Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 10 revenge
The Popular Fiction Newspaper valued Zhang Yan highly, and that very evening, the editor-in-chief, Feng Jingyuan, personally hosted a banquet to welcome him.

The next day, he specially asked Wang Zhongqi to take him to visit the downtown department store and several famous attractions.

It wasn't until the morning of the third day that Zhang Yan was invited to the editorial department of the Popular Fiction Newspaper to begin discussing the signing of a contract for the novel.

The first thing to discuss, naturally, is the subsequent plot of the novel.

Originally, Feng Jingyuan was somewhat worried that Zhang Yan, being young, would lack the stamina to handle a long novel and end up with a disappointing ending.

However, Zhang Yan was already very familiar with the revised content of "The Detective of the Red Chamber". Facing Feng Jingyuan, he spoke eloquently, listing the exciting parts one by one.

Feng Jingyuan was particularly impressed by the interactions between the protagonist and several female characters—this was a specialty of a certain middle-aged author, and this was a condensed essence refined by Zhang Yan.

After just one morning of conversation, Feng Jingyuan was no longer worried that the story would fall apart.

Regarding the level of explicitness, Zhang Yan promised that the subsequent sensational elements would not exceed the level of the fourth case, which relieved the editorial department.

The real disagreement lies in the love storyline. Feng Jingyuan felt that Wang Xifeng's storyline was not very safe and worried that it would cross the line against vulgarity.

Zhang Yanze hopes to preserve as much of the plot as possible because a significant portion of the storyline will be condensed and focused on this storyline.

Actually, before last year, this wouldn't have been a big deal at all. If you had sent it to "Great Wall Literature and Art," they might have thought it was too plain and not erotic or stimulating enough.

Ultimately, both sides compromised and decided to retain the ambiguous content from the beginning, observe the feedback, and then decide whether to keep the storyline.

Actually, some people in the editorial department raised objections to the maid storyline, worried that they would be caught in a compromising situation and accused of promoting feudal dregs that oppress women.

However, Feng Jingyuan felt that the interaction with maids and concubines was an essential element of Dream of the Red Chamber fanfiction, and ultimately suppressed these opinions despite the opposition.

On April 26, 1990, five days after Zhang Yan arrived in Tianjin, the two parties officially signed a contract at the editorial department.

According to the agreement between the two parties, the novel will be featured as the cover story in the first issue of the monthly "Popular Fiction Newspaper" in June.

The payment is tentatively set at 18 yuan per thousand words.

At that time, the state stipulated that magazines' remuneration was limited to 6-20 yuan per thousand words. Zhang Yan, as a new author, was able to receive 18 yuan, which was already considered the highest possible treatment.

Based on the predetermined word count, the total royalties would be nearly 10,000 yuan, which was a huge sum in an era when having 10,000 yuan was still a rarity.

Moreover, Feng Jingyuan specially applied for and gave Zhang Yan an advance of 150,000 words of royalties.

After finalizing the contract, he took the initiative to shake hands with Zhang Yan and said with a smile, "You're a big shot now, don't rush back these next couple of days. I'll have Editor Wang accompany you to explore the city some more, and we can also help boost Tianjin's consumer economy."

"Okay~"

Zhang Yan, speaking in a broken Tianjin accent, exaggeratedly said, "You really are someone who 'earns money in Tianjin and spends it in Tianjin, never thinking of taking a single penny home'!"

"Hahaha~"

Feng Jingyuan laughed heartily: "I really don't know how your brain works. You can come up with rhymes and witty remarks so easily. No wonder you can write a novel like 'The Great Detective of the Red Chamber'."

After some lighthearted banter, Zhang Yan ultimately declined the invitation to stay a few more days.

Tianjin was certainly much more prosperous than Hengjiang, but compared to the future he glimpsed in his dream, it was nothing special—and he preferred to share his joy with his family rather than go sightseeing.

So after leaving the editorial office, Zhang Yan prepared to go to the long-distance bus station to buy a ticket back to Hengjiang in advance, and head home early the next morning.

As a result, he was stopped by Wang Zhongqi again at the entrance of the small building.

"Teacher Zhang, I heard you're planning to go back to your hometown?" "Yes, I've taken care of everything. I can't let my family keep worrying about me."

When Zhang Yan was first called "Teacher Zhang", he felt itchy all over, but Wang Zhongqi insisted on doing so over the past few days, and he gradually got used to it.

"Can't we stay for two more days?"

But then Wang Zhongqi said, "I just found out that a rock band is going to have a concert at the Red Flag Cinema the night after tomorrow."

Zhang Yan had long forgotten about it, but he didn't expect that Zhang Yan would still remember it.

He hesitated for a moment before asking, "What band is it?"

Seeing that Zhang Yan was indeed interested, Wang Zhongqi quickly said, "The main band is Black Panther, and the guest performers are Cobra and Baby Brothers—both of them performed on stage earlier this year, and Cobra is an all-female band with no men in it."

He focused on the two well-known bands mentioned later, merely glancing at Black Panther and unaware that Zhang Yan's eyes lit up at the mention of Black Panther.

That future playlist includes a song called "No Place to Hide" by the Black Panther band!
After Wang Zhongqi finished his introduction, he quickly pretended to be curious and asked, "Why is the Black Panther band the main act? Are they more famous than the Cobra?"

"That's not it."

Since Wang Zhongqi wanted to promote Zhang Yan, he naturally inquired more thoroughly: "I heard that all three bands are under the same manager. At the beginning of the year, Black Panther originally wanted to perform on stage, but they were rejected because they didn't have their own original songs."

The Black Panther band felt deeply humiliated that their expensively purchased instruments were loaned out to others by the organizers. They spent three months painstakingly crafting two new songs, hoping to regain their lost face.

It turns out Black Panther already has an agent.

Zhang Yan was initially disappointed, but then he thought that with his current abilities, he was simply not qualified to get involved in such matters, so what was there to be disappointed about?
Seeing Zhang Yan remain silent, Wang Zhongqi assumed he was struggling with whether or not to stay, so he quickly added, "I've already pulled some strings. We can go backstage and get some autographs while we're at it."

"Wouldn't this be too much trouble for you, Brother Wang?"

"No trouble at all. I used to work for the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and I've organized many cultural performances. I know a lot of people in this field."

Zhang Yan really wanted to see what level the bands that would be included in his future playlist were at—it would be even better if he could establish a connection with them.

After all, if he wants to realize the benefits hidden in the playlist, he will inevitably have to deal with the music industry in the future, so it is necessary to make some connections in advance.

So Zhang Yan decided to stay for two more days, and leave after watching the Black Panther performance.

Wang Zhongqi also took this opportunity to successfully create the impression in the editorial department that he and Zhang Yan had a good relationship—otherwise, how could the editor-in-chief not persuade him, but Zhang Yan agreed to stay as soon as he asked?
For the next two days, accompanied by Wang Zhongqi, Zhang Yan happily became a generous spender.

He bought himself and his father a brand-name fountain pen and several bottles of scented ink; he bought his mother several fashionable clothes and a women's digital watch; he bought the most for his younger sister Zhang Fang, a total of more than a dozen items.

By the afternoon of April 28th, Zhang Yan had packed two large bags of luggage. In order not to attract attention on the road, he deliberately used old cloth bags, so it did not look like he was returning home in glory, but rather like he was going to escape from disaster.

That evening, he and Wang Zhongqi ate three baskets of Goubuli steamed buns, and then strolled over to the Hongqi Cinema.

When Zhang Yan heard that the concert was going to be held in a movie theater, he thought it would be inside the theater. But when he arrived, he found that it was actually a stage set up in a square.

Wang Zhongqi specifically emphasized that although the front desk is outside, the back office is located inside the cinema, and people without connections cannot get in at all.

They arrived early enough, but the area around the stage was already surrounded by layers of people. From a distance, they could see a banner on the stage that read the English word 'revenge'.

Zhang Yan and Wang Zhongqi had someone listen to the audio and found out that it meant 'avenging the shame'.

(End of this chapter)