Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 672 Zhang Chen? Zangchen?
In the VIP lounge of Dubai International Airport, golden sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the carpet. Prince Rashid held Zhang Chen's hand, his grip firm yet tinged with reluctance: "Zhang, I didn't expect you to make such a quick decision. I was originally planning to entertain you for a few more days..."

Zhang Chen smiled and patted the prince's arm: "Your Highness is too kind. It was thanks to your support that the Dubai scenes in Mission: Impossible 4 went so smoothly."

Tom Cruise stepped forward and hugged the prince, saying, "I'll definitely work with you again next time I have the chance."

Julie stood beside him, her skirt swaying gently with her movements. She accepted a small box of Middle Eastern spices from the prince and said, "Thank you for the gift, Your Highness."

Prince Rashid waved his hand, his eyes full of anticipation: "The gift is nothing, I'm more looking forward to the movie's release. When Mission: Impossible 4 is released worldwide, I'll book ten cinemas here in Dubai so all my people can go see it!"

Zhang Chen's eyes lit up: "Thank you so much! We'll definitely send you an invitation to the premiere."

"A word is settled!"

The prince smiled and hugged Zhang Chen again, then said goodbye to Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie, "Have a safe trip, and you're welcome to visit Dubai anytime..."

Only when the boarding gate announcement sounded did the three wave goodbye to the prince and turn around to follow the rest of the film crew into the boarding gate.

A dozen hours later, the plane landed at Václav Havel International Airport in Prague. Stepping out of the cabin, a cool breeze greeted me, a stark contrast to the sweltering heat of Dubai.

"Wow, the air here is so fresh." Julie took a deep breath, her expression one of bliss.

"The scenery is beautiful, no wonder even Hitler wouldn't allow this place to be destroyed~" Tom Cruise chimed in.

Zhang Chen nodded, his gaze sweeping across the airport terminal: "I've heard that Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. We can explore it properly during breaks in filming."

At that moment, a group of people holding signs that read "Mission: Impossible 4 Crew" walked over. The leader was a man with a high nose and blue eyes. He quickly stepped forward and greeted them in fluent English: "Hello! I am the head of the local tour group. Just call me Patrick."

When a movie is filmed overseas, the local authorities will definitely be hired as tour guides to avoid a lot of trouble.

The six major Hollywood studios have extensive experience in this area, with branches or partners in almost every part of the world.

Tom Cruise stepped forward and shook hands with him: "Patrick, thank you for your hard work."

Patrick smiled and said, "It's no trouble at all. It's our honor to serve Mission: Impossible 4. The car is already waiting outside. We'll take you to the hotel to rest first, and then arrange a location scouting tomorrow."

The group followed Patrick out of the airport and got into a van that was already waiting at the door.

As the car drove through the streets of Prague, the buildings on both sides were full of medieval charm, with red roofs arranged in a staggered pattern and church spires pointing straight to the sky.

"This place is just like a city from a fairy tale." Gulina, sitting in the passenger seat, couldn't resist taking out her phone to take pictures.

Patrick glanced at her in the rearview mirror and said with a smile, "After you finish filming, I can be your tour guide and take you to Charles Bridge and Prague Square. The scenery there is even more beautiful."

After the crew settled into the hotel, Patrick took them to scout locations the next morning, and filming began in the afternoon.

Mission: Impossible 4 consists of three major scenes. One was filmed in Russia, one in Dubai, and the last one in Rio. The scenes in Prague are transitional and relatively simple.

"Click, that's a pass. Everyone, take a 20-minute break!"

The filming in Prague went very smoothly, and the atmosphere was relatively relaxed.

During a break, Tom Cruise sat in a chair in the rest area, drinking coffee and chatting with Zhang Chen: "At this rate, we should be able to wrap up filming in about another month?"

Zhang Chen nodded, a satisfied smile on his face: "Pretty much. There aren't any big scenes in Prague, so filming was very relaxed, and the actors were in great shape."

Prague himself has very little screen time, only the opening scene where they steal the password at the train station.

However, because the architectural style here is very European, some Russian shots are also taken here.

Zhang Chen put down his coffee cup and looked at the staff members leaving in twos and threes in the distance. Many of them were whispering to each other, and while whispering, they also had lewd smiles on their faces.

Although Zhang Chen couldn't hear what they were talking about, any man would know from their smiles that they were definitely talking about women.

Thinking about how the staff had been leaving in twos and threes after filming for the past few days, Zhang Chen couldn't help but wonder: "Tom, I've noticed that every day after filming, everyone rushes off in groups. Do you know what they're doing?"

Tom Cruise smiled, but instead of answering directly, he gestured to Patrick beside him with his lip: "Ask him, he knows this place well."

Patrick was able to become a local guide because he was a local expert.

He overheard their conversation, smiled, and leaned over to say, "Director, didn't you know that the Czech Republic is the most open city in Europe?"

Zhang Chen raised an eyebrow: "Oh? How exactly does 'open' mean?"

Patrick lowered his voice: "This is the largest adult film shooting base in Europe. Even our little life has to take a backseat in this regard."

Zhang Chen was somewhat surprised: "That's so exaggerated?"

"That's not the case!"

Patrick, beaming with pride, counted on his fingers and said, "Don't underestimate the Czech Republic just because it accounts for only 0.1% of the world's population. It has contributed 13% of the world's adult film stars. Seven out of every 100,000 people have made adult films."

Upon hearing this, Gulina blushed instantly and subconsciously moved to the side.

Patrick, oblivious to her reaction, continued, “The Czech Ministry of the Interior once released data showing that there are more than 860 brothels nationwide and 1 to 2.5 people engaged in the sex trade.”

Zhang Chen's eyes widened: "So many?"

"That's not all. Actually, I'm being conservative. These people include school teachers, Olympic gymnastics champions, even the mayor's daughter and movie stars who personally go into the sex industry..."

“Hehehe, the sex industry is legal here.” Patrick hit the nail on the head with one sentence.

Zhang Chen suddenly realized why the staff were all in such a hurry after get off work; they were going to experience the "local specialties."

"Wouldn't this place be a paradise for men?"

Zhang Chen murmured, but Patrick shook his head: "Although this is my hometown, to be honest, Prague is good, but it still can't compare to Amsterdam."

This place is just known as the 'Pink City', but Amsterdam in the Netherlands is more accurately called the 'Sex Capital'.

The most famous thing there is the red-light district, with a whole street of transparent shop windows where service industry workers are displayed directly, just like commodities.

And I heard that when they see Chinese people, they shout, "We have invoices! We have invoices!"

Zhang Chen felt that chatting with Patrick for a while had been very educational.

Seeing Zhang Chen's interest, Patrick immediately flattered him, saying, "Director, how about I take you out tonight? You can rest assured about safety; I know a few reliable places."

Just then, Tom Cruise walked over, overheard their conversation, and asked with a smile, "What fun place is it? Can I go with you?"

Patrick's eyes lit up: "Tom Cruise is going too? That's great! Let's relax tonight."

Gulina stood to the side, her face flushed red. She hadn't expected these people to discuss these things openly in front of her, and seeing Zhang Chen's excited expression made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

The Zhang Chen in his mind is the celebrity Zhang Chen, the top director in China, completely unrelated to anything like womanizing.
Of course, sometimes unspoken rules might occur, like in the Maggice Q case, but unspoken rules are at least understandable, but voter bases...

Zhang Chen had no idea what Gulina was thinking at that moment, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. However, he was indeed somewhat tempted; experiencing different customs in a foreign land would make the trip worthwhile.

However, he still had some concerns, given the real-life example of the Crazy Horse Show.

Just as he was hesitating, his phone suddenly vibrated; it was a text message.

Zhang Chen opened the message; the sender was Julie, and the content was simple: "Don't go, they'll do it, and I'll do it too."
Zhang Chen pretended to turn off his phone nonchalantly, but he couldn't pretend to be nonchalant inside. He felt a surge of righteous energy rising from his abdomen.

He paused, cleared his throat, and refused with a righteous expression: "No, I have a script to work on tonight, so I won't go."

Patrick hesitated for a moment: "Director, you really aren't going? This is a rare opportunity."

Zhang Chen shook his head, exuding righteousness: "No, filming is more important."

Actually, what he was thinking was that there was no need to spend money to experience it; if he wanted to experience exotic customs, he could just go to Julie.

Moreover, he remembered a Hong Kong film crew that had made headlines in Hengdian, a major film market, but ended up being recorded in the county annals – a truly shameful incident that would be remembered for eternity. He didn't want to repeat that mistake.

Tom Cruise hesitated when he saw that Zhang Chen wasn't going: "Then I won't go either. I'll take a look at the script."

Seeing this, Patrick had no choice but to give up: "Alright then, we can go together next time."

Gulina had been on tenterhooks, but when she saw Zhang Chen refuse, her smiling face immediately brightened.

She had a very good impression of Zhang Chen, feeling that he was different from those who were obsessed with beauty, and even secretly harbored feelings for him. But she immediately remembered Zhong Lifang's warning when she joined the company: office romances were not allowed.

After Patrick and Tom Cruise left, Gulnazar stepped forward and handed Zhang Chen a bottle of water: "Director Zhang, you're such a decent person."

Zhang Chen took the water, still maintaining his composure: "Filming is the main job, and we can't let these things interfere with our work."

Gulina nodded, her eyes full of admiration: "I will learn from you and focus on my work in the future."

Zhang Chen patted her on the shoulder: "You're still young, work hard, you'll definitely be successful in the future."

Just then, Julie walked over from a distance, pretending to pass by casually, and winked at Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen understood immediately and said to Gulina, "I'm going to the restroom."

He followed Julie to a secluded corner, where Julie smiled and said, "You're smart to know what's good for you."

Zhang Chen put his arm around her waist: "Of course, with you here, why would I want to join in the fun?"

Julie tiptoed and whispered in his ear, "Your room or mine tonight?"

"My room."

Julie nodded and turned to leave.

Watching Julie's departing figure, Zhang Chen couldn't help but lick his lips. He had been with countless women, but Julie would always be the most special one.

The next morning, Julie woke up first.

This shows that women recover better than men after a night of intense activity.

Julie couldn't resist teasing him.

But before she could do anything, there was a knocking sound at the door.

Zhang Chen was still asleep when he was woken up. The first thing he saw was Julie, who had failed in her attempt to commit a crime. He gave her a knowing look, but still asked towards the door, "Who is it?"

"Director Zhang, it's me, Gulina. I bought you breakfast~"

Zhang Chen looked puzzled. Breakfast?
"I didn't ask you to buy breakfast!"

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Gulina's face immediately darkened, but she still forced a smile and said, "Didn't you complain yesterday that the breakfast here was bad? Today I specially went to a Chinese restaurant to buy soy milk and fried dough sticks~"

Zhang Chen glanced at Julie beside him, who was looking at him with amusement. He really wanted to ask her, "How do you manage to be both shy and flirtatious?"

"Thank you, but no thanks, I don't want to eat today."

Zhang Chen just wants Gulina to leave as soon as possible; Julie is such a bold woman.

There was a soft "oh" from outside the door, then silence. It seemed like Gulina had left.

After finishing their morning exercise, the two, feeling refreshed, opened the door and left.

As Zhang Chen stepped out the door, a voice called out from behind, "Director Zhang~"

Zhang Chen turned around in surprise, only to find it was Gulina; this girl hadn't left at all.

However, at this moment, Gulina's hand holding the breakfast stopped in mid-air, and the words she wanted to say were stuck in her chest, because she saw Julie behind Zhang Chen.

"Miss Julie..."

Gulina felt her throat go dry. She looked at Julie, then at Zhang Chen, and couldn't understand how the two of them had gotten together.

"You guys chat, I'm leaving now~"

Julie left gracefully, leaving Gulina and Zhang Chen behind.

Zhang Chen didn't mind and naturally took the half-eaten soy milk and fried dough sticks from the other person: "Thank you for breakfast~"

Gulina's eyes were filled with disbelief; the towering image of Zhang Chen in her mind had instantly crumbled.

Having an affair~
Angelina Jolie is a married woman.
Isn't this just having an affair?
Zhang Chen has now become Dirty Chen.

However, both of them seemed completely unaffected.

Just as Gulina was feeling incredibly embarrassed, her phone rang, breaking the awkward silence.

Zhang Chen answered the phone and exclaimed in surprise, "What? You're in Prague?"

The voice on the other end of the phone said, "Yes, it's right outside your film crew's hotel."

"Wait for me, I'll send someone down right away~"

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Chen said to Gu Lina, "Director Lu Yang and Director Chen are here to visit the set. Go down and greet them."

……

The data this month isn't good, so I guess I'll have to change the name again. Does anyone have any book titles to recommend, something with a catchy, clickbait title?
(End of this chapter)