Chapter 746
The Hurricane Rescue That Killed Adam by Accident
That evening, Sin Yiu-man stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel alone, while Margarita was sent back to her residence. Before leaving, he not only gave her his share of the winnings from the card game but also advanced her $500 salary.
The next day.
I woke up early and, after my morning exercise, reminisced about Anna May Wong's appearance in my hotel room.
Anna May Wong's makeup features thin eyebrows, slanted eyes, and red lips, which is typical of Hollywood's "Oriental mystery" makeup, and doesn't suit her almond-shaped eyes, high nose bridge, and full lips at all.
She is 168 cm tall with a curvaceous figure. If she had fallen into his hands twenty years earlier, she would have been very versatile. Now, she is 46 years old, but she looks only six or seven years younger than her actual age. Even with makeup of a high level, she can only be portrayed as a middle-aged woman. She can no longer play a young woman and can only be positioned as a mature woman.
Based on Anna May Wong's appearance and her mature woman image, Sin Yiu-man began to conceive a story suitable for her.
This idea was different from the previous ones; it was a bit noisy. He was conceiving the idea while standing, gesturing wildly and occasionally striking various martial arts stances and fighting moves suitable for women. He already had several story elements in his mind—a retired female agent, her daughter or son being killed or captured, a rescue or revenge, and some cowgirl elements from the American westward expansion period.
During the westward expansion, Texas saw the emergence of many fierce and independent cowgirls. They were skilled riders and excellent marksmen, fighting Native Americans, crossing the border, and fighting Mexicans. Any one of them could easily be considered a strong female protagonist.
The female protagonist is named Long. She grew up in Texas and learned superb horsemanship and revolver skills. Her weapon is the classic Colt M1873 single-action revolver, a Western cowboy model, and her gun-drawing technique is as fast as lightning.
Born into a family of martial arts masters, he also honed his skills in killing enemies with a single move at the Fire Phoenix intelligence agency in a fictional country. His fighting style is fast, ruthless, and precise. He would never use fists or feet if he could use a dagger. With the dagger tucked in his belt, he would lift his clothes, pull out the dagger, stab the enemy twice, put the dagger back in his belt, and the whole process would take no more than 0.6 seconds.
The time limit was set at 0.6 seconds because this is the assessment standard for close bodyguards in public security and guard services, and bodyguards such as Xie Tingyun and Li Shiying, who were assigned to the Xian family, could all achieve it.
Any delay of more than 0.6 seconds renders the action meaningless. A skilled gunman could easily dodge, draw his weapon, and kill the protected target before being stabbed to death by the bodyguard. A bodyguard's duty is to protect, not to kill. Without the ability to protect, killing is pointless.
He intends to showcase something real in this project to assist Longdao's established plan to enter the military. However, if he is truly valued by the military of any country, he will most likely first enter the intelligence agency.
He can go wherever he wants; he just needs official endorsement to prove that Dragon Path is a good thing.
His mind was never idle, nor were his hands and feet. He was posing and drawing stick figures, depicting various moves in a very abstract way. There were also some comical and erotic moves of women fighting with men and women fighting with women, kicking men in the groin and punching women in the chest. Under the cover of ferocity, the eroticism was downplayed, and the scenes were not cut.
Hmm, we need to give Anna May Wong a big-breasted villain role, played by Zhang Zhongwen or Liu Qi, with a fighting style...
Sin Yiu-man stood up, put himself in Liu Qi's shoes, and imagined himself wearing a cheongsam. With a whoosh, he tore the cheongsam from a low slit to a high slit, then raised his leg and flicked, swept, and kicked at the face of the imagined enemy.
Then sit down, draw stick figures, and write a side note: To pass censorship, you need to design a pair of safety shorts with a prominent secret brand logo, and there must be a close-up shot of at least 1.5 seconds. The cheongsam is from the Princess and Gentlemen brand, and the character needs to say the brand name or design a scene of the Princess and Gentlemen store.
Well, the tearing must be done with feigned difficulty to demonstrate the strength of the fabric between the princess and the gentleman.
How can I express difficulty without it being too abrupt?
A strained expression appeared on his face, but his movements clearly paused. Huang Liushuang seized the opportunity and kicked him in the chest, then displayed leg skills even more dazzling than Huang Liushuang's...
Sin Yiu-man chose a contrasting approach, resulting in several stick figures.
Next, she pondered whether to add breast jiggles when showcasing her dazzling legwork, to attract male viewers and make female viewers jealous. Then, the plot would reverse, with her large breasts being vigorously punched, which would surely be satisfying and cathartic for female viewers, who would secretly think, "That bitch deserves it."
Yes, there needs to be some lines of dialogue before the fight to incite hatred among the female audience.
How to design it?
It's a bit difficult; we have to consider both the current social climate's acceptance level and getting it approved by censors.
Long deliberation...
The female villain's cover identity is either Zhang Zhongwen or Liu Qi, a female star at the film company (whoever plays her, her cover identity is the other person's name). She has an affair with the company boss, and her first scene is when she is on the phone with the boss's wife, using all sorts of foul language and mocking her for not having breasts.
Well, the boss's surname is Sin, his given name is omitted, and the boss's wife's surname is omitted, her given name is Kayan. Oh right, she also has to be half Chinese and half foreign, so that Hong Kong audiences can more easily guess that Sin is Sin Yiu-man, so that the pleasure will explode faster and more intensely.
The film company in the movie is named "Zhou's," so the audience can guess that Jiaxin is alluding to Zhou Ruoyun.
Should we add the sound of Jiaxin making Xian kneel down and slapping her in the background of the phone call?
Should he be photographed on the street with a flushed face the day after the premiere?
Forget it, he doesn't have the time. If Yaowu is available, let him go...
Come on, this is going too far!
Sin Yiu-man crossed out a side note and continued brainstorming.
As time went by, Sin Yiu-man's story became more complete, and even a rough storyboard had been drawn up.
After serving in Fire Phoenix for many years, Dragon grew tired of the life of fighting and killing. She faked her death and returned to her birthplace, Texas, where she bought a small farm and married an ordinary man (whose specific identity will not be revealed for now; in the event of a sequel, he could be retired agent Jason Bourne or assassin Jackal; well, he won't appear on screen for now, to allow for flexible racial arrangements in the sequel), and had a daughter.
On her daughter's sixteenth birthday, Long drove out to buy a cake. On her way home, she encountered two cars that exuded a dangerous aura. She noticed them and pulled out a revolver from somewhere in the car (this introduces Long's fierceness). However, the two cars passed each other without anything happening. It's just that the rear windows of both cars were covered with something, so she couldn't see what was going on inside.
Back home, Long discovers signs of a struggle and her daughter is missing. She immediately connects the incident to the mysterious vehicle and gives chase in a cool car (a series of close-ups of driving and vehicles, perfect for inserting a car advertisement, no discussion below $20).
The chase was a series of chases showcasing the coolness and performance of various vehicles. When they reached a fork in the road, Long got out of the car and looked at the tire tracks. She realized that the two cars had gone their separate ways. She calmly squatted down, wiped her hand on the tire tracks, and smelled them. "The rubber smell is very strong, and the tires are badly worn."
Then he wiped the tire tracks on another car. "The rubber smell is very faint, and the tires don't have much wear. They should be tires (product placement, less than $5 is out of the question). This car is in much better condition."
As soon as he finished speaking, Long got into his car and drove off towards the side road behind him.
The chase continues, with various billboards displaying advertisements. The chase eventually reaches the entrance of the (embedded advertisement) store, where the target vehicle is finally caught (the method of catching up depends on the amount of advertising fees paid by the car brand, whether the target vehicle breaks down or the dragon's driving skills).
The close-up shot focuses on Long, who is sitting in the car. She picks up her gun belt, fastens it to her waist, slowly pushes open the door and gets out of the car. She glances at the target vehicle, and suddenly the camera speeds up. She leans back, her right hand sweeps across her waist, and the revolver is in her hand. Her left hand pulls the hammer with lightning speed, and her right index finger pulls the trigger. She kills three targets in just 0.52 seconds.
When the target is hit, the animation switches to an X-ray effect, showing the bullet entering the chest, passing between the second and third ribs, and then flipping and piercing the heart (achieved through animation technology, with a strong sense of realism).
Dragon slowly blew a breath toward the muzzle of the gun, quickly loading three bullets (detail: the spent cartridge cases are put into the back pocket of the "Kennedy jeans", a close-up of the hip and thigh), and put the gun into the holster.
The background music, "Titoli," begins, and Long walks slowly toward the corpse and the target vehicle with a cat-like gait and swaying hips (a close-up of Goodluck cowboy boots from behind). The camera pans up to waist height for a close-up of her left hand holding the lighter.
The way to light the lighter next depends on the brand of the lighter featured in the advertisement. If it's Zippo, light it on the outside of your thigh; if it's Dunhill, lower the background music and emphasize the "ding" sound of the lighter.
Hold the cigarette in your other hand and take a close-up of the cigarette pack (depending on the cigarette advertising negotiations, it may be necessary to produce close-up shots of cigarette packs for different brand markets; cigarette advertising is easier to get, so the probability of needing this is higher, "pay attention to the copy budget").
As Long lights a cigarette, he exhales smoke with a cool air. The camera follows the smoke, capturing the deliveryman who comes out of the hamburger shop to deliver food. Upon seeing the corpse, he is so frightened that he sits down on his backside, and the paper bag containing the hamburger flies into the air. The camera follows the shot, focusing on the brand logo on the paper bag.
A hamburger bun flies out of a paper bag and lands on the ground before the bag. The camera follows the bun, capturing the filling bouncing on the ground, first highlighting how thick and plentiful the filling is, and then capturing the process of ketchup splattering, giving the audience a hint that there is a lot of ketchup and the film will be very bloody.
Note: This is not an advertisement. Friends only realized belatedly that their product had been included in the film, and in a "bad" shot at that. They then filed a lawsuit against Friendship Films, launching a high-profile legal battle.
The lawsuit needs to be meticulous, with the size of the hamburger bun accurate to the square milliliter and the weight of the filling and ketchup accurate to the grain. The lawsuit accuses Friendship Film Studio of irresponsibility, claiming that the hamburger bun wasn't actually that big, and the filling and ketchup weren't that thick or that much.
The legal process must be transparent, with each step announced to the American public through the media.
Further note: Use lawsuits to push for film screenings in the United States (before the project started, register a branch of Friendship Film Company in the United States, and the project will be carried out under the name of the US branch).
The dragon approached a corpse, turned it over, lifted the hem of its clothes, grabbed the belt and pulled it down, revealing a fiery phoenix tattooed on its waist...
Sin Yiu-man removed the phoenix from the painting and replaced it with a barcode.
The principle of barcodes is to use lines to represent Morse code. Once you understand the principle, developing a barcode is as simple as adding a number. This patent rightfully belongs to Parrot.
After thinking it over again, he added the number "13" to the end of the barcode, making the villain's identity immediately clear.
Long's expression immediately turned serious. "Squad 13."
She unbuckled the corpse's belt, pulled down its trousers to examine it, and found that the corpse was wearing a soldier's trousers (the loincloth worn by Japanese soldiers). She pointed out the corpse's identity as a Japanese soldier without explicitly stating it, so that if the Japanese side investigated, there would be room for excuses.
Upon seeing the soldier's trousers, she instantly realized that her old nemesis had come to her door, and that the other car had no chance of catching up. All she could do was go home and wait for a call to hear what her old nemesis wanted to force her to do by kidnapping her daughter.
The scene shifts, and the dragon appears in the bathroom. There's no showering scene; the camera jumps directly to a dressing scene. The camera moves from a pair of new jeans up to her waist and then pans from her hips to give her waist a close-up. There's a barcode on her waist, but the number isn't 13; it's "777".
The camera pans up again, capturing the scene in the bathroom mirror—Long is already wearing a Goodluck men's shirt and is slowly buttoning it up, one button after another. When he gets to the second to last button, the camera gives a close-up of the gun scar on his collarbone, once again hinting that Long's identity is extraordinary.
The scene shifts to the kitchen, where Long pulls out gun parts, bullets, grenades, and other weapons from various unbelievable corners and objects (mainly food packaging). Finally, she presses a mechanism, causing the stove to rise and revealing a hidden compartment underneath. She retrieves a metal box (the packaging for cookies or other food is yet to be determined, as this will be more expensive) from the compartment, opens it, and finds a stack of passports and US dollars, British pounds, and Hong Kong dollars.
Long took a Taiwanese passport from his passport and a stack of Hong Kong dollars.
The scene shifts to the airplane, where Lung has a nightmare recalling a killing scene from his time as a secret agent (fragmented shots of shooting or massacres; shooting a panoramic view would be too expensive). After waking up from the nightmare, the scene shifts back to his home, where Lung is on the phone. The voice on the other end says, "Lung, long time no see. Hong Kong, the usual place, I'm waiting for you."
The scene cuts back to the plane, where Long recalls again (starting with war footage taken by the British and American militaries, what exciting and clear material could be obtained, and which battle Long's previous mission was related to).
The flashback ends, and the scene shifts to outside the airport. Long gets into a taxi, and the driver says in perfect British accent, "Welcome to Hong Kong. (Product placement) Zhang Yang Company is at your service, ma'am. What's your destination?"
"Litchi Garden".
"King's Road Ritz Garden Nightclub?"
"Yes."
(Zhang Yang delivers a humorous advertisement for Ritz Garden, still collecting the advertising fee.)
The camera continued to focus on Zhang Yang, who hummed "La Isla Bonita" by the blonde bombshells and talked about the group (pointing out the characteristics of each member and how popular the group was in Hong Kong). But Lung was not in the mood to pay attention. He was too highbrow and didn't want to listen to anyone. Zhang Yang shut up and focused on driving.
Upon arriving at Ritz Garden, after Lung paid the fare and got out of the car, Cheung Yeung leaned out of the window and said in a humorous tone, "If you need a car, contact 'Company Name' Cheung Yeung. I'm a superstar, everyone in Hong Kong knows me, 'Hasta la vista, baby'."
"Hasta la vista, baby," a slang term brought back to the United States by American veterans from the Korean War in 1951, was used by veterans in bars and on the streets, becoming a way to appear cool. This slang has remained popular for a long time, even appearing in the film *Terminator 2*.
Long glanced at Zhang Yang, watched the car drive away, and noted down the license plate.
The camera zooms in on the license plate. At the end of the film, Zhang Yang appears on the "battlefield" after the party has ended. The victorious but wounded Long embraces his now-mature daughter and gets into his car.
"Zhang, to the airport."
Zhang Yang gestured towards the battlefield with his chin, "You did this?"
"uh-huh."
"Cool!"
The film concludes with another popular 1951 slang term, "Cool," with a decision on whether to add a post-credits scene depending on the circumstances.
Superstar James Bond, accompanied by his "Bond Girl" companion, approaches Zhang Yang, inviting him to star in the British film company "Od Montagu's" big-budget "007". However, upon arriving in London, he is taken to MI5's secret training base.
It turns out that Bond wasn't looking for an actor, but rather an assistant.
In the final scene, Zhang Yang, having learned the truth, utters two popular British phrases from 1951: "Oh dear! The New Elizabethan Age?"
If possible, Sin Yiu-man plans to include Cheung Yeung in the 007 project, thereby paving the way for Friendship Films' leading man to become a star on the world stage and creating a role model for Friendship Films.
Easter eggs are not part of the film's content; they are advertisements. Whether or not they are included depends on negotiations with the distributor and theaters.
Since the early days of cinema, there have been slideshow advertisements. In the 1920s, there were also pre- and post-credits advertisements. Today, this advertising model is basically mature, and if production companies want to make a profit from this area, they must fight a fierce and protracted battle.
Ironically, once he makes a major foray into the cinema industry, he will surely launch another war—from the perspective of the cinema chain, demanding the return of the profits that should belong to the cinema chain from the producers and distributors.
You guys are insatiable! Are you even human? You want a share of the revenue from pre-roll ads?
His stance is determined by his interests; whichever interest he favors more, that's where his stance will be.
Sin Yiu-man continued refining the plot in his notebook, marking out every possible advertising placement. He would first mark out all the possible placements, then make a selection during the project discussion phase. Only after visiting potential clients and calculating the total advertising cost would he finally make a decision.
A movie should maintain its dignity; it can't really become a compilation of advertisements.
He does have this idea, but he's afraid that Eastern audiences will curse his ancestors to the Yellow Emperor, while Western audiences will curse Jehovah.
Long turned his head to look at the sign for Ritz Garden...
"Adam."
Hepburn's voice interrupted Sin Yiu-man's writing.
Sin Yiu-man put down his pen and looked at Hepburn, who was craning her neck to look at the notebook. "It seems you don't think that we need to protect each other's privacy."
Hepburn grinned slightly, a bright smile appearing on her face like the sweltering heat of early summer. "I'm just curious about what you're writing."
“A new project.” Xian Yaowen closed his notebook, rubbed his hands together and smiled. “Since you’re here, let’s start with an interesting question.”
"what is the problem?"
Were there three or four men in your bed last night?
Hepburn pouted. "Adam, you're getting more and more stingy. Does revenge have to come so quickly?"
"Wow, this is your privacy."
Hepburn raised an eyebrow slightly, covered her mouth and laughed, "Stingy man."
Sin Yiu-man handed the notebook to Tse Ting-yun, grabbed Hepburn's wrist, and gently pulled her down onto his lap.
He lifted Hepburn's hair and examined the split ends. "Your hair is much better than last year."
With one hand on Sin Yiu-man's shoulder and her eyes closed, Hepburn said lazily, "After meeting you, I had the means, so I've been paying close attention to taking care of my hair."
"Would you feel it's a pity if you cut your hair short?"
Why cut it short?
Do you know why it's Princess Anne?
"Roman Holiday?"
"uh-huh."
"do not know."
"Do you know that the royal family is very lazy, using the same few names generation after generation?"
Great Britain?
Instead of answering, Sin Yiu-man asked, "You should know Margaret Ross, right?"
"Your Highness?"
"uh-huh."
"I've seen her news in the newspaper."
Do you know Judith of the Montague family?
I've seen the name in the same news article, but I've never met the person in person.
“One day while I was in London, I went to the Whitby Prospect Pub and met Margaret and Judy, which is what I call Judith. That night, after the pub, Judy and I spent a wonderful night at her holiday home.”
"You slept together after only meeting once?" Hepburn asked, her voice tinged with sarcasm.
"Is there a problem?"
"Who takes the initiative, you or her?"
Sin Yiu-man chuckled and said, "So, after going through so much and so much time has passed, you suddenly reverted to being my girlfriend and started getting jealous?"
“I’m not jealous, I just…” Hepburn paused for a moment and then said, “I just suddenly felt that you didn’t like me that much back then, otherwise, given your personality, you would have slept with me very quickly.”
"Ha, silly girl, quite the opposite. It's precisely because I care about you that I'm taking things slowly." Xian Yaowen waved his hand. "Alright, it's all in the past. Don't dwell on it anymore. Let me continue."
"Ok."
"Judy and I are now business partners. With shared interests, we can share secrets, such as news about Margaret. I became interested in her after first seeing her name in the newspaper."
I went to the British Library and the Municipal Library, consulted many newspapers, and read Margaret's articles one by one.
An article in the Evening Standard last March described how, when Margaret was born, Queen Elizabeth intended to name her Anne, but King George VI preferred Margaret, in honor of his mother, Princess Margaret.
"Princess Anne was modeled after Princess Margaret?" Hepburn raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised.
"It should be said to be the main prototype, not the whole."
"So, I should get a short haircut like hers?"
“Your face shape doesn’t suit that kind of short hair. You need to cut it even shorter.” Sin Yiu-man gestured on Hepburn’s hair. “I feel like this is about right, but it’s still better to listen to the professional’s opinion. Clay has arranged an appointment with Margaret for you to design a few options.”
Hepburn exclaimed excitedly, "Warner Bros.' Margaret Donovan?"
"You know her?"
"Warner Bros.' chief hairstylist, who only designs hairstyles for heavyweight stars, is known to everyone in Hollywood."
Sin Yiu-man pinched Hepburn's cheek. "You know that's good. Hiring her comes at a high price. Don't do anything reckless until you've helped me earn tens of millions of dollars. If my investment in you goes down the drain, I'll make you pay."
Hepburn turned to look at Sin Yiu-man and asked with a grin, "What would you do?"
"Don't be so curious. I'll let you know when it's time." Sin Yiu-man patted Hepburn's shapely buttocks. "Get up. I'll give you the room. The hairstylist, makeup artist, fashion designer, jewelry designer, and shoemaker will all come here to serve you. Enjoy being the center of attention. I'll come back tonight to see how it goes."
"Are you going out?"
Sin Yiu-man lifted Hepburn up, then stood up and straightened his clothes. “Since the company opened, it has accumulated a lot of bills, but not a single cent has been earned. Before the shareholders question me, I need to do something to change the status quo.”
"It's Sunday today, what can you do?"
Sin Yiu-man walked to the wardrobe, took out a tie and gestured to Hepburn, who then came to him to tie the tie for him.
He ran his fingers through his hair a few times, styled it, and glanced at himself in the full-length mirror. “There are many things to do on Sundays. For example, the other day my Italian friend mentioned that young Italians are becoming more and more Americanized, as if they want to become like Americans. This gave me some inspiration, and I plan to write a song called ‘Tu Vuo' Fa' L'americano’.”
"You want to be an American?"
"You want to be an American (Yankees), maybe you'll be used in Roman Holiday. By the way, your Italian is improving pretty fast."
"Of course, I put in a lot of effort to play Princess Anne well."
Xian Yaowen chuckled lightly and said calmly, "The Korean War spurred the manufacturing of airplanes, automobiles, and weapons, leading to a surge in hiring at factories in Detroit and Chicago. Los Angeles and San Diego, as aerospace centers, also saw a large influx of workers."
Texas oil and West Virginia coal attracted a large number of drilling workers and miners.
In the South, the mechanization of cotton and tobacco farming led to unemployment among Black and white sharecroppers, who migrated to northern industrial cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland.
The textile industry in New England shifted to the Carolinas, where high costs in northern textile mills made the cheap, non-unionized labor in the South attractive.
Los Angeles and New York began to suburb, with white blue-collar families moving to the suburbs and ethnic minorities remaining in the city's slums.
Hollywood attracts British girls from the Netherlands, and Dutch girls from England—not Dutch, not British—who come here to pursue their dreams. Some succeed, but many more fail.
At this point, Sin Yiu-man licked his lips and softly hummed "500 Miles".
"If you missed the train I'm on, You will know that I am gone, You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.
A hundred miles, a hundred miles, A hundred miles, A hundred miles, You can hear the whistle blow A hundred miles.”
Hepburn's hand hovered there, caught in the vortex of the music.
"Lord, I'm one, Lord, I'm two, Lord, I'm three, Lord, I'm four, Lord, I'm five hundred miles away from home..."
As the song faded, Hepburn paused, then paused again, and finally emerged from the song after a long while, sighing softly, "Adam, your talent is truly enviable. Why can't you just be a foolish rich man?"
"In fact, wealth does not favor fools. If you see a fool who is very rich, it's not that you are foolish, but that God disliked the previous money pool for being too slow in releasing money out, so money flows like water into the hands of more believers."
Hepburn hugged Sin Yiu-man's neck and asked, "Is God doing this?"
“Who knows?” Sin Yiu-man shrugged. “But good things are always done by God, aren’t they?”
Hepburn smiled gently. "This song is for me?"
"Hmm, you can tell people that this song was co-written by you and SP Smith. Of course, if someone asks for details, you can only say that most of the lyrics were your idea."
Why can't we sing the tune?
"What do you say?"
Hepburn paused for a moment, then said, "I would rather say it was a gift from a close friend."
"According to your."
"Thank you."
“God favors English girls from the Netherlands.” Sin Yiu-man pinched Hepburn’s nose.
"Huh, why 500 miles, and not some other distance?"
"Union Pacific Railroad uses 500 miles as the benchmark distance for long-distance travel, such as Chicago to St. Louis, which is about 500 miles. Train fare tables and timetables often use 500-mile segmented fare standards."
Under normal circumstances, 500 miles is the maximum daily distance traveled by car.
"So, 500 miles means it's far from home?"
"Well, of course, there's also the reason that 'Five hundred miles' fits the iambic rhythm better. If it doesn't rhyme, the two points mentioned earlier become meaningless."
"Hahaha." (End of Chapter)