Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 268 Calling for Dad

Back in the Spring Festival Gala rehearsal hall, Zhang Yan quickly spotted Tian Zhen and Lao Lang in the crowd.

The 94 Spring Festival Gala was significantly smaller than the 93 Gala. Hong Kong and Taiwan stars were almost nowhere to be seen, and even big-name singers from the mainland were few and far between, which is why these two stood out in the rankings.

But the two of them clearly seemed to be in low spirits.

So Zhang Yan called them to a corner and asked if they had encountered any trouble in the preparation team.

"Of course not."

Tian Zhen shook his head and said, "I'm mainly worried about things in our company—if I had known earlier that Brother Xu would be punished, I wouldn't have... Sigh, but those people really went too far."

Of all the agents in the company, Xu Zhenghui was the one she got along with the best. However, because of her whistleblowing, Xu Zhenghui was transferred to be an actor's agent.

Although actors of the same level have a higher status than singers, their income is the opposite. And the most important thing for an agent is to get a share of the profits, so Tian Zhen felt a little sorry for Xu Zhenghui.

“Even without this incident, he’s not really suited to lead a team,” Zhang Yan explained. “Old Xu’s ability to get along well with those around him is his strength, but that’s also where his problem lies. He treats everyone under him like ‘buddies,’ which naturally makes them lose their sense of propriety.”

The latter half of this tour was largely led by Li Songqiang, and you've all seen how effective it was.

Upon hearing this, Tian Zhen sighed. With her temperament, she couldn't bring herself to say anything against her conscience. Li Songqiang's performance was indeed better than Xu Zhenghui's. Of course, the more shrewd and capable Li Songqiang was, the more many people missed the days when Xu Zhenghui was the team leader.

After offering a few words of reassurance to Tian Zhen, Zhang Yan turned to Lao Lang.

Old Wolf hesitated for a moment, then said awkwardly, "My ex-girlfriend..."

"No need to say anything, this company can't handle it."

Ever since Han Hong's incident was criticized, Zhang Yan no longer wanted to get involved.

The old wolf let out a soft "Oh," then shut its mouth again in a muffled voice.

Zhang Yan looked at Tian Zhen again: "Let's get serious, how's the rehearsal going?"

"What else?"

Tian Zhen spread his hands and said, "They won't let me sing new songs, so they're all old songs that I'm tired of singing. So I can just open my mouth and sing them."

"alright."

Seeing her confident demeanor, Zhang Yan felt that his trip was unnecessary.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, I prepared to leave.

Before leaving, he greeted each of his acquaintances—most of whom were crosstalk or sketch comedy actors; very few singers could appear on the Spring Festival Gala consecutively.

It turned out that Zhao Benshan was not at the scene.

"Old Zhao has no chance this year."

Feng Gong explained in a low voice, "He was a little late because of something at home. CCTV thought he was being arrogant, so they canceled his program."

To put it bluntly, Zhao Benshan isn't a big name yet.

After saying goodbye to Feng Gong, Zhang Yan went to the outer courtyard and was about to get into his car to leave when a young woman suddenly came out from behind the car and excitedly asked, "Mr. Zhang, can you plan a program for me?!"

Zhang Yan was somewhat stunned by the sudden attack. He looked at the other person carefully and realized that he did not recognize him.

Uh... who are you?

"I'm a new host who just joined CCTV, but I've won many awards since I was in school..."

Listening to this girl boast about her experience at school parties, Zhang Yan felt like he had met a fool.

"Excuse me, I have other things to do."

Zhang Yan got into the car and drove off, but the girl was still chasing after him, shouting something. Zhang Yan couldn't hear her clearly, but it sounded like she was calling for "Dad".

Calling someone "Dad" the first time they meet—are young people these days doing things this elaborately?
Zhang Yan didn't take it too seriously, but half an hour later, Zhou Tao suddenly called and asked, "Zhang Yan, what does the former manager's daughter want with you?"

"The former manager's daughter?"

Zhang Yan was stunned for a moment before he realized that the other person wasn't calling him "Dad," but rather "My dad is XX."

If you had this connection, you should have said so earlier. Why bring up a student party?
Zhang Yan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided not to pursue the matter further. He didn't actually have that much need for CCTV, and the relationship between the former regime's remnants and the current station director was usually a bit delicate.

He can speak directly with Director Yang, so why should he care about the former director?

Meanwhile, at the Central Academy of Drama's girls' dormitory.

Li Xue sat on Liu Mintao's bed with her legs crossed and her chin propped up on her hand, watching her older sister flip through clothes and try them on. She couldn't help but tease her, "Sis, anyone who didn't know better would think you're getting back together with your ex-boyfriend."

"Fuck you~"

Li Bingbing rolled her eyes at Li Xue and immediately changed the subject, saying, "If you don't have classes these days, come over and bring my student ID to the school gate to sell college application guides."

"Are the art college entrance exams starting this early?"

"Of course. I heard from my senior that every year around the winter break, people will inquire in advance. Although there are fewer people before the New Year than after, there are also fewer people selling materials, so we can earn as much as we can."

"Are these materials of yours reliable?"

"I bought them cheaply from my classmates. Following the instructions will at least make it less likely to make mistakes."

As Li Bingbing spoke, she applied powder to her face, but after looking at herself in the small mirror, she wiped it off with a damp towel.

It's appropriate to dress smartly, but it's not good to overshadow others.

She put the cosmetics she had saved up to buy back into the cabinet and called to her younger sister, "Let's go, let's go to the school gate and meet up with Senior Tao Hong."

"So early?"

"Isn't TeTe Te having a promotional event recently? Senior Tao Hong said she'll take us shopping at the mall first."

"Why didn't you say so earlier? I didn't bring any money..."

Even if you bring it, you can't just spend it recklessly.

The two sisters went downstairs, bickering, and stood at the school gate, looking around for a while. They noticed two other girls peeking inside.

Seeing that both girls were quite good-looking, one of whom was even better than her own sister, and that they were definitely not students from the Central Academy of Drama.

Li Bingbing then led Li Xue over and asked with a smile, "Are you two planning to apply to the Central Academy of Drama?"

"Uh~"

The two girls opposite exchanged glances. The one with the particularly pretty face said shyly, "We're planning to apply next year. What's up? Did you need something from us?"

Judging from the other person's accent, they were clearly from the south. Li Bingbing smiled even more warmly and showed his student ID, saying, "It's nothing. I'm a freshman this year, and I happen to have some reference materials on hand. If you need them, I can sell them to you cheaply."

The two girls opposite looked at the student ID, whispered to each other for a moment, and then asked, "How much is it?"

"It's not much money, I bought them all last year, just give me a processing fee." As she spoke, she turned to Li Xue and said, "Xiao Xue, you wait here with them, I'll go get the documents."

Before the two could say anything more, Li Bingbing ran back into the campus. She had experience dealing with girls like this; as long as she got the things and pretended to be tired from running, the other girl would most likely be too embarrassed to refuse.

Li Xue was also quick-witted. After her sister left, she started chatting with the two girls and quickly figured out their backgrounds.

Both of them are girls from Chongqing. They joined the Chongqing Peking Opera Troupe when they were young. The one with the particularly pretty face acted in a TV series a couple of years ago, called something like "The Alluring Guanyin".

After that, I started thinking about switching careers to become an actress. I spent more than a year studying academic subjects with my girlfriends. When I felt that I was ready, I came to Beijing to inquire about the art exams.

At this moment, Li Bingbing also brought out the documents, propped one hand on her knee and handed them over, saying, "You guys take a look. If you're not satisfied, then... just forget about it."

In the dead of winter, seeing Li Bingbing sweating profusely from running around, how could the two girls possibly refuse?
After flipping through the information and asking about the price, I felt it wasn't too expensive, so I bought it without hesitation.

Seeing that the deal was done, Li Bingbing then suggested to the pretty girl, "Actually, I would recommend that you focus on the Beijing Film Academy. They value appearance, and the academy has produced several young directors in the past two years, so you'll have more film and television resources in the future."

Hearing her say that, the two felt even more that the materials were worth buying. After asking for directions to the Beijing Film Academy, they left, thanking her profusely.

After watching the two leave, Li Bingbing saw his younger sister copying something into her notebook, so he leaned over to examine her curiously: "Jiang Qinqin, born in 1975, Chongqing Peking Opera Troupe... Why are you memorizing this?"

"I think that girl will become famous in the future."

Li Xue waved the notebook in her hand at her sister: "Anyway, we're going to be in this industry, so having more connections is never a bad thing."

Li Bingbing shook his head helplessly upon hearing this: "This circle is much more complicated than you think. Many times, people have to fight tooth and nail to expand their network. If you really want to expand your connections, you have to find a big shot like Boss Zhang to make it work."

Even when casting, it's best to befriend male actors. If you have a good relationship with them, they might introduce you to roles.

(End of this chapter)