Chapter Twenty-One: How Witty

There was a banquet in the evening.

Lin Jianlu specifically checked with Ge Fuhong, and upon receiving approval, he used the number from his small notebook to call Wang Fei. The couple actually spent more time living in the capital, but they were currently in Hong Kong.

As expected, they were in Hong Kong. Upon hearing that Lin Jianlu had arrived, Wang Fei immediately asked which hotel he was staying at, suggesting they meet up. After Lin Jianlu explained the evening's dinner plans, Wang Fei readily agreed.

By dusk, the Bentley that had picked him up at the airport arrived again, and Ge Fuhong accompanied Lin Jianlu in the car.

Once they reached the designated hotel suite, guests began to arrive in a steady stream.

The first to arrive was Leslie Cheung. He greeted them with a big hug. As a signed artist with Rock Records, he seemed to have plenty of free time lately. Once inside, he immediately started smoking. His Mandarin was excellent, and he chatted about everything. He mentioned that he particularly liked the song "Ten Years," praising both the lyrics and melody as top-tier, claiming, "Hong Kong only produces a song like that once every five years!"

Then came Gigi Leung. Wow, she was indeed tall.

Standing at 176 centimeters, in the Hong Kong of that era, she stood out among the male stars even without high heels. Her legs were long and straight, and the pair of feet peeking out from her open-toed flat sandals were fair and delicate—it was enough to take one's breath away, not to mention her incredibly pure face and large, expressive eyes. She was truly stunning.

She looked even better in person than in her photos.

She was no longer a complete newcomer; she had at least played the female lead in a film that grossed over 30 million, and she had received a nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards, giving her some standing. Yet, in front of Lin Jianlu, she looked completely starstruck.

By all accounts, she was quite popular now. Ge Fuhong even had intentions of pushing her to become the "second generation jade girl" of Hong Kong. With a wealth of resources, she was expected to be a bit more reserved—demanding supporting lead roles or higher in films, insisting on positive characters, and having legendary veteran producers work on her albums. It would be impossible for just anyone to invite her to star in a music video, as that would be seen as devaluing her status.

However, Lin Jianlu was clearly an exception.

With 660,000 copies sold in Taiwan, 240,000 in Hong Kong, over 100,000 in Singapore, and reported sales of over 3 million on the mainland, he had even successfully broken into Japan and South Korea. Not only did his lead single "Bei Er Shuang" climb the request charts in its second week, but by the third week, the album had broken into the bestseller lists, reportedly selling over 100,000 copies there. As Ge Fuhong put it, Lin Jianlu was currently the biggest name in the entire Chinese music industry.

Being the female lead in Lin Jianlu's music video was actually Lin Jianlu doing her a favor.

Before long, more people arrived.

Aaron Kwok, Lo Ta-yu, Dou Wei, Wang Fei, James Wong, Tsui Hark, Nansun Shi, Derek Yee, Wong Jing, Brigitte Lin, and Raymond Wong—there were representatives from the Rock Records circle, Ge Fuhong’s connections, and old friends of Sylvia Chang. Only Dou Wei and Wang Fei could be considered Lin Jianlu’s own old friends.

It was decided that Wong Jing would direct the music video for "Ten Years."

The planned shooting schedule was two days. Wong Jing was a notoriously "fast gun," known for starting productions even without a script. He could finish a movie in as little as half a month or at most twenty days, and he guaranteed that the film would never lose money, often turning a profit, sometimes even a massive one.

For him, two days to shoot a four-minute music video was a process of meticulous refinement.

The reason he was chosen came down to two points: first, his speed—with the album selling so well, the promotion team at Rock Records unanimously believed that timely follow-up singles and music videos would significantly boost publicity and sales. Second, he was equally adept at capturing the beauty of his subjects—not a whit less skilled than Wong Kar-wai!

It wasn't even six o'clock yet, and everyone had arrived, showing great respect.

It was just a dinner party.

***

The main purpose was for Ge Fuhong to take this opportunity to introduce Lin Jianlu to everyone, signaling that he was an artist she and Sylvia Chang had jointly signed, and asking everyone to look after him as he navigated the streets and circles of Hong Kong.

With this dinner, the whole of Hong Kong would know. It was effectively a public announcement.

Perhaps it wouldn't grant any special privileges, but it would help avoid the usual petty underworld tactics.

The banquet was lively, filled almost entirely with seasoned veterans.

After the opening remarks, Ge Fuhong and Sylvia Chang, who were sitting on either side of Lin Jianlu, led him in a toast to everyone with a flair for the industry's social customs. With the formalities out of the way, the group began to eat and chat.

"Wow, Derek, we haven't seen you out for dinner lately. Are you preparing a new film?"

"Old Tsui, when is that film you were tinkering with in Hollywood coming out?"

"Uncle Wong, you promised to write me a song—are you working on it?"

"Wow, when it comes to playing cards, I know Fei is absolutely obsessed!"

Wong Jing suddenly asked, "Ah Lu, you're so handsome, do you want to shoot a movie?"

Sylvia Chang retorted, "Only if you bring a good script!"

The banter flowed back and forth. They were all acquaintances, insiders, and old hands, so there was little polite posturing; it was all straight talk. It is no exaggeration to say that every casual remark dropped was a major piece of gossip.

Suddenly, Sylvia Chang leaned in and whispered, "Is she good-looking?"

Lin Jianlu leaned in as well, covering his mouth with his hand, "I've seen many of her movies before; her chest didn't seem that big!"

They were talking about Brigitte Lin.

She was sitting diagonally across from Lin Jianlu, and she did indeed look quite busty.

Naturally, one couldn't say such things to a female senior, someone so much older who could be considered an elder; it would be far too frivolous. But Sylvia Chang was different.

Sylvia Chang was equally direct. She glanced at Brigitte Lin and leaned back, "She’s gained some weight recently!"

No sooner had she spoken than Brigitte Lin across the table suddenly raised her hand and pointed at them, "Hey, what are you two talking about? You must be badmouthing me!"

Before Lin Jianlu could speak, Sylvia Chang turned back with a smile, "No, Ah Lu was asking me if Ching-hsia is dating anyone right now. I said yes, she has a boyfriend!"

Brigitte Lin laughed heartily, "Please, don't ruin my chances! Ah Lu, sister doesn't have a boyfriend; you can pursue me!" The room erupted in uproarious laughter.

Lin Jianlu felt slightly embarrassed.

***

But just then, before the laughter had fully subsided, Nansun Shi chimed in, "Ah Lu, sister isn't married either, you can pursue her too!"

Another round of boisterous laughter followed.

Even Tsui Hark, sitting beside her, laughed with particular gusto.

In that moment, Lin Jianlu had the illusion of being teased by a group of "old sisters." Anyone who has ever had a similar experience of being surrounded by married elders or older women who casually toss out raunchy jokes will understand that feeling—it's one where you are completely unable to counterattack because these women have long since abandoned any pretense of propriety, and their "blue" jokes are smoother than yours. An ordinary person simply cannot handle it.

To be fair, he had only been in Taiwan for about two weeks before arriving in Hong Kong, but it felt to him that, even though this was only the nineties, the way people interacted here—or perhaps just the atmosphere in the entertainment industry—had an indescribable sense of freedom and boldness.

Everyone could take a joke, and many of them were sexual in nature.

Poor Lin Jianlu had a belly full of raunchy jokes from his past life, but he only dared to share them with his circle of "godsons." In the capital's music scene this life, everyone joked around too, but rarely did they make such jokes with female friends.

Compared to here, the atmosphere there seemed significantly more conservative.

Fortunately, the current Lin Jianlu had a mindset of being content with little and knowing when to quit, so he wasn't intimidated at all. Amidst the laughter, he stood up holding his beer glass, and without a word, gestured to everyone and began to chug.

The crowd immediately started cheering.

After finishing the glass, he displayed the empty bottom for all to see, drawing a round of applause!

But immediately after, Lin Jianlu set the glass down. Instead of sitting, he took his business card from his jacket pocket and walked away from his seat toward Brigitte Lin. The whole room watched him in surprise until he reached the side behind Brigitte Lin. As she turned her chair around, Lin Jianlu handed her the card, "I just got a mobile phone, and the cards were just made. Sister Ching-hsia, I'm staying in Room 1006 at the Peninsula Hotel!"

Brigitte Lin stood there, holding the card, stunned.

Half a second later, another round of uproarious laughter erupted.

Brigitte Lin realized what was happening and joined in the laughter, laughing until her chest heaved.

At that moment, Lin Jianlu took two more steps around the table, feigning that he was going to count out another card. But before he reached Nansun Shi, he suddenly pretended to catch sight of Tsui Hark, paused slightly, put the card away, and without saying a word, turned around and walked back—triggering yet another violent explosion of laughter that nearly blew the roof off the room.

James Wong, in particular, slapped the table in mirth, exclaiming, "Amusing, truly amusing! How witty!"

Even Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi were laughing so hard they began to wipe tears from their eyes.