Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 57 Historical Nihilism
When Zhang Yan woke up the next morning, he felt unwell all over.

Perhaps because it was my first time trying something new and I hadn't quite figured out the trick, last night was exciting, but it was also really tough – my lower back is still sore.

Neither of them had much of an appetite in the morning, so Chen Hong went to a nearby store and bought some fried dough sticks and soy milk. They ate a few bites and then drove to the filming location.

To be honest, Zhang Yan felt his driving skills had improved significantly today. He didn't know if it was the result of his experience at the train station or because of what happened last night, which made him feel more "close" to the car.

After leaving Chen Hong on set, Zhang Yan said, "I need to go to the publishing house to collect my royalties later, so I won't be coming over at noon—I'll pick you up again tonight."

The royalties for the first 150,000 copies have been paid out, but the last 50,000 copies were reprinted during the book signing tour, so we haven't received them yet.

Two days ago, when the publishing house held a celebration party at the restaurant, Director Duan mentioned this matter to Zhang Yan. However, at that time, Zhang Yan was focused on practicing driving as soon as possible so as to experience the feeling of driving a luxury car and driving beautiful women, so he delayed it until now.

Chen Hong stood on tiptoe and pecked him on the cheek, saying, "Let's do it tomorrow night. If I don't get some rest, I won't be able to film."

"That's fine."

Zhang Yan reluctantly nodded and watched her run into the makeshift costume tent. Just as he was about to leave, Yan Xiaoming called him back.

"Director Yan."

Zhang Yan leaned closer curiously: "Why didn't I see you on set yesterday?"

Yan Xiaoming said, "We had a meeting at the station yesterday, and we're preparing to approve 'Optimus Prime' and 'The Stormy Beauty'."

"That's a good feeling."

Zhang Yan laughed and said, "Your production center is finally living up to its name."

"Speaking of which, I have to thank you for it."

Yan Xiaoming sighed, "If it weren't for your idea that turned Guangming Flour Mill around, we don't know when this money would have been approved."

Looking back, he used to look down on Zhang Yan's unorthodox methods, but now it turns out that many problems can only be truly solved by revitalizing the economy first.

"What?"

Yan Xiaoming said somewhat embarrassedly, "Could you also help review the scripts for those two dramas?"

"This……"

Zhang Yan looked troubled: "Is this the idea of ​​our production center, or the idea of ​​the directing department?"

"That's what I meant."

Hearing that it was Yan Xiaoming's own idea, Zhang Yan dared not accept it and shook his head, saying, "Director Yan, you also know the principle of scholars looking down on each other. This has not been approved by the original owner. How can I, an outsider, tamper with someone else's script?"

"What if I..."

"Besides, these are all different styles. If I force my way in, wouldn't it just become a hodgepodge?"

Seeing that Zhang Yan had cut him off, Yan Xiaoming understood that Zhang Yan really didn't want to get involved, and shook his head helplessly, saying, "Then forget it—actually, 'The Stormy Beauty' was just something the directing department pieced together."

Zhang Yan smiled but didn't say anything. If he were a TV station employee, he really wouldn't be able to refuse this job, but as an unstaffed employee, he didn't have so many concerns.

At this point, Yan Xiaoming changed the subject again, saying, "I heard from Lao Ma that our drama is going to compete with Wang Shuo?"

That's exactly right.

Zhang Yan said, "Wang Shuo spearheaded an urban comedy. I don't know the specifics, but the male lead is Yang Chong from 'The Troubleshooters'—the one with the bald head."

"Oh, it's that one."

Yan Xiaoming immediately remembered the mention of bald heads. He scratched his forehead in annoyance, wanting to say something but seemingly afraid of disrupting morale. Finally, with a tragic air, he swung his hand away and said, "Who cares? Let's just do our own thing."

"Haha~"

Zhang Yan joked, "I thought you were going to say, 'I'm going to take down the elite troops.'"

"Don't say it."

Ma Huiwu then appeared from the side and laughed, "His father really did fight against elite troops back in the day."

Although Yan Xiaoming has never publicized it, a little inquiry reveals that he is a genuine member of the Communist Party with impeccable political background.

Otherwise, given his upright and rigid personality, he wouldn't have been able to secure the position of director of the production center so soon after being transferred here.

After chatting with the two for a while, Zhang Yan was about to say goodbye and leave when he bumped into Tao Hong walking by with his head down.

"Tao Hong~" Zhang Yan casually called out to the little girl and asked with a smile, "Last night..."

I was going to ask, "How did you sleep last night?" But when Tao Hong looked up, her face clearly showed that she hadn't slept well, so I quickly changed my mind and asked, "Are you having trouble adjusting since you just arrived?"

"No, it's just...it's just..."

Tao Hong lowered her head again, hesitated for a long time, and just when Zhang Yan thought she would habitually change the subject again, she suddenly raised her head and asked seriously, "Teacher Zhang, is Sister Chen Hong your new girlfriend?"

This girl definitely has feelings for me.

Zhang Yan laughed and said, "There's nothing 'new' about it. After all, I've always had unrequited love before, this is my first time dating."

Anyway, it definitely can't be considered dating Zhou Tao.

Tao Hong fell silent again, and after a moment she said, "Teacher Zhang, I'm going to put on my makeup."

Then she stared at Zhang Yan for a long time before turning around and running towards the dressing room.

This look is quite fitting for the show.

Zhang Yan made a mental assessment but didn't take it too seriously, and drove away in his Santana.

Speechless all the way.

When Zhang Yan arrived at the magazine's publishing department, he found that the deputy director and editor-in-chief of Popular Fiction Newspaper, Feng Jingyuan, was also there, and he knew that he was in for another lecture.

"Little Zhang~"

As expected, Feng Jingyuan started urging for the manuscript as soon as they met: "June is the last issue of 'The Great Detective of the Red Chamber'. Since the standalone book has already released its finale, our magazine's sales have already declined. If we don't have your new work, I won't be able to deliver for the second half of the year!"

"I just got back, how could I have time to come up with ideas for a new book?" Zhang Yan spread his hands and said, "Besides, isn't my recent book 'The Eight-One Bar Dominates the Martial Arts World' receiving rave reviews?"

"These kinds of articles can't be written for long."

Feng Jingyuan shook his head: "He killed the leader of the Demonic Sect and the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world fell in love with him in just 80,000 words. How can we continue writing the story after that?"

"Then let's change the map."

Zhang Yan casually said, "Take the Demonic Sect Leader's secret chamber, for example. There's a strange spatial teleportation array there. After he went in, he discovered that what he had been in before was just an isolated island with depleted spiritual energy."

On the other side of the teleportation array lies a much larger world of immortals and heroes, similar to the world of "The Legend of Shushan Swordsmen"—the protagonist finds a weapon-forging secret left behind by an immortal, forges the Type 81 rifle into a magical weapon, and continues to wreak havoc in all directions.

"This……"

Feng Jingyuan thought the plot was ridiculous, but from the reader's perspective, he felt quite looking forward to it.

This intoxicating yet exhilarating feeling left Editor-in-Chief Feng momentarily bewildered. Then, he suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "It has to be you! Your spontaneous creativity is unmatched. If our magazine wants to maintain its current status in the long term, we still need you, our 'own person'!"

Whether flattery can catch up is unknown, but this is definitely flattery—judging from Feng Jingyuan's posture, he's just short of singing "Keep the Roots".

Zhang Yan found it difficult to refuse such a condescending offer from the esteemed vice president.

In addition, Director Duan of the publishing department kept encouraging Zhang Yan from the sidelines. When Zhang Yan requested the early publication of the standalone book, Director Duan and Zhang Yan were on the same side, but now, in order to get Zhang Yan to publish a new book, he has formed a united front with Feng Jingyuan.

Having no other choice, Zhang Yan finally agreed to give it a try.

After all, just by looking at how much Feng Jingyuan begged and pleaded, it was clear that the magazine was unlikely to make an exception for him in the short term.

Hey ~
Ultimately, the North is not as flexible in its approach as the South, especially closer to the capital—of course, the capital itself is an exception, since it is the one that controls the scale.

After receiving the royalties, Editor-in-Chief Feng and Director Duan treated Zhang Yan to another meal.

During the meal, Editor-in-Chief Feng suddenly suggested, "We should change the subject of our new book. Don't write a time-travel novel anymore—I see you're quite good at modern crime-solving stories, so you could totally write a crime novel."

"why?"

Zhang Yan didn't actually want to repeat the time-travel theme, but it was strange that the Popular Fiction Newspaper, despite being the pioneer of time-travel stories, asked him to write a new one.

"Hey~"

Feng Jingyuan said somewhat helplessly, "Recently, some people have proposed 'historical nihilism,' saying that time-travel novels arbitrarily alter history, which will cause readers to feel confused."

As he spoke, he gritted his teeth and said, "I suspect it's either 'Legends of the Past and Present' or 'Story Collection'—actually, our time-travel novels don't have any sense of confusion; they can even help popularize historical knowledge!"

(End of this chapter)