In 1986, Tsai was studying at the Academy of Film Production at Los Angeles.
One day, the novelist Bai Xianyong wrote to Cai Kangyong and asked if he could help him revise a movie script.
The screenplay of the film is adapted from "Who Immortals", also the work of Bai Xianyong, telling the story of a family girl whose fate changes as her parents die in the Taiping Shipwreck.
Cai Kangyong, who has a dream of film, gladly accepted Bai Xianyong's invitation.
Bai Xianyong took a lot of information to Cai Kangyong, including many reports about the Accident of the Taiping Wheel.
Cai Kangyong was very interested in these reports, Bai Xianyong was puzzled, Cai Kangyong smiled and said: "Taiping Wheel is my father's company." ”
Bai Xianyong's eyes widened in disbelief.
Cai Kangyong's father was named Cai Tianduo, who worked as a lawyer and sailed a steamship company, and his life was legendary.
One: The son of a rich family who wants to be a lawyer
In 1912, Cai Tianduo was born in Shanghai to a wealthy family.
Cai Tianduo's father is the owner of the Shanghai Water Supply Company, and has already made a rich family business for the Cai family.
At that time, the Cai family was famous in Shanghai as the Cai Mansion. In the era when many people had never seen a car, there were 7 cars in the Cai Mansion, not to mention how many valuable antique calligraphy and paintings there were at home.
In the abundant material conditions, Cai Tianduo had no worries about food and clothing, and he could also talk about pampering and pampering.
The children of the rich family, it is inevitable to be a little clumsy, drinking big wine, playing mahjong, has become Cai Tianduo's way of pastime.
Everyone thought that Cai Tianduo would only eat, drink and have fun, but in fact, he had a dream of being a lawyer in his heart.
In 1929, Fudan University established the Law Department and officially began to enroll students.
When Cai Tianduo heard this, he was very happy and vowed to go to the exam.
But God wants to tease this rich man.
The night before the exam, Cai Tianduo was shouted out by a group of friends to drink a lot of wine, the atmosphere came, and Cai Tianduo completely forgot about the exam the next day.
In the process of pushing cups and changing cups, Cai Tianduo was very drunk and drunk, and finally did not know which side of the road he slept on for one night.
By the time he woke up and rushed to the exam room, the exam was over.
There was no way, Cai Tianduo could only wait for the second year's admissions exam.
This time, Cai Tianduo did not dare to be careless, and arrived at the examination room early.
He has always been smart, and he easily won the second place, so he entered Fudan University happily.
In that era, illiteracy was everywhere, and going to college was an extremely sensational thing, and Cai Tianduo could add a lot of glory to the Cai family.
The master of Fudan University is like a cloud, and Cai Tianduo is not far behind, holding one legal book after another and reading hard day and night.
After surviving until graduation, Cai Tianduo dropped the chain again.
Two: a famous lawyer on the beach
In 1933, students of the Department of Organizational Law of Fudan University took the graduation examination.
The night before the exam, Cai Tianduo and his friends played mahjong on the head, and from the evening to the next morning, they still felt that they were not addicted.
By the time Cai Tianduo reacted, the first exam of the school was over.
Cai Tianduo, who regretted not being the original, could only seek more blessings for himself in the remaining examinations.
The teachers all thought that Cai Tianduo could not finish his career, and as a result, he took one less exam and still won the third place.
With the honor of outstanding graduate, 21-year-old Cai Tianduo officially became a lawyer.
Other lawyers treat cases as if they were not rejected, but Cai Tianduo has his own persistence.
There are three types of cases that he resolutely refuses to accept: divorce lawsuits, criminal lawsuits, and plaintiff lawsuits.
If you ask Cai Tianduo's reason, he also has a word——
As the saying goes, "It is better to demolish ten temples than to destroy a marriage", and divorce lawsuits are fought too much, which inevitably damages yin morality.
As for the plaintiff's lawsuit, it is inevitable that there will be an element of planting bribes and marrying evil, which is also a matter of immorality.
Criminal litigation is even more complicated, in that turbulent era, such cases more or less involved black forces, offending them is not good fruit to eat.
Although Cai Tianduo has a lot of taboos, in the legal profession, he is also famous.
Going to the court every day and mediating various cases has become Cai Tianduo's daily routine.
In 1935, the 24-year-old Cai Tianduo went to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, to work as an executive lawyer.
Young and with a strong family background, Cai Tianduo at that time could be described as full of spirits.
However, with the encroachment of Ningbo, Cai Tianduo's stable position as a lawyer was also affected.
After two years of confusion, Cai Tianduo decided to give up the legal profession and join the Shanghai Zhonglian Steamship Company.
At that time, steamships became the only way to transport goods at various ports. Grasping this outlet is bound to have a bright future.
But Cai Tianduo did not expect that there was a huge crisis behind the opportunity.
Three: The Taiping wheel sank and lost all the family property
In 1949, Cai Tianduo ceased to be the business manager of the steamship company, and he became a major shareholder, operating the entire steamship company.
Among this steamship company, there is a ship called "Taiping Ship" that is the most famous.
In the years of war, escape was the hope of countless people.
This year Chinese New Year's Eve night, a group of rich people in Shanghai could not care about eating Chinese New Year's Eve, and only wanted to leave by boat quickly.
Knowing that the "Taiping Ship" was about to set sail, they rushed to the dock like ants on a hot pot.
But at this time, the "Taiping Wheel" has no place, in order to win a seat, some people do not hesitate to buy from the original passengers at a high price, and some people find Cai Tianduo to take out gold bars to replace.
As a result, the last passengers on board were either rich or expensive.
In this way, on that cold and windy night, the "Taiping Wheel" carried a full boat of people to a hopeful tomorrow.
Who would have thought that not long after the "Taiping Ship" was launched, it collided with another "Jianyuan Ship" carrying 2,700 tons of coal mines and timber.
Soon, the "Jianyuan Wheel" sank, and a minute later, the "Taiping Wheel" also sank.
More than 900 people were killed on board, and only 36 survived, one of whom was Cai Tianduo.
It is said that there will be a blessing in the great difficulty of not dying, but this sentence has not been confirmed in Cai Tianduo.
News of the sinking of the Taiping Wheel spread, and the insured insurance company immediately announced its closure.
All the compensation fell to Cai Tianduo.
More than 900 people were killed, and the Cai family took out all their wealth and did not have enough to compensate.
In this way, in one lawsuit after another, the Cai family scattered thousands of dollars and became a joke in the whole Shanghai Beach.
In order to make a living, Cai Tianduo traveled to Taiwan to pick up the old profession of a lawyer.
Here, he made a comeback, married and had children, and his life was full of wind and fire.
Four: The joy of old age
In 1962, the 50-year-old Cai Tianduo ushered in the birth of Cai Kangyong.
Getting old brings a lot of fun to Cai Tianduo's old age life.
At that time, the Cai family still maintained the style of old Shanghai, and the guests were always in an endless stream.
In this legendary family, it will inject unlimited energy into cai Kangyong's future.
Cai Tianduo is partial to Cai Kangyong but not doting, and in his spare time, he will also turn over old things and sigh to Cai Kangyong.
So many years later, Cai Kangyong wrote in the book: "I feel that I have lived my father's second-hand life since I was a child. ”
For example, when Cai Tianduo took Cai Kangyong to see Peking Opera and saw Sun Wukong flipping down from three tables, he would say, "Shanghainese people have been turned over from five tables." ”
For example, when going to the buffet, Cai Tianduo would sigh again: "In Shanghai, only beggars line up to eat with plates." ”
Of course, it is not difficult to understand Cai Tianduo's obsession with Shanghai, after all, his best childhood and adolescence were spent there.
All the happiness and carefree are hidden in that little alley.
If it weren't for the creation of people, Cai Tianduo would probably never leave Shanghai for the rest of his life.
Having experienced the ups and downs of the world, Cai Tianduo in his later years has a kind of indifference to see flowers instead of flowers.
This worldview also deeply influenced Cai Kangyong.
In those years, the three words "Taiping Wheel" became the biggest brand on Cai Tianduo's body.
The past is not memorable, but Cai Tianduo will take out a few things that he took off on the ship at that time to Play with for Cai Kangyong.
A pair of armchairs with taut wooden bones and a deadly heavy telescope have become the childhood marks of Cai Kangyong.
Little Cai Kangyong only felt that these objects were old, and he did not know that they had all witnessed the most glorious years of the Cai family.
Cai Tianduo was unruly since childhood, and was even more stubborn when he was a teenager, which was also perfectly inherited to Cai Kangyong.
Five: Jackie Chan's old father
When Tsai Kangyong was studying at a private school in Taiwan, his classmates were rich young masters and rich families, and these children were taught to follow the rules, but Cai Kangyong felt bored.
At that time, Cai Kangyong was most envious of ordinary people's children, because they could fight at will.
When Cai Kangyong told Cai Tianduo this idea, he laughed and then asked Cai Kangyong to learn to sing Peking Opera, and in the process of singing, he could dress up as a dancer and get a gun.
Cai Kangyong is very fond of the role of "Wusheng", and whenever he dresses up, he has to take photos as a souvenir, and Cai Tianduo will give these photos to his relatives and friends.
Later, Cai Kangyong became more and more in the limelight, because of the good throat conditions, he was often pulled by the school to participate in speech competitions.
Cai Kangyong likes these competitions, in addition to loving the limelight, he can also skip class at will.
In the face of the eccentric son, Cai Tianduo found it very interesting.
But looking forward to Jackie Chan's thoughts, Cai Tianduo also couldn't escape.
After Cai Kangyong finished high school, Cai Tianduo quietly said to him: "You must study for a master's degree, you must go to the best university in the United States." ”
At that time, Cai Kangyong loved movies, and he quietly applied to the Film School of the University of California.
Cai Tianduo knew and was very angry.
After all, in the eyes of this old-school Shanghainese, studying film is nothing, and it is not as important as studying business or engineering.
But Cai Tianduo could not screw Cai Kangyong after all, in order to complete his son's dream, he found a brand partner Hu Jinquan to write a letter of recommendation.
Hu Jinquan is a famous martial arts director in the history of Hong Kong cinema, and the letters of recommendation he wrote are naturally very convincing.
In this way, Cai Kangyong crossed the ocean, went to film school, and later entered the show business circle.
The path chosen by Cai Kangyong was unexpected for Cai Tianduo.
Cai Kangyong has been reading poetry since he was a child, and he also helped Cai Tianduo auction oil paintings together.
Cai Tianduo always thought that Cai Kangyong would become an intellectual.
Watching his son fly higher and higher, Cai Tianduo's dangling heart finally let go.
Six: Write 88 years of life with legends
In 2000, Cai Tianduo died at the age of 88.
The Taiping Wheel incident has long been sealed, and no one remembers how much Cai Tianduo paid in this ups and downs.
Cai Tianduo's old friends never mentioned the past, but praised his demeanor at the poker table.
Cai Tianduo played cards all his life, entertaining himself when he lost money, entertaining the other party when he won money, and never making the table cold.
Cai Tianduo likes to make friends, from wine and meat friends to close friends.
No matter when, this extraordinary born brother will never neglect anyone, so that the Cai family is always bustling.
In addition to these friends, Cai Tianduo was deeply in love with the woman behind him.
When Cai Kangyong was born, Cai's mother was 45 years old.
But this lady, there was never a time when it was ugly. After following Cai Tianduo to Taiwan, she still maintained the exquisite life of "Shanghai Celebrity".
Every day, I have to wash my hair and make my hair, and a close-fitting cheongsam depicts a proud figure.
Like Cai Tianduo, she appeared on the card table every day.
Elegant and funny, but without losing all kinds of style, Cai Tianduo loved her all her life.
In his old age, Cai Tianduo's mother fell ill and was hospitalized, and Cai Tianduo decorated the master bedroom of the family into his wife's favorite purple, waiting for her to live after she was discharged from the hospital.
Unfortunately, Cai Mu was unable to take a look at the purple room after all. Cai Tianduo lived alone in this room for 16 years.
This affection, Cai Kangyong later wrote in the book, the words are moving.
Cai Tianduo's life is comparable to that of others.
Born in a rich family, enjoying all the glory and wealth. But he never ate lazy and did his best to fulfill his dream of being a lawyer.
In that unstable era, he built a country with his talent.
With the turmoil of the times, he was forced to take a stake in the steamship company, but the bad luck of the times was not good, and he encountered the "Sinking Incident of the Taiping Ship" and lost all his family property.
But Cai Tianduo was never defeated by fate, and with the help of his old lawyers, he regained his new life.
Ups and downs, ups and downs, Cai Tianduo's legendary life, in the long river of time, has finally become a yellowed page.