Although he has been famous for more than ten years, Shangguan Xiaobao will not be 40 years old until he is a few months old, and he can barely be regarded as a young talent. However, compared with Huang Yulang, Shangguan Xiaobao is really not enough to see, his painting skills and fame are on par with Huang Yulang, and he is far more diligent and down-to-earth than Huang, but it is a pity that Huang Yulang's business mind was thrown out a few streets.

The 82 Painting Society is not far from Fulinmen, Shangguan Xiaobao put away the manuscript he painted today, and drove less than ten minutes to Fulinmen Restaurant.

"How many gentlemen?" The waiter at Fu Linmen asked.

Shangguan Xiaobao said, "Mr. Kang invited me here. ”

"It turned out to be Mr. Kang's guest, please come with me!" The waiter took Shangguan Xiaobao to a private room.

The private room was empty, Shangguan Xiaobao could only sit down to drink tea and wait, and when there were still two or three minutes before seven o'clock, Kang Jianfei finally came to the banquet with his attendants.

Kang Jianfei shook hands with Shangguan Xiaobao and said politely: "Hello Mr. Kuang, I take the liberty to invite and look at Haihan." ”

Shangguan Xiaobao smiled: "Mr. Kang is polite, you can invite me to dinner, it's too late for me to be happy." ”

The two chatted for a while, waiting for the dishes to be served, Kang Jianfei and Shangguan Xiaobao touched a cup, and then turned the topic to the comics: "I also read Mr. Kwong's "Bruce Lee", and the painting is very good. ”

"I'm also picking up people's teeth, and it's hard to get into Mr. Kang's eyes." Shangguan Xiaobao said modestly.

Shangguan Xiaobao is really not modest, but telling the truth. He is a very conservative and passive person, which is completely opposite to Huang Yulang, and Shangguan Xiaobao's comic creation is also in accordance with the rules. Back then, Bruce Lee was popular through the Hong Kong River, so Shangguan Xiaobao painted "Bruce Lee" until now, and since then, Huang Feihonghuo has painted "Huang Feihong", and Fang Shiyuhuo has painted "Fang Shiyu".

By the 90s. Shangguan Xiaobao's son Kwong Shijie inherited his father's style, and took advantage of the opportunity of "The King of Fighters" to quit the "King of Fighters 96" comics, and after making a lot of money, he launched "The King of Fighters 97" and "The King of Fighters 98" one after another.

Kang Jianfei said with a smile: "It is also a skill to be able to pick up people's teeth and wisdom, Mr. Kuang can withstand the pressure of Yulang International and gain a firm foothold in the comic industry, which is really admirable." ”

"Hehe, I can't compare to Topaz Lang." Shangguan Xiaobao smiled a little reluctantly, he and Huang Yulang are a pair of enemies, when one is developed, the other will inevitably be unlucky.

Now Huang Yulang is about to reach the peak of his career. In addition to pictorial and comic periodicals, he also runs 5 magazines and 3 newspapers, and the 25-year-old "Tiantian Daily" was just acquired by Huang Yulang a while ago.

After chatting for a few words, Kang Jianfei suddenly asked, "What does Mr. Kwong think about the future of comics?" ”

This question was asked very seriously, and Shangguan Xiaobao thought about it seriously and said: "The comics in Japan are getting bigger and bigger. It has penetrated into Hong Kong, Taiwan and Nanyang, and all aspects from creation to distribution are worth learning from Hong Kong Man. Otherwise, sooner or later it will be successfully seized by Riman. ”

Shangguan Xiaobao's words were obviously not finished. When they met for the first time, it was naturally impossible for him to dig into Kang Jianfei's heart, and he could just evaluate one or two sentences from a macro perspective. And what he said is not a unique opinion, the Hong Kong comics industry is a personal can feel the threat of Japanese comics, Huang Yulang's assembly line reform of comic creation, in fact, is to imitate and learn from the industrialization process of Japanese comics.

"yes, Japanese manga is amazing." Kang Jianfei sighed with emotion before saying, "So I think Hong Kong comics should mature quickly, and the genres should be rich." You can't always rely on kung fu comics to prop up the façade. ”

Shangguan Xiaobao originally didn't know what Kang Jianfei was looking for him, but now he had some eyebrows, and asked tentatively: "Mr. Kang is very interested in the comic industry?" ”

"It's a little interested," Kang Jianfei did not directly say about the acquisition of the 82 Painting Society, but said his thoughts on Hong Kong Man, "The biggest disadvantage of Hong Kong Man is that the market is too narrow, it is difficult to sell in Taiwan due to strict censorship, and it is more difficult to distribute in the Nanyang region." Coupled with the fact that young people now have more entertainment options, the comic market has shrunk by more than half compared to a decade ago. Like "Dragon Tiger Gate", "Bruce Lee", and "Chinese Heroes", the three famous comics are good to say, and there is no guarantee whether other comics can make money. ”

In order for a thing to form an industry, the first thing is that the market must be large enough, and only with the market will there be profits, so as to attract talents to join the industry, and the huge reserve talent group can promote the prosperity of the industry, which is a virtuous circle.

And now Hong Kong comics due to the shrinking market,Resulting in a large loss of comic talents,Many talented young people can only give Huang Yulang and Shangguan Xiaobao a hand,The chance of getting out of the way is as slim as becoming a god at the starting point。

Why doesn't Shangguan Xiaobao know this truth? He said with emotion: "The shrinking market is the general trend, what can be done about it? ”

Character determines the way of doing things,In the face of the cruel status quo of the Hong Kong comic market,Huang Yulang's approach is to carry out assembly line reform of Hong Kong comics,And rely on several famous comics,Comics、Magazine、Newspaper diversification,Now it has been impressive。 Shangguan Xiaobao is much more conservative, he sees something more popular, so he follows the trend and draws it into comics, so that he can make money without losing money.

If Kang Jianfei were to choose a collaborator, Huang Yulang would be the best candidate. It's a pity that Huang Yulang likes to eat alone like Kang Jianfei, and in another time and space, his Yulang International suffered a stock market crash, and in order to avoid being acquired, he even took the risk of making false accounts, and finally went to prison because of this.

"Hong Kong's population is so large, if Hong Kong comics want to develop, they have to go out of the world like Hong Kong films and sell comics to Nanyang and Taiwan. I heard that Huang Yulang is planning Yulang's international listing, maybe he can take advantage of the listing to sell "Dragon Tiger Gate" all over Nanyang. Kang Jianfei deliberately mentioned Huang Yulang to stimulate Shangguan Xiaobao.

Shangguan Xiaobao was indeed stimulated, and his "Bruce Lee" and Huang Yulang's "Dragon and Tiger Gate" were once sold to Malaysia and Singapore. Unfortunately, due to more than ten years of creation, the stories of the two comics are stinky and long, and overseas readers are becoming fewer and fewer, and finally overseas publishing houses no longer help to distribute and publish.

However, "Chinese Heroes", which has become popular in the past two years, has sold well in Singapore, and its author Ma Rongcheng is Shangguan Xiaobao's apprentice, but now he is helping Huang Yulang do things. Kang Jianfei deliberately mentioned that Huang Yulang was preparing for the company's listing, how could Shangguan Xiaobao calm down?

"Huang Yulang is always whimsical, and it remains to be said whether Yulang International can be listed." Shangguan Xiaobao said sourly.

Kang Jianfei said with a smile: "Going public is nothing more than convenient fundraising and fundraising, but I have a little spare money in my hand and I have nowhere to use it, so I am ready to invest in comics." ”

Shangguan Xiaobao's heart beat wildly a few times, he didn't have Huang Yulang's ambition and aggressiveness, he just wanted to draw comics honestly to make money. If a wealthy man like Kang Jianfei invested in the 82 Painting Society, Shangguan Xiaobao would wake up with a smile in his dreams.

"If I inject 1 million into the 82 Painting Society, how many shares can I get?" Kang Jianfei asked straight to the point.

A local tyrant is a local tyrant!

Shangguan Xiaobao smiled bitterly: "It's more than enough to buy the entire art club." ”

The few broken machines of the 82 Painting Society are not worth a few dollars, the most valuable thing is the "Bruce Lee" series of comics that have been famous for more than ten years, and the copyrights of more than 20 other comics, as well as several comic masters trained by Shangguan Xiaobao himself. Among them is Niu Lao, who was only a disciple of Shangguan Xiaobao at this time, but his future masterpiece "Crazy Boy" was made into a smash hit. In addition, Ma Rongcheng, who painted "Chinese Heroes", was also taught by Shangguan Xiaobao, but unfortunately he was enveloped by Huang Yulang and did not leave Yulang International with him.

Kang Jianfei asked again: "I heard that there are two shareholders of the 82 Painting Society?" ”

"Tongde Books and Newspapers and Yousheng Printing Company, the former is responsible for the distribution of comics, and the latter is responsible for printing," Shangguan Xiaobao said, "The owners of both companies are old friends of mine, and they each own 10% of the shares of the art company." ”

Kang Jianfei thought for a while and said: "You see if this will work, I spent 1 million to buy all the 82 Painting Society and its comic copyrights." ”

Shangguan Xiaobao asked, "What are you going to do with me after Mr. Kang buys the art club?" ”

Kang Jianfei said with a smile: "I will also buy the comic club of Ling's younger brother Shangguan Xiaowei, and when the time comes, I will merge and form a new art club, and I will give you a reasonable share of the new art club." ”

Shangguan Xiaobao really didn't expect Kang Jianfei to buy his brother's painting club, he asked, "Mr. Kang is really ready to enter the comic industry?" ”

"Let's put it this way, the new painting society has become a subsidiary of Oriental Culture and Entertainment Group, and can obtain the copyright of movies and TV series comics from DreamWorks and Phoenix Channel at a low price, and at the same time, all the copyrights of my novel adaptation comics are also handed over to the art company." Kang Jianfei elaborated on his thoughts, "Since Mr. Kuang is not good at business, the general manager of the art club is someone else, and your position is the creative director of the art club. Tongde Book and Newspaper Company and Yousheng Printing Company, their shares in the 82 Painting Society will be acquired by me, but the printing and distribution business of the Painting Society in Hong Kong will still be entrusted to them in the future. ”

Shangguan Xiaobao asked, "How many shares can I get from the New Painting Society?" ”

"Up to 10% of the shares, but you can get 1 million cash at one time, which is the money I bought your shares in the 82 Painting Society, and I will give you another money for the shares of the other two shareholders of the 82 Painting Society, so you are still satisfied, right?" Kang Jianfei said.

Shangguan Xiaobao was very content, he thought about it and quickly replied: "Deal!" ”

Kang Jianfei said with a smile: "Then Mr. Kwong is ready to move the painting club to Tseung Kwan O Film and Television City." In addition, "Ethereal Journey" is ready to be comiced, I hope you can organize and plan the adaptation, and I will ask someone to help you promote the hype. ”

"Ethereal Journey? That's great! Shangguan Xiaobao was overjoyed. "Ethereal Journey" is very suitable for adapting comics, and Huang Yulang has tried to buy the comic rights of this novel several times, but unfortunately Kang Jianfei has never agreed. (To be continued......)