1990: Starting from Baojia Street

On the afternoon of May 28, Zhou Yan was drinking tea in Han Sanping's office when the pager in his pocket rang.

Zhou Yan took it out and looked at it. It was Li Tao calling, saying that Chen Kexin had come to the studio.

While he was reading the message, Han Sanping said with a smile, "You are really frugal. You are still using a pager. A new Internet phone was recently released. It is quite popular. Why don't you get one?"

Mobile phones are relatively expensive these days, usually at least tens of thousands, and some more expensive ones sell for 30 to 50,000, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

But to Zhou Yan, tens of thousands of dollars is nothing. At Zhou Yan's current rate of making money, he could probably buy one in a day.

"It's still too big." Zhou Yan laughed.

In fact, Zhou Yan also took a look at the recently popular Internet phone. It is not very heavy, only four or five taels, but the size of the thing is too big, and the antenna is also very long, making it difficult to put it in your pocket.

If you want to carry it when you go out, you have to bring a bag, which Zhou Yan finds troublesome.

Besides, the battery life and stability of mobile phones are really not very good. If you use that thing to make calls, it will run out of power in a short time. If you carry a battery, it is another burden.

Only when the mobile phone becomes smaller, the antenna shorter, and the battery life longer, will Zhou Yan consider buying one.

Han Sanping didn't understand Zhou Yan's statement. In his opinion, today's mobile phones are quite small, almost as big as a normal landline microphone.

No matter how small it can be, after all, a microphone and a speaker take up a lot of space, and batteries must be installed inside.

"I think you still don't want people to find you at any time." Han Sanping said with a smile.

Zhou Yan smiled and didn't start a fight. He just stood up and said, "There are guests in the studio. I have to go back."

"It seems that he is still a very important guest, and he is worthy of your return."

"The director of Xiangjiang, Chen Kexin." Zhou Yan didn't hide it and said it directly.

"Well, then you can go back." Han Sanping didn't ask in detail.

……

When Zhou Yan returned to the studio, Chen Kexin was in Li Tao's office.

Chen Kexin is in his early thirties, of medium height, with long hair, half of which is dyed yellow. With a pair of black-rimmed glasses, he looks like an artistic person from Hong Kong.

Nowadays, the three places across the Taiwan Strait, including Xiangjiang, like to dye their hair yellow. It is basically impossible to find directors in the mainland who dye their hair yellow.

He didn't come alone. He was accompanied by a woman in her thirties, who looked ordinary and also wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

As soon as Zhou Yan entered the door, the two of them stood up. Li Tao smiled and introduced Zhou Yan, "This is director Chen of "Sweet Honey" and screenwriter An Xi."

Oh, it turns out to be Anxi.

Zhou Yan greeted them with a smile, "Welcome to Yanjing, both of you."

Chen Kexin said politely, "I'm really sorry for my sudden visit. I have to trouble you to come back."

The job that Zhou Yan told Li Tao he wanted to take was "Sweet Honey", and the deal was finally settled. Now Li Tao is the soundtrack director of "Sweet Honey".

"It doesn't matter, it's all work. Please sit down, both of you." Zhou Yan smiled and sat down across from the two of them. "Did you come to Yanjing specifically to see Director Li?"

Although he asked this, Zhou Yan felt that Chen Kexin and the others came to Yanjing for other reasons. The soundtrack work for "Sweet Honey" was not complicated. Li Tao and Zhao Lao would also go to Xiangjiang later, so there was no need for Chen Kexin to come for this matter. Moreover, I still brought screenwriter An Xi with me.

Chen Kexin sighed slightly, "Actually, we were planning to visit again tomorrow. We went to see Faye Wong today, but there were some changes in the plan, so we came here temporarily."

"Looking for Faye Wong?" Zhou Yan was a little surprised, "Why are you looking for her?"

"We want to find her to participate in "Sweet Honey"." Chen Kexin said.

"Looking for her to play the heroine?" The surprise on Zhou Yan's face became more obvious. He really didn't expect Chen Kexin and the others to want Faye Wong to play the heroine.

Chen Kexin didn't understand Zhou Yan's surprise, "Does Director Zhou think Faye Wong is not suitable?"

"Oh, not really. Mainly because Faye Wong rarely acts in movies and TV dramas. I didn't expect you to go to her."

Chen Kexin nodded, "Indeed, she rarely acted before, but I watched "Chungking Express" and thought she did a pretty good job. It's a pity that she rejected it without even reading the script. Even if we came to visit, It didn’t work either.”

"Her music career has been developing very well recently, so she probably wants to focus on music." Zhou Yan said.

Last spring, Faye Wong released her first Mandarin album "I Do", which was extremely successful, so in the fall she released her second Mandarin album "Sky", which was also very successful.

And since last year, she has started using her real name Faye Wong instead of her previous stage name Wang Jingwen. Now her music career is on the fast track.

Under such circumstances, it is understandable that she is unwilling to act in a movie, and it is probably not directed at Chen Kexin and his family's movie.

Normally, Faye Wong spends more time in Xiangjiang, but in the past two years she has begun to attack the mainland market, so she spends more time in the mainland, so Chen Kexin and others came to Yanjing.

In fact, it was a very correct decision to give up film and television dramas and focus on music.

Faye Wong's performance is not bad, but it can only be said that it is not bad.

As an actor, Faye Wong really has nothing outstanding. Compared with other actresses of the same generation, Faye Wong will be left behind in seconds.

She is destined not to become an actress like Maggie Cheung or Lin Qingxia, neither her acting skills nor her looks are up to standard. In this case, it is better to focus on music and produce more good songs.

Originally, in Zhou Yan's impression, Faye Wong had not acted in many film and television dramas, and she had very few impressive roles.

This was the reason why Faye Wong rejected Chen Kexin, so when Zhou Yan said this, Chen Kexin nodded and said, "Yeah, so I'm very sorry."

"Then who are you going to find to play Li Qiao now?" Zhou Yan asked curiously.

Chen Kexin shook his head, "I don't have a next target yet, but the leading actor..."

"What happened to the hero?"

Chen Kexin glanced at An Xi, and then said, "Director Zhou, are you interested?"

Zhou Yan was stunned for a moment. Did Chen Kexin want him to play the leading role?

Does this mean that Chen Kexin originally hoped that he and Faye Wong would play the leading role?
But if you think about it carefully, it’s understandable.

I have watched the drama "Sweet Honey" this week. In it, the male protagonist is going from Yanjing to Xiangjiang, while the female protagonist is going from Shanghai to Xiangjiang. If you really want to say it, Li Ming and Zhang Manyu are not the best choices. .

Li Ming's Mandarin is okay, but Zhang Manyu's Mandarin is not good enough to play a Shanghainese.

Hearing that Chen Kexin wanted to ask Zhou Yan to play the leading role, Li Tao next to him suppressed a smile and looked like he was watching a show.

He almost forgot that in addition to being a composer and director, Zhou Yan was also an actor, and he was also an actor who won the Best Newcomer Award.

Speaking of which, the male protagonist in "Sweet Honey" is really suitable for Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan shook his head slightly and said, "I'm really sorry, Director Chen. I'm afraid I don't have the time. My new movie has just been shot and the post-production work has not been completed yet. Besides, I have other things on hand. I will have more work in July." I'm going to the UK to hold a concert." Chen Kexin was a little disappointed when Zhou Yan said this.

Inviting Zhou Yan to play the leading role was actually recommended by Anxi.

Although Zhou Yan plays few roles, Anxi likes Zhou Yan very much. The key is that Zhou Yan's image perfectly fits his imagination of the male protagonist in the movie.

This proposal was also recognized by Chen Kexin.

But Chen Kexin knew that inviting Zhou Yan was even more difficult than inviting Faye Wong.

Although Faye Wong has less filming, she still has at least a few works, but Zhou Yanlong has not acted in a few movies in total.

Moreover, Zhou Yan himself is the director. If Zhou Yan really wanted to act, he would have made arrangements by himself.

Chen Kexin also knew that Zhou Yan had a good reason for refusing. The matter of Zhou Yan's new movie is now quite famous.

Therefore, Chen Kexin did not try any harder and just sighed, "That is really a pity."

Hearing Chen Kexin sigh, Zhou Yan suddenly thought about it. He asked, "Have the other characters for this movie been decided?"

Chen Kexin glanced at Zhou Yan and said, "What you are talking about is..."

"The character Xiaoting."

"Not yet. What recommendations does Director Zhou have?" Chen Kexin has been in the film and television industry for so many years and is also a good person. Of course he can guess what Zhou Yan wants to say.

Zhou Yan nodded, "Chen Hong, do you know?"

Chen Kexin's eyes lit up, "I know Chen Hong, the heroine of "Tree Hole"."

Although Chen Hong's most popular role is Diao Chan in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Chen Kexin is still most familiar with "Tree Hole" because the movie "Tree Hole" won an award at the film festival.

Directors like Chen Kexin are very concerned about the films that win awards at film festivals.

They may not watch "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but they must study movies like "Tree Hole".

"What does Director Chen think of Chen Hong playing Xiaoting?"

"This……"

Chen Kexin hesitated for a moment.

"What concerns does Director Chen have?"

The reason why Zhou Yan recommended Chen Hong was because he felt that the role of Xiaoting was very suitable for Chen Hong. In the setting of the script, the role of Xiaoting was very beautiful, so there was no need to worry that being too beautiful would steal the spotlight from the heroine.

In the original version of "Sweet Honey", Xiao Ting was also played by Kristy Yang who had just made her debut.

"Chen Hong is indeed quite suitable, but she is quite famous now. Would she be willing to play a supporting role? The role of Xiaoting does not have many roles in the movie."

"It's okay. If you think it's appropriate, I can tell her. Of course, if you don't think it's appropriate, don't use her because of my face."

Zhou Yan didn't care about the few scenes. The movie "Sweet Honey" was very popular. It was a good thing for Chen Hong to be able to show her face. Moreover, the few scenes also meant that her life was not much and it was easier.

Chen Kexin said immediately, "No problem, as long as Chen Hong is willing, I can arrange for her to audition."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Then it's settled."

……

In the evening, Zhou Yan invited Chen Kexin and the others to have dinner. During the dinner, everyone was chatting, but nothing about work was mentioned. When they were leaving, Anxi, who had never spoken much, suddenly said, "Director Zhou, don't you really think about it?" The hero?"

Zhou Yan thought the matter was over, but Anxi suddenly brought it up again at this time.

"I'm afraid it's difficult."

"What if Wang Zuxian is invited to play the heroine?"

An Xi's words immediately confused Zhou Yan. How could they chat like this?
Chen Kexin, who was next to him, coughed quickly and said with a smile, "What An Xi means is that Director Zhou and Wang Zuxian have worked together before, and they have a good understanding. If she is invited, the cooperation between you two may be smoother."

In fact, Chen Kexin knew what An Xi meant. There had been rumors about the scandal between Zhou Yan and Wang Zuxian for a long time, so An Xi wondered if Zhou Yan would agree to participate in the show if Wang Zuxian was invited.

Zhou Yan shook his head, "To be honest, I don't think Wang Zuxian is suitable for the role of Li Qiao."

His words made Chen Kexin and An Xi stunned for a moment. Did Zhou Yan and Wang Zuxian really have nothing to do with each other?
Anxi didn't give up, "What about inviting Maggie? Director Zhou, will you come to participate?"

Zhou Yan couldn't help but twitch his lips. This Anxi really knew him right.

If he didn't feel good about Anxi, Zhou Yan would be angry right now. Even if he wanted to participate in the show, he couldn't do this, right? It’s Wang Zuxian again, and it’s Zhang Manyu’s.

In An Xi's opinion, if Zhou Yan's scandal with Wang Zuxian is false, then there is a high probability that Zhou Yan's affair with Zhang Manyu is true.

There was only a little bit of gossip about Zhou Yan's affair with Wang Zuxian, but the scandal with Zhang Manyu was very hot at the time, and the circle even used the term "love letter scandal" to describe that incident.

"Zhang Manyu's Mandarin is not very good, right? Li Qiao's setting is from Shanghai."

"That's okay. You can change the settings and make Li Qiao a native of Yangcheng."

Zhou Yan curled his lips, "It's okay to change it this way. Zhang Manyu is also suitable for this role, but I really don't have time. If I play the role because the heroine is a certain person, doesn't that mean I lied to you just now?"

These words immediately blocked Anxi's subsequent words.

At this point, Anxi really gave up, "Okay, I understand."

……

After Chen Kexin and the others left, Li Tao said with a smile, "It seems that this screenwriter has a soft spot for you. How about you take some time to act in the movie?"

Zhou Yan gave Li Tao a roll of his eyes, "If I have time to act, I can make a movie by myself."

"Then you are just talking nonsense. Acting in a movie can only take a month or two at most, and you can take a break in between. But when you shoot it yourself, the preparation alone takes several months. After the filming is completed, you have to do post-production and promotion. Some actors take a year. If you can act in seven or eight starring roles, can you make seven or eight movies?"

"Don't tell me, if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to make seven or eight movies a year."

"Old Zhou, you've really grown up."

"I just have a clear understanding of my own strength."

"Fart, let's wait and see when your songwriting speed can catch up with me."

Zhou Yan shook his head and admitted defeat directly, "Be quick, you are still first." (End of Chapter)