Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Chapter 98 Is Zhao Yazhi Hinting at Something? (2nd Update, Please Subscribe)

The so-called interview was not very formal.

Zhang Shuai'an initially thought the other party was a professional, but the questions they asked were quite amateurish. They kept trying to subtly inquire about Zhao Yazhi's marital troubles.

"If you want to know about Sister Zi's matter, you can ask her yourself."

Zhang Shuai'an said calmly, "Don't waste my time here. I hate these pointless questions. Let's skip the interview."

After that, they only allowed Kuang to take a few photos of the company.

Zhang Shuai'an then gathered all the current employees of the company and took a group photo under the company sign.

The next day.

Zhang Shuai'an summoned Wang Pangzi, Chen Xunqi, Liu Guanwei, and Chen Peihua, a female producer sent by Golden Harvest.

Chen Peihua also brought the first grant from Golden Harvest, HK$300 million, of which HK$100 million was Zhang Shuai'an's advance payment for the film and the other HK$200 million was the filming budget for "Chasing Girls".

When the company has money, things become much easier.

-

"In the last two days, we finalized the cast for the main roles in the film."

At the meeting, Zhang Shuai'an spoke first, and without any preamble, he went straight to the point: "Brother Jian, Brother Jing, have you sent out audition notices?"

Ling Zhijian, the production manager and casting director for the film, replied, "The notices were sent out a few days ago, and in addition to the designated actors, other actors will be asked to audition for these roles."

Although some roles have already been decided internally, we can still leak information about the remaining roles and see if we can catch any good fish.

As he spoke, he took out several forms, placed them on his desk, and pushed them in front of Zhang Shuai'an.

After revisions and adjustments, the final number of main female characters was seven.

001. Chu Hong, the childhood sweetheart, is the little girl who followed Roberto around when they were young. They were separated for quite some time after they grew up, so Shi Tian didn't recognize her at first. This role has already been decided for Chung Chu Hong.

002. The stylish and fashionable model Bai Fangfang has two candidates: Di Bona and Tian Ni, who was suggested by Fatty Wang.

003. The willful young lady Wu Yingying, Zhang Shi chose Rosamund Kwan, but Chen Xunqi mentioned Shirley Yim.

004. Deng Rendi, a harsh female executive, is having an affair with her boss and is pregnant. She is in a hurry to find a backup to cover up the affair, and Zheng Yuling is the one she has chosen.

005. Gao Fei, a straightforward and extremely controlling female doctor; Chen Xunqi, on the other hand, thinks Miao Kexiu could also give it a try.

006. A rich woman who loves dogs like her own life. Zhang Shuai'an originally thought that this role should be played by a beautiful young woman with a graceful figure and temperament. Unexpectedly, whether it was Chung Chu-hung, Fatty Wang, or Chen Xunqi, they all thought that Shen Dianxia was more suitable.

007. Wu Maijun, a realistic and snobbish real estate saleswoman;

There are a few more guest roles, such as the burly and imposing Hao Ge, the overseas-educated female PhD who idolizes foreign things, the rebellious young woman, and so on.

"Boss, someone's here. They say they're here for an interview."

A short while later, a young woman knocked on the door to report to the supervisor.

She is Ling Zhijian's sister-in-law, named Yu Sijia, and she has just graduated from university.

Because the company was short-staffed, Ling Zhijian pulled him over to be a temporary receptionist.

Zhang Shuai'an instructed, "Let her in. If anyone else arrives, write down a number for each of them, and let them come in one by one in order of the numbers."

The first woman to walk in had a decent figure and appearance, and her face was very distinctive, leaving a deep impression on people at first glance.

When Fatty Wang saw the woman, he immediately exclaimed, "Sister Sijia, long time no see! I didn't expect it to be you!"

The woman nodded to Fatty Wang and then introduced herself: "My name is Chen Sijia, and I am an actress from Shaw Brothers. This time, I would like to try out for the role of Wu Maijun."

Chen Sijia, the name might be unfamiliar. However, she is indeed a veteran actress of Shaw Brothers films. She appeared in Chor Yuen's "The Ghost Eye" in 1974. Later, she appeared in "Chor Lau Heung" in 1977, playing Su Rongrong, and "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" in 1978, among others.

He was somewhat famous at the time, but didn't have any particularly well-known representative works. He retired from acting in 1985.

Zhang Shuai'an stared at her face for a while, and finally realized that she looked somewhat familiar.

Before he time-traveled, he watched a clip from a Ti Lung movie on Bilibili. In one scene, a sick prostitute, desperately hungry, asked Fu Hongxue for a bowl of noodles and uttered a rather famous line:

(Ti Lung's "The Magic Blade" in 1977)

Zhang Shuai'an asked earnestly, "Ms. Chen, would you please act out this scene? I'd like to rehearse with you."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper with a short plot and lines written on it.

"That's fine."

Chen Sijia looked at it for a while, then nodded.

Zhang Shuai'an glanced at Fatty Wang and immediately recited a line typical of extras: "This is the apartment type our company recommends to you, Mr. Xu. Take a look, it can be bought for just ten million."

Chen Sijia looked at Zhang Shuai'an with an arrogant tone, even raising an eyebrow: "How about it?"

Zhang Shuai'an paused for a moment, then replied, "I think it's alright."

Chen Sijia replied with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Roberto, this is buying a house for himself, not an office building for the company. It's either fine or it's not fine. There's no such thing as 'fine'."

"No, I mean it looks like—" Zhang Shuai'an started to say, but then swallowed his words and declined, saying, "I'll listen to you."

"It looks like the space is pretty good, quite spacious."

"Just like you men boast about your broad-mindedness. However, the feng shui isn't very good. The left side faces the corner of the mountain, which is suspected of being a 'clashing' energy, and I've heard it can even kill people. It's bad."

"These lights are really not stylish enough, they're not interesting at all."

"besides----"

Chen Sijia's delivery of lines is quite good; she speaks with style, but her presence lacks impact. She doesn't create a truly dominant effect on the character of Zhang Shuai'an.

"Okay, that's all." After Chen Sijia finished her performance, Zhang Shuai'an politely replied, "We'll let you know when the results are in."

Chen Sijia nodded, didn't ask any more questions, and turned to leave.

"What do you guys think?" Zhang Shuai'an asked, looking at the others.

Chen Xunqi said bluntly, "It's almost there."

Fatty Wang nodded in agreement: "It's not imposing enough."

"Next----"

The next few actresses also didn't have any particularly outstanding moments.

Around noon, someone who surprised Zhang Shuai'an arrived: Zhao Yazhi.

Zhang Shuai'an asked, "Sister Zi, what brings you here?"

"Of course I'm here to audition," Zhao Yazhi said with some dissatisfaction. "You've started a production, and you didn't even cast me first? Don't you even consider me a friend?"

The way she said it had a slightly coquettish tone, which sounded a bit strange to others.

But then I thought about it again. Zhang Shuai'an and Zhao Yazhi have worked together twice. They've been together for so many years, so it's not surprising that their feelings for each other are deep.

Zhang Shuai'an looked at her stomach with concern and asked, "You just finished filming two dramas in a row, shouldn't you rest more?"

At this time, Zhao Yazhi was already more than two months pregnant. Although she was not showing yet, she could not schedule her work so full.

Zhao Yazhi smiled and said, "If you agree to participate in my film, I'll take a break after filming this movie, how about it?"

Zhang Shuai'an considered it for a while and decided that making movies was easier than making TV series, and each female character actually didn't have many scenes.

"Moreover, I can do without pay," Zhao Yazhi said, dropping her trump card.

Zhang Shuai'an objected, saying, "No, you must have this."

Zhao Yazhi laughed and said, "So you've agreed to star in it?"

"Which role has Sister Zi set her sights on?" Zhang Shuai'an asked.

Zhao Yazhi took a form from Fatty Wang and pointed to one of the roles, saying, "It's her."

Not only Zhang Shuai'an, but also Wang Pangzi, Chen Xunqi, and others couldn't help but come over to take a look.

It was shocking to discover that Zhao Yazhi had chosen the pregnant female executive who was in a hurry to find a backup plan.

Zhang Shuai'an had a vague feeling that Zhao Yazhi was hinting at something to him.

No one else expected her to choose this role.

Zhao Yazi played Su Rongrong, Ling Chuchu, and Feng Chengcheng in TV dramas—all positive roles, gentle and elegant good women.

In "The Mad Monk," she made a small breakthrough from her established screen image.

This female executive is clearly not a likable character.

"What, you don't believe in my acting skills?"

Zhao Yazhi saw through Zhang Shuai'an and the others' thoughts and said with a smile, "How about we try out the acting on the spot?"

"No need for that," Zhang Shuai'an said immediately. "Since Sister Zi has taken a liking to it, then this role is yours."

As he spoke, he crossed out the role on the large form.

"Notify the people behind that this role is decided and no further interviews are needed."