Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

The villa that my dad bought is located on the North Fourth Ring Road.

Located near the Olympic Park and only 20 minutes from Beijing Capital International Airport, it is the renowned Ziyu Villa.

Zhuang Kaixuan was naturally generous with his money; the entire courtyard was 1300 square meters, and the main building occupied 630 square meters. Although it was only two and a half stories high, the ceiling height reached 15 meters.

Oh right, the earliest developer of this land was Qing Yatou, the confidante of my good brother Jiang Wen.

After gathering with friends for a housewarming dinner, the promotion of "Hearing Girl" officially began.

In fact, this movie is already very popular. After all, people are curious about what kind of movie it is that can make Zhuang Huai'an the youngest director to win the triple crown of Golden Horse, Golden Rooster, and Golden Horse Awards.

After the news was released,

Old friend Sa Beining immediately paid a visit and invited the cast and crew of "Hearing Girl" to participate in Princess Six's flagship program, "Light and Shadow Weekly".

"Wow, you've got quite a network of connections. You even managed to get involved with the Sixth Princess?"

Sa Beining was a little embarrassed and quickly explained, "Oh, it's just that a friend of mine knows we have a good relationship, so he came to visit me."

Zhuang Huai'an immediately became interested. He suddenly remembered a rumor circulating online and asked, "Your friend, could it be Jing Wei?"

"You've heard about it too?"

Sa Beining was a little surprised. Since the matter was already out in the open, he decided not to hide anything and said frankly, "It's her. We're dating."

"Oh, is there really such a thing?"

Zhuang Huai'an handed him a cup of tea, teasingly saying, "Seriously, if you two get married, I wouldn't mind if you kowtowed to me!"

"What makes you say that?" Sa Beining asked, looking completely bewildered. "You and Jing Wei are related?"

Zhuang Huai'an smiled without saying a word. "If I hadn't trampled Zhang Ziyi to death, you would have been a good servant to her!"

After cleaning the pot, you still have to build your reputation!

Seeing that he avoided the topic, Sa Beining assumed it was just a joke between friends, smiled, and didn't think much of it.

"Speaking of which, I do owe you a favor this time."

Xiao Sa said frankly, "Sixth Princess is preparing to revamp Light and Shadow Weekly and create a program where celebrities host and cue the process themselves. It's called something like 'Light and Shadow Star Podcast.' The production team is having trouble deciding who to invite as the main guest for the last issue of Light and Shadow Weekly. That's when I thought of you. If we get you, we won't have to worry about Jing Wei's future."

"Since you've already spoken, what else is there to say?"

Zhuang Huai'an laughed heartily, "You name a time, and I'll bring some people to support my sister-in-law. She'll definitely make a good impression!"

"Okay, I'm relieved to hear that." Xiao Sa toasted with tea instead of wine.

As they were chatting, Zhang Lu walked in.

"Boss, Li Jing and Dai Jun are here. Are they going to the meeting room?"

"Okay, please come in."

Zhuang Huai'an agreed, then turned to Xiao Sa, "Are you free today? How about we have dinner together tonight, and you can introduce your girlfriend to us?"

Xiao Sa nodded, "Okay, but I'll have to make the arrangements."

"You're overthinking it. I never intended to take it from you."

Zhuang Huai'an replied, got up and walked to the office door, where he ran into Li Jing and Dai Jun. Upon seeing this, the two quickly walked over.

"Director Zhuang, thank you for coming to pick me up in person."

"What are you saying? Aren't we friends?" Zhuang Huai'an smiled and welcomed the two inside. "You've come at the right time. I just got a free meal from Xiao Sa. Let's go together tonight."

"Oh, Xiao Sa is here too." Li Jing's eyes lit up. "That's great, we have to take advantage of him."

"Sister Jing, Brother Jun," Sa Bei stood up and shook hands with the two. They were all in the hosting circle, and Li Jing was even a senior from CCTV. The three of them were not strangers.

The group sat around the table, and after several rounds of tea, Li Jing revealed the purpose of her visit, which was indeed to invite Zhuang Huai'an to appear on the show.

He readily agreed, as it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

"Hey, have you guys heard? The Flower Band has recently been accused of plagiarism."

After finishing the business, Dai Jun took the initiative to throw out a piece of gossip to continue the conversation.

"Really?" As a CCTV host, Xiao Sa doesn't pay much attention to entertainment news. "I've never actually heard their songs. Who did they plagiarize?"

Dai Jun laughed and said, "There are too many. The wildly popular 'Wash Wash Wash' is a copy of 'Little Days', 'The World's Number One Pet' is a copy of South Korea, 'Fairy Tale Love' is from Belgium, and 'Star Prisoner Opera' is from England."

"Not only that,"

Li Jing chimed in, "There's also that song 'Butterfly', whose chorus is almost a direct copy of Romanian songs, and songs like 'Can We Not Break Up'. In total, 13 songs have been found to be similar, but there's no concrete evidence yet."

"Tsk, if it's confirmed, that would be terrible. After all, this involves overseas copyright. If the copyright holder pursues it, even flowers will wither." Xiao Sa shook his head. He was a law student and was most sensitive to this kind of thing.

Seeing Zhuang Huai'an smile without saying a word, Li Jing asked, "Director Huai'an, you're also an original songwriter, what's your opinion on this kind of thing?"

"I'll sit and watch."

Zhuang Huai'an refilled the tea for the three of them. "Actually, all writing is largely plagiarism, and music is no exception. After all, there are only a few main notes that are repeated over and over. Once the predecessors have used them, it is difficult for the successors to come up with new ideas."

Plagiarism is definitely wrong, but Zhang Wei was able to write a song like "Stillness" at the age of 14, so he must have talent. Perhaps he was too eager for quick success and lost his mind.

"Indeed, that's why I especially admire original creators." Dai Jun, also a singer, felt the same way.

Li Jing pressed further, "Actually, I'm particularly interested in understanding your thought process when you creators are writing. Do you write everything at once, or do you write intermittently?"

"I think so."

Zhuang Huai'an lied, "You know Phoenix Legend from our company, right? Their songs are so catchy. Sometimes when I'm writing, I'll occasionally see a little person dancing in my head, singing 'Niangzi~ Aha~'"

"So you're like that too?" Xiao Sa laughed. "Sometimes when I'm memorizing lines for a live broadcast, my brain just goes crazy and keeps playing 'Mice Love Rice' on repeat."

Li Jing's eyes darted around, and she tentatively asked, "Director Huai'an, did you really not write the songs for Phoenix Legend?"

"No, I'm not good at this kind of song."

Zhuang Huai'an remained unfazed. "It was acquired by the company. Coincidentally, the lyricist and composer is also named Zhang Wei, but he has absolutely no connection with me, Zhuang Huai'an."

The three observed secretly; a double negative meant a positive.

Xiao Sa understood something and subtly changed the subject: "That's not surprising. I understand that there are an estimated 30 people in the country with the name Zhang Wei. According to probability, the number of talented people with this name is even greater."

"Really?" Li Jing's attention was indeed diverted.

"Of course, there are more than 6 people with the name Li Jing."

"That's not surprising, given that our country has nearly 13 billion people."

The conversation started to veer off course, and they continued gossiping until 5 p.m. before finally getting up to head to the restaurant. Zhuang Huai'an didn't forget to bring his wife along.

When they arrived, Jingwei was already waiting there.

Jing Wei has a beautiful face and a poised demeanor, which perfectly matches people's impression of CCTV hosts.

After the introductions, Zhuang Huai'an secretly gave Xiao Sa a thumbs up, and the other party looked slightly smug.

Zhuang Huai'an shook his head and chuckled. If these two could get married, it would be a good deed for him.