Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 114 Great Opportunity
Zhang Yan almost suffered a setback with Zhou Tao.

The initial progress of "I Am a Singer" was not very smooth, because these days, TV stations in various places would hold singing competitions every now and then - for example, Beijing TV held a singing competition called "Newcomer New Voice" in July.

Apart from CCTV's "Young Singers Competition", only the competitions in Beijing and Shanghai can be considered second-tier. There is no distinction between the competitions in other provinces and cities, at least in the eyes of many people.

Therefore, many singers from other places, especially non-professional singers like Zhang Yan, have many concerns about participating in competitions across provinces.

After all, long-distance travel is still quite difficult these days.

Besides, they're not from the local area, so they don't really understand Tianjin's selection criteria. What if they travel all the way to Tianjin, only to be eliminated without getting anything? Wouldn't that be a complete loss?
The problem was only resolved after the production team learned of the situation and applied to the station to reimburse all contestants' round-trip travel expenses and arrange their accommodation and meals during the competition.

This is all thanks to the popularity of Bright Dairy instant noodles, which brings in a lot of cash for the TV station every month. If it were this time last year, let alone approval, the program team might not have dared to report this extra expense.

It was during this period that Liu Weidong took a liking to a Mongolian singer and hoped to recommend him to participate in "I Am a Singer".

However, the person in charge of recruiting contestants in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region disagreed, and the two sides argued over this, eventually leading to a lawsuit with Zhang Yan, the chief planner.

After careful investigation, Zhang Yan discovered that both parties acknowledged the singer's talent. The main reason for the disagreement was that the singer had just participated in the "Newcomer's Voice" concert on Beijing TV in July.

Although she didn't win any awards, she received unanimous praise from the judges and even performed in front of 20,000 audience members, which helped her make a name for herself in the industry.

In the past, Liu Weidong would never have dared to dream of having a singer like this, but now, riding the wave of "I Am a Singer," he has developed the ambition to bring him under his wing.

However, the person in charge believes that the singer's Beijing-Taiwan influence is already very deep, and even if he participates in "I Am a Singer", he will not be able to wash off the Beijing-Taiwan influence.

From the perspective of the TV station alone, this does make some sense, but the other party clearly did not consider the interests of Dream Records.

After finding out the singer's name, Zhang Yan decisively decided to include him in the competition list—whether the singer himself was willing to participate depended on whether Liu Weidong could persuade him.

"Mr. Zhang, please rest assured!"

Seeing Zhang Yan's strong support, Liu Weidong patted his chest happily and said, "With your words, I'm sure I can bring Han Lei into our Dream Records!"

"I'm going back to the capital anyway, I'll give you a ride," Zhang Yan said with a smile, while also being curious about what song "Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven" was, as the name sounded grand.

His main purpose in coming to Beijing this time was to sort out the messy property rights of the courtyard house near the China World Trade Center, which is now ready for sale.

He also wanted to pick up Gao Qi and Wu Tong on his way.

Guan Hu has complained several times, saying that if the lyrics and music aren't finalized soon, the two major singing performances won't be able to be filmed.

Actually, you can film someone just by having them open their mouth without recording anything.

But Guan Hu felt it wasn't realistic enough, so he hoped Gao Qi could write the song first, so that the male and female leads could lip-sync during the performance.

Besides "Himalaya," Han Hong has also completed another song, but it still needs further polishing and refinement. Adding or subtracting one more person won't make a big difference in this part.

So Zhang Yan decided to bring Gao Qi and Wu Tong to Tianjin to finish the song "My Hair is Messed Up" first.

Speechless all the way.

After arriving in the capital, Zhang Yan considered whether to meet Han Lei, but felt that it would be as if he didn't trust Liu Weidong's abilities, so he ultimately gave up.

Anyway, with more and more people appearing on the playlist, it's not surprising that only one person makes the list.

After parting ways with Liu Weidong, Zhang Yan called Aunt Hong Gu, expecting some further arguments. However, she directly asked him to go to the notary office to complete the transaction, as if she was afraid that Zhang Yan would change his mind.

This made Zhang Yan start to suspect that there might be some hidden danger in her house.

But Guo Chuanlin and Feng Xiaogang both helped with background checks, and the property rights issue has indeed been resolved. I heard they even fought over it. It was the "Red-hoop Granny" who won the final victory, even at the cost of her life.

I withdrew 70,000 yuan from the bank.

When they arrived at the real estate notary office, Aunt Hong Gu and her son had been waiting for a long time.

This filial son, who was determined to go to the United States and was willing to sell his family's land, was also working in the system. He seemed to be a minor leader in one of the two oil companies. Although he didn't have much power, he lived a comfortable life.

Ironically, it is precisely this kind of person who is particularly enthusiastic about immigration.

When signing the contract, the filial son's hands were trembling, and Zhang Yan thought he was reluctant to part with his ancestral property.

After signing the contract and counting out the 66,000 yuan in cash, the filial son breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly grinned at Zhang Yan, saying, "You probably don't know yet, but Da Mao and Er Mao just signed the Declaration of Independence, and SL is about to be completely finished!"

Zhang Yan was of course aware of this news, since he had been working at the television station recently.

But what does this have to do with him? And what does it have to do with this deal?
Seeing Zhang Yan's cluelessness, the filial son laughed even more smugly: "The once-powerful SL is finished, so who's next? Need I say more? Since you're a fairly straightforward person, I'll kindly remind you to exchange your money for foreign currency as soon as possible, otherwise it will depreciate into worthless paper like the ruble!"

uh~
So that's what he was thinking. No wonder he was in such a hurry to make the deal.

Zhang Yan shook his head slightly, stood up and said, "As Warren Buffett, the American investment magnate, once said: No one can succeed by shorting their own country."

The filial son opposite him was stunned. He did not expect Zhang Yan to refute him in the words of an American.

It wasn't until Zhang Yan got up to leave that he angrily retorted, "I don't care about your opinions, as long as I get my green card, I'll be an American citizen!"

"A green card is just permanent residency, not citizenship—remember to vacate the house as soon as possible, otherwise you might get embroiled in lawsuits and won't be able to leave the country."

Zhang Yan left without looking back, and too lazy to argue with his filial son, he simply took the property certificate and left the notary office.

Once outside, he first used a public phone to contact some acquaintances in Beijing and Tianjin, asking them to help him inquire about any suitable properties for sale recently.

If people like Da Xiaozi all have similar ideas, then this is undoubtedly a great opportunity to buy up Muyangquan real estate at rock-bottom prices.

He still had less than 150,000 yuan left, and Chen Hong should be able to raise 70,000 to 80,000 yuan as well. He could keep 20,000 to 30,000 yuan in reserve, and the rest would be enough to buy one house in Tianjin and two or three houses in Beijing.

The renovation and remodeling will have to be postponed.

After making the call, seeing that it was still early, Zhang Yan simply drove straight to Baoding, intending to discuss the matter of stockpiling houses with Chen Hong in person—after all, Chen Hong's savings would be needed this time as well.

I didn't give Chen Hong any advance notice this time because I wanted to surprise her.

When they arrived, they witnessed Diao Chan and Lü Bu having an affair, which was caught red-handed by Dong Zhuo.

Although the two were dressed neatly with no exposed parts, and although the shot was taken from a forced angle, they only touched each other's shoulders and backs at most. Although Lü Bu was wearing armor and a cotton-padded coat, he couldn't possibly have any experience or feeling.

But seeing this scene from afar, Zhang Yan couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

If they really get married in the future, he doesn't want Chen Hong to be seen cuddling and hugging other people anymore, not even to this extent.

However, directly demanding that Chen Hong retire from acting seems a bit too hypocritical and harsh. Even Zhang Yan now wouldn't have the audacity to say such a thing.

Perhaps we could find an opportunity to let Chen Hong try working behind the scenes in production—she's usually quite interested in that area, so she should be happy to give it a try.

Alternatively, you could try having her focus more on the record company, allowing you to take charge of the overall direction and have more free time – a win-win situation.

(End of this chapter)