1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Akina Nakamori stayed in the studio until almost twelve o'clock. After she left, Zhou Yan did not rush to leave, but went to develop the photos in the camera in Building No. 3.

There were only twenty-two photos in total on the film, and the first fifteen were pictures of the party. There was nothing special about it, and even Zhou Yan was not in the picture.

There are also four photos that were taken on the main road. Judging from the buildings that appear in them, they should have been taken near the CCTV building. There is nothing worth noting in these photos, and there are not even many people.

However, the remaining three photos made Zhou Yan squint his eyes.

All three photos captured the same scene, which was a man and a woman hugging each other.

Because of the angle, you can’t see what the woman looks like in any of the three photos, and you can’t see the man’s full face either, you can only see most of his profile.

Seeing this profile, Zhou Yan felt a little familiar.

He soon remembered that this profile looked very much like Huang Hexiang.

Huang Hexiang is Gong Li's husband. They have been married for less than a year, but they have not yet held a wedding banquet.

Zhou Yan was not familiar with Huang Hexiang either, so he couldn't determine that the person in the photo was Huang Hexiang based on a side profile picture.

The location where the photo was taken is unknown, but it looks like Yanjing. The house in the upper left corner is in the Yanjing architectural style, so it definitely won’t be Hong Kong.

The time should be very soon.

In the photo, Huang Hexiang and the woman are all wearing winter clothes, which is in line with the current season.

Besides, these photos are all on the same roll as the photos taken today, and the time must not be too far apart. It is normal for a tabloid reporter like Zhu Songming to consume several rolls of film every day.

Logically speaking, the possibility of photographing Huang Hexiang in Yanjing is relatively small.

Huang Hexiang is from Singapore and is in the tobacco business. He usually spends a lot of time in Hong Kong.

How could he appear in Yanjing and be photographed by Zhu Songming?
If it really is Huang Hexiang, Zhou Yan will have a hard time dealing with it.

Although the woman's appearance cannot be seen in the photo, Zhou Yan can be sure that it is not Gong Li, as her body shape is too different from Gong Li.

If it really is Huang Hexiang and the photos were taken recently, it means Huang Hexiang is having an extramarital affair.

However, Zhou Yan was not in a position to tell Gong Li about this matter.

It would be fine if Gong Li divorced Huang Hexiang decisively after knowing this.

But if Gong Li knew about this and not only did not divorce but also quarreled with Huang Hexiang, Zhou Yan would lose Gong Li as a friend.

Zhou Yan has seen many such situations in reality.

Zhou Yan even had a dark idea that Gong Li might not be unaware that Huang Hexiang was having an extramarital affair, but she just didn't expose it.

There are many cases where couples turn a blind eye to each other, especially in a combination like Gong Li and Huang Hexiang, one is an actress and the other is a businessman.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yan put the photo away. He decided not to tell Gong Li about this for the time being and wait until tomorrow to test the waters before making any plans.

The main reason is that he still regards Gong Li as a friend. If it were someone else, he wouldn't care at all.

In any case, Gong Li also helped him a lot on the set of "Raise the Red Lantern" that year.

I still hope that this person is not Huang Hexiang.

However, the more he looked at the profile, the more he felt that they resembled each other.

……

The next morning, Zhou Yan called Gong Li.

With a give-it-a-give attitude, he called Gong Li's home in Yanjing, and to his surprise, the call was actually answered.

"Hello, who is this?" Gong Li's lazy voice came, she must have just woken up.

"I, Zhou Yan, Sister Li."

Hearing Zhou Yan's voice, Gong Li laughed, "Little brother, you are so well-informed. You already knew about it just two days after I came back."

Zhou Yan also laughed, "I'm still not well-informed, otherwise I should have known when you first arrived in Yanjing. When did you return to Yanjing, Sister Li?"

"I went back to my hometown for a few days and just came to Yanjing the day before yesterday. I was thinking whether I should ask you if you are in Yanjing and go out to play with you. I didn't expect you to call me on your own initiative. You called me at this time. What's the matter?"

Gong Li is from Quancheng and often goes back there when she is not filming.

"Sister Li, will you stay in your hometown for the New Year?"

"This year is different. I can't celebrate the New Year in my hometown, so I went back to visit before the New Year."

Gong Li is now married to Huang Hexiang, so she will naturally go to Singapore or Hong Kong for the New Year. It is impossible for her to stay in her parents' home for the New Year.

"Oh, did your brother-in-law go back with you this time?"

"He went back, but he only stayed in Quancheng for one day. He had some business in Yanjing, so he came here early to handle it."

When Zhou Yan heard Gong Li say this, he felt something was wrong.

It sounds like the man in the photo is most likely Huang Hexiang.

Zhu Songming is really good at taking pictures. He actually managed to capture Huang Hexiang in the picture.

If it were an ordinary tabloid reporter, he probably wouldn’t recognize Huang Hexiang.

Zhou Yan smiled and asked, "When are you going to have the wedding banquet? I'm still waiting to drink in your wedding wine."

Gong Li and Huang Hexiang did not have a wedding banquet, but Gong Li had told Zhou Yan before that they planned to set up a few more tables later and invite familiar friends to attend.

"It depends. Probably next year. Haha, I want to ask you, when can I drink your wedding wine? You are not young this year, right?"

"Twenty-six, it's still early."

"Oh, you're only twenty-six."

Although she had always called Zhou Yan "little brother", Gong Li was still very emotional when she heard that Zhou Yan was only 26 years old.

All in all, they have known each other for six or seven years.

After such a long time, Zhou Yan is only 26 years old, about the same age as she was when she filmed "Raise the Red Lantern".

In recent years, Zhou Yan has developed very rapidly and has become a famous director.

Suddenly, Gong Li's eyes emerged with the scene of Zhou Yan standing at the door of Qiao's Courtyard holding a bag of sunflower seeds. At that time, Zhou Yan was a sunny boy who seemed a bit mature. He didn't know much about acting and had to rely entirely on her to guide him in acting.

"Although you are only twenty-six, you should get married sooner. As for the wedding banquet, you will definitely be there. I'm just afraid that a big director like you won't be able to come by then."

"As long as it's not a big deal, if you invite me to your wedding, I will definitely be there."

"I'll remember what you said. Actually, I have a good schedule. I haven't had much work in the past two years. But your brother-in-law is busy with work, so we don't see each other very often." At this point, Gong Li laughed again, "He did a good job this time. He stayed with me for such a long time and made my mother very happy."

Gong Li's father passed away the year before last, so now Gong Li cares very much about her mother's feelings.

Even the reason she was able to marry Huang Hexiang was because of her mother. She had promised her mother that she would get married before she turned 30.

It was because Zhang Yimou couldn't give her a promise that she turned to find someone else and got married in a hurry.

After hearing what Gong Li said, Zhou Yan decided not to tell Gong Li about the photo for the time being. He just smiled and invited Gong Li, "Sister Li, do you have time today to come to my studio and play for a while?"

"Okay." Gong Li agreed immediately. "I haven't been to your studio yet. I'll go over today and take a look. I'll wash up now and go right over..." Before she finished speaking, Zhou Yan heard a man's voice on the other end of the phone, "Who is it?"

"Zhou Yan, he knew I came to Yanjing today, and asked me to visit his studio."

When Huang Hexiang heard Gong Li mention Zhou Yan, he smiled and said hello to the phone, "Director Zhou, hello."

"Hello, Mr. Huang." Zhou Yan did not call him brother-in-law, but only called him Mr. Huang.

"I wonder where Director Zhou's studio is. Do I have the honor to visit it?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "It is an honor for Mr. Huang to come. My studio is right next to the North Third Ring Road. It was an old state-owned electronics factory. Sister Li should know the location."

"Well, I know where it is. It's convenient for us to go there."

"Are you coming this morning?"

"We'll be there soon."

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you two here."

……

After hanging up the phone, Gong Li looked at Huang Hexiang curiously, "Why are you interested in going with me to meet Zhou Yan today?"

Although Huang Hexiang did not say it explicitly, Gong Li could feel that Huang Hexiang was not very interested in people in the entertainment industry.

It was obvious that he could be with Gong Li because of her celebrity status, but after getting married, Huang Hexiang was a little averse to Gong Li having too much contact with people in the entertainment industry.

Normally when Gong Li wants to meet friends in the entertainment industry, Huang Hexiang will not take the initiative to go with her.

Today was unusual. He actually took the initiative to say that he wanted to go to Zhou Yan's studio.

"Zhou Yan is a great director and musician. I am also very interested in him. Are you familiar with him?"

Huang Hexiang only knew that Gong Li and Zhou Yan knew each other, but he didn't expect that they had a good relationship.

"Yes, I usually call him my little brother. When he played Chen Feipu, we had scenes together. I practiced with him for a long time. Later, when we were filming Farewell My Concubine, we also worked together."

"I see." Huang Hexiang nodded, "I didn't expect you two knew each other so well."

"There's a lot you don't know. My little brother is very interesting. You'll know when you see him later."

“I’m actually looking forward to it.”

……

It was just half past ten when Gong Li and Huang Hexiang arrived at Zhou Yan's studio.

After meeting, Zhou Yan took the initiative to shake hands with Huang Hexiang, "Mr. Huang, I have heard a lot about you."

"Director Zhou is too polite."

While Zhou Yan was shaking hands with Huang Hexiang, he was also observing Huang Hexiang's face.

The face shape is secondary. The main thing is the glasses Huang Hexiang wears.

In the photo, although it is a side view, you can see that the man is wearing a pair of thin-framed gold round glasses, and the glasses Huang Hexiang is wearing today are also thin-framed gold round glasses.

Now Zhou Yan can basically conclude that the person in the photo is Huang Hexiang.

I just don’t know who the woman Huang Hexiang is hugging. Is she also a female celebrity in the entertainment industry?

After inviting the two to sit down, Zhou Yan personally poured them two cups of tea, and then he sat opposite them holding a cup of tea.

"Sister Li, Mr. Huang, how long do you plan to stay in Yanjing?"

"We plan to wait until Saturday to go to Singapore," said Gong Li.

Zhou Yan nodded, "We have to rush back to celebrate the New Year."

"Yes." Huang Hexiang looked around Zhou Yan's office, then asked with a smile, "Is the entire electronics factory yours now?"

"Well, all the employees of the electronics factory moved out some time ago."

Gong Li exclaimed, "We just took a quick look down there. This electronics factory is quite large, with many buildings. If all of them are developed, it will be a big deal."

"Only three or four buildings are currently in use, and no major renovations have been done. If I had known you were coming, I would have invited you to the party last night."

"What party?" Gong Li asked.

"It's our studio's annual meeting. Most of the programs are produced by our studio, just small events."

"Don't be so modest. Your studio can put on a perfect concert with just one orchestra. How could it be a small effort? If I had known, I would have contacted you in advance. It's a pity that I missed such a great party. You too, even if you didn't know I was in Yanjing, you should have told us in advance."

"I'm afraid you'll be busy, so many people haven't said anything. Besides, if you shout too much, there won't be enough room for me to sit here."

"I don't care about others, but you will definitely call me next time."

Zhou Yan smiled and nodded, "Definitely."

In the subsequent conversation, it was basically Zhou Yan and Gong Li who talked, while Huang Hexiang just sat beside them with a smile and rarely spoke.

Zhou Yan and Gong Li were reminiscing about the past, and they were basically talking about things related to movies. Huang Hexiang didn't quite understand, and even if he did chime in, he couldn't get to the point.

However, when talking about Zhou Yan's filming of "Time Traveler" in Hong Kong, Huang Hexiang became quite excited and asked a lot of questions about Zhou Yan's filming experience in Hong Kong at that time.

Huang Hexiang then naturally turned the topic to Hong Kong’s return this year.

Zhou Yan didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Huang Hexiang seemed to be asking him for information.

This made Zhou Yan feel strange. Why did Huang Hexiang ask him for information?

In other words, why did Huang Hexiang think he could get information from him?

Did Huang Hexiang simply think that since he had lived in Yanjing for a long time, under the feet of the emperor, he should be able to hear some news?
Or does Huang Hexiang know something about his family background?

The key point is that Gong Li doesn’t even know his background.

Zhou Yan avoided all of Huang Hexiang's inquiries and did not make any response.

Huang Hexiang was not annoyed but very happy instead for not getting any news from Zhou Yan.

Because he drew a conclusion from Zhou Yan's reaction, that is, Zhou Yan's identity is indeed as powerful as the rumors say.

If Zhou Yan didn't have a background, he wouldn't have been able to avoid all the core issues just now.

Generally speaking, the less inside information one has, the more one likes to talk about these things with others.

Zhou Yan is unwilling to talk, it is very likely that he really knows something.

Today, Huang Hexiang and Gong Li took the initiative to meet Zhou Yan, of course not because of Zhou Yan's identity as a director and composer, but because of the rumors about Zhou Yan's background.

If the rumors were true, then he would naturally want to make friends with Zhou Yan.

Even though Zhou Yan was unwilling to be open with him now, he didn't care. It was impossible for people to be open with each other the first time they met.

Anyway, Gong Li and Zhou Yan have a good relationship, so there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. (End of this chapter)