Chapter 148: Creation of "Face Changing"
Liu Hongmin sealed the ancient books and asked Ma Weidu to take them back to the capital and give them to Ge Chaoguang and others for research.
Zou Shifang was still writing the script, and Liu Hongmin was a bit idle, sitting in the office with nothing to do. Thinking of Yang Guiren's words, he decided to write another novel to make money.
The first choice was naturally a suspense novel. After some screening, Liu Hongmin chose a movie to adapt.
"Face/Off", an action movie directed by Wu Yushen and starring Cage and Travolta. Cage plays a terrorist who wants to kill the agent played by Travolta, but ends up killing Travolta's son by mistake. As a result, the two have an irreconcilable feud. Travolta arrested Cage, but he didn't expect that Cage had already installed a rage bomb in a crowded place. In order to find out the whereabouts of the rage bomb, Travolta swapped faces with Cage and approached Cage's brother.
However, when Cage woke up, he found that his face had been replaced. So he escaped from prison, killed all those who knew about it, and lived as Travolta.
In the final showdown of the film, the two people, who have exchanged identities, pointed their guns at the mirror. The person in the mirror is both themselves and their mortal enemy, which makes the showdown between the two people full of fate.
The whole film is full of Wu's violent aesthetics, which is very exciting. However, how to describe these wonderful scenes in words is a huge challenge.
Liu Hongmin found the joy of creation after a long time. He went through the whole movie in his mind and then created the outline. The story is still set in Hong Kong. Travolta plays the role of Sean, the captain of the Flying Tigers.
Cage plays a character called Conse, who is set to be a gangster from the Yue Monkey Gang. The Yue Monkey Gang is very famous in Hong Kong. They are basically veterans from the battlefield, and their behavior style can be described as crazy.
The rest do not need to be changed too much, as Hong Kong has basically all of them. The only thing that is a bit out of place is that the plastic surgery seems a bit sci-fi. However, this is also an attempt. If readers can accept this style, Liu Hongmin will continue to write sci-fi novels in the future.
Zou Shifang encountered difficulties again and came over with the manuscript. He glanced at Liu Hongmin's manuscript and couldn't help asking, "Is this a new novel you wrote?"
"Yes, a crime novel."
"Face Changing?" Zou Shifang frowned, not quite understanding the name. "The name is a bit weird."
"In the novel, the heroes and villains transform into each other through plastic surgery."
Zou Shifang opened his mouth, "Is this still possible?"
He looked at Liu Hongmin with admiration. No wonder Liu Hongmin could become a great writer! His mind was full of ideas, and any one of them would make people applaud.
Liu Hongmin put down the manuscript and took over Zou Shifang's manuscript. "What's the problem again?"
Zou Shifang quickly told his problem. Seeing that the filming of "Justice Bao 7" was about to be completed, he was extremely anxious! If the script could not be completed, the filming might be delayed, thus affecting the company's plan. He had 10% of the company's shares, and the dividends in the past two years had exceeded millions of Hong Kong dollars. After the appreciation of the Japanese yen, the benefits would be even greater, and by then any dividends would be worth tens of millions.
It had only been a short time since he came to Hong Kong, but he had already become a small wealthy man. In another ten or eight years, he might even be able to buy a villa in Repulse Bay.
The creation of "Face Changing" is a bit difficult, but Liu Hongmin never tires of it. When he returns to the villa, facing the youthful and beautiful Li Lizhen, he sometimes loses his focus.
Li Lizhen was more tactful than Lan Jieying. She knew that Liu Hongmin was busy writing a novel, so she didn't bother him. When there was work, she went to work. When there was no work, she would go shopping, have beauty treatments, and watch movies with a few girlfriends. She didn't go to places like nightclubs anymore. She knew Liu Hongmin's thoughts too well.
All men are the same. They think about other people's things, but don't allow others to touch their own things. They are the typical ones who eat from their own bowl while looking at what's in other people's bowls.
Li Lizhen knows how to put herself in the right position. It's okay to have a little fight, act like a spoiled child, or make excessive demands. But when it comes to issues of principle, she will never touch them.
If she loses Liu Hongmin as a support, she may live a miserable life in the future. Having experienced the life of a rich person, Li Lizhen cannot accept becoming poor again. Just like she tested Liu Hongmin before, if Liu Hongmin really wants to find another woman, she will endure it silently.
Fortunately, Liu Hongmin kept his word and never looked for other women except her.
When Yang Guiren heard that Liu Hongmin was writing a new novel, he happily came to him.
"I haven't written it yet!" Liu Hongmin said speechlessly.
Yang Guiren insisted on reading the manuscript, so Liu Hongmin could only show him the finished manuscript. The word count of "Face Changing" is not very long, about 100,000 words. Liu Hongmin only wrote about 30,000 words, just to the point where Kang Si escaped from prison.
"Change your face?" Yang Guiren was pleasantly surprised. "This is a great idea. Brother Liu, are you planning to change your style?"
"Not really. There are still a lot of suspense elements in it." Liu Hongmin said, "Suspense, crime, and detective novels have a lot in common, but they just focus on different things."
Yang Guiren put the manuscript down and couldn't wait to take out the letter of intent from his bag.
"Again?" Liu Hongmin asked in confusion, "Is Sanlian trying to promote it in advance again?"
"That's right!" Yang Guiren said, "Because the return time has been confirmed, Hong Kong is a bit turbulent. Many writers have left, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for us to collect manuscripts. So President Zou wants to do a promotion like last time to let people see that writing books can make money, so as to attract new writers."
Liu Hongmin nodded, and he understood the situation of Sanlian Publishing House.
"Why don't you get books from the mainland?"
Yang Guiren spread his hands, "The mainland is dominated by serious literature, and some of them are not suitable for the Hong Kong market. If we want to publish, we need to be very selective. This is President Zou who has already started selecting people and is preparing to screen novels published in various magazines."
"This is a lot of work. There are hundreds of magazines in the mainland."
"There's nothing we can do about it. We don't know much about the cultural circles in the mainland."
"You can set up an office in Beijing, just like Tomorrow Film Company. As long as you attend parties regularly, it should be easy to find suitable works."
"It costs more money this way, right?"
Liu Hongmin spread his hands and said, "Why don't you hire a few mainland writers? As long as they understand the selection criteria, they should be able to easily select suitable works."
"This is a solution!"
Yang Guiren said, "How about you help us choose some?"
Liu Hongmin waved his hand, "Don't do that. Although I write novels, I don't read them much. You might as well go to Lao Zou instead of me. He used to be an editor and is much better than me. So, I'll recommend a few people to you. They are all engaged in literary work. As long as they recommend a book, you can give them one thousand Hong Kong dollars."
"I'll go back and discuss this with President Zou."
(End of this chapter)
