Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 115 Exploiting Foreign Resources

That night, inside a house in town.

Zhang Yan, sweating profusely, hugged Chen Hong and said smugly, "What kind of Lü Bu is Zhang Guangbei? At most, he can only ride a broken horse. The real Lü Bu is still us... Ouch!"

Chen Hong pinched him, and while tidying up his clothes, she complained, "Look what you've done! I still need to wear this costume tomorrow."

Zhang Yan chuckled twice, then hugged her tenderly for a while before getting down to business.

He first showed Chen Hong the property certificate he had just received, and then repeated the words of the filial son, as well as his idea of ​​buying up properties at rock-bottom prices.

Hearing that Zhang Yan wanted to take advantage of the situation to hoard houses, Chen Hong hesitated, but she still got up, found her bankbook, and handed it to Zhang Yan.

"You decide how to spend the money."

Finding a comfortable position in Zhang Yan's arms again, Chen Hong gently rubbed her chest and said, "But I'm also a little worried. You said even such a powerful SL... what if we can't handle it?"

"impossible!"

Zhang Yan categorically denied it, saying, "We are not the same as the Russians. As long as the people's livelihood in the country can be stabilized, there will be no major chaos."

Chen Hong didn't say anything more, but she was clearly still worried.

She wasn't so much concerned about the country and its people, but mainly worried that Zhang Yan's investment would go down the drain. After all, no matter how smart Zhang Yan was, he might not be able to grasp the international situation.

But Chen Hong didn't want to say anything discouraging and upset Zhang Yan, so she simply went and pulled down Zhang Yan's underwear again.

"Didn't you say you were afraid of getting your costume dirty?"

"It's already dirty, how much dirtier can it get?"

…………

The next day, Zhang Yan spent almost noon with Chen Hong before reluctantly embarking on his journey back to Beijing.

Because of the freezing weather, the film crew has now moved to a town, and their food problem has been greatly solved.

However, out of consideration for the friendship shown by the donkey, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Cao Cao, Sun Jian and others still came to see them off. Only Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo did not come, probably because they saw that Zhang Yan's eyes were not quite right yesterday, so they did not dare to show their faces.

Upon returning to Beijing, Zhang Yan first visited the homes of Shi Tiesheng and Yu Hua.

Then, Zhang Yan picked up Gao Qi and Wu Tong at Dou Wei's courtyard. After briefly inquiring about Han Hong and Wang Luyao's situation from Wang Jinghua, he hurriedly returned to Tianjin.

In just the last two days, the news of the two Maos declaring independence has spread, and even Gao Qi and Wu Tong are talking about the world situation and international strategy.

After dropping the two off at the film set, Zhang Yan returned to the TV station, only to find it filled with a tense and anxious atmosphere, as if a storm was brewing.

"As for it?"

Zhang Yan complained to Wei Liben, "It's the Russians' sky that's falling now, not ours."

"Hey~"

Wei Liben whispered, "Who cares if the old Russian government collapses or not? The main concern is that the policies might be adjusted. If they revert to the old ways, everyone's bonuses will be cut by at least a large margin."

He paused, then added, "By then, I'm afraid 'I'm Crazy for Singing' won't be able to continue."

Zhang Yan himself was not flustered at all because he knew what the future held, but people from the government to the general public across the country were all worried.

Although everyone had long seen that the Russians couldn't hold on any longer, witnessing this scene firsthand still made them somewhat uneasy, and they were even more worried that the higher authorities would tighten policies and repeat the old path before the reform and opening up.

Once the morale of the team is low, it becomes difficult to lead them effectively.

The production team, which had just gotten on track, has once again fallen into a slump.

This time, even Zhang Yan was at a loss. No matter how confidently and eloquently he spoke, it couldn't change the overall pessimistic environment.

In the end, he simply gave up and started working on his supernatural novel, planning to write the finale in one go during this time so he wouldn't have to worry about deadlines anymore.

As the saying goes, what is lost on one front is gained on another.

While the production team was making slow progress, the plan to acquire houses was surprisingly smooth. They successively acquired an old, dilapidated apartment in the second ring road and two courtyard houses in the third ring road.

In Tianjin, Zhang Yan also acquired a detached villa.

These four houses only cost a total of 180,000 yuan. Although, apart from the detached villa in Tianjin, the other three are not as well-maintained as the one costing 66,000 yuan, and the one in the Second Ring Road is so dilapidated that it is uninhabitable.

But once the record company gets on track and Zhang Yan has saved enough money to upgrade and renovate, he can sit back and wait for the value to increase.

I have to say, it's really easy to pluck the fur of this Western-worshipping dog!

In addition, there was another piece of good news: under Liu Weidong's constant persuasion, Han Lei came to meet Zhang Yan and then took a stroll around the TV station. In the end, he decided to join Yuanmeng Records.

After signing the contract, Zhang Yan got to experience Han Lei's voice.

Han Lei sang "Love Moth," a song he performed on the Beijing-Taiwanese talent show "New Voice" in July. His singing was indeed quite good, especially the high notes, which left a deep impression—but the song as a whole still follows the gentle and melodious love song style.

Zhang Yan instinctively felt that this lyrical style was not suitable for Han Lei. His singing should be more grand, otherwise how could he live up to the name of "Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven"?

But he wasn't a professional, so he asked Zhang Weining to help him with the review.

After listening to Han Lei's song, Zhang Weining found a cassette tape of "Young Ambition Knows No Sorrow" and asked Han Lei to cover it. Instantly, the sense of vicissitude and grandeur came over you.

But Zhang Weining still felt something was missing.

So he went back and tinkered for two days, and came up with a modified version of "The Legend of the Gods," which is the theme song of the 90 version of "Investiture of the Gods."

This song has two versions, one for men and one for women. The female version is sung by Mao Amin, and the male version is sung by Alan Tam.

It's obvious that Mao Amin's version is superior, much more grand and majestic; while Tan Yonglin's version is too gentle, and his Mandarin pronunciation also has some issues.

Zhang Weining's version was specifically modified and adjusted to suit Han Lei's vocal characteristics, resulting in a powerful, resonant, and heroic rendition.

I wouldn't say it completely surpasses Mao Amin's version, but it's definitely better than Tan Yonglin's version.

Especially the last few sentences:

Behold the vast, ancient waves, flowing with the hopes and dreams of the past.

[Listen to the gentle chanting of countless peoples throughout the ages, leaving only the ethereal presence of the gods.]

Zhang Weining's arrangement, paired with Han Lei's performance, has a more "the world is ever-changing, but I stand out from the crowd" spirit than Mao Amin's version.

If Zhang Yanlai were to comment, Han Lei would have no problem securing a spot in the top three of "I Am a Singer" based solely on this song.

Not only Zhang Weining and Liu Weidong were full of praise, but even Han Lei himself was very excited.

When the TV series "Investiture of the Gods" was very popular, he also tried to sing "The Legend of the Gods", but whether he imitated Mao Amin's version or Tan Yonglin's version, he felt that it was a bit awkward.

As a result, the record company only took two days to adjust the song to fit him perfectly, allowing him to fully unleash his potential and unique style.

Based on this alone, Han Lei felt that he had come to the right place!

Zhang Yan, drawing a parallel, thought of the Three Kingdoms drama crew.

Han Lei's voice is clearly best suited for this kind of majestic and grand ancient style song, and the theme song of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" will definitely be inseparable from the four words "majestic and grand".

Is there a chance to get Han Lei involved in this?

"so."

Thinking of this possibility, Zhang Yan made a swift and decisive arrangement: "Brother Zhang, please do your best to use the TV station's equipment to record an audition tape for Han Lei as soon as possible. I'll take it to the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' production team and let Director Wang Fulin take a look."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the people present immediately lit up.

Han Lei quickly followed up, "Mr. Zhang, do you have contact with Director Wang?"

Zhang Yan smiled slightly: "My girlfriend plays Diao Chan. Last time I heard that the crew was having a food shortage, I specially sent them a truckload of Bright Dairy instant noodles. That's how we formed a bond."

After a pause, he added, "Of course, it mainly depends on your voice, whether it can impress Director Wang Fulin—even if you can't sing the theme song, it would be good to have a substantial interlude."

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhang, I will definitely do my best!"

Han Lei excitedly patted his chest. "I'm Crazy for Singing" hadn't even revealed its true form yet, so for Han Lei, giving "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" a chance to sing was obviously more important.

If I could get the chance to sing the theme song for "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it would be like a meteoric rise to the top – even if it's not the theme song or the ending theme, singing a relatively important interlude would be great!
He was full of motivation, and Zhang Weining was eager to prove his abilities and that he deserved his salary.

So the two hit it off immediately and spent several days in the recording studio trying to produce a perfect demo.

Zhang Yan, on the other hand, became a hands-off manager and continued writing his supernatural novel behind closed doors.

Because I only have a little over 50,000 yuan left in my pocket, while Dream Records' fixed monthly expenses are 6,000 to 7,000 yuan, and will continue to increase in the future.

Before his record company started making a profit, Zhang Yan's most stable source of income was writing lyrics, so his motivation to create is now at its peak.

Of course, he would also take the time to visit the set of "Hair Messy" to avoid Guan Hu always complaining that he was never seen.

The filming is progressing well. Gao Qi has almost finished writing those two songs, and Wu Tong has also written a song.

When filming the 'death rock' scene in the morgue, while the actors danced wildly in front of the camera, the two of them were responsible for vocal battles backstage.

The song sung by the female lead is a bit troublesome.

Originally, Guan Hu wanted to invite the Cobra band to sing this song, but the Cobra had already been chosen by a foreign feminist organization and was preparing for a European tour, so they didn't care about this little job at all.

Helpless, Guan Hu had no choice but to give the song "When Dreams Entangle" to Zhang Yan and ask Producer Zhang to find another suitable candidate.

(End of this chapter)