The management team was still trying to negotiate calmly with the producers on the other side. They had not expected Pei Yan to have such an explosive temper. That very evening, Pei Yan asked for leave from the production he was working on, drove back into the city from the suburban set, and stormed straight into the hotel. This time he was planning to slap that loudmouthed production representative across the face.
He barged into the hotel and caught the man right in the lobby.
The representative who had been liaising with them on behalf of Universal was actually Chinese too, one of those old hands who had made his way in Hollywood. The yellow skin had not come off, but whatever was inside had long since changed flavor, and he spoke with an affected foreign accent. His surname was Cao, and his name was Billy.
Billy Cao turned around and saw Young Hero Pei charging in like a whirlwind. His shoulders jerked first, then his cheeks. His forehead, tanned dark brown by the California sun, gleamed under the hotel lights. He was an obvious target. There was no getting away.
Pei Yan walked straight up to him. “Mr. Cao, when you first talked to me about this movie, didn’t you say Zhuang Xiao was definitely the lead?”
Billy Cao was an old hand at this game. His expression stayed perfectly calm. “Oh? Huh? Did I say that? Back then… back then nobody’s role had been finalized. That’s the director’s decision, not mine!”
Pei Yan: “…”
Billy Cao had been the one who handled the contract with him. Domestic actors trying to break into overseas markets were, after all, in a relatively weak position. They did not have the clout to act like divas with the studios. Pei Yan could hardly negotiate a condition like, “I’ll only play this villain if Zhuang Xiao is the male lead.” There was no way that clause would ever appear in the contract.
Everything came down to the contract, and the contract really did not say it.
Pei Yan ground his back teeth hard and blocked the man’s path with his body. “You told me Mr. Zhuang was the male lead. That’s why I accepted the project you brought me and signed the contract. You deliberately played me.”
Billy Cao paused, then smiled. “How could I play you, Mr. Pei? The production thinks very highly of you. From the beginning they wanted to support you, promote you. The role in the script suits you perfectly. It was practically tailor-made for you!”
Tailor-made, my ass!
Pei Yan thought, What the fuck about me is sinister or dark, ruthless or seductive enough for you people to tailor-make this for me?
He asked Billy Cao directly, “Why can’t I play the lead? I’m the right age, the role needs kung fu, and the character was originally written as Chinese. How am I unsuitable?”
“Uh… well…” Billy Cao had no choice but to pick a sofa in the lobby and sit down. “Mr. Pei, please understand. The movie did buy the rights to the old classic Drunken Fist, but the script has been revised several times and changed a great deal. The setting moved from Republican-era Hong Kong to Los Angeles Chinatown. This is an American commercial blockbuster!”
“I can’t play a young immigrant from Los Angeles Chinatown?” Pei Yan stared at him.
“Aiya, Mr. Pei, sit down, sit down first…” Billy Cao hurriedly gestured for Pei Yan to sit too. He was genuinely afraid Young Hero Pei would swing an arm and hit him the next second. “You have to understand how investors think. It’s very hard to make money from movies these days. They have to consider the market and whether the star can sell tickets.”
“Zhuang Xiao can’t draw a market? He isn’t a big enough star? He can’t sell tickets?” Pei Yan refused to yield an inch.
Billy Cao privately found the whole thing baffling. Pei was genuinely funny. They had gone around and around, but was he fighting for the male lead for himself, or for Zhuang Xiao? The contract had been signed ages ago. He had agreed to play the villain himself. What exactly was he getting so worked up about?
Outsiders naturally could not understand what Young Hero Pei was thinking. In Pei Yan’s mind, if the lead role in a classic like this went to Zhuang Xiao, he accepted it. He had nothing to say and would stop fighting for it. But someone else? If it was someone else, that person was not even as good as him. What right did they have? If he had known from the start that someone else would get the role, he would have fought for every inch and never stepped aside.
Pei Yan asked unwillingly, “Who’s playing the lead?”
Billy Cao smiled and said softly, “A major star from our agency whom Universal invited, Tony Axas.”
The string of syllables stunned Pei Yan for a moment.
Wasn’t the script set in Los Angeles Chinatown?
Wasn’t it supposed to be about a second-generation Chinese immigrant whose family had come from mainland China?
Wasn’t this fucking movie a remake of the Hong Kong version of Drunken Fist? Were they remaking The Matrix or Iron Man instead?
Pei Yan confirmed again, “Tony Axas is playing the lead…? But he’s American.”
Billy Cao spread both hands. “Exactly, he’s American. This is a Hollywood investment and production, Mr. Pei!”
Pei Yan dropped back hard against the sofa, bit the corner of his mouth, and stared at the man representing the producers…
Billy Cao patiently explained that the roles of the international human-smuggling syndicate boss and his son had been specially rewritten for Zhuang Xiao and Pei Yan. The original father-son relationship had been changed into two brothers. Zhuang Xiao would therefore play the elder brother among the villains, Deng Bai, while Pei Yan would play the younger brother, Deng Yun.
Tony Axas was the agency’s newly poached star, a red-hot homegrown American celebrity and a money-printing machine for the company.
“But this is a Chinese role. You even changed the character’s skin?!” Pei Yan enunciated every word as he challenged Billy Cao.
“Tsk, it’s not that serious. Tony has one-eighth Asian ancestry too. He’s mixed-race.” Billy Cao smiled and shrugged indifferently. “He has a bit of an East Asian look. Shave the hair off his body, add some contouring makeup, and he can absolutely pass for an immigrant. It’s all OK!”
Pei Yan had his pride. This was no longer just about being unwilling to concede. Fuck, there was a lump of anger lodged in his chest, and it felt humiliating as hell.
It was obvious now. The production wanted to borrow Zhuang Xiao’s reputation as an established veteran and Pei Yan’s as a newcomer in the mainland film and kung-fu circles to boost publicity for the remake. They wanted both of them in the movie, but they were not going to give either of them leading status. Actors who came out of mainland China did not get handed leading roles in Hollywood so easily.
You could not even necessarily rank as the hero’s sidekick. Beside the aggressively individualistic male lead, the second and third supporting partners were usually a Black man and then a Latino. Chinese actors generally got to carry the white male lead’s bags if they were men, while the women were decorative vases who slept with the white male lead.
Every time someone from China appeared in a big American production, peers back home would mock them mercilessly. Tsk, so-and-so had gone to Hollywood again to bring back a bottle of American soy sauce.
Elio’s Notes: “Buying soy sauce” is Chinese internet slang for merely passing through or having a trivial cameo. Here it mocks stars who trumpet a Hollywood appearance despite barely appearing in the finished film.
And even after bringing the soy sauce home, you might not get to taste it. There might be only a few shots with actual lines in the theatrical cut. Sometimes a mainland star would dress to the nines, go abroad for a tiny part, and flood the press with stories calling themselves an international movie star, only for the American theatrical version to cut every single shot of them. Then, when the movie reached mainland cinemas, the studio would paste the “soy-sauce” actor back in to fool the local audience.
Pei Yan looked down on people who sharpened their heads trying to squeeze their way in like that. Wasn’t it degrading?
What was the point of gilding your image on the outside if the reality underneath was embarrassing? If he acted, he wanted the lead. Otherwise he would not go.
And now, this time, he himself had gone over there to buy foreign soy sauce.
“Heh. You borrow Mr. Zhuang’s reputation, use his stunt team for the action work and effects, and then toss him some minor supporting role. Does that make sense?” Pei Yan watched Billy Cao’s mouth fluttering endlessly with cold eyes.
After talking for so long, Billy Cao was getting irritated too. Does this kid understand how the world works? Mr. Zhuang himself has no objection. Zhuang Xiao is seasoned enough that he’d never blow up and turn hostile over something like this…
Billy Cao stared at Pei Yan. “Let me tell you something, Mr. Pei. Why are we using Tony? Because Tony has box-office pull in the North American market, and you and Zhuang Xiao don’t! The film is opening in America. That box office is the big piece. How much money can it make from entering mainland China? How do you expect the producers to recoup their investment?”
It was the plain truth. From American box office receipts, a Hollywood producer could take at least fifty percent, sometimes more. In mainland China, most of the money went to the theater chains, and the producer’s share could be under twenty percent. It was practically spending money just to make noise. Who truly cared about a market they could barely earn from? Who wanted to cast your stars?
The market inevitably bowed to capital.
A movie was nothing more than a business deal. What was the point of talking ideals with businessmen?
The contract had long since been signed. He had to make this movie.
And taking one step back, the stunt team on Drunken Fist was still the Zhuang Stunt Team, and Zhuang Xiao had accepted the villainous supporting role too.
Pei Yan could not even say he was walking away now. It felt as though he owed Zhuang Xiao something. If he indulged himself in a little wishful thinking, perhaps Zhuang Xiao had only accepted that optional supporting role because Pei Yan was involved…
Pei Yan did not curse Billy Cao out or completely lose his temper. Some of the yearning and enthusiasm inside him had been doused with cold water. What remained was business operation and contractual obligation. This was business. If you worked in this circle, you still had to make a living.
Billy Cao felt he had finally talked the kid around and settled him down. Pei Yan was young, aggressive, impulsive, and carried a certain jianghu air, but at least he understood how things worked. Billy Cao immediately switched back to a smiling face, threw an arm around Pei Yan’s shoulders, and said, “All right, don’t be unhappy, Little Mr. Pei. Then it’s settled. I’ve already finalized the production arrangements and schedule with your team. We’ll meet again in Los Angeles. I’ll treat you and Mr. Zhuang to dinner then! Getting into a major Hollywood director’s production is your chance to become famous in one stroke… people always climb higher, one level at a time…”
*
A month later, Pei Yan traveled to the United States to film Drunken Fist, accompanied by his management team and assistants.
The psychotic younger brother in the criminal syndicate whom he played had plenty of scenes and dialogue. He had crammed English for two months in advance and joined the production several days before Zhuang Xiao, first getting used to the stunt team and shooting his own material. Only afterward would they reach the scenes he shared with Zhuang Xiao.
The schedule handed over by the production was densely packed but rigorous and orderly. As for which scene would be shot on which day, that was not something a supporting actor got to decide.
On his second day after landing in Los Angeles, after he had only tried two makeup looks, he received a message sent personally by Zhuang Xiao: [Heard you start tomorrow. Free for dinner tonight?]
Pei Yan had not expected Zhuang Xiao to invite him personally.
Without a second thought, he dialed the number directly. Once the call connected, he said, “Mr. Zhuang, the last two times we met were both rushed, so we never had a chance to really talk… Whatever time and place is convenient for you, I’ll come find you.”
Zhuang Xiao said, “You’re about to start filming, so you’ll be busy. Work around your schedule. I’m free anyway.”
Pei Yan said, “You pick the time and place. I don’t know this city. I don’t know anywhere.”
Zhuang Xiao said, “Seven tonight. A little Hunan restaurant in the city called Drunken Xiang House. Places like this can’t compare with Sanlitun, where you can party every night and eat somewhere different every time. There are hardly any proper Chinese restaurants in this city. That one is at least authentic.”
Pei Yan glanced up and saw his assistant frantically waving and signaling at him. Only then did he remember. “Oh… I’m supposed to meet someone from Universal tonight too. Fuck, I completely forgot about him. What the hell am I even talking to him about?”
Pei Yan was extremely straightforward.
Zhuang Xiao laughed on the other end of the call.
Zhuang Xiao said, “That’s much more important than dinner. Go handle your business.”
Pei Yan hurriedly said, “It’s just one meeting. It won’t take long. I’ll come find you for dinner afterward.”
Zhuang Xiao suddenly brought something up over the phone. “You donated money to Letu’s family? That anonymous deposit in the hospital account was yours, right?”
Pei Yan paused. “Mm… you found out.”
Zhuang Xiao said, “His mother kept asking whether the two million was money I put in. She insisted it was mine and wanted me to take it back. I figured it had to be you.”
Pei Yan quickly said, “Don’t tell his mother it was from me.”
“I didn’t,” Zhuang Xiao said. “But I mentioned it to Xiao-Sa. Hope you don’t mind.”
Pei Yan said, “If you mentioned it, you mentioned it. Whatever.”
He did not want outsiders to know either. Whether Sa Risheng or anyone else liked him was something he could not care less about.
Zhuang Xiao said, “All right. We’ll wait for you at the restaurant.”
Pei Yan answered, “Then, see you tonight.”
Zhuang Xiao asked, “Hey, can you eat spicy food?”
Pei Yan said, “What kind of question is that? Do I look like I can’t handle spice?!”
Zhuang Xiao seemed to laugh again. His voice was slightly deep and mellow, somehow different from speaking face-to-face. It was a very good voice.
Pei Yan did things like a storm, the impulsive type who moved fast and hard. Once he locked onto one matter, the other seven or eight things in front of him got chopped away in the same sweep. After Billy Cao introduced him around and he hurriedly finished talking business with several producers whose mouths were full of investment, market, theaters, and returns, he went to meet Zhuang Xiao for dinner.
A restaurant like this in Chinatown did not even have a proper elegant private room. There were simply two big tables in the innermost corner, taken over by the Zhuang Stunt Team, a dark mass of heads.
Bao Pengzhi stood and shook Pei Yan’s hand, greeting him warmly. “Mr. Pei, we were just telling our boss that if you still hadn’t shown up by now, maybe you wouldn’t dare come tonight and we’d all waited for nothing!”
Pei Yan narrowed his long eyes and swept his gaze over the table full of Zhuang’s people. “Why wouldn’t I dare come?”
Fatty Bao shrugged his shoulders dramatically. “We have you badly outnumbered.”
Pei Yan sneered. “I can take ten at once.”
Low laughter broke out around the table. Every face looked maliciously amused. They had been waiting for him.
At the innermost seat of the big round table sat Zhuang Xiao. He remained seated and said to the others, “I told you he’d dare come. Last time we loosened his tendons and bones and he still didn’t get enough of a beating.”
Zhuang Xiao was dressed much as before, apparently casual, but his hair and face were carefully groomed. His hair was combed entirely back and tied into a short braid. There was a trace of a smile on his face, and his eyes were bright.
“Got the ring set up already?” Pei Yan challenged, glancing toward the boss in the main seat. “You bring enough people today?”
Zhuang Xiao rested one hand casually on the table. “We’re not going to take turns ganging up on you. One-on-one is enough to make you submit.”
Pei Yan quickly covered his right ear, the one that had not been injured, and made an expression that said, I surrender. Everyone laughed, and for the moment the old grievances dissolved over food and drink. The mood at the table was good, completely different from the cold, unfamiliar, blade-drawn atmosphere of their first meeting.
Bao Pengzhi ushered the guest of honor further in. Pei Yan stepped over the long legs of several younger team members, seized a spot, and naturally sat down beside Zhuang Xiao.
Zhuang Xiao gestured. “Order? We were waiting for you.”
Pei Yan said, “You order. I’m starving. I’ll eat anything.”
Zhuang Xiao looked at him. “I thought you’d already eaten once.”
Pei Yan looked disgusted. “Eat what? I can’t stand foreign liquor with cheese. It tastes like something went rancid in a refrigerator during a summer power outage… Don’t tell me the boxed meals on set are that too?”
Zhuang Xiao mocked him. “The boxed meals on set are honestly worse than that. Regretting coming over now?”
“I really do regret coming.” Pei Yan said the word regret, but turned his head to look at Zhuang Xiao. All of Zhuang Xiao’s expressions were half-hidden beneath the neat, elegant facial hair around his mouth, but it still could not hide the half-dimple that appeared when he smiled…
Lively, unrestrained, with the smell of liquor and swagger filling his nose.
This was what a gathering of rough martial-arts men ought to feel like. No refined little-bourgeois sensibilities, none of the carefully managed airs some celebrities put on, none of that affected nonsense of insisting on mushroom bok choy instead of twice-cooked pork. The upscale bar where he had been drinking and talking with Americans earlier was the kind of place where even the servers carried themselves with an attitude. Pei Yan had felt uncomfortable just sitting there, and drinking had not been satisfying either.