1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Chapter 510 The photos inside are not simple

In fact, Hu Jing and the others' faces are small compared to ordinary people, but compared with Zhang Ziyi, their faces are much bigger. It is not an exaggeration to say that Zhang Ziyi's face is only the size of a palm.

However, Zhang Ziyi is actually not that tall. At least among the four girls who came on stage today, she is not tall, and is even the shortest. The other girls are all quite tall.

It’s just that Zhang Ziyi is quite thin and looks quite tall.

"Oh, that should be Zhang Ziyi. Why are you asking her?" Zhou Yan asked curiously.

"Zhang Ziyi." Chen Kaige repeated Zhang Ziyi's name in a low voice, and then said with a smile, "I just think she is quite attractive to me."

Do you like it?
Zhou Yan looked at Chen Kaige strangely. When did this guy's taste change?
Judging from Chen Kaige’s past relationship experiences and the heroines he has chosen for his previous movies, his aesthetic taste is probably not like Zhang Ziyi’s.

And what does this eye contact mean specifically? From the director's perspective or from a man's perspective?

If it's from the director's perspective, it's okay.

But if you look at it from a man's perspective, something is wrong. He is still dating Ni Ping, right?
Maybe it was because of his appearance that snatched away Chen Hong, and Chen Kaige and Ni Ping's relationship lasted for a long time. At least Zhou Yan had not heard of any problems between them.

Perhaps noticing Zhou Yan's change in expression, Chen Kaige smiled and explained, "I think she is quite suitable for filming. I have also been considering the casting of my new film recently."

"Hasn't the casting for your new movie been finalized yet?"

Zhou Yan thought that the early preparations for "The Emperor and the Assassin" were almost done, and they were just waiting for the Qin Palace to be completed. Unexpectedly, Chen Kaige hadn't even finalized the casting.

"No, actually I just finalized the script, and the previous versions weren't very good."

Chen Kaige did say before that he was not satisfied with the several versions of the script written by Wang Peigong, so it seems that he is going to do it himself.

Zhou Yan sighed silently in his heart. Whether it was Chen Kaige or Zhang Yimou, they were definitely skilled enough and they each had their own strengths.

But the thing a director fears most is being too stubborn.

Many people think that artists must be stubborn, so that they can achieve artistic accomplishments.

Many people even equate artistic talent with the degree of paranoia, believing that the more paranoid a person is, the more artistic talent they have.

If a person working in a literary or artistic field is extremely paranoid, the public will also make excuses for them - this is how artists work.

But in fact, a stubborn director may be able to produce one or two excellent works, but it is difficult for him to produce continuous output.

Having your own persistence is obviously different from being stubborn.

The former can basically recognize their own shortcomings, while the latter always think they are right about everything.

Directors are also human beings, and as long as they are human, they will have shortcomings.

But a stubborn director will always expose his own shortcomings.

Chen Kaige is a typical example. He really shouldn't interfere too much in Wang Peigong's creation, because script writing is his weakness.

At least compared with Wang Peigong, his level of script writing is not good enough.

Wang Peigong spent a lot of time and wrote several versions of the script, but it was rejected by Chen Kaige all of a sudden. Moreover, Chen Kaige only spent a short period of time to change the script to what he wanted. This is obviously unreasonable.

If Chen Kaige really had such ability in script writing, the number of his works would not be what it is now.

Of course, Zhou Yan was not surprised that Chen Kaige did this. After all, Chen Kaige has a heart of a writer, and screenwriting can be considered an extension of being a writer.

In fact, Chen Kaige has also written novels, and had interactions with Bei Dao, Mang Ke and others in the past, so he has one foot in the literary circle. Otherwise, he would not have had such a reaction when he saw "Tree Hole" before.

He was full of envy for Zhou Yan.

Even though Zhang Yimou debuted early and is very famous, Chen Kaige just doesn't admit defeat. Especially after the release of "Farewell My Concubine", he thinks Zhang Yimou is no match for him.

Who is Zhang Yimou? He is just a rough guy from the country who has only studied photography for a few years. What can he know about movies?
But Zhou Yan is different. Zhou Yan is a writer and has written works like "Tree Hole". Just for this reason, he thinks highly of Zhou Yan.

Although he was unwilling to admit it, Chen Kaige felt deep down that his artistic talent was not as good as Zhou Yan's.

If Chen Kaige had not interfered with Wang Peigong's creation this time, "The Emperor and the Assassin" might have had a different ending, at least the box office results would not have been so bad.

Zhou Yan is not the kind of person who likes to give harsh but honest advice, especially to someone like Chen Kaige who is obedient, he basically only praises him.

Even if he couldn't give praise, he wouldn't say anything to spoil the fun.

He knew it anyway, and Chen Kaige wouldn't listen even if he told him.

Since it's useless to talk, why be a bad person?

"Now that the script has been finalized, we need to think carefully about casting. But I'm afraid Zhang Ziyi won't be suitable."

"Why?" Chen Kaige asked.

"Have you forgotten? Students at the Central Academy of Drama are not allowed to go out to film in their first and second years. Even if your new play is filmed later, she will still be in her second year. Unless you can finish filming in July or August, she can take over your play during the summer vacation."

"Oh, yes, their schools are different." Chen Kaige patted his forehead.

Chen Kaige is from Yenching Film Academy, and YFA has always been relatively lenient with its students going out to film, unlike the Central Academy of Drama.

As for the rules of the Central Academy of Drama, he must know them, after all, Yanjing is not that big.

"But can't this be compromised? You have a partnership with their school now, so could you help put them on good terms?"

Zhou Yan immediately waved his hands and said, "Master Kai, I can't help you with this matter. My own studio has a new movie, and I didn't even ask the Central Academy of Drama for this request."

Chen Kaige was a little disappointed after hearing what Zhou Yan said. He was indeed very interested in Zhang Ziyi.

After thinking for a while, Chen Kaige sighed and said, "What a pity."

Zhou Yan patted him on the shoulder and said, "Master Kai, don't feel sorry. There will definitely be opportunities for cooperation in the future."

After saying this, Zhou Yan looked at Akina Nakamori who was not far away. She had been waiting for him.

"Master Kai, it's getting late tonight. I won't keep you here. We can meet again when we have the chance."

Chen Kaige nodded, "Okay."

……

Before long, most of the visitors left.

Many people in the studio were not in a hurry to leave because they had not eaten yet, so they stayed in the cafeteria for an early or late night snack.

Xu Feng and Dong Wenmiao did not leave either. They ate with the studio team and sat at the same table with Zhou Yan and Akina Nakamori.

Although Xu Feng is Akina Nakamori's nominal boss, the two are not familiar with each other. Akina Nakamori doesn't have much to say to people she doesn't know well. She spends most of her time with her head down eating, and she is indeed hungry.

Knowing that Akina Nakamori likes spicy food, the kitchen often prepares some Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan and Jiangxi dishes, which she enjoys very much.

She had a good meal in Yudu this time. She even felt that she must have been a Yudu person in her previous life. Otherwise, why would Yudu food be so tasty?

Dong Wenmiao didn't feel like talking, so only Zhou Yan and Xu Feng were left chatting.

It would be very awkward if the two of them didn't chat.

After chatting with Zhou Yan for a while, Xu Feng looked at Nakamori Akina who was concentrating on eating and said with a smile, "Akina, I heard that you have been participating in activities here recently. You have been working hard."

Akina Nakamori looked up and smiled, "It's not hard at all. My current job is much easier than my previous one."

This is the truth. When Akina Nakamori was at her peak in Japan, her schedule was basically seamless, and she had no time to rest. Although she is still very busy now, her workload has been greatly reduced, and she can have a full day or two of rest every now and then.

She was already very satisfied with this intensity.

Xu Feng nodded. "It's better to have a life of your own. I often tell Zhou Yan not to be too busy, but he never listens. In the past few years, I haven't seen him have a complete rest."

Zhou Yan laughed and said, "Sister Feng, you are exaggerating a bit. In fact, I feel that it is quite relaxing overall. I often have time to rest. For example, I was quite relaxed some time ago."

Xu Feng rolled his eyes, "Our definitions of rest are completely different."

In Xu Feng's opinion, since it is a rest, one cannot work and should relax wholeheartedly.

But when Zhou Yan is resting, he still does something, either writing something or reading a book.

Even when he is not working, Zhou Yan will arrange his life fully.

After rolling his eyes at Zhou Yan, Xu Feng looked at Dong Wenmiao again, "Miaomiao is about the same, she doesn't usually rest."

Dong Wenmiao finally looked up, "Don't I usually take a break? For example, tonight."

In Dong Wenmiao's opinion, isn't being able to come here to watch a performance considered a rest?

If she is really busy, how can she have time to do other things at night?
Especially for a designer like her, working overtime at night is a common thing, and it is good enough if her work and rest schedule is not reversed.

"So, you two..."

Halfway through his words, Xu Feng felt that the following words might not be appropriate, so he stopped talking and just changed the subject, saying, "Zhou Yan's new book is going to be serialized. Miaomiao, did you know about this?"

As soon as she said this, a gleam of light appeared in the eyes of Dong Wenmiao and Nakamori Akina.

Moreover, they all looked at Xu Feng first, and then quickly turned their gazes to Zhou Yan, with very coordinated movements.

Seeing the two people's puzzled expressions, Zhou Yan nodded, "That's what happened."

"Since it is serialized, it must be in a magazine or newspaper?" Dong Wenmiao asked.

"October." Zhou Yan replied.

"Next issue?"

"Well, next issue."

Dong Wenmiao nodded and didn't ask any more questions. She made a plan in her mind and planned to buy a copy when the next issue came out. She would also usually buy some literary magazines to read. "October", "Contemporary" and "Harvest" were all frequent visitors to her home.

She hadn't read Zhou Yan's novels for a long time, and her previous novels had left a deep impression on her.

Akina Nakamori didn't know what "October" was, but she kept the name in mind and planned to go back and ask Seiko Iida what it was.

Akina Nakamori doesn't know much about Zhou Yan's novels.

She has read the Japanese version of "Zhou Yan, Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng", but she has not read Zhou Yan's other novels.

With her current Chinese reading level, she can probably only read some very simple stories. She cannot understand slightly more complicated sentences and vocabulary, so when Zhou Yan’s new novel comes out, she will most likely not be able to understand it.

But even though she couldn't understand it, she would still buy the novel and read it.

She has also been working hard to learn Chinese characters recently. Reading novels should also be a way of learning, right?

……

After dinner, Xu Feng said goodbye to Dong Wenmiao and left, while Zhou Yan took Nakamori Akina back to the office.

As soon as the two arrived at the office, Liu Hang came.

"Boss, let me report to you about the situation of that reporter." Liu Hang glanced at Akina Nakamori.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "It's okay, go ahead."

This is not a secret, so it doesn't matter if Akina Nakamori hears it.

Liu Hang nodded and began to report the situation. "I found out that the man's name is Zhu Songming. He doesn't belong to any newspaper or TV station. He is a self-employed person. He usually makes money by filming news and selling it to newspapers and TV stations."

"Oh, and a professional paparazzi."

It seems that the paparazzi in the country have gradually formed an industrial chain, and the emergence of this type of individual business owners is proof of this.

In order for such self-employed individuals to support themselves, they must rely on the industrial chain behind entertainment news. To put it bluntly, the news they shoot must be able to be sold.

In the past two years, news has become more and more entertainment-oriented, and all news tends to be entertainment news. This is mainly because the audience is large and everyone prefers to watch this.

"Zhu Songming asked if the camera could be returned to him," Liu Hang said.

Zhou Yan raised his eyebrows, "What did you say?"

"I said we didn't take his camera, and he said he was willing to pay 5,000 yuan for it."

"Five thousand?"

Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes and looked at the camera on the table.

This is a Ricoh XR-X2000 camera. It is very convenient for taking pictures, but the lens is very ordinary. Its main target customers are home users.

The price is not expensive, the set costs more than 2,000 yuan.

And judging from the condition of this camera, it must have been bought a few years ago.

If such an old camera were sold on the second-hand market, no one would buy it even at half the original price. However, Zhu Songming was willing to redeem it for 5,000 yuan, which was a bit strange.

"He said there were some private photos of himself in there that he didn't want to be seen."

Private photos?

Zhou Yan curled his lips, thinking that these so-called private photos were not simple. They were either indecent photos of Zhu Songming himself, or valuable photos of other people.

The latter is more likely.

Because even if there are indecent photos of Zhu Songming in them, Zhu Songming probably doesn't care much.

For someone like him, even if he gave his indecent photos to Zhou Yan, Zhou Yan would not spread them, and even if he did, it would not have any impact on him.

As for other people’s photos, they are most likely of a celebrity.

After a moment's silence, Zhou Yan said, "This matter ends here."

"I understand." Liu Hang nodded.

At the same time, Liu Hang laughed in his heart. Zhu Songming was really confused. He even wanted to use 5,000 yuan to tempt their boss. Didn't he know that 5,000 yuan was just a drop in the bucket for their boss?

On the contrary, after Zhu Songming did this, Zhou Yan would definitely check the photos in the camera.

But thinking back, what else could Zhu Songming do?
Since everyone else had been arrested and taken to the police station, it was impossible to force Zhou Yan to hand over the camera, so the only option was to bribe him.

Zhu Songming probably knew it was useless, but he was still unwilling to give it a try.

(End of this chapter)