Chapter 253: Taking Over the Zhao Family

"The equipment in the Zhao Studios was so complete and advanced that it was extremely rare in the Hong Kong film and television industry at that time. From the planning of the script to the final distribution and copying, there was no need to rely on external forces like other film companies at that time to complete all the processes of making a movie. Instead, it could be completed directly in Shaw Studios." Seeing that Chen Baiyang had walked away tactfully, Zhao Liying pondered for a moment and organized his words. Then he began to speak, "Do you know why Zhao went against the traditional rules and spent a lot of money and effort to do this?"

"The rumor is not because of Zhao..." Su Yun subconsciously wanted to answer, but paused when he mentioned the name Zhao Rifu, not knowing how to address him.

After thinking about it, I simply omitted the personal subject. Anyway, Zhao Liying should be able to understand it.

"Rumor has it that it was to compete with the film companies in Hong Kong at the time. They probably wanted to take advantage of the situation by coming here like a dragon to suppress the local snakes. In addition, they wanted to create an Eastern Hollywood. They borrowed from the Western capitalist film production model to implement a one-stop assembly line production management and spent a lot of money to build such a film factory..." Su Yun talked about what she had heard and summarized: Zhao Rifu introduced a lot of production equipment that was considered advanced in the world at the time and bought a lot of land and built a lot of buildings. He must have wanted to avoid being restricted in some aspects, so he made it so big.

Only in this way can we control all aspects of the production process and avoid accidents to the greatest extent.

To be honest, compared to the traditional division of labor film production at that time, where a problem in one link would affect the entire production process, Zhao Rifu's foresight of doing everything by himself without sharing was truly extraordinary, so much so that new companies such as Jiahe and Zhen Yicheng that were able to do the whole thing copied his work.

"That's just one of the reasons." Zhao Liying smiled bitterly and shook his head. "My uncle was in charge of cinemas and amusement parks in Singapore. To run such entertainment venues well, they must have unique and incomparable features compared to their peers."

"Westernization and modernization were popular in that era, so Uncle Six focused on the two words 'big' and 'luxury' when developing his company. In addition, the Chien Shing Studio, which was often used by the Hong Kong Zhao family when making movies, became a rival company due to industry mergers. If he didn't build his own studio as soon as possible, he would have great difficulties in making movies."

"Since the fashion films of the rival studio Cathay Pacific had already gained a lot of inertial popularity, Uncle Six, who originally had a typical amusement park mentality, came to Hong Kong and formulated the policy that Zhao's Cinema would be more inclined to shoot large-scale costume films. The route was to build a big factory and shoot big films in order to make big money..."

Su Yun nodded thoughtfully: It seems that Zhao Rifu has been fond of the method of taking big risks for a long time. No wonder after Zhao became the leading boss of Hong Kong film, he began to develop into the European and American markets.

Moreover, every time he invests, he always makes a big-budget, big-production science fiction movie, so much so that people outside unanimously believe that the Zhao family in Hong Kong is stupid and has a lot of money...

After all, science fiction is still a new thing these days. If it is well made, it will certainly make a lot of money, but if it is not well made... it is also very easy to lose a lot of money. In the European and American markets that are currently more inclined towards traditional themes, it is a typical gambler's choice.

Zhao Liying sighed, "However, the fundamental reason why Uncle Six and Uncle Three were able to take charge of all the links at once was actually because of my father."

"Oh? There's a story behind this?" It was old news known to the older generation that Zhao Rifu had teamed up with his third brother to seize power from his second brother. Even Su Yun had heard a lot about it: In the early years, the second brother Zhao was the one who made the decisions in the Hong Kong company, while Zhao Rifu, the sixth brother, worked in Singapore with his third brother.

Later it was said that Zhao Rifu and Zhao Sange were dissatisfied with the incompetent Zhao Erge, so Zhao Rifu came from Singapore to seize the power of Zhao Erge. It was for this reason that Zhao Erge, whose power was gradually sidelined, simply dragged Zhao Liying away from the Zhao family, and then sold most of the theater resources of the father and son to Zou Yunhua's Jiahe, severely stabbing Zhao Rifu in the back.

"When my grandfather founded Tianyi Company in Shanghai, he planned to move south to Hong Kong, where the situation was relatively peaceful, because of the war. However, his peers in the Hong Kong film industry set two fires on the set, burning all the company's assets to ashes." When Zhao Liying recalled these unknown old events, he still felt helpless about the world that was inseparable from the underworld forces. "My grandfather was hit hard by this, and he took my grandmother back to Shanghai to retire. After that, my father took over the reconstruction of Tianyi and renamed it 'Zhao's & Sons', specializing in film production."

"At the same time, my third and sixth uncles went to Nanyang, which is now Singapore, and established the Zhao Brothers Company, which was responsible for the film distribution business."

"It's actually quite embarrassing to say this. My father was in charge of finance, so he was always very stingy. He always tried to save as much as possible on film production costs. Over time, the quality of the films produced could not keep up with the growing market demand in Southeast Asia..." Speaking of the business-like, thrifty character of the first two generations of the Zhao family, Zhao Liying's helplessness became even more profound. "At that time, my third uncle and sixth uncle had already barely withstood the pressure from the powerful Lu family in Southeast Asia, and owned over a hundred theaters and a dozen amusement parks. What was needed was for the production companies in Hong Kong to work hard to produce more good films and then counterattack the Lu family."

"For this reason, my third uncle and sixth uncle made an agreement with my father directly. They would pay for the production and my father would only be responsible for the filming..." Hearing this, Su Yun probably guessed the reason for the brothers' breakup: As the saying goes, the reason why men turn against each other is either for money or for women.

The third and sixth brothers gave the money but didn't assign anyone to look after the property, so they would definitely be charged the difference.

As expected, Zhao Liying continued to say what Su Yun expected: "At that time, my third uncle and sixth uncle paid 250,000 yuan for the production of each film, and then my father took 50,000 yuan first, and the task was passed on to Director Zhang under his company..."

"Then Director Zhang swallowed up another 50,000, and gave the remaining 150,000 to Director Li, whom he knew, to shoot the film..."

"Although Director Li received the least money, he pocketed the most - he pocketed half of the NT$150,000 himself, and after shooting a movie using the popular 'seven-day fresh' shooting method at the time, he even had some left over..."

Su Yun's face turned green after hearing this: Fortunately, she had personally supervised several films at Zhao's before, otherwise if she had encountered such a terrible thing of money swallowing and subcontracting at every level, her career would have been ruined directly in this big pit.

Twenty-five thousand dollars in exchange for goods worth less than seventy-five thousand, and the one who was behind this troublesome thing was his own brother. No wonder Zhao Rifu was so angry that he joined forces with his third brother to kill his second brother in Hong Kong from Southeast Asia. If it were her, she would do the same!

Now that I think about it more carefully, I seem to have heard that after leaving Zhao's, the second brother Zhao went into real estate - no wonder, the vampire character of the real estate industry has long been cultivated.

After telling all those unknown stories, Zhao Liying seemed to finally unload a heavy stone that he had been carrying for many years. He looked at me with bright eyes and said, "Although Zhao can now take charge of all production and distribution, there has been a loss of talent over the years, and I have been away from this industry for so many years. Besides, I was not a professional producer before."

"Even if I can take over all matters related to distribution, I really have no way to handle the production." Zhao Liying looked at Su Yun very seriously, "But if you are the one in charge of production, I will give it a try."

Seeing that he had great confidence in his abilities, Su Yun was silent for a while before replying, "Do you know how profitable the real estate industry is now?"

This was not a random move on her part. When she first came to this era, she had already understood accurately that if she continued to follow the normal development trend, except for rebelling in some small Southeast Asian countries and succeeding by sheer luck, the income from doing anything else would not be as good as doing IT and real estate...

"At that time, Lu Yuntu of the Lu family once boasted that as long as my third uncle and sixth uncle were willing to name the price, the Lu family could directly buy out all of the Zhao family's assets in Southeast Asia, and they would never bargain." Speaking of the Lu family, the owner of the rival Dianmao at that time, Zhao Liying could not help but sigh: If it weren't for the plane crash that took Lu Yuntu away and dragged down the entire Lu family, it would be unknown who would have been the leader of the Hong Kong film industry in the 1960s and 1970s.

After all, the ancestor of the Lu family was Lu You, one of the four great Chinese entrepreneurs, while the ancestor of the Zhao family was just an ordinary businessman with a small fortune in comparison.

However, Zhao Rifu still had dreams at the time and his mind was still on the family-inherited film and television business. He regarded the unlimited check issued by Lu as just a piece of waste paper.

"Uncle Six has been silent these years because of the disengagement of shareholders in the company and the helplessness of not having a successor. If he could still see a glimmer of hope, he would never give up Zhao's." Zhao Liying sighed, "The management of a large company must be ruthless enough. The fundamental reason for the scrutiny is to ensure that all employees can afford to eat..."

“These are the human touches that Zhao and TBB’s employees can’t help but miss even though they know the pay is unequal.”

Su Yun fell silent again. It was not that she did not understand these principles. She had also witnessed with her own eyes that the Hong Kong entertainment industry had clearly declined in later generations, but still insisted on making movies and TV series.

Even if they are constantly criticized for their bad movies and consumer sentiments, they will never stop - otherwise, many related workers will not be able to work and will have no money to eat.

Slowly scanning the film crew, the old dormitory buildings still inhabited, and the venues bearing traces of countless years, Su Yun finally spoke: "With our power, can we make him reject temptation and regain his dream?"

"I am willing to try, and they are willing to try too - they are just waiting for you." The "they" that Zhao Liying refers to is naturally the new generation of the Zhao family in Hong Kong.

As I said this, the sun was setting.

In the golden and red glow of the sunset, Chen Baiyang looked at the two people behind him from afar and made an agreement.

Busy days always pass quickly, but no matter how busy they are, Hong Kong people's spirit of enjoying the show is absolutely not tired at all.

Hearing that Su Yun agreed to acknowledge his ancestry and even held a banquet at Fulinmen on his real birthday to recognize his relationship, the Zhao family seemed to have rejected Jianing's acquisition offer for this reason - many people could not help but feel extremely shocked by Zhao Rifu's courage.

Chia-Ning is at the peak of its career in the real estate industry, and its big boss Chen Cong-ying is a super tycoon in the stock market. He gave up cooperation with Chia-Ning for the return of Su Yun. Isn't Zhao Rifu too doting on Su Yun, this old woman?

Or is it because... this is Miss Fang's only child?

The nosy paparazzi staked out Huang Misheng and the Zhao brothers and sisters many times, but they were not able to take pictures of them every time. On the contrary, Huang Misheng was so moved by Su Yun's recognition of her ancestry that he was even more excited than Fang Mona, her biological mother...

However, the Zhao brothers and sisters expressed the same attitude towards the fact that "Zhao Rifu seemed to refuse cooperation with Jianing for Su Yun": Although money can be made in the real estate industry, the family business cannot be lost.

The Zhao family's seemingly foolish decision to give up on making big money this time around has caused countless people to secretly laugh at them.

Until one day near the end of the year, Jianing was finally exposed for the explosive news that Chen Congying was speculating and shorting shell companies to arbitrage investors. Not only did it trigger another earthquake in the Hong Kong stock market, it also made those who thought that the Zhao family had big ideas realize Su Yun's "luck".

It is rumored that Chen Congying, who was heavily in debt, bought several lives in order to escape!

As soon as the news came out, the name Chen Congying evolved from a former stock market giant to the new male protagonist of Hong Kong's top ten strange cases.

The stockbroker found that his idol had suddenly become a person of the same level as the Rainy Night Butcher and the Tuen Mun Sex Maniac. He no longer cared about his trapped stock assets and rushed to the newspaper stand at the entrance of the building to buy a bunch of Su Yun-related peripheral products. Then he rushed home and replaced all the photos of Chen Congying on his altar and bedside table with full-color high-definition photos of Su Yun from the front...

"She can correct her mistakes and has a bright future!" The horse gambler next door saw this and immediately showed a satisfied look as if he had finally succeeded in recommending her. "I said that Mary Sue is a quality, quantity and genuine money girl! Look, she hasn't even returned to Zhao's company yet, but she has saved Zhao's company from such a huge loss!"

"That's right, from now on I will believe in Marie Sue with all my heart, and even Jesus can't stop me!" The stockbroker nodded vigorously.