Chapter 27: Broadcast

Inside the restaurant's private dining room, most of the members of the *Golden Powder Era* crew had arrived, with the lead actors sitting at the same table as Zhang Yuan.

Liu Guoquan hadn't come, saying he didn't enjoy the rowdiness of young people, but Li Dawei was different—where there was alcohol, there was him.

Although Zhang Yuan was the host, he yielded the seat of honor and placed Li Dawei right in the center of the table.

Not only that, but he also yielded the seats near the head of the table to senior veterans like Kou Zhenghai, Wu Jing, and Huang Meiying, making the seniors like this polite junior even more.

In his heart, Li Dawei recalled what his mother had said: Zhang Yuan truly knew how to navigate social graces and understood the ways of the world perfectly; he was someone worth associating with.

It was quite rare for Shu Chang to take the initiative to sit right next to Zhang Yuan, though she appeared somewhat shy and bashful.

Liu Xixi also wanted to squeeze in close, but her mother plucked her back like a little chick and sat her down nearby to monitor her dining.

"Zhang Yuan, you're the host today. Say a few words," Li Dawei prompted.

Zhang Yuan rose with his glass, but just then, his phone rang...

"Sorry, let me take this call." Seeing that the caller was Zhao Decai, also known as Fatty Zhao, Zhang Yuan hurriedly stood up and stepped out of the room.

"President Zhao, how have you been lately?"

"Excellent!" On the other end of the line, Zhao Decai said while holding a young secretary, "I'm calling to tell you some good news."

"*Conquer* is airing tonight!"

Zhang Yuan glanced at his phone; it was mid-June.

He remembered that in his previous life, *Conquer* didn't start airing for several more months. Clearly, due to his influence, things had been moved up.

It made sense; originally, Gao Qunshu had spent a long time trying to sell it, but Zhang Yuan had saved him a lot of time.

Furthermore, the original buyer had been a female restaurant owner, whereas Zhao Decai, a coal tycoon, clearly had more clout. With money, it was easier to smooth over the channels and secure an earlier broadcast.

"Which station?"

"Tianjin TV."

*What a coincidence...* Zhang Yuan chuckled inwardly. *What fate. I happen to be in Tianjin right now.*

"Then congratulations."

"Congratulations to you too." Fatty Zhao couldn't hide the exhilaration in his voice. Having been in the capital for a year or two, this was the first television series he had managed to get aired.

He had even notified his father to prove that he hadn't wasted his money in the capital and had actually built a career.

After a few polite exchanges, Zhang Yuan's tone turned serious as he spoke again.

"President Zhao, airing is a good thing, but you should prepare yourself mentally. The ratings might not necessarily be very high."

Zhang Yuan remembered clearly that the true rise of *Conquer* happened after it moved to satellite television.

"Going to satellite" meant broadcasting on provincial stations. After a few rounds of trial broadcasts, the performance of *Conquer* couldn't be called mediocre; it could only be described as being on the verge of failure.

However, once it landed on Jiangsu Satellite TV, the show suddenly exploded. With a massive lead of over two percentage points, it completely crushed the big-budget production *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*, which had better airtime but hadn't even considered *Conquer* a threat.

In fact, many famous TV series had gone through this experience; the initial broadcast results for *Bright Sword*, *Snow Leopard*, and *Soldiers Sortie* were all quite underwhelming.

Zhang Yuan explained this to Fatty Zhao, but the latter was brimming with confidence and didn't take it to heart at all.

Returning to the table, Li Dawei asked what had happened, and Zhang Yuan recounted the contents of the phone call in full.

"Come, everyone, raise your glasses! Congratulations to Zhang Yuan on his show airing!" Li Dawei took the lead, and the room immediately became lively.

"Congratulations, Brother Yuan!"

"May the ratings soar!"

"Zhang Yuan is going to be famous!"

Cheers rang out continuously at the table, everyone offering their blessings for Zhang Yuan's success.

"Yuan, which station is your show on, and when does it air? We want to tune in."

"Tianjin TV. The timing isn't great—it airs at 11 PM, four episodes in a row."

Everyone at the table took note. The hotel happened to receive Tianjin TV's signal, so they planned to go back and watch Zhang Yuan's performance.

As everyone played drinking games and exchanged toasts, Shu Chang, sitting beside Zhang Yuan, acted like a dutiful little wife, picking up a piece of fatty yellow croaker for him and carefully removing the bones.

"Brother Yuan, don't just drink; you'll get drunk easily. Eat some food."

Zhang Yuan smiled and accepted Shu Chang's kindness. Just as he was about to take a bite, another pair of chopsticks appeared, dropping an inedible fish tail into his bowl.

"Brother Yuan... eat some food..."

He didn't even need to look to know that it was that girl Liu Xixi acting up in a high-pitched, affected voice.

"Xixi, don't be like that," Shu Chang scolded gently.

Liu Xixi merely lifted her chin and turned her head away, then stole a glance at Zhang Yuan from the corner of her eye and gave a soft huff, though it was unclear whose jealousy she was nursing.

In comparison, though they were both young girls, Shu Chang's sensible manner was why she was more cherished by the crew.

Moreover, this young girl, who excelled in both acting and learning, possessed a special talent: linguistic giftedness!

Not just foreign languages, but dialects as well.

Shu Chang was born in the Northeast, her ancestral home was Chongqing, and she grew up in the capital. Being naturally gifted, she could speak the dialects of all three regions.

She could even adapt to her surroundings; when communicating with Chen Kun, who was from Chongqing, she would use the Chongqing dialect.

When talking to actors from the Northeast like Liu Xiaoli, Kou Zhenghai, and Dong Jie, she spoke with a thick Northeastern accent.

When speaking with Li Dawei, she automatically switched to a Beijing accent.

Not only that, she also learned the Shanghai dialect from the two veterans, Wu Jing and Huang Meiying, as well as from Xu Lu, who was from the Northeast but graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Because of this, anyone who met her felt an instant sense of familiarity.

Even Zhang Yuan, having lived two lives, was amazed by her academic-level learning ability; it was simply too formidable.

Shu Chang hardly ate anything during the entire banquet, spending her time "serving" Zhang Yuan. Even when he went to other tables to toast, Shu Chang would follow closely behind him with a wine cup, almost never leaving his side.

"Brother Yuan, are you very close with Sister Shanshan?" Shu Chang asked somewhat doubtfully after Zhang Yuan had finished a pleasant conversation with another cast member.

"I don't know her, but I quite like her."

Shu Chang's face fell for a split second upon hearing this, but she recovered instantly before anyone could notice.

Zhang Yuan's answer was half-truth and half-lie. The actress he had specifically gone to chat with was named Luo Shanshan. Whether before or after this moment, this actress would never have any particularly famous roles, nor would she ever win any major industry awards.

In terms of looks, she played the fourth young lady of the Jin family; with limited screen time, she appeared somewhat ordinary compared to the other beautiful actresses in the cast.

So why would Zhang Yuan make an effort to get to know her?

In 2023, a movie called *Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms* earned over 2.6 billion yuan at the box office.

And this Luo Shanshan was a co-producer of that film!

Though she achieved nothing significant in the acting world, a few years later, she would meet the wealthy businessman Wan Zhongbo from Wenling and enter into marriage with him.

And behind Beijing Culture, which invested in works like *The Wandering Earth*, *Wolf Warrior 2*, *Hi, Mom*, *The Unforgivable*, *Youth*, and *Dying to Survive*, was the shadow of Wan Zhongbo!

This was the embodiment of the saying, "Acting well is not as good as marrying well."

Although this actress was currently obscure, within ten years, she would become a top-tier "golden thigh" to lean on.

Zhang Yuan naturally had to find opportunities to build a connection and plan for the future.

The meal lasted until nearly 10 PM before the group finally dispersed amidst enthusiastic cheers.

Returning to the hotel provided by the crew, Zhang Yuan took a shower and lay spread-eagled on the large bed to rest.

Thinking about how Shu Chang had been acting toward him today—all eager to please—Zhang Yuan's posture gradually shifted from a spread-eagle to a vertical position.

"No, no, she's only 14. I'll end up in jail singing about my regrets behind bars..."

After timely curbing his thoughts of testing the "legal boundaries," Zhang Yuan saw that it was nearly 11 PM and intended to turn on the TV to catch a glimpse of his first television series.

But just as he picked up the remote, there was a knock on the room door.

When he opened it, Dong Jie, wearing a white lace gauze dress, was standing there with a bottle of red wine and two glasses, looking at him with a beaming smile...

(End of Chapter)