Chapter 81

Shen Zhenghui looked out the window at the scenery, feeling the plane begin to taxi for landing. Throughout the journey, he had a thoughtful expression, which made Aizawa Tomoaki, who was beside him, feel a bit puzzled. However, adhering to the virtues of Japanese women, she did not ask anything. On the other hand, Fujido Kaoru had been restless since boarding the plane. Aizawa Tomoaki only found out that this young girl had never left Japan or flown before, so she was very nervous. When the plane landed, Fujido Kaoru let out a sigh of relief.

In the polite smiles and blessings of the flight attendants, everyone walked off the plane. They didn't have much luggage. Shen Zhenghui disliked traveling with a lot of baggage; if he ran out of clothes, he could just buy more at a store. The retail industry in Hong Kong was currently doing well.

Aizawa Tomoaki, carrying her backpack and holding Shen Zhenghui's arm, said in a friendly tone, "What were you thinking about on the plane? You look so serious after we landed, you scared Kaoru."

"No, I didn't," Fujido Kaoru, who had just gotten off the plane and was still a bit shaky on her legs, dragged a large suitcase and walked unsteadily. Following closely behind Shen Zhenghui and Aizawa Tomoaki, she heard Aizawa Tomoaki use her as a topic to talk to Shen Zhenghui and immediately contradicted her.

However, her appearance was not convincing. The girl had been too nervous on the plane, and the long flight had left her very exhausted. Shen Zhenghui looked at her, and indeed, Fujido Kaoru looked as if she had been overly frightened.

Shen Zhenghui couldn't tell Aizawa Tomoaki that he had been tormented by Fukuda Mitsumi's question, "Do you want to invite the director of 'Rage of the Street' to direct?" Shen Zhenghui remembered that this director had indeed directed the movie 'The King of Fighters,' but it was a terrible film, so bad that Shen Zhenghui had never heard of its release. He only discovered that it had been made when he looked up the 'The King of Fighters' on Baidu Encyclopedia.

Of course, the investors might have thought it was a martial arts film and needed a director with experience in such films. In reality, from the scriptwriter to the producer, the entire crew was a mess, and Director Chen was powerless to save it. In this sense, the investors' thinking was the same as Shen Zhenghui's, but it was unclear why the bizarre plot and casting choices were made.

What Shen Zhenghui was concerned about was whether Fukuda Mitsumi mentioned Director Chen because she only knew of one action film director or if she knew more.

Of course, Shen Zhenghui wouldn't be confused for the entire flight just because of this guess. He still had to think about the fact that Fukuda Mitsumi hadn't assigned him an assistant and had sent him to Hong Kong with two women, one of whom was still a girl, to discuss cooperation with Stephen Chow. This setup made him look like a fraud. He pursed his lips, "Alright, let's go to the hotel first. I've already booked one."

Aizawa Tomoaki was a bit puzzled, "Does Spring Day Films have an office in Hong Kong? Shouldn't we go there first?"

"There is an office, but Iwayama Gen is currently in Taiwan, and there are only a few staff members there, so I didn't want to trouble them," Shen Zhenghui explained.

Aizawa Tomoaki didn't say anything more. The three of them walked to the airport hall, preparing to call a taxi to leave.

Just as they walked out of the exit into the hall, the crowd of people waiting to pick up arrivals was dense. Shen Zhenghui was about to walk out when Aizawa Tomoaki pulled his arm, "Mr. Shen, is someone here to pick us up?"

"Hmm?" Shen Zhenghui was a bit surprised. He saw a middle-aged man in a uniform holding a cardboard sign with "Mr. Shen Zhenghui, Miss Aizawa Tomoaki" written on it. Next to him stood a man in a suit who looked like a company employee, seriously scanning the crowd. When he saw Shen Zhenghui and Aizawa Tomoaki looking at him, he waved.

"Someone really did come to pick us up," Shen Zhenghui looked at Aizawa Tomoaki.

"Did President Fukuda arrange this?" Aizawa Tomoaki asked.

"Let's go ask," Shen Zhenghui walked over to the two men, with Fujido Kaoru silently following behind.

"Mr. Shen, Miss Aizawa?" The man in the suit spoke first, "I am Morihoshi Kazuya from the Spring Day Films Hong Kong office, specially here to pick you up."

Shen Zhenghui patted the back of his head, not wanting to say that the other party had done something wrong, "I was planning to go to the hotel myself and visit your office later." He pursed his lips.

The driver, who had been holding the sign, put it away and started to help the two women with their luggage, but they both declined his offer.

Morihoshi Kazuya looked to be in his thirties and looked no different from the locals in Hong Kong, unlike the typical Japanese person who could be identified by their actions. "We received a notification from headquarters that you were coming. Additionally, Mr. Lin from Ringo Asia came to our office to ask when you would arrive. He wants to invite you to dinner. Also, Mr. Hsiang and Ms. Chen from Wing Shing, and Mr. Wang from Jiahe, all want to invite you to dinner."

"When did I become so popular?" Shen Zhenghui was a bit taken aback.

"Let's go to the hotel first, and we can talk more on the way," Morihoshi Kazuya said.

After getting in the car, Shen Zhenghui learned that the reason he had become so popular was all about money. The last time in Hong Kong, Spring Day Films had a collaboration with Jiahe, hoping to enter the mainland market through Jiahe, but Jiahe refused. Instead, Spring Day Films acquired a portion of Ringo Asia's shares and began a deep collaboration. At the time, Ringo Asia was still small, but after Lin Jian's trip to Japan, Spring Day Films gained a reputation in the Hong Kong film industry. This wasn't because of the release of 'Cruel History of North High School,' but because Lin Jian bought two gambling films from Wing Shing and brought them to Japan. For Hong Kong, 80 million yen was not a small amount, but the distribution channels in Japan were even more important.

These two films from Wing Shing were of average quality, but in the declining Hong Kong film market, they were still considered good. For the severely declining local box office in Hong Kong, many films' box office earnings did not reach 40 million yen, which was about 3 million Hong Kong dollars. In the past, the prosperity of Hong Kong films was due to the overseas market, with Southeast Asia and Taiwan being open to Hong Kong films. After these regions began to implement local protectionism, the local box office in Hong Kong became a joke. Supporting the production of hundreds of films with a population of 5-6 million was impossible. Even Jiahe's films often only screened in Singapore and Malaysia besides Hong Kong. As a result, Hong Kong filmmakers became increasingly cautious.

Now, as a Japanese film production and distribution company, Spring Day Films showing interest in Hong Kong films was like a lifeline for the Hong Kong film industry, which had lost the Southeast Asian market and had yet to open the mainland market. Only after Morihoshi Kazuya fully explained the intentions of these industry leaders did Shen Zhenghui understand the significance of his visit to Hong Kong in the eyes of many people.

"Then please contact Starlight Company. I want to meet Stephen Chow and talk to him first," Shen Zhenghui, now more confident, said.

"Starlight?" Morihoshi Kazuya looked troubled, "Mr. Shen, you might not be familiar with the Hong Kong film industry. The companies that want to meet you first have some conflicts with Stephen Chow, and Starlight Company is not very strong, with few investments in recent years."

Shen Zhenghui waved his hand, "It doesn't matter. No matter how bad a company is, even if it's a shell company, as long as its owner is Stephen Chow, everything is fine."

Hearing this, a slight smile appeared on Morihoshi Kazuya's lips, but he quickly composed himself and put on a serious expression, "I still have to remind you to be careful. After all, Stephen Chow's temper is not good, and his relationship with the entire Hong Kong film industry is not great. If we choose to cooperate with him, it might cause..."

"Mr. Morihoshi, what country are you from?" Shen Zhenghui interrupted him.

"Me? I am, of course, Japanese," Morihoshi Kazuya answered, a bit taken aback.

"Since you are Japanese, do you think you need to care about the relationships between the major Hong Kong film companies and their leaders, especially when you hold the cards they want?"

Morihoshi Kazuya thought for a moment and then bowed respectfully, "Indeed, I don't need to."

"Right, Spring Day Films is a Japanese company, so the Hong Kong companies we cooperate with, no matter how good their relationships are, do not have the right to choose who we cooperate with or who we don't. We choose our partners based on whether they can bring us benefits, not on how well-liked they are. What do you think?"

"Hai, Mr. Shen, you are right," Morihoshi Kazuya nodded, "I will contact Starlight, but..." He paused, "Mr. Lin from Ringo Asia hopes to invite you to dinner tonight."

Shen Zhenghui touched his face.

"Out of politeness," Morihoshi Kazuya said, "it wouldn't be appropriate to refuse them."

"Alright," Shen Zhenghui pursed his lips, "arrange a good time for me to meet Stephen Chow. You can handle the specifics."

"Understood," Morihoshi Kazuya said seriously, then took out a stack of documents, "Here are some materials. Ringo Asia, Wing Shing, and Jiahe are likely to discuss film distribution. I've collected information on their recent and upcoming releases. Additionally, they might hope for us to invest in their upcoming films."

"Oh?" Shen Zhenghui took the materials and looked at the familiar and unfamiliar titles.

"What does your office usually do?" Shen Zhenghui asked.

"Currently, we mainly collect information and negotiate distribution collaborations," Morihoshi Kazuya answered, "since the business is just starting, Section Chief Iwayama instructed that the films we distribute should be those that have been market-tested. So far, we have only negotiated the distribution of 'Storm Riders' and 'Chinese Hero.'"

Shen Zhenghui was silent for a moment, carefully flipping through the list of Hong Kong films that Morihoshi Kazuya had collected. "When contacting Starlight, tell them we are very interested in 'King of Comedy.'"

Morihoshi Kazuya nodded.

Shen Zhenghui saw the names of films produced by Wing Shing on the list, "You said Mr. Hsiang and his wife also invited me. When do they plan to meet?"

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