Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 63 Wrap-up Party

"The wine is fragrant, the songs are melodious, my friend, please drink to that, drink to that..."

"Unforgettable tonight, unforgettable tonight..."

On June 22, 1991, after 84 days of hard work, the 6-episode TV series "Tianjin Wei" officially wrapped up filming.

That evening, hosted by producer Yan Xiaoming, a "wrap party" with a distinctly TV station style was officially held in a small theater under the Tianjin TV station.

In addition to the main creative team members, the wrap party was attended by the television station's art troupe and television station leaders headed by Deputy Director Ma Yuan.

After the banquet began, four leaders took turns to speak on the stage, with the theme of "Carrying on the Past and Opening Up the Future". They affirmed the hard work and achievements of the production team and looked forward to the future development prospects of the production center.

Afterwards, the troupe sang a toasting song, performed three dances, told two crosstalk routines, and also interspersed an acrobatic performance.

The grand event concluded with the song "Unforgettable Tonight".

On the way back, Chen Hong couldn't help but complain that Tianjin TV was treating the 'wrap party' like a variety show.

"Aren't wrap parties like this elsewhere?"

As a 'newbie' in the filming industry, Zhang Yan curiously asked a question.

"of course not!"

Chen Hong continued to complain: "A real wrap party is just a lively farewell dinner, unlike tonight, which felt like listening to a report. The food wasn't served until the leader finished speaking."

"Ha ha……"

Zhang Yan laughed and said, "The TV station spent 80 yuan of real money and used all those personal connections, so you have to let someone get on stage and show their face, right?"

The TV station paid 800,000 yuan for this show, and the advertising sponsorship brought in 400,000 yuan. The current production cost is about 106 million yuan. Post-production, dubbing, and music will cost another 100,000 yuan or so.

Moreover, thanks to the support of its superiors, Tianjin TV used many things for free. If we include these hidden expenses, the total cost would be around 140 million yuan.

Although thirty years later, this amount of money wouldn't even cover the cost of filming a single episode, in a comparative sense, it was already considered a high investment with low returns.

89年拍摄的《渴望》，50集总成本107万；同期拍摄的《编辑部的故事》，25集总成本150万。

Anyway, the TV series has finally wrapped up filming.

That night, unusually, neither of them had their phones connected or mobile, so they simply cuddled together and lay quietly until the afternoon of the next day.

Actually, the two of them woke up around 10 a.m., but neither of them was too lazy to move.

If it's too hot, kick off the towel blanket and cover your belly button with a vest and shorts; if you're hungry, lie on the bedside table and nibble on a few steamed sponge cakes.

Then the two of them chatted about everything under the sun until the afternoon.

Around 2 p.m., someone started banging on the door, forcing Zhang Yan to get out of bed.

Upon opening the door, I saw it was my editor, Wang Zhongqi.

"Yo~"

Zhang Yan slapped his forehead: "I was so focused on the filming wrap-up that I almost forgot about submitting the manuscript."

"Don't tell me you haven't finished writing it yet!"

Wang Zhongqi immediately became nervous. The editorial department was in dire need of funds, and if Zhang Yan, their pillar of support, were to be absent, sales would plummet next month, and no one could bear the responsibility.

"It's written down, it's written down."

Zhang Yan hurriedly led him to the desk and said, "There are about 40,000 words, which should be enough for the first issue."

Wang Zhongqi's expression improved slightly, but he still looked somewhat worried: "But the previous issues of 'Dream of the Red Chamber Detective' were all 50,000 words per issue."

"Isn't that an exception?"

Zhang Yan knew that the word count was a bit low, so he quickly shifted the blame, saying, "I was forced into this at the last minute, and Editor-in-Chief Feng wouldn't allow me to write a time-travel story. It's already quite an achievement that I was able to write this much."

"Yes."

Wang Zhongqi's gaze fell on the women's sandals by the door, and he said speechlessly, "It's really not easy for you to write 40,000 words under these circumstances."

He was, after all, a self-taught editor, and now, apart from Zhang Yan, his team consisted of newcomers full of creative passion, so he hadn't experienced many instances of delays in submitting manuscripts.

If it were a seasoned editor, seeing that Zhang Yan could still squeeze out nearly 40,000 words despite being distracted, they would surely be extremely gratified and moved.

"That's all for this month." Zhang Yan subtly blocked his view, patted his chest, and said, "Don't worry, brother, I'll definitely submit the manuscript ahead of schedule next month, and it will definitely be more words than this one!"

"hope so."

Wang Zhongqi picked up the draft and found that although it had been copied, it was obviously messy and disorganized, so he couldn't help but sigh again.

At this point, Zhang Yan reminded him, "Please have our editorial department review the manuscript as soon as possible. If there are any revisions needed, please contact me immediately—otherwise, I might not be in Tianjin in a couple of days."

"Where are you going?"

"First, I'll go to Beijing for a stroll, and then I'll go back to my hometown—my younger sister is about to take the college entrance exam, so I definitely have to go back and see her."

Going to the capital was one thing, but this second reason was simply unavoidable.

Therefore, Wang Zhongqi did not dare to delay and hurriedly took the manuscript back to the editorial department of Popular Fiction Newspaper.

Over the next three days, Zhang Yan made more than twenty phone calls to the editorial department. He even went to the magazine office in person. After communication and revisions, the final draft was finally completed.

So on the 27th, Zhang Yan drove back to Beijing with Chen Hong.

They stayed in Chen Hong's rented apartment for two days to get familiar with the place and the bed, and then the two of them started thinking about buying a house.

At first, I wanted to ask Guo Chuanlin for help, since Brother Guo was a local bigwig with a wide network of connections in Beijing and he was sure he could find a suitable house.

It turned out that Guo Chuanlin had taken his band on a tour in Northwest China and wouldn't be back until the end of July.

Without Guo Chuanlin, Zhang Yan was somewhat at a loss.

After all, he couldn't very well entrust this running-around job to Teacher Shi Tiesheng, could he?
Just when he was at his wit's end, he suddenly received a call from Feng Xiaogang—since they met, Feng Xiaogang would call every now and then to chat for a few minutes.

After calling back, Feng Xiaogang laughed and said, "Brother, I heard your TV series has already wrapped up filming? That's fast! When can you take me to see it?"

“Brother Feng, you can’t just start by probing military intelligence right away,” Zhang Yan teased. “We have to take a roundabout approach. For example, invite me to dinner first, then take a bath and get a massage. When you’re all dizzy and lightheaded, then reveal your wolfish ambitions.”

"Haha~"

Feng Xiaogang laughed and said, "That's fine too. How about I go to Tianjin, or you come to Beijing?"

"I'm in the capital right now."

"real?!"

Upon hearing this, Feng Xiaogang immediately said, "Then let's get together tonight. There were so many people at dinner last time, and I didn't get a chance to have a proper chat with you. This time, we should have a good talk!"

Zhang Yan thought about it and figured that Feng Xiaogang seemed to be a native of Beijing, so he might be able to get some information from him. So he readily agreed.

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Yan noticed that Chen Hong was staring at him with her big, bright eyes, so he casually explained, "Feng Xiaogang, the screenwriter of 'Stories from the Editorial Department,' heard that I came to Beijing and is planning to treat me to dinner tonight."

"That……"

Chen Hong hesitated, clearly showing her eagerness to try.

She wasn't actually very interested in Feng Xiaogang. In her opinion, since Wang Shuo was in charge of "Stories from the Editorial Department," the others were just doing their jobs.

However, after the Tao Hong incident, she hoped to assert her sovereignty more in Zhang Yan's circle of friends.

Zhang Yan hesitated for a moment, then, remembering that he had just done something to offend her recently, he had no choice but to pick up the phone again and dial back.

"Brother Feng."

After the call connected, he said somewhat embarrassedly, "How about we invite your wife over tonight? I'll bring my girlfriend too—this meal is on me, and we can save yours for next time."

"This……"

Feng Xiaogang, sitting opposite him, remained silent for a while before saying helplessly, "It's a bit inconvenient for your sister-in-law. Her baby is less than a week old, and... well, it's really inconvenient."

Judging from his words, it seemed that there was something difficult to say at home. Zhang Yan quickly said, "If it's inconvenient, then forget it. It's just the two of us this time. We can bring your sister-in-law next time if we have the chance."

After hanging up the phone, he made a helpless gesture to Chen Hong.

Chen Hong was already quite satisfied that Zhang Yan was willing to make a second call, so she didn't press the matter further.

In the afternoon, the two had another session in the apartment. After the intense activity, Zhang Yan took a shower, changed his clothes, and then went to meet Feng Xiaogang alone.

(End of this chapter)