I'm conquering Hong Kong entertainment with two billion US dollars.

Chapter 79 Ip Man Series

Li Jiaxin woke up shortly after 7 a.m. on July 5th.

I wasn't woken up by the alarm clock; I was so excited all night that I couldn't sleep soundly.

She turned over in bed and glanced at Zhang Baizhi, who was still fast asleep next to her. Zhang Baizhi was curled up on her side in the blanket, with a little drool at the corner of her mouth, sleeping like a log.

Li Jiaxin stared at her for a moment, a malicious smile slowly creeping onto her lips.

She tiptoed off the bed, walked barefoot to the wardrobe, and opened the door.

Zhang Baizhi's clothes were neatly folded on the left, while her few items that were temporarily placed there were hung on the right.

Li Jiaxin picked up the two stacks of clothes together, without even removing the hangers, and then took Zhang Baizhi's canvas shoes and several pairs of her own high heels from the shoe cabinet.

She carried the huge pile of things out of the bedroom, across the hallway, pushed open the door of the guest room next door, bent down and stuffed all the clothes and shoes under the bed, then dusted off her hands.

"Hmph. You bitch, I'll teach you a lesson."

After saying that, she picked up her handbag and happily went out.

More than an hour later, Zhang Baizhi woke up.

She rubbed her eyes, sat up, yawned, and walked barefoot to the wardrobe. She opened the door. Empty. She opened the other door. Still empty.

She stared blankly at the empty wardrobe for a moment, then screamed.

"ah!!"

The sound was high-pitched and thin, echoing throughout the house through the bedroom door.

Lin Dong was abruptly pulled from his sleep by the scream. He opened his eyes and struggled to sit up. "What's wrong?"

"My clothes! My clothes are gone!" Zhang Baizhi turned around in front of the wardrobe, pointing at the empty closet, his fingers trembling. "Where are my clothes? Where are my shoes? It's Michele! It must be her!"

She walked barefoot around the bedroom, opened the shoe cabinet—it was empty. She pulled out the drawers; not even her hairband and socks were left.

Her voice grew increasingly aggrieved, "How am I supposed to go out later? Dong-ge, I have to go to Jiahe to see Director Ma, we've arranged it for ten o'clock!"

Lin Dong rubbed his temples. He didn't need to guess to know who was behind it.

"Wear hers."

"They're gone too." Zhang Baizhi stood there, on the verge of tears, looking like a plucked sparrow. "Her clothes are gone too. She even took her own clothes to mess with me."

Lin Dong leaned back on the pillow, remaining silent for a moment. These two women really had no bottom line when they fought.

The younger ones are disgusted by the tea's aroma, so the older ones resort to violence. Not satisfied with physical violence, the older ones start playing dirty tricks. This time they even hid their clothes; what will they hide next time?

Zhang Baizhi jumped back onto the bed naked, threw herself into his arms, and buried her face in his chest. "Dong-ge is bullying me too much."

Her voice was muffled, and her grievances poured out like a burst dam. "I painstakingly made soup for you all, and she hid all my clothes. I can't even leave the house. It's ten o'clock, Director Ma is waiting for the makeup test, and I can't be late—this is the first film I've ever acted in."

Lin Dong checked the time. It was just past nine o'clock.

"I'll have someone buy it for you."

"It's too late."

Zhang Baizhi lifted his head from his chest, his eyes red. "I have a spare one at my apartment. I'll go back and change now."

As she spoke, she got out of bed, walked around the room, and finally her gaze fell on the khaki trench coat that Lin Dong was wearing on the clothes rack.

She walked over, took off her trench coat, and wrapped it around herself. The trench coat was very large, with the hem reaching her calves, and the cuffs had to be rolled up several times to reveal her fingers, but at least she was covered from head to toe.

She pulled her trench coat collar tighter, turned around in front of the mirror to make sure she wouldn't expose herself, then went back to the bedside, stood on tiptoe, and kissed Lin Dong on the cheek.

"Dong-ge, I'm leaving now. Tonight I'm going to fight her to the death."

Lin Dong waved his hand. "Go on, hurry up."

Zhang Baizhi furtively pushed open the bedroom door, peeked into the hallway to make sure Li Jiaxin hadn't returned, then wrapped himself in his trench coat and dashed out the door.

Lin Dong lay in bed for a while longer before getting up to wash up.

After changing into a shirt and trousers, he went to the living room, where the camera from the previous night was still on the coffee table.

He picked it up, thought for a moment, and then turned and went into the bedroom.

The safe was embedded in the innermost corner of the dressing room. He squatted down, turned the combination lock to open the door, put the camera inside, and then locked the safe door again.

This thing must not be seen by anyone.

Just after 10 o'clock, Lin Dong arrived at Tengda.

When the elevator doors opened, he saw someone sitting on the sofa in the reception area.

Ye Weixin.

Ye Weixin saw him too, immediately stood up, and quickly walked over to greet him.

"Mr. Lin," Ye Weixin stopped in front of him and bowed slightly, "The final cut of 'Charming Adventure in Tsim Sha Tsui' is finished. When would you have time to take a look?"

Lin Dong didn't stop walking; as he headed towards his office, he pointed to Zhou Huiming's workstation. "Have Secretary Zhou go to the screening room to prepare."

He glanced at Ye Weixin and said, "I'll go call President Chen."

Chen Xinjian was hunched over his desk flipping through a distribution contract when he looked up and saw Lin Dong push the door open and enter. He immediately stood up. "Mr. Lin."

"What about yesterday's box office figures?"

"One million six hundred and seventy thousand." Chen Xinjian picked up the notebook on the table and opened it. "Yesterday was Saturday, and it rebounded a bit from Friday. Including the premiere and the first two days, the total box office in Hong Kong has exceeded five million. The opening week's total should be around seven million."

Lin Dong nodded. "The finished product of 'Sisters Over Tsim Sha Tsui' is out. Let's go see it together."

The lights in the screening room dimmed.

Ye Weixin sat in the second row by the aisle, his back ramrod straight, his hands crossed on his knees, his knuckles white from gripping them so tightly.

The Tengda logo flashed on the screen.

The story begins on the rooftop of an old tenement building in Tsim Sha Tsui. Zhang Baizhi plays Xiao Yu, the female lead, who bursts into Tsim Sha Tsui carrying a canvas bag, her eyes brimming with fearlessness. The next second, her wallet is stolen on a street corner, and she chases after the thief, knocking over a fish ball stall. The stall owner is none other than Wu Yanzu, who plays Ah Zu. And so the story begins.

The overall structure of the film is very clear.

A lively and clever young girl accidentally gets caught up in the conflicts of the martial arts world, and Ah Zu, played by Wu Yanzu, protects her all the way.

Louis Koo was originally slated to play Ah Zu, but when "The Legend of Zu" approached him to play the second male lead, he considered it and gave up the lead role, so Wu Yanzu took his place.

When the film was halfway through shooting, Yip Wai-shun said that the change was just right—Wu Yan-cho's face was more convincing than Louis Koo's in portraying a character who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

The lights and shadows flickered in the projection room. When the scene where Ah Zu fought three opponents in the narrow alley came out, Lin Dong sat up slightly.

Those few shots already had the feel of Yip Wai-shun's later "SPL: Sha Po Lang"—no wire work, no special effects, just real punches, each hit accompanied by the dull thud of bone hitting flesh.

But that's not enough. The rhythm is off, and the editing is off by half a beat. What's missing is the experience Ye Weixin himself still needs to accumulate; it's not something anyone else can teach him.

The lights came back on.

Ye Weixin turned to look at Lin Dong, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he didn't dare to speak first.

"Not too good. There's still room for improvement." Lin Dong leaned back in his chair, his tone flat. "There are jokes, but not many. There are action scenes, but they're not exciting enough. However, your direction for action scenes is correct."

It's not the acrobatic style of Chen Long, nor the flying and leaping style of Xu Ke. You've captured the raw, visceral impact of the action. That's your own unique touch; keep exploring it.

Ye Weixin's brow twitched slightly.

Do you know Ip Man, Bruce Lee's teacher?

Lin Dong stood up, straightened his shirt cuffs, and said, "I suggest you go and research his life. Of course, this is just a suggestion. You decide what you want to film. At Tengda, as long as the project passes the review, you don't need to worry about funding."

"Thank you, Mr. Lin." Ye Weixin stood up and bowed.

His expression was restrained, but when he straightened up after bowing, a flame was already burning in his eyes.

Lin Dong turned to Chen Xinjian. "Arrange the release. You can set the release date with the distribution department."

After saying that, he turned and walked out. A small deal worth five million, even with cashback, would only amount to fifty million, not something he needed to worry about too much.

Just leave it to Chen Xinjian.

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