Chapter 220: An Idea
In the blink of an eye, more than half of the summer vacation had passed. In August, the scorching sun and non-stop air conditioning became essential elements of the month. Southerners, accustomed to the heat, were quite at ease.
After returning from Guangnan, Zhou Silan threw herself back into her creative work. It had been a long time since she had truly composed a song. The outside world was always questioning her, with endless talk of her decline and her talent running dry. While there was some truth to it, she certainly didn’t believe she could no longer write songs. Because she was still young.
This trip to Guangnan, where she met Yu Linna, had given her new inspiration: a song for a former friend. A sequel, of sorts, to “The Times You’ve Forgotten.”
She would call it “Thank You.”
When this song was released, it would surely be full of malice, aimed at a certain someone.
But never mind. She was just a creator. Who cared about someone else’s feelings?
“Sister Zhou, what about next week’s schedule?”
“Push it back, push it all back. I don’t have time. I’m writing a song. Tell them, if they want my album to be released in two months, then give me my freedom.”
Only she dared to speak like this. After all, her position in the entertainment industry was unshakeable. She had been developing in the industry for so many years and had long since carved out her place. If you were to compare Nangong Ying and Li Yuexin to Zhou Silan, Zhou Silan’s star power was undoubtedly greater. She was the rightful queen of the entertainment industry, a future superstar.
Besides the A-list celebrities, no one could compare to her. She had never acted in a movie, yet her popularity was among the highest in the country.
…
Just then, filming for Dream Life wrapped up. Director Wang’s next task was to edit the film for its September release. This film was positioned not as a commercial film, but as an art-house film. From the very beginning, it wasn’t aimed at the box office, but at winning awards.
Tang Yumeng’s role in this film was not large, about 30 minutes, but it was extremely important. This was a film aimed at winning awards. Director Wang never expected it to achieve high box office numbers. In his mind, earning ten million would be a blessing.
“Director Wang, this story is really good. You’re so creative, to be able to think of such a great theme.”
“Perhaps.”
Wang Weifan just smiled at this. He knew very well that the source of this script was not his own creation, but inspiration he had gotten from a crumpled piece of paper he had found. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t his creation. He had merely used the paper as a basis for a secondary creation, perfecting the details and extending the length.
“By the way, Director Wang, we’re planning a TV series recently, and we’re short a screenwriter. We have the theme, but we’re missing someone to provide the script. Should we look for someone?”
“We can. Do you have anyone in mind?”
“I’m struggling with that too, Director. Since you were able to write Dream Life, why don’t you do it?”
“I’m getting old. Let’s forget it. How about this? We find a professional novelist and ask them to write the script.”
Who knew what this decision would change, but Director Wang would surely be grateful for it later.
…
Ever since her copyright negotiations with Shion-Sensei had fallen through, Li Jing had been in a funk for a long time, feeling all sorts of frustration. But there was nothing she could do. The author herself refused to sell to her. What could she do? So, for a long time, she held a grudge against Yu Linna.
“That damn Shion! Why won’t she sell to me? It’s not like I’m not offering her benefits. It’s so infuriating…”
“Li Jing, still drinking? You’ve switched to foreign liquor this time? Can’t you just take a break? You just failed to buy it, is it really that big a deal?”
“Sister, you don’t understand. Such a great work, how could it fall into someone else’s hands! Dammit, won’t this work be completely wasted!”
Li Jing still couldn’t let it go, her mind still dwelling on the matter. Shion-Sensei had left a very bad impression on her. The key was that this person also knew her niece, which made her even more annoyed. People always said that connections could smooth the way, but why did she feel that relying on connections had only made things more complicated?
This niece of hers was too unreliable.
…
As for Ye Zhiyun, she was still abroad. Although it was supposed to be a vacation, she wasn’t the type to sit idle. She would go to her brother’s company from time to time, and gradually, she took over some of the work and did it very well. Her brother, seeing this, let her take charge, and to his surprise, she was truly capable, doing everything perfectly, without a single flaw.
Because of this, her brother felt at ease with her and would come to her with work.
“Brother, can I make a call back home?”
“Of course you can. But you can’t call your friend.”
“Why not? It’s all in the past, isn’t it? Besides, she was a victim just like me. Why can’t I call Nana?”
Ye Zhiyun was all sorts of unhappy. She had been in the United States for so long and hadn’t made a single call to Yu Linna. It was driving her crazy. She figured, she and Yu Linna were both victims. The Ye family couldn’t possibly forbid her from contacting her just because they had been kidnapped together once.
“That’s not the issue. For the time being, let’s not have any contact. I’m afraid Auntie will get angry again.”
Ye Zile smiled wryly.
He understood the reasoning, but making a call was still not a good idea. The main thing was to wait for the storm to blow over. Their aunt’s emotions were very unstable, and she had a big problem with Yu Linna. Coupled with the kidnapping, their aunt had no good feelings for her at all. Although it couldn’t be said that it was entirely her fault, Ye Zile felt that for the time being, it was better to accommodate their aunt. Once she calmed down and thought things through, it would probably be fine.
“I want to see her.”
“My dear sister, why are you so hung up on a girl? Don’t tell me you like her.”
“…I like her a lot.”
Ye Zhiyun said this out of the blue.
“Is that so? Then you two must have a good relationship.”
Ye Zile didn’t take it seriously, just smiled and patted his little sister’s head. Surprisingly, Ye Zhiyun didn’t slap his hand away.
Did she like Yu Linna?
Before the summer vacation, she was still confused. But the kidnapping, plus being in the United States for so long, thinking of her day and night, worrying about her every day, she had finally recognized her own feelings, understood the truest emotion in her heart.
She liked Yu Linna.
This she could be sure of.
A girl falling in love with another girl was destined to be unaccepted. And besides, how did she know what Yu Linna thought of her?
She had liked Li Muqing so much before, chasing him for three years, and in the end, it had come to nothing. She had gotten nothing. This time, it was even better. She had directly fallen for a girl. What should she do? Pursue her? But the situation now was no longer the same as with Li Muqing.
Wanting to be with her was not just difficult; they were also girls.
“What are you thinking about, little sister?”
“Nothing. Didn’t you say you were going to take me to Hollywood to talk business? When?”
“Alright, tomorrow then. I’ll take you to meet a Hollywood legend. She was a big star in Hollywood before she retired. You’ll like her a lot.”
Ye Zhiyun temporarily set aside her longing, her worries. She knew that this feeling was not allowed. Perhaps only time could give her the answer she wanted. Before then, she could only wait.
…
This summer vacation, with the publication of Zixuan and the Paper Airplane, Shion-Sensei’s popularity rose once again. No one would have thought that a novel focusing on family affection could compete with the fantasy, romance, youth, and urban novels on the market, and even achieve a certain level of success, breaking the trend of family-themed novels not selling well. Shion-Sensei’s popularity soared. Zixuan and the Paper Airplane was loved by everyone from parents to children, suitable for all ages, unlike Ballad of the Enchantress, which was a romance novel.
Moreover, this novel leaned towards a warm and realistic style, with delicate emotions, no superfluous characters, and no harem situations. Therefore, this novel had a high popularity in the industry.
“Someone’s looking for me to write a script?”
One day, Yu Linna was typing at home when she suddenly received a call from Chen Xi. She said that someone from the entertainment industry was looking for her, wanting the famous Shion-Sensei to help write a script. Even if it was just writing an outline and letting someone else write the script, as long as her name was attached.
“Why are they suddenly looking for me to write a script? I’m just a novelist.”
“The entertainment industry likes to make money. Your fame has grown, and you have a certain fan base. It makes sense for them to want to buy your name and ask you to write a script. In any case, you’re a god-tier author now.”
Chen Xi didn’t want her author to write scripts for others at all. This was a great writer she had discovered. How could she be left to write scripts for a film company? It was too much of a waste.
But she wasn’t the one making the decision. She had no right to interfere, only to ask for her opinion. Personally, she hoped she would refuse.
“What kind of story is it?”
“A youth romance film, set in high school, to be broadcast online.”
“A youth film…”
Yu Linna thought for a moment. She had never touched on a story in this field before. The genre was there, but what it was about, the main content, was not yet decided. The most crucial thing was the male and female leads.
This type of film was not at all uncommon in the market; it was a very common genre. Because everyone made this kind of film, it wasn’t very popular. It definitely wouldn’t be shown on TV. It only had a little popularity online.
“They’re offering a price of one and a half million. What do you think? The series will probably be around 12 episodes, so it shouldn’t be a big production.”
In recent years, online dramas had started to follow the American model, not filming everything at once and then releasing it, but filming season by season.
Yu Linna thought for a long time but still couldn’t make a decision.
Writing a script for someone else was something she had never thought of. And it was an online drama. Could she write it well? How to make it appealing? That was another question. What was their motive for coming to her? She only wrote novels. Could she really write a script?
“Alright, I’ll go take a look.”
“You’re going?”
“I’m considering it. I’ll meet with them and discuss it. I don’t want to just turn it down like that.”
“It’s okay to turn it down…”
Chen Xi felt helpless. She really hoped she wouldn’t go. She didn’t want her precious author to write scripts for others. There was simply no precedent for it.
