Chapter 120 New Songs and New Plays

As the end of the year approaches, the comedy film "Half a Catty, Eight Taels" co-starring the Hui Brothers was finally officially released on December 16th.

I have to say that the film production in Hong Kong is indeed progressing at a rapid pace.

It is worth mentioning that because the major film companies had previously united to help resist the ban, the relationship between Zhao Rifu and Zou Yunhua, the former good partners and now sworn enemies, seemed to have eased a little because of this temporary cooperation.

Although Zhao and Chia-Ho, who are in charge of each party, are still refusing to give in, TBB, a television station managed by Zhao's family, has already allowed its artists to go to other film companies to make movies.

What Jiahe lacks most at the moment are third- and fourth-tier artists with a certain degree of popularity and audience appeal. Although TBB's TV actors are not as famous as the movie actors who focus on the big screen due to the small screen, as most of them focus on filming TV series, they can basically make themselves familiar to the general family audience.

Jiahe lacked supporting actors with some popularity, and TBB's TV actors lacked film resources - the two sides hit it off immediately, temporarily put aside their past opposing prejudices, exchanged resources, and achieved mutual success.

Therefore, Jiahe produced "Half a Catty, Eight Taels" and chose Zhao Xiashi, who had worked with them before and was later signed by TBB to participate in the Miss Hong Kong pageant: In this era when movies need big names to support the scene, the path of female actors is easier than that of male actors, but it is difficult for them to reach the level of male actors.

As an actress, as long as she has strong qualifications and is willing to work hard, she can strive for various supporting roles or even the leading female role. As for male actors, it requires more luck. Unless they are lucky enough to become a big star and reach the threshold of the previous generation of big names, otherwise they are destined to be the shadow of the previous generation of big names for the rest of their lives and can only exist as a backup.

After watching the premiere of "A Little Bit of Money" and wishing the Xu brothers great fortune, Su Yun took advantage of her free time to prepare Christmas and New Year cards.

Basically, she would visit her friends in Hong Kong in person after the holidays, but for her friends in Japan, Europe and America, she could only send greeting cards as a blessing because of the long distances.

Perhaps when she has time to fly to Japan or the United States, she will find opportunities to meet with the more familiar people such as Kamachi Houko, Hayashi Jiashu, Zhuang Long, Tom, and Bourne, who have changed their names to Matsuda Seiko.

As for other ordinary friends, try to maintain a gentlemanly friendship as pure as water. There is no need to be too intimate so just let things take their course and make an appointment when there is a chance. But you can't be too cold either so you have to send something from time to time to maintain the relationship.

The more Su Yun calculated the treatment each person received from her, the more she felt like a scumbag: she would pamper and care more about the ones she favored and was familiar with; for the ones she had an ordinary relationship with, she would occasionally "reward" them with something in a lukewarm manner to show her presence and maintain the relationship...

But people have limited energy! Of course, the magic card takes priority, and the warehouse manager keeps it in cold storage - when there is a need in the future, perhaps someone's position in her heart will change accordingly.

After settling on the part about personal connections, Su Yun began to prepare for further studies.

Yes, she planned to finish high school as soon as possible and then skip a grade to go to college to study computer technology as a cover for her advanced black technology.

Although as she grew older, her acting skills could no longer enjoy the bonus treatment of a child actor, and she needed to continue to study - however, after considering that acting skills could be improved through auditing and interest clubs, and that she did not need to reach Hollywood film-level acting skills in Hong Kong for the time being, Su Yun resolutely chose to study computer science, which was the most needed major.

After all, compared to doing business, making movies is always more profitable.

Due to the ban, her movies have been temporarily put on hold in recent years.

The most practical and wise choice is to first join the behind-the-scenes and make money from gold mines such as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Apple, and use it as the economic foundation for the future "return of the king".

Therefore, under the guidance of the principal of St. Paul's High School, Su Yun chose St. Clair University in California as her goal: although this university is not well-known in China, it is the oldest university in California with a very high academic reputation and is one of the top 50 universities in the United States.

Because the school is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, its most famous majors are "Computer Science and Engineering" and "Business Management".

Of course, the best universities near Silicon Valley are Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, but both have many strong rivals due to their reputations and the latter is located farther away. Therefore, Su Yun, whose focus is now on industry, wants to lay the foundation for her future career. There is no doubt that St. Clair is her best choice for applying for special recruitment, as it has sufficient strength, is not too famous, has few strong rivals, and has an excellent location.

To achieve great things, one must make sacrifices. Her ultimate goal at the moment is to revitalize the entertainment industry in Eastern Hollywood, so she can't just sprint towards the image of a super academic god as she pleases.

But it doesn't matter. At her current age, even if she is specially admitted to college, other people of her age have not yet finished high school. When the gold mines are listed and sweep the world, she will be more suitable in age and qualifications, and she can continue to move up to conquer the super prestigious schools.

After deciding everything, the New Year holiday began soon.

Su Yun took advantage of the New Year to have a good time with her relatives and friends, and then brought gifts and began to visit the elders who loved her so much.

The first to visit were the families of Lu Shaolong and Xu Gujie, who were closest to her. In response to her master and grandfather's concern for her film, Su Yun replied very calmly: "On Christmas Eve a few days ago, Ovitz called me and said that "The Fault in Our Stars" was not affected much. If nothing unexpected happens, it will still make a lot of money, so there is no need to worry too much."

Even because it was billed as possibly Su Yun's last work, the box office in the days after the holiday actually increased instead of decreased.

Although the first week box office statistics have not yet come out, it is basically locked in the top three movie box office in the same period.

After comforting her master and foster father who cared about her, Su Yun took the gifts and went to the home of her elementary school teacher Zheng Guoguang.

In recent years, Zheng Guoguang has changed to a higher-paying job and written a lot of lyrics under a pseudonym, so the environment at home has improved a lot. When Su Yun was led into the living room by his wife, she obviously felt that it was much brighter inside.

Perhaps the mortgage was finally paid off, so the spirits of the people living there and the decoration of the living environment have improved.

"Why are you here?" Su Yun was a little surprised when she saw a familiar tall and thin figure.

"KK said that the lyrics I wrote were not suitable for recording, so I asked Teacher Zheng to help me rewrite the lyrics." Chen Baiyang said somewhat aggrievedly.

Cheng Kuo-Kuang smiled and said, "Nowadays, love songs are popular, but his version of the song describes a lone goose and the words are sad... Tan Kuo-Hsi felt that it was not commercial enough."

Su Yun poked her head out to glance at the half-written lyrics of the new version, and after realizing that the lyrics written by Zheng Guoguang were the "Tears Flow for You", which established Chen Baiyang's position in the Hong Kong pop music scene, she nodded knowingly.

"By the way, KK has been wanting to find you recently." Chen Boyang thought for a moment and added, "Because now in Hong Kong, apart from the album of your adopted grandfather Xu Gujie, not many people dare to record Cantonese songs, so he plans to make a compilation album for me, half English songs and half Cantonese songs."

"He wants the re-recording rights for What's Your Name?" Su Yun roughly understood what he meant. "Of course, it's possible, but we still have to discuss the details of the contract. This song is the theme song of the movie Fault in Our Stars. Logically, Lesley, who sang with you, should also have a part..."

"I also want to ask him to record a duet version, and then release a solo version." Chen Baiyang explained, "But he has a lot of TV drama contracts recently, and his agent also asked him to stir up a scandal. I don't know if he has time."

"Then you two should contact each other first. I have to fly to Japan later to check the marketing feedback of the game console and the development progress of new games. I have to prepare for the final exam when I come back." Su Yun waved his hands helplessly, with a pitiful look of "I am also very busy". "When you have discussed it, I will also be done with my work, so we can discuss the cooperation matters in detail."

Chen Boyang nodded, then politely said goodbye to everyone present and left the Zheng family alone.

He was planning to go directly to Zhang Querong to discuss the possibility of collaborating on recording a song, but unexpectedly when he went to Liying's place the next day, he came up empty-handed.

"Someone from a film company came to see him?" Chen Boyang was very happy for his friend when he heard the news: Zhang Querong was always pressured to film TV series and make love at Liying, so busy that the two of them didn't have much time to contact each other recently. In addition, his salary was very low and could not afford the expenses of Zhang Querong who was used to enjoying a comfortable house...

The pay for making movies is much higher than working on TV, and his good friend really likes making movies more.

At this time, Chen Baiyang, who was still happy that his friend's luck had finally turned around, had never expected that this movie invitation was not as good as he had imagined.

"A New Dream of the Red Chamber?" When Zhang Querong, who was equally inexperienced, saw the proposed title, he couldn't believe that such a big pie could hit him, but he really liked the theme of A Dream of the Red Chamber.

"Yes, this play is based on the classic literary masterpiece Dream of the Red Chamber, but this time we are not simply remaking it, but focusing more on re-creation and postmodern deconstruction, in order to present the love tragedy of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu in an artistic way that ordinary people cannot imagine. It is a highly artistic literary comedy." The other party explained, "You have been chosen as the male lead, and we plan to use Huang Hanxiu as the female lead. The producer is the famous Wu Shiyuan."

He was not too familiar with Wu Shiyuan from the film industry, but he was very familiar with Huang Hanxiu, a popular young actress who became famous for her roles as heroines in martial arts films, because she had filmed many TV dramas. Thinking of Huang Hanxiu's graceful and elegant ancient costume style and her delicate and moving performance, Zhang Querong became more and more attracted to her.

But no matter how tempted he is, is he really so lucky to be the leading actor in his first movie?

After telling the other party that he would think about it, Zhang Querong walked out of the small conference room with somewhat shaky steps.

At this time, the TV station's set was in the middle of filming, with people coming and going and the place was bustling with noise. However, because Zhang Querong was troubled by something, he did not have the mood to greet everyone he met with a smile as he usually did.

However, sometimes, even if you don't want to, there are always people who come up to you with other intentions.

"Feng Sheng!"

"You remembered it wrongly. My last name is Zhang, and my name is Lesley." It is common for unknown artists to be mistaken by the staff. Zhang Querong did not mind it. He just came back to his senses and looked at the person who called him, then smiled and stated his real name.

"Don't be so modest. Everyone in the TV station knows your nickname 'Feng Ren Lan' (you pick up everyone you meet). Why are you waiting for someone to pick you up again today?" the staff member said with a wry smile.

The so-called "逢人攬" actually refers to his behavior of approaching and embracing everyone he sees...

Zhang Querong's face changed, and when he was about to speak, a familiar voice came from behind him: "Hey, Lesley!"

"It's been a long time since we last met. Let's hug each other." Chen Boyang came up from behind and hugged him without saying anything. Then he looked at the staff member who was talking. "Lesley went to study abroad when he was a teenager. He has a very Western style. He likes physical contact and sometimes even kisses us friends!"

Watching the staff leave in disgrace, Chen Boyang looked at Zhang Querong and said with dissatisfaction: "How can there be such a snobbish person? You too, why don't you talk back?"

"There are so many people like this. If we deal with each of them, how can we have so much time?" Zhang Querong smiled faintly.

"You just have a good temper. I can't stand it if it were me!" Chen Boyang still glared at the man's back angrily.

Zhang Querong bowed his head and said nothing: In fact, it’s not entirely because of his good temper - it’s just that when you are under someone’s roof, you have to bow your head.

Unlike his old friend who majored in music and could compose music, he could not rely on his musical talent to become famous. Since he signed with Liying, his records have not been able to sell, and he has not received any good film offers. He does not know how long he can endure this period of silence...

King Yan is easy to deal with, but the little devil is hard to deal with.

These low-level workers know how to flatter the powerful and bully the weak; but when facing their ridicule, artists have to face them with a smile, otherwise they will expose some "black material" in secret and get into trouble.

Fortunately, Danny makes a living with his talent, so he doesn't have to work as hard to cultivate interpersonal relationships like he does - people say that he is "friendly to everyone he meets", and he himself is actually a little ashamed of it.

In addition to his personality, he smiled at everyone and showed his friendliness with a friendly attitude. This was indeed for the purpose of making friends with others and exchanging favors in the circle.

No matter where you are, society has always been based on personal connections, and this is even more so in the entertainment industry, which emphasizes seniority and the use of personal connections.

"By the way, I will release a new album later, and I plan to include the song "What's Your Name" that we sang together back then. In addition to the a cappella version, I also plan to record a solo version and a chorus version of the soundtrack. Have you heard about it recently? Do you have time to spare?" Just as Zhang Querong lowered his head in thought, Chen Boyang suddenly asked.

In fact, he has been extremely free during this period of time...

But having free time is also the most terrible thing in an artist's career.

Facing the sincere gaze of his friends, a strange idea suddenly emerged in Zhang Querong's heart: he had used being busy as an excuse not to contact his friends recently, but in fact he was afraid that after seeing the smooth development of his friends, he would have bad thoughts.

But things in the world don’t always go as we wish. We can’t get what we want, but we encounter what we don’t want.

When others looked down on him, he just accepted it calmly and laughed it off; but when his good friends offered help in a way that was inconspicuous but actually poor at acting, it gave his self-esteem a great shock.

"I just took on a movie recently..." He forced himself to look calm and composed, "It's a big-budget movie adapted from the classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber. I play the male lead Jia Baoyu, and the pay is pretty good. I'll be joining the crew soon."

"Really? Congratulations!" Chen Boyang was very happy when he heard this and held his hand tightly. "In that case, the recording of the song will be postponed for the time being. I will go back to record first. Remember to save a ticket for me when the time comes. I will definitely go to see the movie starring you!"

Watching Chen Boyang's relaxed figure walking away, Zhang Querong let out a long breath, and with heavy steps, turned and walked towards the small conference room they had come out of before.