Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 212 Casual Chat at the Gathering
[Evening 2]

Zhang Yan entered Beijing on July 5th and finally received the specially approved business license on the morning of the 14th.

Just as he was in a great mood, he saw Feng Xiaogang sighing beside him, so he patted Feng on the shoulder and laughed, "Brother Feng, you guys have already approved such a shoddy script, what else are you dissatisfied with?"

Feng Xiaogang turned to look at him and said helplessly, "The 'Seahorse Dance Hall' program has just been ordered to stop airing."

"Hippocampus Dance Hall" is a work written by Wang Shuo and his team again after "Stories from the Editorial Department". It is based on the dance hall that Ma Weidu owned that went out of business.

Zhang Yan and Tao Hong watched an episode just a couple of days ago, but unexpectedly it was suddenly taken off the air.

Zhang Yan didn't know what to say, and he couldn't empathize with Wang Shuo's misfortune, so he patted Feng Xiaogang on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Hey~"

Feng Xiaogang sighed, lowered his head, and walked out like a wilted eggplant.

When he joined Dingli Pictures in April, he and Wang Shuo were full of vigor and ambition. Besides becoming famous and making money, they were already thinking about how to educate the audience.

Who would have thought that things would change so drastically, and Wang Shuo would suddenly find himself in the eye of the storm.

At this moment, Jiang Wen and Dong Ping walked over, chatting and laughing. Seeing Feng Xiaogang's dejected look, Jiang Wen patted him on the shoulder and said, "Director Feng, it's already been approved, so just focus on making the movie. Why worry about so much?"

As she spoke, she glanced at Zhang Yan, seemingly intending to say something sarcastic, but Dong Ping interrupted first, "Mr. Zhang, I heard that Yuanmeng also has a stake in the August 1st Film and Television Base?"

"No, no, it's just that I personally have a consultant position at the film and television base—we can't afford such a huge investment of hundreds of millions."

"Hehe, that's only temporary."

Dong Ping flattered, "With Mr. Zhang's vision and skills, it's only a matter of time before he makes a fortune of over 100 million. When we go to Tianjin to film in the future, we'll have to rely on Mr. Zhang's help."

"Mr. Dong, you're too kind."

As the saying goes, "a sedan chair is carried by people," Zhang Yan also flattered, "I heard that you have integrated a lot of resources in Inner Mongolia. Not just anyone can do this. Han Lei, who is helping us realize our dreams, especially admires you, President Dong."

"You flatter me, you flatter me..."

Dong Ping wanted to say a few more words to Zhang Yanpan, but Jiang Wen was too lazy to listen to their mutual flattery and left the optoelectronic building without looking back.

Seeing this, Dong Ping had no choice but to say "excuse me" to Zhang Yan and quickly chased after him.

"Jiang Wen, Jiang Wen, wait for me!"

Seeing that Jiang Wen remained unmoved no matter how much Dong Ping shouted, Zhang Yan became somewhat pessimistic about their project.

If you can't control Jiang Wen, you can't control expenses, and Dong Ping's Huayi was created through 'integration'. If such a company is doing well, it's definitely a win-win situation, but once it encounters difficulties...

Thinking about this, Zhang Yan felt conflicted. He hoped to see Jiang Wen make a fool of herself, but he was also worried that Tao Hong would have wasted her time. He should remind her to get her payment as soon as possible.

…………

That noon, Zhang Yan invited Yu Hua and Liu Zhenyun to Shi Tiesheng's house for a gathering.

Seeing that Liu Zhenyun looked a bit depressed, Zhang Yan asked curiously, "Old Liu, what's been bothering you lately? You look so down when we come out to eat."

"Hey~"

Liu Zhenyun sighed and remained silent, while Yu Hua gloated, "You've heard about the 'Seahorse Dance Hall' incident, haven't you? The two episodes he wrote weren't even released before they were rejected."

It seems there's someone who got caught in the crossfire.

"Don't talk about this."

Liu Zhenyun raised his glass to Zhang Yan and said, "Mr. Zhang, you were right. From now on, let's make these lighthearted scripts. We can earn more money without having to worry."

Yu Hua chuckled and said, "That's because you're too greedy. As for me, I only care about the 25,000 that Zhang Yimou promised. Let him do whatever he wants with the rest."

As they were chatting, Chen Ximi brought in another plate of fried eggplant sandwiches. Zhang Yan quickly got up to take it, put it on the table, and said, "Sister-in-law, don't bother with the preparations, just sit down and eat—I still have something I want to discuss with you."

"Discuss it with me?"

Chen Ximi asked in surprise, "What is it?"

Zhang Yan pointed at the TV and laughed, "Being on TV is a good thing, isn't it?"

"On TV?"

Shi Tiesheng asked in confusion, "She can't act or sing, so why is she on TV?" "But my sister-in-law can recite poems."

Zhang Yan explained, "I had previously planned a program for CCTV called 'Chinese Poetry Conference,' which was originally scheduled to be broadcast in early June during the busy farming season. However, something went wrong with CCTV, and it was postponed to mid-August."

This push meant the Chinese literature professor I'd arranged to meet wouldn't make it, so I thought of my sister-in-law..."

The impact of the 30-second commercial break following the evening news was much greater than outsiders imagined; even the "Chinese Poetry Competition" was affected to some extent.

Fortunately, Director Yang passed the test smoothly in the end, and the Poetry Competition was put back on the agenda.

Therefore, a person's success depends on combining hard work with historical opportunities; otherwise, you never know what external factors might cause your efforts to vanish.

After Zhang Yan briefly explained the situation, Chen Ximi waved her hand repeatedly and said, "Let's forget it. I can't do this kind of thing that requires me to show my face in public."

"Why not give it a try?"

Shi Tiesheng laughed and said, "I also want to see what you're like on stage. Anyway, reciting poetry is one of your strengths, and we've exchanged poems quite a bit before..."

"Can that be the same?"

Chen Ximi blushed slightly and gently nudged Shi Tiesheng's shoulder, then shook her head again, saying, "I'll definitely be nervous then. If I can't answer a single question, I'll be incredibly embarrassed."

"Sister-in-law, we still need to rehearse."

Zhang Yan hurriedly advised, "This is also for the purpose of promoting traditional culture. We need to let these young girls see what it means to be well-read and have a refined demeanor."

Shi Tiesheng held his wife's hand again and encouraged her repeatedly, and Chen Ximi finally agreed.

Zhang Yan pressed his advantage, saying, "Then I'll take you to CCTV tomorrow to meet the program team."

"So urgent?"

Hearing that she was going to the production team tomorrow, Chen Ximi was clearly a bit lost and didn't participate much in the discussions at the dinner table.

Because we had just been talking about "Hippocampus Cabaret", the topic quickly turned to Wang Shuo.

"There's something fishy about this."

Liu Zhenyun said, "If we're talking about excessive entertainment, Shanghai is even more so than Beijing. Some people even call it the bridgehead of 'ZBZY' (a derogatory term for pro-independence individuals). However, the first shot against Wang Shuo was fired by Shanghai literature."

"There's something fishy about it."

Yu Hua curled his lip and said, "To put it bluntly, it's still a struggle for the right to speak. Back in '82, when the 'Yam-Egg Faction' was being criticized, wasn't it our fellow villagers who started it? When it comes to being down-to-earth and following the right path, how many can compare to the 'Yam-Egg Faction'?"

The "Yam School" philosophy is to write while working. They believe that writers should not only not escape the tedious grassroots administrative work, but should actively embrace it, accumulating material in their work and extracting inspiration from life.

Liu Zhenyun laughed and scolded, "If you hadn't said anything, I would have forgotten that we have a 'spy' here—no, I have to punish you with a drink to vent your anger."

As they were chatting and laughing, Shi Tiesheng suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said to Zhang Yan, "I almost forgot, someone came to my door yesterday, wanting to reprint and copy the contents of your children's science fiction novel, and also wanted me to act as a go-between to meet you."

"Little Rascal's Dreamy Internet Adventure?"

Zhang Yan asked in surprise, "Which magazine is trying to rehash old material? This novel wasn't popular back then either."

Zhang Yanying was commissioned by "Juvenile Fiction," a magazine under Tianjin Literature, and wrote this children's science fiction novel based on a scene from his dream. Shi Tiesheng even found a major magazine to reprint it.

Zhang Yan put his heart into it at the time, but the final result was rather mediocre, far inferior to the novels he wrote just to make money.

In retrospect, besides the content being too advanced and making it difficult for children to imagine, there was also the reason that too much personal stuff was included.

More than two years have passed in the blink of an eye, and I didn't expect that someone would still want to rehash this article.

"It's not a magazine."

Shi Tiesheng said, "She is a woman who runs a planning company. She claimed that she saw the article by chance in an old magazine and found it very inspiring. Later, she learned about the situation in the United States through some channels and became more interested in the Internet. That's why she found me through the magazine."

A woman who runs a planning company?
This has nothing to do with your novel.

Zhang Yan pressed further, "What's the woman's name? Do you have her contact information?"

"His surname is Zhang, his name is Zhang Shuxin, and his phone number is..."

(End of this chapter)