"Oh, Boss Shen, you went to the mainland and Zhao Yun turned into Zhang Fei." Luo Weiming joked as soon as he saw Chen Chong, "This is a very dark look, like an old farmer, but he can't be a slut."

"I haven't seen each other for two months, Lao Luo, you are still so poor." Chen Chong stood up to greet him with a smile, "Some of you sit casually."

Chen Chong went to the mainland on May 21 and returned to Hong Kong. It was already July 23. He stayed for more than two months, and he was covered in wind and sun every day, making him dark skin, but his body became much stronger and not as weak as before.

Come with Luo Weiming, the new editor-in-chief of "First Movie Review", and Chen Bosheng, who returned after the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

"A Chong, long time no see." Chen Baisheng hugged Shen Chong enthusiastically, then looked at him and asked, "How do you feel when you go to the mainland?"

"Eight words." After greeting them, Chen Chong slowly raised two fingers and said, "All things are in trouble, and the potential is huge."

"Mr. Chen said." Lin Nian was also a thin scholar wearing glasses. He agreed: "I feel the same way. The mainland is not prosperous yet, but the film market is extremely large."

"How big is it?" Luo Weiming sat down and started to take out the cigarette box, and asked while dismantling it: "I heard that eating in the mainland is a problem. Do they still have free money to watch movies?"

"Lao Luo, you have never been to the mainland, you have not experienced it personally, and you don't understand it even after you say it." Chen Chong said: "I can scare you to death if I just report a number."

"Tell me." Luo Weiming lit a cigarette and threw the lighter on the table, looking calm.

"January to May this year." Chen Chong cooperated with him and said calmly: "The number of moviegoers in the mainland is 12 billion." (Note 1)

Luo Weiming was really shocked by this number. He hurriedly put down his cigarette and coughed violently.

"So many?" Chen Baisheng was also surprised.

"There are so many." Chen Chong nodded with certainty and said: "This is the data I got from the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, which is absolutely true and reliable."

"There are 12 billion people in five months, and isn't it more than 25 billion yuan in the whole year?" Chen Baisheng hurriedly calculated, gasped and exclaimed: "Even if each movie ticket costs only one yuan, it is more than 20 billion yuan in box office, how much is it equivalent to Hong Kong dollars?"

"The exchange rate between the RMB and the Hong Kong dollar is around 1:3.3." Chen Chong continued to say lightly: "It is equivalent to more than 70 billion Hong Kong dollars, and it is equivalent to more than 15 billion US dollars." (Note 2)

Luo Weiming coughed again after hearing this.

"Old Luo, are you okay?" Chen Chong said with a false concern and said, "Do you want to see a doctor?"

Luo Weiming waved his hand straight, he picked up the tea on the table, took a few sips before finally calming down, but he was already blushing, "Boss Shen, you want to scare me to death."

"How could I do?" Chen Chong cried out and said, "It's obvious that you smoked too much, so it's time to quit."

"A Chong, does the mainland really have such a big box office?" Chen Bosheng ignored the teasing of the two. He questioned: "This is impossible. The North American film market did not exceed $5 billion last year."

"Of course not that much." Lin Niantong knew the consumption level in the mainland, so he smiled and answered his questions: "Money movie tickets are very cheap, only one cent, and people often evade tickets. Moreover, there are free screenings in many places, and there are many moviegoers, but the box office revenue is not high, so I estimate that it is difficult to over 100 million."

"It's still Editor-in-Chief Lin who knows it."

"Boss Shen." Luo Weiming pointed at Chen Chong and said hatefully: "You deliberately cheated me again!"

Chen Chong spread his hands, laughed and said, "You are too timid and poor, and you are jealous of money. You can't blame me."

Everyone laughed, Luo Weiming had no choice but to laugh, too.

"A population of 1 billion and more than 20 billion viewers a year, it can be seen that mainland audiences are very enthusiastic about movies." After laughing, Chen Chong adjusted his tone and said seriously: "Everyone, if a magazine can enter the mainland market, as long as one thousand people subscribe, they can sell 1 million copies per issue. This is a very huge market and must be taken seriously."

"But Hong Kong magazines are not allowed to be sold in the mainland, and the review is very strict." Lin Niantong said: "When you pass the customs, you can't even bring paper."

"The current maximum sales of "Movie Age" is only 65,000, if it can sell 1 million copies..." Luo Weiming shook his head and longed for a while. After a while, he said: "Boss Shen, if you can sell 1 million copies of the magazine, I, Lao Luo, will not only work for you in this life, but also in the next life."

"Lao Luo, you are not sincere! Others are all cows and horses, you only come to work." Chen Chong laughed, flipped through the folder in front of him, took out a piece of paper, put it up and displayed it, and said, "Look, what is this?"

"With the approval of the Guangdong Provincial Hong Kong and Macao Working Committee, the "Movie Time" magazine published in Hong Kong was approved to be sold on the Guangzhou-9th Express. It can be accepted for mainland subscribers (can be subscribed and mailed back to the mainland through Hong Kong and Macao, overseas relatives and friends) and imported by the Guangzhou Branch of China Book Import and Export Company..." (Note 3)

Chen Baisheng, who was closest to Chen Chong, had not finished reading it yet, Luo Weiming had already jumped up. He grabbed the document, read it over and over again, and deliberately rubbed the seal below.

"Old Luo." Lin Niantong was amused by his actions and said, "This is a document, not an antique. Who dares to fake it? Take it to me and take it."

"Mr. Chen, you are amazing!" Luo Weiming gave him the document, then clasped his fists, bowed to Chen Chong, and said, "My ability to delve everywhere is so proud of me."

"You admire the wrong person." Chen Chong laughed and said, "I didn't get this official document, it was Rover."

"Rover?" Luo Weiming said in a daze, "Where did he get it?"

"He is a lucky general." Chen Chong nodded and said with emotion: "The last time I interviewed Run Run Shaw, no one could do anything. As soon as he contacted him, it was done. This time I sent him back to Guangdong to collect information. Unexpectedly, he actually met Mr. Liao, the director of the Central Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. I don't know what he said or did. In short, I got this official document."

Several people were amazed and admired Rover's luck against the will.

"Rover got the official document, why didn't he notify me?" Luo Weiming said dissatisfied and said, "Can I still steal his credit?"

"That's not." Chen Chong quickly explained: "Although there is public relations for Liao, the procedures for approval in the mainland are very complicated. When I passed by Guangzhou, he was still running the process. I accompanied him for several days before finally getting it done, and then I brought it back."

"It is very troublesome to apply for approval documents in the mainland." Lin Niantong also said: "Even if you buy a piece of meat, you have to find someone to stamp it."

"As the saying goes, good things come in pairs." Chen Chong carefully collected the official documents, took out another new one, and said with a smile: "Rofu went to the mainland and made great contributions. I, as a boss, cannot fall behind. Look, this is what I got."

Luo Weiming came over first, looked at it, and said, "Interview license?"

"Yes." Chen Chong showed off proudly, pointed to the official seal below, and said: "This is a license issued by the Ministry of Culture, allowing "Movie Age" and "First Movie Review" to interview all mainland film studios."

"Mr. Chen, let me see." Lin Niantong immediately reached out and took it over.

Luo Weiming didn't understand the rules of the mainland very much, but looking at Chen Chong's complacentness and Lin Niantong's eagerness, he also knew that this license was extraordinary and asked, "What's the use of this?"

"Just because I didn't have this thing, I stayed in Shanghai for several months, and I didn't even go in the gate of the Shanghai Film Studio." Lin Niantong said with a license: "The mainland is different from Hong Kong. If you want to interview, you must have this thing."

"The mainland does not have the right to interview overseas journalists." Chen Chong said: "So this is the first and only one."

"Then this is really a good thing." Chen Baisheng narrowed his eyes and said, "The news released by our magazine is all scoops, and sales will definitely be bullish."

"That may not be true. Hong Kong people are not very interested in mainland movies." Luo Weiming has been the editor-in-chief for so long, and has figured out the readers' preferences and said: "Money movies are released in Hong Kong and have a very bleak box office. Like the Yindu Cinema in Kwun Tong, the attendance rate is less than 40%.

"Things will always change. There is no hurry to do this, and we need to make a long-term plan." Chen Chong said seriously: "Reporters who go to the mainland must choose well. This license only allows interviews with movie factories. Never find some naughty people. If you go to the mainland, you will touch other things. At that time, you are treated as spies and the magazine will be in trouble."

These people have experience, and nodded silently when they heard this, and the atmosphere in the conference room was solemn.

After a while, Lin Niantong looked at the bright red seal of the Ministry of Culture under the license and asked: "Mr. Chen returned to the mainland this time, and went to Beijing?"

"Yes, I've been in Beijing for a week." Chen Chong took out a photo from his pocket and signaled it to everyone, singing and saying half-singing: "I love Beijing Tiananmen Square, the sun rises on Tiananmen Square. How about it, is it handsome?"

The photo was taken by Polaroid camera. Chen Chong turned his back to Tiananmen Square and clenched his fists with one hand, full of energy.

The three of them were very interested and took turns to look at it. Luo Weiming finally looked at it. He flicked the photo with his finger and said, "Boss Shen, you said you went to Huangshan to film. In a blink of an eye, you went to Beijing again. It seems that there is an adventure in the mainland."

"It's just a coincidence." Chen Chong didn't want to talk deeply, and responded lightly, then took back the photo and said, "Okay, let's talk about the serious matters and tell the situation of the magazine."

Luo Weiming first reported, and he talked about the recent situation of "Movie Age".

When "Crazy Joe" was the most popular, only "Movie Age" interviewed Ann Hui, using her as the cover, and her sales in Hong Kong successfully exceeded 60,000, and became famous in one battle. Although there were a slight ups and downs in the middle, it quickly maintained the bottom line of 60,000 and began to move towards 70,000. In addition, overseas subscription customers also exceeded 10,000 mark.

Shaw Brothers' movies are no longer in popularity, and as one rises and another declines, although the sales of "Movie Age" is not as good as "Southern Movies", it is fierce and has become known as the most popular and authoritative film magazine in Hong Kong.

The sales volume is high, the reputation is great, and there are more merchants coming to advertise. "Movie Age" can maintain balance between income and expenditure, and no longer need to continue large-scale blood transfusions.

The Taiwan version of "Movie Age" has also been released, but before the situation has been opened, it has only sold more than a thousand copies, and it is only popular in small circles.

Chen Chong is not concerned about the Taiwanese version, it is just a tool to gather talents in a special period. He will definitely merge with the Hong Kong General Manager in the future. He doesn’t care whether it can make a profit.

Lin Niantong's report on "The First Movie Review" surprised Chen Chong very much.

The strategy of "First Movie Review" free mailing of the first issue number has worked. The sales volume in the second issue exceeded 10,000 copies, of which 60% were accounted for outside Hong Kong.

In the third issue, Kurosawa Akira was used as the cover, and sales more than doubled, soaring directly to more than 30,000 copies.

In the third phase, Chen Chong also pointed his fingers, and in the fourth phase, he was in the mainland from planning to distribution, and he completely allowed Lin Niantong to play.

Lin Niantong also played a big move. He actually invited Shaw Brothers two aces, Li Hanxiang and Zhang Che, and put them together for an exclusive interview, and then took a face-to-face photo full of "Ace vs. Ace" as the cover.

Li Hanxiang was the top player in Shaw Brothers in the 1960s. Films such as "Diao Chan", "The Beauty of the Country", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" swept across Southeast Asia and were in full swing.

Zhang Che was the boss of Shaw Brothers in the 1970s. "One-armed Knife", "Ma Yongzhen", "Sthorn Horse", etc. are all Shaw Brothers classics, with far-reaching influence and opened up a new era of Chinese martial arts films.

Li Hanxiang is known for his softness, while Zhang Che is famous for his masculinity. Both of them are famous and have the same temper as one. In addition, there are many disciples and disciples, they are two recognized masters in the film industry.

The two of them were not in harmony back then, and they fought in newspapers every day, and they were having a lot of fun and made a lot of trouble. Now they are both old and entering the end of their careers. The magazine uses these two as covers, which is not only very commemorative, but also full of gimmicks. So just a few days after the release, more than 20,000 copies were sold in Hong Kong alone, surpassing the third issue's sales, and is just around the corner.

"There is no problem with sales." Lin Niantong said after reporting, "But high-quality manuscripts are still not enough. One-third of the content of each issue of the magazine is written by us, which is not conducive to the diversification of the magazine's content."

"Yes." Chen Chong gently tapped the notebook with a pen, frowned and said, "I also have a headache about this problem. The manuscripts I made always missed, and the manuscripts submitted were of uneven quality and did not meet the requirements of the magazine."

"A Chong." Chen Baisheng said: "I have an idea that may be useful, but it has to be spent on money."

Luo Weiming beat him up and said, "Is Boss Shen still short of money?"

"Brother Chen, come and have a look." Chen Chong also smiled and said, "Money is not a problem."

"I think there are fewer articles, but the main reason is that the information is too closed and there is no communication. Magazine can hold an International Film Critics Day. Using this title, we can bring together film critics from all over the country, make a seminar, and communicate with each other. In this way, it will not only facilitate the appointment of articles, but also expand the influence of the magazine."

"This method is good." Lin Niantong agreed: "And you can publish a conference journal."

"It's really good." Chen Chong put down his pen and said, "Let Brother Chen take charge of this matter."

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Note 1: In 1979, the number of moviegoers in mainland China was 29.3 billion.

Note 2: In 1979, the US dollar was 1.55 against RMB, and 4.6 against Hong Kong dollars.
Chapter completed!