Chapter 55: Discovering a Business Opportunity
The opening concert of the "Solar Project 93" concluded with a special performance by Shang Hanyou, who became a sensation across Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong this year with his phenomenal album "I Kissed You Goodbye".
With four more songs than anyone else and a performance time exceeding 20 minutes, he completely proved that as a new generation of Hong Kong pop music, he has begun to gradually approach the pinnacle of this era.
Of course, this ranking in the music scene didn't bother Shang Hanyou too much, as he was happy as long as he could sing. The only problem that made him anxious during this performance was that his Cantonese-accented Mandarin was just too "standard." When he was saying the transition lines between songs, his mind suddenly couldn't process it, resulting in a seamless mix of Mandarin and Cantonese...
After Shang Hanyou, the performer representing the last sun, finished his performance, the four hosts returned to the stage and invited all the artists who had participated in the performance to come up and sing the bilingual version of the theme song for the audience once again.
Li Sishi had changed back into the classic printed white T-shirt she wore at the beginning. When she stood in the artist queue, because Shang Hanyou was standing on the host's side, Ling Chen, who had also changed back into the classic printed white T-shirt, stood on her other side.
Without the "hindrance" of the fitted black suit, the energetic young man was even more carefree in the early hours of the morning. No one knew how he made a deal with the elementary school student dancers behind him, but when he stood next to Li Sishi, he was already holding a colorful bouquet from one of the dancers. Swaying from side to side, he looked exactly like an elementary school student, except for his appearance...
Moreover, not only did he keep making small movements with his hands, but he also made a devilish shuffle with his feet, which was completely different from how he would stand still and output while singing fast and energetic songs later on. Perhaps this is the vitality of young people.
Because of his name, he always appeared at the front of the class at this event every year, earning him the nickname "Son of the Sun"...
Seeing that he was completely letting loose and was now using himself as a backup dancer for elementary school students, Li Sishi quietly moved half a body away: she really didn't dislike him, really, she was just afraid that when he danced with the flowers in his hand, he would smear the faces of the people next to him.
The warm yellow lights on the stage were like the warmth of the sun, while the flickering lights in the audience were like the Milky Way falling to earth. The singing in unison and the enthusiastic cheers and applause created a sea of joy, bringing this charity concert to a perfect close on this night so exciting that it made people's hearts soar.
When the music ended and the audience dispersed, I composed...
As celebrities, Li Sishi and the others didn't need to do anything else. So they packed their things with their assistants, got into their cars, and went back to their pre-booked hotel rooms to get a good night's rest and wait for the next day to take action.
After Li Sishi and her assistant Zuo Lili returned to their room, they immediately sat down in their chairs and let out a long sigh of relief: for a large-scale performance of this level, the people on stage are tired, and the people backstage are also tired, both physically and mentally.
However, being an assistant is definitely busier. After resting for a while and recovering her energy, Zuo Lili got up and started packing her things.
After changing her clothes, Li Sishi sipped the slightly warm herbal tea and said softly, "No need for any big movements. I'm going to the school for blind children tomorrow, so I'll wear that printed T-shirt again. I have a spare one in my suitcase."
Zuo Lili nodded, and after packing out the clothes Li Sishi would wear tomorrow and a spare set of casual clothes, she started making the bed, chatting with Li Sishi as she did so: "The hotel rooms in Shanghai are really big..."
"Of course, our motherland has a vast territory and abundant resources, which cannot be compared with Hong Kong." Li Sishi looked at the night view outside the window. At this time, Shanghai did not yet have the prosperous appearance of the Oriental Pearl Tower with its bright lights, but there were already many lights like stars in the night.
Looking at the sparsely lit lights, Li Sishi suddenly... thought of an opportunity.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange was developing rapidly during this period, and some places are now beyond what people could have imagined, with prices soaring to unimaginable levels in the future.
If she buys some now when prices are low, and the business develops in the future, she and her family will have a safety net for life.
Thinking of this, Li Sishi looked at those places that were still dark and slowly revealed a hopeful smile.
She slept soundly through the night until dawn. The next morning, Li Sishi joined the group and went to the school for blind children in Shanghai to show her love and care for the children.
The children at the school for the blind had thoughtfully prepared a series of performances, including dancing, singing, playing the piano, reciting poetry, and playing many traditional musical instruments. The various artists, who were acting as messengers of the sun, also prepared many games to play with them and gave them small gifts they had brought from the port city.
The most popular gift among the children was undoubtedly the colorful lollipop, which was even more popular than sweaters and radios. Li Sishi and other female artists handed them out as they went, and their sweet "Thank you, sister" was even sweeter than the lollipop itself.
In contrast, the male celebrities playing games were rather comical, especially the three unfortunate brothers, Shang Hanyou, Lingchen, and Huo Gucheng. The three young men were huddled around a chessboard but couldn't beat the blind child on the other side, making the onlooker, Le Ge, laugh and say they were acting out a modern version of the Three Heroes Fighting Lü Bu...
In the afternoon, after the group activity of visiting the school for blind children ended, Li Sishi finally had some free time. So she called her master, Le Yun, who was relatively free, and asked him to fulfill his previous promise and take her sightseeing in Shanghai.
"Sigh, it's a pity Hanyou isn't here. He came here at the beginning of the year, so he should be more familiar with the area than I am." Sitting in the tricycle, Le Yun looked at the scenery outside, which was very different from what he remembered, and sighed.
Unlike him and his little apprentice, who were "idle," Shang Hanyou and his friends have been working like clockwork ever since they were crowned "Kings" last year. As soon as the group activities at the school for the blind ended, they would hurriedly pack their bags and return to the port city to continue working.
"This is my first time here. No matter what, Master, you must know this place better than I do," Li Sishi said with a smile.
These were her honest thoughts. In her previous life, she had only seen the rapidly developing international metropolis of Shanghai in movies, TV shows, and print media. This was the first time she had ever been there in person.
Le Yun smiled and said, "We won't be that familiar with each other anymore. The changes in our country are really huge. If we come back in a year or two, these places will seem completely different. If we didn't have a local guide, I wouldn't dare to take you sightseeing, lest we, master and apprentice, get lost in Shanghai... haha!"
Another point Le Yun didn't mention is that the public is much more enthusiastic and open-minded than before. When Shang Hanyou came here to perform at the East Asian Games, the audience's reaction was lukewarm. They were even stunned by the very ordinary hand-holding and affectionate eye contact between the male and female singers in Hong Kong. After returning home, Shang Hanyou always looked aggrieved whenever he mentioned it, thinking that he had done something wrong that caused the mainland audience to dislike him...
At the opening concert, the audience enthusiastically waved their glow sticks in response to the performers.
Some audience members were particularly "generous" enough to hold up several emergency lights, illuminating their spot in a white haze; others made their own banners in support of a certain artist, waving them as soon as the artist came on stage to show their support.
Those of them who are artists love to see this kind of response the most; it allows them to unleash all their inner potential and make them absolutely...
We must not let down the support we have received.
Li Sishi nodded in agreement, then, like a curious child, peeked out from the sightseeing tricycle, looking left and right.
And I especially love looking at the vast fields of farmland across the river.
"Why do you always look at the scenery over there and think it's better?" Le Yun watched her apprentice's little actions with great interest.
When Li Sishi, this young girl from the port city, said that the view across the river was nice and the accommodation should be very comfortable, the local who was leading the way immediately laughed: "The view over there is indeed nice, but there's a saying in Shanghai: 'I'd rather have a bed in western Shanghai than a room in eastern Shanghai.' Crossing the river over there requires a ferry, which is very inconvenient!"
“However, I heard that the country is strongly supporting the construction there, so things might be different in the future. As the saying goes, things change every thirty years. Take Shenzhen and other special economic zones, for example. Who would have thought they could develop so fast?” Li Sishi glanced at the faint traces of buildings visible among the fields.
"You little brat, you're so young and you want to follow in other people's footsteps and get into the real estate industry?" Le Yun was both amused and exasperated by this remark.
"I'd like to try it if I had the chance. I can't afford a house in Hong Kong, and I can't go back to the mainland to see our roots." Li Sishi laughed lightly, feeling the gentle river breeze. "Besides, being an artist these days really only earns you a meager living. After decades of hard work, it's not as good as investing in real estate like Senior Kuang Meixing and waiting to reap the rewards!"
"If you think you have the eye of 'Kuang Meiren', then give it a try, just don't push yourself too hard." Upon hearing Li Sishi's words, Le Yun immediately gave Li Sishi a heartfelt account of Kuang Meixing's previous experience in real estate speculation.
As for Yue Yun, the real estate tycoon in the music industry, she naturally knew some things: This woman, whose nickname is "Kuang Meiren", Kuang Meixing, was the first runner-up of Miss Hong Kong in 1982. Because her family was poor and her house was small when she was young, she dropped out of school early to support her family. Therefore, she set her sights on making a lot of money and buying a big house when she was very young.
Later, after Kuang Mei-hing became famous through the Miss Hong Kong pageant, she signed with PolyGram Records and became a singer and actress. Her albums were of good quality and she was quite lucky to be popular in nightclubs and bars. Therefore, she was considered one of the more successful Miss Hong Kong contestants of the 1980s.
But what's most shocking is that over the past ten years, Kuang Meixing used the money she earned in the entertainment industry to take out loans for more than ten houses when prices were low. Then she worked tirelessly to pay off the loans, performing all over the world to earn money to pay them off. Now that the loans are gradually being paid off and the real estate market is gradually recovering, she has become a real estate speculation legend and has begun to fade out of the entertainment industry and move into the business world.
Based on Le Yun's experience, if Kuang Meixing had the talent and luck, and didn't value the real estate market and making money so much, but instead spent more time investing in the music industry, then maybe in the next year or two, TBL would add a corresponding "Four Heavenly Queens" following the "promotion" of the previous four male kings.
The other three candidates for the "Four Heavenly Queens" are relatively clear: Ye Shanyun, Tang Jingwen, and Cen Xilian. Only one candidate remains to be confirmed.
Seeing the resources and value of Shang Hanyou and his three young friends increase dramatically after they became top stars, he was interested in training his own apprentice to compete for the last spot. But now it seems that his apprentice is thinking of going in a different direction.
"Although I have a slight interest in the real estate market, my main focus is still on the entertainment industry, so Master, you don't need to worry too much about me 'going astray.'" Li Sishi, while wanting to earn money to buy property and secure her future, still cherishes her dream of becoming a Hong Kong entertainment legend. "Keep an eye on things! I will definitely become a superstar in both singing and acting!"
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