Chapter 0224: New Candidate

Just as Tan Yonglin was called the Principal, in the entire Chinese entertainment circle, the only one who could be called Brother was Zhang Guorong.

You see, throughout the 1980s in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia's entertainment scene, the Tan-Zhang rivalry became a byword, eventually leading to one quitting the music scene and the other never participating in any award ceremonies again.

Tan Yonglin wasn't actually a school principal; he was called Principal Tan because starting in 1984, he would hold dozens of consecutive concerts every month, every night. So during one of his 1986 20-show Carnival concerts, he told the audience: 'The whole Hong Kong Coliseum is like a university for ten thousand people. You come to night school every day, and I'm with you every night, using songs to teach you life lessons. I feel like I'm the principal of this school!' The next day, the title 'Principal' became popular and has stuck ever since.

That Zhang Guorong could rival him shows just how popular he was.

But the key issue was that the relationship between Zhang Guorong and Andy Lau wasn't as good as imagined.

Generally, many of Andy Lau's fans thought Zhang Guorong and Andy Lau had a good relationship, but in fact, Zhang Guorong's fans seemed quite resistant to Andy Lau.

Even Zhao Fusheng didn't know the exact reason; legend had it that when the Heavenly King was blacklisted, a song was given to Zhang Guorong, who made it a hit.

Moreover, in a certain movie, Andy Lau once imitated Zhang Guorong's cross-dressing singing scene—whether as satire or tribute was unclear.

But in any case, Andy Lau, who claimed Zhang Guorong's last phone call was to him, did not appear at Zhang Guorong's funeral.

Heavenly King Lau was certainly hardworking enough, but hypocrisy and worldliness were also part of his character. Or rather, to survive and rise in the entertainment industry, being less than smooth and worldly was impossible.

But the problem was that the result of his actions was having few true friends.

"Ah Hua, are you familiar with Brother?" Wang Jinghua asked again, seeing Andy Lau silent.

"Uh, it's okay. We're friends."

Andy Lau thought for a moment and replied, "But he's been really busy lately..."

He was smart and naturally guessed Zhao Fusheng's intention, but the problem was that whether it was Tony Leung or Zhang Guorong, the Heavenly King was quite unhappy about it.

Seeing his expression, Zhao Fusheng shook his head inwardly. The principle that no one is perfect was indeed true; how could there be a perfect person in this world?

But regardless, a soldier with a broken leg is still a soldier. One couldn't deny a person just because of their flaws. Apart from issues of principle, in Zhao Fusheng's view, artists like Andy Lau were already quite good.

Actually, the reason he thought of Zhang Guorong was that he suddenly remembered that the Best Actor Tony Leung seemed to have unclear ties with a certain Buddhist organization. Both he and his wife, along with Faye Wong, had made pilgrimages to the plateau.

Zhao Fusheng had no objection to religious freedom, but if you're a堂堂 Chinese, knowing full well that those people advocate separatism, yet brazenly claim you're just going to worship Buddha—can you have any shame?

So Zhao Fusheng was determined that even if it meant ruining a classic Hong Kong film, he wouldn't use someone like Tony Leung to shoot it.

Art can have no borders, but artists cannot be without a homeland.

"If that film is to be made, it's one of the two," Zhao Fusheng said directly, not sparing the Heavenly King's face.

People are forced by reality. If Zhao Fusheng gave in on the lead actor issue, Andy Lau might pull some stunt. Since he wasn't the investor and had almost no say, if he didn't set the ground rules beforehand, he was afraid a good movie might be ruined in his hands.

Honestly, Zhao Fusheng felt that if such a situation occurred, he would bear a sense of guilt.

"Well, I'll contact Sister Mei. She should have a way," Andy Lau said after a moment of silence, shaking his head with a wry smile.

Sister Mei was naturally another leading figure in Hong Kong's entertainment circle. Zhao Fusheng remembered her and nodded without speaking further.

Regarding that entertainment circle, Zhao Fusheng's impressions were mostly from the 1980s and 1990s. After all, given his age, Hong Kong artists who debuted after 2005 were hard to even recognize by name, let alone be as familiar as the stars of the 80s and 90s.

The reason was simple: that was the era when Hong Kong films and Cantopop were popular.

Of course, many scandals came with it, like stories of a goddess being stuffed with golf balls—Zhao Fusheng had heard those too.

"Ah Hua, Planner Zhao, are you talking about making a film?"

At that moment, Wang Zhonglei, who had been waiting for an opportunity, finally spoke.

In fact, he had been waiting all night for this moment.

Zhao Fusheng smiled, understanding his intention. He glanced at Andy Lau and nodded: "Brother Hua thinks the commercial he shot for Oppo Phone can be expanded into a movie."

"Oh?"

Wang Zhonglei feigned surprise, looking at Andy Lau: "Is it really that good?"

Andy Lau wasn't clear about Wang Zhonglei's purpose. To him, the Wang brothers' Huayi had just entered the film industry. Though not a giant, they had money. So Andy Lau's intention was not to offend anyone.

With that in mind, he nodded to Wang Zhonglei: "Indeed, the ad script Planner Zhao wrote is very good. I think it can definitely be made into a movie."

Wang Zhonglei laughed heartily, rubbed his hands, and said: "Since Brother Hua thinks so highly of it, if you need investment, be sure to let me know. Cross-strait cooperation is a win-win situation."

Andy Lau was taken aback, looking at Wang Zhonglei in surprise, not expecting him to make such a proposal.

In fact, he knew his own situation well. His Tianmu Film Company was already like a floating leaf in the wind, on the verge of collapse at any moment. Many shareholders were clamoring to sell their shares. And although he wanted to continue, he had lost too much over the years and couldn't afford to go on.

According to Andy Lau's plan, he intended to invest a portion himself, forgo his salary as an investment, and then return to Hong Kong to find a film distribution company to invest.

But unexpectedly, Wang Zhonglei directly proposed to be the investor for this film, which left Andy Lau both delighted and more surprised.

Seeing Andy Lau's reaction, Zhao Fusheng said nothing. He had presented the script; the rest was none of his business.

Let things drift if they don't affect one personally; watching from the safety of the shore felt pretty good to Zhao Fusheng.