Actor: Thank you.

That evening, I treated Yang Ziqiong, Todd, and the Liu family mother and daughter to a meal together.

We ate Cantonese cuisine, featuring large portions of meat and high-end seafood.

They had a very pleasant conversation, and Todd said he would contact several familiar magazines tomorrow to help with the photoshoot.

He also said he could take Xiaolongnu to the Ferrari garage to play.

Zhang Yuan thanked him repeatedly.

In the world of motorsports, the best way to stand out is to get your hands on that Ferrari red.

Vettel, who later became a four-time world champion, once said...

"People may say they are Mercedes fans, McLaren fans, Renault fans, but deep down, you are always Ferrari fans."

His words are known as the "Childhood Dream" Bible.

Because countless drivers have said the same thing.

“I’ve wanted to join the Ferrari team since I was a child.”

This is the dream of a child.

Sending Liu Qianqian to the Ferrari garage for a stroll and to take some photos would greatly benefit Zhang Yuan's plan.

After dinner, Yang Ziqiong said she wanted to go out with Todd to explore some of Shanghai's unique nightlife.

Zhang Yuan let them go.

I wonder if the Oriental Pearl Tower will turn into a defensive tower right now.

But I imagine they wouldn't drink cheap beverages, so there shouldn't be any major problems for now.

"Shall we go to my room?" On the way back to the hotel, Xiaolongnu suddenly turned around and asked.

The other party was so direct that he was caught off guard.

"This one……"

“I’ve been reading a lot of books lately and I’d like to talk to you about them.” Her smile was full of kindness.

I'd like to talk to you about "To Live".

When others say they want to talk about books, they're just making excuses.

She said she was talking about books, and I guess she really meant it.

Zhang Yuan rubbed his eyebrows.

A man and a woman alone in a room, you and I talking about Yu Hua's "To Live"?
We definitely have to talk about Mo Yan's "Big Breasts and Wide Hips"... but you don't have that either.

This is just a waste of time.

And he had other things to do.

"I still have to go to Pudong Airport to pick him up."

"The crew of 'Fast & Furious 4'... are the people from the movie I filmed before."

"The crew is coming to Shanghai for promotional activities, and as a host, I have to personally pick them up."

"Tomorrow I will also be hosting them to participate in activities, and to have fun in Shanghai and film a lifestyle program."

"I estimate it will be a while before I have time to talk to you alone."

"You're so busy?" Sisi looked at her with regret and a touch of heartache.

"With great power comes great responsibility." Zhang Yuan looked up at the light at a 45-degree angle.

"Thank you for making so many arrangements for me." Seeing his vain look, the other person didn't find it annoying, but rather quite cute.

This is called preconceived notions; if you think he's good, then everything he does is good too.

"Don't you feel like you'd like to repay him with your body?" Zhang Yuan asked curiously.

"Just a little bit." She cooperated by making a gesture with her index finger and thumb.

Then she smiled, her eyes bright and her teeth white.

"Ahem." Liu Xiaoli stepped forward, pretending to be passing by casually.

She walked away, her high heels clicking as she went.

"Seriously, find your mom a boyfriend."

"Give her something to do, so she won't keep watching you all the time."

“She’s doing this for my own good, just like you,” Sisi said, pursing her lips.

In a public place, and this is Shanghai, not some remote, desolate place, there are many people and a lot of gossip.

It's not easy to do anything about it.

We exchanged a brief greeting and parted ways without saying goodbye.

After arriving at the airport by car, a bald, muscular man wearing a black sleeveless t-shirt soon appeared at the exit.

Several blond-haired, blue-eyed men and women followed closely behind.

"Welcome to Shanghai!" Zhang Yuan spread his hands and greeted everyone in a generous manner.

There were also people from Shanghai TV filming nearby.

He hugged Van and Paul one by one.

I was a little more careful when I hugged Gadot.

It's not that he's afraid of being photographed or having an affair with a foreign woman.

Unlike Zhang Ziyi, if he were reported to be riding a foreign horse, he would probably attract quite a few male viewers.

Mainly to avoid suspicion.

After the welcoming scene was filmed, we got into the car immediately.

I filmed him telling a few people about the history of China and Shanghai, and introducing the Bund and other features.

No dinner or late-night snack was arranged.

It takes 14 hours to fly here from North America; it's exhausting.

Moreover, people's five senses are greatly diminished immediately after disembarking from a high-altitude flight.

Especially the sense of taste, which will deteriorate by more than 30% and take several hours to recover.

So now, nothing they eat will taste very good.

After a night's rest, the crew was taken to the vicinity of the City God Temple in Shanghai the next day.

That area is a cluster of old shops in Shanghai.

The taste wasn't actually that great. Like many time-honored restaurants and state-run restaurants across the country, once the master chef retired, the food started to be shoddy and got worse and worse.

But the advantage here is that there are many ancient or imitation ancient buildings.

Therefore, foreign visitors to Shanghai are often taken here to experience the local culture.

According to locals in Shanghai, this place is all about "scamming" and "cheating foreigners."

"Zhan Chongtou" means to stick your head out and let others slaughter you.

"Yangpan" is even more familiar; it's a derogatory term used to refer to people who don't know much about the industry.

But the foreigners in "Fast & Furious" are really "sophisticated," which fits the theme.

"FUCK!"

Inside the restaurant, Vin Diesel let out a scream in front of the camera.

Paul Walker, standing to the side, was shaking with joy.

Zhang Yuan treated them to xiaolongbao, a specialty of Shanghai.

The proper way to prepare this dish is to first open the window (for soup), then drink the soup, and finally dip it in vinegar and gulp it down.

He deliberately didn't say anything and let them eat.

Paul was quick, but he was slowed down by a kick from under the table.

In just a fraction of a second, the bald man had already been burned.

Knowing he was doing it on purpose, Paul laughed especially wildly.

You're domineering on set, but you also have your nemesis!
"Give me a glass of ice water, and then censor that last part."

Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, Huaiyang, Fujian, Zhejiang, Hunan, and other local cuisines.

These are the so-called eight major cuisines.

In fact, originally there were only four major cuisines: Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, and Huaiyang.

Shanghai's local cuisine is a fusion cuisine with Huaiyang cuisine as its core and Shandong and Cantonese cuisine as its supplementary elements.

Eight-treasure spicy sauce, stir-fried eel strips, steamed white fish, braised pork, poached chicken, and pickled eight kinds of meat.

Let's eat, we don't really understand food anyway, we just want to shoot some footage to help promote "Fast & Furious 4" in China.

This helps to bridge the gap between these foreigners, who are not very familiar to Chinese audiences, and ordinary people.

After we finish eating, we still need to go to the Bund.

Props and costumes were prepared for them.

Fan, Paul, the black man playing the villain Goraz, and Zhang Yuan dressed up as the Four Great Talents and posed for a photo on the Bund.

It attracted a large crowd of onlookers.

Both Old Black and Fan are muscular guys; they won't look good in these clothes.

Wearing a winged hat on his head, he looked utterly out of place.

But what we want is a good result; once the report is submitted tomorrow, it will make these people seem so down-to-earth.

Jordana, Michelle, and Gadot all changed into Qing Dynasty palace maid outfits.

It's not that good either.

Gal Gadot is alright, but she's only holding on because of her looks.

After finishing that task, I was interviewed by China Film Magazine and the Movie Channel of Shanghai TV.

The interview concluded, marking the end of the day's itinerary.

Celebrities are always this busy during promotional periods.

Moreover, it's not just celebrities; the team's public relations activities for drivers are even more numerous.

Therefore, the essence of modern commercial sports competitions is actually star-making.

NBA, EuroLeague, F1 – there is no difference.

The difficulty lies in developing stars for the Chinese national football team.

After another night of rest, we arrived at the Shanghai International Circuit the next day and entered the Brawn team's warehouse through the VIP entrance.

First, there was a photo session, followed by an interview with the team.

Boom boom boom... A series of booming sounds rang out from afar, growing louder as it approached.

A two-seater race car came to a smooth stop in front of the pit lane.

After staff helped her unbuckle her racing seatbelt, Liu Qianqian managed to wriggle out of the car with difficulty, her neck tilted to one side.

I don't even have the strength to take off my helmet.

Zhang Yuan had to step forward to help her pull it down.

I gently smoothed her hair, which was disheveled from the heat and sweat caused by the helmet, and then I noticed that her eyes were vacant.

Before getting on the bus, he acted all high and mighty, like a big shot.

He thought to himself that he had also modified cars abroad and had seen the world.

It's just a faster car.

Then, when the car was cornering at over 200 km/h at the end of the main straight at the Shanghai International Circuit, she went crazy.

Unlike Le Mans or GT racing, F1 cars are open-cockpit racing cars.

This thing doesn't have a windshield.

In addition to blocking the wind, the windshield also has a strong visual speed-reducing effect.

F1 doesn't have that, so the visual speed is frighteningly fast!

She clutched her chest for a while before she finally felt better.

"Come on, let me introduce you to these..."

Introduce him to the foreigner.

Xiaolongnu noticed that these foreign artists were not only polite to Zhang Yuan, but also clearly very close to him.

Especially Paul Walker, with his arm around him.

"He's really capable; he can get by anywhere."

As Sisi watched, she noticed that someone's relationship with Zhang Yuan seemed a little too close.

Gadot tilted her head and chatted with him, and the two talked about recent events.

Then, as Zhang Yuan was talking, he noticed that Xiaolongnu was squinting at him.

Is this a case to be solved...? Zhang Yuan must have forgotten about Jia Duo, so he arranged for the crew and Xi Xi to participate in activities together.

If someone were to speak carelessly and recount what happened back then, I'd be in big trouble.

“Hey, Gadot, what’s that in your hand?” Michelle stared wide-eyed and raised Gadot’s right hand.

Gal Gadot immediately made a very American showing-off gesture, displaying her palm.

What to show?
A diamond ring on the ring finger.

"Yes, I'm already married."

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations."

Liu Qianqian relaxed after getting married.

"When did this happen?" Paul pressed.

"Last year, before we joined the crew and started filming."

Cough cough cough... Zhang Yuan, who was drinking water to ease the awkwardness, choked and took a big gulp.

Did you get married before joining the production team?
So, was I having sex with a foreign wife on set?
You weren't wearing a ring when you came to the film set.

Zhang Yuan felt a little guilty.

After all, his rule is not to sleep with married women, for fear of causing trouble.

However, just like how Zhang Ziyi becomes more flamboyant overseas, does that mean one can change the rules once they leave the country...?

Zhang Yuan still felt uneasy.

But there is one advantage.

That means Gadot would never "let it slip," and the other party would definitely keep it a secret.

At least I am safe.

Seeing the relieved look in Liu Qianqian's eyes, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, you own this racing team?" Paul touched and examined the race car, practically wanting to rub his face against it.

"Own a portion".

Paul uttered a string of American swear words to express his exclamation.

The older brother remembered that he had previously suggested that the younger brother join his amateur racing team so they could have fun together.

I didn't expect them to be playing professionally, at the highest level.

Looking back now, he feels a little embarrassed about how confident he was back then...

The team has professional public relations personnel who will entertain them.

Zhang Yuan also had to "receive guests".

Han Han contacted him in advance through someone at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Because he always used puns with suggestive connotations, Five Star Sports in Shanghai has stopped letting him work part-time as an F1 commentator.

However, he will be invited to commentate on the charity race following the F1 Shanghai Grand Prix.

Besides being highly entertaining, he also participated in the China Rally Championship this year and will become the only professional driver in China to win both the circuit and rally championships by the end of the year.

This was also the inspiration for his later film, "Pegasus".

Han Han is really something when it comes to driving.

"It's been another year since we last met. How have you been?" Zhang Yuan sat down with him for a cup of coffee.

His core idea was to recruit talents without being bound by conventional standards.

No matter who they are, as long as they have potential and can make money, he is willing to have a good conversation with them.

"Very good, and very busy." Han Han still had that listless, but always sharp-tongued Shanghai demeanor.

Both are intellectuals with fiery tempers, but the contrast between Wang Shuo and Han Han is basically the difference in personality between the two cities of Beijing and Shanghai.

"Being busy is good. I've been busy this year too, so I've earned quite a bit."

"Hehehe..." Han Han laughed with the last trace of shyness when she heard him speak so directly.

"Tell me what you want from me."

“We’ve known each other for years, so you can speak your mind.”

"I'd like to try out the Brawn team's car."

Han Han was both surprised and excited when he learned that he owned shares in the racing team.

Among Chinese artists, very few are willing to spend money on this.

"You can only sit in it; driving is not an option."

"Row!"

Even just sitting down for a while would fulfill my wish.

"There's one more thing. I'm planning to publish a book soon. Could you write a preface for it?"

This guy is pretty awesome. He writes books during breaks from competitions and is even preparing his own magazine.

A novel called "His Country" was published at the beginning of the year.

What's going to be released now is a collection of blog posts, plus some newly added content and jokes.

Before the era of Weibo, in the blog era, Xu Jinglei and Han Han were basically kings of the field.

Teacher Xu is into artsy and fresh styles.

Han Han was an early writer of literary and artistic jokes.

I named my collection of blog posts "The Lovely Flood and the Fierce Beast," which includes content on racing and literature, as well as commentary on entertainment industry topics such as the Edison Chen photo scandal.

Having celebrities write prefaces is a common tactic for selling books.

Some books have more than a dozen prefaces, relying entirely on connections to attract readers.

"Sure," Zhang Yuan readily agreed.

It's just a few hundred words of preface, a trivial matter.

"But are you sure there are no insults directed at me in there?"

"Deleted them all."

Zhang Yuan: …

That means yes!

“I’ve commented on some of your news before, such as the robbery you were robbed overseas.”

"Whatever, just write something positive about me."

When they had finished talking, Zhang Yuan was about to get up and leave, but then turned back and said something to Zhang Yuan.

"If you ever want to develop your career in the film and television industry, you can contact me directly."

"I'll leave you my phone number."

Han Han chuckled and took out her phone.

That's exactly what he wanted to do!
He's almost done with domestic racing.

His time in the literary world is almost over.

Because, given his style, just like Guo Degang's, it's impossible for him to be accepted by the mainstream.

He didn't want to be a leader in the Writers' Association, and they didn't want to hire him either.

So, having reached the end of my career, I thought I'd try something more lucrative.

Well-known writers are naturally more likely to be close to the film and television industry, and it is common for their novels to be adapted into screenplays.

Zhang Yuan glanced at him as he left.

The saying "fame should come early" is perfectly exemplified in this person's case.

At this time, he was not yet 30 years old, but he had already achieved what others could not in a lifetime.

And he was also a notorious troublemaker.

They sued Baidu Wenku, formed an alliance with a group of young writers, and actually won the case.

Sometimes a pen is more useful than a knife; keeping it might come in handy.

Moreover, it's not far from this person's transition to the film and television industry, so I need to prepare early... (End of Chapter)