madnovel Chapter 3 Planning
Chapter 3 Planning
"Did we attract a thief?"
"Oh dear, the lock wasn't broken when I first opened the door."
Tang Long's first reaction was that he had been robbed, but surely a thief wouldn't have moved the place so cleanly.
Then a flood of memories came rushing back.
The original owner of this body had a girlfriend, and considering his identity as a martial arts practitioner, Tang Long could roughly guess what was going on.
Little did he know that the situation Jackie Chan described in an interview in his later years would happen to him.
In my memory, his girlfriend was named Zhang Xiaohui, but she wasn't the one who later bankrupted Xiaosa Ge.
At this time, they were both already married, but their names were homophones of each other's wives, just with different characters.
Zhang Xiaohui was a Miss Hong Kong contestant who didn't win the pageant. She met Tang Long at an industry gathering.
Tang Long was instantly smitten and began a passionate pursuit.
In the past two years, he has spent almost all the money he earned on his partner.
Given his skills and connections, his income is quite substantial; earning HK$200,000 a year is no problem for him.
To Tang Long's dismay, he spent nearly 400,000 yuan but didn't even reach second base, let alone a home run.
If Li Haisheng hadn't stopped him, the higher-ups might have transferred all the houses to Zhang Xiaohui's name.
I don't know whether to call him an innocent little boy or a simp.
Li Haisheng then recalled some rumors circulating in the industry, his eyes widened instantly, and he turned to look at him:
"Zhang Xiaohui?"
"It must be her," Tang Long said with a wry smile.
"Damn it, what do you mean 'should'? Quickly call her and see if you can get in touch with her."
As expected, no one answered the phone. They then went to her place, but she had already moved away.
Before going to the set of "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer", Tang Long, under her persistent coaxing, told the other party the account password left by his father.
When the two arrived at HSBC, the HK$300,000 his father had left him had indeed been withdrawn.
At the bank entrance, Li Haisheng slapped Tang Long on the back of the head, furious at his lack of ambition:
"Are you out of your mind? You actually let a woman manage your money."
I told you long ago that Zhang Xiaohui was just trying to hook you up; she only wanted your money.
You wouldn't listen, and now you deserve it.
"I thought it was love at the time," Tang Long explained softly.
"I love your love that's gone wrong. I've been in this industry for so long and I've never seen love."
After being scolded, Li Haisheng finally calmed down a bit, and his tone was no longer so irritable:
"It's okay if you lose the money; you can earn it back later. At least you've gotten rid of Zhang Xiaohui, and you won't be leeched off by her anymore."
"I will never trust women again," Tang Long said, going along with his words.
Of course, this was also what he was thinking at the time. Love is too cheap in the entertainment industry; everyone is focused on interests.
Even in Hengdian, which is only on the fringes of the entertainment industry, the relationships between men and women are mostly about mutual support or exchanging benefits.
Tang Long was naturally unwilling to remain a martial arts performer forever.
In his previous life, he didn't have the connections or the means, but now that he has such a good foundation, he naturally hopes to step into the spotlight and realize his dream of becoming a kung fu superstar.
Women will only affect the speed at which he draws his sword. It's fine if each gets what they want, but talking about feelings is too much of a luxury.
Countless examples that followed proved that Jackie Chan was the only one who was truly clear-headed.
Even if Zhang Xiaohui didn't run away, he would still get rid of her.
Besides, a gold digger like Zhang Xiaohui is easy to spot, and he's not going to be a simp.
But the thought of the HK$300,000 that had been stolen still caused Tang Long a dull ache in his heart.
That was originally his money.
After leaving the bank, he immediately went to the police station to report the incident.
He also understood that the money was most likely gone and that Zhang Xiaohui had probably already left Hong Kong.
However, she can forget about ever returning to Hong Kong.
Life overseas isn't as glamorous as the propaganda makes it out to be.
Afterwards, Li Haisheng helped Tang Long buy a bed, sofa, refrigerator, air conditioner and other furniture and appliances, so that the house was finally barely habitable.
Li Haisheng clapped his hands and let out a long sigh of relief:
"Alright, you can stay here for now. You can add anything you need later."
"Thank you so much, Master, for taking care of everything."
"We don't need to say these things between master and apprentice. Just be more careful in the future, and always keep your money in your own hands."
The two had dinner outside and then parted ways.
Tang Long returned to his empty home, feeling a bit tired after a busy day.
I was lying in bed, but my mind was perfectly clear.
Next, we should think about how to proceed in the future.
This was in early 1990, the beginning of the most glorious period for Hong Kong cinema.
With the release of "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," in which he participated, a new wave of martial arts films was set off.
Not only martial arts films, but kung fu films will also be a major category of Hong Kong cinema in the coming years, showing great potential.
He is familiar with many classic action movies from the next twenty years, including those from Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas regions such as Hollywood.
He has rewatched some of the more classic ones several times, and can recite the plots by heart.
This is my biggest advantage.
However, he currently lacks the ability to fully utilize these advantages.
He currently has less than HK$100,000 in his pocket, plus the tens of thousands of dollars in compensation from "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer".
Not to mention that completing a film project requires more than just money.
He couldn't even assemble a film crew.
People will believe Tang Jia and Cheng Xiaodong, but they won't believe Tang Long.
His biggest backer, Tang Jia, went to Canada. Although Cheng Xiaodong valued him, he couldn't possibly put him in a leading position right away.
However, the golden age of Hong Kong cinema was very short, lasting only three or four years.
Kung Fu movies have a shorter lifespan; audiences get tired of them in less than three years.
In 1993, nearly forty action movies were released. Apart from the movies starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, most of the others had mediocre box office performance or even flopped.
Among them are many excellent kung fu films such as "The Bride with White Hair", "The Sword and the City", and "The Kung Fu Cult Master".
If Cheng Xiaodong follows the established procedures step by step, he will definitely miss the golden age of kung fu movies over the next three years.
Donnie Yen is the most typical example. He has a solid foundation in martial arts and is also strongly supported by Yuen Woo-ping.
However, he did not become popular in the early 1990s, and Hong Kong films subsequently fell into a slump. Even when he made high-quality films such as "SPL: Sha Po Lang" and "Flash Point," they did not make much of a splash.
It wasn't until "Ip Man" that he became a big star, more than 20 years after he entered the industry.
The reason he became so popular was the booming mainland Chinese film market.
If they cannot accumulate enough fans and gain a certain influence like Jet Li in the next few years...
If the overall environment is not good, it will be difficult for you to stand out even if you are very good at it.
Therefore, one should become famous as early as possible.
This requires Tang Long to make good use of his familiarity with future classic action movies and his limited network of connections.
His thoughts then began to wander, imagining how he could become famous overnight and how every movie he made would be a box office hit.
He also broke into Hollywood, just like Jackie Chan, and became a global kung fu superstar.
However, the faint pain in his shoulder as he turned to the side instantly brought him back to his senses.
His immediate priority is to heal his shoulder injury.