Chapter 5: Leaping Over the Dragon Gate

The next day, Xiao Ran looked at his slightly red-eyed reflection in the mirror and couldn’t help but laugh at himself. He had always disdained personal admiration, yet now he was so nervous just to see Xu Ke, which inadvertently went against his usual beliefs.

New Art City was founded in Hong Kong and Kowloon, starting with an office that was only 1,000 feet square (converted to familiar units later in the text). However, New Art City quickly made a fortune and now occupied the top floor, with an office ten times larger than the original. The old office was turned into a “Friends of New Art City” club.

Although casual clothing didn’t exist in that era, Xiao Ran still avoided wearing suits, as it made him feel uncomfortable. There were few people in the elevator, which made him feel much more at ease. When he entered New Art City’s main building, he saw several large characters behind the reception desk.

Entering this film company he had admired for a long time, he saw laughter and joy rather than a tense atmosphere. The employees occasionally chatted or moved around, creating a friendly vibe. Xiao Ran thought this might be one of the reasons for New Art City’s success.

Someone led Xiao Ran to Xu Ke’s office door, knocked, and heard an energetic voice from inside: “Come in!”

Xiao Ran took a deep breath, trying to suppress his excitement, and pushed the door open to enter. The office wasn’t very large—much smaller than the executive offices of some large corporations. The only advantage was the view from the window.

Sitting behind the desk was a lean young man. Xiao Ran’s heart pounded wildly as he kept reminding himself that this was Xu Ke, the genius from Hong Kong. Xu Ke looked up at Xiao Ran, paused for a moment as if remembering something, then chuckled awkwardly, “You’re Xiao Ran?”

“Director Xu, I am Xiao Ran!” Feeling the urge to rush forward and ask for a signature, Xiao Ran almost slapped himself to calm down.

It wasn’t that Xiao Ran was emotional—he simply didn’t admire actors or celebrities. But for a talented director like Xu Ke, he truly admired and even respected him. Fortunately, his admiration wasn’t as fanatical as that of ordinary celebrities; it was more about appreciation, so he quickly regained his composure.

Xu Ke smiled, stood up, stretched, then left his desk and said to Xiao Ran, “The script you wrote, ‘True to Heroism,’ is excellent. I want to buy it and turn it into a movie. What do you think?”

Only a fool would refuse such an offer. Besides, it was already destined to be next year’s box-office hit—how could Xiao Ran say no? He nodded, smiled, and stood up, saying, “If I didn’t want to make it into a movie, why would I have written it?”

“Xiao Ran, after reading this script, I think you’re very talented. Are you interested in joining New Art City?” Xu Ke suddenly turned to look at Xiao Ran, his eyes holding a gaze that made it impossible for Xiao Ran to refuse.

A surge of excitement washed over Xiao Ran. He actually had the chance to work with someone as formidable as Xu Ke? At the thought of it, he couldn’t help but want to laugh wildly to express his excitement. But knowing the rules of the business world, he understood one thing: if you wanted to achieve a goal, you must never reveal your intentions to the other party in order to secure greater benefits.

After the initial excitement faded, he quickly thought of more serious issues. Many future great figures in Hong Kong’s film industry came from TVB, and from what he knew in his dreams, New Art City seemed to have a good relationship with ATV. Li Zhi, the lead actress in “Seven Years Itch,” was borrowed by New Art City from ATV. It was well-known worldwide that TVB and ATV were rivals. In short, if he joined New Art City, he might have no chance of meeting the big names from TVB.

After pondering for a while, he still made up his mind. A long-term contract with TVB was something he could hardly accept, and he didn’t like to be restricted. With that in mind, he smiled faintly and said, “I’m sorry, Director Xu. I’m more used to freedom. Signing a contract isn’t really suitable for me.”

Xu Ke showed deep regret in his eyes. He had carefully studied the script and believed it had great potential. But he wasn’t angry at all; instead, he said generously, “That’s understandable. But it seems you have talent in this area. Don’t give up!”

“Of course!” Xiao Ran smiled slightly. Refusing his idol like this was even hard for him to bear. “I’ll keep writing scripts. If you’re interested, I’ll get in touch with you in the future!”

“How much do you plan to charge for this script?” Seeing that nothing could be done, Xu Ke laughed regretfully and said, “Don’t ask too much. Our company is quite poor!”

Hearing Xu Ke’s words, Xiao Ran inwardly groaned. He had no idea how much it cost to buy such a script these days! Xu Ke thought for a moment, clearly lacking such experience, and also looked troubled. Xiao Ran understood this—New Art City already had many screenwriters, so there was no need to spend money on buying ones.

Xiao Ran also had no concept of script prices. In Hollywood, a good script could probably fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars these days. Especially in the late 1990s and 2000s, Hollywood paid millions for scripts, or even just for a good idea.

The only thing he knew was that when New Art City insisted on having Hsu Kuan-jie star in “Best Partners,” Hsu’s demand was one million. At that time, five hundred thousand could already buy a villa, and one million was enough to make a movie. But that was years ago. “Best Partners” became an instant hit, and other film companies quickly adopted its high-investment approach.

“Fifty thousand. If it does well at the box office, there will be bonuses too. What do you think?” After thinking for a while, Xu Ke finally offered a price. Now, Xiao Ran somewhat understood Xu Ke—probably because Xu wasn’t very sensitive to money. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent a whole hundred million on making “The Legend of Shushan” in his dream.

Xiao Ran certainly had no objections; his script was originally a plagiarism of the idea from his dreams. If he had been too fussy about details, he would have hated himself. The matter was settled like that. At that moment, a relatively tall and slim woman pushed the door open and said, “A Ke… Huh, is there someone here?”
“He’s a very talented screenwriter—the one who showed you that script a few days ago,” Xu Ke introduced Xiao Ran to the woman, then introduced the woman to Xiao Ran: “She’s Shi Nansheng, my wife, in charge of the company’s financial management!”
Even before Shi Nansheng entered, Xiao Ran had a vague suspicion. Shi Nansheng was definitely an outstanding woman. If Xu Ke didn’t have such an excellent wife, it would be hard for him to achieve the success he had in his dreams.
Shi Nansheng was quite delicate in her youth. Xiao Ran smiled at her, nodded politely, and said, “Mrs. Shi, hello. I’m Xiao Ran!”
Shi Nansheng smiled quickly. She sat down and said to Xiao Ran, who also sat down, “Your script is very good. Although its title sounds similar to that 1960s movie ‘The Heroic Spirit,’ the content is almost entirely new.”
“You flatter me. It was just a sudden inspiration!” Xiao Ran felt a bit embarrassed. He understood how screenwriters made money—getting the first payment after submitting a good script to a film company, and the final payment after the company finished filming. Of course, if the box office did well, screenwriters would also receive a share of the profits.
After leaving the company, he didn’t go home right away but wandered around the streets. Since his strange encounter, he hadn’t explored Hong Kong at all! With 25,000 dollars in his pocket, it would be a shame not to take a look around.
Walking on the street, Xiao Ran looked around like a country bumpkin. As he unconsciously turned his head toward the center of the road, a luxury sports car sped by and stopped outside the shopping mall ahead. The first thing Xiao Ran saw was a pair of fair, delicate calves that made him want to bite them. Just those calves alone already disturbed his thoughts.
Next, what appeared before his eyes was a stunning face—features so perfectly beautiful and harmonious that they were beyond description. Despite his experience, Xiao Ran couldn’t help but feel his heart pounding violently, as if he couldn’t breathe.
It was a breathtaking beauty, a serene and composed face of unparalleled elegance. Xiao Ran’s breathing stopped, as if he feared that even a breath might defile this fairy-like woman. Even after she left, he remained standing there, motionless. Looking at the people around him, the waiters stared wide-eyed, as if they wanted to swallow her whole, completely forgetting their duties.
In this era, Xiao Ran couldn’t help but compare her to movie stars. She combined Lin Qingxia’s grace and charm with an extra sense of allure and tranquility. In terms of appearance, she was even more beautiful than any movie star he had ever seen.

He took a deep breath, taking a long time to calm down his turbulent emotions. In his view, for someone to reach such a level of beauty was already extremely rare in the world. He just didn’t know who this woman was—she had such stunning looks and seemed quite wealthy as well. But so what if she was pretty? Xiao Ran wasn’t someone easily distracted by beauty.

He wandered around before finally finding a rental advertisement in Xiaoxi Bay. After reading it carefully, he found the conditions to be quite good. The only issue was that it required sharing the apartment!

Xiao Ran wasn’t sure how the practice of sharing apartments had become popular, but he was certain that it only emerged in the late 1990s. And it was already 1985—it was strange to see sharing apartments already in use!

Anyway, he thought he should give it a try. Soon, he found an apartment that was indeed nice—located in a series of private residential buildings, part of a residential complex. Once he located the exact address, he pressed the doorbell.

After a while, the door opened, and a young man in his early twenties appeared. The young man asked doubtfully, “Who are you?”

“Looking for an apartment!” Xiao Ran said with a smile, waving the rental advertisement he had just torn off. The young man was momentarily stunned before inviting him in.

Inside, Xiao Ran saw another young man sitting on the sofa and smiled indifferently. The one who opened the door must be the landlord. He chuckled and said to the two of them, “I never thought that after posting that rental ad for a month with no interest, two people would show up all at once!”

After introducing themselves, the so-called landlord was named Wei Dongling. Actually, he too was renting the apartment—the real landlord had immigrated to Canada. As for the other young man, who seemed quite strong, he introduced himself with a smile, “I’m You Zhi. You can just call me Ah You!”

“You’re You Zhi?” Hearing this name suddenly, Xiao Ran jumped up in surprise and exclaimed!