Chapter 284: 283 Movie, Wuhan Headquarters Meeting, Job Report And Arrangements
“Everyone, let’s part ways here. We’ll meet again when fate allows.”
Fang Wen stood up to bid farewell.
The people in the salon all stood up to see him off.
Mr. Liang saw Fang Wen to the door and said in a low voice, “You want to change your appearance, right? The room next door hasn’t been rented out yet. I have the landlord’s key.”
He opened the room across the way, Fang Wen went in alone, and when he came out again, he had already become a stranger.
“Take care.” Mr. Liang and Mr. Lin watched Fang Wen go downstairs.
Fang Wen walked out of the residential building and looked around, but all around were Chen Suoxin leading Axe Gang members dressed in plain clothes on guard.
They weren’t making any fuss just because the leadership had changed.
It seemed that the Axe Gang members were quite rule-abiding under Chen Suoxin, which made Fang Wen feel somewhat relieved.
He strolled down the street and stopped at the roadside. Chen Suoxin, disguised as a passerby, was holding a newspaper nearby reading it while quietly reporting the situation.
“General Manager, there’s no situation here, but if you go to the film company side, it’s very close to the Japanese control area. I’m afraid it’s dangerous. How about I make the arrangements?”
“How would you arrange it?” Fang Wen asked.
“I’ve already sent Liu Yinshou over. As long as you agree, he will invite the director and screenwriter responsible for that movie to the nearby tea house in the capacity of a representative from Taishan Airlines Investment. Then, you can just go directly to the tea house. Our people will be on alert outside the tea house, and they’ll remind you immediately if anything stirs.”
This arrangement was good, and Fang Wen agreed.
He got on a rickshaw and headed to the street where Star Film Company was.
Twenty-odd minutes later, he arrived there.
It had been over a year since he last came, but it was still the same as before.
He saw Liu Yinshou at the roadside, with a tea house right behind him. Following his indication, Fang Wen went straight over and entered the tea house.
After a while, an Axe Gang member entered the tea house and lingered for a moment at the table where Fang Wen was.
“I’ve contacted them, and they said they’ll be right over.” After saying that, the man left the tea house.
So far, the arrangements by the Taishan Volunteer Army Shanghai Intelligence Station had all been proper, saving Fang Wen a lot of trouble. He then ordered a pot of tea and waited.
Not long after, the director and screenwriter arrived as promised.
Fang Wen hadn’t met the director before; he was middle-aged, in his forties.
The screenwriter, however, was someone Fang Wen knew: Huanzhu Louzhu, who had specifically asked him to handle the script production at the time.
The two went upstairs, looked around below, and walked toward Fang Wen’s table.
“Hello, are you the representative from Taishan Airlines Investment?” the director asked.
“That’s me. I’m Zhao, entrusted by Taishan Airlines to inquire about the investment progress. Please sit.” Fang Wen replied. Over the past year or so, Taishan Airlines had continuously invested quite a bit of funds, so it was normal to check on the situation.
The two sat down, and the director spoke first: “I’m Zhang. I once participated in the filming of the Burning Red Lotus Temple series. I was fortunate to take on this project and have been doing my utmost to shoot it. But your side requires effects like King Kong, which took a lot of effort just for model making, plus the later editing, which is very time-consuming. We’ve only shot half so far.”
Listening to the other party’s explanation, Fang Wen couldn’t quite understand, after all, the current filming techniques and future computer special effects were completely different concepts.
He looked at Huanzhu Louzhu: “Do you have anything to say?”
Huanzhu Louzhu said, “Director Zhang is very dedicated. Many shots were reshot because he wasn’t satisfied. The effects he produces are absolutely comparable to the hit King Kong abroad. It’s just that the movie is too long, over four hours, which is too tiring to watch in one go.”
They had shot content for a movie over four hours long, and it was meticulously edited— no wonder it took over a year.
Fang Wen gave a suggestion: “How about this: split the movie into several parts, with each part controlled to one and a half to two hours. This way, you can release them in batches to the market and adjust the later films based on market feedback.”
Director Zhang nodded: “I’ll edit the first part as soon as possible and hand it over to the film company for screening.”
“Give us a copy of the master disc for overseas distribution handled by Taishan Airlines. By the way, I happen to have time today. Could I go to your filming location to take a look?”
Fang Wen’s request was naturally no problem.
The three got up and headed to the film studio of Star Film Company.
The film studio was in a rather remote area, already outside the French Concession, using local people’s houses, which were both cheap and spacious.
There, Director Zhang showed Fang Wen the filming process and many interesting shooting techniques.
In this era, to achieve magical film effects, one had to put effort into props and shooting.
For example, stop-motion shooting: adjust objects from the previous shot after stopping, then remove those items and people in the next segment, making them disappear into thin air.
There were also advanced versions of these techniques: masking and multiple exposure.
Shooting different objects again on already filmed film reels.
This would result in multiple images appearing simultaneously.
This had great effects in fantasy movies, especially in scenes showing magic in the film.
There was also matte painting technique.
The production team’s painters drew scenes on transparent glass plates, then overlaid them on the lens to combine with the shooting footage, creating realistic fictional scenes.
As well as the miniature model technique used in King Kong.
Craftsmen brought in by the production team made miniature models of realistic houses, mountains, rivers, terrain, etc., then combined them with live action or backgrounds through photography to create grand visual effects.
After seeing these shooting techniques, Fang Wen went to the editing room and watched the original director’s cut.
As a movie of this era, Fang Wen felt it was no worse than those abroad.
Then, he made an agreement with the director to hand over the edited version in January to Taishan Airlines for simultaneous domestic and overseas release.
With Star Film Company matters concluded, Fang Wen also left Shanghai.
He piloted the Boeing 247 fuel plane and flew directly to Wuhan Airport.
After landing at Wuhan Airport, Fang Wen went straight to Taishan Airlines Headquarters.
But the security guard at the door blocked his way.
“Halt. This is the company’s private area. Outsiders are not allowed in.”
He was stopped at his own doorstep.
Fang Wen was quite surprised. He looked at the security guard but didn’t recognize him.
Of course, the original security team had long been expanded, and those people had gone to airports everywhere to become managers of the security system. They certainly wouldn’t still be guarding the gate now.
Fang Wen smiled and said, “I’m from this company. How do I prove it to you?”
“Identification. All headquarters employees have their own IDs. I can tell if it’s real or fake at a glance,” the security guard replied.
The employee identification matter was something Fang Wen had instructed to implement before going to Europe, and now it was keeping him from entering his own company.
“Can I go in without identification?”
“No. I’m here, and even if the king of heaven comes without ID, he’s not allowed in,” the security guard refused without hesitation.
Fang Wen felt a bit awkward and looked around, hoping to find a familiar face to vouch for him.
At that moment, a familiar person was walking by in the company courtyard.
It was Chun Cao.
Fang Wen hurriedly shouted loudly, “Cao’er, come here. Tell the security guard I’m not allowed in.”
This familiar voice made Chun Cao stop, turn around, and look.
Seeing Fang Wen at the gate, she ran over joyfully.
“Young master, you’ve finally returned.”
“Yes, but I can’t get in. Think of something.”
Chun Cao glanced at the upright security guard and shook her head helplessly: “I can’t budge him either. Miss hired stubborn gatekeepers. Wait a moment, let Miss handle it.”
After saying that, she turned and ran back.
After a while, a large group of people came down from the headquarters building and walked straight to the gate.
They smiled and said in unison, “Good day, General Manager. Welcome back.”
At this point, even if the security guard was slow on the uptake, he understood the situation.
He scratched the back of his head, opened the iron gate, and stood straight. “Welcome home, General Manager.”
This use of “home” was nice. Fang Wen treated Taishan Airlines as his home. He looked at the security guard approvingly and encouraged, “Good job. The company needs people like you who strictly enforce duties.”
After saying that, Fang Wen entered the company, and the large group came forward with warm greetings.
While dealing with his subordinates, Fang Wen glanced at Kuang Mingzhu standing in the distance and said, “Alright, alright, thank you everyone for your concern. I’ll talk about the Europe matters later. My wife is still waiting over there. Don’t keep us from reuniting as husband and wife.”
Everyone laughed and made way.
Fang Wen strode toward his wife and hugged her tightly.
In this hug, a thousand words were unspoken.
The usually strong woman-like Kuang Mingzhu softened instantly, nestling by Fang Wen’s side, chatting and laughing as they left the company.
Taking his wife away from the company, what followed was self-evident.
Dry firewood and blazing fire, or oil on the flames—it ignited in an instant.
Long days of longing turned into action, melting into one.
After the joy, they embraced in sleep, waking again to the dawn of the next day.
At home, Fang Wen couldn’t help becoming a bit lazy, unwilling to get up even after the sun had risen.
His wife got up first, prepared everything, then nagged at the bedside.
“Get up. The hot water is ready. Surely you want to take a bath after coming back. I can already smell the odor on you.”
Fang Wen opened his eyes. During the Europe operations, he indeed bathed less often, and there was some smell on him.
But after returning to Yangon, he had resumed normal routines, bathing frequently.
This was just his wife’s psychological effect. Of course, a wanderer returning home needed a full-body cleanse to remove impurities for good luck.
Under his wife’s nagging, he lost all sleepiness, got up to wash up, then changed into a full set of underwear and jacket carefully prepared by his wife.
After that, the two ate breakfast at the living room dining table.
Eating and chatting at the same time.
“You won’t be leaving again after coming back this time, right?”
“Probably not. There’s a pile of domestic matters to handle. The troop training is done here; they have the ability to fight and ultimately must rely on themselves.”
Eating pancakes rich with scallion flavor and taking a sip of porridge, Fang Wen continued.
“Notify Li Tie Zhu to return to China. There’s a mission for him. The Star Film Company movie is about to be released. He’ll handle the overseas screening.”
Kuang Mingzhu served Fang Wen a small half bowl of porridge and asked, “Li Tie Zhu hasn’t done this before. Can he manage?”
Fang Wen replied, “He’s not doing it alone. The branch managers overseas will cooperate. Once he settles screening in one place, he can settle the others.”
“Understood. When we get back to the company, I’ll have someone notify him to return.”
“There’s more. Gang Leader Wang was ambushed domestically and is now half-paralyzed. He’s preparing to go to the United States and hand over the Axe Gang venture to me to manage. Some of the people need to go to Yangon. I’ll notify the Yangon side to receive them. Arrange a plane to Shanghai to pick them up and take them to Yangon.”
“Gang Leader Wang got hurt?!” Kuang Mingzhu said in surprise. She hadn’t expected the renowned Gang Leader Wang to end up like this and looked at Fang Wen worriedly.
Fang Wen understood his wife’s concern and comforted her with a smile: “I’m fine. Except for flying, I’m very careful in other aspects and haven’t offended anyone. Why worry about me? Aside from the Japanese, no one will target me.”
Under his reassurance, Kuang Mingzhu’s mood improved. She took out a notebook, jotted down the two matters, and said, “Anything else? Tell me all at once.”
Fang Wen finished his last bite. “The last is family matters. I want them to go abroad or come to Wuhan. But you know the family situation: Father is stubborn, Eldest Brother is proud, Second Brother is hot-headed. Only Fourth Sister and Sixth Sister don’t need worrying. How do we get them over, or to Yangon?”
This matter was tricky.
Don’t think that Fang Wen, a practical man outside with methodical work that his subordinates respected.
At home, he was forever Fifth Brother, the Third Young Master in name.
This status gave him little say at home. Getting Father and brothers to leave the ancestral business was difficult.
But not doing it wasn’t an option. With full-scale war approaching, Shanghai and even Jiaxing would be very dangerous.
Kuang Mingzhu had no solution either. As daughter-in-law and sister-in-law, she had to be deferential in Jiaxing, not daring to breach etiquette. Her capability wouldn’t give her a voice there.
The couple was at a loss regarding this.
Suddenly, Kuang Mingzhu thought of someone.
“Hasn’t Fang Shouxin been at your house for twenty years? He should know your family situation best. Go ask him.”
Fang Wen nodded. “Perfect. We have a meeting at the company anyway. Let’s go together.”
Then, the couple got up and headed to the company.
It was already high in the sun when they went out—an ancient saying meaning around eight or nine o’clock.
This time entering the company gate, the security guard didn’t stop them and stood straight, saying loudly, “Good day, General Manager. Good day, General Manager’s wife.”
Fang Wen stopped: “During work hours, call her Deputy General Manager.”
Kuang Mingzhu laughed: “No need. I like this title. From now on, when you see us together, call us that.”
Fang Wen said nothing more about it. His wife, after his return, was showing a little woman’s demeanor, which was interesting.
The two went upstairs, summoned the company’s executives, and started the meeting.
Participants included Fang Wen, Kuang Mingzhu, Shopkeeper Liu the chief accountant, Air Distribution Branch Company Manager Sun Debiao, Fang Shouxin who had handled Xiangxi Airport management with his son and was transferred back to headquarters to continue administrative management, Training Center’s Shao Sishen, and Flight Management Department’s Pan Jiafeng.
All were from Fang Wen’s inner circle.
Even Chun Cao and Qiu Ju, responsible for meeting minutes, were his own people.
Fang Wen presided over the meeting: “Back from abroad, I’m not too familiar with the company’s development. Everyone, please brief me.”
Since Fang Wen returned yesterday, everyone had prepared for this.
Shopkeeper Liu went first. “Domestic development is rapid. Seaplane business has launched in all five major river systems, with others in planning. Currently, Yellow River and Hai River are under our full ownership and management. For Huai River, Yangtze River, and areas south of the Yangtze, we use joint ventures: we handle management and operation, sharing profits with partners. They handle ground issues to ensure no troubles affect business. After this period of operation, we’ve achieved good business results, with nice income from seaplane business everywhere.”
Fang Wen was stunned. To expand the domestic airplane market, he had supplied nearly a hundred Shuiyun Type 1 Seaplanes at low prices.
But the revenue was beyond his expectations.
He couldn’t help asking, “Are there really that many people taking seaplanes?”
“Lots, and since seaplane costs are low, ticket prices are only one-third of land-based civil aviation flights, so many people accept it. We expect to break even soon and profit not long after,” Shopkeeper Liu replied.
The meeting started off well, and Fang Wen was even more expectant about the company’s other situations.
