Literary Master 1978

On the last day before leaving Beijing, Lin Chaoyang called all his family members together to have a meal together.

Du Feng even came over specially. After meeting again after a week, he was in much better condition than before, not so sad, and he was much more energetic.

Lin Chaoyang asked about the situation of the clothing city, and Du Feng smiled easily.

"Not bad. Business is steadily increasing, and the reputation is getting better and better."

In less than a week, the Asia-Europe Clothing City will have been open for a month.

In the past month, the clothing city first experienced a flourishing business in the first few days of its opening, and then the customer flow and sales were cut in half again and again.

After the customer flow and sales fell to the point where they could not fall any further, the business of the clothing city remained stable for more than a week, and then began to rise slowly again.

In the past two days, the daily sales of the clothing city were over 40,000. Although this sales volume is still a certain distance from Du Feng's ideal, it gave him hope.

He would visit the store every day, chat with customers from time to time, and give them small gifts after the chat, which was a bit similar to the market research done by many companies in later generations.

After communicating with dozens of customers, Du Feng found that the consumers who came to Asia-Europe Clothing City to buy clothes were not all high-income groups as he thought.

Among them, there were also many ordinary working-class people who earned 40 or 50 yuan a month.

It might cost a month's salary to buy a piece of clothing in Asia-Europe Clothing City, and some expensive clothes even cost them three or four months' salary, but these customers are still willing to spend money in Asia-Europe Clothing City.

The reason is very simple. Everyone thinks that buying clothes in Asia-Europe Clothing City is safe.

There is no need to worry about buying fakes and inferior products. There is also quality assurance and after-sales service, and the service attitude of the salesperson is also good.

Asia-Europe Clothing City has only been established for less than a month. Even if the service is good and the quality is high, it stands to reason that the word-of-mouth effect will not ferment so quickly.

But this is a world of comparison.

In Yanjing today, the state-owned shopping malls like Xidan Shopping Mall are better, but many smaller state-owned service units have a service attitude that is even more arrogant than that of a grandfather, and customers who go there are like grandchildren.

When a store like Asia-Europe Clothing City suddenly appeared in Yanjing City, which made customers feel at home, everyone naturally spread the word of mouth, and the speed of word-of-mouth spread was ridiculous.

Another very important reason is that fakes and inferior goods have become rampant in the past two years.

At the beginning of reform and opening up, the word "fake" did not exist in the Chinese dictionary at all.

But by 1984, in just six years, China's counterfeit trademark cases had reached more than 1,000, and these were those that were discovered and dealt with. The majority were not dealt with.

After 1984, counterfeit goods had formed an unstoppable trend in China. From the mid-to-late 1980s to the year after 2000, Chinese consumers were troubled by counterfeit goods.

In the early and mid-1990s, when counterfeit goods were most rampant, in just half a year, the number of cases of counterfeit trademarks handled by the procuratorate nationwide reached 2,291. The rampant counterfeiting had reached the point of indignation.

In this wave of counterfeiting that has lasted for decades, the most terrifying thing is not counterfeiting, but using inferior goods to harm consumers. The most terrifying thing is that you cannot beat those black-hearted merchants who counterfeit.

In 1985, a counterfeit drug case occurred in a certain place, and there were 45 counterfeit drug companies in just a small town.

Since 1980, the local area has begun to make fake drugs such as "hypertensive granules" and "lung granules" with inferior white fungus and sugar to make huge profits.

Most of these counterfeit drug factories are co-founded by local farmers JZ. There are no pharmaceutical technicians, no quality inspection agencies, and no pharmaceutical equipment.

They use primitive tools such as stoves, iron pots, and bamboo utensils. The factory buildings are also old rural houses, with flies flying around, garbage piled up, and dust on the packaging tables.

You can't even imagine how such a black-hearted workshop can deliver their inferior drugs to hospitals and pharmacies across the country, but they did it.

Because this town is a typical example of support, and it is the first town in a certain province with an industrial and agricultural output value of more than 100 million yuan.

The difficulty of counterfeit goods is not "fake", but "management".

It is said that people were simple in the 1980s, and this is true.

But people's hearts cannot withstand temptation. Sima Yi's oath at Luoshui and Lu Meng's crossing the river in white clothes, the collapse of morality and faith often starts with that rat shit and stinky fish.

In just a few years, the domestic business environment has undergone earth-shaking changes. Although counterfeit and inferior goods have not yet reached the flooding trend of the 1990s, they have made many ordinary people more vigilant.

Therefore, in such an environment, the high quality and quality assurance commitment of Asia-Europe Clothing City can naturally easily capture a group of consumers who hope to spend money to buy peace of mind.

Du Feng excitedly talked about his discoveries and experiences during this period, and finally he looked at Lin Chaoyang with gratitude.

"Brother-in-law, I finally understand what you said to me now."

Lin Chaoyang said with relief: "What I said is not important, what is important is that you can do it. I believe that the business of the clothing city will definitely get better and better in the future."

Du Feng's face was full of confidence, "It will definitely be!"

After expressing his inner feelings, Du Feng felt much more relaxed.

Tao Yucheng said to him, "Don't just focus on the clothing city, you have to take care of the video hall as well!"

"What's wrong with the video hall?" Du Feng asked.

Since he had the idea of ​​opening a clothing mall, Du Feng didn't pay much attention to the video hall. He basically just checked the accounts every month and left many things to his subordinates.

"Business is not as good as last year." Tao Yucheng said.

Last year, many small video halls opened by individuals in Yanjing City.

They may only have a video recorder, a TV, and a room. The hardware conditions are definitely not comparable to Du Feng's video hall.

But they can't resist the cheap ticket prices. Some small video halls can watch a movie for one cent.

Although there are fewer film sources, as long as they have not seen them, the audience is still willing to watch them. After all, one cent is not expensive.

In this way, Du Feng's business was naturally affected.

Du Feng listened to Tao Yucheng's description and didn't care too much. Long before opening the video hall, Lin Chaoyang told him about the situation that this business might face next.

"This kind of thing cannot be avoided. People are satisfied with making 100 to 80 yuan a month. What can you do?"

"I'm afraid that if they do this, fewer and fewer people will come to our place in the future." Tao Yucheng said worriedly.

"Then we should also lower the price. We made money by lying down before, and this situation will be the norm in the future."

I don't know if it was because of the ups and downs of the opening of the clothing city, but Du Feng's expression became calm when talking about the business of the video hall.

Tao Yucheng sighed unwillingly, "Alas! What do you think these people think?"

"They also want to make money. The ticket prices are the same. Why should the audience choose them? In fact, this is the same as us and the cinema.

You must have something to attract the audience to let people come to you, right?"

"That's right." Tao Yucheng smiled and stopped worrying about it.

Anyway, in the past year, the couple has earned 18,000 yuan. With his salary income level, he may not be able to earn so much in ten years just by working. What else is there to be dissatisfied with?

Besides, the video hall will not make no money in the future, it's just that the profit will be less.

"Brother, if you want to make more money, you don't have to focus on the video hall. You can try to do something else." Du Feng suggested.

"It's good now. Your business is big and you make a lot of money, but you are busy all day long. Where is your time? You don't even have a girlfriend."

Du Feng kindly gave advice, but he didn't expect to be hit by Tao Yucheng.

"Eat your meal."

Zhao Li pulled Tao Yucheng to shut him up, and everyone in the family was amused by this scene.

The next day, Lin Chaoyang's family of five flew to Hong Kong. The temperature in Hong Kong in April was more than 20 degrees, the sun was shining, and the weather was very comfortable.

The family returned to Oriental Garden first, settled down and rested for a while, and Lin Chaoyang called Tsui Hark. Hearing that he had returned to Hong Kong, Tsui Hark couldn't wait to invite him to meet at the film studio.

So the next day, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu came to the film studio in Kowloon Tong.

Although the current film studio has invested in two films written and directed by Tsui Hark, it is still a small workshop in the Hong Kong film industry.

The company is very small, with only three employees, and the only relatively spacious room is the conference room.

When Lin Chaoyang and his wife arrived, a middle-aged man with a bald head was already in the conference room. It was John Woo who had just returned from Taiwan Island.

Tsui Hark introduced both parties enthusiastically, and then talked about the film.

For the current film studio, it is very difficult to invest and produce two films at the same time.

Tsui Hark has been busy filming "Swordsman" since the second half of last year. It was not until the filming of "Swordsman" was completed recently that he made time to prepare for "A Better Tomorrow".

After meeting, his first thing was not to talk about the script, but to set the budget.

Hearing that the budget was only 4 million Hong Kong dollars, John Woo immediately complained.

"How can 4 million be enough for a gunfight movie!"

"4 million is already a lot."

Tsui Hark seemed to be comforting John Woo, but in fact he was also convincing himself.

It is true that there are boss Lei and Cinema City behind the film studio, but the boss invests money in you to make you money, not to suck your blood.

"Swordsman and Lady" invited three popular actresses, Sally Yeh, Brigitte Lin, and Cherie Chung, to star in the film, and the salary of the three alone was as high as more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars.

It has been more than half a year since the preparation, but it has not been released yet, which is rare in the fast-paced Hong Kong film market.

The film has not seen any returns, and Tsui Hark is about to start a new film. Cinema City naturally does not want to bet again. This 4 million Hong Kong dollars was hard-earned by Tsui Hark and them.

"To make a movie, you have to invite one or two stars. The 4 million actors' salaries alone will account for more than half of the investment. How can this movie be made?" John Woo said miserably.

Today's Hong Kong film market is somewhat similar to the mainland film market after 2015. The market is hot and hot money is pouring in.

The production level has not improved much, and the investment has doubled, and a large proportion of it is the stars' salaries.

In the past two years, any star who has played a major role in one or two of the top ten annual box office movies has a starting salary of 500,000 or 600,000 Hong Kong dollars, and those who can play a leading role can easily receive more than 1 million Hong Kong dollars.

If the male and female protagonists of a movie are both popular stars, and there are a few second- and third-tier supporting roles, the actor salaries alone will cost 3 to 4 million Hong Kong dollars.

As a result, the amount of film investment increased immediately, and an investment of seven to eight million was just ordinary.

According to this investment, no matter what the box office, it will take 16 to 7 million to make back the original investment.

Based on the local box office of Xiangjiang Film, if the box office in the past two years exceeds 17 million, it can basically break into the top ten annual box office.

Of course, it is impossible for film companies and investors to lose money. The reason why they are willing to pay high salaries to stars is because of their box office appeal in other places.

It doesn’t matter if Hong Kong doesn’t make money at the box office. There are also Bay Island, Malaysia, and Thailand...

Today's Xiangjiang movies are becoming more and more influential in East and Southeast Asia. There is always a place where they can make money back. Not only can they make back their money, but they can also make a lot of money.

John Woo kept chanting in Tsui Hark's ear, and Tsui Hark read it for a long time, and finally said helplessly: "Okay, okay, I will talk to Xinyi City later and ask them to invest more."

Seeing Tsui Hark in such a dilemma, Lin Chaoyang said: "If they don't agree to additional investment, we, Lin's Pictures, can invest a little."

Tsui Hark looked at Lin Chaoyang with some surprise. Lin Chaoyang used the script as investment before, and now he has to spend real money to invest in "A Better Tomorrow". Why does it feel like he is more confident in this movie than himself?

Another thing he was curious about was that Lin Chaoyang was born in the Mainland and his main job was a writer. Even if he had savings, he probably wouldn't have much.

Film investment can easily amount to several million Hong Kong dollars. Does he really have that much money?

"Lin Sheng wants to invest? How much do you plan to invest?" Tsui Hark asked.

"Our Lin's Pictures has limited capabilities. If we don't have more, one or two million Hong Kong dollars is still okay. I mainly consider that with our investment, it may be easier to negotiate with New Art City."

Tsui Hark couldn't help but nodded after listening to Lin Chaoyang's words. His eyes looked at Lin Chaoyang a little softer. He understood that Lin Chaoyang did this to help him.

He thought for a moment and said, "Thank you very much for Lin Sheng's kindness. How about Lin Sheng invest 1 million Hong Kong dollars first, and I will talk to Xinyi City for the rest."

"That's fine."

After talking about investment, John Woo had the opportunity to talk to Lin Chaoyang about the script and several main characters. He wanted to hear Lin Chaoyang's views on these characters.

When the filming of the later "A Better Tomorrow" started, there was not even a script. Tsui Hark and John Woo just wrote an outline based on the 1967 version of "A Better Tomorrow", and the rest was performed on the spot.

One of the very important factors is the on-the-spot performance of the actors. For example, Xiao Ma, played by Chow Yun-fat, was originally just a guest on the set.

But John Woo thought his performance was good, so he kept giving him extra roles. As a result, Chow Yun-fat, who was a guest actor, was added as the protagonist, but the male lead played by Zheng Haonan was added and eliminated.

In this time and space, Zheng Haonan was equally miserable. Originally, the male lead in "The Great Sword" was his, but he was snatched away by Tony Leung Ka Fai.

Now that Lin Chaoyang has "copied his homework" and produced a classic enough script, John Woo is naturally more than satisfied. He also wants to know some of Lin Chaoyang's thoughts when he created these characters.

The two chatted for more than an hour, and John Woo was full of confidence and in high spirits.

Lin Chaoyang doesn't have a profound understanding of film shooting, but he can't resist cheating. Everyone starts the movie in the fog of war, but he starts with a bright card in Landlord. He has a good grasp of John Woo's imagination.

Some scenes and lines can be felt by John Woo just by describing them in his words.

Having a screenwriter like Lin Chaoyang here is simply a blessing for the director!

"Lin Sheng, after listening to you for so long, your concept of the movie is so mature. Do you have any suggestions for actors?" John Woo asked.

"Director Wu, you are the director, so you can take care of the actors." Lin Chaoyang said.

"No, no, no, we can discuss the actor's matter together. What I want is that the actor fits the role and adds luster to the movie."

In John Woo's view, Lin Chaoyang has just been able to make the main characters in the script so vivid and lifelike. In addition to his deep understanding of the characters, the most important thing is that he must have his own imagination for the characters.

John Woo is now eager to know what these character images in Lin Chaoyang's mind look like in reality.

"That's it..." Lin Chaoyang pondered for a moment and then said: "Then let me talk about my personal views. Let me talk about the two brothers Song Zihao and Song Zijie first..."

Lin Chaoyang couldn't stop talking. He talked for a long time. He first analyzed the background and personality of each important actor, and then proposed the actors he thought were suitable.

Ti Lung plays Song Zihao, Leslie Cheung plays Song Zijie, Chow Yun-fat plays Xiao Ma Ge, and Yue Hua plays Tan Cheng.

There is only one difference between the list of actors he recommended and the later "A Better Tomorrow", and that was the actor who played the villain Tan Cheng.

Tan Cheng was played by Li Zixiong in the later "A Better Tomorrow", and his acting skills were very good. He played the role of Tan Cheng who is weak and honest on the outside, but sinister and cunning on the inside.

As for why he was not recommended but Yue Hua was recommended, of course it was because Lin Chaoyang was familiar with Yue Hua.

Moreover, Yue Hua has played many villains since he became famous, and it is not difficult to play a role like Tan Cheng.

After Lin Chaoyang finished talking about all the actors, John Woo imagined in his mind what these actors would look like in costumes.

He thought for a long time and found that the actors recommended by Lin Chaoyang were indeed in line with the character's temperament.

Take the character Song Zijie for example. His brother is a gang leader, but he is a police academy graduate with a sense of justice and professionalism in his heart.

You have to find a popular star to play the role, so that he can portray his high-spiritedness. Leslie Cheung is very suitable, he is pretty and popular enough.

However, John Woo also has some concerns about the candidates recommended by Lin Chaoyang, because he recommended four people, and none of them are real first-line movie stars at this stage.

Ti Long and Yue Hua were popular back then, but they have long since faded away in recent years.

Chow Yun-fat is a popular TVB actor. He is very famous and very popular. However, he moved to the film industry and acted in many movies, but he never had a box office hit.

The audience's impression of him is still limited to the TV screen, and some film producers have even labeled him "box office poison".

Leslie Cheung is currently popular, but his popularity is more concentrated in his singing career, and his performance in film and television is mediocre.

After Wu Yusen analyzed the situation of these actors, he couldn't help but murmur in his heart. He wondered if Lin Chaoyang didn't know much about the current film market. After all, there should be a movie star in this!

Lin Chaoyang observed John Woo's expression and could probably guess what he was thinking.

"Director Wu, I don't know if you feel it. In fact, in our movie, the emotion is more important than the plot and characters."

Some things can only be understood and cannot be expressed in words. Lin Chaoyang's words were very vague, but Wu Yusen felt that he could understand the meaning.

He thought of Brother Ma's line in the script.

“I don’t want to be stepped on by people all my life!

Do you think I'm a beggar?

I have been unlucky for three years, just waiting for an opportunity!

I want to take a breath, not to prove that I am better than others, I just want to tell others that I must get back what I have lost with my own hands!"

John Woo thought about his experiences in the past few years, and suddenly there was a surge of empathy in his heart, as well as a strange thought that he had never had before.

I just want to lead this group of actors that no one is optimistic about and overthrow the Hong Kong film industry!

As soon as the thought came up in his mind, Wu Yusen was shocked by himself. He didn't even know why he had such a thought.

But when his eyes met Lin Chaoyang, John Woo completely understood.

This is the "emotion" Lin Chaoyang calls it!

He was thinking about the actors Lin Chaoyang chose. Didn't they fit the mood of the movie?

At this moment, John Woo feels that he has unprecedented confidence in the film.

"Okay! The actors will follow what you said, Lin Sheng. In this movie, we must give Xiangjiang Movies a unique shock!"

Seeing John Woo's state as if he had been given a shot of blood, Lin Chaoyang smiled with satisfaction, that's right!

It would be impossible to make a film like "A Better Tomorrow" without this attitude.

Tsui Hark listened to the two talking for a long time and didn't understand why John Woo suddenly became excited, but he was relieved to see that the two communicated so well.

The director and screenwriter have a tacit understanding, and the effect of the movie will definitely not be bad.

Lin Chaoyang and his wife spent almost a whole day in the film studio. In the evening, Shi Nansheng helped everyone book a table for dinner at the Sevva Western Restaurant in Prince's Building, which was a celebration of the important progress in the preparations for "A Better Tomorrow."

After finishing the meal, they parted ways.

Shi Nansheng and Tsui Hark walked together on the brightly lit Queen's Road Central.

She looked at Tsui Hark and hesitated, "Do you really want to take Lin Sheng's investment?"

Tsui Hark glanced back at her, "Are you afraid of the Freedom Association?"

"Yes." Shi Nansheng frowned slightly and said: "In the past, Lin Sheng only participated in investment with scripts. This time is different. He got real money. Just in case, the Free Association will..."

"I have also thought about this issue. In my opinion, there should be no problem. Hasn't Ah Hui's banning order been lifted?

After all, Lin Sheng and Mrs. Lin have no official status. The news the year before last year was so fierce, but in the end it was nothing!

If the Liberty Association is really picky, Jiahe will be the first to be unlucky. Boss Zou is not that stupid. "

From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Hong Kong film industry was a battlefield between the Bay Island and the Mainland.

In the mid-1950s, in order to meet the challenges, the Information Bureau of the Bay Island funded the establishment of the "Freedom Federation", an unofficial organization in Hong Kong.

The purpose is to win over people from the cultural circles in Hong Kong and exclude people who are pro-mainland.

The first thing this organization did after its establishment was to announce to all walks of life in Hong Kong that films could not enter the Bay Island without the approval of the "Freedom Federation".

However, during the first dozen years of the battle between the two sides, local capital and Z-school filmmakers have always been in an advantageous position.

During the heyday of the Z faction, the three film companies, Chang, Feng and Xin, produced a total of 262 films. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Wandao and Y faction filmmakers were overwhelmed.

Not only were the numbers astonishing, but they also took over the top-grossing Hong Kong movies at the time. While the two sides were fighting each other, they also cultivated a group of outstanding literary and artistic workers in Hong Kong.

It's a pity that the wave in 1967 ruined the good situation.

In addition, the mainland market was closed in those years, while the Bay Island market opened its arms to Hong Kong. The balance of the battle between the two sides continued to tilt. Many Z-school filmmakers who were pro-mainland have gradually withered away in recent years.

By the mid-to-late 1970s, as a bridge between the Hong Kong film industry and the Taiwan News Bureau, Cultural Bureau, and film market, the Freedom Association had become the emperor of the Hong Kong film industry.

When they coughed, many Hong Kong film companies would tremble.

The ban on Tony Leung Ka Fai was caused by them.

From Tsui Hark's perspective, he was not the first to cooperate with Lin Chaoyang, and with the lifting of the ban on Tony Leung Ka Fai last year, it was reasonable for him to think that the Freedom Association would not cause trouble for him.

"And didn't Mr. Xiao J make a speech last month? Now that cross-strait relations are gradually easing, there should be no problem."

Listening to Tsui Hark's words, Nansun Shi nodded slightly. Her husband's words did make sense.

While Tsui Hark and his wife were worried about the Freedom Association, Lin Chaoyang and his wife were considering the issue of money.

In the afternoon, Lin Chaoyang and Tsui Hark finalized the investment of HK$1 million for "A Better Tomorrow", which was a considerable sum for them at this stage.

After buying the property of Lin's Pictures in Prince Building last year, they had just HK$1 million left.

Now more than half a year has passed, and Ming Pao Publishing House has settled several royalties for Lin Chaoyang, the largest of which was the first royalty of "The Truman Show" last month.

Since its publication in September last year, the sales of "The Truman Show" have remained high, with sales of nearly 60,000 copies in half a year, which also brought Lin Chaoyang HK$640,000 in royalties.

Adding the royalties of several other novels published in Hong Kong, the couple now has just over HK$2.1 million on hand.

Tao Yushu was still a little nervous about investing 1 million in a movie all at once.

Her biggest hope now is that "The Truman Show" can get off to a good start!