Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 143 The Sword Debate in Tianjin
After seeing off Chen Hong and Zhang Guoli, the couple, they departed.

When Wang Jinghua returned to the backstage dressing room, she saw that Wang Luyao had changed into her everyday clothes and was warming her hands with an enamel mug.

"Sister Hua."

Seeing Wang Jinghua return, Wang Luyao asked curiously, "What did President Zhang want to see you about?"

"It's nothing."

Although Wang Jinghua knew she couldn't hide it, she still replied perfunctorily, "President Zhang plans to hold a concert in the Gregorian calendar year, and will try to invite all the big names in the country to join in the grand event."

"So we won't be doing gigs at the end of the year?"

"Don't go."

Wang Jinghua said, "We didn't have any experience before, and many performance fees were eventually delayed. Mr. Zhang's idea is not to rush. Let's take advantage of this concert to set up and negotiate the rules, and then hold another round of commercial performances after the song request stage is officially launched after the New Year."

This was an idea that Zhang Yangang had just come up with a few days ago.

Nowadays, most commercial performances are based on verbal agreements, and it's common for people to change their minds and lower prices at the last minute. There are also countless cases of people delaying payment.

Even though the partners chosen by Yuanmeng were mostly well-known local companies, they still encountered a lot of trouble.

Therefore, Zhang Yan plans to set a rule that singers who want to fulfill their dreams and perform at commercial events must adopt a phased prepayment system, collecting a deposit of 50% to 70% depending on the situation, with the remainder to be settled on the day of the performance.

To avoid being outnumbered, in addition to the singers under his own label, he also wanted to form a defensive alliance with top domestic singers who had bargaining power.

In recent years, the practice of performing at various commercial venues has become increasingly rampant, with all sorts of chaotic phenomena emerging one after another. Singers are all hoping that someone can take the lead and set some rules.

Yuanmeng's stepping forward at this time can be considered to be in accordance with the will of Heaven and the people.

However, this matter cannot be done too openly, since in 1992, it was still strictly prohibited for registered singers and actors to perform at commercial venues.

So Zhang Yan thought of organizing a New Year's Eve concert, quietly making a pact and avoiding any unnecessary delays.

Inviting top domestic singers for this purpose would likely be welcomed by most people, and as long as the New Year's Eve concert is large enough, it can further elevate Yuanmeng's status in the industry.

This can be considered killing two birds with one stone.

However, after she finished speaking, Wang Jinghua regretted it.

She didn't want Wang Luyao to know that Chen Hong had gone to the capital, so she just made up a topic to brush it off.

However, after hearing Zhang Yan's latest plan, Wang Luyao's admiration for Zhang Yan was aroused.

Then she excitedly said, "Sister Hua, do you think this counts as our Dream Fulfillment event, the Huashan Sword Tournament? Wouldn't Teacher Zhang then be the Central Divine, Wang Chongyang?"

Whether Mr. Zhang is Wang Chongyang or not is hard to say, but you are definitely not Lin Chaoying.

Just as he was internally complaining, Wang Jinghua's newly hired assistant led someone in from outside.

"Cao Fang?"

Wang Jinghua asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Cao Fang is Zhang Yadong's first wife. Because she is currently breastfeeding, she usually stays at home taking care of the child and rarely goes out.

Cao Fang looked around and asked with some disappointment, "Isn't Sister Chen Hong here?"

"Uh~"

Wang Jinghua glanced at Wang Luyao and could only tell the truth: "President Chen went to Beijing on business - you can tell me if there's anything, if I can't handle it, there's still President Zhang."

"President Chen went to Beijing?!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Luyao exclaimed in surprise—why did Sister Chen Hong go to Beijing at this time? Wasn't that the same as deliberately creating an opportunity for herself?

"I...I'll go take a look ahead."

Wang Luyao tried her best to suppress the joy in her heart, but even her voice trembled.

Unaware of the truth, Wang Jinghua glared at her, thinking to herself that with such limited cunning, even if she managed to get close to President Zhang, she would definitely be exposed.

But she couldn't stop it, so she could only pretend not to know and continue talking to Cao Fang.

After Wang Luyao left, Cao Fang seemed to have gained some courage. She bit her lip and hesitated for a moment before finally making up her mind and saying, "Sister Hua, can you give me some advice? I'm having less and less to say to Ya Dong these days. He took the child away a couple of days ago without even telling me. Today, when I said I wanted to come and see him, he refused because he thought it was too much trouble—but then I said I wanted to thank President Zhang and Sister Hong in person, and that's when he brought me along."

No wonder Cao Fang immediately sought out Chen Hong; on matters like this, the two are naturally on the same side.

"What about the child?"

"Sister Tian Zhen agreed to watch it for me for a while."

Wang Jinghua was silent for a moment, then suggested, "How about this, I'll find you some books later so you can learn how the agent industry works. After the New Year, try to get a job at the company, so you'll have some common topics to talk about."

These books were bought from Hong Kong and Taiwan by Zhang Yan. Although they were not quite suitable for the mainland, reading them was better than blindly figuring things out.

"What...what about the child?"

"Find a nanny to take care of it—you can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want to keep Zhang Yadong, you can't let the child hold you back!"

After a pause, Wang Jinghua added, "Once you're in the company, try to build a good relationship with President Chen. If you can speak to President Chen, Zhang Yadong will be more wary of you."

Cao Fang hesitated for a moment, then nodded vigorously, and said gratefully with tears in her eyes, "Sister Hua, thank you. I was completely lost when I arrived in Tianjin, and he didn't like to talk to me. I... I really didn't know what to do!"

As she spoke, she covered her face, squatted down, and burst into tears.

Wang Jinghua finally managed to persuade her to stop, and then used some makeup to cover it up before the two returned to the studio.

At this moment, Li Chunbo, who came with Zhang Yadong, was sitting on a high stool, playing and singing his new song "A Letter Home".

Of the three audience members present, Zhang Yadong frowned slightly, Wang Luyao looked impatient, and only Zhang Yan showed no negative emotions—of course, Wang Luyao's expression was not directed at "A Letter Home," but rather that she didn't want to listen to anything at the moment, nor could she concentrate on it.

Wang Jinghua listened from a distance for a while and realized that the song really was a letter home.

To be honest, from a purely musical point of view, this song is quite average. Neither the arrangement nor the singing is particularly unique, and it is even inferior to the previous song "Xiao Fang".

But that simple singing voice always manages to touch people's hearts.

Telephones are not yet widespread, and most people still rely on letters for long-distance communication. Moreover, people still have a strong sense of hometown, and the longing for their hometowns among migrant workers who have moved north or south is far greater than it will be thirty years from now.

After Li Chunbo finished singing, Zhang Yan immediately waved to Wang Jinghua, signaling her to come closer and talk.

"boss Zhang."

"Jinghua, what do you think of this song?"

"This……"

Wang Jinghua glanced at Li Chunbo beside her and asked hesitantly, "What does Brother Ning think?"

"Brother Ning is a little unsure."

Zhang Weining rarely makes mistakes in song selection, but he misjudged "Xiao Fang," so he was a bit unsure this time.

Wang Jinghua hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I think it's okay to sign it, but it's best to verify it beforehand before deciding whether to include it in the music video."

"How do you verify it?"

Li Chunbo was slightly displeased when he heard this. He felt that "Xiao Fang" had already proven his talent and commercial value, but these record companies were always finding fault.

Only China Record Corporation (CRC) Guangzhou had a better attitude, but CRC wanted to release an album with "Xiao Fang" as the main song, which violated the compilation contract signed with Yuanmeng.

After much deliberation, Li Chunbo still didn't want to break ties with Yuanmeng, so he approached Yuanmeng again with his new song.

Let's hold two audition sessions.

Zhang Yan looked directly into Li Chunbo's eyes and said, "Believe me, as long as you pass this test, you will never regret joining this 'composite album'."

"Since Mr. Zhang has put it that way, let's give it a try."

Li Chunbo might not believe what others said, but Zhang Yan is now a recognized Midas touch in the industry, so Li Chunbo has no choice but to believe what he says.

So the two parties verbally agreed to hold a small concert in the Economic Development Zone first to see the effect on the scene, and then decide whether to formally sign a contract.

(End of this chapter)