The literary era since 1979

August 8, Kowloon Tong.

Fang Yan and Gong Xing sent Wu Yigong and other people from the Shanghai Film Studio on board, and then brought their request for co-production of the sequel to Huang Feihong to Xu Ke.

Xu Ke and Shi Nansheng discussed the proposal carefully and, feeling that there were no harsh conditions, they readily agreed.

However, the fees for scripts in dialects are another matter.

Because of this matter, Xu Ke and Shi Nansheng cannot make the decision on their own and must obtain the consent of the investor behind the scenes, Princess Jin. But if nothing unexpected happens, Lei Juekun, as the financial sponsor, will not refuse. After all, Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest have agreed to the same contract terms.

"To be honest, Mr. Fang, if Boss Lei hadn't urged me to do it, I wouldn't have wanted to shoot Once Upon a Time in China so soon."

Xu Ke shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"So that's what happened."

Fang Yan and Gong Xing looked at each other and said, "I thought Director Xu was so anxious just to continue the trend of new martial arts."

"Of course this is also a motivation for me to make a sequel."

Xu Ke said, "But Fang Sheng, you also know that according to common sense, the first part was so well received, so the second part will be very delicate. If we make a mistake, we will lose everything. It is very likely that we will lose all the fame and money we have won."

Gong Wei asked curiously, "If you don't shoot Once Upon a Time in China II, what are you going to do next?"

"He wants to shoot something else to change his mind." Shi Nansheng replied with a smile.

Fangyan asked with great interest: "What type and subject matter?"

"That's what you talked to me about last time."

Xu Ke said with relish: "You said that since there are police films, we can also make some gangster films similar to "The Godfather"."

Fang Yan was very surprised and said, "You actually want to make a gangster movie?!"

Xu Ke's eyes were fiery. There were relatively few Hong Kong gangster films nowadays. They were still in their infancy and had not yet formed a true genre film.

At present, he and Fangyan have teamed up to set off a "new martial arts wave" in the film industry, which is enough to leave a strong mark in the history of Chinese-language films, but he is not satisfied. Instead, he wants to take advantage of the golden period of his creation to explore new possibilities for Chinese-language genre films.

Gangster films are undoubtedly one of the most suitable film genres for Hong Kong.

In such a small place, stories about gangs have been circulating since the 1950s, and there is simply an inexhaustible supply of material.

"Have you decided what kind of gangster movie you want to make?"

Fangyan was very interested: "Is it an original script or an adaptation of a novel?"

“It might be a remake of an old movie.”

Xu Ke did not hide it and said it was "A Better Tomorrow".

Fangyan was not surprised to hear "A Better Tomorrow", but when he heard that "A Better Tomorrow" was an old movie released in 1967, and that the starring actors were Nicholas Tse's father, Xie Xian, and Shi Jian, his eyebrows raised unconsciously, thinking that the version starring Chow Yun-fat was a remake!
However, although they are remakes, the styles and plots of the two films are completely different.

Xie Xian's version of "A Better Tomorrow" tells the story of Li Zhuoxing, a prodigal son who was released from prison. However, the gang leader forced him to commit crimes again, but Li Zhuoxing refused. After several threats and inducements, his brothers and his younger brother were implicated. Li Zhuoxing finally couldn't bear it anymore and killed the gang leader. Finally, he surrendered and went to jail for his younger brother. Xu Ke's version has more heroism and romanticism.

After all, the movie has a new brother named Xiao Ma who is loyal, righteous, and willing to share weal and woe.

"Mr. Fang, I would like to ask you to be a script consultant and give me some pointers. Is that possible?"

Xu Ke's tone was full of anticipation.

Fangyan pondered for a while, and finally agreed "reluctantly" at the request of Shi Nansheng and his wife:

"But you all know my identity. As for the signature, I can only use my pen name 'Yanzi'."

"Of course that's no problem!"

Xu Ke smiled with satisfaction.

Fang Yan and he made a good plan and decided to start the remake of A Better Tomorrow after finishing filming Once Upon a Time in China. Xu Ke looked at the dusk outside the window and suddenly felt proud. "Mr. Fang, let's change the movies in Hong Kong together!"

Fangyan suddenly joked: "I thought you were talking about the movie that changed the world?"

Shi Nansheng and Gong Xing burst out laughing, and then they laughed louder and louder, and the whole room was filled with a happy atmosphere.

…………

When I got home, night had already fallen.

In the bathroom, Fangyan soaked in the bathtub, put a hot towel on his face, and the feeling of tiredness gradually disappeared.

I don’t know how long it was, but suddenly there was a rapid phone ring outside the house.

Fangyan asked casually, "Who's calling?"

"It's Ruoxue."

Gong Xing replied: "She said that she would go back to Hong Kong with Yaoming, Lizhi and others at the end of the month."

"You're back for the summer vacation, huh?"

Fangyan thought that it was a good opportunity to take advantage of Pan Yaoming's return from his studies to become the deputy editor-in-chief of Sanlian Bookstore to discuss the establishment of the Hong Kong branch of the foundation.

"Not only that, Ruoxue also wants to talk to you about Japanese yen foreign exchange."

As soon as Gong Xing said this, Fang Yan immediately lost the desire to continue taking a bath. He washed himself hurriedly and walked out of the bathroom.

As soon as I picked up the phone, I heard Bai Ruoxue say on the other end: "Teacher Fang."

"How is it, Ruoxue?" Fang Yan asked impatiently.

"We have converted all of our money into Japanese yen, except for necessary expenses, as per your request, along with the two script fees that were recently remitted into our account."

Bai Ruoxue said that according to the Foreign Exchange Law revised in 1979, restrictions on foreign investment in Japan's stock and foreign exchange markets were basically lifted.

"what about others?"

Fangyan was planning to make a fortune by taking advantage of the appreciation of the Japanese yen, so he even planned to mortgage several properties in Kyoto and Tokyo.

"Teacher Fang, this is exactly what Luo Dai'an and I wanted to ask you."

Bai Ruoxue solemnly reminded that although leverage is a basic operation in foreign exchange trading, and it can be raised to 100 times, 200 times, or even thousands of times, the risks and costs involved are too terrifying. Once a mistake is made, one will fall into the abyss and there will be no recovery.

"Of course I know this."

Fang Yan said seriously: "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't take this risk."

Bai Ruoxue was both curious and worried. After a frank communication with Fang Yan, the uneasiness in her heart gradually disappeared.

After all, Xuanwu Gate was not built in a day, and the Plaza Accord was not achieved overnight by just a few days of negotiations in a hotel.

In fact, it was Japan itself that first proposed the idea of ​​appreciating the yen, and it was not initially under pressure from the "daddy power" of the United States.

From the beginning of the 80s to the present, the appreciation rate of the US dollar has reached an astonishing 48%. Currency appreciation will inevitably lead to a decline in exports, resulting in a huge trade deficit and a large fiscal deficit, the largest of which comes from Japan.

As a result, in recent years, there has been a wave of boycotting Japanese goods in the United States. Japan is worried about trade retaliation, so it actively wants to raise the yen interest rate. Therefore, in June this year, the 6-nation finance ministers' meeting held in Tokyo put forward the preliminary idea of ​​the "Plaza Accord".

Then during the negotiation process, France, Britain and West Germany were successively invited to join the agreement.

Therefore, the appreciation of the Japanese yen is a matter of time, the key issue is when it will happen.

Whether others know the exact time, Fang Yan is unclear, but I remember it clearly, it was September 9. (End of this chapter)