Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 213 A Chance Encounter with the Victim
[There's a bit of lag, so that's all for these two updates.]

The next morning.

Zhang Yan then drove Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng, and Chen Ximi to CCTV.

Shi Tiesheng's visit was mainly at Yu Hua's urging, and Yu Hua's visit was mainly due to his free time. Liu Zhenyun didn't come because Chen Daoming had been pestering him recently, wanting to combine his short stories, such as "A Messy Life" and "The Official," into a screenplay.

I parked my car in the CCTV compound.

Zhang Yan and Yu Hua prepared the folding wheelchair and skillfully lifted Shi Tiesheng into it.

Chen Ximi pushed the wheelchair, walking alongside the two of them, while cautiously and curiously looking at the CCTV office building—actually, there wasn't much to see; the "Big Pants" building wouldn't be built for more than ten years.

However, Zhang Yan still joined in the fun and explained the general layout of CCTV's interior to them, such as what each floor was for, what the east studio was for, and what the west studio had a story behind it.

As they were talking, Yu Hua suddenly pointed to the hall and said, "Aren't those Zheng Xiaolong and Feng Xiaogang?"

Zhang Yan looked closely and saw that it was indeed Zheng Xiaolong and Feng Xiaogang, but the two were surrounded by five or six people, arguing fiercely about something.

Judging from their pushing and shoving, they could start fighting at any moment.

CCTV security guards were also in the lobby, but they hesitated to approach.

What does this mean?
Zhang Yan pushed the door open and entered. He first gestured for Chen Ximi to push Shi Tiesheng aside, and then called out from a distance, "Director Zheng, what's going on here..."

Upon hearing Zhang Yan's voice, Zheng Xiaolong looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "Zhang Yan?!"

This shout had a significant impact, as the men surrounding him all turned to look. The leader, a middle-aged man in his forties, gritted his teeth and demanded sharply, "You're Zhang Yan?! The Zhang Yan who messed up my novel?!"

"what?!"

Zhang Yan suddenly realized that he had encountered the prototype of "New York is Really Miserable".

When he was adapting the script, he really enjoyed being "black" (a derogatory term for someone who is malicious or difficult to work with), but now that he has suddenly encountered a victim, he inevitably feels a bit less confident.

"Haha... well, I also wanted to make the script as exciting as possible..."

"Damn it!"

Cao Guilin roared, his eyes red, and clenched his fists as he charged toward Zhang Yan.

Seeing this, the men around him also rushed towards Zhang Yan, cursing as they did so.

Seeing that things were not going well, Zhang Yan quickly fled through the door.

Cao Guilin and his friends followed closely behind. Yu Hua instinctively wanted to stop them, but seeing Shi Tiesheng and Chen Ximi beside him, he held back.

After Cao Guilin and the others filed out, he grabbed a mop from the corner of the wall, pushed open the door, and chased after them.

Shi Tiesheng was anxious but unable to do anything about it.

Feng Xiaogang yelled at the security guards, "Damn it, do you guys even want to keep your jobs?! If someone dies, none of you will get away with this!"

"It's not that easy for someone to die."

One of the security guards scoffed, "Besides, that's an American..."

Feng Xiaogang jumped up and down anxiously, saying, "The one being chased is Zhang Yan from Tianjin, a guest of honor of your station director!"

The security guards looked at each other in bewilderment, then suddenly rushed out of the lobby in a swarm.

Feng Xiaogang and Zheng Xiaolong also chased after them. Once outside, they saw that the mop that Yu Hua had taken out had been handed over to Zhang Yan.

Relying on his great strength, Zhang Yan wielded the mop with great force, preventing Cao Guolin and the others from getting close.

After several security guards arrived and separated the two sides, Cao Guilin could only jump up and down, cursing in the street.

"Mr. Cao."

Feng Xiaogang even tried to play the good guy: "We're all decent people, why are you making a scene..."

"Dignity my ass!"

It would have been better if he hadn't spoken up. But once he did, Cao Guilin pointed at him and launched into a tirade: "Look at your pointy-mouthed, monkey-faced appearance, you're obviously no good! I was blind to have believed your lies and given the adaptation rights to you, you bastard!"

Feng Xiaogang awkwardly shrank back, then turned to Zhang Yan and complained, "I don't know which bastard told him that I'm coming to CCTV today to discuss broadcasting rights..."

"Explain yourself first, how did he know that the black woman part was my idea?"

"Didn't everyone praise you for the changes back then? Quite a few people in the crew knew about it; I guess someone let it slip..."

夢~
I should have known better than to take this job.

Just as the two were whispering to each other, more and more people gathered to watch the commotion. Among them was a man who appeared to be a leader from some department, who immediately shouted, "What's going on with these people?! Are they from our station, or...?"

"Not from our station."

"Then let them handle it outside!"

As he spoke, the leader waved his sleeve, signaling the security guards to drive the people out of the yard.

The security guards looked at each other, but none of them dared to make a move.

The leader was somewhat embarrassed and glared at him, saying, "What's going on? Do I have to call the head of your security department...?"

"Director Qi."

One of the security guards hurriedly stepped forward and whispered, "The one being chased is Zhang Yan from Tianjin. He's the one who chatted with our station director for most of the day during the 30-second incident."

"Uh~"

Director Qi's expression changed, and he looked solemnly at Cao Guilin and the others.

But before he could take sides, the security guard whispered, "Those over there are Americans, foreign investors who said they're here to invest."

Nowadays, foreign investors are treated like honored guests everywhere, and no one dares to offend them casually.

"Uh~"

Director Qi's expression changed again. He coughed and changed his words, saying, "Gentlemen, we are all respectable people. If there's anything, we can just sit down and talk it out. Or, I can arrange a place for you to sit down and have a proper discussion?"

This time, Cao Guilin didn't resort to cursing.

So, under the tight escort of security guards, the two parties were moved to a small conference room on the second floor of the office building.

After taking his seat, Cao Guilin glared fiercely at Zhang Yan across the table: "You guys made up this whole thing, you have to give me an explanation—damn it, now even the white guys I do business with think I made my first fortune by sleeping with that old NG woman!"

After the script was finalized, Cao Guilin was not shown it. At first, Cao Guilin didn't pay much attention to it and even visited the set several times with gifts.

As a result, after the crew returned to China at the beginning of the year, he found that something was wrong. Many of his Chinese friends who had dealt with the crew inquired indirectly whether he had really slept with a black woman and made his first fortune by using his black son as a henchman to cheat his fellow countrymen.

After Cao Guilin figured out what had happened, he was so angry that he wanted to fly back to China immediately to settle accounts with Beijing and Taiwan.

However, due to business commitments, the trip was delayed until July.

After listening to Cao Guilin's almost tearful accusations, Zhang Yan felt a little embarrassed and said awkwardly, "Well, at the time I just wanted to make it more interesting. I never thought that Beijing TV would not communicate with you and just film the script directly."

As he spoke, he stated readily, "For the sake of your reputation, Mr. Cao, I think this TV series can be revised before airing, or it can simply not be aired at all!"

"Don't bother me!"

"Mr. Zhang, this is unethical!"

Upon hearing this, Feng Xiaogang and Zheng Xiaolong immediately became anxious. Feng Xiaogang was counting on this film to become famous, and Zheng Xiaolong could not sit idly by and watch such a huge investment go to waste.

Zhang Yan shrugged and said, "That's my stance anyway. You two can discuss the specifics further."

Ever since the August 1st Film and Television Base settled in Tianjin, Beijing and Taiwan have regarded him as a thorn in their side. Given that, why should he care about Beijing and Taiwan's reaction?

In addition, Zhang Yan also suspected that Zheng Xiaolong's earlier exclamation was a deliberate attempt to shift blame.

So he ignored Feng Xiaogang and Zheng Xiaolong, stood up, and reached out to Cao Guilin across the table, saying, "Mr. Cao, didn't the male protagonist of your novel eventually return to China to invest? Since your reputation in New York has been damaged, have you considered bringing the plot of your novel into reality?"

"What do you mean?"

Cao Guilin frowned as he looked at Zhang's outstretched hand.

Zhang Yan smiled and said, "I don't mean anything by it. As the economic advisor of the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee, I just want to welcome Mr. Cao back to China to invest on behalf of the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone. At the same time, to express my apologies, I promise to strive for the most favorable conditions for Mr. Cao."

Upon hearing this, Feng Xiaogang quickly replied, "Yes, yes, we businessmen should look to the future. Boss Zhang is a local bigwig in Tianjin, the kind who has connections everywhere!"

Although Zhang Yan just stabbed Beijing-Taiwan in the back, as long as Cao Guilin returns to China to invest, he will definitely have some reservations about pursuing Beijing-Taiwan's responsibility.

Zhang Yan added, "If Boss Cao has time, he can come back to Tianjin with me tomorrow for an inspection."

Cao Guilin hesitated for a moment, but finally shook Zhang Yan's hand, saying awkwardly, "Mr. Zhang, I didn't know you had this attitude before, so..."

"I understand, I understand."

Zhang Yan grasped his hand and said generously with a smile, "If President Cao's investment can be implemented in Tianjin, then we can say that we became friends through a misunderstanding."

(End of this chapter)