Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 37 Fate
The girls on the synchronized swimming team were quite poised and confident during their swimsuit performances, but became rather shy once they were fully dressed.

Of course, one sharp-tongued little girl is an exception.

and many more!

This seems like something that could be used in a script.

Zhang Yan originally envisioned the female protagonist in the third case as someone who went swimming alone because she was upset about the case's progress, and happened to be seen by the male protagonist.

However, considering the performance of the synchronized swimming team members, he felt that the female protagonist's behavior could be made more reasonable.

For example, if the female lead discovers that the synchronized swimming team members are very nervous and awkward when facing strangers, they can't get any useful information out of them.

But in the swimming pool, they appear exceptionally relaxed and confident.

So the female protagonist took the initiative to change into a swimsuit, under the guise of learning synchronized swimming, to get close to the girls on the synchronized swimming team, and eventually extracted an important clue from them.

This better showcases the female lead's keen observation skills and unique investigative methods—and most importantly, it makes the scene of her wearing a swimsuit more believable.

While there was still some time, Zhang Yan handed over the three script lines and then lay down on the diving platform to write furiously.

"Teacher Zhang, the audition is about to begin!"

It wasn't until Wei Liben came over to call him that Zhang Yan stood up, rubbed his sore knees, walked to the makeshift judges' table, and handed the revised passage to Yan Xiaoming and Ma Huiwu for review.

After the two of them watched it together, Ma Huiwu was the first to give a thumbs up: "Great job, Xiao Zhang. Your revision is much smoother and it also lays the groundwork for the male lead's complete change of opinion about the female lead later on."

Yan Xiaoming looked up at the synchronized swimming team members in front of him and suddenly said, "Teacher Zhang, you connected this scene to their reactions just now, right?"

Seeing Zhang Yan nod, he sighed again, "Your brain is indeed very sharp; it would be great if you used it for good."

"I didn't take any crooked or illegal steps."

Zhang Yan shrugged: "At most, it's just taking a shortcut."

"It's a good thing that young people want to improve themselves."

Ma Huiwu laughed and said, "Let's not talk about that. Let's do the audition first."

Next, the swimming team divided into groups of four and began their group 'performance'.

The reason this performance is in quotation marks is because when they recited their lines, it didn't feel like they were acting out a play, but more like they were reading a textbook.

Those who can speak the lines fluently are already considered top performers.

In order to gather the performance team mentioned in the script, Ma Huiwu reluctantly selected four, one of whom was Tao Hong.

She was also the one Ma Huiwu favored the most.

Considering that the girls had no prior experience and also had to participate in training and competitions, the filming schedule was relatively tight.

So the group discussed it and decided to hire an acting teacher for them in Beijing first, and then bring them to Tianjin to film after they had completed their training.

Ma Huiwu took the initiative to accept the task, and he planned to go to the Central Academy of Drama to ask his old classmate for help.

After communicating with the swimming team and politely declining their invitation to have lunch together, the crew left the swimming pool.

Tao Hong watched them until they disappeared outside the door. Just as she was about to look away, she heard someone beside her say sourly, "Still looking? Be careful your soul doesn't run away with them."

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Tao Hong blushed slightly and changed the subject, saying, "I was thinking about acting teachers. Do you think we could invite a movie star to teach us?"

"It's possible. I heard that Wang Zhiwen is a teacher at the Central Academy of Drama!"

"I prefer Jiang Wen."

"Jiang Wen acts in movies, but we're going to film a TV series."

"Then I like Jiang Wen too!"

Seeing that she had successfully changed the subject, Tao Hong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then couldn't help but look at the diving platform that Zhang Yan had just used.

Young women often have unrealistic fantasies about the word 'fate'.

If Tao Hong hadn't met Zhang Yan in early September, she probably wouldn't have thought much of it. But then she suddenly realized that the 'lovestruck writer' everyone was talking about was actually someone she had met before, and that she would be spending a lot of time with him in the future.

Tao Hong always felt a strange feeling in her heart, and she felt that Zhang Yan's every move was different from others.

The way Zhang Yan was revising his manuscript while lying on the diving platform looked a bit awkward, but all she could see was 'focus and dedication' and 'flowing inspiration'.

…………

Back near their rented hotel, since it was past noon, Yan Xiaoming suggested they eat something nearby before going back to rest.

But Zhang Yan was worried about his mother and sister, so he went back to the hotel alone first.

Upon entering, Zhang Yan saw his younger sister, Zhang Fang, practicing her singing on the balcony. He jokingly asked, "Why do you sound so weak? Is it your stomach growling?"

"My stomach is growling, I'm starving!"

Zhang Fang immediately pounced on Zhang Yan and clung to him, saying, "Brother, why are you back so late? Mom and I are starving—hmph, you have to treat us to a big meal as punishment!"

"Xiao Fang!"

Seeing this, Sun Xiaohong scolded, "Your brother went to take care of important business. Besides, didn't you insist on waiting for him to come back?"

As she spoke, she handed a sheet of paper to her son: "We've received quite a few phone calls, but not many of them are actually useful. I've only written down two in total."

Zhang Yan took the call and saw that the first message was from a student at the Central Conservatory of Music, saying that the promotional leaflets had all been distributed and asking if there were any more, and if so, they could continue to help.

When Dou Wei came last time, he boasted that he had a bunch of fans from the Central Conservatory of Music. Zhang Yan was still half-believing him, because in his impression, even if a student from the Central Conservatory of Music didn't make it to the national team, they were at least at the provincial team level.

This time, seeing it with my own eyes, I realized that Dou Wei wasn't just bragging. When they were getting people to distribute the promotional leaflets that day, the Central Conservatory of Music had the most people there.

There were no more promotional flyers, but Zhang Yan figured he couldn't let these young men help him for nothing; he should at least host a couple of tables as a token of appreciation before leaving Beijing.

The other call was from Chen Daoming, who said he had finished reading the script and thought the plot and characters were very original. He planned to meet with the crew again that evening, and if there were no problems, he would finalize the schedule and salary in advance.

Finally, some good news.

However, it still has nothing to do with Zhou Nan.

After her son finished reading, Sun Xiaohong couldn't help but advise him, "You've done all you can. If you still can't find another job... then try to be more open-minded about it."

"Mom, I've actually come to terms with it a long time ago."

This wasn't the first time Zhang Yan had explained, but his parents still didn't believe him.

After lunch, Zhang Yan took his mother and sister to the bus station, then found the rest of the film crew and told them that Chen Daoming was coming to the hotel that evening to discuss the contract.

Yan Xiaoming and Ma Huiwu were very happy.

Wei Liben then took the opportunity to ask Zhang Yan when he planned to "close the net".

"Let's wait three days and let the flyers fly around a bit longer."

After saying that, seeing that Wei Liben's expression was not good, she pulled him aside and said, "Based on the feedback these past few days, there will definitely be a lot of actresses auditioning. I think we should prepare in advance, and it would be best if we could record it."

"Record it?"

"correct."

Zhang Yan patiently persuaded, "Think about it, actresses in Beijing are flocking to our Tianjin TV dramas, shouldn't this news be reported?"

"Yup!"

Wei Liben's eyes lit up when he heard this. The "Tianjin Wei" crew was a product of Tianjin's unwillingness to lag behind Beijing. Now, actresses from Beijing are flocking to the "Tianjin Wei" crew. Isn't this exactly the scene that the higher-ups want to see?
Zhang Yan pressed on, saying, "At that time, Director Ma, Director Yan, and I will all be judges, so we'll have to rely on you, Director Wei, for the follow-up reporting."

"This, this... in the end, it's all thanks to the collective effort." Wei Liben clicked his tongue excitedly and slapped his thigh, saying, "Then I need to make good preparations for the next three days, and it would be best if I could bring over a camera."

Watching him excitedly run out to make a phone call, Yan Xiaoming shook his head helplessly and said, "Take it easy, you've almost fooled Old Wei."

"How can this be called deception? It's clearly a win-win situation."

(End of this chapter)