Returning to Hong Kong

At Beijing Film Company. Zheng Dayong was all smiles, having tasted the sweet fruits of the roadshow. Over the course of ten days, Gong Xue and her team had made the rounds across twenty cinemas. Tickets to the meet-and-greets were fiercely contested, and after each event, attendance rose noticeably; now, every single screening was packed to capacity. Although the official tallies were not yet in, early estimates suggested the box office had already shattered records for the period. "This method of having the director and actors take part in publicity is wonderful! I think we should do a lot more of it. What other films do we have lined up?" "There's The Herdsman!" "Who's the director?" "Xie Jin!" "Uh..." Zheng Dayong choked on his words. A major director like Xie Jin naturally wouldn't come out for a roadshow. He asked instead, "What about the cast?" "Zhu Shimao and Cong Shan!" "Never heard of them. Young actors just starting out, right? We can try inviting them. Going forward, it'd be best to make these events a regular practice—especially for productions with well-known actors, we should try our best to bring them in. Actors from the Beijing area or nearby places will do just fine. Forget about those from far away; we're not covering their travel expenses." Zheng Dayong had a sharp mind and fully recognized the effectiveness of the roadshow, but he also had his limitations—for instance, an aversion to opening his wallet. None of that mattered; change always happened little by little. As long as Beijing saw results, other regions would notice. If everyone followed suit and allowed the core creative talent to engage with distribution on even a modest level, it would already be a meaningful development. *** Late at night, a fine drizzle began to fall again. A pitter-patter of raindrops scattered across the back courtyard, tapping softly against the glass window. Inside, bathed in the dim amber light, the plants sprouted new shoots in the night, exuding the subtle grace of rain nurturing the earth in silence. Gong Xue loved nights like this the most. She reclined lazily on the sofa, engrossed in a Western novel Chen Qi had brought back from Hong Kong, looking up at him from time to time. He sat bent over the desk, drafting work plans, while Teresa Teng's tender, fluid melodies floated from the cassette player... She suddenly had the feeling of an old married couple. Mama, Love Me Once More had swept across Beijing. Once again, Chen Qi had proven that his scripts never missed the mark. Gong Xue's already soaring popularity had surged upward another massive leap, and interview requests and symposium invitations were pouring in. Once the film rolled out nationwide, its triumph would be sealed even further. Even Wang Haowei had now risen to become one of the country's prominent directors. Time marched into late April. As soon as the casting for Life Is Beautiful was finalized, Chen Qi would have to head back to Hong Kong. The wall clock ticked past eleven. He finally stretched his arms and sighed, "All done at last!" "Tired?" "Not too bad, but I need to stretch a bit." "Lie down for a while then. I'll rub your shoulders." Gong Xue put down her book and had him lie face down on the bed while she sat beside him, massaging his shoulders and lower back. Chen Qi said, "Once you're done attending the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers, I'll borrow you for the production crew. In the second half of the year, we'll be busy with two films, Life Is Beautiful and Tai Chi 3—mainly Life Is Beautiful. We'll have about six months together." "So you'll be running back and forth between both places?" "Yes, I still have a lot of matters to handle here on the mainland..." Chen Qi paused, then suddenly asked, "Jiejie, would you like to be on TV?" "In a television drama?" "No, CCTV galas and things like that." Gong Xue blinked. Whenever she talked with Chen Qi, she always had to shift her brain into high gear, worried she wouldn't keep up with his train of thought. "You mean like CCTV's New Year's Gala? Isn't that something they plan internally? Do you think you can just appear on it whenever you want?" "We just have to seize the planning rights. I have cards to play." "I'm fine with whatever. But between making movies and keeping an eye on television, what on earth are you after?" Naturally, to build a colossal media conglomerate spanning film, television, music, and magazines! To consolidate Hong Kong, push into Europe and America, and give back to the mainland... Chen Qi couldn't say any of that out loud, so he simply smiled. "I can't sit idle. Whenever something interesting comes along, I want a piece of the action. Since you're on board, I'll start quietly working the angles!" "Working the angles?" Amused, Gong Xue chuckled. "All right, all right. You work your angles. Let's see what you come up with." *** Mama, Love Me Once More continued to make massive waves across Beijing, and seeing its success, other provinces grew increasingly restless. However, everything depended on the film prints. With the prints struck by China Film, who received them first and who received them later came down to each party's leverage. Shaanxi Film Company remained entirely composed; they had agreed to screen it in May, when Gong Xue would attend the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards and could run roadshows on the side. Chen Qi held another talk with Li Lianjie. Historically, his films—The Shaolin Temple, Kids from Shaolin, and Martial Arts of Shaolin—had all achieved tremendous success. Yet because they were classified as Hong Kong productions, they had been ineligible to compete for mainland awards, leaving him without a single heavyweight accolade. Now, Tai Chi was a pure mainland production. Given his soaring popularity, he stood a strong chance of clinching a Hundred Flowers Award. "The Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers overlaps with Cannes. Tai Chi 2 is screening at Cannes, but you might also win a Hundred Flowers Award. You decide which one you want to attend." "I..." Li Lianjie was torn. Emotionally, he longed to go to Cannes; rationally, he wanted to go to Xi'an. "Brother Qi, why don't you give me some advice?" "No way. You'd only blame me later if you weren't satisfied. Let's use the most scientific method to choose." Chen Qi tore off two slips of paper, wrote on them, held one balled up in each fist, shuffled them behind his back, and held them out. "Pick!" Li Lianjie stared at them for a moment, then threw caution to the wind. "Left for men, right for women. I pick the left!" "Xi'an!" Chen Qi revealed the paper, which clearly bore the two characters for Xi'an. "Works out fine. We'll have a big contingent this year; Director Li and your Sister Xue are both going. Cannes is just a festival screening to sell distribution rights anyway, so it doesn't make much difference whether you're there or not." "All right. Then... when will Tai Chi 3 start shooting?" "Probably in the second half of the year. We've switched the director to Tsui Hark—you've met him before." Chen Qi patted him on the shoulder, painting a grand vision as always. "Xiao Li, I know that outside of filming, life in Beijing gets pretty dull for you. The company has limited resources, so we can only give you one film a year for now, but things will get better. "Once Tai Chi 3 wraps, I don't plan on keeping you in period pieces. We'll switch to contemporary action films. Get yourself ready; when the time comes, you'll be venturing onto the international stage with me..." "Wait, hasn't Tai Chi already gone international?" Li Lianjie asked, puzzled. "That's not the same. Tai Chi is Chinese culture traveling abroad. When I say international, I mean genuinely co-starring with American actors, securing international financing, making blockbusters, and releasing them in American theaters." One tantalizing pie after another was laid out before him. Li Lianjie's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he listened, and he nodded vigorously. "Does that mean I'll have to be based in Hong Kong too?" "That's right. Down the line, you'll be spending long stretches with me in Hong Kong. You know Jackie Chan, right? I'm looking for a chance to work with him too. Both of you have what it takes—let's see who achieves success first." Chen Qi truly did have this in mind. Jackie Chan was already marked as a prime target, someone who definitely had to be brought into the united front. For now, however, he didn't want Li Lianjie and Jackie Chan sharing the screen. Both were capable of carrying a film on their own, and putting them together prematurely would only dilute their individual appeal. It wouldn't be too late to collaborate once they had both made their names overseas. In the original timeline, even toward the end of their careers, teaming up for a mediocre film like The Forbidden Kingdom had still drawn immense anticipation. *** Late April arrived. Li Xuejian, Li Baotian, and Yan Shunkai returned, and Chen Qi organized an audition. Li Xuejian was eliminated first; his comedic performance fell just a bit short, especially when it came to portraying a Shanghai man. After careful consideration, Li Baotian was also ruled out. In the end, Yan Shunkai was chosen. Yan Shunkai possessed a very fitting look. He was a bit older, but Chen Qi had seen his performance of Ah Q's Monologue on the 1983 Spring Festival Gala—dressed in a suit and sporting a full head of hair, he looked quite decent. With the right makeup, he would fit the bill nicely. (Roughly that look.) When casting, one could never find a hundred percent match right out of the gate; post-casting transformation played a major role. With that, everything was settled. Chen Qi had rushed back for just over a month, wrapping up numerous arrangements, and now he was hurrying back to Hong Kong to prepare for yet another battle.