The literary era since 1979

Chapter 283 Journalism's Magic Moment
It wasn't as if Dialect had nothing to do before meeting Spielberg and Lucas.

He entrusted Xiao Zi to introduce him to a real estate agent in Hong Kong, and bought a house under the name of setting up an office.

Back when he was in the United States, Pan Yaoming not only talked to himself about the Hong Kong stock market, but also about the real estate market.

Hong Kong's real estate market began to plummet last year, and this year it has completely collapsed, falling again and again.

Compared to 1981, property prices have fallen by 60% to 70%. For example, in Sha Tin, the price per square foot is only HK$500.

In Hong Kong, 1 square foot is equal to 0.09 square meters. A house of 1000 square feet is equivalent to 90 square meters, so it is also called a "thousand-foot mansion." Even the popular Hong Kong stars of later generations only live in houses of or square meters.

For the citizens of Hong Kong, it is already out of reach.

The writing fees and royalties for "The Grandmaster Wong Once Upon a Time in China" and "Saving Private Ryan" were all in Hong Kong dollars. Although they could be converted into US dollars, Hong Kong adopted a linked exchange rate system in 1983, with the Hong Kong dollar completely pegged to the US dollar. One US dollar could be exchanged for about 1 Hong Kong dollars. However, this exchange rate was obviously not cost-effective.

This is the best time to buy at the bottom.

When a real estate agent sees a dialect, it’s like seeing the God of Wealth (大) (怨) (种) (神).

"Look, this is a house in Tsuen Wan Centre, one bedroom and one living room, 388 square feet, the whole house is priced at $12.5."

"And this one, in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, two bedrooms and one living room, 605 square feet, only HK$530 per square foot, very cost-effective!"

"For these large houses in the New Territories that are over 600 square feet, the price can be negotiated. Maybe you can get them for more than 20 yuan."

"In Causeway Bay..."

While looking at the house type, Fangyan asked about the details of buying a house, such as the down payment is between 10% and 20%, a down payment of 25 Hong Kong dollars is now only 2.5 Hong Kong dollars, and the loan interest rate is very low, and the maximum repayment period can be applied for 20 years.

I'm afraid that after 20 years, the price of the whole house will at least increase by to times!

If it were not for the lack of money, General Fang would have been eager to move into a building. What kind of golden house is better than a beautiful girl? He must have a golden building to hide his beautiful girl!

During the days when he was looking for houses, as luck would have it, a person claiming to be a "waiter from the Peninsula Hotel" called the editorial office of Ming Pao Weekly. As a reporter, Huang Liling hurried into the editor-in-chief's office upon hearing the news.

"Look at you."

Lei Weipo couldn't help but laugh, "What's the big deal? It makes you so anxious."

Huang Liling told the truth, saying that the great writer Fang Yan had booked a private room at the Peninsula Hotel for tomorrow night.

Lei Weipo asked, "Is this dialect the same dialect used in the movie Saving Private Ryan?"

"it's him!"

Huang Liling said: "These days, the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po has been reporting news about dialects. Yesterday, it was promoting the lecture on "The Grandmaster Huang Feihong" held by Hong Kong Joint Publishing Company, and invited many readers to attend."

"But so what?"

Lei Weipo said with a smile: "Our Ming Pao Weekly writes entertainment news and no longer follows the literary and elegant route."

Huang Liling's tone was filled with excitement: "It's related! It's related to entertainment! The waiter said in dialect that they wanted to invite Spielberg and Lucas, the Hollywood directors who shot "Indiana Jones", "ET the Extra-Terrestrial" and "Star Wars"!"

"you sure?!"

Lei Weipo stood up suddenly and asked, "Is this news true?"

Huang Liling shook her head: "It's impossible to confirm, but I think this information is very credible. Spielberg and Lucas are indeed filming Indiana Jones 2 in Macau. At that time, our newspaper even published this news."

"Then why did they meet? What was their purpose?"

Lei Weipo paced back and forth, with several possibilities in his mind. Either they were old acquaintances and were just simply friends catching up, or they had business to discuss...

"On one side is a Hollywood director, and on the other side is a writer who just won an award in the United States." With her years of experience as an entertainment reporter, Huang Liling quickly guessed that it was related to filming a movie.

"I think the only movie that could interest Spielberg and Lucas is Saving Private Ryan."

Lei Weipo's eyes suddenly lit up.

"That's right! This is a national bestseller that won the National Book Award and was on the New York Times list!"

Huang Liling said: "It is a common practice for Hollywood to adapt best-selling books into movies."

"That's exactly what happened."

After some reasoning, Lei Weipo became more and more convinced that the news was reliable.

"Editor-in-chief, what should we do?" Huang Liling asked.

“I would rather believe that something exists than something that doesn’t exist.”

Lei Weipo said: "Even if it is fake, we won't suffer any loss, but if it is true, it will be big news that will shock the whole of Hong Kong."

When Huang Liling heard the editor-in-chief slamming the table, she knew that the entertainment reporters from Ming Pao Weekly were about to take action!
…………

The next night, at the Peninsula Hotel.

On the street across the street, reporters from Ming Pao Weekly were lying in ambush early, waiting for the opportunity.

Lei Weipo and Huang Liling also went to the scene in person. Using their identities, they entered the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel and waited quietly.

"Editor-in-chief, that's the dialect."

Huang Liling held up the newspaper to cover her face and lowered her voice, "His photo was published in the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po."

Lei Weipo calmed down and said, "Next, it depends on whether Lucas and Spielberg will come."

Time passed minute by minute, and when Steven Spielberg and Lucas walked into the hotel, even though they were dressed very casually and deliberately wore sunglasses and hats, their looks, especially their big beards, betrayed them at once.

"Editor-in-chief!"

Huang Liling subconsciously picked up the camera and prepared to press the shutter. "Hush! Don't rush. Don't alert the enemy."

Lei Weipo stopped him and said, "Let's wait until the two groups are in the same frame, then we can take the photo."

Huang Liling put down the camera and watched Lucas and the others go upstairs. An hour or two passed.

Lei Weipo was like a hunter, patiently waiting for the prey to fall into the trap. After a while, Fang Yan, Steven Spielberg and others came downstairs.

Seeing that they looked like they had met too late, Huang Liling immediately aimed the camera and made a soft "click" sound.

"Good job! Be more alert and don't lose face!"

Lei Weipo gave a look and caught a glimpse of Fang Yan and Steven Spielberg shaking hands and having a pleasant conversation.

Not far away, Bai Ruoxue was translating for Fang Yan, "Then let's have a happy cooperation."

"Happy cooperation!"

Steven Spielberg smiled and said, "I will definitely invite you to the premiere."

"I think it's not just the premiere." Fang Yan replied, "Maybe you'll also invite us to the Oscars."

"Hahaha!"

Steven Spielberg and Lucas smiled knowingly.

Fangyan saw them off to the car, waved goodbye, and then looked around for the reporter from Ming Pao Weekly.

Didn't he come?

No way? You Hong Kong media are too unprofessional!
Just as Bai Ruoxue was waving for a taxi, she suddenly heard a series of "click" sounds of cameras behind her.

Lei Weipo, along with Huang Liling and others, ran out of the hotel, swarmed around them and introduced themselves.

"Excuse me, are the people you just met Spielberg and Lucas?"

"Who told you that we would meet here?"

Fang Yan said with a serious face, "Let's go and hold them accountable."

“We discovered it by accident.”

Huang Liling responded: "Excuse me, are you discussing the filming of the script of "Saving Private Ryan"?"

Fang Yan snorted coldly, "No comment!"

The more this happened, the more excited Lei Weipo became. Isn't this a clear case of trying to cover up one's own guilt?

Huang Liling and others were also very excited. They pestered and bombarded Fangyan relentlessly, sticking to him like a dog-skin plaster.

Hehe, this time I finally got some exclusive news!

Hehe, finally all my work was not in vain!

Just when they were excited, Fangyan said MMP on the surface but was smiling in her heart.

The result lived up to his expectations. The front page of this week's Ming Pao Weekly was filled with news about dialects.

Lin Fengjiao sat on the sofa, flipping through this issue of the magazine.

Since she married Cheng Long last year and had a baby, she has completely retired from the film industry, returned to her family, and taken care of her husband and children.

At this moment, Cheng Long walked out of the room, with no joy on his face, his brows furrowed, and he looked restless.

Lin Fengjiao knew very well that after the failure of films such as "The Trench" and "The Cannonball Run", Jackie Chan's first attempt to enter Hollywood had failed, and he had to retreat back to Hong Kong to shoot "Project A" to re-consolidate his position as a Hong Kong superstar.

"Look at this."

"What are you looking at?"

"Spielberg and Lucas seem to be planning to film a novel by a Chinese writer."

"Chinese writer?"

Hearing this, Cheng Long immediately took the magazine and took a look. His eyes widened and he muttered "dialect".

At the same time, as Ming Pao Weekly reported on dialects and Spielberg, it was reprinted in newspapers such as Extra Edition and Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao. With the help of the media, Saving Private Ryan received widespread attention and discussion from readers across Hong Kong as soon as it was published.

As a result, the sales of "The Grandmaster Huang Feihong" also increased slightly.

Even on the front page of Ming Pao that day, there was a book review written by Jin Yong himself recommending "The Grandmaster Huang Feihong". The general meaning was: Buy it! Buy it!
Now, the sales volume of the novel is heading towards 30,000 to 40,000 copies, which is only achieved by first-line Hong Kong writers such as Jin Yong and Yi Shu.

"Boss, do you still have Once Upon a Time in China in your store?"

Shi Nansheng walked to the counter carrying her purse.

The boss waved his hand and said, "No more, no more."

Shi Nansheng frowned when he saw that he had an unopened hardcover book in his hand.

The boss said: "This is for my friend. He and I are not just ordinary friends, we are brothers..."

"I'll add money!"

Shi Nansheng took out an extra 50 Hong Kong dollars without hesitation.

The situation of paying extra to buy "The Grandmaster Wong Fei Hung" is already common in major bookstores and roadside stalls in Hong Kong.

(End of this chapter)