Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 122 Before and After the New Year
Jiang Shan finally gave up after providing three photos and negatives.

Zhang Yan had originally planned to meet with Xiao Tao Hong that morning.

As a result, Jiang Shan scratched his face twice, and he was too embarrassed to meet her again, so he handed the gift he brought to the gatekeeper.

The two scratches caused him more than just trouble. When he got home and his parents saw them, he was questioned for an entire afternoon.

Zhang Yan insisted that it was a minor accident during a cameo role in the film. The elderly couple were half-believing and half-doubting, but they dared not ask Chen Hong to verify—what if their son was lying? Wouldn't that expose the whole thing?
I won't go into the details of the hustle and bustle before the New Year.

On New Year's Eve, the family gathered in the living room to watch the Spring Festival Gala. Zhang Xingguo looked around and sighed, "If only there were one more person next year."

"Two more would be better!"

Sun Xiaohong then added more to the bet.

"This isn't appropriate."

Zhang Yanming knew what his parents meant, but he pretended to be naive and said, "Fangfang is still young. Although some people at school have confessed their feelings to her, I still don't approve of her dating right now."

Zhang Fang's eyes widened like saucers, and she said angrily, "Brother, you can't do this to me!"

But the elderly couple's attention had already been diverted; they kept asking their daughter all sorts of questions, afraid that she would be taken advantage of or cheated outside.

It wasn't until Niu Qunfeng Gong's "The Idea Company" appeared on the screen that the elderly couple temporarily put their daughter aside and listened attentively.

Although they praised "The Idea Company," this year's crosstalk performances have clearly lost out to sketch comedy.

Zhao Lirong's "Tango is about walking and walking, taking three steps and leaping, looking back twice," and Zhao Benshan's "If there are difficulties, we must overcome them; if there are no difficulties, we must create them and overcome them," have both become memories of an era.

As for the finale, "Brother-in-law and Brother-in-law," it still showcased the strength of the original king of sketch comedy.

After the Spring Festival, "The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain" officially premiered and became quite popular. Although it did not reach the level of "Tianjin Wei", it has already achieved the level of a phenomenal hit.

After staying at home until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Yan returned to the capital alone.

While the festive atmosphere was still there, he took Tao Hong to his apartment and tutored her in academic subjects for three days. He also gave her a thorough explanation of the entrance exams for the Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing Film Academy that he had found out about.

Compared to Zhou Tao, who has recently started making underhanded moves, and Jiang Shan, who is determined to get her photos back, Tao Hong is much less of a worry.

She is consistently quiet and cooperative.

During this time, Feng Gong came to give him a large red envelope, and Chen Daoming also came to deliver some New Year's gifts.

It will be on the eleventh day of the first lunar month.

Zhang Yan then headed to Tianjin.

I had just arrived at the TV station when I heard some good news: the TV series "Tianjin Wei," translated into Cantonese, was very well received after it aired during the Spring Festival, and two more TV stations subsequently bought the broadcasting rights.

Silver is preparing to follow up with its efforts and sell the series to Singapore and Malaysia.

Riding this wave of opportunity, Director Lin was officially transferred to the Central Propaganda Department, and from now on he would be addressed as Director Lin. Ma Yuan succeeded him as director, and Yan Xiaoming was promoted to deputy director, while still concurrently overseeing the TV drama production center.

With this series of personnel changes, the TV station has finally returned to normal.

With Ma Yuan's support, more and larger talent scouting teams were successively dispatched to all directions.

Because of Guo Chuanlin's persuasion, Zhang Yan also included rock music this time, but only pop rock, which is at the bottom of the hierarchy of contempt. Zhang Yan never thought pop rock was low, but that's the current view in the rock music circle.

At the same time, Tian Zhen finally agreed to join Yuanmeng Records, bringing the total number of signed artists to five: Chen Hong, Wang Luyao, Han Hong, Han Lei, and Tian Zhen.

It is quite obvious that yin is dominant and yang is weak.

It seems that this season of "I Am a Singer" needs to focus on discovering male singers.

On the 2th day of the first lunar month, which is February 21, 1992 in the Gregorian calendar.

Chen Hong, who had spent a whole month in her hometown in the south, finally returned to Tianjin. The two were overjoyed after their brief separation, and the Morse code on the second floor of the villa was ringing loudly.

As a result, because Chen Hong lost her voice from shouting, the scheduled singing practice time had to be postponed for a few more days.

She didn't get into the recording studio until the end of the month.

Chen Hong's voice is actually quite good, but she lacks distinctiveness compared to Wang Luyao, and she can't sing high notes.

However, the biggest problem is that she can't be 'fast' – this refers to both speed and the degree of joy.

This is a bit troublesome.

She struggles to bring out the charm in songs that fit the theme of "I'm Crazy for Singing"; while the songs she can sing with feeling generally don't fit the theme of "I'm Crazy for Singing".

"change!"

Finally, Zhang Yan gritted his teeth and made a decision: "Whichever song you sing best, we'll change the name of this show accordingly!" This made Wang Luyao, who was standing next to him, extremely envious. She thought to herself that the boss's wife was treated differently. She had only ever heard of singers accommodating the show before, but this was the first time she had ever heard of a show changing its name to accommodate a singer.

Chen Hong was naturally touched, but still refused the suggestion, even saying that she could change the singer of the theme song, since she didn't lack the exposure anyway.

Zhang Yan definitely cannot agree to this.

The main problem is that if anyone other than Chen Hong were to sing the theme song, it would easily cause dissatisfaction among others.

Fortunately, this problem was eventually solved by teacher Zhang Li. He inserted children's choir singing in some key places, which neither overshadowed the main performance nor failed to create a vibrant and uplifting youthful atmosphere.

Ultimately, the song was named "Sing If You Want"—the lyrics and melody were completely different from the song fifteen years later, but the core theme was strikingly similar.

After finalizing the song, while Chen Hong was busy practicing, Zhang Yan began to pave the way for Wang Luyao's publicity stunt.

When I discussed with Wong Jing-hua the strategy of becoming famous through lawsuits, there was a key point that we couldn't resolve: how to make the lawsuit a real focus of attention.

Since it's a lawsuit against a TV station, the TV station certainly can't broadcast related information; otherwise, wouldn't that be blatantly admitting they're putting on a show?
However, promoting it through other newspapers always feels a bit lacking, or rather, it lacks a sensational element that can truly go viral.

So Zhang Yan came up with a crooked idea.

…………

3 month 2 number.

"RU means nai. It refers to the breasts of a woman. There are two of them, one on the left and one on the right. They sprout from cardamom buds and mature around the age of sixteen. They lie dormant during the day and shine brightly at night..."

The director of the Tianjin Women's Federation looked at the article in front of her and said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "You young comrade, you really are something else... How can we, as members of the Women's Federation, possibly read this out in court?"

"This is a revolutionary article!"

Zhang Yan said in a serious tone: "The 'Natural Breast Movement' in the Republic of China was one of the symbols of the awakening of women's consciousness, and this 'Ode to Breasts' is a representative of it. I think it is very appropriate for our comrades from the Women's Federation to bring up this article again."

This is about carrying forward the past and forging ahead into the future, about staying true to our original aspiration. I think our Women's Federation should read this aloud with confidence and boldness, with our heads held high, and with righteous indignation..."

“Alright, alright!”

The director of the Women's Federation interrupted Zhang Yan, saying with a wry smile, "No wonder people say you have a set of iron teeth and bronze tongues. Now that you've said it, if we don't read it out loud, we'll almost be considered sinners who have forgotten their roots."

After she finished speaking, she nodded solemnly and said, "In recent years, the voice of our Women's Federation has become weaker and weaker, and it is indeed time for us to make some noise."

Seeing that the Women's Federation director had accepted the "Ode to Breasts," Zhang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this really is a 'revolutionary article'; otherwise, given its explicit content, who would have the nerve to read it aloud in court?

But if the Women's Federation reads it out in court, it will definitely become a hot news story.

Perhaps it can even secure a place in history.

The person who resigned from the Women's Federation with Yan Xiaoming—Yan Xiaoming's mother was one of the founders of the Tianjin Women's Federation, so he was the one who helped make the connection.

on the way back.

Yan Xiaoming said with some emotion, "Your ingenious ideas just keep coming up one after another—but that's good too. With you here, I can focus on making the shows I want to make."

Seeing his serious expression, Zhang Yan asked curiously, "Director Yan, what kind of program are you planning to produce?"

Yan Xiaoming declared in a resounding voice: "A major case documenting the fight against corruption and the promotion of integrity!"

Zhang Yan: "..."

He was the only one in the entire Tianjin TV station who dared to do this.

Back to the TV station.

Zhang Yan originally wanted to tell Wang Jinghua and Wang Luyao the good news that the Women's Federation had won the lawsuit, but he ran into Liu Weidong on the way and heard that a young man had come to his door, claiming that he was recommended by his fourth brother.

Isn't Brother Guo busy getting his visa?

"We met while applying for visas."

The young man showed off the guitar on his back and explained, "There were a lot of people in line at the time, and when Fourth Brother saw that I was carrying a guitar, he started chatting with me."

"Oh, what a coincidence."

Zhang Yanchong extended his hand to him and asked, "Brother, what's your surname?"

"My surname is Zheng, and my given name is Zheng Jun."

[PS: See author's note for details.]

(End of this chapter)