Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 25 Do you want to write a notebook?

Those who did not experience that era would probably find it difficult to understand the influence of rock music at that time.

Even if you are in the midst of it, you may not be able to fully understand it.

For example, in Zhang Yan's view, the so-called "chattering" in the morgue was nothing more than a farce of two groups arguing with each other. Afterwards, he even felt that disturbing the deceased was a bit immoral.

To Zhang Yan's surprise, the story spread like wildfire in Beijing. When Dou Wei made his comeback at the end of October and his performance of "Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty" amazed everyone, it was hyped up as the battle for supremacy in the rock scene.

Of course, the biggest beneficiary is the Tang Dynasty band, as many people are now curious about their unfinished version of "Dream Back to Tang Dynasty".

Zheng Ming, a top reporter for China Youth Daily, was one of them. If he hadn't been curious about the story behind the two versions of "Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty," he might not have taken on the job even with Shi Tiesheng's help.

After contacting Zhang Yan, Zheng Ming read the published novel several times before rushing to Tianjin for the interview.

Upon meeting, his first words were: "Some parts of your novel are actually quite suitable for adaptation into film and television scripts. Unfortunately, most of the well-known directors in China make movies primarily to win awards, especially international ones. Few people are interested in commercial films."

Zhang Yan was momentarily at a loss for words. Wasn't the interview supposed to cover the recent controversies and also chat about the rock scene? How did it veer off-topic into the film and television industry right away?

Seeing this, Zheng Ming smiled sheepishly and said, "I'm sorry, Teacher Zhang. I studied photography and worked at a film studio for a while, so I'm quite familiar with this kind of thing."

"Please don't call me teacher, just call me Xiao Zhang."

Zhang Yan quickly flattered the other party: "So you are a professionally trained photographer. No wonder you have won the honor of 'Top Ten News Photojournalists in the Country' for three consecutive years."

He hasn't been idle these past two days either, and has managed to find out some information about Zheng Ming.

"This is nothing."

Zheng Ming shook his head somewhat dejectedly, then asked, "When can we start the interview?"

“We can go now. We can go to the conference room of the Popular Fiction Newspaper, or we can go to the hotel where I am staying.”

"Then let's go to your hotel."

…………

Although the purpose of the interview was to respond to the criticisms from the Redology community, Zheng Ming's main objective was to explore Zhang Yan's creative process in writing "The Great Detective of the Red Chamber".

Zhang Yan certainly couldn't tell the truth, so he made up a story that was half true and half false.

She first talked about how she was obsessed with TV series in 87, and how she couldn't eat or sleep after seeing the tragic ending of the series.

"At that time, I thought, if only I could go into the world of 'Dream of the Red Chamber' and change all of this."

"So that's how this book came about?"

"of course not."

Zhang Yan shook his head seriously and said, "Actually, what I initially thought was to put myself in Jia Baoyu's perspective, because that would be the easiest way to change the plot—but after thinking about it, how is that any different from Gao E's sequel?"
Moreover, without the original Jia Baoyu, is it still considered part of the Dream of the Red Chamber story?

At this point, Zhang Yan scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Besides, I don't have the ability to write a Grand View Garden that fits the atmosphere of the original work, so I simply chose to break through from the outside by avoiding the main issue."

"Then why did you choose a criminal police officer as the protagonist? Dream of the Red Chamber and criminal investigation should be two completely unrelated things to most people."

"Well, actually, at first, I also wanted to write a story about a cultured person who travels back to the world of Dream of the Red Chamber and takes the orthodox path of the imperial examinations at that time, but..."

At this point, Zhang Yan pointed to himself: "As you can see, I am only 23 years old this year, and I was even younger when I conceived this novel. I simply did not have enough ability and knowledge to write a good story about the ancient imperial examination system and official career."

Later, I read a suspense novel that featured a very capable police captain, which inspired the protagonist of this book, Sun Shaozong, while also retaining the scene of copying poems…”

The interview started around 10 a.m. and didn't end until 3 p.m. During the interview, the background and consequences of the 'death rock' incident were also discussed. However, this matter is prone to controversy and is Zheng Ming's personal hobby, so it will not be published in the newspaper for the time being.

Zheng Ming is a decisive person; he took the train back to Beijing at around 4 p.m. that same day.

Two days later, an article titled "Me and the Dream of the Red Chamber: A Dream Chaser's Heart Across Time" was published on the front page of the second edition of the China Youth Daily on November 18, 1990.

The article received a very enthusiastic response after it was published.

Zhang Yan's description of his creative journey in the report, along with his honesty and humility in admitting that he was young and inexperienced and could only take unconventional approaches, coupled with a vibrant photo, resonated with countless young people.

What's wrong with young people liking to dream and fantasize?

Newspapers and magazines usually encourage young people to put their dreams into practice. Now that some people have done so and achieved some success, why is it that this is not allowed and that is not allowed?

They haven't violated public order and good morals, nor have they broken any laws or ethical standards, so why should they be suppressed by you old fogies? You keep saying you want to "protect the classic works left by our ancestors," but why didn't you jump out to oppose it when it broke 4J years ago?

Many readers have also come forward to say that Zhang Yan's novels are merely novel and interesting, far from being unorthodox. On the contrary, the research findings of many so-called scholars of "Dream of the Red Chamber" are truly absurd and nonsensical.

There are also some self-proclaimed scholars of *Dream of the Red Chamber* who are excluded from the mainstream, and they also take the opportunity to jump out and complain, accusing mainstream scholars of trying to monopolize the right to interpret the classics, being reactionary scholars parasitic on the new era, and being a huge mountain of 3Z (the United States, China, and the United Kingdom) weighing on the heads of *Dream of the Red Chamber* fans.

As a result, criticisms of scholars of "Dream of the Red Chamber" for meddling in other people's business gradually increased, and many local newspapers published scathing critiques—such as the Hengjiang Daily.

The China Youth Daily is a major official newspaper under the Communist Youth League, and with these public opinions added on top of that, the famous scholar of "Dream of the Red Chamber" who led the charge quickly found himself unable to withstand the pressure.

However, he was stubborn and refused to admit that he was suppressing Zhang Yan.

Finally, he only published a response in the newspaper stating that he reserved his opinion that "Detective of the Red Chamber" desecrated the classics, but was willing to be more tolerant of the young people, and hoped that Zhang Yan would realize his mistake and contribute to the cause of Redology in the future.

Although this response was still condescending and critical, it finally brought an end to some scholars' attacks on Zhang Yan.

Of course, the reason why things were settled so quickly is also because when the TV series and movies were released one after another in the past two years, the scholars of "Dream of the Red Chamber" were arguing so fiercely that they almost fought each other to the death, and the whole circle was torn apart and could not unite at all.

If this had happened before the TV series aired in 87, Zhang Yan probably wouldn't have gotten through so easily.

After this incident, Zhang Yan dared not be pretentious anymore and deleted the subsequent interactions between the protagonist and Feng Lazi overnight to avoid being criticized again.

The original manuscript was 61 words, but after deletions, it was 57 words.

On November 27th, the monthly sales of "Popular Fiction Newspaper" broke through 1 million copies for the first time in history, officially becoming the undisputed hegemon among popular fiction magazines in the north, and its reach even extended to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.

Thanks to this impressive achievement and the previous controversy in the newspapers, Zhang Yan, a rising bestselling author who was only 23 years old, gradually gained a certain reputation in the industry.

Meanwhile, because the news was specifically disclosed in the report that "The Great Detective of the Red Chamber" was about to be officially completed, Zhang Yan successively received publishing invitations from China Youth Publishing House and Jilin Times Literature and Art Publishing House.

The former is affiliated with China Youth Daily, while the latter is on par with Hunan People's Publishing House and has extensive experience in publishing contemporary popular novels.

Zhang Yan was naturally very interested in the invitations from these two publishing giants, but the lack of response from Tianjin Literature Magazine left him somewhat puzzled.

Although Tianjin Literature's influence in the publishing industry is weaker than these two companies—the real giant in Tianjin's publishing industry is Wenyi Baihua Publishing House—it can't just sit idly by and watch its bestselling authors be poached without even putting up a fight, can it?

Until November 30th.

President Sun Shaomei finally summoned Zhang Yan again, but the first thing she said wasn't about publishing, but rather...

"I heard that Zheng Ming thinks your novel is very suitable for adaptation into a film or television script?"

Zhang Yan didn't dare to be presumptuous and honestly replied, "Teacher Zheng is right: some scenes in the novel are very vivid and suitable for adaptation into film and television scripts."

"That's it."

Sun Shaomei nodded and said, "Since Zheng Ming has said so, it should be pretty good, after all, he is Zhang Yimou's classmate."

what? !

No wonder Zheng Ming seemed a little disappointed when I praised him for winning the "Top Ten News Photojournalists in the Country".

[PS: Later, Zheng Mingci made a documentary film called "Songs of the Past".]

Have you watched the recently aired drama "Aspiration"?

Zhang Shaomei's words were always somewhat disjointed. While Zhang Yan was still lamenting Zheng Ming's situation, he suddenly brought up the TV series.

"Of course I did."

"Desire" premiered on Beijing TV on November 3rd, and its influence quickly spread to surrounding provinces and cities. Countless people watched it with great enthusiasm, and it is said that even the public security situation improved during the broadcast.

Zhang Yan didn't actually enjoy watching this kind of show that much, but his mother loved it so much that she would always talk to him about the plot on the phone. In order to keep up with his mother, he was forced to become a loyal viewer of the show.

Sun Shaomei continued, "That's a production of the Beijing Television Art Center. I heard it will be broadcast on CCTV soon. Our Tianjin Television Station also has a TV drama production center, which was established no later than the one in Beijing."

The recent hit drama "Aspiration" has spurred relevant leaders at higher levels—it's understandable to be outdone by CCTV, but to be left far behind by Beijing...

Therefore, Tianjin TV has decided to produce two to three high-quality dramas, and is expected to begin soliciting scripts soon.

At this point, Zhang Shaomei paused, looked directly at Zhang Yan, and asked, "So, would you like to try writing a notebook?"

(End of this chapter)