Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 165 A Passionate Young Man

It's often said that career success is a man's aphrodisiac, but Zhang Yan now seriously doubts that this is the opposite—the harder he works, the more excited they become.

If Zhang Yan hadn't specifically brought an alarm clock upstairs, he probably would have slept until dawn the next day.

When he lifted the covers, Zhou Tao's warmth still lingered beside him, but she was nowhere to be seen; she had probably rushed back to eat the dinner Yao Ke had prepared.

After washing his face with cold water to refresh himself, Zhang Yan drove to the agreed-upon location.

This is a braised mutton restaurant located deep in an alley. Zhang Yan, Guo Chuanlin, and Dou Wei had been here a few times before. The mutton was tender but not mushy, and fatty but not greasy. The taste was quite good.

Zhang Yan parked his car at the entrance of the passageway, and carrying the wine, walked for about four or five minutes through the mottled and rugged alley before arriving at the gate of the small courtyard.

It was only a little past five o'clock, but there were already several diners in the courtyard, chatting and warming themselves by the earthen stove outside.

"Hey, Mr. Zhang~"

After Zhang Yan entered, one of the men straightened his back and teased, "You make a fortune every day, why didn't you make your money in Tianjin? Why did you come back to Beijing?"

Upon recognizing the man, Zhang Yan greeted him with a smile, "Who is it? It's you, Lao Guo! What's up, are you here to discuss business tonight?"

The person opposite me is Guo Yiguang, the first guitarist of the Tang Dynasty, but now he has become a backup guitarist and has been forced to switch careers to become a manager.

He was there back in the 'death rock' era, and we met a few more times when Zhang Yan was working on the 'China Fire' album, so we can be considered acquaintances.

Guo Yiguang joked, "What business do I know? Earning a pittance is embarrassing enough—I just brought a few young guys here today to try something new."

"What a coincidence! I also brought a few older brothers to try it out."

Since they weren't particularly close, after exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhang Yan went into his reserved private room first.

As soon as he entered, a long-haired guy next to him said indignantly, "Brother Guo, who is this kid? He dares to act like a big shot in front of you!"

"Zhang Yan from Tianjin".

After Guo Yiguang finished speaking, seeing that the kid looked confused, he raised his hand and slapped him on the forehead, saying irritably, "You've never even heard of Zhang Yan? How are you going to survive in this industry in the future?"

"I know, I know!"

Someone nearby gloated and blurted out, "That writer from the morgue back then, who is also the owner of Dream Records—he's the one who came up with 'I'm Crazy for Singing'."

"It turns out it's him!"

The kid who got slapped immediately felt that he deserved it. Zhang Yan was a legendary figure in the industry. Gao Qi from the Overload band got into the "China Fire" album by climbing up to Zhang Yan. Now he was quite a big shot.

Several young people who had only recently entered the industry were quite restless. If it weren't for Guo Yiguang's presence, they probably would have already rushed over to pay their respects.

Only one person was different. He went directly to Guo Yiguang and said, "Brother Guo, do you think if President Zhang is willing to support me, my matter can be resolved?"

"No, are you serious?"

Guo Yiguang looked surprised, but still nodded and said, "If he is really willing to take the lead, people will be happy to go even if you don't spend a penny."

"Then I'll go ask!"

This young man was also quite bold. Without waiting for Guo Yiguang to say anything more, he excitedly chased after him into the east wing.

In the east wing.

Zhang Yangang had just sat down at the octagonal table and was about to pull the bell on the wall when he saw someone follow him in. He instinctively thought it was a waiter and said, "I'll order six catties of mutton first, three catties of mildly spicy and three catties of non-spicy. It should be served around six o'clock."

"okay."

The young man readily agreed: "I'll pass on a message to you in the kitchen later—Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhang, could I ask you for a favor?"

"Ok?"

Zhang Yan sensed something was off about the young man's tone and took a closer look. He noticed that although the young man also had long hair, he had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and didn't seem like the rock and roll type. So he asked curiously, "Who are you?"

The young man quickly introduced himself: "My name is Li Yapeng, I'm from WLMQ, and I'm a junior at the Central Academy of Drama! I've loved rock music since my freshman year, and I think this kind of music should also be spread to more remote border areas!"

[PS: For related information, please see the author's notes]

Zhang Yan thought he had come to recommend himself, but unexpectedly the topic of the frontier was brought up.

“That’s a good idea.”

He nodded in agreement, then asked, "But what does that have to do with me? I'm not a rock musician; our 'Dream Come True' music is all about pop." "Uh..."

Li Yapeng was momentarily stunned, but then excitedly said, "President Zhang, although Yuanmeng isn't a rock musician, you're a leading figure in the rock scene. If you just give the call, this matter can definitely be accomplished!"

What kind of logic is that? Being able to do something and actually doing it are not the same thing.

However, on the other hand, nearly half of the singers signed by Yuanmeng are from ethnic minorities, so taking the time to organize a border region tour would be a good way to promote the company.

Although he was thinking this, Zhang Yan didn't show it. Instead, he asked, "How do you know that rock music will definitely be popular there? Have you done any market research?"

"This, I..."

Li Yapeng paused for a moment, then said confidently, "I believe that the more isolated a place is, the more people will like rock music!"

He turned out to be a hot-blooded young man who didn't consider reality.

“The issue now isn’t whether you believe it or not, but how you get me to believe it, and how you get more people to believe it.” Zhang Yan took out a business card and handed it over, saying, “Contact me again after you’ve solved this problem.”

Li Yapeng took the business card, opened his mouth as if to say something, but he couldn't solve the problem Zhang Yan had raised, so he could only walk out dejectedly.

"and many more."

Just then, Zhang Yan suddenly called out to him. Li Yapeng thought Zhang Yan had changed his mind and turned around happily, only to hear Zhang Yan say, "Don't forget to inform the kitchen for me."

Li Yapeng: "..."

In the outer courtyard.

When Guo Yiguang saw Li Yapeng come out looking dejected, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "You ran into a snag, didn't you? I knew it! You think you can get us to perform in the border region all this way with just your words? It's not that easy!"

Li Yapeng nodded silently at first, then clenched his fist and said confidently, "Next spring, I will personally bring back the voices of the people on the frontier!"

"WTF?"

Guo Yiguang was baffled and was about to press for more information when a henchman next to him suddenly shouted, "Look, it's the male lead from Tianjin!"

Chen Daoming walked into the courtyard, heard the shout, nodded slightly to the group, and then went into the east wing.

The underling exclaimed in surprise, "Mr. Zhang has extensive connections; this is a top celebrity right now!"

Guo Yiguang glanced at him sideways: "You never watch the opening and closing credits when you watch TV, right? Zhang Yan is the screenwriter of 'Tianjin Wei'."

This interruption led them to talk about "Tianjin Wei" and a recent batch of counterfeit products.

"What the hell are they filming! I already know who the murderer is, and a bunch of idiots are still going around in circles!"

"Yeah, the male and female leads just don't have the right feel either, especially the female lead, she's nowhere near as good as 'Zhou Nan' in 'Tianjin Wei'..."

Guo Yiguang: "The female lead in 'Tianjin Wei' is Zhang Yan's girlfriend."

"Fuck!"

"Why does all this good stuff happen to other people?!"

As they were talking, another person walked into the courtyard.

"Feng Gong!"

The younger brother exclaimed in surprise again. Feng Gongchong smiled, cupped his hands in greeting, and then also went into the east wing.

The newly arrived Beijing drifters forgot all about chatting and craned their necks to see which other big names were coming.

The third person to appear was someone everyone recognized, but...

It wasn't until the other person entered the east wing that a henchman muttered, "Isn't this Er Yizi from 'The Editorial Department'?"

Li Yapeng whispered, "That's Zhang Guoli—his wife is Wang Xifeng from 'Dream of the Red Chamber'."

This made everyone's teeth ache again.

Li Yapeng subconsciously reached into his pocket and touched the business card Zhang Yan had given him. He had been driven by passion, determined to hold a rock concert in his hometown no matter what.

But now, seeing the two senior figures in the film and television industry, Li Yapeng suddenly realized that if this matter was handled well, it might also be a good opportunity to meet influential people.

(End of this chapter)