Huayu 1995

Chapter 9: Draven's Hair Turns Bald from Stress
Su Chao hummed a song as he continued his work as an extra. There was no other way; he had to take care of the present.

The money raised yesterday has been almost entirely spent.

To avoid going hungry, today's sixty yuan is the key.

"Hey, wait a minute..."

Su Chao was worried about touching the equipment, so he avoided several staff members, but someone grabbed him.

The group leader, who was waiting for him to come over so he could arrange his position, dared not speak out against his anger.

He was the casting director and also a crew member, working under the casting director. His job was to give instructions to the extras and arrange their work.

Even among extras, they are like gods.

Seeing that Su Chao was familiar with Li Baotian's son and could also talk to Li Baotian and Wang Gang, he didn't dare to offend him.

As a heartless group leader, he doesn't even dare to smoke Chengdu cigarettes.

Who the hell can I reason with?

Today I saw Su Chao chatting and laughing with Zhang Guoli again, and he even received a business card from Zhang Guoli.

He immediately began to reflect.

I'm giving him sixty yuan a day, isn't that a bit too ungrateful?

Oh, no need to reflect on it anymore.

This time, it was Zhang Heping who stopped Su Chao.

The person walking with Zhang Heping is director Zhang Zien.

As the undisputed director of the production team, Zhang Zien's back was noticeably bent at a 30-degree angle.

why?
Because Zhang Heping is a well-known gold-medal producer, lyricist, and first-class screenwriter in the industry.

Even more so—

Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture!
Editor-in-Chief of Beijing Culture, Art & Audio-Visual Publishing House!
They have official positions.

At the same time, he was also the chief planner of "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo," and he was the real mastermind behind this TV series.

"Hello, Director! Hello!"

Su Chao had been on set for two days and naturally knew the director, Zhang Zien, but he didn't know Zhang Heping.

Because of his dual identity as a cultural official and a top screenwriter, Zhang Heping holds a special position in the arts and culture world but is not well-known to the public, in order to avoid suspicion that he is an official doing business.

He even used quite a few nicknames.

Of course, if you told Su Chao that this was the future director of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, the head of the opening and closing ceremony department of the Olympic Games, the chief planner of "The Founding of a Republic", the chairman of the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles, etc., he would definitely be immediately filled with respect.

He was of such low social standing in his past life that he couldn't even get close to people.

"I heard you humming something, but I didn't quite catch it."

Zhang Heping didn't care who Su Chao was or whether he was even human.

He just wanted to know the two lines Su Chao had just hummed.

"There is a scale between heaven and earth... and that scale is used by ordinary people..."

Su Chao obediently hummed it out.

"keep going!"

Zhang Heping's eyes lit up, but after waiting for a long time, Su Chao still didn't open his mouth.

You have a mouth, don't you know how to speak?
"Gone……"

Su Chao was also helpless.

He understood what Zhang Heping meant.

The two lines he hummed were from the theme song of "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo," but he did it intentionally and did not intend to seek anything with the two lines of lyrics.

They couldn't get what they wanted.

Because once the system was bound to him, he couldn't copy it at all.

Su Chao opened the other person's personal shop while he was being grabbed.

The song "The Ballad of the Honest Official" was not among the three items.

Either this person isn't the actual lyricist, or the song is already in the works and naturally won't be available in stores.

The system is very user-friendly.

It will do its best to prevent the host from getting involved in plagiarism controversies.

Those that have already begun creation will not appear.

The product listing will also include the original author's start date for creating the product.

"That's it? Think again. There's a steelyard balance, and the weighing weight is for ordinary people. But what about the steelyard balance? What about the compass? What about the stars on the compass?"

Zhang Heping had no choice but to write this song.

This poem, "Ballad of an Honest Official," touches upon the very sensitive issue of defining honest officials.

Most lyricists wouldn't dare to write that.

Even if someone were to write it, he, as an official of the Zheng family, would still need to set the tone for the lyrics.

"A steelyard balance, capable of weighing the entire country?"

Su Chao felt he had discovered a bug: he couldn't actually write "The Ballad of the Honest Official," but composing lyrics like this seemed perfectly fine. The thought of inspiring lyricists, composers, screenwriters, and directors in the future, becoming a mentor to many, made him feel destined for greatness.

"Yes, yes, yes, weighing the country, haha, the scales weighing the country, it's so fitting."

Zhang Heping praised it highly.

Actually, he wrote the lyrics himself, but he's stuck and can't write them out now.

Soon after, he set the core image of "there is a scale between heaven and earth" and changed "the weight is the common people" to "the weight is us common people" to make it more colloquial in order to avoid censorship.

The rest will be gradually improved by Chen Xiaoqi.

This guy was just too daring; he wrote original critical phrases like "blood-red hat, black heart," and his superiors demanded that he be removed from the authorship list after revisions.

Zhang Heping is an official and therefore cannot sign the document.

Finally, when the TV series was released, the lyricist wrote "Xiaocheng".

Xiaocheng is a fictional character.

"I was just thinking about it casually."

Su Chao truly couldn't offer any more.

That's all the help he can offer.

However, Zhang Heping was very happy. He had been struggling with writer's block to the point of baldness, but now, after Su Chao's two lines of poetry gave him a sudden enlightenment.

The rest was no problem for him and Chen Xiaoqi.

"What's your name, young man? What do you do on set?"

"Su Chao, I'm an extra in the film crew..."

"Director, look at this talented young man, please give him a role."

It's impossible to get something for nothing. Zhang Heping owes Su Chao a favor, which is neither too big nor too small, and he must repay it.

People with higher status tend to be more particular.

"Director Zhang, we're about to wrap up filming. All the scenes we're doing now are reshoots, so we really can't make any more arrangements."

Zhang Zien was in a dilemma.

It wasn't because he was too principled to refuse others from adding people to the production team, but because the TV series had already started post-production, and there was simply no way to change the script or arrange the roles anymore.

"Oh, young man, you've done me a great favor. I'd like to treat you to dinner, but I'm really too busy right now. Here... take this 500 yuan, have a nice meal tonight."

It does not mean that it is impossible.

But if he were actually asked to invite an extra like Su Chao to dinner, he wouldn't be so courteous.

People who have been in high positions for a long time cannot bend their backs.

"No, no, I only recited two lines of poetry, I didn't really help at all."

Su Chao quickly declined.

He was indeed short of money, but five hundred yuan was nothing to him.

Fifty thousand is more like it.

Su Chao insisted that he should not accept rewards without merit.

Zhang Heping was quite helpless.

It would have been wonderful to be given a role, and it could even be considered a wonderful story.

Unfortunately, the TV series is about to wrap up filming.

Fortunately, Zhang Zien was still nearby.

When the leader faces a problem, that's precisely the time for him to step in.

"Although this film has wrapped up, we can still work on the next one. Come on, Su Chao, let me save your pager number."

"I haven't bought a pager yet, and I really don't need one anymore. I've learned a lot from working on this film set, so it's only right that I contribute!"

I love "Prime Minister Liu Luo Guo"!
"This is my business card. After you buy the pager, just call me. The crew will be having a wrap party next Monday at 6 pm at the Chongwenmen Hotel. Remember to come. There is a scale between heaven and earth. Just based on this sentence, you can attend."

Zhang Zien solved his boss's problem with just a few words.

"Here you go, Su Chao, take this money. Consider it a loan. Hurry up and buy a pager. You can't get by without one. You're a talented young man. Work hard, and I'll always keep an eye on you."

Zhang Heping still forced the money into Su Chao's hand.

Five hundred yuan is a small amount for him.

But a favor is too great.

If he truly admired Su Chao, he wouldn't need to repay the favor now.

However, people who work in officialdom are meticulous in their work, making it difficult for others to feel resentment towards them.

It's just two lines of dialogue, a pre-arranged role, and five hundred yuan. For an extra, it would be strange if they weren't grateful.

Regardless, Su Chao profited.

"Then I have a favor to ask, may I take a photo with you two?"

Su Chao finally accepted the money.

If you can't get on his good side, then don't. He's really insignificant right now.

(End of this chapter)