Huayu: Reborn in 97, transferring to the Central Academy of Drama's star-studded class

After a day of classes, Jiang Lai hummed a little tune and happily went home.

Just before entering his home, he suddenly realized that he hadn't caught up with Director Feng in a while, so he decisively made a phone call.

During this period, he frequently called Director Feng, which he considered to be catching up, but in Director Feng's eyes, it was pure harassment.

The caller only asked, "Director Feng, when will the movie be released?"

Director Feng would always reply helplessly, "It'll be ready soon!"

The frequency was so high that Director Feng wanted to block him, but later the two developed a tacit understanding.

Jiang Lai: "Up?"

Director Feng: "Quickly!"

Even the madams on the red-light district would have to praise how efficient they were.

The call connected quickly, and before Jiang Lai could speak, a voice came from the other end.

"It's confirmed, it will be released on the 24th of next month."

Jiang Lai was taken aback. Although he had achieved his goal, he felt it would be impolite to just hang up like that. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Director Feng, have you been feeling well lately?"

These words left Director Feng speechless, seemingly unable to connect with Jiang Lai's train of thought. After a long pause, he finally said, "Stop calling me, I'm perfectly fine."

Jiang Lai awkwardly chatted with Director Feng for a couple more minutes before hanging up the phone.

"Next month, the 24th, is Christmas Eve? Tsk tsk tsk."

Jiang Lai sighed inwardly and rubbed his head.

At that time, celebrating Western holidays was basically just for novelty, and it couldn't compare to celebrating the Lunar New Year or other holidays. Who would have thought that people would become more interested in Western holidays in the future?

When Jiang returned home, his father was looking at a pile of documents on the table with worry. When he saw Jiang come back, he quickly waved to him.

"Son, come here quickly."

"What's wrong, Dad?"

Jiang Lai walked over and looked at the pile of documents with curiosity.

"Wasn't it you who suggested investing in that 'wave' thing at the beginning of the year? What was it again?"

Jiang's father frowned and thought hard, then waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter. This matter has already spread, and all those people in the internet industry are sending us business proposals. We can't ignore this. You take a look and we'll send them to whichever one you want."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lai began flipping through the documents, becoming increasingly excited with each glance. Finally, he picked out a few and said, "These are enough; you don't need to look at the rest."

The companies Jiang Lai picked included OICQ, NetEase, and another that didn't even have a product introduction, only a self-introduction, claiming to create the future and lead the era, making grandiose promises. This person was named Ma Yun.

Jiang's father carefully examined the few items Jiang Lai had picked out, when suddenly something occurred to him.

"Oh, right, someone called the house looking for you. Old Li left his phone number. Go call him back. He sounded quite anxious."

Jiang Lai nodded, wondering who would call home looking for him. He asked Lao Li for the phone number and then dialed it.

"Hello, who is this?" The voice was slightly hoarse and had a strong Northeastern accent.

"Uh, hello, you said you called me today, my name is Jiang Lai."

"Oh! Yes, yes, hello, I'm Zhao Bishan."

......

On Saturday, Jiang arrived at the CCTV Film and Television Home Guesthouse.

This place has been the permanent headquarters of the Spring Festival Gala since 1990, where all the Spring Festival Gala performers live and rehearse.

It looks like an inconspicuous old building, but who would have thought that the programs for the Spring Festival Gala every year come from here?

As I approached the gate, a man dressed in a Zhongshan suit, who looked like an old man, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.

"Hey! Uncle Bishan!" Jiang Lai excitedly rushed up and gave him a bear hug.

Zhao Bishan has received many accolades: the king of sketch comedy, a childhood memory, and people say they watch the Spring Festival Gala just to see him. These assessments are not exaggerated at all. His works are still enjoyable to watch even today, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are a memory for several generations.

The Spring Festival Gala gradually declined after his retirement. Even though it made a comeback one year, it was only because he served as the director of a comedy sketch.

Uncle Panshan's originally gloomy mood was somewhat dispelled by Jiang Lai in front of him. He lowered his chin, looked at Jiang Lai sideways, and smiled, "Young man, you're quite enthusiastic."

Jiang Lai grinned. The uncle from the mountain in front of him was only forty years old, but he looked much older than his actual age. It just goes to show that comedy really takes a lot of time.

Uncle Panshan led Jiang to a rehearsal room in the guesthouse. This room was much more luxurious than the rehearsal room at school. It was large and bright, and had a TV, sofa, and water dispenser.

Inside sat a gaunt old man, flipping through a script.

"Old He, I've brought the man here. Let's have another go."

Uncle Panshan greeted him, and the thin old man stood up, walked over with steady steps, and shook hands with Jiang Lai, exuding a scholarly air.

"Hello, young comrade, my name is He Qingkui."

This person can be considered Uncle Panshan's go-to screenwriter, having collaborated on several sketches such as "The Hourly Worker" and "Selling Crutches".

Jiang Lai's final exam paper from last semester was also written by this person. When he met the person in question today, Jiang Lai felt a little embarrassed and blushed.

He Qingkui pulled Jiang Lai to sit down and said slowly, "Young comrade, I've called you here because of the book you sent to Bishan, this one called 'Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'."

Jiang looked at the script in the other person's hand; it was the one he had asked his father to send over during the summer vacation.

"As you probably know, Bishan and I are here rehearsing a piece for the Spring Festival Gala, but for some reason, our piece can't be performed, so..."

"What do you mean 'certain reasons'! What's so incomprehensible about that!" Uncle Banshan interrupted angrily. "So what if it was rejected! You can't say this, you can't say that, you keep telling me to change it, how else are you going to change it?!"

"Alright, that's enough."

He Qingkui could understand why Uncle Bishan was angry, but he still told him to stop talking. Uncle Bishan also knew that it was inappropriate to say this in this situation, so he propped his face up and didn't say anything more, but the irritation on his face did not lessen at all.

As Jiang Lai watched this scene, he recalled the Spring Festival Gala of 98, which seemed to be a performance of "New Year's Greetings" by Uncle Panshan, Gao Xiumin, and Fan Wei.

It's that saying, "The mouse is working as a prostitute for the cat, and you're risking your life for money."

I don't recall anything bad about it.

He Qingkui continued, "In short, we saw your script and thought it was very good. We wanted to adapt it for the Spring Festival Gala. When you sent it to us, you didn't say anything else. We just wanted to ask for your thoughts. Don't worry, we will definitely put you in the scriptwriter credits."

What's there to hesitate about? Jiang Lai will definitely agree. This book was originally written by someone else next year; he's just basking in the glory.

He was secretly delighted, never expecting to be on the Spring Festival Gala, even if it was just a name.

"There's another thing I'd like to ask for your opinion on. It's obvious that this script is based on Bishan's work. Do you have any good candidates to recommend for the role of Baiyun?"

Jiang Lai thought for a moment and said, "Song Dandan, I guess."

After thinking it over, He Qingkui and Uncle Panshan agreed that it was indeed quite suitable and fit the character's image.

How could it not be true? Jiang Laiben was simply reproducing the script from the official performance.

Actually, many years ago, Uncle Banshan had thought about collaborating with Song Dandan, but unfortunately it didn't work out. However, they did become friends in private.

Their first collaboration was "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", which led to the classic golden duo of "Shandan Dan".

Having decided on the candidate, He Qingkui glanced at Zhao Bishan. Uncle Bishan instantly understood what he meant, scratched his head with a troubled expression, and said, "I'll go and talk to her."

Jiang Lai assumed it was referring to Song Dandan and didn't take it to heart.

The three then discussed the script and concluded that screenwriting truly requires professionals, and the plot gradually became almost identical to the original.

If Jiang Lai's final project was a censored version, then his appearance alone is enough to tell that it's the original.

Later, Jiang Lai laughed and talked about the funny things that happened when he rehearsed the skit. Uncle Panshan asked if there was a video that he could watch for reference.

Jiang Lai knew about it, so he said he would bring it over tomorrow. He got up, said goodbye, and went to the school. After calling Teacher Chang Li to explain the situation, he called the teacher from the archives over on a weekend.

The teacher was clearly very unhappy, as he had to come to school during his break to burn CDs for the students.

Jiang Lai felt a little embarrassed, so he took a box of Little Panda toys from the car and gave it to the teacher, who immediately beamed with joy.

The next day, Jiang Lai arrived at the guesthouse with the CD. The security guard recognized him and let him in.

He also saw real white clouds.