1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 202 Divorce
Chen Lan is a smart person. She has seen too many big guys get caught in Taiwan. The gangs in Hong Kong are child's play compared to those.

Normally, he uses Xinji's reputation to show off his power and scare ordinary people, which is fine, but it will definitely be of no benefit if he gets too deeply involved.

The current leader Xu Jiayan is a lesson learned from the past and is still being detained in prison.

"Huang Jun visited Uncle Lin two days ago. They are very interested in your gambling boat business."

Chen Lan looked at Zhai Yuan and said, "I don't know the details, but Brother Qiang and I were definitely not involved in this matter."

Zhai Yuan saw that she looked hesitant and guessed something in his mind.

Hearing Chen Lan's active explanation and disassociating herself from the matter, he smiled and nodded: "Everyone is interested in making money, this is normal, you should first focus on God of Gamblers, Sanhe's first film, and don't be like Xu Jiaqiang, hiding away all day long."

Chen Lan raised her eyebrows when she heard this, nodded and said, "I understand."

A few minutes after she left the office, Xu Jiaqiang called her.

Xu Jiaqiang said apologetically on the phone: "I'm sorry, Mr. Zhai, I've been too busy recently..."

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "You were so busy that you had to ask your wife to notify you, but you only remembered to call me? I thought you called me because you wanted me to publish a statement in the newspaper that Jiuyi Entertainment and Sanhe Film have nothing to do with each other. Did you forget that you are a wanted criminal in Taiwan?"

Xu Jiaqiang was silent for a moment after being scolded by his sarcastic words. He took a deep breath and spoke again: "Uncle Xia Lin Shixia asked me about my relationship with Jiuyi Entertainment. I told him the truth. Now in the Hong Kong film industry, no one else dares to take me in except Mr. Zhai. But Uncle Xia said that gambling boats are a big deal. If I have to fall out with you, Mr. Zhai, because of this matter, and it affects my film business, when Xinji's gambling boat goes out to sea in the future, the society will give me 10% of the shares as compensation."

Zhai Yuan listened to him silently, smacked his lips and said, "Even the shares have been distributed. It seems that you, Xinji, are determined to win this time. This is also good. It's so easy to get 10% of the shares of the gambling ship and wait for dividends every month. Why bother making a movie so hard?"

Xu Jiaqiang said hurriedly: "Mr. Zhai, that's not what I meant..."

Before he could finish his words, Zhai Yuan had already hung up the phone.

There is nothing to talk about with a marginal character like Xu Jiaqiang, and there is no point in scolding him.

However, from Xu Jiaqiang's few words, it was revealed that Xinji did not intend to cooperate with him properly, and the other party had already regarded the gambling boat as its own.

It's so disrespectful.

Zhai Yuan's face didn't look good. He was thinking that thirty Vietnamese guys might not be enough, and he would have to go to the Baishi refugee camp to buy another batch of goods.

There is never a shortage of crooked means among the gang members in Hong Kong. They followed the rules before because the benefits were too small, but this time it involves a gambling ship, which is equivalent to taking a piece of meat from the mouth of the gambling king who monopolizes the gambling industry. The bond between Xinji and Zhai Yuan connected by Xu Jiaqiang was immediately broken.

If things could develop peacefully by abiding by the rules, Zhai Yuan didn't want to argue with this group of people, but since the other party didn't abide by the rules, he wouldn't be scared off.

Zhai Yuan sat in the office and thought for a few minutes, then called Huang Jun.

After the call was connected, he asked in a friendly tone with a smile in his voice: "How is it, Jun brother? My cruise ship is ready, and Ye Zhiming has also started to attract customers. When will your new dealer be seated?"

Huang Jun's voice was a bit lazy, mixed with the rustling sound of electricity: "Mr. Zhai, this is a bit difficult! Even if you only have ten gambling tables on your ship, at least thirty dealers will be on duty. It's not easy for the company to train a dealer. Of course I am willing to support you, but those uncles are difficult to deal with. They rely on gambling for their retirement!"

Zhai Yuan said in a dissatisfied tone: "Now Xinji is the biggest company, and you can't even handle it. How can you be the leader?"

Huang Jun laughed and said, "I'm just a temporary leader... How about this? Those uncles don't agree because the dealers on board affect their business on the shore. Mr. Zhai will use a portion of the profits to appease them, and use their people for security on the ship. At most, you will have to pay an extra grain, and you will save yourself a lot of trouble."

Zhai Yuan almost laughed out of anger at the shameless words. What does it have to do with me if it affects your underground gambling business? Does Xinji provide dealers for free and not share profits from the gambling boat?

He patiently asked, "Brother Jun, can you teach me what I should do?"

Huang Jun said, "It's very simple. Ye Zhiming only provides customers. Xinji can do the same. We can kick him out. The rest of the messy things like security, dealers, and women can all be handled by Xinji. Mr. Zhai doesn't need to worry about it. The dividends will be split 20% and 80% every month."

Zhai Yuan smiled and said, "Give me 80% of this?"

Huang Jun cursed and said, "Of course 80% of it belongs to Xinji. You don't have to do anything. You just get 2% dividend every month."

"That sounds good." Zhai Yuan laughed twice, then sighed, "Unfortunately, I was born to work hard, and I don't like to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. Besides, Mr. Ye is my good friend, so it's even more impossible for me to kick him out. So let's stick to the original plan. I'll take 60% to be responsible for the ship and security, and the remaining 40% will be split equally between Xinji and Mr. Ye. That's better."

"Sixty percent?" Huang Jun sneered disdainfully: "Mr. Zhai, I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. We at Xinji can definitely build a gambling ship on our own. If you don't agree, you won't even get the 20% dividend!"

Zhai Yuan fell silent after hearing this.

Huang Jun said loudly: "Just think about it. I know you are a smart person. There is no point pretending not to understand. When it comes to making money through illegal means, the most important thing is to see if you have the ability!"

Zhai Yuan seemed to be still thinking and hesitating. After a long while, he hummed helplessly: "Brother Jun, I completely understand. Then I will do as you say. My cruise ship will be registered in Panama and will be handed over to Xinji when it returns to Hong Kong in two days."

Huang Jun immediately laughed heartily and asked, "Great! Mr. Zhai is indeed very smart. That's right. You have made a lot of money in the legitimate business. How can you do all the business? Come to the rich man tonight. I will buy you a couple of drinks."

Zhai Yuan found an excuse to turn down his invitation.

After hanging up the phone, the smile on his face gradually faded.

Want to get 80%? Go to the morning office!

If you can get a dime after the gambling boat goes out to sea, I lose!
…………

8 month 18 day.

After a round of intensive preparations, "God of Gamblers" is finally officially released.

Lianhua and 1024 dual-channel screenings, plus several independent cinemas, a total of 22 cinemas are scheduling films across the three districts of Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Taipei City.

"Jiuyi Entertainment finally has a new movie coming out. Just by looking at the title you can tell it's going to be exciting!"

"Shut up! God of Gamblers is a Sanhe movie, what does it have to do with Jiuyi?"

"Pick! Do you know anything? Sanhe is a subsidiary of Jiuyi. It's all Mr. Zhai's business!"

On the day the movie was released, all the major theaters were filled with audiences queuing to get in and the atmosphere was filled with discussion.

There are only two previews of 1024 every day, and both are scheduled at midnight, which goes against the schedule of most audiences.

But thanks to the quality of the movie itself, it has gained good reputation in just one week, especially among the 1024 fan base.

The curiosity of the audience who had not seen the movie was aroused, and more than half of the audience who had previously watched the midnight show bought tickets to watch it a second time.

Just to exchange the ticket stub for the box of Gambler's Poker which is not sold to the public.

Other films shot in the same schedule as "God of Gamblers" include New One City and Jiahe. On August 8, New One City released the comedy film "Family Portrait" directed by Shi Tian, with two major casts, Xu Guanjie and Jenny Tseng, which made a lot of noise.

Jiahe released "Wheels On Wheels," Chen Shilon's ambitious film to impact the Hollywood market, on August 8, with a stronger cast than last year's "Project A."

"Wan Zi has become completely famous this time, but it's a pity that he is not in Hong Kong and can't see the audience enter the venue."

Zhai Yuan, Wang Jin, Di Long and their group sat in a coffee shop on the corner, observing the situation outside through the glass.

In front of the 1024 Theater, the queue of spectators was nearly a hundred meters long. Among them, Wan Ziliang's fans were the most enthusiastic. Many of them held his posters and waved flags and cheered enthusiastically.

The image of Xiao Ma Ge has already made him extremely famous, and this time Gao Jin has reached a new level. The fame gained from two consecutive blockbusters has made Di Long, who has been in the film industry for many years, envious.

"Such a big scene will definitely be filmed by the TV station, and he can also watch the broadcast in Thailand."

Wang Jin said: "Wan Zi is a good actor. After he finished filming Brother Mark, all the major studios offered him film contracts and scripts. When he was filming God of Gamblers, many people came to the set with cash to invite him, but he rejected them all."

Zhai Yuan nodded and said, "I know, that's why I keep producing plays to praise him."

Some are happy and some are sad.

Wan Ziliang became famous, and he took away Zhou Runfa's luck.

For two consecutive years, Chow Yun-fat has not been able to get rid of the title of box office poison. He filmed a TV series "Swordsman" for Zhao's Studio, which received mediocre ratings and has almost no film work to do. However, Huang Boming of New One City, who had just finished filming "Happy Ghost", saw prospects in low-cost ghost movies and recently took the initiative to approach him to collaborate on a horror film called "The Spiritual Force".

"If you had agreed to act in A Better Tomorrow, you would definitely be more famous than Wan Ziliang now!"

Just one month after breaking up with Chen Yulian, whom he had been in love with for five years, Chow Yun-fat married ATV's leading actress Yu Anan in a flash last year.

At this time, the ATV actress, watching the TV news broadcasting the long queue outside the 1024 Cinema, could not help but feel indignant for her husband: "When he moved from ATV to TVB, he had no representative works at all, how could he compare to your Xu Wenqiang."

These were meant to be kind words of comfort, but to Zhou Runfa they sounded quite harsh.

Not only Xiao Ma Ge, Chen Lan also approached me to play the role of God of Gamblers Gao Jin...

Zhou Runfa said irritably, "What's the point of you talking about this now? Who would have thought that Zhai Yuan would be able to come up with 1024 later on?"

"Zhai Yuan is a famous figure in the film industry now. He can even promote Wan Ziliang, so it's no problem for him to promote you. In fact, it was understandable that you rejected him at that time."

Yu Anan glanced at Zhou Runfa's face and said cautiously, "Why not take advantage of the release of "God of Gamblers" and go to his house to congratulate him in person, and then say sorry to him. If he is willing to give you a movie..."

Halfway through her words, Yu Anan noticed that Zhou Runfa's face had darkened, and she quickly stopped talking.

During the nine months of marriage, she was kicked out of the house by Chow Chun-fat twice, which also made her have a deeper understanding of the man who made her give her first screen kiss. She knew that Chow Chun-fa had a very strong self-esteem and would get angry if she said the wrong thing.

Sure enough, the next second Zhou Runfa looked at her coldly, and said with a fake smile: "What? You want me to kneel down at the entrance of Jiuyi Entertainment like a shoe shiner and beg for forgiveness? In your mind, are our country folk's knees so weak?"

"That's not what I meant..." Yu Anan's eyes showed panic, and she quickly apologized, "I said the wrong thing, I'm sorry, Brother Fa."

Looking at Yu Anan's timid expression, Zhou Runfa's mind suddenly appeared Chen Yulian's face.

The second day after "God of Gamblers" was released.

The news of Chow Yun-fat and Yuen Onn’s divorce suddenly made headlines in the entertainment section.

Although it was a box office poison, Xu Wenqiang was very well-known in the television industry.

Once this news was published, the discussion even surpassed the three popular movies of the summer season.

Everyone in the world loves gossip.

Their marriage lasted just nine months. They got married and divorced so quickly that fans of both sides felt sad and regretful, but people in the film industry seemed to have expected this to happen.

"I expected it! When we took wedding photos, Ah Fa's face looked as ugly as if he had eaten feces."

"He is too chauvinistic. When An An came to visit the set during filming, he scolded her in public until she burst into tears because she said something that didn't go her way."

"I wonder what A-Lian feels when she hears this news. They were a perfect match back then, but it's a pity..."

People in the film industry gossiped a lot about the emotional entanglement between Zhou, Yu and Chen.

Even Wang Jin and Di Long, people who worked with Zhou Runfa at Zhao's, joined in, talking one after another, making Zhai Yuan enjoy the conversation.

However, in the original timeline, the couple had almost the same fate.

It's not news that Yu Anan was subjected to cold violence and kicked out of the house. The two also got married and divorced quickly. Zhai Yuan felt that he definitely couldn't be blamed for this.

…………

Just as the news of Chow Yun-fat and Yuen On-an's divorce was sweeping the entertainment pages, another piece of news quietly appeared on the business page.

'The movie "God of Gamblers" is now in theaters. Ye Zhiming, the bridge king of the business world, wants to join hands with Zhai Yuan, the bridge king of the movie industry, to create a Las Vegas on the sea and set off a wave of gambling on the high seas.'

——Oriental Daily.

In addition to the Oriental Daily News published by the Ma family's flour mill, other newspapers also published news at the same time, the general meaning of which was that Ye Zhiming was inspired by "God of Gamblers" and wanted to open a gambling ship on the high seas.

However, compared to the entertainment version, gambling is not attractive to most people.

But the target group is very precise, and all the gamblers who are addicted to this have shifted their attention.

Axe Jun called Zhai Yuan and asked, "Mr. Zhai, did you make these news?"

Zhai Yuan said: "That's right. If we promote it in advance, we can attract more customers."

Axe Jun asked in confusion: "Aren't they going to kick Ye Zhiming out? Why is his name still on the news?"

"It's like this, Brother Jun." Zhai Yuan explained with a smile: "Mr. Ye and I have a good relationship, so I decided to give him 10% of the shares. The gambling boat also needs a boss on the surface, and I don't want to take on this identity..."

(End of this chapter)