Zheng Zeshi was born in Shantou, Guangdong Province in 1951, with as many as six brothers and sisters, and his parents struggled to support the big family. They live in a simple and cramped wooden house in Wan Chai, and the family is huddled together, and Zheng Zeshi can only sleep in a "room" made of fruit boxes.
When the wind and rain come, the simple wooden house has no shelter, and the cold wind is drenching, making it difficult to sleep.
His parents went out to work during the day, and Zheng Zeshi took on the responsibility of taking care of his younger siblings after school. Although he is only 15 years old, he has a lot more responsibility in his heart than his peers.
He keeps an eye on his younger siblings, checking that they are ready for their homework and urging them to go to bed on time. Every time his parents could not return home until midnight, Zheng Zeshi would stay nervously outside the door, for fear that they would encounter some accidents.
At the age of 15, Zheng Zeshi made a difficult decision and voluntarily asked to drop out of school. Studying is a luxury for him, and he cares more about earning money as soon as possible to share the family's expenses.
So he went to a restaurant and begged the owner to take him as an apprentice and let him help in the kitchen. The indifferent and mean boss often counted Zheng Zeshi for no reason, which made him accumulate too many grievances in his heart.
It didn't take long for Zheng Zeshi to leave the restaurant and change factories. There, he repeats monotonous mechanical operations during the day, sleeps in a dilapidated apartment in the city at night, and continues his new work the next day.
At the age of 25, Zheng Zeshi finally mustered up the courage to sign up for an actor training class held by a TV station, which was the first step for him to realize his dream of acting. For many years, Zheng Zeshi has always hoped that he could become an actor and no longer live a mechanical work life.
Although his family objected to his choice of the difficult but unstable path of acting, Zheng Zeshi still took this step without hesitation. In the actor training class, Zheng Zeshi diligently learned Xi acting knowledge, and began to play some roles in subsequent TV series.
The hard start did not defeat his determination, but made him cherish the rare opportunity to perform even more.
At the age of 34, Zheng Zeshi wrote, directed and acted in a movie "Why Have Me" with personal experience. Over the years, he has never given up on the exploration of script and direction, and this film condenses his deep thinking about human nature.
The film tells the sad and warm story between a mentally handicapped and kind "fat cat" and a terminally ill girl. Zheng Zeshi's delicate performance touched all the audience, and finally he won the Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards that year for the role of "Fat Cat".
Since then, the nickname "Fat Cat" has become Zheng Zeshi's exclusive mark.
This is the peak period of Zheng Zeshi's acting career. In the days that followed, he starred in the sequel to "Why Me" and a number of popular comedy films, both at the box office and word of mouth.
The audience was not only attracted by his vivid and expressive acting skills, but also infected by his inspirational spirit. At the same time, Zheng Zeshi played the role of a police leader in many police action movies, creating a positive image of iron-blooded but principled.
At the age of 41, Zheng Zeshi thought it was time to enter the other side of the film and television industry. Together with a friend, he founded a self-funded film studio, which represented his official transformation from an actor to a behind-the-scenes investor.
In the first year and a half, the studio signed more than a dozen promising newcomers and made several critically acclaimed films. One of the things that Zheng Zeshi is most proud of is that a 20-year-old young man he found and praised became famous in the latest action movie and has a promising future.
For Zheng, running the company successfully is a dream come true that he has been dreaming about for years.
However, Zheng Zeshi's business dream was soon shattered by the blow of reality. Just two years later, Zheng Zeshi received a summons from the court, and it turned out that his studio had owed a huge debt of up to 80 million Hong Kong dollars!
Zheng Zeshi learned that his trusted partner had already transferred the company's income offline behind his back and embezzled public funds without permission, and Zheng Zeshi knew nothing. He suddenly took on this astronomical debt, and his only hope was to sell the property he had accumulated over the years in the entertainment industry and barely fill it.
During this period, Zheng Zeshi experienced disappointments again and again. He turned to a number of former friends for help, hoping to get a loan to tide over the situation. But without exception, friends either said that they were also destitute or simply ignored them.
Even his long-time confidant, the former best man brother, turned a blind eye to his plight. In desperation, Zheng Zeshi even thought about declaring bankruptcy, but that would mean that he would never be able to repay the debt.
He gritted his teeth and decided to sell all the real estate vehicles and pay off the money little by little, even if he lived with his family in a rented apartment.
Just when Zheng Zeshi was desperate, Andy Lau's generosity became the only light. Andy Lau not only immediately provided a considerable amount of money to help Zheng Zeshi tide over the difficulties, but also recommended Zheng Zeshi to his contacts in the film and television industry many times, so that he could resume work and take over the drama as soon as possible.
Seven years later, with Andy Lau's unchanging support, Zheng Zeshi finally paid off all his debts. Although the betrayal of his friends made him lose trust in human nature, it also made him more grateful in return.
Time flies, and Zheng Zeshi has entered his twilight years. The 72-year-old has diabetes and needs regular insulin injections to control his blood sugar. But in the opposition of doctors, Zheng Zeshi still chose to continue to work on the set.
He will check his blood sugar in advance, replenish snacks on time, and reduce the amount of exercise to maintain his strength. Acting is his lifelong passion, and even if his health is not as good as before, it can't stop him from pursuing art.
Along the way, Zheng Zeshi has experienced ups and downs, which has given him a more three-dimensional and mature understanding of life. He understands that if a person wants to gain a firm foothold in the entertainment industry, talent and luck are not enough, but also tenacious perseverance and enough courage.
In the same way, when adversity comes, softness of mind and the ability to forgive are crucial. The people you once trusted can calculate you behind your back, and they can turn their backs on you after gaining fame and fortune, but the one who really stands on your side and supports you unconditionally is the eternal bosom friend.
Every time I think of Andy Lau's generosity without hesitation to help him through the most difficult moments in his life, Zheng Zeshi will be deeply moved. It is precisely because of Andy Lau's life-saving straw that he can regain his vitality and restore his career.
He often calls Andy Lau to inquire about the current situation and express his gratitude. Even if it is just a simple daily greeting, Zheng Zeshi hopes that Andy Lau can truly feel that his gratitude to him will last forever.
Zheng Zeshi, who has gone through vicissitudes, after paying off his huge debts and regaining his career, put more energy into the training of the younger generation of actors. He would often take in some young people who admired his acting skills and came to apprentice, and patiently guided them in their acting methods.
Looking at these ignorant and young faces, Zheng Zeshi seemed to see himself when he was young, diligent and studious but lacking opportunities. So he will do his best to provide more performance platforms for these newcomers to shine in the film industry.
At the same time, Zheng Zeshi will also pay attention to those young people who have amazing acting talents but are from poor families. He would reach out to film directors or producers and recommend these young people to audition.
Once, under the recommendation of Zheng Zeshi, a 19-year-old man from a single-parent family successfully won the main role of a big production through layers of auditions.
This undoubtedly opened the door to the young man's path to stardom. Since then, this young man has great respect for Zheng Zeshi, and the two have established a deep teacher-student friendship.
Zheng Zeshi always remembers the enthusiasm and hardships when he stepped into the entertainment industry when he was young, so he hopes that his junior brothers and sisters can take fewer detours and have a smoother growth path.
Cultivating excellent young actors by himself is one of the things that Zheng Zeshi is most pleased and proud of in his life.
Looking back on his magnificent life, Zheng Zeshi deeply feels that everyone is responsible for their own destiny. It was the desperate situation of erasing the place of death and then living that made him gain more courage and broad-mindedness.
While successfully reaching the pinnacle of life, Zheng Zeshi did not immerse himself in his comfort zone and never thought about it.
When encountering an unprecedented predicament, Zheng Zeshi's first reaction was to give up on himself. Fortunately, Andy Lau's appearance opened another door and made him understand that there was still hope in a desperate situation.
Since then, Zheng Zeshi has never been discouraged and lost his fighting spirit. Every time he thinks of Andy Lau's trust and support for him, he feels the courage and motivation to move forward.
Now 72-year-old Zheng Zeshi still retains plenty of energy to devote himself to his acting career. He often asks himself, what has success given him, and what changes has failure brought? The meaning of life lies not only in standing at the peak, but also in the inner process of experience and transformation.
This is also the source of his persistence in acting and spreading positive energy.