afternoon.

The family of three found a place to have lunch, then strolled around the mall for a while before the movie finally started.

The screening room was crowded, probably because everyone had seen the Spring Festival Gala advertisements and was drawn in.

As the movie began, Lin Hu's agile movements and domineering boxing skills left the audience speechless, prompting enthusiastic applause.

As the screening ended and people left the cinema, Yang Xiaoye asked, "Dad, did you think the movie was good?"

Mr. Yang commented, "I never expected that we in mainland China could produce such a good kung fu film, which is no worse than Hong Kong movies."

Yang Xiaoye has been completely captivated by Lin Hu's movies and has become a huge fan. She praised him, saying, "I think he's even better than Chen Long and Li Lianjie!"

Mr. Yang said confidently, "He must have real skills. What's his name again?"

"Lin Hu!"

"If Lin Hu ever makes a kung fu movie, remember to invite me to watch it!"

"Okay!"

"Call me too!" Yang's mother suddenly said.

Yang Xiaoye was puzzled. When did her mother start liking to watch action movies with fighting and killing?