Chapter 31

Wu Cheng was very clear about Zou Wenhui's thoughts. He definitely wanted to promote the film a week or two after its release. This way, they would gain a significant advantage.

If the film's box office performance was good, they could even extend the screening time.

In fact, he should thank Zou Wenhui for his final outburst, which revealed his intentions. Otherwise, if they had really planned to play tricks and not promote the film, it would have been too late by the time he found out. Now, there was still time!

"Alan, it's me, your uncle. I want to do an interview... I didn't do it before because the timing wasn't right. Now? We can't wait any longer. Also, send someone to Rih Island to do an interview with Miss Deng Lijun. I'll tell you the questions later..."

Back home, Wu Cheng finally figured out how to promote "Five Lucky Stars." Originally, he didn't want to expose himself, but for the sake of the film's box office, he had to do it!

In fact, in the future, hype was everywhere. The most typical examples were scandal hype and feud hype. Scandal hype was simple: just let the male and female leads of the film be rumored to have a relationship.

Feud hype was also easy: two celebrities just needed to say a few words to belittle each other in the media. Even without saying anything, a disdainful expression would be enough for the media to interpret it for you. These people were always looking for trouble.

Of course, the media today wasn't as unethical as in the future.

Wu Cheng wouldn't let Zhao Yazhi be rumored to have a relationship with other men. As for feuds, he didn't want to use such low tactics for promotion.

Therefore, after much thought, he decided to use the most normal method. However, normal methods were unlikely to cause a sensation.

What the media most wanted to know now was probably the news about the most famous Deng Lijun in Asia. Wu Cheng called Deng Lijun, and she would definitely give him the favor. Besides Deng Lijun, Wu Cheng thought that if it was reported that his manuscript fee was nearly a thousand yuan per thousand words, he would also be a topic of discussion in Hong Kong.

Moreover, if TVB was willing to give him an advertisement... Wu Cheng thought this was impossible. TVB wouldn't help an enemy to fight against itself, so he could only turn to TVB's rival, Asia Television. However, to get Asia Television to advertise for him, he would have to pay a high price.

Additionally, he could release the news that Golden Harvest paid nine million dollars for the overseas distribution rights of "Five Lucky Stars"... This way, it wouldn't be difficult to hype up "Five Lucky Stars."

Therefore, Wu Cheng directly called his niece and asked the Urban Entertainment News to help.

The next day, Wu Cheng went to the Urban Entertainment News office and met his niece, Wu Shulan.

Wu Cheng gave some instructions, and after Wu Shulan organized her thoughts, she got up and asked her secretary to call the best reporter in the company and notify all executives to have a meeting in ten minutes.

"Mr. Wu, you can call me Xiaolin. Manager Ye arranged for me to interview you."

A girl came in, looking around twenty years old, with an intellectual appearance, average looks, but very efficient and charming.

Xiaolin knew about Wu Cheng and was quite envious and curious. She was envious because Wu Cheng's manuscript fee was ridiculously high, and curious because he looked so young.

"Mr. Wu, shall we start the interview here?"

Wu Cheng nodded and said, "Sure, let's start."

Xiaolin smiled and said, "Alright!" She took out paper and pen and asked, "May I ask for your exact age, Mr. Wu?"

Wu Cheng smiled and said, "No problem, I'm fifteen years old and will be sixteen after the New Year. My birthday is in the first month, on the third day, which is a very significant day! My parents used to say I was a glutton, and I couldn't wait to come out for the New Year, hehe..."

"Would you mind if I ask about your family? I'm very curious about what kind of environment could cultivate such good writing skills at your age."

Wu Cheng paused and sighed, "Actually, there's nothing to hide. I come from the mainland, and I swam over..."

"Would you mind if we report this?"

"I don't mind. I don't think being from the mainland makes me inferior." Wu Cheng smiled confidently and continued, "I learned Chinese classics from my grandfather since I was young. My启蒙读物 were things like 'The Hundred Family Names' and 'The Three-Character Classic,' which are different from what people here read. My mother passed away shortly after I was born, and my father practiced martial arts and liked to exchange skills with martial artists from all over. I grew up mostly with my grandfather, who had a significant influence on me."

"Wouldn't they be worried about you coming over from the mainland at such a young age?"

Wu Cheng sighed, "They have all passed away!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know!"

"It's okay, it's all in the past, and I've gotten used to it." Wu Cheng forced a smile.

Xiaolin didn't ask about Wu Cheng's family anymore and turned to his writing. "Mr. Wu, how did you come up with the idea to write this novel? After all, 'Return to Ming' is not a martial arts novel, and in this era dominated by martial arts, aren't you afraid of failing?"

"Failure is not scary; what's scary is not trying!" Wu Cheng smiled and said, "I did consider writing a martial arts novel, but I ultimately decided to write this one. There are martial arts elements, but they are few. I was prepared to go back to writing martial arts if it failed. Fortunately, it has been quite successful so far!"

Xiaolin nodded, finding the young man in front of her very charming. His confident and composed demeanor gave people a sense of reassurance.

"From what I understand, the Urban Entertainment News was a small player in the newspaper industry. Why didn't you go to the big newspapers and choose us?"

Wu Cheng smiled and said, "I guess it's a matter of fate!" Indeed, if it weren't for Wu Shulan, he wouldn't have easily placed his novel in the Urban Entertainment News.

"Actually, you should know about my relationship with Miss Zhao Yazhi. She took my manuscript to the Ming Pao, but on the way, she met your boss, Mr. Wu, and they became friends... Of course, the final decision to serialize the novel in the Urban Entertainment News was because of the higher pay. I had just come to Hong Kong and needed money..."

"I heard that your manuscript fee increases with the newspaper's sales. Can you explain how that works?"

Wu Cheng nodded and said, "That's true. It was originally just a regular new writer's fee, but I had confidence in my novel, so I made this proposal. I didn't expect Mr. Wu to agree so readily."

"So, the increase in the Urban Entertainment News' sales is due to 'Return to Ming'?"

Wu Cheng shook his head, "Not exactly. At first, I had confidence in my novel, but it didn't significantly boost the newspaper's sales. I admit I was overconfident. However, the increase in sales is related to me because I suggested and planned the newspaper's redesign. It was a bit selfish, but it's tied to my manuscript fee. I hope other authors and industry veterans won't blame me for breaking the rules."

"I heard that the Urban Entertainment News' entertainment and fashion supplement is also your creation?"

"Yes, that's right. After all, Miss Zhao helped me a lot, so I wanted to help her become famous. As you can see, the results have been good."

"You not only made Hong Kong's first beauty famous overnight but also made a young girl named Zhong Zuhong famous. Additionally, I heard you know the current top superstar in Asia, Miss Deng Lijun, and even wrote songs for her. Can you tell us more about that?"

"Writing songs for Sister Lijun is true, but it was a coincidence. I won't go into the details here."

Xiaolin smiled regretfully, "Alright! I heard you started a film company called 'East Dragon International' and are collaborating with Mr. Hong Jinbao. Miss Deng Lijun even has a cameo in the film. Is that true? How did you come up with the idea to make a film? Aren't you afraid of losing money?"

Wu Cheng smiled and said, "I haven't thought about losing money because I believe in the script I wrote and the abilities of Brother Sanmao and others. Making films is probably what interests me the most, even more than writing novels. Even if I do lose money, I don't have to worry because I'm still young. The worst-case scenario is that I come back to write novels."

"As for Sister Lijun's cameo, it was also a coincidence... In the film, she and I play a duet, which is quite a highlight..."

...

The next day, on the front page of the Urban Entertainment News, there was a still from the film showing Wu Cheng and Deng Lijun playing a duet, both smiling at each other. Their默契 expression made many men envious.

From that moment on, the promotion for "Five Lucky Stars" officially began.

The company had no money, no office space, and no talent to hire, so many things had to be done by Wu Cheng and his team, such as the promotion.

However, they didn't slow down in building the company. Although they had no office space, they continued to recruit talent.

The first talent they recruited was actually Chen Jianxun.

He was originally the editor-in-chief of a magazine but came to work for Wu Cheng in film promotion. He didn't feel that his talents were being wasted; instead, he was very happy to do it.