Chapter 00144: 1979 golden age 144
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Chapter 144
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 144
"Close the door!"
"Sit down and talk!"
The room wasn’t large—just a single bed, a set of chairs and a table.
Chen Qi sat on one of the chairs, legs crossed, holding a thermos cup.
He sipped hot water noisily, then asked leisurely, "Have you told anyone else about this?"
"No!"
"Then why are you telling me?"
"I..."
Li Lianjie felt awkward.
He was a young prodigy himself and wasn’t keen on admitting that someone else might be more outstanding than him.
Yet, deep down, he knew the other person was indeed remarkable.
This inner conflict made his attitude toward Chen Qi somewhat contradictory.
"This matter is quite complicated. Let me break it down for you."
Chen Qi smiled and began, "Your goal is to make movies, right? So, you have two options. One is to stay in the martial arts team while dabbling in filmmaking, like you’re doing now. The other is to leave the martial arts team entirely and become a full-time actor. Which one do you want?"
"The second one!"
"Then I don’t understand. Why are you suddenly so passionate about making movies that you’re willing to cut ties with the martial arts team that raised you?"
"..."
"You need to be honest with me. Otherwise, go talk to someone else."
After hesitating for a while, Li Lianjie finally said, "Don’t let my age fool you. I’ve already achieved all the honors I can in martial arts. Honestly, I don’t have much left to pursue in this field. If I stay in the martial arts team, it’ll just be more of the same. I’m 17 now, and I’d have to stay for at least another eight years. I... I can’t bear it."
"So, you want a bigger stage?" Chen Qi asked.
"Yes, I really love making movies."
"Do you want to make movies in the mainland or in Hong Kong? In the mainland, you’d need to find a film studio. With your skills, you could definitely become a big star. In Hong Kong, you’d also need to find a company, the right roles, and directors, and build your network. But they look down on people like us there. If you’re lucky, you could gain fame and fortune. If not, you might end up with nothing. And all of this depends on whether your unit will let you go. Why do you think the sports committee would release you?"
"I... I haven’t thought about that."
Li Lianjie grew even more frustrated.
He had many ideas, but having grown up within the system, he had deeply ingrained beliefs.
He didn’t think he could survive outside the system, but he also didn’t know what to do.
"The sports committee definitely won’t let you go, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless a powerful organization steps in and requests your transfer from the sports committee. Then, you might have a chance."
Chen Qi said with a smile.
Huh?
Li Lianjie didn’t fully grasp his meaning but thought he was hinting at the Beijing Film Studio.
His eyes lit up.
Yes! The Beijing Film Studio carries a lot of weight.
Maybe they could get me transferred.
"I understand! I’ll make sure to perform well!"
Li Lianjie was excited and turned to leave, but then paused and came back.
"Chen... Brother Qi! Thank you for your advice!"
You understand nothing!
Chen Qi snorted.
Some things were too early to explain, so he didn’t bother.
Historically, after filming *Shaolin Temple*, Li Lianjie had wanted to enter the film industry, but his unit refused.
Logically, an athlete could only retire if they suffered a major injury.
According to his own account: At the time, he thought, *If only I could get injured.* Then, during a training session, while performing a mid-air move, he lost focus and didn’t execute it properly.
When he landed, he heard a *snap*—his leg broke.
Whether it was self-inflicted or not is unclear.
But he did suffer a major injury—three tendons torn, his meniscus removed, and he even received a "third-degree disability certificate."
So, the Li Lianjie in *Shaolin Temple* was in his prime.
After that, he was never the same.
At that point, the martial arts team had no choice but to let him go—he couldn’t compete anymore.
However, they didn’t fully release him.
Instead, they "loaned" him out to a leftist company in Hong Kong.
Since *Shaolin Temple* was a hit, the leftists wanted him.
The deal was that for every film he made, the leftists would pay the martial arts team 50,000 yuan.
The contract was for five years.
The leftist resources weren’t great, and filming was slow.
He only made two or three films during that time.
When the contract ended, Li Lianjie finally gained his freedom, but his career was lukewarm.
He wasted his best years and even went to the U.
S. with Huang Qiuyan to open a martial arts school.
It wasn’t until Tsui Hark cast him in *Once Upon a Time in China* in 1990 that he finally made a comeback and became a huge star, leading to a series of successes.
Back then, Li Lianjie had wanted to leave mainly because he felt the pay was poor and the stage too small.
He received one yuan a day as an allowance, while extras in Hong Kong earned fifty yuan a day.
Hong Kong producers offered him 3 million yuan to star in a film, but the martial arts team told him not to take it and to return to compete...
It was a stark contrast.
As the saying goes, his actions weren’t the problem.
It was the later stuff—like his involvement with Buddhism and funds—that became problematic.
Chen Qi’s plan for Li Lianjie was clear:
He had to keep him within the system!
No matter what, his official status had to remain tied to the system.
That way, he couldn’t run wild.
As for things like films, pay, and fame—those were trivial matters.
...
Using the last few days of the year, Chen Qi made a trip to the south, finished his business, and immediately returned to Beijing.
Gong Xue would stay a few more days and return after New Year’s.
She couldn’t go home for the Spring Festival this year and wanted to spend more time with her parents.
The freedom at the Beijing Film Studio was much better than in the military.
He had sent his script for *The Amorous Woman of the Tang Dynasty* to Li Han-hsiang.
Li wasn’t stingy, but Shaw Brothers was.
They only offered 15,000 Hong Kong dollars as payment.
Chen Qi didn’t take it immediately, planning to collect it when he went to Hong Kong.
That way, he’d have some funds.
He also withdrew 5,000 yuan and deposited it into a passbook.
At the end of the year, he returned home and slapped it on the table.
"This is for you. There’s 5,000 yuan in here."
"How much?!"
Yu Xiuli shook her head repeatedly.
"We don’t need money in our daily lives. You keep it and save more!"
"I’ve already saved quite a bit. You take it—consider it my filial duty. Besides, I’ll need money to build a house. I’ll draw from this, and if it’s not enough, I’ll add more."
Only then did his parents accept it.
During holidays, it was customary to give parents some money.
This was a habit from his past life, and many people around him did the same.
He wasn’t sure about other places.
Since their son had finally come home, Yu Xiuli naturally went all out in the kitchen.
Chen Jianjun stayed in the room to chat with him.
The father and son were polite with each other.
Chen Qi didn’t bring up movies, instead asking about books.
"Dad, which magazines are selling well these days?"
"Literary magazines. There aren’t many others."
"No popular magazines?"
"Those are just local tabloids. They might sell well locally but can’t break out of the province. The only one that’s gone national is *Story Club*. I don’t know where they found these third-rate writers—some guy named A Qi and another named A Guai. They specialize in writing those violent, action-packed stories, but their circulation keeps rising. It’s already surpassed 500,000 copies."
"Violence and action are no good. It’s too lowbrow!"
Chen Qi criticized without hesitation, then added, "Dad, if I wanted to start a lowbrow magazine, could you help me distribute it?"
"..."
Chen Jianjun was momentarily stunned by this contradictory logic.
After a pause, he asked, "You want to start a magazine?"
"Next year, after I finish what I need to do, I’ll have some time. I want to start a popular magazine, featuring martial arts, romance, detective, and thriller stories. It’s right up your alley, but I’m worried you might be too principled to help."
"What are you talking about? Even if I’m principled, I wouldn’t turn down my own son. If you start it, I’ll go all out to help you distribute it!" Chen Jianjun said, throwing principles out the window.
As the two chatted, Yu Xiuli bustled around outside, cooking.
It was cold, and the food cooled quickly, so she had to bring it in as soon as it was done.
She was incredibly efficient, moving in and out of the kitchen.
When she came in again, she suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, son, there’s an aunt at my workplace who wants to set you up with someone. Are you interested?"
"How old is she?"
"Same age as you!"
"What about her looks? Job? Personality? Salary?"
"She works at the factory. She’s quite pretty, and her personality is alright. Her salary is around thirty-something yuan."
"Oh, my dear mother!"
Chen Qi switched to a theatrical, dubbed-movie tone.
"Do you really think your son isn’t successful enough? Do you think I should be considering such a match? I’m heartbroken!"
"Speak properly!"
Yu Xiuli thought about it and agreed.
"You’re right. You can’t just settle for anyone. I’ll tell them to stop introducing people to me. My son deserves better!"
"Exactly. You should aim for someone from a high-ranking family!" Chen Jianjun chimed in.
Hah!
Chen Qi smirked.
Plenty of high-ranking family members had been executed.
Especially someone as young and handsome as him.
If he ran into some desperate, open-minded high-ranking lady who wanted to dance cheek-to-cheek or even share a bed—goodness, he’d end up writing *Tears Behind Bars* from prison!
Besides, who knew if high-ranking family members were even good-looking? Hmm...
Chang’e wasn’t bad, though...
The family ate their meal.
In the evening, the neighbors gathered as usual to watch the 12-inch black-and-white TV.
Chen Qi already didn’t like coming home, and this made him even more annoyed.
But for his parents’ sake, he had to put on a smile and play host.
Watching TV was a big deal back then because domestic shows were rare, and most were foreign imports.
For example, *Garrison’s Gorillas* was pulled off the air due to its violent content.
Now, they were watching *The Man from Atlantis*, an American sci-fi series about a man from the underwater world coming to human society.
The electronic watches and frog-eye sunglasses from the show became all the rage.
"This show is so well-made. How do the Americans come up with this stuff?"
"America just copied us. The underwater world? The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas have been around for centuries."
"Pfft! Then why haven’t we made a show like this? What’s it called?"
"Sci-fi!"
"Oh right, sci-fi! Xiao Chen, when are you going to write a sci-fi show to make us proud?"
"Sure, I’ll write one when I get the chance!"
Chen Qi agreed readily, though everyone thought he was just being polite.
As the night deepened, the neighbors reluctantly left, and Chen Qi finally had some peace.
He lay on the small bed in the outer room, thinking.
He didn’t want his parents to live in the Lefang Courtyard, feeling it lacked privacy.
He planned to move them into an apartment in a few years.
From the inner room, the sound of the radio counting down to the New Year reached his ears.
He sighed:
"Time really is like a wild donkey. Just over 140 chapters, and two years have passed!"
(End of Chapter)