Office of the General Manager of the Production Department.
When Zou Wenhuai learned that the box office of the movie "One-Armed Sword" exceeded one million, he was not surprised, but frightened, and he secretly said: "Not good!"
At the same time, the phone on his desk rang. When he answered the phone, he only said one sentence, "Is it Wen Huai? Come to my place for lunch!"
The caller was his sixth uncle, Shao Yifu. As a generation of movie tycoons, he rarely took the initiative to call others, especially his subordinates to make appointments for meals. Others would have been overjoyed. Only Zou Wenhuai knew this.
The meal will be terrible.
…
The Shao family's garden villa is built in the mid-level area of Hong Kong Island and covers an area of more than 20,000 square feet. Even if calculated in square meters, it is still 2,000 square meters.
Nowadays, buying a five-story tenement house in a prosperous area of Causeway Bay like Shi Zhijian costs 200,000 Hong Kong dollars, but this garden villa in Shaw has already cost as much as 2 million!
Even Detective Lei Luo's small villa in Repulse Bay is nothing compared to this garden villa.
This villa was bought by the Shaw family in the 1930s. At that time, the Shaw family was still developing in places such as Nanyang, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Both father and son worked hard in Nanyang, and only after seeing the right opportunity did they return to Hong Kong to do the film business.
The neighbors next door to Shaw Brothers are some of Hong Kong's top figures, including Lee Siu-tin, the president of the Hong Kong Real Estate Association, who is the head of the Lee family. There is also Cheng Yuk-tung, the chairman of the Hong Kong Jewelry Association, who is the head of Chow Tai Fook.
People. Chairman of the Hong Kong Shipping Federation Dong Daheng, Bao Daheng, etc.
It can be said that this mid-level luxury area includes more than half of Hong Kong's tycoons, and its businesses include movies, shipping, jewelry, finance, etc. It has become a very special circle, not to mention that many Chinese elites want to squeeze in and get in.
Many British aristocratic ghosts are also flocking to this.
Near noon that day, Zou Wenhuai bought a bag of Malaysian specialty "white coffee" from a nearby foreign store.
This is Shao Yifu's favorite coffee. When Shao Yifu started his business in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, he often drank this coffee to refresh himself.
After buying coffee, Zou Wenhuai drove to Shao Yifu's home.
When I arrived at the Shao Garden Villa, I saw the Shao family servants waiting outside. When they saw Zou Wenhuai, they hurriedly took his clothes and helped to get his slippers.
Zou Wenhuai changed into his slippers and walked straight to the restaurant.
"Hello, Mr. Shao!"
When Zou Wenhuai walked into the restaurant, Shao Yifu was wearing a casual Tang suit, sitting at the dining table, wearing old black-rimmed glasses and reading a newspaper. At this time, there was another person sitting at the dining table, but it was Zou Wenhuai's old rival in Shaw Brothers.
Zhou Duwen.
Zhou Duwen is one of Shaw Tycoon's right-hand men. He is responsible for publicity work at Shaw Brothers, but he has always wanted to get involved in the production business. Zou Wenhuai is also a strong man of the generation. In addition to being in charge of procurement work and serving as the manager of the procurement department, he also insists on
The director of the production department clung to his position, leaving him with nothing to do.
When Zhou Duwen saw Zou Wenhuai coming in, he showed a meaningful smile.
"Well, you're here! Sit down quickly and we'll start eating later!" Shao Yifu said casually, without even raising his head, his eyes still stayed on the newspaper.
"This is the white coffee I bought. I can brew it and drink it when I work in the evening."
"I'm interested." Shao Yifu then raised his head and folded the newspaper in his hand.
The maid next to me hurriedly stepped forward to help put away the white coffee.
After Shao Yifu waited for Zou Wenhuai to sit down, he handed over the folded newspaper: "Have you read the newspaper today?"
Zou Wenhuai took the newspaper, glanced at it, looked at Shao Yifu and said: "The box office of "One-Armed Sword" exceeded one million! I have read this news!"
"I wonder what Brother Zou thinks after watching this?" It was Zhou Duwen who was sitting opposite him who said this.
Shao Yifu didn't stop him. Instead, he took off his glasses and wiped them with a soft cloth.
Of course Zou Wenhuai understood what Zhou Duwen meant, so he remained silent.
Zhou Duwen refused to let him go, "Brother Zou, I don't want to criticize you, but how could you make such a big mistake? How could you make such a big mistake? How could a movie worth one million be so cheap for outsiders? This box office is still in Hong Kong.
Yes, if we calculate the share of overseas markets, wouldn’t people want to share millions in one fell swoop?”
When Zhou Duwen said this, he smiled bitterly, "To be honest, it's okay for you to cause such a big thing, but as the manager of the publicity department, I have to help you clean up the mess. Now many media outside are asking about this movie.
What do you want me to tell you about the specific news of the play? Are you saying that we at Shaw Brothers were too cowardly to sell this play? We made wedding dresses for others? More than half of the box office of more than one million belongs to others?"
Shao Yifu coughed softly when he saw that Zhou Duwen said something a little too much.
Zhou Duwen hurriedly restrained himself and said: "Of course, it is also my responsibility and obligation to help the company finish the publicity work. I will issue a press release tomorrow and try to suppress this matter first."
Not many people knew about the agreement signed between Shaw Brothers and Shi Zhijian. Shaw Brothers did not make the news public because they were concerned about their face.
Nowadays, "The One-Armed Sword" is a hit and has become the first major Shaw Brothers movie to have a box office of over one million. If anyone knew that Shaw Brothers had sold this movie at a "low price" before, it would definitely become the laughing stock of everyone.
Zou Wenhuai knew that he could no longer remain silent and had to take a stand, so he gritted his teeth, looked at Shao Yifu and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Shao, I was wrong!"
Shao Yi spoke: "I can't blame you entirely for this matter. I am also responsible. I was not very optimistic about this drama at the beginning, so outsiders took advantage of it! So Wen Huai, you and I both have to learn lessons and do our best.
Sometimes you can’t be too cautious, otherwise you will suffer big losses!”
"Mr. Shao said yes!" Zou Wenhuai breathed a sigh of relief.
Just when Zou Wenhuai thought the matter was almost settled, Shao Yifu suddenly said: "Wenhuai, how long has it been since you took a vacation?"
"Uh, Mr. Shao, what do you mean?"
Shao Yifu put his polished glasses back on, "I'm just caring about you. It seems like you haven't had a good rest since you joined Shaw Brothers. Why not take this opportunity to take a big vacation!"
"Mr. Shao, I'm fine. I still want to work hard to make up for my mistakes!"
"As long as you have the intention!" Shao Yifu nodded, "Don't be too tight when doing things. Only by taking a short rest can you better serve Shaw."
"But my job..."
"I will temporarily let Du Wen take over your work in the production department. As for the work in the purchasing department, Miss Fang Yihua is also qualified! Of course, these are temporary. After you come back from rest, I will assign important tasks to you!"
As soon as Zou Wenhuai heard this, he understood that the situation was irreversible. This time, a million-dollar movie slipped away from Shaw Brothers. Not only did he lose the face of Shaw Brothers Film Company, he also lost the face of his film tycoon, Shao Yifu!
Shao Daheng has always been arbitrary and extremely arrogant. How could he admit this failure?!
So he had to find an outlet and a scapegoat to take all the responsibilities. Zou Wenhuai was undoubtedly the best choice.
…
After a while, tea and meals were served.
Shao Yifu ate very lightly.
Zhou Duwen ate with gusto, and from time to time he would say "it tastes so good" and "the food is well cooked".
Only Zou smells it, and the food is tasteless.
At this time, the distance between him and Shao Yifu was less than two meters, but there was an irreparable rift in the relationship between the two.
If there was anything else worth mentioning during this long lunch, it was that Shao Yifu asked Shi Zhijian's name seriously for the first time.
After so many years in the film industry, he was inexplicably defeated at the hands of a weak young man. After Shao Yifu learned about this, his heart was even more hurt.
"Wen Huai, we invited that Shi Zhijian to the "One-Armed Sword" celebration party this time. I want to see what kind of heroic young man he is?!"
"Uh?!" Zou Wenhuai was stunned for a moment and said nothing.
Next to him, Zhou Duwen opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but finally closed his mouth.
The celebration party for "The One-Armed Sword"'s box office exceeding one million was planned by him. In addition to the best actors, actresses, and celebrities from Shaw Brothers Film Company, the guests attending this event were basically all prominent figures in Hong Kong.
.
For example, the President of the Hong Kong Charity Federation, the Director of the Hong Kong Water Conservancy Department, and business and political celebrities who have always had a good relationship with the Shaw Brothers, etc., if Shi Zhijian suddenly appeared, and it was revealed that he had bought out "The One-Armed Sword"
