Reborn in the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s

Hu Xiaoxiao was amazed by their business acumen—bringing movie scenes to life and then attracting tourists to make money. At the same time, she wondered if she could do the same in the future, building a film studio for Shengshi Entertainment Company, renting it out to film crews, and then selling tickets to make money from tourists.

Baogang is not a large place, and she can't get such a big piece of land to build a film and television city. She can go to the mainland to do it, which will not only give Shengshi Entertainment another profitable business, but also boost the local economy and attract more people.

With this in mind, Hu Xiaoxiao observed more carefully, especially some theme parks, which were full of whimsy and imagination, and gave her a lot of inspiration.

The person who led them in was Bill, an employee of the Hamlet Company. Hu Xiaoxiao didn't miss any opportunity and asked Bill in detail about anything she didn't understand or anything new and interesting.

Bill had worked here for many years and knew a lot about the film studio. He saw that Hu Xiaoxiao was very polite, beautiful, and had a pleasant voice, always praising him to his heart's content. So he answered her questions without reservation, even bringing up things that Hu Xiaoxiao hadn't asked about, which broadened her horizons and made her sincerely praise Bill's extensive knowledge.

Bill was even happier listening to this, and he talked on and on, even sharing some gossip about the Hamlet Company with Hu Xiaoxiao.

Dong Peiyu arrived more than half a month earlier than Hu Xiaoxiao, and only now, after hearing all this, did she realize how many stories there were about the film studio. And what she heard today about the Hamlet Company was more than she had known in the past two weeks.

Faced with the sincere admiration in the eyes of Hu Xiaoxiao and Dong Peiyu, Bill couldn't stop talking.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the filming location. The costume department had already prepared the costumes and first took Hu Xiaoxiao's measurements to match the size of modern clothing.

"Miss Hu, these are the costumes you'll be trying on today, clothes from your ancestors." A staff member from the costume department brought in three boxes and placed them on the table. "There are three styles in total. Please try them on one by one, and choose the one that looks best. Then I'll go and make a few more."

The wizard only has one costume after his transformation, but to prevent the costume from being damaged during action scenes, the crew will prepare one or more identical costumes for him to change into.

Hu Xiaoxiao has tried on many costumes, but this is her first time trying on Hollywood costumes, and she can't help but feel excited. What style of cheongsams are they preparing? Philip said he has seen all of her movies, so were these three costumes inspired by the cheongsams she wore in "Cheng Zhaofeng"? In the movie "Cheng Zhaofeng," she did indeed have a fight scene where she was wearing a cheongsam while fighting.

With this expectation in mind, Hu Xiaoxiao opened the box.

To her dismay, the color was dull and gray, giving it an old-fashioned feel.

Upon closer inspection, the fabric was not of the highest quality for making cheongsams, and it was even inferior to the fabric used for costumes I wore on television for over a decade.

With the last glimmer of hope, Hu Xiaoxiao picked up the clothes, shook them, and saw the style clearly.

Suddenly, all expectations vanished, and a deep sense of disappointment filled my heart.

Hu Xiaoxiao opened the second box. Inside was a black cheongsam made of rough, old fabric. She shook out the garment, and the style was the same as the first one.

The third box contained a white cheongsam; the fabric made it look like you were going to a grave.

Seeing this, Dong Peiyu could no longer bear it and asked the staff, "Are you sure you didn't take the wrong one? How can we film a movie wearing such an ugly costume?"

The staff in the clothing department confidently asserted that there was no mistake; the cheongsams were made based on some old photos, and the fabric was also carefully researched, as it was the same type of fabric used to be worn. "This dress has a very oriental charm, that's right, we are very particular about it."

"Damn the oriental charm, damn the exquisite craftsmanship." Hu Xiaoxiao threw the clothes back into the box; every glance was ugly. These loose-fitting cheongsams were either drab gray or black and white, looking as old as if they'd just been dug out of a tomb. Wearing them would make her look like a zombie.

Are they making a Western fantasy film or an Eastern zombie film?

When the staff saw that Hu Xiaoxiao didn't believe them, they specially went to find some photos to show her.

It would have been better if they hadn't looked; after seeing it, Hu Xiaoxiao was furious.

This is a black and white photograph from over a hundred years ago, showing the clothing worn by women in ordinary families. Black and white photographs, of course, are simply photographs that are either completely black, white, or a dull gray. They used black and white photographs of ordinary people as source material? If they're so meticulous, why don't they look for materials in museums?

Their museum looted a lot of things, including supposedly clothing from Qing Dynasty nobles. Why didn't they copy the beautiful embroidery, sophisticated color schemes, and high-quality fabrics from the noblewomen's clothes? They only copied a baggy and unflattering style.

Hu Xiaoxiao finally realized just how serious the stereotypes about Chinese people were in Hollywood.

I had heard that they were very discriminatory, but I never expected that they would be so dismissive of me when they were so enthusiastic in inviting me to act in the film.

"I won't wear these clothes." Hu Xiaoxiao's attitude was firm. She refused to wear costumes that were meant to make her look ugly. If this movie were to be made, she would never be able to work in the film industry again.

"Didn't you Easterners wear these clothes before?" The costume designer, hearing the commotion, came over and pointed to the photo again, saying it was proof.

Hu Xiaoxiao told them, "Please go and find out that the men in our area no longer wear queues, and the women don't wear such ugly clothes. Women in the Republic of China era wouldn't even look at such ugly cheongsams."

When the costume designer was about to retort, Hu Xiaoxiao countered with a question: "Are your Black people still picking cotton on farms?"

The room fell silent after those words were spoken.

Bill glanced around the room and, thankfully, there were no Black people there. He quickly stepped in to smooth things over and quietly told Hu Xiaoxiao that she couldn't say those words; it was blatant discrimination and illegal.

Dong Peiyu had a photocopy of the contract in her briefcase for reference during communication. Seeing that the other party was unwilling to change the costume, she immediately took out the contract and turned to one of the pages.

"The contract states that Ms. Hu Xiaoxiao has the right to veto the script, including the plot description, costumes, etc..." After arriving in Hollywood, Dong Peiyu immediately hired a lawyer in this field as an advisor at a high price. In order to reduce subsequent troubles, she directly listed many details, including the costumes and styling.

In other words, the contract explicitly states that if Hu Xiaoxiao is not satisfied with the styling and costumes, she can refuse to perform without paying any penalty.