Chapter 1306: Doing a favor
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Noon.
At Zhang Ye’s maternal grandma’s house.
When the door opened, Zhang Ye’s grandpa and grandma, his three uncles and aunties, and his three sisters were already here. Lunch was almost ready and it looked like it was going to be a very sumptuous meal. After all, this was Wu Zeqing’s first visit. Even though they had already met each other during the wedding and also spoken, there were too many outsiders around at that time. And with the couple so busy entertaining guests yesterday, they didn’t really manage to talk much. Only today could they have a proper conversation.
Zhang Ye led Wu Zeqing around to greet everyone.
Wu Zeqing said, “Grandpa, Grandma.”
Grandma replied, “Hello! Hello!”
Wu Zeqing asked, “How has your health been, Grandpa and Grandma?”
“Pretty good,” Grandma said with a broad smile.
“I heard from Little Ye that Grandpa hasn’t been feeling too well recently?”
“Hai, it’s just some old chronic problems; it’s nothing much. Mengmeng’s mother, what are you looking at, all starstruck? Hurry up and bring my granddaughter-in-law some water. Shouldn’t you know what to do!”
Old Wu said, “It’s fine, Third Aunt, I’ll help myself.”
Zhang Ye’s third aunt smiled and said, “Zeqing, take a seat and don’t bother yourself.”
Mengmeng came over eagerly. “Sister-in-law.”
“Hey, Mengmeng.” Old Wu smiled.
Mengmeng said in envy, “Sister-in-law, you’re so pretty.”
Old Wu replied, “Hur hur, thank you. You’ll be even prettier when you grow up.”
“Really?” Cao Mengmeng got very excited.
Only to hear Zhang Ye add, “You really believe that?”
Cao Mengmeng said angrily, “Brother! I really want to hit you!”
His grandma slapped her head and said, “You, how can you speak like this to your brother?”
Cao Mengmeng wailed, “Look at this, just look at this, Grandma is being biased again!”
Everyone laughed.
Zhang Ye’s mother was the eldest in her family, and Zhang Ye was also the eldest one of his generation. Together with the fact that he was a male, his grandpa and grandma naturally doted on him more. Now that Zhang Ye had married Wu Zeqing, his status in the family was elevated even further. Grandpa and Grandma couldn’t be more proud of that, so of course they would side more with their grandson.
…
Elsewhere.
In the Celebrity Goof Group.
A B-list female celebrity posted several news links in the group.
“Ning Lan’s new movie banned?”
“Distribution company reveals film has yet to pass approval process!”
“Due to a few scenes that violated the rules, Ning Lan’s new film won’t get released in time for the Lunar New Year festivities?”
Everyone emerged.
Zhang Xia: “Little Ning, what’s the matter?”
Director Li Ke: “It hasn’t been approved yet?”
Xiaodong: “Sister Ning, is it serious?”
Ning Lan responded: “Hai, don’t mention it anymore. We don’t even know how to deal with it. All our plans have been disrupted. Those scenes were not originally planned and wouldn’t affect the plot either. They’ve already been deleted, but the approval board has rejected it. It doesn’t matter what is being said anymore.”
Huo Dongfang: “Have you received the remuneration yet?”
Ning Lan sent a crying emoji. “What could I have received? I didn’t ask for a remuneration this time and opted to get a share of the box office earnings instead. Now that it can’t even be released, how can I possibly get any payment? If the film doesn’t make it in time for the holiday screening, the company will suffer a big loss for sure. This turn of events has come too suddenly this time. It was also our own fault for not handling it well and taking all the considerations. Otherwise, we could have been preparing for distribution already if the approval had made it through the first time.”
Li Ke suggested: “Try to pull some strings to get the problem resolved.”
Ning Lan: “Who can we find? The sponsors have only an average influence in the industry and can’t get direct access to the top to speak with them. The film is stuck now because the authorities are not passing it.”
Amy suddenly said: “Try looking for Teacher Zhang.”
Ning Lan: “He has only just held his wedding. Is this really appropriate?”
Xiaodong: “I think he didn’t go on a honeymoon. He’s probably still in Beijing.”
Chen Guang: “Yes, try to ask Zhang Ye.”
…
Late in the evening.
Zhang Ye and Wu Zeqing were driving back to Taoran Pavilion. They had been to his maternal grandma’s house in the afternoon, followed by his paternal aunt’s place in the evening. After a day of visiting his relatives, Zhang Ye felt like it still wasn’t enough. He really enjoyed such gatherings with his family. With all his work pushed back, spending every day traveling with Old Wu was such a nice feeling. This was why a person had to take a proper vacation to enjoy themselves and not think about anything else. Otherwise, if they kept working every day, not even an iron man could bear it.
“Old Wu, what should we do when we get back?”
“Let’s watch a movie?”
“Sure, we’ll stream one on your computer.”
“Hur hur, OK.”
As they were chatting, his cell phone rang.
Wu Zeqing picked it up and asked, “How do you want to answer it?”
Zhang Ye said as he drove, “Put it on speakerphone.”
Old Wu answered the call.
It was from Ning Lan.
“Zhang’er, it’s me.”
“Sister Ning, what’s the matter?”
“Are you at home?”
“I’m on the road and will be arriving home soon.”
“We haven’t had a meal in a long time. Do you want to meet up?”
“I just ate dinner. What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Well, there’s something. It’s about a movie.”
“A movie? Then do you want to come over to my place?”
“Is that appropriate?”
“Just come over, we’re all family.”
“Sure, but I might be bringing two people along with me.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you then. I’ll send you the address in a bit.”
In the entertainment circle, friends were usually quite open to meeting and having discussions at their own homes. This was because doing so out in the public was quite inconvenient. If you were slightly more famous, people would still recognize you even with sunglasses and a face mask on. When the reporters arrived and the fans started gathering around, what conversation could be made? Wouldn’t it be better to just go home?
After reaching home.
Zhang Ye happily walked upstairs with Old Wu. They picked a movie to watch on the computer and found that there weren’t too many sources for the newer films. In the end, they selected a film from half a year ago after browsing through the titles. Zhang Ye and Wu Zeqing had both chosen the same romance film when the doorbell rang.
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Start the download.”
Old Wu acknowledged, “OK, go on and answer the door.”
When he got downstairs and opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of Ning Lan. The two people standing beside her, though, he didn’t know. “Come on in and have a seat.”
“Boss Zhang.”
“Sorry to bother you, Boss Zhang.”
Those two people were speaking very politely.
But Ning Lan did not stand on ceremony with Zhang Ye. The moment she stepped into the house, she looked around and remarked, “This space doesn’t look cheap? Did you buy this villa recently? Not bad at all.”
Zhang Ye shrugged. “I didn’t buy it. It’s my wife’s place.”
When those two people heard that, they exchanged a glance and looked even more cautious.
Zhang Ye poured them some tea. “So what is it, Sister Ning?”
“Have you read the news yet?”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “No, how would I have the time to do that in recent days?”
“True.” Ning Lan frowned and said, “Well, your sis here has encountered some trouble. The new holiday movie that I just took part in has not been approved and was left in limbo by the authorities.” She explained the issue in detail to Zhang Ye and said at the end, “Actually, it was our fault to begin with. We did not make sure that everything was in order before sending it in for approval, so it ended up this way. I kept thinking about it but just couldn’t come up with any ideas on how to handle it. It’s almost time for the cinemas to schedule their screenings for the holidays. If we don’t quickly get it in, we’ll definitely miss the timing. That’s why I came to look for you to see if anything could be done. If it weren’t an urgent matter, I wouldn’t have come looking for you at this time. So what do you think? Can you help?”
The other two people were from the film distributors. They also lamented about the situation.
Zhang Ye knew what they were trying to say. “Since Boss Ning has asked, I definitely have to help. But this is not something that I can make a decision on. I can only ask for you.”
He shouted upstairs, “Old Wu.”
A moment later, Wu Zeqing came down.
Ning Lan smiled. “Chief Wu, sorry to disturb you so late at night.”
Old Wu smiled and said, “It’s fine.”
Then Zhang Ye said, “Their film has been stopped on your end.”
“Which one?” Old Wu asked.
Zhang Ye said, “Flames of War.”
Wu Zeqing nodded. “I know. I heard that there were some scenes that violated the guidelines and that the relevant people have notified you all to get it changed, right?”
One of the people from the film distributor said respectfully, “Yes, they’ve already notified us and we carried out the changes immediately. But when we sent it in the second time, we heard nothing about it.”
Old Wu asked, “Have all the necessary changes been made?”
The other person from the film distributor immediately answered, “We’ve changed everything so that there shouldn’t be any issues.”
Wu Zeqing acknowledged, “Alright, I know what to do then. I’ll make a call to hurry them up for you. If there’s nothing wrong with the source footage, then everything should proceed.”
The two people immediately gave their thanks.
“Thank you, Chief Wu!”
“We’re really grateful to you!”
After sitting for a while more, they hurriedly left so as not to disturb them anymore.
Zhang Ye saw them out.
Ning Lan quietly whispered to him, “Thanks.”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Come on, you don’t have to be so polite. You should do something more practical instead, like treating me to a big meal.”
Ning Lan was amused. “If I have to treat anyone, it would be your wife. But then again, you’ve really helped me big time. There is finally someone in the artists’ circle who can speak to the people at the top. Everyone has better days ahead. Zhang’er, it’s all credit to you.”
Zhang Ye said righteously, “Hai, it’s just a small matter. If I don’t descend into Hell, who will?”
Ning Lan rolled her eyes. “Whoa, how is that Hell? I can see that you’ll have quite beautiful days ahead.”
Zhang Ye chuckled, “Haha, I guess so.”
…
The SARFT was really efficient in handling the matter.
Of course, this was in the context of the matter being brought to the attention of Wu Zeqing.
On that night, the film distributor received news that Flames of War had been approved. With the movie approved and the paperwork filed, they could finally set the screening dates.
This news left many of those from the film distributor and the film crew very excited!
In the Goof Group.
Ning Lan sent a message: “@ZhangYe It’s settled, thanks!”
Xiaodong asked: “Has it been approved already?”
Amy said in surprise: “That fast?”
Ning Lan posted a smiley face. “It’s been approved. It was all credit to Boss Zhang, what a loyal friend!”
…
However, Zhang Ye did not reply.
This was because he didn’t have the time to pay attention about the chat group.
At Old Wu’s house, Zhang Ye was busy drawing third blood from Old Wu after they finished watching the movie!
