Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 74: An opportunity to take advantage of
hang up the phone.

Seeing Zhang Yan turn around, Xu Fan quickly lowered his eyelids to hide the emotions in his eyes, and then turned around as well, saying, "Let's go back, don't keep the crew waiting."

So the two walked side by side to the filming location again, their postures and movements seemingly no different from before, but the atmosphere between them was clearly very different from when they arrived.

After walking a few dozen steps, Xu Fan flicked his hair and asked seemingly casually, "Zhang Yan, will we have another opportunity to cooperate in the future?"

Zhang Yan didn't think much of it and casually replied, "Of course there's a chance. We'll have more opportunities to work together in the future. I'm just afraid that once you become a big star, you'll look down on my scripts even more."

"When did I ever look down on your notebooks?"

Xu Fan suddenly stopped and said seriously, "I thought your script was particularly good back then, but my family wanted me to have a stable job first, and then..."

As she spoke, she lowered her head and murmured, "If it had been you who came to the capital to persuade me back then, things might not be like this now."

How did it become my fault?
Zhang Yan was speechless for a moment, and was about to say something when Xu Fan suddenly asked, "Did Chen Hong tell you that I'm going to intern at the Beijing People's Art Theatre?"

"Uh~"

Zhang Yan was taken aback for a moment, then vehemently denied it, saying, "That's not true."

"It's good that it wasn't her."

Xu Fan stepped forward again, as if sighing, and said, "Some people will stop at nothing to become famous. When I was filming 'The Great Eunuch Li Lianying,' I was rumored to be having an affair with the director because I blocked someone's way."

Actually, she herself was having an affair with the assistant director, and later, in order to get a few lines, she even secretly slept with the screenwriter.

This kind of woman will only approach you when you have power, showering you with obedience and granting your every wish. But who can guarantee that life will always be smooth sailing for you?

uh~
These words sounded like a veiled attack, but they did indeed strike a nerve with Zhang Yan.

Chen Hong did indeed approach him initially for personal gain, and although he was later clearly impressed by Zhang Yan's talent, Zhang Yan still harbored resentment.

The two had reached the vicinity of the makeup booth. Xu Fan bowed slightly to Zhang Yan and then walked into the makeup booth on his own.

Sitting in front of the vanity mirror, she looked at herself and suddenly sighed heavily. Then she mumbled in a muffled voice, "You said it yourself. Now that the female lead has to compete for the position, the girlfriend can naturally compete for the position too."

Judging from Zhang Yan's hesitant manner just now, it's clear that he harbors resentment towards Chen Hong for throwing herself at him in order to win the role.

This is an opportunity!
If I could seize this opportunity before Jiang Shan...

…………

the other side.

When Zhang Yan returned to the hall, he saw that Ge You had already dressed up again and was muttering incantations as he moved around.

So he deliberately took a detour to meet up with Feng Xiaogang, who was sitting against the wall.

"how's it going?"

Feng Xiaogang winked and joked, "This girl is pretty good. She has a mature woman vibe when she dresses up, and she's very pleasing to the eye."

Zhang Yan ignored him and turned to Ge You, saying, "My fellow villager is really something. I reckon he'll be a big shot in the industry after the TV series and movie air."

“Ge You is certainly good.”

Feng Xiaogang suddenly looked a little dejected and said helplessly, "But at first, Director Xia took a liking to Brother Feng, and Brother Feng also took a liking to this script. When he heard that we were going to raise funds ourselves, he even helped the crew get a sponsorship."

Then, Beijing Film Studio suddenly appeared and specifically wanted to promote Ge You. In the end… sigh, I feel really bad for Brother Feng. If it weren't for his 5000 yuan manuscript fee, I wouldn't have been able to afford my daughter's surgery.”

After a pause, Feng Xiaogang looked at Zhang Yan gratefully and said, "Of course, if it were someone else, I definitely wouldn't have gotten this money."

Feng Gong and Niu Qun have been riding high these past two years and have been quite generous. After deciding to submit "Idea Company" to the Spring Festival Gala, they directly gave Zhang Yan 10,000 yuan in royalties, and Zhang Yan then gave half of that to Feng Xiaogang.

Therefore, Feng Xiaogang was able to receive the 5000 yuan thanks to two things: first, Feng Gongniu's generosity, and second, Zhang Yan's magnanimity—after all, Zhang Yan took on the job, and a 30/70 or 20/80 split is the more common practice.

"What?" Zhang Yan made a face as if his hair stood on end, and said with a look of disgust, "Are you suddenly being so mushy because you want to do something to betray me?"

Feng Xiaogang laughed and changed the subject, talking about his thoughts on the previous shots.

He had clearly put in a lot of hard work, and he spoke fluently about all sorts of tips and tricks for making movies. Zhang Yan was even a little hesitant about whether to ask him to film the instant noodle commercial or let Guan Hu do it.

However, Zhang Yan ultimately chose the latter.

Because he was genuinely interested in being a 'producer,' Tianjin Wei was an exception. In fact, the status of screenwriters is generally far lower than that of producers and directors—except for literary figures who also work as screenwriters.

But for someone of Zhang Yan's age, becoming a literary luminary is obviously not so easy, especially since he writes popular novels.

So it's better to get the qualifications of a 'producer' first, so that you can have more say when you participate in the creation of film and television dramas in the future.

As they were chatting, a script supervisor came over to greet them, and the two quickly put on police uniforms and peaked caps, standing like two guardian deities at the ticket gate.

They acted out the role of the door god on and off for half a day.

Zhang Yan and Feng Xiaogang had finished filming, and each received a 15 yuan red envelope—which, when all else was done, wasn't even enough to cover their round-trip gas money.

Zhang Yan simply took the ten yuan from Feng Xiaogang, bought a plush toy for 29.8 yuan at the airport store, and stuffed it into Feng Xiaogang's hands, saying, "The child's surgery was successful, and your career is booming. Brother Feng, you shouldn't always be out there working so hard. Spend more time with your wife and child."

Feng Xiaogang took the toy, hesitated for a long time, and finally sighed, "I'm like a boat going against the current. If I don't move forward, I'll fall behind. It's not easy to have both."

Zhang Yan was just offering casual advice, and after hearing his response, he didn't say anything more.

After returning to the city, the two first ate a simple meal, then took a bath to wash off the strange smell from their costumes, before going home separately.

Upon seeing Zhang Yan return, Chen Hong quickly brewed a pot of tea and said, "Two people came to see you this morning. One was Guan Hu, and the other was someone named Zhang Peiren, who seemed to be from a record company."

"Someone from the record company?"

Zhang Yan was a little puzzled. Why would people from the record company come to see him?
"He left a business card."

As Chen Hong spoke, she took out her business card and handed it to Zhang Yan.

The business card had the three large characters "Zhang Peiren" written in the center, and below that, in smaller print, it read "Taiwan Rolling Stone Records".

Rolling Stones?

This looks like the company Dou Wei signed with, right?
Zhang Yan immediately went downstairs to the convenience store and used a public phone to contact Dou Wei.

“The contract I signed is called Jinshi, but it is indeed a subsidiary of Rolling Stone.” Dou Wei was clearly aware of this: “Zhang Peiren is planning to set up a Rolling Stone subsidiary in mainland China as well, and he said that if I was willing to join, he could help coordinate the contract with Jinshi.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan's heart skipped a beat.

If Dou Wei is taken away by Zhang Peiren, what will happen to his record company?
He quickly pressed further, "You can't handle the contract issue yourself?"

“People on Hong Kong Island used some underhanded tactics.”

Dou Wei said unhappily, "If we terminate the contract directly, I estimate that even if I sell my car and house, I still won't be able to fill this hole."

Got~
Now Zhang Yan was at a loss. If the penalty for breach of contract were less, he could help Dou Wei bear it, but now that it was so much that even selling his house and car wouldn't be enough to pay it off, Zhang Peiren had become Dou Wei's only option.

The only saving grace was that Zhang Yan hadn't revealed anything about his plan to start a record company beforehand, originally intending to wait until Dou Wei returned.

Now……

"Then why did he contact me?"

After talking for so long, Zhang Yan still didn't understand why Zhang Peiren had come to his door.

Dou Wei explained, "Zhang Peiren plans to make a rock medley album, which will have each of the more popular rock bands in Beijing release a single and include it in the album—he has his eye on 'Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty,' and you own half of the copyright to that song, don't you?"

(End of this chapter)