Leslie Cheung’s Time (2) September 2003

Since meeting Leslie for the first time at the Conrad Hotel, my impression of him has changed a lot. Before that, Leslie gave me the impression of a person who "does not accept others easily, is too self-denying, and has a self-defense line as strong as an ascetic." However, this is a very far-fetched impression. If you think about it carefully, this insidiousness comes more from Leslie's dreamlike acting skills in roles such as Xu Zai in "Days of Being Wild" and Cheng Dieyi in "Farewell My Concubine". , or a rough subjective impression of Leslie established in the mind through the passionate and harsh reports of Hong Kong entertainment reporters.

Furthermore, we encountered many unexpected difficulties when opening the channel for direct contact with Leslie. It is said that several publishing houses have made suggestions to him about publishing photo albums before us, but they were all rejected. He himself refused. This further deepened the impression that Leslie was a "difficult person to approach".

As expected, no matter which party I asked, the answer was almost always "Mr. Leslie's words may be more difficult to deal with." The reason is that Leslie does not have a company, an agency of his own, and no agent. If he wants to make a movie or record a record, he can talk to the film company or record company, but for a photo album, he must contact him directly, which is more complicated. It’s difficult. In the process of understanding this information, everyone felt that this matter might be difficult to deal with, so they temporarily shelved the publishing plan. This was in early 1998.

However, after a few months, things suddenly took a turn for the better. I met and became good friends with a Hong Kong friend Y at work. When I accidentally revealed this to her, she told me that one of her college classmates knew a good friend of Leslie's. In other words, my friend's friend is Leslie's friend's friend - a really complicated relationship. To the Japanese, it is no different from people who are strangers to each other, but the Hong Kong people are different. The importance Hong Kong people attach to their friends is simply unimaginable to the Japanese. It is no exaggeration to say that they are inseparable from the relationship of friends in both life and business. To betray a friend is almost equivalent to betraying the entire Hong Kong society. "So, I know this kind of thing won't happen, but no matter what, you must not betray Leslie! In that case, I will lose all my friends..." My friend Y said this to me half-jokingly , I must really think so in my heart.

Sure enough, thanks to the perfect opportunity brought by a good friend, Leslie opened her heart to me the moment she saw me and accepted me like an old friend for many years— - Such luck is truly a blessing for me.

When I was talking to him about the publisher of the photo album, I couldn't help but feel a sense of fate. Maybe he felt the same way as me at the time. Just a few days before I met him, his mother died of cancer. When I heard the news, I immediately thought whether the photo album should be postponed for a while, but he didn't think so.

"Some people have brought up the photo album a few times before, but I have never been interested. It seems that there is no opportunity that prompts me to make a photo album. Besides, I published a photo album ten years ago. It’s a photo album that I like very much. In fact, I don’t have the confidence to publish another one that’s better than that one.”

Leslie spoke calmly and took out the only photo album he had. Show me the photo album "Pure Photo Album" from ten years ago. Those photos make people's hearts beat when they look at them. The young and energetic Leslie appears on the page. However, that was not a photo album taken for publicity. It was Leslie before he decided to quit the music scene and prepare to immigrate to Canada. In every photo, you can feel his nostalgia for his fans.

"Ten years have passed, my mother has just passed away, and you happened to mention publishing a photo album, and it was introduced by a good friend who I respect very much... So, I think this is really some kind of fate. Well..."

When Leslie heard about the photo album through a friend, his mother had already passed away. The death of his mother was probably a major event in Leslie's life. Over the past forty years, he had been both happy and sad about it, and had experienced all the bitterness and sweetness of life. In a sense, this was the end. .

“The photo album ten years ago was a kind of commemoration of my farewell to the idol singer. But this time, perhaps it can be said that after experiencing the death of my mother, I was able to get rid of certain thoughts in the past. Let’s be freed from it and start a new self-memorization..." The death of my mother became an opportunity for the publication of this photo album, which we did not expect.

At this time, Leslie talked about his mother's death with a very calm expression, as if he had realized something. At that time, I was not aware of the long-estranged relationship between Leslie and his mother. I was surprised to see how calm and indifferent he was when talking about his mother, who had just passed away a few days ago, as if he was talking about other people's affairs.

However, when he talked about his mother in the interview later published in the photo album, maybe it was because the distance between me and Leslie had become much closer, and he opened his heart to me honestly, She poured out her full longing for her mother, and even her eyes were full of tears when her love was so strong. Later, he also talked about his mother several times. Leslie's words were sometimes cold and sometimes warm, sometimes filled with resentment, and sometimes full of respect and love, making the listener keenly feel his helpless and complicated emotions towards his mother.

In particular, after he became famous, he bought a high-end apartment on the seaside. Wanting to fulfill his long-cherished wish, he asked his mother to move in with him, but he did not expect that the two of them would not live comfortably. He rarely spoke. In order to restore the relationship with his mother, he bought her gifts every day and took her to high-end restaurants to eat. He did not hesitate to spend a lot of money, but his mother became more and more withdrawn and withdrawn. Having said this, Leslie learned a lesson - "Money can't buy maternal love." - When I heard this, I almost shed tears. Where in the world would any child exchange money for maternal love?

Even though he has the love of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of fans, he still longs for the love from his mother.

When I realized this, I suddenly felt that he was so lovable - how much he needed love!

Let’s get down to business.

When we first met, I was observing Leslie consciously or unconsciously while talking about the photo album. I know. Behind his friendly smile, he also wanted to see through what kind of person I was; I, too, wanted to understand as soon as possible the character of the person I might work with for a long time in the future.

Leslie’s expressions are very rich. Sometimes she blinks mischievously like a naughty boy, sometimes she shows a coquettish expression like a child; and in the blink of an eye she becomes very masculine. It's simply dazzling to see. But compared to his appearance, what impressed me more strongly was his quick judgment and strong ability to handle affairs. His mind works very fast and his memory is excellent. He makes judgments and decisions on everything on the spot. Later, there were many matters that needed to be decided. I never heard him say anything like "let me think about it" or "give me some time". He always considered and decided immediately. Of course, his habit of "deciding immediately" may not always be good. He will sometimes "change his mind" on things he has decided, and every time he almost makes a 180-degree turn...

< p> But no matter what, my impression of Leslie has changed a lot since I met him. He has no particularly strong self-defense, and his personality is very easy-going, very friendly and talkative, has a hearty laugh, and even likes to play pranks. Of course, that's not all.

The first meeting lasted almost three hours before it ended. Only once did I see a strange look on Leslie's face. That was right after our conversation. The seat we were sitting in was closer to the inside and was not easily seen by other guests. When we got up and walked out, two young girls sitting in a seat far away from us spotted Leslie and immediately shouted and ran towards us. come over. Maybe he was shouting for Leslie to sign his autograph. Leslie hesitated for a moment, then stopped and stood there waiting for them to come over. What was surprising was that at this moment, Leslie stared straight ahead with an expressionless face, then silently signed the paper handed over by the two girls, then turned around and walked out of the store. That was the first time that day that I saw Leslie's lifeless expression.

I later saw this expression many times with my own eyes. Not indifference, but rather a sad look. That unique look in his eyes - he seemed to be looking at something, but as if he didn't see anything at all, an unfocused look.

His expression was as tranquil as a sculpture - this expression, like his friendly and kind smile, is unforgettable to me, "a typical Leslie expression"