Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 214 Wine as a Matchmaker

It's impossible to say that Zhang Yan's few words alone could make Cao Guilin completely dispel any resentment towards him.

However, Cao Guilin's primary profession is that of a businessman, and it is not difficult to see from the ending of his novel that he did indeed have the idea of ​​returning to China to invest.

The different attitudes of CCTV security guards towards Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Yan also indirectly prove Zhang Yan's strength.

Therefore, faced with the choice between self-interest and hatred, he decisively chose the former.

In the end, Cao Guilin even personally saw Zhang Yan out the door.

Then he blocked the door and grinned at Zheng Xiaolong and Feng Xiaogang, saying, "If we don't reach an agreement today, nobody's leaving this room!"

Regardless of what happened afterward.

As soon as Zhang Yan stepped out of the conference room, he was immediately surrounded by people, including Zhou Tao, Yang Lan, Kang Hui, Yu Hua, Shi Tiesheng and his wife, and staff members of the "Chinese Poetry Conference".

"Zhang Yan, are you alright?!"

Zhou Tao tried her best to control her emotions, but her beautiful eyes couldn't help but scrutinize Zhang Yan from head to toe, as if afraid that Zhang Yan was missing some important parts.

Yang Lan chimed in, "Those people are too barbaric! How could they just come up and start hitting people?!"

Kang Hui had originally wanted to say something, but the two women spoke first, so he simply shut his mouth again.

"It was just a small misunderstanding, and it has already been explained."

Zhang Yan spread his hands and said, "I was just doing my duty as a person entrusted with this task. If we want to solve the actual problem, Mr. Cao and the Beijing-Taiwan authorities need to negotiate."

Then he turned to Shi Tiesheng and Chen Ximi: "Teacher Tiesheng, sister-in-law, I'm so sorry about earlier, if only I had known..."

"I'm glad you're okay."

As Shi Tiesheng spoke, he patted his leg and sighed helplessly. He no longer felt frustrated by things he couldn't do, unless he wanted to help a friend but was powerless to do so.

Fortunately, Zhang Yan was safe and sound in the end.

"Let's not stay here."

At this moment, the program director called out, "Whatever it is, let's talk about it when we get back to the 'Chinese Poetry Competition' studio."

So everyone turned around and went downstairs again.

At the top of the stairs, Zhang Yan and Kang Hui were below, while Yu Hua and another staff member were above. The four of them carried the wheelchair down the stairs.

Zhou Tao and Yang Lan fell behind.

Their eyes met simultaneously, and then Zhou Tao spoke first: "I heard that when Zhang Yan came to the station last time, you wanted to invite him to dinner alone?"

Seeing Zhou Tao's somewhat subtle expression, Yang Lan smiled awkwardly and explained, "I do have some things about the show that I'd like to ask him in person."

"Yeah."

Zhou Tao smiled noncommittally, and then said nothing more.

Yang Lan hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping herself. Her biggest regret now was revealing her marriage to Zhou Tao. What if Zhou Tao then told Zhang Yan about it...

Moreover, even if Zhou Tao hasn't revealed it yet, it might not be a good thing—revealing it at a crucial moment later could bring him even greater trouble.

It seems that a gradual approach won't work; we must strike hard!
Upon arriving at the program's studio, Yang Lan suddenly quickened her pace and caught up with Zhang Yan, who was introducing Chen Ximi to the director: "Mr. Zhang, is it convenient for us to chat for a few minutes?"

"Ok?"

Zhang Yan paused, glanced at Yang Lan, and then said to Shi Tiesheng and his wife, "You two go and familiarize yourselves with the surroundings first, I'll be there shortly."

Once everyone else had entered the studio, Zhang Yan and Yang Lan looked at each other, and Zhang Yan spoke first, "I'm really sorry about last time, but I did have plans with someone else, so..."

"I can understand, important people are always busy."

Yang Lan interrupted him and asked, "What about tonight? Mr. Zhang won't be unable to find the time again, will he?"

"Of course, tonight is fine."

This woman is truly persistent.

To be honest, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, and if Zhou Tao hadn't revealed it to him, Zhang Yan would never have imagined that this well-known female host was such a complete gold digger. Since she had approached him time and time again, he might as well see what she was really up to.

…………

The audition in the morning was a great success. Chen Ximi's poetry skills are beyond doubt. Even her limp, when highlighted by her profound knowledge, seemed to be coated with a layer of imperfect beauty.

The four of them celebrated outside at noon.

In the afternoon, Zhang Yan went to see Ms. Zhang Shuxin. This woman was unaware of Zhang Yan's other identities and only sought him out for the future online world he described in his novel.

What interests her most is the description of 'identity recognition and grouping by kind' on the internet.

Zhang Shuxin believes that in modern metropolises, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to be honest with each other. Some private emotions accumulate over time and need to be vented and seek recognition.

The internet solves this problem precisely.

"It's like a current emotional support hotline."

Zhang Shuxin spoke eloquently: "If we can move the emotional hotline to the Internet, then more people can communicate at the same time. Moreover, in the early stages, due to cost limitations, the people we can reach are basically highly educated individuals and wealthy people."

These people are naturally the highest-quality customers, and there is great potential whether it is to provide paid services through emotional hotlines or to integrate real-world resources through the internet.

"Being able to write an article like this, I believe you must also be interested in the internet. Therefore, I hope you can join my company and, when the time is right, co-found China's first internet company with me."

To be honest, the emotional path she came up with does sound quite plausible.

In response to Zhang Shuxin's invitation, Zhang Yan smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, you may not know me very well. Actually, I am currently running several companies, which are no smaller than your planning company, and they are expanding rapidly."

Zhang Shuxin clearly hadn't expected this turn of events.

She originally thought that it was already remarkable for Zhang Yan, who was so young, to become a bestselling author. Little did she know that 'author' was just Zhang Yan's most inconspicuous identity.

However, she quickly realized what she meant and laughed, "Then wouldn't we have even more room for cooperation?"

Zhang hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Could you tell me what name you're planning to give this company?"

"Uh~"

Zhang Shuxin slowly shook his head: "I haven't thought about it yet—but the company name shouldn't be that important, right? If you have a preferred company name, you can name it yourself."

Of course it's important!
If it were named after a company like 'Tencent', 'Baidu', or 'Alibaba', Zhang Yan would definitely invest in this project.

But if it's unknown, then forget it.

Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities to win without effort in the future. Why would someone rush in now and end up getting hurt? That's something only a fool would do.
Of course, Zhang Yan couldn't say this outright, so he shrugged and said, "I'm a believer in fate. If the name you chose resonates with me, then I can participate in this project. If not... then maybe we're not meant to be."

These words left Zhang Shuxin completely bewildered. The two of them were clearly talking about high technology, so how did they suddenly switch to 'metaphysics'?
Seeing Zhang Yan's firm attitude, Zhang Shuxin could only end the conversation for the time being and agreed to contact him again after they had decided on a company name.

Of course, whether Zhang Shuxin will still be willing to contact Zhang Yan after this inexplicable misunderstanding is another matter entirely.

Before we knew it, it was evening.

Zhang Yan arrived at the agreed location five minutes early. When he entered the private room, he saw Yang Lan wearing large sunglasses and drinking alone.

And there was already an empty wine bottle on the table.

"Miss Yang, what's wrong...?"

Upon hearing Zhang Yan's voice, Yang Lan, still quite drunk, raised his head and slurred, "Mr. Zhang, come, have a drink with me."

Although her performance was good, Zhang Yan, who sleeps with actresses every day, still noticed a few inconsistencies.

This woman...

Seeing that Zhang Yan hesitated and didn't respond, Yang Lan raised his hand and took off his sunglasses, revealing the purplish-blue eye socket on his left eye. He smiled bitterly and said, "Right now, I just want to find someone to drink with. I don't want to care about anything else."

Tsk~
That's quite a lot of money invested.

To be honest, the two of them hadn't had much contact, and had only spent a few hours together in total. I didn't expect her to be in such a hurry...

(End of this chapter)