Chapter 99

Just as Huang Yuanshen, who happened to be free, quickly came to Li Xu's office and then quickly left, he agreed to play Huo Yuanjia and act opposite Zhao Yazhi.

As soon as he entered, Li Xu bluntly asked, "Do you and Zhao Yazhi have a private affair?"

Huang Yuanshen was stunned for several seconds before he reacted. If it were anyone else, he would have flipped out long ago, but the person in front of him was the boss, an American, so he had to suppress his anger and answer, "Absolutely not."

"Emotional but restrained?" Li Xu asked with a hint of suggestion.

The other party immediately fell for it: "Exactly!"

Then Li Xu immediately said, "Do you want to thoroughly clear this matter up and restore your and Zhao Yazhi's reputations?"

"I do!" Huang Yuanshen gave a firm answer.

"Very good, I have arranged a new TV series for you and Zhao Yazhi to play the lead roles. You can ask Producer Xu Xiaoming for the details. After the news is announced, the media will definitely hype it up. Once the topic is hot, I will arrange a series of measures to counteract and clear your names."

Although Huang Yuanshen hesitated for a moment, he ultimately agreed. The boss had spoken, so it should be fine, right? Of course, at that moment, he didn't know about the relationship between the boss and Zhao Yazhi.

Huang Xizhao and Xu Xiaoming were both speechless. It was too easy to resolve things this way.

However, when Xu Xiaoming returned to the office, he didn't say anything. He was quite optimistic about this script. He didn't have many opportunities to be a producer at the TV station, and if he could stir up a trend, it wouldn't be bad for him.

Huang Xizhao was still a bit worried: "Boss, will this affect the TV station's image?"

"I think you've forgotten something, Mr. Huang," Li Xu said without any concern. "I'm an American."

Huang Xizhao was speechless. Indeed, this was an easily overlooked issue. He spoke Cantonese so fluently that, apart from the occasional accent, he was no different from the locals—some young people's accents were also quite strange.

Moreover, there were many mixed-race people in Hong Kong, and the Ho family was a mixed-race family. So, they often forgot that the young man in front of them had an American background.

Since that was the case, they didn't say much more and got up to leave. After all, you had said you wanted everyone to respect you.

But Li Xu called them back: "Do you two know anyone in the gray areas?"

"What does the boss need?" The two men exchanged a glance, and Xu Xiaoming asked.

"Someone to help spread the message among the general public," Li Xu smiled. "We need to use revolutionary rumors to counteract the rumors."

Damn, are you really an American?! Huang Xizhao and Xu Xiaoming probably felt like they had been hit by a truck. Although they knew he was joking, Hong Kong people were still very sensitive about this.

However, despite the sensitivity, Xu Xiaoming still said, "I'll think of a way, boss, but I don't know to what extent you need it."

"Don't worry, after we finalize the plan for public opinion, I'll tell you what rumors to spread," Li Xu said with a smile.

Although dogs' meat doesn't belong on the table, doing business in Hong Kong still required a few enforcers and lackeys. However, he couldn't personally get involved. The local capital, whether British or Chinese, wouldn't take these matters seriously.

So, even though he knew who to approach, he could only pretend not to know and let others find a way to connect.

Being too high up also had its drawbacks. Li Xu sighed in a show of pretense.

As one of the parties involved, Zhao Yazhi was the last to know about this. Although she understood that resistance was futile, she was still very unwilling.

"Do I... have to shoot this TV series?" She held the script, feeling very conflicted.

Having a role to play was naturally a good thing. What else could she do besides acting? But the scandal from last year was still fresh in everyone's mind. Now she had to act with the male lead of the scandal. How would the audience view it? How would public opinion view it?

Scandals always hurt women more than men, especially in this era. Men could make a comeback after a period of low profile, but women, even after a period of low profile, might still carry the burden for life unless they were extremely weak and won the sympathy of the public.

Especially since she had divorced her husband and many unsavory rumors had spread, wasn't this just confirming everything?

"Do you and Huang Yuanshen have a private affair?" Li Xu asked first.

"Will you rekindle your old feelings with Huang Yuanshen?" He then asked.

"Of course not, of course not!" Zhao Yazhi answered. She wasn't stupid and knew how possessive the young man in front of her was.

"Then that's fine," Li Xu smiled. "I'll show you how to point to a deer and call it a horse, to turn black into white!"

Since the matter had been put this way, what could Zhao Yazhi say?

Thus, in late January 1981, a very explosive piece of news was released by the Hong Kong media amidst the lingering heat of the change of ownership at TVB: Zhao Yazhi moved to Sky Television to co-star with Huang Yuanshen in "Huo Yuanjia"!

The news immediately caused a stir across the island. If one were to vote for the top ten entertainment news stories of the 1980s, the news of Zhao Yazhi's infidelity and her expulsion from her husband's family would definitely have a place.

At the time, the news had caused a sensation and was discussed by Hong Kong citizens for several months. Everyone said that such a pure and beautiful Feng Chengcheng doing such a thing was too despicable, leading TVB to put her on ice. When she divorced, public opinion overwhelmingly supported Huang Hanwei.

Now, not only was she making a comeback, but she was also moving to the new Sky Television and co-starring with her scandalous male lead in a TV series, playing a couple. This was clearly challenging Hong Kong's "traditional" values!

Journalists of all sizes quickly sprang into action, determined to dig up some inside information.

However, although they gathered a lot of information, it all seemed a bit off.

For example, Ms. Fang from TVB said that Ah Zhi was actually a good girl, and moving to a new station was quite normal. After all, TVB was her home, and she hoped she would be happy at her new station.

Who didn't know that Ms. Fang was the most petty and often sought revenge for the slightest offense? Now she was being so understanding—had she gotten the wrong script?

Moreover, the actors she had worked with, such as Zhou, Lu, Liu, and Wang, all spoke well of her. Autumn Lord even scolded some journalists for their baseless and sensational reporting.

Only Fat Fat said a few words like, "If you can't stay, you have to leave," which gave the journalists some material.

On the Sky Television side, Producer Xu Xiaoming gave a brief and formal statement, saying that they had their own considerations in choosing Huang Yuanshen as the male lead and inviting Zhao Yazhi as the female lead. Miss Zhao was an excellent actress, and there was nothing inappropriate about it.

When Huang Yuanshen was cornered by journalists, he was quite annoyed but didn't say much, only stating that he and Zhao Yazhi were clear and had already clarified everything.

Of course, for journalists, they weren't afraid of your accusations; they were afraid of your silence—silence was even better.

Only the female lead, Zhao Yazhi, couldn't be cornered. She was clearly seen at the TV station and on the set, but she always disappeared in a blink.

Journalists in Hong Kong at that time were far from as reckless as they would be a decade later. With Sky Television's strict defense and Zhao Yazhi's absence from the media for half a year after being put on ice by TVB, they couldn't catch her.

Nevertheless, the media, or some tabloids, began to criticize heavily.

"Clearly, the new boss of Sky Television is not familiar with Hong Kong's social environment, otherwise, why would he choose a pair of disreputable actors to play a couple?"

"Zhao Yazhi and Huang Yuanshen, a pair of ill-fated lovers, but I won't watch it."

"Adulterous couple reunites on the small screen."

Even the Eastern Daily, which thrived on gossip, reported the matter in a straightforward manner, while the tabloids were quite active. The gossipy housewives in the streets and alleys also began to discuss the matter.

Needless to say, these housewives were against Zhao Yazhi, and for a time, the image of the newly established Sky Television began to wobble.

Meanwhile, the person who had orchestrated this situation was busy with something else in the TV station's studio.

"Don't worry, boss, I can definitely handle a ten-minute short drama," Wang Jing said, thumping his chest.

He had already accepted Li Xu's invitation after consulting his father and being taken to see Uncle Six by his father. When his father gave him the final decision, he ultimately accepted the invitation.

Thus, Li Xu gave him a temporary test: to shoot an MTV for "Qian Qian Que Ge."

Music videos had existed since the advent of videotape, but they were either edited from stage recordings or simply the artist standing in front of the camera and singing, like Simon and Garfunkel's famous "The Sound of Silence."

True music videos would only become popular after the establishment of MTV this year, and then reach a peak with MJ's "Thriller."

By the time they reached Hong Kong, it would be too late. To promote Teresa Teng and establish a music channel, it was planned to create MTVs in advance, and Wang Jing was recruited for the task.

"Everyone, let's start preparing now," Wang Jing called out from the center of the set, then ran to Teresa Teng, who was already made up, and explained the situation, "Sister Teng, you just need to walk from here to there, then from there to the other side, and when you reach the end, turn around and smile slightly."

"Okay," Teresa Teng smiled and nodded, wearing a white collared shirt and a gray velvet dress, looking very serene, without even glancing at Li Xu.

Then, Wang Jing ran to a young woman who was being touched up: "Are you ready, Miss Guan?"

"Ready, ready, I'm ready!" The young woman, who had just changed her name to Guan Zhilin, said excitedly.