Chapter Eighty-four: Shaw Brothers Cinema

  Early in the morning, Song Tang got up early, exercised for a while, and then after eating breakfast and dressing neatly, he left his hotel. At this time, he saw Ni Rui, dressed in a suit, waiting anxiously at the hotel entrance.

  Today, Nai Rui was completely different from the decadent person Song Tang saw last night. He wore a suit that wasn't a familiar brand to Song Tang, but it was clean and fitted well. His black mustache was gone, and his hair was combed neatly, matching his deep and bright eyes, making him look very spirited and sharp. Nai Rui's new appearance made Song Tang's eyes light up.

  "Hello, Mr. Song." Just then, Nai Rui also discovered Song Tang. Although the two were together for a short time last night, they had similar interests and were both astute. After a conversation last night, they were already extremely familiar with each other.

  "Hehe, Mr. Nai is early, with this dress, Mr. Nai is indeed much more clever, I don't know what Mr. Nai thought after a night of thinking?" Song Tang asked with a smile as he saw Nai Rui walk to his side.

  After hearing Song Tang's words, Ni Rui suddenly blushed and said with embarrassment: "Hehe, I made a fool of Mr. Song last night. Previously, I indeed had some thoughts in my heart, but now I have thought it through clearly. I hope Mr. Song can accept me."

  After last night's events, Song Tang knew that the Ni Rui in front of him was somewhat similar to himself in terms of personality. On the surface, he seemed calm and composed, but deep down, they both had their own pride and were not easily swayed by others. Now, seeing Ni Rui say these words, Song Tang knew that Ni Rui must have thought for a long time last night. After thinking about this, Song Tang waved his hand and said: "Hehe, Mr. Ni is joking. Although I'm not clear what happened to Mr. Ni before, I still know that Mr. Ni is a talented person. Someone like Mr. Ni being able to come to the Great Tang, makes me, Song, very happy."

  "I don't know if Mr. Nai has had breakfast yet."

  "Thank you for Mr. Song's concern, I've already eaten."

  "Since that's the case, let's go, Mr. Nai. Come with me to see someone." With that, Song Tang didn't wait for Nai Rui to react and pulled him into a taxi, then said to the driver, "Driver, please take us to Shaw Brothers Film Company."

  "Really! From mainland?" The driver asked with a hint of surprise in his thick Cantonese accent after hearing Song Tang's voice.

  "Yes, Master!" Song Tang smiled and said.

  "Haha, great! I'm also from the mainland, my hometown is Shantou in Guangdong. What are you two going to Shaw Brothers Film Company for? Are you going to audition for a movie role? Well, I'd like to wish you both good luck in advance. Let me tell you, this car takes stars to various film companies every day. Does Huazai know that? Does Xingye know that? Both of them have sat in my car before, even Fat Gor has been on my car." The taxi driver excitedly said to the two after hearing Song Tang's response.

  "Haha!" Song and Tang, listening to the taxi driver boasting in front of them, were speechless for a moment, exchanged a glance with each other, and tacitly didn't interrupt the taxi driver's glorious story.

  "Here, driver, no need to look for it!" Amidst the taxi driver's incessant chatter, Song and Tang finally arrived at the entrance of Shaw Brothers Film Company. Song took out a HK$100 note from his pocket and handed it to the driver, not waiting for change before hastily getting off.

  "Hey, why does this guy look so familiar? Is he that movie star again? Fortunately, the saliva I've been drooling all along hasn't gone to waste. If it were pounds, it would be even better!" The taxi driver muttered to himself for a while, shook his head and couldn't recall which martial arts film he had seen Song Tang's figure in, so he started the car and quickly left the scene.

  But at this time, Song and Tang were still savoring the brilliant career of that taxi driver just now, without knowing that they had been deceived.

  "Hi, Mr. Nai, what a coincidence to run into you here." Just as Song and Tang were about to arrive at the entrance of Shaw Brothers Film Company, they saw a beautiful woman with classical beauty walking towards them.

  "Hello! Zhi Jie, what a coincidence! I didn't expect to see you here." Ni Rui's face turned red as he said this, looking embarrassed.

  "Hehe, little Rui, what's with the shyness? I'm not going to eat you." The newcomer looked at Rui's embarrassed expression and seemed extremely delighted, covering her cherry-red mouth with her hand and bursting into laughter. "Weren't you at Xin Yi City? How did you end up at Shaw Brothers? What's going on?"

  "Hehe, Zhi Jie, I'm no longer working at Xin Yi City. This is my new boss, Mr. Song Tang." Ni Rui said with a somewhat gloomy expression, "Boss, this is my good friend Zhao Ya Zhi, Zhi Jie helped me out a lot when I first came to Hong Kong."

  "Hey, don't listen to Xiao Rui, they're just small matters. Hello, great director, I'm a big fan of your movies. Nice to meet you, my name is Zhao Yazhi, actress!" As she spoke, Zhao Yazhi extended her arm towards Song Tang.

  "I was wondering who this classic beauty is, and it turned out to be Miss Zhao. Your performance in 'The New Legend of Madame White Snake' was truly amazing. I don't know if Miss Zhao has any interest in developing her career in the United States." Song Tang shook hands with Zhao Yazhi and said with a smile.

  "Hmm, of course, I think every artist wants to develop in Hollywood. After all, Hong Kong is good, but it still has a certain gap with Hollywood." Zhao Yazi was taken aback by Song Tang's somewhat abrupt invitation, and obviously hadn't expected that this director, who had recently been popular in Europe and America and was at the height of his career, would extend an invitation as soon as they met. However, Zhao Yazi had been in the entertainment industry for a long time and only hesitated for a moment before thinking that this might be an opportunity.

  "Hehe, I believe that with Zhao's acting skills, she will definitely do very well in Hollywood." When he heard that Zhao Yazi had plans to develop her career in the US, Song Tang was also very excited. After all, as a Chinese person, he still hoped to see more actors from his own country come to the US to develop their careers. Moreover, Song Tang believed that Zhao Yazi's acting skills were not inferior to those of some European and American movie stars.

  "Then thank you, great director. Ah, Mr. Song and Xiao Rui, don't you have something to do at Shaw Brothers Film Company? You two go ahead and take care of your own business, we'll catch up later!" Zhao Yazi said.

  "Alright then, Miss Zhao. Here's my business card. If you ever come to the US in the future, you can find me at this address." Song Tang handed over a business card with a smile.

  "Hehe, I hope Mr. Song won't mind a little girl like me being a nuisance! Well, goodbye to both of you then." Zhao Yazi said with a giggle as she took over Song Tang's business card.

  "Haha, no way! See you later, Miss Zhao!" "See you later, Zhi Jie!" "...""

  "What's wrong, are you still interested in this ancient beauty?" Song Tang looked at Nie Rui with a somewhat reluctant gaze and asked curiously.

  "No, no! It's just that Zhao Jie used to help me a lot in the past. If it weren't for Zhao Jie, I think I wouldn't have been able to stay in Hong Kong for so long." Upon hearing Song Tang's words, Ni Rui's face suddenly turned slightly red as she stuttered and spoke.

  "Hehe, Zhao Jie is not bad, if you like her, then seize the opportunity well, don't regret it later." Song Tang, although young in age, was already a veteran of love affairs. Seeing Ni Rui's expression, he didn't know what Ni Rui was thinking in his heart, so he casually comforted him with a sentence.

  "Whatever!" After hearing Song Tang's words, he fell silent and muttered a sentence absent-mindedly.

  Looking at Nai Rui beside him, Song Tang shook his head. After all, this was a matter between Nai Rui and Zhao Ya Zhi, and he was an outsider who didn't understand the relationship between the two of them. Song Tang didn't know what to say, so he could only silently wish them well in his heart.

  In 1958, Run Run Shaw and Runme Shaw founded the "Shaw Brothers Film Company" to produce films in Hong Kong, with Run Run Shaw as its chairman. In 1961, the Shaw Brothers Studio in Clearwater Bay, Kowloon was officially opened on December 6th. In the 1970s, the Shaw brothers entered the rapidly developing television industry and collaborated with TVB to train artists. In 1980, Run Run Shaw became the largest shareholder of TVB and served as chairman of the board until now. During this period, Shaw Brothers' film business continued to shrink, reducing the number of films produced, and in 1985, all cinemas were sold to the newly established "D&B Film Company" under the banner of D&B Films. By May 1987, Shaw Brothers announced that it would stop producing films. Calculated from the time Shaw Brothers started production until it suspended production, Shaw Brothers had already produced over a thousand films.

  At the same time, Shaw Brothers' helmsman Run Run Shaw was also a legendary figure. His father was the boss of Shanghai Jin Tai Chang Dyeing Company. He was sixth among his brothers and sisters, hence later known as "Sixth Uncle". In 1974, he was awarded CBE by Queen Elizabeth II to commend his achievements in the entertainment industry, with Governor Sir Murray MacLehose presiding over the award ceremony. In 1977, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II as a Knight Bachelor and given the title of "Sir". In 1990, the Chinese government named the planet discovered in China No. 2899 as "Run Run Shaw Star". In 1991, San Francisco declared September 8th as "Run Run Shaw Day" to commend his contributions to social welfare.

  The Shaw Brothers film company, after entering the 1990s, due to the company's development trend having some bias, resulted in the Shaw Brothers film company producing not many films, but in the decades before the 1990s, Shaw produced a large number of classic films every year.

  Song Tang chose to meet this helmsman of the Shao family because he was also curious about this legendary figure who was nearly ninety years old.

  "A guest from afar, how wonderful!" Just as Song and Tang had arrived at Shaw Brothers' film studio, an elderly man in his eighties or nineties, with a spirited and alert demeanor, greeted them from a distance.

  "This must be Uncle Liu. I'm Song Tang, and I've come to visit without an appointment. I hope you won't mind." Song Tang said with a smile as he greeted the old man who was full of legendary colors.

  "Sixth Uncle is well!" Nai Rui, who was beside Song Tang, also thought of asking about Shao Yifu's well-being.

  "Haha, I'm thrilled to have a world-renowned director like you visit our humble company! Who can blame anyone for that!" Shaw Yifu said with a smile, then turned to Ni Rui and continued, "I know you, Ni Rui, you used to work at New Art City for a while, an excellent young man. Unfortunately, Huang Baiqiang and others are blind to talent, don't recognize good people... would you be interested in coming to Shaw Brothers?"

  "Thank you, Uncle Liu, for the compliment. But that was all in the past. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you now. My new boss is Mr. Song!" Ni Rui said with a apologetic face after hearing Shao Yifu's invitation.

  "Haha, since that's the case, then forget it. I think Mr. Song won't bury talents here either!" Shao Yifu said with some disappointment after hearing that Song Tang was Ni Rui's new boss.

  "That's for sure, Sixth Uncle. However, if you keep calling me Mr. Song, it's a bit too formal. You can just call me Xiao Song directly. And today, I've come to trouble you with something." After hearing Shao Yifu's words, Song Tang's heart moved slightly. Although Song Tang didn't know about Ni Rui's past, he couldn't help but look at him in a different light after hearing both Zhao Yazhi and Shao Yifu praise him highly today.

  "Sixth Uncle, are you interested in setting up a film company?" Song Tang asked with a smile.

  "Oh? What?" Shao Yifu was taken aback by Song Tang's words and didn't react for a moment.

  "Haha, what I mean is that Shaw Brothers and Daxiang jointly invest in setting up a film company in Hong Kong. With your status in Hong Kong, Sixth Master, plus the strength of Daxiang, I think the new film company will definitely be successful!" Song Tang explained to Run Run Shaw, who had not yet grasped his meaning.

  After listening to Song Tang's words, Shaw Yifu fell into deep thought for a while. Although the Shaw film company had developed quite well in recent years, the development space in Hong Kong was limited after all, and the mainland market was not ideal either. Moreover, the Hong Kong movie model differed greatly from Hollywood films.

  Song Tang saw Shao Yifu fall into deep thought, and did not disturb the old man in front of him. Song Tang believed that with Shao Yifu's vision, it was not difficult to see that if Shao chose to cooperate with Datang now, the benefits would definitely outweigh the drawbacks.

  "Heh heh, I think Little Song must have set his sights on the vast mainland market, right?" Shao Yifu pondered for a moment before a glint of sharpness flashed in his eyes as he gazed directly at Song Tang.

  "Sixth Uncle's insight is indeed unique, no mistake, I do have the intention of advancing into the mainland, but to be honest, now is not the best time for it!" Song Tang saw Shao Yifu and quickly guessed what he was thinking, but Song Tang had no intention of deceiving Shao Yifu, speaking directly.

  "Heh heh, Little Song, you're indeed a practical person. But if we cooperate with the Great Tang, what can our Shaoshi family gain from it?" Shao Yifu asked with a hint of a smile.

  "Can't Sixth Brother's vision be limited to Hong Kong and not let Shaw Brothers enter Europe and America?"