Chapter 339 Timely Rain
The next day, Sanlian Bookstore arranged two reader meetings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon at two bookstores.
Most of the writers in the writers' group are not well-known in Hong Kong, but that does not prevent some young literary people from being interested in them. With the word "mainland" in their names, they will naturally attract some readers.
The meeting was not large, with only about a hundred readers coming.
At the readers' meeting, Lin Weimin received unprecedented popularity compared to other writers.
With the foundation laid by his previous three novels, Lin Weimin has already occupied a place in the hearts of Hong Kong readers. Several readers even brought the English version of "Farewell My Concubine" to him for autograph, which made other writers envious.
This is the benefit of a best-selling work. Even in a place like Hong Kong, there are readers who love the work and follow it.
There was no itinerary in the evening, so a bus took Lin Weimin and others to the hotel in the afternoon.
The group moved around freely. Lin Weimin pushed Shi Tiesheng, followed by Mo Yan, as they walked to the North Corner.
Chun Yeung Street in North Point is well-known in Hong Kong. There is a tram track in the middle of the street. The tram stops at the Tang Shui Road terminal on its way back, forming a unique landscape here.
The scenes here often appear in the works of Hong Kong writers. Liu Yichang once wrote an article "Shanghai Scene in North Point", describing the scenery of North Point, Hong Kong's "Little Shanghai".
Due to historical reasons, the residents here come from all corners of the country and finally gather in the melting pot of Hong Kong.
Lin Weimin pushed Shi Tiesheng to a tea restaurant on the street. When ordering food, he heard the owner had a Shandong accent, so he started chatting with him.
Upon learning that Lin Weimin and his friends were from the mainland, the boss immediately asked about the current situation in the mainland with concern.
After listening to Lin Weimin's description, the boss asked in disbelief: "Is it really open? It won't change back, right?"
"No. The reform will only get stronger and stronger in the future. Since we insist on going down this path, there is no way we can go back."
The boss sighed: "If that's the case, we should really go back and take a look!"
Lin Weimin joked, "Boss, you'd better go back soon. If you can bring hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars back to your hometown to invest now, you will definitely be treated as a guest of honor by the local government."
The boss shook his head and said, "How can we earn so much?"
He didn't know that Lin Weimin was pointing him to a golden road.
The meal cost more than 40 Hong Kong dollars. After coming out, Mo Yan and Shi Tiesheng wanted to give money to Lin Weimin, but he refused.
After strolling around the street for a while, they returned to the hotel.
Comrade Liu saw Lin Weimin and said, "Writer Lin, someone is looking for you!"
"Looking for me? Who?"
"Comrade from the Cultural Association!"
Lin Weimin immediately realized that it must be Zhang Qi who came.
When I entered the room, I saw that it was indeed him.
"How did you get here?" Lin Weimin asked.
Zhang Qi's face was filled with anxiety. "I have something I want you to help me think of a solution for."
"What's up?"
Since receiving the first donation from Lin Weimin more than half a year ago, Zhang Qi followed Lin Weimin's advice and went directly to Hong Kong to find wealthy businessmen for donations, but the progress was not smooth.
This was his second trip to Hong Kong, and he only lobby for a few donations of HK$100,000, which totaled only HK$500,000.
Zhang Qi was extremely anxious about this, as the foundation had been under preparation for more than half a year, but not much money had been raised yet, and he had no way to deliver on his promise.
When he heard that Lin Weimin had also arrived in Hong Kong, he hurried over to see if he had any good ideas.
After all, it was Lin Weimin who came up with the idea of looking for wealthy Hong Kong businessmen to raise funds.
After listening to Zhang Qi's statement, Lin Weimin also felt a little confused.
These wealthy businessmen in Hong Kong are really unwilling to show their eagle until they see the rabbit!
There weren't many wealthy businessmen Zhang Qi met in Hong Kong, most of whom were pro-mainland. But even so, they didn't want to donate.
The reason is simple. When businessmen donate money, they mostly want social benefits.
Either let the government remember your good deeds, or let the people remember your good deeds.
What's the point of donating to the Writers Association? Do you want these writers to write a few articles praising you?
It would be better to donate directly to the government. Wouldn’t it be more effective if the newspapers reported on it in detail than donating to the Writers Association?
"Who are your targets now?" Lin Weimin asked.
"Shaw Yi-fu, Jin Yong, and Huo Guantai."
Lin Weimin was not familiar with Huo Guantai's character, but the first two people Zhang Qi mentioned were both wealthy people who were thrifty and frugal!
Needless to say, Run Run Shaw, the founder of Shaw Brothers Films, dominated the Hong Kong film industry from its establishment in the 1950s to the 1960s and 1970s.
At that time, Shaw Brothers not only had four ace directors, Li Hanxiang, Hu Jinquan, Chor Yuan, and Chang Cheh, but also a number of popular stars such as David Chiang, Ti Lung, and Wang Yu.
"Anything produced by Shaw Brothers must be high-quality" has become the creed of countless movie fans in Hong Kong. Romance films, gunfight films, historical films and other types of films have emerged in an endless stream, especially martial arts films and kung fu films are very popular in Western countries.
But behind the rapid development of the film industry, the management and profit distribution issues were not fair. Directors like Li Hanxiang, who made the most profitable movies for Shaw Brothers, only received a fixed salary of 8,000 yuan per month.
What made the old employees even more disheartened was that Shaw Brothers treated the old employees harshly while at the same time spending a large amount of money to recruit new employees from other companies and giving them all kinds of preferential treatment.
Shaw Brothers' double standards first led to the departure of two key members, King Hu and Li Hanxiang. Later, Zou Wenhuai, a major contributor who had worked at Shaw Brothers for 13 years, was forced to resign because Shaw's wife took over the management. He then founded Shaw Brothers' arch-rival - Golden Harvest.
After entering the 1980s, Shaw Brothers Films began to decline gradually due to the encroachment of its two major competitors, Golden Harvest and Cinema City.
Due to the decline of Shaw Brothers, Run Run Shaw focused his main energy on another trump card in his hand - TVB. His style of work did not change and even tended to get worse.
Jin Yong is not a wealthy man today, but he earned a lot of royalties from his martial arts novels in his early years. The business of Ming Pao is also booming. At least he is the richest man in Hong Kong's cultural circle.
He started Ming Pao with his own martial arts novels, so he was very stingy when paying royalties to other authors.
As a result, many Hong Kong writers have a love-hate relationship with Ming Pao and Jin Yong. They love Ming Pao because of its fame and it is prestigious to publish their articles there. But they hate it because the payment is so low.
Of course, although these two people were frugal, they also donated a lot to charity in later generations.
Jin Yong has donated huge sums of eight-digit sums to universities in Hong Kong and the mainland more than once, not to mention Run Run Shaw. There should be no student in the country who doesn't know about the "Yi Fu" Building.
Including Huo Guantai, he has donated tens of billions of yuan to domestic sports alone.
Facts have proved that as long as you can get the pulse of these wealthy people, donating to them is not a problem.
But the question is, how can we take the pulse of these people accurately?
After much thought, Lin Weimin decided to seek help from Jin Yong first.
He had just met Ms. Yang Meng yesterday. If he was shameless enough to bring her to Jin Yong and meet his dream lover in person, Mr. Cha would not be too stingy, right?
Lin Weimin told Zhang Qi about Ms. Yang Meng's situation and asked, "Will Ms. Yang Meng agree to this?"
"Whether you agree or not, you have to give it a try!"
"That's all we can do."
At this point, Zhang Qi can only try his best to save the situation.
After the two of them discussed it, Lin Weimin contacted Ms. Yang Meng through Comrade Liu and explained the situation to her.
Yang Meng hesitated and said, "I haven't been in touch with Mr. Cha for a long time, so our relationship is unfamiliar. I'm afraid I can't be of much help."
"Ms. Yang, please help me no matter what. After all, setting up a foundation is a good thing that benefits the country and the people."
“This… okay!”
Yang Meng had just obtained the adaptation rights of "The Lover" from Lin Weimin. Due to face, she had no way to completely reject him and could only agree.
When Lin Weimin made the call, Zhang Qi was next to Lin Weimin. When he heard Yang Meng agreed, he was ecstatic.
After the call ended, Zhang Qi hugged Lin Weimin's shoulders and said excitedly, "That's great!"
"Don't get excited. With Ms. Yang Meng's help, we may be able to raise some money, but it won't be too much." It's true that Jin Yong's heart is towards the mainland and he has a special liking for Yang Meng, but his wealth is limited after all, so he is destined not to be able to donate too much.
"That's true." Zhang Qi felt a little discouraged after hearing this. "Then what about Huo Guantai and Shao Yifu?"
"As for Shao Yifu..." Lin Weimin pondered, "We have to find a way from Jin Yong. Shaw Brothers and TVB have adapted many of his works. Let's get Yang Meng involved, and then Jin Yong. We should have an 80% chance of getting Shao Yifu."
"Eighty percent?" Zhang Qi hesitated.
"Is it too little for you?"
Zhang Qi smiled and said, "It would be best if we can be 100% sure!"
Lin Weimin said, "If it really doesn't work, just tell Run Run Shaw that we can promote cooperation between TVB and CCTV. TVB's costume dramas are a big deal, and location shooting has always been their weakness. Cooperation with CCTV can not only make up for this shortcoming, but also take advantage of the low labor and commodity prices in the mainland, so the investment will definitely be smaller than filming in Hong Kong."
Lin Weimin's words made a lot of sense. Zhang Qi kept nodding his head but didn't say anything.
"TVB cooperates with CCTV? I don't have that ability!" After saying that, he stared at Lin Weimin, his meaning was self-evident.
Lin Weimin glared at him unhappily and said, "I'll contact them for you."
Zhang Qi then smiled happily and put his arm around his shoulders, "My dear brother, you are my timely help!"
Lin Weimin slapped his hand away and joked, "Just because I work so hard, it would be unreasonable for you not to give me the position of vice president!"
Zhang Qi vowed: "Don't even mention the vice president. As long as you can raise the money, you can be the president!"
Lin Weimin looked at Zhang Qi with disdain. He was more capable of deceiving people than himself!
The next morning, Zhang Qi followed Yang Meng to visit Jin Yong, and after returning, he happily found Lin Weimin.
"Jin Yong agreed to donate one million Hong Kong dollars to the foundation!"
Lin Weimin smiled, "Not bad, not bad, the mission went smoothly. What about meeting Shao Yifu? Did he agree?"
Zhang Qi smiled and said, "I agreed. I called in front of Ms. Yang Meng today and arranged to meet at the golf course. Tomorrow I will follow Jin Yong to meet Shao Yifu."
Lin Weimin nodded in satisfaction. "According to what I said, meet with Shao Yifu tomorrow and try to win him over. Then you go find Huo Guantai. He has always been close to the mainland and is keen on investing. Now that Jin Yong and Shao Yifu have both donated, he will be embarrassed not to donate, right?"
When Zhang Qi heard this, he couldn't help but give Lin Weimin a thumbs up.
"High! Really high!"
(End of this chapter)
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