Orphan

October 10 was the Nationalist Party's "National Day," also known as Double Ten Day. It was established to commemorate the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. On Double Ten Day in 1956, under a covert plot orchestrated from Taiwan, right-wing factions in Hong Kong mobilized thousands of people to launch the "Kowloon Riots," attacking leftist organizations, schools, shops, and factories, leaving sixty dead and over four hundred injured. Leftist film studios were not spared either and suffered massive losses. Around that time, the British Hong Kong government enacted legislation requiring factories to relocate out of urban areas, forcing them to find a new site. Working with limited funds, the leftists chose a remote, cheap plot of land near Clear Water Bay to construct a new studio. Around the same time, Shao Yifu also purchased a plot of land in Clear Water Bay and built the Shaw Brothers Studio. Thus, the two studios sat side by side as neighbors. Say what you will about leftists being radical or engaging in armed struggle, but back then they faced triple oppression from the British Hong Kong government, capitalists, and right-wing forces. Stranded overseas with limited support from the mainland, in that kind of environment, if you didn't fight, you died. Clear Water Bay was a peninsula in the southeastern corner of Hong Kong, developed relatively late. Shao Yifu had built his studio here first, and later set up TVB's headquarters here as well, turning it for a time into the home base of Hong Kong television dramas. "Beep, beep!" Early the next morning, a Skoda sedan drove from the city into Clear Water Bay, passing the Shaw Brothers Studio first. Chen Qi looked out the window to see gray and white buildings half-hidden among lush green trees. One tall building was particularly striking—likely the administration building. "How many soundstages do they have?" "Sixteen!" "And us?" "Eight!" "Not bad either. We've got dubbing rooms, editing rooms, screening rooms, and developing rooms, right? Small as the sparrow is, it has all its vital organs." "Of course. We've never been afraid. We've always fought against all sorts of enemies," Fu Chi said with a laugh. The car drove on a bit further and turned into a slightly smaller studio lot—this was their own turf. The layout was similar, complete with a main administration building housing the offices of Great Wall, Feng Huang, and Sun Luen. The eight soundstages were split into two rows, with only three currently in operation. Zhang Xinyan came out to greet them first. "Hey, Director Zhang! Seeing you here feels a bit like running into an old friend in a foreign land!" "Cut it out. You caused such a massive uproar that you completely stole the spotlight from my *The Shaolin Temple*." "*The Shaolin Temple* hasn't even hit theaters yet. It might turn out even bigger than *Tai Chi*!" Zhang Xinyan was doing post-production for *The Shaolin Temple* here. He had stepped out just to say hello, and after chatting for a bit, he headed back. Immediately after, Fu Chi took him to another soundstage. The moment they walked in, a thick stench of artificial blood hit them. The interior was dressed like a torture chamber, complete with various slaughter instruments, severed limbs and butchered remains littering the floor, and a bowl holding several unblinking eyeballs. A balding, heavily bearded director was shooting a scene. Liu Xuehua, drenched in blood, was screaming in terror toward the camera. "That's Director Mou Dunfei. We'll be hiring him again for *Wrong Turn 2* and *The Descent Part 2*. His contract is up next year, and he's very willing to join us," Fu Chi said in a low voice. "He's a Shaw Brothers director, isn't he? Would Shaw Brothers let him go?" "With the Hong Kong situation tense right now and Sino-British negotiations brewing, that sly old fox Shao Yifu wouldn't offend us over a minor director." Chen Qi stopped to watch for a while. In his past life, Liu Xuehua had acted in far too many melodramas, leaving audiences remembering only her large eyes and crying scenes. Yet with her looks, she was a natural fit for horror and thrillers too. In this life, she would probably change directions. Chen Qi kept an eye on her, but didn't attach too much importance to it. In this era, talent was cropping up everywhere, and S-rank character cards were plentiful; he couldn't even be bothered with the lesser ones. After touring the lot, the two entered the main administration building. Fu Chi had some business to attend to, so Chen Qi waited in his office, casually picking up today's newspaper to read. "Yesterday, five gunmen robbed the Heng Cheong Watch Co. in Tsim Sha Tsui, making off with luxury watches valued in the millions. A street shootout subsequently erupted, with police and bandits exchanging forty rounds in total. A Pakistani auxiliary police officer was killed in the line of duty... The robbers managed to make a clean escape, casting serious doubt on the police force's competence!" This was the very shootout he had encountered. It had already caused a sensation across Hong Kong, dominating the front-page headlines with analyses of every single detail. Chen Qi knew the ringleader was named Wu Jiandong. Coming from the mainland, he was virtually Hong Kong's first generation of ruthless desperadoes. He had made a clean getaway from this job, and in 1984, pulled off another heist. They robbed an armored cash van of 140 million Japanese yen. With nowhere to launder or spend it, the gang simply dumped the cash. During their retreat, however, they were spotted. After a fierce battle, Wu Jiandong was captured. That same year, *Long Arm of the Law*, directed by Johnny Mak and based on his story, was released... "Uncle!" Chen Qi waited a bit, and when he saw Fu Chi enter, he handed the newspaper over. Fu Chi glanced at it and said, "The Hong Kong police are in trouble now. The public is going to tear them apart. You can tell at a glance those men have training—they have real military discipline... Enough of that, let's talk business!" He sat down and said earnestly, "We've reviewed the script you gave me and launched a casting call inviting girls aged ten to thirteen to audition. It officially starts tomorrow, so it's perfect that you can join in. An assistant to Ms. Chen Xiangmei contacted us and will be arriving in Hong Kong soon." "She's coming in person?" "How could that be? Just her assistant. If they're satisfied with our project, they'll naturally recommend a few American actors. If not, they might still recommend someone out of respect for Liao Gong, but reaching out to them again in the future would probably be difficult." "It should be fine. I wrote it catering to American sweet spots. Chen Xiangmei is tactful and worldly; she'll definitely appreciate the film's metaphors." "Metaphor? You spelled it out plain as day!" Fu Chi shook his head. When Chen Qi made films tailored specifically for North America, the decisive factor was cost, followed by genre. Both companies were strapped for cash, so every penny had to be spent where it counted most. He roughly divided movies into three tiers: Cinema-history classics—films that earned a place in world cinema history, leaving an enduring cultural impact for generations to come. Annual hits—blockbusters of their moment that generated huge buzz and were widely celebrated. Standard commercial films—assembly-line products quickly forgotten after watching, but capable of making some money. Right now, he lacked the means to make grand spectacles, so he had to look within the latter two tiers. Horror and thriller films were the best fit. But Americans didn't care for Eastern-style horror; what they liked was Western-style horror with a touch of Eastern mysticism, which struck them as fresh and novel. Taking into account opinions from the mainland, Chen Qi held off on ghosts and spirits for the time being, opting first for a thriller without the supernatural. This story was called *Orphan*! It followed a married couple who already had two children. Their third child had tragically died in the womb, leaving the wife traumatized. To overcome this trauma, the couple decided to adopt a child. So they visited an orphanage and adopted a nine-year-old girl who was remarkably sweet and sensible. Soon, however, the wife discovered something was wrong with the girl. She showed one face to the wife and a completely different face to the husband, exhibiting violent tendencies as well. Yet no matter what, the husband refused to believe it. Driven by the girl's manipulations, his resentment toward his wife only grew. The wife began investigating and tracked down a nun from the orphanage, only for the nun to be killed. Then, her own son and daughter began suffering harm again and again... Finally, the girl's secret came to light: she was not a nine-year-old child at all, but a thirty-three-year-old adult suffering from a hormonal disorder, and she had already murdered seven people. She had been adopted before, made romantic advances toward her previous adoptive father, and when rejected, had flown into a murderous rage and wiped out the entire family. In the end, the husband and son were killed, while the wife and younger daughter survived, killing the monstrous "little girl."