Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 337 Yang Xiaomi's 'sister'

I was enjoying my dumplings when the phone vibrated at an inopportune time.

I picked it up and took a look at it. I didn't want to answer it, but when I saw the caller ID of 'Han Sanping' on it, I pressed the answer button anyway.

"Third Master?"

"Well, you're back, brat?"

"Yeah, I just got off the plane."

"You're back now, but you don't even bother to come and see me for a while~"

"Well, I went straight home. My parents made dumplings and were waiting for me. I was planning to visit you tomorrow~"

"I was so abrupt. I forgot that your parents were coming. It's my duty to accompany them. Let's talk about it when we meet tomorrow..."

"Okay, Third Master."

Zhang Chen was about to hang up when the person on the phone suddenly said, "Wait a minute, I'd better tell you now so that you don't have to..."

"Uh~"

Just as I was wondering what was going on, Han Sanping on the other end said, "There's been a lot of fighting between 'If Love' and 'The Promise' lately. I don't know who started it online. They asked you to comment on 'The Promise'. Don't let them trick you..."

"Ask me to review The Promise? Why did you mention me?"

"You are now the best director in China. From the moment Taken broke the record of Heroes, you have become the best director in China..."

"When will our domestic director rankings be based on box office?"

"Stop talking nonsense~"

"Haha, but I don't dare to accept the title of the best director in the country, but I will pay attention to your comments..."

"That's good to know. We'll talk about the rest in detail tomorrow when we meet. I just want to remind you first, don't be stupid enough to be used as a gun when you come back..."

After hanging up the phone, everyone at the table looked at him.

Deng Jie asked, "Is it the Third Master who called?"

"Well, remind me not to be taken advantage of. Someone online wants me to comment on The Promise..."

"Well, it seems to be the case. I heard our Guoli mention it~"

The group continued to eat, but Zhang Chen was preoccupied and didn't enjoy the food as much as at the beginning.

Seeing him leave his seat, Zhang's mother asked, "You don't want to eat anymore?"

"Well, I can't eat any more. Save the rest and fry it tomorrow morning~"

Zhang Chen came to the study, turned on the computer, and started browsing the news. He soon found out what Han Sanping had just asked him to do, asking him to comment on "The Promise".

People are talking about it in major online forums, and it's quite popular.

He was quite surprised that he was asked to review "The Promise".

Who could think of doing something so offensive?
Based on the fragmentary words from netizens, they began to trace the clues and soon found out the identity of the first initiator, who turned out to be Wu Junru.

Immediately, a curse with a Tianjin accent came out from the study: Damn, this woman is not a good person~
If you want to have a verbal fight with Chen Hong, then go ahead. Why are you @ing me for no reason?
If "If Love" can't beat "The Promise", why is it targeting me?

Do you really think you are a brainless troll?

Zhang Chen was speechless for a moment, wondering if he was being used to gain popularity.

But you know what, this is quite consistent with my personality.

But I have been nice to Chen Caomao and even reminded him to advance the file. Why does he want to drag me into this now?

Could it be that because of my kind reminder, the other party thought that I was in cahoots with him?

Can't you?
Just meeting once and becoming close friends, can an adult believe this?

However, no matter what Chen Caomao thought, there was no way Zhang Chen would be involved in this matter.

"The Promise" is a bad movie, so does "If Love" mean a good movie?

What's more, this matter has nothing to do with him. Xingchen Entertainment doesn't have any movies released at the same time. Why is he getting involved in this mess?
Since he was not going to respond, Zhang Chen closed the webpage.

Well, I feel hungry again. I can eat a few more dumplings.

……

Huayi Brothers and the Wang brothers are also discussing it.

"I heard that Zhang Chen is back from the United States. I wonder if he will end up like this~"

"He shouldn't be that stupid~"

"I actually hope Zhang Chen can come out and say a few words. Now that The Promise is so popular, our A Chinese Odyssey doesn't have many screenings left. Maybe his saying a few words will really have an effect."

"The key is that his movie won't be released at this time. If it is, we might be able to benefit from it.
Think about the previous quarrels, every time he started a quarrel because he had a movie coming out~"

"That's true. He is just like Feng Xiaogang. Do you think the quarrel between Chen Hong and Wu Junru is also for publicity?"

"It's hard to say. I think it was hype at the beginning, but now it has developed to the point where people are really angry. But to be honest, I envy Director Chen. At least his wife can still risk her dignity and start a war of words. If it were us, who would be able to do that?"

Wang Zhonglei smiled bitterly: "That's true. We can only rely on Feng Xiaogang when the time comes. Let them fire their cannons at each other..."

……

The next morning, when Zhang Chen got up, his parents were watching TV in the living room on the first floor.

"Want to go out?"

"Well, let's go to the company."

"I'll go fry some dumplings for you. Eat them before you leave~"

I originally wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, I decided there was no rush.

Zhang's mother went to the kitchen to busy herself, while Zhang's father was digging the ground in the yard.

Zhang Chen discovered that the green thing on the windowsill was actually coriander.

When they were in Taiyuan, Zhang's father and mother liked to grow some garlic and coriander at home. When making soup, they just needed to cut them twice. Unexpectedly, they brought this habit with them when they came to Beijing.

Seeing Zhang's father busy outside, Zhang Chen walked out: "What happened?"

The ground was littered with uprooted grape vines.

"Nothing. Your mother and I think that with such a large area, it's better to grow some vegetables than grapes. I'll plow the land first, and we can plant directly in the spring next year."

Mr. and Mrs. Zhang like growing vegetables very much.

Later on, he often saw on TikTok that Chinese people liked to grow vegetables in their own yards after going abroad, and his parents were one of them.

"When I was in Taiyuan, I could only plant them in foam boxes on the balcony. But here, it's great. There's such a large area, so I can plant whatever I want.
I will plant some cucumbers for you then. They are simple to grow. Just water them and they will grow overnight when it is time to harvest them..."

This is not nonsense. Zhang's father had planted it by the wall of the community before. It looked like a small bunch the day before, but it grew two or three times longer overnight and could be eaten directly.

But later I stopped planting it because the crops were stolen so much.

After working hard for a long time, I couldn't even eat one.

Thinking about my parents’ hobbies, it’s actually quite puzzling.

Several generations have been railway workers and they have never farmed, so how come they know this?

Hearing his son's question, Zhang's father stopped what he was doing and said, "What's so difficult about this? When we were in school, the school organized us to do farm work~"

The fried dumplings had been served on the table. Zhang Chen returned to the room and found that his mother was making egg drop soup.

It's so fast, it's only been a few minutes.

When the egg soup is served, cut the coriander twice with a pair of scissors to enhance the flavor.

As for coriander, people who like it love it to death, but people who don’t like it can’t eat it at all.

It is said to be related to genes.

For people who hate coriander, coriander smells like laundry detergent.

The parents were happier watching Zhang Chen finish his breakfast than they were eating it themselves. This is emotional value.

Only then did Zhang Chen go to the company.

The company is pretty much fully staffed. It's almost the end of the year, and everyone has basically stopped what they are doing and is just waiting for the New Year.

"Coming~"

The group was sitting and drinking tea. As soon as Zhang Chen came in, they saw Dong Jianqiang taking out a new teacup.

"It's so damn cold outside~" Zhang Chen shivered.

"Well, have some tea to warm yourself up." Zhang Chen picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, a typical gulp.

The people in the room didn't laugh either. None of them were the kind of people who enjoyed tea. They usually just drank it for fun.

"We don't have any new works for the Lunar New Year this year, so let's just have an early holiday so that everyone can have more rest~"

"I have no opinion."

Hearing the two bosses discussing the holidays, Ning Hao, Chen Xi and others nearby all smiled.

"Chenzi, are you going home for the New Year this year or staying here?" Ning Hao asked.

"Of course I'll go home. All my relatives are there."

The New Year is more fun when it is lively and bustling.

There is only a big empty house here, but it lacks people and seems deserted during the New Year.

“By the way, if someone asks you about your opinion on The Promise recently, don’t respond~” Dong Jianqiang also mentioned the same thing.

Zhang Chen poured himself another cup, but didn't drink it. He held it in his hand to warm his hands: "I know, Third Master called me yesterday to remind me~"

"The Third Master is so good to you."

"I have to go to his place soon. I brought him some gifts from the United States. It's just the right time to give them to him~"

"That bitch Wu Junru has never had a good intention. She always wants to drag you into the matter of If Love and The Promise~"

Zhang Chen laughed: "Why don't we just ignore her? If she pushes me too far, I'll scold her. Damn it, she's showing a musical during Chinese New Year and she's complaining that the cinema chain won't schedule a screening for you. Are the cinema chains stupid? They schedule a musical for you. This isn't India~"

Zhang Chen knew that this kind of outrageous behavior was nothing to Wu Junru. The program she hosted in Hong Kong was famous for exposing privacy.

Although this person is a woman, she does things very unusually.

Lao Cao: "Tell me the truth, did you know that The Promise was a bad movie?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Why don't you come back? Not to the celebration party, not to the premiere~"

Zhang Chen laughed, "Guess~"

"By the way, have you all watched The Promise?"

"I saw it, it's an eyesore~"

"Speaking of this, Ning Hao has the most say because he watched it twice."

Ning Hao shrugged speechlessly: "At first I just wanted to see what a movie made with 3.5 million yuan would look like.

It’s really shocking!
Director Chen used highly saturated colors throughout the film, which is noticeable, and he also used a lot of techniques, but if you talk about the plot, to be honest, I didn’t understand it.”

"Haha, then Haozi thought it was his own fault, so he bought a ticket and watched it again. Then, he got depressed because he still didn't understand..."

As soon as Lao Cao finished his addition, he immediately caused a burst of laughter.

"It is estimated that there are many people who were deceived into watching the movie~"

"It must be a lot. I heard that it was over 7000 million in the first weekend, breaking the record..."

"Here are the two movie tickets I contributed..." Ning Hao raised his hand.

Everyone laughed again.

The publicity for "The Promise" is truly overwhelming, and with the reputation of director Chen, many people are full of expectations.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and then someone poked his head in: "Mr. Chen, the Beijing News called and wanted to interview Director Zhang. He said that if it's not convenient, a telephone interview is also OK~"

Mr. Chen is Chen Xi, who is now the third in command of the company and is responsible for external business and media affairs.

"Find an excuse to turn it down. Director Zhang is not convenient to accept interviews right now."

The Beijing News is famous for stirring up trouble. It is the type that can make up stories even when there are none. It cannot be considered as a close friend of Xingchen Entertainment.

When they interview me, they will definitely ask questions about "The Promise". Since there are risks, I might as well not accept them.

"Mr. Wang from Guangxian also wants to arrange an interview..."

"Well, I'll call Mr. Wang back later."

Guangxian is their partner, and the two parties have cooperated in many fields including film, television and advertising.

Belong to one's own people.

Since we are one of us, there will be no question of going beyond the scope of the topic. Just communicate in advance and don't ask questions related to "The Promise".

After chatting for a few minutes, we talked about the projects we were going to develop next year.

“The script for Before Dawn is finished.”

"Have you finished writing? Show it to me~"

Soon the screenwriter team sent the finalized script of "Before Dawn", and Zhang Chen quickly read through it.

He didn't remember the plot of the original novel very clearly, he just remembered the general idea.

Therefore, the only similarity in his version of "Before Dawn" is the main plot, while the specific details have long since become unrecognizable.

But the style imitating American dramas is still retained.

The first episode is about the assassination of a traitor, which is very gripping and fast-paced.

"The pace is good. Have you decided on the candidates?"

Zhang Chen didn't finish watching the entire show. Just watching the first dozen or so episodes was enough. As long as the rhythm of the whole show is good, the possibility of failure is not great.

"The villain Tan Zhongshu was chosen by Chen Daoming. We originally wanted Zhang Guoli, but somehow Chen Daoming saw the script and specifically asked to play the role of Tan Zhongshu."

Zhang Chen nodded. Whether it was Chen Daoming or Zhang Guoli, they were both guarantees of ratings.

It can be said that as long as one of them is involved, the show will have no problems selling and the ratings will be stable.

"What about the heroine Gu Yejia?"

At this point, Chen Xi coughed and said, "Teacher Chen Daoming recommended Li Xiaolu, but we think Yang Xiaomi is also good~"

Zhang Chen glanced at Chen Xi after hearing this and said, "It's you, Yang Xiaomi's half-sister~"

Everyone in the company knows that Chen Xi prefers Yang Xiaomi, and he doesn't hide it at all.

If this drama had not been proposed by Zhang Chen, there would have been no need to discuss the female lead, it would have been Yang Xiaomi.

Chen Xi also heard that Zhang Chen's words were mostly joking, and he didn't mean to blame her, so he just said: "I just think she will definitely become a big star in the future. We personally help her become famous, which can be considered a good relationship~"

Zhang Chen's eyes lit up. If he hadn't been able to acquire Wanda Cinema Line later, this vision was indeed sharp.

He actually had no objection to Gu Yejia's choice. Li Xiaolu would be fine, and Yang Xiaomi would also be fine.

But since Chen Xi insisted so much, we have to give him some face.

Moreover, Yang Xiaomi will have roles in next year's "Painted Skin" and subsequent series, so there is nothing wrong in supporting her.

"Just do as you wish. I'll talk to Teacher Chen Daoming some other day."

Seeing Zhang Chen nodded, Chen Xi clenched her hands excitedly. If Zhang Chen was not still here, she might have said "Yeah".

Once the male and female protagonists are chosen, the rest is easy. Just find supporting actors with good acting skills.

Sailor found Zhang Jiayi, Zeppelin chose Wu Gang, Sun Dapu still chose Ren Zhengbin, and Li Bohan chose Zu Feng...

These characters appear quite frequently and are important supporting roles. Zhang Chen chose talented actors for all of them and even deliberately used some actors from "The Disguiser".

It can also be regarded as a warm-up for "Lost".

"Where's the director?"

"The director chose Liu Jiang, our own contracted director. The Shanying team you recommended refused to take our job."

"Don't you answer at noon in Dongyang?"

"Yes, they are currently filming a drama and have another one lined up, so they simply don't have any spare time."

"Ok."

This Liu Jiang seems to be the director of the original "Before Dawn". He later filmed a series of well-received dramas such as "The Good Times of Wife", "Let's Get Married" and "Old Tavern". He is considered a talent and can be cultivated.

……

That’s all for today. I’m going to drink.

(End of this chapter)