Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 372 News of Dingli

The arrival of the crew of "The Hegemon of Western Chu" was like turning on a switch.

In the following three days, crews from the TV series "Wu Zetian", "Gan Shijiu Mei", and "September" came to the film and television base to film scenes.

However, apart from "Gan Shijiu Mei", the other film crews came for the "mini Forbidden City" and only wanted to shoot some additional scenes.

That morning...

Zhang Yan was packing his luggage, preparing to go to Shanghai to persuade Director Xie Jin, when he suddenly received a call from Feng Xiaogang.

"Are you free now? If you are, come to Beijing—Dingli Film Industry is about to collapse, and Wang Shuo is preparing to transfer the company out."

This is truly a case of "you can't even catch the shit while it's still hot."

If it had been sold at the beginning of the year, Dingli might have been worth some money, given its status as a pilot private company.

But now that restrictions on private capital have been further relaxed, people can set up their own film and television companies. Who would be willing to pay a high price to take over Dingli's business?
Of course, Zhang Yan was still willing to take over.

Even if it's not for anything else, just to prove a point from back then, he's willing to give Wang Shuo a premium.

Are there any other buyers?

"Not yet. Wang Shuo originally wanted to sell the company to Dong Ping, but Dong Ping's money is tied up in 'Sunshine' magazine. Two other people from the compound are also interested, but they just started an advertising company, which hasn't made much profit yet, so they can't come up with the money right now."

"Okay, I happen to be going to Shanghai. Could you get me five plane tickets to Shanghai for tomorrow? I'll leave after I finish my business with him."

There were five people in total going to Shanghai this time. In addition to Zhang Yan and the two staff members of Yuanmeng, there was also the general manager of the film and television base and his secretary. If this matter is successful, the biggest beneficiary will be the film and television base, so they definitely have to be at the forefront.

"one day?"

"If we can't reach an agreement, we'll wait until we get back to discuss it. After all, you can't just rush into a deal."

He could accept a slight premium, but he would never accept Wang Shuo's exorbitant demands. After all, he was only doing this to spite Wang Shuo, not to be taken advantage of.

"That's fine."

Feng Xiaogang then instructed over the phone, "When the time comes, you absolutely must not say that I leaked the information; just say that you heard it from Dong Ping."

"Don't worry, don't you trust me?"

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yan immediately contacted the general manager of the August 1st Film and Television Base.

When I heard that we were going to change our route to Beijing to catch the plane, the general manager didn't have any objections at all. After all, the airport in Tianjin still had some old regional planes, and in terms of facilities and safety, it was definitely no match for Beijing.

At this moment, Chen Hong, holding her pregnant belly, went upstairs. Seeing Zhang Yan on the phone, she sat down on the edge of the bed and quietly helped him pack his luggage.

Only after Zhang Yan hung up the phone did she ask, "Is it that urgent? So many film crews have come all at once. It's not too late to go to Shanghai after you've finished these last few days."

“The itinerary is all set.” Zhang Yan put down his mobile phone and hugged Chen Hong from behind, saying, “The sooner we go and come back, the better I can focus on preparing for our wedding.”

Chen Hong put her hand on Zhang Yan's arm and asked with a half-smile, "But why do I feel like you're avoiding someone?"

Zhang Yan's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "I was almost drained dry by Liu Xiaoqing. Could it be that my desperate attempt to escape has been exposed?"

But he quickly realized that Chen Hong was probably not talking about Liu Xiaoqing, but Gong Li, who had just arrived in Tianjin.

Zhang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then pretended to be helpless and said, "It wasn't a big deal, but it made you... sigh, anyway, I feel uncomfortable whenever I see Zhang Yimou and Gong Li now."

He wasn't lying, just exaggerating the extent. Then he changed the subject, saying, "And Feng Xiaogang just called me and said that Wang Shuo can't hold on any longer and is planning to sell the company."

"They couldn't hold on that quickly?"

Chen Hong's attention was indeed diverted: "Wasn't the rule that pilot companies had to invest half of their capital already abolished at the end of April? Given his connections, he shouldn't have collapsed so quickly, right?"

This clause was cancelled based on a suggestion from the delegation visiting Hong Kong.

Actually, Dong Ping and Wang Shuo wanted to change this rule, but unfortunately, the local monks just couldn't chant the sutras as well as the monks from outside.

"Isn't the higher-ups going to use him as an example? From the beginning of the year until now, the script has been revised more than a dozen times but still hasn't passed the review. I heard that someone from above secretly revealed that the reason the script failed to pass the review can be summed up in two words: Wang Shuo."

This news completely chilled Wang Shuo's heart.

The previous losses due to the 50% rule had significantly diminished his ambition and resilience, which is why he wanted to split his luggage more than a year earlier than usual.

Hearing these words, Chen Hong couldn't help but sigh. When she first came to the capital, Wang Shuo was at the height of his career, while Zhang Yan was still an unknown nobody. By the following year, he was even nicknamed "Little Wang Shuo".

Who would have thought that just four years later, Wang Shuo would have fallen to this state?

She turned to face Zhang Yan and said, "Darling, you have foresight. In our line of work, the one thing you absolutely cannot offend is your superiors."

Back then, in order to fulfill her dream of becoming a Best Actress, she even wanted Zhang Yan to write a dark and tragic script. Looking back now, she's glad she didn't do that.

But she couldn't have predicted that just two years later, the couple would become industry tycoons, needing no awards or honors at all.

The two snuggled together for a while before Chen Hong asked curiously, "What are you planning to do with Dingli Pictures after you bought it? Just merging it into our Yuanmeng seems a bit wasteful."

Apart from one or two scripts, Dingli Pictures basically has no physical assets. Without merging with Yuanmeng, it would be pointless to have two or three film and television companies, but merging with Yuanmeng feels like a waste of money.

Zhang Yan chuckled and stroked Chen Hong's slightly protruding belly, saying, "That depends on whether it's a boy or a girl in your belly."

"How do you say this?"

"I plan to rename Dingli Pictures after our son and daughter, and then make it a subsidiary of Yuanmeng, specifically responsible for animation and special effects."

Zhang Yan originally wanted to work on animation, since those years in his dreams were precisely when domestic animated films began to rise. By making plans in advance, he could reap a wave of profits from nostalgia in the future.

"Cuckoo~"

Chen Hong laughed so hard she almost fell over, then quickly covered her stomach and shook her head, saying, "You're really mean—but if you ask me, there's no need to change the name. Just use the name Dingli Pictures to make the animated films. Otherwise, how will people know that this company is related to Wang Shuo?"

"How dare you say that to me."

Zhang Yan pinched her pert nose, stood up and said, "You stay home and take good care of yourself during your pregnancy. You can leave the company to Jinghua for now. I'll be back in a few days anyway."

As he spoke, he put the last few pieces of his luggage inside, picked up his suitcase, and went downstairs.

Chen Hong escorted him all the way to the gate, and only after Crown was far away did she return to the house with her parents-in-law.

After chatting with her mother-in-law for a while, Sun Xiaohong checked the time and realized it was almost time to walk the dog. So, while cursing the damned dog thief, she opened the cage and released the only remaining Border Collie.

After her mother-in-law left, Chen Hong tidied herself up quickly and went out to attend the banquet.

Today she invited Gong Li and Rosamund Kwan, and also invited Wang Luyao, Gai Lili and Deng Jie to accompany her—if there weren't so many people, Gong Li might not have been willing to go.

(End of this chapter)