Liang Jiahui

Eight o'clock in the morning. Liu Dehua arrived at the building where the TVB Artists Training Course held its classes. It was a garden villa owned by a veteran filmmaker, leased by TVB specifically for training purposes. The training program was full-time, beginning every January and concluding at the end of the year, divided into four quarterly stages. The first stage taught fundamentals; the second stage focused on rehearsing classical literature, ranging from the works of Alexandre Dumas fils to Anton Chekhov; the third stage took scene excerpts from TVB television dramas for the students to rehearse. The fourth stage was the practical internship. Finally, there were graduation examinations, and only those who passed could be signed to contracts. In Hong Kong's entertainment environment, such a training program was already remarkably professional. Nine months had now passed, and the internship phase was fast approaching. Liu Dehua, however, had performed so outstandingly that he had already begun working as an extra on sets long before. He arrived at the garden villa as usual and bumped into a charming, pretty young woman. She teased with a smile, "Wow, Wah-tsai, look at that smug spring breeze on your face! Is that rumor about you landing a male lead true?" "George Lam is the male lead! I'm just a supporting role, a supporting role!" "Oh, stop it. You have no idea how jealous the rest of us are. Oh, right—the instructor is looking for you!" "Oh, thanks! I'll treat you to chicken legs another day!" This girl was Qi Meizhen, later one of TVB's celebrated leading starlets, though she retired early and eventually married Miao Qiaowei. She was Zhou Xingchi's neighbor. Zhou Xingchi had taken the entrance exam alongside her and failed. The following year, he took it again with Liang Chaowei and still failed. It was only thanks to Qi Meizhen putting in a good word with the instructor that Zhou Xingchi managed to get into the night class as a preparatory student. Hong Kong was a small place; you never knew who was connected to whom. Liu Dehua continued upstairs, exchanging greetings with Xu Jinjiang, Wu Jiali, and the others before stepping into an office. The director of the training course was waiting for him and got straight to the point: "Are you certain you're taking the role in Boat People?" "Yes. Such a good opportunity—I don't want to pass it up." "You're not a formal TVB employee yet, so strictly speaking, we have no authority to restrict you. But you have a good screen presence, you do well in your coursework, and you work very hard. Once you join TVB, you'll definitely be groomed for major roles. Chow Yun-fat went from an extra to a leading man in two years, and you're no worse than him. Leaving to shoot this film might cause you to miss the graduation exams, so I wanted to talk to you first. Do you want to join TVB?" "Yes, of course I do!" "Very well, then sign this agreement..." The director slid a contract across the desk and said with a smile, "Don't worry, we're just making an advance commitment. Once you finish filming and return, you'll join the station and can't sign elsewhere." "May I take it back to look over carefully?" "What is there to look over? If there's anything you don't understand, I can explain it right now. Or are you saying you don't want to sign?" "No, no, I'm more than willing to join the station." Seeing his attitude, Liu Dehua didn't dare say anything more and signed his name on the spot. The director smiled. "All right, go gather everyone. I have an announcement to make." Liu Dehua went out and assembled his classmates. Shortly afterward, the director arrived. After opening with remarks about how grueling the training had been and how brilliantly they had performed, he said: "We established this training course to cultivate talent for TVB. You came here naturally hoping to join the station. We have already completed nine months of classes and are about to enter the internship period. You will be assigned to various production crews for practical training. Don't worry about available spots—TVB is a massive operation with countless productions launching every year, more than enough to go around." The director suddenly shifted the tone. "Today, there is an announcement. Each of you will be offered a contract in advance. This doesn't mean you will become official employees immediately, but rather that it serves as a letter of guarantee confirming you will enter TVB after the graduation exams." This agreement was largely the same as the one Liu Dehua had signed, except Liu Dehua had been spoken to privately. This practice was common in later generations as well—for example, on shows like Super Girl, contestants had to sign a contract each time they advanced a stage to ensure they wouldn't jump ship. When the students heard this, they had no objections; joining TVB was their goal in the first place. But right then, someone suddenly raised his hand and asked, "Excuse me, sir, what are the terms of the formal contract we'll ultimately sign? I mean the duration, base compensation, filming allowances, and the like..." Hmm? The director looked over. The person asking had semi-long hair and sharply defined facial features. He wasn't handsome in the conventional sense, but he carried tremendous personality. He was Liang Jiahui, one of the top students in the class. The director felt a headache coming on. Liang Jiahui was a proper graduate of the Hong Kong Polytechnic, where he had studied graphic design. While the other students were naive and accepted whatever the instructors told them without question, Liang Jiahui was troublesome because he actually thought things through. Just like this agreement—everyone else was eagerly rushing to sign, yet he wanted clear answers first. "Your formal contract will have an eight-year term." "As newcomers, your compensation certainly won't be very high—roughly a few hundred dollars a month, with extra allowances for filming. But that's only temporary. Every one of you is exceptionally talented. Once you become big stars in the future, your income will multiply tenfold, a hundredfold!" Unmoved, Liang Jiahui pressed on, "If we don't sign, does that mean we can't do the internship?" "..." The director furrowed his brow and said sternly, "If you don't sign, not only will you be barred from the internship, but you won't even need to take the graduation exam. You'll be dismissed directly!" Hiss! A collective gasp fell over the room, and everyone fell silent as cicadas in winter. Liang Jiahui didn't ask further questions; he simply nodded. After finishing his remarks, the director left. The students immediately crowded around Liang Jiahui, chiming in all at once: "Jiahui, don't be impulsive! We've already studied for nine months. Wouldn't dropping out now be a total waste?" "Eight years isn't that long either. All the senior brothers and sisters went through the same thing. Maybe you'll be the next Chow Yun-fat!" "Come on! I'm twenty-three this year. In eight years, I'll be thirty-one!" Liang Jiahui was fiercely independent and reasoned back at them: "Everyone wants to be Chow Yun-fat, but there's only one Chow Yun-fat! TVB has so many actors—how can anyone be sure they'll make it to the top? Can you survive on a few hundred dollars a month? All right, don't say any more. My mind is made up." With that, he walked straight into the office. When he emerged a moment later, his expression was dark; he had likely had a fierce row with the director. He then gathered up his belongings, ready to leave immediately. "Jiahui!" Liu Dehua stopped him once more. "Are you really leaving? What will you do after this?" "I have plenty of skills. How could I starve anywhere? If all else fails, I'll just be an office worker!" The two often played bit parts together and were on good terms. Liang Jiahui threw an arm around his shoulder and said, "To tell you the truth, I actually have a dream: to start my own magazine. Now's my chance. You're different from me—you're meant for this profession. Keep at it!" And he truly walked away. The others watched his retreating figure, finding it remarkably dashing yet incredibly reckless. In any case, none of them would dare do the same. After leaving the training course, Liang Jiahui really did dive into publishing. He launched a young women's fashion magazine called La Bouche—a French title. He was the sole person from top to bottom, handling interviews, photography, editing, ad sales, and print supervision all by himself. It lasted only a single issue before flopping, as was only to be expected. Still, there was a silver lining: he had found a minor actress to model for the magazine. They had even dated for a time. That young actress was named Li Dianxin, and her father was Li Han-hsiang. What followed after that was well-known history...