Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Cuiyuan Restaurant.

Jin Yong booked a private room on the second floor.

"Mr. Cha, Brother An, I won't go up."

Just as they were about to go upstairs, He Jiatong said, "I'm not a cultured person, so I won't force myself to get involved. I'll just stay downstairs by myself. Call me when you're done eating."

"How can that be? All guests are welcome. Wouldn't that make people laugh at me, Jin Yong, for not knowing how to behave?"

Jin Yong shook his head and said to He Jiatong, "Don't worry about anything, just have a meal and relax."

He Jiatong turned to look at Zhang Shuai'an.

Zhang Shuai'an said, "Since Mr. Cha has put it that way, let's go together. Just keep quiet."

Two tables were set up in a private room on the second floor, where about ten people had already arrived and were waiting for Jin Yong.

Among them was Mr. Shen and his group, who had visited Ming Pao that morning.

"Why hasn't the doctor arrived yet?"

One of the women, a woman in her fifties, was getting impatient. "We've been waiting here for a while now. It's not a good thing to keep our guests waiting."

(In Cantonese-speaking regions, one word represents 5 minutes, often used in spoken language to express time; "two words" means 10 minutes.)

Mr. Shen, who was standing nearby, immediately said, "It's alright, it's alright. Mr. Cha has work to do, so it's understandable that he'll be a little late."

The middle-aged woman continued bluntly, "He hates people who are late, yet he himself is late. That's a bit hypocritical."

Just then, Jin Yong walked in with a smile and scolded the woman, "Dan Ning, you're talking badly about me again. I booked the private room for eight o'clock, but I said I would arrive in half an hour. I wasn't late."

This woman's name is Sun Danning, pen name "Farmer Woman," and she is one of the founding members of Ming Pao. Her husband, Wu Zhibiao, is both an editor at Ming Pao and a classmate of Jin Yong.

"Alright, you're the boss, you decide!" The middle-aged woman laughed and let the matter drop; she just wanted to tease the other party as usual.

Her gaze was fixed on Zhang Shuai'an as she asked, "But who's that handsome guy behind you? Is he your long-hidden illegitimate son?"

Jin Yong's face showed an absurd expression, and he said somewhat angrily, "This kind of joke is not to be taken lightly. This young friend is Zhang Shuai'an, a very popular actor recently, who also writes novels for Ming Pao. The lady behind him is his friend He Jiatong."

Zhang Shuai'an and He Jiatong immediately smiled and introduced themselves to the gentleman.

"Her name is Sun Danning, pen name 'Farmer,' and she also contributes to Ming Pao. Her writing style is quite sharp."

Jin Yong casually introduced her to Zhang Shuai'an: "She likes to mentor newcomers and likes them to call her 'Mom'."

Sun Danning glared at Jin Yong with displeasure: "Don't slander people's reputations out of thin air."

She ignored He Jiatong and smiled at Zhang Shuai'an, saying, "Don't listen to his nonsense. The fact that he took a liking to you means you must be a promising junior. If you encounter any trouble in the future, you can tell Aunt Nong. Aunt Nong will definitely help if she can."

Zhang Shuai'an: "..."

He quickly composed himself and greeted her with a smile: "Hello, Ms. Sun, my name is Zhang Shuai'an. I'm an actor, screenwriter, and novelist."

"Auntie, please don't make things difficult for the young man." The speaker was a young man in a white suit.

The man looked to be around thirty years old, wearing a silver-gray suit, and had a mustache.

Jin Yong then introduced, "This talented young man is named Shen Xicheng, which is of course a pen name; his real surname is Ye."

Shen Xicheng smiled and said to Zhang Shuai'an, "My real name is Ye Guanqi. I am a member of the TVB creative team, and I also write novels for Ming Pao and translate some detective novels."

Then, he said rather enthusiastically, "Zhang Sheng, I've seen your performance as Bao Heitan, and your acting skills are truly outstanding among young actors. I heard you also wrote the script, so you're really talented and good-looking. I hope we can exchange ideas more often in the future; I also want to improve myself."

Zhang Shuai'an had some impression of this person. He seemed to be Ni Kuang's lackey, and made a lot of money by associating with Ni Kuang. For example, he wrote books such as "My View on Ni Kuang's Science Fiction", "A Closer Look at Wesley's Science Fiction Novels", "The Amazing Ni Kuang", and "The Biography of Ni Kuang".

He also obtained the rights to continue writing the Yuan Zhenxia series of novels from Ni Kuang, but unfortunately he later got caught up in a plagiarism scandal and was severely criticized by netizens.

Later, he made a living by writing articles reminiscing about Jin Yong, Ni Kuang, and others, and published books such as "The Past of Jin Yong", "Jin Yong and Ni Kuang", and "The Three Great Talents of Hong Kong: Jin Yong, Ni Kuang, and Cai Lan".

He certainly has talent, and has written some decent scripts, such as "City on Fire" starring Chow Yun-fat, and "Call Girl 1988" starring Feng Baobao and Maggie Cheung.

Overall, he is someone who likes to take shortcuts and take shortcuts.

Jin Yong then pointed to a young man in red wearing gold-rimmed glasses and introduced him: "This gentleman is Liu Tianci, a famous screenwriter and producer at TVB."

"Mr. Liu, it's a pleasure to meet you." Zhang Shuai'an nodded in greeting.

Liu Tianci stared intently at Zhang Shuai'an: "I know you. You've been incredibly popular in Hong Kong lately. Jackie Chan is looking for you everywhere, he's almost gone crazy with it."

"Huh?" Zhang Shuai'an looked puzzled. He really didn't know Jackie Chan was looking for him. "Mr. Liu, you must be joking. I don't have any connection with Jackie Chan."

Lau Tim-chi was born in 1948. He joined TVB as a screenwriter in 1969 and has extensive experience. He will be promoted to TVB's production director next year.

At that time, he was the screenwriter for Jackie Chan's "Young Master" and was constantly filming on set.

These days, there are two ways to film movies in Hong Kong. One way is to write a script and film it exactly as written. The other way is to start filming as soon as you have an idea, find two screenwriters to act as liaisons, and create jokes on the spot while filming.

Jackie Chan's approach is a hybrid of both: he requires a script and also hires a screenwriter to work on set, where good ideas come up on the spot and lines are written on the spot.

Liu Tianci replied with a smile, "Just this morning, we watched Wu Ma's film 'Handcuffs' together, and you had an action scene in it. Ah Long liked it after watching it and said he definitely wanted to find you."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shuai'an probably understood what Jackie Chan wanted. His action design in "Handcuffs" was a direct copy of Jackie Chan's later choreography in films such as "Project A" and "Police Story," so it was normal for him to like it.

Sun Danning, who was standing next to him, said with a smile, "Handsome, why don't you leave Ah Ci your contact information? You can chat more after you finish eating."

Zhang Shuai'an said somewhat embarrassedly, "Please leave me your contact information, Mr. Liu. After all, I'm a junior."

Liu Tianci has grown quite fond of Zhang Shuai'an. He's such a polite kid, and despite his fame, he hasn't become arrogant. He has a promising future.

Actually, Zhang Shuai'an hadn't found a place to live yet, and he couldn't very well leave the phone number for the Shaw Brothers Studio dormitory since he was moving out in a couple of days.

The two exchanged contact information. Zhang Shuai'an left Aunt He's phone number and they agreed to meet again the next day to have a proper chat with Jackie Chan.

Next, Jin Yong introduced him to several other people, including Mao Guokun, the editor of the mainland edition of Ming Pao, and Mao Guolun, the editor of the international edition. The two were brothers.

Zhang Shuai'an only then realized that Ming Pao actually had a mainland edition at this time.

Another important figure is Zhang Wei, the owner of Heming Publishing House, who is also the founder of the martial arts novel magazine "Wuxia Chunqiu".

As for Boss Shen and the others, everyone except Hu Yinmeng was present, so no further introduction is needed.

A meal that brought joy and harmony.

The banquet ended.

Those who wanted to stay in touch had already exchanged contact information during the meal.

Unintentionally, they naturally dispersed.