Chapter 47

(Thank you everyone for your support! Keep voting!)

With the company established, Hong Jinbao set up the production team and began preparing to shoot *The Kid from the Mixed Family*. Wu Cheng was busy with company affairs, recruiting talent, and writing scripts and novels at night. He was so busy that even Zhao Yazhi felt a bit secretly heartbroken for him.

In half a month, he first approached Wu Yushen and received the news that this fellow had agreed to film with Golden Harvest. Wu Cheng sincerely invited him to join East Dragon, but Wu Yushen said he would not consider it for now.

Wu Cheng had nothing to say about this. After all, Golden Harvest was incomparably stronger than East Dragon, and East Dragon still had to rely on Golden Harvest to survive. Switching to East Dragon would be crazy!

Therefore, Wu Cheng had to give up and then approached Chen Shufen.

Although Chen Shufen was somewhat moved by Wu Cheng's proposal, she also said she needed to think carefully. After all, Hong Kong was too small, and most film stars were under the control of large companies. Even if a talent agency were established, its impact would be limited, and whether it would succeed was still uncertain.

For this, Wu Cheng had nothing to say and could only continue to wait.

In early March, *The Five Lucky Stars* finally finished its run after four weeks. A month of screenings made the film's box office exceed ten million, reaching over twelve million. In fact, the box office in the first two weeks had already surpassed eight million, while the third and fourth weeks saw a sharp decline, earning only four million. Of course, this was partly due to Golden Harvest's reduction in theater screenings.

This figure shocked the majority of people in Hong Kong, who could not imagine that such a small place could generate such a huge box office.

Many people were analyzing why *The Five Lucky Stars* had such high box office numbers and how great the box office potential in Hong Kong could be.

Similarly, many people were secretly delighted that the Hong Kong film industry was entering a prosperous period.

The success of *The Five Lucky Stars* naturally made many people happy, and the people at East Dragon International were the happiest. After East Dragon International, the second happiest people were those in the theater chains.

Zou Wenhui of Golden Harvest was both pleased and angry. He was pleased that the box office of *The Five Lucky Stars* gave him more confidence, but he was angry that he had foolishly signed a long-term screening contract with Wu Cheng.

Now, he could only hope that the overseas box office would perform well.

In recent days, foreign distributors had almost worn out the threshold of Golden Harvest, so the overseas success of *The Five Lucky Stars* was expected.

Initially, Wu Cheng's asking price of nine million for the overseas copyright seemed not so expensive, and he even provided a good script for free—*Half a Catty, Eight Taels*.

The third happiest people were those at the Phoenix Clothing Company.

This clothing company had become famous with the "Red Lady" brand and then created another brand—Ace Men's Wear. Ace Men's Wear naturally focused on men's clothing and had sponsored *The Five Lucky Stars*. Thanks to the promotion of *The Five Lucky Stars*, Phoenix Clothing's performance this year soared to several levels.

Even at the beginning of the year, orders were pouring in like snowflakes, indicating how well Phoenix Clothing would perform this year.

When the Zhong family mentioned Wu Cheng, they all had a look of admiration. Zhong's mother was even more satisfied with Wu Cheng and kept blaming Zhong Chuhong for not taking the initiative to invite Wu Cheng, which made Zhong Chuhong very depressed, feeling that her status at home was not as high as Wu Cheng, an "outsider."

In fact, Zhong Chuhong was also somewhat dissatisfied with Wu Cheng. He had been so close to her before, but now he didn't come to see her. Was she supposed to take the initiative?

Thinking about Zhao Yazhi by Wu Cheng's side made her even angrier. If Wu Cheng had no interest in Zhao Yazhi, he should have left her and found a place to live outside. But if he did have interest, why was he still flirting with her? What a scoundrel!

Zhong Chuhong was depressed and practicing wearing high heels in her room. At first, Wu Cheng had laughed at her for not knowing how to wear high heels, saying it was too uncool. Later, he said that not knowing how to wear high heels wasn't a big deal, and she was still the charming Hong Gu.

But Zhong Chuhong knew that when he saw women showing off their high heels and black stockings, his eyes would follow them, which made her furious. What a pervert!

Of course, Wu Cheng didn't know what Zhong Chuhong was thinking. He was now busy writing scripts, mostly for big Hollywood blockbusters.

For example, *First Blood*, *The Terminator*, and so on.

These blockbusters were very popular in Hollywood in the 1980s, and Wu Cheng wanted to get a head start and claim these scripts for himself, earning some extra money in the process.

He had also considered *Raiders of the Lost Ark*, but then he remembered that the author, George Lucas, had started writing it a long time ago.

To avoid a conflict, Wu Cheng had to reluctantly give it up.

Mid-month, Wu Cheng handed a small bag of manuscripts to Shi Nansheng, asking her to personally go to Hollywood and register the fifteen scripts he had written with the Writers Guild.

The fifteen scripts included several *First Blood* series, two *Terminator* films, *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial*, *Home Alone*, *Back to the Future*, and so on.

In addition, there was a short story for *Jurassic Park*.

Shi Nansheng was a bit puzzled. She thought Wu Cheng had never been abroad, so how could he know what foreigners liked? Would these scripts really be useful?

Wu Cheng didn't pay attention to Shi Nansheng's doubts and just instructed her to get it done as soon as possible.

When Wu Cheng finished these tasks, Golden Harvest's theater chain sent over the box office split for *The Five Lucky Stars*, which was over five million after taxes.

The local box office split of over five million made countless filmmakers envious and jealous!

After all, in this era, a box office of two to three million was considered high, and a split of over five million was a super hit!

To celebrate, Wu Cheng organized a victory banquet for the entire company, which also gave everyone a chance to get to know each other.

What Wu Cheng didn't expect was that as soon as the banquet started, Zou Wenhui, He Guanchang, and Mai Guangtou arrived with smiles, asking Wu Cheng if he had any good scripts.

Wu Cheng really wanted to spit in his face. If I had good scripts, I would use them myself, not leave them for you!

Wu Cheng laughed and changed the subject... Just as Zou Wenhui left, Shaw Dahan also arrived with his mistress.

As soon as he arrived, Shaw Dahan gave Wu Cheng a forced smile, making Wu Cheng somewhat suspicious. He wondered what the old fox was up to.

The banquet began, and after Wu Cheng said a few words, he pushed Hong Jinbao to the front to take the heat. Hong Jinbao didn't have much to say, thanked everyone, and then encouraged himself before letting everyone mingle.

Zhao Yazhi, wearing a graceful white evening gown, held Wu Cheng's arm, a glass of wine in her hand, and followed Wu Cheng as he mingled with the celebrities, outshining everyone.

Wu Cheng's height was almost the same as Zhao Yazhi's, and if she hadn't worn high heels, they would have looked like a perfect couple.

Soon, Wu Cheng and Zhao Yazhi approached Shaw Dahan. Fang Yihua, who was with Shaw Dahan, took Zhao Yazhi aside, leaving space for Wu Cheng and Shaw Dahan.

"Sixth Uncle seems to have some grievances with me? What have I done wrong?"

Wu Cheng smiled and raised his glass, clearly not aware of any wrongdoing.

Seeing Wu Cheng's puzzled look, Shaw Dahan felt like he had punched the air, which was frustrating. In the end, he could only laugh bitterly and point at him, scolding, "You little monkey, you're digging under my walls and still have the nerve to act innocent?"

"Sixth Uncle, you're mistaken!" Wu Cheng smiled and shook his head. "As the saying goes, 'Flies don't bite uncracked eggs.' If they don't want to switch, no amount of persuasion will work. If they want a better work environment, even if I don't act, others won't sit idly by, like Golden Harvest. I don't believe they're not tempted by Shaw's resources!"

Wu Cheng looked at Shaw Dahan and sighed, "Sixth Uncle, to be honest, don't take it the wrong way, but your Shaw Brothers still uses the old studio system. In the future, talent will eventually be lost. Take salaries, for example. How much does a director get for a hit film? At most, three to five thousand. But look at what Hong Jinbao gets now? At least 150,000. The same goes for actors..."

Seeing Shaw Dahan deep in thought, Wu Cheng continued, "Sixth Uncle, do you think Shaw Brothers can retain talent like this? People die for wealth, birds die for food. Even with deep feelings, they can fade. Only interests are eternal, and I believe you understand this better than I do!"

Shaw Dahan's expression remained calm, but he sighed inwardly. He knew this issue clearly, but things were often interconnected. If he gave more benefits to one person, what about the others? How many people did Shaw Brothers and TVB support?

Moreover, even if he was willing, the shareholders behind him wouldn't give up their interests.

Shaw Dahan sighed, "You don't understand! You and I are different!"

Wu Cheng shrugged, indicating, "I'm just saying."

Seeing Shaw Dahan sigh, Wu Cheng suddenly raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Sixth Uncle, how about we make a deal?"

"You little monkey, trying to take advantage of Sixth Uncle again?" Shaw Dahan scolded.

Wu Cheng shook his head, "This isn't taking advantage, just mutual benefit. TVB is currently competing with ATV. I have an idea. Let Ms. Chen leave. If she wants to go, you can't stop her anyway. I'll pay the breach of contract fee..."

Shaw Dahan shook his head, "You little monkey, dreaming. That's impossible. She has a project in hand. We'll talk after she finishes it."

"Sixth Uncle, you're a shrewd businessman!" Wu Cheng laughed bitterly.

"What's your idea?"

Wu Cheng rolled his eyes, but Shaw Dahan pretended not to see.

Page break for AD starts

Page break for AD ends