1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Liu Wenwu didn't sit with Zhou Yan for long before he got up, said goodbye, and went to find Liu Heping.

"Old Tang, I'm going to go over first. You can catch up with Director Zhou."

Tang Guoqiang nodded, "Then you go first, I'll come find you later."

After Liu Wenwu left, Tang Guoqiang asked with a smile, "After the filming of Three Kingdoms was finished, have you met the other old brothers?"

"My second brother has met my third brother. Didn't my third brother just film "Time Traveler" with me?"

"Oh, yes, he played your uncle in the movie. I watched the movie too, and he acted quite stupidly, really true to himself."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Next time, scold him to his face."

"How can I scold him? I'm obviously praising him."

"Then he has to thank you."

"That's right, haha."

Zhou Yan smiled and asked, "How are you doing at the Youth Art Theater now?"

Tang Guoqiang went to the China Youth Art Theatre from the Bayi Film Studio in 93. Zhou Yan heard him talk about it when he went to the crew at that time.

"It's not bad. It's a little more relaxed than when I was at the Bayi Factory."

Zhou Yan nodded. It is true that Tang Guoqiang has not published any works in recent years.

Speaking of which, this is also the situation faced by most of the main actors in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

After "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", everyone's development in film and television was mediocre.

In recent years, Sun Yanjun starred in "Anti-Corruption Bureau Chief", Lu Shuming starred in "A Chinese Odyssey", Li Jingfei starred in the TV series "Beijing-Kowloon Love" and Zhou Yan's "Time and Space Love Traveler".

However, the three of them collaborated with Bao Guoan on a TV series called "Sun Wu", which has not been broadcast yet.

Tang Guoqiang is not much better than them. He has only acted in one movie "The Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty" in recent years. This time, "The Yongzheng Dynasty" can be regarded as his second film and television work after "The Three Kingdoms".

Speaking of which, Tang Guoqiang's acting career really took off from "The Yongzheng Dynasty". After "The Yongzheng Dynasty", he took on more and more dramas, and the weight of them became heavier and heavier, so that later he specialized in playing emperors.

He doesn't have any movies to shoot right now, so the Youth Art Theater must be less busy than the Bayi Theater.

"Since you are free, you can come and sit with me when you have nothing to do."

Tang Guoqiang waved his hand, "I'm very free, but I know you're very busy, so I won't come to disturb you. But if there's a chance later, you can ask Sun Yanjun and the others to come over and have a get-together. Those years of filming were tough, and we had to sleep outdoors. But now when I think back on it, I miss it so much. I still remember that time when you went out with Sun Yanjun and the others to steal corn..."

Zhou Yan interrupted him quickly, "Don't talk nonsense, I didn't steal the corn."

Tang Guoqiang smiled and nodded, "Yes, yes, you didn't steal. I used the wrong word. You went out to borrow corn from the villagers, right?"

Seeing Tang Guoqiang's half-smile, Zhou Yan felt powerless.

Forget it, there’s no point in explaining, so I won’t explain anymore.

Seeing Zhou Yan's dejected look, Tang Guoqiang said with a smile, "Didn't you write a song called "Borrowing Cucumbers"? You can also write a song called "Borrowing Corn"."

Zhou Yan couldn't help rolling his eyes. It seemed that he did nothing every day but was busy borrowing things.

The key point is that he had no direct involvement in borrowing corn or cucumbers, and it was completely an unprovoked disaster.

Moreover, in some versions, it was not Zhou Yan and Sun Yanjun who went to steal corn, but he took Sun Yanjun and others to steal corn.

After all, this version is more logical. The three brothers didn't steal corn early or late, but they went to steal corn on the first day that Coach Zhou came.

No matter how you look at it, you, Zhou Yan, are the instigator.

"Well, you play an important role in the new drama, what are your preparations?" Zhou Yan began to change the subject.

Tang Guoqiang nodded. "We have almost finished the research. As long as they don't make major changes to the script, I have no problem with it. As for Yongzheng..."

Then he started talking about his understanding of the script and the role. Zhou Yan didn't think there was anything wrong at first, but after listening for a while, he felt something was wrong.

Wasn't Tang Guoqiang supposed to play the Eighth Prince Yinsi? Why were they always talking about Yongzheng and not mentioning the Eighth Prince at all?

Zhou Yan paused for a while and interrupted Tang Guoqiang, "Why don't you talk about Yinsi? Aren't you playing Yinsi?"

Tang Guoqiang laughed, "Well, Eighth Prince, I know what I am doing. I can act well even without you telling me."

He said this with great confidence, even a little arrogant, which was a bit unlike Tang Guoqiang's style.

Although Zhou Yan's contact with Tang Guoqiang was limited to the crew of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he still had some understanding of him. This guy was indeed very confident, but he usually spoke in a low-key manner.

Of course, there is something wrong with his attitude now.

Zhou Yan probably guessed the reason, and he asked with a smile, "Tell me the truth, do you want to play the role of Yongzheng?"

Tang Guoqiang narrowed his eyes and smiled, with a hint of shyness in his smile, "To be honest, I want to challenge Yongzheng."

It is very normal for him to have such an idea. Not to mention that Yongzheng is the protagonist and has more scenes than Yinsi, just looking at the character design, Yongzheng is much more interesting than Yinsi.

For an actor, he definitely hopes to play a role like Yongzheng.

Zhou Yan looked at Tang Guoqiang and asked, "Why didn't you say anything when Mr. Liu was here just now?"

"I mentioned it to him."

"How did he say?"

"He just pretended not to hear."

It seems that Liu Wenwu is unwilling to let Tang Guoqiang play Yongzheng, and his attitude is quite obvious, without any hesitation.

In this case, Zhou Yan became curious. If Liu Wenwu had this attitude, then how did Tang Guoqiang get the role of the male lead in his previous life?

Could it be that the key person is Hu Mei?
Although Hu Mei may not have much power in casting, it is impossible for Liu Wenwu to completely ignore her recommendations.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yan said, "I told Mr. Liu that I will not interfere with their casting."

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, Tang Guoqiang was a little disappointed, but he still nodded and said, "It's okay, it's okay, I didn't think of using you as a backdoor."

Zhou Yan smiled and continued, "But don't be anxious. The role may not be finalized yet. There will be changes later."

"Is it?"

"Well, just wait." Zhou Yan thought that Hu Mei might recommend Tang Guoqiang, so there was no need for him to talk to Liu Wenwu about this now, just let things take their course.

But if something really goes wrong later, he will still have to take action.

Subjectively, he felt that Tang Guoqiang’s performance as Yongzheng was very good and it would be a pity to change him. Objectively, since it had been proven in the previous life that Tang Guoqiang’s portrayal of Yongzheng was popular with everyone, there was no need to change him.

Although Tang Guoqiang didn't know what kind of changes would happen next, he still nodded and indicated that he would wait.

……

At about 8:40 am on March 12, Hu Mei and Zhang Li came to Zhou Yan's studio according to the address given by Liu Wenwu.

"Isn't this an electronics factory?" Zhang Li asked puzzledly.

Hu Mei smiled and said, "This used to be an electronics factory, but now it's Zhou Yan's studio. This is my first time here too."

"This big space is Zhou Yan's studio?"

"should be."

“This is not a small scale.” Zhang Li said with emotion.

At this time, the guard saw the two of them standing at the door looking around, walked out and asked, "What can I do for you two?"

Zhang Li smiled and said, "Brother, we are here to see Director Zhou."

"Is this Ms. Hu and Mr. Zhang?" asked the guard.

"Yes, yes, I am Zhang Li and she is Hu Mei."

The guard nodded when the names matched and said, "Please come in, both of you."

Afterwards, the guard took them both to the TV drama department building and to Liu Heping's office.

The Administration Department notified the Communication Office yesterday that a man and a woman would be visiting this morning. Their names are Zhang Li and Hu Mei. When they arrive, they can be taken directly to Liu Heping's office.

When the two arrived at Liu Heping's office, Zhou Yan and Liu Wenwu were already sitting in the office.

After Liu Wenwu greeted the two, he introduced them to Zhou Yan, "Director Zhou, this is Director Hu Mei, and this is Director Zhang Li."

"Director Hu, Director Zhang." Zhou Yan smiled and shook hands with both of them.

It was the first time Zhang Li met Zhou Yan Zhenren, and he couldn't help but look at him a few more times. Then he smiled and said, "I heard Lao Mouzi say that you look better in person than on TV. After seeing you today, he was right."

In fact, praising a man for his good looks when you just meet him is not a smart way to chat, but when Zhang Li saw Zhou Yan, he really thought of what Zhang Yimou had said to him.

The reason why Zhang Yimou asked Zhou Yan to play Chen Feipu was, on the one hand, because Zhou Yan could play the flute, and on the other hand, more importantly, because Zhou Yan was good-looking and very suitable for the role of Chen Feipu.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I haven't seen Director Zhang Yimou for a long time."

"I haven't seen him for a long time." Zhang Li smiled. "In our class, he and Chen Kaige were both very busy and rarely saw each other."

Zhang Li, Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and Hu Mei were all students of the same class at the Yenching Film Academy, but Zhang Yimou and Zhang Li majored in photography, while Chen Kaige and Hu Mei majored in directing.

If you just look at their ages, it would be hard to imagine that they are from the same class.

Hu Mei is only in her thirties, but Zhang Yimou is almost fifty.

At that time, university admissions had just resumed and the students' ages might have varied greatly.

In fact, if we ignore their age and just look at their resumes, Hu Mei doesn't seem to be from the same generation as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.

Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Zhang Jianya all basically had their own famous works very early on, and they have a large number of works.

As for Hu Mei, all the movies she has starred in have been unknown, but the TV series "Last Night's Wind" filmed in the Qiannian period is quite popular.

Zhang Li brought up Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, naturally hoping to get closer to Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan followed his words and said, "I haven't seen Director Zhang for a long time, but I see Mr. Kai very often. Director Hu should know."

Hu Mei smiled and said, "Our factory is not far from here. It's very convenient for Director Zhou to go there or Chen Kaige to come here. To be honest, there was a time when I thought Director Zhou was from our factory."

Zhou Yan laughed, "You weren't the only one who thought so during that time."

After the filming of "Farewell My Concubine" began, Zhou Yan went to the Yanjing Studio every day for a long time.

Although Hu Mei didn't have much contact with Zhou Yan in the factory, she saw him often.

After a few pleasantries, Liu Wenwu rubbed his hands and said, "Let's talk later. Let's get down to business first."

Hu Mei nodded. "Yes, yes, let's get down to business first. Mr. Liu gave me a few questions last time, and I went back to prepare carefully. Now I will directly tell you my answers."

Liu Wenwu waved his hand and said, "No hurry, let's talk about "Last Night's Wind" first. This TV series is said to be related to finance, but it is more of a romance. Most of the time it describes intrigues and family ethics..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Zhang Li and Hu Mei were stunned. What was going on? Instead of talking about "The Yongzheng Dynasty", he started to review Hu Mei's previous work like marking homework?
Zhou Yan was also stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Liu Wenwu to use his ultimate skill without any pre-movement.

There is absolutely no problem in discussing the director's previous work, and if you want to criticize it, that's fine too, of course, but Liu Wenwu's tone is like an adult criticizing a child, which most people simply cannot accept.

No matter what, Hu Mei has earned the title of "Fifth Generation Director" and is a classmate of great directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. Your attitude, Liu Wenwu, a cross-border producer, is too much.

Moreover, Liu Wenwu is a few years younger than Hu Mei, and most people cannot tolerate being criticized like this by someone younger than themselves.

However, Zhou Yan didn't see anything unusual in Hu Mei's expression. Although Liu Wenwu's words were harsh, she was still listening very seriously.

On the contrary, Zhang Li, who was standing aside, blushed and looked unconvinced.

Sure enough, after Liu Wenwu finished reviewing "Last Night's Wind", Hu Mei didn't say anything, but Zhang Li spoke first, "Mr. Liu, you are not involved in film and television, which I can understand. Regarding the issue of "Last Night's Wind", let me discuss it with you. You just said that the theme of this TV series has little to do with finance, which is fine, because it is not a business war film. Since it is not a business war film, it should not shoot too much financial content. You said that the characters are scheming against each other, and the content is all about family ethics. Then I want to ask, is Lao Mouzi's "Raise the Red Lantern" scheming, and is "Ju Dou" about family ethics? The problem is that we need to see from these contents that are closest to life..."

After Zhang Li's long speech, Liu Wenwu refused to admit defeat and argued: "The theme can indeed be ordinary, even old-fashioned, but when we were shooting..."

Then, the two of them started a heated debate, with each saying something.

Zhou Yan, Hu Mei and Liu Heping sat by and watched like spectators.

Seeing Hu Mei so calm, Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh. Hu Mei might not have much talent as a director, but she was really calm and composed, and she was a perfect match for a producer like Liu Wenwu.

Put yourself in Hu Mei's shoes. If Zhou Yan were in Hu Mei's position today, even if he didn't walk away, he would definitely not continue to discuss the matter with Liu Wenwu in a friendly manner.

In other words, it would be impossible for Zhou Yan to collaborate with Liu Wenwu as a director.

Zhou Yan is a dictator in the crew, and so is Liu Wenwu. It is difficult for two dictatorships to work well together. (End of this chapter)