You're the Proletariat

Ed Harris and his companion finished their two-month stay in Hong Kong and returned to the United States. Hong Kong had left a deep impression on them, and they had considerable praise for Orphan as well. But whether it was a mule or a horse still had to be settled by results. Sentiment alone was useless. Competition in the entertainment world was cruel. No one would remember an eliminated cook unless he cooked something truly extraordinary. The crew held a wrap banquet, right in the canteen at Clear Water Bay Studio, saving wherever they could. The next day, though, Chen Qi hosted Tsui Hark and Shi Nansheng on his own. Shi Nansheng wore her hair in a neat short cut, and her clothes had a style all their own. She was from Shanghai. She had later moved to Hong Kong, studied overseas, and on her return worked first at a television station, then followed Tsui Hark into Cinema City. Mai Jia, Shi Tian, Huang Baiming—not one of them was management material. Shi Nansheng was the real steward. She had the company running in perfect order, a rare administrative talent. The two of them entered a restaurant. In the private room, Chen Qi was already seated, and Xiao Mo stood leaning in the doorway. "Miss Shi, I've long admired you!" "This is our first meeting. How have you long admired me?" "Hong Kong has no end of people who can make films, and precious few who can manage. Without you, Cinema City couldn't even get its taxes straight." "Ha ha ha! Mr. Chen really knows how to talk!" Shi Nansheng laughed heartily. She had heard Tsui Hark mention Chen Qi more than once, and between the lines there was quite a sense of kindred spirits. The three sat down and ordered. Chen Qi poured the wine, raised his cup, and said, "The first cup: thank you, Director Tsui, for your wholehearted help. Orphan is smoothly completed!" "The second cup: I'll be returning to the mainland in a few days. I'll have to trouble you to take extra care with the post-production... The third cup: our companies are not the same, but you and I can be friends. Parting is at hand. We ought to drink a cup!" Not a bite of food had been eaten before three cups of wine went down, one after another. Tsui Hark's face was already somewhat flushed. He liked drinking, and he liked this manner of things. In his bones there was a streak of knight-errant romance. A drunken version of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer that he had sung with Huang Zhan and Luo Dayou could be called sheer exhilaration, bold feeling on full display. The three ate and drank and talked freely. Then Chen Qi said, "Director Tsui, I'm about to leave. Let me ask you one more time. Will you really not consider coming over to the Left?" "Why bring that up again? We agreed not to mention it!" Tsui Hark scratched his head, quite troubled. Shi Nansheng laughed. "Mr. Chen, please understand us. Making films takes money. If the box office is poor, no one invests. When we shoot, we also need the box office as a foundation. Right now in Hong Kong everyone is rushing for the Taiwan market. Who told the mainland to stay closed?" "I admit the mainland is closed. But I told Director Tsui: Taiwan has twenty million people. However big that market is, how big can it get? I've been here several months, and my strongest feeling is that our local counterparts have little drive. They only stare at this one little plot of theirs. "Let's go break into overseas markets. Let's go break into the United States. That is what you call a vast market. With the ability you two have, only circling around in Hong Kong is too great a waste! "If you don't want to join the Left outright, that's fine too. We put up the capital and take a stake, and help you found a company. You be your own bosses. Surely that's better than being senior hired hands at Cinema City?" "This..." Both of them felt a stir. They had to admit the terms really were quite good. Chen Qi did not wait for an answer and went on. "Hong Kong is always saying the mainland means to make revolution and wipe out the rich. It's all just muddying the waters. If we really want to argue it, it's simple. The two of you count as successful people in Hong Kong. What group do you think you belong to? "Are you the proletariat, or the capitalists? "Never mind the two of you. Even big bosses like Raymond Chow and Shao Yifu—can they be called capitalists? Do they control the means of production? Land, grain, industry, energy, real estate, finance... Oh, at most a little real estate can brush the edge of capital. Aside from that, what do they have? And what do you have? "You think you're of a kind with them. In fact, we're the ones of a kind. "Director Tsui, you're the proletariat!" Pfft! Tsui Hark spat it right out. The corner of Shi Nansheng's mouth twitched. "Mr. Chen, you... this..." "I was only speaking offhand. Don't take it to heart. But what I said before was utterly sincere. Come, drink!" Having said his piece, he let it go with great satisfaction, and left the couple unable to sit still. …… It was late. They finally got through the meal, and the two of them went home. Tsui Hark took a shower, then sat in the living room smoking, the very picture of a man weighed down by worries. Shi Nansheng came out drying her hair and asked, "Still thinking about what just happened? Those things he said were too exaggerated. No need to take them to heart. The only real offer is the one to open a company for us." "No. I wasn't thinking about it." Tsui Hark ground out the cigarette and asked, "Are the figures for All the Wrong Clues (...for the Right Solution) out?" "7.47 million at the box office. Excellent. It's ranked sixth for now." "What did Mai Jia and the others say?" Hm? Shi Nansheng started, looking in surprise at this man who had never concerned himself with worldly affairs. "You know the company custom. You're the director, so you get a director's fee, and at most a red packet of another few tens of thousands. The box office has no share for you. "When the year-end settlement comes, those three bosses are the ones who take the dividends. They're the shareholders." "So Chen Qi was right. We're nothing but senior hired hands!" Shi Nansheng walked over, sat down opposite him, and asked very seriously, "Are you tempted?" "I'm hesitating!" "The way I see it, we really could open a company. You create, I manage, and we hire some people. We could absolutely keep a small company going. Siding with the Right or the Left is nothing but a matter of the market. The Left has only eight cinemas, and the films can't be sold to Taiwan. That is what we have to weigh carefully. "He talks about breaking into the United States. Is the United States that easy to break into? "Better to see how Orphan does, and talk again then?" Shi Nansheng was without doubt a capable wife. She laid the matter out with perfect clarity. Right or left made no difference; whichever side had the bigger market, they would go there. Tsui Hark thought for a while, nodded, and said, "All right. This way is fine too. We'll wait." ………… The Hong Kong school system was three years of junior secondary, two years of senior secondary, two years of matriculation, and three years of university. The qualification for finishing senior secondary was called Form Five. Many Hong Kong stars had only a Form Five education, and some had not even reached Form Five. Genuine university graduates like Michael Hui and Wong Jing were rarely seen. The gate of a secondary school. Qiu Shuzhen had taken two months' leave to shoot, and now she was back at school, though her mind was already no longer on her studies. It was just after school. She waited a while with her schoolbag on her back, saw a Honda Accord come racing over from far away, and hurriedly waved. She slipped into the car with easy familiarity and said with a giggle, "Shifu, why did you come pick me up today?" "To take you out to eat!" "Eat what?" "How about steak rice?" "Mm-hmm! Steak rice is what I want most!" They soon reached the shop. It lived up to being a popular place, and was almost full. It was Qiu Shuzhen's first time. Clutching the hem of Chen Qi's jacket, she finally managed to find a seat. Much of Hong Kong's food was a blend of Chinese and Western. The steak at this shop, for instance, was fried on an iron plate, with soy sauce, pepper, and minced garlic. It could be eaten with rice, or with a bread roll and borscht. Qiu Shuzhen ordered the rice set, but now and then she reached her spoon over to drink Chen Qi's borscht, looking extraordinarily happy. Chen Qi watched her eat and said with a smile, "Ah Zhen, I'm going back in a few days." Her spoon paused. "Back to the mainland?" "Mm." "......" She kept her head lowered, and when she raised it again her eyes were already brimming. "Shifu, can't you just not go?"