Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 236 Levels
"Okay, okay, then we'll see you there! Haha, just kidding..."

Filming location for "The New Dragon and Phoenix".

Zhang Yan hung up the phone and couldn't help but shake his head inwardly. If you're talking about being good at scheming, you have to say it's someone who works for the government.

The person who just called him was the director of the Education Bureau of the Economic Development Zone. During the call, the director apologized repeatedly and insisted on hosting a banquet to atone for his sins.

When Zhang Yan declined, the other party said that the main purpose was to invite Principal Chen, and that General Manager Zhang was only accompanying him as a family member.

This put Zhang Yan in a difficult position to refuse.

However, Zhang Yan knew exactly what was going on. It was just that the Economic Development Zone had achieved some results in the past two years, and after the main structure of the Bayi Film and Television Base was completed next year, there would probably be some personnel changes.

Those with good connections are all working hard to carve the Heavenly Pattern. Although Zhang Yan is not in the system, he has a very good relationship with the leaders of the management committee and is well-known to the city leaders.

Taking his approach is like taking a shortcut to overtake others.

At this moment, a young man approached with a big smile: "Mr. Zhang, I heard that Li Songqiang signed with your company. Why don't you just take me on as well?"

The visitor was Li Yapeng, who played Jiang Bin, the adopted son of Emperor Zhengde, who was infatuated with Li Fengjie in the drama but dared not confess his feelings.

Zhang Yan glanced at him sideways and asked, "You're graduating soon, right? Are there any promising talents in your year?"

He had seen Li Yapeng's acting skills before; they were somewhere in between, and his performance was inconsistent. When he performed well, he could outperform Chen Hong, but when he performed poorly, it was simply unwatchable.

“Then it has to be the three brothers from Urumqi!” Li Yapeng patted his chest and said, “My roommates Chen Jianbin and Wang Xuebing are only slightly less skilled than me.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan's enthusiasm immediately waned. He had helped run errands for those two when they went to Xinjiang for the aid mission, and they were already not as good-looking as Li Yapeng; if their acting skills were also worse...

It seems I'll have to focus on Beijing Film Academy and Shanghai Theatre Academy next year.

"Let's talk about it after we finish filming the TV series."

Zhang Yan said, "After 'The New Dragon and Phoenix' airs, I plan to hold open recruitment events at the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing Film Academy, and Shanghai Theatre Academy. You should prepare in advance."

"Okay~"

Li Yapeng was overjoyed, but then began to struggle with whether or not to inform his two fellow townsmen and classmates—after all, his acting skills were actually the worst among the three.

In the end, he decided to wait until the start of next school year to do it. He would prepare more himself and the others less, since he would be better prepared than everyone else anyway.

After seeing Li Yapeng off, Zhang Yan returned to Zhang Guoli's side and watched him instruct several imposters on a play.

It's called talking about it, but in reality it's just personally acting it out.

Zhang Guoli's acting skills may not be among the absolute best, but his range of roles is wider than many top actors. When directing actresses, he can even perfectly portray their alluring and seductive charm.

Just as Zhang Guoli was gesturing wildly with a few big-nosed men, Deng Jie handed him a handful of spiced melon seeds and asked with a smile, "I heard the script for 'A Messy Life' has been written?"

Zhang Yan chuckled and said, "What, sister-in-law, are you planning to break up with Brother Guoli and go join Chen Daoming?"

"Screw you."

Deng Jie threw another handful of sunflower seed shells at him and said, "Do you think I'd be good enough to play the female lead?"

"Sure, why not?"

Zhang Yan readily agreed, as Deng Jie's acting skills were definitely not a problem. The only challenge for her was the quiet and gentle part before the female lead got married in the early stages.

As she gradually transitioned into a married woman, she began to be petty and unforgiving, which became her most adept tactic.

Chen Hong is clearly not suitable for this type of role.

They also said that after getting married next year, the two will start trying to conceive.

"what's the topic."

At this moment, Zhang Guoli wiped his sweat and returned to the camera, lamenting, "Communicating with foreigners is really troublesome. Even those Russian actors are having trouble communicating. I guess these scenes will take two more days to shoot."

"Is there a possibility..."

Zhang Yan stroked his chin and said, "This is what they want—after all, their appearance fees aren't cheap."

Zhang Guoli was stunned for a moment, then helplessly spread his hands and said, "Even so, we can't find a substitute for the time being, so we can only bite the bullet and use them."

At this moment, Deng Jie smiled and said, "Guoli, President Zhang has already agreed to let me play the female lead in 'A Messy Life'."

“Really? Then we should have a proper celebration tonight—Mr. Zhang, why don’t you invite Chen Hong…” “Don’t rush.”

Zhang Yan quickly stopped him, saying, "After Wang Jinghua gets married in a couple of days, let's invite Chen Daoming and Liu Zhenyun to sit down and have a good talk."

Zhang Yan originally wanted to recruit Guan Hu, but that guy couldn't let go of his status as a film director for the time being. Since Zhang Guoli performed well in the "New Dragon and Phoenix" crew, it was only natural that the job would be given to him.

Zhang Yan even felt that Zhang Guoli was more suitable to play the male lead in "A Messy Life" than Chen Daoming, since Chen Daoming had previously played pretentious characters.

However, Chen Daoming was the one who first took a liking to this play and contributed many ideas during the adaptation process. The two were also old friends, so Zhang Yan couldn't steal it away.

Now we can only hope that Chen Daoming can play this role well.

After staying on set until almost 11 o'clock, Zhang Yan said goodbye to Zhang Guoli, Deng Jie and others, and went to meet up with Chen Hong and Gai Lili.

At this time, Gai Lili was visiting the Dream Fulfillment Company.

After looking around inside and out, she couldn't help but tease, "This courtyard doesn't live up to your dream-fulfilling name. Why don't you find an office building to move into?"

Chen Hong smiled slightly and said, "Office buildings in Tianjin are expensive and scarce, and the layouts are not very good. So, taking advantage of the construction of the August 1st Film and Television Base, we acquired a plot of land opposite the film and television base and plan to start construction next year or the year after to build an office building that will fulfill our dream."

Tsk~
Gai Lili couldn't help but secretly purse her lips, thinking to herself that after not seeing her for several years, this old classmate had become more and more of a liar, and she could always manage to pull off the act.

Indeed, these days, following the right people is the most important thing. Gong Li and Chen Hong are clear examples of this.

Just as I was feeling down about why I wasn't so lucky, there was a knock on the office door.

Gai Lili thought it was Zhang Yan who had arrived, so she subconsciously straightened herself up, and then she found Chen Hong looking at her with a half-smile.

Gai Lili understood the look in her eyes and felt speechless. She thought to herself, even if your man is a diamond bachelor, I might not be interested in him, let alone someone who is already taken.

"Come in."

Chen Hong knew that it couldn't be Zhang Yan outside; if it were, he would have just pushed the door open and come in.

Sure enough, Wang Zhongqi and a young girl walked in through the door.

Chen Hong hurriedly got up to greet him. She knew that Zhang Yan was a sentimental person, so she was especially polite to Wang Zhongqi.

"Mr. Chen."

Wang Zhongqi introduced, "This is Cao Ying, whom I mentioned on the phone."

"Hello, Mr. Chen!"

Cao Ying bowed deeply to Chen Hong, then smiled and said, "I've watched 'Tianjin Wei' many times, and I can recite the most famous lines from it by heart."

"really?"

Chen Hong tested her a few times with great interest and found that the girl answered fluently. She then smiled and said, "Since I tested you, you should be rewarded."

As he spoke, he picked up his mobile phone and dialed Zhang Guoli's number.

When Zhang Guoli heard it was Chen Hong, he thought she was looking for Zhang Yan: "Zhang Yan left twenty minutes ago."

"Director Zhang, I wanted to ask, have you found an actress for the palace maid who almost killed me in the end?"

"Not yet, why?"

“Our company recently signed a young woman, and I think she’s a good fit.”

"Okay, have her come to the set to get familiar with things later."

"Ok."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Hong said to Cao Ying, "You're a bit late. The main roles have already been cast. However, although this role doesn't have many scenes, it plays a crucial role in the drama. If you act well, it will be quite outstanding."

"Thank you, Mr. Chen! Thank you, Mr. Chen!"

Cao Ying was surprised to find herself acting right after signing the contract. Although it wasn't a major role, it was still a good start, so she quickly thanked Chen Hong profusely.

Meanwhile, seeing Chen Hong easily decide on a role with just a phone call, Gai Lili realized something: she and Chen Hong seemed to be on different levels.

(End of this chapter)