Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 7 The First Birthday Ceremony Plan
[PS: Given that some people always misinterpret things, here's a spoiler: Zhou Nan is merely a catalyst that triggers the protagonist's transformation; he completely disappears from the very beginning and won't appear again until the end of the book.]

Saturday afternoon.

After checking it one last time and finding no mistakes, Zhang Yan stuffed the copied novel into a brown paper bag, locked the door, and prepared to go to the post office to submit it.

He deliberately tiptoed downstairs, afraid of disturbing anyone.

There was no way around it; the news that his new novel had received unanimous praise from the editorial department of the daily newspaper had spread throughout the entire apartment building in the past few days, and everyone who saw him couldn't help but make a few jokes about it.

Some people even came to him specifically to see how he wrote novels.

Those half-joking compliments are often exaggerated to the extreme, making the listener feel like they have a thorn in their back or a fishbone stuck in their throat, wishing they could dig out a three-bedroom, two-living-room house with their toes.

He'd rather walk around other people now than listen to those mushy words anymore.

To my surprise, as soon as I came down from the second floor to the first floor, I saw my mother, Sun Xiaohong, pushing that old-fashioned bicycle and chatting with a few housewives.

"Mom, why did you come back early?"

Zhang Yan went up to her with a puzzled look, but before Sun Xiaohong could say anything, several middle-aged women surrounded her and started teasing her.

This person said: "When the great writer becomes famous, he shouldn't forget us aunties and uncles."

That suggestion: Why don't you just turn the things that happen in our building into stories and make everyone a celebrity?

Then someone kept pressing for details: Which family is the girl who was rumored to have committed suicide for you?
Hearing the last question, Zhang Yan couldn't hold back anymore. He had made up a story to shut the factory manager up, saying that his blind date was rejected because she sold ghost money. Who knew that it would become such a credible story?

They say that the girl is now so regretful that she wants to commit suicide, and she's crying and insisting on becoming a writer's wife.

Some people even claimed that they saw the girl come to the tenement building on Wednesday morning, but Zhang Yan refused to let her in. She begged through the door for a long time before leaving.

What kind of looks are those?

It was clearly Liu Weidong, the scoundrel, who came that day!
"OK OK."

Seeing this, Sun Xiaohong quickly stepped in to help him out, saying, "You can make a few jokes, but don't delay his submission."

"What a joke! We're too busy trying to curry favor with the future great writer."

"That's right, from now on we'll be relying on Zhang Yan's fame."

"Go away, that's not even a chance yet."

Sun Xiaohong was being modest in a way that didn't reflect her true feelings. She could say such things herself, but she would be very unhappy if others said them.

After unloading the groceries from the back seat and handing the bicycle to her son, Sun Xiaohong added, "The buses are too chaotic now. It would be a problem if you lost your manuscript. You should ride your bike instead—come back early after you mail the manuscript, and Mom will cook you something delicious tonight."

Indeed, pickpockets on buses have been rampant lately, and the Daily News receives related letters almost every day.

Zhang Yan gave a perfunctory reply and hurriedly hopped on his bicycle to escape, but before he even reached the entrance of the residential area, he was stopped by someone.

"Aunt Li?"

Upon seeing that the person who came was Zhou Nan's mother, Zhang Yan quickly jumped out of the car and asked hopefully, "Is there any news about Zhou Nan?"

Aunt Li shook her head, staring at his face as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Zhang Yan was disappointed and felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, so he quickly said, "Just tell me what's wrong, and I'll definitely help if I can."

Aunt Li bit her lower lip and stammered, "Xiao Yan, if you really become famous this time, could you... could you find a way to help me find Zhou Nan?"

By 1990, although the writers had shed their "lone warrior" aura, they were still seen as incredibly powerful figures by most people.

"I will definitely go and look for her even without you telling me!" Zhang Yan said firmly at first, then half-jokingly added, "But if I really find her, you'll have to speak up for me from now on."

Aunt Li didn't say anything more, but nodded vigorously with red eyes.

Zhang Yan then rode off on his bicycle.

Actually, he had already figured it out: Uncle Zhou was quite satisfied with him, but Aunt Li always felt that she was not good enough for Zhou Nan.

Now that the father-in-law and mother-in-law have been won over, all that's left is to "arrest" Zhou Nan.

As for how to find it... Although Beijing is a vast city, the film and television industry shouldn't be that big, since only a few movies and TV series are made each year now.

Since literature and entertainment have always been intertwined, once he becomes famous for writing novels, he can take the initiative to get closer to the film and television industry and then use his internal connections to find Zhou Nan.

Since Zhou Nan wants to be a movie star, he can't just stay out of the entertainment industry, right?
With these beautiful dreams for the future in mind, Zhang Yan pedaled quickly and arrived at the post office in just over ten minutes.

This wasn't his first time submitting an article. After receiving the form, he filled it out quickly, paid extra, and had it sent via express mail. It should arrive in Tianjin in about three days.

Now we can only wait for news.

This period was also the most agonizing. Even though Zhang Yan was very confident in the adapted "Dream of the Red Chamber Detective", he couldn't help but think about all sorts of things on the way back.

When they arrived home, Zhang Xingguo, the father, had already left work early and was sitting at his desk, absentmindedly drinking tea.

"dad."

Zhang Yan placed the post office receipt on the table and jokingly said in a lighthearted manner, "You told me yesterday that our novel was definitely going to be fine, so why did it suddenly fall flat today?"

"Get out of here!"

Zhang Xingguo glared at him, grabbed a cigarette pack from the table, knocked out a cigarette, sniffed it under his nose, and then said, "Your Aunt Li just came to our house."

Because his daughter hated the smell of smoke, he would temporarily quit smoking every Saturday afternoon, at least he would definitely not smoke at home [PS: In 1990, it was still a one-day-off-per-week system].

Zhang Yan raised an eyebrow slightly: "What did Aunt Li say?"

Zhang Xingguo reluctantly put the cigarette back into the cigarette case and said in a deep voice, "She suggested that you two get engaged first, so that you can have a legitimate reason to help find Zhou Nan later."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan understood immediately. He guessed that Aunt Li was still worried and wanted to give him some motivation, while also using marriage to restrain Zhou Nan's restless heart.

"So what was your answer?"

“I told her to wait until we find Zhou Nan before we talk about it.”

As Zhang Xingguo spoke, he kept a close eye on his son. He noticed that his son not only wasn't angry, but seemed relieved, which put his mind at ease.

Then she couldn't help but wonder, "How come you're not disappointed at all?"

"Hey~"

Zhang Yan laughed and said, "We haven't even found the person yet, and we're already making this decision without informing us. With Zhou Nan's personality, how could he possibly admit it willingly? There's no point in discussing anything now. Let's find the person first."

Zhang Xingguo opened his mouth, as if to say what would happen if they couldn't find it.

Zhang Yan had already told him how to find her. Following this approach, as long as nothing unexpected happened to Zhou Nan, finding her would be just a matter of time.

Such a beautiful young girl, running away from home all alone, what if she encounters some danger, or perhaps meets someone she likes...?

However, Zhang Xingguo ultimately did not voice his concerns. He believed that with his son's intelligence, he would surely be able to think of these things. The reason he remained optimistic was simply because he did not want to think about it in that direction.

…………

When the younger sister Zhang Fang returned home that evening, her boundless curiosity dispelled the father and son's unease, which was both overt and covert, and the meal was filled with laughter and joy.

Sun Xiaohong even made an exception and lifted the alcohol ban for the father and son. Zhang Yan drank half a jin of 52° liquor, while Zhang Xingguo drank eight liang.

After finishing her meal, Zhang Fang resolutely chose the TV series "Sixteen-Year-Old Flower Season" over her brother's novel—she could read the novel tomorrow anyway.

Slightly intoxicated and listening to the television, Zhang Yan quickly drifted off to sleep, and then he saw that familiar computer screen again.

Come again? !
Zhang Yan couldn't tell whether he was happy or speechless, but after he prepared himself for a long-term war, he found that the dream didn't last long, ending in just a few hours.

The middle-aged author in the dream seems to be preparing a new book, but he keeps revising the outline and changing the subject matter, and he has never been able to determine what he really wants to write.

However, this also allowed Zhang Yan to fully appreciate the diversity of online novels...

As the saying goes, once there's one, twice, and then three!
In the following days, Zhang Yan tried to find the pattern in his dreams, but unfortunately, he came up empty-handed.

(End of this chapter)