The Taiping Theatre is a three-storey building that runs from Des Voeux Road West through a promenade and across a small open-air courtyard to the ticket hall, which is a few steps up the main entrance hall of the theater.

Although the Taiping Theater has been closed, Yuan Bifu still asks someone to clean it regularly, and sometimes it also takes on some concert business. Kang Jianfei pushed the door in, reached out and touched the wall, but it was not as dusty as he imagined.

Walking a few steps to the corner and entering the theater, the luxurious decoration of the quaint and atmospheric theater made Kang Jianfei sigh.

Different from modern luxury cinemas, the luxurious decoration of Taiping Cinema is full of antiquity, making people feel like they are in a theater from a hundred years ago.

Kang Jianfei looked up and saw that there was a tall couplet on the pillar of the theater, and the book said: "Taigu Yiguan made a play and faked love, which is worthy of punishment and persuasion, and the song and dance of the platform is nothing more than a shocking and vulgar experience." ”

Jiang Zhiqiang, who was following behind Kang Jianfei, touched the seat of the theater and couldn't help but sigh: "If you can have such a theater, this life is enough!" ”

Kang Jianfei joked: "Brother Jiang likes the Taiping Theater so much, why don't you be the theater manager." ”

"I'm not free," Jiang Zhiqiang waved his hand again and again, and he said, "Such a large theater is a hundred times more difficult to operate than a small theater." Fortunately, you bought the theater and the land, and if you rent this theater to operate, I can't guarantee that you will be able to earn the rent back. ”

Kang Jianfei said with a smile: "It doesn't seem easy to look at Shao Tycoon, he has been running the stage for so many years before letting go." ”

The luxury theater Li Stage, which is as famous as the Taiping Theater, has been leased to Shao Yifu for more than ten years and belongs to a theater under the Shaw Brothers Cinema Line. It wasn't until Shaw Brothers' films were not good two years ago that Shao Yifu gave up renting the stage, otherwise the daily rent would make him unbearable.

Jiang Zhiqiang looked at the furnishings of the theater while walking and said: "More than ten years ago, when I was only 10 years old, the Li Stage and the Taiping Theater were full at that time. There are more than 180 cinemas in Hong Kong, which is twice the number of cinemas today. It's a pity that after the economic downturn, especially after the stock market crash, more than half of the theaters were closed. ”

Kang Jianfei said with a smile: "Judging from the current economic development rate of Hong Kong, in a few years, the number of cinemas in Hong Kong may reach another peak." ”

Jiang Zhiqiang pouted and said, "The premise is to solve. Let the army not fight. ”

Kang Jianfei smiled and asked, "Are you also worried about this?" ”

Jiang Zhiqiang sighed and said, "Can you not be worried?" If it weren't for the few movie theaters that my father handed down, my brother and I would have emigrated to Hong Kong long ago, so we wouldn't have to stay in Hong Kong and worry about war all day. ”

Kang Jianfei was silent for a while, even Jiang Zhiqiang, a person who traveled to Europe and the United States in his teens and had a broad vision, thought so, it seems that the impact of the Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong people is far beyond his imagination. Ordinary citizens, especially those who have industries and status in Hong Kong, are even more likely to suffer from gains and losses, fearing that they will lose everything overnight, and are in a hurry to sell their industries and run overseas.

The two walked from the first floor to the second floor of the theater, and the view from here was even more spectacular. All the way to the third floor, the seats on this floor are all welded with iron bars, and I heard that it was to deal with the rampant "woodlice" in those days.

Kang Jianfei sat on it and felt it, feeling a little embarrassed, and said, "The seats on the third floor have to be replaced." ”

Jiang Zhiqiang said: "The theater manager gave you a thing, his name is Zhang Moren, my father's former friend, and he is in his fifties. has opened several small theaters, and he is also Hu Yixing's apprentice, assisting Hu Yixing in running the Liyuan Playground. ”

"Oh, that's a character, why don't you have your own business now?" Kang Jianfei asked.

Jiang Zhiqiang explained: "You may not believe it, a few years ago, he spent most of his life savings and bought a piece of land in Sheung Wan to build a big theater, what happened to you? ”

Kang Jianfei said: "There was a fire in the theater? ”

Jiang Zhiqiang shook his head and said, "The theater is haunted!" ”

"Haunted?" Kang Jianfei was quite surprised by this answer.

Jiang Zhiqiang sighed: "It's haunted." Originally, the theater had a good location and a good business. As a result, it was suddenly rumored that the theater was haunted one day, and then more and more people said that they saw ghosts in the theater, and it was even more coincidental that an audience member died of a myocardial infarction while watching a movie, and it was rumored that he was killed by a ghost. Do you think this theater can still open? ”

It can definitely be opened in the mainland, but it will definitely not be able to be opened in Hong Kong.

Kang Jianfei sympathized: "This old gentleman is also unlucky. ”

Jiang Zhiqiang said: "That theater spent all his money, and he also borrowed money from the bank, and after the haunting was at its worst, he lost several small theaters he used to operate. ”

"Tell him to come to me at DreamWorks tomorrow." Kang Jianfei said that he asked Jiang Zhiqiang to come out today just to ask him to help him find a reliable theater manager. In a luxury theater like Taiping Theater, people who don't have some skills can't run it well, otherwise Yuan Bifu wouldn't rather close down than open her door to do business, because she is losing money every day when she runs it.

…………

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A lean, skinny old man walked into DreamWorks, dressed in a white-washed blue suit with neatly combed silver hair. Although the body is a little rickety, it does not give people the impression of an old dragon clock, and it is very jīng god when he walks.

Many DreamWorks employees looked at him curiously, wondering who this strange old man was.

"Hello, old man, who are you looking for?" Li Shan came up with a folder and asked. She starred in "Happy Ghost" with Wen Bixuan and Li Saifeng, and later joined DreamWorks as a clerk, and now she has become a small steward, with five employees under her hands.

The old man said clearly: "I am Zhang Moren, and I made an appointment with Mr. Kang Jianfei. ”

"You look for the boss, I'll take you there," Li Shan said with a smile, "This is the secretarial department, and the boss's office is over there." ”

Zhang Moren followed Li Shan all the way, and after meeting Chen Shuli, he was invited into Kang Jianfei's office.

"Mr. Zhang, please take a seat!" Kang Jianfei said with a smile.

Zhang Moren was not polite, sat down with a golden knife, crossed Erlang's legs and drank the oolong tea brought by Chen Shuli.

Jiang Zhiqiang didn't say it too clearly yesterday, Kang Jianfei chatted with Zhang Moren, and realized that the experience of this old gentleman was not simple.

Zhang Moren's original name was Zhang Si, who was originally the domestic slave of "Han Jiān" Zhang Shankun, and when he was more than ten years old, he followed Zhang Shankun to make movies in Shanghai, and Zhang Shankun helped him take the name Zhang Moren.

Zhang Shankun is a generation of film geniuses, and although he wears a "Han Jiān" hat on his head, he cannot deny his contribution to Chinese films.

In the late 40s and early 50s, the situation in the Hong Kong film industry at that time was that the princes were competing for hegemony, and the three strongest film companies were all founded by Zhang Shankun.

It's a pity that this person has a bad reputation (汉jiān), and he has to let someone else be the boss of his own company, and as a result, the company is kicked aside as soon as it develops. The now famous Great Wall Film Company, in fact, was founded by Zhang Shankun, and later became a leftist company after a series of reorganizations.

Zhang Moren followed Zhang Shankun to work in six film companies such as Huaying, Zoomlion, and the Great Wall, and later specialized in taking care of the theater, and cooperated with Shao Yifu, Lu Yuntao and others.

As for what happened next, Jiang Zhiqiang has already said that this person lost all his savings because the theater was "haunted", and now manages a neighborhood movie theater.

For this character who has been mixed in the Hong Kong film industry for decades, Kang Jianfei did not doubt Zhang Moren's ability at all, and asked a few questions casually, and some professional answers Kang Jianfei didn't understand at all.

As for Zhang Moren's previous doglegs, Kang Jianfei didn't bother to ask about this matter. Kang Jianfei not only did not dislike it, but attached great importance to him. Zhang Moren can follow Zhang Shankun as the master for so many years, and even after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he still follows the "Han Jiān", which shows that this person will not betray the master, and there is no need to worry about him betraying himself.

Kang Jianfei said: "I now have the Taiping Cinema in Sai Wan, the Queen's Cinema in Central, and the Yau Ma Tei Cinema and the Oriental Cinema in Kowloon, and the latter two cinemas may not open in a few months." Your task is to manage the four cinemas, the Taiping Cinema is managed by you, and the remaining three cinemas are managed by yourself. Do you understand that? ”

Zhang Moren nodded and said, "Understood." ”

Kang Jianfei said: "These four theaters will join the New Era Cinema Line, among which the Taiping Theater and the Queen Theater can be used as leading theaters to make up for the lack of large theaters in the New Era." The New Era Cinema Line is a temporary cinema line, and the specific cāo is the rule, if you don't understand, you can ask Jiang Zhiqiang. ”

"No problem." Zhang Moren said confidently.

Kang Jianfei said: "I won't give you a fixed salary, your income is 2 of the net profit of the four theaters." If the theater loses money, then sorry, you don't have a penny of salary. What do you think of this? ”

Zhang Moren blew a sip of tea foam and said with a smile: "Then I will take advantage of the owner, and the theater of 2 is very profitable." ”

Kang Jianfei said with a smile: "It's pure profit, not gross profit, don't hear it wrong, you old man." ”

"Don't worry, old man, my ears haven't been back yet." Zhang Moren said with a smile.

Kang Jianfei is still called "Dongjia" for the first time, and he feels like he has become a landlord in the old society, which is more interesting than being called a boss.

Kang Jianfei said: "Then so be it, the four theaters will be handed over to you to take care of, and you can decide who you want to recruit." I'm going to go to Taiwan and the U.S. during this time, and when I come back, I hope everything goes well at the theater. ”

Tomorrow is the Golden Horse Awards ceremony, Kang Jian flew over to take a look. As for going to the United States, it is because he has spent too much money recently, and he is going to make an American movie to earn some American dollars, otherwise he will die of poverty, and now he still owes more than 100 million loans to the bank.