Literary Master 1978

Tao Yushu's eyes lit up when he heard his candidates, "These two are pretty good candidates. They are somewhat famous and not expensive. They are naturally on our side."

"However...even if the film they are starring in doesn't bear the name of our Lin Company, but the brand of the Leather Bag Company, it still won't be able to be shown in the Bay Island and make money."

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment, "You can cast Yuan Biao in the film sold to Wandao, but now Golden Harvest won't let him star in Cheng Long's film. "Oriental Condor" failed miserably at the box office, and he was greatly affected."

Yuen Biao is one of the Seven Little Blessings. He followed his senior brothers Sammo Hung and Cheng Long to the limelight for several years in the early years.

After "Plan A", Golden Harvest was afraid that he would take away from Cheng Long's stardom and would not let him participate in Cheng Long's movies anymore, so Yuen Biao started filming with Sammo Hung.

Before 1985, Sammo Hung and Cheng Long could be said to be equally matched Kung Fu superstars in the Hong Kong film industry.

Especially since Sammo Hung is his own boss, his status is even better than that of Cheng Long.

But starting in 1986, Sammo Hung gambled heavily on action blockbusters and successively filmed "Wealth Train" with an investment of 30 million Hong Kong dollars and "Oriental Condor" with an investment of 35 million Hong Kong dollars.

In the current Hong Kong film market, the only films that can allow the boss to invest more than 30 million yuan in a single film are action films by Cheng Long.

Sammo Hung did this because he had the mentality of competing with his younger brother. Unfortunately, his gamble did not succeed.

After the release of these two films, the local box office performance was pretty good, exceeding HK$20 million, but it was nothing compared to the huge production costs.

According to media reports, "Wealth Train" ultimately suffered a loss of HK$10 million, while the loss of "Oriental Condor" was even more exaggerated, exceeding HK$15 million, equivalent to the loss of a movie with a major cast in the same period.

A few days ago, "Eastern Condor" was released, and Jiahe even held a special review meeting for this.

It was said to be a review, but in fact it was a criticism meeting against Sammo Hung. Zou Wenhuai compared the failure of "Oriental Condor" to the failure of "Cleopatra" in Hollywood, which left its name in history.

As a result, Sammo Hung and Zou Wenhuai almost punched each other on the spot, and the conflict between the two parties completely intensified. This period has been one of the hot news chased by the media in Hong Kong.

"Hey, do you think we should take the opportunity to win over Sammo Hung?" Tao Yushu asked.

Lin Chaoyang pondered for a moment and said: "It's not necessary. Although Sammo Hung has fallen out with Jiahe now, the two parties are too involved, so there is no need to anger Zou and He. Moreover, we are now being watched by Wandao, and he is gone. Must be willing to cooperate.

Besides, his glory days seem to have passed, otherwise Boss Zou wouldn't be so disrespectful to him. "

Tao Yushu had always trusted Lin Chaoyang's judgment and when he heard what he said, he didn't hesitate anymore.

"Yuan Biao has a good image and acting skills. He is well-known in Japan and South Korea. Now he is not favored by Jiahe. Using him to enter the Bay Island and overseas markets is also a good choice.

Liang Xiaolong's image is average. It would be great if he starred in the "King of Power" series. Anyway, the scale of this kind of movie cannot be released in Bay Island. "

For two months, Tao Yushu wanted to make some low-budget action films, so he poached Jiahe and recruited Lan Naicai.

This guy has a very strong taste and is nicknamed "Mouse". He has made many action movies with heavy tastes before.

After coming to Lin's Pictures, he contributed a series of ideas, each one more bloody and violent than the last. Tao Yushu felt physically uncomfortable listening to it.

However, talents are rare, so Tao Yushu still asked him to sort out all his ideas. In the end, he found that almost all of his ideas came from Japanese comics.

After seeing each other, Tao Yushu decided to shoot "The King of Power" to test the waters first, and if the effect was good, he would shoot other movies.

"The King of Power" is a Category III film in Hong Kong. The current censorship system in Wan Dao is much stricter than that in Hong Kong. Such a film cannot be screened there at all.

Moreover, films in this category are cult films, with box office taking second place, and video revenue being the highest.

"As for Jet Li, his image is more upright. We will wait until the company's few scripts are written."

Seeing how thoughtful Lin Chaoyang was, Tao Yushu was completely relieved and said, "I will do as you say."

Lin Chaoyang said with a smile: "Okay, the problems have been solved. Is it time to get off work?"

He stretched out his hand towards Tao Yushu, who stood up with a pink smile and put her hand on his. The couple left the Prince's Building together.

When the couple returned home, they saw Maggie Cheung holding Yan Yan with a doting look on her face.

"If you like children so much, why not get married and have one." Tao Yushu teased her.

Maggie Cheung threw Yan Yan to Tao Yumo, "Forget it, it's just a kid, just like it."

"Auntie, give me a hug!"

Yan Yan wanted to crawl on top of her, so Maggie Cheung had no choice but to pick her up again.

"Brother-in-law, I heard that you bought shares of Cathay City?" Maggie Cheung asked.

Lin Chaoyang glanced at his sister-in-law, and Tao Yumo's eyes were raised to the sky, almost whistling.

"yes."

"I see that Cathay City's stock has fallen a bit in the past two days."

"It has been rising for several months, and it is normal for the stock price to fall back."

Maggie Cheung glanced at him unexpectedly, "You will lose money if the stock price falls, so you are not worried at all?"

"What does losing money have to do with me? I cleared my position last week!" Lin Chaoyang said calmly.

"Have you cleared the warehouse?" Maggie Cheung looked surprised.

She looked at Lin Chaoyang and then at Tao Yumo. Tao Yumo glanced at Lin Chaoyang with the same surprise. Sensing her best friend's gaze, she turned her head away guiltily.

Maggie Cheung didn't have time to settle the score with her, so she asked Lin Chaoyang: "That's a Cathay City that has doubled six times in three months, and you just sold it like that?"

"You said it has increased sixfold in three months, and you have made enough. Why don't you run away?"

Maggie Cheung opened her mouth and finally said: "You are so lucky!"

luck? Do you call this luck?

Lin Chaoyang wanted to break Maggie Cheung's vase head and see what kind of mess was inside.

"Brother-in-law, what do you think about me buying Cathay City now?" Maggie Cheung asked tentatively.

"Not great. The stock price has increased several times. What are you doing now? Are you ready to take over?"

"I think Cathay City still has potential. I heard that they will acquire a real estate company this year, and the stock price will definitely rise by then."

Maggie Cheung spoke with such certainty that Lin Chaoyang almost thought she had some inside information.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Everyone says so!"

Lin Chaoyang was speechless for a moment.

Just like you, if you don’t lose money, who does?

"Would you like to consider changing your investment direction?"

"Change direction? Change what?"

Lin Chaoyang stared at Maggie Cheung's innocent and ignorant face, "Go to the bank to make a deposit?"

Maggie Cheung felt insulted and glared at Lin Chaoyang with a pout. She wanted to ignore him, but when she thought about the stocks Lin Chaoyang bought that had risen several times and ran away in time, she couldn't help but feel "shameless".

After being pestered by her for a while, Lin Chaoyang said: "If it doesn't work out, just speculate in real estate. Now that the real estate market is on the rise, you can definitely make a profit without losing money."

“How can you make money faster by speculating in real estate than by speculating in stocks?”

Lin Chaoyang fell silent after hearing this, and finally gave a suggestion, "Save part of the money you earn in the future in the bank."

"Brother-in-law, I told you that I don't have a fixed term."

"Deposit is also fine."

Zhang Manyu tasted it for a long time before she heard the unfinished meaning in Lin Chaoyang's words, and felt very unhappy.

He muttered: "What's so great! I just know how to trade stocks. When I learn how to do it, I won't be any worse than you!"

Tao Yushu advised: "The stock market is a high-risk investment activity. Your brother-in-law is right. If you make money, buying a property is better than stock trading."

The same words, spoken from different people's mouths, have different effects.

After Tao Yushu finished speaking, Maggie Cheung sighed obediently, "Oh! I don't have any money."

"No money?" Tao Yushu was puzzled, "You make a lot of money a year, right?"

Maggie Cheung looked embarrassed, "The more you earn, the more you spend! Buy a house, a car, clothes and bags for your parents..."

At this time, Tao Yumo interjected: "Stock trading, and stock trading, stock trading loses the most!"

Maggie Cheung glared at her fiercely.

"Stock trading... I lost a little bit, but investing, there are losses and gains." Maggie Cheung said with amusement.

"Which stock made a profit?" Lin Chaoyang asked, watching the excitement and not taking it too seriously.

Maggie Cheung immediately blushed, the veins on her forehead popped out, and she argued:

"How can we say whether investment...makes profit or loss? Stocks are securities investments...the bigger the investment, the greater the risk...isn't it risky? Isn't it normal to lose a little?"

Continuing are words that are difficult to understand, such as "insisting on value investing" and "covering positions at low prices".

"Okay, okay, stop talking so much nonsense!" Tao Yushu interrupted her rambling and asked: "How much money do you have now?"

Maggie Cheung hesitated for a long time, "500,000."

"All?"

"Want to count the money in the bank account?"

"nonsense."

"500,000."

Tao Yushu's face was full of questions, what do you mean?

Maggie Cheung explained embarrassedly: "I originally had 550,000 yuan, but I bought 500,000 Cathay City shares a few days ago, and then their stock price fell."

People will laugh unconsciously when they are speechless. This is what Tao Yushu is doing now, "If you co-author, you will leave 50,000 yuan for yourself to live on?"

Maggie Cheung looked like a primary school student who was caught by the teacher for doing something wrong. She twisted her clothes with her fingers and said, "It was originally worth 2.5 million."

Tao Yushu looked at her in surprise, "So you lost almost 2 million in stocks?"

Maggie Cheung nodded timidly.

"Oh my God!" Tao Yushu couldn't help but hold his forehead.

Maggie Cheung is now well-known, so it is no problem to earn three to four million Hong Kong dollars a year, but female stars also spend a lot of money, and it is already very good to be able to save 1.8 million Hong Kong dollars a year.

Losing 2 million from stock trading is equivalent to two years of work for nothing.

"No, after all the losses are like this, haven't you ever reflected on whether you have investment talent?" Tao Yushu couldn't help but ask her.

Maggie Cheung replied seriously: "I was just unlucky. I caught up with the market correction and failed to escape from the top accurately."

Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but burst into laughter. What do you call "unprecise escape from the top"? Did you become a receiver?

If he remembers correctly, the Hang Seng Index has been soaring for a year.

Other people’s stocks are going up, but the stocks you bought are going back down, right?

Maggie Cheung looked at Lin Chaoyang angrily and aggrieved, feeling inexplicably sad and angry.

Speaking of which, Tao Yushu still doesn't understand.

Maggie Cheung must have learned about Lin Chaoyang's stock buying information through Tao Yumo, and thought there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, so she bought it. Unexpectedly, the stock price fell back just after she bought it.

500,000 turned into 450,000, and it was a 10% loss in just a few days. I guess he couldn't bear it anymore, so he came here today to get some information, but he didn't expect Lin Chaoyang to run away.

She figured out the whole story, and for some reason she had the urge to laugh out loud.

But Maggie Cheung looked at her with a depressed and pitiful face, and she was really embarrassed and could only hold back her smile.

He held Maggie Cheung's hand and comforted her:

"Okay, okay. Investing is risky, and you have to admit it if you lose. Learn from the lesson, and don't buy stocks in the future."

Maggie Cheung's face was gloomy, and she seemed unwilling to end her investment career.

"With more than 500,000, you can also buy a 400-square-foot property.

According to the current housing price increase, it will not be a problem to make more than 100,000 in two years."

Maggie Cheung was very dissatisfied with the number of "100,000". It turns out that real estate speculation is not as fast as stock speculation!

"If I had money now, I would buy a house." Tao Yumo felt that Maggie Cheung was a man who didn't know the hunger of a hungry man. She had money but didn't buy a house, and she wanted to buy one but didn't have the money.

When Tao Yushu bought an office in the Prince Building to start a company, she saw the property price of the Prince Building rise from 950 yuan per square foot to the current 1,500 yuan per square foot.

Stocks are profitable, but the risk is too great, how can it be as stable as speculating in real estate!

Seeing Maggie Cheung's face changeable, Tao Yushu knew that she must not give up.

She also understood that this thing is like gambling. Everyone wants to get their money back. How can they be willing to give up easily?

Tao Yushu glanced at her sister with a complaint. This matter is inseparable from her.

Tao Yumo saw her sister looking at her, with an embarrassed expression, thinking that I was kind-hearted.

Tao Yushu sighed and asked Lin Chaoyang, "Chaoyang, do you think Cathay City still has potential?"

Hearing this, Maggie Cheung's eyes were suddenly full of desire, and she stared at Lin Chaoyang tightly.

"Cathay City's parent company is Century City, which had outstanding performance last year and has performed well so far this year.

Last month, Standard Chartered Asia also specifically introduced Cathay City's future investment intentions and gave a high evaluation of their management.

If you hold it for a long time, it is also a good choice."

When Lin Chaoyang analyzed Cathay City's stock price, his expression was calm, which made people unconsciously feel convinced.

After listening to his analysis, Maggie Cheung felt a little relieved, "Then I won't sell it for now."

"Okay, let's eat!"

After solving Maggie Cheung's investment problem, Tao Yushu arranged for everyone to eat.

It was almost September, and "A Lang's Story" directed by Johnnie To was officially released.

This was the first time that Lin's Films took over Shaw Cinemas to release its own film. The publicity was huge, and it also held a joint screening with Shuangnan Line and Golden Princess.

Shuangnan Line is a Z-style cinema chain, consisting of several large cinemas such as Yindu Cinema and Guodu Cinema. They have also attracted several small cinemas that are not managed by other cinema chains, forming a cinema chain consisting of 10 cinemas.

Golden Princess is the financial backer behind Xinyicheng, and Lin's Films is now banned by the Freedom Association. Logically, they should avoid Lin's Films.

However, Tao Yushu had contacted Feng Bingzhong a few days ago. Feng Bingzhong was plotting to be independent from Golden Princess. Tao Yushu took the initiative to find him, and he was so happy that he couldn't wait.

He is one of the people in charge of Golden Princess, so it is natural for Golden Princess to appear in "A Lang's Story".

And business cannot be too rigid.

Two years ago, in order to fight against Golden Harvest, Xinyicheng had more than one joint screening with Shuangnan Line.

It's just a movie. If the Taiwan Island found a little clue and shouted to kill the film companies in Hong Kong, they would be exhausted.

Moreover, Cinema City has been operating in Taiwan for many years, so this is not a problem at all.

Lin's, Golden Princess, and Shuangnan lines jointly screened the film in a total of 38 theaters. "A Lang's Story" was extremely popular and caused a great response in the news media.

You should know that the ban order of the Freedom Association has been issued for three months, and the actors were named during this period.

As a result, the release of Lin's Films' new film was not affected at all, but it felt even more powerful.

Such a strange situation naturally became a hot topic for many Hong Kong media, and also prompted "A Lang's Story" to become the focus of these media as soon as it was released.

In the first week of its release, "A Lang's Story" easily broke 10 million at the box office, becoming the darkest dark horse in the Hong Kong film industry this year.

"A Lang's Story" tells the story of A Lang, played by Chow Yun-fat, who turned back for his son and became a new man, even at the cost of his life.

It does not have the weird and fierce actions of Hong Kong movies today, but is an art film about the love between father and son.

But no one expected that such an art film could achieve such amazing box office data in the first week of its release.

Let alone comparing it with art films, even ordinary commercial films with big casts can only be beaten by "A Lang's Story".

"Eastern Condors" released in July invested 35 million yuan and gathered many stars, but only earned 21 million yuan at the box office.

Looking at the box office trend of "A Lang's Story", many filmmakers can tell at a glance that this is definitely another 30 million-level box office bomb.

The argument of "no one can be more successful than Chow Yun-fat" has once again emerged in the media, and everyone in the film industry can see it clearly.

The most fundamental reason for the success of "A Lang's Story" should be attributed to the "operator" of Lin's Pictures.

Under the ban, Lin's Pictures not only did not show any signs of decline, but also produced higher box office movies, and also had its own theaters, which made it more prosperous.

Anyone who saw this situation could not help but admire it.

Moreover, during this period of time, everyone has heard about some actions of Lin's Pictures.

Everyone can see clearly that Lin's Pictures is far from the time of explosion.

The success of "A Lang's Story" allowed the outside world to see the strength of Lin's Pictures, and also stabilized the confidence within the company. Tao Yushu, the boss, was also relieved.

By mid-month, she received news that Shi Fangyu had resigned as the director of the Film Bureau, and the new director was Teng Jinxian, the former director of Emei Film Studio.

Tao Yushu specially contacted Shi Fangyu to greet him and learned about the current situation of the Film Bureau.

Then Shi Fangyu mentioned that China Film Corporation would take the lead in organizing a Chinese film exhibition recently, and he helped Tao Yushu and Teng Jinxian get a place to participate in the exhibition.

Tao Yushu thanked him and decided to go and see it in person.

According to Shi Fangyu's information, the scale of this Chinese film exhibition is not small. In addition to many film producers from socialist countries that have good relations with China, there are also film producers from many developed countries such as the United States, Canada, and Japan.

It is the largest film exhibition held in China in decades. Tao Yushu will certainly not miss such a good opportunity.

That day, while she was packing her luggage, she was explaining the company's affairs to Tao Yumo. After Lin Chaoyang finished the phone call, he came out with a strange look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Tao Yushu asked.

"Nothing, I was shortlisted for an award." Lin Chaoyang said.

His tone was flat, and Tao Yushu almost ignored it. After she reacted, she stopped what she was doing.

"Nominated? What award? From which magazine?"

It's no wonder that Tao Yushu would ask this. The current time doesn't match the awarding time of any important literary award in China.

On the contrary, the literary awards held by major domestic magazines have been booming in the past two years, and one pops up from time to time.

People's Literature Award, Contemporary Literature Award, October Literature Award... endlessly.

"It's not a domestic magazine, it's a French one."

"French?"

Tao Yushu's tone involuntarily rose two notches. Not only her, but also Tao Yumo's eyes widened.

"Yeah. Gallimard Publishing House said that "The Truman Show" was shortlisted for the Renaudot Literature Prize."

Tao Yushu studied Chinese after all, and worked as an editor for a few years. She thought about it in her mind, and then her face showed ecstasy.

"Is it the Renaudot Literature Prize awarded on the same day as the Goncourt Literature Prize?"

Lin Chaoyang nodded.

Tao Yushu grabbed his hand at once, "Really?"

Lin Chaoyang held her hand with his backhand and said softly, "Just being shortlisted doesn't mean you'll win."

"I know, of course I know."

Although she tried her best to suppress her excitement, Tao Yushu couldn't help but feel a warm and irrepressible joy in her heart, and her heart was surging.

Just as she was happy, she thought of a key question.

"The Renaudot Prize is usually awarded to French writers, right? Is there a precedent for awarding it to foreign writers?"

"I asked Clement Metayer, and he said there is no precedent. The reason why I was shortlisted this time was, on the one hand, because their publishing house did public relations, and on the other hand, because "The Truman Show" was very much to the taste of the judges.

Renoudot's style has always been to attach importance to the innovation and artistry of his works. "The Truman Show" excels in this regard, which is the most critical reason for his shortlist."

The Renaudot Prize was founded in 1925 by 10 journalists including Charente, Picard, etc. to commemorate Overas Renaudot, the founder of the first newspaper in France.

It is awarded on the same day as the Goncourt Prize, the first literary award in France, every year, and has always favored works and writers with unique styles.

Because it aims to make up for the regrets and shortcomings of the Goncourt Prize in the award, it has been highly respected by the French literary community and even the European literary community for many years.

Its influence in France is second only to the Goncourt Prize.

After listening to Lin Chaoyang's answer, Tao Yushu suddenly laughed for some reason, and the laughter was full of joy, which made Lin Chaoyang confused.

"Sister, what are you laughing at?" Tao Yumo asked.

Tao Yushu then restrained her laughter, "I laughed, of course your brother-in-law won the award."

"Won the award? Didn't it mean to be shortlisted?" Tao Yumo was puzzled.

"It's true that he is shortlisted now. But he is a foreign writer, why did he let his work be shortlisted? You don't think the jury made an exception just to let your brother-in-law be shortlisted?"

Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yumo suddenly realized.

Yes, if it was just for the nomination, why would the Renaudot Prize Jury go to such great lengths to make an exception?

"So it's a sure thing for my brother-in-law to win the prize?" Tao Yumo asked excitedly.

Tao Yushu calmed down at this time, "I can't say it's a sure thing, but I feel it should be a high probability thing, at least the heavyweights in the jury should like your brother-in-law's novel very much, otherwise how could a foreign writer's work be shortlisted."

"That makes sense! The US publishing contract for "The Truman Show" was just signed some time ago, and this time it's going to win the French award.

Brother-in-law, this time you're going to go international!"

Tao Yumo's face was filled with a bright smile, and she was happier than if she had won the award.

"It's still a long time before it's international." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

They didn't know much about the Renaudot Literature Prize. They only knew that the award would be given out in early November, which was more than a month away. Everyone was happy for a while and then got back to work.

Tao Yushu boarded the plane back to the mainland with a jubilant mood. After landing, she went home first, and then she contacted Yu Yuxi. She learned that the filming of "Red Sorghum" was going smoothly, and she felt even more relaxed.

Then she went to Yanying Studio to find Chen Kaige.

After winning the award at the West Berlin Film Festival, Chen Kaige first enjoyed a few days of flowers and applause, and then was taken to Hong Kong by Tao Yushu to visit and study for nearly a month.

Tao Yushu could see that he was not interested in the commercial films of Hong Kong movies, and did not force him. If he didn't learn the style, he could learn the skills.

After returning to the mainland, Chen Kaige has been studying the script of his next movie.

After meeting, Tao Yushu chatted with Chen Kaige for a while, and then asked about his script. Chen Kaige took out the script he had just written.

Tao Yushu frowned more and more as he read the script. Seeing this, Chen Kaige also became nervous. He knew why Tao Yushu frowned.

After a long time, Tao Yushu raised his head and looked at Chen Kaige with a bit of disappointment in his eyes.

"Kaige, you are still on the old path of making movies."

Chen Kaige's heart sank when he heard Tao Yushu's comments, "Aunt Lin, I think..."

"Your feelings are not important, what is important is the audience's feelings. Your script is still so obscure, just like the first draft of "The King of Children".

You have to understand that if there is no audience to appreciate the poetry and philosophy in the script, it will be a nonsense that no one listens to.

You should not expect such a work to have good results at international film exhibitions or film festivals.

Those foreigners have completely different cultural backgrounds from you. Why do you think they can understand your ideas?

If you can't first impress them with the story and then make them resonate, do you think you can get the award?"

Tao Yushu's words were merciless, and could even be said to be a reprimand.

Chen Kaige's face flushed, and his heart was filled with grief and indignation of not being understood.