The literary era since 1979

"I'm Di Long. May I ask where Mr. He is now..."

"Brother Long, I'm sorry, Mr. He is busy with the promotion of "Police Story" and is not in the company right now. I will call you back later."

Di Long's face froze instantly, and a series of "beep" sounds came from the receiver, and the light in his eyes dimmed.

He picked up the bottle of wine on the table and gulped down a mouthful. The bitter wine made his heart ache as it went down his throat. He never thought that he, who was once a big name in the Hong Kong film industry, would face a midlife crisis in his middle age. Not only was he losing his hair and becoming bald, but he was also about to fall into the dilemma of middle-aged unemployment.

The crisis in his acting career began when his contract with Shaw Brothers expired in the first half of this year.

In the past, whenever the contract was about to expire in a year, Fang Yihua would talk to him about renewal. This has been the case for more than ten years and has never changed.

Whenever he encountered a low point in filming, several great Shaw Brothers directors such as Zhang Che, Li Hanxiang, and Chu Yuan would help him get back to the top. But this year was different. Di Long did not receive a contract renewal from Shaw Brothers, but a handwritten letter written by Fang Yihua.

There was only one line of words inside: "Thank you for your contribution to Shaw Brothers over the years."

Although it was cold and cruel, Di Long did not have many complaints. After all, Shaw Brothers' business had been deteriorating since the 80s and had been making losses continuously. At the beginning of this year, it had even reached the point where it had to reduce production stops, shrink its film business, and prepare to sell off its theaters and equipment.

He parted ways amicably and did not get entangled with Shaw Brothers. Instead, he placed his hopes on Golden Harvest.

For many years, Zou Wenhuai and Ho Kuanchang have been trying to poach me to Golden Harvest. When I was at Shaw Brothers, they would call me all day long to make dinner arrangements and often ask about my well-being. But I never expected that after the news of my leaving Shaw Brothers came out, when I called him now, his secretary would say that they were either not in the company or not in Hong Kong. Even Cheng Long, who always called him "Dad", changed his name to "Brother Long".

You used to call yourself Sweetie, but now that you are entering the midlife crisis, you should call yourself Mrs. Niu?
Not only Golden Harvest, but also other film companies such as Cinema City and D&B rejected Di Long one by one, leaving him without any films to shoot for several months.

I was extremely anxious, but at this moment, Shaw Brothers, which had already had one foot in the coffin, miraculously came back to life with the magical work of Fangyan, "Baby Smart Star".

In less than a month, the box office in Hong Kong alone had reached 3318 million. And just recently, at the gambling king's charity gala, Fang Yan personally promoted the "One Dollar Charity Donation" movie event, and the gradually cooling enthusiasm for watching movies rose again.

Moreover, with the help of public opinion, the movie's box office shows signs of breaking the HK$3500 million mark.

Who knows, when it is re-screened during the Spring Festival, it may trigger a significant wave of re-watching effect.

So, he changed direction and placed his hopes of filming on his old employer again. However, what disappointed him was that Fang Yihua's secretary kept saying that she was not there. Even when Fang Yihua answered the phone in person, she only sent out invitations for TV dramas out of consideration for their past friendship.

He either plays the protagonist's master, the protagonist's father, or even the protagonist's grandfather.

All of a sudden, the dignity and confidence of the former top star were completely gone.

At the most desperate moment, he had already thought about giving up acting, but he also wanted to preserve the last bit of his reputation as the "big brother".

Di Long drank up the half bottle of wine, then scratched his head drunkenly, with a handful of hair falling out due to stress between his fingers.

At that moment, the defenses in my heart collapsed. I covered my face with my hands and burst into tears, sobbing and wailing.

"Woooooo~"

"Dingle bell! Dingle bell!"

Suddenly, the phone rang, startling Di Long.

But when she heard the caller introduce himself as "Shi Nansheng", she stopped crying immediately, as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"Ms. Shi, are you saying that Director Xu wants to ask me to make a movie?"

"Yes, Brother Long, we have a movie that will be filmed after the New Year. Would you like to come and try it out?"

"Of course!"

The fire that had been extinguished in Di Long's heart began to burn again.

"As for the specific details of the play, it's hard to explain over the phone."

Shi Nansheng asked him to attend the premiere of "Police Story" on time, and Xu Ke and others would come to meet him.

When Di Long thought about Jia He and Cheng Long's attitude towards him, he felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten half a fly. He said in confusion:

"Why did you choose to meet here?"

"Because this is what Teacher Fang chose."

"Teacher Fang?"

Di Long was stunned at first, but when Shi Nansheng said it was "dialect", he sobered up all of a sudden and stood up from the sofa.

There was a hint of surprise in his tone as he asked, "Could it be that Fang Sheng wrote the script for this play!?"

"It can be said that Fang Sheng and Director Xu co-wrote it. Fang Sheng and his wife are the consultants and producers of this play."

Shi Nansheng smiled and said that it was Fang Yan who recommended him to Xu Ke.

"Really?!"

Di Long's face flushed and he was very excited. He couldn't wait to ask more information about the movie.

But Shi Nansheng just evaded the question by saying that the answer would be revealed at the premiere of "Police Story" and then it was time to notify the next person.

...............

Meanwhile, in Kowloon Tong.

Wu Mengda got out of the taxi, signed for the attentive driver, then strode up the stairs and came to the door of a familiar house number.

"Ding Dong Ding Dong", the doorbell rang again and again, and finally the door opened.

Zhou Runfa had messy hair, untidy beard, sloppy appearance, and he looked unkempt. He looked dazed and reeked of alcohol.

"Ada, it's you, why are you here?"

"No way, boss, I just called you several times, but you didn't answer. I was so scared that I thought you drank detergent again!"

Wu Mengda blurted out in desperation.

At the beginning, Chow Yun-fat became famous all over the country with his role as Xu Wenqiang in "The Bund". He was successful in his career and in love. His girlfriend, TVB's leading actress Chen Yulian, who had been with him for a long time, wanted to marry him and be the woman behind him. However, Chow Yun-fat's mother was not satisfied with this future daughter-in-law and did not agree to the marriage, which put him in a painful situation. He drank detergent and committed suicide in front of his lover.

Fortunately, he was sent to the hospital in time for gastric lavage, which saved his life, but in the end he had to be let go.

However, since then, the fate of the two people has reversed 180 degrees. Chen Yulian, who had been hidden by TVB, had an explosion, playing the roles of Xiaolongnu and Wang Yuyan in Jin Yong's martial arts dramas one after another. Her popularity soared and her career enjoyed a second spring. On the contrary, Chow Yun-fat began to gradually go against the trend.

From TV series to movies, although all the works he made were well received, such as Xu Anhua's "The Story of Hu Viet", the box office has always hovered between hundreds of thousands and millions, and it was not popular at all. People nicknamed it "Poison Hair" and it became a box office poison that everyone was afraid of.

"No need for detergent. I can drink myself to death."

Zhou Runfa staggered as he walked away. "But I haven't drunk myself to death yet, so you can rest assured."

Wu Meng replied: "I came here to talk to you about something."

"You want to see me for something?"

Zhou Runfa smiled bitterly and said, "You are very popular now. Thanks to the movie "Baby Smart Star", your salary has increased a lot and you have received a lot of film contracts, right? I also heard that "Baby Smart Star 2" is about to start filming, right? You came to me for something, but I should ask you to take care of it, brother Da."

"Ah Fa, if you have any problem, I will definitely help you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Wu Mengda said: "I guess he was beaten up by those debt collectors and thrown into the river to feed the fish."

"It's different now. Things have changed. Your luck has changed, but look at me..."

Zhou Runfa leaned back on the sofa, his legs crossed on the ground, his head slightly tilted back, looking extremely depressed.

Wu Meng replied: "Don't say that. Now is your chance to change your luck."

"Change your luck? I am now 'poisonous', no one wants to film with me anymore."

Zhou Runfa was disheartened: "Those who wanted me to be the leading actor in the past are now trying to avoid me. Who would want me to act?" Wu Meng replied: "It's true, otherwise why would I make so many calls and travel so far!"

Zhou Runfa still looked disheartened. "Thank you, Ah Da. Who directed the play?"

“I don’t know who the director is.”

Wu Mengda only said that he only knew that the producers of this film were Xu Ke and Fang Yan. It was because Shi Nansheng had been unable to contact the drunk Zhou Runfa that Fang Yan asked Gong Xing to call him and told him, as an old acquaintance of Zhou Runfa, to find him.

"Fang Sheng! You mean Fang Sheng!"

Zhou Runfa sat up in shock from his dying illness and stood up all of a sudden.

"Yes, who else in the world can be worthy of the name 'Fang Sheng'?"

Wu Mengda consoled him with a few words, "When you meet Fang Sheng and Director Xu, your luck will turn around."

Zhou Runfa grabbed his shoulders with both hands, shook him and asked, "Where shall we meet? When shall we meet?"

Wu Mengda answered directly: "It was on the day of the premiere of Police Story."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

…………

A week passed unknowingly and "Police Stories" was released as scheduled.

No matter how reluctant Di Long was, he still wore formal attire and arrived at the premiere early, where he happened to run into Zhou Runfa.

"Afa!"

"Brother Long!"

The two people who met unexpectedly smiled at each other and walked into the cinema together.

When they saw them, the faces of the Cheng family members who were responsible for assisting Cheng Long in welcoming and seeing off guests changed drastically, as if they had seen a disaster.

"How shameless! Since I couldn't make an appointment with him over the phone, I just came to his house."

"What should we do now?"

"What should we do? Today is an important day for Mr. He and Brother Long. We certainly can't let them cause trouble."

"How about we block it for Brother Long and let them go back to where they came from?"

"You are as stupid as a pig. There are so many media at such a festive occasion. What if we can't drive them away and the matter gets out of hand? It will not only be embarrassing for Brother Long, but also for Mr. Zou, Mr. He, and Mr. Fang. How will the other guests feel?"

"It's not right to rush, and it's not right not to rush. So what do you think we should do?"

"Although they are out of fashion, they were once big shots. How about this? You take them in later and pick a seat a little further back for them to sit. Just don't let them bother Mr. He and Brother Long."

"That's it!"

The Cheng family members immediately did as they were told and went forward to meet them.

Di Long and Zhou Runfa were initially confused by the enthusiasm on their faces, but when they found that they were led to a very remote back seat, they immediately felt like they had been in a car, and their faces turned very ugly, especially Zhou Runfa, who was so angry that he gritted his teeth and said:

"This is Aaron's way of entertaining guests. It was Fang Sheng who asked me to..."

"Forget it, Ah Fa, don't embarrass these little ones."

Di Long had long been accustomed to the fickleness of the world and waved his hand.

Zhou Runfa snorted coldly and sat down angrily, "You are such a fool, old man."

"Putting down the low and praising the high is the status quo in our industry."

Di Long changed the subject and said, "By the way, you just said that Fang Sheng asked you to come?"

"Yes!"

"What a coincidence, so am I!"

"Brother Long, you too?!"

All of a sudden, the two already frustrated and out-of-date stars seemed to have found a group and started chatting excitedly.

"Brother Long, you said Fang Sheng and Director Xu wanted to find someone to film a movie, and there are plenty of people willing to do it, so why did they choose us two?"

Zhou Runfa was puzzled.

"I don't know either. Let's wait for Mr. Fang and Director Xu to come and let them tell us."

Di Long asked him to be patient and wait.

After a while, reporters, celebrities and others came in one after another, and the scene became more and more lively.

At this moment, Xu Ke, Shi Nansheng, Gong Xue and others walked into the cinema. After a careful search, they finally found them.

"Why are you sitting here?"

"Director Xu, we are going to fish. We can only sit here if we fish."

Zhou Runfa stood up immediately and caught a glimpse of Liang Jiahui and Wu Yusen behind Shi Nansheng and Gong Xing.

"Yu Sen?!" Di Long was surprised and delighted to see his fellow disciple.

"Long time no see, Longzi. I heard you haven't been the big brother for a long time."

Wu Yusen hugged him tightly, and everything was said without words.

Zhou Runfa exchanged a few polite words with them, and couldn't help asking, "I wonder if Mr. Fang..."

"He's going to bring someone over in a bit so you can look at the script first."

Gong Xing took out the script of "A Better Tomorrow" from his bag and handed it to everyone one by one.

Di Long, Zhou Runfa, Liang Jiahui and others were flattered. Just as they called Fang Yihua "Fang Tian" or "Miss Fang", they also respectfully called her "Mrs. Fang" or "Miss Gong", and then they began to flip through the script impatiently.

Gradually, I was attracted by the plot and immersed in it. For example, when Di Long saw the line "I haven't been the eldest brother for many years", he couldn't help but tear up.

He was so fascinated that when the main creative crew of "Police Story" appeared, he didn't even notice that Zhang Guorong followed Fangyan into the scene.

Naturally, they did not notice that two people were walking towards them.

Zhang Guorong took a closer look and felt a pang in his heart. There was Di Long who had long been out of fashion and had no more movies to shoot, "Poison Fa" who was labeled as a box office poison and left to fend for himself, "Pu Street Wu" whose movies failed continuously, and "The Most Miserable Academy Award Winner" who was soft-banned and could only set up a stall in Causeway Bay...

Good guy!
One crew actually gathered so many "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick"!
If it weren't for the two couples Fang Yan and Xu Ke, Zhang Guorong would have really doubted whether he had fallen into a trap again with such a group of unpopular actors. The psychological trauma caused by the filming of "Spring on the Moon" immediately came to his mind.

"Don't panic, read the script first."

Fangyan patted his shoulder and signaled him to sit down with his eyes.

Zhang Guorong smiled awkwardly, and suddenly noticed that Zhou Runfa, Liang Jiahui, Di Long and others were in tears and expressed similar feelings:
“Yes, that’s my line (experience)!”

The lines that touched them the most were, without exception, the most classic ones:

"I've been waiting for this opportunity for three years, not to prove that I'm better than others!"

"Just to prove that I must take back what I lost!" (End of this chapter)