Yuen Biao had been busy on the set all day, and by the time he returned, he was exhausted. Still carrying the lunch boxes, he wore an apologetic smile and said, "Ah Hu, sorry about that. The crew had to shoot a few extra scenes today, so I got back a bit late. You didn't get too hungry, did you?"
Wang Xiaohu paused his writing and turned around. "Hehe, I've been busy writing, didn't even notice I was hungry."
Yuen Biao set down the lunch boxes, sat beside him, and picked up one of the densely filled sheets of paper. "Ah Hu, what's all this? There are so many characters I don't recognize."
Wang Xiaohu chuckled lightly. "It's nothing, just a movie script I'm writing. You know I used to be lazy, so writing this many characters sometimes makes me forget how to write them. I just use some variant characters as substitutes."
With that offhand explanation, Yuen Biao didn't feel any suspicion. The characters on the page did look somewhat familiar, though a bit awkward, it didn't stop him from reading. Frowning slightly, he finished one page, then eagerly picked up the next, muttering to himself: "Tsk tsk, this script is amazing! Just reading it makes my blood boil. If this were really made into a movie, it would definitely be a huge hit!"
Wang Xiaohu watched the enthusiastic Yuen Biao with a smile. When Yuen Biao finally looked up after going through several sheets, his eyes were full of puzzlement. "Ah Hu, don't tell me you wrote this script."
Wang Xiaohu shrugged. "If not me, then did you write it?"
Scratching his head, Yuen Biao still seemed unconvinced. "It's really strange… it feels like after you recovered, you became a completely different person."
Wang Xiaohu patted him on the shoulder. "Ah Biao, don't overthink. I'm still me, still your little junior Yuen Hu. It's just that during my illness, something clicked here." He tapped his head. "So, judging from your half-settled movie worker perspective, the 'Fist of Fury' script isn't bad, right?"
Yuen Biao forced a smile. "Ah Hu, you're getting better at joking. What movie worker am I? I'm just a stuntman on set getting beaten up. Who knows when I'll ever move up to a major martial arts crew."
Wang Xiaohu shook his head. "Ah Biao, trust me. You won't always be the one getting beaten. Our Seven Little Fortunes' day in the spotlight is coming!"
He wasn't lying. Even without Wang Xiaohu's rebirth, a few years later Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan would rise as new martial arts stars in Hong Kong cinema. By then, Sammo Hung would certainly promote his own brothers, and Yuen Biao would be the first to benefit.
Naturally, Yuen Biao couldn't grasp the hidden meaning in Wang Xiaohu's words; he just scratched his head and smiled foolishly.
"By the way, Ah Hu, Third Brother Sammo just took on a movie called *Deadly Golden Sword*. They're short on stuntmen, so he asked me to tell you to be ready to go to work tomorrow," Yuen Biao added with a silly grin.
Wang Xiaohu nodded. Among the Seven Little Fortunes, the first to establish a foothold in the film industry was Sammo Hung. In the early 1960s, as the "big brother" of the group, Sammo had appeared as a child actor in several films. With his sharp mind and genuine martial arts skills, he was often dispatched to sets to assist with choreography. In 1966, Sammo participated in the action design of King Hu's classic martial arts film *The One-Armed Swordsman*, which not only catapulted the not-so-skilled martial artist Cheng Peipei to fame but also earned Sammo some recognition as a fledgling fight choreographer.
Now, after years of experience on film sets, Sammo Hung had become a full-fledged martial arts director. *Deadly Golden Sword* was the first film he directed at Golden Harvest, so he was especially conscientious. Naturally, if stuntmen were needed, he would think of his own brothers first.
Since Wang Xiaohu had already entrusted Yuen Biao and Jackie Chan to pass along his message, it was only natural that the senior brother would keep it in mind.
Seeing Wang Xiaohu lost in thought, Yuen Biao said, "Ah Hu, your body just recovered. If you rush back to work like this, are you sure you can handle it?"
Biting his lip, Wang Xiaohu replied, "Ah Biao, don't worry. Since I've made my decision, I won't shrink back like before. Tomorrow, I'll definitely go to work."
Seeing Wang Xiaohu's firm tone, Yuen Biao didn't try to dissuade him further.
Dinner was still just two bowls of porridge. Wang Xiaohu ate quickly, and once finished, immediately leaned over the table to work on action designs and storyboard rehearsals. Yuen Biao watched for a while and, seeing how focused Wang Xiaohu was, finally realized that the Fist of Fury script was indeed written by him and not by anyone else. Excited, he took a few sheets of the manuscript to bed and admired them.
The next morning, Wang Xiaohu got up to continue practicing Wing Chun's Siu Nim Tau. With continuous practice, he gradually regained the effortless feeling from his previous life—one could not deny the benefits of this new body. After breakfast, he finally followed Yuen Biao out of the modest little house.
The house Yuen Biao rented wasn't far from the set. After a twenty-minute walk, they arrived at the filming site of Deadly Golden Sword. The set was bustling with activity. Sammo Hung, as the martial arts director, was explaining the next scene's choreography to the lead actors Zhang Yi, Shek Chun, and Han Ru-yun.
On the side of the set, various pieces of filming equipment were being prepared. Wang Xiaohu observed everything with keen interest. After all, the Hong Kong film industry in the 1970s was quietly undergoing changes, largely driven by shifts in audience tastes.
Wang Xiaohu had studied this period of history multiple times. He knew that Hong Kong audiences now viewed films primarily as entertainment—providing leisure and a way to understand society and life. Movies that were detached from social reality were nearing a dead end. To meet audience demands, Hong Kong cinema needed to transform, and the new style of martial arts films became mainstream, coinciding with global trends emphasizing visual stimulation.
These new kung fu films shifted focus from ancient sword-wielding heroes to modern Republic-era martial artists. In Hong Kong film history, this era is classified as the "kung fu film" period, with Bruce Lee's four-and-a-half films receiving the most international attention.
Although many films from this period were crudely made or had low-brow appeal, they still largely met audience expectations before television became widespread in Hong Kong.
Sammo Hung's first film as martial arts director, Deadly Golden Sword, fell into this category. Wang Xiaohu didn't have much impression of the film, and after his earlier observations, he had lost interest. But since his current role was to work as a stuntman and earn a living, he accepted it.
"Ah Biao, Ah Hu, you two are here?" By this time, Sammo Hung had finished demonstrating the key points of the fight to the actors and walked over toward Wang Xiaohu and Yuen Biao...