Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

"Hu Yinmeng has developed a strong liking for you. Your Starlight Value has increased by 100 points. You have also obtained a one-time consumable item, the [Flash Marriage Coupon]."

"【Flash Marriage Coupon: Allows you to choose any member of the opposite sex who has feelings for you and get married instantly】"

"【Note: There is a certain probability of triggering 'Flash Away' at the same time."

After shaking hands with Hu Yinmeng, Zhang Shuai'an's eyes showed a hint of suspicion.

This quirky beauty did have a history of whirlwind marriage and divorce, but does that justify giving her a "whirlwind marriage coupon"? This thing doesn't seem to be very useful.

If he wanted to marry a woman, with his current looks, he would be practically guaranteed to succeed; he wouldn't need this kind of coupon at all.

Furthermore, it might trigger a "flash departure," which wouldn't bring him any benefit, would it?

"That's why I hate handsome guys."

When Wong Jim saw that Hu Yinmeng was infatuated with Zhang Shuai'an, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Lin Yanni, standing nearby, immediately reached out and pinched the soft flesh of his waist, slowly twisting it: "What, do you have those kinds of thoughts about Yin Meng?"

"No, no, how could that be?" Huang Zhan gasped in pain and quickly begged for mercy, "You're the only one in my heart, no other woman is even in my eyes."

Lin Yanni is currently a writer, contributing a column to Ming Pao regularly. She is also one of the regulars pushing Jin Yong to increase her royalties.

She met James Wong while working at TVB in 1975, and the two began dating. At the time, James Wong was married.

During the year they started dating, James Wong also had a daughter with his first wife.

In 1987, James Wong divorced his first wife and then proposed to Lin Yanni in front of many guests at a dinner party hosted by Jin Yong.

On New Year's Day in 1989, Wong Jim chose to get engaged to Lam Yin-nei at Jin Yong's house, with Ni Kuang and others in attendance. Unfortunately, Lam Yin-nei changed her mind six hours later. The following year, the two broke up completely.

The reason for the breakup was quite simple: during their relationship, Wong Jim was constantly surrounded by women. Moreover, he even said he wouldn't mind if Lam Yin-nei also sought out men. Lam Yin-nei tried to adjust for a while, but ultimately couldn't accept this overly progressive marital arrangement.

"Is he really a novelist?"

Suddenly realizing something, Mr. Shen felt that Zhang Shuai'an might be someone he could work with, so he asked Ni Kuang, "What's the name of the novel? How's it written?"

Ni Kuang was slightly annoyed and said, "It's just so-so, but for his age, it's already quite remarkable."

That means it's well-written!

Boss Shen knew what kind of person Ni Kuang was, and he immediately came to a conclusion.

He immediately stepped forward and walked a few steps to Zhang Shuai'an, then introduced himself with a smile: "Mr. Zhang, hello, my name is Shen Deng'an, and I am the owner of Taiwan Vision Publishing House."

"Oh, Mr. Shen, hello!" Zhang Shuai'an shook hands with him.

Mr. Shen then asked, "I wonder if your novel has been signed with a publishing house?"

"Not yet," Zhang Shuai'an replied.

Mr. Shen smiled and said, "Then why not sign with my company? Although my company has only been established for five years, it has published many good works. Today, we even acquired the copyright to Mr. Jin Yong's collected works. It is definitely a company with potential and a promising future."

Zhang Shuai'an didn't know anything about the company, so he naturally adopted a wait-and-see attitude: "The novel serialization is not yet finished, and the readers' feedback is still unclear. Let's talk about publishing later."

Mr. Shen, being a shrewd man, naturally understood the implied meaning. Undeterred, he took out a business card and handed it over: "This is my business card, with my contact information on it. If Mr. Zhang wants his novel published in Taiwan, he can contact me anytime."

Zhang Shuai'an nodded very politely: "Okay, maybe there will be an opportunity to cooperate."

Boss Shen didn't linger. After saying goodbye to Lin Zhedong, he said to Hu Yinmeng, "Miss Hu, we have to go. We still have things to do."

Hu Yinmeng then snapped out of her reverie, which had been admiring Zhang Shuai'an's good looks: "Oh, I see."

"Mr. Zhang, I feel an instant connection with you, but unfortunately we don't have time to chat in detail right now."

Hu Yinmeng casually picked up a pen and paper and wrote down an address and number: "This is my address and number in Hong Kong. Let's have some tea sometime."

Zhang Shuai'an smiled faintly: "Since you've invited me, I dare not refuse."

Hu Yinmeng turned and left, but after taking only a few steps, she turned back to look at Zhang Shuai'an.

"Alright, alright, stop looking." Wong Jim was getting increasingly annoyed and said to Hu Yinmeng, "How about I play matchmaker for you two, so you can get engaged this afternoon and consummate your marriage tonight?"

Hu Yinmeng smiled sweetly: "Being this handsome isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"He's really too handsome," Lin Yanni couldn't help but mutter to herself.

Ni Kuang couldn't stand such words and said irritably, "What a load of rubbish about handsome! Someone like me is the real dashing and debonair. You guys just don't know how to appreciate that."

the other side.

Lin Zhedong had finished reading the second half of "Shattered Void" and said to Zhang Shuai'an, "Mr. Zhang is truly a genius. This ending is breathtaking. Only after reading this did I understand the meaning of 'Shattered Void.' The Taoist thought contained within is profound and far-reaching, truly admirable."

"Editor-in-Chief Lin, please stop praising me." Zhang Shuai'an was generally unmoved by such flattery, since this wasn't his original work: "Just settle my payment for the article."

"Haha, you're really realistic." Lin Zhedong chuckled, then didn't say anything more and began calculating the royalties.

Lin Zhedong did a quick mental calculation and said slowly, "Shattered Void has a total of 160,000 words. At a rate of 40 yuan per thousand words, that's 6,400 yuan. We already received an advance of 1,000 yuan, so we have 5,400 yuan left, right?"

Zhang Shuai'an nodded.

"So what are your plans for the future?" Lin Zhedong asked, taking out a cash check and filling in the amount as he did so. "Any ideas for your next project?"

Zhang Shuai'an said casually, "I was filming for a while and didn't have time to think about this. I do have some vague ideas now, but they might not be suitable for Ming Pao..."

Lin Zhedong chuckled lightly: "You think our royalties are too low, don't you?"

"That's also a consideration," Zhang Shuai'an said without deliberately avoiding the topic.

Lin Zhedong considered for a moment and said seriously, "With my current authority, I can only give you 60 cents per thousand words at most."

This price was clearly not within Zhang Shuai'an's considerations.

"No rush, I just have an idea, but I haven't decided yet."

Zhang Shuai'an waved his hand: "I might have to film a movie next, so I might not have time to write the novel."

"Wait a minute, I'll go talk to the boss." Seeing that Zhang Shuai'an was about to leave, Lin Zhedong patted his shoulder, got up, and went upstairs to find Jin Yong.

A moment later, Lin Zhedong came down: "The boss said, Mr. Zhang, why don't we have a casual dinner together tonight? He'll introduce you to some industry veterans."

What he really meant was that Jin Yong didn't want to raise his royalties and wanted to use other means to retain him.

Zhang Shuai'an said calmly, "Very well, then I'll accept your offer."

Before leaving, Zhang Shuai'an couldn't help but ask, "Where did that female editor go?"

"You mean Sister Wu?" Lin Zhedong explained with a smile, "She switched jobs to the *China Daily* and is now the deputy editor-in-chief. The position is high, the salary is much better, much better than here. What, you need her for something?"

"No, just asking."

Zhang Shuai'an was just asking out of curiosity.

In another year, Ming Pao's editor-in-chief, Hu Juren, will also switch to China Daily News as editor-in-chief due to his consistently low salary.

As he left, he crumpled the note Hu Yinmeng had left into a ball and threw it into the trash can.

This woman was not his type at all.

The starlight is pretty average, and I doubt we'll have much interaction in the future.

……

night.

Before heading to the banquet venue, Jin Yong made a detour to Shaw Studios to pick up Zhang Shuai'an.

Zhang Shuai'an also gave He Jiatong a ride.

Jin Yong wasn't angry; he simply smiled and asked, "And who is this friend?"

"This is my brother, He Jiatong. We swam here together."

Zhang Shuai'an introduced Jin Yong, saying, "Since filming began, there are many things I can't handle personally, so he will take care of some of the trivial matters for me."

This means they are training agents.

He Jiatong adopted a very humble attitude: "Mr. Cha, hello, my name is He Jiatong, and I am a fan of yours. I have read all your novels, and they are all extremely wonderful."

He Jiatong only started reading novels in newspapers to pass the time during her time in Hong Kong. She particularly enjoyed erotic novels and Jin Yong's novels.

Before long, Jin Yong's car arrived at the door of a long-established restaurant in Central.

This restaurant is frequented by celebrities and stars, and entertainment reporters are always staking out the place.

They naturally recognized Jin Yong's car and couldn't help but be surprised: "Is this Jin Yong's car? He rarely goes out; he only comes here to entertain distinguished guests. Last time he entertained Gu Long here, who could it be this time?"

Another entertainment reporter casually remarked, "He's probably some writer or publishing house owner from Taiwan."

The car was parked in front of the Cuiyuan Restaurant.

He Jiatong had a sudden inspiration. She quietly went down through the other door and opened the door for Jin Yong.

Jin Yong got out of the car and then waited for Zhang Shuai'an for a while.

Zhang Shuai'an was somewhat taken aback. He had originally planned to get off the bus first and then wait for Jin Yong, since the other party was a senior figure and he should at least show him some respect.

He never expected Jin Yong to pull this stunt. Was he trying to put him on a pedestal?

"Damn, Jin Yong is waiting outside the car, who's sitting inside?"

The entertainment reporters were stunned, staring intently at the car door, and even raised their cameras, ready to take a front-page photo.

The next second, Zhang Shuai'an got out of the car, stood side by side with Jin Yong, and then walked into the restaurant together.

"Who is this person?"

The entertainment reporters were initially taken aback. "To be listed alongside Jin Yong? Is he some rich young master?"

Soon, someone remembered: "Isn't that Zhang Shuai'an? The male lead in TVB's 'Young Detective Bao Qingtian'! He's incredibly popular right now!"

Even so, Jin Yong didn't need to lower himself to be ranked alongside him.

"Could it be that this kid's next project is a Jin Yong adaptation?"

"Possibly!"