Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 806 Another wave of fat
It's already the end of October.

Filming began in early September, and despite working very hard, the movie "Monk Comes Down the Mountain" was not completed in less than two months.

Chen Fan glanced through the shooting log, frowned, and said, "I'll be gone for half a month. I estimate that the filming won't be finished until the end of November at the earliest. With post-production, dubbing, and music, it might not be finished until the end of December."

He tossed the log aside, leaned back in his chair, and sighed, "Making movies is really difficult."

October 30th is the date of the Fourth National Congress of Literary and Art Workers. Today is the 28th, and he must go to Beijing by tomorrow at the latest, otherwise he will definitely miss the opening of the Congress.

As the vice chairman and executive vice president of the Jiangnan Writers Association, he will definitely attend.

In fact, the more than 1,000 delegates who were able to attend the literary and art congress were basically leaders and elite members of various branches in various provinces.

Then there are outstanding young representatives who have achieved results.

If he's not mistaken, Jiang Tiantian will be going this time too.

That way, he won't be too bored.

Chen Fan was lost in thought when Kuang Mingyi walked over and said with a smile, "We're already considered fast."

As he spoke, he directed the various groups to pack up their things. Then he walked over to Chen Fan, sat down, took out a cigarette, and offered him one, saying with a smile, "When we used to make movies, we would often film for half a year or more, and that was before there were any big scenes. If there were big scenes, the group training alone would take one or two months, and there would be a lot of preparations. That's when it was really difficult."

After saying that, he lit a cigarette, picked up the shooting log and looked at it. "Almost done, only a dozen or so scenes left. Once we finish these, everything will be fine."

After a few seconds of pause, he closed the logbook, turned to look at Chen Fan, and said thoughtfully, "Director Chen, these dozen or so scenes are all key scenes, and only you can personally oversee them. Why don't you give the actors a break while you're away?"

Chen Fan turned to look at him, "I suspect you have a conspiracy."

Kuang Mingyi chuckled dryly, looked around, and whispered, "There's no conspiracy, it's just a small ideal."

Chen Fan blinked, then suddenly said, "You want to make a TV series?"

"The enemy."

Kuang Mingyi exhaled a long breath and said with a smile, "The comrades in the creative department of the factory have not worked in vain this past month. They have brainstormed and come up with seven or eight scripts. Director Wu and I have read them. Although they are not as good as the scripts you wrote, they are still quite decent and much better than before."

I've got my eye on a script, and I plan to film it while you're away, then submit it to Jiangnan TV to see how it goes."

He took a drag of his cigarette, looked at the still-busy workers at the Jiangxi Film Studio, and sighed, "For so many years, I and they have all been dreaming of making a movie ourselves."

Then he turned to look at Chen Fan and said, “‘Little Lotus Just Begins to Show Its Tip’ and ‘Monk Comes Down the Mountain’ are both good films, but you were in charge of them. We were just assistants at best.”

This time, the script was written by our colleagues in the creative department, I directed and filmed, and the actors were all from Jiangying Film Studio. We were hands-on from beginning to end, so the feeling was definitely different.”

Chen Fan pursed his lips and nodded, "That is indeed different."

She then looked at him and smiled, "Did you bring your notebook?"

Kuang Mingyi immediately threw away his cigarette butt, took out a stack of crumpled manuscript paper from his bag that he clearly read frequently, handed it to Chen Fan, and said, "This is it, a martial arts film."

"what?"

Chen Fan had just received the script when he overheard his words, and was completely stunned, staring blankly at him, "An action film?"

Wasn't "Shaolin Temple" my country's first martial arts film?

Why is Kuang Mingyi making a martial arts film now?

Seeing Chen Fan's surprised expression, Kuang Mingyi chuckled and said, "Since Master Yang and his group came over in August and gradually got to know us, they have told our employees a lot of anecdotes about the martial arts world during the Republic of China era."

Later, when they made the movie, their martial arts moves were beautiful and fluid, and quite powerful. That one strike, seemingly cutting hair but not the head, was particularly impressive, especially the fight between Master Han and Master Yang.

As he spoke, he couldn't help but make a few hand gestures, "Using a spear to intercept a sword, and with the spear tip pointing directly at the sword tip, we've never even imagined it before, let alone seen it."

So, when Director Wu assigned their creative team the task, a few people in the team suddenly had a brilliant idea. They used the stories told by Master Yang and his fellow martial arts masters as a foundation, mixed in some anti-Japanese elements, and elevated the martial arts struggles to a matter of national righteousness, ultimately creating this script.

After listening, Chen Fan blinked and couldn't help but chuckle.

If this film is made, it's like I've changed history a little bit again.

Looking at the script again, I saw the words "The Great Hero of Tianjin" written on the cover.

Turning the cover to the back, the story is not complicated. It tells the story of the martial arts world in Tianjin during the Republic of China era, where there are many martial arts practitioners and numerous martial arts schools. In order to promote their martial arts and to compete for fame and fortune, many conflicts broke out between the schools, which led to a series of stories of love, hate and revenge.

However, with the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, Tianjin was on the verge of being occupied. Many martial arts masters who had previously had conflicts resolutely put aside their grudges and joined forces to fight the enemy.

Although they were ultimately defeated and suffered heavy losses, they displayed the integrity of martial arts practitioners. In the end, they abandoned sectarian differences, passed on their secret skills to the survivors, preserved the flame of martial arts, and then joined the group.

This is the story. If it were set in later generations, the plot would be so melodramatic and mediocre that probably only the Sixth Princess would be willing to film it.

But in this day and age, it's groundbreaking and incredibly captivating.

In particular, they plan to hire Yang Zhenlong and his group as martial arts instructors and cast them in several key boxer roles, so the fight scenes should be quite spectacular.

After reading it, Chen Fan returned the script and chuckled, "Master Yang Zhenlong and the others agreed?"

Kuang Mingyi smiled and said, "Not only did he agree, but he did it very readily."

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "After the release of 'Little Lotus Just Beginning to Bloom,' many viewers wrote to us and to newspapers, sharing their feelings and thoughts, which caused a great stir all over the country."

In terms of revenue, it also earned nearly one million yuan, which greatly increased the income of Jiangying Film Studio.

Therefore, upon Director Wu's suggestion and with formal approval from higher authorities, Jiangying Film Studio was permitted to significantly expand its recruitment.

He pointed to Yang Zhenlong and the others gathered nearby, leaned close to Chen Fan, and whispered, "Director Wu extended invitations to some of them. About ten of them, who didn't have formal jobs, agreed to join Jiangying Studio as actors."

In addition, several elderly masters, including Master Yang and Master Han, have agreed to be rehired and will temporarily stay at the Jiangying Film Studio. "After they joined, they became one of us," Kuang Mingyi said, shaking his head and laughing. "So, this film, *The Great Hero of Tianjin*, is entirely performed by our Jiangying Film Studio employees, guaranteeing 100% authenticity."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue and couldn't help but laugh, "Well, I didn't expect Director Wu to take the time to do something so important. They are treasures that I went to great lengths to find. Now that you've recruited them into the factory, don't treat them badly."

Kuang Mingyi immediately said, "You can rest assured about that. Putting everything else aside, just out of respect for you, we wouldn't harm them. Besides, masters like Master Yang are extremely rare and highly skilled; we're more than capable of treating them well, so how could we possibly mistreat them?!"

Chen Fan nodded. "Okay."

He then stood up, supporting himself on the chair, and said, "That's all for today. I'll head back now and fly directly to Beijing tomorrow morning. I'll leave things here to you."

Kuang Mingyi nodded without hesitation, "Don't worry, we guarantee that you'll come back exactly the same way you left. And we'll develop the film as soon as possible so you can check it when you return."

Chen Fan made a gesture, then patted his behind and left.

……

He usually eats at the Jiangying Film Studio canteen, but he finished work relatively early today and brought his assistant Bian Huifang with him, so he decided to have dinner at a wild game restaurant.

Back home, he packed his things and was about to call Jiang Tiantian when there was a knock on the door.

Chen Fan could only hang up the phone and look up to call out, "Coming!"

She went out to open the door, and there stood He Qingsheng. She couldn't help but say, "Hey, didn't you leave a long time ago? Why haven't you left yet?"

He then ushered him into the house, invited him to sit on the daybed under the wall of the living room, and tossed him a cigarette.

Then I poured water to make tea.

He Qingsheng lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and waited for Chen Fan to place the teacup in front of him before saying wearily, "Old Tan, Xiao Xu, and a few others all went over yesterday. I originally planned to go with them, but something came up and I had to stay."

Chen Fan lit a cigarette and looked at him, asking, "What's wrong? Even the literary and art congress has to be delayed?"

He Qingsheng chuckled dryly twice, "More important than the Literary and Art Congress, what do you think it is?"

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly. "Could it be about money?"

At He Qingsheng's position and age, he was no longer interested in titles. He remained in this position for two reasons: firstly, because he was the leader of the Jiangnan literary scene, secondly, because he had the widest network of connections, thirdly, because he was good friends with many writers, and fourthly, because everyone trusted him.

Another reason is that the current literary scene in Jiangnan needs him. In fact, the situation in the national literary and artistic circles is not much different; they are all still in a recovery period.

Despite the flourishing state of the literary world, which is much better than a few years ago, many functional departments are still not perfect. For example, external liaison; if Chen Fan hadn't intervened, they would probably still be in a mess.

However, these things are now on the right track. We just need to wait for the literary and art congress to convene so that the direction can be determined, and then fill in the blanks according to the framework. There will be a time when it is all done.

He Qingsheng will most likely retire successfully at that time.

For someone who had no attachment to his position, the only thing that could be persuaded to temporarily put aside the literary and art congress and stay at his workplace was "foreign exchange," which everyone needed.

Hearing Chen Fan's words, He Qingsheng felt much better and laughed heartily, tilting his head back, "Do you think I love money that much?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips, "You don't love money, but you love foreign exchange."

He Qingsheng waved his hand, both amused and exasperated, "Alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore."

He paused for a moment, then said seriously, "You're right, it's because of foreign exchange. The royalties from Takahashi Publishing House arrived in your account yesterday afternoon."

Chen Fan's eyes widened immediately. "The money arrived yesterday afternoon, and you're only telling me now?"

He Qingsheng shook his head, sighed, and said, "Do you think I wanted this? It's just that those several departments kept reviewing it, making it so slow. If I hadn't lost my temper in front of the leaders, I might not have gotten it today."

He then took out two checks from his pocket and placed them in front of Chen Fan. "Here, these two are your royalties. One is a local currency check and the other is a foreign currency check. They can only be cashed in the provincial capital. They won't be valid if you go to other places."

Chen Fan picked up the check and looked at it with some curiosity in his eyes, "Can banks issue foreign currency checks?"

One of the checks is in US dollars for 30000 yuan, and the other is in RMB for a much larger amount of over 97 yuan.

The first edition of Saint Seiya had a print run of 500,000 copies, each priced at 1200 yen. The basic royalty split was 20%, totaling approximately $600,000 in royalties. Of this, 40% was retained by the organization, and Chen Fan received 5%, which was $30,000. The remainder was automatically converted into local currency, amounting to as much as 970,000 yuan.

Another wave of profits.

In other words, his income is basically kept secret, and not many people know about it; otherwise, if it were to get out, it would scare people to death.

People watching his film "The Lotus Buds Are Just Beginning" are still struggling to make ends meet with a monthly temporary worker's wage of 2 or 30 yuan, while the director of inspirational films is making millions of yuan a month.

Not only is it excessive, it's downright outrageous.

However, due to the deliberate concealment by superiors, this news was known to only a very small number of people.

Even if members within the Writers' Association have some speculations, without concrete evidence, there's nothing they can do. Furthermore, Chen Fan helped them establish communication channels with Takahashi Publishing House, enabling them to earn foreign exchange. Now, they're all busy creating and making money; they don't have time to gossip about Chen Fan.

Chen Fan himself was very calm, unlike when he first received his royalties, when he immediately wired all 38 yuan to Master Zhang and asked him to hold onto it for him, fearing that he would be ripped off.

He is not worried at all now. As long as his master does not relay messages from above, he is as steady as Mount Tai.

Of course, one shouldn't be too high-profile; it's best to just keep to oneself and live a quiet life behind closed doors.

Seeing that Chen Fan had put the check away, He Qingsheng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "This is the first foreign exchange income our company has received since the implementation of the foreign exchange retention policy, so all the procedures and audits are particularly troublesome. In fact, it's not just our company, other factories and units are the same."

I can't leave tomorrow morning; I need to go to the department to finalize our unit's share of foreign exchange. Otherwise, I suspect they won't even leave us the last 7%. I'll probably have to take the train this afternoon to make it to the opening ceremony of the literary and art congress the day after tomorrow.

He paused for a moment, then turned to look at Chen Fan and asked, "You said you wanted the Jiangying Studio's foreign exchange earnings, how's that going?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips, "It's still early. 'Little Lotus Just Showing Its Tip' is definitely not suitable. We can only try 'Monk Comes Down the Mountain.' This drama will be completed by the end of December at the earliest. We'll talk about it then."

(End of this chapter)