Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 76, "Tianjin Wei," premieres.

Jinmen.

Because it's the 1st of every month when the magazine is published, Wang Zhongqi was busy until after 7 p.m. before he got off work.

He returned home hungry and found his father watching the evening news in the living room. He glanced at the clock on the wall and realized it was almost 7:40.

As he took off his coat, he frowned and asked, "Dad, has the evening news been extended again?"

Grandpa Wang said slowly and deliberately, "It's National Day, so it's normal to have more content, but I guess it'll be almost over soon."

Wang Zhongqi lifted the lid of the steamer and took out the now-cold food. While wolfing it down, he said, "The local news won't start for another thirty minutes, and the TV series won't air until 8:15."

Just then, his wife, who was watching their child write, heard the noise and came out of the bedroom, asking, "Honey, should I heat it up for you?"

"No need, it's not that cold."

Wang Zhongqi waved his hand, signaling his wife to go about her business, then added after a moment's thought, "Remember to come watch TV later, Zhang Yan's 'Tianjin Wei' is about to air."

"Yes, we know. Our factory's loudspeaker has been broadcasting it for two days now."

As his wife spoke, she went back into the bedroom.

Grandpa Wang muttered, "This is a spectacle. I've never seen city leaders put this much effort into the National Day parade before."

"They got desperate."

Wang Zhongqi scoffed, "Looking at this year's data, it's not impossible that Tianjin will be overtaken by Chongqing, and then we'll be fifth."

"Humph~"

Old Master Wang said angrily, "They don't do any real work, they just do these fancy things. No wonder the economy is unlikely to improve!"

“You don’t understand, Zhang Yan said this is called overtaking on a curve.”

"Overtaking my ass, we'd be more likely to crash!"

The father and son chatted idly for a while, and when it was exactly eight o'clock, they suddenly heard upbeat music coming from the television.

Wang Zhongqi looked up in astonishment and saw a row of police officers standing under the "Peaceful Tianjin" flag on the TV screen, saluting. Then the three large characters "Tianjin Wei" appeared and quickly filled the entire screen.

Wang Zhongqi swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty and exclaimed in surprise, "It's already started? The local news has only been broadcasting for fifteen minutes!!"

"Wow, this is amazing!"

Grandpa Wang was also amazed, and then hurriedly called his wife, daughter-in-law and eldest grandson to come out and watch TV.

Meanwhile, this scene was being repeated in countless families in Tianjin, with every household staring at the screen, curious about what was so special about this TV series that had caused such a stir in the city.

In the surrounding provinces and cities, many viewers who were tired of watching the news were quickly attracted to Tianjin TV after subconsciously switching channels.

After the opening theme, the story officially begins.

In the beginning of the story, the protagonist, played by Chen Daoming, is ordered to pick up the bright and beautiful Chen Hong at the university gate. The reaction is similar both inside and outside Tianjin.

Everyone thought the man was handsome and the woman was beautiful, and the photos were youthful and stylish.

But once the two got on the road, opinions began to polarize.

Jinmen.

Are there that many buildings around there?

"Were those buildings photographed repeatedly? It seems like they were photographed from the front first, and then from the side."

"Is this the French embassy? When did it move to the Economic Development Zone?"

"This is ridiculous. There's just a muddy pond nearby. When did they build such a large factory?"

Outside Tianjin.

"This is Tianjin after all; look at how well they've developed."

"Wow, I haven't been to Tianjin for years. I didn't expect there to be so many skyscrapers."

"It's a coastal city after all, it looks even more prosperous than Beijing, probably only Shanghai can compare." Only when the male protagonist received the police report and quickly turned around and drove to the hotel did these two polarized opinions finally come together.

As the male protagonist rushed to the scene of the crime, the police radio continued to emphasize the importance of protecting the business environment.

Next, despite the physical obstruction from the Japanese and the translator, the male protagonist, prompted by the female protagonist, decisively broke down the door and saved Yama Keijiro.

This scene, initially sluggish but then escalating, quickly turned the tide, leaving all viewers thoroughly entertained.

However, when you see the end of the second episode, when Yamakagejiro passionately praises Tianjin.

The audience outside Tianjin didn't see anything wrong with it, but the local audience in Tianjin began to be divided.

Some people felt that the introduction was too cheesy and exaggerated, and that the Economic Development Zone was not that good.

Another group of viewers felt that although the Japanese had exaggerated a bit, the Tianjin police had saved his life, so what was wrong with him saying a few nice words?
…………

Beijing.

The home of Zhao Baogang, the lead director of "Stories from the Editorial Department".

Seeing the words "Episode 2 End" on the screen, Zhao Baogang turned down the volume and frowned at Feng Xiaogang beside him: "Xiaogang, this method of inserting commercials into the plot..."

The magazine "Stories from the Editorial Department" also inserted an advertisement, which was initially thought to be the first of its kind in China, but it turned out that "Tianjin Wei" beat it to it.

Although Zhao Baogang didn't say everything, he clearly suspected that Feng Xiaogang had leaked the information, since everyone in the industry knew that he had been getting closer to Zhang Yan recently.

"I haven't mentioned this at all!"

Feng Xiaogang quickly defended himself, saying, "I guess great minds think alike—and theirs is much more timely than ours; the audience probably won't even realize it's an advertisement."

Zhao Baogang was still somewhat suspicious. At this moment, Wang Shuo tapped the table and scoffed, "Old Zhao, haven't you figured it out yet? This is just a sycophantic film, incidentally advertising Tianjin products. What's so strange about that?!"

Zheng Xiaolong, director of the Beijing TV Drama Art Production Center, nodded in agreement, saying, "No wonder the leaders in Tianjin value this drama so much, even going so far as to cut back on local news coverage."

It now seems that besides the main crime investigation storyline, another aspect of this drama is promoting Tianjin's business environment and incidentally advertising for Tianjin's enterprises.

Ma Weidu finally realized what was going on and clicked his tongue in amazement, saying, "Look at that brain of his—Master Shuo, I'm not trying to take sides, but when you were twenty-four or twenty-five, you probably couldn't have come up with such an idea, could you?"

"Humph~"

Wang Shuo scoffed, "I wouldn't do something like this, fawning over someone!"

With that, he stood up and said, "Let's call it a day. This kid is not on the same wavelength as us, there's no point in comparing him."

Feng Xiaogang and Ma Wei both stood up and left Zhao Baogang's house together.

However, Zheng Xiaolong and another director, Jin Yan, stayed behind to continue discussing the details of the drama.

"I think the way the Japanese are initially arrogant but later become obsequious is quite clever—although it's not as solid as 'Stories from the Editorial Department,' it makes full use of the complex emotions that ordinary people have towards the Japanese invaders."

"Looking at this first case, it seems to follow the path of unraveling the mystery step by step, rather than the kind of investigation-style crime-solving seen in 'Plainclothes Policeman'."

"It feels like a Hong Kong drama overall. Although it doesn't seem very deep, the sensory stimulation is quite effective."

"The camera deliberately emphasizes the flavor of the metropolis, and this impression is reinforced through repeated editing—Wang Shuo is right, this film is indeed a film that flatters and promotes itself at its core, but it is filmed quite cleverly."

Zheng Xiaolong concluded, "This young man has a high level of political sensitivity. He immediately grasped the pain point of Tianjin. No wonder we have to beg and plead with everyone when we're making a film, but when it comes to them, the city leaders directly stepped in to support them."

Although we know that television stations are propaganda platforms, we mostly just praise or criticize hot social issues. We never imagined that TV dramas could be used in this way.

This new method of propaganda was preempted by Tianjin TV, and it was spearheaded by a young man in his early twenties—I reckon it won't be long before the station gives our production center feedback.”

Zhao Baogang nodded silently. "Stories from the Editorial Department" was his first time directing, and he originally thought he had done a pretty good job. Who would have thought he would run into such an unconventional project?

However, this is more the responsibility of Zheng Xiaolong, after all, he was the one in charge of the production center, and he was the one who decided on the overall tone of "Stories from the Editorial Department".

Jin Yan suggested, "I heard that Zhang Yan only went to Tianjin last year, and he's been active in Beijing lately. Why don't we have Xiaogang sound him out..."

Zheng Xiaolong naturally understood what he meant and shook his head, saying, "Don't rush to contact him now. It would seem like we're the ones who are eager to do so. Let's wait and see, at least until this wave of enthusiasm has passed."

(End of this chapter)