Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 294 "The Big Bang Theory", this is how it should be performed!
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. I hope you've enjoyed your flight with us today. We are now making our final approach to Los Angeles International Airport..."

Following a burst of English broadcasts, Zhang Chao took off his eye mask and looked out the window sleepily. At this moment, the plane had already passed through the clouds, and the outline of the Los Angeles coastline could be seen in the distance.

He straightened his seat, picked up the half-empty bottle of soda and took a sip, then found that the gas was gone and it tasted a bit strange when drunk as plain water, so he put it down again.

Because it was first class, the flight attendant didn't rush to collect blankets or anything. Zhang Chao looked back and found that Huang Jiefu, Ma Boyong, and Xu Ruiya had all woken up, either staring at the scenery outside the window in a trance or whispering to each other.

After seeing Zhang Chao, several people greeted him and then went back to their own business.

Zhang Chao was very busy in the past two weeks. Not only did he have to hand over various work to people at "Chaotide Culture", he also attended three signing events and held two symposiums at Yan University and Yan Normal University. He finally paid back some of his "favors".

This time, in addition to Ma Boyong and Xu Ruiya, Huang Jiefu was also brought here by him. The reason was simple - the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States worsened and the financial system began to avalanche.

In March, New Century Financial, the second largest subprime mortgage lender in the United States, announced that it was on the verge of bankruptcy, and U.S. stocks began to plummet.

In April, U.S. real estate transaction volume plummeted, reaching a historic low year-on-year, and housing prices also began to fall.

All these prompted Zhang Chao to let Huang Jiefu's early speculative layout in the United States reach a critical moment, so he needed him to come to the United States to control the market. Zhang Chao set the withdrawal point for Huang Jiefu to be from the end of 2007 to the beginning of 2008, which could be early but not late.

Because by that time, it will be the time when the financial tycoons and state capital will "dance wildly", and Zhang Chao and others are just speculators with small capital, so there is no need for them to take advantage of the situation.

By then, whether it is Zhang Chao the investor, Huang Jiefu the operator, or the several partners he found in the United States, they should all be able to get sufficiently generous returns.

While thinking about this, Zhang Chao packed up his things. Just as he put the eye mask, headphones and notebook back into the bag, he felt the plane vibrate, indicating that the plane had entered the airport airspace and was preparing to land.

Half an hour later, Zhang Chao and his four companions had passed security check, got their luggage, and found someone to pick them up at the airport, this time arranged by 20th Century Fox.

Zhang Chao is now not only a valuable writer to them, but also a collaborator on the drama project, so the level of importance attached to him is naturally different.

However, this time the car did not drive towards the city center or Hollywood where hotels were concentrated, but went straight to Pasadena. In less than an hour, it entered a quiet community and stopped in front of a detached house.

Ma Boyong and Xu Ruiya got out of the car in confusion. Looking at the two-story house with front and back gardens and a garage, they asked, "What is this...?"

Huang Jiefu said with some pride: "We just bought it recently. It can be regarded as a place for our people to stay when they come to the United States in the future. Oh, there is also one in New York, but it is a high-rise apartment."

Ma Boyong hesitated and said, "Hasn't the housing price in the United States fallen sharply recently?"

Zhang Chao patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Jeff will not lose money on what he buys. Let's go in and take a look first."

The house is a standard American-style house, with living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, cinema and other functional rooms, as well as 2 study rooms and 4 bedrooms. All furniture and daily necessities are fully equipped.

There were even two cars parked in the garage, a plain Toyota Camry and a six-seater commercial vehicle.

The four of them all had important things to do, so they each chose a room, put away their luggage, washed up, and then set off separately - Huang Jiefu ran to the city center to meet with his investment partners; Zhang Chao took the remaining two and went straight to Hollywood.

At 4 o'clock this afternoon, there will be an internal preview of the pilot episode of this yet-to-be-named series produced by Chuck Lorre, which was specially aired at the time when Zhang Chao comes to Los Angeles.

When the three arrived at the office of Chuck Lorre Productions, two screenwriters Chuck Lorre and Bill Brady, two leading actors Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, and two senior executives of Fox TV Network were already waiting there.

After a brief greeting, Zhang Chao and others followed Chuck Lorre to the small screening room of the production company, which had only 10 seats and a small screen of about 150 inches.

After everyone sat down, the lights in the screening room dimmed, and a beam of light hit the screen. There was no title or music, and the show just started like that -

[The first shot is at the corner of a corridor, where two young men, one tall and one short, are walking in. The tall one is wearing a comic book "Flash" themed T-shirt with short sleeves over long sleeves, and is stumbling around talking about the "double-slit experiment."

The short young man, with curly hair and glasses, wearing a hoodie and T-shirt under his jacket, listened to the tall man's description of the "double-slit experiment" with a gloomy face and asked, "Well, what's the use of this?"

The tall man said, "I think this could be used on a T-shirt!"

(First burst of laughter)]

Zhang Chao was relieved when he saw the beginning, which was basically the same as what he remembered. This showed that his and Fox's intervention did not change the direction of the two screenwriters, and "The Big Bang Theory" was still filmed as it was.

But neither Ma Boyong nor Xu Ruiya laughed. Both of them didn't quite understand what was so funny about using the "double-slit experiment" on T-shirts.

Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon and made the first "laugh point" of the show, was a little nervous when he didn't hear anyone else's laughter. This was his first leading role since he entered Hollywood, and if the show couldn't be officially ordered, it would mean that everything would have to go back to square one.

Johnny Galecki, who plays "Leonard", is much calmer. He has had many performance opportunities before and is considered a well-known supporting actor in Hollywood.

[The two walked into an office. A black woman inside didn't even look at them. She was concentrating on the word game in her hands.

The short man got impatient waiting, stepped forward to take a look, and said, "Horizontal 1 is 'Aegean Sea', vertical 6 is 'Nabokov'..."

(Second burst of laughter)

The black lady, whose interest was disturbed, put down the notebook helplessly, looked at the two people and said, "Do you need my help?"

The short man said awkwardly, "Yes. Excuse me, is this the High IQ Mi Qingzi Library?"

The black lady said speechlessly: "If you even have to ask this, maybe you shouldn't come here."

(Burst of laughter)]

There was also a chuckle in the screening room, and the name of one of the main characters in the show, "Sheldon", officially appeared. Because there was a sponsor from China, the production company thoughtfully translated it.

Xu Ruiya, who grew up in the United States, and Ma Boyong, who studied abroad, naturally don't need it, but "Sheldon"'s lines contain too many long words that are not commonly used in spoken language, so Zhang Chao still has to take a look.

The two of them discussed in a low voice. At least in the beginning, there was nothing to attract them. Zhang Chao certainly didn't pay attention to these. Instead, he took his mobile phone, opened the notepad, and typed on it after reading it for a while.

[…The two received the forms, sat down in the seating area and prepared to fill them out. The tall man suddenly stopped and said, "Leonard, I don't think I can do it."

Leonard (the short one) looked at him in disbelief and said, "You must be kidding me. You are already a 'semi-professional player'."

(Burst of laughter)
The tall man said, "No, we are committing genetic fraud! Our children cannot guarantee that they will give birth to highly intelligent offspring in the future. Think about it, my sister has the same DNA as me, but she is just a waitress in a restaurant."

(Burst of laughter)
Leonard said helplessly: "Sheldon, this is what you wanted in the first place. This little income can allow us to have distributed T-1 broadband in the apartment..."]

Xu Ruiya and Ma Boyong were both a little confused at the moment. Although they laughed, they secretly doubted whether this was the first time that Zhang Chao had misjudged the series - would there really be viewers who would like this kind of TV series that starts with high-IQ geeks discussing how to "masturbate" and "sell rice and beans to buy broadband"?
The two turned their heads and looked at Zhang Chao beside them, with confusion in their eyes.

Zhang Chao made an "OK" gesture to them, indicating that if they kept watching, they would find some highlights.

[(The two did not betray Mi Qingzi in the end, but left Mi Qingzi's office and returned home. After going upstairs, they found that a wheat-skinned blonde beauty had moved in across from their house.)
The two of them couldn't help but be drawn to the beauty's door, and Leonard asked, "New neighbor?"

Sheldon said, "Obviously."

Leonard said: "It's a clear improvement over the previous one."

Sheldon said, "If you mean the 200-pound transvestite with skin problems - yes, you are right."

(Burst of laughter)
At this time, the beauty also noticed the two people. After a while of awkward greetings, the beauty finally said her name - "My name is Penny." 】

Zhang Chao looked at the familiar trio in front of him, finally "gathered together" in front of him again, and they were still saying the same familiar lines, and he was filled with emotion.

He quietly glanced around at the people in the small screening room who were gradually attracted by the plot and lines, and felt a little secretly delighted - perhaps only he knew how popular this drama would be in the next ten years or so.

A long-running and popular American TV series is a goose that lays golden eggs for the producers, TV stations and leading actors, especially those that are popular worldwide.

"Friends" is a typical example. After the long 2004 seasons ended in 10, the series still earns nearly $10 billion every year through derivatives, DVDs, videotapes, and on-demand services around the world.

Each of the five main actors will receive a 5% dividend, which is about 2 million US dollars.

In the early 21st century, many Hollywood stars could never reach the "$2000 million club" in their lifetime. These leading actors could earn $2000 million without doing anything.

This shows the power of a best-selling TV series.

Zhang Chao also saw this clearly, so he boldly took out part of the funds prepared for speculating in the subprime mortgage crisis to invest in this series. The money from the subprime mortgage crisis was earned all at once, but the money from "The Big Bang Theory" can be collected for 10, 20 years, or even longer.

The agreement he signed with the producers and Fox TV at the time was that they would not only invest in the first season, but also allow him to participate in any sequels and spin-off series, and guarantee the investment ratio and the priority right to purchase the broadcasting rights in China.

Chuck Lorre and the top executives at Fox TV didn't think there was anything wrong with this. At least for now, in their eyes, this series is no different from other sitcoms. In fact, because the leading actors are not famous and the audience is too niche, the market prospects are not too bright, and it can only be regarded as an experimental work.

After all, the mainstream American sitcoms now are still the "ordinary stream" such as "Friends", such as "Two and a Half Men".

They would naturally be happy to have a "sucker" from China to help them diversify their investment risks.

[When Penny visited Leonard and Sheldon's apartment for the first time, she was impressed by the whiteboards they had written all over with math and physics formulas.

Penny looked at Sheldon's whiteboard and said, "This is incredible. Leonard, did you write this?"

Sheldon immediately jumped out and said, "No, this is mine."

Penny exclaimed in surprise: "Wow!"

Sheldon said proudly, "Not bad, just some quantum mechanics, with a little string theory thrown in on the side."

(While Sheldon was chattering, Leonard unconvincedly led Penny to his whiteboard)
Leonard said, "If you like whiteboards, this is me."

Penny expressed the same surprise: "Oh my God!"

Sheldon immediately sarcastically said, "If you say 'Oh my God' to emphasize again that this piece of graffiti can be found on the wall of any male dormitory in MIT - then it is correct."

Leonard was dissatisfied and asked, "What?"

Sheldon said, "Come on, who hasn't seen the words 'I stopped, my heart is broken, I can't do it anymore' written on the differential equation..."

(Burst of laughter)]

As the plot progresses to this point, Sheldon is being sarcastic and Leonard is being wronged. This eternal "two-person act" mode in "The Big Bang Theory" finally appears for the first time.

Ma Boyong felt the charm of this drama for the first time, and suddenly wondered if he and Xu Ruya were just superficial?
This kind of "daily life of a genius otaku" suddenly became lively after the addition of a blonde beauty, and the three characters' completely different personalities, identities, and ways of speaking constantly collided to create sparks one after another.

After Howard and Raj made their first appearance, the atmosphere in the small screening room reached a climax. Before the pilot episode was over, the senior executives of Fox TV began to congratulate the screenwriter and the leading actor in a low voice.

It’s so exciting! No one expected that the sparks between these “nerds” would be so exciting!
The short 20 minutes passed quickly, the lights in the screening room came back on, everyone stood up and applauded, and the senior management of Fox TV even said directly that they could sign a contract for the first season immediately.

However, the attentive lead actor Jim Parsons noticed that investor Zhang Chao seemed to have something to say, and quickly asked, "Mr. Zhang, what do you think of this episode?"

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "Very good! But I think the character of 'Sheldon' is not extreme enough!"

With just one sentence, the whole place fell silent, and everyone looked at him curiously.

(End of this chapter)