Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Zhang Shuai'an noticed that Zhao Yazhi and her group were glancing in his direction from time to time, and he sensed something was wrong.

Sure enough, he saw Zhang Aijia point at him and say something, and then Xu Anhua nodded slightly.

Then Zhang Aijia stood up and made a move to walk towards him.

He nudged He Jiatong and whispered, "Eat quickly! We'll leave after we finish!"

The two quickly ate their plates clean and then left the restaurant in another direction.

"Look, you scared them away." Xu Anhua laughed at Zhang Aijia when he saw this.

Zhao Yazhi also found the situation somewhat amusing and couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

"That shouldn't be the case, I'm not bad-looking either." Zhang Aijia touched her face. "In the past, all those talented men and young masters were eager to date me, but I didn't even fancy them."

Xu Anhua couldn't help but shake his head and say, "Your approach doesn't work on everyone. Some boys are very reserved. The more aggressively you pursue them, the more scared they become."

"I only believe that hard work pays off!" Sylvia Chang doesn't think she has any problem. "As the saying goes, even a strong woman can be won over by persistent suitors. Conversely, it's easy to win a man's heart."

Zhao Yazhi and Xu Anhua exchanged a glance, both feeling that Zhang Aijia's addiction to romance was incurable, and they just hoped that she wouldn't do anything too outrageous.

"Focus on filming first," Xu Anhua finally advised. "This is our company's first project. If it doesn't succeed, the company will face serious difficulties in the future."

Hearing this, Zhang Aijia finally came to her senses. She was somewhat love-struck, but also a workaholic. When romance wasn't working out, she would throw herself into her career. When her career hit a plateau, she would want to fall in love, and so on, until she met the one who could tame her.

Zhang Shuai'an and He Jiatong fled the restaurant as if they were escaping.

After walking for a while, Zhang Shuai'an said to He Jiadan, "You go back to the dormitory first, tidy up and clean up as needed... I'm going to find Fatty Wang to talk about the script."

He Jiatong was very clear about her role and nodded directly: "Okay."

After watching He Jiatong leave, Zhang Shuai'an turned and walked towards the main building of the cinema.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered a queue of at least ten people waiting for the sofas on the first floor. Boss Shao is certainly very busy.

Zhang Shuai'an wasn't there to see Boss Shao, so he didn't need to wait in line. He just wanted to bypass these people, find an empty seat, and wait for Fatty Wang.

However, just as he was about to cross the line, he was stopped by someone.

The man reached out and grabbed Zhang Shuai'an's shoulder: "Hey, handsome, what do you want to do?"

Zhang Shuai'an pointed to the empty sofa in front of him and said, "I think..."

Before he could finish speaking, the person interrupted him: "Get in line!"

"No, I..." Zhang Shuai'an began to explain.

The man still didn't give him the chance, saying directly, "Don't think you can skip the line just because you're handsome and talented."

Zhang Shuai'an's eyes widened, looking at the other person with some surprise: "You can even see that he's talented?"

The person who joined the conversation earlier said seriously, "I also see that you're very genuine and kind-hearted; you're a first-rate friend!"

"It's out of order!" Zhang Shuai'an was actually somewhat moved, and said apologetically, "You guys saw right through me, so I guess I have to treat you to a meal!"

"Of course we want it!" the two said in unison, and then together they pushed Zhang Shuai'an to the very back of the line.

Judging from their lip movements, Zhang Shuai'an thought he heard them mutter, "You bastard, you're just a jerk!"

This line is quite long; I wonder how long it will take.

Fortunately, he wasn't there to see Shao Yifu in the first place, so when the sofa was arranged, he could just sit down.

He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.

"Hey, it's your turn!"

A short while later, someone kicked his leg and shouted at him.

Zhang Shuai'an then opened his eyes and discovered that the person who kicked him was one of the two who had made him line up earlier.

"I'm not here to see Boss Shao," Zhang Shuai'an explained.

The man looked speechless: "Then why are you queuing?"

"You're the ones who made me queue up," Zhang Shuai'an said speechlessly. "I wanted to explain, but you didn't let me finish."

The man realized he had made a mistake, so he could only smile awkwardly, cup his hands in greeting, and say, "I'm sorry, I'll treat you to a meal sometime. I have something to do now, so I can't keep you company."

He had only taken a couple of steps when he saw Fatty Wang walking towards him.

Fatty Wang called out to the man, "Ah Feng, have you met the boss? What instructions did he give you?"

"Oh, right." The man nodded and said softly, "He asked me to work with director Zhao Zhenqiang on a new film. I was just about to go talk to you and the screenwriter."

"No need to look anymore!" Fatty Wang pointed at Zhang Shuai'an: "He's the screenwriter and the male lead."

The man immediately turned around, following Wang Pangzi's pointing finger, and then saw Zhang Shuai'an waving at him.

Zhang Shuai'an walked over with a smile and said to the man, "I am Zhang Shuai'an, the original author and screenwriter of 'Young Detective Bao Qingtian,' and also the male lead of the series. I look forward to your guidance in the future."

"Uh..." The man's expression changed several times before he finally smiled awkwardly and extended his hand to Zhang Shuai'an: "My name is Du Qifeng. I am the assistant screenwriter and executive director of this play. I'm really sorry about what happened just now."

"It's alright, and apart from that last sentence, your earlier assessment was quite accurate." Although Zhang Shuai'an was quite vengeful, he generally didn't hold grudges over such trivial matters. Besides, the other party hadn't meant it; they had mistaken him for someone who maliciously cut in line.

Du Qifeng chuckled twice and said again, "You are indeed handsome and talented, and you are a first-rate friend."

"What, you two knew each other before?" Fatty Wang pointed at them, somewhat surprised.

Zhang Shuai'an didn't explain, but simply said, "Let's not talk about the past. Let's find a place to discuss the script first. I brought the entire manuscript of the novel with me."

Fatty Wang suggested, "Let's make a few copies first, otherwise when the director comes later, there won't be enough scripts to share."

Zhang Shuai'an thought Wang Pangzi was absolutely right, and he also wanted to make a copy, but at that time there were no copy shops all over Hong Kong.

Fatty Wang led the two to a special equipment room, where he made five or six copies of the manuscript of "Young Detective Bao Qingtian," bound them together, and gave each of them two copies.

Fatty Wang said, "It's almost time. Let's go to Director Zhao's house. He said he'll be waiting for us there."

Chiu Chun-keung doesn't live in the cinema, but his home is in Tai Po Tsai, right outside the cinema.

The two got into Fatty Wang's car, left Shaw Brothers Studio, and headed to Zhao Zhenqiang's house.