Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 85 Return to Tianjin

The next morning.

Zhang Yan first picked up Yu Hua—last night, Yu Hua must have felt relaxed both physically and mentally, and her mental state had obviously improved.

Then they went to the synchronized swimming team's dormitory to pick up Tao Hong, and finally met up with Guan Hu's filming team.

Although it's called a filming team, there are actually only three people in total: a cameraman, a lighting technician, a sound recordist, a cameraman, and a script supervisor. Each of the three also takes on some miscellaneous tasks.

Although it sounds like a makeshift operation, it really is.

All the best.

When they arrived at Guangming Flour Mill, Chen Zhipeng, along with several deputy factory directors, was already eagerly waiting at the gate, surrounded by more than a dozen middle managers.

The "idea company" was fake, but it was true that Zhang Yan saved, and even put out the fire of, the Guangming Flour Mill with a single idea.

Factory leaders, including Chen Zhipeng, all witnessed this miracle and sincerely admired the great writer Zhang's ability to turn lead into gold.

After getting out of the car, Zhang Yan joked, "President Chen, if you keep making such a big fuss, I won't dare to come again next time."

"Haha."

Chen Zhipeng went up to him and hugged him, then pointed to the crowd behind him with a triumphant air and said, "Didn't you want extras? We're all at your beck and call."

This was obviously a joke, but temporarily reassigning a few dozen people as extras was just a matter of him saying a word.

While the TV series was airing, Guangming Flour Mill, with the help of the municipal government, merged with two state-owned flour mills and is now a medium-sized enterprise with over a thousand employees.

Chen Zhipeng knew both Tao Hong and Guan Hu's filming crews, so Zhang Yan only introduced Yu Hua in detail.

Chen Zhipeng clearly hadn't heard of such a person. He only exchanged a few pleasantries with Yu Hua out of respect for Zhang Yan before turning his attention back to Zhang Yan.

"Have you thought through the station's proposal?"

This naturally refers to the matter of transferring Zhang Yan to the production center to be Yan Xiaoming's deputy.

Zhang Yan shook his head and said, "Let's forget it. I'm used to being free and easy, and I'm not cut out to be a leader. It's fine for me to just have a name on the magazine's cover like this."

"You'll have to explain this to Deputy Director Ma. He's treating you like his number one lucky charm right now, and he's just waiting for you to be promoted to director so he can continue to give you important responsibilities."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan glanced at his watch and said, "Then I'll just go to the station first and explain things to Director Ma in person, so as to avoid any misunderstandings."

This is all part of a system. The fact that Beijing and Taiwan are trying to win him over will eventually reach Tianjin TV. Zhang Yan doesn't want such rumors and misunderstandings to shake his foundation at Tianjin TV.

So he handed Yu Hua, Tao Hong, Guan Hu and others over to Chen Zhipeng to entertain, and Zhang Yan rushed to the TV station again.

Upon arriving at the television station, he made his way to the deputy director's office without any hindrance. Inside the half-open door, Wei Liben was leaning forward, reporting something to Ma Yuan.

Zhang Yan was hesitating whether to knock on the door when Ma Yuan had already spotted him and stood up, saying, "Oh, our great hero is here?! Come in, come in and sit down—Xiao Wei, make tea, make tea, make tea quickly!"

It's no wonder Ma Yuan is so enthusiastic; with the recent popularity of "Tianjin Wei," the promotional effect has been immediate.

As the main person in charge, Ma Yuan accompanied the station director to meet with city leaders quite a few times, which earned him a lot of goodwill. Once the station director is promoted, Ma Yuan will basically be the only candidate.

That's why he went against the majority opinion at the TV station to reward Zhang Yan with the position of deputy director of the production center—of course, there wasn't much opposition from the station to begin with, since everyone has a few relatives in the tertiary industry.

"Xiao Zhang."

Ma Yuan took the teacup from Wei Liben and placed it next to Zhang Yan, saying with a smile, "You have no idea how big a commotion this time is. The city leaders are both happy and troubled."

"Headache?"

Zhang Yan asked, puzzled, "What's so troublesome about this?"

"It's all because your publicity work is too good."

Ma Yuan laughed heartily: "Now, brother provinces and cities are calling one after another, wanting to send delegations to learn about Tianjin's development experience, especially how the Economic and Technological Development Zone optimizes its business environment."

Zhang Yan laughed upon hearing this, shaking his head to indicate that he was only responsible for publicity, and whether the publicity could be effectively implemented was not his concern.

Seeing this scene, Wei Liben felt a pang of jealousy. He had served Director Ma diligently for so long, yet he had never enjoyed such treatment.

Not to mention Zhang Yan will soon be the deputy director of the production center. Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard someone outside calling out, "Old Ma, hurry up and come with me to the municipal government. There's news from Hong Kong!"

The person who would greet you like that is naturally Director Lin.

As they were talking, Director Lin spotted Zhang Yan and his eyes lit up. "Little Zhang is here too! Good, good, good! You should come with us too. There are some things that you young people are better at!"

Zhang Yan stood up hesitantly and said, "Director Lin, is this appropriate?"

Director Lin waved his hand and said, "What's inappropriate about it? You've already made your name among the city leaders. The vice mayor in charge of publicity said he wanted to meet you last time, but he gave up after hearing that you weren't in Tianjin."

Ma Yuan also tried to persuade him, and Zhang Yan, unable to refuse, had no choice but to agree.

Wei Liben, standing next to him, was even more envious. This was truly a case of forgetting the old for the new—when would he be able to be like Zhang Yan, able to get on the radar of the city leaders?
Just then, Ma Yuan suddenly turned around and called out, "By the way, Xiao Wei."

Wei Liben was startled, his eyes lighting up as he looked at Ma Yuan, wondering if the leader was planning to give him a chance to advance!
I knew it! The boss cares about me!
Then Ma Yuan instructed, "The bicycle shed downstairs has become increasingly chaotic lately. With so many leaders coming to inspect recently, it's really affecting the image of our station. You need to personally oversee the rectification."

"what?"

Wei Liben was taken aback, then quickly lowered his head and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely get it done as soon as possible."

Ma Yuan looked at him again, puzzled. He felt that his voice sounded a bit dry and different from usual.

After getting into the station director's car.

After Director Lin gave a brief explanation, the two realized that it was an organization from the mainland stationed in Hong Kong that helped recommend "Tianjin Wei" to the island's television station.

Because "Tianjin Wei" already had a Hong Kong flavor and its pace was even faster than current Hong Kong dramas, a TV station quickly decided to broadcast it.

However, not only did they refuse to pay the broadcasting fee, they also demanded that Tianjin TV pay a sum of money in order to translate the dialogue into Hong Kong-style Cantonese.

Although the request was somewhat demanding, Director Lin was prepared to agree.

After all, these days it's Hong Kong dramas that are conquering the mainland, and the only one that can be introduced to Hong Kong for broadcast is CCTV's "Journey to the West".

If Tianjin TV can break through this constraint, that in itself would be an achievement.

Not to mention that this was done in conjunction with the city's efforts to attract investment.

Of course, it's inevitable that people will curse him behind his back.

After finishing discussing the Hong Kong Island matter, Zhang Yan hesitated for a moment, but decided to resign from his position as 'Deputy Director' first, so that he wouldn't be embarrassed to speak up again if the two station directors mentioned the matter in front of the city leaders.

"you are not willing?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yuan frowned and asked, "Do you mean you want to go to the directing department or the advertising department?"

"You misunderstood."

Zhang Yan hurriedly explained, "I'm used to being free and easy, and if I were to take on a leadership position at our station, some things would actually be more difficult—for example, those advertisements the station helped me secure, if that were within the system..."

Director Lin and Ma Yuan exchanged a glance and sighed, "Young people these days are open-minded and have many options; government agencies aren't appealing anymore."

Zhang Yan hurriedly said modestly, "It's mainly because of the opportunity given to me by you and our station; otherwise, how would I have the confidence to say this?"

He paused, then continued, "Actually, a couple of days ago, people from Beijing and Taiwan contacted me, saying they wanted me to..."

"Jingtai?"

Ma Yuan hurriedly pressed, "They want to transfer you there too? You absolutely can't make a mistake like this..."

"cough~"

Director Lin coughed lightly to interrupt him and said to Zhang Yan, "Whether you are transferred to the station or continue to stay in the magazine, Tianjin TV Station will always be your home."

Director Lin is definitely more skilled.

At first glance, these are all nice words, but upon closer inspection, they actually mean: as long as your work relationship remains in Tianjin, everything will be fine, but if you are transferred to Beijing or Taiwan, it will be a different story.

(End of this chapter)