"Beep, beep!"
A minibus stopped near the Shaw Brothers studio at Clear Water Bay. The door opened, and Liu Dehua jumped down, his face full of gloom.
He looked at the Shaw Brothers gate and the buildings half-hidden in the trees, a trace of longing in his eyes. He knew that inside was the legendary film lot, where countless big stars had once struggled. He had thought he would be one of them. A pity—the wind had blown the eggshell away, and nothing was left.
"This is my fate!"
He sighed, walked on for a stretch, and came to the place next door to Shaw Brothers—the Leftist studio.
The frontage was smaller, the grounds were smaller, and the bustle could not compare. But he knew this was the only chance he had. He rubbed his face hard, rallied himself, and walked in.
He went up to the main building and found an office. Fu Chi had cleared this one out specially.
He saw that Mr. Chen again.
Liu Dehua had resentment in his heart, but he dared not let it out. He squeezed out a smile. "Good morning, Mr. Chen!"
"Mm. What'll you have to drink?"
"Anything is fine."
"Then have some tea. Premium broken tea I brought from Beijing. You can't get it in Hong Kong."
Chen Qi unscrewed a tea tin. It was jasmine tea bought from Zhang Yiyuan at Qianmen. They had it at four yuan a jin, and at six yuan a jin; the most expensive was twelve yuan a jin. He had bought the cheapest, five mao a jin.
He steeped two cups. Liu Dehua took a few polite sips. Born to a poor family, he was actually quite shrewd, and he knew that some things had to be raised oneself—the child who cried was the one who got the milk. So he said:
"Mr. Chen, you've really landed me in a terrible mess this time!"
"How so?"
"You mentioned me in the papers, right out in the open. The company is very unhappy with me. The business of Boat People isn't even over, and now there's fresh trouble. The company doesn't like me. They've already terminated my contract."
"Can TVB cancel one-sidedly, without paying compensation?"
"They said I was at fault first, that I'd had a bad effect on the company... Even if they broke the rules, what of it? Am I supposed to take TVB to court? I'm a newcomer. I have no background at all. I can't even scrape up a lawyer's fee..."
As Liu Dehua talked, the grievance truly caught up with him, and his tone changed.
"So you're a free agent now?"
"Yes!"
"Which means you can come act for me, and you won't be bound by TVB." Chen Qi smiled.
Hm?
Hearing that, Liu Dehua felt the man seemed not to have understood. He set his jaw and pleaded outright. "Mr. Chen, I still want to go on in the business. I don't want to finish this film and end up an ordinary wage worker. Can you take me in?"
"..."
Chen Qi thought for a moment, then said, "I haven't set up a branch in Hong Kong yet. If we sign you, it will be Great Wall that signs you. Are you willing?"
"Of course! Great Wall is famous. I've admired it for a long time!" Liu Dehua said hastily.
"All right. I'll have someone speak about it. Whether it actually works out still depends on how you do in this film."
"Thank you, Mr. Chen! Don't worry, I'll work hard. I'll give it one hundred percent!"
On working hard, Chen Qi had no doubts. Liu Dehua was famously diligent and earnest. It was only that his acting had clicked late; he was the classic star-style performer, half a lifetime spent striking cool poses.
But he didn't need Liu Dehua chasing awards. Being able to strike those cool poses was enough.
With the real business finished he ought to have left, but Chen Qi told him to wait a little longer. After a while someone else knocked, and a young man came in. Liu Dehua glanced back and sprang to his feet. The other man was just as startled.
"Huazai?"
"Jiahui?"
"What are you doing here?!"
The newcomer was Liang Jiahui. He and Liu Dehua stared wide-eyed at each other, then both turned to look at Chen Qi.
"Sit down. What's there to get excited about?"
"Have some tea too. Premium broken tea I brought from Beijing. You can't get it in Hong Kong."
Chen Qi steeped another cup. Liang Jiahui also took a polite sip, though his face was more direct than Liu Dehua's. Yikes—this was the premium broken tea?
"Mr. Liang, this is our first meeting, but you and I have a connection. Your girlfriend's father is Li Han-hsiang. Director Li and I treat each other as equals of the same generation. By rights, you ought to call me uncle."
Pfft!
"Mr. Chen, please don't joke."
The broken tea Liang Jiahui had not yet swallowed nearly sprayed out. The rundown magazine he had been running had already folded. He had found a job at an advertising company and had meant to be an office worker, only for someone, for no clear reason, to come looking for him to act.
He too longed for the entertainment world, so when a chance came he naturally took it. Who would have thought he would run into Liu Dehua? All of it felt uncanny, as if, in the unseen, an invisible great hand were steering him.
"All right. Let's talk business!"
Chen Qi grinned and looked at the two of them. "This film is called Ghost. You are my two leads, one the hero and one the villain, and your parts aren't actually far apart. Since you're sitting here, there's no need for empty talk.
"The film has ghosts in it, but it's an urban romance. Hong Kong movies these days are too rustic—nothing but late-Qing and early-Republican kung fu pictures, all of a kind. This is clearly a city developing at high speed, and yet there are hardly any urban films.
"So our tone has to be fashionable. It has to be current. It has to draw in students and the white-collar workers sitting in offices.
"The roles you play are young men of talent, too. Look at the two of you—you couldn't be more rustic if you tried. I've already made the arrangements. First go get yourselves styled, then spend a month in Central. Get a feel for how the elite live day to day. Observe carefully for me!"
"..."
At these words the two stared at each other, at a loss.
Chen Qi said, "You didn't learn this in training class? Then what do you know how to do?"
"No, no!"
Liu Dehua hurried to explain. "We had imitation class, and we rehearsed some classics too. It's just that when we shoot, time is usually very tight. We've never had a chance like this."
"Actually, I've always wanted to try it. It must be interesting!" Liang Jiahui was full of expectation.
"Good. Then I'll give you one more task. Each of you write a short character biography according to your own role. I don't care how you write it, but you must write it."
Liu Dehua noticed that when Chen Qi said this, he was looking at Liang Jiahui. He couldn't help finding it strange. He was clearly the one who knew Mr. Chen better—why did the man seem to think more of Jiahui?
When they had finished talking, Chen Qi said, "I'm done here. Go out and turn right. Someone there will sort out your pay, contracts, and the rest with you."
The two went out.
After another round of hassle, things were at last roughly settled. Their pay was the same: ten thousand Hong Kong dollars each.
That was already quite a sum. When Liu Dehua joined TVB, his starting base pay was only a few hundred Hong Kong dollars, and later it rose to 1,800. After he became a star, TVB wanted to renew him early and offered a buyout of one million Hong Kong dollars over five years—two hundred thousand a year to work him like a beast of burden. Of course he wouldn't take it.
The TVB Five Tigers refused to renew together. Then Liang Chaowei broke ranks, and the united front collapsed on its own...
Around dusk the two finally left Clear Water Bay. Sitting on the minibus, they confided in each other and sighed over their lots. Liang Jiahui asked, "You've made up your mind to sign with the Left?"
"Yes. I want to keep acting. What else can I do? You don't want to sign?"
"I haven't decided. It's not urgent anyway. We'll talk after this film is done."
On this point Liu Dehua truly envied him. If the other man didn't act, he could still be an office worker; if he himself didn't act, he could only go into a factory. He sighed. "I hope this film can be a hit. Then we'll make our names... Oh, right—do you know who the female lead is?"
"No. I was going to ask you!"
"Could it be Zhao Yazhi?"
"Ha! You might as well say it's Ah Jie (Liza Wang)!"
Liang Jiahui paused, then said, "I think this film is great. Mr. Chen has it as an urban romance, and it has to be fashionable. He's exactly right. Hong Kong has too many kung fu films now."
"And he said they'd style us. I can do that too. I'll just cut you a hairstyle. Saves money, and it'll look good."
Liu Dehua had once worked in a hair salon, and had properly learned to cut hair.
"I don't trust you. Go do the female lead's!"
"If the female lead is pretty, I'll do it. Hey, hey—I can do Audrey Hepburn's hairstyle. My technique is very good."
The two of them sat laughing on the minibus. They were green newcomers, after all. Whatever they had been through before, and whatever Left or Right there might be, having a film to shoot was what mattered most just now. Inside, both of them were full of endless expectation.
Chapter 273