ryethenovel Chapter 107: A Work with a Strong Sense of Blood
Chapter 107: A Work with a Strong Sense of Blood
In mid-March, Zhao Bo started receiving more phone calls.
It wasn't him calling someone else; it was someone else calling him.
Invitations from various film and television companies came like spring willow catkins: some wanted him to make sequels, some wanted him to make similar comedies, some wanted him to remake foreign copyrights, and some told him he could "make whatever he wanted."
Zhao Bo shared the contents of the phone call in the Early Spring Culture group chat. Director Qin replied, "Be selective, don't take just any job," and Director Mo added, "Choosing a script is more important than choosing money." Luo Jinnian looked at these two messages and knew that these two veteran directors were already helping Zhao Bo vet the projects, so he didn't need to say anything more.
Zhao Bo ended up taking on two projects. One was a suspenseful short drama series for a certain platform, twelve episodes long, with a moderate budget and a lot of creative freedom.
The other one is a dark comedy film. He wrote the script himself and has been revising it for almost two months, but it's still not finalized.
Luo Jinnian read the first draft of the script, wrote a page of revision suggestions, and sent it back. After reading it, Zhao Bo replied, "Your revisions are better than mine," and then immersed himself in the second revision.
Early Spring Culture's various business units were operating independently. When the sample copy of the March issue of "Story Club" was sent to Luo Jinnian, the cover was printed with "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty: Zhang Juzheng's Reforms," and below it in small print it read "Exclusive First Release of Early Spring's Tea's New Short Story of the Year, 'The Last Subway.'"
Luo Jinnian had already submitted the manuscript for the tenth volume of "Laughing Cat's Diary." Chu Qingning sent him the cover illustration that she had redrawn several times after it was rejected. The illustration depicted Laughing Cat and Tiger Cat sitting side by side on a branch of a tree, with a cold moon hanging in the night sky.
Luo Jinnian replied with a single word, "Pass," and Chu Qingning sent a string of exclamation marks.
Post-production on "The Silent Truth" is nearing completion. Director Qin spent almost two months in the editing room in Beijing, and sent the initial cut to Luo Jinnian for review. That night, he sat in his rented room, watching from 9 p.m. until after 2 a.m., without drinking water, going to the bathroom, or pausing even once.
After watching it, he sat in his chair, staring blankly at the black screen for a long time. Then he sent a message to Director Qin: "That close-up of Jiang Yang needs to be reshot. It was good, but it didn't feel right."
Director Qin replied instantly with a single word: "Okay."
In April, during the midterm exams, Luo Jinnian ranked second in her grade.
He performed as expected, but there are always those who are better than you; the student who ranked first in the grade excelled in all subjects.
After seeing the report card, Chu Qingning kept nagging him for a long time, "You lost seven points in Chinese. Did you go off-topic in your essay?" Luo Jinnian did not refute. He lost seven points in Chinese because his essay was not "standard" enough. He wrote "On the Value of Silence", which was about a person using silence to fight against injustice. The examiner probably felt that the theme was not positive enough.
It is reasonable to deduct this point.
It's one thing to stick to the rules when writing essays for major exams, but for regular exams, you should follow your heart and solve problems however you want.
Gu Yanxi took the essay paper and looked it over. After reading it, she said, "It's pretty good. He dared to write it. He got this score because he wrote it well." Then she returned the paper to him.
Chu Qingning understood immediately.
My younger brother usually writes his essays however he pleases.
Gu Yanxi has been preparing for a performance recently.
Her Chinese teacher asked her to recite a poem for the school's arts festival, and she chose Bei Dao's "Answer." During rehearsals, she quietly recited the poem at the back of the classroom: "Baseness is the passport of the base, nobility is the epitaph of the noble."
When Luo Jinnian heard these two lines, he looked up at her, but Gu Yanxi didn't notice and continued reciting her poem.
Perhaps it's because he just finished filming "The Silent Truth" and Luo Jinnian hasn't quite gotten out of character yet.
The core of Jiang Yang's character is the same as this poem: noble people pay the price for nobility, while despicable people step over the bones of the noble to reach the center stage.
In early May, "The Silent Truth" passed censorship. Nearly a month faster than expected, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) offered one suggestion for revision: the wording of a line needed adjustment, as it was "too straightforward." Director Qin reviewed the suggestion, changed the wording of the line written by Luo Jinnian by one word, resubmitted it for review, and it finally passed.
Luo Jinnian was silent for a while after seeing the revised version. It did not damage the meaning of the original lines, but only changed to a gentler way of expression.
The release date for "The Silent Truth" was announced in mid-May, and it will premiere exclusively on iQiyi on May 20th.
The design for the official poster was chosen by Luo Jinnian: a black background and an empty chair, with light coming from the side, casting a long shadow next to the chair.
The poster has no human faces on it, only one line of text: "Some people, just living is already giving them their all."
The text is an excerpt from the original article.
On May 17th, Gu Yanxi recited the poem "Answer" at the school's arts festival. She stood in the center of the stage, the lights shining down on her head, her voice not loud but very steady.
Luo Jinnian sat in the audience and listened to the entire poem.
He ignited the applause throughout the audience at the end.
Gu Yanxi smiled at him. "Thank you."
Two days later, on the eve of the premiere of "The Silent Truth". Luo Jinnian sat in his rented room, an open but unread textbook in front of him, his phone on the corner of the table, the screen lit up and displayed on his chat with Gu Yanxi.
Gu Yanxi's last message was three hours ago: "Your drama airs tomorrow, are you nervous?" He didn't reply to that message from three hours ago, not because he didn't know the answer, but because he felt that saying anything at that moment wouldn't be appropriate. Finally, he typed one word and sent it: "Yeah." Gu Yanxi replied with a patting shoulder emoji.
It was late at night. Luo Jinnian turned off the light and lay on the bed, the ceiling fan turning slowly. He lay awake in the darkness, recalling Jiang Yang's last line in "The Silent Truth." That line was short, only six words: "I don't regret having been here."
He wasn't sure how much the audience would react when they heard that line, but he knew that at this time tomorrow, there would be a group of people crying in front of their screens.
Those tears will be shed for Jiang Yang, and also for those who have "come and gone" in life but have not been seen.
A motorcycle passed by outside the window, the sound of its engine growing louder and louder until it disappeared into the night.
Luo Jinnian turned over, closed his eyes, and let those six words go through his mind again.
Good writing and good sentences require extensive reading, learning, and practice.
Zi Jinchen may not be a master of suspense, but he definitely understands the needs of the domestic suspense market very well.
Traditional mystery novels gain reputation, while social mystery novels gain market share. Zi Jinchen, who understands this principle, has carved out a path for domestic physical mystery novels with his talent.
Luo Jinnian studied his structure while praising its excellence, but writing too much of this kind of writing would inevitably become "bland".
His next step is to write something more gory.