However, just at this time, film directors Hou Hsiao-hsien and Wu Nien-chen--two men of culture very different from his past friends--lent him a helping hand. They invited him to make a film, and urged him to put out an album. They helped him recover that which he most lacked--self-confidence--and the trio built up a friendship like that of the Three Musketeers.
但也在這時候，侯孝賢與吳念真，這兩位不同於他以往朋友的「文化界」人士，適時地向他伸出援手，請他去拍片，鼓勵他灌唱片，為他找到他最缺乏的自信心，建立起「桃園三結義」似的朋友之誼。