Literary Master 1978

Prince Road, Shengji Restaurant.

The restaurant was still bustling with people at around nine o'clock in the evening, with guests toasting and laughing.

Tao Yushu walked out of the restaurant, glanced at the colorful neon signs on the street, and fell on a Mercedes-Benz parked at the door of the restaurant. She opened the door and got in.

"Sister, are you okay?" Tao Yumo asked with concern.

"Nothing. I just drank two glasses of wine. I'm happy today. I can't refuse to drink when people come to toast me."

When Tao Yushu spoke, her eyes were on the street view outside the car window. She felt an indescribable ease and comfort, a feeling she hadn't experienced for a long time.

"You can have a good sleep this time!" Tao Yumo said suddenly while driving.

Tao Yushu smiled, "It's far from time to rest easy. We've just passed the survival stage."

Tao Yushu invited the company's employees to dinner tonight to tell everyone a good news.

Just this afternoon, Tao Yushu had just signed a contract with Shaw Brothers.

Lin's Films has taken over Shaw's 10 theaters!

From now on, Lin also has its own cinema chain.

For a film company, cinema chains are not necessary. But for Lin, cinema chains are necessary.

Taiwan Island is just a small island for the mainland, but it is a behemoth for Lin. Facing its ban, Lin must concentrate all its energy to deal with it.

10 theaters are not many, and can only rank sixth in Hong Kong in terms of scale.

But if the two southern lines, which are also Z-faction, are added, the cinema resources that Lin can mobilize are very considerable, almost as good as Jiale of Golden Harvest and Golden Princess of Xinyicheng.

With these cinema resources, Lin's basic base in Hong Kong is stable, and it can be said to be invincible.

Of course, if the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Association is determined to deal with Lin, they will definitely have trouble.

Back home, Lin Chaoyang asked about the dinner party today, and Tao Yushu talked about it happily.

Lin's company has its own cinema chain, and Tao Yushu, the boss, is happy, and his subordinates are also very happy.

It is not easy to find a boss as generous as Tao Yushu these days, and they certainly hope that Lin's company can develop in a long-term and healthy way.

Cinema chains have now almost become the standard of major film companies in Hong Kong, such as Golden Harvest and Jiale, Cinema City and Golden Princess, D\u0026B/Bohe and D\u0026B...

Having cinema chains can not only get rid of the negative impact of the ban from Taiwan, but also prove the development prospects of Lin's film industry and prove that they have not followed the wrong boss.

"Thanks to the success of "Autumn Fairy Tale" and "The Rich and Powerful", otherwise Shaw Brothers would never agree to us so easily." Tao Yushu said with a thankful tone.

She has long realized the importance of mastering cinema chains, but the scale of Lin's funds was too small before, and it was not enough to support them in running cinema chains.

After the ban order from the Hong Kong and Kowloon Freedom Association was announced, Tao Yushu realized that whether she could master Lin's own cinema chain was already related to the survival of Lin, and it was imminent.

But she still did not act rashly. Instead, she waited until "Autumn's Fairy Tale" and "The Rich and Powerful" sold well in succession before she approached Shaw Brothers.

She knew very well that if she had approached Shaw Brothers in a desperate attempt when the ban order was just issued, even if she could have taken over Shaw Brothers' theater chain, she would probably have to pay a high price.

Although there is a little premium now, it is at least within a reasonable range.

The most important thing is that she also tied the skinny Shaw Brothers to Lin's chariot.

In Tao Yushu's eyes, Shaw Brothers didn't even need to do anything. They just needed to be a mascot quietly.

What she is doing now is to deeply practice the words of the great man:

Make the enemies fewer and the friends more.

"What are you going to do next?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Tao Yushu said thoughtfully: "Now that we have the cinema chain, we should proceed steadily. This year, the company will produce more than 10 films, and next year may be even more. There are too many things to do.

I heard from Adu that the internal struggles in Xinyicheng are getting more and more intense. We can poach more of their people."

Lin Chaoyang couldn't help laughing. Tao Yushu was addicted to poaching.

But it didn't matter. Anyway, the relationship between Lin's and Xinyicheng had basically broken down, and the other party still owed them millions of overseas shares of "A Better Tomorrow".

While the internal struggles in Xinyicheng continued, we had to poach what we should.

"I also heard..."

Tao Yushu's eyes flashed, and he said: "Princess Jin may want to split up."

Princess Jin's nominal boss is Lei Juekun of the Lei family, but its parent company is Kowloon Development Group, and the shareholders come from the shareholders of Kowloon Motor Bus Company and their descendants, including the four major families of Guo, Wu, Yu, and Lei.

In 1980, Lei Juekun established the Golden Princess Cinema Chain, which specializes in showing Chinese films, based on several of his theaters, including Lisheng, Lesheng Kaisheng, and Huasheng. He then rented or contracted more than ten theaters to form a chain of theaters.

Later, in order to better develop the theater chain, he began to get involved in the field of film production and supported Xinyicheng. Since then, Golden Princess has developed smoothly.

It has formed an industrial chain integration of production, distribution, and theaters, and has made a lot of money in recent years.

Under this "good situation", Golden Princess' shareholders Feng Bingzhong and Chen Rongmei gradually became dissatisfied with being small shareholders who can only receive dividends.

Recently, JY from Taiwan Island, seeing that the overseas funds hidden in the film market are gradually becoming abundant, they have the idea of ​​​​opening an independent portal.

"Feng Bingzhong and Chen Rongmei were secretly contacting Ms. Fang, just to win over Shaw Brothers' theater resources.

They control 10 theaters themselves. If they get the Shaw Brothers theater chain, they will have 20 theaters, and they will immediately become the fourth largest theater chain in Hong Kong.

And I guess their ambition is definitely not just for the theater chain, but to get involved in film production and distribution through the theater chain, copying the path of Princess Jin. "

Lin Chaoyang nodded slightly after listening to her analysis.

"Money is exciting. Although movies are not a big business, if the market size of Golden Princess and New Arts City is reached, the local and other cities will have a revenue of at least 500 million a year, which is equivalent to the size of a listed company above the scale. .

Even if it is a wealthy family, it is normal for them to be tempted. If they really become independent, whether it is Princess Jin or Xinyi City, their vitality will be greatly damaged! "

Lin Chaoyang's tone was meaningful. In fact, he knew very well that Princess Jin's separation was one of the important reasons for the collapse of Xinyi City.

Tao Yushu said happily: "Yes, this is a good thing for us. I want to get in touch with both of them."

Lin Chaoyang joked: "Shaw Brothers theater chain has been blocked by us. Aren't you afraid of being resented by them? Are you actively looking for them?"

Tao Yushu said: "The Shao family has become the Lin family, so we can cooperate."

"They may not be willing to cooperate with Lin."

"They are afraid of cooperating with us. They are just concerned about the ban on Bay Island. Why don't they just use Lin's name!"

Tao Yushu had previously asked Tao Yumo to register several leather goods companies, including a joint film company with Shaw Brothers. On the surface, it had nothing to do with Lin.

Lin Chaoyang gave a thumbs up and imitated Master Tang, "High! Really high! Comrade Yushu knows all the tricks!"

Tao Yushu had a smile on his lips and rolled his eyes at him charmingly.

Two days later, Lin Chaoyang finally finished writing the novel in his hand, and immediately contacted Dong Qiao from Ming Pao Publishing House and Li Shifei from Huacheng Publishing House.

Li Shifei lives in Guangzhou, and he has always had Lin Chaoyang's manuscripts collected by human beings. He had to go from Guangzhou to Shenzhen and then cross the border to Xiangjiang, which required Lin Chaoyang to wait for two days.

After Dong Qiao learned that Lin Chaoyang had finished writing a new book, he didn't even make an appointment to meet, but ran to his house immediately.

What makes him so positive is of course that the sales of the novel are ridiculously good.

In the past few years, Ming Pao Publishing House has successively introduced several novels by Lin Chaoyang, such as "The Death of Van Gogh", "The Master of Chess", "Enter Guandong", "The Truman Show" and "Parasite".

Even the lowest-selling "Chess Master" among them has sold more than 70,000 copies since its publication, and the sales of the remaining works have exceeded the 100,000-copy mark.

And as time goes by, these works have not gradually become uninterested like ordinary works. The long tail effect is unexpectedly good.

Take "The Death of Van Gogh" as an example. It sold less than 20,000 copies when it was published, but now its total sales have exceeded 120,000 copies.

In addition to the quality of the novel itself, the biggest reason for this change is that Lin Chaoyang's reputation in Hong Kong is growing day by day, which has made many readers interested in his old works.

Calculated in detail, the sales volume of Lin Chaoyang's works is already extremely high among the many books published by Ming Pao Publishing House.

Not to mention compared with pure literary works, even compared with many popular literary books, it is not inferior at all.

After all, Xiangjiang is such a big market.

Therefore, if a writer who can make money for the publishing house has a new work published, Dong Qiao's attitude is certainly positive.

The day after he took the manuscript away, Li Shifei arrived in Xiangjiang.

After getting the manuscript, Li Shifei found a hotel to stay in so that he could conduct a preliminary review of the novel and then communicate with Lin Chaoyang in person.

Two days later, Li Shifei found Lin Chaoyang and frowned after entering.

"You've been here for a long time, why haven't you said anything yet?"

Li Shifei sat on the sofa in silence since he entered the door. Lin Chaoyang waited for him for a long time, but he didn't speak. Finally, Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but ask.

Li Shifei hesitated to speak, and after a while he said: "Chaoyang, I don't like your movie "The Great Era"!"

"Not good" is a euphemism. He has been an editor for more than thirty years and has his own judgment on literary works. What he actually means is "not good".

Hearing this, Lin Chaoyang's expression was not surprising. After a while, Li Shifei asked him: "Chaoyang, don't you think... your novel is a bit too popular?"

"It's a bit more popular."

Lin Chaoyang's generous response caught Li Shifei off guard.

When engaging in creation, it is inevitable to fall into misunderstandings sometimes.

After reading Lin Chaoyang's new book, Li Shifei recognized the excitement of the characters and story.

But in his opinion, the brilliance of such characters and stories is largely due to the abandonment of narrative and structural elaboration.

This kind of novel is easy to read, but not literary enough.

He originally thought that Lin Chaoyang was not aware of this problem, but after hearing Lin Chaoyang's answer, he realized that Lin Chaoyang might have done it on purpose.

Li Shifei looked at Lin Chaoyang in confusion, "Chaoyang, with your current fame and status, you can actually write this novel more elegantly and delicately."

"Lao Li, we have been in a relationship for so many years, so don't say such polite words. You want to be more 'advanced', right?"

Li Shifei answered Lin Chaoyang in silence, with a puzzled look in his eyes. He wanted to know why Lin Chaoyang wrote this way.

"Actually, it's very simple for me to write this way. My book is based on the stock market, which is not available in China yet.

Many people don't know what stocks are. If I don't write it in a more popular way, do you think readers will have the patience to read it?"

Li Shifei still felt a little uneasy, "Readers can also adapt to works. Are Joyce and Faulkner's works easy to read? Are they not popular now?"

Lin Chaoyang shook his head, "Old Li, I don't know if you agree with my idea.

In my opinion, the popularity of serious literature or pure literature in our country in recent years is not a normal phenomenon. It is just the result of many years of repression."

"Your idea makes sense, but..."

Lin Chaoyang did not give Li Shifei a chance to speak, and continued: "So in my opinion, we can't always hope that readers will be willing to read those works with difficult and obscure content.

You can express your highbrow, but you must not be too highbrow to be accepted by the masses. Instead, you should find a way to be accepted by both the refined and the vulgar.

In the first two months, I went back to Yenching to give lectures to students at Luyuan and talked a lot with them.

I don't know if it's my illusion, but I found that our creators are becoming proud, and some have even begun to try to be teachers to the people.

Do you know how much Mr. Lao She achieved in the field of novels, but what did he do after he returned to China? 'With the current cultural level of some working people, reading novels may be more or less difficult', but 'watching plays is not so troublesome', this is what Mr. Lao She said in the preface to his play selection.

So, he gave up the field of novels, which he was best at, and turned to the field of drama creation. From 1950 to 1965, he wrote a total of 23 plays.

Lao Li, I want to ask you, do our writers now have the same awareness as Mr. Lao She? "

Lin Chaoyang's face was calm, but his tone was sonorous and powerful. At the end of his speech, Li Shifei felt embarrassed and his face was hot.

Although Lin Chaoyang's words just now did not directly criticize him, they were better than criticism.

Li Shifei was not angry about this, but kept silent and began to reflect on himself.

To be honest, is "Big Times" wonderful?

Very wonderful!

Every character is flesh and blood, vivid, and the plot of the novel is based on family feuds and stock market turmoil, with ups and downs and full of dramatic tension.

There are many clever foreshadowings that echo each other, which are amazing.

For example, Fang Zhanbo's father Fang Jinxin once asked Luo Huiling what to do when you like a place but don't like the people there.

Luo Huiling's answer was to drive them all away and become the boss there.

This sentence was fulfilled in Fang Zhanbo's revenge process later. This kind of foreshadowing that echoes each other makes the plot more coherent and adds depth and layering to the story.

Li Shifei believes that "Big Times" lacks literary quality, and it is more about looking at it from the text level.

In terms of plot alone, the wonderfulness of "Big Times" is far better than most contemporary novels.

In addition, the novel is not inferior in thought and criticism, and can even be said to be quite brilliant.

The novel's profound insight into human nature, criticism of the gap between the rich and the poor and the solidification of classes, and thinking and discussion on the impermanence of fate can be said to be very insightful.

"Stocks are a game for people. Stocks are dead. They will not fight you. Stocks face opponents who are people."

"Ask yourself, if you were to die tomorrow, what would you do and where would you be, and spend your last day until you die."

Even after only reading it once, Li Shifei has remembered many of the thought-provoking dialogues.

There are also those vivid characters, the evil but righteous Ding Hai, the lovable little Jew, the seemingly crazy but wise Ye Tian...

Whether they are the main characters or the minor characters, even if they only appear a few times, in Lin Chaoyang's writing, these characters are full of their own unique charm, which makes people unforgettable.

Li Shifei was previously blinded by only considering the literary nature of the novel. Now that his thinking has expanded, he was surprised to find that "Big Times" actually has so many advantages, and suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.

After coming back to his senses, he looked at Lin Chaoyang again, and for some reason he suddenly felt a sense of awe.

He recalled what Lin Chaoyang had just said, and realized that Lin Chaoyang was already ahead of his contemporaries in terms of creation.

As the saying goes, great skill is not perfect, and perhaps "Big Times" is based on Lin Chaoyang's creative concept.

As his mind flashed, Li Shifei's face flashed with shame.

"Chaoyang, I'm ashamed! After listening to your words today, I realized that I seem to have gone astray in the past two years.

I only pursued metaphysical concepts, but ignored the most fundamental things in literature."

Lin Chaoyang waved his hand quickly, "These are just my personal opinions."

Li Shifei said, "Whether it is my personal opinion or not, as long as it makes sense. Now I think that you have always been implementing your own ideas.

Just like "The Chess Master" a few years ago, when it was first written, it was criticized for being too popular and having obvious erotic colors.

But now it seems that it is as realistic as it can be."

Li Shifei would use "The Master of Chess" as an example, mainly because this novel has had such a strong presence in the past two years, even stronger than the year it was first published.

It can be said that how harshly some people criticized "The Master of Chess" back then, it hurts to be slapped in the face by reality now!

As time goes by, the value of "Chess Master" continues to rise.

Not only is the novel selling well, but the movie adaptation is also re-released every year.

When Li Shifei thought of this, he inevitably became superstitious and believed that Lin Chaoyang had something to say.

In "The Master of Chess", it is written that Jiang Nansheng faced Japanese chess players one against nine. In reality, Nie Weiping actually achieved eight consecutive victories in the Sino-Japanese Go Tournament.

Now that the third arena competition has begun, is nine consecutive wins still a problem?

While the two were talking, another guest came to Lin Chaoyang's house.

Lin Chaoyang introduced the other party as Dong Qiao from Ming Pao Publishing House, who was responsible for the publication of "The Great Era" in Xiangjiang. After exchanging a few words, Li Shifei asked with curiosity:

"Brother Dong has watched Chaoyang's "The Great Era", what do you think?"

Dong Qiao immediately responded, "Okay!"

In Li Shifei's eyes, his reaction always felt a bit exaggerated. Before he could ask "what's so good about it", Dong Qiao took the initiative to continue.

"So far, this is Chaoyang's third work about Hong Kong society, but each one has different ingenuity.

"The Truman Show" is built on the basis of fantasy, while "Parasite" is the ultimate description of the bottom.

And this "Big Era" can be said to have written all about human nature. It is different from the complete darkness and cruelty of "Parasite". Although there are criticisms, it has more of a great compassion for all living beings. "

Dong Qiao did not talk eloquently, but what he said was concise and concise, but Li Shifei was impressed.

"That's right! Brother Dong's evaluation is to the point!" Li Shifei praised.

"Thank you, brother!" Dong Qiao smiled and bowed his hand to Li Shifei.

The two took advantage of the situation to exchange their views on "The Big Era". The conversation became more and more heated, and they actually left Lin Chaoyang aside.

When the two of them were done talking, Lin Chaoyang invited the two of them to have a meal again, settled the publishing matters, and then sent the two of them off.

After the publication of the new book was completed, Lin Chaoyang relaxed and began to help Tao Yushu share some company affairs.

During this period of time, Lin's Pictures has been busier than ever.

"Wealthy" was released for 24 days, with a box office of 27.8 million, temporarily ranking second in the 1987 Hong Kong movie box office rankings, the first being "Brothers of the Dragon and Tigers" starring Cheng Long.

"A Lang's Story" directed by Johnnie To has been completed and will be released soon;

Wong Jing's "The Supremes" is currently filming, Ann Hui's "Parasite" is about to start filming, and "God of Gamblers", "The Gambler" and "The Gambler" will follow.

The overseas release and revenue settlement of movies, the integration of theater resources, the new film plans of many film companies that have recently been intensively registered...

The recent affairs of Lin's Pictures have made Tao Yushu, the scroll king, feel a little tired.

"There's a shortage of people!"

That afternoon, after Tao Yushu finished the meeting, he rubbed his forehead and sighed.

Some time ago, she was only thinking about radical expansion to counter the ban on Bay Island, but she somewhat overlooked that Lin's Film Company's foundation was too weak. Now the shortcomings of insufficient talent reserves have gradually been revealed.

When she was having a headache, there was an urgent knock on the door.

"Come in!" Tao Yushu said with his eyes closed.

"Mrs. Lin!"

Tao Yushu opened his eyes and saw Zhou Xingchi looking worried, and asked: "Axing, what happened?"

Seeing that Tao Yushu seemed to be in a bad mood, Zhou Xingchi hesitated and said slowly, "Mrs. Lin, have you heard about it?"

"What did you hear?"

"The Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association...gave me a banning order!"

Stephen Chow pursed his lips slightly as he spoke, seeming to feel a little aggrieved, but mostly panicked.

Tao Yushu frowned when he heard this, and his expression turned grim.

"They don't want to give up, but it's a pity that their reaction speed is a little slow." She said to herself.

Tao Yushu saw that Zhou Xingchi seemed to be frightened by the banning order, so he didn't blame him. After all, he was a young man.

"Don't worry. The company's dramas will continue as usual, and their ban will not affect your filming."

After appeasing Stephen Chow, Tao Yushu asked again: "Who else did they name?"

"No, it's just me!"

Tao Yushu's brows moved slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he understood the little trick of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association.

They are naming Stephen Chow now, of course because the previous banning order was not very effective, and they want to make it harder for some film companies and actors in Hong Kong to take action.

But now there are more and more companies, actors, and directors cooperating with Lin's Pictures. If they were to name them all at once, it would be equivalent to pushing these people to oppose themselves.

Stephen Chow is not very famous, and he is a contracted artist of Lam Pictures. It is perfect to use him to scare the monkeys.

"I got it. Don't feel pressure about this. The more they suppress you, the more we will praise you.

These days several screenwriters from the company are writing a script called "Invincible Lucky Star".

It will start filming next month, and you will play the male lead.

In addition, after Wong Jing has finished filming "The Supremes" and "God of Gamblers", he will film "The God of Gamblers", and you will also be the leading actor. "

Upon hearing Tao Yushu's promise, Stephen Chow was overjoyed and immediately forgot about being named and banned.

"Thank you Mrs. Lin, I will definitely film well!"

Tao Yushu nodded, "Okay, let's go out first."

"yes."

After Stephen Chow left, Lin Chaoyang walked into Tao Yushu's office.

She asked, "How was chatting with them?"

Lin Chaoyang smiled relaxedly and said, "No problem. They are all good at writing scripts. I gave them an outline of the script and we can come up with the framework after a while of discussion."

"Just now, Ah Xing said that he was named by the Liberty Association, and I told him about "Invincible Lucky Star" and "The Gambler"."

Lin Chaoyang nodded and said nothing.

Tao Yushu asked again, "When do you think they will be able to finish writing those action movie scripts? I have a headache now about actors. I have to find a few well-known stars. If I say it by a newcomer, it will definitely affect the box office."

"It's easy to deal with actors. I asked Zhang Xinyan if he could find Jet Li, who acted in "Shaolin Temple" before. He is well-known in Hong Kong, but he doesn't have many filming projects now.

There is also Liang Xiaolong, he is not filming anymore. "

Jet Li became popular with "Shaolin Temple" in 1982, and then starred in movies such as "Shaolin Kid" and "North and South Shaolin". The response was pretty good, but because of this, he was banned and his acting career was limited.

Last year I directed and starred in an action movie called "Heroes of China", which was so exciting that even my mother didn't recognize it.

Now I am a bit out of date and have returned to the mainland. I heard that I am sick.

Liang Xiaolong became famous for his role as Chen Zhen in "The Great Hero Fearless" in 1981, and played Chen Zhen again in "Chen Zhen" in 1982.

A few years ago, he visited the mainland on behalf of Xiangjiang. Because he made some patriotic remarks, he was blocked by the Bay Island authorities and forced him to write a "letter of repentance", but Liang Xiaolong refused.

Since then, Liang Xiaolong has no more movies to film, and there is no such person in the Hong Kong film and television industry.