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

After leaving Shaw Yi-fu's office, Li Jiangbo went to the finance office and received HK$20,000 in script fees based on Shaw Yi-fu's handwritten signature.

Then I planned to go to the TVB set to find Wang Tianlin to discuss the casting for "Shanghai Bund" and the preparation of the production team.

After all, he makes erotic films, and usually only four or five staff members and four or five actors are needed to handle things, so he doesn't know many people. He still has to rely on Wang Tianlin's connections to assemble the crew.

If Wang Tianlin doesn't help, he can ask Li Hanxiang for help. He helped Li Hanxiang a lot a few days ago, and presumably this pioneer of brothels owes him a debt of gratitude.

Li Hanxiang is a filmmaker; I wonder if he has any connections in the television drama industry.

In fact, Li Jiangbo could have chosen not to film this TV series. His contract with Shaw Brothers expires in three days, and once the contract expires, he will really be left with nothing to do.

The main reason was that he didn't have enough funds to make a movie, and he needed to gain Uncle Six's trust and approval in order to prepare for the future release of the movie.

Secondly, "Shanghai Bund" was a hugely popular TV series, and I could gain a wave of popularity after the series aired.

Li Jiangbo searched the film set but couldn't find Wang Tianlin; instead, he found her son, Wang Jing.

After learning of Li Jiangbo's purpose, Wang Jing drove Li Jiangbo home.

As soon as Li Jiangbo entered, a beautiful young woman in her early twenties, dressed in pajamas, greeted him.

"This is my wife, Ahua. You can sit in the living room and have a cup of tea. I'm going to find my dad."

"Ah Hua, make Bo-zai a cup of tea."

Li Jiangbo casually sat down on the sofa in the living room and looked around Wang Tianlin's house.

This is an apartment located on Broadcast Drive. The room is not small, less than 100 square meters, but the house is very clean.

Not long after, Wang Tianlin walked out of the study with a big smile on her face.

After exchanging pleasantries, the two sat down to discuss business, with Wang Jing accompanying them.

As soon as he sat down, Li Jiangbo took out the script of "Shanghai Bund" from his briefcase and handed it to Wang Tianlin.

"Uncle Tianlin, the company has arranged for me to work with you on this project. I hope you'll be understanding!"

Wang Tianlin smiled and took the script, "Oh, no, it's all for the company! Let me take a look at the script first!"

"Uncle Tianlin, please."

For a moment, the living room fell silent, with only the rustling sound of pages turning.

After about 10 minutes, Wang Tianlin put down the script in her hand and smiled, "Hmm! The story outline is good, and the first two episodes are well written. I didn't expect that Bo Zai, who specializes in making erotic films, could write such a good script. He's truly a promising young talent!"

Li Jiangbo picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and said, "Uncle Tianlin, you're too kind. It's settled that I'll be the director and you'll be the producer. You're a big shot in the television drama industry, so I hope you can give me a good helping hand!"

Wang Tianlin's expression turned serious, and she tentatively asked, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. I see your script isn't finished yet, how about letting my son be the screenwriter?"

Upon hearing this, Li Jiangbo smiled slightly. He had already seen through Wang Tianlin's probing; she was vying for power with him! However, since he didn't intend to develop a long-term career in the TV series, he went along with it and said:

"I have faith in Jing's abilities, but I think it's a waste of his talents to only work as a screenwriter. It would be better to let him be an assistant director on set, so that he can have better development opportunities in the future!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jing blushed instantly. Since joining TVB in 76, he had been learning screenwriting from his mentor, Liu Tianci. Back then, he dreamed of directing his own scripts, but he never had the chance.

Now that an opportunity has been presented to him, it's like a windfall for someone sitting at home. Li Jiangbo's promise is huge! But he likes it.

Wang Tianlin secretly patted Wang Jing's thigh, signaling him to calm down. However, he did not expect Li Jiangbo to be so understanding.

He laughed loudly, "Then I'll accept your favor, young man, and you can decide who plays the male and female leads."

After a moment's thought, Li Jiangbo said, "We'll cast Chow Yun-fat as the male lead, Zhao Yazhi as the female lead, and Lui Leung-wai as the second male lead. These are all from our company, so their schedules are easy to coordinate."

Upon hearing this, Wang Tianlin breathed a sigh of relief. He regretted saying those words earlier. If Li Jiangbo had brought in actors he had worked with in erotic films to star in "Shanghai Bund," the TV series would probably have been a laughingstock among those perverts even before it was released.

It seems that this guy knows the rules; he looks at Li Jiangbo with more appreciation in his eyes now.

But who is this Lü Liangwei?

Wang Tianlin scratched his head. "We can't just cast any extra for Ding Li's role. Is this Lü Liangwei from our company? I've never heard of him."

Li Jiangbo said, "These are the people I selected from the 'Fantasy Sea Romance' series that our company filmed last year. Lu Liangwei acted in the first and sixth installments, and his acting skills are quite good."

Wang Tianlin nodded. "Then how about this: you and A-Jing discuss the remaining roles, and I'll organize the crew. How does that sound?"

"No problem. As for the script, Jing and I will discuss and write it together, and try to finish it within a week."

Wang Tianlin waved her hand, "No need, no need, as long as you two can come up with a script that can keep up with the filming."

Li Jiangbo thought to himself, "That makes sense. TVB scripts are never finished. They start with an outline, then film it to see the market reaction. If it's good, they continue filming; if it's bad, they abandon the project. It's exactly the same as online novelists in later generations!"

By the time the business was finished, it was already 2 p.m. Wang Tianlin was preparing to meet with Sir Shao to find out how much budget the company could approve.

Meanwhile, Li Jiangbo and Wang Jing continued writing the script at home, discussing and writing at the same time.

In the afternoon, the main storyline of the first ten episodes was finalized.

At the end, Wang Jing praised Li Jiangbo highly. He hadn't expected Li Jiangbo to be so capable; he had spent the entire afternoon writing while Li Jiangbo did all the talking.

It was almost 5 p.m. when Wang Jing stood up and said with a smile, "Director Li, it's time for lunch. How about we have a meal together? It's on me to thank you for your promotion."

Li Jiangbo waved his hand, "What promotion or not, I'm just doing a favor. But I still need to eat."

"Okay, Director Li is indeed straightforward. Shall we go?"

Li Jiangbo nodded and left first, waiting for Wang Jing at the door.

Wang Jing quickly finished getting ready, and the two of them chatted and laughed as they walked downstairs.

Broadcast Drive is actually quite short, just over a kilometer long. There are countless buildings, TVB staff dormitories, and mid-range residential areas along it, and restaurants are everywhere.

The two arrived at their familiar food stall, and just as they sat down and ordered a few dishes, a group of young men walked in.

Li Jiangbo looked at the young men in front of him and his eyes lit up. It was Tang Zhenye, Liao Qizhi, Huang Zao and a dozen others!

He thought for a moment, and it seemed that only a few people from the 79 TVB training class became famous. For example, Kent Tong was most famous for his relationship with Barbara Yung; Liu Kai-chi also seemed to have acted in Shanghai Bund; and Wong Cho-shih played Hua Zheng in the 83 version of The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

The other party also saw Wang Jing and Li Jiangbo, nodded and smiled, and did not disturb them.

Before long, all the dishes were served.

Wang Jing and Li Jiangbo discussed the script in hushed tones while eating.

A few minutes later, Wang Jing pointed behind Li Jiangbo and asked, "Hey, Director Li, do you know that nearsighted guy over there?"

Li Jiangbo turned around and saw Chen Tianfang, dressed in a suit and trousers and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, standing under a streetlight a dozen meters away.

Li Jiangbo immediately sensed something was wrong and called the waiter over.

"Could you please pack some of your chili powder, pepper, and salt? I'll season it myself; your food isn't flavorful enough."

The waiter responded and quickly went to the kitchen to place the food Li Jiangbo had ordered on the table.

Wang Jing said with a grin, "Wow, I didn't expect Director Li to have such heavy tastes?"

Li Jiangbo smiled but didn't say anything.

Ten minutes later, three or four shady-looking figures appeared in the distance and strode towards the food stall.

The burly, tattooed man at the front of the group had just entered the food stall when he started yelling, "Fuck you, who's Li Jiangbo?"

Wang Jing glanced at the tattooed man, then at Li Jiangbo beside him.

Li Jiangbo carefully took off his coat and covered his mouth and nose.

The tattooed man looked around and quickly identified his target, then walked directly towards Li Jiangbo's location.