Continuing to Stir Up Trouble

It was still an out-of-the-way venue, but this time, the cha chaan teng had been swapped for a discreet, highly private club. Inside the private room, all three bosses of Cinema City—Mai Jia, Shi Tian, and Huang Baiming—had shown up in person. Huang Baiming had lost all of his previous bluster. He sat on the sofa without uttering a word, perfectly motionless, not touching a drop of the drink he had ordered. After a while, the door creaked open, and Chen Qi walked in, accompanied by Xiao Mo. He still wore a suit and glasses, smiling affably, looking no different from a few days ago. Before Chen Qi could even reach them or open his mouth, Mai Jia sprang to his feet with a miserable grimace. "Mr. Chen! Director Chen! Big Boss Chen! Spare us, please! Stop tormenting us!" Chen Qi chuckled at the display. "I've always treated you gentlemen with the utmost politeness and praise. Why would you say such a thing?" "Mr. Chen, let's not beat around the bush," Huang Baiming said. "You played this hand brilliantly. We admit we can't beat you. We concede!" Shi Tian chimed in, "Yes, if there's an issue, we can sit down and talk it through properly. Why resort to bloodshed?" "Fair enough. Let's sit down and talk it through properly." Chen Qi took a seat on the sofa and said, "My condition remains the same: lend me Director Tsui Hark. Whether he wants to come or not is your problem, not mine—he simply has to come!" "..." The three exchanged glances. Mai Jia nodded with gritted teeth. "Fine! We'll persuade him. But I also have a condition." "Speak." "Tsui Hark must use a pseudonym, and this must be kept strictly confidential. We're already on the edge of the storm. If word leaks out again..." Mai Jia paused, unable to suppress a sigh. "Mr. Chen, we're just making a living in this trade. To be frank, Left or Right, we really don't want any part of politics. We just want to make movies and earn money. Some things are simply beyond our control; everyone does it this way. Please understand where we're coming from." "Leave a way out for others so we can meet on good terms in the future. Don't push things to mutual destruction!" Huang Baiming grumbled, unable to completely check his temper. "Oh? Mutual destruction?" Chen Qi raised an eyebrow. "You know times have changed. I'm willing to sit down and negotiate with you, so keep your ears open and behave!" "No, no, that's not what he meant!" Mai Jia quickly stepped in to restrain Huang Baiming, smoothing things over. "We'll convince Tsui Hark to go, and we'll keep it strictly confidential. We've reached an agreement on that! Come, come, let us toast you!" Right now, Mai Jia had zero desire to stir up any more trouble. He held the largest share; if Cinema City went under, all his hard work would go down the drain. He personally poured Chen Qi a drink, and the three of them raised their glasses. Chen Qi took a courteous sip, then set the glass down. "It's not convenient for me to linger. Let's leave it at that for today. Farewell." Watching him leave, Mai Jia finally let out a long breath and slumped onto the sofa, groaning helplessly. "Don't cause any more trouble. Just focus on finishing Aces Go Places! Eight million dollars! If it flops, are you going to cover the loss, or am I?" "..." Huang Baiming fell silent. As for agreeing to lend Tsui Hark, they weren't particularly afraid of the Free Association finding out. Unless the media exposed it or someone filed a report, the Association rarely bothered to investigate on its own initiative. As long as secrecy was maintained and the director used a pseudonym, there were already people in Hong Kong secretly directing for the Leftists. * * * Chen Qi hadn't come to develop Hong Kong's film industry; he was here to earn foreign exchange. Whether Hong Kong cinema was chaotic, what its future looked like, or whether it would have a golden decade—what did any of that have to do with him? All he wanted was to make good export films and, while he was at it, put the Hong Kong entertainment industry in its place. Now wasn't the right time for a full-scale offensive anyway. It wouldn't be too late to make big moves once the Sino-British negotiations concluded and the environment opened up further. Besides, helping Fu Chi revitalize the Leftists would inevitably require swallowing up vast quantities of classic Hong Kong films. Once those titles gathered under the Leftist banner, the opposition wouldn't have any room left to strut around. His greatest need from Hong Kong was talent. People like Yuen Woo-ping, Tsui Hark, Jackie Chan... That was right—he even wanted to recruit Jackie Chan. With Jackie Chan and Li Lianjie in hand, venturing into international markets would be far more assured. Of course, that was out of reach for now, but he could certainly mess with Golden Harvest in the meantime. "Mr. Chow!" "Mr. Chow!" "What's all the panic about?" Early that morning, Raymond Chow had just arrived at the office when an employee rushed in frantically, holding a red letter. "That... that visiting card from the mainland official!" Tsk! Raymond Chow frowned. So he really had come. While sending someone to fetch Leonard Ho, he tore open the envelope. The format was identical to the one sent to Cinema City: complete with a business card boldly bearing state-level designations, paraded openly and placed brazenly on the desk. This calling card had already become notorious within the industry, earning an apt nickname: the Life-and-Death Talisman! Chen Qi had become like a plague god, avoided like the pestilence by every studio terrified of receiving his calling card. In truth, they were flattering themselves; smaller companies weren't even on his radar. "Leonard, that fellow really sent one!" With a darkened expression, Raymond Chow slid the letter across the desk. Leonard Ho looked it over and said, "I've caught wind of what happened to Cinema City. They were squeezed raw—paid three separate sums of cash before smoothing it over, and had to beg Zhang Aijia to go straight over their heads to the Government Information Office." "He's just pulling that trick of forcing people onto Mount Liang. If he thinks he can coerce us with that, he's underestimating Raymond Chow. Across Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia... who doesn't know where Raymond Chow and Golden Harvest stand?" "True, true. Cinema City's foundation and connections can't compare to ours, but we'd still better make our stance clear." Leonard Ho continued, "When he comes tomorrow, we simply won't see him. No matter what nonsense he spouts in the papers, I'll go talk to Tong Yuejuan personally, and have Jackie fly to Taiwan for Double Tenth Day to pay his respects. That will be enough to show our loyalty." Golden Harvest possessed ample leverage and plenty of room to negotiate. They assumed Chen Qi would pull the same stunt he had pulled on Cinema City—spouting nonsense in the newspapers about pro-mainland sympathies, homesickness, friendly exchanges, and the like. But when the papers hit the stands, it was an entirely different story. "Among Hong Kong's stars, only Jackie Chan possesses the qualifications to break into Hollywood. His personal style is intensely distinct—unmatched anywhere in the world—and he is bound to become an international superstar even more successful than Bruce Lee. "I wish to speak with Mr. Raymond Chow because his approach to utilizing Jackie Chan is completely misguided. "Mr. Chow does not seem to grasp their rules of the game. The Cannonball Run is downright absurd: pairing Jackie Chan and Michael Hui, two of Hong Kong's biggest trump cards, merely to play second fiddle to Americans is vastly underestimating their worth. "I hear Jackie Chan is preparing a new film, Dragon Lord, still set against the backdrop of the late Qing and early Republican era. Please—early Republican kung fu flicks have saturated the market; replaying the same old tropes offers zero novelty. "Of course, relying on Jackie Chan's star power, Dragon Lord won't do poorly at the box office, but for him as an artist, it offers no breakthrough whatsoever. "It is time for Jackie Chan to make a transition. Remaining at Golden Harvest leaves his hands tied when facing Hollywood; he would be far better off in a new environment. I hope we can establish a close partnership to achieve a genuine breakthrough..." *Bang!* Raymond Chow had thought himself unflappable, yet his composure shattered all the same. First calling Golden Harvest incompetent, then poaching their biggest star—every single word jabbed straight where it hurt most. "Insolent boy! What brazen arrogance!" "There's no need to get angry," Leonard Ho consoled him. "He can only talk big in the papers; he can't actually do anything. When Jackie reads this, he'll probably laugh his head off. How could he possibly make movies for the Leftists?" "Hit back! We aren't Cinema City. Find someone to publish an article and tear him to shreds!" Raymond Chow was thoroughly incensed, but after a moment, he added, "Still, Jackie really does need to think about a transition. Talk to him more, reassure him first, get Dragon Lord finished, and tell him not to be impatient." "Right!" Leonard Ho hurried off. * * * Jackie Chan naturally heard about the matter and found it utterly baffling. Of course, he would never work with the Leftists. Yet the notions of transition and breakthrough mentioned by Chen Qi couldn't help but sow seeds of curiosity in his mind. He couldn't resist pondering: *Could that guy really take me to the next level and help me break into Hollywood?*