Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 31 script is out
With the help of Zhou Tao and Yao Ke, the audition process at Communication University of China went very smoothly.

Teachers from the Communication University of China said that although Zhang Fang's foundation was a bit weak, she had good looks and was poised and confident on stage.

If you take the time to train properly, your chances of passing the college entrance exam for arts students are still quite high.

This made the Zhang family very happy. After discussing it at the hotel, Sun Xiaohong decided to take a long leave and stay in Beijing with her daughter to prepare for the art college entrance exam next March.

As it turned out, Zhou Tao once again took the initiative to help, finding a suitable rental apartment near the Communication University of China.

Sun Xiaohong praised Zhou Tao highly for this. If she hadn't known that he was already taken, she would have definitely encouraged her son to pursue Zhou Tao.

But Zhang Yan became increasingly uneasy.

There was definitely something fishy going on, but since Zhou Tao didn't speak, he couldn't very well press him for details, otherwise it would seem like he was suspecting Zhou Tao of having ulterior motives.

After settling into their accommodations, Zhang Yan originally wanted to take his family to visit the famous historical sites in Beijing, but Zhang Xingguo and Sun Xiaohong both said that they should endure hardship first and enjoy themselves later, and that it wouldn't be too late to travel around Beijing after Zhang Fang successfully entered the Capital Broadcasting Institute.

Zhang Fang wanted to go for a stroll, and also wanted to see Black Panther's performance, and hear what the songs her brother wrote with that Dou Wei were like.

Before her parents could even speak, Zhang Yan had already subdued her.

However, Zhang Yan himself did attend a live performance and took the opportunity to thank Guo Chuanlin for helping him contact Zhang Youdai.

Before leaving, Zhang Yan gave Dou Wei's pager number to his mother, instructing her to keep the number for emergencies and to avoid contacting Dou Wei as much as possible—the rock scene is too chaotic, and they shouldn't be allowed to corrupt Fangfang.

12 month 7 number.

Zhang Yan and his father boarded trains bound for Tianjin and Hengjiang respectively.

When he returned to Tianjin, he found a house that Wang Zhongqi had helped him find earlier—since he was being transferred to the magazine, it wouldn't be right for him to continue living in a hotel and receiving subsidies.

This is a two-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom apartment on the fourth floor. It is fully furnished and equipped with appliances, and the decoration is considered high-end by today's standards. The only downside is that the rent is a bit expensive.

According to Wang Zhongqi, this was a wedding room prepared by a leader for his son and daughter-in-law. However, the son secretly completed the procedures for studying abroad without telling his family and left his fiancée and family on the other side of the ocean.

Later, the leader fell seriously ill, and the house remained vacant for more than half a year until recently when news was released that it would be rented out.

Zhang Yan was quite satisfied after looking at it. Although the rent was a bit expensive, everything was new, and there was a place for his family to stay when they came. There was also a telephone installed in the living room, which was temporarily out of service, but could be reactivated as long as he paid the bill.

The landlord was quite satisfied with Zhang Yan; he was young, clean, articulate, and a bestselling author. So the two hit it off immediately, and Zhang Yan moved into his new home with his luggage that very night.

That night, Zhang Yan didn't dream of the middle-aged author, but dreamed that he was in his wedding night.

At first, the woman was Zhou Nan, but after they got into bed, she suddenly became Zhou Tao. Zhang Yan was so frightened that he tried to run away, but Zhou Tao pulled him into the bed.

How does that Shanghai Bund theme song go again?

[Lyrics here have been removed]

The next morning, Zhang Yan hung all the blankets, sheets, and underwear on the balcony.

It's one thing to dream about Zhou Nan, but why did it turn into Zhou Tao later?
Am I really that thirsty and unbearable deep down?

Hey~
Let's try one last time. If we still can't find Zhou Nan, we can't put all our eggs in one basket.

Zhang Yan sat down at his desk and wrote neatly on the manuscript paper: The female protagonist's surname is Zhou, given name Nan, and she is from Hengjiang, Hebei.

…………

For the next two weeks or so, apart from going to the magazine office to take up his new post and reporting to the Writers Association, Zhang Yan basically stayed in his rented room writing in seclusion.

Working tirelessly day and night, the results were quite remarkable.

By December 24th, the scripts for a total of five cases and twelve episodes were completed.

In the drama, he deliberately portrayed Tianjin—especially the Economic and Technological Development Zone—as a modern and civilized metropolis. The crime scenes were either landmark buildings, luxury villas, or scenic spots, and the methods of committing the crimes also incorporated elements of modern technology.

Of course, using the words of 'outsiders' to praise Tianjin is also an indispensable part of the performance.

For example, the first case.

Under the arrangement of the deputy director in charge, the protagonist was ordered to drive to the school to help the female lead move. He was originally going to deliver her to the single dormitory of the Economic Development Zone branch, but en route he received a police report of a hostage situation at the Kaiyue Hotel. Both the hostage and the perpetrator were foreigners, and the superiors ordered the criminal investigation team to respond immediately.

Because it was nearby, the male protagonist rushed to the scene with the female protagonist, but they were stopped at the door of the guest room by a Japanese businessman named Maeda Hakumitsu and a translator.

It turns out that the male robbers and the hostages in the hotel room were all subordinates of President Maeda. The two had a conflict over a relationship issue, and in a moment of impulsiveness, the male subordinate took the female subordinate hostage with a knife.

President Maeda believes that the appearance of the University of Tokyo police will only escalate the conflict, so he firmly forbids the protagonist from taking any action and tries to persuade the robbers to put down their weapons through the door.

At this moment, the robbers inside the house also began to roar angrily, repeatedly emphasizing in Japanese that no one was allowed to break in.

The translator arrogantly warned the male protagonist not to provoke an international dispute.

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, the female lead, who was a performing arts major, noticed that the roaring sound in the room was repeating on a loop, and the tone and pitch of the voice were not changing at all. She then concluded that it was the effect of a tape recorder playing the sound on a loop.

Furthermore, President Maeda's series of actions made her feel as if it were a performance that had been rehearsed in advance.

So she suspected it was a prank.

After being reminded by the female protagonist, the male protagonist immediately asked if anyone else present, besides President Maeda, had witnessed the kidnapping.

After confirming that only Maeda claimed to have witnessed the entire incident, and that everyone else, including the translator, had only heard Maeda's account, the protagonist immediately broke down the door and rescued Yamakejiro, who had been disguised as a robber but was actually unconscious and nearly stabbed to death by his fiancée.

And the shout was indeed coming from a Walkman.

It was later discovered that Yamakaze Jiro's fiancée was having an affair with the company president. Because Yamakaze Jiro had some suspicions, the two decided to set a trap and try to make it look like Yamakaze Jiro kidnapped his fiancée and was then unexpectedly killed in self-defense.

To avoid arousing suspicion from the police, they even specifically chose to carry out their operation at the University of Tokyo.

Unexpectedly, the male protagonist arrived faster than anyone imagined, throwing Yamakagejiro's fiancée into a panic and causing her to hesitate to make a move.

Then, prompted by the female protagonist, the male protagonist took decisive action and saved Yamakeijiro.

Afterwards, feeling heartbroken, Yamajiro decided to stay in Tianjin and establish a high-tech enterprise based on his patented inventions.

He also praised the business environment of the Economic and Technological Development Zone, believing that with such enlightened policies, such dedicated police officers, and such hardworking people, Tianjin's future is bound to be limitless.

This case began with Japanese arrogance and ended with Japanese flattery, which can be considered a masterful use of nationalistic sentiment—a tactic that was quite effective before the proliferation of anti-Japanese war dramas.

After finishing writing it, Zhang Yan himself felt that the last part of the praise was a bit cheesy, but thinking about it, he had been saved after all, and the Japanese always liked to exaggerate, so saying a few cheesy words was not too much.

The second case occurred on a film set, where the murderer used a camera to create an alibi—the female lead was responsible for operating the camera and also served as a supporting character for the male lead's deductions.

The complex love-hate relationship between the murderer and the victim in this case made the female protagonist hesitate about whether or not to enter the entertainment industry.

The third case is the drowning of a swimming champion. This case didn't involve any high technology; it was just to allow the female lead to show off her figure and, incidentally, fulfill someone's regret.

Case 4 and Case 5 are two interconnected cases. Important evidence from Case 4 was stored on the computer, which inadvertently led to the discovery of Case 5.

These two cases also served as the opportunity for the male and female protagonists to develop feelings for each other.

Using Walkmans, cameras, and computers to commit crimes is commonplace and even outdated in later generations, but it was still relatively novel in 1991. To ordinary viewers in mainland China, it could easily be labeled as high-tech crime.

If you compare this script with the 87 film "Plainclothes Policeman," it's definitely less solid and lacks the realism of "Plainclothes Policeman."

However, Zhang Yansheng's work features a faster pace, more novel cases, more direct emotional engagement, and a more outstanding portrayal of the female lead.

Most importantly, the five cases, from different perspectives, promoted the achievements of Tianjin in recent years and its "excellent business environment." Even if there were occasional criticisms, they were minor complaints that ultimately helped.

Moreover, none of the murderers were locals; the locals were only responsible for playing the warm and kind roles.

Zhang Yan had thought of everything he could think of.

It's almost the end of the month.

He handed the transcribed script to Zhang Shaomei. After reading it, President Zhang couldn't help but exclaim "slippery!" twice. Then she had two copies made and sent them to the TV station and the Economic Development Zone Government Office in the name of the Writers' Association.

[PS: Canon began manufacturing photocopiers in Tianjin in the mid-to-late 80s.]

(End of this chapter)