Chapter 238: Make Money Early
Outside the venue, seeing Lu Yiming and others leaving with the farewell of Wang Jing and King Liu, both A-Di and Brother Hao had an annoyed expression on their faces.
Brother Hao slapped his thigh hard and cursed angrily: "He stole my old mother's property and didn't take anything valuable. Let's go, let's go eat, I'm starving."
Brother Hao also looked annoyed. However, he suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted, "Damn, I remember who he is!"
"who?"
"He is Lu Shiyi!"
"What six billion?"
"Lu Shiyi! The newly rich man who fought against international hot money in Hong Kong two months ago! The seventeen-year-old Lu Shiyi with a net worth of one billion!"
"I'm so angry, is it him? But didn't that guy surnamed Lu go back to the mainland? Why did he suddenly come to Hong Kong without saying anything? Is he trying to make something big? Damn it, it'll be on the headlines tomorrow!"
After Lu Yiming got in the car, his phone suddenly rang. Lu Yiming looked at the number and found that it was Zhao Tiezhu who called. He frowned slightly and asked casually, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Zhao Tiezhu reported, "Just now I found two people who have been monitoring you and taking pictures. They are on your left. You can still see them now."
Lu Yiming quickly rolled down the window and immediately saw Hao Ge and A Di Zi leaving contentedly. The familiar yellow vest and black leather vest instantly made a name appear in Lu Yiming's mind.
"It's just the paparazzi, ignore them."
"OK."
After the call ended, Lin Yuzhen, who was sitting behind Lu Yiming, looked surprised: "There are paparazzi secretly photographing you? Are you famous in Hong Kong? Are you also a big star?"
Lu Yiming spread his hands, his tone full of helplessness; "Isn't it normal for a handsome guy like me to be secretly photographed? This is what happens when you are handsome. There is nothing I can do about it."
"Hey~ You are so shameless!"
Lin Yuzhen turned her face away in disgust, but turned back secretly after a while and looked quietly at Lu Yiming's handsome yet masculine profile.
After returning to the hotel, the girls were still excited and were discussing King Liu and Fairy Zixia. They chatted until midnight before returning to their rooms to sleep.
The next morning, the girls ate their breakfast yawning and half-closed their eyes, and they were still in a daze when they arrived at school.
Lu Yiming walked into the classroom as usual, but was immediately surrounded by a group of people.
"Good morning, Ming."
"Mingge Goodmao Ning."
Someone wiped the stool with his sleeve, and then said in a flattering tone: "Brother Ming, sit down."
Someone put the breakfast milk he brought on Lu Yiming's table: "Brother Ming, this is the breakfast milk I brought for you."
Someone helped take Lu Yiming's schoolbag off his back, and then began to massage his shoulders and back, boasting: "Brother Ming, you must be tired after carrying the schoolbag for so long. I often massage my dad's shoulders and back at home, and my gestures are really good."
Even though Lu Yiming was quick-witted and open-minded, he was caught off guard by the combo in front of him and shouted quickly, "Stop, stop, stop! Are you all possessed so early in the morning? If you have something to say, just say it. Don't give me these empty words!"
As the saying goes, if someone shows kindness to someone for no reason, he is either a traitor or a thief. Lu Yiming didn't believe that they had a change of heart.
"Um... classmate Lu Yiming, I didn't expect you to be so capable. I spoke a little loudly before. I'm sorry."
"I really didn't expect that you are actually a billionaire. From today on, you are our boss ."
"Student Lu Yiming, I declare now that from today on, I will be responsible for taking your class notes. If you don't let me write for you, I will kneel down and beg you."
"I am different from them. After all, I regard money as dirt. I just admire you for being able to chat and laugh with King Liu, so please accept my knee."
"Student Lu Yiming, can you also take me to see King Liu and Fairy Zixia? Just take a look. After that, I will introduce my sister to you. She is so beautiful."
Lu Yiming was speechless: "Aren't you afraid that your sister will beat you to death if you go back like this?"
Seeing the boys in the class showing off in various ways, Lu Yiming shook his head silently. These silly kids, they didn't care about their faces at all just to take a photo with King Liu.
If you don’t come to Hong Kong, you will never know how crazy the young people here are about chasing stars.
The reason for this is that Hong Kong's economy is strong, and among the students who can afford to study at Wong Yan College, only a few are from families so poor that they cannot even afford to eat, while most of them have no worries about food and clothing.
That is why they have the energy to chase stars and place their desire for their dreams on their chosen idols.
Hong Kong itself also has a strong idol culture atmosphere. After all, it is the absolute center of the current Chinese entertainment industry, and King Andy Lau is one of its representatives.
Driven by the capital behind the scenes, the trend of star chasing quickly became popular among young people and had a huge influence.
For some reason, Lu Yiming suddenly remembered the craze about fan circles on the Internet in China 20 years later. It can only be said that when people have enough food and nothing else to do, they will really do anything, especially young people.
Lu Yiming was actually very speechless about the requests of these students. After all, he had never been a fan and could not understand such things.
However, Lu Yiming did not refuse these people's request, but just said lightly: "I can't make the decision on this matter. After all, it's impolite for me to take you to someone else's territory on my own initiative. I have to call King Liu to ask. If King Liu says it's okay, I will take you there again."
"Great! Long live Big Boss Ming."
These people all cheered.
They are all students who don't have close contact with Xiao Hanlin. If a high-level lackey like Shen Junjie wants to chase stars, Xiao Hanlin might take them with him.
But if ordinary classmates asked Xiao Hanlin to take them to chase stars, Xiao Hanlin would never agree, because he didn't have that much face. So after they saw the news and photos about Lu Yiming published in the newspaper, they immediately came to him.
Lin Yuzhen said unhappily: "Lu Yiming, what are you doing? Are you going to bring so many people to find King Liu? Will it cause trouble for King Liu?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "I called him in advance, maybe he wants me to bother him. I tell you, people are afraid of trouble because there is no benefit. No one will ever find troublesome things that are beneficial."
Lin Yuzhen said with disdain : "Liu Tianwang is a big star, what benefit can he get from you?"
Lu Yiming smiled even more happily: "I have money. If King Liu wants to make a movie, he needs investors willing to give him money. Do you think this benefit is enough?"
Seeing Lu Yiming link her idol to money, Lin Yuzhen immediately became even more disgusted: "You are so vulgar. Why do you always talk about money? Can you be more sincere when making friends?"
Lu Yiming said sincerely, "Sure, give me all your money, and I will definitely give you a sincere thank you."
Lin Yuzhen snorted and turned her face away: "I don't have any money."
Lu Yi immediately laughed and said, "You see, rich people can at least get a sincere thank you, but if you don't have money, you can't even get a verbal thank you. This shows that young people should make money as early as possible."
"That's all nonsense. I won't listen to it."
After school that afternoon, the students took the initiative to rent a large bus, and then dozens of people headed to Shaw Brothers Studios.
Although they were all born and raised in Hong Kong, many of them had never visited the film and television base. Therefore, from the moment they got off the bus, they felt unfamiliar and curious about everything in front of them.
King Liu got the information in advance and came out to greet him. Most of the people who came with him were fans of King Liu, and they all ran over to ask for autographs and take photos.
After working for more than ten minutes, King Liu finally came in front of Lu Yiming.
Lu Yiming said: "I'm sorry to bother you again today."
King Liu smiled elegantly and said in a gentle tone: "It is our honor to have such a distinguished guest."
Lu Yiming hooked his arm around King Liu's shoulder, walked to the side, and asked casually, "I remember you are filming God of Gamblers 1999, right?"
King Liu didn't know why Lu Yiming suddenly asked this, but he nodded slightly: "Yes."
Lu Yiming smiled slightly and said, "I plan to invest three million in the crew."
"What?"
When Tianwang Liu heard this, he was overjoyed: "Mr. Lu, are you really willing to invest three million?"
Don’t think that three million is a small amount. In fact, the production cost of most movies in Hong Kong is only five million at most.
Remember, this was 1998!
It's not the ultimate magical era of twenty years later where any dog can get paid hundreds of millions for a movie. When Andy Lau was very popular before, his pay was only around two million. Money was still very valuable back then.
Lu Yiming raised his eyebrows and said in a leisurely tone: "Don't worry, I'm willing to give you my money. Since I said I'll invest 3 million in you, I won't give you a penny less."
Liu Tianwang finally became happy at this time. In fact, the crew was very short of money. Not to mention Liu Tianwang's own company, which had been in debt for a long time. Even Wang Jing was crazy about making bad movies to make quick money because of too much debt.
"I'll go discuss this with Director Wang."
After a while, Liu Tianwang and Wang Jing appeared in front of Lu Yiming again.
Wang Jing was even more delighted as he stepped forward and shook Lu Yiming's hand, "Mr. Lu, you want to invest three million in "God of Gamblers 1999"?"
The two were very excited, but Lu Yi, as an investor, was obviously a little casual: "Well, yes, although I haven't read the script or anything like that, I believe in King Liu's taste. If he agrees to act, the quality must be good."
He gave King Liu a small compliment and praised him so much that he felt like he was floating on air.
Wang Jing was also a very pragmatic person. Lu Yiming directly asked for an investment of three million yuan, which directly solved the subsequent filming problems of the movie. He also returned the favor and nodded to Lin Yuzhen and others, asking for their opinions in a low voice: "Mr. Lu, these beauties are naturally beautiful and stunning. They are very suitable for the entertainment industry. And the movie just happens to need a few young female roles. Do you want to let them audition?"
Lu Yiming called Lin Yuzhen and a few others over and told them about Wang Jing's idea.
When Wu Qiuya heard that she could make 10 million by stuffing a ball, she already had ideas about entering the entertainment industry, but she had no way to get in, so she kept it to herself. Now that Wang Jing is willing to give her an audition opportunity , she certainly won't miss it.
As for the upcoming college entrance examination?
So what if you didn't pass the college entrance examination? A stable job only pays one or two thousand yuan a month. Working for a lifetime is not as good as making more money by plugging a ball. Besides, few female stars have a high degree of education, which shows that you have to become famous as early as possible.
"Ah? Really? I'd love to."
Of course Lin Yuzhen was eager to try, but she was a little hesitant.
The difference between her and Wu Qiuya is that when Wu Qiuya heard about the ball stuffing, she felt an overwhelming longing in her heart, but she only felt nauseous.
So when it comes to the entertainment industry, Lin Yuzhen is more curious than pursuing it.
In addition, the college entrance examination is coming up next semester, and she is afraid of delaying this matter.
No matter what, this is an opportunity to participate in the idol's movie. Which fan can resist such temptation?
Not to mention whether or not to enter the entertainment industry, the mere fact of starring in Andy Lau's movie is something worth bragging about for the rest of your life.
"Can I really?"
Of course Lu Yiming knew what she was thinking, and he immediately said with a smile: "If you want, just give it a try. This is also a novel experience."
Afterwards, Lu Yiming warned Wang Jing, "I don't think their acting skills are that good. They should just play minor roles. Don't let them steal the show and ruin the main structure of the plot. I'm counting on this movie to make money for me."
Wang Jing listened and quickly complimented him, "Mr. Lu is indeed an expert. If the wealthy people who invested in Hong Kong movies were as easy to talk to as Mr. Lu, the entire industry would not have become what it is now."
Wang Jing's emotion was not to flatter Lu Yiming, but his true thoughts.
The rise of Hong Kong films was due not only to the good fortune of the time, but also to the hard work and excellence of local filmmakers.
They have talent, ideas, and money to realize their dreams. Naturally, they will take advantage of the dividends of the times and soar to success with the help of capital.
Capital can make you successful, but it can also lead to your failure.
Too much hot money poured in, and Hong Kong's local film industry lacked a complete and orderly industry standard. In the end, it naturally self-destructed in disorder and chaos due to the wild growth of capital.
Making a good movie and then making money and making a movie just for the sake of making money have completely different results.
The former uses word of mouth to conquer the audience, while the latter treats the audience as leeks to be harvested.
Lu Yiming was obviously the former. After two days of communication and conversation, King Liu admired him very much. At this moment, he rolled his eyes and immediately suggested, "Mr. Lu, are you interested in playing a cameo role in the movie?"
"I?"
Lu Yiming didn't expect that he had something to do with this, so he subconsciously waved his hand to refuse: "What can I play? Passerby A, B, C, D?"
Even Wang Jing looked at King Liu with some confusion, wondering what King Liu was up to.
