Chapter 35: A Smile from the Vast Sea

Fang Ruoxin seemed completely unaware of Xiao Ran’s intentions. She stood up with utmost courtesy and smiled, saying, “Sorry, I have to leave for a moment!”
Xiao Ran and Yi Shu were both stunned for a moment before realizing what had happened. Yi Shu glanced at Xiao Ran’s face and shook her head slightly. Of course, Xiao Ran knew full well that this was an excellent excuse. Watching that graceful figure walk away, he felt a hint of bitterness in his heart.
Suddenly, he lost all interest. After searching around, he saw Yang Wei and Xiao Han on a sofa. There was also a middle-aged man chatting with them, and the man seemed quite humorous, making the two girls laugh nonstop.
For some reason, Xiao Ran felt extremely annoyed. He strode over, sat next to Yang Wei, affectionately put his arm around her shoulders, and glared at the middle-aged man in a provocative manner!
As soon as he focused on the man in front of him, his head began to buzz as if filled with cotton. The man who was teasing the two girls was none other than the famous Huang Zhan—the one behind the famous line, “A smile from the vast sea stirs the tides on both banks!”
This huge contrast left Xiao Ran utterly embarrassed. But Uncle Zhan seemed unbothered and laughed heartily. Pointing at Xiao Ran, he said, “So you’re Xiao Ran? Just now I was talking about you with your girlfriend and your sister. They all praised you as a talented man. I wonder if it’s your talent or mine that’s greater! Haha!”
Swallowing hard, Xiao Ran scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “Uncle Zhan, stop joking! I’m no match for you. You and Sister Yan Ni are the real couple of talents.”
Huang Zhan wasn’t surprised that Xiao Ran knew him. After all, this old guy had acted in many films, with his most proud works being the adult films in the “Wen Wu” series. Add to that his astonishingly talented work, “Wen Wu Ji”—it was impossible for anyone in Hong Kong not to know him.
“Okay, okay, I’m not joking!” Huang Zhan laughed heartily. Suddenly, Xiao Ran thought that perhaps only such a truly bold person could create “A Smile from the Vast Sea.” As soon as he had this thought, Huang Zhan stretched out his finger and praised him, saying, “You’re not bad, kid. Your scripts are great. I really like you!”
“A Zhan, let’s go!” Lin Yanni’s voice called out to Huang Zhan. Reluctantly, he stood up, gave Xiao Ran a gesture, left his phone number, and then walked away.
Staring at that figure that exuded boldness, Xiao Ran felt a surge of ambition. He encouraged himself, thinking, “It’s just a woman. If I waste the opportunities given to me by fate on a woman, I’ll despise myself. Living in the same era as these great heroes of Hong Kong cinema, if I don’t do something, how can I live up to myself, or to the Hong Kong movies I’ve loved since I was young?”
After staying for a while longer, Xiao Han went off to play by herself. Not long after she left, Huang Baiming plopped down on the sofa across from Xiao Ran. After pondering for a moment, he said, “A Ran, I’ve had a rough look at your script. The story is quite good. But…”

“It’s just that I’ve never been a director before, so you’re not quite confident?” Xiao Ran smiled reassuringly. He had known Huang Baiming would be cautious: “The U.S. president isn’t born ready to be one either!”
“That analogy of yours is really…” Huang Baiming couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and even Yang Wei covered her mouth, giggling secretly. After stopping laughing, Huang Baiming’s expression softened considerably: “Actually, we all really want to see you as a director. But as you know, none of the movies the company has invested in over the years have lost money. If you don’t do well, then it’s likely…”
In short, the risks outweighed the benefits. Xiao Ran summarized it in one sentence—indeed, that was the case. He was merely a new screenwriter who had been in the industry for a year, let alone a director. If it were another screenwriter with four or five years of experience, Huang Baiming might have agreed. But investing in Xiao Ran meant a high risk.
Xiao Ran understood this, but he was also aware that with the production supervisor system in place, New Art City wasn’t afraid of producing flops. So he smiled brightly: “Old Huang, stop teasing me. I don’t believe you don’t want this script—I’m quite optimistic about it.”
“You see through me!” Huang Baiming chuckled lightly, waving his hand absentmindedly. “You know there are certain risks involved. So the company’s decision is that if this film fails, you’ll have to write five successful scripts for the company over the next three years—only those that are successful count!”
Touching the stubble on his chin, Xiao Ran thought it over. Writing five successful scripts in three years wasn’t too difficult for him. The hard part was that he planned to keep many good scripts for himself. But could “Eight Stars Bring Good News” fail? Then that condition would basically be meaningless.
But he wasn’t going to give up so easily. Since Huang Baiming had set such conditions, he saw no reason not to take advantage of them. So he bargained meaningfully: “No problem, but I get to choose the actors, and the budget can’t be too low!”
“No problem!” Huang Baiming bowed his head to think for a moment. Normally, it was indeed the director who chose the actors, so the casting issue wasn’t a big deal. After thinking, he smiled and said, “I’ll find you an experienced assistant director too—everything will be taken care of! You can come to the company tomorrow to discuss the details!”
Xiao Ran didn’t stay long. He called Yang Wei and Xiao Han and left. Before leaving, Lin Qingxia simply told Xiao Ran to bring Xiao Han here more often. Xiao Ran laughed heartily and joked, “It wouldn’t be good if I disturbed your happy life with Brother Han like this!”
As a result, Xiao Ran fled in panic under Lin Qingxia’s beautiful scolding. This naturally led Xiao Han to mock her brother without restraint, while Yang Wei smiled subtly, truly behaving like a proper lady.
When dropping Yang Wei at her doorstep, she took out her keys to open the door. Suddenly, she turned back, stared at Xiao Ran with a hint of resentment for three seconds, then opened the door and went inside. Xiao Ran was stunned for a moment, sighed softly, and left.

“Sis Wei seems to like you. Is that right?” In the car, Xiao Han was no longer bouncing around; instead, she remained silent for a long time before, as if making a difficult decision, saying, “Brother, if you like Sister Wei, then go after her. I… I won’t bother you anymore!”
“Nonsense!” Xiao Ran smiled gently and stroked Xiao Han’s head. “Xiao Han is so cute. How could I ever find you annoying? Besides, it’s not certain that Yang Wei likes me. Some things are really hard to say!”
Xiao Ran told Wei Dongling about his plan to become a director. This rough-looking guy was equally excited for him. But when it came to his own career, he immediately became very depressed. He wasn’t satisfied with his current job at Jiahe and wanted to change jobs, only to realize he was gradually falling in love with filmmaking.
If nothing went wrong, history was changing. Xiao Ran quickly concluded that Wei Dongling should have been in the United States by now, but he was still in Hong Kong, which proved everything.
That night, Xiao Ran didn’t start writing the prequel to “True Colors of a Hero” because he was too excited to even hold a pen. The opportunity was right in front of him. If he could seize it and spend another year or two becoming a good director, there would be no problem for the film company.
The next day, in Huang Baiming’s office at New Art City, Xiao Ran was discussing the cast with him. Of course, Xiao Ran was in charge of selecting the actors, while Huang Baiming handled the crew.
When Xiao Ran handed his list of actors to Huang Baiming, the latter was shocked at first glance: “Zhou Runfa, Zhong Chuhong, Zheng Yuling, Zhang Xueyou, Yuan Jieying, Feng Baobao… Your cast is way too big!”
“It’s not that big!” Xiao Ran laughed heartily. He had assembled the original cast. He scratched his head, took the paper, and added one more name: “I forgot—there’s one key character missing!”
Huang Baiming was stunned when he saw the added name. It was Huang Baiming’s own name. Xiao Ran paid no attention to Huang Baiming’s eye-rolling and continued, “The role of the big brother belongs to you. Even if you want to slack off, you can’t!”
Xiao Ran was confident that Huang Baiming would agree. He had previously found it hard to imagine these bosses at New Art City would be willing to act. But after looking at the film’s crew list, he realized it wasn’t impossible at all. These bigwigs at New Art City were very frugal; it was common for them to make cameo appearances or even play leading roles. For example, the “Happy Ghost” series was starred by Huang Baiming.
“Alright, I’ll get in touch with them later!” Huang Baiming agreed with a wry smile. After thinking for a moment, he added, “Have the team prepare a budget plan and a shooting schedule. Wait for my news!”
After leaving New Art City, Xiao Ran was in high spirits. He suddenly thought of Liu Hua, who had been sidelined by TVB and must be very frustrated. Thinking of Zhou Xingchi made him happy, so he called them both and invited them over.

He originally planned to invite Leung Ka-fai as well, but unfortunately Leung Ka-fai had commitments today and couldn’t make it. Leung Ka-fai had already gotten a filming opportunity at the beginning of this year, and his first film after returning was titled “Fire Dragon.” Xiao Ran even remembered that this film was nominated for the next Golden Horse Awards. When Leung Ka-fai returned, he happily remarked to Xiao Ran, “It’s really hard to predict things—banned in Taiwan, yet supported by funds from the mainland!” At this thought, Xiao Ran’s heart skipped a beat as he sensed he had grasped a crucial clue. As he walked, he kept thinking hard until he arrived at the agreed restaurant. As soon as he sat down, the elusive idea surfaced again. That’s right! He finally remembered what it was! The Hong Kong film industry had always received investment from the mainland, from the early Great Wall Company to today’s Yin Du Agency, all of which came from the mainland. If Xiao Ran wasn’t mistaken, there seemed to be a few smaller companies as well that were funded by the mainland, with New Kunlun being one of them. From what Xiao Ran knew, these companies weren’t very successful and could only survive relying on financial support. Only Yin Du Agency managed to thrive on its own, remaining active even into the 21st century. However, strangely, the origin of Yin Du’s funds was highly mysterious. No one knew where the company’s money came from, yet its accounts were spotless, meaning it definitely wasn’t ill-gotten money. Why did he think of this? Xiao Ran questioned himself bitterly. He didn’t understand why he was so excited about it, as if he had found gold. But in that moment, he knew the answer—his subconscious told him that Yin Du was indeed a target that could be exploited!
(I’m sweating profusely! Another confusion. Who said Fang Ruoxin is the heroine? Who said Xiao Ran’s obsession with her means he must like her? The exaggerated descriptions are purely for narrative needs. Simply put, Xiao Ran and Fang Ruoxin aren’t closely related; Lin JJ is his ultimate choice.)
(Also, suggesting Leung Ka-fai return wasn’t to have him act, because the lead actor at that time didn’t have the strength to overcome the blockade from Taiwan. So, Xiao Ran asked Leung Ka-fai to assist him with writing scripts and such!)
(Finally, I firmly oppose any personal attacks. I hope everyone can respect that.)