This director loves making friends.

Before joining the cast of "King of Beggars", Qin Keqing had a tentative target in mind who he wanted to "make friends" with.

He has two candidates.

One is director Chen Jiashang, and the other is the famous Stephen Chow.

Qin Keqing originally planned to observe the crew carefully before deciding on the final selection, since he didn't have many points and it was best to use every point wisely.

Before joining the film crew, Qin Keqing researched a lot about the two of them and combined it with her knowledge of them from her previous life, so she had a basic understanding of them.

Chen Jiashang started as a screenwriter. Before becoming a director, his most famous screenwriting work was "Dragons Forever," starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.

That same year, Chen Jiashang, along with Zheng Danrui and others, founded Tongren Film Company, thus embarking on his directorial career.

However, his first few films as a director were not particularly outstanding, until he directed "Fight Back to School" starring Stephen Chow and Sharla Cheung.

Released in 1991, "Fight Back to School" grossed HK$4300 million, becoming not only the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong that year but also breaking the box office record for Hong Kong films.

It was this movie that made Chen Jiashang famous and established him as a well-known director in Hong Kong.

The film "Fight Back to School 2," released in April this year, was also directed by Chan Ka-sang, marking his second collaboration with Stephen Chow and Sharla Cheung. Although it did not reach the box office success of the first film, it still grossed over HK$31 million.

Meanwhile, this sequel also made Zhu Yin, who was making her film debut, a star.

"King of Beggars" is Chen Jiashang's third film collaboration with Stephen Chow and Zhang Min.

Furthermore, Chen Jiashang has already directed and released three films this year, and "King of Beggars" is his fourth film directed this year.

A director directing four films a year was not the limit in Hong Kong at that time.

Chen Jiashang was one of the earlier directors to go north to the north, and he also directed "Painted Skin," the first film to use mainland actors as the male and female leads.

Prior to this, apart from "Little Cannon," commercial blockbusters directed by either mainland or Hong Kong directors generally did not use mainland male actors as male leads.

For this reason, Qin Keqing paid more attention to Chen Jia in his previous life, and thus knew that he had directed well-known movies such as "Fist of Legend" and "The Bodyguard from Beijing".

Chen Jiashang is a good choice; he's a director who's rapidly rising to fame and currently very popular.

As for Stephen Chow, there's not much to say. Since his breakout role in "All for the Winner," he has consistently been a top actor.

Especially this year.

So far this year, the top four highest-grossing Hong Kong films are all starring him.

Qin Keqing estimates that after "King of Beggars" is completed and released, Stephen Chow will dominate the top five spots on this year's Hong Kong film charts.

Don't think that five movies is the limit for Stephen Chow; "King of Beggars" is his seventh film starring this year.

Actually, if you really count, he will star in eight movies this year. After filming "King of Beggars", he will also film "Fight Back to School 3", but the release date of that movie is scheduled for January next year.

In terms of fame and status in the Hong Kong film industry, Stephen Chow seems to be a good choice.

However, Qin Keqing had concerns.

Many actors and directors who have worked with Stephen Chow have complained about his character, and some have even become his enemies. Regardless of the reasons, it is true that Stephen Chow does not have many friends in the Hong Kong film industry.

In addition, he just signed a contract with Win's Entertainment this year for 10 films at a price of 300 million per film. Before the contract is completed, he can only accept films from other companies with Win's Entertainment's consent.

That's why Qin Keqing hesitated.

However, after meeting Zhang Min in the past few days, Qin Keqing has made Zhang Min a backup option.

It wasn't because of Zhang Min's relationship with Xiang Huasheng, but because Zhang Min was willing to help ordinary staff members in the crew. Although Qin Keqing still disliked Zhang Min's arrogance and indifference, it didn't stop him from including Zhang Min in his shortlist.

Qin Keqing didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to be alone with Zhang Min as soon as he decided to include her in the shortlist.

Jiang Hongsheng, the location liaison for Hong Kong, has only Yuanmingyuan (Old Summer Palace) left to confirm as the location for filming. However, he doesn't have time to accompany Zhang Min to confirm it today because he has to go to the Beijing Film Studio with director Chen Jia.

The scenes depicting the interior of the palace and the gate of Rongning Mansion in the film are based on similar buildings in the Beijing Film Studio's soundstage, requiring only minor decoration.

Chen Jia went to the Beijing Film Studio for this reason.

Qin Keqing did not go to the Beijing Film Studio with Chen Jia. The person in charge from the mainland in the film crew went to the Beijing Film Studio with them. He used to work at the Beijing Film Studio, so of course he was the first to go.

Jiang Hongsheng had originally arranged with Zhang Min to accompany her to the Old Summer Palace after he returned from the Beijing Film Studio.

Zhang Min initially agreed, but whether out of boredom or a sudden whim, she found Qin Keqing and asked him to take her to see the Old Summer Palace.

Qin Keqing led Zhang Min through the west gate of the Yuanmingyuan, and he was very familiar with the place.

The so-called "painter's village" in Yuanmingyuan, which was also the place where Qin Keqing rented, was a temporary settlement formed by relying on Fuyuanmen Village next to the ruins of Yuanmingyuan.

"Qin Keqing, you're something else! When did you find such a beautiful girlfriend? I've never seen you bring her home!"

"Maybe he's worried about the soundproofing?"

"Bullshit, Wang Qiang and his wife, and He Ruijun and his foreign girlfriend, didn't complain about the soundproofing."

"..."

Along the way, "artists" kept greeting Qin Keqing, and many people joked and made noise.

Qin Keqing thought Zhang Min would be angry, but to her surprise, Zhang Min seemed rather interested.

"Are these painters all your good friends?"

"See those brick houses and shacks over there? Most of these people live there. I also rent a place there, so I know them all."

Qin Keqing pointed to the cluster of red brick houses and sheds in the distance and explained to Zhang Min.

"Huh? You live there? Aren't you...?"

Zhang Min was particularly surprised, as she had seen Qin Keqing's information.

I worked as a production assistant on Zhang Yimou's Golden Lion Award-winning film "The Story of Qiu Ju," and as an assistant director on Xie Fei's "Woman Sesame Oil Maker," directed by the former vice president of the Beijing Film Academy.

Xie Fei is also a renowned director who has won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

With such an impressive resume, one would expect someone to have a powerful background.

Of course, Qin Keqing's profile wouldn't mention which movie he played a minor role in.

"Hehe, you didn't expect to live in a place like that, did you? I was born in the countryside, my parents are farmers. I studied hard and got into university, but was assigned to a unit I didn't like. So I came to Beijing alone, wanting to work in the film industry that I love."

Qin Keqing didn't explain much, but simply said it casually.

The more casually he described it, the more Zhang Min felt moved and empathized with him.

She seemed to see a young man striving to pursue his dreams, unafraid of hardship or fatigue, who, through his hard work and talent, gained the favor of Zhang Yimou, Xie Fei, and others...

Zhang Min opened her mouth as if to say something, but before she could speak, she heard Qin Keqing change the subject, as if he was unwilling to talk about his own hardships and efforts.

"We call this place the grove. We hold an art exhibition here every few days, showcasing all of their own works. Many of these people are graduates of art academies, while others are self-taught. They come from all over the country."

Many of the people renting houses here are artists, and they all dream of becoming painters. So they simply called this place "Artists' Village," a kind of beautiful vision. And over time, people started calling it "Artists' Village."

"May I go see the art exhibition?"

Zhang Min felt that Qin Keqing was a young man with his own pride. She admired and respected such a person, so she changed the subject, turned to look at Qin Keqing, and asked softly.

Her Mandarin has a soft, gentle quality characteristic of Shanghainese speakers, without a noticeable Hong Kong accent.

Zhang Min was born in Shanghai and attended primary school in Luwan District. She moved to Hong Kong with her parents when she was 11 years old, which is why she can speak Mandarin with a Shanghai accent.

"Let's go, I'll go with you."

Qin Keqing led Zhang Min toward the art exhibition in the grove.

In reality, so-called art exhibitions are extremely rudimentary. Most of them simply involve leaning the paintings against trees. The more elaborate ones might make a simple easel.

However, despite the small size and extremely simple nature of this spontaneous art exhibition, which is also characterized by exchange and "showing off," there are still some celebrities who frequently come here to view the paintings.

People like Cui Jian and Dou Wei often come here.

Qin Keqing didn't find this kind of art exhibition particularly interesting, probably because he had seen too many in the artists' village. Zhang Min, however, was a bit different.

She put her hand on her sunglasses and looked at Qin Keqing.

Qin Keqing instantly understood what she meant; she was asking if she could take off her sunglasses.

"It's okay, go ahead and pick them. There are no paparazzi here."

Qin Keqing chuckled and teased, "She does respect 'art' quite a bit; I didn't expect her to be such a literary and artistic young woman."

He also wanted to say that these future "painters" and "artists" here have trouble even eating, let alone having extra money to go to the movies. Basically, no one will recognize who you are.

Don't mention watching pirated content.

It was only 1992. There was no internet or VCDs, but pirated videotapes were becoming more common. However, the people living in the artists' village couldn't afford to buy a VCR or rent videotapes.

Those most influenced by Hong Kong films are the generation born in the late 1970s and 1980s; that generation hasn't even grown up yet.