Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

After arriving at the hotel, Li Jiangbo and Zhao Dong sat in the room drinking tea.

Zhao Dong couldn't help but ask, "Brother Bo, what exactly happened just now? Why did that foreigner just leave after saying that?"

Li Jiangbo took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring.

He stared into thought as he looked at the smoke rings in the air.

Seeing that Li Jiangbo was not speaking, Zhao Dong became anxious, but he could not disturb Li Jiangbo, so he could only pace back and forth in the room.

Li Jiangbo already had a plan for Li's parent company. From today's first meeting, he knew that his guess was true.

He deliberately offered a low price during the negotiations to test McLean's bottom line.

Who knew that McLean was so easily fooled and quickly gave himself away.

Unfortunately, he was interrupted by that secretary just now, otherwise he felt that 80 million would give him a chance to get 50% of Rediffusion's shares.

Li Jiangbo understood that the next time they came to negotiate, he might be facing not just one company, but four.

Thinking of this, he immediately said, "Adong, send someone to investigate who Li's side is in contact with in Australia. I need all the information on the people they've been in contact with!"

Zhao Dong was taken aback for a moment, then nodded, "Okay, Brother Bo."

Although he agreed to Li Jiangbo's request, he didn't act on it immediately. Instead, he cautiously asked, "Brother Bo, do you suspect someone is trying to sabotage things?"

Li Jiangbo nodded. "Judging from today's events, what I said hit that foreigner's sweet spot. As for the subsequent change of heart, it must have been an order from his superiors. Otherwise, we could have acquired a considerable number of shares."

Zhao Dong looked at Li Jiangbo in surprise, "Brother Bo, you mean we can't get it for 80 million?"

Li Jiangbo scoffed, "Do you know how valuable television stations are in Hong Kong?"

Zhao Dong shook his head, indicating that he did not know.

"From 65, TVB obtained a free-to-air television license, and in 73, ATV's license was also free. In 78, CTV obtained another license."

"So many people are fighting tooth and nail to get their hands on it, but they can't possibly get it. That's why what's free is often the most expensive; its value can't be measured in money!"

Zhao Dong nodded. "Brother Bo, I understand. I'll send someone to investigate right away."

After saying that, he was about to leave. But Li Jiangbo called him back.

"There's no rush. It's almost Chinese New Year. Let's go back first. You can explain things to someone."

Zhao Dong scratched his head. "Brother Bo, I had completely forgotten about the New Year if you hadn't mentioned it."

Li Jiangbo walked up to Zhao Dong naturally and straightened his suit for him.

"How could our Time Company's annual meeting be complete without you, our hardworking contributor? Go on, once you're done, we'll head back to Hong Kong together."

Zhao Dong nodded. He felt that following Brother Bo was really worth it. Although he was away from home most of the year and didn't go home often, he earned a lot of money!

Zhao Dong and Li Jiangbo returned to Hong Kong on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Upon returning to Hong Kong, Li Jiangbo was immediately pulled aside by Zhao Yazhi to check the accounts.

Tomorrow is the annual meeting of Time Group, which is more like a box office profit-sharing and bonus distribution than a meeting...

There's no summary or banquet schedule here; you can even come in slippers if you want.

Li Jiangbo only said one thing: "Eat well, drink well, and take your money!"

Of course, Rosamund Kwan, Cherie Chung, Zhu Lin, Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, and Teresa Carpio all have a celebrity image to maintain, so it's impossible for them to actually come wearing slippers.

Zhao Yazhi and Pan Yingzi can't do that either, they still have to pay their employees!

The first thing to be distributed was the box office revenue share. For "A Better Tomorrow", only Leslie Cheung, Cherie Chung, Lam Nai-choi, and Chan Hsun-ki received 2% of the box office revenue share.

But it's still pretty good, everyone can get nearly 200,000.

Of the three production teams—"Chasing Girls," "Happy Ghost," and "Peking Opera Blues"—Wang Jing received the most money.

Look how brightly Fatty Wang is smiling; you can tell how happy he is.

When he received the envelope, he immediately hugged Li Jiangbo and kissed him.

"Bo-zai, I'll still be making movies for you next year!"

Li Jiangbo wiped the drool off his face with disgust. "You fatso, I'm not into men!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Xu Ke, who joined Shiguang Film and Television later, only directed one film, "Dao Ma Dan," and received less than 100,000 yuan.

But this doesn't count as "Taken," since the movie hasn't even been released yet, so how can they get any profit sharing?

When he received the money, he walked off the stage without saying anything. In his mind, no company in Hong Kong would be so willing to share box office profits with its employees.

This is a direct criticism of Golden Harvest, for allegedly withholding money from Hung Kam-po and Hui Koon-man.

After Xu Ke came down with the money, Shi Nansheng nudged him on the shoulder, signaling him to open it and see how much money was in it.

When Xu Ke opened it, the two of them gasped in shock.

Inside the leather bag were eight or nine bundles of banknotes.

Initially, Xu Ke and Li Jiangbo signed the contract because they were attracted by the DaSi equipment and did not notice that there was a box office revenue sharing clause in the contract.

After that, I worked with Li Jiangbo on "Taken". Although he was the assistant director, I really enjoyed filming this movie.

Who knew that Li Jiangbo would give the two of them another surprise today.

After the box office revenue sharing was completed, Zhao Yazhi and Pan Yingzi started handing out red envelopes around the table.

The first table to be served was Awei's table. When Awei opened it, he was instantly stunned.

Li Jiangbo didn't have time to deal with him; he was too busy sending out red envelopes!

The red envelope was sent to Xu Ke's table. Xu Ke opened it, looked at it, and fell silent again.

After a long while, she finally raised her head, looked at Li Jiangbo, and her lips moved slightly. "Thank you."

However, before those two words could reach Li Jiangbo's ears, they were drowned out by the surrounding noise.

Having learned from their previous experience, the others thanked Li Jiangbo generously, then happily accepted the red envelopes and stuffed them into their pockets.

Only Mei Yanfang, Xu Ke, Shi Nansheng, Gao Zhisen, Yuan Hua, and others who joined the company this year were at a loss when they received the red envelopes.

Then I opened it and had only one thought in my mind: Boss, you're so generous!

After the red envelopes were distributed, the atmosphere became even more lively.

Someone started singing, someone else started playing drinking games, and anyone could grab the microphone on stage.

Li Jiangbo then called over Awei, Shi Nansheng, Zhao Dong, and others.

"Ah Wei, next year you should contact the mainland again and see if there are any female bodyguards willing to come to Hong Kong and receive the same treatment as you."

Awei nodded. "Okay, boss."

Li Jiangbo turned to Shi Nansheng and asked, "Nansheng, were you in charge of the TV station before?"

Shi Nansheng nodded somewhat awkwardly.

"Then next year, you'll be in charge of the company's film distribution."

Shi Nansheng stood up excitedly, just about to say something.

Li Jiangbo waved his hand to interrupt him, saying, "You go first. I hope you can expand into other markets."

Nansun Shi was so excited she didn't know what to say. She actually came from a business background and even starred in the film "Below the Lion Rock: The Bridge" directed by Ann Hui.

After that, I focused on behind-the-scenes work and rarely got involved in distribution.

Li Jiangbo had his reasons for doing this.

In later generations, Nansun Shi was referred to as the "housekeeper" by Mai Jia of Cinema City, in charge of production, distribution, and administration.

This shows just how outstanding his abilities are; Li Jiangbo wouldn't let such a talent go to waste.

When it came to Zhao Dong, Li Jiangbo only had one sentence to say.

"After the New Year, come with me to Australia again."

Zhao Dong nodded. "Okay."