1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Originally, Zhou Yan wanted to call Jiang Mengfei over to have dinner together so that they could get to know each other and facilitate future cooperation, but Zhou Yan ultimately did not let Jiang Mengfei come.

It is better to proceed step by step and not rush things.

After dinner, as it was getting late, Zhou Yan did not take the two of them on a tour of the studio, but it had already been confirmed that Liu Heping would move in.

"Teacher Liu, you can move in tomorrow afternoon. Do you need me to send someone to help you?"

Liu Wenwu smiled and said, "No need, I'll go and help him."

Zhou Yan nodded, "Then we'll meet tomorrow afternoon, and I'll show you around our studio then."

"Okay, I'm looking forward to it too." Liu Wenwu said with a smile.

……

After seeing Liu Wenwu and Liu Heping off, Zhou Yan did not return to his office but went to the TV drama department.

The large office of the TV drama department was dark and no one was there.

Normally, the various departments of the studio basically do not work overtime. The TV series has just been established not long ago, and there are no tasks now, so naturally they will get off work on time.

The reason why Zhou Yan came over was that he saw that the light in Jiang Mengfei's office was on.

He walked through the large office of the TV drama department, came to the door of the department director's office, raised his hand and knocked.

"Please come in." Jiang Mengfei's voice came from inside.

Zhou Yan pushed open the door and met Jiang Mengfei's eyes when he looked up.

Seeing Zhou Yan, Jiang Mengfei asked in surprise, "Old Zhou, why are you here at this time?"

"I just saw the light in your office was on downstairs, so I came up to check. Why haven't you gone home yet?"

"There are still some things that are not finished."

"I don't think your department has anything to do recently, right?"

Jiang Mengfei smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. I just look at the scripts submitted by the outside world and see if I can find any useful ones."

Hearing him looking for the script, Zhou Yan waved his hand and said, "Don't read it yet. Take a break."

Jiang Mengfei had just read half of a script and was still a little reluctant to put it down, but Zhou Yan spoke, so although he was reluctant, he still closed the script.

Then Jiang Mengfei stood up and went to get the kettle, "I'll pour you some water."

"No need for water, just sit down and talk."

Jiang Mengfei nodded, put down the kettle, walked over to sit opposite Zhou Yan and said, "Why are you here so late at night? Do you have any instructions?"

"There is a mission for you."

Jiang Mengfei's eyes lit up, "Is there any progress on the 'Yongzheng Dynasty' that we talked about before?"

Zhou Yan nodded. "Well, there are some clues, but the cooperation is not certain yet. The task I assigned to you is related to this matter. The screenwriter of this play, Liu Heping, will move to our studio tomorrow afternoon. Now he needs a dormitory and an office."

Originally, Zhou Yan wanted to assign this task to the logistics department, but Zhou Yan thought that he could take this opportunity to help Jiang Mengfei establish a good relationship with Liu Heping, so he gave this task to Jiang Mengfei.

Jiang Mengfei also understood Zhou Yan's meaning at once. He smiled and nodded, "No problem, leave it to me. He can live alone, right?"

"Well, he is the only one in the dormitory, but there may be several people working in the office. The office doesn't need to be big, but it must be fully equipped. It would be best if there were two desks."

There are quite a lot of people in the planning team of "Yongzheng Dynasty". If there were not enough desks, it would be inconvenient to work in the back.

Jiang Mengfei smiled and said, "It just so happens that there is an empty room on the east side of our floor with two tables. Apart from these, is there anything else you need?"

"The rest can be arranged as a normal single-person office. If Liu Heping has any other needs, we will try our best to meet them."

"No problem." Jiang Mengfei made an OK gesture.

Zhou Yan nodded. "Although the cooperation has not been finalized, it is almost certain. You have been preparing seriously during this period. This time our cooperation may be more in-depth than I expected."

"More in-depth?" Jiang Mengfei rubbed his hands, looking very motivated. "It's good to go deeper. Our department has been established for such a long time, and it hasn't started work for such a long time. It's like a sword that has not been unsheathed. This time we must test the sword's edge."

Seeing Jiang Mengfei's enthusiasm, Zhou Yan nodded secretly, but he still reminded him, "No matter what happens this time, you must keep a low profile and focus on learning. Most of the people in our TV series department have rich experience in filming movies, but they are lacking in TV series shooting. Don't take it too seriously."

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhou. We are definitely in a learning state of mind."

"That's good." Zhou Yan glanced at the scripts on the desk again and said, "You should read less scripts. You are neither a screenwriter nor a director, so don't waste your time on these things. Just let Shen Yan and others do these things, or ask the directors in the film department to keep an eye out for you. If they come across a good TV drama script, they can send it directly to you."

Jiang Mengfei said embarrassedly, "I mainly think that I can't be too idle. I need to find something to do."

Zhou Yan waved his hand, "If you have nothing to do, you can go out with Shen Yan and see how other companies make TV dramas, such as the Yanjing Film Studio, or director Zhao Baogang's company."

"If I go, I can only watch the post-production. There are very few filmings in Yanjing. I can't go to places far away."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Who said we can't go? It would be convenient for you to take Shen Yan on a business trip when you have nothing to do. As long as it's not too far, it's no problem to go out for five or six days. If you want, you can also go to Hong Kong and Taiwan to see how they shoot TV series."

In fact, Jiang Mengfei also thought about going out to study, but he felt that it was not good to be away from the factory for a long time, and business trips cost a lot. He started spending money before he made any money for the studio, and he felt bad about it.

To put it bluntly, he had just started to work on his own and was a little uncomfortable with the new environment.

But Zhou Yan was not in a hurry. Most people are not born to be leaders. He believed that Jiang Mengfei would adapt quickly.

……

The next day at noon, in the Central Academy of Drama, in Chang Li's office.

Zhang Ziyi anxiously came to Chang Li to ask for leave, hoping to get three months of leave in June, September and October.

Such a long vacation has exceeded the time stipulated by the school. Under normal circumstances, Chang Li would not approve it, but Zhang Ziyi still wants to give it a try.

Zhang Ziyi's leave application was written very clearly. She asked for such a long leave because she wanted to star in Chen Kaige's movie "The Emperor and the Assassin".

After reading the leave application, Chang Li was silent for a long time before speaking, "Last semester, you didn't do well in your homework."

When talking about her semester assignments, Zhang Ziyi blushed.

Last year, she almost had a mental breakdown due to her semester assignments. She cried every day and even considered dropping out of school.

But in the end I overcame the difficulties and stayed in school.

"I……"

Zhang Ziyi was about to speak when Chang Li continued, "But I am very satisfied because you did not give up and completed your homework very seriously and responsibly. I have always told you that talent is important for being an actor, but the most important thing is to have a tenacious heart that is not moved by external things." "How many talented seedlings have wavered on the road to progress because of their unstable mentality, and finally ended up with nothing."

"I……"

Chang Li interrupted Zhang Ziyi again, "You came to ask for leave, you should know that I won't approve it, you are still hoping for luck, but I'm sorry, I can't approve this leave. If you want to go to film, then apply for withdrawal from school, I will speed up the procedures for you, so as not to delay your joining the crew."

"I……"

Zhang Ziyi almost cried when she heard Chang Li's words.

She mustered up the courage to ask Chang Li for leave, hoping that a miracle would happen.

But now, not only did the miracle not happen, but I was also mentally attacked by the head teacher.

Although Chang Li didn't scold her, her words made her very uncomfortable.

This time Chang Li did not interrupt Zhang Ziyi, but just looked at Zhang Ziyi quietly, waiting for Zhang Ziyi to speak.

But this time, Zhang Ziyi didn't know what to say.

She held it in for a long time, and finally lowered her head and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Teacher Chang, I really don't want to miss this opportunity."

Chang Li sighed slightly, "I understand. Most people can't refuse such a good opportunity, but the school's rules are rules. They can't be changed for you. People grow up because they experience choices again and again. How about this, you don't have to rush to make a decision. Go back and think about it first. Come to me when you have thought it through. Do you want to stay in school or go to film?"

Zhang Ziyi could only nod, "Okay."

Chang Li put her leave application in the drawer, and then said, "If you didn't come to me, I would have come to you. The new list of school-enterprise cooperation has come out, and you have passed."

As she spoke, Chang Li took out a list from the drawer.

Zhang Ziyi took the list in a daze and saw her name on it.

"There were nearly 200 people who signed up for the second batch, but only ten were selected in the end. You are very lucky to be selected. Logically, you should leave now, and this spot should be given to someone else. But before that, you should go to Teacher Zhou to get a feel for it."

Zhang Ziyi said gratefully, "Thank you, Teacher Chang."

"No need to thank me, you passed it on your own. But if you are sure you want to leave, the quota will definitely be given to someone else. This school-enterprise cooperation is only for students on campus."

"I understand. When will I report for the school-enterprise cooperation?"

"Teacher Tian Youliang is in charge of school-enterprise cooperation. If you have any questions, you can go to him... He's going to eat, and he'll probably be back soon. How about this, you wait for him here for a while, I'm going to eat first, or you can go with me, maybe we can run into him on the way."

Zhang Ziyi shook her head, "I'd better wait for him here."

"Okay then, I'll go eat first."

Not long after Chang Li left, Tian Youliang walked into the office chatting and laughing with Huang Dingyu.

Seeing Zhang Ziyi alone in the office, Huang Dingyu smiled and said, "Are you looking for Teacher Chang? She must be having dinner now."

"I'm looking for Teacher Tian."

Tian Youliang was not surprised at all. "It's about the school-enterprise cooperation, right? Teacher Chang told you about it?"

"Ah."

"Don't worry. The school will post a notice with the name list tomorrow. I will call you to hold a meeting and tell you the details. We should report next week."

"Next week?" Zhang Ziyi was a little anxious, "Can't it be faster?"

Tian Youliang smiled and said, "You are really in a hurry. If you want to go there earlier, that's fine. You can go and have a look with the first batch of students who went there this afternoon."

"Is this okay?"

"Of course you can. Teacher Zhou welcomes students from our school to go there. Even if you don't participate in the school-enterprise cooperation, you can go. How about this, Brother Duan Long from Teacher Huang's class will go there this afternoon. You can go with him. Do you know Duan Long?"

Zhang Ziyi nodded, "Yes, I will go directly to find Senior Brother Duan."

……

In the afternoon, Duan Yihong took Zhang Ziyi to Zhou Yan's studio on a bicycle.

Duan Yihong had been here many times and was familiar with the place. He took Zhang Ziyi straight to the office of the film department's makeup workshop and found a girl.

"Director Lin, this is my junior sister Zhang Ziyi. She is the next batch of students and wants to experience it in advance."

Zhang Ziyi saw Director Lin and said in surprise, "Jian Jie'er."

It turns out that the Director Lin mentioned by Duan Yihong is Lin Juan. Hong Xin had worked with Lin Juan to do makeup for Zhang Ziyi before and they had dealt with each other before.

Lin Juan is a very gentle girl and is very kind to Zhang Ziyi, so Zhang Ziyi likes her very much.

The reason why Duan Yihong calls Lin Juan Director Lin is that in addition to her work in the makeup workshop, Lin Juan is also responsible for connecting with teachers and students at the Central Academy of Drama.

She does not have the title of director, but students like Duan Yihong call her that to show respect.

When Lin Juan saw that it was Zhang Ziyi, she also laughed, "Ziyi, you are great, you came here too."

Zhang Ziyi was in a very depressed mood today, even when she learned that she had passed the school-enterprise cooperation screening. But when she heard Lin Juan's words, a bright smile appeared on her face.

Lin Juan continued, "Students who work with schools and enterprises need to intern in various workshops for a period of time. It is not certain which workshops they will intern in and how long they will intern for. It depends on the students' performance. What do you think of your first workshop for internship? If the workshop you want to go to is not particularly crowded, I can satisfy you."

"Can I come to the makeup workshop?" Zhang Ziyi asked hopefully.

"Of course you can, but the film department doesn't have much work right now, and there's not much work in our makeup workshop. I'm afraid you won't learn much if you come here."

“But I’m just interested in makeup.”

Seeing Zhang Ziyi's insistence, Lin Juan nodded and said, "Okay, you can stay in the makeup workshop for a while. Anyway, your second batch of students will not report until next week."

"Thank you, Sister Juan."

"You're welcome. I'll find you a seat."

Duan Yihong saw Zhang Ziyi and Lin Juan connected, so he said goodbye, "Director Lin, I'm going back to the editing workshop first."

"Well, you go first."

After Duan Yihong left, Lin Juan took Zhang Ziyi to find a seat. (End of this chapter)