Drop Dead

The mainland side had to run a united front, and the Taiwan side had to run one too. Taiwan, too, treated people according to who they were. If you were hard, they went soft. If you were soft, they went hard. If you stayed hard to the bitter end and paid those bastards no mind at all, there was nothing anyone could do. But if, while staying hard, you also made striking achievements, then it turned the other way, and Taiwan would take the initiative to loosen its terms... Ann Hui, for instance, had been banned over Boat People, but later she became a major director, and the Free Association took the initiative to give ground. Of course, at present she still was not qualified enough. "I give you face and you throw it back!" Inside the Association, President Tong Yuejuan slammed the table and cursed, "Going over there to shoot a film right under our noses—this is not only a grave dereliction of duty on your part—the Government Information Office is furious as well, and there must be a punishment! This Ann Hui is utterly unrepentant. As I see it, there's no need to give her another chance. Effective today, every cultural product connected with her in any way is banned from entry!" "Understood!" Jiang Fengqi answered, paused, and then asked, "How do we handle those few TVB actors?" At the mention of this, Tong Yuejuan grew glum. Shaw Brothers and TVB were both Shao Yifu's holdings. Shao Yifu's own influence went without saying. For decades his relations with Taiwan had always been good, nothing Cinema City could match. That was also why TVB turned a blind eye and let the stars under it go make films for the Left. Even if they were found out, at most the individual wrote a letter of repentance. Could it ever reach Shao Yifu himself? Impossible! As mentioned before, Shao Yifu had always bet on both sides. As early as the Spring Festival of 1979, Guangdong Television and TVB had jointly held a Yangcheng New Year Family Gala in Guangzhou. People such as Zheng Shaoqiu and Shen Dianxia had all attended. A letter of guarantee, and that was the end of it. Only if someone went as far as Liza Wang and outright became an NPC deputy on the mainland—that was more than Taiwan could tolerate. "This matter is serious. We can't let them muddle through again. There has to be a stance!" Tong Yuejuan and Jiang Fengqi looked into it and arrived at fairly consistent terms of punishment. Just then, someone came in from outside to report, "The people from TVB are here!" "They've come at just the right time!" "Let them in!" As the words were spoken, a TVB manager arrived, leading George Lam, Miao Qianren, and Liu Dehua, and began at once, "President Tong, I've come to beg forgiveness and take my punishment! When I heard the news I was alarmed and uneasy myself. There must be some misunderstanding in all this. Look—I've called them straight back and brought them to apologize to you!" "Hmph!" Tong Yuejuan gave a cold snort. "Easy for you to say. Since this Association was founded, never has any non-Left person gone north to shoot a film. You're the first. What great airs!" "Aiya, we wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare. We were only careless for a moment!" The TVB man hurried to speak soothing words, apologizing and making promises by turns, and at the same time had George Lam and the other two state where they stood. After all that fuss, Tong Yuejuan's expression eased a little. "We have always been dear friends and kin to people in the Hong Kong trade. In all things, harmony comes first. Even if a mistake is made, write a letter of repentance, write a letter of guarantee, and that can be the end of it. But you cannot take our magnanimity as a matter of course. If this goes on, the letter of repentance will become a joke!" "Then what would you have us do?" "Simple. You need only publish a public statement of repentance in the Hong Kong Times, and we will let bygones be bygones." Just as the Left had its newspapers, the Right also had its own media strongholds in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Times was one of them. In the past, letters of repentance had all been private. This time it was to be public, which amounted to taking a public stand in the newspaper... For both factions, this was a major matter. The TVB man, however, let out a breath of relief. Wasn't it just putting it in the paper? What was there to it? It was all so they could go on making money. Nothing to be ashamed of. "Rest assured, it'll be in tomorrow's paper for certain!" After another round of promises, he finally took them away. Liu Dehua's expression had been gloomy the whole time, as if he wanted to speak and then held back. Once they were back at the company, and George Lam and Miao Qianren had gone, he finally opened his mouth. "There's something I have to report!" "What else is there?" "I... I..." He swallowed, but he had no choice but to say it. "I also signed a contract with that Mr. Chen. The Mr. Chen from the mainland." "What?" The other man froze, then said at once, "When did you sign it?" "Before I went to Hainan. He said there was a film he wanted me to act in, so I signed." "Then why didn't you report it to the company?!" "I wasn't a regular employee then..." Liu Dehua lowered his head and dared not make another sound. The man stared at him for a long while. This was a newcomer. In the training class the teachers had thought highly of him to a one. He had just graduated with excellent results, top grade, and joined TVB. The station thought highly of him too. They felt his looks and physique were especially upright and proper. Liu Dehua's shoulders, back, and waist were always held upright, suited to roles like a policeman, so this year he would have a series called The Falcon. It had taken Chow Yun-fat two years to work his way up to a male lead. Liu Dehua would do it in less than one. A newcomer with this kind of promise—the station still wanted to protect him. And so the man said, "The contract?" "What?" "The contract! The contract you signed! Don't you have it on you?" "I do, I do! Shall I go home and get it?" "If you don't go, am I supposed to?" Liu Dehua left in a fluster, came back with the contract, and the other man went through the contents clause by clause. His expression grew darker and darker. He slammed it onto the table with a bang. "Drop dead, you!" ...... "This way, please! This way, please!" Beijing in February, when the weather had just begun to warm and was still cold. At Lechunfang, Chen Qi personally received a guest: none other than Li Han-hsiang, come from Hong Kong. Li Han-hsiang was the same as ever. He stepped in through the gate and looked the courtyard over with curiosity. Chen Qi gave a brief account of the place, led him straight toward the rear courtyard, and said offhand, "Hanhan, bring a pot of water!" "Right away!" Dai Hanhan briskly handed over a pot of hot water. Seeing the two go in, she shut the little gate and started whispering. "Hey, hey, did you see? They went to the rear courtyard. That's no ordinary relationship." "Of course not. It's Li Han-hsiang, a great director!" "That can't be right. I never heard Teacher Chen and Director Li were all that close. At most they know each other, don't they?" "Then why take him to the rear courtyard?" To show off that large zitan painting table, of course! "Aiyo, aiyo, what a fine piece!" "Made for the imperial court!" At the sight of this table, Li Han-hsiang was beside himself. With no regard for his dignity, he stroked it up and down, more tenderly than he would a lover. He looked at it for a full half hour, then jerked his head up. "Kid, how much did you pay for it?" "Three thousand, I suppose!" "Six thousand—no, ten thousand! Let me have this table, will you?" "I won't sell it for any price. I only brought you to look." Had there been a hammer in his hand, Li Han-hsiang could have hammered him to death. The two sat down, and Chen Qi poured tea. Li Han-hsiang's trip to the capital this time was still for the sake of The Burning of the Imperial Palace and Reign Behind a Curtain. The films had been delayed again and again, and at last they were to go into preparation. The money was put up by He Xian, the King of Macau. Li Han-hsiang and He Xian had met once and talked of the matter, and He Xian had been very openhanded then, saying he would give his full support—in Macau, He Xian was the one who was truly a big shot. "Once the scripts are approved, I can formally start preparations. If it goes smoothly, we can start shooting in the second half of the year!" Li Han-hsiang was full of energy. In fact he still had a contract with Shaw Brothers. Before fulfilling it he had run off to the mainland, and then the Hong Kong press had exposed him—there was even talk that Shaw Brothers had reported him. In any case, Li Han-hsiang would not write a letter of repentance, and he was banned. It had also dragged in the actor playing the Xianfeng Emperor in the film, Liang Jiahui. Liang Jiahui had left the TVB training class to run a magazine, hadn't he? It folded after a single issue, but because of that he met Li Han-hsiang's daughter, and the two even went out for a while, so Li Han-hsiang picked him to act in the film... Chen Qi listened to the man chatter on, filling in these stories in his own head. At the end, Li Han-hsiang asked, "You know a lot of people. Any actors you'd recommend to me?" "I really don't have anyone suitable. You're the director. You'll be most satisfied with the ones you pick yourself." Chen Qi laughed it off. He had little interest in these two films and did not want to get mixed up in them. The soul of the piece was undoubtedly Empress Dowager Cixi. Gong Xue could not play that. Although he did not think well of Liu Xiaoqing, her professional ability was strong, and she would play Empress Dowager Cixi quite well. Have Gong Xue play Empress Dowager Ci'an? Even less possible. How could he let the most popular actress in the country play a supporting role for someone else? So he simply declined. Li Han-hsiang had only asked in passing. He had a great deal of work on this trip to the capital. He had made time to see his young friend Chen Qi, sat a while, and left, full of praise for the courtyard as well. Chen Qi saw him to the car, then walked back through the broken chill of early spring. At the main gate, looking at the editorial department already busy, Ji Chunhua training in the courtyard, Teacher Li wandering here and there... he suddenly gave a long, lazy stretch. "However good a settled life is, I can't sink into it. The New Year is over. I ought to go and have a look in Hong Kong too!"