Tai Ping Theater is a three-story building. It runs from Des Voeux Road west through a promenade and through a small open-air courtyard to the ticket office. After passing the ticket office and going up a few steps, you will reach the main entrance hall of the theater.
Although the Taiping Theater has closed down, Yuan Bifu still hires people to clean it regularly, and sometimes receives some concert business. Kang Jianfei opened the door and walked in, reaching out to touch the walls. It was not as dusty as expected.
After walking a few steps and turning the corner to enter the theater, Kang Jianfei was amazed by the simple and luxurious theater decoration.
Different from modern luxury cinemas, the luxurious decoration of Taiping Theater is full of ancient style, making people feel like they are in a theater a hundred years ago.
Kang Jianfei looked up and saw a high couplet on the pillars of the theater, which said: "In ancient times, clothes and clothes were used to make a show and pretend to be true, which can be used to punish people. The singing and dancing on the platform means that the music is high and the few are just for the sake of shocking the world."
Jiang Zhiqiang, who was following Kang Jianfei, touched the seats in the theater and couldn't help but exclaimed: "If I could have such a theater, this life would be enough!"
Kang Jianfei joked: "Brother Jiang likes Taiping Theater so much, why don't you become the theater manager."
"I don't have time," Jiang Zhiqiang waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Such a big theater is a hundred times more difficult to operate than a small one. Fortunately, you bought the theater and the land. If you rent this theater to operate it,
If so, I can’t guarantee whether I can earn back the rent.”
Kang Jianfei smiled and said: "It seems that it's not easy for Shao Daheng. He ran Li Stage for so many years before letting go."
The Lee Stage, a luxury theater as famous as the Taiping Theater, had been leased to Shao Yifu for more than ten years. It was a theater under the Shaw Brothers Cinema Line. It was not until the last two years that Shaw Brothers' films were not good that Shao Yifu gave up renting the Lee Stage.
behavior, otherwise the daily rent would be too much for him to bear.
Jiang Zhiqiang looked at the theater displays while walking and said: "More than ten years ago, when I was only 10 years old, both the Lee Theater and the Taiping Theater were full. There are more than 180 theaters in Hong Kong.
It’s equivalent to twice the number of theaters now. Unfortunately, later on the economic downturn, especially after the stock market crash, more than half of the theaters closed down.”
Kang Jianfei said with a smile: "Judging from the current speed of Hong Kong's economic development, in a few years, the number of cinemas in Hong Kong will probably reach another peak."
Jiang Zhiqiang curled his lips and said: "The premise is that the People's Liberation Army does not come over."
Kang Jianfei smiled and asked, "Are you worried about this too?"
Jiang Zhiqiang sighed and said, "Can you not worry? If I hadn't been reluctant to part with the several cinemas passed down by my father, my brother and I would have emigrated long ago, so we wouldn't have to stay in Hong Kong and worry about the war all day long."
Kang Jianfei was silent for a while. Even people like Jiang Zhiqiang, who traveled to Europe and the United States in his teens and had a broad vision, thought so. It seemed that the impact of Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong people was far beyond his imagination. Ordinary citizens, that's all.
Especially those who have property and status in Hong Kong. This type of people are even more worried about gains and losses. They are afraid of losing everything overnight and are anxious to sell their property at a low price and run overseas.
The two walked from the first floor to the second floor of the theater. The view from here is even more spectacular. They went all the way to the third floor. The seats on this floor were all welded with iron bars. I heard that this was to deal with the "woodlice" that were rampant back then.
Kang Jianfei sat on it and felt it, feeling a little bit of pain on his butt, and said: "The seats on the third floor need to be replaced."
Jiang Zhiqiang said: "The theater manager has found one for you. His name is Zhang Moren. He is my father's former friend. He is over fifty years old. He has opened several small theaters. He was also Hu Yixing's apprentice and assisted Hu Yixing in running them.
Liyuan Playground.”
"Oh, that's a real person. Why don't you have your own business now?" Kang Jianfei asked.
Jiang Zhiqiang explained: "You may not believe it. A few years ago, he spent most of his life savings to buy a piece of land in Sheung Wan to build a grand theater. What happened to him because of you?"
Kang Jianfei said: "There was a fire in the theater?"
Jiang Zhiqiang shook his head and said: "The theater is haunted!"
"Haunted?" Kang Jianfei was quite surprised by the answer.
Jiang Zhiqiang sighed: "It's just haunted. Originally, the theater was in a good location and the business was very good. But suddenly it was reported that the theater was haunted, and more and more people said they saw ghosts in the theater. What's more, it happened
An audience member suffered a myocardial infarction and died while watching a movie. Rumors spread that he was killed by a ghost. Do you think this theater can still be opened?"
It can definitely be opened in mainland China, but it definitely cannot be opened in Hong Kong.
Kang Jianfei sympathized: "This old gentleman is quite unlucky."
Jiang Zhiqiang said: "That theater spent all his money and even borrowed money from the bank. It was so troublesome that he lost all the small theaters he used to run."
"Tell him to come to DreamWorks to find me tomorrow." Kang Jianfei said. He came to Jiang Zhiqiang today because he wanted his help in finding a reliable theater manager. A luxury theater like Taiping Theater cannot be run by someone without any skills.
Good, otherwise Yuan Bifu would not rather close her business than open her business, because she is losing money every day.
…………
…………
A skinny old man walked into DreamWorks. He was wearing a blue suit that had been washed white, and his silver hair was neatly combed. Although his body was a little stooped, he did not give people the impression of being senile.
I feel very energetic when I walk.
Many DreamWorks employees looked at him curiously, wondering who this strange old man was.
"Hello, old sir, who are you looking for?" Li Shan came up with a folder and asked. She starred in "Happy Ghost" with Wen Bixia and Li Saifeng, and then joined DreamWorks as a clerk, and now she has become
He is a small manager and manages five employees.
The old man said clearly: "I am Zhang Mo, and I have an appointment with Mr. Kang Jianfei."
"Look for the boss, I'll take you there," Li Shan said with a smile, "This is the secretarial department, and the boss's office is over there."
Zhang Moren followed Li Shan all the way there. After meeting Chen Shuli, he was invited into Kang Jianfei's office.
"Mr. Zhang, please sit down!" Kang Jianfei said with a smile.
Zhang Moren was not polite, he sat down with his legs crossed and drank the oolong tea brought by Chen Shuli.
Jiang Zhiqiang didn't make it clear yesterday. After Kang Jianfei chatted with Zhang Moren, he realized that this old gentleman's experience was not simple.
Zhang Moren, whose original name was Zhang Si, was the domestic slave of the "traitor" Zhang Shankun. When he was more than ten years old, he followed Zhang Shankun to make movies in Shanghai. Zhang Shankun gave him the name Zhang Moren.
Zhang Shankun is a generation of film wizards. Although he is labeled as a "traitor" on his head, his contribution to Chinese films cannot be denied.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Hong Kong film industry was dominated by princes competing for hegemony, and the three most powerful film companies were all founded by Zhang Shankun.
It's a pity that this person has a bad reputation (traitor). The company he opened had to be bossed by others. As a result, the company was kicked aside as soon as it developed. In fact, the real founder of the now famous Great Wall Film Company was Zhang Shankun. Later, after
It took a series of reorganizations to transform it into a left-wing company.
Zhang Moren followed Zhang Shankun and worked in six film companies including China Film, China United Film Company, and Great Wall Film Company. Later, he was responsible for managing theaters and collaborated with Shao Yifu, Lu Yuntao and others.
As for what happened next, Jiang Zhiqiang has already said that this person lost all his savings because the theater was "haunted" and now manages a neighborhood movie theater.
Kang Jianfei didn't doubt Zhang Moren's ability at all for this figure who had been involved in the Hong Kong film industry for decades. He asked a few questions casually, but Kang Jianfei couldn't understand some of the professional answers.
As for Zhang Moren's past as a traitor, Kang Jianfei didn't bother to ask about it. Kang Jianfei not only did not dislike him, but valued him very much. Zhang Moren was able to follow his master Zhang Shankun for so many years, and even followed the "traitor" after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, which shows that this
People will not betray the Lord, so there is no need to worry about him betraying himself.
Kang Jianfei said: "I currently have the Taiping Theater in Western District, the Queen's Theater in Central, and the Yau Ma Tei Theater and Oriental Cinema in Kowloon. I'm afraid it will take a few months for the latter two theaters to open. Your task is to manage these theaters well.
You will take care of the four cinemas, the Taiping Cinema yourself, and you will find the managers of the remaining three cinemas. Do you understand this?"
Zhang Moren nodded and said: "Understood."
Kang Jianfei said: "These four theaters will all join the New Era Cinema Line. Among them, the Taiping Theater and the Queen's Theater can be used as leading theaters to make up for the lack of large theaters under New Era. The New Era Theater Line is a temporary theater chain. Specifically,
If you don’t understand the operating rules, you can ask Jiang Zhiqiang.”
"No problem." Zhang Moren said confidently.
Kang Jianfei said: "I will not give you a fixed salary. Your income is the pure profit of the four theaters. If the theater loses money, then I'm sorry, you won't get a penny of salary. What do you think of this?"
Zhang Moren blew a sip of tea foam and said with a smile: "Then I will take advantage of the owner. 2's theater will make a lot of profits."
Kang Jianfei smiled and said: "It's pure profit, not gross profit. Don't get me wrong, old man."
"Don't worry, boss, I haven't learned my ears yet, old man." Zhang Moren said with a smile.
This was the first time Kang Jianfei was called "Boss". It felt like he had become a landlord in the old society, which was more interesting than being called boss.
Kang Jianfei said: "That's it. I'll leave the four theaters to you. You decide who to hire. I will go to Taiwan and the United States during this period. When I come back, I hope everything goes well in the theater."
.”
Tomorrow is the Golden Horse Awards ceremony, and Kang Jianfei has to fly there to see it. As for going to the United States, it’s because he’s been spending too much money recently. He plans to make some money by making an American movie, otherwise he will be dead poor, and now he still owes it