Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 42 Chen Hong's Advance

Chen Hong was standing outside the door.

She was wearing a brown wool overcoat, with black suit trousers and leather riding boots peeking out from the hem, and a shoulder bag slung over her left shoulder.

Seeing Zhang Yan staring at him in astonishment.

She rubbed her hands, which were covered in velvet gloves, and asked with a smile, "Teacher Zhang, aren't you going to invite me in to talk?"

"Uh~"

Zhang Yan then came to his senses and quickly stepped inside, saying, "It's a bit messy in there, please don't mind."

Chen Hong peeked inside and asked, "Do we need to change into slippers?"

"no, I'm fine."

As Zhang Yan spoke, he first gathered up the messy draft papers scattered on the coffee table and placed them on the desk in the corner of the room. Then he said, "Sit down, sit down, I'll make you a pot of tea."

"No need to bother."

Chen Hong followed her into the house, took off her shoulder bag, observed her surroundings, and then sat down on the sofa.

It seems Jiang Shan's guess was correct.

The real estate market is not yet truly open. New buildings in this location and with this layout are simply impossible to acquire without connections and influence.

Looking at the decor, which was clearly aimed at a wedding, Chen Hong imagined a scenario where two families were trying to arrange a marriage, the woman ran away from home for freedom, and the man desperately pursued her.

No wonder the producers and directors gave priority to his opinion during the audition.

At this moment, Zhang Yan brewed a cup of tea, placed it in front of Chen Hong, and casually asked, "How did you end up here in the middle of the Lunar New Year?"

He should have asked that question a long time ago, but he was a little flustered when a beautiful woman suddenly showed up at his door.

"how?"

Chen Hong covered her mouth and chuckled softly, her bright eyes glancing sideways at Zhang Yan as she said in a coquettish voice, "Teacher Zhang, is this some kind of den of dragons and tigers, where a mere woman like me cannot come?"

During the audition, Zhang Yan thought the girl was exceptionally beautiful, and when they were alone together, her smile was even more captivating.

He composed himself, shrugged, and said, "This mess is more like a bandit's den than a dragon's den or a tiger's lair—but without a wife."

Chen Hong chuckled lightly: "It's not as chaotic as you make it out to be."

Then his expression gradually became serious, looking conflicted and as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Zhang Yan knew the main event was about to begin, so he didn't urge her. He just waited quietly for what was to come. After all, even if Chen Hong didn't say anything, she was still a sight to behold just by sitting there.

Chen Hong had intended to wait for him to press her for answers before revealing everything, but Zhang Yan simply didn't follow the script.

Finally, I had no choice but to take the initiative and say, "What I'm about to say might make you think I'm trying to sow discord, but I really just don't want the script you worked so hard to write to get into trouble because of certain people..."

Jingle bell bell bell~
Just as she was getting halfway through her sentence, the phone in the corner suddenly rang, forcing Chen Hong to stop talking.

"Sorry, I'll take a call first."

Zhang Yan apologized and went over to answer the phone.

Chen Hong was already annoyed that her carefully prepared emotions had been interrupted, and when she heard Zhang Yan call out Jiang Shan's name into the microphone, alarm bells went off in her head.

She hesitated for a moment, then quietly moved closer to the desk, pretending to be interested in the drafts on it, but actually eavesdropping on the phone call.

This was definitely not the first time Jiang Shan had contacted Zhang Yan; the two seemed quite familiar with each other.

That makes sense. During the audition, Jiang Shan seemed to be eyeing screenwriter Zhang very much. It seems she hasn't been idle since before and after the New Year.

This is going to be a bit troublesome.

Although Jiang Shan was on that list, if this woman were to give up her career for love, wouldn't I be acting like a worthless villain?
Just as Chen Hong was pondering how to respond, Zhang Yan had already hung up the phone. She hurriedly grabbed a page of manuscript paper and asked first, "Do you have a new work again?"

Zhang Yan glanced at the draft she was holding upside down, hesitated for a moment but didn't expose her, and nodded with a smile, saying, "Our magazine, *Juvenile Fiction*, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, and the editorial department specially commissioned me to write a novella." Chen Hong then realized she was holding it upside down and hurriedly turned it around. To cover her embarrassment, she even read a passage aloud: "Those symbols wearing skirts shouted 'Women's Safety,' 'Girls Help Girls,' rushing towards the little rascal from all directions, as if they wanted to tear this boy who had mistakenly wandered in to pieces..."

Having read this absentmindedly, Chen Hong looked up and asked, "What is this about?"

"Little Rascal's Dreamy Internet Adventure"

Zhang Yan shrugged and said, "It's about a naughty little boy who accidentally enters a future virtual world and goes on an adventure with artificial intelligence."

"Oh~"

Although he didn't understand what the 'virtual world of the internet' was, Chen Hongzhi wasn't interested in that, so he didn't ask any more questions, put down the draft in his hand, and sat back down on the sofa.

Zhang Yan sat back down in his original seat and asked, "Judging from what you just said, did something happen to Xu Fan?"

"Didn't Jiang Shan tell you?"

Chen Hong immediately retorted, her tone and expression seemingly implying that Jiang Shan was deliberately hiding something from Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan frowned slightly: "We've been talking about trivial things, like travel, TV dramas, and popular songs—Ms. Chen, you can just say whatever you want to say."

Seeing Zhang Yan's reaction, Chen Hong's heart tightened again. Sure enough, the biggest threat to her now was Jiang Shan.

But how can we eliminate this hidden danger?
Chen Hong looked at Zhang Yan across from her, her heart filled with conflicting emotions. This man was young, handsome, talented, well-connected, and famous—if the same conditions were applied to a film director, she would definitely have 'compromised' without even thinking.

Unfortunately, Zhang Yan is just a screenwriter, and a TV drama screenwriter at that...

"Miss Chen?"

At first, Zhang Yan enjoyed being stared at by the beautiful woman with a mesmerizing gaze, but after a while, he became a little suspicious and couldn't help but urge her, "Why don't you explain yourself more clearly?"

Under his persistent questioning, Chen Hong finally came to her senses, but instead of answering, she asked, "Teacher Zhang, do you think 'Tianjin Wei' will be a hit?"

Zhang Yan was quite confident about this, after all, the cases were adapted from classic films and television series, the character portrayals and conflicts were novel in this day and age, and with the addition of many famous quotes, there was no reason for this drama to flop.

So he frankly said, "Anyway, from the municipal government to the economic development zone, from the TV station to the production center, from director Ma Huiwu to the male lead Chen Daoming, everyone thinks this show will be a hit."

This series of phrases starting with "from...to..." clearly tipped the scales in Chen Hong's mind.

Thinking back to all the unattractive people she'd encountered during her movie auditions, and then looking at the tall and handsome Zhang Yan across from her, she gritted her teeth slightly and suddenly fanned herself, saying, "The heating in your room is a bit too warm."

As he spoke, he took off his coat, revealing an orange-red sweater underneath and an undeniable air of arrogance.

As the saying goes, many female celebrities were very well-endowed when they were young, but in order to maintain their figure, they fell into the strange cycle of getting smaller cup sizes as they get older.

Zhang Yan subconsciously gave a salute before solemnly resuming his eye contact.

Chen Hong, having taken off her coat, puffed out her chest and finally picked up where she left off: "I don't know if you've heard, Teacher Zhang, that the 87 class of the Central Academy of Drama was actually a joint program between the Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing People's Art Theatre, and now it's time to see the results."

So Xu Fan and Jiang Shan are about to go to the Beijing People's Art Theatre for their internship. The Beijing People's Art Theatre has always had strict rules, so how could they allow them to come to Tianjin to film a TV series during their internship?

Unless they voluntarily give up this internship opportunity—but that's the Beijing People's Art Theatre, a stage so many people dream of!

"Is there such a thing?"

Zhang Yan frowned immediately. In fact, Jiang Shan had mentioned on the phone before that she would be doing an internship at a company in the second semester of her senior year, but he hadn't thought much about it at the time, let alone that it would affect the film crew.

But now, after Chen Hong's reminder, he had no choice but to take it seriously.

These days, the Beijing People's Art Theatre's appeal and influence on young actors is no joke, especially considering it involves the quota for staying in Beijing.

If the female lead is unable to attend filming due to her internship, the production team will suffer a huge loss!
He instinctively stood up and asked again, "Is the information reliable?"

"Of course it's reliable, the Central Academy of Drama has issued an announcement."

Chen Hong also stood up and said bluntly, "If Xu Fan can't make it, I can fill in."

As she spoke, she glanced at the phone and added, "I believe I can perform even better, both on and off screen, regardless of whether my co-star is Xu Fan or Jiang Shan!"

(End of this chapter)