Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 60 has another commission.
a few days later.

Under the shade of trees outside the swimming pool, the Santana's engine was constantly humming, supplying the energy needed for the air conditioning compressor.

Zhang Yan moved the passenger seat to the furthest back position, then placed a specially made wooden board between the center console and the door frame, and began writing furiously while leaning on it.

Although it's troublesome and expensive, it's worth it for the sake of both career and love...

Okay, actually, the rented room doesn't have air conditioning, and the temperature has been particularly high these past few days. I just can't concentrate on writing with the help of a fan.

So Zhang Yan simply chose to write in the car, and parked the car at the filming location, which allowed him to interact with Chen Hong at any time, killing two birds with one stone.

Feng Jingyuan's efficiency was indeed impeccable; he collected the questionnaires in just two days and even wrote a guide for the official agency's operations.

So Zhang Yan started formally writing his new book a couple of days ago.

Because this is a completely original work, the efficiency is obviously not as good as when I wrote "Detective of the Red Chamber". In four and a half days, I only wrote less than 18,000 words.

The story is still in the stage where the protagonist is exploring his superpowers on his own.

According to the later added settings, the protagonist is the son of a steel factory worker who has been dealing with all kinds of iron since childhood, which may be why he has awakened the special ability to control metal.

Perhaps out of male nature, after he had a preliminary understanding of the effects of his superpower, he began to think about how to weaponize it.

First, based on the image in the comic book, they made a set of armor and cold weapons.

Then he got bored and started focusing on modern weapons, and soon tried to make a spring gun that only he could use.

Using supernatural abilities to compress a spring to its limit, the speed and force with which the marble is launched far exceed that of a bullet leaving the barrel.

And it was at this moment that he unexpectedly encountered another person with superpowers...

Knock knock knock~
The sudden knocking on the rear window startled Zhang Yan, who instinctively turned around to see the car door being pulled open from the outside. A cheerful face peered in, saying with a slightly exaggerated tone, "Oh, am I disturbing your creative process?"

No, no.

Zhang Yan hurriedly said, "Professor Feng Gong, what is it you want to talk to me about?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the wooden board stuck in front of him: "I am wearing armor and cannot perform the full ceremony. Please don't take offense."

"Haha, it's all thanks to you writers who know how to come up with good words."

Feng Gong climbed into the car, loosened his collar, and exclaimed, "The air conditioning in this car works really well. The one at home keeps breaking down."

"It might be due to unstable voltage."

"That's it, we can't afford to mess with this power hog."

After chatting for a bit, Feng Gong said, "My cameo role is wrapping up this afternoon, so I was thinking of asking you to write a piece before I leave."

Feng Gong is here as a guest star as the swimming team leader. He doesn't have many scenes. The main purpose is to leverage his fame—last year's "The Thief Company" made him and Niu Qun famous throughout the country, making them top young celebrities in Tianjin.

"Commissioned work?"

Zhang Yan asked in bewilderment, "Are you also going to switch careers and become a director?"

These days, there are quite a few directors who cross over into other fields. Even Feng Xiaogang, a screenwriter who was originally an art director, ultimately aims to become a director.

"No, I'm asking for a script for a crosstalk performance."

Feng Gong explained, "I've read your book, and many of the jokes in it are quite insightful. If you put a set of them into a crosstalk performance, it'll definitely be a hit."

That's true. After all, these are selected jokes from more than 20 years later. Any jokes that are even slightly inferior would not have been used as reference material by the authors.

However, Zhang Yan still subconsciously declined, saying, "You flatter me too much. Compared to 'The Thief Company,' my jokes are nothing."

"The Thieves Company is indeed well-written, but we can't always focus on one person to exploit; that easily leads to that kind of mindset, that kind of thinking..."

"Straightforward thinking?"

"Yes, yes, that's the word!"

Feng Gong slapped his thigh and said, "You young people are quick-witted and exposed to a lot of new things, so you can definitely write some good scripts. Even if it's not a complete script, you can provide a few core jokes, and we can find someone to compile them."

The claim of 'rigid thinking' is simply unrealistic. It's just that Liang Zuo, the screenwriter of "The Thief Company," is too popular, and it's unrealistic to expect him to keep writing scripts for us.

"This……"

"Please don't refuse."

Seeing that Zhang Yan was showing signs of softening, Feng Gong immediately seized the opportunity and said, "I heard that the TV station's instant noodle factory was saved by your idea. If you can save such a big factory, then you can certainly save two hungry crosstalk performers like us!"

It's true what they say, the one who performs the best on stage is the lead comedian, and the one who performs the best off stage is the supporting comedian. With a big name like Mr. Feng, his words are full of pleas, making it really hard to refuse.

So Zhang Yan had no choice but to nod and say, "Then I'll give it a try—but let me make it clear first, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to write anything."

"As long as you're willing to help, it's fine whether it works out or not—let's go out for a get-together tonight, consider it my wrap party."

…………

That evening, Zhang Yan saw Feng Gong off. He continued writing in his car until one day the car suddenly wouldn't start, which terrified him. He called a nearby auto repair shop, where they discovered the battery was dead.

After being explained, Zhang Yan realized that in addition to wasting fuel, running the air conditioner while parking for a long time would also continuously drain the battery.

Unfortunately, the writing method that could have avoided both problems had to be abandoned.

I stayed home, gritting my teeth and writing for another two days.

That morning...

Zhang Yan arrived at the filming location again, carrying two large insulated boxes full of popsicles and ice packs.

He gestured to the crew to carry the things inside, and seeing Chen Hong chatting with the makeup artist, he smiled and said, "Today I'm your bodyguard, I guarantee that no unauthorized personnel will be allowed in after the set is cleared."

Today's scene is Chen Hong's swimsuit scene. Actually, there's nothing to hide about a one-piece swimsuit, but Ma Huiwu chose to clear the set for filming because of Zhang Yan.

Chen Hong asked with a smile, "Then where's your knife?"

Zhang Yan bent down, opened the insulated box, pulled out a two-meter-long object, draped the middle over the back of his neck, wrapped the two ends around his arms, and chuckled, "The title 'armed guard' is just a designation; we actually use whips."

The makeup artist, a seasoned woman, chuckled upon hearing this, her gaze involuntarily sliding down Zhang Yan's back.

Chen Hong rolled her eyes at Zhang Yan, then asked curiously, "Where did such a big ice pack come from?"

What Zhang Yan was wearing was an ice pack that was more than two meters long but not frozen.

"You don't understand this."

Zhang Yan played with the cool ice pack in his hand and said smugly, "When the cold drink factory first filled the bottles, they were made from long plastic tubes like this. Later, they were cut into sections using a hot melt machine and put into the ice storage to freeze."

I had them cut a two-meter section off. How does it look? Doesn't it have a bit of a dragon-and-tiger-like feel to it?

[PS: At least that's how ice packs are made here. When I was a kid, I bought an extra-long one and wore it around my body to show off, but my friends pounced on it and bit off several big holes, and it all leaked out in no time.]

After distributing popsicles and ice packs.

Ma Huiwu first filmed Chen Daoming 'peeping' at the entrance, and only after the temperature rose did he wave his hand to dismiss the bystanders.

When Zhang Yan and the others saw Chen Hong come out in a one-piece swimsuit at the entrance of the changing room, their eyes lit up and they immediately gave her a thumbs up.

In fact, he had looked at it countless times these past few days, especially the two-piece cow pattern one, which was almost bursting with juice from handling it.

But women definitely need to be coaxed.

We can't just act like we don't see it, can we?
Chen Hong frowned, tugged at her collar, and asked in a low voice, "Have I gained weight recently?"

"no."

Zhang Yan scanned it up and down but couldn't see anything different, so he suggested, "Why don't you find a scale to test it later?"

"Hey~"

Chen Hong sighed: "It seems I can't go out to eat with you anymore. I need to pay attention to dieting and exercise."

They were talking at the door, while the synchronized swimming team girls were whispering in the locker room.

One of the girls said indignantly, "Why is it that they start clearing the area when it comes to her? What do we lack compared to her, or does she have more than us?"

The "she" being referred to is, of course, Chen Hong.

The girls were already somewhat united in their resentment towards Tao Hong for her constant melancholy, and now that they saw Chen Hong receiving special treatment, they were naturally even more jealous and dissatisfied with her.

Seeing her companions' excited reaction, the usually more rational girl whispered, "After all, he's the main character..."

"So what if you're the protagonist?"

The girl who spoke first gritted her teeth and said, "In my opinion, we should just go all out and teach her a lesson. Anyway, we don't have many scenes left. As long as we do it discreetly, the director won't replace us, right?!"

Upon hearing this, one of the other was eager to try, while the other hesitated—but even the hesitant one did not stand up to object.

Given their swimming skills, it would be incredibly easy for them to coordinate and use some tricks in the pool without being noticed.

"forget it."

At this moment, Tao Hong shook her head and said, "There aren't many scenes left. Everyone, just focus on filming and don't cause any trouble for the crew."

"Tao Hong?!"

The teammate who suggested the prank got upset: "We did all this for you..."

"No need. Even if I wanted to... I wouldn't use this method."

As Tao Hong spoke, she clenched her teeth, as if she had made up her mind.

(End of this chapter)