Chapter 22: Bargaining
On December 12, Yue Feng started filming for the fourth film "No Love" directed by Huayi Brothers, which is also the eighth film invested and shot by Huayi Brothers.
Prior to this, Huayi Brothers Film Group has invested in the filming of seven films: "Hong Kong Holiday", "Tang Bohu Dots Autumn Fragrance", "Shushan Knight", "Golden Lotus", "Huang Feihong's Righteousness Bo Yuntian", "Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon" and "Huang Feihong: Iron Fighting Centipede".
Long before the filming of "No Love" began, Huayi Brothers Film Group had already begun to formulate a work plan for the coming year, in which it planned to invest in at least four films in 1952, one of which was a Wong Fei Hung series of films.
Originally, Li Hualong didn't plan to let Yang Meng play the heroine Amin in the movie "No Love", he didn't want Yang Meng to be too tired, but Yang Meng read the script of this movie, liked it very much, and offered to play the role of Amin.
Li Hualong felt that Yang Meng would definitely be able to play the role of Amin well, and since Yang Meng took the initiative to put it forward, he couldn't refuse, so he accepted it.
On the night of the start of filming of "No Love", Li Hualong and Yang Meng slept together.
After lingering passion, Li Hualong hugged Yang Meng's delicate body with a happy smile on his face.
"What are you laughing at?" Yang Meng, whose face was flushed, asked with a smile of disgust
"Nothing!" Li Hualong said happily, and kissed Yang Meng on the cheek with a click, "You were too charming just now." ”
"You're necrotic." Yang Meng raised his pink fist and knocked it on Li Hualong's chest a few times.
"Hehe, don't fight, it's broken, you're going to feel distressed." Li Hualong smiled and grabbed Yang Meng's fist.
"I'm not distressed." Yang Meng pursed his lips and smiled.
The two looked at each other for a while, and Li Hualong smiled: "Tomorrow afternoon, I will leave the set." Take a walk around Kowloon and return to Hong Kong Island before dark. ”
"You can go about your business with peace of mind, don't worry about me. If you have time, go see my parents. ”
"Don't worry, the day after tomorrow, I'll go to see them and have dinner with them." Li Hualong said with a smile, and sighed, "Mengmeng, after the filming of this drama is over, you have to give yourself a long vacation, and you can only take on one movie a year at most in the future." ”
"It's too little to make a movie a year...... Shoot three films a year, okay? ”
"Do you still have an addiction to acting?" Li Hualong smiled and scraped the bridge of Yang Meng's nose with his index finger.
"Sort of!" Yang Meng grinned and said coquettishly, "Xianggong, is it okay?" ”
"Three is too many, two at most."
"Okay, let's do two."
Li Hualong saw Yang Meng with a sly smile on his face, and he deliberately showed an expression of sudden realization, "Oh, it turns out that you and I are playing a bargaining trick......"
Li Hualong said and began to scratch Yang Meng's armpits, Yang Meng giggled, and begged for mercy: "Xianggong, don't scratch it, I don't dare anymore." ”
"I'll spare you this time." Li Hualong stopped the movement in his hand, "When you are pregnant, you will have to rest for a while." ”
"Got it." Yang Meng smiled and said, "I'm quite conflicted now. ”
"What's the contradiction?"
"I want to have a baby for you sooner, and I want to have a baby later, later, I can make a few more movies...... You can't blame me, do you? ”
"What do you blame?" Li Hualong said with a smile.
"Blame me...... didn't think about inheriting the Li family. ”
"Don't be stupid. I don't blame you at all. I can understand what you think. Don't think too much about it, how old are you, and it's not too late to have another child in two or three years. Hehe, two or three years, is it enough? ”
"Enough!" Yang Mengle said, and took the initiative to kiss Li Hualong on the lips, "Aaron, thank you!" ”
"Fool, we are husband and wife, we should understand each other, there is nothing to thank."
"Respect each other like guests, hehe, thank you, and say thank you." Yang Meng said and yawned, "I'm sleepy." ”
"Sleepy when you're sleepy. In a few days, I'll find time to see you on set. ”
……
On New Year's Day 1952, "Wong Fei Hung: Iron Fighting Centipede" was released in Hong Kong.
"Huang Feihong's Righteousness Bo Yuntian" has long been offline in Hong Kong, with a total of 1.31 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office, and Huayi Brothers Film Group has received 610,000 Hong Kong dollars, plus the income from Shanghai takeaway films, this movie has made Li Hualong make a lot of money.
Before the post-production of "Wong Fei Hung's Iron Fighting Centipede" was completed, and before inviting the owners of major theaters to watch the film, Li Hualong had seen the film and felt that Wang Tianlin was very thoughtful and made a very good film, and he predicted that this film would be able to win millions of Hong Kong dollars at the box office in Hong Kong.
With the good reputation accumulated in the previous "Yi Bo Yuntian", after the release of "Iron Fighting Centipede", it attracted a large number of audiences to watch, and the momentum was even hotter than the early stage of the release of "Yi Bo Yuntian".
One evening in early January, Li Hualong and his father sat in the living room chatting.
Li Huawen came home from work and said with a smile: "Third brother, congratulations!" ”
"Congratulations on what?" Li Hualong was puzzled, he didn't know what he had to congratulate.
"Movie, on the way back, I saw a lot of people queuing up to buy tickets to watch "Iron Fighting Centipede", although I haven't seen this movie, but this morning, I read a few newspapers, and many people highly praised this film."
Li Huawen sat next to Li Hualong, and asked with a smile: "This movie can make you millions again, right?" ”
Li Hualong smiled: "I hope to earn millions!" ”
Li Huawen asked again: "How much does the investment cost of this film cost?" ”
"Plus the publicity fee, less than 400,000!"
"Investing in making movies, it's too profitable."
"Not everyone can make money making movies." Li Yisong interjected with a smile. 、
"I know!" Li Huawen nodded with a smile.
"Huh!" Li Hualong smiled happily, "Abba, when you say that, do you praise me?" ”
"That's right, I'm complimenting you. There are few old friends I know who don't praise you in front of me. Li Yisong said with relief, "Give me a long face...... Huawen, you are also doing a good job, I am very pleased. ”
"Abba, I'm far behind my third brother. If it weren't for him to help the village, Jiu'an Company would not have been able to prosper. ”
"Big brother, it's too obvious for you to say this, your own brother, what's polite. Then again, without your help, I would have spent a lot of time on the real estate company, and I wouldn't have much time for anything else. ”
"Don't talk about that." Li Huawen took a sip of tea and changed the subject, "How much money has your film company made since it opened?" ”
"I can't say exactly how much. It cost a lot to build a studio on the side of Clear Water Bay. ”
"By the way, a few days ago, I heard my dad say, you buy two theaters?"
"Yes, operate it for two years, and after two years, tear it down and rebuild it. There are also two plots of land, and construction of a cinema will start next year. ”
"Is it profitable to run a movie theater?" Li Hualong asked again.
"It's okay." Li Hualong smiled, "I think that if I don't have a movie theater in my hand, when the film company competes with others in the future, I won't have much advantage, and I have a large number of movie theaters, so I don't have to worry about good movies and no good box office." ”
"You've got an idea."
"Big brother, are you dissatisfied with the development speed of Jiu'an Company?"
"Not really...... Don't think about it, big brother sees that you make a lot of money, and he is happy for you. Hehe, to be honest, I have Jiu'an Company in my hands, and I am already very content. By the way, Abba, let me tell you something, after the Chinese New Year, Liyun and I want to take our children to Bangkok. ”
"Yes, Liyun hasn't seen her parents in years." Li Yisong said.
"Eldest brother, I heard my sister-in-law say before that her father and several brothers are doing a good business in Bangkok, when you go to Bangkok, ask them if they are interested in running a theater." Li Hualong said.
"Okay. I think they'll be interested, they run a cinema in Thailand and can show movies made by your film company. ”
"That's what I thought." Li Hualong said with a smile.
"Hualong, you haven't been to your own real estate company for some days, let's take a look tomorrow." Li Yisong said.
"Recently, there have been a lot of things in the newspaper and the film company, hehe, whether I go to the real estate company or not, it doesn't matter much, with you always helping me watch, there will definitely be no problems." Li Hualong said with a smile.
"You're afraid I'll sell you?!" Li Yi joked.
"Abba, you're making a big joke. I am your son, and you can't sell me if you sell others! ”