Chapter 37: Ambitious Plans for the Future

“As for the assistant directors you need…” Huang Baiming promptly handed over a stack of documents to Xiao Ran. “Choose yourself—most of them are experienced assistant directors!”
Xiao Ran’s eyes lit up. It was possible he might find a few truly outstanding individuals among them. He flipped through the documents one by one. When he saw another name—Lao Jianhua—he froze for a moment. If he remembered correctly, this man was quite talented, having served as an assistant director on many films, but had never had the luck to take over the lead role.
On this list, he couldn’t find any future great directors. As for ordinary directors who could produce films independently in the future, they certainly didn’t need his training. After careful consideration, with no other options, he chose one of the more experienced young directors, Luo Wenqiang, along with Lao Jianhua.
After telling Huang Baiming about the two assistant directors he wanted and discussing some specific details, Xiao Ran left. Filming wouldn’t start for about a week, as there was still some equipment to prepare.
During these few days off, Xiao Ran took the time to finish the post-production voice work for “The Female Warrior,” and also attended the midnight preview of “The Happy Ghost Meets the Ghost.” The preview was very successful, and Du Qifeng was extremely pleased. Just a few days earlier, Er Dongsheng’s debut film, “The Madman’s Story,” had finished shooting.
The day before meeting with the main crew, Xiao Ran thought of Ah Biao. So, he called and invited Xiao Yi and Ah Qiang to go see Ah Biao together. Most of the serious criminals imprisoned in Stanley Prison certainly deserved that label, and Ah Biao was no exception.
Accompanied by prison guards, Chen Biao appeared before the three of them, walking slowly. Upon seeing Xiao Ran and the others, he showed surprise and joy. “Ah Ran, Ah Qiang, Xiao Yi—what brings you here?”
Actually, Xiao Yi and Ah Qiang came often, but Xiao Ran either forgot about Ah Biao temporarily or was too busy to make it. So, this time it was mainly Xiao Ran who spoke.
He looked at Ah Biao with a solemn and apologetic expression. “Ah Biao, I’m sorry. I didn’t come to see you until now! Actually, I…”
“You don’t need to explain!” Ah Biao suddenly burst into laughter, angering the prison guards, who scolded him harshly. “Don’t you always ask Xiao Yi and the others to bring me things? It doesn’t matter whether you come or not. Besides, you have your own career—work hard. I’ll hang out with you once I get out!”
That would be terrible! Xiao Ran inwardly groaned, fearing that Ah Biao’s idea might become reality. He had originally planned to use Ah Biao’s future rise in the underworld to secure his own interests. If Ah Biao suddenly decided to give up the underworld life and claim to have reformed, Xiao Ran’s efforts would be completely wasted.
“By the way, the method you suggested to me was really effective!” Ah Biao’s expression became somewhat mysterious and eerie. “It’s the method you taught me last time. It was because of your idea that I managed to save my life. Now the boss values me a lot and says he’ll give me a good position once I get out.”

“Let’s talk about the future when it comes.” Xiao Ran narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing Biao in such a state, he suddenly felt like a utterly vile instigator. Especially since Biao seemed to be enjoying himself, it made him even more guilty. “By the way, how many years until you get out?”
At this question, Biao’s expression darkened slightly as he slowly uttered a heavy number: “Five years. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’m doing well here. As long as I perform better than others, I might get out early!”
At that moment, Biao’s expression became lively again as he gave A Qiang and Xiao Ran a strange look. “Did you bring it?”
Xiao Ran was immediately confused—what was it? But A Qiang chuckled, his eyes fixed on Rong Xiaoyi. Rong Xiaoyi clearly knew what Biao wanted; her pretty face suddenly turned red as she scolded, “Biao, you damn scoundrel! Asking for these in front of me? You’re going to die!”
“It’s in the package. Once the prison guards check it, you’ll be able to see it!” A Qiang laughed lewdly, his gaze constantly drifting toward Xiaoyi.
This scene made Biao laugh heartily as well, and he teased in a low voice, “Xiaoyi, I didn’t expect you to blush. That’s really rare!”
After chatting a bit more, it was time for the visit to end. From afar, they watched as Biao was sent back. Many thoughts raced through Xiao Ran’s mind. So far, he hadn’t really encountered the underworld seriously. But he also knew it was because he hadn’t been involved in that world long enough, not deep enough.
He would soon start working as a director, and he couldn’t avoid dealing with the underworld any longer. His only hope was that Biao would get out of prison soon, so he would have someone to rely on. But that was still five years away—by 1991. By then… Xiao Ran thought for a moment and sighed softly.
“What did Biao mean just now?” On their way out, Xiao Ran suddenly remembered what had happened earlier and quickly asked A Qiang, “It’s not something forbidden, is it?”
“Of course not!” A Qiang was puzzled. Every time this topic came up, his eyes would drift to Xiaoyi’s face. Xiaoyi pretended not to know anything, so A Qiang leaned in to Xiao Ran’s ear and said, “Biao wants posters of women. This time I got him a great one—he’ll definitely be satisfied!”
It all made sense now! Xiao Ran wore a knowing smile. Why would a man locked up in a miserable prison want posters of women? The answer was obvious. No wonder Xiaoyi had looked so strange.
That night, he finally wrote out the prequel and sequels of *True Men*. The sequel wasn’t a big deal—he just plagiarized *True Men 2* and made slight changes to the plot to make it part of a series. But the prequel really gave him a headache. Thankfully, he managed to write it out bit by bit.

“Saving the Police Officer Across a Thousand Miles,” “Mr. Zombie,” “Cops Story,” “The Fun Guy Meets the Ghost,” the three “Heroes” series, plus “Cops Story 2” and “The Female Warrior,” along with “Eight Stars Bring Good News” and “Chasing Girls in Style.” Xiao Ran roughly counted and found that there were a total of ten scripts completed and ten unfinished. Of the films made from these eleven scripts, except for “The Fun Guy Meets the Ghost,” which only earned 15 million at the box office, the other ten all reached 20 million.

There was no need to continue plagiarizing—these were enough! Xiao Ran quickly reached this conclusion. Although a few scripts hadn’t been filmed yet, he knew success at the box office was guaranteed. Eleven scripts, eleven blockbuster films—such a 100% success rate would be absolutely astonishing worldwide.

Simply put, aside from these scripts, Xiao Ran didn’t need to steal more future scripts to sell. Of course, if he were to direct them himself, he would still need to plagiarize quite a bit. But he believed it was necessary for him to plagiarize a script that could win an award and direct a film that could win an award as well.

It was easy enough to come up with a script that could win an award, but to win Best Director and Best Film? That was probably… Xiao Ran racked his brains for a long time. With “Heroes” this year, he had no chance. Next year, there would be even more strong contenders—“A Fairy Tale in Autumn” and “Dragon and Tiger” had already won Best Film and Best Director respectively, and even a classic like “Prison Storm” ended up with nothing. If he had to wait until the year after, Xiao Ran thought it was better to take a desperate gamble. But what could he gamble with? He really didn’t know. There were indeed many future classics, but what could win awards in the future might not win them now. Sometimes, environmental factors were extremely important.

The most typical example was “Eight Stars Bring Good News.” Historically, this film was a New Year’s movie, released during the New Year season. This time, Xiao Ran intended to persuade Huang Baiming at all costs to release it during the Spring Festival season; otherwise, it might not achieve the expected box office success. As circumstances changed, so too would the outcomes.

Another example was “Gunfire.” Everyone knew it was a classic, the pinnacle of gangster movies. But if Galaxy Pictures hadn’t first made classics like “Only One Can Survive,” “The Birth of a Character,” and “Hidden Flowers,” and if gangster movies hadn’t yet become popular, even if Xiao Ran had perfectly recreated this film on screen, it would most likely have failed miserably.

After all, things needed time to develop. Gangster movies took about a decade to evolve before producing films like “Gunfire” and “Hidden Flowers.” Similarly, new-style action movies also needed time to develop before giving rise to works like “New Dragon Inn” and “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.” Nothing could be achieved by skipping the process.

After much hesitation, Xiao Ran finally figured it out. He wasn’t becoming a director just to direct; he was doing so to establish his own company. His advantage lay in his far broader vision than today’s filmmakers, allowing him to know what was possible and what wasn’t.

Being a director and screenwriter was just a stepping stone, a necessary preparation to push him into a leadership position. So, he didn’t need to be fixated on awards; instead, he should focus on discovering outstanding filmmakers and guiding Hong Kong cinema in a positive direction. People are always greedy for fame and fortune, and it’s already quite good that Xiao Ran understands this—at least it shows he’s no longer confused by so-called awards. This is a sign of his progress and also proves he has a longer-term vision.

The next day, New Art City invited the main actors like Zhang Xueyou and Zhou Runfa to the company for a routine meeting with the director to confirm whether their interpretations of their roles matched the director’s ideas. It could also be seen as auditions, but this time Xiao Ran had the power to choose the cast, so these actors were spared that step. It can’t be said that this procedure was unnecessary, but for a family comedy like “Eight Stars Bring Good Luck,” it’s obviously not possible to demand too much from the actors. The film industry has always believed that acting in comedies doesn’t require great acting skills, but for Xiao Ran, it’s exactly the opposite. Zhou Xingchi is a perfect example—without superb acting skills, it would be impossible to deliver so many classic performances.

After exchanging ideas with the main actors, Xiao Ran was relieved to find that their performances wouldn’t deviate from what he envisioned. The more challenging one was the young child star Huang Kunxuan. This child actor had great acting talent and was chosen by Huang Baiming himself. However, Huang Kunxuan was smart and quickly understood Xiao Ran’s intentions, which made Xiao Ran reflect inwardly—some actors in the 21st century may not even be that dedicated or know how to act. No wonder this kid could cry so genuinely in “The Story of Ah Lang,” and no wonder Huang Baiming often promoted him to star in TV dramas as he grew up.

When Xiao Ran finally turned his attention to Zhou Runfa, problems arose. The current Zhou Runfa, not understanding at all, raised the script and asked, “Ah Ran, I think the character of the second brother shouldn’t be effeminate; he should be more imposing so he can attract women!”

(I’m completely broken… The protagonist has nothing now. Asking him to plagiarize foreign films? That’s suicide. Xiao Ran wants to write or direct scripts and films based on his own abilities, but that can’t be done right away. He’s just a film fan, not a god. Guys, even fantasies need to follow a process and be reasonable. Please give me some slack, okay? I’ll just work hard my whole life to repay you all 55555555)