1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Zhou Yan hasn't asked Chen Kaige about the situation of "The Emperor and the Assassin" recently, so he doesn't know whether the actor who will play Jing Ke has been decided, nor does he know whether it is Zhang Fengyi.

He didn't tell Hu Mei about this. Liu Wenwu next to him looked at him and felt a little strange.

After this period of contact, Liu Wenwu felt that Zhou Yan was not a person who worried about everything, but he had asked about the male lead several times, and he asked about it as soon as he met Hu Mei today.

Obviously, Zhou Yan was very concerned about this matter.

However, after hearing that Hu Mei wanted to use Zhang Fengyi, Zhou Yan's reaction was very indifferent.

Although he didn't show any dissatisfaction, Liu Wenwu always felt that Zhou Yan was indeed dissatisfied with Zhang Fengyi.

"Has Director Zhou ever worked with Zhang Fengyi?" Liu Wenwu asked.

Before Zhou Yan could speak, Hu Mei smiled and said, "Director Zhou was one of the music directors for Farewell My Concubine, and Zhang Fengyi is the male lead in the movie."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Liu Wenwu nodded.

Many people in the industry know that Zhou Yan is the music director of "Farewell My Concubine", but he is not so well-known outside the industry.

Because unlike Zhou Yan's other soundtracks, there is no complete long piece of music in "Farewell My Concubine" that has really become popular.

Among the movies for which Zhou Yan composed the music, the earliest one, "Letter from Heaven", needs no mention, contains several popular songs, such as "Together Forever", "Kite" (the rain), and "Wind" (summer). These songs can still be often heard on the streets, and are also the favorite songs of TV stations.

"Sanmao Joins the Army" includes songs like "Awakening" and "Sanmao (Single Thread)"; "Sense and Sensibility" includes "Someone Like You" and "Young and Beautiful"; and "A Chinese Odyssey" includes "Journey to the West Fantasy".

It can be said that Farewell My Concubine is the film in which Zhou Yan has the weakest presence as a music director. When people watch the movie, they will think that the music is really good, but these good music only exists in the movie and cannot be heard outside.

Liu Wenwu didn't know before that Zhou Yan had also participated in the production of "Farewell My Concubine". He only remembered who the director and the main characters were, and he didn't even know who the screenwriter was. This is also the reality for most ordinary audiences.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "It's true that Zhang Fengyi and I met because of Farewell My Concubine, but we basically haven't run into each other since then. What is he doing recently?"

"Zhang Fengyi seems to be very busy. I talked to Zhang Qian once at the end of last year. He and Li Shu filmed the TV series "Peace Time", and the male lead is Zhang Fengyi. I have to ask him if he has any schedule." Hu Mei said.

Zhou Yan nodded, "We need to contact you as soon as possible."

When he said that, Hu Mei immediately said, "How about this, I'll call him now. Mr. Liu, is the phone in this office working?"

"It works."

Hu Mei nodded, walked over and dialed the number.

After the call was connected, she said, "Please call Zhang Fengyi."

After a while, Zhang Fengyi should have arrived. Hu Mei smiled and said, "Fengyi, it's me, Hu Mei... Um, do you have time recently? I have a TV series here... I should be joining the crew in June... Okay, as long as you have time, then let's make an appointment for the audition... That's it, I'll contact you for the specific time."

After hanging up the phone, Hu Mei smiled and said, "We are lucky. Zhang Fengyi has a schedule recently."

Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes in confusion, and found that he actually had a schedule.

Could it be that he was not used in "The Emperor and the Assassin", or is it that it has not been decided yet?
If it has not been decided yet, then Brother Kaizi is really slow. He has been preparing for such a long time and still hasn't decided on the male lead.

Zhou Yan pondered for a moment and finally decided to wait until Zhang Fengyi's audition was over. Before the contract was officially signed, everything could be changed and he was not in a particularly hurry.

Then the three of them chatted for a while and Zhou Yan left.

Liu Wenwu followed Zhou Yan out and when they were some distance away from Hu Mei's office, he whispered, "Director Zhou, are you dissatisfied with Zhang Fengyi?"

Zhou Yan glanced at Liu Wenwu with a smile and thought that this guy was really perceptive and could sense this.

"I can't say I'm satisfied, but I just didn't think of Zhang Fengyi before."

"Why didn't you ask Director Hu about her specific thoughts? Maybe she had her own reasons for choosing Zhang Fengyi."

"It doesn't matter whether I ask or not. It all depends on how Zhang Fengyi performs during the audition. I have no opinion of Zhang Fengyi personally. If he can really handle the role of Yongzheng, I certainly won't have any problem."

"Yes, that's true. It depends on the audition." Liu Wenwu asked again, "Director Zhou, do you have a candidate in mind?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "To be honest, there is indeed a candidate."

Liu Wenwu raised his eyebrows, "Who is it?"

"Tang Guo Wall."

When Liu Wenwu heard about Tang Guoqiang's face, his eyelids dropped. He didn't expect that Zhou Yan's candidate for Yongzheng was Tang Guoqiang, whom he had decided to play the role of the Eighth Brother.

In fact, Tang Guoqiang did mention to him before that he wanted to challenge the role of Yongzheng, but he didn't take it seriously at the time because he felt that the role of Lao Ba was more suitable for Tang Guoqiang.

In Liu Wenwu's opinion, Tang Guoqiang's temperament is a bit gentle, which is not very suitable for the role of Yongzheng.

Liu Wenwu prefers Zhang Fengyi to play Yongzheng because Zhang Fengyi is much more domineering than Tang Guoqiang.

Now it seems that Tang Guoqiang should have told Zhou Yan about this.

After a moment's silence, Liu Wenwu said, "Director Zhou, Tang Guoqiang is indeed good, but he is not very suitable for the role of Yongzheng. Did he ask you for mercy in private? If you don't want to refuse him, it's okay, I'll talk to him."

Zhou Yan smiled and waved his hand, "No need, let's follow the original plan first."

"Well, then we will arrange an audition for Zhang Fengyi. Director Zhou, don't forget the meeting this afternoon."

"Don't worry, I won't forget."

……

There was nothing special about the afternoon meeting, as all departments were not complete yet, so it was just a brief meeting with the existing people, and the other thing was to confirm a time for Zhang Fengyi to audition.

Finally, they discussed it and everyone thought that the audition should be done as soon as possible rather than later, so they set the audition time for tomorrow morning.

After the meeting, Zhou Yan returned to his office, sat in his chair and pondered for a long time, then finally picked up the phone and dialed.

The call was made to the director's office of Yanjing Film Studio, and it was answered by Senior Lu.

Hearing that it was Zhou Yan, Senior Lu smiled and said, "You're calling me?"

"I'm not looking for you. I'm looking for Master Kai."

"I thought you were looking for me." Senior Lu smiled and then shouted, "Director Chen, someone is looking for you."

"Who is it?" Chen Kaige's voice came from the other end of the phone.

Senior Lu smiled and said, "It's a girl, and she sounds pretty pretty."

"Really? When did your ears become so good that you can even tell whether someone is pretty or not?"

"Pretty girls all have similar voices, and they sound nice."

"Tsk tsk, let me hear how good it sounds." Chen Kaige took the phone with a smile and asked, "Who is it?"

"I'm Zhou Yan."

On the other end of the phone, Chen Kaige rolled his eyes at Senior Lu and said, "Is this the beauty you were talking about?"

There was a hint of disappointment in his tone.

Senior Lu laughed and said, "Just tell me if it's beautiful or not."

Chen Kaige rolled his eyes again and asked into the phone, "Lao Zhou, why are you calling me? Are you going to buy me a drink?"

"You think about my wine every day."

"It is your blessing that I miss you."

"Okay, thank you. I called to ask about your new movie. I have assembled a team for you. Don't leave my people alone. Let me tell you, our studio has even pushed seven or eight Hollywood blockbusters for your movie."

"Which seven or eight? Tell me." "You won't know even if I tell you. Anyway, I have prepared this army for you. Don't let me down."

"Don't worry, even if the movie doesn't happen, I will still pay you the fee. How come I didn't know when you became so stingy? You weren't like this before."

"It can't be helped. The studio has a large team now, and the daily expenses are high. We have to be careful with budgeting. But seriously, can you shoot your movie on time? Have you decided on the actors?"

"It's almost decided. Jing Ke has decided on Zhang Fengyi, and Ying Zheng has decided on Li Xuejian. You know them all."

"Zhang Fengyi, are you sure?"

Zhou Yan's words made Chen Kaige feel strange, "What do you mean? Do you think Zhang Fengyi is not suitable?"

"I don't even know the specific content of your script, how can I know whether Zhang Fengyi is suitable?"

"Then what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, I just didn't hear him say that."

"Oh, you guys are still in contact. I haven't told him yet, but I was going to tell him in two days."

Zhou Yan laughed and said, "You are so careless. You haven't contacted anyone yet. They may not be willing to come to you."

Chen Kaige said confidently, "It's impossible. Who can refuse our film? This is a movie with a budget of at least 60 million. And Zhang Fengyi and I are friends. He will definitely give me this face."

"I'm just worried that he'll sign on for another drama, and it'll be hard to do it when he's under contract."

"I'm not afraid because I have a contract. It's just a little more liquidated damages, right? How much money can it be... But you're right, Lao Zhou. We should contact him earlier. How about this? I won't talk to you anymore. I'll call him now..."

After saying that, without waiting for Zhou Yan's response, Chen Kaige hung up the phone.

Zhou Yan smiled, put down the phone, then got up and went to the practice room where Akina Nakamori and the others were.

When Zhou Yan pushed the door open and entered the training room, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.

There is a small round sofa in the training room, which can normally only accommodate one person. But at this moment, Akina Nakamori and Shizuka Kudo were squeezed on it, sleeping with their heads against each other.

Zhou Yan shook his head. When they were having lunch together at noon, he found that the two girls were extremely sleepy, so he suggested that they go back to the hotel to rest, but the two did not listen and still came to the practice room.

Sure enough, it didn’t hold in the end.

I just don't know when they both fell asleep.

Looking at their sleeping positions, it is really uncomfortable, especially their necks, which will definitely hurt if they sleep for a long time.

So Zhou Yan didn't care whether they slept well or not, he just walked over and patted Kudo Shizuka's arm, "Shizuka, wake up."

When he shouted, Kudo Shizuka did not wake up, but Nakamori Akina woke up in a daze.

"You're here."

Akina Nakamori was still unconscious, she just knew Zhou Yan had come, so she put her arms around Zhou Yan's neck.

Zhou Yan was originally leaning over, with no leverage from his hands, so when Nakamori Akina hugged him, he fell directly on top of the two of them.

This time, it feels like being hugged by two people on both sides, but they are lying down.

Kudo Shizuka, who was originally asleep, was awakened directly by Zhou Yan's pinning down.

"What's wrong!"

When Shizuka Kudo woke up, she found a "huge monster" pressing on her and quickly pushed it away with her hands.

Zhou Yan now put his hands on the edge of the sofa, used the force, and climbed up directly.

At this time, Kudo Shizuka opened her eyes and saw Zhou Yan in front of her. She looked confused and asked, "Just now... were you on top of me?"

Akina Nakamori's face was already red at this moment. She knew that she was in trouble. She accidentally pulled Zhou Yan into their arms. Now that Shizuka Kudo asked her, she couldn't say that she was the one who pulled him, right?

However, Zhou Yan was very calm and said with a smile, "I saw that your sleeping posture was awkward, so I came over to call you. I didn't expect that as soon as I bent down, you pulled me down."

"Really?" Kudo Shizuka looked confused, she had no impression at all.

"I called your name and patted your shoulder."

"Uh... I seem to have some impression." Kudo Shizuka smiled and stood up directly, "Have you finished your meal? Come over and call us to eat."

"How long did you sleep?"

"I do not know either."

Shizuka Kudo turned to look at Akina Nakamori and said, "Akina, do you know?"

Akina Nakamori also shook her head.

"Would you like to go to my office and get some more sleep? It's not time for dinner yet."

Kudo Shizuka thought for a moment and said, "Go to your office and take a rest for a while, even sleep."

She rubbed the left side of her neck again, "My neck is so sore."

Akina Nakamori rubbed the right side of her neck, "Yeah, it's so sore."

……

The two girls went to Zhou Yan's office, each holding a cup of hot water and staring blankly.

Originally they just wanted to sit for a while, but soon they felt sleepy again. Shizuka Kudo was the first to give up and fell asleep on the sofa.

After she slept like this, Akina Nakamori couldn't bear it anymore and fell asleep on the other side of the sofa.

Seeing that they were all asleep, Zhou Yan found a blanket to cover them.

In fact, the office wasn’t cold, it was just that both of them were wearing skirts and Zhou Yan was afraid that they would be exposed.

When covering them with a blanket, Zhou Yan kissed them both on the forehead.

After doing all this, Zhou Yan took a book and sat down at his desk to read.

About twenty minutes later, the phone on the desk rang.

The phone rang only once and Zhou Yan quickly picked it up because he was afraid that the two girls would be woken up.

After answering the phone, Zhou Yan asked with a smile, "Who is it?"

Chen Kaige's loud laughter came from the other end of the phone. "It's me. What's wrong with your voice? Is it hoarse in just a short while?"

"You have something to say."

"Nothing. I just want to tell you that I have settled the matter with Zhang Fengyi. I just told you that no one can refuse my film. I called him and he agreed without any hesitation."

"Well, thank you. I have something else to do here, I'll talk to you later."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

On the other end of the phone, Chen Kaige held the receiver, listening to the beeping tone, completely confused.

"What's up with this guy today? Thank me, thank me for what?"

Unable to figure out the reason for a moment, Chen Kaige put down the phone, shook his head and returned to his seat. (End of this chapter)