novellhall Chapter 39 Selling one's own copyright to one's own company
Chapter 39 Selling one's own copyright to one's own company
The next day, newsstands were filled with reports about "Mongkok Street".
Ming Pao's film review section gave it three stars: "It realistically portrays the plight of the underprivileged in Mong Kok and the tragic sense of the end of the underworld. Although the cinematic language of new director Wong Ka Fai is immature, it wins with sincerity."
The Oriental Daily News' review was much more subtle: "The plot is bland and clichéd, with no surprises. But Lai Chi's performance is a breath of fresh air—she carried the whole show with her personal charm."
The Sing Tao Daily column directly used Lai Chi as its headline: "Lai Chi is beautiful, but more than just beautiful." The article stated that she "successfully portrayed a marginalized woman who is desperate yet yearns to be loved. Among the many stereotypical Mong Kok gangster characters, she is the only one with flesh and blood."
Apple Daily, however, changed its approach. Instead of offering any commentary, they simply revisited Lin Dong's statement from the previous night, "I do admire her acting skills," and added a lukewarm remark at the end: "Whether Lai Chi's beauty outweighs her acting skills, as she has been specifically praised by her benefactor, is for the audience to judge."
On the 19th, the opening day box office figures for "Mongkok Street" were released—130,000.
A five million investment would only break even if the next few weeks were packed. And judging by the current trend, that seems highly unlikely.
in the afternoon.
Lin Dong's phone rang.
"Lin Sheng, this is Jiang Wen."
"Director Jiang, please speak."
Jiang Wen's tone on the other end of the phone was a bit more brisk than usual. Without any pleasantries, he went straight to the point. "Third Master is heading south. He'll be in Hong Kong on the 21st and wants to meet you. He asked me to let you know first and see if it's convenient for you."
Lin Dong didn't hesitate. "Convenient. What time on the 21st?"
"In the evening. He took an afternoon flight directly from Beijing, landing around 4 PM."
Jiang Wen paused for a moment, then said, "Lin Sheng, to tell you the truth—Third Master's trip south this time was specifically for you."
"Director Han, you're too kind," Lin Dong said. "Since you're in Hong Kong, I'll treat you. I'll arrange the accommodations."
"Alright." Jiang Wen's voice carried a hint of amusement. "Then I'll tell Third Master—Lin Sheng will do his best to be a good host."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Dong leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers on the armrest twice, and pondered for a moment.
The mainland market is much larger than Hong Kong, and Han Sanping is a figure he should pay attention to.
June 20th, 5 PM.
Li Jiaxin is back.
When her flight arrived at Kai Tak Airport from Tokyo, she didn't go home, and she didn't even ask the driver to take her luggage back to Mid-Levels first.
After exiting customs, two bodyguards followed her on either side, and the three of them headed straight for the Bank of East Asia Building in Central.
Twelfth floor, Tengda Film and Television.
When the elevator doors opened, Zhang Baizhi was sitting at Lin Dong's secretary's workstation. He instinctively looked up when he heard the elevator call.
Li Jiaxin was standing in the corridor.
Wearing a white silk shirt, beige high-waisted trousers, and sunglasses pushed up to her forehead, she still looked tired from just getting off the plane, but her aura was that of a lioness standing at the gate of her territory.
Behind him were two bodyguards in black suits, one on the left and one on the right. Zhang Baizhi recognized one of them—Awei.
One of the bodyguards who was initially assigned to Lin Dong was unexpectedly sent by Lin Dong to protect Li Jiaxin.
But she didn't receive that treatment.
A sour feeling welled up from the bottom of my heart, accompanied by a sense of grievance.
"Michelle." Seeing Li Jiaxin looking over, she immediately composed herself and stood up. "You're back. President Lin is in his office; I'll let him know for you—"
"No need." Li Jiaxin didn't stop walking. As she passed Zhang's workstation, she glanced at her, her gaze moving from top to bottom and then back up. "Ms. Zhang, a secretary should have the duties of a secretary. Just do your job well, and don't think about anything else."
The last two words were pronounced very heavily.
Zhang Baizhi's ears turned red for a moment, and the grievance in his heart intensified, but he quickly suppressed it, raised his head, and smiled again. "Sister Michele, you're overthinking it. I was just helping Dong Ge with some of the burden."
She pronounced "Dong Ge" even more clearly than usual.
The two women's eyes met briefly in the air of the corridor.
A faint, cold smile appeared on Li Jiaxin's lips. "Very well. Then share the burden—whatever you're supposed to share."
After saying that, she turned around and pushed open the door to Lin Dong's office.
Zhang Baizhi sat back in his chair and noticed that his fingers were trembling slightly.
It wasn't fear, it was anger.
The office door was closed.
When Li Jiaxin walked in, her gait changed—no longer the aggressive air she had in the corridor, but a more natural, relaxed demeanor, as if she were returning home.
She glanced at Victoria Harbour outside the window, then at the tea set on the coffee table, before walking around the desk and wrapping her arms around Lin Dong's neck from behind.
Her chin rested on his shoulder, her breath falling behind his ear. For a few seconds, she didn't speak.
Lin Dong patted the back of her hands, which were clasped across his chest. "Is all the outdoor shooting finished?"
"Filming is finished." Li Jiaxin's voice softened, a stark contrast to her voice outside. "For those scenes in Ginza, Wang Jing made me walk the streets more than thirty times. He said he wanted to find the best lighting. By the end, my feet were all blistered."
"There are a few more shots tomorrow. After that, filming will officially wrap up." She leaned closer, her lips lightly brushing against his earlobe. "Wang Jing would like to invite you to the wrap party. Tomorrow night."
Lin Dong shook his head. "Tomorrow won't work. I have an appointment with Han Sanping. He's from the mainland, the director of the Beijing Film Studio. I can't cancel this dinner."
Her face was still close to his ear, but her arm stiffened slightly for a moment.
"I flew all the way back, and the first thing I did was come to your company." She straightened up, walked around to his side, and looked a little aggrieved. "You didn't even come to the wrap party?"
Lin Dong turned his head and looked into her eyes.
There are priorities.
Li Jiaxin remained silent for a moment.
Then she looked away, the corners of her mouth slightly turning down, but she quickly adjusted them again. "Okay. I'll go home first. I'll go to the mountainside tonight; I've had someone make some soup."
"Okay." Lin Dong nodded.
Li Jiaxin straightened her back, adjusted the hem of her shirt, and turned to walk out.
As she reached the door, she glanced back at him, a lingering sense of grievance in her eyes, but said nothing more.
The door opened.
Chen Xinjian was standing outside the door, one hand raised but not yet knocking. He bowed slightly. "Miss Li."
Li Jiaxin nodded to him and walked past him out.
Chen Xinjian walked into the office and waited until the door was completely closed before speaking.
"Mr. Lin, several cinema managers called today, wanting to invite you to dinner."
Lin Dong leaned back in his chair, gesturing for him to continue.
Without any preamble, Chan Yan-kin stated bluntly as always: "The attendance rate for 'The Unemployed Emperor' has fallen below 10%. Several cinemas want to cancel screenings, but because Mr. Heung has given them instructions, they dare not cancel them on their own."
The call has now reached Xiang Sheng, but he's not in a position to make this decision for us, so he's had someone pass the message on to me.
Lin Dong remained silent for a few seconds.
"Follow market rules."
Chen Xinjian nodded.
"If the occupancy rate is less than 10%, then we should close the doors. If the occupancy rate is high, then we should extend the hours. There's no need for artificial intervention."
"clear."
Chen Xinjian closed his notebook and was about to get up when Lin Dong spoke again.
"There's one more thing. The copyrights to five films—from 'The Unemployed Emperor' to 'Mongkok Street'—are all solely owned by me."
"You should conduct a copyright valuation now. Once the valuation report is complete, Tengda Company will acquire the perpetual copyrights to these five films from me at a reasonable market price."
Chen Xinjian's eyes flickered. Less than two seconds later, he spoke.
"Understood. I'll immediately arrange for the legal and financial departments to initiate the evaluation process. Authorization chain, copyright registration, bank statements—I'll show them to you once all the materials are complete."
"No need to show it to me," Lin Dong said. "If you think it's fine, just go through the process."
Chen Xinjian stood up, bowed slightly, and turned to leave.