Chapter 00240: Liang Jiahui
# Liang Jiahui
Chapter 240
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 240 Liang Jiahui
It was eight o’clock in the morning.
Liu Dehua arrived at the training center of the TVB Acting Academy—a garden villa once belonging to an old film star, now rented out by TVB for training purposes.
The academy ran full-time courses.
Classes began every January and ended at the end of the year, with each quarter forming a phase.
The first phase taught the basics, the second phase involved rehearsing famous plays—works by authors like Alexandre Dumas and Chekhov were even included—while the third phase had the students rehearse selected scenes from TVB television dramas.
The fourth phase was internship.
After that came the exams, and only those who passed would be able to sign with TVB.
In Hong Kong’s competitive environment, such a training class was already highly professional.
Now that nine months had passed and the students were about to begin their internships, Liu Dehua, who had performed exceptionally well, had long been given small roles.
As usual, he arrived at the garden villa and ran into a pretty young girl.
With a smile she said, “Wow, Wah Jai, you look so proud and happy. So it’s true that you got to be the lead actor?”
“Lam Tsz Cheung is the lead actor. I’m just a supporting actor. Just a supporting actor!”
“Come off it; don’t you know how much we envy you? By the way, the teacher is looking for you!”
“Oh, thanks! I’ll treat you to a chicken leg some day!”
This young girl was named Qi Meizhen, one of TVB’s leading actresses who had retired early and later married Miu Kiu Wai.
She was a neighbor of Chow Sing Chi.
Chow had taken the exam with her, didn’t pass, and then tried again with Leung Chiu Wai the following year, only to fail again.
It was thanks to Qi Meizhen pleading with the teacher that Chow managed to get into the night class as a reserve student.
In Hong Kong, it was a small world, and you never knew who might have connections.
Liu Dehua continued up the stairs.
After greeting Xu Jinjiang, Wu Jiali, and a few others, he entered an office where the head of the academy was waiting for him.
The head went straight to the point, “Are you sure you want to act in ‘Sailing to the Angry Sea’?”
“Yeah, with such a good opportunity, I don’t want to miss it.”
“You aren’t yet an official TVB employee. Technically, we don’t have the right to control you. But you have a good image, your coursework is excellent, and you’re very hardworking. Once you get into TVB, you will be highly valued. Zhou Yunfa took two years to go from extra to lead actor. You’re no worse than him.“This role in the drama might delay your graduation exam, so I wanted to talk to you first.
Do you want to join TVB?”“Of course I do!”“All right, then sign this agreement…”The head slid a contract across the desk with a smile.“Don’t worry, we’re just making an early arrangement.
Once you finish filming, you’ll need to join the television station.
You can’t go elsewhere.”“I’d like to take it home and look it over carefully.
Is that alright?”“There’s nothing special about it.
You wouldn’t understand if I explained it all.
Or do you not want to sign?”“No, no, I really do want to join the television station.”Seeing his hesitance, Liu Dehua didn’t dare say more and signed his name on the spot. The head smiled,“That’s settled.
Now go and gather everyone—I have an announcement to make.”He left the office and soon assembled the other students. Before long, the head returned and began a speech about how hard they had trained, how excellent their performance had been, and so on. Then he said:“We established this training class to cultivate talent for TVB.
You all enrolled because you wanted to join TVB.
We have completed nine months of courses, and now we enter the internship phase.
We’ll arrange for you to intern with various production teams.
Don’t worry about the quota—TVB is a huge company, producing who knows how many dramas each year.
There will be plenty for you.
“Now, I have an announcement. Today, each one of you will receive a contract in advance. This doesn’t mean that you’re officially employees right away, but it serves as a guarantee that after passing the final exams you’ll join TVB.”
The agreement was almost identical to the one Liu Dehua signed, though his had been discussed privately.
It was a common practice nowadays, similar to what happens on shows like Super Girl—each time a contestant advanced a stage, they had to sign a contract ensuring they wouldn’t back out.
Everyone listened, and there was little resistance since they’d all come here for the chance to join TVB.
Just then, one person raised his hand and asked, “Teacher, may I ask about the terms in our final official contract? I mean, the duration, the basic salary, the film allowance, and such…”
Hmm?
The teacher glanced over, noting that the questioner wore his hair a bit long and his face had distinctly angular features.
He wasn’t traditionally handsome, but he had a strong personality, and he was one of the top students in the class.
His name was Liang Jiahui.
The teacher sighed in headache.
Liang Jiahui was a proper graduate from the Hong Kong Polytechnic, majoring in graphic design.
While most people simply agreed with what the teacher said, Jiahui was more particular, always thinking things through.
Just like with this contract—everyone was eager to sign blindly, but he wanted to ask for full clarification.
“Our official contract lasts eight years.”
“You’re all newcomers, so the salary won’t be very high—maybe a few hundred dollars a month, plus additional allowances for filming. But this is only temporary. Each of you is outstanding. Once you become a major star, your income will multiply many times over!”
Unmoved, Liang Jiahui continued, “So if we choose not to sign, does that mean we can’t do the internship?”
The teacher frowned and said sternly, “If you don’t sign, not only will you be disqualified from the internship, you won’t be allowed to take the final exam either—the enrollment will be immediately canceled!”
A hush fell over the room.
Liang Jiahui didn’t press further; he just nodded slightly.
After the teacher finished and left, everyone gathered around Liang Jiahui, chattering in a mix of tones: “Jiahui, don’t be impulsive! We’ve trained for nine months, it would be such a waste to leave now!”
“Eight years isn’t that long. Even our seniors went through this. Maybe you’ll be the next Zhou Yunfa.”
“Come on! I’m 23 now—eight years later I’ll be 31!”
Liang Jiahui, known for his strong opinions, then defended his choice: “Everyone wants to be like Zhou Yunfa, but there’s only one Zhou Yunfa. With so many actors in TVB, how can you be sure you’ll stand out? You’re content with a few hundred dollars a month, aren’t you? Anyway, that’s enough. I’ve already made my decision.”
With that, he walked straight into the office.
A short while later he came out looking rather upset—apparently he’d had a disagreement with the head.
Then, gathering his things, he immediately prepared to leave.
“Jiahui!” Liu Dehua called out again, “Are you really going to leave? What will you do afterward?”
“I’ve got skills. I can always make a living wherever I go. If it all goes wrong, I can always be a regular office worker.”
The two of them often appeared together in small roles and had a good friendship.
As Liu Dehua patted his shoulder, Jiahui said, “Listen, I actually have a dream—to start my own magazine. Now, I’ve got a chance. You’re different; you’ve already got a steady job. Just keep working hard!”
And with that, he truly left.
Everyone watched his retreating figure, thinking he looked exceptionally unrestrained and impulsive.
They themselves couldn’t dare to take such a risk.
After leaving the academy, Liang Jiahui really went ahead with the magazine idea.
He produced a teenage fashion magazine called La Bouche—its title was French.
He was the only one involved from top to bottom: he handled interviews, photography, editing, advertising, even coordinating the printing.
It only produced one issue, and naturally, it flopped.
But he did gain something out of it—he found a small actor to model for the magazine.
They even dated for a while.
The young actor was named Li Dianxin; her father was Li Hanxiang.
As for what happened later, you probably already know…
(End of Chapter)