Chapter 25: Celebration Banquet

Xiao Ran smiled gracefully. If he really wanted to win an award, he could easily come up with over ten fake stories about winning awards. He knew that sometimes winning awards was inversely related to box office success, and it was the box office that mattered to him. He shook his head with a smile to show he wasn’t discouraged. “It’s okay, you guys go back first!”
Cheng Long looked at the two beautiful girls, one tall and one short, and curiously asked Xiao Ran, “Aran, who are they?”
“That’s Xiao Han, my sister!” Xiao Ran pointed at Xiao Han first, then introduced Yang Wei. “She’s my friend’s sister, her name is Yang Wei.”
“I never thought you had such good luck, Aran, having such a pretty sister. It’s hard to tell you two look alike!” He Guanchang was much older than Xiao Ran, but he still had a youthful spirit and joked with him.
“Well, how about letting them come along too?” Cheng Long was both disappointed and pleased that night. Disappointed because both leading actor nominations and the best director nomination had gone awry, but pleased because they won Best Picture. Under such circumstances, he didn’t mind having Xiao Ran’s friends join in.
When Yang Wei heard Xiao Ran’s introduction, she lowered her gaze slightly and said shyly, “Brother Ran, I’ll just not go. My brother is still waiting for me.”
“Since we’re all here, why not go together? We can go back together later!” Xiao Ran didn’t realize anything wrong and simply nodded, thinking it was a good idea.
Looking at Xiao Han, the little girl had completely forgotten about her brother and kept asking Lin Qingxia for a signature. Lin Qingxia had encountered such things before, but this little girl seemed both cute and lively, and since she was Xiao Ran’s sister, she couldn’t help but like her.
They went to a hotel with Cheng Long. There, they could see the crew members of *Cops Story*, including Zhang Yaozhong and other behind-the-scenes staff. Of course, the older members of the Cheng family, like Tai Bao and Huo Xing, were also there.
Champagne was opened, and everyone started to celebrate. The Best Picture award belonged to everyone, so they were all very excited. Cheng Long talked for a while with Zou Wenhuai, the owner of Jihe Film Company, and He Guanchang, who came to congratulate him, then waved at Xiao Ran and led him to the balcony.
Xiao Ran was young, and participating in such an event naturally made him very happy. When he reached the balcony, Cheng Long put his hand on his shoulder and said with a smile, “This time, it’s all thanks to Aran writing such a great script. Otherwise, even the most skilled cook can’t cook without ingredients!”
Cheng Long’s words weren’t an exaggeration. The most important elements of a movie were the script, the director, and the actors. As the saying goes, the script is the foundation of a movie—it’s of utmost importance; without a script, nothing can be done.
However, in today’s environment, Cheng Long’s words were clearly just flattery. In this era, no one regarded the script as that important; only the actors mattered most. Simply put, in this era, there were no directors’ personal works—if there were any, they were just the actors’ personal works. The most typical example was Xu Guanwen’s works: no matter which director was assigned, they had to adapt to the actors, not the other way around.

Zou Wenhui wore a smile on his face. As the boss of a film company renowned in Hong Kong, it was already quite rare for him to be so approachable. He Guanchang patted Xiao Ran’s shoulder gently and said, “A Ran, we plan to make a sequel to ‘Police Story.’ If possible, we’d like to turn it into a series. We want you to write the script. Do you have any objections? The payment will naturally be higher than for the previous one.”

“Well…” Xiao Ran tapped his right hand lightly against his thigh, hesitating about giving them the script so early. After all, the sequel was released in 1988, and he was afraid that giving it too early might affect the situation in Hong Kong’s film industry. “I think there shouldn’t be a problem, but I have one request. I’m not used to writing the script while filming, so you have to wait until I finish it before shooting starts!”

He Guanchang, Cheng Long, and Zou Wenhui looked puzzled after hearing Xiao Ran’s words. Thinking they were worried he would take too long, Xiao Ran quickly added, “Don’t worry. I believe it won’t take much time. By the time I finish, you might not even be done with the preliminary preparations!”

Cheng Long burst into laughter at this, and He and Zou also chuckled nonstop. As Xiao Ran was confused by their laughter, Cheng Long finally stopped laughing and said, “Who said we’d write while filming? We’re a big company—we wouldn’t do something so unprepared!”

A huge question mark suddenly appeared in Xiao Ran’s mind. Was rushing work not still common these days? Perhaps this kind of hasty production for quick profits only happened during the most prosperous and frenzied 1990s. He wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed unimportant, right?

After Cheng Long and the others went inside to continue celebrating, Xiao Ran silently gazed at the bright moon in the sky, thinking of his parents. In his previous life, he had been like the only child in countless Chinese families. But only after finishing school and entering society did he realize everything was different from what he had imagined.

Setbacks are always the best motivators to strive forward. Xiao Ran began to learn how to be smooth in dealing with people, though this kind of smoothness was different from what he had imagined. He had to act subservient, like a dog. One day, he suddenly grew uncomfortable with this and decided to stop living that way.

So, he started wandering around. At first, it was less about enjoying travel and more about escaping everything that made him so uncomfortable. Later, he realized that no matter where he was, this was inevitable. Only then did he truly get used to it and even fall in love with the feeling of wandering.

He missed his parents greatly. He knew he had failed them. When he started wandering, he hadn’t thought about how his parents felt, and it was already too late to make amends. Of course, wandering wasn’t easy—most of the time during his journeys was spent working to earn money. But he had to admit that these wandering experiences had taught him a lot.

“What are you thinking about?” Just as Xiao Ran was lost in thought, a delicate voice reached his ears. He turned around and saw Yang Wei, her cheeks slightly red. Of course, Xiao Ran wasn’t stupid enough to think the redness was because of him; it must have been from being excited to see a famous star.

“Me? I wasn’t thinking about anything!” Xiao Ran glanced at the girl before him. Her beauty, so gentle it could melt even the hardest hearts, made his heart pound slightly. “How do you feel? What’s it like to meet your idols?”
“They’re not my idols. I just like them.” Yang Wei seemed to want to bicker with Xiao Ran, but she only pouted slightly in objection before exclaiming excitedly, “But I’m really happy to see them today. Thank you for bringing me!”
Xiao Ran smiled faintly. If it were in the past, he would probably have reacted the same way. Of course, he wouldn’t be as blind as an idol fan—he would simply appreciate and like them. Not wanting to discuss this topic any further, he changed the subject. “How’s your brother’s business?”
“It’s okay, I’m not too sure!” Yang Wei seemed a bit disappointed. Looking at the man with slightly dark skin before her, the moonlight casting silver glows on him gave him an indescribable charm that made her feel shy.
Xiao Ran nodded and invited Yang Wei to come in with him. He didn’t want to miss this good opportunity to make friends. From afar, he saw Lin Qingxia with Xiao Han, along with Zhang Manyu who had just arrived. He couldn’t help but walk over, thinking it was the beauty that attracted him.
“Xiao Han, stop pestering Sister Lin all the time!” Xiao Ran gently reprimanded Xiao Han, immediately drawing a glare from her along with a reply of “Mind your own business!”
The stunning Lin Qingxia smiled softly and said to Xiao Ran in somewhat unfluent Cantonese, “It’s no problem. I really like Xiao Han. By the way, we’ll soon have a chance to work together. You know about this, right?”
Xiao Ran was stunned for a moment before remembering that filming of 《Dao Ma Dan》 was about to begin. She must be referring to that. Clearly, his guess was wrong, as Lin Qingxia quickly proved it: “Director Xu is about to start shooting a new film, and he plans to have you play the lead male role in it.”
This time, Xiao Ran was truly stunned. If Lin Qingxia was referring to 《Dao Ma Dan》, then Zheng Haonan should be the lead male. This news shocked him and immediately led to some unfavorable thoughts. If it were true, wouldn’t that mean there had already been some changes in the history he knew?
However, Xiao Ran was well aware that his arrival here was already a variable. It was inevitable that events different from history would occur—only sooner or later. Of course, he would strive to delay such changes as much as possible to maintain his advantage.
After thinking it over and processing the news, Xiao Ran immediately decided that playing this role would bring no loss to him and little loss to Zheng Haonan either. So he shook his head at Lin Qingxia: “Director Xu hasn’t mentioned it to me yet, but I think he’ll tell me soon!”
At the thought of acting alongside Lin Qingxia, praised as the most beautiful woman in China, Xiao Ran’s heartbeat quickened by at least twice. Just for that reason alone, he had to agree. Of course, Lin Qingxia wasn’t aware of Xiao Ran’s selfish thoughts; otherwise, she might have slapped him.

“But to be honest, the script you wrote is really great. A man as talented as you…,” Lin Qingxia glanced at Xiao Ran in a suggestive manner before finishing, “are truly rare!”
What else could Xiao Ran say? Lin Qingxia was indeed much older than him, so calling him a boy wasn’t an exaggeration. Feeling awkward, he scratched his head and decided to protest, “Sis Lin, what about me that still makes me look like a boy? I don’t think so!”
Of course, Lin Qingxia was just joking. She could clearly see that Xiao Ran had a maturity and composure beyond his years, along with a touch of innocence. Hearing his protest, she couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Alright, let’s just consider you a man then! Speaking of this award ceremony, it’s really a pity you didn’t win any awards.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Most of the time, Xiao Ran acted quite maturely. Now, with an indifferent smile, he said, “I’m still young; I have plenty of opportunities!”
At that moment, Cheng Long came over with a glass full of wine, smiling warmly at Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia and saying, “So you were hiding here having a private talk. No wonder I couldn’t find you anywhere…”
Seeing Cheng Long approaching, Xiao Ran quickly stepped aside and pulled Xiao Han, who was standing nearby blinking and listening to their conversation, away from them. Earlier, Xiao Ran had seen a strange emotion in Cheng Long’s eyes. It seemed that Cheng Long’s secret crush on Lin Qingxia wasn’t just a rumor. He didn’t want Cheng Long to misunderstand anything, so he had to stay away from Lin Qingxia.
(Many friends have suggested that it would be best to include character introductions so that those who aren’t familiar with film industry figures can understand them. I thought I’d give it a try here. If everyone agrees and it doesn’t disturb their reading experience, I’ll try to include one at the end of each chapter from now on.)
Novel title — You Hai
Real name — You Naihai
Occupation: Screenwriter
You Naihai isn’t a well-known name, but in the hearts of film fans, he is undoubtedly a supreme figure. It’s almost certain that any film written by him is a classic. For film fans and critics who know how to analyze movies, You Naihai is the most important factor behind Derek Yee’s success. Without his scripts, it would be difficult for Derek Yee to achieve much more.
The most typical examples are *Dragon vs. Phoenix* and *The Big Event*. Without You Naihai’s involvement in writing them, these two films were immediately criticized harshly. However, when You Naihai participated in writing *Judo Dragon and Tiger*, the film became one of the top ten Hong Kong films recommended by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society last year. He is definitely a most talented and perceptive genius screenwriter. Some say that *Infernal Affairs* had its classic romance on the bus because of a French screenwriter, and it had its brilliant intellectual battles because of You Naihai. Many people believe that he is Hong Kong’s number one top screenwriter.
Notable works: *Gunfire*, *Infernal Affairs*, *Emergency*, *Dark Flowers*, *Suddenly*, *True Hero*, *Goodbye, Ah Lang*, *PTU*, *Big Boss*… Each of these is a classic. I feel I’d be failing him if I didn’t list them.