Literary Master 1978

"The story of "A Better Tomorrow" is already complete, and I can't write it any more.

Moreover, doing this kind of thing like a salted fish turning over is enough once.

If you do it too much, the audience may not buy it. "

Lin Chaoyang's last words were somewhat meaningful, and everyone noticed something was wrong in his words.

After chatting with everyone for a few words, Di Long pulled Lin Chaoyang aside and asked seriously:

"Chaoyang, I see you went to the office with Tsui Hark and the others just now to discuss the sequel, right? Didn't we reach an agreement?"

Seeing that there was no one around, Lin Chaoyang said truthfully: "Mai Jia and Tsui Hark want to make a sequel with the original cast."

"You also know that the story of "A Better Tomorrow" is actually very complete. To write it any more is actually to sell it on someone else's head. It would be better to make a new movie."

Ti Lung is a person who has his own pursuit of movies. Otherwise, he would not be thinking about transformation in middle age, nor would he repeatedly advise Chow Yun-fat not to quit the movie on the set. Therefore, he understands Lin Chaoyang's thoughts very well.

"I understand, you don't want to write the script, so they want to leave you alone and film it yourself?"

"Yes. You also understand that as soon as the news is released, film producers from Taiwan and Southeast Asia will definitely come to send money. They will not miss the opportunity to pick up money. I am not the only one who can write scripts."

Ti Long hesitated upon hearing this and said, "If you don't write the script, then I won't act in it."

"If you don't accept the role, wouldn't you offend someone? I'm not completely done with Xinyi City now. Why don't you take advantage of the opportunity to make money?"

"I'm not a young man in my twenties. Do you think I'm just doing this out of loyalty?

The success of "A Better Tomorrow" is largely due to you and Asen. Without you, the probability of failure of the sequel increases greatly.

You all say that I have turned around now. Of course I have to take good care of my feathers. Otherwise, what should I do if I make a few movies while the season is hot, make money, and then become outdated again? "

Ti Lung's tone was relaxed and his reasons were sufficient, but Lin Chaoyang knew that the main reason for his doing this must be because he decided not to participate in the production of the sequel.

"Hey, you're doing this, I'm under a lot of pressure!"

Di Long teased him, "Come on! You think I don't know. Why did you just come out and tell us this?"

"What do you mean by telling you? I am obviously telling John Woo."

"So, you want to poach Xinyi City?"

"Hey, hey, don't say it so harshly, what do you mean by poaching?

I think he is a bit underserved by staying in Xinyi City. He may have better development in our Lin family. "

Di Long looked at him with a surprised expression, "You still said you didn't break up with anyone?"

"We are all adults. When it comes to business, there is no such thing as arguing. If it is beneficial, we will cooperate. If it is not beneficial, we will develop separately."

Ti Long worried for him and said: "Then you are not afraid that Xinyi City will cause trouble for you?"

"Do they have time to trouble me?" Lin Chaoyang looked in the direction of Shi Tian and Huang Baiming, indicating something.

The internal strife among the three giants of Xinyi City has been on the table in the past two years. The reason why they can still maintain their dignity now is entirely because the company can still make a lot of money for everyone.

Ti Lung has been in the film industry for so many years and has seen many examples of people who can share adversity but not wealth.

He knows very well that this situation of flourishing flowers and burning oil is difficult to maintain for a long time. If something goes wrong, the building may collapse right before his eyes.

But he still had to lament Lin Chaoyang's big heart.

New Art City, backed by Princess Jin, has become famous in the Hong Kong film industry in recent years. If there is no confidence and strength, who would dare to fall out with them easily?

"Even if they are at odds with each other now, it is not easy to deal with. There is no need for you to confront them head-on."

"You don't really think I want to poach John Woo because I'm angry with them, do you?"

Di Long looked at Lin Chaoyang seriously, didn't he?

"If you say it doesn't matter at all, it sounds false to you. But our Lin family also needs to develop. Excellent talents are always in demand wherever they go. Don't you think so?"

Ti Lung nodded. "A Better Tomorrow" grossed 30 million Hong Kong dollars. Director John Woo is as popular as Lin Chaoyang in the Hong Kong film industry.

Not only Lin, many film companies have also extended olive branches to John Woo privately or publicly. Thinking about it this way, Lin Chaoyang's solicitation seems to be nothing.

The two chatted for a while, and then Mai Jia and Tsui Hark appeared again and went to a restaurant to celebrate. Lin Chaoyang and his wife did not go together. Everyone maintained a pleasant appearance, said hello and left the top floor of the Bank.

On the way home, Lin Chaoyang told Tao Yushu about today's situation, and Tao Yushu looked serious.

"Others can write this script, but you can't write it, and you can't let them consume your fame. You are right to cherish your feathers. Filmmakers like Xiangjiang are really ruthless in making money."

"It's normal for people to die for money and birds to eat for food. If nothing else, our two films have secured the first and second place at the box office in Hong Kong this year, and our reputation has also been opened up.

After the dividends from "A Better Tomorrow" arrive, your funds will be abundant, and you can flex your muscles in the future. "

Lin Chaoyang said in a relaxed tone.

"The Truman Show" brought Lam Pictures tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in revenue, which seemed like a lot, but it was just enough for Lam Pictures to recruit some talents and launch two new movies independently.

The revenue from "A Better Tomorrow" is the bulk of the revenue. It ensures that Lam Pictures has a sufficient capital chain and does not need to wait for payment. It can continuously release new movies, creating a snowball effect.

As the couple chatted, Tao Yushu asked: "Chaoyang, is our strategy a bit radical?"

"Radical is definitely radical, but now Xiangjiang movies are like a racing game. If you don't catch up, you will easily be left behind.

As long as we can attract a group of talents, the company's development will not be a big problem. "

Tao Yushu nodded. In the past two years, her understanding of the Hong Kong film industry has become more and more profound, and she knew that what Lin Chaoyang said did make sense.

The next morning, the opening ceremony of "The Hardcover Chasing Girls", the first film to be invested and produced by Lam Films since its establishment, was held at the Jiahe Studio.

Tao Yushu was present as the producer and producer. The director and screenwriter of this film is Wang Jing. The male lead (bad mouth) is Chow Yun-fat, the second male lead (Ng Zhun Shao) is Chen Baixiang, and the third male lead (Traffic Light) is Stephen Chow and the heroine Dong Dong are Maggie Cheung.

Lam Pictures was about to launch a new film, and Maggie Cheung volunteered to play the heroine. The heroine role in "Fashionable Girls" was not difficult for her, so Tao Yushu gave it to her.

Chen Baixiang was recommended by Wang Jing, and he has a good relationship with Wang Jing.

On the day of filming, many reporters came to the studio, and most of them came for Chow Yun-fat's new film.

In "A Better Tomorrow", "poison hair" became "fairy hair". The role of Ma Ge earned Chow Yun-fat enough tears from the audience, and he is now so red that he turns purple.

During the interview, reporters almost all gathered around him and producer Tao Yushu, while the other leading actors were reduced to background.

Stephen Chow looked at Chow Yun-fat who was surrounded by reporters with envy, "Brother Fat is so popular!"

Chen Baixiang teased him with a mean smile on his face: "Xingzi, don't be envious, I've calculated it for you. In less than three years, you will definitely be more popular than him!"

Stephen Chow looked shy and said, "Brother La, don't try to make fun of me!"

"Hey, how could they be making fun of you? They all say that Lin Sheng is very optimistic about you. Look at Brother Fa. I heard that it was Lin Sheng who personally selected him to play the role of Brother Ma. How popular he is now!

You don’t still question Lin Sheng’s vision, do you? "

He knew clearly that Chen Baixiang was making fun of him, but Stephen Chow didn't know how to refute, so he could only smile.

"Okay, Brother La, Ah Xing has just started acting, so don't tease him."

At this time, Maggie Cheung came out to rescue Stephen Chow, and Stephen Chow couldn't help but cast a grateful glance at her.

While several people were talking, Tao Yushu and Chow Yun-fat were answering questions from reporters. One reporter asked: "Brother Fa, I heard that New Art City and the film studio are planning to shoot "A Better Tomorrow 2". I don't know when it will start filming. ?”

Since "A Better Tomorrow" became popular, Chow Yun-fat's name in the film industry has evolved from "Ah Fa" to "Fa Ge".

He listened to the reporter's question without answering, but looked at Tao Yushu.

The movie sequel is just an idea now. I didn't expect these reporters to have gotten the news. The news is really well-informed!

Tao Yushu said at this time: "You should ask New Art City or the film studio about the sequel."

After listening to Tao Yushu's words, the reporter noticed something was wrong, "Mrs. Lin, will Lin's Pictures participate in the production of "A Better Tomorrow 2"?"

"No comment!"

Tao Yushu did not answer the reporters' questions, but did not stop these reporters from asking shamelessly. In the end, she was disturbed and could only leave Chow Yun-fat to face the reporters alone.

As soon as Maggie Cheung saw her coming out of the crowd, she immediately approached her.

"Sister Yu!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, when will Yumo come back?"

"It should be just these two days, this damn girl is going crazy in Japan!" Tao Yushu said angrily.

At this moment, on the 7th floor of Building H1, Oriental Garden, Tao Yumo carried her suitcase and rang the doorbell for a long time, but no one opened the door.

"What's going on? Are you all out?"

No one opened the door, so she put down her luggage and took out her key to open the door.

The door opened, and it was clean and spotless, as if no one had ever lived there.

Tao Yumo instinctively felt that something was wrong. She walked back to the door in confusion and looked at the house number.

"That's right!"

She swept around the house and everything was cleaned. It couldn't be so clean after being robbed, right?

What's going on? You won’t move back to the mainland, right?

Tao Yumo tried to make a call and found that the phone had been shut down.

She didn't know what had happened, and she was anxious and panicked. She threw her luggage in the house and ran to the Prince's Building.

When they arrived at the Prince's Building and saw that the "Lin's Pictures" signboard was still there, Tao Yumo's anxious heart finally put it back.

"Azhen!"

Seeing Wu Meizhen, Tao Yumo immediately grabbed her.

"Miss Tao, you are back!" Wu Meizhen greeted Tao Yumo.

"You're back. Where are my sister and my brother-in-law?" Tao Yumo asked anxiously.

"Mrs. Lin is going to attend the launch ceremony of "Girls in Hardcover" today. I don't know much about Mr. Lin."

Tao Yumo nodded, without saying anything else, picked up the company phone and called Tao Yushu.

"Hey, sister, I'm home, why is the house empty?"

"What?"

That evening, in the middle of the mountain, Jiahui Garden.

The night is hazy, the mountain scenery halfway up the mountain is hidden in the darkness, and the night view of Victoria Harbor in the distance is mesmerizing.

The evening breeze blew Tao Yumo's hair, and she pulled it back with a cold expression.

"So, you can move without telling me?"

There was a hint of coldness and grievance in her voice.

Tao Yushu was sitting on pins and needles on the sofa, "I thought your brother-in-law told you on the phone."

A piece of hot potato was thrown into Lin Chaoyang's hand. It was so hot that he grinned and dared not let go. He showed an apologetic smile to his sister-in-law.

"This is definitely my fault, brother-in-law. I only wanted to urge you to come back, and I forgot to tell you about moving to a new home."

His apology did not cause any emotional fluctuations in Tao Yumo. She looked at her brother-in-law coldly.

"Forgot? Why didn't you forget that you asked me to sign the contract? Why didn't you forget that you asked me to look after the child?"

Lin Chaoyang, who knew he was in the wrong, nodded and apologized, "Yes, yes, it's my brother-in-law. I didn't think carefully about it. Yumo, it's really hard for you to go to Japan this time. You need to get a salary increase next month."

After hearing the "real money" apology, Tao Yumo's face finally became better, but when she looked at the nanny Adi holding Yan Yan beside her, her face darkened unconsciously.

There is a kind of shock and bitterness when a dog goes out to play and finds another dog in the house when he comes back.

Tao Yushu observed her face and explained patiently: "You said you wanted to go to the crew to be a producer. Now that you have gone, you must not be as half-hearted as before. How can you have so much energy to take care of Dongdong and Yan Yan.

Adi is here just in time to help you relieve some of the pressure... help me to relieve some of the pressure. From now on, I will be busy with the company and you will be busy with the crew. Isn't this just right? "

"Isn't there still my brother-in-law?"

"Your brother-in-law just takes care of the children and doesn't do anything else?"

Tao Yumo glanced at A Di with a complicated expression, "I don't want this kind of miscommunication to happen again."

"Yes, yes, yes." Lin Chaoyang and his wife nodded repeatedly.

"In order to prevent this from happening again, I think it is necessary for the company to equip me with a mobile phone so that we can communicate at any time."

Although they knew that this girl was taking the opportunity to blackmail, they both forgot about her.

"Okay. You always join the crew, and you should be supporting the TV station."

Only then did Tao Yumo show a satisfied look. The anger and grievance she felt just now disappeared in the blink of an eye. She walked to A Di and stretched out her hand towards Yan Yan.

"Good boy Yanyan, let my aunt give me a hug!"

Yan Yan was held in Tao Yumo's arms. Dongdong, who was waiting aside, was extremely anxious, "Auntie, auntie, there's me, there's me too!"

Tao Yumo quickly smiled and hugged him into his arms, one on the left, one on the right, one on the right, one on the other, and the three of them were smiling. When they were laughing, Tao Yumo did not forget to cast a provocative look at A Di.

Did you see that I am the king of children in this family?

Adi is over forty years old and came to Hong Kong from the mainland a few years ago. She is an honest person. Seeing Tao Yumo's aggressive personality, like a teddy, she lowered her head unconsciously.

Can't afford to offend, can't afford to offend!

"Okay, let's give the child to Adi first. You can tell me about the situation in Japan first. Why did you come back so late?"

Tao Yumo's turn is over, and it's Tao Yushu's turn to make a move.

Upon hearing this question, Tao Yumo's eyes immediately flickered, and his aura weakened a lot.

"I have to sign a contract with Kawade Shobo. They keep changing it. Besides, I did a good inspection in Japan this time."

"Oh? What did you find after all the inspections?" Tao Yushu asked, staring into his sister's eyes.

"Well... I found out through research that the yen has risen sharply recently. If my brother-in-law's book is published in Japan, he will definitely make money without losing money..."

Tao Yumo was telling lies and she could hardly stop making them up. She smiled guiltily at Tao Yushu.

"Hey, sister~"

Seeing that she surrendered, Tao Yushu immediately scolded her severely and claimed: "If this happens again in the future, don't go."

"No, no, no! Sister, I was wrong, I was wrong. I will definitely act as instructed next time and will never disobey orders."

Tao Yumo's sworn guarantee was only credible, so it was almost like he didn't say anything.

Seeing her sister's perfunctory attitude, she took out the contract she signed with Hede Study, ready to show off her merits, and said to Lin Chaoyang:

"Brother-in-law, have you written the inscription that Ms. Kondo asked for?"

"Nothing."

"Why are you not positive at all?"

Tao Yumo escorted Lin Chaoyang to the study and asked him to write a picture as required. Then she frowned and looked at it for a long time.

"Your word is average!"

In a daze, Lin Chaoyang felt like he was seeing an old friend.

"You're quite generous, but it's not for you."

"Aren't I urging you to improve? You still have to practice writing with my dad. Okay, I'll frame this word later and send it to Ms. Kondo. It will be the face of your Japanese Literature Research Association. "

Tao Yushu curiously asked about the literary research association, and Tao Yumo became more energetic when he talked about it.

"It was only after I went there that I found out that those Japanese people quite admired my brother-in-law..."

Two days later, Lin Chaoyang finally received the sample book from Gallimard Publishing House in France.

Since signing a publishing contract with them in May, it has taken nearly four months to receive the sample book, which is considered very efficient.

Compared with the efficiency of Gallimard Publishing House, China Film's efficiency is extremely slow. All the novels imported by others are being published, but "The Truman Show" has not been released in the mainland.

Seeing that early September was about to pass, Tao Yushu planned to return to the mainland to see the progress of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou.

Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" is not in a hurry, but Chen Kaige's "The King of Children" plans to participate in next year's film festival.

She planned to go back to Yanjing with Lin Chaoyang, and Tao Yumo was still in charge of Xiangjiang.

Before leaving, Lin Chaoyang received the royalties for "The Truman Show" settled by Ming Pao Publishing House.

This is the second royalty for "The Truman Show" after it was published in Hong Kong, and it is much more than the first royalty.

The main reason is of course that the hot screening of the movie "The Truman Show" in May and June directly led to a crazy increase in the sales of the original novel.

In June, when the novel was the most popular, it set a sales myth of 64,900 copies in a single month.

This sales volume is the top level even when Hong Kong martial arts novels were the hottest in the 1960s and 1970s, not to mention that "The Truman Show" is a serious pure literary work.

In the past six months, the sales of "The Truman Show" have reached 142,500 copies. If the previous sales are counted, the cumulative sales of this novel have exceeded 200,000 copies.

It is the first time that a pure literary work has sold 200,000 copies in the Hong Kong literary world.

Therefore, the sales of Lin Chaoyang and "The Truman Show" have always been the focus of many people in the literary world.

However, the development of pure literature in Hong Kong has always been non-mainstream and has not been strong.

The novels sold well, so Lin Chaoyang's royalties were naturally high. The income from this royalty settlement was as high as 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars.

Including the royalties settled before, the royalties income from "The Truman Show" in Hong Kong alone has exceeded 2 million Hong Kong dollars.

In terms of income alone, Lin Chaoyang's income is enough to surpass most writers in Hong Kong.

After returning to Yanjing from Hong Kong, Zhang Guiqin did not recognize the unfamiliar face of A Di as soon as she entered the house. Lin Chaoyang explained that she was a hired nanny.

Hearing that A-Di's monthly salary is 2,000 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to 700 to 800 RMB, Zhang Guiqin looked distressed and pulled Lin Chaoyang to whisper:

"I can just take care of your children, why spend this money?"

"Mom, the money you earn is to be spent. If you want to stay with your grandchildren, it won't affect the nanny. With A-Di around, you can also relax a little."

The son is grown up and cannot be controlled by the mother. Zhang Guiqin knew that she could not convince Lin Chaoyang, so she could only mutter a few words to herself to reduce her reluctance to money.

After settling down, Tao Yushu ran to the West Courtyard first.

During this period, Zhang Yimou has been living here to study the script, and Mo Yan and Chen Jianyu are with him.

After arriving at the West Courtyard, Tao Yushu also saw an acquaintance, her old colleague Zhu Wei from "People's Literature".

After a few pleasantries, Tao Yushu learned that Zhu Wei came to the party last month and had a good chat with Zhang Yimou, and was also pulled into the screenwriter group by him.

By this calculation, there are already three people in the screenwriter team of "Red Sorghum".

The more people, the more ideas. The more ideas, the easier it is to go wrong.

Zhang Yimou is the first time to be a director, and Tao Yushu is really worried that they will mess up the script.

After she talked with Zhang Yimou, Tao Yushu was relieved, Zhang Yimou's ideas were still very clear.

After that, Tao Yushu called Chen Kaige to her home again. During the time when the couple returned to Hong Kong, Chen Kaige had rewritten the script of "The King of Children" and was waiting for Lin Chaoyang to make the final decision.

When Lin Chaoyang was reading the script, Chen Kaige kept observing his expression and felt a little nervous, fearing that Lin Chaoyang would think it was not good again.

"It's well written, this version will be the final version."

Lin Chaoyang's words made Chen Kaige feel relieved, and he was happy again.

"Auntie, can the crew start preparations?" Chen Kaige asked Tao Yushu expectantly.

Tao Yushu smiled and said, "Okay."

"Then, will you come with me to audition the actors in the next two days?"

"Okay."

The investment in "King of Children" is 1.2 million RMB, with Yindu Institution contributing 240,000 RMB, Li Hanxiang's New Kunlun Pictures contributing 360,000 RMB, and the rest of the funds are covered by Lin's Pictures.

This investment is considered a low-cost movie in Hong Kong, but it is a considerable investment in China today. The buyout price of each movie given by China Film to the studio is only 900,000 RMB.

With the funds in place, Chen Kaige was full of energy and enthusiasm. In just three days, the crew had completed preparations and even the actors were confirmed.

The reason why it was so fast was that Chen Kaige planned to use non-professional actors in the entire film except for the male lead.

The male lead was his college classmate Xie Yuan, and the rest had to wait until the filming location to find them.

The filming location of "King of Children" was set in Yunnan, where Ah Cheng went to the countryside and was also the original inspiration for the birth of "King of Children".

After the crew reunited, Chen Kaige couldn't wait to leave for Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.

Lin Chaoyang said that he wanted his film to participate in the West Berlin Film Festival. Now there are five months left before the West Berlin Film Festival next year. Time is tight and every second counts.

"The King of Children" is about to start filming. Tao Yushu originally planned to go to Yunnan with him for a few days, and then send someone from the company to supervise Chen Kaige after the crew stabilized.

As a result, Lin Chaoyang came up with a trick, "You hire Lao Chen to go over."

"Lao Chen?"

Tao Yushu didn't understand what Lin Chaoyang meant for a while.

His son is making a movie, and he lets his father be the military supervisor?

They are all family members, aren't you afraid that the father and son will mess around?

Then Tao Yushu thought about it and seemed to understand Lin Chaoyang's intention.

Lao Chen is indeed an old fox, but his character is still good.

The most important thing is that this old guy wants his son to become a dragon!

Chen Kaige makes a movie. If he is asked to be the producer, dare he not do his best?

I am afraid he will have to take on multiple roles, including producer, art consultant, and supreme director...

With such a high-level military advisor like Chen Huaikai, are you still afraid that "The King of Children" will not be filmed well?

Tao Yushu thought for a long time and found that Lin Chaoyang's move was really well thought out.

So she happily went to Chen Huaikai's house and proposed to hire him as the producer of "The King of Children".

Chen Huaikai was dumbfounded. He thought for a moment and asked Tao Yushu: "Yushu, tell me the truth, whose idea is this?"

"My idea!" Tao Yushu said with a firm expression.

Chen Huaikai didn't believe it, "Don't lie to me. Such a bad idea, except for your husband, no one else can think of it."

Tao Yushu laughed, and seeing that she couldn't hide it from Chen Huaikai, she admitted that it was Lin Chaoyang's idea, and teased: "No wonder you two are good friends."

Chen Huaikai felt that her words were not good, but these were not important. He was still thinking about Tao Yushu's offer just now.

5,000 yuan.

Chen Huaikai is a meritorious director of Yanying Studio. His salary and benefits have always been high, but facing the sky-high price of 5,000 yuan, he still finds it difficult to refuse.

What's more, this is his son's new film?

"What about the work at the studio?" Chen Huaikai asked with embarrassment.

Chen Huaikai retired, but he still has a job at Yanying Studio, just not on duty.

Tao Yushu said easily: "Chaoyang said you will find a way yourself."

Chen Huaikai cursed inwardly, this kid really calculated him to death!

It seems that I have no choice but to take a "sick leave".

Winter is coming, and my lungs are not good.

It's reasonable to take a sick leave, right?