Chapter Ninety-Two: The Fallen Great Director

It was only two days later that Yan Xu boarded the plane back to Hong Kong.

This trip to Taiwan had far exceeded Yan Xu’s expectations. He had brought two formidable talents back for his company: Wang Jie alone was absolutely capable of earning the company millions in profit.

And then there was Yinneng Jing. Though she would need a period of cultivation, in a few years she would unquestionably be a shining star across both sides of the strait.

As for Ha Lin, he could only offer an apology. If he had not taken Xiao Yi away, the following year would have marked the beginning of a romance between the two of them. Now, it seemed all of that might never happen at all. Of course, it also spared him the torment and heartbreak he would have faced more than a decade later in the scandal of a public hand-holding spectacle.

There was also Zhou Huimin. During this period, the publicity work in Taiwan had achieved remarkably clear results. Although she could not compare with some of the established pop stars, her innocent beauty and pleasing voice had still left a deep impression on friends in Taiwan, earning her several advertising contracts. The cry for her as the pure and lovely goddess had already resounded through campuses and the entertainment world, and she could now be considered firmly established. What remained was only to expand those gains further.

As for sales of her album, though only a short time had passed, they were already approaching one hundred thousand copies. This too revealed the vastness of the Taiwan market, and of course the figure was still steadily rising.

With this excellent beginning, the next focus for Dragon Clan Records, besides continuing Zhou Huimin’s promotion, would be Tai Chi Band’s debut in Taiwan.

What pleased Yan Xu most, however, was the breakthrough between him and Zhou Huimin. After nearly a year, he had finally tasted flesh again, and with the woman of his dreams at that. It was impossible for Yan Xu not to feel as though he were dreaming.

Beyond all this, the results in film were less than satisfying. The performance of Judge of the Dead had now largely become clear. Though some theaters were still screening it, the larger picture was already fixed.

Because of its restricted subject matter, it had kept many viewers outside the cinemas. Although it had experienced an impressive burst at the beginning, it quickly fell back afterward.

In Hong Kong, that tiny place, it had taken in nearly twenty million at the box office. In Taiwan, such a vast market, its current total had only just reached forty million, and that was in local currency. Although it had surpassed the earnings of Rainy Night Butcher, it fell far short of the expectations Yan Xu had formed when he first saw the opening-day box office.

Of course, such a result was already very satisfying for the Daron Company. This time, Baizhan and the others would take forty percent, and some theaters not under their banner would also claim a share. Even so, they would still bring in at least ten million Taiwanese dollars from this project, which only showed that their cooperation with Yan Xu would continue in the future.

What satisfied them even more was the screenplay Yan Xu had left behind. This time he had given them a campus comedy called After School on the Rooftop. The entire production was not large in scale, and aside from the school setting, the rest would not require much investment.

Seeing such a script full of humor and youthful spirit, Mr. Liu of Daron was also very pleased. A comedy with this kind of campus flavor had a strong market in Taiwan.

On the return trip, Yan Xu did not take first class again, but instead gave the first-class seat to Yinneng Jing. Although Zhou Huimin had once shown signs of jealousy, when it came time to return to Hong Kong with Yinneng Jing, she became very warm and friendly. The two were soon talking about everything under the sun. What the two girls, separated by only a few years, discussed in first class was anyone’s guess.

Besides Yinneng Jing, who occupied Yan Xu’s first-class seat, there were also two more figures among the return group to Hong Kong: one tall and one small. One was naturally Wang Jie, and the other was his four-year-old daughter, Xiao Cui.

Once this adorable little girl joined them, she instantly won the affection of everyone on board. She was very pretty, like a little doll. Though only four, she was remarkably sensible and did many things herself, completely unlike an ordinary child of four. Perhaps it was because she had grown up in a single-parent family, with her father often away because of work.

Yan Xu, who loved children, simply sat across the aisle beside Xiao Cui. Watching the quiet little girl sit there, her gaze full of curiosity as she examined every corner of the plane, Yan Xu knew very well that when she grew up, she would retain all of this present beauty and eventually become a flight attendant.

“Hello, my seat is inside.”

Economy class was nowhere near as spacious as first class. The small cabin was packed with rows of seats, using every inch of space. Just as Yan Xu was introducing Xiao Cui to the various buttons on the plane and explaining seat belts, a voice sounded beside him.

The cabin was not very large. Aside from the central aisle, there were two rows of seats on each side. Yan Xu’s seat was by the aisle, and the one beside the window inside it was empty.

Seeing a middle-aged man on the aisle carrying a shoulder bag, Yan Xu quickly stood up and made way.

“Thank you, young man.” The man sat down inside and spoke in accented Mandarin.

“You... you look familiar.” Looking at the man beside him, with his pointed chin, side-parted hair, slightly broad forehead, a black mole on the bridge of his nose, and black suit with white shirt, Yan Xu felt as though he had seen him somewhere before. He frowned slightly and asked.

“You’re from Hong Kong too?” Hearing Yan Xu’s Cantonese, the middle-aged man extended his hand and replied in Cantonese as well. “Hello, my name is Wu Yushen.”

It was him.

Hearing Wu Yushen’s introduction, it was like a sudden thunderclap in Yan Xu’s mind. He was not yet the heavyset man he would become later, nor was he balding yet. Aside from that black mole, his features made it difficult to connect him with the later legendary director. But without question, this was indeed the man from Yan Xu’s memory: the master of violent aesthetics, the only Chinese director to leave his mark on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“It really is you, Director Wu.”

In the presence of a master, Yan Xu was visibly excited.

“Hm? You know me?” Wu Yushen was surprised that Yan Xu could call out his profession. His eyes moved over Yan Xu from head to toe, and he did not remember this person at all.

“Yes, of course I know you. I’m a big fan of yours. I’ve watched many of your films, like...” Yan Xu suddenly broke off. Only then did he remember that the Wu Yushen before him was not yet the internationally renowned director of the future. At this point, he was not especially famous, and many of the works Yan Xu knew so well had not yet been made.

“Like your Money Crazy and Shake It for the Cash. They were truly hilarious.”

After thinking hard, Yan Xu finally recalled a few film titles, and they were all movies from several years earlier. At present, Wu Yushen could only be called a comedy director; most of the films he had made were comedies.

“I never expected anyone would still remember me. It’s been a long time since I had anything released in Hong Kong.”

Looking at Yan Xu, Wu Yushen’s eyes flickered with a trace of loneliness. After the box-office disaster of The Seven Colors of Lin Yazhen, he had been kicked out by Golden Harvest, bringing his ten-year comedy career to an end. After joining Cinema City, he still had not been valued and was sent to Taiwan. His career sank to the bottom, and his film life came to a standstill.

The work that had once promised a comeback, The Joker, had also performed poorly in Taiwan. One could even call it miserable. He had originally thought the Hong Kong release might fare better, but it had only taken in a little over eight hundred thousand at the box office, sinking entirely to the level of a flop.