The Drunkard Page #2

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They're out playing mah-jong.

They won't be back too early

Watch out. You're only 1 7!

Why are you so scared?

You're even more cowardly than virgins

You're only 1 7

And you're not a small kid

You're a mature man

Mature?

Mary, where are you?

Your mother won in mah-jong.

Let's go out for a midnight snack.

What caused a 1 7 year old girl

to be so brazen?

She must either have watched

too many American movies

or read too much pulp fiction.

Mr. Lau

I want the room back.

You got to move out!

Why?

My daughter is still very young

I don't want her to

get ruined by a drunkard

What are you talking about?

This is a free world

Writers have the freedom to write

martial arts novels or pulp fiction

Readers have the freedom to read

martial arts novels and pulp fiction

This place has too much freedom

Writer's sweat and blood

get no protection

Any book that sells gets pirated

and sold in South-East Asia

If these publishers have freedom

Perhaps thieves should have

the freedom to steal

Lau

Haven't seen you in almost a year.

Where have you been hiding?

Did you win the lottery

or got caught up with a woman?

We miss you, especially

when we play mah-jong.

Aren't you afraid that I'll have no money

to pay you if I lose?

Write a screenplay for me

I've never written one before

What are you afraid of?

All screenwriters in Hong Kong

are amateurs anyway

The audience doesn't care

People only want to see period dramas

As long as they feature Lin Dai or

You Min or some other movie stars

Also with the cinemascope

And the movie will make money.

The screenplay doesn't matter

But Mandarin pictures we make

are much better than dialect films.

If that's the case,

why pay $3000 for a screenplay?

$3000 is nothing compared to

overall budget of a movie

Director Li once smashed

an antique vase

which costs three times as much

I am pretty hard up recently,

and I have to move

If writing screenplays is

as easy as you say

I'm willing to try

What should I write about?

Nowadays it's not hard to find subjects

Dream of Red Chamber, Water Margin,

Tale of Three Kingdoms

and other classics provide enough

materials for one hundred years

If it's so easy

why hire a novice like me?

The truth is we are old friends

I would like to give a try

I need the money for the move

No problem

Write a synopsis first

Once we approve the story

we'll advance you $500

Alright?

You decided to move?

It's all your fault

What did I do?

How can you tell your parents

that I wanted to ruin you?

There is a way if you don't want to move.

What way?

You don't need to know

but you have to promise me one thing

What is it?

Her lips are colored with

almond color lipstick,

and even the smoke

she blows out is almond scented

Don't be scared. I'm not a little girl.

If that's the case, why hesitate?

I need to make a call

Mak, I need to borrow $300.

I've decided to move

Be careful

Come here,

I have something to say to you

What is it?

Tell me your new address

Why?

You need a reason?

Y es, a very good one.

You're afraid I'd eat you?

Afraid you'd start more rumors

Tell me your new address.

Call me when you're 20

I'll tell you a secret.

What?

You have to swear not to tell anyone.

Then don't bother telling me

You're a stubborn man

Yes, I am a stubborn man

I like your stubbornness

Don't talk this way.

I'm going to tell you the secret anyway

What secret would

a 1 7 year old girl have?

I had an abortion when I was 1 5

Mary, you're too young,

don't abuse yourself like that

You're a writer,

but your mind is too old fashioned.

Being too new-fashioned is

dangerous for a 1 7 year old girl.

Dangerous? How?

You'll know what I mean in ten years.

Goodbye

Mr. Lau, you sure can drink

I'm alright

Why do you have so much alcohol

around if you don't drink?

Well, I can't just leave

the liquor cabinet empty, can I?

Sorry to have drunk half

a bottle of your whiskey

It doesn't matter.

Nobody drinks it anyway

You were telling me

Your husband comes home

twice a year?

Y es

He writes to you every day?

No.

Once a week?

No.

Once a month?

No

He's never written to you?

He's illiterate

Can't he find someone to write for him?

He's too busy

When he's on the ship,

he's busy gambling.

When he's on shore,

he's too busy with women"

He makes good money smuggling goods

And you have to raise a kid alone

Her eyes are like two pieces of glass

Desire wriggling behind the glass

Does he love you?

I don't know

Do you love him?

I love money

I think I love money

As long as he sends me money

every month

As long as he sends me money

every month

I'll meet him at the pier

every time he comes back

I'll meet him at the pier every month

He seldom stays in Hong Kong

Don't you get lonely?

Don't drink so much

Why?

If it wasn't for the drinks,

we wouldn't have done what we did...

Something is bugging me

You're afraid I'll stick to you like a leech?

No, no

Absolutely not

Save the drink for tonight

Don't be scared, I won't trouble you

What's the matter? You can tell me

I earn my living by writing

I just got notice from the newspaper

my martial arts stories are no good

and they no longer require my services

That's that

I see

You don't think this is important

Come and eat

Ideal swims in the whiskey glass.

Hope swims in the whiskey glass.

Sorrow swims in the whiskey glass.

Is this good stuff?

Enjoy the meal

Why aren't you eating?

War, war, war.

Japanese Army Invaded Shanghai

Refugees from

the south of the city poured into

Big World Amusement Park which had

just been declared a refugee camp

I was on a bus heading home

it just went past the Nanjing Cinema

when I heard a loud whistling sound

coming through the air

followed by an earth-shattering blast

I saw a man with his head blasted off

yet still running on the road

Failure is the mother of success

Even though the first screenplay

didn't succeed

you can still write another one

I'll be honest with you

what the movie business lacks most

are scriptwriters like you

My boss

He adapted Japanese movies into

Chinese by changing bits and pieces

That's what things are like

There's shortage of good scripts

Don't get discouraged

If you truly want to enter

movie business, don't give up

Let me tell you

If I was the boss,

I'll let you make a historical epic

Your brain has big problem!

Boy!

Mr. Lau

No need

- Take it - No need

Mom, I'm going to school

I'll get my coat

There are two problems

that need to be solved.

Which two?

First, job, second, moving.

You want to move again? Why?

Although I'm poor, I still have my pride.

I don't understand.

Without any income, I will become

a spineless person living off women

An escapist becomes tired of this world

That's right. I don't know

what's left for me in this world

I want to start a literary magazine,

and you will be the editor

My mother has promised to

use her own savings to help me

What about your father?

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