Chapter 293 A handsome young man turned into a zombie solely due to his laziness…
Faced with such an unreliable and empty promise from Mao Shan, Qin Xiangxiang decided to take it.
Because it doesn't harm her at all; she won't lose money no matter what. Even if the box office ultimately loses money, she'll still make some profit, which is her personal 2% share of the profits. It's like getting something for nothing.
She just came up with an idea—she suspected that Mao Shan was trying to get her on a bad side.
They really did share the money!
In addition, there is the clothing expenditure belonging to Fei Yan Textile Factory, of which 5% is considered as a percentage of the shares, which is about HK$30,000 to HK$40,000. However, since they are a textile factory, they are clothing manufacturers, and this clothing cost is roughly equivalent to the cost of "raw materials" in their expenditure.
They were essentially only paying for raw materials and the labor costs of the workers. They accepted the losses, as it didn't seriously damage the factory itself. Moreover, Feiyan Textile Factory had two factories that were doing quite well.
This small loss is nothing to worry about.
Many clothes can be made from scraps.
"I don't have the final say on this matter. Let all the employees of Feiyan Textile Factory vote on it."
Qin thought that the factory director couldn't make such a big decision on his own, so he held a general meeting of all employees. The factory almost unanimously approved the decision to invest in "Hong Kong Island Cinema".
For all the employees, they didn't really feel like they were losing out. The only loss was a little bit of the factory's raw materials, and what they sacrificed was their own labor processing fees—but this was movie costumes!
Even without pay, making costumes for Hong Kong movies is a novel and exciting experience.
Even if they ended up losing everything, the factory workers didn't actually lose any money and could still brag to their friends.
"Our factory has made costumes for Hong Kong movies!"
"Zombie movies! Our factory has made zombie costumes..."
"These Hong Kong people are really fearless, actually making zombie movies!"
...
If they don't make a profit, their factory won't lose much, and everyone will have some fun; if they do make a profit, then Feiyan Textile Factory will be thrilled! They'll even get box office stock dividends, although we don't know the exact amount, but they should be rich, right?
How much does a movie gross in Hong Kong?
"have no idea."
"Who cares how many there are? Let's join in the fun!"
"Yeah, whatever, let's just join in the fun."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
She thought to herself, "What kind of strange employees do I have in this factory? They're all eating sunflower seeds and watching the show, they just love to join in the fun."
Haha, she really took after her, the factory manager who loves to watch the drama unfold.
Putting everything else aside, Qin Xiangxiang also wanted to see a show and know how zombie movies were made, as she had never actually seen one before.
Now that they're going to be involved in a Hong Kong film production, the entire Fei Yan Textile Factory, both Factory 1 and Factory 2, is bustling with activity, like it's about to celebrate the Lunar New Year, as if boiling water is about to boil.
Secretary Li: "Factory Director, should we invite a master to perform a ritual for the clothing? Before making these kinds of clothes, should we kill a chicken and drench it with chicken blood?"
Qin Xiangxiang was speechless: "You really are feudal and superstitious, but it's approved. No need to invite a master, just kill a chicken."
"Killing a rooster brings out its yang energy."
Secretary Li: "..."
Young worker Wang Youyou was very excited: "Factory director, can we participate in the filming? Can we play roles in the movie? I have a fellow educated youth who doesn't mind playing a corpse at all, he'd even be willing to play a zombie... Could you introduce him to Director Mao?"
Qin Xiangxiang said, "You should go and talk to Director Mao yourself."
Aunt Pan: "Factory manager, this is a very important matter. Should we choose an auspicious day to start work?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
She thought to herself: I'll secretly bring my daughter Sui Sui over for a stroll.
—This is absolutely not about feudal superstition, it's just for the sake of celebration.
Ning Cheng: "Factory Director, I knew it! It's time for me to make a difference! I never thought I'd be making clothes for movies in my lifetime."
Qin Xiangxiang: "The setting is the Republic of China era, so take it easy."
"Let me make the zombie clothes myself." These words came from Qin Xiangxiang's master, Lu Suxin, who decided to make two Qing Dynasty official robes for the zombies in the movie.
Qin Xiangxiang was shocked: "...Master Lu, you're going to make the clothes yourself?"
"right."
Qin Xiangxiang: "You weren't even this enthusiastic when you were making my clothes!"
“This is interesting.” Lu Suxin smiled. Since her husband’s death, her personality had become increasingly gloomy, but since meeting Qin Xiangxiang, her “apprentice,” she has become more and more vibrant in recent years, and even tells jokes.
They also like to join in the fun.
Qin Xiangxiang said angrily, "Don't my clothes have any meaning?"
"It's good that you know."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "As punishment, you have to make me two more outfits. I want Suzhou embroidery cheongsams."
Lu Suxin's idea to make zombie costumes wasn't unfounded; she had a specific idea in mind: she wanted to try using a "dark night light" technique to create movie zombie costumes.
"This specially made fabric, with layers of silk threads embedded within it, emits a subtle sheen under certain lighting..."
Such clothing would be terrifying on ordinary people, but when used to create zombies, it is both terrifying and exquisitely gorgeous.
Upon seeing Lu Suxin's skills, Mao Shan was immediately awestruck: "God bless me, Mao Shan! With skills like this, it'll be hard for my movie not to make a profit!"
Qin Xiangxiang thought he was too unreliable.
Mao Shan and the screenwriter stayed at Feiyan Textile Factory, visited the remaining Republican-era buildings, and rewrote the script together. They also kept asking Qin Xiangxiang questions about Mawangdui.
Qin Xiangxiang was also curious about their scriptwriting process, and in order to openly "slack off," she offered a whole bunch of bad ideas.
Mao Shan's revised screenplay still didn't break free from the framework of traditional zombie films; he only made some comedic modifications.
Traditional zombie movies typically involve a Taoist priest subduing a zombie. The zombies cause chaos, and someone with the ability and Taoist magic subdues and seals them away. This is the basic framework.
Typically, it involves a master leading his apprentice to subdue zombies and quell the disaster.
Because of the need for comedic reform, the traditional Taoist master-disciple relationship had to be changed.
"Now we've set them up as an odd master and apprentice. The master is greedy for money, but he's also naturally bad at keeping it. Although he's very powerful, his magic works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't."
"Generally speaking, it works better when you're broke."
"My apprentice is timid and cowardly, but he has a kind heart."
"The two main zombies in the movie are a big zombie and a small zombie. The big zombie is a very, very, very scary zombie, but he is actually a 'lazy zombie'. Although he is scary, he is lazy. In his previous life, he was a lazy yamen runner who lay flat. After he died, he mutated into this lazy zombie."
The screenwriter nodded: "That's right, that's right, the lazy zombie. The official who followed him was a wicked man who tried to become an immortal zombie after death. He collected a lot of treasures, but this lazy official was too tired. He just lay down anywhere and ended up in the coffin that the official had prepared for him. All the benefits went to this lazy official. Because he was too lazy, he survived the madness, survived the transformation, and restrained his desire to suck blood... He was even too lazy to move in the sun, which actually honed him into a top-level zombie that was not afraid of the sun—all thanks to the word 'laziness' that he cultivated into the Zombie King."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..." Why? Just because a zombie is labeled "lazy," does that turn it into a comedy?
"This zombie king is terrifying, but he moves slowly. Sigh, when he's chasing someone, he'll deliberately stop to sunbathe—even after becoming a zombie, he still wants to sunbathe and take a nap."
Qin Xiangxiang: "...After he was afflicted with the talisman, did he not go crazy, but instead yawn and want to sleep?"
The screenwriter clapped his hands: "Yes, yes, yes, yes!"
Mao Shan: "There is also a little zombie next to the zombie king. This little zombie is a mutated funerary object. It has the mind of a child. It does not suck blood and will steal food from the villagers."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..." Will anyone actually watch this kind of story?
Qin Xiangxiang had watched many morally correct educational films since childhood, and the few comedies she occasionally saw were mostly everyday comedic stories like a policeman being late for a blind date... This damn "lazy zombie" story was like a knife to the butt, an eye-opener.
This director and screenwriter, Mao Shan, is even wilder than the handwritten story.
"This unreliable master and apprentice initially tried every means to get rid of the Lazy Zombie King, but he always managed to make them look foolish because of his 'unconventional' ways, which provided a lot of laughs."
Mao Shan: "The villain in our zombie movie is not a zombie, but a human, a vicious feng shui master who controls zombies. He wants to control the zombie king and the little zombies, but he causes them to go crazy."
"Through the efforts of the protagonist and his apprentice, they restored the zombie king to peace and defeated the evil Taoist priest."
Mao Shan's eyes lit up as he spoke. Although the plot was still within the framework of old zombie movies, being friends with zombies, cooperating with zombies, and fighting against evil Taoist priests... this was definitely a groundbreaking idea.
"The zombie king should be as terrifying as possible when he first appears... and then let the audience discover his 'lazy' nature."
"With this plot change, even the zombies look 'handsome' to me."
"To possess such incredible abilities yet be so incredibly lazy, that's the greatest comedy!"
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
At that moment, Factory Director Qin felt deeply implied.
This lazy zombie, because it was so lazy, cultivated itself into a zombie king.
And because she was so lazy, she became the manager of a textile factory, and it seemed to be doing better and better...
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