newbobooks Chapter 48 Chronicles of Hong Kong in the Past 6
Chapter 48 Chronicles of Hong Kong in the Past 6
After more than a year of development, Liu Yuxi's Huanyu Entertainment has become synonymous with high quality, whether it's songs or TV dramas. Everyone knows that at Huanyu, as long as you have talent, you won't be buried. Moreover, Huanyu's artists are not afraid of encountering unspoken rules when they go out, because the company is their backing.
For young people in Hong Kong who dream of becoming stars, the first choice is to submit their resumes to Universe Entertainment. However, Universe Entertainment has strict requirements and can only accept a small number of newcomers.
In 1977, Leslie Cheung returned to Hong Kong. His father, Cheung Wok-hoi, had suffered a stroke and become paralyzed due to excessive drinking, and the family's tailor shop could no longer operate. He had to interrupt his studies at the University of Leeds, where he was only a freshman. Some fans may not know that after returning to Hong Kong, he initially sold jeans at a street stall. However, he was not suited for street vending and gave up after three months. Later, through his father's connections, he got a white-collar job at a law firm. Perhaps due to his romantic nature, he felt that he was not suited for a conventional white-collar job, so he did not go. Later, he formed a band with an old classmate, started participating in competitions, and then entered the entertainment industry.
Now that Liu Yuxi was here, she certainly wouldn't let her brother go down the wrong path again. So, when Leslie Cheung first started setting up his stall, she had the company's agent sign him.
Looking at Leslie Cheung's life in the original world, it can be seen that his psychological problems have always existed. He did not live with his parents when he was young and was raised by his sixth sister-in-law. Among his ten siblings, only one sister was the closest to him. After he became famous, his mother would ask him if she could use his bathroom when she visited his home. This shows the estrangement between him and his family. His childhood must have been lonely, sensitive, and filled with self-doubt.
Going to study in the UK at the age of 12 was a last resort, because apart from his English, he was not good at other subjects. Even the test questions sent from the UK were done by his sister and sent back. It is estimated that if he stayed in Hong Kong, he would not be able to achieve anything in his studies.
At a young age, he studied alone on the other side of the ocean. The gentlemen and romance of England had a certain influence on him. The more a person lacks something, the more they crave it. Some people need a lifetime to heal from their childhood. He became a perfectionist. He was kind, introverted, sensitive, patient, competitive, romantic, and a little unruly at heart. He became a contradiction, but his eyes remained as clear as a child's!
Early in his career in the entertainment industry, he faced setbacks in singing and releasing records. While his acting company valued him, his initial acting skills were still immature, resulting in a lack of reputation in the first few years. During this period of career stagnation, he met a mixed-race woman in a bar. He later recalled that initially, it was just physical attraction, but he found himself falling in love with her and even considering marriage. However, this woman was only after his money and later harassed his family through underworld connections. He eventually gave her a large sum of money, nearly bankrupting himself, before ending the relationship. His earlier relationship with Mao Mao ended without fruition, and then this incident occurred; I believe this had a profound impact on the changes in Leslie Cheung's love life.
Then came his golden age, but in 1989 his voice started acting up, and he announced his retirement from the music scene. He settled in Vancouver with Mr. Tong. Perhaps deep down he was afraid of loneliness, but after living there for just over a month, he felt bored. Although friends would occasionally come to visit him from Hong Kong and he would cook for them himself, the contrast between the liveliness when friends came and the loneliness after they left was even more stark.
After that, he began selectively participating in some films, but the Hong Kong media never shied away from stirring up trouble, always looking for something to do. People constantly accused him of breaking his promise, saying he was retiring to act in movies, when he had clearly said he was retiring from the music industry. When Leslie Cheung returned to the music scene in 1995 and confessed his feelings for Mr. Tong at his 97 concert, their lives were constantly under the watchful eyes of paparazzi. Their relationship was always met with more criticism than blessings. He once said he regretted exposing Mr. Tong and felt apologetic for dragging him into a life without privacy.
Later, as the roles he played became more and more profound and he became more and more immersed in them, he may not have been able to detach himself from the role in time. He was a very emotional and sensitive person, and with all the things in his life, he eventually developed depression. Someone as strong-willed as him would never have admitted that he was sick at first, and suppressing his emotions would only lead to a more violent outburst, which is why he ended up with such a regret.
When Liu Yuxi signed Leslie Cheung to his company, he arranged for Teresa Carpio to follow him throughout his training and provide him with regular psychological counseling. Now, the artists in Liu Yuxi's company are all provided with accommodation nearby, with a monthly base salary of 3,000 yuan plus performance commission. Of course, famous artists sign new revenue-sharing contracts.
Without the pressure of life, Leslie Cheung could focus on teaching at the company. Because the colleagues in the company had a very harmonious relationship, Leslie Cheung felt more and more at home. Of course, you can't let newcomers study all the time. You have to give them performance opportunities so that they can see hope and work harder. Therefore, the company would choose newcomers for small roles in scripts, small roles that established artists could be given, or for singers to shoot music videos. They would go to the set to experience firsthand the gap between them and established artists and find the direction for their efforts.
By July 1978, Teresa Carpio felt that Leslie Cheung was in a position to withstand both the adoration of success and the blows of failure. Liu Yuxi then arranged a self-titled album for Cheung and wrote a television drama script and a film script specifically for him, aiming to directly transform him into a triple-threat superstar in film, television, and music. She made it clear to Cheung: as long as he didn't become arrogant, she would continue to support him! If given the chance, who wouldn't want their work and life to always be smooth sailing?
Leslie Cheung also worked very hard, with a sense of loyalty and dedication. By the end of the year, albums, TV series, and movies were all ready. January 1, 1979, was later called the "Year One of Leslie Cheung" in the entertainment industry by his fans, in order to commemorate that he was at the peak of his career from the beginning and never fell from grace!
On January 1, 1979, everyone in Hong Kong who was into celebrities knew Leslie Cheung. His songs were playing in video stores, his TV dramas were airing during prime time on ATV, and his movies were showing in theaters. If there had been trending topics back then, he would have definitely been at the top for months. He experienced what it felt like to be "famous" for the first time. Because he had received relatively little attention since childhood, he longed to be noticed. However, his sudden fame left him somewhat at a loss. It was at this time that Teresa Carpio stepped in.
Gradually, he adapted to his newfound fame, becoming humble and gentle. Even after becoming famous, he still had to work; after all, Liu Yuxi owns a company, not a charity, and sustained exposure is the key to maintaining a celebrity's fame.
After witnessing Leslie Cheung's meteoric rise to fame, the artists in the company were all eager to bump into Liu Yuxi. At that rate, who wouldn't be envious? To put it bluntly, with that album, that TV series, and that movie, whoever sang or acted in it would become famous. Liu Yuxi stopped going to the company for a while because her employees were flattering her too much, and she was afraid she would make some promises later.
However, she still announced at the company that in the same year, she would personally help the best-performing employee in each of the company's three departments—film, television, and music—to create a work for them. This became the goal for all artists at Universe Entertainment afterward.