Chapter 136: A Surprise Bonus from the Spring Festival Gala! Do You Have to Step on Me to Get Ahead?
Sunlight streamed in through the gap in the curtains, a clear beam of light falling directly onto a fair collarbone.
As time passed, the beam of light began to move slowly, about to climb over two proud mountains.
…
Late on the night of December 31, 2006, Shen Qing couldn’t hold back.
Early on the morning of January 1, 2007, Shen Qing still couldn’t hold back.
Thinking back, it was only natural.
After all, what man, with wealth and power, could resist the temptation of super beauty?
Look at my eyes, answer me~
I knew no one would answer!
Afternoon.
Shen Qing, full from his meal, left Fan Xiaopang’s apartment.
He drove to the studio to continue his music creation, and to check the box office for My People, My Country, as well as the album sales for Wish.
Fan Xiaopang stood on the balcony, not even having time to fasten a few buttons on her pajamas, and watched Shen Qing’s car drive away.
Her fair, plump body beneath the pajamas still carried the lingering scent of last night’s passionate embrace, every inch of her skin rejoicing.
Thinking of Shen Qing cupping her face and kissing her, Little Fan couldn’t help but smile slightly~
…
Studio.
Chen Liang rushed over, “Boss, it’s bad! It’s urgent, extremely urgent, I have to tell you right away.”
Shen Qing, without looking up, continued writing, “Did the box office explode again?”
Chen Liang: “No, it’s even more amazing than the box office exploding. It’s the Spring Festival Gala, the director of the Spring Festival Gala just called.”
Shen Qing: “That’s it?”
Chen Liang: “The Spring Festival Gala, boss!!”
Shen Qing: “Liangying has been on before, don’t make a fuss. If there’s a chance to make big money in the future, then get excited. Otherwise, I’ll dock your salary.”
Chen Liang: “It’s not just Liangying going, they’re also inviting the cast of My People, My Country to come along.”
Shen Qing: “???”
Oh, this…
Who is the director of this year’s Spring Festival Gala?
Am I being threatened?!
What would the cast of My People, My Country do there, perform a skit?
Even the king of skits, Zhao Benshan, can’t guarantee every work won’t be rejected. How could those actors have that level? They couldn’t even perform a play properly if it wasn’t live.
However, Shen Qing’s mind instantly flashed to Shen Teng and Ma Li’s “Who Will Help?”, which was the only work by the new generation of actors that could rival the old artists on the Spring Festival Gala.
If it really comes down to it, they could copy this skit for them to perform.
But then he thought, it’s unlikely they’d perform a skit, unless the director was truly out of his mind.
It’s already January 1st, and there are less than two months until Lunar New Year’s Eve on February 18th. There’s no time to prepare a skit.
Could it be that they’re just sitting in the first row as audience members?
Very likely~
Every year, the Spring Festival Gala invites some important guests to attend. As a phenomenal main theme movie at the end of 2006, it’s normal for My People, My Country to be invited.
Shen Qing: “What did the director say?”
Chen Liang: “I don’t know, he just said for you and Liangying to go over!”
Shen Qing nodded, then read a few news articles and found out that the director of the 2007 Year of the Pig Spring Festival Gala was Jin Yue.
Uh, I don’t know him well…
But I’ve heard his name. In the 2010 Spring Festival Gala, he inserted a large number of advertisements, which were complained about and criticized by audiences across the country, and he was subsequently disqualified by CCTV.
Sometimes, whether advertisements are included or not, it’s not up to the director.
This year’s Spring Festival Gala skits seem to have quite a few advertisements as well.
The most memorable to Shen Qing was the skit “Plan” starring Zhao Benshan, Song Dandan, and Niu Qun, which inserted an advertisement for Sina Blog – www.blogbaiyunpiaopiao.com.
…
Zhang Liangying, who was traveling in Hangzhou, received Shen Qing’s call and bought a plane ticket for that night back to Beijing.
The next day, the two went to CCTV’s Studio 1.
As soon as they arrived at the entrance, they were spotted by the waiting reporters.
“Wow, Zhang Liangying!”
“Liangying, will you sing Wish this year?”
“Dear viewers, what you are seeing now is the third dress rehearsal for CCTV’s Year of the Pig Spring Festival Gala. The actors are entering the studio one by one. Wow, we’ve actually seen Zhang Liangying and Shen Qing, let’s follow them…”
“…”
The reporters surrounded Zhang Liangying, thrusting microphones in front of her.
However, with Shen Qing there, none of that was a problem.
His tall frame shielded Zhang Liangying as they walked inside, like he was holding his daughter, which was very heartwarming.
Zhang Liangying glanced at Shen Qing, her eyes full of affection.
But thinking that Shen Qing had mistakenly called her Bingbing during their passionate moments last night, Liangying felt a little annoyed: “Hmph, a cat can’t help but steal fish. I need to drain him completely so he doesn’t have the energy to go out.”
“Hmm? What are you looking at me like that for?” Shen Qing smiled faintly, “Still thinking about last night? I just accidentally called you Bingbing, I didn’t mean anything else.”
“I think you just want to… Hmph, even if you want to, you can’t!!”
“I’m focused on my work. I don’t care about romantic matters; they only satisfy physiological needs. I enjoy the dopamine rush from my career more.”
“Liar, then why are you so creative…”
“That was just a flash of inspiration. How about we play a role-playing game tonight? You pretend to catch me and Fan Bingbing in bed?”
“Hehe, that sounds quite interesting!”
“Look at you…”
The two of them bickered all the way into the broadcasting building, which was already bustling with people.
They also encountered Feng Gong, Guo Da, and Cai Ming along the way. They had met them last year and recognized them. Feng Gong personally led them to Jin Yue.
“What? You want our cast to sing?”
“Yes, My People, My Country can be said to be the hottest topic this year. If you don’t perform on the Spring Festival Gala, the people of the whole country won’t agree!”
Jin Yue’s assistant poured Shen Qing and Liangying a cup of tea. Shen Qing took a sip and said, “Director Jin, you flatter me.”
“Your box office is about to break 400 million. This is not only a great joy for the film industry, but also a great joy for the people of the whole country. Moreover, the higher-ups are very satisfied with your work!”
“The higher-ups? CCTV leaders?”
“Haha, broaden your horizons a bit.”
Shen Qing: ???
“They pay attention to my movies?”
Jin Yue nodded:
“They encounter all sorts of new things every day, and top university professors give them lectures. It’s normal for them to pay attention to an excellent main theme movie like My People, My Country.”
“So, you must perform on the Spring Festival Gala…”
Alright, there’s no way out of it.
To be honest, Shen Qing was actually a little excited.
But how to perform…
What to perform…
Became the biggest problem at the moment.
Jin Yue suggested: “It’s too late for your cast to perform a skit. Singing is the only suitable option right now. I suggest singing My People, My Country.”
Shen Qing had no objections to this suggestion.
Having the cast of My People, My Country sing the song of the same name could very well become a major highlight of the 2007 Year of the Pig Spring Festival Gala.
“Also, I hope Liangying can sing a solo. After all, she was so popular last year. In the poll for who people wanted to see on the Spring Festival Gala, Zhang Liangying ranked second, right after Zhao Benshan.”
“Okay, can she sing Wish?”
Jin Yue shook his head and said, “Wish is indeed good, but it lacks novelty. Little Shen, I know you write songs like drinking water. Give Uncle a hint, do you have anything good?”
Damn it, he wants me to give him a new song?
“This would be very beneficial for Liangying, as she’s opening a concert after the new year, and it’s very necessary to maintain her popularity in advance.”
Shen Qing still held his ground.
With these conditions?
Jin Yue gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll have Liangying interviewed on the Spring Festival Gala’s ‘Year After Year’ special program!”
This program, which started in 2002, aired from 9 AM on Lunar New Year’s Eve until the Spring Festival Gala began, lasting about 13 hours.
The ratings were very high.
Because many people were home on Lunar New Year’s Eve and had nothing to do, they would watch this program.
Especially from 5 PM to 8 PM, the ratings were the highest.
Jin Yue: “The 6 PM slot, 2 minutes!”
Shen Qing: “The 7 PM slot, 5 minutes.”
Jin Yue’s eyes widened in surprise, “No, Little Shen, this is CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala program. Isn’t 5 minutes too long?”
Shen Qing smiled, “Let Zhang Liangying and the cast of My People, My Country perform together, 5 minutes!”
Jin Yue thought for a moment and said with great distress, “I can’t guarantee it. I’ll go discuss it with the directors of ‘Year After Year’ first.”
…
Shen Qing stroked his chin and said faintly, “Oh, I just remembered, I happen to have a song that’s perfect for the Spring Festival Gala performance, one that’s guaranteed to make someone popular…”
“Haha, then what are we waiting for! 5 minutes is 5 minutes, it’s not a difficult task!”
“Within a week, I’ll send you the demo.”
“Three days!! It’s too late, the first dress rehearsal is in four days… I’ll arrange for music director Chen Yanhong to liaise with you… By the way, you’ll need to select some people from your cast. It’s impossible for everyone to go. I mean, choose a few memorable characters and have them lip-sync.”
“Alright, Director Jin, you must be busy. I’ll go back and record the song immediately.”
…
On the way back, Zhang Liangying listened to Shen Qing sing “Love Each Other” acapella and was extremely excited: “Wuwuwu, Officer, you’re so good to me, keeping good songs for me.”
“Who told you that you’re my Second Class Private~”
“Hehe, then you can only have me as your Second Class Private, okay! If I see you secretly dating Fan Bingbing, I won’t talk to you anymore!”
“Okay, I promise, you’re the only Second Class Private.”
“Officer, you’re so good~”
“Alright, alright, let’s go back and calculate the album sales and movie box office. We have the year-end summary meeting soon, we need to be professional.”
“Haha, our studio only has six people.”
“It will grow. You need to embrace your role as the boss’s wife.”
At the studio, Shen Qing, Zhang Liangying, and Chen Liang scratched their heads and calculated for a long time before they could figure out the data.
Looking at the Excel spreadsheet on the computer, Shen Qing said, “We still need to hire an accountant. It won’t work with just the three of us.”
He paused.
Shen Qing said, “Chen Liang, do you have any Zhejiang University classmates who study accounting? If they want to come, you can recommend them. We can discuss salary.”
Chen Liang’s eyes lit up.
This was an opportunity to show off to his classmates, a chance to “show off.” He said, “Yes, President Shen, what kind are you looking for? I know all the class beauties, department beauties, and college beauties. They’re graduating now and earning over 5,000 yuan, they’ll definitely want to come here~”
Shen Qing: Of course, a college beauty~
But seeing Zhang Liangying’s watchful eyes, Shen Qing had to restrain himself and said faintly, “Looks aren’t important. The key is ability and personality. You handle it, I trust you.”
…
A few days later~
The New Year’s Day holiday ended, and all the workers returned to their jobs.
The box office for the Chinese New Year Film Season experienced an epic decline. Confession of Pain and The Knot were reduced to one-tenth of their previous performance, and Curse of the Golden Flower dropped from 30 million on the 1st to 5 million, completely losing its momentum.
The Chinese New Year Film Season had ended.
Major media outlets began reporting on the battle.
Among them, Zhang Yimou was the first to be thrust into the spotlight.
My People, My Country, soared ahead with a box office of 420 million, breaking the 1998 record of Titanic’s 360 million, and reaching the pinnacle of the mainland Chinese film market.
Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower grossed less than half of My People, My Country, completely becoming a backdrop. The fall of a renowned director in such a manner was lamentable!
Seeing the exaggerated wording in the news, Old Zhang Yimou’s eyes went black: “Your grandmother’s… do you have to step on me to get ahead?”
