Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 102 Plenty of Tricks
The next day.

Jiang Shan pouted and huddled under the covers. As Zhang Yan gradually got dressed, she suddenly snorted and turned her back, the movement so loud that it made the bed board bang loudly.

Zhang Yan was drawn in by the noise and turned his head to see her curling the blanket into her arms, revealing her smooth back, slender legs, and an irresistible buttocks.

He casually slapped him on the shoulder and asked with a laugh, "What's wrong? Wasn't last night quite pleasant?"

Last night was indeed quite enjoyable. Although the man's rich experience made Jiang Shan a little wary, it proved to be incredibly useful in practice.

Even now, the afterglow lingers in her body.

but……

"You didn't react when I called you 'husband' last night!"

Jiang Shan turned around abruptly, angrily demanding, "What exactly do you take me for?!"

This did indeed bother Jiang Shan, but she was more interested in taking advantage of the situation to gain a foothold first and then slowly squeeze Chen Hong out.

Zhang Yan chuckled, then immediately stripped off all the clothes he had just put on, pounced on the bed, and said to Jiang Shan, "Then try saying it again."

Jiang Shan thought he was about to give in, so she immediately wrapped her arms around Zhang Yan's neck and said sweetly, "Husband."

One minute later...

"That's not the reaction I'm talking about! Stop it right now! Stop, stop, stop!"

…………

Half past ten in the morning.

Zhang Yan helped Jiang Shan, who was as soft as mud, put on some clothes and instructed her, "You don't need to play the third female lead role anymore, there's not much for you to do anyway."

Jiang Shan hadn't originally intended to play that role; her only goal was to prevent Xu Fan from stealing her boyfriend.

But Zhang Yan's unquestionable tone made her a little uncomfortable. She was the one who was going to conquer him, so how could she let him suppress her?

"Humph~"

She snorted, about to say something, but her throat felt hoarse and her body felt like it was falling apart; she simply didn't have the strength to argue with Zhang Yan.

Oh well, there's really nothing good to act anyway.

So she changed her mind and said, "Then I want to go to the film set with you, at least to let Xu Fan know what kind of relationship we have."

"Xu Fan hasn't joined the crew yet."

Zhang Yan casually replied, "I'll take you back to the Beijing People's Art Theatre first, and you can come visit the set after filming starts."

Zhang Yan hesitated, wondering whether to be direct, but having just been intimate with her, he turned around and told her that everything she had done was actually within Chen Hong's expectations, and that she had even been treated as a gift to be presented to the Buddha.

That's too cruel!
Besides, we haven't finished using the 'cover' yet, have we?

Let's hold off for now; it would be best to make her give up.

And so, Jiang Shan was coaxed and tricked into going to the entrance of the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

As Jiang Shan watched the matte blue Xia Li leave, she suddenly felt a little lost. She had made a breakthrough, but it felt completely different from what she had expected.
A beautiful woman like my aunt is throwing herself at me; shouldn't I be treated even better in return?
No, I have to put some pressure on him and let him know that he didn't get the benefits for free!
…………

the other side.

After leaving the Beijing People's Art Theatre, Zhang Yan went to Dou Wei's old house. As soon as he entered the gate, he saw several people chatting in the courtyard.

After Dou Wei returned this time, he made a big show of assembling a new band. The people he found were all top talents, some of whom Zhang Yan knew and some he didn't.

However, most of these people knew him.

"Brother Zhang."

"Teacher Zhang."

Zhang Yan nodded in response and said with a smile, "This team is getting better and better. When are you going to take it out for some practice?"

Before he could finish speaking, someone in the living room chimed in, "It's still early days; it'll take some time to get used to each other."

As they were talking, the person lifted the curtain and came out; it turned out to be Wang Fei.

Upon seeing Wang Fei, Zhang Yan pretended to do some mental calculations and said, "Today is November 3rd, an odd-numbered day. Yes, yes, it's you." Wang Fei glared at him and asked irritably, "How's that ugly girl Dou Wei recommended to you? Is she to your liking?"

“Look at what you’re saying. That girl is quite plump.” Zhang Yan said, “She tried writing a few verses. There’s some potential in them, but they’re not quite there yet. I’d like you and Dou Wei—and get Gao Qi and Wu Tong involved—to help refine them and see if we can put together a couple of songs.”

He didn't know how good Wang Fei's writing was, but since it was always men who offered advice, he felt something was missing, so he decided to bring her along.

"This is still in the early stages, and you're already arranging songs for them. It seems you've hit the nail on the head."

"Well, I mainly trust Dou Wei's judgment. Besides, preparing in advance shows our sincerity."

After exchanging these few words, Zhang Yan noticed that Dou Wei hadn't shown up yet, and asked curiously, "Where's Dou Wei? Is he hiding in his room laying eggs?"

"You're the one who lays eggs."

Wang Fei rolled her eyes at Zhang Yan and said, "He went to wash the car, he should be back around that time."

They did return shortly after, but surprisingly, Jiang Xin was also in the car besides Dou Wei.

Wang Fei called out to Dou Wei, then ignored Jiang Xin and went straight back inside.

Jiang Xin ignored Wang Fei and started chatting with the band members instead.

Seeing this, Zhang Yanchong winked at Dou Wei and asked, "How did the boats collide? Wasn't it supposed to be odd or even numbers?"

Exhausted, Dou Wei replied, "We usually split up at night, but sometimes we don't."

This……

Forget it, I'm a man with three legs now, so I don't need to envy anyone who has women on both sides.

“I’ve seen that girl from the National Conservatory of Music. Her voice is indeed distinctive—and of course, she looks quite distinctive too. It’s just that her songwriting ability is still a bit lacking. So I’m thinking of finding a few people to use her lyrics as a foundation to put together a couple of songs.”

Are two songs enough?

Dou Wei frowned and said, "An album should have at least eight to ten songs, right?"

“It’s definitely not enough to release an album at the beginning. I plan to let her build up her popularity on TV first. She’s actually the most suitable person for TV programs.”

"Appear on TV shows?"

Dou Wei said speechlessly, "She's already been eliminated several times because of her looks, and you're still letting her appear on TV? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

"You don't understand, do you? What's the most important thing when singing on TV? It's delivering a good performance..."

Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep~
As if on cue, Zhang Yan had just mentioned the TV station when the Tianjin TV station office paged him.

Zhang Yan hurriedly went to the inner room to return the call.

"Teacher Zhang!"

Wei Liben's voice came through the phone: "Did you watch CCTV last night?"

"what happened?"

"CCTV has launched a variety show called 'Quyuan Zatan,' which mainly features crosstalk, skits, and traditional folk arts. These are all Tianjin's specialties!"

[PS: "Quyuan Zatan" premiered on November 2, 1991.]

"how?"

Zhang Yan asked with a smile, "Does our station really think it can compete with CCTV?"

"I definitely wouldn't dare."

Wei Liben explained: "But Tianjin is, after all, the hometown of folk arts, so it should have its own variety shows. The leader's idea is to make them as novel as possible and to differentiate them from CCTV's 'Quyuan Zatan'."

OK~
This means they're asking me for advice again.

However, this was exactly what Zhang Yan wanted to do. If the current Young Singers Competition format were followed, and Han Hong sang on stage in a rigid and formulaic way, she would definitely be at a disadvantage.

But if we use the formula of later variety shows, the situation is completely different. Han Hong is a template and a benchmark!

Although Zhang Yan had never seriously watched music variety shows from later generations, he had seen quite a few promotional ads for them—every time the middle-aged author in his dream searched for video materials, he would have to watch a one-minute ad first.

Those ads don't have much substance, but they're full of tricks and gimmicks!
(End of this chapter)